March Goals

It's March! Hello, March! I mentioned on Instagram on Saturday that this is usually my least favorite month of the year. I'm not in school (no spring break), the weather is awful and there's usually not much going on except the anticipation of spring. However I've been loving March so far! The past four days have been productive and exciting. I've started my third trimester (woah!), really nailed down some things in my business plan and have had a couple exciting opportunities thrown my way. I also had my first day at the flower shop.

 

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Looking back at February, I did so-so on my actually goal list. Midway through the month I wrote this post here. I've been trying to hard to focus and re-focus on grace not perfection. It takes a lot of effort.

1. Take photos! Even though I didn't use my camera, I did get on Instagram some! Counting it.
2. Host my 3rd Annual Valentine's Day Brunch Opted out this year. Read the post here.
3. Apply for my new Driver's License Okay, this is BAD. I have a date with the DMV on Wednesday...
4. Have a real date night with Isaiah We went to Siren Hall for Valentine's Day and it was perfect.
5. Clean out my office Not finished yet, but we made some serious progress!!!
6. Send letters to my BFF's Not real letters, but I did make some phone calls. Letters this month!
7. Go to the gym (even once) Didn't happen. I actually even put my membership on hold for 3 months. It's one less thing to worry about!
8. Check off 3 things on the baby list. Did it! I'll be posting an update on this soon.

In February a huge prayer was answered in the form of my dream job. As of June 1st, I will be a full time mama and full time wedding & floral designer. The way that these things were woven together is nothing short of a miracle. I wish I could explain in words the weight that was lifted, and the anticipation that follows. This is a dream I've been working towards for a long time and I couldn't be more thankful. If you missed those posts, check them here and here. :)

Okay, so March goals!

1. Finish outlining business plan & client experience
2. Finish logo & collateral design! (!!!)
3. File paperwork (LLC, bank stuff, Maternity leave, etc)
4. Check 3 more things off the baby list.
5. Read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for the book club!
6. Re-organize our pantry
7. Finish designing website structure & wording
8. Contact vendors for my brand inspiration shoot!

This month is going to be all about preparation. Truly I think it's perfect considering that Easter is just around the corner. This season has the ability to be beautiful, which I'm now realizing. Instead of putting my head down to the do hard work, I'm going to forge ahead with my chin held high in confidence, ready to take on the days ahead and soak up the beauty in that.

 

What are your March goals? I would love to hear and cheer you on!

 

xoxo

Rachel

February Goals

So if you can believe it, January is already over. I felt like it was a really great month! My belly is slowly but surely growing and I'm feeling good most days. Looking back on January list, I did so-so. Here was my list...

1. Input spending into my new iPad app, Budget Book, & have our first monthly budget meeting.
2. Use my simplified planner daily, or at least bring it with me and keep it open.
3. Practice yoga regularly, and make it to the pool at least 3 times.
4. Finish our "Throw out 100 things" challenge.
5. Keep up with regular posting on the blog.
6. Learn how to blow dry my hair like a professional.
7. Cook more meals at home, more vegetables!

Really happy about the budget for the month! Slowly working on paying off our debt for good. Thanks Dave Ramsey! Used my Simplified Planner pretty consistently. I'd like to use it more for meal planning, but I did start working on my year at a glance and birthday sheet. I've been going to prenatal yoga weekly, which I LOVE. I'll write more about that in my pregnancy post. Totally didn't finish the challenge. When I clean my office this month I hope to do that with vigor.

 

I did post regularly, and I am proud of myself! I want blogging to be a fun, natural part of my life and I've been really enjoying it. Really excited to keep up with this for the year. Yea- the blow drying thing is such a bust. First of all there's no time for that and also it's just hard. I should have taken a photo. I did eat more meals at home, but I can't say there were more veggies. Fruits for sure, but veggies are tough. I do recall throwing together a salad or two, and Isaiah cooking some kale. Whoops!

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So here are my February goals! Seems manageable enough. I love my Valentine's Day Brunch so that's a gimme, but it's going to take effort on my part to take photos and go to the gym. The point is that achieving these goals will serve me long-term.

1. Take photos!
2. Host my 3rd Annual Valentine's Day Brunch
3. Apply for my new Driver's License
4. Have a real date night with Isaiah
5. Clean out my office
6. Send letters to my BFF's
7. Go to the gym (even once)
8. Check off 3 things on the baby list.

 

Wish me Luck!

