4 1/2 months remaining in 2016!!

Happy Monday! I had such an amazing weekend because the hubby and I painted all weekend and I am hoping to finish up by mid-week! We are already planning to visit Lowes this week to pick up supplies to build some nice shutters.

While we are on our weekend vacay the other weekend, I was able to do some thinking about the things that keep me stressed and I came to the conclusion that it's the fact that our house is not finished. So I have decided to put my business on hold for right now and do minimal client work so that I can help the hubby get everything finished. When you work a full time job, it's just not fun to come home and have such a long to-do list so I want to help take the stress off of both of us.

Here is what we accomplished this past week:

>> Sanded & Painted deck stair boards
>> Painted bottom trim around house
>> Hubby built another trim header for one of the interior doors
>> Sanded, pressure washed and painted 95% of house
>> Finish painting last 2 windows
>> Touch up paint at the very end
>> Cleaned out walk in closet & have 2 huge bags of fall clothing to consign
>> Cleaned out garage and donated to Goodwill
>> Sold some more on Swap and Shop
>> Deep-cleaned fridge & freezer
>> Bleached all bed covers
>> Cleaned Garage Doors
>> Cleaned cob-webs from underneath deck (we live in the woods so we have tons of spiders!)

And my dishwasher is currently running as I type :) I love having a clean house!

My sister and I had previously talked about meeting one day to help each other get things done, so she came over the other week and helped me on the garage. We had the best time and hanging out together really helped us get our bond back. We have been through some rough times the past 2 years and I honestly thought we would never be close again but now it's like old times! I am so excited about what our future holds and being able to hang out more!

Today, I am working on painting the last side of the house and I plan on getting a nice walk in before it rains here. The main things that we have left to do are the interior trim, paint last 2 windows, last touch ups and shutters. Once we get those things done, we plan on getting the concrete poured for our garage and also our well house. Our biggest project this year will be the well house, so we're saving it for last. We are also hoping to get our crepe myrtle trees planted along the drive and gravel poured. I really want us to go into 2017 having our home pretty much completed! We only have 4 1/2 months left in 2016-how crazy is that?!

On a side note, the hubby and I just had our 17 year Wedding Anniversary! We are making plans to go out of town in the next weekend or two to celebrate it officially. I am so in love with my husband and am so excited for what is in store for our future together!

So that's it for today- I'm headed back out to finish painting and I'll be back later on this week. Hope you are all having a fabulous Monday!!

What goals have you accomplished for 2016?

January Accomplishments & Goals

                                                                  via The Glitter Guide


Some days I just don't feel like I've accomplished much until I write it all out and I'm always amazed by how much that I have actually accomplished!! 


Goals accomplished for January:


House Accomplishments:
|| Cleaned out my closet & consigned a TON of clothing, shoes, jewelry
|| Ordered my 3rd Verismo- the first 2 would not work. This time they are sending me their newer model- so hopefully, the 3rd time is the charm!!
|| Ordered a set of surround sound speakers for our home
|| Ordered 3 pair of woven natural blinds for the bedroom
|| Rearranged furniture & loving the new vibe!
|| Cleaned out junk drawers, pantry, under the bathroom sink
|| Hubby put up 4 new pictures + a mirror for me!
|| Did some after Christmas shopping & updated to all new Christmas decorations, tree skirt, ornaments, etc. (My stuff was all hand-me downs from family) I also bought Christmas           gifts for this Christmas already!
|| Installed new butcher block in Laundry room- hubby worked really hard on getting this     done and it looks amazing!!
|| Purchased a new mirror for the bedroom, a clock, 2 side tables for the living room (still on the hunt for a coffee table, buffet table and wall art- we're getting there!!)
||Purchased Amazon Prime (trying to decide whether to keep Hulu & Netflix)


Work Accomplishments:
|| Started my "Morning coffee with God" routine (put God first & my business second)
|| Hubby installed PDF Nitro so that I can create fillable forms, questionnaires- he's the best!
|| Designed Square Space Website & Transferred everything over to new site
|| Increased my IG Followers by 200 in a week, & Twitter followers by 60 in the past week
|| Created a Free Business Marketing Tip Sheet for my Opt-In
|| Available in my Shop Now: "How to Ditch the 8-5 and Start Your Dream Business" 
|| Opened my online Styled Stock Photography at the Creative Market & Etsy
|| Worked on my Business organization- organized all of my projects in Asana including a House Project for my hubby & I to get our House To-Do List accomplished!
|| Re-branded my entire business including my website and designing new Banners for my Twitter, Facebook & Newsletter
||Decorated my new office & installed Office 2016 Software which I am loving!


Goals for the remainder of January:
|| Clean out the Garage & get rest of things from storage- have a sale!
|| Put up Kitchen Hood-vent
|| Hang Clock
|| Purchase Wall Mirror for Living Room, Coffee Table, Buffet Table and Wall Art
|| Install Speakers
|| Install Blinds
|| Put up Interior Trim
|| Paint Exterior Rafters
|| Finish Painting Exterior Siding (Once it warms up!!) 


What have you been able to accomplish so far for 2016? Please share!


        

Getting Ready for 2016!!!

