Monthly Life Goals November 2016

Let’s check in on October’s goals and my progress.

Take daily photos — 50% success. I didn't take a photo every day, but I definitely took more than usual.
Read 1500 pages — Success. Just barely at 1564 pages, but I made it.
Prep and send cards for October — Fail.
Focus on self-care and recovery for myself — Success
Take Arthur Trick-or-Treating! — Success

November's Goals:

Daily walk or Momma Strong -- November 1st was my post partum appointment. Now that I've been cleared for all activity, I want to dive into losing some weight and strengthening my core. I joined MommaStrong and vow to do a video from that or go for a walk daily.
Read 1500 pages -- Realistic goal for life right now.
Take daily photos/memory recording -- Loving this goal!
Prep and send cards for November -- I failed in October. I want to cover the birthdays, Q's birth announcements, and thank you cards.

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Migraines can kiss my ass. Not having a good week due to a pounding head. The screeches of the toddler and the newborn are not helping.
Chocolate chip cookie bars were a great surprise treat from a friend. I can't lie, they didn't last long at all.
I'm obsessed with planner accessories and stickers. Thankfully one of the Etsy shops I've been following had a 75% off flash sale. Now I can't wait until my goodies are delivered.
Enjoying my pumpkin spice coffee.
My wardrobe is not my friend right now. I shouldn't buy anything new, but my goodness I want to.
I really need to get to the post office and send Q's birth announcements.

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Somehow life with a new newborn seems easier this time around. It is just new mom amnesia? Or is Q really a easier baby that Arthur? Either way, I'll take it.
Having a meal train organized by friends has been amazing. I love that at least two nights a week, I don't have to plan dinner. Just heat and serve. The meal train and stocking my freezer before baby came were great ideas!
I'm itching to craft, but don't think my body is ready for sitting on my stool or dining room chairs for any length of time. Maybe next week.
I went a little crazy today and bought Arthur a Halloween costume, bandana bibs for Quentin, and tons of planner accessories for me. I think cabin fever shopping has started. I need to stay off my usual shopping sites for awhile...
Fluffy romances are perfect reading material for middle of the night feedings. Working my way through some Kindle reads.
Trying to decide if we should have Q dress up for Halloween or just wear his First Halloween onesie (with Frankenstein's monster).
I need to print photos for our Project Life albums... unfortunately I still can't drive to pick them up and don't really want to pay for shipping.

Monthly Life Goals October 2016

Let’s check in on September’s goals and my progress.

Figure out Arthur childcare for October – Success
Read 3000 pages – Fail. I only read a little more than half my goal. Late pregnancy exhaustion is no joke!
Finish prepping freezer meals – Success! I have a decent amount of food prepped and in the freezer.
Finish organizing the baby supplies – Success!
Pull off Arthur’s 3rd birthday party – Success! I'll post photos for Arthur's actual birthday mid-October.
Prep cards for September, October, November, and December – Fail. I finished September's card, but still need to prep the rest of the year.

October's Goals:

Take daily photos -- I need to stay on top of documenting Arthur, Quentin, and life in general
Read 1500 pages -- Bringing my goal down to be more realisitic
Prep and send cards for October -- The usual
Focus on self-care and recovery for myself -- I won't have my post-partum doctor appointment until November. October is all about taking it easy and attempting to recover from surgery.
Take Arthur Trick-or-Treating! -- Don't want to forget! I'm sure Arthur would love to actually trick-or-treat this year.

Blog-Tember Day 23: German Potato Salad

Prompt: A family recipe (if grandma allows, of course!).

One of my favorite family recipes is my grandma's potato salad. I've never like mustard potato salad or ones with too much mayo. Hers is a hot German style salad with bacon grease. It's a bit tricky to get exactly right, but when it's done right, I could eat an entire bowl of this stuff!

Ingredients:

9 med potatoes - peeled, sliced 1 med onion - sliced thin 1 lb bacon - crumbled, grease reserved 1/2 cup flour 2 1/4 cup water 1 1/4 cup white vinegar 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Boil potatoes until soft. Combine bacon, potatoes, and onion in a bowl and set aside. Melt bacon grease in a pan on stove and stir in flour. Heat until bubbly. Add remaining ingredients and cook until smooth and bubbly. Once sauce has thickened, our over potato mixture.

Blog-Tember Day 22: Fall Favorites

Prompt: Fall favorites. Share your must-haves for this season.

My fall must-haves are an odd mix of food, clothing, and baby essentials. Guess this is just life right now at my house. On my list I have:

Chili -- Because it's the perfect food for cooler temps
Diapers -- Essentials for new the new baby
Brown boots -- Really want to find some new ones that actually fit
Burp clothes -- We seem to have a shortage in the house right now
Pumpkin bread -- I need to buy more pumpkin and make more!
Apple cider -- Hot or cold, with bourbon or without, I love it!
New toddler boy clothes -- I need to round out Arthur's fall/winter wardrobe
PSL -- Of course!
Comfy cardigan -- For when I get chilly
Wine -- Because I've gone almost 10 months without it. I need me some good wine soon!

