Summer Goals

The air is heavy with humidity. Tree frogs sing in the evenings, our only light cast by the fading rosy sun in the west and the occasional flicker of lightening bugs. Finals are over! Over, over over. My sophomore year is finally over. I'm a junior; I'm halfway done with my undergrad studies! Time is passing so very quickly.

This past school year has been an interesting one. I took way too many classes. Ten this semester alone (but only 17 credit hours. Silly, I know.) I made many friends, for which I am thankful. I almost consider myself outgoing now, though I am still decidedly an introvert. My long term relationship ended. I formed new ones. My family dynamic changed. I learned to accept it. It's been a year of growth. Growing isn't so much fun in the process, but looking back, I'm thankful life has happened the way it has.

I'll continue to grow this summer. I think grow is my theme word for this year. Keeping with that theme, here are my goals for this summer:

1. Be healthy! I'm cutting processed foods out of my diet, as best I can. I really, really need to start taking care of my body. I haven't been careful about what I've put in it, and I'm tired of feeling draggy all the time. I'm also going to start working out: swimming with my sister, hiking with my friends, crunches and push-ups on my own. I'm even considering joining the local Y so I can take Zumba and yoga. This also entails taking my medicine like I should!

2. Grow and re-brand my photography business. I'm hoping to depend on it as a second source of steady income, and frankly, I haven't had as many clients as I'd like. I love taking photographs and hearing stories. I want my photography to convey those stories. I'm looking into being a lifestyle photographer, as opposed to a portraiture photographer. I've already had a few shoots that convey this new direction that I'll be sharing in the near future. That being said, I'm not going to give up senior portraits and the like, since they are my largest clientele. If you want to keep up with my photography, visit my facebook page. I'm afraid not all of my shoots wind up on here, since this is my personal blog. :)

3. Write more! As an English major, I don't get to write much for fun during the school year. I've had many ideas swirling in my head for stories lately, I've just not put them down on paper yet. Look for some of them here in the future. :)

4. Read, read, read. I'm so happy to have time for reading! I don't have a set list of books that I want to read this year. I re-read The Chronicles of Narnia annually, and I'm planning on re-reading The Hobbit since the movie comes out this December! I've also had Divergent recommended to me. Has anyone read it?

5. Travel! My friends and I have been hard at work planning trips this summer! These include southeast Missouri; Gulf Shores, AL; Atlanta, GA; and Memphis, TN (well, that one is for a convention.) I'm really excited about going to the beach!

6. Listen to new music! I've been stuck in a music rut for quite some time. I haven't been able to keep up with what's new, so I've found myself listening to the same things over and over. Simon and Garfunkel, Manchester Orchestra, Jack's Mannequin, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, Rachmaninoff, Deas Vail, and Mumford and Sons. Three artists I've been introduced to recently are Silversun Pickups, Ivan and Alyosha, and Of Monsters and Men. Does anyone have any groovy music they could recommend?

7. Renew my relationship with God! I saved the most important one for last. God has been teaching me a lot lately. I hope to share some of that here in the future. I haven't taken my relationship with Him as seriously as I should, and I've been taking so many things for granted. It's only though His strength that I've made it this far. That's become so apparent to me over the past few weeks. I want Him to be the sole anchor in my life.

There are so many other things that I'm going to be working toward, but this post is already much lengthier than I intended it to be. Hopefully I'll be able to accomplish all of this between working, sleeping, and practicing piano. :)

What are your summer plans and goals?

xo,
Katy