September Where Did You Go?!

In the beginning of September I had the great plan of making monthly goals. I guess I should have made "regularly reviewing the goals" a goal.  


And before setting the goals I should have checked the calendar and realized that in the weeks between Labor Day and New Year's Day we have about 2 free weekends.  I should have factored that in- opps. 


How'd I do?


Personal:
- Finish a baby blanket- the baby was born in May -haha, I did finish pulling out all the stitches, took about 20 hours.  I should have just made a new quilt. 
-do a "me" craft   I'm counting the new fall wreath as a "me" craft. I'll share soon.
-keep my nails pretty- since I do a lot of writing at work, I hope it will brighten my day -good enough to meet my low standards. 
-work at three times a week- before school??? - I averaged about 1 time a week, but never before school.  No matter how I try, I'm never going to be a morning person. 
-blog once a week There was one week without blogging but a few other weeks with multiple posts- I'm calling it achieved.  
-nightly writing three times a week- I've never been a great journaler but I jotting (in no organized fashion) thoughts and worries will help me relax and fall asleep at night -Haha, didn't happen once.

Home:
-clean out and organize my closet Done! There are a few things I still want to do, labeling etc but good enough for now.  I'll show it soon. 
-work on decorating the craft room A thought didn't even cross my mind.
-fall gardening- research, order, plant some cool weather veggies and spring bulbs?  Done I'm really excited about some of the bulbs we planted. I'll show them off soon.
-keep up our cleaning routine We did pretty well, more or less.

Work:
-make it through the 1st month of school by leaving at 6pm, doing no more than 1 hr a night at home, 2 hours max on the weekends  On average I kept this goal- super pleased with myself. 

Us:
-dinner at the table 3 times a week Maybe once in the whole month?
-meal planning weekly Pretty good but we didn't always stick with it.
-2 date nights None but we did have lots of fun evenings hanging out with our friends.
-weekly family meetings- to look at the schedule for the week ahead and plan meals - Some, could do better.  Mostly for the purpose of meal planning. 
-create a new year budget (to me the year goes from Aug-Sept) - nope 
-plan anniversary trip -sadly no, and we paid the sad price .


Hopefully I'll create some, more reasonable, October goals soon. I know it is a week in, please don't remind me.


How was your September? 

Sunday Night

We've had a busy weekend.  Yesterday we made our annual trip to Harrisburg for JMU's homecoming.  For me the event is more about friends, tailgating, and local food...not football.

We had a great time....we even won the game, against an in-state rivale.  Sunday morning we got up, enjoyed breakfast at a local bagel then drove home.

On our drive we stopped at a recommended apple farm.  However it started raining, so instead of picking our apples we filled a bag and grabbed two jugs of apple cider.  I struggle, and complain about, ever fall to find "real" apple cider.  This was the real deal!  And they were making it right in front of our eyes.

After a quick nap, with football in the background, we decorated for fall.  I even did some research for school.  Pretty nice rainy Sunday.

Made even better by this great "night cap".

Warm cider, a brownie bit and two little pumpkin doughnut holes.  They doughnut holes were a star of the tailgate.  I definitely recommended them. One can of pumpkin is a double of the recipe, I got 5 dozen holes out of it.

What did you do this weekend?

My Thoughts Exactly

One of the many things I love about Pintrest are all the great quotes.  I have always loved quotes!  I mark them when reading . My sister and I often send quotes back and forth, we both have quote journals.  On pintrest I've found many quotes that "fit" me or describe something I believe...just better said.  Even better- they are pretty to look at.  Ready to see some of my favorites (with some commentary)? 

Ohh...wanna follow me on Pintrest click HERE!

Right On!

I have many virtues...patience is not one of them. 

 

I know this... but it doesn't stop me from worrying- often

Every freaking day!!

You're welcome...trust me.

Running and I are BFF's...just like singing. 

You got it! 

I know my name looks easy...but I can't tell you how many times I've been "Leah", "Lehigh", "Lea", "Leia". 

My kind of Friday night.

I Try...

I wish I could practice this belief.

I have this card in three different places...still struggling with it.

My Professional Life

Like the day a student kept referring to peer as a "pussy" during a class in which I was being observed.

Please stay the Hell out of my classroom. 

Do you pin?  Do you have a favorite quote or two?  Please share!

All images via pintrest.  

Goals

I'm a little late joining the party... but we've decided to set monthly goals.  My hope is that it will help me have a little work-life balance...something I struggle with.  However, I also have trouble setting reasonable (as in can be truly accomplished) goals. John is pretty good at helping me refocus but I also created goal categories to assit in organizing my thoughts.

On with the show....

