At some point, I am sure I will be doing a blog on reflections. I will be turning 37(!!!) this year and I still don't feel like a "grown up." Which is scary since I have to pretend I know what I'm doing and 'mommy-ing' hard. Anyhow, before I do my reflection post, here is my monthly goals for July. I haven't done a goals sheet in a while and I'm starting to wonder why.....I'm all about checklist and having been flying "off the cuff" without one these past few months have resulted in one frazzled mama and over booking several things. I have stretched myself too thin and I need to scale way back. I guess one of my goals for myself is the ability to say no once in a while. 

**School starts in the middle of August and I know it'll get a bit hectic for our household, so this monthly goal will be "extended" until mid-August. I will begin a new goal for September.** 

1.) Work on self - promotion more and not apologize for it. It's hard for me to seek a spotlight. I prefer hiding behind everyone and letting everyone have a go before my say. Sometimes that means though, I never get a turn.  I never get to speak up. And I shouldn't have to view this as a selfish thing. I need to be bold enough to say it's my turn. I mean, I see friends and family, promoting their businesses with gusto. My books, my stories...these are major accomplishments and something to be proud of. I am. I need to treat my "babies" proud and promote them with just as much gusto. 
I bought and downloaded this social media calendar by Angie Gensler. I spent $37 for it so I will let you know how my "engagements" and social media has grown, if any, by the end of the year. I'm starting this month, so if you see a sudden jump of activities all across my social media channels (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook), it's because I am working on my author platform.

 2.) READ. I have been neglecting my reading list and goals!! This month, I aim to read (1) non-fiction an (1) fiction works. 

3.) REVIEW. Again, neglecting all my reviewing. One of the lovely things about reviews is that even if I haven't written a poem/story for myself, I at least get to write something. It's a great practice and good for recalling what you read. Catch up on at least 5 reviews this month. 

3.) Work on one short story with my little girl. Funnily enough, my daughter wants to write her superhero story. I outlined one with her a few months ago and still have it but this time, I hope we gett to finally sit down and work on it together. Bonus: it'll help her with her handwriting skills. 

What about you, do you have any writing/author/life goals this month? Share them with me below or anywhere you see this post! 
Keep writing on, friends! 

Just in case you didn't know one thing about me....it is that I crave change. I get overtly anxious when things stay exactly the same. I don't know why. But every so often (and because I have a husband and 2 kids) I like to change the look of my house. Some are small: a little lamp there, a new vase here, a framed picture there. Some things are big and more noticeable: moving furniture around, taking down curtains, hanging giant posters there. 
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I can't seem to sit still and therefore my house shouldn't either...it seems is my random thought. 
So, due to it being summer and I have kids all day long and my budget-friendly husband has had to put his foot down, I recently decided I need to make a change here. I don't blog anymore and I so do miss that. I'm not online anymore as myself and for a while, I loved stepping back from it, but I am more involved online repping for another organization and it's made me want to revamp my whole online 'self.' So I'm looking at you, website. Here's my "under construction" notice. I'm still toying with the possibility of having 2 sites: a blog and this author website but I've neglected both. I'm going to start combining both...starting in July. My goal would be to blog once a week about what I do best: mental health and preeclampsia advocating, book/author goals and whatever I feel like. 

Thanks, friends for your continued support and hope you are still writing!