Can you believe it’s November 4?  I can’t.  Where is the year going?!  Here are 10 things I want to do before 2015 is just a memory.

 

Finish all the books on my side table.  I started off very strong with Book a Week but am definitely not going to finish 52 books this year.  I have five or six books next to my bed and hope to finish them all before the year is over. 

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Do a 5K.  I may sign up for a Turkey Trot!  I’ve finally gotten back into a running rhythm (I even went on a run in the DARK and RAIN on Monday night!) and would like to commit to a race.

 

Organize my laundry room. I can’t even show a picture of my laundry room because it’s too embarrassing! So disorganized and overstuffed.  It stresses me out just to open the door.  We have open shelving, and I would really like to get cabinets installed so I can at least shut the mess behind a door.

 

Buy a new bathing suit.  We are going on vacation soon, and I need a new suit!  I usually buy one pieces from Albion Fit (best swimsuits ever) but have been lusting after this two-piece and this rash guard, both of which are from Athleta.  Cute, huh?

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Find a volunteer project to do with Henry.  I would really like to do some volunteering with him around the holidays but am having trouble thinking of age-appropriate activities.  Any thoughts?

 

Organized a Friends-giving dinner.  We’d love to have over a bunch of friends and their children over for a put luck meal around Thanksgiving.  I just need to pick a date and organize a menu!  I know that I want to make this as the vegetarian entrée.

 

Go to a Miami game.  We are only going to one Miami game this year, and it’s just around the corner. You should see my gust room – it’s covered in tailgating supplies.  I’m really looking forward to the experience!  Tailgating is one of my favorite things.

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Go see Santa.  Of course!  I’m hoping we have a Sweet Santa year, but you know that Scary Santa is just as likely…

 

Make a decision on whether or not we will go the “Real or Fake” way when it comes to Christmas trees (here’s the debate).  I waffle on this every single year – I’m so undecided.  But then I think about all those damn pine needles and lean a little closer to the Fake side.

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Work on Claire’s baby book.  I kept up her baby book for the past year, but I need to print out pictures and finish filling in some specifics.  I can’t believe she’s almost one (here’s her birth story).  Time flies!

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(This is actually Henry’s book – it makes me smile that his first word was dog and she can say cat).

 

What do you want to accomplish before the end of the year?

{ 26 comments }

 

  • Lindsay November 4, 2015, 6:35 am

    Do you have a diaper bank in your area? The one here in DC is awesome for family volunteering.

  • Gloria November 4, 2015, 7:20 am

    As far as volunteering, maybe make small gifts or cards together and then bring them to a local nursing home. I’m sure the residents would love something like that.

  • Karien November 4, 2015, 7:27 am

    Lovely post idea! Sorting out our living room and clocking a sub-50 10 km is way up there for me 🙂 .

  • Amber @ Busy, Bold, Blessed November 4, 2015, 7:37 am

    We always get a real tree and I don’t think the needles are that big of a deal! My upcoming house project is organizing our basement… we need to do it and we’ve been avoiding it for a year now!

  • Jess Green November 4, 2015, 7:48 am

    I’ve got a stack of books beside my bed to finish as well…I’ve at least gotten it to stop growing for the time being 🙂 A volunteering idea for Henry, if he enjoys talking to people, is to visit a senior home. They often only get visitors on the actual holidays (if at all), but there are many days in between, and they love children! Many senior homes will set up kids games in their social areas, or you can offer to bring your own.

  • Katie November 4, 2015, 8:03 am

    I have no idea! The last week my mindset has been “just make it to 2016” and then I realized ignoring 2 months was probably not a great choice. So now I’m trying to see what I can/want to accomplish.

  • Sara @ LovingOnTheRun November 4, 2015, 8:22 am

    I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone by! I have some home organization and craft projects I’d like to complete that have been on my list for FOREVER! Fingers crossed!

