January?! What in the fresh heck? After thirteen days of pajamas, movie marathons and breakfasts made to order, we’re finally sticking our heads out of the fog and joining the real world again. As I type this, the laundry is all caught up, the girls are already tucked into bed and we have everything laid out and ready for tomorrow. As much as I dread putting actual pants on tomorrow, I’m looking forward to curling my hair and feeling like a human again.
I’ve been trying to work on a new schedule for the blog and decide what posts to keep and which ones aren’t as effective. I have a tendency to share multiple monthly recaps but there just isn’t a way to consolidate all of that into a single post. I’m excited to add some monthly goals and a progress report into this post each month, but it might get a few tweaks as we go. Let’s dive in!
gathering | At the moment, I’m gathering plenty of inspiration and recipes for this month’s Whole30. Even though this is my fifth round, I always like looking for new recipes to keep myself from getting bored. I’ll be trying Butternut Squash Soup for the first time and I’m currently looking for a few new breakfast ideas. Do you Whole30?
making | I have no plans to be super creative this month and we aren’t starting our home renovation until late next month, so the only thing I’m making around here (besides dinner) is room. I have been feeling so overwhelmed with stuff and I’m trying not to bring anymore of it into my life. Since most of our belongings are still in storage, I’m not doing a major purge of any kind, but I’m trying to be super thoughtful with what I’m buying and what I’m accepting from others. We were careful about what we gifted this year and I’m not keeping anything in my life that isn’t meaningful or sentimental. How do you handle this?
following | This one is hard. I did a little social media purge a few years ago and it was the best thing that’s ever happened to my phone. I unfollowed a ton of people that weren’t enriching my life and it was so liberating. I was very careful last year, to only follow people who added value to my feed and I’m trying to continue that this year. I’m not following anybody new, necessarily, but I sure am enjoying those that I was already following.
sipping | I wish I could tell you I was sipping something delicious, but Whole30 limits my options quite a bit. I’m carrying around a huge bottle full of crushed ice, water, and lemon juice. The only other thing I’m drinking is coffee with coconut cream and cinnamon in the mornings, because I need some caffeine in my life. I’m planning to stretch this round out a little longer than thirty days, since we have a trip scheduled for the following week. I plan to sip ALLTHETHINGS on the airplane and in every delicious California restaurant we visit.
reserving | This prompt is so timely, because I’m actually making tons of reservations this week. I know Josh thinks I’m insane for not booking our flights yet, but I just didn’t feel like adulting over the holidays. I have a list of things to accomplish this week while he’s traveling and making reservations for our trip (next month?!) is on the list. I’ve already booked our room for San Diego, purchased Disneyland tickets and booked a character breakfast for that day. I still need to grab train tickets from San Diego to Los Angeles and find a AirBnB for the second leg of our trip. I’m currently hoping that Sophie’s flower girl dress finally ships so that I can stop freaking out about that!
Rather than call this a list of goals, I thought I do a little “to do list” instead. The word goal makes it sound so lofty and important, and I’m talking more about things I want to accomplish than achieve.
Get the blog unwonky. After the latest WordPress update, things have been a little strange around here. I’m not sure you noticed, but we were without a header image for a few days over the Christmas holidays and the profile image in my post footer is still missing. I discovered today that some of my older posts aren’t displaying images properly, so I’ve narrowed it down to a problem with the media library, but I’m still not sure what is going on. Thank goodness my web developer gets back in town next week and I will be back in business. Forgive the progress.
Spend daily time in the Word. I’ve done such a great job at this since introducing Bible Journaling into my life, but at the end of last year, I started to slack. I decided to use a One Year Bible plan that our church circulates, since I can read it through an app on my phone. I probably won’t be journaling daily (I don’t have time for that right now), but I’m aiming to share a few pages a week when I can.
Buy zero items of clothing. I got so many cute things on sale in December and I really don’t need a single thing between now and our trip. I’ll likely reevaluate depending on how much fluff I lose during W30, but my plan is to pack nothing I don’t already have. The one exception is that I’m looking for a cute tote or backpack that I can use as a personal item on the plane, but that will double as a work bag. Something slightly more grown up than the floral yoga bag I usually carry, but nothing expensive or stuffy.
Complete Whole30. Of the four times I’ve done this previously (twice a year for the last two years), I’ve probably completed it perfectly twice and not so perfectly the other two times. I’m co-hosting an accountability group this month, so I’m being very picky about what I eat and recommend. I want to get to the end of the month remembering why I decided sodas and sugar was a bad idea.
Read four books. I’m already winning in this category, since I read my first book of the month from cover to cover in a single sitting! I have two audiobooks already downloaded and my Book of the Month box shipped yesterday. I still haven’t hammered out my reading goal for the year, but I’m hoping to define that this month, too.
As much as I hate that December will be an oddball compared to the rest of the month, I really wanted to change how the monthly infographics looked for this year. I would love your input on these — is it something you enjoy seeing each month?!
You can read all about my three books for December here.
I finally convinced my parents to watch Downton Abbey, so I’ve been binging it with them!
My girls woke up at an ungodly hour on Christmas morning. Did that happen to anyone else?
We watched so many movies in December! The girls loved sleeping on an air mattress by the tree.
Did you see my big Christmas surprise? Josh booked us a trip to Red Rocks?!
We’ve spent the last twelve days at home together and it has been AMAZING.
I dyed my hair for the very first time?! Did you see?
I overate all the things. Hence Whole30.
I think I love this new format. What about you? See you here tomorrow for Wardrobe Wednesday. I would love it if you linked up with us!
PIN IT FOR LATER!
