April 2015 Goals

Simplify. That's my word for April. March was full and wonderful, but in the midst of all the good things happening, I found myself feeling drained and overwhelmed. As I set out to prepare for April, I pulled out my PowerSheets, but up next was not my usual monthly sheets, but instead the three month refresh sheets. Turns out, that refresh was exactly what I didn't know I needed to pause to process and gain some really valuable clarity.

Celebrating my cutie husband's birthday in our favorite getaway spot, St. Simons Island, Georgia!

I realized in an attempt to live with purpose and focus on what matters, I was focusing on too many things at once. I let all the important things build up one on top of the other instead of letting them ebb and flow in seasons. I was wearing down under the expectations I put on myself, and I had cast my net too wide.

This is where I am so thankful for grace. Thankful that I can breathe in and exhale, open my hands and receive the fullness, contentment, peace and order that only God can bring. Through all my striving, I've spent the last several days pausing more to loosen my grip and hand over the reigns. He gently takes them and leads me on a path that doesn't always make sense or feel intuitive, but it does lead to peace. 

Just past the year anniversary of the launch of The LovingKind, in March, I had a special celebration with these sweet friends who played big roles in helping me bring TLK to life! From L to R: Michelle, Rachel, Courtney and Callie

For April, I've adjusted my expectations, written clear goals attached to specific purposes, and left room to breathe. Already, I feel more energized and excited because I've simplified and clarified what matters most in this season.

At a quarter into the year—how has it been for you? Have you been on track making 2015 look just how you hoped, or do you feel down because your goals aren't coming together how you expected? Or, are you like me, and you're accomplishing things, but it's at the expense of your own well being?

Wherever you are, I want you to know that you can (and will!) still accomplish your goals. Let the last three months be, and pick up from right here to continue in a good direction to making 2015 great and purposeful. It's not going to happen overnight or in one easy try. 2015 will be a great year if you will just keep going. The things that matter in your life are too important for you to give up now. As a little boost, keep reading for an impromptu giveaway below!

March goals progress:

• Write a blog post that asks a good question and builds community (This post!)
• Have our April family budget party before the end of March (we didn't have it before the end of March, but it's done now!)
• Follow up about The Influence Conference
• Celebrate Woody's birthday with fun and love on St. Simons Island with family
• Dentist appointment
• Follow up on pre-wedding celebrations for Christy
• Send March birthday cards
• Write Woody a love note (birthday card!)
• Order Artifact Uprising book of our second anniversary trip
• Second gathering of The Orchard
• Complete two new card designs
• Continue our search for our first home (!) (more details coming on this soon!)
• Plan team gathering with work teammates (paritally planned)

April (simplified) goals:

• Write three blog posts
• Travel to Indianapolis for Sigma Kappa event
• Go to Florence, Al, with Woody for Highlands Staff & Spouses Retreat
• Read and work through three topics (one-ish a week) from 31 Days of Prayer for the Dreamer and the Doer
• Take next steps in the home-buying process 
• Look for frames for gold foil Lara Casey Shop prints (currently favoriting these!)
• Establish a consistent weekly date night with Woody
• Follow up on the Influence conference
• Send April birthday cards (three are already on their way!)
• Have a planning night for NYC trip (Paris is out, NYC is in for 2015!)

Make It Happen by Lara Casey

This journey isn't meant to happen alone, friends. There is so much to reach for, to give, and to receive in this life, but we need each other to help us in the journey. I loved hearing from so many of you about your goals and hopes for 2015 earlier this year, and I want to hear from you again! How are you doing? What is your progress? How can I pray for you? Share a comment on this post from now through the end of the month and be entered to win the fabulous Make It Happen book by Lara Casey! Please include your email in your post. If you need help living a life that is more focused on purpose than perfection, then you will love this book! I can't wait to hear from you! 

(Posts accepted through April 30 at 11:59pm CST to qualify for the giveaway).

