September Goals

I've slacked off on my goals big time this summer.  I thought September would be a good time to get back on board.  We've got so much to do over the next few months and I need to get busy if I'm going to get them all done.  

Decorate for Fall! I bought a new fall scent for my scentsy warmer and it has me itching to put out the pumpkins.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I usually do it Labor Day weekend and this year will be no different.  I also need to start planning our annual Halloween Trick-or-Treat hayride.    Clean out Barrett's Closet.  We'll find out what the baby is this month so I need to organizing the clothes he's outgrown and move them to the other closet or out them away.  I'm not ready to get rid of them just yet. :)  I also need to start making a list of the things we're going to need.   Move Furniture for Barrett's new Big Boy Room.  We're moving our old furniture into Barrett's room and his furniture into the nursery.  I want to go ahead and get this done so I can focus on organizing both spaces.  We're going to move him to a twin bed we thought sooner rather than later but he slept all night last night so I'm not as eager to move him now.  We will see.  I'd like to do this before Christmas so he has plenty of time to adjust before the baby comes.   Watch Football!  We're so excited for the return of college football.  I'm planning our food for the weekend and I don't plan to move from the couch all day Saturday.  I'm sure a certain toddler won't allow it but we're going to try.  He's enjoyed preseason NFL so hopefully he's excited to watch with us.   Work! Work! Work!  Most of the above will fall to the end of the month because we are busy busy at work the first two weeks of this month.  I'm excited for all the work.  And I'll be even more excited when we finish!   Find out what the BABY is!  We can't wait to find out what this sweet baby is!  I think I'll really be itching to get busy and get things done once we know!

September 11th

This is a long winded rambling post...read at your own risk.

As with every American I remember where I was on the morning of September 11th, 2001.  I'm sure I've shared it here before but here it goes again.  I was a junior in high school.  I can't remember what the class was but I remember the teacher.  I think we were watching a movie, 13 years later the details are a little blurry.  Our principal came over the intercom to alert the teachers that there had been an apparent terror attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.  The teacher immediately turned on the news and we all sat in shock as we watched the events unfold.  I'll never forget the look on one of my best guy friends face.  His face was stuck in this limbo of disbelief and asking why at the same time.  It's burned into my memory of that day forever.  I vaguely remember the teacher turning the tv off after a while saying we'd seen enough.  Whether it was for our benefit or hers I'm not sure now.  My next class was History and I remember the coach already had the tv on and he simply said "We're watching history" and that's all we did.  I don't remember the next class but my last class of the day was cheerleading and I remember one girl coming in and making jokes.  I laughed because honestly I needed to laugh.  

I remember going home and saying the same joke and my mom didn't laugh.  She was glued to the tv just as we had been all day.  I remember the idea of the draft being reinstated being thrown around by the media, the truth was no one knew what to expect.  My older brother was 20 at the time, has graduated college and didn't have a wife or kids he was perfect for the draft and I realize now that my mom was scared that her baby was going to have to fight in this war that we suddenly found our country in.  I remember the images and the news footage.  We watched it for days and weeks.  It was all anyone talked about.  I remember the quiet.  When the planes were grounded for a few days the quiet outside was numbing.  The first time I think I heard the National Anthem after the attack was at the Friday night football game.  I remember feeling so proud to be an American.  I still get chills when I hear the National Anthem.  

Over the last 13 years the memories have faded a bit but there are some moments I'll never forget.  The emotion of the day has definitely changed over the years.  Through college and now as a wife and mother the weight and reality of the events of that day are heavier than ever.  My heart breaks for the wives that lost husbands and the children that lost parents.  I think about the first responders that sacrificed everything so that they could save lives.  True heroes.  As a mom I'm now responsible for teaching my son about the events of that day.  I remember driving my niece to K4 on this day 5 or 6 years ago and thinking she has no idea what this is all about.  Her innocent mind doesn't know evil like this yet she's going to have to learn one day.  It broke my heart.  I saw on facebook today people were keeping their kids home from school because of the terror threats.  I refuse to live in fear.  I will not let the enemy win.  I will share with Barrett was this tragic day means in history but more than anything I want him to know about the heroes.  I want him to know about the passengers that stormed the cockpit to fight the terrorist to spare lives on the ground.  I want him to know that firemen and police officers ran up dozens of flights of stairs to get people out knowing there was a good chance they wouldn't come back out.  I want him to know that Americans were proud to display their flags, they stopped and listened when the National Anthem was played.  People went to church.  I want him to know that as sad and scared as I was to be an American, I'd also never been more proud to call this country my home. 

September Goals

I did ok with my August goals.  I'm going to be honest and admit that August was pretty much a blur.  1)  I got our main "command center" in the kitchen somewhat organized.  I have a place for everything and we've done a decent job at keeping it organized.  I still need to further organize a few places.  2)  Meal Plan.  I've done a pretty good job at planning the meals, it's the follow through where I've struggled. Ha.  3)  I went to the gym exactly 3 times. so this was a fail, big time.  4)  I never got around to cleaning out the guest room.  I'm moving it to my September goals.  5)  I got the pantry and laundry room cleaned out and it is so nice to not cringe every time I open those doors.

Here are my September goals... 1)  Make a budget and stick to it.  We've got a couple fun things coming up this fall and I need to be more conscious about where I'm spending money so we have a little wiggle room.   2)  Cook five nights a week.  Like I said earlier I did pretty good planning my meals but didn't cook enough.  I feel like we only ate fast food during the week a couple of times and it was mainly the week Barrett was sick but I just need to get in the habit of cooking every night.  Not my favorite thing but I'm going to try to learn to love it. 3)  GO TO THE GYM.  So far we're two days in and I haven't been at all.  Even if I don't get to the gym I need to a least get out and jog.  I want to be a runner.  I just haven't devoted the time to it.  I also need to get some decent running shoes but I haven't wanted to spend the money.  It's something I need to invest in. So many people around me are running and training for races and I want to too.  But even if running doesn't happen this month, the gym has to. 4)  Start planning for the holidays.  We're having a Halloween get together like we did last year.  But I also need to start planning for Barrett's birthday as well as Christmas.  Setting budgets and making lists (my favorite part) needs to start happening. 5) Clean out guest room.  This is a carry over from last month.  It needs to happen ASAP. 6)  Might be my favorite item on the list.  Decorate for Fall.  I usually put everything out Labor Day weekend but it didn't happen.  Hopefully over the next couple of weeks I'll start dragging it all out. 
So there you have it.  My goals for the month of September!