December 2016 Goals
It's December! The most magical time of the year! I can't wait to dive in to the Christmas season with my family. But before then, I want to take a quick look back at some fun personal photos and PROGRESS I made towards my November goals:
1. Keep a servant's heart of hospitality this month as we host loved ones in our home. So let's be honest - entertaining can be stressful. Between cleaning, shopping and prepping sometimes I end up exhausted before the party even starts. But I want to entertain with JOY this month! Any tips on cooking the turkey? Update: so of course I had my moments of overwhelm but I'm happy to report that I genuinely ENJOYED hosting others in our home in November! It was definitely the month for entertaining - we hosted a surprise birthday party for my father-in-law, supper club and Thanksgiving! And did I mention I gained a beautiful new niece this month?? We just love Hadley Rose!
2. Edit and deliver all my October photo sessions in a timely manner. Woo hoo! I have officially delivered photos from all mini sessions and family sessions this fall! You know that feeling you get when you complete your final exams in college? Exhaustion, accomplishment and gratefulness!
3. Read a book for pleasure. Any recommendations? So this didn't happen. I think it might have something to do with the fact that my kids lost a library book (Anyone seen Swimmy the Fish?) I owed all kinds of dues so I couldn't check out e-books on my kindle. $26 later, I'm back in business. And the kids are back on the no-library-books-ever train.
4. Intentional time with my sister Brittany - she only lives an hour away, but we never get to see one another! Unfortunately we had to postpone our coffee date this month, but her family did get to come over for pizza and a bonfire!
5. Make exercise and sleep a priority. Hmmm. Might need to come up with a better way to measure this. I blame Netflix's original series, The Crown, for my lack of sleep. Anyone else watching? I do want to thank Shaun T for showing up in my living room a few times for some epic T25 workouts.
6. Host a campfire for the ladies in my neighborhood. So sad this didn't happen. But I'm more sad for our neighbors in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee who are dealing with terrible forest fires! We had to cancel our fire pit night because of air quality.
7. Date Night with Jon - pretty please? We opted for the family date instead and hit up our favorite burger place. Still fun but ready to make a date night just the two of us a priority in December.
8. Go on a photo scavenger hunt with my daughter. Anna has shown a real interest in photography - I want to take the time to teach and share this passion with her! This was SOOO fun! So glad I made this priority. I gifted Anna with a small, point-and-shoot camera that I used in my college days and she is thrilled with it! We are still working on her ability to FOCUS - ha!
9. Coffee date with one friend. Sadly had to postpone this as well - but I'm anxious to get this rescheduled!
And now to set my goals for the month of December:
- Serve clients with love, joy and creativity. Excited to work with one new family for a newborn session and two existing clients for a one year session and newborn session.
- Attend a Walk Through Bethlehem event with the family to welcome in the Christmas season.
- Find an opportunity to serve others as a family - who has some ideas for us?
- Continue a family tradition and attend the annual Santa pancake breakfast with Jon's family. My kids LONG for this event every year!
- Do some Christmas crafts with the kids. Bring me all the pinterest boards.
- Host some dear friends for a Christmas meal.
- Date night with Jon to celebrate my birthday!
- Start my new power sheets for 2017! I've never been so excited about goal setting!
- Decide on an Advent devotional for December. I'm considering the She Reads Truth advent devotional or Biola University's Advent Project which combines scripture, art and music to celebrate Christ's coming. Anyone else have recommendations?
What are your goals for December? What ideas do you need to let go of (or gasp, say NO to) in order to create space and margin? How do you plan on making the Christmas season special for your family?