Hi Loveys, I had the best day yesterday! I have been working hard on my business even through the Christmas Holidays trying to get as much accomplished as I can before the new year.

|| Finished writing & designing my E-Book Guide on "Ditch Your 8-5 & Start Your Dream Business in 10 Easy Steps"

|| Hired my web designer to set up website landing page + woo commerce options

|| Restructured my VA Packages + Prices for The Dream Virtual Assistant (I'm no longer doing hourly because it was not working for me)

|| Let go of a few clients so that I can start the new year off right and work smarter & not harder

||Took Square Space Course + signed up for the trial- thinking about moving over to Square Space in the new year.

|| Designed new banners for my Facebook and Twitter pages

|| Finished my vision board for 2016

|| Hubby hung pictures for my new office!

|| Office Wish List items checked off: Verismo, new computer + software, new desk + chair, printer table,  Kindle

Later today, I plan on playing around with my Square-Space trial to see if I want to switch over and also work on drafting some blog posts for my business + this blog while I have some time. I am feeling so ready for the new year-What are some of your goals for 2016? I would love to hear them!!

Bring on 2016!!

This weekend was another busy one! The hubby and I are doing a 6-week challenge to see what we can accomplish before 2015 is over!

 This week I:

>> Did some cleaning- pantry, fridge, closet, laundry, dishes, mopped wood floors

>> Re-arranged Entertainment Center

>> Kiltzed remaining rafters- now I have to go back & paint them

>> Hubby put up my two new office pictures

>> Had a Blog Makeover! Still need to do a photo shoot for the Header

>> Ordered custom leather luggage tags via Etsy

>> Sold iPhone 5

>> Set up & had 1st Skype (for the record- I still hate being on video!)

>> Set up my Newsletter, Designed Newsletter Header & sent out first newsletter! Also created Signup-forms for Facebook, Sign-up button for website

>> Wrote blog post for The Dream Virtual Assistant

Look-back on 2015:

>> Housework- installed Wood-flooring, shelving & extra racks in walk in closet, finished Hard-board exterior siding, Painted all interior doors, stained underneath deck, kiltzed about 100 rafters on second story, Painted 2 1/2 sides of house, 

>> De-cluttered & donated 2 truckloads to charity

>> Joined unroll.me in January & it changed my life!

>> Hubby bought me a Vita-mix for my Birthday!!

>> Celebrated 16 year Wedding Anniversary with my amazing husband! 

>> Finally updated Estate Planning

>> Stood up for myself & stopped caring about approval from other people & stopped listening to people's negativity about my dreams & goals (I wrote about it here)

>> Mended relationships with my family

>> I ended up getting sick, lost 20 lbs. & reached my goal weight

>> Bought furniture for entire house including chair, love-seat, office desk, bed, dining table + chairs, dresser, wine-rack, Patio furniture and grill, new mattress & new pillows, dinnerware, coffeepot- pretty much everything!!

>> Purchased a new riding lawnmower

>> Visited new stores- IKEA, Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, Crate & Barrell

>> Hubby pulled groin, hurt ankle & got food poisoning which put us behind on housework & I reverted back to being a Nurse (see post I wrote here)

>> Re-opened my Fig & Peach Etsy Store and then decided to close it- have my hands full withmy new business.

>> Renewed my Passport but ended up with a terrible photo!

>> Traveled to Puerto Rico, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas (beach-front couples massage), Savannah, Destin, Amelia Island

>> Tagged along with the hubby to Savannah for his school/exams & had fun eating, shopping my way through Savannah!

>> Dined at lots of great new Restaurants!

>> Went on first Carnival Cruise- worst cruise ever, but we made the best of it (definitely sticking to Celebrity & Royal Caribbean next time!)
>> Took a photo with a two Iguanas on me- that was a first!!
>> Visited Conch Graveyard & found some amazing huge conch shells for my souvenir travel collection

>> Made decision to put in notice to leave 8-5 stressful job & go after my dreams finally!!

>> Started my online business The Dream Virtual Assistant & worked with over 10 clients all in 6 weeks! 

>> Read lots of great books! Big Magic, 4-hour Workweek, Nice Girls Can Finish Last, The Woman I wanted to Be, Girl-boss & more!

>> Joined new Boss Facebook Groups-have met so many encouraging, supportive business women!

>> Listened to some inspiring podcasts!

>> Set up CRM, Accounting, Business Bank Account, Logo creation, Skype, Marketing,Signed up for Hoot-suite, Buffer, Tailwind

>> Upgraded to an iPhone 6s in rose gold for my business and for better reception

>> Had a Blog Makeover!

>> Revamped my Twitter, Facebook &  Pinterest Page (Rich Pins, upgraded to Business, re-arranged boards visually, etc.)
>> Wrote over 4,000 words for book
>> Purchased a selfie stick for vacations
>> Purchased new 5 piece suitcase set

>> Learned to trust in God even more! God gave me a vision about my career future & every since I put my trust in God & made the leap, things have been going better than I could have ever dreamed!

And I know that this is my blog, but I am so proud of my amazing hubby for accomplishing several goals of his own this year! Including taking & passing 2 exams, doing tons of work on our new house (too long to list!), supporting me through all of my stress and + leaving my job & getting back to designing house-plans! I'm blessed to have such an amazing husband:)

2016 Goals:

>> Grow The Dream Virtual Assistant even more! Create an E-book + Grow my Email List

>> Travel more! Use free Delta airline tickets

>> Start back running

>> Adopt a pet? Thinking maybe a Hedgehog, teddy bear hamster...

>> Photo-shoot with the hubby

>> Have more adventures! 

>> Have a Garage Sale & get rid of remaining clutter!

I am always excited for a new year- it's brings a fresh start and a new slate to wipe clean! Thirty-nine days and counting!

What are some of your accomplishments for 2015 and goals for the new year?