Growing My Hair and Reading My Bible

So, here's a quick update and switcharoo with my 5 Things. I am switching my #1 back to Growing my hair down to the middle of my back. Hope, Haven and I agreed on January 1st that we were all three going to grow out our hair for the entire year and see how much it grows. I took pictures of the both of them (my selfie of the back of my head didn't turn out very well) that same day, so on Jan. 1 next year, I'll post before and after type pictures. Well, my hair isn't down to the middle of my back yet, but it is past my shoulders! Yay for progress! Every day I feel like chopping it off, but I won't go back on the agreement we all three made.

About my other 4 things...

I did read a book. So I should cross that off. I read A Little Princess. I know it is technically a children's book, but it is a chapter book, and I have always loved it. So, it counts! My new #2 will be Replace the elastic in all my cloth diapers.

We no longer live in an area that has any letterboxes nearby... So, I should probably change this, but we will be going on furlough in seven months and there will be letterboxes there. So, maybe I'll just keep this one here.

I know that I should make #4 a priority, but I really don't know where to put exercise in my schedule. So, I might be changing this soon.

I am still reading my Bible through. It's taken a lot longer than it probably should have. Right now I am on the book of Luke. So I have made progress, it's just really slow, though not too steady.

So, here are the changes stated in a more concise way...

Old #1: Stain our bed and picture frames.
New #1: Grow my hair down to the middle of my back.

Old #2: Read a book.
New #2: Replace the elastic in all my cloth diapers.

All other numbers remain unchanged...

New #1 and #2

The old #1: Grow my hair down to the middle of my back. As I mentioned in my last post, this feels like it will be impossible for me to do, as I am on the verge of chopping it all off and starting over again.


The new #1: Stain our bed and picture frames.

The old #2: Deep clean our bedroom. I did do a thorough deep clean. I just didn't get any pictures right away and the spic-and-span-ness has faded.


The new #2: Read a book. I haven't read a whole book (that's not a children's book) in quite a while. I know I have Read through my Bible on here, but this is different. :) I'll tell you what book I end up reading when I finish it.

Next Thing #1= IMPOSSIBLE

Growing my hair down to the middle of my back has been one of my next 5 things since I started this blog. At this point my hair is down to my shoulders (when it is wet).

One thing that I didn't know about breastfeeding is that when you wean your child it can cause your hair to fall out, again. When Haven was about four months old, right around the time we came to Thailand, my hair started falling out because of the postpartum hormones. This last December she stopped breastfeeding, and since then my hair has become SO thin!

After Hope was born and my hair fell out, I went and had it chopped really short. In like manner, once we came to Thailand and moved to Chiang Mai, I chopped my hair again. That was right before I started this blog. So, now that I have the thinnest hair ever (again), I feel like chopping it all off. Or shaving my head. 

At this point, I don't know how much longer I can stand it. I am removing this as my #1 of my Next 5 Things and putting something a little easier to accomplish.

The New #2: Deep Clean Our Bedroom

I didn't take a picture of the finished letters and postcards, but I did finish them and sent them off in the mail. Yay for having that finally completed! Now on to the next thing...

The Old #2: Catch up on correspondence

The New #2: Deep clean our bedroom

The New #2: Catch up on Correspondence

Old #2: Take a new family picture.

The New #2: Catch up on correspondence.

I am really behind, and I need to write over a hundred postcards and cards to people. So here I am saying that I will get this done. Hopefully, I will cross this off the list sooner than later (as in this next week).

Progress Report #3

Just so everyone (who actually cares :) knows, I am still working on my Next Five.

1. I am able to pull my hair back into a pigtail now. It's still at least an inch and a half above my shoulders.

2. We still have not bought a new tripod yet, so we're waiting on the family picture. I should make "buy a tripod" one of my Next Five :)

3. We tried to knock this one off the list today. We followed all the clues and I believe we were even at the right tree, although things must have changed at the location of this Letterbox. There was a sign missing and the potted plants we were looking for were cracked, and where the Letterbox should have been was an ant nest. So, we were disappointed, but we had to give up because we were being eaten alive by mosquitos and didn't want to add ants to the feeding frenzy. 

