This year, I started writing monthly goals on the blog as a way to motivate myself to get things done and stay accountable. Here’s this month’s recap and next month’s set of goals for my home, my blog, and my family or personal life.
April Goal Recap
Home
1. Organize and clear clutter from my dresser. This is somewhat of a neverending process, but it’s at least in better shape now than it was before.
2. Frame prints. This was a big fat fail. I didn’t even look at frames or even take an inventory of what I need to frame.
3. Finish dining room shelves. Another fail. Home decor just wasn’t on the agenda this month I guess.
Blog
1. Pitch a brand or blog I’d like to collaborate with. I’m not going to cross this off, but I did do a couple of collaborations during the month of April. I teamed up with Anne for our Your Spring Style series. I also partnered with Jana Style to host a blogging and media event at MODE here in Kansas City. However, I didn’t really leave my comfort zone to “pitch” these collaborations (Anne is a blog buddy and MODE contacted me). So I’ll consider this one technically not done.
2. Make mission and vision statements visible on my blog. Check! If you look under my profile picture (that needs an update) you’ll see a little blurb about me, which includes my mission and vision in a nutshell.
Fun / Family
1. Fill photo album with March pictures and print photos for April. Done.
2. Makeover my breakfast routine. I’m still trying to find what works best for my breakfast routine, but I did try some new recipes (seen here) that managed to fill me up better than my dry bowl of Great Grains.
3. Put together a Shutterfly album for Jona’s first year. Finally, I did this! I didn’t order the album–I’m waiting for a good sale–but all I have to do is put it in my cart! It’s not perfect: every photo isn’t edited, the design is a little too cutesy for my taste, and it doesn’t come close to capturing every memorable moment from Jona’s first year. However, it’s DONE. And in the long run, that’s really all that matters.
May Goals
Home
1. Frame Print(s). There’s really just one print I’d like to frame for the time being; it’s a Boulevard Brewery print that I got in our yearly friends Christmas gift exchange.
2. Finish shelves. I hope to do this with the help of #3 below.
3. Complete one (or two!) artwork DIYs on my Pinterest boards. Part of my problem in not getting my shelves finished is trying to figure out what to put on the shelves. I’ve saved a couple of artwork DIYs (like this one and this one) that look easy enough to make and would be a fun touch for our dining room.
Blog
1. Pitch a brand or blog I’d like to collaborate with. This month I hope to put the finishing touches on my newly created Media Kit and pitch a few brands.
2. Organize my blogging resources, tips, and contacts. Ugh, I’m embarrassed of what a mess all my notes, resources, and business cards from GBS and other blogging events are. I need one central location for storing notes and other resources I can refer to. I’d also like to get some sort of binder to hold business cards. I suppose I should also enter them into my Google contacts…that sounds like such a nightmare though. Funny how at work I’m really efficient about doing that… What do you do with business cards you accumulate?
3. Implement branding tips from With Grace and Gold. Kelly and Andra of With Grace and Gold presented at Go Blog Social last month, and I was lucky enough to receive a free 30 minute branding consultation with them. They shared some tips on small things I can do on my blog that will make a big impact. For example, one of their suggestions was keeping the same profile picture for your blog and all social media sites, so that new readers will recognize you across all platforms. They had a lot of helpful things to say, I’m looking forward to putting them into practice.
Fun / Family
1. Fill photo album with April pictures and print photos for May. Yep, same one again. I fear what will happen if I take this off my official list.
2. Try a new smoothie recipe. Earlier this year I experimented with smoothie-making to try to get Jona to eat more vegetables. It didn’t really stick though; I haven’t made one since. Since I’ve been trying to eat better breakfasts, and Jona is still Mr. Picky-pants, it wouldn’t kill us to try another smoothie recipe.
3. Go somewhere new (to me) in KC. I’ve said it before, but Kansas City is such an awesome place to live. I’m always hearing about new restauarants to try or fun places to take Jona. Yet more often than not we get in our routine and end up at the same old places. This month I want to shake up that routine at least once and go somewhere different. One place I’d love to go is the restaurant/coffee house The Filling Station. There’s one very close to where I live and I’ve heard great things about it.
What are your goals for this month?
From the archives:
- 5 years ago: wearing all the neutrals.
- 4 years ago: mixing stripes and florals and talking about recent reads.
- 1 year ago: dressed for a Derby Party and a Royals game.
