Stewardship Sunday

Well, it's been several months since I updated my stewardship/ 'hope-to-accomplish' list (NOT my 'to-do' list :), after updating it in July, life just got swamped but I'm thankful I've still made progress without it being at the forefront of my mind! Maybe it's just ingrained in me now :)

Stewardship of My Finances
As of October I started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University every Wednesday evening at Church, until January. WOW! I thought I was hyper-anal-retentive when it came to my finances but my eyes have been opened! With many more tools at my disposal I have done an overhaul on our finances, re-prioritized with hubby, and we're back on track. 
We had some huge paradigm shifts from his speaking and realize some bad choices we made that we didn't think were as dumb as they were, but taking into consideration Sean is on a wage freeze going on 3 years and if he quits he likely will be going down in wage, we weren't making the smartest decisions over the last year.  But I'm excited to see progress on fixing those already!

Stewardship of My Home
5. Schedule a small Fly Lady tactic every day
I'm still at the point I could step this up a little, but I still haven't had to tidy my living room or clean off my dining room table in about 6 months! So I'm still happy! And I've been de-cluttering like crazy, we're selling and giving away stuff weekly it seems, lol. Partly to fix our finances, selling stuff has/will help pay off some debts, but even giving stuff away has felt SO good! Less to worry about, less to clean/tidy, and making other people happy.  I love it!
 6.Establish a list of at least 60 staple recipes and rotate in a 12 month menu
My meal plans have kept me right on track, they haven't failed me yet, I've stuck to it every week...and blogged a "What's on the Table Tuesday" to track my weekly meal plans.  It's great because I can pick the easiest meals that week to make for our busy Mondays and Fridays and we haven't had to eat out unnecessarily at all, not once! Awesome, hey?!
7. Make as much food from scratch as possible to avoid unnecessary preservatives & packaging
Food I have made from scratch in the last few months....I can't remember if I've mentioned this here or not but I've roasted my own red peppers a few times now. I've just made my own almond butter for the detox/cleanse I am on.  I've been using homemade broth instead of boullion for a few months. Oregano flavoured olive oil and vodka, and dried oregano...with my own grown oregano.  Tomato sauce from canned tomatoes blended with raw veggies and spices - all with no additives.
I have two recipes I'm going to try soon, one a replacement for condensed soups made from all natural (no chemical or preservatives) dry ingredients that you can just mix with water/milk when you need, the second an all natural replacement for onion soup mix.

Stewardship of My Body
We don't have the puppy anymore so my all the exercise I was getting walking him now had to be done on my own motivation and will power. BUT, I finally got un-busy enough on our vacation in October to start on the treadmill again, minimum once a week, and I'm really enjoying it again! YAY! I'm also waking up early at 6 am again to alternate days with weights and pilates.
I am also on a detox/cleanse/elimination meal plan...refocusing my idea of health, what I'm putting into my body, how much, how I'm sustaining my body or hurting it, etc. I have a more indepth post about the health of my body that I am working on....I'm waiting until I'm done this 'kick start' program of 3 weeks so I can post about the results too, so that ends on Nov. 21st...I should have a post done shortly after.

Stewardship of My Earth
15. Grow my own vegetables.
Well, the garden is dead and frozen now.  I didn't get quite as much out of it as I had hoped...no peppers at all.  But, live and learn and try again next year with some new information!  Most of the Farmer's Markets are closed now but I hope to make a special trip to a few 'local food' markets that are year round, hopefully at least once a month. 
16. Have a 100 mile meal once a month.
I did have a 100 mile meal once in July, August and October.  My September is a blur due to the start up of my volunteer job but that's mostly settled down now and so I hope to start this again...as long as I can take the time to go to those local markets.
17. Use organic/natural herbicides
Never did have the weather or time to use the organic spray, but I did ALL weed pulling by hand! If that isn't organic and natural, don't know what is :)
18. Find 3 more ‘One Million Acts of Green’ I can try
I've been successful at shutting down the computer every night, unplugging appliances not in use, still saving up compost, even through the winter, in the garage.  I've been less consious of my water use lately, I want to get back to conserving it better. And now that it's winter, probably won't be airdrying clothes, but I am making sure I have full loads and still using cold water.  I'm also getting more into repurposing items rather than throwing/giving them away, so that I don't have to buy other things.  I am hoping to clear out space in my craft room (selling stuff) for a second hand sewing machine so I can repurpose clothes rather than buying new clothes, etc.

Stewardship of My Talents/Purpose
Well, this has flourished in abundance since my last post.  June 28th I heard officially for the first time about a recovery program at Church that I knew I wanted to be involved in, I just wasn't sure in what capacity.  My leader from the book study facilitating I did contacted me, did an informal meeting/interview and then offered me a LEADERSHIP position for the whole program! Not just a table leader, the Administration/Promotions leader. YIKES! I told her I had to think about it, but the 'job description' fit right into my talents and strengths, and I'd still get to facilitate a group of people who've been through some/most of the same struggles as myself.  I didn't think I was entirely capable but she proved me wrong and I've proved myself wrong :) I've excelled at this job, even though it's exhausted me some weeks, and I love it! I feel I am doing almost everything that I do best AND blessing other people who are in pain and hurting. It's win win.

Stewardship of My Communities
25. Volunteer to help someone with something they can’t do for themselves
Other than what I've previously mentioned, not much new on this task.
26. Babysit one or some of my nieces/nephew(s)
In Steinbach right now babysitting my two neices and my nephew at their home, Saturday to Sunday, while their parents are off on a vacation trip for the long weekend.
27. Organize/host at least one gathering of friends every other month
Now over the year have had 8 outings/gatherings with friends that I've either instigated or hosted, 6 more outings with friends that I didn't even instigate. And no, it wasn't all the same friends :)

Stewardship of My Growth
35. Keep up prayer journal and bible study blog
Still haven't been keeping up with the actual documentation part of praying and reading my Bible, but I have still been praying and spending time in scripture more consistently. I've finished the whole New Testament on CD except Revelation.  I'm listening to that one sparingly because I want to make sure it has my full attention so I can really learn from it, since I'm not as familiar with it. 
I've also got prayer reminders on my phone, a whole list of everyone I'm keeping in my prayers, and I rotate through them in the mornings in between my workouts and getting ready.  And I also have a prayer reminder in our car because we were challenged to pray for people we could bring to Church in the next 2 years. After praying and thinking about it, Sean and I came up with the number 7 (combined) that we wanted to be able to bring to Church in the next 24 months, so this reminder is there so I can concentrate on praying for those 7 people every time we're in the car.

Stewardship of Living My Life
38. Go to at least one Folklorama pavilion
Done, and I posted pictures back in August after I went with my sisters and my mom.
39. Go out on the town by myself
When I go out by myself I tend to shop....I have to stop that (for several reasons) but I still have a mani-pedi I intend to get before my Groupon for it expires in December.  I still would love to hit the art gallery, there was even a show by one of my fav photographers, Jason Poturica, but I think I missed it.  Life has just been too busy unfortunately.

So yeah, I'm just living life and I'm glad my core values are shining through without me having to 'work at' them for the sake of making them a priority, I just am working at them because they are valued parts of my life.  Love it!