Tag: outschool

February 2023 Goals

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I have heard so many people talking about how long January felt this year, and I have to disagree. January was the break that I needed after an extremely busy fall and before we launch into the craziness of the theatre and senior spring seasons. I am extremely sad to see the month go because I know what is coming. Starting tonight, there will be 5 theatre performances, 3 choir concerts, 2 choir competitions, 2 spring breaks, a choir trip, an art show, 4 birthdays, graduation, and countless parties in the next 5 months. I will be longing for a break by the time we hit May, so I tried to soak in as much down time as I could in January. I actually read 2 books and I have worked on goal setting and my vision for my businesses. I am proud of myself for letting things stay slow as much as possible.

Having said that, I did still have goals I intended to meet, so let’s recap those:

  • Get my goals for 2023 and my first quarter goals ready – I am working through 12 Week Year and plan to implement the goals I am working on starting later this month. I am excited about this and can’t wait to share a special goal post about it soon!
  • Get matte screen protector for iPad so I can photograph Valentines products and get previews made – This is half accomplished. I have the matte screen protector. I am still stalled on product previews. I am sure that I am making them into something far bigger than they really are.
  • At least 1 adventure and 1 create date with blog posts – We did this! It was close, I was worried, but we pulled through.
  • Film 12 craft videos for Crafty Phonics – L Sound FLEX class – This is done. In fact, I have all but the last week of posts created/scheduled.
  • List a sewing class and a Communicate and Create for the Make Your Year Edventure Conference with classes to continue after – I have listed these classes and several others and not had any enrollments. None of my one time classes have booked in the last year unless they were specifically requested and created for a current student. I have been marketing and tracking stats, so I will be ready to make a new game plan after this month.
  • Finish the ACE Educator process – I did not do this. I chose classes and then they all disappeared because a new month started. I feel like this is probably going to happen again, so I better get with it.
  • Walk outside or on treadmill 20x – I hit 15 walking workouts in January.
  • 12 hikes – finish my last few for 2022 and begin 2023 52 Hike Challenge – I did 3 hikes. I added the two that were technically within a year for 2022 to that year, but then I went ahead and counted them for this year. I make my own rules. I have been struggling with hand pain that gets worse in cold, so I just need to figure that out so I can get out and hike. We have lots of fun hiking planned in March, so I need to build up my stamina before then.
  • Make dinner 20x – I am actually pretty sure we hit this. I have been cooking so much more which is good since we have the new budget now.
  • Pay off $1500 in debt – We had a car repair that caused us to add about $25 in debt this month in spite of my aggressive payments to our credit cards. We are refilling our emergency fund, so hopefully we will be better equipped to pay for things like this in the future.

I see a lot of growth here. I am at 6/10, which is pretty good compared to the last few months. I have made the decision to just let TpT be for a while and focus on my main income over at Outschool. I have also made the decision not to pursue Allschool since they raised their fees to almost as much as Outschool so there really isn’t any benefit to moving over. With that in mind, here are my goals for February:

  • Adventure and Create Dates.
  • At least 4 blog posts.
  • Get new email list up and running with a freebie.
  • A Random Act of Kindness every day.
  • $1200 income across businesses.
  • 2 new classes – look at insights and topic requests to see what would be best fit.
  • Hit 900 learners taught.
  • Pay off $1000 in debt.
  • Close Stand and Move rings daily.
  • 5 hikes to get back on track.

I think this is a good mix of business and personal, and it seems like something I can accomplish. I am actually really excited to have a pretty solid plan for my business and personal life this month.

Do you have any goals for this month? Let me know in the comments so we can support each other and have accountability! 🙂

January 2023 Goals

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I am having a very hard time believing we are in a new year – but I am super excited by the possibilities! I am currently working on reflecting on my goals from last year – what went well, what I need to update, what I want to add, what I want to leave behind. I can tell you that I did accomplish so much in the past year. I can also tell you that I had several goals that I did not even start or that I made progress on and then lost the progress. I do think I need to make my yearly, quarterly, monthly, and weekly goals line up just a little better. There are definitely monthly goals that were lovely but didn’t move the needle on my big goals. There were definitely things I could have been more consistent with. But there were also things I did very consistently and things that did impact my goals in big ways.

