November 2022 goals

I am particularly excited about my plans for this Friday. In truly original fashion, I’m calling it Christmas Friday, and here’s how it’s going to go: I’m going to put on Christmas music, and then I’m going to do all the Christmas prep possible in six hours. An incomplete list: gift planning and buying, ordering Christmas cards, designing our Christmas newsletter, figuring out Christmas Eve outfits, filling out gift info for both sides of the family, making our end-of-year dinner reservation, looking up holiday dates and making sure they’re on our calendar, and reading through the family Advent devotional we’re planning to use. In previous years, I’ve sprinkled these tasks over many evenings and weekends; this year, I’m grateful to get a jump start on a very festive Friday.

Here’s what else is on the docket this month!

On my calendar this month:
— Voting. I have never voted a straight ticket in my life, so researching the candidates and issues is so important (and truly a privilege).
— Thanksgiving with the Thomas side of the family! Planning to make the pumpkin pie from our favorite kids baking book.
— Beginning my 2023 PowerSheets. I chose Bluebird!

What I’m loving right now:
— Have you ever shopped the flash sale site Zulily? I most often snag Boden and Joules pieces, but saw they have a great book offer right now! I grabbed the Penderwick boxed set for June and a cousin but they have LOTS of our favorites – Sophie Mouse, Critter Club, Magic Tree House, Little House on the Prairie. A great chance to snag some early Christmas gifts!
— I know Halloween is over, but we can still have pumpkin things, right? These pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes are SO good. So moist, so fluffy! I doubled the recipe and it made a huge batch that we’ve been pulling out of the freezer for school mornings.
— This song has captivated my whole family’s heart. Reading the lyrics makes me teary every time, as does belting it out in the car.

As a reminder, you can find alllll the things I’ve loved over the last few years neatly organized right here!

What I read in October:
— Crossing to Safety | Finished it! Again, this book felt categorically different than most modern novels. Published in 1987 by a writer and English professor with characters who are writers and English professors, it felt literary from top to bottom – but it was still an engaging story of friendship over many decades.
— Skincare | Caroline is apparently a big deal online, though this book was my introduction to her. I learned some new things, especially about the order to apply products, and though I very much skimmed, I enjoyed her fun and irreverent vibe.
— The Rose Code | I put this book on hold at my library in January when I put it on my 2022 reading list, and I was number 600-something. Well, 8 months later, it showed up on the holds shelf and friends, it was worth the wait! It was a great example of a very popular genre: World War II stories centered around women – this time the code breakers at Bletchley Park. If you loved The Nightingale, you’ll love this one!

My reading list for 2022, if you’d like to follow along! I’ve completed 12 / 24.

Revisiting my October goals:
Organize our garage (I made some progress, but there’s more to do! Most significantly I took a load to the dump with some old paint, a pallet, and a broken trike, which made a dent in clearing things out.)
Sew the Christmas tree for my Advent calendar (I made great progress!! I sewed all the sequins around the edge of the tree, which was painstaking but a huge win to complete.)
Join Ben’s October challenge for a little Peloton pick-me-up (Ugh. The flu and travel totally derailed this.)
Send care packages to our college babysitters (Yes! Such a joy.)
Finish final kitchen details once work is complete (Everything is back in cabinets and feels great, and I narrowed down a rug for the kitchen, artwork for the bathroom, and a dining room light fixture to pull the trigger on BFCM. Want to vote on a rug? Pick from the Cambria, Serina, or Sarrah!)
Edit Sheptember, Volume 4 (No progress… moving to next month!)
Create our family Halloween costumes (Yes! At the beginning of the month we were on a Beauty & the Beast track, but pivoted halfway through when it began to feel overwhelming. I loved where we ended up, as seen above :))

November goals:
— Sew the tree onto the backing for my Advent calendar
— Finish organizing the garage
— Edit Sheptember, Volume 4
— Complete Christmas Friday!
— Cull and organize six months of my 2021 photos
— Order final kitchen details on BFCM and stick a fork in this project!!

As a reminder, many of these are drawn from my 2022 goals!

Feel free to leave your rug opinion or chat about anything else on your mind! Happy November!

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