November Goals

Hi!! Happy Tuesday!!

Did you have a good start to your week? 

I hope so!!

Soo...It is November 3 (which I really have no idea how it is already November!!!) and life is about to get OVERLY busy with activities for the girls, work obligations for Aaron, preparing for the Holidays, all while just doing our "regular" day to day life.  I am pretty sure this is the same story for everyone this time of year!

I always have monthly goals that I am working towards, but because life has the potential to get a little overwhelming in these next coming weeks, leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas, I wanted to "formally" share my goals for November.  

Let's be honest- you probably don't care about my personal goals...but I like the idea of being transparent with what I am working on.  

Okay- enough rambling :)

Here are my goals for this month.... 

- Quit Halloween candy and processed sugar. STAT.  Prior to becoming pregnant, my diet was pretty darn clean.  I very rarely was eating treats- and if I did- it was a frozen fruit bar.  Well....good ol' hormones and a load of nausea has unfortunately played a very negative role in my food choices lately.  I am still avoiding dairy, but I have totally fallen of the wagon with eating candy, cake and other treats.  Which don't get me wrong- there is NOTHING wrong with having a treat and here and there!!! But I will tell you- I feel SO crappy when I eat processed sugar.  And since I already feel pretty yucky due to being extremely nauseous all day long, I need to do everything in my power to get rid of other things that are making me feel even worse.  With all that being said- starting TODAY- no more candy for this gal.  I will most like enjoy a piece of the Thanksgiving dessert I make (which is to be determined), but other than that- I am making it my goal to avoid all candy, sweets, cookies, etc for the rest of this month!

- Continue to work out 5 days a week.  With so much going on and not feeling like I have enough time to get everything done, the first thing I usually let slip is my morning workout at the gym.  It is SO easy to just skip it and come home and do what I need to do.  BUT- for me...I NEED to workout.  I am such a happier person when I work up a sweat for 30 - 45 minutes.  I have learned to be the best mom for my kids and the best wife for my husband- I have to put other stuff on "hold" and put my workout first.  Just these past two weeks, I was forced to take a break from the gym because Cora and James were so sick. And while the first few days I couldn't go workout were kind of nice...I started getting really antsy and feeling pretty agitated by the end of the day on day 4 of not getting to the gym.  It made me realize how important it is for me to make exercise a part of my day- no matter what!

So- if you are looking for me from 8 am - 9 am, Monday- Friday, this month- you can find me at the YMCA :)

- Finish James' One Year Photo Album, Start and Complete Cora Maye's 5th Year Photo Album and get Charlotte's pictures uploaded for her 7th Year Photo Album.

I create a yearly photo album for each of the kids.  And I know people do this ALL the TIME.  So I don't know why it seems like such a BIG task to me- but it is!! 

I take SO many pictures over the course of one year AND I custom make the layout of the pages for their books- which takes a lot extra time too.  Anyway- this is a big goal for me and I will be so relieved and happy if I am able to accomplish it!! :)

- Finish Christmas Shopping.  I love buying presents for people- but I love having a relaxed holiday season A LOT more.  That's why I want to be done with all of our Christmas shopping by the end of the month.  As of right now- I am 65% done.  I need to decide what I am getting a few other people, finish up some gifts that are "half-way" done and get the kids their last gift (we get them 3- one from Santa- two from us). This is a fun and easy goal for me- and I am looking forward to checking it off my list! :)

- Plan out our family's Advent activities for December.  Last year, we did a weekly family Advent activity in December.  We volunteered as a family at a homeless shelter for families, we baked cookies and delivered them to our neighbors, we made Advent candles for our Advent wreath and we picked out items to donate to children who needed some extra love :) We all really enjoyed having an Advent activity to look forward to every week AND it was a wonderful way to turn the focus off US and share our time and love with OTHERS.  I am looking forward to coming up with a couple new activities and keeping at least one or two of them the same as last year!

Last but not least....

- Go on a date with my husband :)  I know I have mentioned several times before, but we do not have any family nearby, which definitely makes it very challenging for Aaron and I to get out on a semi-regular basis for coffee or dinner- ALONE :) And while we are totally cool with just going on a couple of dates a year, we both have been feeling lately like we truly NEED a couple of hours to just BE with one another.  Aaron's job is EXTREMELY busy and the hours he works can be late and on the weekends.  So there are a lot of weeks- where we don't see each other that much.  Anyway...we have some wonderful friends who have asked us several times now to plan a date- and while I normally just don't feel comfortable asking other people to watch our kids (our friends have QUADRUPLETS and they both work FULL TIME)- they have insisted we go out- and we have gotten desperate enough (HA!!)- that we are going to take them up on their super kind and generous offer :)   

So that's my plan for this month. Basically- I need to stop eating crap, keep up running, shop til' I drop, plan some activities and get my husband alone for a couple of hours :)

DONE :)

Do you have any goals for this month??

If you feel like sharing- I would love to know what you are working on!!  

Hope you have the BEST day!!