November Goals

Nov 6, 2020

In all honesty, this month was full of all the things – from amazing to anxiety-filled. I felt like the habits I’ve been building this year started to fall apart and I wasn’t able to stay on track with all of my goals as much as I had been since the beginning of the year. It was bound to happen, months get busy and obviously there is so much outside of our control, especially in 2020. I’m trying to go into November remembering that I can only control what’s in my grasp and I have to trust that it will be enough.  When I set goals at the beginning of 2020, here’s what I decided on:

Goal 1: Prioritize my health – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and social.

Goal 2: Allow open to be an invitation to live intentionally.

In October, here is how those two goals played out:

October Monthly Goals

  • Paint Built Ins – Moving this to November
  • Clean out basement and shop vac – Not fun, but it’s done.
  • Work on Real Estate Exam Course – Not as far as I’d like to be, but we’re still moving forward.
  • Participate in Ali Edwards’ Art of Noticing – done!
  • Read 4 Books – I only finished two in October, but I got some more in the works.

October Weekly Goals

  • Two Orange Theory Classes Per Week – maybe my favorite goal of the month. Check!
  • Weigh In – yep!
  • Budget – stayed on track and reviewed weekly.
  • Tending Tuesday – done!
  • Weekly Sabbath – finished strong on this one.

October Daily Goals

  • Exercise – Rocked this one.
  • Read the Word – Not too shabby!
  • Hit H2O goal – I did about have the days this month.
  • Vitamins – I could have done better on this one!

October Highlights

  • Our friends, Jeff and Taylor, had their sweet baby boy.
  • I was on the FinalVibe Podcast.
  • I started going to Orange Theory workouts!
  • Kevin went on a 100 mile bike ride that ended a little differently than we expected. (Also, he has a Vlog.)
  • We go to get pumpkins, I take two days off work, and we visit the lake of the ozarks. Kevin also vlogged this weekend.
  • We spend an entire weekend in Hamilton and I get to enjoy lots of baby snuggles.
  • We had our first snow of the season on October 26. Normally I wouldn’t consider this a highlight, but here we are.

October Favorites

Food: Perfect Bars

Book: The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker

Purchase: Jeans from American Eagle

Song: The Lakes by Taylor Swift

I managed to journal every day in October, which is a pretty awesome feat but also is a good indicator of me listening to what I need. I’m hoping to jump back on the bandwagon in November and knock out some more goals before the year comes to an end. Here’s what we’re looking at for November:

November Monthly Goals

  • Paint Built in Book Shelves – I’ve been wanting to to some touch ups and paint the entire section of built ins in our basement. We are using oil based paint, so I’m hoping for a good weather day for me to have the windows open.
  • Read 4 Books – It may not be reasonable to keep up the momentum from last month, but we’ll see how we do.
  • Replace Blinds – Our blinds are all wonky sizes, so we’re needing to get custom blinds made – I’m hoping for a good Black Friday deal.
  • Complete my Real Estate Courses
  • Show Small and Local for Christmas – I’m really hoping to support small and local businesses in both what I buy and what I ask for this year.
  • Vote on November 3rd!

November Weekly Goals

Most of these are the same as they’ve been, but I’m seeing progress in all areas, so I’m going to keep chugging. I’m adding the FinalVibe content calendar for each week, because that’s something that I’ve really been enjoying and that has been helpful to FinalVibe progress.

  • Two Orange Theory Fitness Classes
  • Weigh In
  • Budget
  • Tending Tuesday
  • Weekly Sabbath

November Daily Goals

  • Exercise
  • Read the Word / Prayer
  • Take Vitamins
  • Journal

What are your goals for November?

The Art of Noticing

Nov 5, 2020

A few weeks ago, Ali Edwards posted about noticing and the importance of a practice like this during a year like 2020. She gave the prompts of comfort, delight, rest, nourishment, and play and then encouraged us to take photos of each and share them on social media with the hashtag #aeartofnoticing. I loved seeing the perspective of others and participating in this challenge myself, especially since one of these is my word for next year.

