(or LYBHolidayL from here on out.)
Alexandra and Shea are hosting this wonderful, mindful, month-long challenge and I’m doing my best to slow down and participate. October was a hectic & rough month for me. I had fun, but it was at the expense of my patience and sanity. I’m determined to finish out the year in a better state mentally. Alex and Shea’s LYBHolidayL challenge has helped so much with that. Since we’re halfway through, I wanted to share an update!
November 1 – Make an effort to write down one thing you are grateful for every day or week
November 2 – Read this article about raising Thankful kids
November 3 – Do something to welcome the Thanksgiving season
I packed up the Halloween decor and brought out the fall and winter stuff (but nothing too Christmasy yet). We have some Thanksgiving-themed decorations so I’m letting those hog the spotlight for a while. 🙂
November 4 – Make pumpkin waffles for breakfast/brunch/breakfast for dinner
Kyle doesn’t like pumpkin flavor so he got french toast.
November 5 – Shop your closet and try to come up with a couple of new outfits from old pieces
I’ve seen other bloggers try this. It was fun to take the time to put these together!
November 6 – Give back this month: decide as a family how to “give back” to your community
It’s not much, but this year when Christmas shopping I will say “yes” any time a cashier asks if I want to round up my change or donate a dollar to xyz organization. Also, our holiday cards came from paper culture and they plant a tree for every order 🙂
November 7 – Schedule in 30 minutes to curl up with a good book
This was great timing. We left on the 8th for a business trip so I needed the reminder to just STOP and relax for a bit with a book.
November 8 – Take a Break: Get your Hygge on
I bought both the Hygge book AND this activity book a while ago. I worked on some puzzles during our drive to Indy since I couldn’t do anything in our home while on the road.
November 9 – Let go of one thing you feel obligated to do, attend, or complete this month.
There’s a Christmas tree festival in my town that happens every year during this week. I try to go every year and I feel like I missed a crucial party of preparing for Xmas when I forget about it or don’t have time to go. This year I’m just saying the heck with it 🙂 I don’t want to go so I’m not gonna.
November 10 – Treat yourself to a new, yummy-smelling candle
I had to postpone this one until we were home, but I finally lit my new Spiced Apple Toddy candle from B&BW!
November 11 – Clean out your fridge & get it holiday food influx ready!
I actually did this one early! Before we left I cleaned out the fridge for the house/dog sitter!
November 12 – Give someone an unexpected gift
We came home from Indy with extra stickers and lanyards so I took them to my grandma’s house and gave my cousins some of our new merchandise.
November 13 – For today, clear your to-do list of all the non-fun things unless they are absolutely essential!
Since we spent 5 days on the road with customers and clients we decided to nix the alarm clocks this morning. I consider waking up to an alarm to be very un-fun.
November 14 – Start making a holiday gift list
Already started the list AND the shopping 🙂
November 15 – Get started on an Advent calendar, or a similar project for another holiday celebration!
Stephanie shared some AWESOME advent calendars… so I think I might need one of those. I’m also brainstorming some other cute Advent or Christmas countdown activities!
At the end of November I’ll share a final post 🙂 Until then, I invite you to join in (even just for a day or two) and slow down this holiday season!
Life as Louise 
I love, love love this!
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It’s been such a fun daily reminder to slow down and do something *good* each day!
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I keep freaking forgetting about this. I need to write it down in my planner.
Love your ways to give back this year!!!
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Alexandra and Shea just announced that they’re carrying it into Dec. and sharing another month of prompts at the end of Nov. I know a lot of people are popping in for a day here or there 🙂 Maybe Dec. will work out better for your schedule! 🙂
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Look at you! I’m impressed you are hanging in with this challenge so well… this is the best kind of challenge!
I need that Hygge puzzle book myself – how fun is that!!!
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I don’t always get to the prompts on the correct days, but so far this challenge has been really fun and good for me 🙂
I think I got the hygge puzzle book at Books-A-Million? I can’t remember…
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Hi! It’s been a while :).
I love this challenge! I’ll have to jump in and start late. I need to find that Hygge puzzle book! How cool!? I love the other Hygge book I have, so I definitely need to add that to my collection! Looks like a great way to spend a winter evening!
We had pumpkin waffles for dinner last night! Or, well I did! My husband doesn’t like pumpkin, so he just had eggs and sausage!
Have a great Thursday!