March 2015 Goals

Happy March! The end of February caught me a bit under the weather, and it's taken me longer than I'd hoped to prepare and share my March goals. But, I'm not letting the fact that my perfect plan didn't fall into place stop me, and March is going to be a GOOD month!

But first, here's a quick look back at February.

Woody and I took a storybook trip for Valentine's Day with our dear friends Rachel and Lucas. We stayed in the Brigadoon cottage by Shelter + Roost in Leiper's Fork, TN, and it was cozy, heartwarming and so much fun! Look for a blog post with more later this month.

Photo by Rachel Coffey Photography, Leiper's Fork, TN

I had the special opportunity to return to my college alma mater and speak at a Sigma Kappa Sorority banquet, where my sister, a current chapter member, and my whole family were in attendance. I loved getting to reminisce and share with the college women, and sharing it all with my family was a true treat.

I also got to be part of reaching for a dream with dear friends as we started The Orchard creative small group together. We had our first monthly meeting, and saw what we already felt in our hearts come to life—God has a loving purpose and plan for this gathering of creative women.

Overall, as would be appropriate for February, I feel like the month truly was marked by love. It was a FULL 28 days, and at moments it felt overwhelming, but when I look back at the month, I can say that I loved people well, and that is most definitely worth it. 

2015 and January Goals
February Goals

February goals progress:

• Create Pinterest board with home inspiration
• Speak at Sigma Kappa event
• Plan CAbi clothing show
• Have a meaningful Valentine's Day celebration with Woody and friends
• Continue healthy eating based on The Daniel Plan (we made progress, but this still needs work)
• Revise budget for 2015 with Woody
• Have Valentine card Le Pen giveaway
• Prayerfully choose lender and realtor for home-buying process (we made the final decisions in the first few days of March, and we are so excited!)
• Valentine's gift for Woody
• Launch The Orchard creative small group with Rachel and Emily
• Spend two hours working on the next product for The LovingKind
• Practice watercolor
• Three quality blog posts, including The LovingKind first anniversary post! (I had so much fun sharing The LovingKind's first year-in-review in the Anniversary post!)
• Mail giveaway winners' gifts
• Celebrate Rachel's birthday
• Celebrate Jessie's baby shower
• Send Make It Happen books to mom, mother-in-law and sis-in-law (I still have one more to send!)
• Print 2015 goals and make notes (I have a handwritten version where I made notes, but I still want to print out the final, "official" list)
• Attend Ignite Marriage conference with Woody

March goals:

• Write a blog post that asks a good question and builds community
• Have our April family budget party before the end of March
• Follow up about The Influence Conference
• Celebrate Woody's birthday with fun and love on St. Simons Island with family
• Dentist appointment
• Follow up on pre-wedding celebrations for Christy
• Send March birthday cards
• Write Woody a love note 
• Order Artifact Uprising book of our second anniversary trip
• Second gathering of The Orchard
• Complete two new card designs
• Continue our search for our first home (!)
• Plan team gathering with work teammates

I am excited for March and believing for it to be a purposeful, fulfilling month, and I pray the same for you, friends! I would love to hear from you! What is one thing you hope to make happen this month?

February 2015 Goals

I'm so excited to write my first goals progress and new month goals post! My initial 2015 Goals post felt like a big step forward, and it feels so good to be writing this second post and getting in the flow.

January was an awesome month. We participated in 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting at our church, and it was incredible. We ended the 21 Days healthier spiritually and physically, and we hope to keep many of the habits we formed active in our lives in 2015 and beyond.

Also, I launched my love + Valentine's cards in the TLK Shop! Some of these designs have been sketched out since before the launch of The LovingKind so finally getting to share them was so fun and exciting.

We also planned a really fun Valentine's celebration with friends that I hope to share with you next month!

Those are some of the highlights, and here is the official update of progress with the list, followed by February goals. I love following my friend, Emily's, goals posts (you should follow her too!) so you'll probably noticed a similar formatting in my goals posts!

