Weekly Rundown: Focus

I sat down to write this weekly rundown, and as I’m typing Jarrod started sawing into sheetrock and it literally looks like a dust bomb. So I’m completely distracted and my hands feel dry now and all I can think about how where do I start cleaning this?? This is one of the many moments lately where I offer up the prayer– Let Your rapture come soon, Lord.

Ok, I’m going to try to string together coherent sentences.

Wait, I just realized there are five little girls playing in the garage amongst the bathroom debris– an old tub, a toilet. a dismantled vanity, pieces of ripped up sheetrock, old insulation, broken tiles. They say they’re building a fort. Lord, give me strength.

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Ok. They’re outside now.

My glasses are dusty. Jarrod just asked if he could use the vacuum to clean up the mess in the bathroom. Like the vacuum I use to clean our house to suck up chunks of sheetrock and demo garbage. He wasn’t kidding.

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Ok Alicia, you can do this. Focus.

Weekly Rundown: Focus

Besides this period of time in which I’m writing this weekly rundown, we had a really great week over here. I did feel focused. I tuned a lot of things out, pulled up some goals and habits that got sidetracked over the holidays, and got to work.

Here’s what those goals and habits looked like.

Sleep is always an issue for me, but I was diligent this week and got 8 hours almost every night.

Planning food around calorie count and macros works really well in my mind. I need a plan and to follow it instead of having to make a million little decisions about food each day. The day before, I will go to My Fitness Pal app and plug in what I will eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack, making sure I am hitting my macros– fats, carbs, and protein. Then all I need to do is follow that plan. Food is on autopilot and it works SO WELL for me.

For workouts this week, I mainly focused on getting to the gym in the morning. I’ve worked out consistently for about 13 months at the gym, but lately I’ve been going later in the day. It just doesn’t work well with homeschooling and all the other tasks during the day. I have two workouts that I do and I rotate those every other day, six days a week.

Last, I focused on tuning out the news. Specifically all the political podcasts I normally listen to. I have always loved politics, but I need a detox. So I’m abstaining from my favorites for the next 30 days or so. It’s actually felt really good. I’ve been listening to a mindless thriller this week instead–see below.

It’s been a while since I have felt really focused on health goals– this week I’ve turned a corner.

Happy Mail

I have eyed Lisa Leonard’s classic jewelry forever. This week, I received the happiest mail– four custom rings with my kids’ names. They are gorgeous and I could not love them more!

Every time I look at my hands, I remember to be thankful for my babies. I’m also finding they remind me to pray for my kids. Almost always, I have something to pray for each of my kids, this is a huge reminder for me.

Making Home

Like I said. It’s a disaster here. Even worse than last week.

We’re redoing our main floor bathroom. It’s tiny, but you wouldn’t know it by the disaster it’s caused. We were not planning on tearing out a ton of the drywall, but for multiple reasons, realized we had to. Jarrod’s working on that now. And he has his own–methods….. Better to live on the corner of a roof than share a home with a quarrelsome wife. Better to live on the corner of a roof than share a home with a quarrelsome wife. Better to live on the corner of a roof than share a home with a quarrelsome wife– give me strength, Lord.

The fireplace is coming along. We hit a snag when the bricks came in and the color was not what I expected. But the new version came in on Thursday and Jack and I installed them yesterday.

It was certainly a learning experience. He learned to use the tile saw and mix mortar. I learned to get over perfection and go for it. We had to wait a bit till we can grout it. Hopefully Monday! Then, a new mantel and paint for the bookshelves.

Here’s what the mantel will look like. I will share all the details and links when we are finished….

When I start to feel overwhelmed with the mess we’ve created, I go back to the vision I had when we started and focus on those. Deep breath– for once, I wish I had a mask though– it’s so dusty in here!

What We’re Learning

I have LOVED our SQUILT lessons and listening calendar this month!! I’m so sad it’s over! If you don’t want to become a member, you can purchase listening calendars for a low price and have SO much fun listening with your kids each day.

January was focused on musicals. The calendar was FULL of so many great selections. We also watched Phantom of the Opera this week and have a list of more musicals we want to watch.

We also started a new program to go with our Ancient Greece study–Take Time for Art. Penny sent the girls art packs and we are so impressed already! I will write up a full review in the coming weeks.

The program includes lots of video with art history for the kids (and the moms!) in addition to lots of great art projects. Yesterday, we learned about the Minoan Civilization’s art, color theory, and created a color wheel. Next week, we’ll use what we learned about color theory to create art like the art found in Ancient Crete!

What We Read This Week

We have been reading Genevieve Foster’s George Washington’s World and I cannot express how much I love these books!

