June Goals & Updates
And just like that, it’s basically summertime. Anyone else a little freaked out about how we got to June so fast? I mean, we were just closing on our house at the end of March – it’s so hard to believe that we’ve been in it for 3 months now! Time is seriously flying by.
May was another busy and crazy month. Things at work got really hectic for a few weeks, Dustin had to do a lot of traveling for work, and my car finally went into the shop to be fixed from the accident I was in at the end of April. On top of that, we’ve been still figuring out this whole home-owners thing, like turning on sprinklers and planting flower gardens. I guess I should stop expecting life to slow down because every month I think: “this month is going to be slower” and it is just as busy as the month before.
That being said, I wanted to check in on my goals from last month and share my goals for June!
May Goals Update:
Work on Home Improvement Projects every week – I’m not sure if we worked on a home improvement project every week, but we did get a lot accomplished on the home-owner front during the month of May. I finally picked a paint color for the horrid brown wall in our sitting room, we successfully turned on and programmed our sprinkler system, I weeded, planted, and mulched my front garden and we figured out how to turn on our swamp cooler and replaced the pump and pads on it so that it would run correctly. I would say that’s a fair amount of progress for one month!
Go to VASA 3X a week – I did really good at this for the first three weeks, but haven’t made it to the gym in the last week and a half. We’ve been so busy with errands, responsibilities for our church, and Dustin’s traveling that we haven’t made it a priority. We hope to change that mindset this month.
Read Three Books – Also a fail, but I did read one! I just ordered some books from Amazon that I’ve been dying to read for months now, so I hope to make up some ground on this and read more this month.
Pack Lunch & Snacks for Work Every Day – This also started out really well in the month and then tanked when things got crazy. I’m planning on going to Trader Joe’s tonight to get back on track.
Post 3X a Week on the Blog- I didn’t post 3X a week, but I did post at least once a week, which was an improvement compared to previous months!
Engage on Instagram 2X a day – This was a pretty big fail. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about it by now, but Instagram has become a huge joy suck. In fact, out of my 20,000 followers yesterday, not even 500 saw the picture I posted. Talk about discouraging. I’ve decided that I’m done letting Instagram get me down. I’m going to post photos and use the stories feature, but just not freak out about the engagement issues because it’s adding on way more stress to my life than it should.
Soooo, I didn’t do a great job hitting any of these goals, but I did consistently work on almost all of them for most of the month. I’m proud of myself for still improving on some of these fronts!
June Goals:
Continue to Blog Consistently – I think I’m finally getting back into the swing of things and I’ve learned that I have to simply accept that life is just busy. I think by embracing that (instead of waiting for it to calm down) I’ll be able to prepare for my blog better. I’m hoping to push out 2-3 posts per week and just stay consistent during the month!
Read 3 Books – Now that I have some new books waiting for me, I’m hoping I’ll be able to breeze right through them! First up: The Woman in Cabin 10! I’ve heard amazing things about this book (and I loved Girl on a Train) so I’m excited to finally be able to read it.
PAINT THE DANG BROWN WALL – Okay, like I said earlier, we finally choose a paint color (thanks to everyone’s input on Instagram stories) to paint the ugly brown wall in our front room. We’ve bought the paint, primer, and supplies, but have yet to find the time to paint it! THIS MONTH WILL BE THE MONTH THAT WE PAINT THE BROWN WALL!
Consistently Post Instagram Stories – Even though Instagram is kind of being a butt, I do really like the stories feature and I want to utilize it more! I had a lot of fun doing the Stitchfix Try-On last week and it felt like I was shopping with a bunch of friends – so thanks to everyone who helped me decide what to keep and what to send back. I’d love to know what other kinds of content you’d like to see on Instagram Stories, so maybe leave a comment below?
Implement Reader Survey Results – I am conducting a super easy and brief reader survey to help me plan the rest of my summer content. So far, I’ve been loving suggestions and ideas that have been coming through – you guys are the best. If you haven’t taken the survey yet, I’ll embed it right below. It’s only 6 questions and I would really appreciate your feedback!
UPDATES:
HTC Humpday – Bi-Weekly Email Newsletter
So, in May’s blog post, I shared why I had stopped writing goal posts and had a surprising amount of people say that they still enjoyed reading them and would love to keep seeing them. So, I decided to bring them back, but in a bit of a different way. I really want to get my email newsletter off the ground, but haven’t known what type of content to put in there. But, after hearing from so many of you about how much you enjoy goal posts, I’ve decided to send them out in my bi-weekly email newsletter instead. They will go out on Wednesdays (hence the name HTC Humpday!)
On the first Wednesday of the month, I’ll be sending out an email that looks pretty much like this post: Monthly Goals & Blog/Life Updates.
And, on the third Wednesday of the month, I’ll be sending out a round up of #myvibrantlife favs from Instagram, favorite reads from around the web, and any blogging tips that I’ve come across during the month.
The cool thing about email newsletters is that you can click reply and write any thoughts/comments/questions back and they will end up right in my personal inbox. I’m WAY better about replying to emails than blog comments (though this is something I’m working on) and hope that I’ll be able to connect with you all more personally this way!
Anyway, you may already be on this email list from a while ago, but if you want to sign up again to make sure, you can do so, below!
Okay, that wraps up all my goals and updates this month. Let me know if you have any ideas for Insta-stories in the comments below or what goals you are working on this month!