Blog-Tember Day 21: Ice Cream

Prompt: If you were a flavor of ice cream, which flavor would you be? Why?If I were a flavor of ice I would have to be Mint Chocolate Chip. It combines my two favorite types of flavors: chocolate and fresh herb. I'm not really sure what it says about my personality, but it's my favorite hands down. In fact, we have a quart in the freezer right now! For fun, I decided to look it up on the internet.

According to The Kitchn:

You're pretty cool, to be honest. In high school you might not have been the most popular kid, but you hung around that crowd. You're a balanced person – you like running and watching football, but you also love going to see a play. You're loved by everyone and just want to have a good time.

According to Reader's Digest:

Mint chocolate chip lovers are argumentative.

Always mixing it up? There's a good chance mint chocolate chip is your favorite flavor, according to Hirsch's study for Dreyer's/Edy's, which found this ice cream signified ambition, confidence, frugalness, and argumentativeness. "[They] aren't fully satisfied until they find the tarnish on the silver lining," said Hirsch about its fans. However, Hirsch predicts that mint chocolate chip lovers are compatible with one another.

And according to Buzzfeed:

You probably get excited about Shark Week. You love jokin’ around and quoting movies. But you have a low tolerance for other people’s nonsense. You are not afraid to complain about the injustices of the world over Gchat.

I love how varied the responses are. If you know me in real life, you be the judge. Am I like any of the descriptions?

Blog-Tember Day 20: Knowledge is Power

Prompt: Something you wish more people knew or believed.

I'm always amazed about how little most people know about their country's history and world history in general. I know that not everyone would love history like I do, but it would be nice if more people had a basic understanding. Knowing your history goes a long way in understanding how the world works today.

Blog-Tember Day 19: Favorite Posts

Prompt: A list of your favorite blog posts you've written.

My favorite current blog posts are all about my pregnancy updates and the 52 Weeks of Arthur posts.

Blog-Tember Day 18: A Lifesaver

Prompt: One product that simplifies your life.

The key to simplifying my life is list making! I need to make sure that I know my schedule and my tasks. Otherwise my life would fall apart. My one product is actually a combination of three different products that work in tandem: Evernote, The Happy Planner, and a Moleskine Notebook. I use Evernote to plan out my blog posts and Project Life ideas. I can quickly pull up my schedule and see what needs to be finished. You can see an example of my Craft Blog schedule below. I have two notes for each month, one for the life blog and one for the craft blog. I list out my weeks and add my proposed post title. If the post hasn't been created in the blog, it gets an asterisk at the end. After the post is completed, I strikethrough the title. This helps me stay organized on the blog side.

My next life organizing product is The Happy Planner by MAMBI. I love having a planner, but found that just an electronic one didn't work for me. I need the physical product to help me. Enter The Happy Planner. I've been using mine since July 2015 and continue to love it. I can quickly flip to a month view or a weekly view to see my activities and appointments and tasks. I also use the planner to help meal plan. I decided the best way to do meal planning was to create post-it flags with all the regular dishes. I can then tentatively plan each week out but still be able to move them around if needed.

The last project is a simple Moleskine. I tried to do a complete bullet journal in a Moleskine but found that I needed Evernote and The Happy Planner to round out my life. But I still needed a place to to keeps lists, project planning, and collections. Enter the simple Moleskine. An example below is my spending log for part of September.

The Moleskine goes with me wherever I go. Sometimes I add things in there and then transfer to one of my other projects. But in reality they all work together to keep my life simplified and on track.

Blog-Tember Day 17: Vlog?

Prompt: Vlogging day! Record a vlog about anything you like!

Nope, Not happening today. Way too much on my plate.

Blog-Tember Day 16: Self Care

Prompt: How do you de-stress/take care of yourself?

My biggest selfcare is reading. I promised myself after having children that I wouldn't give up my reading. Sure there are many times that I can't read because there's something or someone else needing my attention. I can't spend all day lost in a book anymore. But I still make reading a priority and find time to do it. Before the littlest kid, I was reading ~15 books a month. That number has gone down due to the necessity of taking care of a child. However, I'm still averaging about ~8 books a month. Reading is the biggest activity that recharges my batteries. Hoping to continue the trend after this new baby comes...

Blog-Tember Day 15: Adventure Time

Prompt: What is the craziest adventure you've ever been on?

My craziest adventure was a trip I took all the way back in 2000. For our senior year of high school's spring break, two friends and I took the train all the from Indiana to NYC for a week of adventures and shenanigans. I don't think we slept more than 20 hours that whole week. Me being the uber planner created a detailed itinerary for each day. This ensured that we actually got to see the things we wanted to see in the city but it left plenty of room for crazy side trips and misadventures. Among the weirdness from that trip, we:

made friends with the Albanian bell hop at the hotel. Very strange!
spent almost all night talking to the cast of the live action Rocky Horror Picture Show in Greenwich Village
watched the aurora borealis on the beach at Coney Island with a bunch of amateur astronomists
ordered and received a bottle of wine at a small Indonesian restaurant
took a super sketchy subway ride late night in the Brooklyn
got lost a countless number of times
score front row orchestra seats to see Aida, and met the cast afterwards including the lead Heather Headley who graduated from our rival high school!
ate crap, but managed to survive the week
somehow made it back to Indiana in one piece

It was my only real spring break trip and it was amazing!