Personal:
- Finish a baby blanket- the baby was born in May
-do a "me" craft
-keep my nails pretty- since I do a lot of writing at work, I hope it will brighten my day
-work at three times a week- before school???
-blog once a week
-nightly writing three times a week- I've never been a great journaler but I jotting (in no organized fashion) thoughts and worries will help me relax and fall asleep at night

Home:
-clean out and organize my closet
-work on decorating the craft room
-fall gardening- research, order, plant some cool weather veggies and spring bulbs?
-keep up our cleaning routine

Work:
-make it through the 1st month of school by leaving at 6pm, doing no more than 1 hr a night at home, 2 hours max on the weekends

Us:
-dinner at the table 3 times a week
-meal planning weekly
-2 date nights
-weekly family meetings- to look at the schedule for the week ahead and plan meals
-create a new year budget (to me the year goes from Aug-Sept)
-plan anniversary trip


I even made a little calendar to chart our progress.  We also talked about a little reward system....but decided to wait on that.  Is the teacher in me coming out?

What are your plans for September?

Because every post needs a picture~

Hello? Are you there?

Hi There!  I can't believe it's been close to 2 months since I blogged. I hope some one is still there???

Summer is flying by!  In one month from today I have to go back to work- bummer.  My summer has been great- and busy.  Doesn't it always seem when you have the most blogging material is when you have the least time to blog?  I hope to stockpile some posts over the weekend.

In the meantime, this was the delicious summer lunch I enjoyed today.  Caprese salad with avocado, using tomatoes and basil fresh picked from my garden.

Hope you're having a great summer!

Little Things

Do you ever find that the little, random events are the things that make you happiest?  Or that they are the part of your day you remember best?  I love that!

I experienced one of those little things tonight.  My LOVE of RENT  is no secret.  And in the fall I confessed my enjoyment of Glee.

Well....tonight my two loves became one.  Rachel and Mercedes had a "diva-off" and as soon as I heard the first notes I was giddy.

 

I can't find a photo online of the scene 

They were singing Take Me or Leave Me from Rent!

John might have some bruises from my consent "can you believe this? are you seeing this?" swats.  And yes, I totally sang along.  

What little thing has made your day?

Slow Start

New Years' Dinner at Smith Commons

sorry for the graininess- it was taken in a dark setting on an iphone

I had big plans and a long "to-do" list for today....however we didn't roll in until 3 am New Year's morning.  Not surprisingly, I slept through the 9:00 am alarm time.  whoops. 

We've spent the day watching the Rose Parade, followed by the Mythbusters marathon. Christmas Thank You notes have been written, the fridge has been cleaned, a menu has been planned, a shopping list has been created, and (of course) lots of time has been spent playing on the computer.

Maybe tomorrow we'll get to New Years' resolutions and packing up Christmas.  

How was your first day of the New Year?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year ya'all.  As much as I love holidays, I Hate New Years.  My idea of a perfect NYE is take out, movies and games.  Also, I've always wanted to spend the holiday in a tropical location (Sohira....maybe an Aruba trip?).    Tonight, I've been out voted...we are going to dinner with friends in the Atlas Distract of DC.  

However, I am excited to start the New Year with a pretty new calendar.  Around a month and half ago my friend Lauren at Life Uncluttered hosted a giveaway for her blogiversary.   As the lucky winner,  I received a lovely package from the Etsy shop Our Humble A{Bowe}d, containing an adorable 2011 calendar.

It's great!  I think the simple, yet slightly fancy shape is really pretty.  I like how the color changes to fit each month.  But what I love is the faux bois pattern, in which a seasonally themed word is imbedded. Such a great little detail!

Thanks Lauren!

Hope you all had a good New Years.  

Read All About It

A couple of weeks ago I showed you the built-in bookshelves we added to the nook under our dormers.  
Remember? 

While I was unpacking I though I'd share some of my favorite items on the shelves with you all.

I love, love to read!  And while I've been getting better at using the library or passing on books; there is just something about owning (and rereading) books that I just love.  It also doesn't hurt that Amazon makes it so cheap and easy.  

I also like to organize.  I think John was only partially kidding when he asked if I was going to implement the Dewey Decimal system.  I didn't, but I did organize by genre. 

One reason I like to own books- I like to mark them up.

My favorite books of all time.  

Notice what rough shape they are in?  

 When I went to college my mom sent me off with these hard-bond, compilation books.  (yet, I still kept my originals, odd I know)

 Seeing how much I loved these books, it should be no surprise to see these on the movie side of the shelves.  

These are my fanciest books.  I believe these were Christmas gifts when I was younger.

 Some of their beautiful illustrations. 

My yearbooks from 6th grade-senior year of college.

Is it just the teacher in me that keeps kids' books on my shelf?

Guess who these books belong to?  Not me!

You know what my favorite move is right?

Yup, two copies because the VHS was a special edition and came with the script! 

Grease is also represented in the book section.  

I know you're jealous Chelsea. 

And you know how much I LOVE Rent, right?

Two DVDs- one live from Broadway, the other is the theater movie from a few years ago.  Two books- the taller is the official books and I have some autographs inside.

"It's the most wonderful time of year", I'm excited to watch these!
I know a friend has been watching them for months :)

My FAVORITE Christmas movie!!

I strongly dislike these holiday movies.

I'm fairly certain this will be John at Home Depot  in a few short years. 

What's on your shelves?