January goals progress:

• Book The Nest event space for my 30th birthday celebration. (tentatively booked, waiting for email confirmation!)
• Take down and store Christmas decor.
• Launch Valentine's Day cards in the TLK Shop.
• Send last year's New Year's Eve Hope Tree cards to party guests.
• Make 2015 birthday card list and mark birthdays in my Simplified Planner.
• Participate in and complete 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting at church.
• Create goals at work.
• Pray for our future home and home-buying process.
• Register my small group at church.
• Plan Valentine's Day with Woody.
• Plan TLK anniversary dinner with TLK launch contributors.

February Goals:

• Create Pinterest board with home inspiration
• Speak at Sigma Kappa event
• Plan CAbi clothing show
• Have a meaningful Valentine's Day celebration with Woody and friends
• Continue healthy eating based on The Daniel Plan
• Revise budget for 2015 with Woody
• Have Valentine card Le Pen giveaway
• Prayerfully choose lender and realtor for home-buying process
• Valentine's gift for Woody
• Launch The Orchard creative small group with Rachel and Emily
• Spend two hours working on the next product for The LovingKind
• Practice watercolor
• Three quality blog posts, including The LovingKind first anniversary post!
• Mail giveaway winners' gifts
• Celebrate Rachel's birthday
• Celebrate Jessie's baby shower
• Send Make It Happen books to mom, mother-in-law and sis-in-law
• Print 2015 goals and make notes
• Attend Ignite Marriage conference with Woody

It's a big month with plans to celebrate love, marriage, friendship and the first anniversary of The LovingKind! What are your goals this month? Share in the comments or leave a link to your own goals blog post. Happy February!

2015 Goals Giveaway Winners!

One of my big goals for 2015 is to share my yearly and monthly goals and my progress with the The LovingKind community. I think goal setting and sharing is super valuable and not only worth doing, but worth celebrating! 

So, I kicked off the year with My 2015 Goals and asked you to share one of your goals with me! Everyone who shared was entered to win one of three products I selected from the Make It Happen collection from the Lara Casey Shop, which I love so much!

Make It Happen Book, Make It Happen notebook, Make It Happen print

I was so blessed by your responses, and can't thank y'all enough for being willing to share your heart. Your goals encouraged me, made me think, brought a smile to my face, and spoke to my inner cheerleader as I found myself rooting you on! Although there are only three winners, I want you to know that I prayed for each of you by name and am standing with you believing God to bring more than you can ask for or imagine (Ephesians 3:20) to your life this year. I hope you'll visit The LovingKind often, and that we can continue to share this journey together. I'm believing in you, friends!

I'm so excited to announce the winners! And thank you again, for everyone who shared and commented!

Make It Happen book by Lara Casey
Congratulations to Ashley D.!

Make It Happen gold foil print
Big hugs to Emalee B.!

Make It Happen red notebook
Hooray to Sarah!

Giveaway winners--Look for my email coming your way so that I can get these fun items to you!

Much love, friends! Let's have a fulfilling, dream-chasing, purposeful 2015! Look for February goals to be on the blog early this week!

My 2015 Goals

Hello, 2015! I'm excited you're here!

For the past couple years, I've focused on learning how to create a purposeful life and make what matters happen. This has truly been life-changing for me, and I'm hopeful as I share a little window into my ongoing journey that you will find a shared story, an encouragement, an idea or a resource that helps you in your own path of purposeful living!

Photo by KLP Photography

Since 2012, I've invested time into not only dreaming dreams, but actually living them. Along the way, one of the common characteristics I've noticed about chasing dreams is that most often they start with a very unsure outcome. Accordingly, I've spent a lot of time diving into projects and experiences with no guaranteed success! The only thing certain, has been my determination to make it happen some way, some how.

Through this experience, I've not only been pleasantly surprised at what a good dose of intentional living can produce, but I've also learned so much! I've learned about websites, design, e-commerce, printing, time management, loving people vs. loving projects, how to be a better wife, the beauty of friendship, and a whole lot about myself.

