As I sit here writing my goals for the month of May, I can’t help but check the calendar to make sure April is actually over since I feel like I had just set these goals! Even today, a full week into May and I’m still not convinced (I also had to go back and edit this paragraph because I kept writing April instead of May).

April was such a fast month. I’m not sure if our busy work schedules made the month fly by or all of the other things that we did on the weekends like festivals, trail walks, beach day, wine tastings and one spontaneous overnight trip. Needless to say, it was a good month spent (mostly!) at home as spring finally came into season.

To be completely honest, I was kind of dreading writing this post because I knew I wasn’t as successful in achieving my goals this past month, which is why it has taken me nearly a week to finally get it finished. I felt discouraged; mostly because I couldn’t check off what was complete. Sometimes I feel like I can’t move on to the next thing unless everything is completed to my standards. And if we are being totally honest, at that rate, I would never check anything off. I tend to want to make things, even tasks as simple as printing out a spring cleaning checklist harder than they need to be by spending all of my time planning versus actually doing it. Like my spring cleaning list — I spent so much time looking for the perfect one, it took me almost the whole month to find one. And ultimately, I ended up making my own in the end to simplify the list so that the only tasks listed were specific to our home.

Even so, I still felt discouraged. I felt like I could have done a lot of things better. I could have worked towards these goals more often, more enthusiastically, more attentively. But as I think that and look at my goals I had set at the beginning of the year, I can see progress has been made. That makes me think of a few phrases from Lara Casey:

Progress not perfection.

It’s okay to grow slow.

I’m still growing, even if I didn’t complete these goals to the standard I had hoped to. At least I’m working towards them. Not every month will go as I planned, but sometimes that okay. I spent a lot of time outside. I enjoyed some quiet moments to myself and some quiet moments with God. I was able to explore local trails with my husband on some days, but on other days, we began watching a new TV show together. I was able to prepare my home to host our friends well. And if that doesn’t show how my goals for 2018 have made an impact on my life, I’m not sure what does.

April Goals

• Clean out our office and make it functional for both of us to use  Technically this isn’t completed because part of my desk that I bought from Ikea was out of stock, but the room is ready for the new desk!
• Joyfully host friends for Jody’s birthday celebration this coming weekend
• Print and post our Spring Cleaning list and clean our home
• Complete two Tone It Up workouts a week, and walk as the weather improves I’m super proud that I walked almost every day in April. I also did four TIU workouts plus a few daily moves workouts throughout the month so definitely pleased with my progress on this goal!
• Continue weekly prayer journal and set aside time to write the Word
• Take more pictures!
• Decide which scrapbook project to start and set aside time to work on it
• Outline blog mini-series I’ve been dreaming up 🙂
• Read Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul

May Goals

• Complete the office with new desk and functional decor
• Celebrate spring at our Cinco de Mayo party with friends
• Spend some happy mail to a few secret people 🙂
• Join Tone It Up’s Bikini Series and actively complete workouts, daily moves and walking (If you signed up, leave me a comment below to say hi!)
• Go on a new-to-us date night with Jody
• Start working on our Honeymoon album
• Set aside specific time to work on creating meaningful content for my blog
• Continue reading Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul