Making it Happen

Make. It. Happen.   Three words I've been constantly repeating, especially when I'm having a hard time getting motivated to check items off my to-do list. Have you been there? One day I'll wake up feeling ready to see what the day will unfold, and confident I'll be able to do so gracefully. Then there are the days that I just struggle. The anxiety starts to build as soon as I start working on a task and then BOOM! I'm a hot mess. On one of these particular days when I was stressed and couldn't think straight, I decided to drop everything I was doing and ran over to my bookcase and picked up Make it Happen by Lara Casey. I already knew a lot about the author Lara from reading Southern Weddings Magazine for a number of years and admired her love for the Lord, her passion for the South and her joy for all things weddings. Without really knowing what the book was about, I decided to purchase it because I knew whatever Lara wrote about would be good. But y'all, I didn't know it would be as life changing as it was. It was challenging, an eye opener, and so good for my soul.   This was a book I could have finished in a couple of days it was THAT good. But the content was so rich and powerful that I didn't want to rush through any of it! Just like a conversation with a dear friend, I invested my time and full attention on every word, every question and every task. Without going into all the details of the book (I think you should really just go ahead and purchase it after you finish reading this post!), I thought I would share a few things I highlighted and found valuable.   - Doubt can turn into desperation.   - "There are no shortcuts to any place worth going" - Beverly Sills   - God's way isn't always easy, but it's always worth it.   - It's in the depths of our challenges, when we are left with what feels like nothing, that we sometimes see more clearly. I couldn't agree with this statement more. I've never gone longer then a couple of weeks without working until recently. Being unemployed is NOT fun. It's stressful, causes doubt and a whole slew of other things. But over the weeks I've been able to see more clearly all the blessings I have in my life.   - Making it happen is a life lived on purpose and comes by surrendering control.   - Done is better than perfect, and doing one thing well is better than doing a thousand mediocre things. Can I get an amen? I need to write this one down and put it on my fridge.   - Don't let your unhappiness make you ungrateful.   - You will learn from your failures than you will from any of your successes. Your failures are gifts, allowing you to learn, grow, redirect, and take new and potentially better paths.   - Making things happen is about taking positive, purpose-filled action. Learning how to break things down into action steps in an essential skill.   - When you know where you are leaping, the how doesn't matter as much as the why.   - Busy is the enemy of peace. It takes us away from our purpose. Busy is not truly productive in the big picture. Busy means life's joys and surprises can't find a way into our lives as easily because we move too fast to see and experience them.   - I will hold myself to a standard of grace, not perfection. No one is perfect. There is no such thing as the perfect life, the perfect home, the perfect job, or the perfect look. So if that's true, then why spend so much time trying to create something that's not possible?   Can you relate to any of the above? Which one is your favorite? If you've read the book, what other things did you take away? I hope y'all found this encouraging and have a great week!!

