July was one of the fuller months we’ve had this year. We were traveling for a week, and have also spent some great quality time with friends, Charlie wrapped up his summer swimming lessons, and Dave continues to plug away at his studying…but the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight! I spoke at The School of Styling (so fun!) and took on a lot more client work than usual, which definitely shook up my day-to-day routine a bit. Honestly, there’s a lot going on with me professionally right now and I’m doing my best to sort out my desires, God’s call on my work, and the needs of our family as best I can. It’s kind of overwhelming, but I’m so grateful I have the luxury of even making this decision and having some of the opportunities that have come up in the first place. Say a prayer for me this week, and I’ll keep y’all posted as soon as I’m able :)

(Note: this year, I’m setting a monthly goal per yearly goal!)

July Goals
1. Private faith-related goal this month–say a prayer for me as I work on a special project!
2. Make dentist appointments for all three of us and map out appointments for the rest of the year (I’m not moving this to my August goals because I’m positive you’re bored of reading it, ha! Rest assured, I am still going to get this done though ;))
3. Make a final decision on our porch redecoration and plan accordingly for end-of-summer sales (We’re going to get a new outdoor rug, but hold off on everything else for the time being.)
4. Plan fun road trip activities with Dave ahead of time so we use our upcoming 22 hours in the car well
5. Celebrate one sister’s birthday and one sister’s bachelorette weekend from afar
6. Choose a yoga class at the gym and go weekly
7. Write a guest post for Spoken Bride
8. Come in under our budget for the month, especially for our Charlie and “everything else” categories (traveling and some unexpected necessary purchases threw us off in July but August is looking steadier!)
9. Finish Brideshead Revisited and read Parenting with Love and Logic (I missed my hold at the library and never got around to re-requesting it…whoops!)

August Goals
1. Do a holy hour. It has been WAY too long since I did.
2. Write and print a revised Rule of Life to reflect fall, some work/babysitting schedule changes, etc.
3. Make a final plan for sprucing up our laundry closet and take some action (Tell me your favorite removable wallpaper sources in the comments!)
4. Support Dave in his LAST FEW WEEKS of CPA studying!!!
5. Celebrate the August birthdays in my family
6. Get back on track a little with half-marathon training. I missed a couple of runs in July due to travel and illness, but this part of my training (when I’m doing the longest runs I’ve done to date–a bit of a mental hurdle) is super important!
7. Complete a personal writing project I’ve been working on this summer
8. Learn about insurance. I’m not sure how to break that down, but it’s an area I know I need to grow in understanding and confidence. Weird goal, I know, but hopefully a fruitful one!
9. Read Forget Not Love and maybe something fun/fiction–suggestions welcome!

Upcoming feast days:
August 8: St. Dominic
August 9: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (aka Edith Stein)
August 11: St. Clare
August 14: St. Maximilian Kolbe
August 15: The Assumption of Mary
August 27: St. Monica