Happy November, friends! October was f u l l, but in a really good kind of way. Our foster cat was adopted. We brought home a new 5-month-old foster kitten that we just might keep forever. And we had the pleasure of having friends over for Halloween. So much to be grateful for! Now onto all things November and November goals.
Fun Things Happening in November
- A quiet Thanksgiving at home
- A hike in Shenandoah National Park
- Christmas shopping!
November Theme: give t h a n k s
Thinking about gratitude in November can feel like such a cliche, but I decided to use the cultural momentum of this month to really dig in to thanking God for all He is and gives. I wrote about how unexpectedly life-changing gratitude is earlier this year and every month that lesson seems to sink in a little deeper.
October Goals Recap – 3.5ish* out of 7 completed
- Write for my blog every day. I only wrote like three days total, so this if a definite fail!
Run 15x.I ran 12x, which is huge for me! I took it slow and enjoyed it so much more than I thought. So glad I set this goal, so I’m probably going to repeat it!Read my daily Bible reading plan without my phone.Doing this helped me focus so much more. When I read on my phone, it’s that much easier to pull up a distracting app.Buy and install new window screens. Getting screens in windows is harder than I anticipated. We have several windows with broken screens and several windows with no screens. To make it easier on myself, I ordered the material I need to repair the broken screens and I’ll call it a day! The material arrived last night and now all I need to do is install it.Make Friendsgiving plans.We have a plan for Thanksgiving Day!- Get new passport pictures. Nope.
- Open a new Roth IRA. I did some research but haven’t taken the plunge yet.
*We use very official numerical terminology around here.
November Goals
I use eight life categories to give me focus and help me realize if I’m neglecting a particular area of my life. The eight life categories are my environment, career, health, relationships, money, personal/spiritual development, fun, and service. Some of my goals hit more than one category, so I won’t always come up with eight different goals for each category. The great thing about using the categories as a guideline is that it gives me some structure to work with and helps me see if I have any blind spots.
My 7 November Goals
- Write 7 blog posts. I haven’t been putting as much energy into this little blog as I’d like so I’m going to prioritize that this month!
- Weekly meal prep. Finding something to take to work for breakfast and lunch has been feeling like such a burden. I want to start taking a couple hours on Sundays to prep all those meals ahead of time so we can stay healthy and save money.
- Run 15x. This ended up being a great goal that kept me motivated all month long so I’m doing it again.
- Finish all my Christmas shopping. Sounds ambitions, but I think I can make it happen. I already have half my gifts picked out and am just waiting for Black Friday sales to purchase them.
- Cull 2016-2017 iPhone photos. I want my photos to be happy memory aids and not an overwhelming backlog of duplicates and memes. On the bright side, going through old photos has been really fun!
- Pick and order an Advent devotional. I’m thinking about this one but let me know if you have suggestions!
- Paint our nightstands. I add this as last because it’s not really the end of the world if I don’t get to it, but I DO already have all the supplies, so I think I’ll be able to knock it out in a weekend.
What are your November goals? Any fun things happening this month?