There are two other Letterboxes here in Chiang Mai, so we'll have to go try and find one and see if we are successful at locating one. I won't cross this off my Next Five until we've at least tried to find all three.

4. Exercise... I just need to start :)

5. I just finished 1 Kings a couple nights ago and am now on Chapter 9 of 2 Kings. Just taking my time and taking it in, enjoying the read.

Progress Report #2

Here is a quick update on my progress with these Next 5...

1. My hair is not growing as quickly as I would like. It will be quite a while before this is crossed off my list.

2. We need a new tripod for our camera before we can take a new family picture.

3. I know where there is a letterbox. Hope and I just need to go find it! This could happen anytime now...

4. Exercise has not been a huge priority recently, and I haven't been very consistent, but we'll see...

5. I am just about to finish the Book of Joshua. 6 books down, 60 more to go.

The New #2: Take a New Family Picture

Old #2: Pluck my eyebrows.

New #2: Take a New Family Picture.

Our last good family picture was taken right after Haven was born We really need a new one.

The New #3: Find a Letterbox with Hope

My old #3: Make more cloth wipes.

New #3: Find a Letterbox with Hope. This one should be really fun for us to do together. There are a few letterboxes here in Chiang Mai, and I am pretty sure I know where one of them is.

On To A New #2!

The Old #2: Switch from disposable diapers to cloth diapers.

Our cloth diapers finally came today!!! I'm so excited to get them all washed and ready to use. But I can cross this off our list, since we have them in hand now. Now for my next #2...

The New #2: Pluck my eyebrows.
I know they're in need of attention, and I've been meaning to do it. Maybe putting it down as one of my next 5 things will give me the motivation.

The New #3: Make More Cloth Wipes

Old #3: Fix all torn books.

New #3: Make more cloth wipes. 

I have some cloth wipes already, but I think I need a better supply. I've been putting off doing this since I don't have a sewing machine, but it's something that needs to be done. Hopefully I'll cross this one off soon, and get on to something better.

The New #3: Fix All Torn Books

I am crossing off my old #3, because I have decided to just go cold turkey and start hitting the sack at 9:30.

Old #3: Adopt a bedtime of 9:30 pm.


New #3: Fix all torn books. My daughters have unintentionally ripped and torn several books in their childish excitement and so we have several that need fixing. This is my new addition to my next 5.

Making Progress

The Next 5 Things that I am working on right now will be taking me quite some time to complete. So, I'm just writing an update.

#1. Growing my hair down to the middle of my back is proceeding as quickly as hair grows. Maybe I'll post a picture every couple of months for a progress report.

#2. Switching from disposable to cloth diapers is almost complete. We've ordered cloth diapers and they are on their way. Once they get here, I'll be taking pictures, crossing this off my list and adding something new.

#3. Adopting a bedtime of 9:30 is very difficult for me, but I think I am slowly adjusting to earlier and earlier bedtimes. We'll see how long this one takes.

#4. I exercised three days last week, but only two days this week (if I exercise tomorrow night).

#5. Reading through the Bible is always interesting to me. Right now I am about halfway through Exodus. I'm not really taking a certain number of chapters a day, just reading as much as I feel I can at that time.

The First of My Next 5 Things

I was casually browsing through blogs of friends last night, when I happened upon an interesting idea. My friend Becky had joined a group of people who were blogging their "Next 5 Things." The idea is to make a list of five things that you want to accomplish or try. Every time that you do something on the list, you acknowledge the accomplishment or effort, cross it off the list, and add another something in the vacant spot.

THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!

Unfortunately, most of the people that Becky had links to had lagged in their blogging of their next five things. So, I have taken up the "Next 5 Things" challenge. This will be an occasional blog, not an every day happening. I will not be completing a thing a day and blogging about it. But I will be trying to accomplish my next five things every day, or at least one thing from my list.

So, here are the first of my "Next 5 Things:"

#1. Grow my hair down to the middle of my back (this one will take a while to accomplish).

#2. Switch from disposable diapers for Haven to cloth diapers.

#3. Adopt a bedtime of 9:30 pm.

#4. Exercise at least three times a week for two months straight.

#5. Read my way through the Bible (again).