April Goals!

It's been a few months since I blogged about goal setting and specifically, my own goals. I'm still using Lara Casey's power sheets and loving them so, so, so much. Every month, a few days before the month starts - I take an hour or two to go over the worksheets and I find them so incredibly helpful to remind me where I was pointed in the first place, to see what worked and what didn't, and take stock of where I'm at. 

I'm still working from the main five desires that I set at the beginning of the year, and each month I just break those down into monthly goals based on where I'm at. I'll tell you, February - the goals just didn't happen. I'm not quite sure what happened in February - but somewhere between the launch of the church and the Lent calendar, I just lived. And I'm not bummed. I mean, we launched a church plant and kept four kids alive. It's ok if some books didn't get read, you know? Because of that, when I set my March goals, I basically revisited my list for February and added a lot of grace. 

Here were my monthly goals for March & how those ended up. 

- join Nick in working on our family budget (he's plenty capable, but I've been really needing to understand our money for a few years now so I can be more intentional): done!

-  make a room plan/to-do list to organize each room in our house: done!

- execute two rooms on the list: done! My office & kitchen & living room are mostly done!

- get exercise routine in order: done! I stopped going to Barre because the timing wasn't good for my family, but added back in more running and that has been really life giving. Also shifted our schedule so I can work out in the morning again. 

- go to doctor's appointment for myself to check hormone levels + make sure all things are functioning properly: not done. Will get done!

- take big kids to well child visit at new doctor: not done, but scheduled for this month!

- identify family rhythms to watch: done and done!

- rebrand Naptime Diaries blog + shop logo, start spring line: done! Can't wait to show y'all!

- pick face wash + find someone to do my makeup: done! I went with the Refine line by Rodan + Fields and I have a plan to get my makeup settled. 

- finish The Circle Maker: allllmost done. 

And here are my April goals! 

The new blog + shop websites launch on Monday the 7th (woohoooo! Make sure you're following my instagram and the shop instagram for sneak peeks), and ya'll - I'm not even ashamed to tell you that I've gone to the DMV twice in the last few weeks to get a driver's license. I have to take the tests because I've moved in and out of state so much and um - I haven't actually done so great in the passing of the tests. But! April is my month! I'm finishing up getting my passport so I'll be all ready for the Kenya trip in May! Most of the stuff on the list is FUN because getting these websites and the spring line of prints and products finished is going to be a huge push of work in the beginning of the month. That's why the back end is heavy in fun and celebration. And you know I'll be celebrating heavily when Nick and I finish our 40 day long Daniel Fast on Easter! 

So that's what is on the books in April over here. 

I'm linking up my goals with The Tiny Twig and her monthly goals post - what's ahead for you this month? Work? Refreshment? Abiding? Celebration? 

I want to hear! 

The Big Five - 2014 goals

It took about five (fun!) days, but I think I'm all the way planned for 2014! I used my #powersheets by Lara Casey to identify five big goals for the year here. Beyond that, I have lots of measurable month goals and benchmarks I want to hit - but here are the big five. 

Walk with the Lord. 

2013 taught me that accomplishments without intimacy mean nothing. And also, where the Spirit of the Lord is - there is freedom, all I have to do is walk in. One way I want to shift how I do that is by just doing, talking less. 

Develop our homebase. 

Anchored, wild, and encouraging. That's how our home needs to feel. 

Steward & Grow our Businesses. 

What's not said in this sentence is that I want to grow and steward these endeavors, and not start any more:). A promise I'm making to my husband - no more new businesses this year. Naptime Diaries, Influence, the book. That's all that on my plate. 

Attain our base healthy & standard of self care. 

I know it will take lots of work this year, but I'm hopeful that lots of work this year will equal a standard of health that just takes maintenance in the future. 

Partner with Nick for financial freedom. 

Stewarding our money well has always been important to be me in the way of  - "I want to steward our money well, Nick you do it!". I've now figured out that is not going to be enough. Just like our physical health, we're going to have to take huge strides to get to a place we can maintain. And I'm excited! 

A few people on the blog or social media asked how I planned and what in the world all of my seven notebooks were for, so here's a quick break down of what I did. 

get your plan on!

I hope this finds you 3/4 of the way through the sweetest holiday season. Over here? We've eaten about a zillion Christmas cookies and we've cleaned up (most of) the wrapping paper. Now we're knee deep in the thick of my favorite season of the whole year - vision casting, planning, and praying over the next. 

I think somewhere along the way I must've gotten known as a planner. I'm ok with it. I'm a planner! I've had approximately 33 friends text/call/grab my arm as I'm walking by them at church to ask which planner is my favorite right now and what I suggest they use. I'll definitely be using the items in our monthly printable download (January is now available!), but here are a few other products I highly suggest. 

