Hi friends! I almost don’t even know where to begin. You may or may not have noticed that I posted very little in December and January. I had all kinds of posts planned, but life, as often happens, got in the way. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that A Virtuous Woman will still be here when I get back, but my kids are growing up and it won’t be long before they are all grown and on their own. I try hard to put my family first which means sometimes things just don’t happen here online as often as I’d like.

We traveled a whole lot over the last two months. In the month of January I spent a total of maybe two days at home. December may have had 6 days total. November wasn’t much better. It’s been crazy. Today was the first day in a while I’ve felt like maybe we’ll start to get back into more of a normal routine – which normal around here means maybe I’ll 3 or 4 mornings at home each week. We still travel and spend 3 or 4 days each week out of town so Hannah can figure skate. That’s not likely to change anytime soon, and it’s a rough schedule when I think about it. I try not to think about it too much. We just do what we’ve got to do and hope I somehow get to my responsibilities each week.

So just a quick update before I share my goals for February below.

We had a very exciting January. We ended December with a trip to Michigan to visit my sweet daughter, Sarah and her new husband Ethan. We spent 4 days in the bitter cold up there! It’s a 14 hour drive with stops and I went with my daughters, Emily, Hannah, and Laura – plus Hannah’s boyfriend, Isaiah made the trip with us too. It was so much fun. Lots of good memories made!

We were packed to the gills with stuff. The car was so full we could hardly move! It was a 14 hour trip up to Oscoda, Michigan right on Lake Huron. We listened to loud music and laughed and talked and it was a lot of fun.

When Sarah got married last September, she and Ethan moved up to Michigan because that’s where he’d found a job. We’ve missed having Sarah close to home! But she and Ethan seem to be doing really well and she looked great.

There was a lot of snow! We went out on a frozen lake and went to see the icy Lake Huron. This is now one of my favorite photos of me and my four girls:

We arrived home from Michigan late Monday night on January 1. We had Tuesday at home to wash laundry and repack and we left for Knoxville for Hannah’s regular figure skating schedule. And on Friday we didn’t go home – we left from Knoxville and headed down to Florida.

We ended up staying a couple nights in Valdosta, Georgia so my husband could visit with some old friends. And then on Sunday we made our way to Orlando, Florida. My husband, as most of you know, is a pastor. We had ministerial meetings to attend in Orlando. So, the first week we spent hearing some awesome speakers and enjoying some relaxation.

After the meetings, we spent 10 days at Disney – enjoying the parks and having fun! Y’all we haven’t had a real vacation in several years. I’ll share more about our vacation if I have time in a post later this week.

But now for my February Goals!

Setting Goals for February

Faith 

I recently began learning more about Bible Journaling. I know the idea has been around for a while, but I’ve been looking for a way to inspire deeper study. I’m not an amazing artist. I can draw so-so and I have a decent eye for color, but the thought of drawing in my Bible is a little intimidating. I few weeks ago I went ahead and purchased a new journaling Bible and have yet to actual start coloring in it! But I’m ready.

Here are a few things I purchased to get started:

• Crayola Twistables 18 count Colored Pencils
• Illustrated Faith – Precision Bible Pens
• NIV Journal Bible – Zondervan

Here’s a few examples of pages I’ve done over the last couple weeks:

At the end of January I started freehand drawing in my Bible. I use pencil, then trace with a pen and then go ahead and color in the page. It was scary at first, but drawing lightly in pencil means I can erase my mistakes! I’ll try to share more tips for this soon, so be on the look out for new posts!

Homemaking

I’m slowly working on decluttering my home. This is such a long and sometimes painful process. If you’ve been following along in my 30 Day Challenge: A Time to Clean, maybe you’ve been decluttering too! Decluttering can be very therapeutic and it really does set you free!

Since I’ve been out of town for most of the last few months, I feel like my house has slowly recollected all of the clutter that I had previously purged from my home, but the reality is, I have purged LOTS of clutter – my house just needs some major TLC and clean up. The problem with traveling so much and then being home for a day or two only to leave again is that those todays are not spent cleaning – it’s more like unload the car into the dining room, wash laundry, crash into bed, sleep as much as possible, and then repack. Ugh.

