The last three months of the year are my favorite. I love colorful trees and cool weather, I love fall fashion (a.k.a. jeans and a sweatshirt) and fall foods, and I love how seamlessly fall becomes winter- November flurries, Christmas lights suddenly appear on the neighbors’ houses, leaves in the streets become drifts of snow. Also, does anyone else love a blue dusk? I know summer and fall have the prettiest sunsets, but I just LOVE how the sky turns blue at the end of a winter day!
In September I made two separate posts for my Fall Goals and my Fall Bucket List. Apparently this was my ‘get it done’ season because I most certainly did. With the first day of winter a week away and Sara & Steph‘s link-up on Friday, here’s a recap of my fall season + some goals for winter.
The FALL Bucket List
Go to a local apple orchard & bring home a bushel small bag of apples
Thanks to my mother- & sister-in-laws for going with me!Get all the fall decor out & around the house
And now we’re on to Christmas decor!Visit a few fall craft shows (preferably with Mom)
Mom & I went to one little festival, but technically it’s a CHECKPick out some bright orange pumpkinsCarve said pumpkins(preferably with Fred & Christina)
I carved them alone, but that’s okDrink lots of apple ciderGet a PSLDONE 😉 I checked this off at the start… haHost our annual Halloween Party
It was a 90s theme and it was a success!Take the dogs to a local park or nature trail for hikes
Ly and I went hiking- it was too chilly/long for Enzo- Visit a haunted house
- Bake a few new fall cookie
(No, but I failed HARD with these… Ha!)
Fall vacation with the husband
Charlotte and Myrtle BeachAdd a few classy, seasonal pieces to my wardrobe
Thank you, Old Navy
- Watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Create & enjoy a fire pit area in our yard
We created it… ‘enjoying’ it is a different story…
and now…
The FALL Goals
Paint the front door (I’m bloody determined to make this happen.)| YES. Done!
- Keep with the #30DayYogaChallenge that I signed up for | I went 13 or 14 days straight, then I got sick and fell off the wagon *sigh*
- After the challenge is over continue to practice yoga weekly | Nah.
Continue volunteeringweekly | Try bi-weekly…Order 3 year photos for scrapbookGet invites out for Halloween PartyWalk/bike to workat least twice a week | Not twice a week, but I walked to work occasionally.Create a fire pit area in the backyard| Ok, so we upgraded the backyard and added a concrete pad & fire pit area, but our neighbor straight-up lost his mind and went passive aggressive psycho on us. As in, called the fire dept. (911!) to report our small, legal, backyard fire. Like, walk your ass over and talk to us like an adult, dude. It’s been a headache, and I’m leaving out a ton of detail, but things seem to be resolved and we’ve had fires in our backyard since. (Seriously, though. People are insane sometimes. )- Get all the pieces of my Halloween costume together BEFORE the week of the party | Ha. No. We rush ordered my costume. But whatever, we looked fly.
- One crockpot meal a week (
**buy crockpot liners!) | At least I bought some liners… Hardcore wash the dog beds & blankets| Multiple times, in fact- Wait until the end of Nov. to break out Christmas stuff | I lasted until mid-ish November…
Get X-mas shopping done!| Most of it!
I did OK with the goals. I straight up killed the bucket list. Thank you to everyone that helped! (After reading the goals results I feel like I should post about our exterior home improvements. Is that of interest to anyone?)
OK, on to some Winter Goals…
- Make a meal planning journal and, like, actually do it
- Wash all window treatments & cushion slips
- Write thank you notes for Christmas gifts
- Get Lylee on a walk schedule again
- Clean the junk out of the basement
- Hire someone to come in and clean the carpets
Keeping it short and sweet this season!
Linking up with Sara & Steph for Winter Goals!
Life as Louise 
you did well! killed the bucket list, that’s for sure.
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Thank you! I think my family members love fall just as much as I do so they were super encouraging to get out and go do stuff!
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You checked off almost everything, nicely done! So crazy about your neighbor, what a nut job. Thankfully we have cool neighbors. We’re not like super friendly with them or anything, but both sides have teens/pre-teens and dogs, so our dog and parties (and potential fires, we want a fire pit too) don’t bother them because we all put up with the same noises from each other and it’s not a daily occurrence.
