September 2017 goals
My wish for August on the first day of the month was that it would be peaceful, unhurried, and with no surprise expenses (ha!). It wasn’t perfect, but compared to the rest of our summer, it was a breath of fresh air! (And the photo from our trip to Maine below is reminding me just how peaceful parts of it were!) We have a lot to look forward to in September, and I’m embracing the change in seasons with open arms.
What I read in July:
— Lincoln in the Bardo (NOT my favorite read. I almost stopped midway through, but ended up persevering. Though critically acclaimed, it was a little too high-brow for me, plus the fact that it centered around a child dying hit too close to home for this mama.)
— The Language of Flowers (A beautiful novel recommended by my friend Jess! Loved it!)
— To Kill a Mockingbird (My favorite book of all time! It never gets old :))
— Books I’m reading throughout the year: The Power of a Praying Wife and The Lifegiving Home
Revisiting my goals for August:
Edit June in June (YES! See it here! So happy with how this turned out.)
Enjoy our Maine vacation with family (Yes! So grateful we were all together!)
Go on a date night sans June (We tried! We weren’t able to get a babysitter, so we had an official “at-home date night” instead, something we very rarely do. It was fun and felt special!)
Read To Kill a Mockingbird
Make an itinerary and reservations for our family weekend in Asheville, coming up in September (Done! I am so excited!)
Hold our grocery budget to $100 per week (This gets a half check. We actually did spend less than $100/week three out of four weeks, but with travel and trying a free box of HelloFresh and a few other things, we weren’t buying our normal slate of groceries on most trips. But, we did try a few new strategies, so I’m considering it a win!
September goals:
— Write the Word every day (I’ve started Cultivate Gratitude now that they’re back in stock!)
— Eat a fruit or veggie at every meal (Yikes, is this an embarrassing goal?! Unfortunately, it is also necessary, as way too many breakfasts and lunches go by without either one. It’s inspired by my friend Callie, so at least I know I’m not alone!)
— Make a donation to Harvey relief through our charitable giving account. We never made our 2016 matching gift donation, and both felt moved this week to send that earmarked money to Texas.
— Bake apple cider scones for all of June’s teachers, past and present, on the first day of fall (a fun tradition we started last year!)
— Put Financial Peace University plans into motion at our church (we’re not teaching it, but spearheading it, in January!)
— Celebrate my parents well on our Asheville trip, as it’s sandwiched in between their 60th birthdays!
— Celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary!!!
If you have a favorite way to incorporate more fruits and veggies in your diet, please let me know in the comments!! And if you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see a link for those, too :)
Affiliate links are used in this post!
For breakfast, I do a banana and blueberries mixed with almond butter. It’s super quick and easy, and the almond butter helps hold you over until lunch.
For lunch, I do this recipe. http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a51552/buddha-in-a-jar-recipe/ I make the chicken mixture on Sunday nights, and it refrigerates well, so it’s easy to grab and go throughout the week. I do it sand rice, but those microwaveable rice cups work great with it!
The jar recipe sounds delicious!!
I too need to eat more fruits and vegetables! Dillon and I eat a pretty healthy diet, but I had a wake-up call when I looked back at our meals and realized they are lacking in hearty produce. One tip that has worked very well for me in the past is to choose simple vegetables and season them lightly to seem more like a side dish: roasted cauliflower (parmesan and garlic), lightly steamed broccoli (rosemary and garlic), or baked halved brussel sprouts (lemon and garlic). It helps to fill up a dinner plate, keeps things interesting and adds variety!
I’ve shared my September goals here :) http://kylamary.com/2017/09/september-2017-goals/
Brussel sprouts are one of my favorite sides! I think sometimes I get intimidated by the prep that goes into them, but I need to get over it, ha! :)
I’m so glad August was a breath of fresh air after this summer! And you know I’m a fan of you re-reading TKAM… definitely my top four books of all-time. Did you decide to read Go Set a Watchman?!
We’re flip-flopping between an Asheville or a Charlottesville trip for our six-month wedding anniversary/one-year engagement anniversary (the same day!), but I know we’re ecstatic to spend a getaway weekend in the mountains either way!!
My goals for the month: https://stephseekingjoy.com/2017/09/01/september-2017-goals/
Not yet, but it’s on my list!! And you can’t go wrong with either of those mountain options!
My first instinct in reading this post was to say “I LOVE ALL THESE GOALS SO MUCH!!!!!” but then I realized why.. you do such an incredibly job of piecing together an intentional and balanced life. I learn so much from you, friend! If I was a NC gal you’d be being forced to answer my questions about things on frequent lunch dates! XO
Thank you, friend! I wish we lived closer!! I would gladly go to lunch and answer any and all questions!
I’ve been having a protein smoothie each morning with a handful of spinach and frozen berries with almond milk! I may eat whole grain toast with it or a bite or something else. I was on a quiche kick, but suddenly LS refused to eat it! But, it had spinach and tomatoes! At lunchtime, I do salads or leftovers. My new thing is frozen cauliflower rice (Trader Joe’s or anywhere) and we love how it picks up whatever you’re doing, like Mexican bowls or Asian lettuce wraps. Also zucchini boats are awesome, but I make them the lazy way (it ends up being chopped up and thrown into whatever sauce and meat we are having. We always have that risotto dish with peas on our rotation! Lol, makes me think of y’all each time. I was watching Trisha yearwoods cooking show and she added in a ton more veg-mushrooms, asparagus, and something else I think, but it’s amazing! Those are a bunch of leftover meals. My friend is starting a great blog and insta (messy adventures) and she has a few tips, too!! There’s also a cookbook we have that incorporates purees into everything! Deceptively delicious. We’ve done a couple things from it, but it’s handy!
We just had a ragu with zucchini and beef, and it was SO good!
https://www.hellofresh.com/recipes/quick-beef-ragu-spaghetti-59669b7f313100265e3a39a2?week=2017-W35&locale=en-US
Do you have a spiralizer? Such a fun and easy way to incorporate more veggies into your meals. Zucchini noodles and meatballs are a favorite in our house. And I second the cauliflower rice! I thought I hated cauliflower, but now I am a convert!
We do! We use it about once a month, but haven’t totally hit our groove with it!
Hi Emily! I love your blog and reading about your monthly goals! Would you mind resharing the scone recipe? I can’t seem to find it. Thank you!
Of course! Here it is:
http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com/2017/08/apple-cider-scones-our-new-fall-favorite.html
Love your goal to eat fruit/veggies with all your meals. I do a pretty good job with breakfast and lunch but dinner is an entirely different story for me. Usually I come home from work and am starving which leads to me making a very quick dinner like pasta. Therefore, my dinner hardly ever includes fresh produce. Will have to make that a goal for September!
For brekkie I always eat yoghurt with granola or overnight oats which I feel tastes boring without fresh fruit so that’s easy. For lunch I always take a salad with a half sandwich to work. I can’t wait to read your September Recap in October to see how you did on this goal. I’m always so inspired by other women’s goals! Happy September!
That is so crazy -hardly any of my meals don’t include fruit or veg. I love a handful of fruit as a snack for breakfast or in a smoothie/shake, and I love a salad for lunch. Have a happy September!
These are my September goals x
http://ellieloveblog.co.za/2017/09/september-goals.html
Not exciting, but I love keeping various bags of frozen vegetables in the freezer. I like putting them in a roasting pan, seasoning with olive oil, salt+pepper or whatever else seems good, and roasting however long (they don’t need too long).hardly any prep required!
We also subscribe to CSA and don’t like wasting food, so that kind of forces us to eat our veg! :)