Rachel

Glamorous Rest versus Laziness

You might recall the posts I wrote about boundaries and structure (here and here). Actually you probably do because it was just last week. In those posts I was learning a lot while I wrote and I think there was some really wise stuff in there! I should note that this wisdom doesn't really come from myself as much as it does from Lara, but I had a realization today that I wanted to share.

 

When you set a structure for your day- your time for work, rest and play, each of these things becomes automatically more important. With not even a week down I already feel more productive during my office hours. You don't need a lot of time to see the benefits of structure.

 

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 A notable area of improvement in my schedule has been the time of day I block out for rest. In the past I've had terrible associations with rest. Sleeping in, watching movies, laying around the house refreshing instagram, ordering pizza & even napping felt like a total waste of time. I felt guilty every time I took a break. Even when I was doing what I was supposed to be doing and taking a break when I needed one, I didn't feel revitalized or ready to work.

 

What I realize now is that rest is so important and actually vital to doing your best work. It's not just taking a break, but really refreshing yourself. It's what you do in those 20 minutes or 4 hours of down time that make the difference. Enter in the glamorous rest versus laziness debate. The difference is fundamental. Are you being intentional with your rest "activities"? Do you feel guilty? Are you feeling trapped and lazy? For me, it's completely obvious. To clue you in to my own personal idea of active rest, here are a few lists.

Laziness
Coming home from work and plopping on the couch
Refreshing my instagram feed every 4 minutes and getting frustrated with no new photos
Thinking about cleaning something and not doing it
Watching 4 episodes of Gilmore Girls in a row
Eating peanut butter out of the jar for dinner
Not even attempting to pick up a book
Pretending that I'm going to read in bed when really I just fall asleep and don't set an alarm
Putting on a movie that I don't even like for background noise while I play on my phone
Having no set end to my resting period
Refusing to get dressed
Not standing up for more than 5 minutes at a time

Do you see what I mean? Embarrassingly enough I didn't make those examples up. I actually do those things. I don't even try to relax in a productive way or do things that fire me up. This has a lot to do with savoring the moment. I read about that on Leo's blog the other day and it was so interesting to me. Why is rest the hardest thing for me to savor? Well, besides chores anyway. :) This is something I want to continue working on!

 

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Glamorous Rest

Taking a bath with my favorite salts and candles
Tidying up my living room and watching a movie I've been dying to see
Practicing meditation or gentle yoga
Writing or journaling
Painting my nails
Hosting an at home spa night with facials and body scrub
Reading a book or magazine
Going for a run
Busting out my watercolors and creating something
Baking cookies for my husband
Listening to Ted Talks
Writing letters and sending gifts to faraway friends

 

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The problem before I had structure was that I never felt right taking a break so I just fell into a pattern of laziness. It's especially easy to do during the winter. It's dark and cold and all I want to do is bundle up and let the DVD's keep rolling. But now that I'm aware of a restful time I can think about what would actually energize me. Sometimes it's going for a run, but sometimes I really do want to watch a movie. I don't want to feel guilty about my choices but rather be intentional about making them. I hope that as I keep my sense of balance I can focus on making rest a meaningful time, because it's so sparse these days. And who doesn't feel glamorous when they can just allow themselves to take a bubble bath and lie in savasana with no guilt? ;)

 

Business Goals: 2013

I already wrote my personal goals in the form of my letter to my future self and by putting monthly goals up on the blog. However, I have some more specific business goals for the year that I'd like to write down and hash out.

 

It's going to be an undoubtedly busy and full year with the baby coming in June, and financially strained as we're choosing to make our money work harder for us. This won't only mean sacrifices for my personal life (coffee, new purses, lunch out with friends, etc) but sacrifices for my business too. For instance, I'm not going to be able to afford a new computer until 2016. That's a long ways away. I also am going to have a really small budget for editorial shoots and collateral items.

 

What I plan to do is use what I already have to make the business work for me. I already have a lot of business knowledge, my creative insights aren't going anywhere and I bet I can throw together a temporary website that looks decent. I'm just being honest. Continuing with my moment for Occasions is vital to it's success- and to our financial success as a family. I will be happier, work more flexible hours and be more available to my son if I can work from home and do what I love. This is what drives me.

 

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1. Create an amazing wedding experience for Amy & Jonathon in May. On the water, incredible florals and some of the nicest people I've met to this day. I can't wait for their celebration.

