Whether you enjoy having a list guide your days or not, there is a very simple list that I believe holds great value: a Dream List.

I have a list, it’s quite long, of my dreams – some very concrete and measurable and some are difficult to measure but serve as a reminder of what I want to achieve. I am generally the kind of person who believes that goal lists should be concrete and easily measurable. However, for this list I completely break that rule!

My dream list includes natural living changes I would like to make, habits I would like to develop, personality traits I would like to adapt, ways I would like to parent, things I would like to try or become more proficient at doing, things I would like to learn, etc. It’s an incredibly long list! And it’s always being added to!

Why do I keep this kind of list? One that breaks all of the rules for making goals and to do lists? Because it keeps me guided. It is helpful to periodically read through the list to remember my bigger goals in life and the person that I am striving to become. It is very easy to be caught up in the drivel of day-to-day living and to float through my days making it through work and wasting away the evenings. But a read through my list and I remember that each day should count – everyday holds the potential to get me one step closer to the person that I desire to become and to the goals that I would like to achieve.

Having a dream list made it relatively easy to make a list of 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days – I simply looked through my large goals and broke them down into several smaller and more measurable goals that I could accomplish that would get me a few steps closer to meeting my large life goals.

What about you? Do you have a place where you keep track of long term ideas and goals? How do you develop your ideas?

the bread dough for tomorrow is soaking,

the dog has slipped upstairs to bed.

I sit in one rocking chair and sip lavender and chamomile tea,

he sits next to me in the rocking chair and plays a word game,

bemoaning that he has not yet been given an “r.”

I reflect on the day,

the experiences, and learning, and doing, and dreaming,

and smile.

He smiles, too.

I savor these last moments before sleep,

enjoying every last bit of today.

With tomorrow will come a new day -

but for now, I am content right here.

I am a reader. I love to read. I am frequently at the library picking up huge stacks of books. And, until recently we had eight shelves filled with books – and no end in sight for when the book buying would end.

I began sifting through my books – I identified many books that would probably not be read again or that were not absolute favorites; these I removed from the shelves. I also removed most of my fiction books as I tend not to read most fiction a second time. This got me down to less than five shelves of books.

After much consideration and price comparisons, we decided that it would be a good idea to purchase a Kindle for me. I enjoy reading several books at the same time – this way I can have several different books with me at the same time. This also provides an incredibly compact way to store all of the books that I purchase and read over and over again (I am an unashamed book re-reader!).

(My reading corner – with my reader’s journal and kindle in it’s green cover!)

Kindle books are less expensive to purchase, after purchasing only a few books, I will be able to make up the money spent to purchase the Kindle.

Benefits of the Kindle that I have enjoyed:

• having a variety of books with me on the road
• word games that my husband and I can play together
• small and compact – easy to carry a book wherever I go!
• reading the bible and having access to all of my bible study tools available at bible study without carrying a stack of books with me
• taking sermon notes right next to the scripture passage during sermons
• free copies of classic literature through Amazon

Through some careful considerations of which books I will actually read again (and purging those that I will not) and using the Kindle to purchase new books for my collection, we were able to drastically minimize the collection of books at our home!

Technology is such a helpful tool in minimal living!

I prefer minimalism to indulgence. In this country, in this time, minimalism is against the norm.

I am not a radical minimalist by any means. But I believe that if something is going to be taking up space, time, or effort it should be of value. And not necessarily monetary value; the things in my schedule, my home, my classroom, my closet, etc. should all add value to the life of myself and my family. According to this definition of minimalism – minimalism will look different as applied to the lives of different people.

In our minimalistic lives: we have a stockpile of household goods, we organize well, we carefully choose our possessions, and we make use of technology. We have what we like and we like what we have. Contentment and minimalism go hand in hand.

When it comes time to plan meals for a month I just look through the lists in the front of my recipe book. There is a list of chicken meals, beef meals, pork meals, vegetarian meals, and side dishes.

It’s a simple thing…but oh so helpful

The day had no option but to be wonderful!

(What is currently growing on my back porch.)

(Compost Bin, Large Pots – 2 tomatoes, 1 blueberry, 2 planters for the future (green beans, green peppers)

(Strawberries – Coming Back Strong from Last Year)

(Onions & Carrots; Small Pots for Future Herbs)

(Raspberry Plants Stronger than Last Year!)

What are your growing plans this summer?

Google has made being organized so easy! Some tools that I love are:

1. Gmail: Gmail is Google’s email program. It’s completely free. You never have to delete an email; simply archive them. When you need an email you can simply google search all of the emails you have ever received. Gmail emails can be sorted into files, color coded, and automatically skip the inbox.
2. Google Reader: This is the feed reader in which I read my blog posts. Google Reader gathers new posts on the blogs that I follow and presents them to me in one place. Interesting posts that I would like to come back to later can be starred for easy retrieval.
3. Google Calendar:  This calendar is great because events can be color coded based on what kind of event it is (i.e. family and friends, church, work, etc). Calendars can also be shared. Some calendars my husband and I can both edit so that we both see changes. You can turn different kinds of calendars on and off. So, my husband has access to my calendar but keeps it turned off; however, he can look up when I will have a meeting after school or know when I have a stressful day coming up because he can access my work schedule.
4. Google Documents: Word documents. Excel documents. Powerpoints. Google can do them all. And like calendars, these documents can be shared! Amazing!
5. iGoogle Homepage: My internet homepage is my iGoogle page. On this page is a preview of my email, a preview of my calendar, a preview of my reader, a preview of my document, a weather reporter for the area, and my master to do lists. All in one place! By simply clicking on one of the tools I can open the page.

Another great thing about these tools is that they are all digital – my entire homemaking notebook and plans are slowly working their way towards being digital. Maybe by the time we have children, I will no longer be using printed paper in a notebook for my household management at all! That would be a fantastic way to save paper and go green!

I have one list for work and one list for my personal life. People at work (and in my personal life, actually) have learned that they need to email me to make sure that I remember something that I have been asked to do. As soon as I have an idea of something that needs done, get an email or message about something, or am asked to do something I write it down. As long as it gets written down I will get the task done!

Having these lists has been a great organization tool!

So, I have discovered that I can start the dvd, mute it, and then listening to worship music on the laptop. It’s such an improvement!

Worshiping God while working out makes the working out much more pleasant! Give it a try!