Let’s start this month by reflecting on my goals for last month. I think this is going to be a mixed bag because I was very sick for 2 weeks in December, so I did not do anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. But I know I also tried to plan goals that allowed me time to get ready for the holidays and celebrate with my family, so we shall see….

  • Add previews to my Time, Winter, and Arctic products – I did not start this. I am obviously at a block here, so I need to start really small with a goal for January that I can accomplish and that will move this forward.
  • Market my January classes on Instagram and Facebook groups to fill my classes – I have been doing this – I need to make a big push this week. I actually have decent enrollments right now for my classes that start next week. It could definitely still get better, though. 🙂
  • Add 20 Pinterest pins – I did not start this. Again, I know it is important to move the needle here, but I just need to rethink how it will work.
  • Figure out sewing machine logistics in my classroom and list a sewing class – I did not do this. But I do have ideas for a sewing club and will try to get it listed this week.
  • Make 4 blog posts – I did 2 blog posts – and then this will be the 4th one for this specific day in the beginning of January. I’m going to count this as a done.
  • Hang blinds and plates in my office – I did not start this one. I completely forgot about it, actually. Adding it to my list for this week.
  • Send Christmas cards to friends and family – I did this! And they probably even received most of them before Christmas!
  • Make dinner 12 times – I am pretty sure I did this as well.
  • Hike 4 times – visit 4 winter hike series parks – We visited 4 of the winter hike series parks and we did 7 hikes total in December!
  • Do my 20 hours of continuing education for my SLP licensure – I actually ended up doing 22 hours of CE this month.

It looks like I get about a 6/10 on this one. I am super pleased with this because, as I said, I was out of commission for a good chunk of the month. I have been feeling really, really frustrated with having 2 businesses I am trying to grow at the same time recently. When I started my TpT business, I was averaging about $1500-$2000 a month on Outschool. I thought it was stable, so it seemed like it would be easy to maintain while also building my TpT business. Instead, I have really had to put in a lot of time into both. I am feeling stretched and need to find balance there. So, I think adjusting my goals a bit to fit where I am in my businesses and life will really help.

So, for January, while I am still working through goals and my visions for my businesses, I am going to make some pretty simple goals. Here is what I have:

  • Get my goals for 2023 and my first quarter goals ready.
  • Get matte screen protector for iPad so I can photograph Valentines products and get previews made.
  • At least 1 adventure and 1 create date with blog posts.
  • Film 12 craft videos for Crafty Phonics – L Sound FLEX class.
  • List a sewing class and a Communicate and Create for the Make Your Year Edventure Conference with classes to continue after.
  • Finish the ACE Educator process.
  • Walk outside or on treadmill 20x.
  • 12 hikes – finish my last few for 2022 and begin 2023 52 Hike Challenge.
  • Make dinner 20x.
  • Pay off $1500 in debt.

I’m not going to lie, a lot of this list is things that is already in progress. I am working through writing my goals. I have chosen the workshops for my ACE educator pillars. I have already hiked twice. I ordered the matte screen protector last night. I am paying bills this morning. But, if I write this list and actually finish the things on it, I know that it will propel me into February with so much momentum. I am excited and hopeful and feel more in control of my businesses already.

What are your goals for January? Do you have goals for this year to share? Let me know in the comments!

December 2022 Goals

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Is it just me, or was November a downhill slide? I never quite got my feet under me, so I did not even get to set goals for the month. I did make it through a lot of additional volunteer obligations, but I seriously feel like I have been just surviving for the past couple of months. I never even recapped my goals for October, so let’s see what the damage was there before we start with December as our clean slate. Here is the good, the bad, and I’m pretty sure the very ugly.

  • Figure out photography and previews for 10 TpT products – I still didn’t do this.
  • Add 10 new TpT products – I did not do any TpT the past 2 months.
  • Create an Outschool and Allschool schedule that feels doable – I did create a good Outschool schedule, and tried to add in some Allschool without any enrollments.
  • Finish organizing our front room – I did this!
  • Hang blinds in my office – I did not do this.
  • Figure out classroom set up for live sewing classes – I did not do this.
  • Make 4 blog posts, 20 Instagram posts, 20 Facebook posts, and 20 Pinterest pins – I know I made 3 blog posts, but I don’t think I did much with any other social media.
  • Make dinner 10 times – I got into a really good pattern here. I am proud to say I did do this.
  • Hike 6 times – I hiked 3 times in October and I did not hike in November at all.
  • Do 6 strength training workouts – I did not do this.

