February Wishes

And just like that, February is upon us. Just yesterday, I was pulling pictures from magazines, highlighting inspirational quotes, and perfecting my vision board. I was agonizing over lists of plans, ideas, and aspirations, only to find myself overwhelmed.

 Last month, I decided I would abandon the idea of making resolutions all because 2014 didn't go as smoothly as I had planned. But then, as I began writing in my journal this morning (and rereading entries from previous months), I realized my plans, though well-intentioned, were terribly flawed. The first problem was that I had not fully surrendered my life nor my life's plans to Christ. As much as I've prayed and asked God to do this or work that out, I had not stopped to listen or acknowledge the plans He had for my life. Secondly, I simply was not putting in the work (nor did I have enough faith in myself or God to see things through). Now, as I take these two things into consideration, it seems I was doomed to fail from the start. How many of you guys have dealt with this same issue?

August Wishes

Hello, beautiful people! Are you as stoked about the arrival of August as I am? I'm always excited about the beginning of a new month. For me (and many others I'm sure), it ushers in a fresh start. As we pull last month's calendar sheet away, we get the opportunity to chart our progress from last month's goals and prepare to create new goals for the month before us. 

Being a mom, I always look at the arrival of August as the time to prepare the kids for school. Even though they don't return for several weeks, it still seems like the time to bring summer events to a close and begin focusing on the next school year. So with the summer coming to an end and the school year approaching, it's time to prepare for a change in my family's schedules.

Here are my wishes for this week:

1. Make more pretty things. I've been obsessing over making pretty things lately. If I'm not revamping something around the house, I'm working on a DIY project I found on Pinterest. My latest project is an online boutique that I am currently working out the kinks on. I'll be sharing more about that with you guys next week. Thanks so much Donna for that extra push I so desperately needed ;-) But in the meantime, my goal is to make everything around me (and my loved ones) more beautiful. 

2. Stay in the middle of reading a good book. Thanks to Megan over at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life, I've been reading a lot lately. Her summer reading challenge has pulled me out of my comfort zone of always reading self-help books and African American Lit. My goal is to always be in the middle of a good read or two from now on. It really helps sharpen the mommy brain!

3. Keep exercising. One of the hardest yet most fulfilling goals I had last month was exercising. I know that sounds pretty lazy of me, doesn't it? But I find it so hard to stick to a routine! Fortunately, I gained a workout partner and joined a local gym that really motivates me to keep pushing. My goal is to keep going on schedule and stay pumped about it. 

4. Create "back-to-school" goals with the kids. Since I have been charting my goals and writing down my weekly ambitions, my children have been compelled to do the same---especially my daughter. After having a talk about setting realistic goals and intentions, they thought it would be great to create goals for the upcoming school year. So goal-setting we shall do!

5. Unplug on the weekends. Last month, I made a goal to unplug at least once a week. And just a few days after creating that goal, my computer went nuts! This frenzy created an unintentional blog break for me. And while I really missed my blog, I was much more productive around the house and in other areas. So by the suggestion of blogger friend Mimi, I will be unplugging from Friday night to Monday morning. Hopefully this will help me better manage my time.

6. Continue to write something daily. Even on the days I don't feel like writing, keeping up with my gratitude journal and prayer journal seem like more than enough to keep me jotting something down. And if my to-do lists count, I'm always writing something lol. 

7. Plan a summer's end celebration for the family. Hubby thinks it's a great idea to have a cookout or get-together before the little ones return to school. So I'm in full brainstorming mode for that. Any ideas, anyone?

What are your current goals?

 Let me know in the comments!

Weekly Wishes #3

Hello, everyone! Are you excited that June is finally here? I must say that I'm excited for the new month, but so sad that May is officially over. Over the last few weeks, I've celebrated my birthday (my 29th to be exact) and my oldest son's birthday. I've also stepped out of my comfort zone quite a bit to visit new places, try new things, and I'm so proud of myself! I made a commitment to myself last month to try something new as often as I could and it has really been an eye-opening experience. Have you guys tried anything new lately? If so, I would love to hear all about it in the comments! 

A great tool I've been utilizing is mapping out my weekly wishes and daily intentions. I am able to keep my goals and aspirations in perspective by making note of them and charting my progress on a daily and weekly basis. Have you ever made resolutions for yourself at the beginning of the year only to find you have forgotten half of the resolutions by the summer? With creating a small, attainable list of to-do items each day or each week, I've found myself staying the course with much more ease than in the past. 

