I have a new love for the month of May because of one reason: Milly.

It’s pretty sweet how the month that holds Mother’s Day is the month I became a mother. Last year at this time I was waddling around, getting ready to launch the new NRP brand, with just 4 weeks to go until I gave birth and met my daughter (who I was convinced was a boy, by the way). I remember being so consumed with work, with pouring into my team, with launching this new brand, with making sure everything was good to go for maternity leave. I even worked while having contractions – finalizing the blogposts and final touches because we ended up launching the new brand the same day I gave birth, which is quite hilarious. Talk about finishing in the nick of time! I think this was my version of “nesting.”

Since then, my world has been completely changed. Work is still wonderful and good, but goodness it’s just not the priority it once was. And that’s a good thing! Life as Milly’s Mama has been the hardest, messiest, most joyful and fun life I’ve known, and I wouldn’t ever want to go back. She has taught me that life is about people and relationships, and that family really is what matters most. I “knew” this in my head before having her, but now I know it with my whole being. “Mama” has changed my perspective in the best ways possible.

You’ll notice a little trend: my May goals have a lot to do with Milly! I want to share with y’all some of the personal journey I’ve walked this past year, I want to share the fun parts of her life and truly celebrate her, I want to finish her baby book as much as I can, I want to throw her a birthday party, I want to celebrate being a mama.

If you get our monthly newsletter, (be sure to sign up in the side bar!), you will have noticed in 2016 we have monthly themes to our newsletters now, and this one is May is for Mamas! Because May IS for mamas!

May is also the start of wedding season for us, and it’s going to be a full, full month. This month on the blog is going to be a fun mix of celebrating Milly, getting a peak into our lives with her, mama resources, and beautiful weddings, bridals and engagement sessions too. We believe in legacy, and May is going to be full of legacy. It’s going to be a good month!

May Goals

• Read 168 Hours and The Road to Character

• Clean out and organize all personal photos

• Photograph my first wedding of 2016! (Triple wedding weekend for the NRP team and we are PUMPED!)

• Complete month 2 of the Contentment Challenge

• Have a Sabbath 1x week

• Continue training for half marathon

• Throw Milly her 1st birthday party!

• Blog a recap of Milly’s 1st year of life

• Blog Mama Favorites

• Edit all of Milly’s first year photos

• Complete Milly’s baby book

We are coming out of our slow season at NRP, but this “slow” season has been like no other! It was full of purpose and accomplishment and planning and I’ve loved it. As a team, we are starting to set and accomplish quarterly goals, and it’s been so good keeping us on track. However, it also meant a bit of scrambling at the end of March to bring them all to completion! With that said, I’m glad that Q1 has come to a close, and Q2 of 2016 will be significant for me for a number of reasons:

1. Milly turns one. I can’t even.
2. Wedding season begins!
3. Family season and mini sessions also begin!
5. I’ll be doing the Contentment Challenge all of Q2.
6. The entire NRP team is running a half marathon together.
7. I’m praying through a really significant decision. (Sorry to be shady! Just can’t talk openly about it yet. Prayers are SO appreciated though.)
8. The Nancy Ray Shop will be in full swing.

Before I continue, let me just say: THANK YOU. Y’all, the day I launched the Nancy Ray Shop, I was a hot mess. I had a full on crying meltdown, I was nervous, I had so many hesitations and doubts, I was excited and hopeful – I basically was a big ball of emotion. WHY?! I don’t even know. I guess when you set out to accomplish a goal that is tied close to your heart, when you put yourself out there, you just don’t know what to expect. I digress – I really just wanted to say a big thank you for each person who downloaded something. I am so grateful and so in awe.

Back to what I was saying: Q2 is gonna be plain GOOD. So full of LIFE! A first birthday and a team half marathon and loving on our clients? That’s good stuff. So here are my goals to keep me centered and grounded over these next few months:

April Goals

• Start the Contentment Challenge

• Read Boundaries

• Read 70 pages in The Road to Character

• Take really sweet photos of Milly (I just don’t do this enough!)

• Run a 10K + continue half marathon training

• Take a Sabbath weekly

• Send invites to Milly’s birthday party (!)

• Complete a sugar fast

• Complete 3 new products and add to the Nancy Ray Shop

Do you blog your monthly goals? Leave a link to your goals in the comments!

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
– Frederick Douglas

When I set a really hard goal, I get super excited about the end result. In that moment, there’s nothing too hard for me! I WILL set out and accomplish that thing. You just wait – I’ll show you that I can do it! It’s pretty easy for me to get hyped about something big and scary I want to accomplish.

What you don’t see is the struggle. Today, for instance, has been a real struggle for me. I imagine myself locking myself up in my studio and doing focused work, churning out product after E-book after resource, getting ready for the launch of the Nancy Ray Shop. Oh, and I’m cute while doing it. I got my Warby Parker glasses on, an adorable comfy outfit, the room is tidy, the candle is burning – these are the things my fantasies are made of.

But you see, there’s still a business to run. There are new bookings that I have to send out, emails that I have to answer, a newsletter to draft, fires that only I can put out. There’s still a sweet baby upstairs to feed. Oh, and I look a hot mess. No make up. No time to do my hair this morning, after not washing it for 3 days. There’s clutter on my desk. And I’m hungry.

There’s life that gets in the way, and it is SO HARD to shut it all off to do focused work. I can do emails because that’s easy for me. But I put off writing a little E-book or creating something new because I’ve never done that before. I don’t know what that looks like or how long it will take. So I make excuses and don’t do it, and I’m behind on my deadlines and goals and I’m not sure if this shop was even a good idea in the first place. And it’s scary! I don’t even know if I’ll be any good at this giant goal I set out to do.

So if you’re in the struggle, I’m in it with you. But guess what? If there’s no struggle, there’s no progress. So keep struggling until you see the fruit!

March Goals

• Launch the Nancy Ray Shop

• Skim “Launch” (related)

• Prepare my heart for another Contentment Challenge (beginning April 1st. You’re invited. #sorrynotsorry. Details coming soon.)

• Finish reading Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. THIS BOOK is SO GOOD y’all.

• Read The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence (with the NRBC)

• Listen to Traction the Audiobook while running

• Keep up with my half-marathon training

• Plan a Milly Mama day at my favorite park on a good-weather Friday

• Speak at Making Things Happen