May Goals & A Video From Charleston, SC! :)

Hey guys! Hey there! Hey! What it do!? I am currently coming to you LIVE from a messy desk and red, sleepy eyeballs. I'm treading water with my head barely above the waves so if I starting gargling in this post, that means I'm drowning and I need some hot pink floaties sent my way STAT! That or a surf board. ...Surf-booAUrd. (I hope you read that in the Beyonce' voice!)

AHH! This blog. I miss it. I miss it so much.

April was a whirlwind of awesome and just pure insanity. Wedding season is kinda kicking my booty but in the best way.  I'm about to hibernate for the rest of the month just so I can get caught up and get a hold of my schedule LIFE. I was lucky enough to photograph three incredible weddings (Austin, Houston, and Charleston, SC) and six separate sessions during those weeks. I'm a little more behind than I PERSONALLY wanted to be at this point (atleast in my unrealistic brain), but I seem to always think I can get more done in a day than is humanly possible. Drew had to knock some sense into me the other day and I'm so thankful he did. It's like I KNOW these things but it always helps when someone just tells it to you straight. He put his hands on my shoulders and said, "Shalyn. You're doing an amazing job. You are. The reason you don't think you are is because you put TEN things on your to-do list a day. You're only getting TWO of those tasks done a day (and that's PERFECT and A LOT of work you're getting done!) BUT at the end of the day, all you're seeing is eight things that didn't get done. You need to be nicer to yourself. Be realistic. Put one thing on your list a day and mark it off. You will go to bed feeling better and will wake up not feeling so overwhelmed." The sexy man had a point. I knew I married him for a reason. I really do need to get better about my daily expectations and just being nicer to myself. I'm SO hard on this body of mine and I'm finding myself not taking care of it. May will be hands down, hibernation and survival month. I'm going to keep my head down, crank it out one thing at a time, reward myself with a sno-cone maybe and then get back to it. Can I get a boom jackalacka AMEN!?

I may not have accomplished all my goals this month, but I DID however get to mark off one of my YEARLY goals at the beginning of the month and that was going to VEGAS with some of the best ladies in the world. Taking a mini-vacation in the middle of my busiest wedding season probably wasn't the smartest idea, but then again, it was and when I booked the trip, I didn't know I was going to be so busy. Regardless, I needed that more than I knew. I haven't recapped my trip due to work deadlines but you can check out that weekend HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. Erica made a video of our trip too that you can see right HERE.

Also, can I just say… I AM IN LOVE WITH CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA!? HOW IN THE WORLD DID I NOT LET MYSELF VISIT BEFORE NOW!? I want to move there. When we left, Drew and I decided that we are going to make it our summer vacation spot in the future with our family. No doubt. Thankfully, we had the chance to not only photograph the most beautiful wedding day, but we also got the chance to spend ONE full day in Charleston  to play (WORK HARD, PLAY HARD) and WE HAD THE TIME OF OUR LIVES. I really pray we get to travel for weddings more and experience cities that we have never visited before. I think I looked at Drew almost every five minutes and just said, "I'm so happy right now." AH. Take me back. The best feeling. Charleston, you really helped this stressed out heart and mind of mine. Thank you.

Alrighty then. Let's get to it! I already am dreading this because I know I did SO bad. But I did the best I could. You win some, you lose some.


April Goals

Vacation in Vegas with my blog best friends (DONE SON! AND it was a blast!!)
Introduce Hattie for the zillionth time
Anniversary Shoot (Had to reschedule)
Get my hair did! :) 
Start reading The Law of Divine Compensation Two chapters counts right? :) 
FINISH my website. Boom. 
Finish Editing All March Sessions and Weddings  (Wrapping up my last March wedding as we speak! Close enough! ;))
Photograph 6 Sessions
Photograph 3 Weddings
Finish my Blog with Kelly (Almost!)
Go on a date with Drew
Go to Charleston, SC to photograph a wedding (SO excited!)
Have another "Pretend you have a co-worker" Day!
Pay it Forward
Continue Tour of our Home

May Goals

Introduce Hattie for the zillionth time (It's really going to happen this month or y'all can come and shave me bald. For reals.)

Anniversary Shoot (Had to reschedule) (Not sure when this is going to happen but it will. We had to put it on hold due to scheduling conflicts! Taking off until further notice.)

Get my hair did! :) My hair is straight up NASTY. I just don't know if I want highlights or a touch up on my ombre (again). What should I do!? I want a change.

Finish Blog Design (We are close!)

Make Website Final Touches

Order Watercolor Print examples from local printers 

Photograph Two Weddings (Photographed one already on May 3rd…guess that's what happens when you post your goals on May 6th…SLACKER ALERT! Not really, just swamped y'all.)

Photograph Four Sessions

Attend my friend Amy's Bachelorette Party

Attend and celebrate my sister-in-law graduating and getting her MASTERS from Texas A&M 

Photograph my first official editorial session for a fashion line - REALLY excited about this! 

Go to bed before 11 PM - Wake Up before 8 AM - Establish healthier sleeping schedule because I am all sorts of messed up right now.

Work out twice a week - No Shay, the stairs in your house don't count.

Take more work breaks to stretch and de-stress.

Go wakeboarding! 

Drink MORE water. I'm getting bad about this lately and my kidneys are starting to kick me. 

Continue Home Tour IF I am caught up on my editing…which leads me to my next goal…

Find a better system and schedule to balance work, editing, and my fun side of blogging to where it doesn't stress me out or spread me out too thin. I want to get back in a better blogging routine. It's going to happen. I just need to clear my list- baby steps. 

Pay It Forward. 

Go on a picnic with DDHP and make out with him under a tree or something. ;) YOLO! (I hate this term lol but it just seems appropriate right now.)

Well! Happy MAY! Goodness… I can't believe it's MAY. WHAT IN THE WORLD, WORLD!? I hope your month is full of amazing things y'all. Love you guys!!! 

AND because I know how BAD I've been at blogging lately…I guess I'll go ahead and close this post out with a little video from our trip to Charleston or I'll probably forget to post it. It's super cheesy. You're welcome.  

Dear Charleston, We Love You! Love, The Nelsons from shalyn nelson on Vimeo.