 

2. Write my business plan. I've been working on it for a while because I want it to work for me, and not be homework. It'll be very detailed and outline every aspect of the business ranging from finances to client experiences and marketing. I want to outline my packages once and for all and write meaningful and thorough content for the website.

 

3. Book two more weddings for this fall. There are a few leads I've been working with and trying to figure if they'll be the right fit. If it's meant to be, it will be!

 

4. Quit my day job, once and for all. This is a big one because my time is so valuable. The more time I can put into my work the better quality it is. Without the 9-5, I won't be as mentally exhausted to work hard when I'm home. I am open to working at a part time job that is more fulfilling.
 

5. Host two editorial/ inspirational shoots. This is multi-purpose. I envision these events as a way to connect with other vendors in my area and also to showcase my work and build my portfolio so that I have some solid content on my website. I want to show future clients that I am good at what I do!

 

6. Build a website. I don't know at all how this will play out without a web designer, because I'm not one at all. But I did invest in a logo designed by Chelsea (oh my deer), and will hopefully have some good content by the time this transpires.

 

7. Practice floral design so I am comfortable offering full service florals by the time of my official launch. I've partnered with a local farm and florist who is amazing to work with. So excited about this!

 

8. Connect with local vendors. Making it a goal to sit down and meet with the primary vendors in the area and put together a resource guide for myself and future clients. Luckily we have some of the nicest people around, so this hopefully won't be too tough if I get over my fear of putting myself out there.

 

9. Finish my office. On our tight budget this will be tough, but I live with a handy husband who's pretty good with his tool box. This space is so important to me. Our house is small and we are sacrificing a guest room and a TV room for a nursery and an office, which I am grateful for. I want to make this space functional and beautiful!

 

10. Launch Occasions Event Design... officially! Can't contain my excitement on this one. December 1st, 2013 is my launch date. It's a really long ways a way, but good things take time and patience. I'm giving myself lots of time to finish goals 1-9 (and have a baby too) so I don't get too stressed. More details to follow, but it will be amazing.

 

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What do you think? Can I do it? If you have any input or think you can help on any of these please speak up! I'm so excited about this year and launching Occasions is a big part of my 2013 dream coming true.

With Passion,

Rachel

Financial Freedom: January 2016

Feeling very vulnerable even while I type the title to this post. It's been heavy on my heart that Isaiah and I need to work smarter, not harder with regards to our finances (in other areas too, but that's for another post). This summer we were given an amazing, life-changing gift. My grandfather blessed us with financial freedom by releasing a burden of $75,000 worth of student loans. Since June I've thought about it every day.

 

So why am I telling you this? It's definitely not to put down others that are still in the situation we were faced with a year ago. The debt was a part of my life. It came with the package. It was the size of a mortgage. I won't fool you into believing that the debt problem didn't seep into other areas of my life- it affected my attitude towards my education, my relationships, how I felt about my future. I understand where you're at.

 

I'm not telling you this story to show off or boast- it wasn't our doing. Though my grandpa is one of the most generous, loving people you'd ever meet, I think he even surprised himself with the decision. What a blessing, an answered prayer. (I never prayed that someone would take the burden from us. I prayed incessantly that God would give us the wisdom to handle the long term debt appropriately.) We had breakfast the morning of our rehearsal dinner with my grandpa and Karen. He let us know that he wanted to give us our gift in person. (Truthfully I thought we were getting to visit him in Hawaii this winter!) We talked and he explained thoroughly why he decided to do what he did. I cried for hours. A life changing moment. The weekend of our wedding was indescribable. We had never felt so much love and support in so many ways, from every single person we care about. Amazing.

 

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The choice to share this with you stems from my belief of authenticity. I am grateful everyday that I wake up and know that we can pay our bills, that we are employed, that we don't have massive monthly loan payments but instead can give more away and change the future of our children's lives. Although we were freed from a huge debt, we still have some left to pay. Some student loans and a small credit card balance.

 

I had heard of Dave Ramsey before and we were even gifted a few of these books by Isaiah's aunt several months ago. Yesterday I read Nancy's story and I was so inspired. I had been feeling convicted about this area of my life. I felt like since we were released from such a big debt, it was our duty to use our money wisely. For the past six months we've gone through job changes and now we're getting ready to have this baby. It's time for us to get serious about our finances and release the final debt from our lives. It will take 3 years of living on very little, and a lot of sacrifice in the first years of our son's life. I can live on very little money, but I need time with my husband and I know I'll need time with my baby boy. If you saw the budget I drew up today you'd probably cringe at how little money we're going to spend.

