You’re probably over these types of posts, so you may not have noticed that I stopped sharing my monthly goals. I was good about it for awhile, and then life got busy, and I wanted to enjoy our summer without stressing about meeting all these extra personal, family, and career goals. But fall feels like a fresh start in so many ways, and while I kept blowing off this post, I felt like I needed to write down my September 2021 monthly goals now more than ever. Have you guys read that article on languishing? I have been feeling that deeply. I think it was easier to ignore in summer when I could distract myself with pool and beach days, vacations and birthdays, and tennis and bike rides. But I really started to feel it in August. I felt like I should feel so happy that it’s summer and we are so blessed in many ways, but I just felt so blah about everything and really craved something new. The usual summer activities I love just weren’t doing it for me. I thought maybe the change of season would help, but I’ve been dreading fall and feeling so blah. I think it’s the adrenaline has worn off from the pandemic and now this is just our reality. I’m still worried about every decision we make, as our young kids aren’t vaccinated yet, and it’s unclear when they will be or how dangerous Delta will be to them. I am not ready to go back to what life was pre-pandemic and get back on that hamster wheel, but I’m also sick of living deja vu every day. I’m sick of worrying, of making tough decisions, of not knowing what to plan for my kids’ birthday parties or if we can plan a vacation. I’m just sick of everything tbh, and that’s such a crappy place to be. I need something to infuse me with excitement again. I’m running low on home projects, which isn’t helping either. I even feel like my blog is languishing. I’ve really tried to pour more of myself into it, but I feel like my growth, especially on my social accounts has been slow-going and it makes me wonder why I even bother. It’s so much work on top of my usual work. I love connecting with you, sharing my finds, and building something for myself outside of my day job and family, but I wonder if anyone even cares. I know this is starting to sound really sad and depressing, but I think I’m not alone in this feeling of languishing, and I think it helps to know you’re not alone if you’re feeing this way and not entirely sure why. While I think I need a really good vacation sans the kids, in the meantime, I’m going to try to motivate myself by creating our fall bucket list and sharing my September 2021 monthly goals.
This month, I tried to be reasonable, especially since the month has already begun and well, my motivation is at a zero, but here are my September 2021 monthly goals.
Sign James up for a swim class. I put James in a bunch of activities for fall, but there’s one last class I am focused on adding to his lineup: swimming. James made so much progress this summer and can swim on his own, but I don’t want him to lose it. Plus, he really enjoys swimming. I’m trying to find a class that works with his schedule without over-scheduling him. I’m still trying to find that balance. I got Charlotte into her first swim class. It’s been delayed because of damage from Ida but I’m hoping she’ll start learning soon too.
Go apple picking and bake a pie. This is on our fall bucket list, but I want to add it to my goals, because it’s one of those things we always say we’ll do, but then with all the activities, sometimes forget. I not only want to go apple picking, but I want to bake a pie with the kids after so they can see the fruits of their labor.
Cut back on TV/movie time. We were really good about limiting screen time at the start of the summer, and then we got tired, especially while Charlotte naps and would let James watch a lot of Paw Patrol during her nap time or turn to movies whenever the weather was bad. Listen, we wouldn’t have survived the pandemic without screen time, and I’m definitely not against it. But I want us to get out of the house more or set up art projects or board games instead of just defaulting to TV during nap times or rainy days.
Read more. I have gotten into the habit of turning on something to watch every night after the kids are in bed and I’m too tired to move and I want to get better at reading instead. It makes it easier to fall asleep and I love to read. My goal this month is to read at least one new book, which I know sounds sad, but honestly, it’s one more than I did last month.
Outline my own book. Yep, I have been wanting to write a book forever, and I keep saying one day. I’m starting to realize that if I don’t get on it, that one day will never happen. I want to start with an outline. I’ll keep you guys posted, and will probably be sharing the process more, but I have a big imagination and I think it’s time to put it to good use.
Find art work for the living room. We finally made some major strides on our home towards the end of this summer, with some pieces hopefully coming soon. I need something for over our couch still. We are thinking of a gallery wall but it’s so hard to figure out how to make it work. I might do intaglios, but I always find it hard to pull the trigger on art. I want a connection to it, so I’m scouring galleries and second hand shops too. Send any ideas my way.
Clean out both kids closets for fall. I still need to do this and school is starting next week! I want to organize the kids clothes so outfits are together to make it easy for them to get dressed. I also need to access what fits/what doesn’t and what they need as the weather gets colder.
Find a console or bookshelf for our living room. I have found a few that I like, but nothing I’m in love with. I really want to finish this room, but I’m always hesitant to spend too much, because we know we’ll be moving and who knows what will fit in our next place. That’s been holding me back from finishing our spaces, so recently we decided to treat it like staging our home to help us sell it.
Order window treatments for the kitchen. Another item I didn’t want to spend on and then move, but again, I think it’s an investment to help us stage the home to sell so I’m going to bite the bullet and create the home I love.
Post daily on Instagram and Like to Know it. As I said, I’ve been disappointed with my growth on social media, and I’m just never going to be the person to obsess over her instagram. But I think it’s lost a lot of the personal touch and if I want to grow this community, I need to put more effort into it, so I’m going to make it a daily goal to post and share on my accounts.
Share more of our home transformations. I have shared like zero of it because it’s still a work in progress but I’m realizing it’s something I should document more. I love seeing how other people put a home together so rather than waiting for it to be done, which it may never, I’d like to share more along the way. This month, I want to share at least a couple elements I love.
Get my wardrobe ready for return to work. It looks like I’ll be returning to the office this fall, and I did a huge purge during Covid and donated or sold most of my dresses and shoes, so it’ll be time to start restocking for fall. I want to shop smarter this time, so I created a fall capsule wardrobe to get me started.
Post 3x’s a week on the blog and get more organized with my content calendar. I have been terrible about sticking to this and I really want to get better at outlining a content calendar and then sticking to it.
Cook one meal/week. I got a new cookbook and I’m setting the bar low. I will cook one meal a week. I can do it… right?!
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