May Goals & April Goals Revisited

First up let's take a moment to revisit April's Goals. 

Read 4 Books I read 2. I blame it on the fact The Fringe Hours took me twice as long to read because I kept re-reading paragraphs and really soaking up everything that was being conveyed.

Take Lots of Photos Maybe not as much as I originally planned but I used my camera on multiple occasions. Took a bunch of pictures Easter weekend, while on vacation and a few other times during the month.

Keep Writing This was a fail. I didn't make time to write this month. I don't have any excuses it simply didn't happen.

Revamp "About Me" I'm really excited about this one. After 3 years I finally rewrote and updated my About Me page on the blog! I love how it turned out and I only wish I had gotten around to doing it sooner.

Enjoy Vacation Success! You can read a little bit about my vacation here & here.

Overall I'm pleased with my progress. April was a pretty light month and it went by in the blink of an eye! It was a good month but I'm excited to move on to May! May marks the beginning of Summer 2015 and camp season for me so most of my goals revolve around that aspect of life.

I want to make a conscious effort this summer to make my bedroom at camp a relaxing and calming space. I don't spend a whole lot of time in my room at camp, primarily just an hour or two before bed but I still want it to be a space I can relax and decompress after a long day. In the past I've used random mismatched bedding, make shift storage boxes/containers on my dresser and the decor has been limited to damp towels and dirty laundry. I bought a new bedding set at Target when it was clearing out a few weeks ago and I have some other ideas about how to better organize my space. I think it will make a big difference in the way I make time for me this summer, which is something I've seriously struggled with in the past.

The past three summers I have essentially completely failed at maintaining the blog during camp (see note above about making time for myself). This summer I'm going to make time to blog and continue documenting life in this space.

Camp internet isn't exactly a top of the line high speed dependable connection which can be frustration. It is the perfect motivation to send some good ol'fashion snail mail though!

Back in 2013 I got creative and made really cute welcome bags for the staff. I didn't have time to it last year because things were so hectic but this year it's going to happen again. They probably won't be as elaborate as 2013 but I plan to stick a few candies, sample sized sunscreen and pen or pencil into a baggie with a cute "Welcome to Camp" tag and call it a day.

Camp is hard. It's wonderful and magical and I am incredibly fortunate to spend my summer helping others, being outdoors, learning and growing. It's so hard not to let it consume you though, even during breaks I've often found myself working on camp related projects or catching up on paperwork. I've now been inspired to use the fringe hours, taking 15 minutes in the morning to drink a cup of coffee while I read a book or journal. Spending  5 minutes before evening staff meeting snapping photos of the sunset. I'm going to find the time.

Sharing my goals with #friendswithgoals

April Goals

My goals for April are very short and simple. For the first time in my life I have some legitimate time away from work that won't be spent job hunting. I'm going on a vacation and at no point will I be expected to babysit kids. April is all about enjoying this pause in life before camp season starts and things get crazy. 

J. will be doing some golfing on our trip during which time I will happily sit beside the pool and read. I have three books (you can see them here) chosen for vacation reading and I'm sure that I can find time to read another over the course of the month. 

After months of neglecting my camera a couple of weekends ago I was reminded how much I enjoy photography. Documenting life through photos is going to be a high priority this month. Obviously there will be lots of vacation photos but I also want to spend time documenting the every day stuff. 

Doodling, journalling, scribbling, typing. There are a lot of words in my head and I want them to be on paper. So I'm going to keep carving out time to make that happen. Last month my goal was to "put pen to paper for 10 minutes each day". I didn't do it every day, but every day I did do it I spent much more than 10 minutes letting my creativity and thoughts flow. Which to me is a clear indicator that it really is something I enjoy. Once I start I don't want to stop it's the act of getting started that is the hardest. So I'm going to keep being intentional and eventually it will become a daily habit again. 

I don't think I've done any major changes to the "About Me" section on my blog since I started blogging three years ago. It is begging to be spruced up and updated. This goal may not get accomplished until April 30, but it's something I will do this month.

Camp is just around the corner, there are a million things I could be doing to prepare...the reality is my contract doesn't start until May 17, which means I'm not getting paid until May 17. I refuse to let myself be consumed by the pre-camp to do list and let myself get burnt out before I'm even on camp property. There are a few camp related projects I will probably work on, but they're things I enjoy. Making welcome bags for the staff, decorating 'warm fuzzy' envelopes, nothing that is going to cause me any sort of stress. And if they don't get done, they don't get done. I will not feel guilty about it. I may have to keep reminding myself not to feel guilty about taking some real time off from work, but that's okay. 

What are your April goals? I hope spring is happening where you are...we're currently getting 15 cm of snow...that's a post for another day.