Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Mans Soul by John Eldredge

This is a wonderful book. The Author, John Eldredge, does a great job describing the need for men to be masculine. How are the physical embodiment of God's masculine side. He describes their need for "adventure." He also looks at the loss of "becoming a man" in today's society by the lack of fatherhood and over protectiveness of mothers.

I must say, I loved this book. It really opened my eyes to how I as a help meet (soul mate) should encourage and support my husband on his adventures to a masculine heart.

This book also look at how women are the feminine side of God and how we crave the attention and "white knight" to come and find us just as God craves us to fight for him.

All in all this book was a huge eye opener in the a deeper level of support in the wife husband dynamic. I will truly take a lot a way from this book and apply it in our lives.

Note: I was given a complimentary copy of the book to review. This review is my own opinion and I was in no way compensated for a good review.

Thru November

FINANCIAL
1) Save 9-10% of your annual income in a savings account- we currently have not met this goal. We were able to put some into savings but not as much as we would have liked. This will definitely be a big goal for next year.

2) Save $1000 to go on a honeymoon/5-year anniversary- We finally got money together to go on a honeymoon/5-year anniversary trip. All we have to do now is figure out where and when. Any suggestions?


3) Make 1 extra house payment- We also completed this. My small additions to each payment added up to ~1.5 house payments. Yea us!!

4) Spend less that $3000 on groceries and household needs for the entire year (does not include baby things but does include toiletries and cleaning products)-

5)Never use a credit card - We did have to use the credit card a few times this year for some of the many breakdowns but we have all of the credit cards paid off in full and will go into the new year with only a house loan.

6)Save enough money to buy Aaron a new chainsaw- WE DID IT! Aaron bought his new chainsaw on Mar 4th. He has already used it a couple times.

7) Save enough money to buy a new lawn mower- We still are just using the push mower. This Will be a goal for next year. We hope to buy a new one in April or so.

8) Save $500 to buy a 1/2 cow or a pig for the freezer- Not done.. this maybe could have happened.. but them someone (who is 14 months, cute adorable, and shall remain anonymous) unplugged the freezer right before our trip making us loose everything in our fully stocked freezer. I guess life happens.


9) Have no debt (other than the mortgage) by the end of the year. Replaced by 9b.
9b) Pay off minivan in 12 months- We did it!! We paid off the mini van in less than 12 months. YEA!!!!!


10)Pay off all medicals bills from 2009 (Thanks a lot kidney and face)- DONE in February

11)Make $500 from selling things (yard sales, craigslist, etc)- We did well in this category. I think all in all we made about $300-400 selling things at yard sales and on Craigslist.


12) Start a savings account for a new car- well we were able to put $1000 down with the money that we started to save. but this goal is now complete


FAMILY

1) Go on two weekend family vacations- We only made it on one.. but we were able to see both families one in the summer and go home for both holidays. All in all a job well done.

2) Visit both families at least once- Completed July 1-13th


HOBBY
1) Make at least 2 batches of beer- Completed in July
2) Make at least 1 batch of root beer- completed in May and July


3) Grow a successful garden- We did ok.
4) Can 6+ months of corn, green beans, pickles, spaghetti sauce, stewed tomatoes, salsa, etc. - We bought a ton of tomatoes from a local farmer and were able to can lots of spaghetti sauce, salsa, bruschetta, etc. We have really enjoyed it. We hope to can even more next year.

SALLY
1) Get back to pre-Hannah weight- Not quiet there, but I'm getting there.

2) Make two dresses for Hannah- Completed in May
3) Learn a new hobby-
4)Make 2 books on picaboo-I have Titus's baby book completed. If I can only figure out how to get it on our new computer, I will order it. The second book has not occurred.. but I am still really motivated to do so.

5) Read the entire bible- I did awful at this. i made it thru Deuteromety with audio books and haven't made it any further.

