goodbye November // hello December!
Oh, dear, I seem to have fallen off the face of the blogging world lately! I cannot believe it is the December! Can I get a hip-hip-hooray?! I love December!
November was a busy month, but I managed to complete most of my monthly goals. One big bummer of November, though, is that I had hoped to post more of the Delighting in 1000 Gifts posts where I shared some of my favorite blessings/gifts since starting my Ann Voscamp-inspired 1000 gifts journal last November. I read her thought-provoking book (aptly titled One Thousand Gifts) last November and it changed the way I looked at small, everyday blessings that were gifted upon me by a loving Heavenly Father. Daily chronicling gifts, both big and small, helped me focus on the positive rather than the negative each day. This nightly exercise truly helped me through some seasons of anxious thoughts in the past year. I hope to share some more of these gifts this month, so stay tuned (see the posts so far: one, two, three )!
I am excited about my "goals" for December! They are all fun things I want to do during this busy holiday month, so it will be a joy to do each of them!
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November Goals
>> Write to my Compassion Child
>> Pack atleast 4 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and continue to announce it at church so more people will be involved with this awesome ministry! (packed 8, plus helped my sister lead the first OCC Shoebox Packing Party at our church, where we packed 79 boxes! We collected 315 shoeboxes from our home church! That is a record in the many years we have lead it!)
>> Get to bed by 11 on work nights (I got to bed by 11:30 most nights)
>> Pray before opening my Bible and doing any Bible study (still working on this)
>> Continue to journal 3 blessings/gifts every day (finished the 1000 gifts!)
>> Snail mail: 3 letters in the next month
>> Work out atleast once a week (sadly, NO!)
>> Read atleast 1 work-related article or powerpoint notes from my NP program
>> Meditate and memorize a new verse
>> 1 new recipe (Paleo Crockpot Enchilada Soup)
>> Check my online budgeting atleast once this month
>> Start a new book (read all of Bianca's Vineyard in about a week. It was a great novel!)
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December Goals
>> Write to my Compassion Child
>> Pick out a tree from a tree farm
>> Enjoy our family's Leavenworth trip (last year's trip to this winter wonderland).
>> Buy gifts for my secret santa and a few others
>> Get to bed by 11-11:30 on work nights
>> Go to my first NBA game (Blazers vs Spurs)
>> Pray before opening my Bible and doing any Bible study
>> Blog atleast 3 more posts from the "Delighting in #1000 Gifts" series
>> Snail mail: 3 letters in the next month
>> Work out atleast once a week
>> Daily read the advent She Reads Truth study, O Come Let Us Adore Him. The study pack is gorgeous!!
>> Meditate and memorize a new verse
>> 1 new recipe
>> Check my online budgeting atleast once this month
>> Start a new book
>> Enjoy the week with my handsome mister when he visits! So many exciting Christmas-themed plans, plus spontaneous free time to relax and just enjoy being together.
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Lastly, here are some photos from some of my favorite memories in November!
I had a sister date at our city's Japanese Garden!
We love Lebanese/Mediterranean food! I think we have it during each of our visits.
I've always wanted to see a ballet, so I was so excited to see Vivaldi's Four Seasons!!
We had a fun time packing Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes at our first annual packing party!
umm LOVE all of your pictures!
ReplyDeleteand girl you got a lot crossed off of your november list!!
And december looks like it will be a good month too!! (i always struggle with buying gifts for people...i end up spending more money than i have lol)