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We’ve had neighbor woes since we arrived, but this was the first tiff with that neighbor. It totally caught us off guard. We’ve pretty much given them the cold shoulder since… I can’t say we’re going to warm up any time soon… UGH.
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That’s awesome how much you accomplished this fall! Hope you can keep it up!
I definitely did not accomplish as much as I wanted…sigh….Hoping the new year brings a renewed sense of wanting to not just be a sloth.
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Thanks, Elyse. It was pretty unusual for me.
To be honest, writing the list out and keeping it with my planner/by my desk helped immensely. Just having it on my blog doesn’t do enough to remind me.
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I’m so impressed by how much you were able to cross of your list! We need to get Mavis on a walk schedule too – right now it’s very sporadic! I need to be better about actually following the meal plan I create – I work so hard putting it together and grocery shopping, just for us to make something different because what we planned doesn’t sound quite as good as whatever idea popped in our heads that day…
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We don’t really clip Ly’s nails so the daily walks kept them filed down nicely. Now they’re unruly dinosaur claws so I’m desperate to get back on schedule to avoid sedation/muzzling/WWIII with her and nail clippers. Ha.
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Oh I can imagine! When Mavis goes to daycare (she goes once a week on our long work days) they trim or file all dogs who need their nails done – it’s so nice they offer that! & Mavis is always so patient with us poking at her anyways… she’s the most zen dog that way 😂
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YOU CRUSHED YOUR FALL GOALS! OMG! Way to go. The door looks awesome, and I love the fox mat! You did so many festive things.. and hey, I always say any progress is progress! hahahah 🙂 I loved all of your Halloween stuff! Neighbors are so silly, glad you got it mostly figured out… good luck with all the winter goals! 🙂 I’m glad that you do thank you notes! Almost no one does anymore! XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
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Thank you! The fox mat was a spontaneous purchase at Target. (I mean…. what Target purchase ISN’T technically spontaneous, ha…) I want to paint white trim around the windows on the door, but I’ll wait until spring 🙂
The neighbor thing was SO FRUSTRATING. We confronted them that night and the guy was like, “Well I just didn’t want any conflict.” Um…… YOU CALLED 911 ON US!
My mom would hunt me down if I didn’t send thank you notes. Haha!
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Those cookies!!! I had to chuckle. Nothing hardly ever comes out as good as Pinterest pics.
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I laugh so hard every time I see Pinterest fails. I’m just glad I could add to the gallery. Ha!
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Omg, on my drive in to work this morning the sky was this amazing deep blue and I just wanted it to stay that way forever!!! Sooo pretty! Also your front door looks awesome, your neighbor is a psycho, annnnd the cookie fail is so funny! I am 100% sure mine would come out worse!!! Hahaha.
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Yay! I’m so glad someone else gets what I mean about the blue sky. I just love it!!
Crazy ass neighbors… Ugh. Ha.
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Damn, you kicked arse with all those goals and bucket list items. I’m awful at things like that, so I never make lists. I always prefer to do what I fancy in the moment and I’m not very good at being “seasonal” either so that probably doesn’t help.
Good luck with your December/Winter goals!
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Thanks! For the first time I wrote down my list and kept it at my desk/with my planner. I think that’s what helped me check stuff off! Haha.
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I think you did great! I crashed and burned at the fall goals. I didn’t really factor into how much I would not be at home this past season. I need to do that going forward.
I’m keeping it simple this winter too – basic goal is to get out of the house. I have a tendency to hole up in the winter and I don’t want to do that this year.
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Fall and spring are pretty slow times for us. I swear winter and summer FLY by. I also wrote down my bucket list and kept it near my desk/planner. I think that really helped.
Winter goals are SUPER simple, but I’m planning to make some 2017 goals/resolutions, too, I think.
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Woo, you did so great on your fall goals! 🙂 I added some nice pieces from Old Navy too! They are really killing it this season.
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We have some big changes happen in our life at the beginning of 2017 and they’re going to call for new clothes (not pregnant), so I already have my cart all filled on ON’s website! Hahaha! Hopefully I get some giftcards for the holidays!
