SOCIAL MEDIA

6.02.2014

A New Month // Summer + June Goals


Hello all! A new month is here! May was a challenging, rewarding, and wonderful month. I started the month off in Japan, travelled home, returned to school and work, finished school, and began summer break! I feel like a lot happened! June has only just begun, but I think it is also going to be equally as good. I'll be finishing up my current job and starting a new one, prepping our house to be put up for sale, and (hopefully) enjoying summer break! It is definitely going to be a busy month I think.

Making monthly goals has been one of the best choices I've made and I love writing them into these posts. Sitting down to think about what I want to accomplish gives me direction, focus, and purpose for each month, plus it is nice to have you all to keep me accountable!

This month is slightly different than past months since I am adding a list of things I would like to accomplish this summer and am also adding links to my three favorite posts from last month just in case you missed them!
+ Have a bonfire with friends!
+ Go to Lake Tahoe
+ Switch sponsor ads over to Passionfruit (and maybe actually have sponsors!)
+ Find a new place to live
+ Make commenting on blog posts a regular habit
+ Go camping
+ Spend time drawing at least once per week
+ Go to the farmer's market at least twice a month
+ Experiment with homemade drinks (and post them on the blog if they are any good!)
+ Have a BBQ
+ Make a vlog (makeup? answering questions? random day in the life?)
+ Spend a day at the beach
+ Develop DIYs for the blog
+ Go hiking every weekend (maybe even try a new place every time!)
+ Do my best to save money
+ Go to a blogger meet-up or meet one of my blogging friends in person!
+ Unplug at least once per month (or hopefully more!)
+ Watch a sunrise
+ Work on my photography. Portraits, still life, food, everything!
+ Make sangria
+ Connect with new bloggers
+ Take a Skillshare class (I'm thinking calligraphy!)
+ Read 10 books
+ Have a taco night
+ Go to the Renegade Craft Fair when it comes to SF
+ Spend more time with Dai
+ Try to stick to my editorial schedule (you know, don't skip planned posting days!)
+ Go fruit picking
+ Pot some succulents to have around the house this summer
+ Have more "girl time" with my gal pals
+ Design & order blog business cards!
+ Really try to down size my belongings and get rid of things I know I no longer need.
+ Get into the habit of going for walks every day with Marly

I threw in some personal goals and some blog related goals (those are highlighted in bold). If I am able to accomplish half of what is on that list, I think it will be a great summer! 

Now, on to my monthly goals!
+ Do my best to finish the semester strong.
Done! The end of the semester was tough, but I worked really hard and finished well in all my classes. Glad that is over!

+ Organize/edit Japan photos.
Check! They aren't all edited yet, but they are mostly organized. Since I have been writing posts about our travels, that has really helped me to sort through photos and pick out the best ones. I'm gonna keep going with this, but I have definitely made a lot of progress and no longer feel overwhelmed by the amount of photos, so that's good.

+ Register for fall classes.
I met with a counselor, which was helpful and made things more confusing all at the same time! The good news is that I only have 4-5 classes left to take at community college, but the bad news is that I will be taking them at a couple different colleges to make everything fit into my schedule. At any rate, I have registered for a few classes, but still need to finalize things!

+ Start making plans to create a Japan scrapbook.
Well, I bought the supplies! That's pretty good progress, right?

+ Nail down a job for the summer.
I have found a job! I am really happy that this has worked out. I will be nannying with a different family and some weeks are full-time hours and other weeks are less. I think it is going to be good. I start next week!
+ Start (and hopefully finish) Japan scrapbook.
Like I said, I have the supplies (book & page sleeves), but need to actually set aside the time to design the pages and get the photos printed. I originally thought I would design the pages and have them printed on card stock, but now I am realizing that the photos would look so flat! It is probably going to be best to print photos in the sizes I want and adhere them to the card stock. I want the book to be mostly photos and hand written journal notes (similar to Elsie's book posted here on A Beautiful Mess).

+ Walk 300,000 steps using my Fitbit and actually remember to wear it every day.
Before Dai and I went to Japan, we each bought a Fitbit One. It was awesome to have in Japan to see how much we were walking every day and often times we would walk 20,000+ steps each day. Since we have been home, I have kept forgetting to wear it every day and on the days that I have remembered, I have seen how little I actually walk! So, I think it would be good to have the goal of walking at least 10,000 steps per day and forcing myself to remember to use the Fitbit!

+ Get back into the habit of using my Nutribullet.
I love my Nutribullet! But, unfortunately I just kind of stopped using it at one point. I miss it though and summer is the perfect time to start drinking and experimenting with new smoothies! Hoping to come up with a new recipe to share here too :)

+ Start using My Fitness Pal or join Weight Watchers online.
I used the Weight Watchers app on my phone for a period of time last year and did really well with it! Then I fell off the wagon. I hear My Fitness Pal is very similar (and free!), so I may force myself to get into that. I have also considered just trying to adopt a "clean eating" diet into my life, but I'm not sure what I want to do. I just know that I could be eating much, much better!

+ Think about others more and less about myself.
I feel like there's a little we all can do in this area, but it is something I want to be more aware of and thoughtful about. Like, promptly cleaning up things (regardless if they are mine or not), not being the one to dominate plans, and just trying to give others a helping hand.


Whew, that was a lot of work! Thank you to those of you who actually read all that! It probably should have been two posts, but I thought why not clump all that stuff together and make way for other things here? (Plus its my blog and I'll do what I want hehe)

So with that, I ask, do you have any goals for the summer? For the month? What are you most looking forward to this summer?

Z K said...

Whoa, your summer goals are awesome! I have a bunch of really similar goals especially the ones having to do with blogging. Best of luck with everything!!!

Lublyou said...

Ohhh I wish you'd come meet me in person! :-P
Also, since you're doing the steps (we have those walking things too, but we always forget to wear them!) and FitnessPal, etc., I can't remember if I told you about Whole30 yet. It's amazing how better it makes you feel really quick within a month. Just thought I'd add it here in case you're interested to read about it. Good luck with your goals!

Jess // Foreign Room said...

Thanks! I love having summers to really do some great work in blogging. Good luck to you too!

Jess // Foreign Room said...

I wish! One day we will definitely meet! :)
Yeah I remember when you guys did that! Looked so interesting... Summer really might be the perfect time to tackle that! Thanks for reminding me... I'm off to go read your archives! ;)