Blog-Tember Day 14: Mood Board

Prompt: Make a mood board! Are you brainstorming a room re-do, a capsule wardrobe, or already planning for the holidays? Show us your ideas! I have examples here and here.

For my mood board, I'm highlighting my love of fall. Living in California now, we don't get a proper fall. I long for the days of falling leaves, cool weather, and hot tea. Since i can't have the fall weather, I'll settle for pumpkin everything, a good book, a piece of cake, and a hot cup of tea.

Blog-Tember Day 13: Freaky Friday

Prompt: If you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be? Why?

After this week, I'm going say that I would switch lives with anyone who isn't pregnant right now. Right at 38 weeks and I must say that I am over this pregnancy. My pain level has been steadily increasing for the last few weeks. Can't wait until this little boy makes his appearance.

Blog-Tember Day 12: Books

Prompt: Three books! One you just read, one you're currently reading, and one you want to read.

I just read The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio. This is our book club selection for September. Even though I won't be able to attend club (baby day!), I wanted to read this one as it was on my shelves. Interesting read until the last 15 pages or so. Then it lost me.

I'm currently reading Founding Myths by Ray Raphael. Continuing my love of U.S. History books, I finally dove into this one. It's been sitting on my shelf for years now. Interesting read so far even though I know a lot of the info presented already.

I really really really want to read Voyager by Diana Gabaldon. I've been meaning to continue the Outlander series for a few months now. Hopefully soon!

Blog-Tember Day 11: Instagram Love

Prompt: Round up of your favorite Instagrammers! Who should we follow?

Currently I follow 116 different Instagram accounts. A majority of those are friends and/or family. Of the rest, I have a variety of crafty people, Bay Area centric accounts, lifestyle, and music. Here are my current favorites:

@amandapalmer -- Musician, activist, wife, mother, all around badass. I've loved her for years.
@abeautifulmess -- I love Elsie and Emma's lifestyle brand. Plus they regram lots of other pretty pictures in addition to their own projects.
@the_happy_planner -- I'm so in love with my MAMBI Happy Planners! And I love to get some great inspiration from their official feed.
@boho.berry -- Amazing bullet journaler! I love following Kara's adventures and pretty drawings.
@tinyrayofsunshine -- Another great follower of the bullet journal technique. I love her clean style.
@heidiswapp -- One of my favorite crafty people. Love seeing a mix of life pics and crafty pics.
@karlthefog -- Official account of Karl, the San Francisco fog. Love these beautiful shots of the city.
@bayarea_buzz -- Highlights all the great attractions around the Bay Area. Love learning about new places to check out.

Blog-Tember Day 10: My Day (Friday)

Prompt: A day in your life! Take us through it with you by sharing a photo each hour of the day.

Friday started at 7:30am for me. I got up, took a shower, and got Arthur up and dressed. No pictures before showering I am afraid. I started taking my pictures when my presentable day started at 8am.

8pm: No picture, but Arthur went to bed. After, I curled up on the couch, put on Penny Dreadful and relaxed for a bit before going to bed at 10pm. I had an early morning today meeting some crafty friends for breakfast and craft time before heading to a toddler birthday party.

Blog-Tember Day 9: Dream Vacation

Prompt: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?

I have always wanted to travel to Europe, specifically Italy and Greece. In fact, I've never left North America. I've done a decent amount of travel in the U.S. especially the East Coast and have been to Toronto, but that's it. I've never crossed a sea. I would love to be able to see Roman and Greek ruins and eat all the unbelievable food. That would be a dream vacation.

Blog-Tember Day 8: House Tour

Prompt: A house/apartment/room tour! Give us a glimpse of your space.

Instead of a whole house tour, I'm going to highlight my favorite part of the house: my craft pantry! When we looked at the house, I was amazed to see a butler's pantry between the kitchen and dining room. This house isn't big enough for a butler's pantry, so what to use it for. J jokingly said it could be my craft room and it turns out that the space is perfect for that. I am primarily a paper crafter (cards and scrapbooking), but occasionally do other crafts. I need a lot of storage area for my supplies and a nice counter or table to work at. This space is perfect suited for my needs. Please excuse the mess. Although I try to clean up after projects, the room tends to look this way during my big crafting days. I thought it would be more honest to leave the mess in the photos. If you look hard enough, you can spy supply items for Arthur's 3rd birthday party next week. Part of my counter always becomes a catch-all for random projects.

Looking in from the kitchen.

Looking in from the dining room.

My main counter/workspace (before cleaning anything up).

Ink and stamps cabinets (my favorites).

Depending on the week, projects can spill over into the dining room. If the twins are not here, there are only three of us eating at a table meant for six. So I use it sometimes. Here I am prepping for new card buffet class.

Not highlighted: general office supply cabinets, paper cabinets (although you can see a ton of cardstock in magazine files on the floor), Project Life cabinets, kid's crafts cabinet, tools drawers, and a few others.