Whew!! October sure ended with a bang — just this week we hosted two friends overnight, had two more friends over for dinner, attended small group, had five more friends over for pumpkin carving and soup, and then participated in what was basically a neighborhood block party last night for Halloween. We had 109 trick or treaters!!

I am excited for November — we have much to be grateful for, not the least of which is my all-time favorite meal at the end of the month :)

How did I do on my October goals? Let’s see…

— Refinish dining room table. So. I did not complete this goal. However, I did make progress! We decided to buy a hand sander instead of rent one. I thought they’d have the one we wanted at our local store, but since we had to order it online, I missed the day I had set aside to work on this project. The sander is now in my possession, and I’m planning to tackle this to do this weekend!
— Volunteer at our church’s ham biscuit booth at the State Fair. Check! So fun.
— Deck out our mantel and front steps with fall goodness. Check! It’s hard to keep mums alive.
— Photograph and post about how + why I use my planner. Let’s call this one tabled. And hold me to it — I’m planning a series of three posts for the week of November 11th.
— Finalize and print our household maintenance tracker. Check! This will be covered in the planner posts, too.

On to November!

— Refinish dining room table :)
— Prepare for Christmas — specifically our cards and our gift giving. More about both of these topics soon.
— Organize our miscellaneous paperwork (it’s kind of been a mess since our move)
— Plan a Thanksgiving celebration a deux — John and I will be on our own for the first time!

I would love to hear what you all have planned for this month!