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...its been quite awhile since I've posted and even longer since I updated my layout. I was still wishing everyone a happy fall even though we are several weeks into the winter season. Life has been quite busy here lately even though we took a extended vacation from homeschooling during the holiday season. We will start schooling again Monday and although I have enjoyed the break I will be glad to get back on a "normal" schedule.
Tuesday evening we got our first snow of the year and winter season. It began at about 10:30 and my children insisted on going outside to play in it. Since we rarely get any snow here and when we do it doesn't last long I relented and let them enjoy it while it lasted. There was only a 1/2-1 inch of snow but my dc made mini snowmen, snow angels, jumped on the snow covered trampoline, and had a blast. Of course Mom grabbed here camera and snapped away. You can see photos of us enjoying the winter wonderland HERE. It was gone by 9 a.m. the next morning but it was sure fun while it lasted.
In November my husband bought me a new digital camera which I quickly put to use taking pictures of the kids. As time went by this hobby has become my new passion. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on that pertains to photography and carrying the camera with me at all times since I always seem to be taking pictures of something. This has been a great learning camera but I hope to purchase a digital SLR camera sometime within the next year. I'm still researching which SLR cameras are best for beginners so if there are any photographers out there that can give me any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. Since I've been taking so many photos I have been doing quite a bit of scrapbooking. While I enjoy paper scrapping I have found digiscrapping to be a lot easier, neater, and cheaper. I've purchased many lovely kits and have a gallery of some of my layouts at Digichick. As time allows I hope to upload more of my layouts and add a link to my gallery and some of my favorite digiscrap artists in the sidebar.

I'm a little late posting my goals for 2008 but it is better to be late than never post at all.

Read through the Bible-I will be using the Narrated Bible in Chronological Order. I started this late last year and wasn't able to finish.
Pray at the appointed times of prayer-I bought the Artscroll Women's Siddur about a year ago and I have used it periodically. However, I really want to commit to praying at the three appointed times a day. There is something very powerful about praying this liturgy each day and knowing there are so many people around the world doing the same.
Continue studying the weekly parshahs using Torah Club Volume Five-I am so grateful for the FFOZ ministry. I have learned so much through their materials and cannot rave about them enough.
Complete two Torah Resource Course Studies- I have been meaning to do this for some time but just have not gotten around to it. They offer distant learning courses that I would love to do in the future but for the time being I would like to try a few course studies on my own.

Spend more quality time with my hubby-In order for me to be able to stay at home my husband often has to work a lot of hours. Add to that a a houseful of children and it adds up to nearly no quality time for my dh and I. I'd love to have one night a month where we can go out or stay home without the children. However, it isn't always possible for us to find someone to stay with the children so I commit to finding ways to make quality time for us.
Have a weekly game night- This year our dc decided they wanted only board games for Hanukkah so we obliged them. We have had so much fun trying out their new games and I've found its a wonderful way to spend some quality family time.
Go bowling several times a month-We took all of the children bowling several weeks ago and we had so much fun. Its a hobby we all enjoy and I'd love to have this family outing as often as possible.

Revamp my home management binder and use it daily-I do really well with a schedule that is until I miss using it for a few days and it throws everything off track. This year I intend to use my binder everyday and keep it coming from a pretty thing I made that collects dust on the shelf.
Get in bed earlier-I am a night owl by nature and this irks my hubby to no end. I know I that I will be a happier and more productive person if I get in bed earlier but I have to follow through and make myself do it. I tend to lose track of time when I grab a "little" time to scrap, read, or blog in evenings when everyone is in bed. I could do this in the morning before the children wake up or perhaps set a timer in the evening to get myself back on track.
Excercise-I am still carrying around "baby weight" from four years ago that I really need to lose. While it probably will not be feasible for me to join a gym I plan to purchase a few workout DVD's and walk around our yard or through the woods several times a week.
Blog more-I tend to neglect this blog and I really would like to be more disciplined about posting. I plan to write something about our homeschooling each day and a post about our weekend on Sunday. I also saw a "challenge" around the blogosphere this past year that included sharing a photo a day which I'd love to do.
Read more-I already read a lot but oftentimes I stick to fiction. This year I would like to read a wider variety of material.
Scrap more-I have a lot of photos that need to be scrapped and I add to that list nearly daily. I am setting a goal to complete at least 100 layouts this year.

Whew...that is a long list but I truly hope I can accomplish everything. To keep me accountable I think I will commit to posting each week about my progress on this years goal. Now I really have to get caught up on lesson planning so I am ready for Monday. Thank you for stopping by my blog and have a blessed day!!

Posted by Meg at 6:49 PM 0 Blessings