Photo by KLP Photography

As I continue on this journey of making what matters happen, I'm stepping into another adventure of which the outcome is uncertain: I've decided to share my yearly and monthly goals along with my monthly progress right here on the TLK blog!

This is an intimidating idea to me for all sorts of reasons. 

1) Sharing creates serious accountability, which can lead to pressure. What if I don't accomplish my goals? What if my goals change? 2) A monthly post of my goals gives me less room for flexibility (my nice word for "slacking.") This calls for good time management and consistency on my part. 3) I have to be vulnerable. Goals are super intimate because at their core lie our truest hopes and dreams. Goals also encompass the parts of us we want to make better, and exposing this is a really vulnerable process.

Photo by KLP Photography

But, despite the unsure outcome, I'm doing it. The good reasons are so much more important than the fear I have to push through to make it happen. Here are a few good reasons cheering me on: 

1) Sharing my goals creates helpful accountability and can build community. Spoiler alert: One of my 2015 goals is to make new friends and connections through The LovingKind. As I share my goals, I'm going to invite you to share yours too. Despite my fears of "what if I can't…" I am more excited about the opportunity to celebrate accomplished goals together and create support for achieving what matters. 2) Sharing my journey might help someone else in theirs. Some fabulous women (Lara, Emily, and Nancy to name a few) have been brave in sharing their goals, and it has helped and encouraged me tremendously in the last couple years. 3) I want to be more consistent and intentional creating and tracking my goals each month. Putting them on the TLK blog gives me an extra "why" for making this happen.

As part of my path toward living on purpose, I have been blessed to connect to Lara Casey and her Make It Happen initiative. Lara has created powerful tools and experiences that have had immeasurable impact on me making what matters happen in my life. Lara lives her life practicing the principles she teaches, and she is a mentor to so many. Follow her on Instagram to get a taste of her genuine, heartfelt and vulnerable approach to living on purpose and loving others generously.

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Make it happen Giveaway!

As I mentioned above, one of the things I'm most excited about is sharing and celebrating our goals and accomplishments together, and I can't wait to hear your goals and be inspired! For you to share your goals is brave and amazing, so we are celebrating this with a giveaway!

I'll be giving away a copy of Lara's new book, Make It Happen, and a gorgeous gold foil Make It Happen print from the Lara Casey Shop! To enter to win, simply leave a comment below with one of your goals for 2015 (please include your email.) Commenters from now until January 31 at 11:59pm CST will be entered to win. I will draw one Make It Happen book winner and one Make It Happen print winner at random February 1, 2015.  

February 1, 2015: Congratulations Ashley, Emalee, and Sarah for winning the Make It Happen Giveaway items!

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This year, Woody and I set goals together as a couple and I also worked through my 2015 PowerSheets and created my personal list of goals. I used a similar style list last year and loved it. Having my goals in front of me all year helped keep me on track and gave me a great sense of accomplishment and purpose along the way. Part of the goodness of writing down your goals is acknowledging and celebrating when you accomplish them! I find this affirmation and sense of accomplishment helps keep me going toward what matters!

I'm going to share with you my 2015 goals and also my January goals. I'd love for you to share one (or more!) of your 2015 goals in the comments below (and be entered to win the giveaway above!).

Two disclaimers as you read:

1. I work best when I am specific and detailed, so my 2015 goal list is somewhat long. I like to include some big, yearlong goals and some smaller, season-specific goals too.
2. After doing my prep work, I write my goals in a stream-of-consciousness type flow, and have left them in that order for the most part. So, I hope you enjoy the random, yet purposeful flow that is my goal setting! 

