November Goals

November is here! Time for a few of my favorite things. Thanksgiving, friends, family and pumpkin pie! YES!

1. Celebrate my husband, Matt His birthday is tomorrow! November 6th. He's really someone to celebrate, y'all! We are already off to a good start with this one, a bunch of friends and I surprised Matt on Sunday with a few of his favorite things. Football, food and friends!

2. Spend intentional time with friends & family I love that November stirs up in us reflection and  thankfulness. Spending time with the Lord, my husband, family, and friends stirs up joy and thankfulness in a deep place within my heart.

3. Have friends over for a home-cooked meal Home-cooked by me, that is. ;) Not Eatzi's. Ha!

October Goals

October is such a magical month! It also happens to be the busiest month of the year for Amanda Jameson Weddings (hooray!). While this is so, so, SO exciting, it's also a bit overwhelming. I often forget about "life" outside of my business. I'm also a worshipper, wife, daughter, friend, and ministry leader. I have gotten a little behind on my goal setting, but what better month to get back on track?!

1) Take a week day off. I am SO bad at this and justify it in so many ways. ha! I LOVE being a wedding photographer and I don't mind working on weekends but I often fall into the "feeling guilty" trap when I rest during the week. Enter feelings of constantly being tired and our poor little casa always being a mess. For the rest of October & November I have scheduled "Amanda's Day Off" in Matt & I's shared calendar.

2) Keep going strong with Financial Peace University Matt and I are 6 weeks into the 9 week course of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. We are learning a TON and are working hard to create some good habits with our money & savings. We'd like to pay off the rest of our debt in one year!

3) Prepare Sessions for Submission I have a couple weddings and sessions in my que that I'd like to submit for consideration to be published. I'd love to see my work on 100 Layer Cake & Ruffled.

4) Steward our bodies well We are still fighting through making this routine. Some weeks we do really well with healthy eating and exercise and then a busy week comes along and we find ourselves driving through Chik-fil-a multiple times a week.

August Goals

 

"Whaaaaaatttttt???!!", said in the voice of Leeland Lee Lynn (From my favorite SNL skit, Pageant Talk with Gene) It's August?!? It's been a whirlwind in every since of the word the past couples of months. By now, my new branding is complete and the finishing touches are all that's left. Whoohoo! By the way, if you are thinking of rebranding, do yourself a favor and get in touch with the folks at Brilliant Creative. Although I didn't blog about July's Goals, I did jot a few down in my journal that I would like to carry into August.

• Be intentional to find and continue to put myself in situations that stir my affections for the Lord. The first time I heard the question "What stirs your affections for the Lord?", it really made me think. Initially, my mind went to all the basic answers... reading my Bible, going to church, etc. but upon further investigation, it's so much more than that. For me, I've learned that being surrounded by the Lord's creation (the further out in "the-middle-of-no-where", the better) makes my heart come alive. A couple other things are cooking and working-out.
• Be more intentional in how I steward my body. Part 1: What I eat and serve my family to eat. This is important for all sorts of reasons. For me, going to the grocery store is my most dreaded chore. I've been reading and working toward a perspective change. To see cooking and serving as a means to bless and bring together. Not a hassle and time-consuming.
• Be more intentional in how I steward my body. Part 2: In staying active and healthy Another thing that really stirs my affections in cranking up the worship music and hitting a near by trail. Running clears my mind and refocuses my worship to the Lord. It's so funny how quickly I forget how much I enjoy this simple thing. Running gets put on the back-burner pretty quickly when I'm feeling overwhelmed. But on those days that I take time out to practice being a good steward of my body, I am so much more productive!
• Be more intentional in how I steward my body. Part 3: In what I choose to put in my mind When I have an extra 15 minutes here or there, my first impulse is to pick up my phone and go through all my social media outlets. This isn't a bad thing, but knowing myself, I need to practice wisdom. When my heart isn't secure in my identity in Christ, it's easy for me to go through a range of emotions that aren't anchored in Truth. From envy, to stressed, to fill-in-the-blank.