Here are the photos and words I shared during this week:

COMFORT

Comfort is my spot on the couch.
Comfort is dogs for blankets.
Comfort is homemade bread and pot roast and crockpot soup and mac & cheese and meatloaf.
Comfort is being wrapped up in a long hug.
Comfort is sun streaming across my face.
Comfort is a big fluffy comforter and the perfect napping pillows.
Comfort is watering my plants.
Comfort is warm clothes fresh out of the dryer.
Comfort is tradition, and rhythms, and seasons.

DELIGHT

Typically delight looks like deep conversations, hosting all the people, and traveling. There hasn’t been much of that in 2020, so I’ve tried to look for more moments of delight in the small things. Sunsets, cinnamon rolls, art journals, growth, and nuggets of space for quiet and rest.

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit that changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. – Maya Angelou

REST

Taking photos of my feet is my regular practice of grounding myself, getting present, and in-the-moment rest.
(This is just a reminder to myself that rest doesn’t have to be big. Sometimes it’s taking a pause in the midst of the most full day.)

NOURISHMENT

I felt like I needed a little jumping off point for nourishment, so i checked out the dictionary definition: the food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition.

So here we are, looking up. Enjoying the fresh air and nourishing my mind with the beauty around me.

PLAY

Enjoying this Art Journaling box from Let’s Make Art. Love getting to play with new-to-me mediums and techniques.

101 in 1001 – An Update

Sep 9, 2020

I started on February 20, 2019 so the challenge will end on November 17, 2021. As of today, I’ve already crossed 24 items off the list. I’ll be honest, COVID hasn’t done anything good for traveling or in person events, but we’ll see if we can cross some of those off by the end of next year.

  1. Create a list of 101 things I want to accomplish in 2.75 years (February 20,2019)
  2.  Unplug completely for 24 Hours
  3. Get a massage
  4. Plant a flower garden
  5. Consolidate email addresses (Spring 2020)
  6. Watch the Blues win the Stanley Cup (June 2019 – WE WON!)
  7. Release floating lanterns
  8. Camp for the first time
  9. Eat food from a food truck (August 20, 2020 – 12 Baskets)
  10. Meditate with Headspace for 30 days in a row
  11. See a shooting star (July 2019 – Hamilton)
  12. Take a personal day from work
  13. Make a list of restaurants in Columbia and rate them
  14. Make a list of date ideas
  15. Go to a Christmas Tree farm
  16. Go to a sunflower field (August 24, 2020 – Sunflower Fields)
  17. Go to Roots and Blues
  18. Go to a Blues game
  19. See a comedian live
  20. Go to a concert
  21. Get professional photos taken
  22. Serve at church regularly (Fall 2019 – Leading a Small Group)
  23. Find out my blood type
  24. Go to 10 new coffee shops (0/10)
  25. Participate in a Trivia Night (June 2019 – Fuzzy’s)
  26. Get a tattoo
  27. Finish my cross stitch quilt
  28. Go to a craft retreat or event
  29. Scrapbook an event for someone else
  30. Host a craft night (February 2019 – Prayer Binders)
  31. Organize my baby photos into albums
  32. Shoot 30 days of videos
  33. Learn calligraphy or brush lettering
  34. Year photo books/Project Life
  35. Take an online course
  36. Take a photography course
  37. Journal every day for a month
  38. Take a watercolor class (May 2019 with Boheme School of Artistry)
  39. Watch and photograph a sunrise
  40. Watch and photograph a sunset
  41. Complete 1000 gifts
  42. Create a one year editorial calendar for the blog (July 2019)
  43. New blog photos of myself
  44. Take someone’s photos
  45. Write 8 faith-related blog posts (0/8)
  46. Photography blog series
  47. Publish a YouTube or IG Video (June 2020 – Half Marathon)
  48. Double my blog views
  49. Have a guest post written on my blog
  50. Post a house tour on the blog
  51. Share a capsule wardrobe
  52. Go on 20 photoshoots (1/20) – Sunflower Fields
  53. Watch 5 of Kevin’s favorite movies (0/5)
  54. Re-read the Harry Potter series
  55. Read all the books on my shelf
  56. Host a book club
  57. Read 50 new books (50/50 – The Five Intentions // Atomic Habits //  The Path Between Us // The More of Less // Everybody Always // Girl, Stop Apologizing // A Love Letter Life // Lean In // The Coddling of the American Mind // Afraid of All The Things // Just Open the Door // The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry // In His Image // Grateful American // Reading People // 168 Hours // It’s Not Supposed to be This Way // Where the Crawdads Sing // The Enneagram Type 8 // The Alchemist // All Along You Were Blooming // An Edited Life // Looking for Lovely // Uninvited // Lethal White // A Court of Thorns and Roses // When Less Becomes More // Liturgy of the Ordinary // Ready Player One // Digital Minimalism // A Court of Mist and Fury // A Court of Wings and Ruin // A Court of Frost and Starlight // Growing up Amish // Prayer // Goodbye, Things // The Path Made Clear // Decluttering at the Speed of Life // Garden City // So You Want to Talk About Race // The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes // This is Where You Belong // Dare to Lead // The Selection // The Elite // The One // The Heir // The Queen // Leave Your Legacy // Chasing Vines)
  58. Watch 5 TV Show Series (0/5)
  59. Watch Gone with the Wind
  60. Watch all 7 Harry Potter movies
  61. Go to a movie by myself
  62. Go on a vacation with family
  63. Go on a girl’s trip
  64. Visit a national park
  65. Travel with another couple
  66. Stay in an Air BnB ( August 2019 – Lake of the Ozarks)
  67. Visit NYC
  68. Renew my passport
  69. Visit another country
  70. Rent a car
  71. Visit Waco and Magnolia Market
  72. Purchase Lululemon leggings (August 2020)
  73. Buy polarized sunglasses (February 2019 – Ray Bans)
  74. Pay off Student Loans
  75. Have a no spend month
  76. Buy a new car (May 27, 2019 – CRV)
  77. See a counselor regularly (2019)
  78. Take a spin class
  79. Go on a hike
  80. Run a 5K
  81. Run a 10K
  82. Complete a half marathon (May 13, 2020 – Thoughts on 13.1)
  83. Hit my move goal for 30 days straight (March 27, 2020)
  84. Try Whole30
  85. Create a gallery wall (Spring 2019)
  86. Buy a new dresser
  87. Paint the trim and doors at our house
  88. Declutter the basement (May 2020)
  89. Host 3 big tailgates (0/3)
  90. Host a small group
  91. Host Friendsgiving
  92. Help someone pull off a surprise
  93. Send someone flowers
  94. Send Christmas Cards (0/2)
  95. Mail 10 Letters (0/10)
  96. Give 5 Just Because gifts (0/5)
  97. Bake 3 Birthday Cheesecakes (0/3)
  98. Try a new restaurant in town (May 2019 – Flyover)
  99. Make 10 Pinterest Recipes (0/10)
  100. Pay for a stranger’s meal
  101. Leave a 100% tip (May 2020)