1. Last year I used the Day Designer by Whitney English and absolutely loved it. I bought it in the spring so I still have a few months left in it and will definitely still be utilizing it. It's a beautiful and really-well made planner, but it's also includes some really thoughtful and helpful planning worksheets at the beginning that will help you vision cast for the year. 

2. What I'm relying heavily on for planning in 2014 is my Powersheets by Lara Casey. I would recommend these for literally every single woman I know. When it was all said and done, I bought seven sets for other women this Christmas. I just think they're AMAZING. They're essentially worksheets and goal planning sheets that help you get to the core of what matters most to you and what you need to do to get where you want to go. 

3. I haven't seen the Simplified Planner by Emily Ley in person yet, but I have met Emily Ley and that makes me want to suggest any product she puts out! I know she's an intentional and heart-driven wife and mom and I know her planner LOOKS amazing. 

Lastly, I would definitely suggest the office supply aisle at Target. I think there is something really wise about investing $35-$60 in some really well-made planning supplies like the ones listed above. It makes you really place value on what you're writing and it's investing in yourself so that you can be all the things you need to be to all your people throughout the year. But! There are definitely seasons where that just isn't doable. In that case, the Target office supply aisle is just as perfect. This year - I'm using a hybrid of some really cute notebooks & my PowerSheets and I'm really excited. 

I'll definitely be talking more about dreams, goals, and planning as the new year unfolds - but there they are! My top picks for planners. And of course, don't forget that the Naptime Diaries January printable bundle is out! It's $5 and has thirteen printables including a monthly calendar, weekly calendar, scripture memory cards, two notecards, two scripture prints, a note sheet, and a few more goodies! It will be available all month! 

Grab your noise makers and your fresh pens! 

The New Year is upon us! 

Wedding Re-do, Part 1

So, Nick and I didn't get to make it to our fun Christmas party tonight. We got halfway there and the snow was pouring. It wasn't snowing in Puyallup but we were really worried we'd get stuck so we regretfully turned around. We went to dinner at our favorite thai place in Tacoma & talked about one of our favorite subjects: our wedding. So we decided to imagine we were getting married right now, with unlimited money... how would we do it? Now, this is no disrespect to our wedding because my parents put on one heck of a show. It was my favorite day ever & it was amazing. But this was a fun game to play...

So let's start with the basics.
- We would absolutely keep the same location. Little church on the beach at Sullivan's Island, reception at the country club in my parent's neighborhood in Mt. Pleasant.
- However, if we were getting married right now we wouldn't be bound by school schedules so we'd get married around the first weekend in November. This obviously changes the color scheme.
- We'd go with charcoal & purple. Think these swatches for inspiration.



- To start we'd have a much smaller wedding party so we'd have a really small rehearsal dinner the night before. Somewhere in downtown Charleston where we could eat something like soup & drink coffee afterwards. I would still love to sleep in my room at my mama's house the night before, with Mere in bed beside me and my sister on her way up the stairs with some bran muffins as I woke up. Some memories you just can't change:)

- We would still do around six p.m., and hopefully this time of year it would be darker so we could go almost totally candlelight. There would only be one type of flowers and that would be peonies. My sister & I would carry these very simple bouquets with fresh cut peonies everywhere. If I was feeling really anal, I'd wrap these bouquets in purple-dye dripped twine.


- As for the wedding party, we'd rearrange things a bit. We had a few bridesmaids & groomsmen who we have barely spoken to since our wedding and made some great friends since then. For example we'd have to add Lauren, Shawn, Kelly, Marilee, Thadd, & Staci. But that would make our wedding party like twenty people, so we'd just have family up front with us (Leland, Josh, & Katie) then have the rest of everyone sit off to the side in the choir loft - like a VIP section.

-My sis would wear this charcoal dress & this purple cardigan. We'd both wear these quartz earrings.



At the reception, I'd also put on a purple cardigan & the boys would wear charcoal colored 3-piece suits.

Oh, but what would I wear? Honestly, my wedding dress is my favorite dress in the world, but we're doing fantasy -
so I guess it should be different. How about this goodie from Vera Wang?


Hair down & half up - hopefully still as long as it was then:) If not, I'd get extensions.
Simple makeup & smokey eyes.

Ceremony:
- I don't think there is much that could make that hour better than it was. We'd definitely have Gil lead worship and I'd like to walk into his song, "I love your face", I think that is not the real title. Also, I'd love for him to do John Mark McMillans, "How He loves Us".
- Robbie would still have to do everything & we'd keep the same vows, for sure.


... Ok, that is it for now. Thanks for indulging me, If you don't mind, there will be one more part coming up. We have to talk about music & food at the reception, next. This is really fun for me. Thanks, friends. Anyone else want to do a fantasy wedding for me to read about?