Motherhood

I am working this week to get the girls on a set schedule where they are waking up early every morning. With Hannah’s figure skating schedule, we wake up at 3:30 am on Wednesday mornings, 6:00 am on Thursday mornings, and 4:00 am on Friday mornings so we can get to the ice rink for her early morning lessons. Despite those early mornings we don’t usually get to bed before 11:00 at night! So, we tend to sleep in a little later on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays and it would be better if we all got up early every day of the week.

Hannah is doing really well in her figure skating and I will continue to provide as much support and encouragement as possible on this end. Hannah tested her Preliminary Moves in the Field on Sunday and passed!

She’s also landing her Axel Jump consistently now and working toward testing hopefully at the end of February for Freestyle 5 and Dance 3.

Laura is working on Jumping and other skills with her horse, Legend Has It. She’s also continuing to work on growing her YouTube Channel. She’s doing so well! She has her very first lesson with a trainer this afternoon so I’m excited about that for her!

My main goals for motherhood right now really have to do with supporting my kids in their endeavors and making sure that they have everything they need to follow their dreams and pursue their passions. That means, I provide all of the emotional support and encouragement, give them my time, and provide as much financial support as possible within our budget.

Having just two teens left at home is much different from having five young kids at home. Life is changing and having three adult kids is amazing in it’s own way. I’m so thankful for my kids!

Marriage

My husband’s health over the last few months has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Over the last year he has slowly felt worse. He began seeing a doctor a few months ago, and then this past week went to see an internal medicine doctor. After some testing, there was need for more testing, and now we’re facing the possibility of a diagnosis we don’t want to hear. My kids don’t know yet, so if you know my kids, please don’t share that with them! I would appreciate your prayers for Mykal. He’s having a very difficult time and I’m wondering how things are going to work with our crazy schedule if he continues to get sicker. Lots of stress right now.

Health

So, at the beginning of January I started exercising every day. I also started counting calories for the first time ever in hopes of getting down to my goal weight.

In 2017 I dropped from a size 12 to a size 6 by October. I didn’t diet so much as I just was careful not to over eat and I focused on eating healthy foods. I’m so close to my goal!

What is my goal? I’m not really concerned with how much I weigh. I might weigh myself from time to time, but I don’t have a goal weight so much as I have a body fitness goal. I had my last baby over 14 years ago. I haven’t had a flat tummy in years and years and years.

I’m 42 years old now and in all honesty, I feel better about myself than I have ever felt. Maybe it’s my age, I don’t know. But I feel good. I almost even feel pretty – and I’ve struggled my whole life with self image and feeling ugly. One of the big differences – and I might share more about this in a later post – but I’ve never had clear skin. Like, we’re talking really bad skin and chronic boils on my face. But my skin has been clear for two or three months now and it’s amazing. I’m doing a few things differently – small changes that made a enormous differece.

As for exercising, I set the goal to have a flat tummy and toned muscles – arms, abs, legs and my butt. The big thing is my abs – my round tummy has bothered me for many years. I hate looking pregnant when I haven’t had a baby in so many years! Not only that, but clothes never fit really well. And I’ll be honest, having teen girls who are both very athletic and toned is very motivating!! They encourage me and we exercise together.

But after working out {hard} and focusing on core exercises and cardio exercises for two weeks in January, I was already seeing results. That’s even more motivating! If you want to see my two week abs, you can see the picture here. I do plan to share more updates as I continue to work on toning my muscles.

1. The girls and I joined the YMCA and I can’t wait to start exercising in their gym tomorrow. I’ll share photos on my Instagram account so if you want to join me in my efforts or follow along, you can follow me on Instagram.
2. I’m alternating my exercises or trying. Core, Cardio, Arms and Legs. I may also add in swimming laps a couple times a week since the YMCA has a lap pool.
3. I’m using the Lose It! app on my phone to count calories, track my water intake, and track my calories burned through exercising. I downloaded the app at the beginning of January and I love it! I use it every day! I’m currently on a 1350 calorie a day diet and inputting everything I eat all day really helps me make good choices. I’ve been eating a LOT of raw veggies the last five weeks. And one of the things I did last year that I’m continuing is when I feel hungry and need a snack, I grab an orange. Some days I eat four or five oranges.
4. I’m drinking lots of lemon water. Currently I am drinking water with Meyers Lemons every day. I’m trying to drink at least 8 glasses water a day – more on days when I have a more intense work out.

Business & Blogging

With all of the traveling the last few months, I haven’t posted much so I’m really excited about getting into a good schedule and posting a lot more!

So, those are my goals for February. What are you working on?