Getting Personal #142: October Goals

Fall is here! Yay!

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Here are my goals for the month of October:

1. Make progress with my Lady Lounge.
2. Write at least 500 new words for my WIP.
3. Prepare for NaNoWriMo 2018!
4. Get together with several friends.
5. Finish reading my current book.
6. Donate items to Project Beauty Share.
7. Donate blood.
8. Celebrate Halloween!

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Here’s the breakdown:

Make progress with my Lady Lounge.

• There are way too many boxes in there! I need to dedicate some time every weekend to make it less cluttered.

Write at least 500 new words for my WIP.

• I really want to close out this draft!

Prepare for NaNoWriMo 2018!

• November will be here very soon!
• I’m excited to write something completely brand-new!

Get together with several friends.

• We are planning to spend some time with our friends Ashley and Ray, and their son, Adam.
• We’ve also been invited to Kathryn & Tim’s annual Halloween party!

Finish reading my current book.

• It’s a really interesting story, and I’m looking forward to finally writing the Book Review!

Donate items to Project Beauty Share.

• I discovered this Washington-state-based organization through a recent advice column. I want to clear out some unused beauty products, and help others!

Donate blood.

• The next blood drive is Saturday, October 6th!

Celebrate Halloween!

• We’re excited to pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters. We love seeing their costumes every year!

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Do you have any goals for the month of October?

If so, I’d love to hear about them!

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Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Getting Personal #141: September Goals Recap

Image Credit: Country Living Magazine

September was a blur. We are still adjusting to having Pablo in our house, and we know he’s still adjusting to, well, everything. He’s such a sweet boy.

Here’s the link to my September Goals post:

• Getting Personal #138: September Goals

Ready?

Here we go!

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1. Celebrate eight years together with Al! — Accomplished!
2. Welcome our greyhound home! — Accomplished!
3. Write at least 1,000 words for my WIP. — Did not accomplish.
4. Read at least two books. — Did not accomplish.
5. Finalize our New York trip plans. — Did not accomplish.
6. Buy a new crock-pot. — Accomplished!

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Here’s the breakdown:

Celebrate eight years together with Al! — Accomplished!

• Our dating anniversary was a Tuesday after the long Labor Day weekend, but we enjoyed spending time together after work.

Welcome our greyhound home! — Accomplished!

• Here’s the link to my Getting Personal post: Getting Personal #140: Welcome Home, Pablo!

Write at least 1,000 words for my WIP. — Did not accomplish.

• Nope. Didn’t happen. I hardly looked at my personal laptop all month.

Read at least two books. — Did not accomplish.

• After Pablo came home, I could barely keep my eyes open most nights after 9:00.

Finalize our New York trip plans. — Did not accomplish.

• We didn’t finalize anything. After looking at our numbers, and the calendar, we’ve decided that the New York trip can wait. Hopefully sometime in 2019.

Buy a new crock-pot. — Accomplished!

• Thanks to a very generous Bed Bath and Beyond gift card that I received for my birthday, we bought a larger crock-pot (Eight quarts versus six), and we only spent $13!

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Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished next to three out of six goals – I’ll take it!
• The three goals I did not accomplish: Most of this was time, and spending most of our energy on Pablo.

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What about you? Did you have any goals for the month of September?

Come back tomorrow to see my October Goals!

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Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Getting Personal #140: Welcome Home, Pablo!

Image Credit: Pinterest

It’s been a minute since I posted. Mainly because we welcomed a new family member to our home on September 10th. Welcome home, Pablo!

We’ve had him for nearly a month. It’s been exciting, but also challenging.

We’re taking it day by day, but we have a good routine set now. It’s like we had a kid, but he has fur. We love him, though. And he’s super sweet!

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Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Getting Personal #139: Eight Years

Image Credit: BrainyQuote

I love writing these “dating anniversary” posts every year!

• Getting Personal #34: Six Years
• Getting Personal #83: Seven Years

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Today, Al and I celebrate eight years together!

Here are eight photos that are special to me.

September 2010: This was the very first photo that was taken of us!

January 2015: Spending the weekend with friends in Richmond.

November 2015: One of the best days of my life!

October 2017: One of my favorite photos of all time. This was at the start of Nick and Savy’s wedding reception at the farm.

October 2017: Dancing the night away!

April 2018: We took this at The Main in Norfolk!

April 2018: This was part of the “Love Gallery” at LanternAsia, the amazing display at the Norfolk Botanical Garden.

 

August 2018: This was the Norfolk Tides game on my birthday!

Happy Anniversary, Al. I love you!

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Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Getting Personal #138: September Goals

Image Credit: Etsy

Hello, September! I’m so excited for cooler weather!

Every year, I can’t help but think of the famous Earth, Wind & Fire song, September! I always dance around when I hear it.

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Here are my goals for the month of September:

1. Celebrate eight years together with Al!
2. Welcome our greyhound home!
3. Write at least 1,000 words for my WIP.
4. Read at least two books.
5. Finalize our New York trip plans.
6. Buy a new crock-pot.