March Review + April Goals

March
- Went the month (minus two days) without soda. This was a success in my book! I'll be doing this again in June, September and December.   - Went to the Abundance Conference in Asheville with my dear friend Chelsea, and y'all, this conference was one of the best ones I've been too! So much truth was spoken through some amazing speakers at this two day event. One of my favorite parts besides getting to hear Lysa TerKeurst speak was getting to hear and sing along to some of my favorite worship songs lead by Natalie Grant and Christy Nockels. And if you haven't heard of Annie Downs or Lisa Harper you have GOT to look them up! These two are hilarious and know how to lighten the mood while having a deep conversation on tough topics. Insert #girlcrush!   - Planned a surprise birthday dinner for Will with the Mackvick's. The day I got back from the Abundance Conference, I had less then four hours to unpack, bake a cake and get ready. Will thought we were going to meet up with his dad and brother for dinner since they were in town but when we pulled into the parking lot, his whole family was there! It was fun seeing him completely surprised! - Celebrated Will's 27th birthday with private golf lessons and a visit to Sugar Creek Brewery!   - Got my third and final steroid neck injection. For those who may be new around here, I have degenerative disk disease in my C5-C6, C6-C7 regions and have tried anything and everything over the past eight years to find something to relive the pain. The neck issues have recently been worsening and have led to TMJ which just sucks. Unfortunately, the steroid injections haven't been working so we are going to reach out to a Neurosurgeon at Duke Hospital to get a second opinion on possible next steps which will likely be surgery or continued physical therapy. In the meantime, prayers would be appreciated!   - Finished reading Make It Happen by Lara Casey and wrote a blog post recapping my favorite parts that I'll be sharing next Tuesday!   April
- Go to the Alabama Shakes concert. I haven't listened to them that much but Will is a big fan of them. Even though I don't know a lot of the songs they play/sing, you won't find me saying no to quality time with my husband or being able to spend time outdoors!   - Visiting Chicago! Neither of us have been and are excited to explore a new city. Leave a comment below if you have any recommendations!   - Review bank accounts and set financial goals. We had planned to do this last month but didn't get around to it but are making it a priority this month.   - Print out photos from our honeymoon.   - Back up files and photos on my computer. I try to do this at least once a year but I can't tell you the last time I did this and it's way overdue. I wouldn't want to find myself in a situation where my computer dies and I lose everything saved to my Mac. Can't be too prepared these days!   - Update my passport. I've still yet to do this since Will and I got married and think I need to just go ahead and get the process over with. NO MORE EXCUSES!  

January Review + February Goals

Happy Monday and first day of "love" month friends! One month down, 11 more to go! I don't know about you but I'm sooo glad it's February. January was a good month and all, and I'm really enjoying 2016 so far, but the first month of a new year always tends to be a little bit of a challenge for me. You feel me?

I always make a list of all the things I want to accomplish, whether it be weekly, monthly, or yearly goals. Half way through January I found myself stressing out and forgetting to take things day by day. But this month I'm going to do a better job at reminding myself to "stop and smell the roses" so to speak. But like I said, January was good and I was able to check off a few of my goals I set for the year which was a win in my book!

January accomplishments:

Spend two + weekends visiting our parents (not including the holidays). My mom had knee surgery at the end of December so I decided to stay with my parents for a few days and keep mom company and helped with a few tasks around their house. Will wasn't able to come with since I went during the week, but I still counted this as time with family!

Reach out to my group of girlfriends on a weekly basis. I'm really proud of myself for this one. It might sound silly but I created a note in my phone that contains a list of my favorite people that I use as a reminder of who I need to reach out to regularly. Maintaining relationships is important to me and I often get caught up with all that's going on in my life. I wanted to do a better job this year at putting others first and this has been really helpful.

Clean out my closet and invest in essential items. I was able to clean out my closet and ended up with two boxes full of items I was able to sell and give to Goodwill. Next on my list is taking inventory of what I have left in my closet and then create a list of items I want to invest in. One thing I know I want, and is an essential item in my book, is a pair of nude pumps like these or these.

Develop a 30 minute morning quite time routine that I do everyday. Ehh, I tried to adopt this new routine but was not successful at doing it everyday like I wanted and I will tell you why. I have a hard time and get overwhelmed with myself when I try to utilize too many resources at once. There were so many things I wanted to incorporate into my quite time such as reading Jesus Calling, Join The Journey, and reading my First 5 and Joyce Meyer apps. This didn't work and I had to step away for a few days and re-evaluate my plan of action which is to focus on using just one or two of these. Any advice you can give would be so appreciated!

Find a CPA to help us with our taxes. We did some research and asked around for recommendations and scheduled a meeting with a CPA this week to see if they are a good fit for us.

Help Will pay off the rest of his student loans. I am proud to say we are DEBT FREE! Yay!

Take a SkillPop class and discover a new passion. Last week I took a class on Interior Design which was led by the amazingly talented Sarah Scott. I loved learning about top paint colors and what trends are in for 2016. I HIGHLY recommend taking a SkillPop class if your in the Charlotte area.

Read at least six new books. Last month, I read The Ten Best Days of My Life by Adena Halpern.

Take a weekend getaway to the Blue Ridge Mountains with Will's parent. Check! We stayed at Alpine Escape Cabin and had fun playing board games, enjoyed the snowy weather and exploring the downtown area.