So, to recap, I earned a 3.5/10 over the course of 2 months. This is better than the 3 that I gave myself for September, but in 2 months I would have hoped to accomplish more. There were family and volunteer things that kept me from getting everything I would like to done, but I definitely still had time I did not use towards my goals. I feel a deeply tired, whether from my businesses or from the rest of my life. So, I am going to claim that Fall 2022 was a season of rest in my business and growth in other areas of my life. I have continued to have at least one sale each month in my TpT store, and I am still teaching many loyal students on Outschool, so that has allowed me to coast for now. I would like to think that I can start to pick up the pace a bit, but I know that this month is going to be hectic with the holidays. So, my goals will be:

  • Add previews to my Time, Winter, and Arctic products.
  • Market my January classes on Instagram and Facebook groups to fill my classes.
  • Add 20 Pinterest pins.
  • Figure out sewing machine logistics in my classroom and list a sewing class.
  • Make 4 blog posts.
  • Hang blinds and plates in my office.
  • Send Christmas cards to friends and family.
  • Make dinner 12 times.
  • Hike 4 times – visit 4 winter hike series parks.
  • Do my 20 hours of continuing education for my SLP licensure.

I feel like this is a really good mix of personal and business goals, and it should set me up for success in the coming year. I also got really specific with some of these goals in the hopes that they won’t seem as overwhelming to me. I am looking forward to seeing if this plan will bring me more success with my goals this month.

What are your goals for December? Let me know in the comments so we can cheer each other on! 🙂

October 2022 Goals

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September felt really busy. We started the month with a college visit and it just kept rolling from there. We are officially back to all the activities, and I find myself thinking wistfully about the time we weren’t so busy. I am loving seeing all of our friends, though! I just need more down time than I used to, I think.

Last month I tried to scale back my goals a little bit, so let’s see how I did for the month.

  • Figure out photography and previews for my TpT products and add them to 20 products – I did not do this.
  • Add 10 new Fall products on TpT – for the first month since I started my shop, I did not add any new products on TpT.
  • Write one time Public Speaking classes for Outschool to covers ages 3-18 – I wrote 2 classes to cover ages 3-7 and so far they are crickets…
  • Write a series of craft classes – live and flex – I wrote Fall and Halloween FLEX craft classes, and have drafts started for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
  • Finish organizing my classroom and the front room – my office is done and front room is 75% done.
  • Figure out how to set up my classroom for live sewing classes – I did not do this.
  • Make 5 blog posts, 20 Instagram posts/reels, 20 Facebook posts/reels, and 31 Pinterest pins – I wrote 2 blog posts, 12 Instagram posts, 14 Facebook posts, and no Pinterest pins.
  • Make dinner at home 15 times – I probably cooked 5 times.
  • Hike 6 times – I hiked 3 times.
  • Do 8 strength training workouts to start building some muscles – this didn’t happen either.

This was obviously a down month – I’m giving myself 3/10 and that feels generous. I am a little surprised because I felt like I was accomplishing things, but I see that I was accomplishing things for my volunteer obligations as I was neglecting my actual tasks to move the needle in my businesses. I costumed a show, sized kids for choir attire, measured and organized our costume plan for our high school fall play, sent sponsor and donor letters and also created a budget for our performing arts boosters. I was definitely busy and productive. But I was not focused on these goals.

Last week, I signed up to also teach on Allschool. I have yet to create any classes, but I am hopeful that I will be able to get a little traction there at times that don’t seem to be working for Outschool. With all of this in mind, here are my October goals:

  • Figure out photography and previews for 10 TpT products.
  • Add 10 new TpT products.
  • Create an Outschool and Allschool schedule that feels doable.
  • Finish organizing our front room.
  • Hang blinds in my office.
  • Figure out classroom set up for live sewing classes.
  • Make 4 blog posts, 20 Instagram posts, 20 Facebook posts, and 20 Pinterest pins.
  • Make dinner 10 times.
  • Hike 6 times.
  • Do 6 strength training workouts.