 

 

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I highly suggest you read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover to get you started up. We are ready to do the hard work and diminish our debt for good. It's a good feeling to take control, focus on the real numbers and see truth. We made a vow never to borrow again (except for the house, once we finish this step). If you live like no one else, you can live like no one else. We are looking forward to January 1st, 2016 as the day we will be free from debt. Three years of sacrifice will pay off over and over in our lifetime together, I can't wait to see where we end up.

 

To Dreams!

Rachel

Resolution Restorative

Continuing on the theme of a new year, I wanted to write about my experience at the Resolution Restorative class I took at my yoga studio on New Years Day. I occasionally take classes at Yen Yoga and Fitness here in Traverse City. They have such a nice studio and the classes always leave me feeling refreshed and strong. So good! Unfortunately they don't currently offer pre-natal yoga classes, but I'm aiming to go to some gentle yoga in addition to my pre-natal classes at Yoga for Health.

When we arrived to the class our instructor had us take lots of supplies: blocks, bolsters, straps, blankets, etc. That's when you know it's going to be good. It was all ladies in the room which adds another level of relaxation for me. At the beginning of class, our instructor asked us to write one thing we'd like to bring into the new year on one side of a piece of paper, and one thing we'd like to leave behind on the other. She said that through the class we would meditate on these intentions through the postures.

disclaimer: I don't look this good. not even close. (via)

We held several poses for a long time. I stretched out my hips and my back and I focused on my breath. You should know that even though I've taken my fair share of yoga classes, I would never classify myself as a yogi (though someday that would be pretty awesome). It takes a lot for me to be mindful for 90 minutes, but it's so worth the try. Our instructor told us that we might decide to change our intentions halfway through. Yoga has a way of letting your mind relax and having what's important come to focus.

 

However, my words stayed the same. In 2013 I want to release the heaviness from my life and introduce lightness. This isn't something I distinctly wrote about in my future letter, but it's deeply important even beyond 2013. (especially beyond this year!)

 

When I think of heaviness, I think worry, stress, guilt. Literally feeling weighed down by something. The times I feel heavy are when I've literally eaten a meal that's too rich and makes me feel slobby. When I waste hours sitting on the couch. When I'm lazy. When I know I have things to do but I don't do them. That's where the stress and guilt come into play. Then I worry about the consequences. Out with the heaviness.

 

Instead, I am choosing lightness. Happy, carefree, with the ability to give expecting nothing in return. In my ideal "light" world, I am physically surrounded by light. Out in the sun, making the most of my days. I nourish my body with healthy food, water and exercise. I do the things I need to do in order to keep myself and others feeling happy. I am light. I am filled with God's grace that allows me to do what I need to do in order to be successful and peaceful. In with lightness.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

 

At the end of the class, we all circled around and burned our papers one by one. It was meditative, but there was lots of laughter and joy. I think it was truly symbolic of what we were all hoping to do- release something in order to bring more joy.

 

Happy New Year!

January Goals

I meant to put these up yesterday, but it was a holiday so I guess I'll forgive myself. In an effort to achieve my "dream year" that I wrote about here, I will be setting smaller, more manageable monthly goals to keep myself on track. Will you keep me accountable?

1. Input spending into my new iPad app, Budget Book, & have our first monthly budget meeting.
2. Use my simplified planner daily, or at least bring it with me and keep it open.
3. Practice yoga regularly, and make it to the pool at least 3 times.
4. Finish our "Throw out 100 things" challenge.
5. Keep up with regular posting on the blog.
6. Learn how to blow dry my hair like a professional.
7. Cook more meals at home, more vegetables!

Most of these goals are in place to set a habit for the year. Our new budgeting system is looking really great, I can't wait to see how the program will serve us and our larger intention of becoming debt-free, purchasing a house and just being comfortable with our money. Using my simplified planner won't be difficult, because I love it, but I need to remember to use it daily in order for it to work. I plan to write everything in our schedule that we already input into our Calendar app down so I have it in two places.

 

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Health wise, I want to be sure I'm making the most out of my first pregnancy. I downloaded several pre-natal yoga video podcasts on my iPad and am hoping to practice more often now that my energy is up. Also, I have a maternity swimsuit now, so there's no excuse not to get my cardio! :) I also want to cook a lot more at home. We've gotten pretty lazy about it for the past few months and I need to get my routine back. Meal planning, anyone? Bring on the smoothies!

