aren’t these gift tags adorable?

It’s the last month of the year, which means it’s the last time I’ll write down my monthly goals for 2013. Hard to believe. Even so, I won’t let this month fade away until 2014 arrives. Nope! I am going to stay strong with my goals, manage my time wisely, and keep my eyes straight ahead to accomplish my work and dive into rest.  December is probably my favorite month of the year, for many reasons. It’s crossing the finish line, so to speak, with my business, as I send off all images back into the hands of my clients. It’s the month I get to slow down, take a deep breath, and step away from the computer. It’s the month we celebrate our Savior coming into this world, it’s the month of my birthday, too, and it’s the month where we put a bow on 2013 and say goodbye to a year full of challenges and successes. It’s a month of remembering all that worked and all that didn’t, the time to look ahead at a new year and welcome it with celebration. It’s the close of a chapter, like the feeling you get when you finish the last page of your journal, and the excitement that comes with picking out a new one.

This month, I plan to work hard and rest well. I want to focus on the little things that usually pass me by – taking time to wrap pretty gifts, trying a new recipe, taking naps (which I never do!). In general, I have a hard time resting. But this December, I want that to change. Here’s to a fulfilling month of focused work and lots of rest!

December Goals

• 15 in 12 : Read Margin & a novel for fun

• Enjoying wrapping Christmas gifts beautifully (instead of in a rush!)

• Complete gift wrapping by December 15th

• Practice my Calligraphy on our Christmas Card envelopes

• Complete all weddings and sessions by Christmas

• Launch Mentor Sessions

• Make and decorate Gingerbread Cookies (any recipe recommendations?)

• Have a Christmas date night, complete with

  • A fancy dinner while reminiscing all we did this year

  • Our favorite Christmas Movie

  • A drive around our neighborhood to see the lights

• Spend Christmas in Nashville

• Take more naps

• Have a relaxed birthday at home

October was a whirlwind. It was GOOD, but it was a whirlwind. It included:

3 booked weddings on October 5th to begin the month (!) • 5 hot yoga classes that kicked my butt • 5 weddings total • weekend in Beaufort to spend time with Will and photograph Callie & Jamie’s engagement session • strength training with an amazing personal trainer • online Lover.ly google hangout (watch here if you didn’t get to see it) • 11 sessions • 1 rehearsal dinner • Making Things Happen Conference • the NC State Fair with Will • running in my neighborhood • annual Bridge costume party

Bare with me for a few moments while I just dump out my heart and my thoughts into this post. You’ve been warned.

My heart is full. It is heavy and refreshed at the same time. Making Things Happen gave me the gift that it always gives : a renewed perspective, focus on my life goals, determination to make time for what matters: reading, date nights, exercise, etc.

Yet at the same time,  I have been so frustrated lately because I feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done. Sometimes, I literally say out loud, “There IS enough time. God gave me enough time!” Which is true. But HOW I manage that time plays out in my life in so many different ways. The truth is that my to-do list exceeds the realistic time I have to check it all off. I put too much on my plate for the day. Then I leave my work day feeling defeated and guilty when I stop to watch a movie with Will or exercise or take the time to cook dinner.

In the midst of all of this, I’m reading an incredible book : 168 hours – you have more time than you think. It has helped me immensely, and I’m so grateful for it. The first thing it tells you to do is log every single hour of your day and write down how you spend it. So instead of logging “work,” I write down “emails” or “blogging.”  I have logged 2 weeks, and I am still logging my hours and learning about this crazy life that I lead. I am learning how to exercise and answer all these emails that will never stop filling my inbox and how to train my team and how to be a good wife and get enough sleep and plan time for me and rest and edit and update my business to stay current (read: USB drives instead of DVDs) and I feel just plain overwhelmed sometimes. I am just one person.

Want to know what I’ve discovered in all of this?

I still have a lot of learning to do.

I want more boundaries, a more productive schedule, more adventures, a healthier lifestyle, and happier clients.

You know what else I’ve learned?

These things take time.

Small changes over time = a BIG change. So this month, I will be faithful with what is right in front of me: November. I will continue to make goals and learn how to better myself and my life. I will whisper prayers of thanks, because while I’m not perfect and I’m not where I want to be, I have come so far.

Lord, give me perspective so that do not become discouraged. Give me strength to change where I need to.

November Goals

• Continue 15 in 12 : Finish 168 Hours, Read The Advantage as part of the #readsplendid Book Club

• Begin training for my Christmas Day 10K! (Yes it’s a race that my sister and I made up!)

• Launch Mentor Sessions with Will

• Teach a finance class on the Influence Network

• Eat only 2 desserts / week

• Celebrate Will’s birthday!

• Photograph 3 weddings, which will wrap up my 2013 wedding season

• See Gravity and the Hunger Games in Theaters. Scared about Gravity. Pumped about Hunger Games!

• Enjoy the mountains with my family

• Lead a few songs of worship on the guitar (!) at the Celebration Staff Retreat

• Complete all my Christmas shopping by Cyber Monday

• Order USB drives to replace DVD’s for Digital Negatives

What are your November Goals? Leave a comment with a link to your blog below! Even if this is the very first month you’ve ever blogged your goals – leave your link. You never know who you will inspire!

(photo by Eric Kelly)

October Goals

• Read 15 in 12: The Martha Rules (thanks for letting me borrow it Em!) & 168 Hours (thanks for the thoughtful gift, Erin!)

• Take a donation of clothes and household items to WLFJ in the spirit of #clearoctober !

• Eat honeycrisp apples and buy a pumpkin

• Get comfortable playing the key of C on Guitar (namely that difficult F chord)

• Speak at Making Things Happen

• Letter a favorite quote and frame it

• Begin Christmas shopping

• Eat corn on the cob at the State Fair 

• Order Prinstagrams of our most recent adventure

• Put Bible verses on our chalk wall and memorize 1 per week

And just for laughs… Will retweeted this recently, and it cracked me up:
“If you say Pumpkin Spice Latte in the mirror three times a white girl with yoga pants will appear and tell you all her favorite things about fall.”

GUILTY! Happy fall, y’all!