3 goals out of 5 accomplished in July! I had a busy month professionally and personally. I traveled to the Frio river with family for the 4th, celebrated Love Child Mag's 1 Year Anniversary, attended three kid birthday parties, spent the night in Houston to watch the Manchester United vs. Manchester City soccer game for work, and attended Claire Zinnecker's  jewelry line launch with Limbo. Check out what I'm up to in August!

JULY GOALS

1.) LEARN LIGHTROOM
I'm not a pro, but I've learned the basics of Lightroom. I have been wanting to be able to shoot my own photos for years, and I feel like I'm almost there! Alex and I took some photos of the twins for a collab, and I love the way they turned out. I still have SO much to learn about shooting on my camera, but I'm getting closer. Now the hard part is teaching Alex esthetic. He knows the technical parts of the camera, but style and angles aren't his forte. I've learned I have to be VERY descriptive, and often show him an example of exactly what I want. My advice is to stop after a few pics and ask to see them, so you can adjust if need be.

2.) GRAB LUNCH WITH SOMEONE WHO INSPIRES ME
I follow so many wonderful bloggers in Austin, and this month I met up with Kelsey from So Much Life blog at Jack Allen's Kitchen. It was great getting to learn about her career as a Violinist, and how she started her blogging journey.

3.) FINISH A BOOK
I've been trying to finish THE SHACK for the past month, but honestly I'm not a big fan. It's hard to get in to it, because I only get through about a page a night before I fall asleep. I need to stop staying up so late! I'm also more in to self help and business books. Boring for some, interesting for me!

4.) WEAR MY RETAINER
I definitely did a better job at brushing my teeth at night, but I only wore my retainer about twice. EEK! I blame it on kids, late night blogging, and my laziness.

5.) TRY SOMETHING NEW IN AUSTIN
We celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday at Austin Bouldering Project, and it was the perfect Austin activity! I was amazed at the design, and really loved everything about it. A great place for a fun date night or day out with kids!

AUGUST GOALS

1.) READ A MARKETING ARTICLE 2-3 X A WEEK
I don't blog full-time, even though sometimes I wish I did. I have a BBA in marketing and an MBA, and by day I'm an Associate Marketing Manager for a beverage company.  There are many times in my role that I get stuck and become complacent. I want to learn more about marketing, strategy and business in general so I can be better at what I do. Marketing Profs is a website I frequently visit, and there are thousands of free articles I could benefit from. Also, IZEA has a TON of influencer and content marketing articles. Thankfully my job and my side passion are very similar, so what I learn from one benefits the other.

2.) GRAB LUNCH WITH SOMEONE WHO INSPIRES ME
I honestly would love to have a mentor, but my company is pretty small so I don't have the opportunity to find a mentor in the office. Having lunch with someone who inspires me is in my eyes a small form of mentorship. They may not know it, but I'm learning from them. This goal will continue till I run out of people to have lunch with ; )

3.) RELAX ON VACATION
I'm headed to one of my favorite places in the Texas in a few weeks for a short vacation, and my goal is to TAKE IT EASY! There is no cell phone service, and the scenery is breath taking. My in-laws are going to watch the twins for us, so it will just be Turner, Alex and I. I'm looking forward to giving Turner my full attention, and not worrying about Walt and Whitney's sleep schedule, eating, and them drowning.

4.) START PLANNING FOR THE FALL
It never fails I wait till the last minute to start planning holiday posts for the Fall/Winter. I want to sit down and brainstorm blog posts I'm interested in writing and brands I want to partner with. I would love to do some fun Halloween and Christmas collaborations!

5.) PRACTICE SHOOTING INDOORS
Most of the photos I take are outside, because I need that natural light! I recently purchased this flash, and would like to start practicing taking photos inside my home for home décor posts. I'm is still a MAJOR amateur when it comes to using my DSLR camera. So much to learn, and this goal will help me dedicate time to it!