I am not a perfectionist, although, sometimes I think I should consider becoming one. Many times I find my self with this incredible desire to get it “just right” but I guess I am easy going enough, that if life happens in the process, I am okay with that.
Since I am a school teacher, every summer I try to find time to hit my life’s refresh button and start over again emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Life moves so fast now days, I think everyone should do this.
As part of this summer’s refresh button week, I am going to steal one of my blogger friend’s ideas. Andee Leigh is one of my favorite blogs to read. She is an amazing birthparent, and has really helped shape my perspective on open adoption. You can meet her here. Andee did this fantastic post a few months back called “101 goals in 1001 days”. She has inspired me and now I am going to give it a try.
In the Bible, Matthew 5:48 says:
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
This scripture always boggled my mind. Seriously??? How in this world could I be perfect? Come on. We are talking about ME here.
Then I read the footnotes:
48 a JST Matt. 5:50 Ye are there for commanded to be perfect…
b GR complete, finished, fully developed.
I guess my version of perfect was that I could never be imperfect and that those imperfections kept me from being perfect.
However, when you look at God’s definition of perfect: complete, finished, fully developed—That makes me feel like that is a little more attainable. Nephi talks about how there is no commandment given to man without a way to accomplish it. D&C admonishes us to be anxiously engaged in a good cause. Maybe with Andee’s 101 in 1001 I can get a little closer to being complete, finished, or fully developed—maybe even a little closer to perfect.
Is anyone interested in what my 101 goals are? If you are, take a peek below. BTW G-day is June 12, 2012.
- Become a Mom by “finding” and not “waiting" 1/11/10
- Create our forever family by taking munchkin to the temple with us.
- Read the BOM again.
- Go to the temple everyday for a week.
- Go to the temple once a month for a year straight, and hopefully longer than that.
- Plan spontaneous dream date for Daren.
- Finish my Master’s Degree.
- Earn a raise.
- Learn how to cook beans from stratch and like them.
- Watch all the Harry Potter movies, marathon style.
- Exercise every day for a month.
- Run a 5k fun run.
- Finish my 1st grade curriculum map.
- Meet a birthmom and give her a hug 1/9/10.
- Go to the FSA national conference
- Give out my 500 pass along cards that are coming in the mail this week! I only got to pass out 1/2 before Britt picked us.
- Finish 5 sewing projects. 4/10
- Make a crib quilt 12/09.
- Try dyeing my hair brown. 7/31/09
- Read my scriptures daily for a month strait, and hopefully longer!
- Read an issue of conference talks cover to cover
- Stay away from my blog and facebook for a whole week (That one may be impossible.)
- Hit my ideal weight and keep it off.
- Learn to loose my sweet tooth.
- Start an Etsy store
- Sell something cute on Etsy
- Organize my closet
- Give 2 bags of clothes to the DI or someone in need
- Can all the apples I can in 2009 I didn't can anything in 2009. Does watching Nancy can count???
- Can all the peaches I can in 2010
- Go to the cannery and can things for food storage
- Photograph every member of my family
- Organize my craft room
- Put together our nursery (I don’t know if I can bear to do this until we get picked so hopefully we get picked in the next 1001 days.) 12/09
- Grow some strawberries that don’t die.
- Write Seth on his mission (I am so bad at this.) 7/22/09
- Write Trevor on his mission (Come on Trev!)
- Go to Josh’s Wedding (Come on Josh’s future wife!)
- Watch my husband graduate (Come on hubbster!)
- Get a digital coverter box. We haven’t watched tv in weeks.
- Plan and carryout a backpacking trip.
- Meet up with Adrienne and go shopping.
- Go see our Family in Texas.
- Leave work everyday by 4:00 for a month.
- Don’t work on Saturdays for a month.
- Pick my master’s project topic 5/10
- Research my master’s project
- Write my Master’s project paper.
- Survive the oral defense of my master’s project.
- Survive my 8 hour written exam for my M.ed
- Do something way exciting for our 5th wedding anniversary.
- Have a fun birthday party for my ‘golden’ birthday {#27}
- Learn how to digital scrapbook.
