March 2021 goals

This is one of those months where it looked like not much got done on my goals… and in some cases, that’s true! I definitely did not make as much progress as I had hoped in some areas. But in others, specifically our master bedroom refresh, my goals did exactly what they were supposed to: they started the ball rolling, and now that it’s rolling, the momentum will carry the project forward. Onward to March, and the first month of spring!!

A page from my February PowerSheets!

On my calendar:
— Our spring break trip to Jekyll Island! Very grateful for the chance to get away to the beach (and to experience a part of the South we’ve never visited!).
— An outdoor lunch with a high school friend we haven’t seen in years
— Some St. Patrick’s Day after-school snack fun like this or this

What I’m loving right now:
— As the weather turns warmer, I’m starting to think about freshening up our outdoor spaces. I snapped up this pretty (and good size!) pot a few weeks ago (it is that prettiest blue color that so many of us love!) and purchased this adorable lemon one as a gift! (The orange pattern is also adorable!!)
— If you’ve been around here any length of time, you’ve heard me sing the praises of Expecting Better, my favorite pregnancy book. The author, Emily Oster, is an economist, and her (free!) weekly newsletter is my new favorite. She writes a lot about COVID and risk, as well as other parenting and pregnancy topics, from a pragmatic point of view.
— By now, surely someone has already told you to watch Ted Lasso, but if not, allow me to be that person. It is funny, sweet, so sincere, and full of life lessons I am still unpacking. COMPLETELY WORTH the $4.99 Apple TV+ subscription for a month, or you could do a free trial and finish it in a week :)

What I read in February:
— Essentialism: I liked this book. A lot of it was things I already understood and agreed with (but even things we know and agree with benefit from a reminder every so often). Like many of you, I bristled at some of his suggestions which seemed unnecessarily selfish and not in keeping with the life we’re called to as Christians (similar to The Four-Hour Work Week). Though in the end I felt he failed to deliver on the main promise of the book (how to distinguish the “trivial many” from the “essential few” in an on-the-ground sense), there are some good nuggets to take away.
— Crazy Rich Asians: Fun! Though I enjoyed the book, this is a case where I actually may have preferred the movie – the sprawling families are harder to keep track of on the page, and the glitzy fashion and settings are fun to see on the screen.

My reading list for 2021, if you’d like to follow along!

Revisiting my February goals:
Book our annual camping trip (researched, no booking yet!)
Book our mountains trip for this fall (did a bunch of research but haven’t booked yet!)
Watch the Theolaby bonus materials with John
Focus on small tweaks and refreshes in our bedroom, including a new paint color (!), new curtains, and a new grid of photos. (though none of these things actually got done, decisions were made and our handyman was booked!)
Finish submitting June’s kindergarten paperwork
Finish culling and sorting the second half of 2020 photos (did two more months!)

March goals:
— Finish culling and sorting the second half of 2020 photos
— Book our annual camping trip
— Book our mountains trip
— Plan and prep for our spring break trip
— Focus on small tweaks and refreshes in our guest room
— Style our mantel for spring
— Have our carpets cleaned (We have lived here 8+ years and have never done this… are you screaming at your computer?! Or Googling a carpet cleaner near you because you’ve also never done this? Ha!)

As a reminder, many of these are drawn from my 2021 goals!

Let’s discuss: is there a movie adaptation you actually preferred to the book? Or maybe a movie adaption of a beloved book you loathe?

P.S. Read all the way to the bottom looking for the extra-exciting post I teased on Friday? I’m so sorry for making you wait – hopefully later this week!!

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