There you have it! Let’s hope I can check all of these off before November of next year!

September Goals

Sep 1, 2020

August was good and full and my birthday felt thoroughly celebrated throughout the entire month. Though we couldn’t celebrate like we have in the past, it was great to get to spend quality time with my family and Kevin’s family. The weather has already started to cool off which has made for some lovely evening walks and some even better pre-fall vibes.

So far 2020 has shaped up to look different than I ever could have imagined, but having goals has allowed me to continue moving forward and has brought a lot of comfort, peace, and growth. When I set goals at the beginning of 2020, here’s what I decided on:

Goal 1: Prioritize my health – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and social.

Goal 2: Allow open to be an invitation to live intentionally.

In August, here’s how those two goals played out:

August Monthly Goals

  • JR Content Calendar – Quite a few posts on the blog in August. We’ll call this a win.
  • Birthday Cheesecake – I decided this didn’t line up with some of my other healthy goals, so we scratched this one.
  • Successful Work Move – Done!
  • Spend the Weekend at the Lake – Loved this.
  • Onboard New Teammates – Yep!
  • Have One Photoshoot – I mean… come on.
  • Paint an Accent Wall in our Bedroom – Moving this to next month.
  • Read 4 Books – Checked off 10 in August!

August Weekly Goals

  • Weigh In – yep!
  • Budget – stayed on track and reviewed weekly.
  • Tending Tuesday – done!
  • Create FinalVIbe Content Calendar – I could have done better on this one! Luckily Kevin helped pick up the slack.

