Hey There, November (Goals & Fall Layering Inspiration)
Is anyone else in pure disbelief that it’s going to be November tomorrow? I feel like most of the year has passed by relatively slowly, but ever since September hit, things seem to have started moving at 10X the normal speeds. I am mostly excited about it being November because I can officially start getting into the Christmas spirit without getting too much flack from my husband. But I also wouldn’t mind if time slowed down just a tiny bit because my favorite time of year always seems to go by too fast. I just love wearing all my fall clothes and piling on all the layers! (Sharing one of my favorite layered looks with this post to give ya’ll some fall layering inspiration!)
Sweater: Lauren Conrad via ThredUp (Get your first $10 dollars here)
Vest: Mint Julep
Jeans: Target Mossimo Jeggings
Boots: Kohl’s last season (Similar Here)
Necklace: Thrifted
Earrings: Burlington Coat Factory
I really thought life would slow down a little bit after we got back from Lake Powell and settled into our new apartment, but things have been just as crazy as ever. We spent the last two weeks car hunting for a second car for Dustin since he’ll be commuting to downtown SLC every day for his new job. We went up to Idaho this last weekend to visit some friends and family. We’ve had a lot of people coming to visit or needing a place to crash while coming through SLC, so my office has been a guest bedroom for most of the month. I’m not complaining because being so busy has prevented me from being plugged in all the time. It’s helped me be more present in my daily activities and more active in my pursuit to live a vibrant life. But, I’m really ready for things to slow down just a tad, to really get back to my passions (HTC being my main one) and to continue to move forward with some big plans and goals I have.
I didn’t set goals for October because my life was so hectic that month, but I am ready to get serious about November and kick some butt!
Blogging Goals
Work through Materials from the Ultimate Bundles Genius Blogger’s Toolkit – Blogging friends, if you haven’t heard about the Ultimate Bundle Genuis Blogger’s Toolkit, I highly recommend you go check it out right now. Once a year, this bundle goes on sale (it’s different every year) and it comes packed full of ebooks, courses, printables, and bonus material worth over 5,000 dollars for…wait for it…97 dollars. I bought my bundle without hesitation and am already so pumped about the amazing information I have access to. Trust me, there is a LOT of information in this kit, and it will probably take me several months to work through it all. But, I’ve picked a couple courses/ebooks to start off with and I want to work on one a little every day!
Conduct Reader Survey – It’s been a while since I checked in with the people who actually spend time reading my blog, so I want to conduct a reader survery to get an idea of what is working for everyone and what isn’t as exciting. So, please keep an eye out for that in the next little while, because I would definitely appreciate your feedback!
Plan out Editorial Calendar for the Rest of the Year I feel like I have so many ideas for posts bouncing around in my head and about 10 lists of ideas in 10 different places. I want to sit down and really nail out my content calendar for the rest of the year so that I have a clear vision of what I’m working towards! Hopefully that will help with my next goal, as well.
Consistently post 3X a week – It’s no secret I’ve struggled with posting consistently since this summer. It’s not that I haven’t had things to say; life simply got in the way and I found myself overwhelmed at times juggling the balance of blogging and being present in my life. Now that life is slowing down a bit, I’m hoping to really get organized, figure out a way to be more productive with my time and to stay on top of my posting schedule.
Send out weekly email newsletter – Thank you all who took the time to give me a little bit of feedback on what you would want to see in a weekly email newsletter. It definitely gave me some clarity and direction on what to put together. I’m so excited to start emailing those on my email list every hump day with my Hey There, Wednesday newsletter. It’s going to be a collection of posts to share, inspirational messages and will hopefully be a bright spot in your mid-week slump!
Personal Goals
Establish a morning routine and stick to it – Since Dustin has had a couple weeks between getting his job offer and actually starting his new job, I’ve been a bit lazy about getting up and getting things done because he’s basically had 3 weeks off. I just wanted to spend as much time with him, getting our feet on the ground here in Utah, before we get back into the swing of things. Now that he’s starting his new job today, I really want to get into a good morning routine. I want to be up and moving between 6:30 – 7:00 and have taken Rosie out for her morning walk, be showered and dressed and ready for the day by 8:30-9:00. Too often, I would get up slowly and not get dressed or ready for the day until 1:00. I know from experience that getting up and ready for the day, even if I’m working from home, makes a huge difference in my productivity!
Continue to follow our healthy eating guidelines and loose 5 more pounds – I know I mentioned this before, but Dustin and I did a serious overhaul of our eating habits a couple months ago. It wasn’t just about dieting, it was about changing our lifestyle. Since seriously committing to our own little program, I’ve lost 8 pounds all together. The last couple weeks have been rough with all the traveling and car shopping, but I’m ready to get back on our program. My target is to loose another 5 pounds by the end of the month!
Sidenote – if this is something you’re interested in hearing about, let me know in the comments below! And let me know what your goals are this month. Also, if you are a blogger, did you get your hands on that toolkit?