2015 Goals

1. Thoughtfully and purposefully go through the home-buying process with Woody and purchase our first home!
2. Cultivate our new home to be a place that is peaceful and special for our family and also welcoming and a blessing to others.
3. Build a strong marriage founded on Christ, sacrificial love, companionship and commitment.
4. Write Woody one love note every month.
5. Expand and strengthen The LovingKind as a brand, blog, and products that point people to love and to God. 
6. Make new friends and connections through The LovingKind.
7. Launch three new products for the TLK Shop.
8. Post 2015 and monthly goals on the TLK blog and share progress.
9. Intentionally plan a 3rd anniversary trip with Woody (hopefully to Paris!).
10. Sharpen, strengthen, and improve my creative skills, specifically writing and illustrating, by practicing more. Progress over perfection!
11. Learn to watercolor! 
12. Celebrate turning 30 in a meaningful way with dear friends.
13. Celebrate Woody's birthday with family on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
14. Be a good steward of our finances by keeping our monthly budget and having our monthly budget parties before the end of the month.
15. Get healthy! Take care of my body by putting better food in it and developing an exercise routine so I have the energy and strength to give, participate, love and create in this life!
16. Get more spiritually healthy by setting aside intentional time to pray, read Scripture and worship God daily.
17. Create more time in the mornings by getting up earlier so I can have a peaceful start to my day through time with God, breakfast, and getting to work by 8:30am.
18. Go to a conference, event, or workshop that gets me out of my box, inspires me creatively and challenges me personally.
19. Have 3rd anniversary photo shoot with Woody in October or November.
20. Plan a specific December budget to account for holiday giving, traveling, entertaining and Christmas cards.
21. Order Christmas cards by December 1.
22. Mail Christmas cards by December 15.
23. Complete Christmas shopping by December 15.
24. Host second annual Christmas cookie swap in December.
25. Love my family well. Be intentional about time spent with them and choose to invest in my relationship with them through visits, phone calls, texts, emails, cards, etc.
26. Have better dental health. Keep flossing as a daily habit and keep regular dentist appointments.
27. Let go of the fear of success.
28. Let go of my need for control.
29. Pray for our future children and for God's perfect timing and plan for our family.
30. Stop using social media by 9:30pm.
31. Cultivate meaningful friendships and say "yes" to friendship. Answer the phone, send the text, mail the birthday card.
32. Continue cultivating friendships with mentors and creative inspirations both local and through the online community.
33. Celebrate well. Moments, accomplishments, milestones within my family and people around me. (birthdays, weddings, new babies, new homes, new jobs, holidays and the every day.)
34. Be intentional at work about fostering a healthy working style and environment. Set a plan, say "no" to stress, use time wisely, stop "spinning," set goals for work, and love my team well.
35. Create girls' creative group with Rachel and meet once a month for six months.
36. Find people to collaborate with creatively (photography, videography, calligraphy, illustration, writing, flowers, design, shops, etc.)
37. Use my Simplified Planner and PowerSheets as tools to help me have a purposeful and expansive 2015!
38. Make birthday card list and send birthday cards to friends (minimum of 25).
39. Keep improving and practicing my baking, learn three new recipes, and keep sharing!
40. Take time to sit on porches.
41. Honor and preserve our family memories in a beautiful and meaningful way. Create family photo wall in our home and order Artifact Uprising books of our honeymoon, first and second anniversary trips, and 2012, 2013, 2014.
42. Attend two, new local Birmingham events.
43. Buy a piece of art for our new home.
44. Plan a trip to North Carolina.
45. Spend time every week reading a book other than the Bible.
46. Maintain a clean, orderly, simplified home. 

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January Goals

1. Book The Nest event space for my 30th birthday celebration.
2. Take down and store Christmas decor.
3. Launch Valentine's Day cards in the TLK Shop.
4. Send last year's New Year's Eve Hope Tree cards to party guests.
5. Make 2015 birthday card list and mark birthdays in my Simplified Planner.
6. Participate in and complete 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting at church.
7. Create goals at work.
8. Pray for our future home and home-buying process.
9. Register my small group at church.
10. Plan Valentine's Day with Woody.
11. Plan TLK anniversary dinner with TLK launch contributors.

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Ok, friends! Here we go into a great year. Thank you for letting me share my hopes and plans for 2015 with you, and I can't wait to see where this journey takes us! I also can't wait to hear from you! What is one (or more!) of your goals for 2015?