Hey Friends,

I fully intended to be writing my August To-Do List while watching How to Train Your Dragon with the three energetic kids that I babysit. However, today finds me at home, nursing a sore toe injury and trying to wait patiently for the doctor’s office to give me a call back so I can (hopefully) schedule an appointment. Yeah. It’s been one of those frustrating days.

On another note – can you believe it’s actually August? Like, how is that even possible? It was barely spring just a little bit ago.

It’s amazing how time flies!

July was a busy month for us, but we still enjoyed it all. We spent a fun (yet exhausting) week in Richmond, Virginia where our church group hosted a Vacation Bible Time for a church plant. Since then, our own church had VBT and teen activities, we had a house guest for a couple days, and my husband was filling in for a pastor for two weeks. Things are mostly back to normal now… at least for a little while. August should be a little more calm.

For the month of August, I need to get my life and habits back in order, as well as begin planning for the Fall… here are my goals for this month – I hope you will join me in making a goal list!

August To-Do List {Monthly Goals}

Study the Gospel of John

I’ve been hungering for the simplicity if the Gospels – and even though they are familiar books, it’s amazing how little I’ve actually studied them. This month I am reading through John and I know I’m going to enjoy all the stories about Jesus, as well as the wonderful reminder of what Christ did for us on the cross.

Here are the tools I will be using in my Bible study this month:

• My Creative Bible
• Be Alive
• Be Transformed

The last two books are commentaries by Warren Wiersbie. His books are always very helpful so I plan to reference both.

Use My Planner Every Week

I got this super pretty planner from Michael’s last week, and I love it. It comes with stickers, a sip-pouch, and all the usual planner features. I love the weekly layout because it’s enough room for a full to-do list!

So far my planner has been working well for meal planning and weekly to-do lists – I just need to get back into the habit of writing a daily to-do list.

What planner do you use?

Make $100 Profit from the Blog

Blogging is hard work – and it takes a long time to actually earn money through blogging. However, my blog has finally started paying for itself, and I am definitely seeing the numbers rise ever so slowly. Last month was the biggest month for income to-date. Unfortunately, I already know that this month is not going to be as easy. It’s doubtful I will make $100 profit after my blogging expenses, but it’s still the goal I want to shoot for this month!

Thank you to everyone who continually supports me with this blog! Every comments, share, purchase, and email means a great deal!

Respond to all Blog Emails

I have gotten really behind in blog email (so if you’ve written me an email and I haven’t responded – my apologies). This month I want to get back on top of all my blog work, starting with emails and then moving on to writing new blog posts!

Read Eight Books

This is a lofty goal for this month, however, after listening to Jami Balmet’s podcast about reading… I feel pretty inspired. If a busy mamma, with a full-time blog and TWO SETS of twin boys can read over 60 books in one year… then I can certainly be reading more than I am right now. Here are the 8 books I hope to read/finish this month (unfortunately, I didn’t read all the books I hoped to read last month!).

• Undetected (Fiction – I’m almost finished with this one)
• Large Family Logistics (Home-Management – I still haven’t finished this one – but I’m almost done!)
• WomanCode (Women’s Health)
• Taming the To- Do List (Productivity)
• Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety (Spiritual Growth)
• Content Rules! (Blog-Related Book)
• The Auschwitz Escape (Historical Fiction)
• Lettering and Modern Calligraphy (Work book)

Looking over my list, I am pleased to have a good mix of reading material. It would be nice to squeeze in a marriage book somewhere, but I will be very happy with myself if I can finish all eight of these books before the end of the month! 🙂

Put the Finishing Touches on Our Wedding Album

I finally found a wedding album that works very well with our photos, it’s this wedding album from Amazon. Amazingly, putting all our wedding photos in order, in a way that looked seamless and attractive was easier then I thought! Now I just need to order a few extra photos and fill in the gaps. I am so excited to finally see all out photos in an album. ♥

Begin Planning for Fall

Fall is probably my favorite season – I love sweaters, boots, pumpkins, lattes’, and everything else warm and cozy that arrives with the season. This year my husband and I have our first anniversary to look forward to, as well my 22^nd birthday, and the usual fall festivities. I’m also beginning to plan a fun three-week Bible study for the girls at my church, and I can’t wait to get the ball rolling with all the plans and ideas I have for that.

The close of summer also means the end to my summer babysitting job, and the need to decide if I am going to pursue another job or not. Part of me wants to continue working, the other part of me wants to dedicate my time to my blog and our home. I’ll just need to pray and see what happens!

Well, that’s about all for this month…

What does your August To-Do List look like? Please share  in the comments below! I can’t wait to hear from you!

With Love,