I think this looks like a list I can stick to. I just need to hang it in my office and check it when planning my days. Hopefully this will be the month that I get to say I did it all – wish me luck!

What are your goals for this month? Let me know in the comments so we can cheer each other on! 🙂

September 2022 Goals

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I know I say this every month, but I can’t believe that August is over. It was a wonderful month – full of amazing moments and definitely core memories. Our baby started her senior year of high school, our oldest started working on her new degree path in college, and we celebrated our 23rd anniversary with a magical trip. So much to be thankful for, and so much to look forward to. Before we can look forward, though, we need to look back at August and see how my goals for the month went. So, without further ado, here goes.

  • Add 20 TpT products to my store – I added 18 new products, bringing me to 101 products! I am counting this as complete.
  • Write a sticker club class for Outschool – This did not get done. I think this is a sign that it is not really in my heart to do it, so I am scrapping this goal.
  • Write a series of Public Speaking classes for Outschool that covers ages 3-18 – I wrote a series of classes that goes to 9 – so far no sign ups, so I am in the process of adding one time options. This one gets half credit.
  • Write a series of craft classes – live and flex – This one is still being developed in my head – I am going to start with some one time Fall/Halloween craft classes and see where it goes. But I did not do it this month.
  • Set my fall schedule on Outschool – I have done this and continue to revise it as I go.
  • Finish organizing my classroom and the front room – This one is still in progress. I have this week off, so maybe it will happen.
  • Make 10 blog posts, 20 Instagram posts/reels, 20 Facebook posts/reels, and 31 Pinterest pins – I made 13 total blog posts, 6 Instagram posts, 15 Facebook posts, and 11 Pinterest pins. I am going to give myself a 70% here, but I really hope to be more consistent in September.
  • Make dinner at home 15 times – Definitely did this. It was really nice to know what we were eating. I am hoping to do even more meal planning in September.
  • Hike 8 times (we are headed to Disney for 3 days, so I know I can hit this if I count each day as a hike) – I did this! Not completely caught up on 52 Hike Challenge, but so close!
  • Do 6 strength training workouts to start building some muscles – This did not happen, but we did walk A LOT – both at Disney and at home.

When I look at it by the numbers, I get a 5/10 for August. Not great, but not terrible, either. I need a change in my business, and I am really hopeful that September will be filled with just the right amount of change and motivation. I really can’t wait for the change in seasons – I put out some of our Fall/Halloween decorations already and I am hopeful the rest will be out by the end of the week. Cooler air, beautiful leaves, campfires – bring it on! Here are my goals for this month:

  • Figure out photography and previews for my TpT products and add them to 20 products.
  • Add 10 new Fall products on TpT.
  • Write one time Public Speaking classes for Outschool to covers ages 3-18.
  • Write a series of craft classes – live and flex.
  • Finish organizing my classroom and the front room.
  • Figure out how to set up my classroom for live sewing classes.
  • Make 5 blog posts, 20 Instagram posts/reels, 20 Facebook posts/reels, and 31 Pinterest pins.
  • Make dinner at home 15 times.
  • Hike 6 times.
  • Do 8 strength training workouts to start building some muscles.

I am excited to get in there and learning to do new things in classes and with my products. Hoping to gain more learners and customers this month. If I can build enough momentum, it should carry me into the fourth quarter and through the end of the year – there’s still time to make some great strides towards my 2022 goals.

What are your goals this month? What new things will you be trying? I can’t wait to hear all about it in the comments. 🙂

August 2022 Goals

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I can’t believe it is the 9th of August – and I am just now getting around to reflecting on how July went and setting my intentions for August. July was a rough month. We had some great joys – we were involved with an awesome production of Guys and Dolls and we got to go on a wonderful family vacation. We also had some great sorrows – a good friend passed away in his sleep during fair week and two members of our family had brought back COVID as a souvenir. This roller coaster of events caused a lack of focus and a shift in some priorities, so I am ready to see where we stand and move on. So, my goals for July were:

