February Goals

January flew by!  I am one month closer to being a college graduate-- good thing y'all can't see my knees shaking-- and I am continually looking for jobs. January definitely kept me very busy. But looking back on my goals list shows me that it was filled with lots of encouragement, goal planning and joy!

January Goals

work through Lara Casey's Goal Setting series | Took my merry ole time but I finally finished the series and am looking forward to sharing my vision for 2014 soon!

continue working on my personal goals for 2014 | I am not completely finished with digging deep to uncover these yet... 

be completely transparent and honest while working through my set of PowerSheets | Definitely being completely honest!

begin working on some lovely paper products | I am so excited to begin sharing these with y'all soon! Check out my first handmade print here.

keep practicing Adobe programs | I'm learning! Anddd I set up tutoring sessions with a sweet friend in graphic design :)

work on my new website, YAY! | I am so excited about this one! I am can't wait to debut my new brand and a name that reflects who I am and what I want my business to stand for!

DAILY quiet time in The Word and my journal | So... I am not a morning person. No matter how hard I try I can't drag my butt out of my warm, cozy covers to have morning quiet time. I finally embraced this fact and have started having evening quiet times. Any other night owls out there??

dance around my room to music daily | Done and done!

go on more friend dates | SLACKEDD on these majorly, sorry friends. I'll try again in February...

SIMPLIFY | I simplified a few things in my life this month including my email, to-do/goal lists, my closet and my hair!

continue to BE PRESENT | still trying to spend meaningful time with the people around me who matter most!

volunteer and serve at a local charity | Yes and yes. I have started volunteering at the special needs preschool where my sister teaches and I LOVE IT! I have been a swim coach for 8 summers in a row and the past three summers I have taught a little girl with Down syndrome how to swim. I understand the love, patience, encouragement in teaching special needs children and I adore seeing others that possess the talent and love necessary.

February Goals

     Continue with my Contentment Challenge of not buying new clothes

     Daily quiet times with my journal, bible and in prayer

     Finish 2014 goals

     

     Write letters to friends

     Set a date for rebranding launch!

     Create more :)

     Set aside intentional time with friends

     Being prayerful throughout my job search

May this month be filled with lots of love, laughter and friends. Oh and did anyone tally up the number of times I said the word love in this post? :) Happy Month of Love!

Five on Friday

Goodness friends I haven't linked up for Five on Friday in such a long time! I'd say it's about time to join the lovely ladies again. Linking up with Christina, Darci, April, and Natasha for my favorites from this week!
{one} Simplifying my life is something I am focusing on this year! Cleaning out my closet was LONG overdo. My process for this was anything I haven't worn in the last month or two months gets donated. I have challenged myself to not buy any new pieces of clothing, my own version of the contentment challenge.

{two} This gorgeous calendar caught my eye in Anthro a few weeks ago. I LOVED the image of the derby on the front and once I saw all the beautiful images it contained I just had to have it. The 2014 Travel America Calendar from Rifle Paper Co. highlights iconic images around our beautiful nation and i jsut so happens that I have only been to the first five places listed... coincidence? Maybe but I cant wait to travel to the other 7!

{three} I am in the beginning stages of my PowerSheets journey and they are nestled in my beautiful Simplified Life Binder, that I talk about here. This process has been a very revealing, brutally honest process. I am working through Lara Casey's Goal Setting Series and.... it's tough. God keeps revealing to me "Fear not for I am with you," Isaiah 41:10. It is so hard to give over control but goodness, I have to just trust that His plans are A MILLION times better than any plans I could every dream up!

{four} A perfect reminder as I begin many new adventures! Print by Mandy Cave Watercolor.

{five} STILL reeling over this experience of a lifetime! If any of y'all follow along you know I love two animals very, very dearly... Newfoundland dogs and manatees. During my Christmas break I had the privilege of swimming with the gentle wild manatees in Crystal River! See all my pictures here :) Warning they are so cute your heart will melt!

Happy Weekend from my manatee friends and I!

Simplified Life Binder

I am such a planner girl. I like my little check boxes, my daily to-do lists, and goal lists. But sometimes the to-do and goal lists tend to blend together. I want my goals to be set apart from my daily tasks of getting cereal or paying a bill. Goals should be something I look forward to, something I build up to not just another check on my to-do lists. I've determined that setting good goals is a really tough, really revealing process. You really have to dig down deep and truly ask yourself how you are doing and what fires up your heart!

In order to make this happen, I asked for a few lovely paper products for Christmas. The first was the Simplified Life Binder Starter Kit by Emily Ley and the second was my very own set of PowerSheets by Lara Casey.

The Simplified Life Binder Starter Kit comes with a binder of your choice, a set of colorful dividers with empowering sayings on them, a tabs notebook, as well as three sheet sets: Spending, To Do, and Grocery List. They are so bright and cheerful! Emily Ley offers many other free printables that can be easily dressed up with pretty tape.

Inside my pretty striped binder is a set of 2014 PowerSheets. 

These are so inspiring! If you want a kick in the tail to get truthful about what fires you up I would highly recommend working through the PowerSheets. You have to make sure you are completely honest with yourself in order to accomplish whatever goals you have!

Simplify: Email

Everyday when I check my email, I sort through SO many subscriptions! When I realized how much time in my day is spent deleting subscription emails, I knew I had to do something to manage my time better. I stumbled across unroll.me while reading Victoria Straders's post on Happily Ever Strader about controlling subscription emails.

Unroll me is a service that can simplify your inbox! I had no idea how many subscriptions I was signed up for until I saw the running total pop-up. 104, I had 104 subscriptions! Phew, what a waste of time sorting through those daily deal emails.

Now when I check my email it will not be filled with subscription after subscription but with the important emails I actually need to spend my time reading!