October Goal Review

As October has come to an end, it's time for another goal review from me. If you're new to my blog, here's what's going on. At the beginning of the year, I made this list of 'goals.' Keep in mind that they are NOT resolutions and I know that I won't accomplish most of these before the year runs out. However, these are just some things to work toward. At the end of each month, I like to do a review of how I did in order to keep myself accountable as well as propel me to try harder in the coming months.

Monarch butterfly snapped while we were on a bike ride.

In order to break up this list and keep it visually pleasing, I'm including photos I've taken over the month (most of them are from Instagram.)

Here we go!

PERSONAL
1. Exercise: Not so great- did do some walking, bike riding, and simple exercises/stretching at home, but definitely need to get much better about it (as always).

An actual healthy dinner

2. Eat right/better: A month of celebrations does not make for a good diet. We did ok but have faltered on juicing and have eaten out and poorly more than we should.
3. Read more books/watch less TV: I finished two books this month (Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris) but still there's been plenty of tv in the mix. (We're working through quite a few different series's on Netflix.) I don't think I'll ever completely get away from the television, it's just too easy to push that on button.

A snippet of one of my to do lists.

4. Make a real effort to keep the house clean: SO MUCH BETTER! I don't know what's gotten into me this month, but I've made beds and mopped floors. It's crazy! Good crazy.
5. Discover new music: All I can say to this one is. . .nope, didn't happen.

Flower in friends' yard. Such amazing colors.

6. Grow some plants inside and out: Everything we've planted has died. It's so sad. Even Pat's attempts didn't work out. We'll keep plodding along until we discover the key.
7. Make my visions of my dream house and this house co-exist: No work on this at all. It's all just daydreams. . .and Pintrest.
8. Declutter/organize at least one drawer/cabinet/area a week: Did okay with this. Not exactly weekly, but did tackle some major areas like my closet.
9. Have a yard sale: It just didn't happen again. I did take a big load of stuff to goodwill though.

Love the saying!

10. Take better care of my face and skin: Most of the month has been . . .off, but toward the end I was getting better. Needs work for sure, but I've done better this month than any month previously. Success! Sorta.
11. Go to the doctor/dentist: Nope. . .I've thought about it much more, but it just didn't happen.

BUSINESS/CRAFT
1. Make a real effort with my blog: I haven't been the best blogger this month. It's definitely been on and off, but I've been distracted. I'll be better, don't leave me. Seriously though, it hasn't been all bad. Or, am I just fooling myself?
2. Include more tutorials on the blog: Did get ONE tutorial up (my easy Halloween Earrings). But that's all. It's better than most months, but still not where I want to be.
3. Keep the craft room more organized: Oh wow, this was a really bad month for craft room organization. I'm really just now recognizing how very BAD it is in there. Something must be done!
4. Discover my passion: YES!!! You can take a look at yesterday's post for more information on this one. While I know there's still more work to be done, I'm SO MUCH CLOSER than I was before.

Just a bit of my magazine addiction.

5. Get published (or at least try): I made a huge step toward this at the beginning of the month by actually submitting to a magazine, now to keep that ball rolling.
6. Create something everyday: There are days that I cannot tell you whether or not I got something made, but the ones that do have recorded are pretty good. I think I did well between my button bracelet frenzy and playing around with my other supplies. I didn't realize when I made these goals how hard this goal would be to keep. In any case, I really did well on this over the month.

Button bracelet addiction in progress.

7. Explore other venue options for selling my jewelry: Just. . .no. Not yet. Lots of thinking and daydreaming, but not yet.
8. Find a way to use what I have instead of buying more: Have done okay on this. A few craft store trips but mostly trips to antique stores have robbed me of my money. I think it was well spent though!

GENERAL
1. Figure out where my time is wasted and put an end to it: I don't think I'll ever really meet this goal. It's too easy to be tired or a bit lazy and just not do anything. I definitely recognize when I'm 'wasting time' and simply choose to keep it up. Drat.
2. Find some confidence and exert it: I'm getting there kinda, but am still painfully shy.

Playing around with some glass and paper.

3. Think outside of the box: I'm so close on this one I can totally feel it. My discover-my-passion has a lot to do with it.
4. Be Grateful/Thankful: I've got so much to be thankful for and this month has really helped me realize it, but it needs work. . . lots of work.

So that's been my month. All in all, I think it's been pretty good. I'm still really happy about the accomplishments I have made and hope to make more progress on the rest of them. YAY!