- Make a digital scrapbook.
- Send every family member I have a birthday card for a year. (Holy guacamole.)
- Paint the bathroom.
- Finish painting the cabinets.
- Finish painting the laundry room.
- Take the dogs on a walk 5 days a week for a month.
- Visit Minnesota before my parents move. 3/10
- Fly somewhere warm when Idaho is cold.
- Give away my extra fruit during harvest.
- Donate 10 feet of food in our school thanksgiving food drive.
- Do the 12 days of Christmas for someone.
- Go to the beach.
- Don’t complain about anything for an entire day.
- Cook dinner every night for a month.
- NO eating out for a month.
- Give up soda for a month.
- Find a new favorite book.
- Make a favorite recipe cookbook.
- Build a snowman with Daren.
- Convince my Young Women to build a snow fort in my yard with me.
- Try snowboarding.
- Try skiing.
- Read a book by a GA
- Save $100 by using coupons and shopping sales in one grocery trip.
- Spoil some nephews or nieces rotten one day.
- Shoot one of Daren’s rifles.
- Go on a random adventure.
- Go to Porter’s with my mom. 9/1/09
- Pick Raspberries with my dad.
- Go yardsaleing.
- Become someone’s “secret sista” and do random acts of kindness for a month.
- Make treats for my coworkers for no good reason.
- Brush snow off of people’s cars anonymously.
- Take a nap in the hammock.
- Get the garden ready in the fall for next spring.
- Plant and keep alive an AMAZING garden .
- Write a lullaby for munchkey.
- Do a week of blog posts dedicated to people I love.
- Organize my classroom library.
- Watch a caterpillar change into a butterfly.
- Pay of my credit card every month or better yet, don’t use it at all.
- Go to every family reunion.
- Babysit for someone for free.
- Do RAK’s for Daren everyday for a month.
- Go to all 4 sessions of General Conference and stay awake and love it!
- Have a yard sale
- Spend the entire day with Daren doing nothing but fun stuff.
- Give $1 for everything I don’t get done by 6/12/12 to Humanitarian aid.
Wish me luck!
The raspberries are officially in. For the last week I have been picking a handful or so each day. Yesterday was the first day I realized I actually needed a bowl. Yesterday morning was a gorgeous, warm, drizzley, silent morning. I wish I had these more often. My guess is that the raspberries will peak in about a week or so. If you want some talk to me! I honestly believe that raspberries are best eaten in the early morning right off of the bush. I think that is how the Lord intended it. And that is what I did. I also picked more than I could eat and froze them. I need to start my smoothie stash again. We ran out in about April this year. Maybe I can do enough to get us to next July.
Care to walk through the rest of my garden? Don't mind the weeds please.
These are my favorite apples. Very sweet, but they have kick! And when they are ripe they are PINK! This tree only blossoms every other year, so I am happy to see these ladies back. They will be ready end of september, early october. 
Apricots. Not many of them this year. I think our cold spring had something to do with it.
Plums. We have quite a few of these. They do pretty well.
This is one of my mystery bushes. It has BEAUTIFUL red berries which I assumed to be choke cherries because they were pretty sour. Apparently not sour enough. Someone told me they thought they were Chinese Cherries. Is there such a thing? The really dark ones actually are pretty sweet, but the peel is sour. If I had the time I bet this would make a really yummy and pretty jelly.
The whole mystery bush. We need to prune. I know. Poor bush.
Grapes. Really good grape juice, early September.
Pears. They are usually ready end of october, really sweet, but they are rock hard. I have to let them sit for a week or two. Also the peel is disgusting. It feels like sand paper. But peeled and soft, it is delish. 
Mystery berry #2. I am thinking maybe blueberries? The birds eat them before they are totally ripe, so they never finish changing color. They taste like a bland blueberry and have the same texture. KENZIE S! Help me out!
My tomaters are getting out of control in our green house. The hot heat though makes them grow crazy. I had a red one this morning and it was perfect. Hopefully in the next month I will be making some serious salsa!
Last but not least. My garden breakfast. My fresh picked raspberries in honey bunches of oats. YUM!