August Daily Goals

  • Exercise – EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
  • Read the Word – started out rough, but finished strong.
  • IG Post – 14 posts
  • Vitamins – did it!

August Highlights

  • My family spent a relaxing weekend at the lake.
  • Kevin hit 70 miles on his bike (and we enjoyed meeting up with friends in Sedalia).
  • We celebrated my 29th birthday and my people loved on me so well.
  • I went to a sunflower field for the first time.
  • I started Phase One of the Live Hard Program.
  • We brought home some new plants from Helmis.
  • I powered through 10 books (which has been more than I’ve finished in an entire year before).

August Favorites

Food: Yogurt, Strawberries and Dark Chocolate (so much yum!)

Book: Chasing Vines by Beth Moore

Purchase: Air Force 1s

Song: One of Them Girls by Lee Brice

September is already shaping up to look different than it has in the past. Living in a college town, it’s typically fast-paced and the town wakes back up, with thousands of students arriving back to campus for a new semester. This year, while students are headed back, masks and social distance requirements are changing things up and the environment definitely feels a bit different. Many students are continuing to take classes online, but have still chosen to return to Columbia anyway. COVID numbers have started to increase, which has put pressure on our local government, businesses, and public schools. Although some schools (like Mizzou) still plan on having college football, this will be the first year that we won’t be sitting in the stadium for every single game. It’s going to be different, and I’m not fully prepared.

There are still plenty of things going on and I’m still powering through on some personal goals. Here’s what that looks like for September:

September Monthly Goals

  • Paint an Accent Wall in our Bedroom – Really wanting to add some navy paint to our room this month!
  • Read 4 Books – It may not be reasonable to keep up the momentum from last month, but we’ll see how we do.
  • Blog – I have so enjoyed posting here and hope to continue that in September. Not sure what that will look like yet, but I have some posts already planned out.
  • No Spend – August was a little rough on my personal goals (even though we met the budget), so I’m just planning on buying necessities in September.

September Weekly Goals

Most of these are the same as they’ve been, but I’m seeing progress in all areas, so I’m going to keep chugging. I’m adding the FinalVibe content calendar for each week, because that’s something that I’ve really been enjoying and that has been helpful to FinalVibe progress.

  • Weigh In
  • Budget
  • Tending Tuesday
  • Weekly Sabbath

September Daily Goals

  • Exercise
  • Read the Word / Prayer
  • IG Post
  • Take Vitamins
  • Headspace Meditation

What are your goals for September?

Thirty Simple Joys

Aug 31, 2020

1. Cotton candy sunsets

2. Pups waiting in the window when I arrive home from work

3. Walks and talks with Mom

4. Notifications from Marco Polo with new chats from the girls

5. A week worth of meal prepping in the fridge

6. Willow learning to successfully play fetch

7. A slower pace of life and new rhythms

8. The flickering of candles

9. Blog posts in the queue and the thought of many years of words and photos in this space

10. Reviewing photos after a great shoot

11. New teammates, 1:1 meetings, and the best place to work

12. Trips to Helmi’s and bringing home new little plants

13. Late night brainstorming sessions with Kevin in his office

14. Cracking open a brand new book

15. The first run through of Taylor Swifts new album

16. A brand new pair of kicks

17. When someone says that something I do, say, or wear is “on brand”

18. A beautiful IG feed

19. Conversations that make you forget about your phone

20. Chloe’s nose boops in the morning when it’s time for me to get up

21. Coke Freestyle Machines

22. King sized beds and cozy new comforters, for us and both the dogs

23. Bike ride pick ups

24. Fields full of sunflowers

25. The sweetest and most thoughtful gifts and words of encouragement

26. Setting goals and crushing them

27. Home grown fruits and veggies

28. Feet photos that remind me to be in the moment

29. Printed photos

30. Blankets fresh out of the dryer

About

Hi, I'm Jacqueline - believer, learner, and all around hobby enthusiast. I'm married to my highschool sweetheart, Kevin, and we live in the midwest with our sweet pup.

On this blog I share all kinds of things about my life - from my faith journey to the garden in my neighbors backyard. I've been blogging for almost eight years and use this space as a way to document my daily life.

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the internet.

Series

Book by Book • Coffee Date • Currently • One Little Word • Friday Five • Pinning • 101 in 1001