March Monthly Recap

March – In like a lion, out like a lamb. Spring seems so close these days, and I’m looking forward to the sunshine. We love to be outside as a family – golf cart rides, blowing bubbles, chalk doodles on the driveway and seeing our awesome neighbors. Before I get too carried away with daydreaming about the spring and summer, I will recap the month of March.

March Blog Posts

My goal is to post once a week and this month met that endeavor. The blog’s featured topic was newborn photos – how to plan a session and highlights from the Speer’s lifestyle newborn session. Those are the majority of sessions I’ve had this year and I have 2 more scheduled in the next month. Another favorite post was my favorite places for sessions in Central Iowa.

Creative Business Activities

This month was a slow month for photography sessions, but a great month for updating the website, 2021 pricing, and preparing for busier seasons. The busiest season for photography is the fall, and the second most is summer.

March also brought a welcomed reprieve from the amount of quilts I made from December to February. I have a couple of quilts in progress, but was able to complete 3 this month.

If you are interested in a photo session or custom order, I’d love to help you bring your vision to life.

Read. Watch. Listen. Learn.

Read

I am using Goodreads to track my reading, rate books and write some reviews. I am including 2 books that I completed in March, but started 100 days ago – I read an excerpt each day. Also, I’m trying to intersperse fiction books among my usual non-fiction reads.

Books Completed in March: 8 books

• Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology / Leah Remini
• Great TED Talks: Leadership: An Unofficial Guide with Words of Wisdom from 100 TED Speakers / Harriet Minter
• 100 Days to Brave: Devotions for Unlocking Your Most Courageous Self / Annie F. Downs
• Restless: Because You Were Made for More / Jennie Allen
• The Diary of a Bookseller / Shaun Bythell – Huxley Public Book Club
• The Joy of Missing Out: Live More by Doing Less / Tonya Dalton
• The Lazy Genius Way / Kendra Adachi
• One to Watch / Kate Stayman-London

YTD Total: 18 of 41 books – We are 25% through the year and I’m already at 44% of my goal. Do we think I’ll surpass this goal or will my reading slow down?

Watch

• Sheep Among Wolves Volume II – The Iranian Regime is losing control of the Iranian people to a sweeping movement of women who follow Israel’s Messiah. – Wow! This film is well put together, and the story of the Iranian underground church is not only moving but a call to do more especially as the Western church.

• The Bachelor – ABC – The finale was predictable. The After the Final Rose was honestly a very tense and difficult watch, but it is very educational.

• Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil – Episodes 1 & 2 – I have watched Demi Lovato’s YouTube documentaries in the past. This one is separated into episodes that are being released weekly. So interesting to see her and her friends and family tell the story about her overdose.

Listen

I listen to a lot of podcasts, audiobooks, and music. Here are the highlights from the past month.

• The Bible Recap – I am reading along with the Bible Recap this year and this podcast has a 5-8 minute review of the reading for that day. So interesting and very doable to listen to daily.

• Plucking Up with Liz Forkin Bohannon – Podcast interviewing successful people and how they overcame their mistakes and “pluck ups”. We focus so much on the highlight reel and overnight success stories that we forget that most people struggled to get to where they are today.

• Stolen: The Search for Jermain – This investigative journalism style podcast follows the case of a missing Indigenous mother in Montana. I have really enjoyed this style of podcast although I do find myself googling for photos.

Learn

I love learning new things and am making space for more future learnings.

• Self Prepared Taxes Filed – I haven’t filed my own since before I was married, and then we hired a tax guy. Last year, I gathered all the documents and wanted to file them myself, but didn’t have the time. This year, along with filing small business taxes, I filed ALL the taxes.

• Garden Planning – I’m doing research on companion planting and when to plant my cold crops. I am really looking forward to adding another raised garden bed this year, and having more space to plant. Last year’s garden was my most successful yet!

• Redefining Time – My value is not determined by my calendar or accomplishments. I used to think that the reason I jam-packed my schedule was because I optimistically thought I could do all the things. And then at the end of the day, I would feel bad that I didn’t tackle my entire to do list. I wasn’t giving myself adequate time to actually complete the tasks.

My value is not determined by my calendar.

DIY Projects

I’m adding a section for DIY projects because Adam and I seem to always have something going on. In January, we made and painted a board and batten accent wall in our master bedroom. In February, I painted the laundry room, and Adam removed the wire shelving above the washer and dryer. This month, we stained shelves and hung cabinets and finished the laundry room.

Would you like to see pictures of these projects or a more detailed post on each project?

Let me know in the comments.