Priorities

Ok...so it has been way too long since I've last posted.  If you actually read this, I apologize.  I was thinking no one really read this anyway, so it didn't matter.  But, I have to keep in mind that this is also my personal documentation of our journey to adoption.  Along the way...it is a great place for me to voice my many opinions, thoughts, and ideas. 

So, we have actually been doing great with simplifying life!  I've done all the things on my previous post that I said I was going to do.  Here are the big things:

1.  I've made more time for my priorities!!  Yes, I've actually scheduled them in.  As crazy as that sounds, I realized that some of the things that are most important to me are the very things that get cut out of life due to "lack of time".  I figured if I scheduled them in, then they couldn't get cut out.  So, we now have....

• Family Game Night----every Friday night we make homemade pizza (gluten-free of course!) or nachos and play board games.  Last week was Monopoly...it was so much fun!  We realized we don't have a Scrabble game so we picked one up this week.  It is a great way to make sure that we are spending time together as a family, laughing and having a good time!  It is also something to look forward to every week!  Playing games is one of the highlights of our camping trips and holidays....we figured why does it only have to be for special occasions??

• Tim and Jen Date Nights----every Saturday night is Tim and Jen Date Night.  How cool is that?  It is a essentially giving ourselves permission to have fun and do things without our kids...no guilt.  We even make it fun for our kids by renting Redbox videos for them or letting them play Wii or PS3.  We stay home 3 Saturdays a month and plan to go out once a month.  The kids like Date Night just as much as we do! 

• Jen  Time----each night I have at least 1/2 hour to myself to read or do whatever I want by myself.  Alone time is something  that has always been very important to me, but it is always the first thing I've sacraficed when life gets busy.  I now realize how important it is to make sure I have this time every day. 

• Tim and Jen Time (daily)---We spend at least 15 minutes each night talking or connecting.  This is another thing that is very important for a healthy marriage. 

• God Time---Every day....this is the most important part of my day.  I spend this time reading, studying, praying and listening.  I also make it a priority to speak to Him throughout my entire day and realize I cannot get through a day without Him. 

2.  Things I've Cut Out

• Facebook (I go on maybe once every few weeks for 5 min.).  This produces absolutely no fruit in my life....it just steals time.
• TV (Ok...I admit...I do watch the Bachelor...but that counts as Jen Time!  That's it...I watch nothing else other than movies with Tim during Date Nights!)
• Bringing work home---it will still be there tomorrow!
• Working late
• Weekend Shopping---what a time killer!!
• Coupons and matching sale ads to our weekly menus (at this point in my life...my time is more valuable)

3.  Steamlining and Amazing Changes

• Monday Night Grocery Shopping....keeps my weekends free, stores are stocked, much less people, and Mondays are a wasted day anyhow
• Whole family does chores together on Saturday morning.  All housework is done by noon...the rest of the weekend is free! 
• We all have chore lists (daily, weekly, and monthly...they are awesome!).  Our house is now more organized and in better shape than ever while we have more time than we have ever had!!! 
• I make a menu plan and grocery list for the week every Saturday morning (one of my chores).  This makes dinner prep during the week so easy!  **Having a gluten-free household can be very difficult at times (although it is getting easier).  It is essential to be prepared and have a good plan for meals, snacks, etc.
• On our menu planner, we have a grocery list so throughout the week, if we run out of anything, we add it to our list to get on Monday
• We only go to the store one time per week---huge $$$$ saver! 

Here is a link to some of the wonderful forms I've found.  I like the cleaning lists (I customized them).  Here is the meal planner I use.  There are also a bunch more great organizational tools here.  Enjoy!

I hope that you can find some of this helpful.  It has helped our family tremendously!!!