  • Add 10 TpT products to my store – didn’t meet this – I did add 3 new bundles, though.
  • Write a Sticker Collectors Club class for Outschool – this was also not completed and will move to August’s list.
  • Make 4 blog posts, 25 Instagram and Facebook posts, and 31 Pinterest pins – because of how the month went, I ended up with only 1 blog post in July. When I finish all of the Adventure and Create posts for the month, though, I will have 7 more posts about July activities. I had 5 Instagram posts, 4 Facebook posts, and 33 Pinterest Pins. I’m going to give myself a 50% on this one.
  • Set my Fall schedule for Outschool – I did this, but now I have a few ideas and I’m going to be changing things up this week.
  • An Adventure Date, Create Date, and 2 Family Game Nights – We did 6 adventures this month and have created something really cool. We are just not hitting the family games nights like I thought we would.
  • Finish organizing my classroom and our front room – I got a lot done on this one – we are at about 75% done.
  • Have a Free Yard Sale with everything we need to give away from organizing efforts – I did this! We got rid of a bunch of stuff!
  • Make dinner at home 12 times (this is a stretch with tech week, fair, and vacation all falling this month) – this definitely didn’t happen. I would say I made dinner maybe 5 times.
  • Walk/work out 15 times (I am starting a new health program this month, and I am hopeful) – I definitely hit 15 walks. The new health program was one of the things I have had to let go for now due to the lack of focus I am experiencing.
  • Hike 8 times (we have a few tours and hikes planned in Seattle, so this should be okay) – I hit 7 hikes – I think I would have made it to 8 if COVID had not struck.

Looking at this list, I give myself 6.5/10 which is over not bad! I really thought it was going to be much worse, so this gives me a lot of excitement and inspiration for next month. Imagine how much I can accomplish if I can just get myself focused again!

This month has an anniversary Disney trip and I am working through a new FLEX course with all the videos and content creation, so I’m going to keep my goals pretty simple. This is what I would like to accomplish:

  • Add 20 TpT products to my store.
  • Write a sticker club class for Outschool.
  • Write a series of Public Speaking classes for Outschool that covers ages 3-18.
  • Write a series of craft classes – live and flex.
  • Set my fall schedule on Outschool.
  • Finish organizing my classroom and the front room.
  • Make 10 blog posts, 20 Instagram posts/reels, 20 Facebook posts/reels, and 31 Pinterest pins.
  • Make dinner at home 15 times.
  • Hike 8 times (we are headed to Disney for 3 days, so I know I can hit this if I count each day as a hike).
  • Do 6 strength training workouts to start building some muscles.

I am really excited to finally feel inspired for new classes on Outschool. I love my current classes, but I miss the feeling of teaching something new for the first time. I can’t wait to see how my fall schedule plays out. I am also really excited to post some reels this month – I have some great ideas for what to create.

What are your goals for August? Do you have anything exciting happening this month? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

July 2022 Goals

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I know I say this every month, but I sincerely can’t believe it is already July! Wow! I am not complaining, we are getting so close to some super fun vacations, but we also have online classes and fair projects that need some time. Looking back, June was actually a really productive month. First of all, I stopped coughing, so I was able to be more active. Secondly, Keith and I had our little waterfall tour in Cleveland which was wonderful. In fact, we liked getting away on our own so much we decided to book a Disney trip for our anniversary in August. Celebrating 23 years during their 50th anniversary celebration just seems right. Also, we were there for the 25th anniversary birthday cake castle, so we decided we needed some redemption for that…

Without further ado, here is a recap of my June 2022 Goals:

  • Add 20 products to my TpT store – I did this! I am up to 80 products and need to start switching gears to get more traffic to my store.
  • Write a second insect flex class and a second sewing flex class – I did this, too! I wrote a Slumber Party Sewing Club FLEX Class and a Discovering Insects – Ancient Bugs FLEX Class. They won’t run until August because I need some time to get things ready, but I am super excited to have them written and available.
  • Make 5 blog posts, 25 Instagram posts, 25 Facebook posts, and 40 Pinterest pins – This was not a good month for social media and posting on the blog. I got 3 blog posts, 7 Instagram posts, 8 Facebook posts, and no pins. This will be my focus for next month.
  • Update Play-Doh listings for TpT to follow copyright guidelines – I finally took care of this!
  • An Adventure Date, Create Date, and 2 Family Game Nights – We did the 2 dates, but I am going to have to rethink Family Game Nights. We are not doing well… I am hoping maybe we can play some games on the planes or in the hotels this month when we go on vacation.
  • Organize cabinets and shelves in my office, including clearing craft supplies from front room – This is about three quarters of the way done. I have more organizing to do, and I think I need to host a FREE Garage Sale with everything we are getting rid of.
  • Reserve the rest of our Seattle tours and tickets – This is done! I am so excited for this trip!
  • Make dinner at home at least 16 times – I think we did about 10 dinners at home this month.
  • Walk 12 times (cough and energy dependent) – It took until about June 10th to be able to walk without coughing, but I think we got in 10 walks.
  • Hike 6 times (cough and energy dependent) – I had to look these up twice, but we did this! Our waterfall tour and Schnormeier Gardens tour helped a lot.

