July Goals

June was great. I finished up working face-to-face, got a little vacation time in, shot two fun photo sessions and started working from home. In between all that got LOTS of playtime with my sweet boy, husband and our doggies. June was also a great time to learn. My goodness, I had really unrealistic expectations as to what working from home would be like. Turns out, it is not really like track-out.... at all. It requires way more discipline, organization and boundary-setting than I ever could have imagined. Before digging into July goals, here's how I made it out of June:

• complete the set of Powersheets I ordered, lots of goals on the horizon for the next six months. I did not even get a chance to start these. I read through them, but did not write a thing. This has been officially moved to July.

• complete the first round of welcome calls prior to summer school session beginning on June 15th. I did not complete them before June 15th, but I did complete them on Tuesday of the 2nd week! As my 3rd time teaching I definitely improved from the first two, but found that phone call after phone call is too much for my closet-introvert self. Next time I will start sooner and do fewer a day. 

• go to the beach with my sister (and our three kids!) the week after school is out. Unplug and relax as much as you can with that many babies! We did this and it was outstanding. Read my vacation thoughts here: http://www.wearehandpicked.com/2015/06/vacations-doings-and-question-marks.html

• complete the Mother's Milk Bank donation paperwork and finish the process to become a donor. I scheduled my appointment with my OB (no openings til August!) and resolved to complete it then, but then toward the end of June the milk bank called and said that I needed to finish the process ASAP, so my plan for this week is to fax/scan/drop off paperwork to get the ball rolling. Honestly I am worried about meeting the 150 oz. minimum since I am not pumping every day and want to keep some frozen for L, but we shall see! 

• prepare phase one of the baby food freezer stash (sweet potatoes, squash, pears, apples, green beans) Yes! I made sweet potatoes, pears, and plums and L has tried all of those plus banana and avocado. Up next are peaches and apples for this week, then some veggies. 

• make 3 hooded towels to replace the teeny baby ones we have. Didn't even make it to my radar, we were so busy this month. Tabling this for now as we will just use the teeny baby ones. 

• travel to Charlotte for Lincoln's first (out of utero) Ikea trip! Done and so much fun! A blogpost forthcoming about traveling with a little one. 

• hang all the things on the gallery wall in my office Nope. didn't happen. I tried one day but every time I hammered, things already hanging fell off and L was asleep so I stopped trying. 

• blog updates to my 2015 goals (specifically: wardrobe, meal planning and budgeting) Oh, the irony, but nope. Didn't happen! 

And for July: 

• complete Powersheets 

• hang gallery wall in my office and upstairs hallway

• complete Mother's Milk Bank donor process

• make baby food phase 2: apples, peaches, peas, green beans 

• order photos from Lincoln's first 6 months

• continue working on that work/life balance by making weekly + daily to-do's and scheduling/prioritizing the next day the night before 

• plan out July/August blog posts + schedule time to write

• take 30 minutes every day during afternoon nap for "me" time (read: sit and rest)

• shoot one maternity, newborn (hopefully, could be August!), proposal, and fashion collab session in July! 

• travel to the beach with my best girls for a fun day trip 

• schedule family photos

...here's to July! Happy Summer!