 

I want to finish the challenge inspired by Jess Lively. We set it up so that we each need to find 100 things to get rid of. Either sell, donate or recycle/ throw away. It's been really good for us to simplify a little bit more to get ready for the nursery to be set up. I'm really excited about this!

 

Lastly, I want to keep posting on the blog. Even though I have literally 0 readers, including my husband- it's been great to write and figure out where I want to head with the blog. We'll see where it takes us! (and by us I mean me.) Oh, and the blow-drying thing is just a little vain, but it makes me feel good so I'm going to give it a go. That round brush seems so foreign! Any tips are welcome. :)

 

To a great month ahead!

 

Rachel

Letter to my Future Self

As I mentioned in this post, I know only how to write 100% authentically. I got this idea from Jess Lively's blog, to write a letter to my future self as a way of writing your intentions for the next year. It's really helped me clarify what the core of my heart looks like and if all the small things fall short, what I want life to look like. This is not all easy stuff. It's the real issues and struggles that I deal with everyday. Throughout the year I'm planning to write monthly goals to support all of these larger intentions. I would love if any of you would check in with me every once in a while and see how I'm doing. If you're a goal-setter, I am passionate about doing the same! Without further ado, here it is!

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Dear Rachel,

It is January 1st, 2014. Life is more wonderful than I could have imagined. I thought that 2012 was a blessed year, with a new husband, financial freedom and the conception of a perfect baby boy, but 2013 exceeded my expectations. Absolutely astounding.

 

I was able to focus on what matters, and forget the rest.

 

Relationships, God, Creating, Health.

We brought our beautiful son into the world in June who Isaiah and I cherish and love above almost all else. We make bonding and family time a top priority. We were able to visit my parents and grandfather, and took time in the summer to visit family in Connecticut.

After I gave the natural, med-free birth that I trained and prepared for, I never returned to the bank full time. We are wise with our money and as a team developed a budget and found a way to support our family the most efficiently.

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Each month we review out budget and statements. We do not use our credit cards and are working on diminishing our debt. I feel comfortable and secure financially and Isaiah and I are constantly on the same page.

We established a workspace for Occasion that is the perfect place to build my business. It is clean and allows me to think and create freely, without clutter (mental or physical). I feel peaceful in my office.

My blog is picking up with regular posting and gaining meaningful readership each month. I write about my business, family, inspirations and intentions as I approach and experience motherhood.

I have found a way to generate income while working from home in some capacity. This could be through calligraphy, floral design, or another extension of Occasions. Working creatively with my hands has been rewarding and helped me define where I want my business to go in the future. I've developed a business plan and am so satisfied with where I'm at. I went above and beyond the expectations of my clients and this only deepened my sense of gratitude for amazing clients. This was an intentionally "slow" year for me, but I was still able to produce a photo shoot that I'm proud of and grow Occasions behind the scenes. I am ready for 2014!

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During pregnancy, I made the best use of my time. I gained a "normal" amount of weight and ate healthily and exercised throughout. We eat a balanced diet and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. After I gave birth I continued to focus on my health and wellness as I easily achieved my pre-pregnancy weight.

 

I designed baby's nursery on a budget and we love the way it looks! It is organized and simple, perfect for nursing, changing, and letting baby sleep. We took tons of photos this year! We printed them out and even framed some.

During my maternity leave, I learned to maintain the house and clean regularly. We have "systems" and organization in each area of our home. It makes cleaning and finding things a breeze! Isaiah and I feel like our responsibilities are divided equitably and fairly.

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I strengthened my relationships with Brittany, Callie, Natalie and Bk this year. I made an effort to remember birthdays and call more often. Friendship took a new role in my life. I was able to balance relationships with my oldest, greatest friends with some new ones too. I'm working on building up "my team" of supporters, and in turn I am more fully present with others.

This year I read more and watched less television. It was a good example for baby and great for my brain. I read a mixture of fiction and non-fiction that included baby books, business development and cookbooks- some fiction too. We also read to our little babe almost every night.

 

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I felt beautiful this year. Pregnancy was healthy and I took care of myself. During pregnancy I practiced yoga and walked outside regularly. Afterwards I hit the gym harder and got back into running at a comfortable pace. Even through early motherhood, I made myself feel great by taking relaxing baths, and made "getting ready" in the morning a priority.

 

We were very picky about how we spent our time. When given the chance to travel, we focused on visiting family and friends. During that time it was relaxing and stress-free. Lots of time outdoors, at the beach, eating together. It was lovely.