I feel really good about this – I earned a 7.5 out of 10 this month! It’s amazing what feeling good and having a little extra time in my schedule will do for my productivity. As I mention above, this month I am pivoting a little to start driving more traffic to my TpT store. With that in mind, here are my goals for July 2022:

  • Add 10 TpT products to my store.
  • Write a Sticker Collectors Club class for Outschool.
  • Make 4 blog posts, 25 Instagram and Facebook posts, and 31 Pinterest pins.
  • Set my Fall schedule for Outschool.
  • An Adventure Date, Create Date, and 2 Family Game Nights.
  • Finish organizing my classroom and our front room.
  • Have a Free Yard Sale with everything we need to give away from organizing efforts.
  • Make dinner at home 12 times (this is a stretch with tech week, fair, and vacation all falling this month).
  • Walk/work out 15 times (I am starting a new health program this month, and I am hopeful).
  • Hike 8 times (we have a few tours and hikes planned in Seattle, so this should be okay).

I am really looking forward to our family vacation this month – it has been almost 6 years since we have taken a true family vacation to somewhere new and 10 years since we have flown anywhere as a family. We are running out of time for these family trips, so I am so glad it is working out. I can’t wait to share the adventure with you in a post later this month! Have you ever been to Seattle? What are some things you loved? What things did you think were over-rated? Let us know in the comments. 🙂

June 2022 Goals

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We are finally into June – thank goodness! May was a pretty rough month for our family – nothing catastrophic, but it was emotionally and physically draining and I am not sad to see it go. I am starting to have more energy and feel motivated to actually work on my goals. This is good – I still only hit about 50% of my goals for May, so I am really looking forward to crushing some goals in June. Here is a recap of my May goals:

  • Add 10 products to my TpT store – I hit this one – there are currently 60 products in my store and I had the most sales and the most profit ever in May (5 sales, $4.50 profit, so enough for a Starbucks drink, lol).
  • Write 1 flex class and 1 escape room style class for Outschool – I wrote a new flex class based on a class I have always wanted to teach, but never gotten enrollments for. Check it out here. Still haven’t created the escape room class, though.
  • Make 5 blog posts, 15 Instagram posts, 15 Facebook posts, and 20 Pinterest pins – I did not hit this, but I did make 3 blog posts, 9 Instagram posts, 8 Facebook posts, and still no pins.
  • Update Play-Doh listings on TpT to reflect copyright laws – I did not work on this due to fatigue.
  • An Adventure Date, Create Date, and Family Game Night – We did an adventure date and a create date. The rest of the month was too crazy for a Family Game Night.
  • Pay quarterly estimates – We did this. Ugh.
  • Reserve tours and tickets for while we are in Seattle in July – I have reserved the 2 biggest ticket tours. We still have a few more to do, but I need to talk to Maddie and her friend about them.
  • Make dinner at home 12 times – I believe we hit 9 times. We had potlucks and banquets I did not take into account.
  • Walk 4 times (energy depending) – My energy and cough did not allow this – although we did go on a little unexpected walk over the weekend. I’m going to count that as 1.
  • Hike 2 times (energy depending) – Between my COVID cough and my allergies, nature is pretty much trying to kill me right now.

