September completely flew by and I honestly can’t believe how much happened in one month! I started a new job right after Labor Day, then we found out Dave passed his CPA exams, Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina (mostly going around Raleigh though, thank God), Dave’s parents came to visit, my sister came to visit, Charlie turned two and we had so much fun celebrating him, and Dave went on a retreat. Phew! It was definitely one of our most packed-schedule months of the year, mostly with wonderful things, but I’m grateful while looking ahead through the fall that our calendar has a little more breathing room. We have one trip on the books in October, but other than that, I’m hoping to fill our weekends with trips to the farmer’s market and pumpkin patch, batches of pumpkin pancakes and muffins, and lots of quality time as a family.

September Goals
1. Start the Endow study on St. John Paul II’s Letter to Women with some friends!
2. Pay close attention to our revised Rule of Life daily as I start my new job and Dave’s schedule changes. (Need to print this so it’s front of mind!)
3. Decorate our house for fall!
4. Go on a much-belated date night when Dave’s parents are in town. (Hurricane Florence closed down the restaurant we were planning to go to, but I am happy to say that we have a date night scheduled for Friday!)
5. Intentionally pray for and encourage specific family members who are navigating hard seasons.
6. Keep up with half-marathon training and start stretching after every run. (I actually took almost a week and a half off of training for the first time, but it was definitely what my body needed. New insoles in my shoes have been helping ever since.)
7. At least somewhat keep up with blogging during a month of transition. (I got the posts that were most important to me up, so calling this a win. Lots more to come in October!)
8. Stay within our budget specifically for Charlie’s birthday/party.
9. Read Parenting with Love and Logic. (Um, the first chapter, ha! Carrying on this month.)

October Goals
1. Celebrate feast days well (there are so many good ones!).
2. Print updated Rule of Life and post it on our fridge so I look at it daily.
3. Create a landscaping tending list (let me know of any favorite resources that may help with this).
4. FINALLY go on our date night!!
5. Encourage and pray for my parents as they walk the Camino! They are about halfway through the 500-mile journey right now and I am so proud of them.
6. Keep up with half-marathon training and stretch after every run (spoiler: this will probably be my fitness goal right up to the half-marathon on January 1 ;)).
7. Write a blog post for Blessed Is She.
8. Go over our holiday gifts budget and plan with Dave in preparation for Christmas shopping in November.
9. Finish Parenting with Love and Logic and read The Little Book of Hygge.