Archives for April 2012

Blogging Schedule

April 12, 2012 by Sandra 11 Comments

It’s time.

It’s time for me to begin writing more seriously for this blog and creating a schedule for the topics I will post about each day. This will help me, as the author of this blog, to know in advance what-in-the-world I’m supposed to be posting about each day of the week. This will also help you, dear readers, to know what to expect each day that you visit The Sensible Mom.

I’m very excited about this!

I want The Sensible Mom to truly become a place where the content is fresh and relevant to your everyday lives. I want to share with you from my everyday life as a Christian, wife, and mom. I want to give you a peek into our lives as homeschoolers and share tips and curriculum with you that might work for your kids.

I also want to venture out of my comfort zone and start talking more publicly on my blog about a topic I’m very passionate about.

Breastfeeding.

I want to share my struggles, joys, and tips for nursing your babies. I’ve nursed each of my five children for different periods of time, anywhere from two weeks to two years, and I’d love to help and come alongside other nursing moms.

Other topics I’ll be blogging about:

:: Weight Loss – many of you already know I have a goal to lose 50 pounds this year

:: Blogging Tips – I know many of my readers are also bloggers and would love tips to make their blogging lives easier

:: Recipes – once a week, I’d like to share what I’ve been making in my kitchen

:: Great Posts to Read – I’m going to continue to highlight posts I think will benefit you and inspire you

:: Weekly Goals

And now for my Blogging Schedule….here is what I have planned:

Monday – Weekly Goals post

Tuesday – Weight Loss post

Wednesday – Homeschooling post

Thursday – Recipe post

Friday – Breastfeeding post

Saturday – Blogging Tips

Sunday – Around the Blogosphere post

There will be more posts sprinkled in with these, but this is the schedule you can expect to find on The Sensible Mom.com. 🙂

When will this blogging schedule begin?

Lord willing, this regular posting schedule will begin on May 1st. Many of you know that we are moving from Illinois to Georgia next week, and I want to give myself plenty of time (2 weeks) to move and unpack most of our things before I start implementing my blogging schedule.

Why should you believe that I’m actually going to follow through with this schedule?

Two reasons. One being God’s grace. The other reason being MY OWN OFFICE! I’m just a little bit excited about this! 😀 Well, technically, I will be sharing the office space with Ruben, my husband, but it will be a huge difference from how I get computer work done right now, which is in our living room – usually with our 5 kids around and lots of noise and interruptions.

What can you expect between now and May 1st, when I implement this schedule?

Until then, I will blog when I can. We’re kicking the packing into high gear and will be very busy over the next few days as we continue to work on the little details of this move and spend time with family and friends that we will be leaving here in Illinois. Your grace is very much appreciated during this time. I’d love your prayers for safe travels to Georgia, too.

Overall, I can’t wait to finally get a rhythm going with my posting.

How about you? Do you have a regular posting schedule?

Losing the Baby Fat Weight Loss Update

April 10, 2012 by Sandra 9 Comments

It’s almost midnight, so I’m going to cut right to the chase. I lost 1.5 lbs. this past week! 😀

I weighed 211.5 lbs. this morning.

As for counting my calories? I think I kept track maybe one day last week. My life is crazy right now.

If only you could see the dry erase board in our kitchen. It’s the place where we write down stuff that needs to get done. Last minute appointments and reminders are scribbled all over it. I do take joy in being able to erase things that I get accomplished. For instance, today I was able to erase eye appointments for Nathan and me. I also got to erase the scheduled webinar I attended virtually at 4pm. I locked myself in the bedroom with the baby, and we learned some advanced CSS. I enjoyed this very much! Geeky, I know.

My dad is visiting right now. I think I mentioned that before, but because he is visiting, I’m cooking more (which I’m sure my husband and kids appreciate), and I’m just not paying attention to how many calories I’m eating. I’m fine with this, but I know I’ll get back to counting my calories once my dad leaves on Saturday, and I don’t feel the need to cook as much. My dad is diabetic, plus he’s a guest, so I’m trying to make sure he’s eating when he needs to and that we don’t spend gobs of money eating out…..which he is fond of doing. My dad is very fond of restaurants, and he loves to eat.

Anyway, here’s what my weight loss progress looks like this week:

Beginning weight: 220 lbs.

Current Weight: 211.5 lbs.

Goal Weight: 170 lbs.

# of total pounds I want to lose in 2012: 50lbs.

# of pounds to go until I reach my goal: 41.5 lbs.

Total # of pounds lost to date: 8.5 lbs.