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Here’s the breakdown:

Celebrate eight years together with Al!

• Our dating anniversary is September 4th. Hard to believe it’s been eight years!

Welcome our greyhound home!

• We are expecting to get the call either September 9th or 10th. So exciting!

Write at least 1,000 words for my WIP.

• Breaking it down into smaller chunks seems more manageable.

Read at least two books.

• I’m about four chapters into one that I’ve been working on since the beginning of July. It’s high time I finish it.
• I bought three new books with one of my birthday gift cards. I really want to read at least one of those (if not more), before I allow myself to spend the other birthday gift card from my parents.

Finalize our New York trip plans.

• We’re visiting the Big Apple in November!

Buy a new crock-pot.

• I discovered a huge crack in our crock-pot insert recently, so we need to buy another one.

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Do you have any goals for the month of September?

If so, I’d love to hear about them!

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Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Getting Personal #137: August Goals Recap

August felt like a really long month, but maybe that’s just me. It was really hot, humid, and made me ready for the fall!

Here’s the link to my August Goals post:

• Getting Personal #133: August Goals

Ready?

Here we go!

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1. Make progress with cleaning the garage. — Accomplished!
2. See Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. — Accomplished!
3. Celebrate my milestone birthday! — Accomplished!
4. Start preparing for our greyhound’s arrival. — Accomplished!
5. See Christopher Robin. — Accomplished!
6. Get to 50,000 words with my 2012 WIP. — Did not accomplish.
7. Participate in Laura Beth and Kristian’s Blockbuster Challenge! — Accomplished!

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Here’s the breakdown:

Make progress with cleaning the garage. — Accomplished!

• We only spent a little bit of time on one Saturday, but it looks a little cleaner, and I was able to make two thrift store runs. Yay!

See Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. — Accomplished!

• I went to see it with my mom and our good friend Kathy on my birthday.
• It was a decent movie – I loved the music, and the scenery is just gorgeous!

Celebrate my milestone birthday! — Accomplished!

• It was such a whirlwind weekend!
• My in-laws came to visit, and we spent time with Nick and Savy at their house with their new puppy, Xeno.
• My mom and dad bought flowers for the church altar, which were beautiful.
• My mom made the best homemade dinner for a host of people, including beef tenderloin, my uncle’s awesome Caesar salad, roasted vegetables, and more! Plus, there was ice cream cake!
• Al scored free tickets to the Norfolk Tides game that was on my birthday, so we enjoyed stadium food while cheering on the home team.
• Many people gave me thoughtful gifts, also.
• It was an awesome long weekend! It was really hard to go back to work on that Wednesday, though.

Start preparing for our greyhound’s arrival. — Accomplished!

• So far, we have two dog beds, multiple toys, a comfy fleece blanket, a bright orange leash, and a Star Wars collar.
• We are supposed to get him either September 9th or 10th!

See Christopher Robin. — Accomplished!

• We saw this with our friends Beth and Casey. We ate a delicious dinner at Gianna’s, an awesome Italian restaurant down the way from the movie theater.
• If you haven’t seen this movie, I highly recommend it. It’s sweet, fun, nostalgic, and a nice respite from all the doom and gloom in the world.

Get to 50,000 words with my 2012 WIP. — Did not accomplish.

• After working so hard in July, I wanted to make more progress. But, I didn’t make any time to write. I’m finding myself having a hard time trying to finish it. I’m sure I’m not alone!

Participate in Laura Beth and Kristian’s Blockbuster Challenge! — Accomplished!

• I had so much fun with this daily writing challenge. We both love movies, and it’s been awesome to see everyone’s comments. Great idea, Kristian!
• You can see them all, starting with Writing Prompt #120: LB and K’s Blockbuster Challenge – Day 1

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Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished next to six out of seven goals – Woohoo! Productivity at its finest.
• The one goal I did not accomplish: Ending things are hard! Especially something I’ve worked on, off and on, for the better part of six years.

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What about you? Did you have any goals for the month of August?

Come back tomorrow to see my September Goals!

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Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Getting Personal #136: “Sunflower Sunset, Dreamland, Kentucky” (Reblogged)

I love sunflowers. They make me happy! They’re not my favorite flower, but seeing photos of them make me think of sunshine, birds chirping, quiet, and peace. And I love sunsets, too.

Seeing this post also made me think of the TV show Smallville, which Al and I are currently binge-watching on Hulu. It’s one of the shows that Al grew up watching. Plus, it lasted an entire decade, from 2001-2011. It’s been funny to catch certain cultural references, and reminisce about the technology, hairstyles, glasses, and more.

The show is set in Kansas, and this is in Kentucky, but it makes me think of farms, country living, and more.

What’s your favorite flower?

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Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Just Wunderlust

Sunflower Sunset, Dreamland, Kentucky

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