So September was a strange month.

I think I’m a person with many skills, but being hospitable to strangers is not one of them. Close friends? No problem. But ask me to invite someone over I don’t really know, strike up a conversation with a neighbor I’ve never met, or small talk with the random person next to me at church? I pretty much break out in hives.

But for some reason, that got flipped on its head last month — instead of checking off the goals I’d set, September was like hospitality immersion therapy. In no particular order, we or I: went over to dinner at a neighbors’ house we’d never been to before, hosted guests two weekends, invited acquaintances over to dinner for the first time, put Articles Club out there on the blog and randomly met a girl who lives LITERALLY four doors down from me (hey Jackie!), brought food to friends who’d just had a baby, started back up for fall with our family group from church, went camping with friends, and had dinner with someone from our college’s alumni office.

I get that this list might sound wildly unimpressive to some of you, but for me, many of these things represent me (and John) radically extending ourselves. (I wish it weren’t so, but it’s true!) As a classic introvert married to a classic introvert, it’s easy to find excuses to stick close to my two favorites. My time is limited, and it can be hard to convince myself to use what precious little I have to do something that’s uncomfortable.

I’m not going to tell you that this sort of hospitality now comes naturally to me (it doesn’t). But I will say I feel marginally more comfortable with these sorts of situations — even a teensy bit empowered — and I definitely enjoyed our dinners once they were underway. In fact, a related idea for a 2017 goal popped into my head after one of our dinners that scares the bejeezus out of me… good thing I still have a few more months to contemplate whether or not I’ll make it official :)

Revisiting my goals for September:
Run once a week (I think we ran once…)
Plan well for and enjoy our camping trip (Yes!! Post coming soon!)
Add the final layer to June’s nursery so I can call it complete
Post my guide to the Triangle
Celebrate our four year wedding anniversary (Post here!)
Resurrect my nighttime routine now that June is sleeping in the nursery

October goals:
— Make plans for June’s baptism celebration
— Finalize our family Halloween costume (!)
— Host the fourth annual pumpkins and soup party
— Take our Christmas card photo (or at least set a date for our session with Nancy)
— Post my guide to the Triangle
— Finish our will (Is this really going to happen?? Only time will tell…)

As a reminder, here are my 2016 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!

I am really grateful for August!! It was just a good, good month, starting with our time in Connecticut, which felt slow and relaxed (and now, like it was a long time ago!), and ending with a string of at-home weekends with no big plans (a rarity this summer). June continues to be the most fun thing going, especially now that she’s crawling everywhere and obsessed with pulling up. There’s so much to look forward to in September, too, including more relaxing weekends and more adventures (and potentially welcoming three already-beloved friends + family babies into my life!!).

This verse has been constantly on my mind the past few weeks. Hoping y’all have much to be grateful for this month, too!

Revisiting my goals for August:
Finish our June in June movie (last night! Coming soon to a blog near you :))
Try out a yoga class at the studio near our house
Go to an outdoor concert or movie
Relish our time in Connecticut (post here!)
Read at least one book (Garlic and Sapphires – it was great)
Book accommodations for our camping and Asheville trips (SO excited about camping, and our Asheville Airbnb looks amazing! Lots of fun adventures coming up!)
Master an updo from the Small Things archive
Finish our will

September goals:
— Run once a week (hoping this will be more enjoyable as the weather begins to cool down!)
— Plan well for and enjoy our camping trip
— Add the final layer to June’s nursery so I can call it complete
— Post my guide to the Triangle (have been wanting to do this for ages!!)
— Celebrate our four year wedding anniversary
— Resurrect my nighttime routine now that June is sleeping in the nursery

As a reminder, here are my 2016 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!

I almost never say this, but I’m a little bit glad to see July go. My Mom flew down in the middle of the month to travel with me and June for work, and as soon as she was in the car from the airport I started spilling out all the things that were weighing on me… June being sick (again and then again), John being sick (pretty much all month), being behind with work because of sickness and vacation, being behind with grocery shopping/laundry/cooking/cleaning/Etsy orders/Em for Marvelous/personal emails because I was working on my day job after hours to catch up, one of my teeth randomly hurting every afternoon (??), Lisa’s shower looming over me… it was just a lot.

Since June was born it’s been fairly easy to maintain our balance, but with all the sickness this month, it felt like everything suddenly careened off the rails–which made me extra thankful for our usually healthy household. This month, I’m praying for the germs to stay away, for work to stay at work, and for a little extra time to make some progress on my August goals!

Despite all of the craziness in July, we were thrilled to make it to Cow Appreciation Day — a Thomas family tradition at least five years running!

Revisiting my goals for July:
Finish our will
Master an updo from the Small Things archive
Move forward in our backyard renovation project
Check more things off our summer fun list
Finish planning and host a baby shower for a dear friend
Relish our time in Maine
Email our neighborhood recreation committee about my luminaria idea
Finish our June in June movie
Feed June her first solid food!!

August goals:
— Finish our June in June movie
— Try out a yoga class at the studio near our house
— Go to an outdoor concert or movie
— Relish our time in Connecticut
— Read at least one book (has been a challenge over the last few weeks, so I’m keeping it simple!)
— Book accommodations for our camping and Asheville trips
— Master an updo from the Small Things archive
— Finish our will

As a reminder, here are my 2016 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!

As I knew it would be, June was a busy month. (It always is.) I traveled to Hilton Head and to Cashiers. I had two evening work events. We hosted dear friends and visited dear friends in the mountains.

But, we also picked blueberries five times! In fact, we made great progress with our summer fun list, checking off a Bulls game, chicken souvlaki, the Honeysuckle Tea House, and more. So, though those lingering items from a few months ago are STILL on my to do list (and driving me a bit nuts, if I’m being honest), I’m calling June a win. And I’m so excited for July!!

Revisiting my goals for June:
Perfect the scavenger hunt John and I are developing for my Fourth of July cousin reunion
Get an estimate from one more landscaping company
Finish our will
Master an updo from the Small Things archive
Read “168 Hours” and “Radical” for the NR Book Club (didn’t get to either of these, but I did read “Bringing Up Bebe” and really enjoyed it!)
Have fun in Brevard with our friends the Henrys
Host my two dear friends from elementary school
Plan out our July road trip to Maine

July goals:
— Finish our will
— Master an updo from the Small Things archive
— Move forward in our backyard renovation project (are y’all sick of hearing about these three things yet??)
— Check more things off our summer fun list
— Finish planning and host a baby shower for a dear friend
— Relish our time in Maine
— Email our neighborhood recreation committee about my luminaria idea
— Finish our June in June movie
— Feed June her first solid food!!

As a reminder, here are my 2016 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!