Back to business

Upon returning from vacation, Mr. Fleece & I have decided to buckle down on some general life practices.

This has played out in four distinct ways:
1. Stewarding our garden space

BEFORE: lots o' weeds

So yeah, we have an awesome garden space that many Seattlelites long for - & we need to start using it well. Plus our neighbors are avid gardeners & we want to be all things to all people. If they plant herbs & spend time outside, we want to plant herbs & spend time outside. Making progress - we finally weeded & plan to plant seeds this week!

2. Managing our finances
Gulp! Being financially responsible is difficult. We've been failing at it for the past year & half. Not knowing where all your money goes & spending with an entitled + frivolous attitude is just as dangerous as struggling with debt or greed. God's graciously showing us what we think about money reflects what we think about god. So each week we've decided to categorize our weekly expenditures through mint.com & track everything on an Excel spreadsheet- already this has been incredibly helpful to keep us more aware & accountable. [no fun photo for this one]

3. Meal planning
I'm not great at cooking nor meal planning. Our meals don't have much variety & I often get overwhelmed trying to map out what we need to purchase each week & what meals we want to make. Mr. Fleece &  I decided Tuesday will be the night we talk through our meals for the next week & go grocery shopping. Again, it's been really helpful to actually plan each meal & not just buy cauliflower because I think it sounds healthy & then never use it & have to throw it out compost it because it got moldy (for some reason this happens a lot).

Fun change we made to our kitchen to create more space!

4. Exercising
Mr. Fleece gifted me with one month's worth of free Barre classes. I've been taking early morning classes at 6:00 a.m. three times a week & have really enjoyed it. For better or worse, I've realized working out the first thing in the morning is often the only way I'll get a workout in. It's definitely difficult to wake-up, but always worth it : ) I will forever love group fitness!
We also went on a stellar hike to Mason Lake. It was probably my favorite hike - filled with steep trails, boulder fields, & SNOW!

Slowly growing up,

SJW