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Wow! You did fantastic against your goals. Errr … I’m really, really, REALLY bad about setting goals. And keeping them. I always have best intentions but then life. And lots and lots of laziness happens. 😀 And your cookies are why I sometimes hate Pinterest. Mine never turn out as nice either! LOL!
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Thank you!
It helped me to physical write them down and keep them in eyesight. I wouldn’t have made so much progress without the physical reminder!
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I love your halloween costume– such a fun idea, I might keep in mind for the future if I ever dress up. I can’t believe your neighbor didn’t check with your guys about the fire in your backyard before calling the police! Amazing job on your goals and bucket list though! I like the sound of a meal planning journal for winter too- sounds like something I could probably benefit from!
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The costume was all my husband’s idea. He usually comes up with some good ones… If only he’d do it more than 24 hours before the parties! Ha!
THe neighbor thing was ridic. We were SO mad. Still are. Ugh.
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You killed it, girl! I cannot believe that about your neighbor! That is ridiculous! Some people just want to make everyone miserable… I need to get on a true meal planning schedule. I do great with breakfast and lunch, but fall off the wagon after work.
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Thank you!
Yeah… the neighbor thing has/had us irate. They’re a 60-something year old couple, and we say hi to them when we see them (or we used to at least), and we’re very gracious neighbors. Like, we’re in our 20s with two dogs and plenty of friends- we could be SUCH obnoxious neighbors and we’re NOT. AH. The whole story is just as frustrating as the little blurb I typed. It has a lot of US making sacrifices to get them/him to shut up and leave us alone. Bleh. Good thing we know the fire chief… ha.
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You did really well!
I find the last two months of the year stressful! The pretty lights and things are nice, but I would like November and December a lot more if I wasn’t running around trying to get Christmas presents sorted, cards made and mailed, all while dealing with the end-of-year rush at work (apparently half our costumers will DIE if they have to wait until January for their translation?!)
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Thank you!
Sometimes I feel super stressed at the end of the year, too. Today I had a little fit because we’d waited until the last minute to get our tree and the pickings were slim, and then we got home and I couldn’t get a fire lit in the wood stove, and then our hot water tank started leaking. Haha….. So yeah, the holidays can be stressful. Ha!
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bahaha those cookies! lol. You really got a lot done! That is awesome. I like December because there are lights and Christmas music and people just in general seem happier 🙂
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I did a part time retail job the last two Christmases and this is my first year with (almost) no work stress. It’s kind of nice! (Your comment about people seeming happier reminded me of my job those years. Some people were awesome. A small handful were terrible- ha!)
The cookies picture cracks me up every time I see it. Haha!
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You did so good! I love that you do seasonal lists and goals, that makes so much more sense to me than monthly.
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Thanks, Erin! I would never achieve monthly goals. Haha. Half the time I don’t even remember I set goals until the end of the season and then I rush to get one or two of them done! Haha!
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You did a great job on your bucket list and your goals!! Love the front door!! Looking forward to knocking out the thank you notes early myself… And getting rid of junk is the most liberating!!
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Thanks, Sara! I got my b-day thank you notes out late and felt SO TERRIBLE until they were finally in the mail. I know not everyone does it, but it’s a habit for me 🙂
I love our front door, too! Thank you!
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I think you did a great job on both the goals and the bucket list! I don’t really have winter goals, but I DO have a winter bucket list and I feel like I’m doing fairly well. I need to keep looking over it so I don’t forget things. Love the peanuts cartoon at the end! Too cute.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com
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Thank you! I didn’t make a winter bucket list just because winter always tends to fill up fast for me and it’s usually enjoyable 🙂 Fall FLIES so I thought having a bucket list would help me accomplish some fun things. Glad to hear yours is going well!
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I like the idea of having some seasonal goals. Weekly goals – ha, not gonna happen. Even monthly goals feel a little too ambitious for me. I’m going to think about this some more…
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Seasonal goals have worked well for me. I’d never complete weekly goals. I tend to forget about my yearly ones. Seasonal are just right!
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