So as I mentioned in my last post, May was a bit of a busy month for me. I worked, we had visitors, I traveled, we had more visitors, and we did laundry in between it all. On a normal day, once June is in bed and we’ve eaten dinner, I usually only have about two hours, max, to get things done before it’s time for us to turn in. (These include but are not limited to hanging with John, working on Etsy orders, blogging, reading, opening mail, watching TV, meal planning, answering emails, chatting with friends or family, cleaning, and washing dishes.) I’m not explaining all that to complain, as there is nothing I’d rather do earlier in the day than hang with June, but just to give some context as to how my time has shifted a bit! I am learning that the scope of my goals also needs to shift during months like these. Even though it doesn’t look like I got much done in May, I did everything I needed to.

And now onto June! :)

Revisiting my goals for May:
Get an estimate from one more landscaping company (I tried!! They dropped off the face of email.)
Apply to our HOA to have a tree removed (See above.)
Finish our will (No… sigh.)
Master an updo from the Small Things archive (Nope.)
Paint my toenails (Victory!! I’m glad and also a little alarmed so many of you identified with this goal.)
Read “168 Hours” for the NR Book Club (Not yet.)
Read two novels (Definitely not.)
Plan for and enjoy our weekend trip to Bald Head Island (Planned but didn’t get to enjoy because of threat of tropical storm!)
Have fun with our weekend visitors (YES!!!)

June goals:
— Perfect the scavenger hunt John and I are developing for my Fourth of July cousin reunion
— Get an estimate from one more landscaping company
— Finish our will
— Master an updo from the Small Things archive
— Read “168 Hours” and “Radical” for the NR Book Club
— Have fun in Brevard with our friends the Henrys
— Host my two dear friends from elementary school
— Plan out our July road trip to Maine

I have a good feeling about June :) As a reminder, here are my 2016 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!

My goals for May are a curious mix of hard things I appear to be putting off (since they’ve lingered on my lists for the last few months…) and fun things I’m looking forward to enjoying. Maybe, though, the latter is just what I need to push through and accomplish the former! Hopefully, a little more time (which has been scarce lately – my Mom stayed with us for three weeks last month, and I happily chose to hang with her instead of being on my laptop!), is all I’ll need.

Revisiting my goals for April:
Read “Boundaries” for the NR Book Club
Successfully take work trips to Atlanta and Hilton Head with my Mom and June in tow (Atlanta trip was successful, HH trip was postponed!)
Prep our raised bed and plant our seedlings
Assemble and hang June’s mobile (so happy I checked this off!!)
Order favorite Instagram prints from 2015
Get an estimate from one more landscaping company
Apply to our HOA to have a tree removed (eep)
Finish our will
Begin waking up at 6:30am (not so much)
Begin getting ready for bed at 10pm (see above…)

May goals:
— Get an estimate from one more landscaping company
— Apply to our HOA to have a tree removed
— Finish our will (People, this is staying on the list until it is done. And then I will write a post about it.)
— Master an updo from the Small Things archive (I’m thinking this one.)
— Paint my toenails (I’m a little embarrassed this is actually a goal.)
— Read “168 Hours” for the NR Book Club
— Read two novels
— Plan for and enjoy our weekend trip to Bald Head Island
— Have fun with our weekend visitors – John’s parents and sister + family one weekend, and his other sister + family and two aunts another! So excited for the cousins to meet!!!

As a reminder, here are my 2016 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!

When I sat down to write my March goals, I was two weeks into taking care of June by myself during the day, and feeling a bit discouraged and overwhelmed (hence all the talk about “simplicity” here). The vantage point from four weeks later feels totally different! We move easily through our days, and they are a joy and a delight. That being said, more change is on the horizon. I transition back into work in the middle of the month, and my Mom is coming to stay with us for a few weeks to watch June before she starts daycare (we like to call it “school” :) ) in May.

I know some of you are hoping I will write about going back to work, but I haven’t yet decided what, if anything, I’d like to say. For me personally, I know that hearing about the work/childcare arrangements of others, if they are “better” than mine, is one of my biggest jealousy triggers. Which is ridiculous, because I have an understanding workplace with lots of flexibility, the ability to have June home with me during the day, the resources to send her to our first-choice school, and a job I love. With all of my parenting posts (and all of my posts, period!), my aim is to make you feel more equipped and lifted up, not sad or discouraged. Maybe it’s just my perspective or individual neuroses, but I feel like work talk has the potential to do the latter. I will keep thinking on it! But for now, let’s chat about goals…

Revisiting my goals for March:
Bring a thank you gift to the post-partum nurses’ station at the hospital where I delivered
Read “The Practice of the Presence of God” for NR Book Club
Work push-ups and sit-ups back into my daily routine (While I did do many push-ups, I wouldn’t say I worked them into my routine. As my schedule becomes more regular with my transition back to work, I’m planning to find one set time I can do them every day!)
Start running again
Print a 2016 downtown restaurant bucket list
Read “Jesus Calling” every day (Not every day, but I have it sitting next to the glider and felt inspired every day I DID read it!)
Clean up “that corner” of our bedroom that has been taken over by June stuff
Hang things in June’s nursery (I hung one of the framed prints!! Still have the mobile and wooden framed art to go.)

April goals:
— Read “Boundaries” for the NR Book Club
— Successfully take work trips to Atlanta and Hilton Head with my Mom and June in tow (!)
— Prep our raised bed and plant our seedlings
— Assemble and hang June’s mobile
— Order favorite Instagram prints from 2015
— Get an estimate from one more landscaping company
— Apply to our HOA to have a tree removed (eep)
— Finish our will
— Begin waking up at 6:30am for an hour of work/leisure before June wakes up
— Begin getting ready for bed at 10pm

As a reminder, here are my 2016 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!

Simplicity is the name of the game around here right now. The more I have on my to do list, the more I attempt to tackle during my little pockets of nap time throughout the day, and the more easily I get frustrated when those pockets don’t feel long enough. Right now my priority is to take care of June, and I want to do that well. That means weeding out what I’m not passionate about, what doesn’t matter, what adds clutters, and what sucks time, and adding things that tend to myself and my family. I tried to reflect that in this month’s goals, and hopefully I’ll notice the fruit over the next few weeks!

With my girl on Valentine’s Day!

Revisiting my goals for February:
Take two classes on Skillshare
Find a new rhythm once John returns to work (I guess? This has been more challenging than I expected.)
Begin our will
Resume our monthly tennis dates with Sam + Graham (A last-minute change bumped this to March!)
Go to Ash Wednesday service
Read “His Needs Her Needs” for NR book club (just a few pages left so I am calling this good!)
Hang art in June’s nursery (still nothing hung, but we did make progress!)
Invite friends to dinner to celebrate my birthday!

March goals:
— Bring a thank you gift to the post-partum nurses’ station at the hospital where I delivered
— Read “Practicing the Presence of God” for NR Book Club
— Work push-ups and sit-ups back into my daily routine
— Start running again
— Print a 2016 downtown restaurant bucket list (more on this to come!)
— Read “Jesus Calling” every day
— Clean up “that corner” of our bedroom that has been taken over by June stuff
— Hang art and shelving in June’s nursery (hope springs eternal…)

As a reminder, here are my 2016 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!