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My husband isn’t a fan of pumpkin either, lol. The challenge has been fun! You should definitely jump in! I think I found the hygge book on sale so it was a win-win!
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This sounds fun! And I definitely recommend one of those advent calendars 😉
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I found an advent calendar of beef jerky for K while I was hunting down one for me. I plan to make the dogs one with treats and toys 🙂 Now I just need to settle on one for myself!
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YES! I have been enjoying LYB(Holiday)L too! I’m doing a similar post to this one tomorrow!
Aren’t the “winter camp” candles from B&BW so cute?! I’m intrigued by the hygge puzzles!
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I don’t usually buy the B&BW candles because they’re so expensive (even on sale, in my opinion), but their holiday scents are too darn good to resist!
The Hygge book is honestly just normal puzzles- word searches, sudoku, word puzzles. It’s just got a little intro on Hygge and the pages are decorated with Scandinavian accents, lol.
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yayyy! I love that you did this post, thank you so much for sharing it! 🙂 (oh and I see Kelly’s comment!! I am going to make sure to read that one too.. .I haven’t been on my blog game this week!!) So glad you are enjoying the challenge, I am too. It was SO NEEDED FOR ME! 🙂 The community only makes it better. 🙂 I need this puzzle book…! Also, I love the outfits. Especially the dog shirt! 😛 Too funny! Thanks again for sharing and participating!! 🙂 XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
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Thanks for hosting the challenge, Alexandra! It’s been good for me 🙂 The Hygge puzzle book is totally just normal puzzles, lol. They just added an intro on the Hygge lifestyle and have some basic Scandinavian artwork on the pages. I looove my dog shirt! Haha!
Super excited for December, too!
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Thanks so much for sharing our challenge and giving your update!! It’s awesome that you’ve done all of these things–I hope they’ve brought you some joy and relaxation this month. 🙂 I love the outfits you put together, and I agree with Alexandra, that dog shirt is the best! I just got started on my advent calendar but I’m off to go check out your link to some ideas for more inspiration.
Thanks again for sharing and it’s so nice to “meet” you! 🙂
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Thanks so much for hosting, Shea!! It’s been a really intentional month which is just what I needed after my October. Lol! I’m excited to see December’s prompts!
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I LOVE your gratitude list – it’s awesome!
That candle is one of my new favorite scents!
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Thank you!
Oh my gosh, that candle smells soooooooo good!!
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I love this idea and I wish I were organized and responsible enough to participate.
I also love your donut payday Fridays.
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I haven’t hit every single prompt on the right day, but I make up for them on one end or the other, lol.
Donuts every payday is one of my favorite things 😀 Never letting that tradition die. Hahaha!
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I need to try to take some of these ideas and implement them into my December. November has been a shit show here, so I would like to really slow down and focus on all this happiness too! Apple Hot Toddy sounds amazing!!! Love the idea of creating new outfits out of old pieces. I need to look more into this Hygge life.
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I have the main book about Hygge all loaded up on my Kindle to read soon. (I just need to finish a few books before I start that one!) Shea and Alexandra are doing this challenge in Dec., too, so hopefully you can jump in!
I love the smell of the Apple Hot Toddy candle! SO good!
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Wow, I absolutely love this challenge! And congratulations – you’re doing so well with it!
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Thanks, Lexi! The stress level to check things off is so low and it’s really easy to do these little tasks each day 🙂
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What an awesome challenge! I should definitely do something like this in October(our Thanksgiving month!) or December. You’re doing awesome with it!
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It’s been a fun and very intentional challenge 🙂 They’re doing it again with new prompts in December! You should join in on days that sound good to you!
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I just bought the spiced apple toddy wallflower and it is heavenly! I’m disappointed I missed participating in this but I’m excited to do so for December.
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Definitely participate in December! (Or jump in for the end of November!) I loooove the apple toddy scent!
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This is a fantastic challenge!
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It’s been a lot of fun! 🙂
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Yeah for shopping your closet, and those pumpkin waffles look yummy!
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They were good! I made some extras and froze them so I could warm them up in the toaster on rushed mornings 😉
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I love that you’re doing this challenge! I’m trying to do the ones I can, but I feel like I’m always behind. LOL Ah well, I’ll do better in December. I can’t wait to see those prompts.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
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No pressure at all, lady! Sometimes I do different prompts on different days 🙂 We’re all making it our own in one way or another!
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