April Goals & Happenings

Ya'll, where has this year gone?! Can you believe it's already April? While time seems to be flying at warp speed, I will say this year has been off to a great start. It's been quiet here in my little corner of the blog world, but life has been so busy and so good.  In January we spent a little over a week with family in NYC and Connecticut, and then spent the rest of our time packing up our little Houston apartment. In February, we loaded up our moving truck with the help of some amazing friends and moved to a rental town home in the suburbs. 

In late February, I traveled to Albuquerque, for a much needed girls weekend! In March we were still settling in to our new place, put our ABQ house on the market, hosted my parents, attended one of my best friends bridal showers in San Antonio and the Mr. and I celebrated our 4th anniversary with friends in New Orleans. I was also finally able to take a job transfer to a location much closer to our new home and I also began working as a Development Executive at Cottage Hill Magazine!

The last three months have been so full, but I'm lacking the routine I previously had and I'm excited to really spend this month getting back on track. I want be completely unpacked and settled in, give this new home a good deep clean (it desperately needs it), get back into my morning routine spending time in the Word and reading, and get back into the gym on a regular basis.

We have a lot of exciting things happening here and while these goals may seem simplistic, they are practical steps that help my stay motivated and on track to achieving the long-term goals I have set for myself and our family. 

April Goals
Complete Spring Clean in 30 Challenge 
Organize Kitchen and Living Room
Re-establish morning routine spending time in the Word and in prayer.
Read The Legacy Journey and The Best Yes
Blog 2-3 times per week
NW road trip vacation with Chris
Plan Chris' Birthday BBQ
Get TX drivers license
Mulch front yard and trim trees
Workout 3-4 times per week

Here's to a joyful, productive April friends!

On Living With More Intention in a Mobile World

Last, Wednesday night, something profound happened, well an accident really, but my new, beautiful iPhone 6 fell in the toilet. Yes, you read that correctly. It slid right out of my pant pocket into the toilet. Funny as it may sound I have been so upset about it. I mean how am I going to wake up in the morning if I don't have an alarm? How can I possibly feel connected without my social media feeds? What if my email inbox explodes? What is the weather going to be? I mean really though, what if the world ends and I missed it? 

Seriously, how crazy does that sounds? Do we even realize how much we rely on those little devices? I mean it has become a part of us, and I am no different. Thursday was my first day without a cell phone in years and on top of that we were flying to NYC. Just navigating the airport I felt lost without my mobile device. In that short time alone, I realized I spend my whole day with that little shiny, rectangular device attached to my hand. Seriously though, I mean if it's not there with me I tend to have a panic attack. 

But what I've begun thinking about is, why. Why does all of my energy, excitement, and anxiety go toward this one thing that doesn't even have a soul? Do we realize how much time we waste on our marriages, families, friendships, and the community around us, simply by having our noses buried in these devices? 

I have really begun evaluating just how much time I spend on my phone simply by watching those around me.  Now that I'm without one, I realize just how much others are on them.  

I recently read Lara Casey's, Make It Happen, (side note: I'll be sharing lots of little takeaways from the book here in the next few weeks) and let me tell you I had some major conviction about time wasters. One of the things Lara highlights is social media and the practical ways we can set boundaries in order to lead more intentional lives and build stronger relationships. 

In reading through Lara's book and listening to a recent sermon from Matt Chandler on women, social media and comparison, I realized I need to take a hold of this problem and really give the reigns back to God. I can't live an intentional life and build flourishing relationships when my face is buried in a phone. I also realize that perfection isn't a reality, but with all the promos I see in my email inbox, the more fashion bloggers I follow, the perfect homes, children and dinners I see, I tend to forget that it's all a facade, it's not always reality, sometimes is it, but most often it isn't. 

To be honest it's exhausting. And I need to unplug, put the phone in the other room and re-connect with what matters, the people, the gifts and the talents God has given me! 

I won't lie, I'm still eager to get my phone replaced (my old iphone 4 is my temporary replacement, mind you it's not new but at least I'm still mobile) but in the meantime, I feel God working on my heart nudging me to be more intentional with my time and my relationships, even being more proactive and intentional about working toward my dreams. The only thing hindering me from better relationships and a better life for myself and my family is me and what I choose to spend my time and energy on.

I'm committing this year to be more intentional. To do my best to not spend all my time on my phone, to unplug when I'm with my husband, to put my phone away at dinner and not bring it into our bedroom and to be intentional about taking some social media free weekends. 

I know I won't be perfect at it, but the least I can do is try.

A New Year + New Goals for 2015

So we are officially 6 days in to the New Year! I hope everyone was able to take a little time off to enjoy the holidays with family and friends! We had a wonderful Christmas (we're not done yet, we'll be celebrating our 3rd Christmas in Connecticut in just a few days) but it felt good to see family and spend some time reflecting and preparing for the year ahead.

The hubby and I had a coffee date this past weekend and really dove in deep to identify what worked for us last year and what didn't, then we discussed what goals we have for our family in the coming year. Lots of good stuff there folks! This was our first time goal setting at the beginning of the year for our family, but my hope is that it will help bring us together to focus on the things that matter. 

I hope you'll continue following along on our journey, we are sure to have pretty big year here!

As for me, I'm still working on my long-term goals, but I wanted to go ahead and share a few things I'm working on in January.

I love the new year, it feels like a fresh start. I had a lot of learnings personally last year and lot that I felt didn't work for me, but I'm thankful God's mercies are new every day and every day He gives us the opportunity to start new, so that's just what I'm doing. I've also been reading Lara Casey's new book, Make It Happen. And I have to say, I've been so encouraged by her testimony and the story of how she has gotten to where she is today. More on that to come but below are a few of the goals I have for this beautiful new month!

January Goals:
- Enjoy time with family in NYC and Connecticut!
- Clear the cutter (thanks Lara for encouraging this! More details on this to come, but here is what this looks like this month)
            - clear email inbox 
            - set social media boundaries
            - clean out purse
            - clean out car
            - clean out closet
- Find a new apt/rental home in Houston area
- Put our home in New Mexico on the market to sell

Image Credit: Shay Cochrane