I have some lovely time off scheduled for June – I am looking very forward to getting some things that have nothing to do with my businesses done. I seriously need to organize a few rooms and start decluttering our house in preparation for a graduation party at our house next year. I do not want it to be a stash and dash situation leading up to the party, and I would like to be able to use all of our spaces to celebrate. So, taking that and my slowly increasing energy and impending free time into account, here is my list of goals for June:

  • Add 20 products to my TpT store.
  • Write a second insect flex class and a second sewing flex class.
  • Make 5 blog posts, 25 Instagram posts, 25 Facebook posts, and 40 Pinterest pins.
  • Update Play-Doh listings for TpT to follow copyright guidelines.
  • An Adventure Date, Create Date, and 2 Family Game Nights.
  • Organize cabinets and shelves in my office, including clearing craft supplies from front room.
  • Reserve the rest of our Seattle tours and tickets.
  • Make dinner at home at least 16 times.
  • Walk 12 times (cough and energy dependent).
  • Hike 6 times (cough and energy dependent).

I am really looking forward to some planning and organizing time the next few days. Keith and I are also getting away overnight later this month – we are very excited to spend some time away just us. I am very hopeful that we will get to hike to some waterfalls and enjoy some great food – we shall see.

What are your goals for the month of June? Will you have any time off? What do you like to do when you are away from work for a few days? Let me know in the comments. 🙂

May 2022 Goals

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I know that it is the middle of May – May 18th to be exact. I still think it is important that I review my goals from April and put my goals for May out into the universe, so here we are. May hit me like a truck. We started with tech week and a very big adjustment for our cast and crew – one of our male leads was removed from the show and replaced with another actor on Monday of tech week. This meant we were scrambling to make sure he had the costumes he needed, as well as putting finishing touches to the rest of the costumes from the show. Throw in a broken zipper that needed replaced, finishing some custom-made pieces, and replacing a couple of shattered buttons and you had a recipe for crazy. Opening night and the second performance were wonderful, and we were looking forward to the rest of the show weekend.

Saturday morning, we got the news that the last 2 shows were being postponed, then we got the news that it was COVID related. My daughter tested and ended up as one of the positives – we never would have known because her case was very minor, thank goodness. The show has been rescheduled and we are gearing up for a successful conclusion this weekend. Everything seemed to be going smoothly again!

Then, Monday, I was hit with a horribly sore throat and no voice. That began my quarantine period which I spent mostly sleeping and watching a little bit of YouTube – I find bullet journaling and bento box videos really calming to watch. What was supposed to be a busy but wonderful week that included a visit from my parents, a theatre showcase, Prom, and a choir concert was suddenly very open. I did watch a few trainings. I drove my daughter to her mani/pedi and brow waxing appointments. I did her prom hair, but did not get to go to pictures. It was a very disappointing week.

This week, however, has started off really well. I do not have my voice or energy fully back, but I am out of quarantine (still masking) and able to work. I am attending a few fun things, including a networking event tonight and Wicked tomorrow night, and I am looking very forward to being a costume mom again on Friday.

Looking at my goals for April, I am actually really pleasantly surprised that I accomplished more than I thought. Here is my list and my review:

  • At least one: Adventure Date, Create Date, and Family Game Night – we did an Adventure and a Create date, but no Family Game Night. It was a really busy month.
  • Use SEO to edit current Outschool classes and update listings for summer- I have not looked into SEO, but I did update my listings for summer.
  • Add 10 new products to my TpT store – this should bring me to 50 – I made it to 50 products at the last possible second. But I did it!!
  • Create 6 blog posts, 25 Instagram posts, 25 Facebook posts, and 30 Pinterest pins – My stats were: 3 blog posts, 18 Instagram posts, 16 Facebook posts, and no Pinterest pins. I have a bunch of products and classes I need to get up on Pinterest.
  • Update TpT Play-Doh products to Modeling Dough products and work on Previews – I did not work on this at all.
  • Write 3 new Outschool classes including one escape room type class and finish summer schedule – I finished my summer schedule, but I did not write any new classes.
  • Make dinner 3 times a week – I did not do this – my average was probably 1.5x a week.
  • Walk 3 times a week – I actually did 9 walks in April, so that is over 2 per week.
  • Go on 6 hikes – I went on 3 hikes in April.
  • Log food and workouts in My Fitness Pal – I did not do this at all.

I felt that I hadn’t done well with goals, so I am pleasantly surprised to be sitting at about a 6 out of 10 this month. While I always want to hit my goals completely, I also always set bigger goals than I think I can complete. It’s the best way to push myself to accomplish more.

