May Goals

Flowering Spring Tree There's this tree right at the edge of our front yard that seems to keep me in tune with the seasons. In the spring, it's gorgeous. Lots of pretty white flowers everywhere. I know it's officially spring when I see that thing in bloom. And I think (I think!) spring is finally here in Cleveland, Ohio, because that tree is snow white. Finally! Better late than never, right?

For me, spring brings the start of wedding season, and I dive headfirst into BUSY this month. I will be the first to admit to you that when I see all those days on my calendar marked with meetings and weddings and sessions, I get overwhelmed. I'm 100% goals oriented and deadline driven, but I tend to forget to take things one day at a time.

I was recently listening to this podcast and was struck by the idea of slowing down to gain more. Seems counterproductive, right? Wrong! Erin Loechner told Jess Lively that she walks to do errands instead of drives (I'm SO guilty of jumping in the car to go down the block. It's embarrassing!) and sometimes hand washes her clothes, and by doing these things--taking time to savor each task and be more hands on in life--she's fully aware and appreciative of each responsibility, no matter how mundane. And then she's more productive when she's working. Wow. I needed to hear that at the start of busy season! And you know what? I think I'll walk to the coffee shop today and enjoy the flowering trees. :)

May Goals

  • Finish The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and read Animal Dreams
  • Plant our garden (lots of flowers and herbs this year!)
  • Finish our living room mantel design
  • Host our annual family cookout
  • Go on at least two bike rides
  • Put together a Summer Fun list with Nathan
  • CANCEL our cable for the summer (yes, we still have cable! Contemplating getting rid of it completely ...)
  • Shoot six weddings and have two of them + two April weddings fully edited by the time June rolls around
  • Keep my Inbox below 15 at the end of each workday

April Goals

Belmopan BelizeApril is the start of my wedding season, and I'm scrambling around trying to get caught up with just about everything before I dive right in to 10 weddings in a row. I'm especially proud of my Inbox right now. I'm down to 11 (E-LEV-EN!) e-mails greeting me when I log in to Gmail. It's kind of addicting to watch that number go down, and my goal is to be at zero by the end of this week. (So if you need to e-mail me, be a doll and wait until Monday. Haha! Juuuust kidding!)

Other goals for this month? I'm glad you asked!

April Goals

  • Finish Reading Lolita in Tehran + read two more books (A is for Alibi and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind)
  • Finish my spring/summer capsule wardrobe
  • Spring clean our house (windows, yard … everything!)
  • Create some art for our living room mantle
  • Go on at least one bike ride with Nathan
  • Clean off my computer and get it ready for this season
  • Order a new sample album
  • Look into Pixifi + decide if it's a good fit for my business
  • Take one weekday completely off before the season begins

I hope your April looks bright! Happy Easter, everyone!

March Goals

Valentine's Day-Inspired Styled Shoot I thought about making that cover photo one I recently took in the snow, but I then I realized that NO ONE WANTS TO SEE SNOW ANYMORE. :) Tulips are much friendlier now that it's March. I'm optimistic that spring is just around the corner. But while we're waiting for it, Nathan and I decided to get out of dodge and hang out just the two of us in a much warmer climate (wanna guess where we are??). This is our last hurrah before my busy season starts to pick up, and I can't wait to share tropical photos when we get back!

In the meantime, I've been working on my March goals--my last month to get a TON of off-season stuff done. I think it's going to be a successful one!

March Goals

How is your March shaping up? What are you most looking forward to? Make it a good one, friends!

February Goals

Winter Trees in Steamboat Springs I'm greeting February as a new woman! January was all about rest and restoration, and boy did I soak it up. This is my first photography season where I didn't book any weddings in the traditional "off" months and it has been quite the experience being "off" for 2.5 months now.

I've learned that being a wedding photographer means truly embracing the ebbs and flows of life … and of business. One minute you're feeling incredibly stress-free and like you could do this "off" thing for the rest of your life, and then it all comes racing back to you: What am I doing sitting around?? I should be working!!!! What if I never book anything ever again?! How much time have I wasted sitting on this couch, just existing, not producing anything?!?!?! 

Then my sanity returns and I remember what a gift this slow season is. I remember why it's crucial to just be for awhile. To not produce anything but dream about things. To pick up all those thing I neglected six months ago. To devour books and learn and learn and learn again.

It's a constant cycle but I'm excited to embrace that cycle for another 2.5 months. Soon enough it will be time to hustle and produce again. And that's a beautiful experience in and of itself.

February Goals

  • Read three books (Still Life with Bread Crumbs, Emma and Stitches)
  • Send/give encouragement to three people (I'm not sure exactly what this will look like yet, but it's amazing how much time and energy I spend on myself when I could be using a lot of that time to focus on other people. It's so easy to slip into that selfish and prideful pattern!)
  • Complete our 2014 taxes
  • Finish designing and hanging our living room gallery wall
  • Purge our house of old magazines
  • Continue writing content for my new client guide
  • Develop a realistic business budget*
  • Order a new, untraditional sample album (I'll be sharing soon!)
  • Experiment with fine art prints (i.e., order a couple different samples)
  • Finish the questionnaire for the spring workshop I'll be attending (so excited about this one!)

*I'll be using Nancy Ray's Business Budgeting Guide. We talked a lot about finances in my mentoring session, and it was so helpful!

What does your February look like? Do you have something exciting planned this month?