They are on the long side, but they are fantastic for covering what was going on all over the world during the span of the main character’s lifespan.

Noteworthy

I listened to a couple really great things this week. One was our sermon from last week. We had a guest pastor and he spoke on persecution. One thing that struck me was when he said: “the bible never promises us prosperity, but it does promise persecution.” The whole sermon was SO GOOD! Listen here.

I’ve also been loving Doug Wilson’s articles lately. He had a great article on Monday. Read it here.

Lastly, I signed up for a webinar from Carole Joy Seid that I am really excited for. It’s all about returning to our first love in homeschooling. Read more about it here.

On My Heart

With all the upheaval the last nine months has brought, we keep hearing the message, “God is in control. God has a plan.” And so on…

This week, just with keeping my hands busy, and my mind quieter, that truth really sunk down deep for me. Almost nothing has happened in recent history how I think it should have gone. But I’m still here, still breathing, still living out God’s purposes. I guess what I’m trying to say is that my mind is quiet right now. Nothing has changed, everything is seemingly garbage, the turmoil never seems to subside, but nothing is happening without God’s sovereign will allowing it to be so.

I’m focused on training my kids in biblical truths and God’s Word.

I’m focused on diligently praying that God would lead our next steps.

I’m focused on studying God’s Word and theology– more succinctly, I’m focused on studying God– so that I won’t be deceived or lead astray.

On My Nightstand

Something about non-fiction nighttime reading does NOT work for me. I either immediately fall asleep or I forget everything I’m reading because I’m too tired. So, I love a good novel before bed and I finished two of them this week:

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica: I really dislike the title and it was a tad on the slow side, BUT overall it was really good. A prominent Chicago judge’s adult daughter is taken, we’re not sure how that’s going to end up. We learn the judge is somewhat of a dirtball. There is a surprisingly strong pro-life message conveyed. And a lot of these types of thriller genre books sometimes have a lot of profanity and/or sex scenes, but this had very low doses of both.

The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James: This one flew by. There was a haunted motel, missing persons, unsolved crimes–the whole gamut. Totally entertaining–great cozy, winter reading. This one had more profanity than the other. Really enjoyed both books!

The mess has me stressing, but I really am so thankful…

I’ve been redoing so many spaces in our home for six years now and the sheetrock dust hell scape we’re living in is hard for me, but I really am so thankful that we have the time and resources to tackle some projects right now.

Jarrod is really handy, even if his methods are questionable to me 😉 I am thankful we don’t have to hire all our projects out or we’d never afford to do any of them!

Someday soon we will have a nice, new shiny bathroom and fireplace and we’ll be onto the next project.

Be thankful in the middle of it, Alicia. Focus on these things.

Have a restful Sunday, friend.

8 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing Alicia. I too have decided I cannot control most of the things going on, but I can control how I react to it. I can pray for the Lord to guide me and put my trust in him. I can also teach my children to be rooted in His word and to study it.
    It is so handy to have husband’s who are able to do so many things (mine is currently building our house & teaching me some). The fireplace looks lovely.

  2. Thank you, I love this rundown! This past year has been so difficult but your honesty, humor, and perseverance are so encouraging to me.
    I’m getting back to some things that have been set aside (exercise, sleep, healthy eating to name a few) and focus on the things that really matter. The one thing that’s been good about all of this disaster is that my faith has grown and I’m far more grounded and rooted (Rooted is my 2021 word) than ever before.
    Thank you for speaking truth!

  3. Thank you for sharing, Alicia! I can relate to so much of this. Very thankful to be where we’re at. Appreciate your sharing these updates for those of us who aren’t on social media much anymore 🙂

  4. Love these Alicia, I too got name rings of my kids and love them! My goal for the week is more sleep too…I’m just going for 7, why is it so hard?! I look forward to your emails each Sunday! Have a fantastic week.

  5. Love the rings! Lisa Leonard has the greatest stuff!
    So very grateful to rest in the sovereignty of God!
    My husband is redoing our electrical and cutting holes in the ceiling for new lighting. Sometimes he has to cut random holes in the walls to work the new wiring through, this means insulation sometimes flies out and around the room, and by room, I mean every room in my house, trying to trust the process. All that to say, I feel your pain.

  6. Alicia,
    I am loving the rundowns! Thanks for taking the time to share all your thoughts and resources with us still. I’ve had to really wrestle with God’s sovereignty in my life for about the past 10 years… good prep for 2020. Lol. It is humbling to think that in truth, the year 2020 went perfectly according to God’s plan. Thanks for encouraging us in that too!

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