Ooh boy. I’m a little nervous about November, as it will be an unusually full month for us. We have a commitment Monday-Thursday evening for the first three weeks (instead of our usual rate of maybe one commitment per week!), we’re traveling one weekend, and we’re hosting guests another. And on top of that, I have some major work events, and, oh yes, a major holiday to celebrate! For some reason, all of that hasn’t stopped me from setting a large number of goals for November, but maybe that will work in my favor — did y’all ever experience the phenomenon, maybe in high school, when you got much more done in-season than out-of-season? Necessity is the mother of efficiency, perhaps? Either way, with the clock ticking on our girl, I’ll take it! Biscuit supplies at my church’s booth! Revisiting my goals for October: Paint baby girl’s room (Thank you, Dad and John!) Switch out baby girl’s light fixture Assemble crib Order crib skirt Make first draft of labor and delivery preferences Organize linen/party closet (Yes!! I am so pumped about this one! Sadly, I didn’t take a before, so it probably wouldn’t be that impressive to y’all.) Successfully lead discussion in our family group for the next three weeks Introduce John’s parents and aunts to Asheville on our annual trip Host the third annual pumpkin carving and soup night Catch the goat showmanship competition at the NC State Fair Make biscuits at our church’s Fair booth Create my own version of this glitter star garland (the lone goal that didn’t get checked off!) November goals: — Take rings in to be cleaned (I usually do this in September around our anniversary, but it’s still lingering.) — Take knives in to be sharpened — Frame and hang our NC

Well, we beat our trick-or-treater record from last year — 117 little goblins and ghosts! We actually ran out of candy and had to shut off our lights… then headed to Chipotle to split a $3 boorito. My November goals are a bit ambitious, with high hopes of finishing out the year strong. It’s the best month to give thanks, so let’s do that, friends! October goal recap: Finally paint our front door now that the weather is cooler! Make sure my voter registration is correct after our move last year Dust/spot clean the inside of my car Goals for November: — Dust/spot clean the inside of my car — Add one more day to our exercise routine — Order our Christmas cards — Print out a prayer bookmark — Continue with my closet inventory — Organize first (annual?) neighborhood luminaria tradition — Decide on new big wall art arrangement and execute it — Make apple pie biscuits! I would love to hear what you all have planned for this month!

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