Happy July, friends! A proper monthly goals post will be coming shortly, but first I wanted to step back and share a mid-year update on my 2022 goals. I’ve done this for the past few years, and, as we say at Cultivate, pausing and reflecting like this really does help me to appreciate how my little efforts have added up over time. And, I don’t know, I figure you might be curious?! If so, let’s go! Goal no. 1: Return to in-person worship. Progress I’ve made: I said this was my number one goal at the beginning of the year, and the progress certainly bears that out – hallelujah! Like many, we began worshipping from home when churches closed at the beginning of the pandemic, and then… never really returned, even though we were loyal online attenders. However, given my understanding of Jesus’s vision for a life of faith centering around learning, growing, and loving in a local community, I knew it was past time for our family to open ourselves back up to the discipline and delight of in-person worship. And we have! We’ve joined a new church family and have been worshipping regularly since February. We’ve joined a small group, we’ve started serving, we’ve gone to people’s houses for dinner, and we (and our kids) have made friends. From where we were then to where we are now, it’s all by the grace of God, and I am so grateful.What I hope to accomplish in the next six months: This goal is complete! Goal no. 2: Bury the word of God in our hearts.Progress I’ve made: I have not been particularly systematic about this goal, but it has been fruitful nonetheless! The kids’ Sunday school has memory verses each month, so we’ve memorized those as a family, and June

One month of 2022 goals in the books, friends! And I am celebrating a major win over here. As you may remember, one of my goals for the year is to make my fitness a priority, and as part of that, we kicked off a Q1 Peloton challenge with our siblings at the beginning of the year. John and I didn’t get the W, but we came roaring back from injury and pregnancy with ferocity. I logged at least one activity every single day, adding up to over 900 minutes of cycling, stretching, yoga, and strength training in January. Y’all, in ALL of 2021 I logged 1,800 minutes (!!). Though we didn’t win this first month, the challenge did exactly what it was supposed to – got our butts back on the bike. I’m not back to my pre-Annie PRs yet, but I’m getting closer with each ride. Plus, the habit of working out daily really started to rewire my brain to crave a ride each day. SUCH good progress here. Whatever your goals for this year, I hope you have some progress to celebrate, too! :) On my calendar this month:— Celebrating Chinese New Year! We will 100% be eating dumplings tonight.— Making valentines with June and Shep! We are going with a Thomas theme for Shep (and will be giving these little cuties out) and for June, a rock theme, loosely inspired by these. I’m thinking of putting together a post rounding up some of our valentines from past years, if that sounds helpful! For whatever reason, valentines have turned out to be one of our biggest craft occasions all year – they’re fun! :)— Our Valentine’s Day fun.— My birthday! Hoping we get a sunny day so we can go for our traditional walk in my favorite Raleigh

After the angst of last year, this year’s goals came clearly and quickly, and I’m really excited about them! As always, I set my 2022 goals with the help of my PowerSheets – they remind me what really matters to me and then help me make those things a priority. Sharing my goals here, year after year and month after month, is quite possibly the most potent factor in any progress I’ve made, so thank you, as always, for being kind, listening ears! :) Photo by Graham from Annie’s newborn session 1. Return to in-person worship. My understanding of Jesus’s vision for a life of faith centers around learning, growing, and loving in a local community. Like many, we have worshipped from home since churches closed at the beginning of the pandemic, and that has been good in many ways, but I have felt strong confirmation that it is time for our family to open ourselves back up to the discipline and delight of in-person worship. This is not as simple as walking back through the doors (hence why it’s a goal), but it’s also very tender, so this is probably not a goal you’ll be hearing much more about right now. But it’s number one for a reason :) 2. Bury the word of God in our hearts. If I want to invite my children into a life of faith, the most powerful thing I can do is to live one myself – and let my children see me living it. The word of God needs to be on MY tongue if I want to teach it to them. The fruit of the Spirit needs to be in ME if I want to encourage it in them. The life of a believer needs to look like the best, most

We’ve reached the tipping point month of our 2021! Having had another baby in July, I know firsthand the feeling of having your year bisected: there is before we’re a family of five, and there is after we’re a family of five. The weeks leading up to this point have not been the easiest (and they actually seem to be increasing in chaos as we draw closer to my due date…), but I am grateful for the little moments of peace we have had: eating dinner at twilight with friends, an uninterrupted hour of Lego play, a last date night, evening blueberry runs, porch dinners with plates balanced on our knees, reading in bed later than I should. With everything going on, I haven’t dwelt too much on our newest family member’s arrival (beyond attending to practical concerns!). Therefore, as weird as it might sound, I am anticipating with joy checking into the hospital and having my focus 100% on one precious baby girl when her birthday rolls around. We will take all the prayers for a healthy baby and healthy delivery in the meantime! Here’s what else we have planned this month… On my calendar this month:— Welcoming our new baby girl to the family!— Celebrating John’s and Shep’s birthdays— Celebrating the Fourth with our town’s parade and clearly some sort of patriotic dessert What I’m loving right now:— I am at the point in this pregnancy where I have been wearing the same four outfits on repeat and am craving variety. A few things on my radar: this floaty floral dress, this jumpsuit with pockets, this pretty green dress (I know NOTHING about this company so order at your own risk, ha!), this pleated seafoam midi skirt, this punchy dotted dress, and this striped shirtdress (which would actually