SOCIAL MEDIA

Monday, November 7, 2022

Monthly Goals: November

 Hello friends and happy Monday! I hope you all had a nice weekend. This past weekend was my annual girls trip with my two best friends and it was a DREAM.

 

Hannah and Kathleen met in high school in 2004 and welcomed me to the fold in fall of 2005 when I met Hannah in college. We have been friends ever since-- 17 years! 18 for them! Fun fact: Kathleen introduced me to Devin at a party in college back in 2007, so I have her to thank for my precious little family. Hannah deserves some credit too though, because she was also there that night. 💕

Last November we went to Chicago to visit Kathleen (before she moved back home to NC this past summer!), and this November we went to Blowing Rock for the weekend. We stayed up way too late talking, spent our days sleeping in (a little bit 😉) and then shopping. It went by way too fast, and we are already planning our trip for 2023 and a big one for 2024.

Sometimes I can get tunnel vision where all I see is the laundry, dishes, weekly OT visits, meal planning, etc. and feel bogged down... but a weekend away with two people I love SO much helps to put everything back into perspective a little bit. Having good girlfriends is the BEST. 

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Today I am bringing back a post I used to do monthly, but somehow got away from doing: monthly goals. I am very much a goal-oriented person and love that feeling of completing a task and crossing it off my list. I think we have talked about this before, because many of you are the same! We are the type of people who put things on our to-do list that we've already done, just so we can cross them off. 😆 I love that several of you out there are a little crazy about your to-do lists like I am. Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish this month:

Goals:

1. 2 "Day Dates"-- Way back in December I made it a goal for 2022 for Devin and me to have more date nights. Well, fast forward to this past August and we found out that Devin gets to work from home every Friday. Guess who else is home on Fridays? ME! Guess who is in school on Fridays? BOTH KIDS! So rather than paying for a babysitter to watch the kids at night when we are both tired, we have started having day dates on Fridays and they are FABULOUS! Sometimes we go to lunch together, sometimes we make lunch together, and sometimes we just go for a long walk or run together. It doesn't work with our schedules every single week, but we make it work when we can. My goal is for us to have 2 "day dates" this month. 

2. Get Back Into Exercising 3 Times a Week-- Oh geez, I won't lie to you... I think I could count on one hand the number of times I exercised in the month of October. Which is probably fine for most people, but I know I just feel 100x better when I have been physically active. I am making a big effort to get back into the routine of going to the gym this month. Hopefully writing about it here will keep me accountable.

3. Decluttering Challenge- Ya'll, how does it happen? I feel like I am constantly donating/gifting/throwing things away and yet we still have SO.MUCH.STUFF. I was telling Hannah on the drive to Blowing Rock, I think it's the kids. Last week alone, between the Halloween crafts, Halloween toys (when did people start giving out toys instead of candy?), and just stuff that comes home from school, OT, etc. we probably had 30 new things come into the house. I know that Halloween week is a bit of an exception, but I wonder what an average week would look like. How many new things are being brought into our home each week? Even if I'm not the one buying them. I'm going to do a post on this at some point this month because I have a feeling I'm not alone... do you feel like you are constantly decluttering only to find that you still have more new stuff? That you didn't buy?!

Anyway, I am going to do a new decluttering challenge. This one says it's a 30 day challenge, but I'm going to do it over the next two months since this time of year is so busy:



I try really hard not to throw things in the trash, so my plan is to donate things to Goodwill, sell the expensive things to consignment stores, and give to other people. For example we had this old dollhouse that was mine when I was a little girl, but LG has never really shown an interest in it... 


It definitely has some wear and tear, but still has a lot of life left in it. I offered it to our cleaning lady a few weeks ago and she said she knew someone who would love it. That's a win/win! 

4. Christmas Shopping- My plan is to make Christmas lists for each family member and buy at least 75% of the items by the end of the month. Luckily I had already started on this and have been slowly buying some presents since August. I know if I have my shopping done sooner rather than later, I'll be able to spend more of my time on the FUN of the season instead of the STRESS of the season. 

5. Order Christmas Cards by the 20th-- I am very sad to report that we did not get new family pictures for this year. I tried! I tried really hard, but last year Devin asked if we could just take them every other year instead of annually and I agreed. I was hoping he would've forgotten, but he remembered and reminded me that I agreed to only do family pictures every other year. Sigh. So this year we are going to pick a picture we already had from some point this year. I need to pick one, pick a card template, order them and check it off the list. 


What about you? Do you set goals for each month? If so, what is a goal you have for the month of November?


I hope you all have a wonderful week! Today I am linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday. 

8 comments :

  1. How fun that you had a weekend away! It helps you to come home with fresh eyes, too, so it's so worth it. I am really ready to declutter. I want to start a cleaning routine and that begins with having less in the way of cleaning. It also makes you so conscious of what you allow into your home in the future. I love a day date! That is wonderful! I would keep a list on your phone of places you want to try. Tom and I used one day date in December to shop for our kids' Christmas gifts together. I really appreciated his help and insight.

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  2. Great list! I LOVE lists and goals so you are inspiring me and your girls weekend sounds so fun!

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  3. What great goals! I tried to comment on Friday, but I was so excited to see your skeletons from October. Such creativity-my favorite is the keg party and day after-hahahah!

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  4. I love your simple attainable list. October was a rough month for me with working out too. (and the beginning of this month) We have been passing around being sick and a workout is first thing I let go of to take care of others.

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  5. I'm so glad you got to have time with friends in a girls' weekend. We love day dates, even if it's just running errands together. I know what you mean about clutter.

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  6. I feel like I'm always picking up random little things from around the house, they accumulate so quickly!! I wish I had that doll house, glad it found a new home. Glad you got away with your friends.

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  7. November girls weekends are the best!! My girlfriends and I used to go in the spring, but we've moved to November and it is the perfect refresh as we head into the busy, fun holiday season. I'm so glad you had a great one! I need to get back to goal setting too. Your goals are perfect for the season - helpful and manageable. I like the idea of spreading the decluttering challenge over two months. I may give it a try too. When my kids were little they brought so many projects home from school. I started making a pile (that happened to be right where we keep the recycling to go out) for Jeff to look through when he got home and it went straight to the recycle bin. The kids got to pick important things they wanted to save. My guidelines were do you want to show this to your kids or would you like to look at that if Mommy made it when she was a little kid and that helped to get over the attachment to worksheets or coloring pages. I always keep things that show their little personalities regardless of what the kids think.
    Day dates are a great idea! Have a great month!

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  8. Awesome goals! I'm going to borrow the declutter challenge. That's always good to do this time of the year...sometimes I end up doing those challenges in January when I have more time even if December makes more sense. It's always so hectic to get Christmas photos...and I usually just try to get my kids in the photo even if I can't get a family one. This year, I think I'm using one from our fall break beach trip because, well, we look happy, tan, and together! That's Merry and Bright ;) and feels good to have that crossed off our (my) list already.

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