Goals for February:

1. Host a game night at our house.

2. Back up all photos/documents/etc. on my laptop.

3. Increase my prayer life.

4. Try new plan for having quite time in the morning.

5. Pick a CPA and start working on our taxes.

6. NO SODA!

7. Meal-plan healthier lunch and dinner options.

8. Read Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst which I started a few days ago and I'm already hooked.

9. Start planning for our trip to Chicago. Let me know of places to go, things to do, etc.!  

What are your goals for the month?

Goals for 2016

Ah, 2016 is finally upon us! I don't know about you but I feel like 2015 went by so fast. In 2015 alone, I got engaged, Will and I moved, I gathered inspiration and planned for our wedding, we got married in June, honeymooned in St. Lucia, spent a long weekend in NYC, visited Brooklyn, and welcomed a precious little niece into the family to name a few highlights.

And although the start of a new year can be bittersweet, it's also a time to start afresh. To set new goals and try new things. In years past, I was one of those individuals who would set resolutions but always failed at keeping them. A lot of resolutions I came up with were just not "doable". For instance, why would I ever tell myself I would never, ever, EVER drink another soda again for the rest of my life? I mean...if I'm being realistic here...that's just crazy. I don't drink soda weekly, but every once-in-a-while I'll have one.

Now that I'm married, I've been thinking about traditions Will and I can implement, and setting goals for the coming year is one of them. On New Years Day, we woke up and enjoyed breakfast at one of my favorite breakfast spots; The Flying Biscuit. We don't go there all that often, so it made it feel extra special. Throughout the rest of our morning, we took time talking through what we wanted to accomplish for the year and weeded out goals we felt weren't realistic.

Nancy Ray wrote a blog post recently hat explained something worth putting into practice and it's this: "The most vital part of my goal setting process is simply this: set monthly goals. Let your yearly goals guide what you write. Break them down across the 12 months of the year, then implement them in 4-week time frames. That is the perfect amount of time to really accomplish some things".

So that's what we did! Below our the categories used with my personal goals for the year broken down for each. I thought of others, but wanted to make sure I was being realistic with what I felt I could accomplish in twelve months. And because this is my first time making a list of goals for the New Year, I didn't want to pressure myself by breaking everything out into months. However, I do plan to keep you guys updated each month on what I've accomplished!

Family/Friends

- Host four game nights at our house. We actually had our first game night over the weekend!
- Spend two + weekends visiting our parents (not including the holidays).
- Reach out to my group of girlfriends on a weekly basis. Communication is important to me.

Self

- Back up all photos/documents/etc. on all computers and devices twice throughout the year.
- Clean out my closet and invest in essential items. My motto these days is "quality over quantity".

Spiritual
- Attend an Abundance Conference.
- Increase my prayer life and pray out loud with Will more often.
- Develop a 30 minute morning quite time routine that I do everyday.

Financial
- Find a CPA to help us with our taxes.
- Go back over Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course as a refresher.
- Review our bank accounts and finances at the end of each month.
- Help Will pay off the rest of his student loans.

Physical/Lifestyle
- Attend classes at the YMCA twice a week and walk for 30 minutes three times a week.
- Go one month every quarter with no soda.
- Meal-plan healthier lunch and dinner options with Will every Sunday.

Marriage
- Celebrate our one year wedding anniversary in June!!
- Complete The One Year Love Language Devotional with Will.

Intellectual
- Take a SkillPop class and discover a new passion.
- Read at least six new books. The one's currently on my list include:

1. The Ten Best Days of My Life by Adena Halpern
2. The Artist's Daughter: A Memoir by Alexandra Kuykendall
3. Make it Happen by Lara Casey
4. Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
5. Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen 
6. The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen
7. Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst
8. What You Do Best in the Body of Christ by Bruce Bugbee
9. The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst
10. You and Me by Francis and Lisa Chan

Travel

- Take a weekend getaway to the Blue Ridge Mountains with Will's parent.

- Explore four new cities: Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and somewhere in Florida.

What goals or resolutions do you have for 2016? I'd love to hear what you have in mind!