Here are my wishes for this week:

1. Unplug for a day. Taking a break from social media does have its rewards. I've done this in the past and I must admit, unplugging really does keep distractions to a minimum for me.

2. Read one book. I am actually reading two books, but I hope to have at least one of them finished by the end of the week. I am re-reading I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and just started The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer a few nights ago.

3. Exercise. This always seems like the hardest task to do. I can never seem to stick to a routine. My hope is to get some cardio in at least three days this week. Let's cross our fingers!

4. Reach out to an old friend. I read this article by Marie over at GoodLooknOut and felt inspired to reach out to an old friend. So instead of looking through someone's pictures via Facebook and Instagram, I will actually hit them up and see how they've been doing.

5. Write something daily. This one seems easy enough, right? I even have some inspiration from here, here, and here. Thanks for the NaBloPoMo info, Brittnei!

Let's see how I did with last month's wishes:

1. Do something special for my birthday. Mission accomplished! My birthday was awesome! 

2. Work on fitness as a family unit. This was a fail. I have no clue where to begin with this one. I'm going back to the drawing board (aka Pinterest or Google).

3. Have a girl's night each week with Gabs. This has been a success. We've had quite a few "girl talks," movie nights, mani + pedi nights, and crossing off activities from her Just Mom & Me book. My hope is to definitely keep this going.

4. Spend quality time with my girlfriends. I'm pleased to say I've had lots of quality time with my girls last month. It feels great to have a few girls you can call up to catch up, vent, have fun, and share support. My girls are the best--- especially my bestie!

5. Make "more" pretty things. This has been fun! I've made a habit to make something new each week and I can't wait to share my results with you guys. With careful planning and consideration,  I'm almost ready to share my pretty things with you all. 

6. Plan a vacation. I simply made a list of places I would like to visit over the summer. I have yet to make any plans or preparations, though.

7. Create a self-care plan. I created a self-care plan that is very simple, yet effective. I made an ultimate list of things I love to do and vowed to do at least three of them each week. Have you ever tried doing this? What do you do for self-care? 

What are some things you wish to accomplish this week? 

This month?

Tell me all about them in the comments! 

May's Wishes

Hey guys, I'm back! Did you all miss me? I know it's been a while, and for that I do apologize. I've really missed you all and hope to get all caught up in the blogosphere soon!

Since I left off with a weekly wishes post, and May is a very special month for me, I decided to share my monthly wishes with you as well.

1. Do something special for my birthday. I don't have any major plans for my birthday this year and haven't for the last couple of years. And I'm not trying to do anything big this year, but I do hope to celebrate in some way or another with my favorite people. I've been working on my 30 by 30 list steadily as well, so I hope to have a few more items crossed off my list by my prelude to 30 at the end of the month.

2. Work on fitness as a family unit. Trying to eat healthy seems to be a struggle around my home. For years I have been making a variation of two different meals (per night) as my husband and I don't like the same foods. And now that I'm attempting to eat healthier, it's harder to get creative with meals and still appease my husband and children. I hope to overcome this challenge by the end of this month because I have no plans on increasing my grocery budget. Any tips, ladies and gents?

3. Have "girl's night" each week with Gabs. We recently grabbed up this cute little book by the American Girl series called "Just Mom & Me" that contains some of the coolest activities for girls to do with their moms. Though we've done a few of the activities, I want to get a little more routine with our quality time spent together. With my oldest son involved in sports this season and Jj getting most of the attention around the house, it's imperative that I make sure I carve in special time for just me and baby girl.

4. Spend quality time with my girlfriends. Life gets overwhelming sometimes. And sometimes it sucks because I feel like I don't have an outlet from my family life. I really could use a few lunch dates and girl talks this month.  I really miss my girls.

5. Make (more)  pretty things. Thanks to Pinterest and Youtube, I've been on a creative kick lately. I can't wait to share with you all some of the things I've been making. And to keep my creative momentum rolling, I'm making a commitment to create at least one pretty thing each week.

6. Plan a vacation. It's always fun to plan a vacation for the family, even if I have no clue when we will be able to take one. I'm hoping we will be able to tackle at least one weekend getaway for the early summer.

