May 2016 Goals

One of my favorite days of the month…setting goals.  April was a good month overall, even in spite of my HUGE technical disaster.  Ryan was gone all weekend so I’m pretty much wiped, but we still had a good time.  Let’s take a look at how I did in April.

If you remember, my computer got a virus and it was a nightmare.  LOTS of hours and money later and it’s finally fixed.  I ended up having to restore my computer back to the original date (which was back in 2012) which means I had to wipe my computer clean.  I saved it all on an external drive, so I thought.  My Downloads folder did NOT transfer over and I lost all my fonts and graphics I’ve purchased over the years.  As a graphic designer, that’s a huge setback.  I’ve had to repurchase a few, but luckily I buy most of my graphics from Etsy sellers and they’re all still in my Purchases folder.  As far as fonts go, luckily I typed each font I owned in a Word document so I could see them better, so I know which ones I previously had.  I just have to hunt them down and reinstall.  A huge hassle, but could be worse I suppose.

APRIL GOALS REVIEW:

Blogging:

–Rewrite/Update my About page – You can read here

-Set up Pages to have categorized posts for easy access – not yet

–Add more Ads to popular posts – If you’re a WordPress blogger,  I found a good plugin for this.  It’s called Google Adsense and there’s a good tutorial here.

-Add popular posts to my sidebar – Still need to find a plugin for this.

-Post Ideas I’d like to Publish: How to Install Wood Planks (for $150); Office Makeover Reveal; Before & After Pantry Organization; Small Bathroom Makeover; X-number of Benefits of Having a Smaller Home.  I ended up doing a post on my new coffee station.  As well as a Day in the Life post.

Personal:

–Get in at least 1 workout a day (5 days a week).  This was definitely not something I did at the beginning of April, but I have been diligent about going to the gym.  Kids are always my excuse to not go to the gym (it is 12X harder with them, plus the guilt), but Ryan told me “it’s not always about the kids…you need to do something for you.”  So I have to tell myself that each time I go.

-Complete my Feminine Office Makeover – Again, this got put on hold, but should definitely be done this month.

-Complete my Pantry Makeover – I mentioned I had about 5% left to do and I did about 2.5% 🙂  I’ll take the pictures this week, even if I don’t lay the contact paper down.

–Create a Coffee Station – I love it and I love being able to change little things around my house that make me happy.

-Start and implement a chore chart for Beckham – Nope.  I don’t even want to talk about this because I’m having such a hard time with him right now.  On to the next…

–Finish reading Candace Cameron’s Shaping It All.

–Start reading The Millionaire Next Door – I actually started reading Stop Acting Rich instead (same author)

–Play around with my cleaning routine – Yes, I started this.  It’s not routine yet, but I have a plan.  My house has been a lot cleaner lately.

-Get into a morning routine – Well, what do y’all think about this one?  #nightowlproblems

Joyful Art Designs:

-Add 1 sign a week to my shop – I added 2 this month, but that’s only due to laziness. Adding this to next month also.

For the huge setback with my computer, I feel pretty accomplished.  I’m still slowly adding back all my fonts and graphics that I lost.  It adds some extra time to orders, but I’ll get there.  Now on to this month’s goals.

Blogging:

-Set up Pages to have categorized posts for easy access

-Add popular posts to my sidebar

-Post Ideas I’d like to Publish: Office Makeover Reveal; Before & After Pantry Organization; X-number of Benefits of Having a Smaller Home; a new Beans Recipe (this is my brother-in-law’s so if he lets me post it, I will…so good).

Extra Bonus Posts (if I get to these, I’m way ahead): How we paid off our house in 33 months (a very detailed post about it, budget and all); Routines (morning, night, cleaning).

 

Personal:

-Plan Maddox’s 2nd birthday (and send out invites)

-Complete my Feminine Office Makeover

-Complete my Pantry Makeover

-Start and implement a chore chart for Beckham

-Finish reading Stop Acting Rich

-Focus on routines – I know this is vague, but I’m a believer that habits formed really can make an impact on your productivity.  I’d love to figure out what routines work best.  I have a written plan for each (morning, night, cleaning).

-Pick out a great teacher gift for the boys’ teachers – Their last day of preschool will be this month, so I need to get teacher gifts.

-I also need to get gifts for Ryan, my brother, and my mom.

-Start getting estimates for a fence replacement – We need a new fence pretty bad…this will really be Ryan’s deal.

-Set up dentist appointments – my teeth hurt.  It’s time 🙁

-Find a place for swim lessons (for Beckham)

-Find and eat all the salads I can this month – I’m not a salad person, but if I’m not eating a salad, I’m eating a burger and fries…so I pretty much need to figure out what meals I can eat that include more veggies and less calories, without feeling like a rabbit while eating them.

-Keep working out at the gym – I really do best in the gym, so as long as I can get there, I’ll feel great!

 

Joyful Art Designs:

-Add 10 signs this month – I’m being ambitious, but this just has to happen.  May is usually a good month for me so I’m sure I’ll be pretty busy with orders.  This boosts up listing views in Etsy, so this will be a good time to add more items.

May will be busy, but I’m looking forward to it.  Follow me on Pinterest if you want some good salad ideas…I’m pinning away ideas!