As we head into summer, I am trying to leave time in my schedule (and goals) to rest and relax. I am still pretty fatigued, so I am taking that into account for this month. Also, there are less than 2 weeks left in May, so I am going to try to set some smaller goals here and see how it goes.

  • Add 10 products to my TpT store.
  • Write 1 flex class and 1 escape room style class for Outschool.
  • Make 5 blog posts, 15 Instagram posts, 15 Facebook posts, and 20 Pinterest pins.
  • Update Play-Doh listings on TpT to reflect copyright laws.
  • An Adventure Date, Create Date, and Family Game Night.
  • Pay quarterly estimates.
  • Reserve tours and tickets for while we are in Seattle in July.
  • Make dinner at home 12 times.
  • Walk 4 times (energy depending).
  • Hike 2 times (energy depending).

Looking at this list, the thing I can see myself struggling with the most is making 12 dinners – any quick and easy recipes you can recommend? I have a few we haven’t had for a while, but I feel like I am in a rut as far as coming up with fun things to eat. If only we didn’t have to have dinner every. single. night…. Lol!

I hope you have a wonderful May – or what is left of it. Let me know below what goals you are working on this month so we can cheer each other on. 🙂

April 2022 Goals

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April is here! I apologize that I am operating on a bit of a delay this month. My parents celebrated their 50th anniversary April 1st, so we had traveling and celebrating to do. On the way home from their house on Sunday, I became very ill. So, I am just now able to get back to “normal,” whatever that may be.

March was an exciting month in our family – our youngest turned 17 and we went on her first 4 college visits. It’s an exciting and anxious time, but we are trying to help our kiddo to focus on the opportunities and not the expectations. I think that sometimes we can all use a reminder to do that… Which brings me to my March Goals reflection.

  • At least one: Adventure Date, Create Date, and Family Game Night – We did this and once again had a great time. I need to schedule the next few months this week.
  • Use SEO to edit current Outschool classes to increase enrollment – I did update all of my flex classes with this, and I have 3 enrollments that have happened since, so I am happy. Need to keep going with other classes.
  • Add 10 new products to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store – Done – I actually added 12.
  • Create 6 blog posts, 25 Instagram posts, 25 Facebook posts, and 30 Pinterest pins – This is a mixed bag. I did 4 blog posts, 19 Instagram posts, 18 Facebook posts, and 1 Pinterest pin. Overall, there was progress here, but goals were not met.
  • Make dinner 4 times a week – I did not do this. I averaged 2 times a week all month.
  • Go on 6 hikes – I went on 4 hikes. I am not caught up to where I should be, but I didn’t get further behind, so this was a win.
  • Walk 3 times a week and lift weights 2 times a week – I ended up with a sinus infection for the first half of the month, so this did not happen. I am hopeful that the rest of April will be better for fitness goals.
  • Log food and workouts on My Fitness Pal – This fell by the wayside as well. I am getting back to logging this morning now that I can handle actually eating.
  • Work on photography and previews for my TpT products – This needs to move to April – I did not work on it.
  • Write 4 new Outschool language classes including one escape room type class – I wrote and taught one new language class this month, Miss Autumn’s Language Adventures – Follow Directions With Modeling Dough, and I did brainstorm 3 other language classes, but I did not end up writing them this month.

I am going to give myself about 3.5 out of 10 this month. It is okay, you are always supposed to set goals that are a little scary and a little bigger than you think you can hit. I made progress on a lot of them, so I am going to just keep working on being a better version of myself. To that end, my goals for this month are as follows:

  • At least one: Adventure Date, Create Date, and Family Game Night.
  • Use SEO to edit current Outschool classes and update listings for summer.
  • Add 10 new products to my TpT store – this should bring me to 50!
  • Create 6 blog posts, 25 Instagram posts, 25 Facebook posts, and 30 Pinterest pins.
  • Update TpT Play-Doh products to Modeling Dough products and work on Previews.
  • Write 3 new Outschool classes including one escape room type class and finish summer schedule.
  • Make dinner 3 times a week.
  • Walk 3 times a week.
  • Go on 6 hikes.
  • Log food and workouts in My Fitness Pal.

There are a lot of repeats this month – the things I am working on are important, so I need to move them forward if I don’t get them accomplished. I am hopeful I will get to try some new goals next month. What goals do you have for this month? Let me know in the comments so we can hold each other accountable! 🙂