good intentions....

is what I have when it comes to this blog. Yet, no matter how much I want to write, I can't seem to manage the time to actually do the writing! Or, I do get to sit down and write something, and then just stare at a blank screen waiting for something inspirational to come up...that just isn't happening. I am trying though!

Sara has started a challenge called The James Challenge. I think I am going to join. Well I actually already did join the Yahoo! group. I am pretty excited about this though. I never have thought to memorize an entire book of the Bible, and James, being relatively short, I think is a great place to start.

I have been trying to get to the gym as of late, which is good since Matt and I got gym memberships for Christmas. It has been sort of difficult to figure out a good routine to get there. I would like to go in the morning, but it gets a little crazy around here in the morning between Matt getting ready for work, and me trying to make sure Emma stays asleep until 7 or 8. I usually feed her somewhere between 4 and 6am, so getting to the gym for 5am is always up in the air. Take yeterday, I was up at 4:30, tried to feed Emma but she was not waking up. So I get up and get ready to leave. I am literally an eighth of a mile from the house and my cell phone starts going off. Emma is awake, and hungry. So I drive home, feed Emma, then get to the gym 30 minutes after I want to, meaning I get to spend a whole 20 minutes there...Now, is it worth it? Well I hope so! I just need a place to go until it gets warmer outside...and some of the 18 feet of snow we have is gone.

Our CSA is going really well. We go every other week, and I end up coming home with 4 very heavy LL Bean canvas bags worth of veggies. I can't really keep up with it all unfortunately. I should be better at it, but there are still many veggies that go unused. I know we would use more than a half share though, so I tend to stay with the full share. Plus, we split it with my mom. Matt is mailing the check for the summer CSA today, so hopefully we will be all set with that. I probably should call Farmer Denis and let him know that we want to do the CSA this year, we just haven't gotten the check to the mailbox yet.

I have also joined a lovely group of earthy mamas called Green Mothering. We meet at the Farmers' Market in town. I think it is great that I have finely found some like minded people! I wish it were a Christian group, as I am starting to think there are no Christian young people in my area, but it's not. It is a start though, and maybe after I attend for a while, we can get into the discussion of Christianity. We'll see of course, I am still in the introduction stages.

OK, well I guess that is just a ramble, and not really a great blog entry. However, that is what my life seems to be at the moment...a ramble. We are in the process of refinancing, trying to get the apartment squared away for a renter, and of course the business of being a mama comes into play as well :-) Not that these are excuses...no...think of them as...well...ok...just excuses for not writing ;-)

2009!

I don't know how the time gets away from me like it has for the past year, but it is surprising me nonetheless. I always was one of those people that had the fall fly by right through Christmas and into the New Year, and then have it slow down to a crawl until my birthday at the end of April. Winters are long in Maine. However, I feel like this winter will be different. I think that this year is going to move quickly, just like last year. It's kind of sad really. I can't say that I had Emma this year anymore, that was last year now. She is almost 8 months old now. We have had her first Thanksgiving, her first Christmas, and her first New Year.

This year I have a lot of goals. Probably more goals then I ever have set for myself. I'm not great at New Year's resolutions, but I try. I am hoping that this year I can accomplish everything I set out to do. I haven't even formulated most of these goals yet though. They are still floating around in my head, not yet down on paper. I am hoping to get them all out today, and maybe then I will be brave enough to post them for the world to know (or the 1 faithful person who continues to check my blog).

One of the biggest goals I have for the year is to continue on my path to better self-sufficiency. I guess that isn't the correct way of putting it though. I mean, we join the summer and winter CSA's, that definitely isn't self sufficient. Maybe a better steward of God's creation and hopefully a smaller simpler life. Can it be done? Well, with one foot still in the consumerist society as not to completely become a hermit, who knows. I guess I will try and continue to plug away learning new skills, trying to preserve more food, planting more of a garden. All of my plans seem to revolve around food...and the rest of it I assume will just fall into place eventually :-)

My other big goal is to write more. I really do love writing. I wish that I could write a book (if only I had a good idea). Writing helps me to process, and it also helps my anxiety level :-) If I get it out on paper, then I tend to not think about it so much. Considering I am an eternal pessimist, probably a good thing :-)

We'll see how I do I guess. I am cautiously optimistic about this year. I have a good feeling about the things to come. I hope that everyone out there had a wonderful Christmas and that everyone is as excited as I am to start a new year!