7. Create a "self-care" plan. Sometimes when we take on a lot, carry on a lot of responsibilities, and make it our mission to make everyone around us happy, we often forget to make sure we are at 100%. Back in my SW days at UNCW, we did self-care check-ins each week. We told our field instructors at least one thing we did for ourselves during the week prior to meeting. I'm making a point to do something each week and for accountability purposes, I might even share a bit about them here on the blog, on my FB page, or over on Insta.

And a brief update about last month's wishes:

I can honestly say I've accomplished each of the wishes. Well, sorta. In April, I hoped to get my blogging life together. That resulted in an unplanned blogging break. I needed to be centered and focused with a few personal things going on with me, so blogging took an unexpected backseat. However, I have been writing almost everyday, whether it's been a poem, a prayer, or a brief anecdote. I learned that I never really lost my inspiration to write last month, I just became so overwhelmed in other areas that I could not focus on completing anything.

With the help of a fitness challenge between J and I along with YouTube (namely BeFit, Blogilates, and Tiffany Rothe), I've also been exercising regularly. My goal is to get some activity in daily and gain a partner (or support group) by my birthday.

The children have really enjoyed spending time with God daily, and have even made a habit of getting in devotion time nightly thanks to these books.

I've done a lot of spring cleaning literally and figuratively and am now making strides to throw out 50 things each week, so that I don't get bogged down with that much clutter ever again.

And I've been reading some great books lately, too. Be on the lookout for a post about them soon!

What are some things you wish to accomplish this week? 

This month?

Tell me all about them in the comments! 

Weekly Wishes #1

Hello loves! How is everyone doing? I hope all is well with each of you! As for me, all is well on my end. I've been doing a bit of self-reflection these last few weeks, and I'm looking for a spiritual break-through to happen any moment now. Do you ever feel yourself getting "out-of-sync" with everything going on around you? Well that's sort of what's been happening to me. I've been so consumed with what's going on (and what isn't going on) around me that I haven't been taking the best care of myself. So I'm working to become more proactive about that.

But on to other things, I've recorded my weekly to-do list and decided to share the main objectives with you guys this week. Hopefully you will want to share a few items on your list with me in the comments. Maybe you'll even be moved to offer some tips, encouragement, advice, and or resources with me as well!

1. Spend time with God each day as a family unit. Together, my children and I have created a weekly family devotional plan. And I couldn't be more excited to get started with it today. Though I've been researching ways to actively spend more time with Him as a family for a while, it felt good to get the children involved in the planning stage. They have their materials and resources ready!

2. Clean up the yard. My yard could definitely use some TLC. Anyone riding along the highway could tell me that. So I've included getting dirty and cleaning this mess up in my to-do list this week. I have flowers and trees to plant along with weeds to kill. And I can't wait to add a few more items to my honey-do list for hubby to complete lol.

3. Re-organize and re-purpose the "room at the end of the hall." One part of spring cleaning that I want to get accomplished this week is organizing the pink bedroom. I have a few ideas in mind (thanks to Pinterest) and I am bringing my daughter along for the ride.

4. Spring clean my closet. Just like the last few items on the list, cleaning my closet is imperative. This will probably take more than a week at the rate I usually go. Maybe I'll add this to the on-going monthly to-do list.

5. Read a book. Since my latest obsession with Korean Drama has devoured all of my free-time, I haven't read one single book. And that is so unlike me! This week I'm trying to get lost in a good read and get back in the habit of doing so regularly. Does anyone have any suggestions? And if you're as obsessed with KDrama as I am, what are your favorite dramas?

6. Tighten up my writing/blogging life. I have a writing project that has been sitting on my desk for a month. I need to get on that so I can share it with you guys! I also want to get back to writing something every day--even if it's just a journal entry. How do you guys go about finding writing inspiration?

7. Finalize Relay for Life fundraising efforts. I'm excited to be a part of Relay for Life again this year. It feels good to give time supporting and giving time to something my family and I are passionate about. I have a few plans for fundraising that I hope to discuss with my team a little more this week.

8. Exercise. I haven't committed to any exercise in forever. So I'm reintroducing myself to more physical activity by doing at least 15 minutes of cardio each day this week. If I can do that, I can get back in the swing of things sooner than I think!

What are your wishes for the week?

Tell me all about them in the comments.