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Above all, I showed Isaiah how much I love him, and I put family first. Together we lead a household with a foundation of love. Our marriage serves to show our son what's really important, because we focus on living out those intentions daily. We supported each others goals wholeheartedly and went after what we wanted fiercely. We are learning to dream bigger.

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 Best wishes for your amazing 2013,

 

Rachel

Moving Forward

I'm not going to apologize for my lack of blogging over the past month. There has been so much going on! In this post, I want to do a little recap of where I've been and what I've been up to for the last month, but I also want to set some personal and professional goals for the next year, and line up what my intentions are for this blog for 2013. This may or may not take up a few posts.

 

I left off mentioning that we were about to embark on a vacation (not a trip!) to Isla Mujeres to visit my in-laws. Let me just say that the trip was magical. We spent hours strolling through the downtown streets, eating popsicles and laying around on the beach. The weather was iconic and it was great to just spend time with my husband, his brother and my in-laws. Together we celebrated my 24th birthday, Thanksgiving, and a some big news.... Isaiah and I are having a baby!

 

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Yep, you read that right. At the time of our visit, We were just about 12 weeks along and were able to tell our family in person, which was so important to me. Unfortunately my parents heard the news over the phone, but were obviously still thrilled. I want to write more about our trip and share some of the photos too.

 

As of today, I am 16 weeks along and feeling fabulous! For a while I was pretty sick and very tired, so I'm glad to be in this new stage of pregnancy. We also had our third ultrasound on Wednesday and found out that we are having a sweet baby boy! Honestly we could not be more thrilled. I am enamoured with him already.

 

Because of this huge news, my life is taking a drastic turn in the next year! I think about all the ground work I've done in building my event planning business: the hours I've put in at a job that is (almost) the furthest thing from fulfilling, working weddings for free, pulling all-nighters painting watercolors for clients, rising before dawn to finish floral arrangements so they are the freshest as can be. I know in my heart of hearts that event planning and floral design is where I am called to be. Do I know when I'll be able to pursue that full-time? No. But I do know that I have the most loving family and support system. I am blessed beyond measure with a husband that not only supports my dreams of running my business and being a mom to our kids, but a man who is level headed about money and who wants a secure, happy life for us all.

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For now, our "plan" is to have faith that everything will fall into place in it's right time. This summer I was planning on working 8 weddings (that was my goal), and now I've had to turn away clients. This doesn't upset me because I know that these actions support my greater intention of being a loving wife and mother. I can't wait to share more of this journey with you and move forward with this blog. Thanks for reading, it's going to be a crazy year!

 

For now, a little to-post list. :)

 

-Isla Mujeres recap

-Baby Progress so far

-Personal Intentions 2013

-Professional goals 2013

Making Things Happen Recap

Alright you guys. It's been a week since I attended Making Things Happen in Chigaco. I purposely waited a little while to share this with you all because I wanted it to "soak in". Going into this workshop I basically had no idea what to expect. I didn't know one single person. I left two hours early from a friend's house where I was staying because I was so nervous about traffic. I hardly ate breakfast. I waited in a hotel lobby for 45 minutes. Then, I introduced myself to a couple other girls. Thankfully, they were really nice. As in- thank you for calming my nerves even though I don't even know you- type nice. I didn't know what was going to happen in that room, but I knew that I wasn't going to leave the same. For one thing, I didn't think I'd be diving headfirst for the tissue box within the first hour. And those tears were important. They made me realize that what was happening, what I was feeling was real and tangible.

All of the fears I have surrounding my personal and professional life are real. They live in my head and hold me back from truly living my ideal day and my perfect life. It was through the hard work we did that day that I was able to gain clarity into what all of these thoughts and anxieties meant in my life. I remember one day about 3 weeks ago sitting on my living room floor. I thought to myself, "Things are pretty good. I take life one day at a time." I though that really loud and clear! But then there was this voice in the back of my head... "if something truly catostrophic happened, what would I DO? How could I make decisions and keep living life?" This really scared me.

Since MTH, I've have very little time to really sit down and reflect. I have all this newfound clarity about my fears, distractions, and most importantly, what fires me up. I need to make time do hash it out. Like Lara said, the real work will come when you walk out the door. I know what she meant. In six months I hope I know even deeper. In one year I hope I'm still learning and improving.



image via Shay's post, here! too perfect not to add. :)