Stop snoozing..... it's almost Lent

Lent starts one week from today. Martizi, stop reading right now, because this is a "I am trying to get ready for Lent post". I normally leave such grand ideas for Fat Tuesday, but I thought maybe I'd work on my serious procrastination issues. Every year I have way too many ideas for Lenten sacrifices, because there are just so many things I need to work to improve, and Lent is the perfect time for me to be improving. Of course then I realize that I can't commit to all of my ideas, because I will certainly fail, and I end up choosing something that is usually not difficult enough, and then the last week of Lent I end up feeling guilty for not having challenged myself..... yes I am crazy. Does anyone else have these Liturgical problems?!?!

This year will be different darn it. That is why I'm starting my planning a week in advance, so that hopefully I can actually make some good prayerful decisions about Lent. So here are some of my brainstorming ideas.... let me know if you have any great advice about how you've ever had a prayerful and successful Lent.

My lousy prayer life is my biggest weakness, and it is always what I want to improve during Lent.

Every year I sign up for 40 Days for Life during Lent, which provides a great hour of prayer time whenever I go. I'll do this again this year. If you are looking for something new to do this Lent you should definitely sign up for the 40 days for life in your area!

The Officer and I like to do something together.  Last year we started giving up media some days, and we loved it. So we are going to do that probably 2 days a week when he is off work. We love it because we spend more time playing games, having great conversations, and we try to listen to some good talks. This year we have a few Lighthouse Catholic CDs we are excited to listen to during Lent. We've always loved all of these talks.

A new one I'm going to try this year to hopefully help my prayer life is praying in the morning. No snoozing. My alarm goes off at 6:30 Mon-Thurs. I always hit snooze at least twice. Then I take a super fast shower, get dressed, grab a bagel, and run out the door with wet hair, and hopefully matching shoes. I give myself no time to pray, and I am almost always arriving at school right on time and never a minute early. I definitely love my sleep, but I think I would be more prepared for my day if I just stopped snoozing. So, I'm going to get up the first time my alarm goes off so that I can start my day with a few minutes of prayer. Any good recommendations for morning prayer or scripture reading??