We officially move to Georgia next week! Aaaahhhh!

This also means that we’ll be traveling from April 18th to April 20th, when we close on the house, which in turn means, we’ll be eating out quite a bit. I’m going to take extra caution to be careful of what foods I consume during this time, especially since we’ll be riding in the car. A lot.

I don’t want to arrive to Georgia bloated and 5 pounds heavier. I’m going to follow my tips for eating healthy away from home and make wise choices.

Oh, and I will try to post an updated picture of myself for next week’s post. 🙂

How are you doing on your weight loss goals?

Losing the Baby Fat Weight Loss Update

April 3, 2012 by Sandra 2 Comments

I lost another .5 lbs. last week! That means my current weight is now 213 lbs.

My clothes continue to feel better, and I’m even wearing a shirt that has been in my closet for ages because it was too tight. It was one of the 5-6 shirts I own that I’m hoping to ‘someday wear again.’ That day has come for at least one of those shirts. 🙂

We did end up purchasing a Breville Juicer! I can’t wait!

But I will have to wait.

We’ve decided not to unpack it until we move to Georgia…..in less than 2.5 weeks!

Time is officially zooming by right now.

When we get our things unpacked, and we feel a little settled in Georgia, we’ll start juicing. I think I may try to do a one day fast to begin, and then just replace one meal a day with all-natural juice instead. I’m not entirely sure yet. I know I can’t do a 7-10 day fast right now while I’m nursing Elisabeth.

I will be blogging through my juice fast and let you guys know how I do, even if it is just a one day fast to begin.

Here’s what my weight loss progress looks like so far:

Current Weight: 213 lbs.

Goal Weight: 170 lbs.

# of total pounds I want to lose in 2012: 50lbs.

# of pounds to go until I reach my goal: 43 lbs.

Total # of pounds lost to date: 7 lbs.

I think the hardest part of any juice fast will be giving up my precious coffee. 🙁

Headaches will abound, I’m sure.

But it’s for a good cause, my health, and that’s worth it.

How are you doing with your weight loss goals?

10 Goals for the week

April 2, 2012 by Sandra 6 Comments

Last week was an okay week as far as my goals went. I’ll jump right in and share how I did:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Continue reading through the Psalms with the kids with a focus on reading a psalm together before lunch. I did a better job of reading Psalms with the kids, but it’s still sporadic. I’d like to get into a habit where we read every morning, before lunch, or in the evening. Still working on this goal.

2. ~~Continue spending time reading one-on-one with David.~~ Done.

Personal Goals:

3. Walk on the treadmill 4 days this week for longer periods of time than I did last week. I made it on the treadmill 3 days last week. Progress!

4. ~~Continue counting my calories~~. Done. I’ve kept up with counting my calories, but there were a few days last week where I lost count…I’m back at it though.

5. Wake up by 7:00am every morning. I’m going to try to go to bed earlier and start working my way down to getting up before the kids. Someday, I’d like to get back to a routine of waking up by 5:00am every morning. I continued my habit of staying up late after the kids went to bed, so I ended up getting up later than 7:00am most days. I guess this is because, at the end of the day, when the kids finally fall asleep and stop coming out of their room, I get to enjoy the quietness and the semi-alone time that I get. Life has been so chaotic lately.

Home Management Goals:

6. Clean the refrigerator. Okay, this is getting done today, because we have people walking through with a realtor to see the home we are renting.

7. Pack up as many boxes as possible. Okay, I didn’t pack ANY boxes, but my husband did. Does that count? 🙂

Business Goals:

8. Post one blog post each day. Not quite, but I did post most days.

9. ~~Finish designing a blog for Breanna.~~ Done.

10. ~~Return emails.~~ Done.

And now for this week’s goals:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Continue reading through the Psalms with the kids.

2. Spend focused time with Nathan.

Personal Goals:

3. Walk on the treadmill 4 days this week for longer periods of time than I did last week.

4. Continue counting my calories.

5. Wake up by 8:00am every morning. Today I got up around 6:15am, wish I could wake up this early every day.

Home Management Goals:

6. Clean and get the house ready to ‘show’ for the realtor and her clients.

7. Pack up as many boxes as possible – must do as we move in less than 3 weeks.

Business Goals:

8. Post one blog post each day.

9. Work on client project.

10. Finish reading Mom Blogging for Dummies.

What are your goals for the week?

*Linked to Insane Goals Monthly link-up!

Archives for April 2012

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