October 2017 Goals

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Well, September has come and gone, and I'm finding it a bit hard to believe! I remember my mom used to say that time moves faster the older you get, and that is feeling more and more true. I'm excited to be in this month - even though there seems to be quite a bit in my life right now that is making me uneasy and nervous, I'm hopeful for a positive and wonderful month! 

You'll see in the September recap that lots wasn't checked off as "DONE"... but I'm not discouraged! I'm looking at my September progress as a launch point; there is room to do better and room to refine my monthly goals so they are more manageable. The last few months I've had lots of monthly goals and I'm finding that I need to try and take on a bit less in this season that I'm in. Here's a recap of September:

September Goals Progress: 

  • Try to set a new budget and explore using YNAB - Another month passed and another month with no progress in this area. I'm hopeful for some changes to happen this month that will allow us to really dig in and start exploring a budget. Fingers crossed and prayers for us, please!

  • Continue to determine what will be included in new routines - We are getting there! Some improvements made, but still some room for growth. In hopes of making a bit more progress this month, I've called out a couple of specific areas in my weekly and daily goals. This should help me make progress in certain areas that I've already identified I want to work on while giving me space to also think about other areas that will need some structure eventually.

  • Get together with a friend - I had plans with a friend, but they fell through when she got sick! Trying again for this month.

  • Redo our upstairs bathroom - MOSTLY DONE! We painted the walls and ceiling, and installed all new fixtures for hanging towels and toilet paper. It's amazing what a little paint will do! Next up is installing tile flooring - hopefully a project for this month!

  • Read two books from my 2017 Reading List - Well it took a while to get the books unpacked, so I only read half of one book. I have lots of catching up to do on my 2017 Reading List, and a big goal this month to do so!

  • Host my in-laws well when they come to visit - DONE! We had such a wonderful time with Kurt's parents. They came for a long weekend and we did a LOT of work (I'm taking some more "after" pictures and will share the progress soon!). I was so grateful to have their expertise and help throughout the weekend, and I loved being able to share with them a bit about our new home too.

  • Build the framework for built-in bookcases downstairs - MOSTLY DONE! The bookcases are framed in, so next we need to build the top and bottom pieces that will finish closing in around the window. It's on our list of things to try and get done this month, so cross your fingers!

  • Think about options for the outdoor space once the trees are removed - MOSTLY DONE! We have lots of open space in the front, side and back of our house now that all but one of the trees has been removed. I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete yet. I think we're going to put down some grass seed before the frost and continue to think about our options throughout the winter months.

  • Submit a video for the IKEA room contest - I've realized that part of the problem of buying a fixer upper and not having all of the money in the world to update it immediately means that making decisions about which project to tackle next requires lots of pro and con lists... and lots of compromising too! So we ended up not submitting a video for the contest because we couldn't agree on which room to submit a video for.

  • Transition to using a seasonal/capsule wardrobe - DONE! I decided to go with a seasonal wardrobe as opposed to a capsule wardrobe for two reasons. First, it's been a really long time since I've been able to wear fall clothing, and I have lots of pieces I'm excited to bring out this year! And second, I couldn't decide on a number of items to restrict a capsule wardrobe to. I'm going to live with this seasonal approach for two months and do another check in at the beginning of December. More to come on how my experience is when we get there!

 

In October I'm going to scale back a bit when it comes to the number of monthly goals I have. Because I've had a couple of months now of not completely fulfilling all of my monthly goals I'm taking that as a sign to slow down a bit and try and do less. That realization has given me a great reminder of what my overall focus word of the year is - I chose LESS because I wanted to stop feeling so stressed and busy and overwhelmed. So this month I'll be focusing on the following goals to get me back on track toward living that focus word. 

October Goals: 

  • Prayerfully take the next steps in our fertility journey

  • Explore launching an Etsy store

  • Identify how much debt we really have and make a plan

  • Read four books from my 2017 Reading List

  • Finish a house project

  • Celebrate two years of marriage!

As I work toward achieving my ten goals for 2017, I plan to share monthly reviews and updates with you all. To be honest, doing so helps keep me accountable and your encouragement helps keep me focused! I hope you look forward to these posts at the start of each month! 

As a reminder, you can read more about all ten of my 2017 goals here. Do you have goals for 2017? If so, I'd love to know what they are! Comment below to share more about your goals for this year and how I can encourage you in achieving them this month. Happy October!