6) Get more involved at the church- I am still praying and waiting for this.
7) Read 7 books - Ive read 4 or 5 books this year. I should be getting one more from my book review club and i borrowed one from my grandmother I hope to finish. So this one may still happen.

AARON

1) Hunt something- Completed in May
2) Process one animal - Completed in May

3) Make a rocking horse - nothing yet.

OTHER

1) Make our own breads (so my real goal is to not but any sandwich bread or breakfast breads for an entire year)- We have done this so far. We will not be continuing it next year. (Aaron dreams about store bought bread). I think we will still make it often but I would like to have some on stock so making bread all the time isn't the burden it has become.

2) Make 52 new recipes- Completed. (see posted before this one). I hope to post all the recipes this month.

July

FINANCIAL
1) Save 9-10% of your annual income in a savings account- So i have come to grips that this will probably not happen this year. But i still want to save some. We'll see.
2) Save $1000 to go on a honeymoon/5-year anniversary- Waiting on the reimbursement.. still.. grrrrr insurance company.

3) Make 1 extra house payment- This month I did an additional ~5%. Total ~50%

4) Spend less that $3000 on groceries and household needs for the entire year (does not include baby things but does include toiletries and cleaning products)-

5)Never use a credit card - Only work expenses that I will get reimbursed for

6)Save enough money to buy Aaron a new chainsaw- WE DID IT! Aaron bought his new chainsaw on Mar 4th. He has already used it a couple times.

7) Save enough money to buy a new lawn mower- Waiting to see what happens with the insurance reimbursement. Right now the push mower works and could get us through his summer if needed.

8) Save $500 to buy a 1/2 cow or a pig for the freezer- This one might not happen either. Its still something we want to do but realistically, $500 isn't enough to purchase either.
9) Have no debt (other than the mortgage) by the end of the year. Replaced by 9b.
9b) Pay off minivan in 12 months- Slow and steady wins the race. I have set up a way of doubling the payment. Unfortunately i didn't realize it until now. The bank has a weird way of depicting their payment schedule. I hope to have an automatic payment taken out biweekly to help this.
10)Pay off all medicals bills from 2009 (Thanks a lot kidney and face)- DONE in February

11)Make $500 from selling things (yard sales, craigslist, etc)- Nothing this month. We are going to re post everything in August.
12) Start a savings account for a new car- well we were able to put $1000 down with the money that we started to save. but this goal is now complete


FAMILY

1) Go on two weekend family vacations- No vacations this month
2) Visit both families at least once- Completed July 1-13th
HOBBY
1) Make at least 2 batches of beer- We started out second batch at the end of the month. It is in our guest bedroom bubbling away.

2) Make at least 1 batch of root beer- We have made 3+ batches of root beer. We are still struggling with carbonation so i will try a few new things in August.
3) Grow a successful garden- We are restarting the garden in August
4) Can 6+ months of corn, green beans, pickles, spaghetti sauce, stewed tomatoes, salsa, etc. -
No more canning in July. Hopefully some in August

SALLY
1) Get back to pre-Hannah weight-July was not a good month for me. But i am at the same point... no loss.. no gain.. i guess its better then gaining.. but still frustrating.

2) Make two dresses for Hannah- Completed in May
3) Learn a new hobby- I have decided Soda making is going to be my new hobby. I love doing it, and I really enjoy the blend of cooking and science.

4)Make 2 books on picaboo- I am up to June in Titus's baby book and still have no idea what other book i want to make. Working on it.
5) Read the entire bible-

6) Get more involved at the church- i signed up to help with the children's ministry. hopefully they will call me soon

7) Read 7 books - 1 down, 6 to go ( i have started the second)

AARON

1) Hunt something- Completed in May
2) Process one animal - Completed in May

3) Make a rocking horse - nothing yet.

OTHER

1) Make our own breads (so my real goal is to not but any sandwich bread or breakfast breads for an entire year)- We did it. We are doing really good on this goal

2) Make 52 new recipes- I am up to 32. Recipes will follow.