  • Sagan November 4, 2015, 8:47 am

    Oh I love this idea! Great list 🙂

    I want to self-publish my book on the business of writing & editing, finish writing my apocalyptic fiction novel, KonMari the paper in my house, and get back into regular exercising mode before the new year.

    We can do it!

  • Katie @ Talk Less, Say More November 4, 2015, 8:47 am

    I have a stack of books next to my bed (well, technically they’re in a drawer of my nightstand) waiting to be read! I’d love to finish another book or two before the end of the year. It seems ridiculous that I’m hoping I can read TWO books in the next two months but as they say “the struggle is real.” HA!

  • Courtney Leigh November 4, 2015, 9:18 am

    What about adopting a family or child from an Angel Tree or similar organization? He can go shopping with you to pick out the toys/clothes that someone else needs. It can backfire if the child wants to go shopping for theirself, so it would depend on how you think Henry would handle it.

    Also check with say the food bank and see if they need someone to drop off barrels or pick up food where he could go with you. Or maybe dropping off care packages at nursing homes. Actually, that’s another great shopping idea, and has less risk of him wanting what you are buying. So many people in nursing homes don’t have family and just having simple things to unwrap at Christmas is great. A local organization here has organized “Santa for a Senior” for several years; maybe you can find something like that in Charlotte!

  • Mandi November 4, 2015, 9:22 am

    Turkey Trots are the BEST. Nothing better than running as fast as you can and then sitting in comfy clothes and eating the rest of the day 🙂

  • Linda November 4, 2015, 9:26 am

    I have that Athleta bathing suit and I absolutely love it. Thestop is attractive and really holds everything in place which is necessary when you have small children.

  • Jessica November 4, 2015, 9:34 am

    Take the kids out to a tree farm and cut down a real tree! Such a fun experience. Pine needles are worth the wonderful smell in my opinion. 🙂

  • Anne Weber-Falk November 4, 2015, 9:53 am

    Volunteer things we did/do with our children are working at a soup kitchen, setting up at our local PADS shelter, working at a food pantry, helping to put together and give holiday gifts and baskets for families in need through the Salvation Army and our church, bell ringing for the Salvation Army, baking cookies and then going to our area home for mentally challenged people and play games and eat those cookies, go to one of the senior centers and play games. There are so many things to do out there. Call some of the local churches and also see the community section of your local newspaper to find activities. This is how we have done all sorts of good things with our family. We have been doing this for a lot of years now and we truly enjoy it. We continue to work with PADS and the bell ringing is so much fun.

  • Lacey November 4, 2015, 10:17 am

    You guys could make homemade holiday greeting cards to hand out at a hospital or nursing home!

  • Kate November 4, 2015, 10:28 am

    Great goals – and a great reminder that I should get my to dos for the year in order, too.
    I’m with you on the baby book. My son is 3 weeks younger than Claire and I finally need to order the photos so I can start putting everything together until his birthday.

  • Katherine November 4, 2015, 10:43 am

    I have that bathing suit from Athleta and it’s super supportive/comfy while still looking cute!

  • Courtney! November 4, 2015, 10:46 am

    The twisted bikini top from Athleta is amazing! I’m not particularly large up there, but it fits and STAYS in one place. I can never understand how people can wear those stringy things!

  • Amanda November 4, 2015, 11:13 am

    Oooh, I’ve never done a Friends-giving! Maybe I should organize one this year. Thanks for the idea!

  • Kara November 4, 2015, 11:58 am

    For a volunteer project, I’m sure if you organized a group of kids you could have them make decorations and then deliver them with the kids to a nursing home or hospital.

  • Jennifer November 4, 2015, 1:49 pm

    There’s a lot of good ideas for kid-friendly/family volunteer opportunities in the comments. Just wanted to say that I do this Christmas angel thing with my kids. It’s similar to Elf-on-a-shelf, whereas it comes with a book and a stuffed angel. The idea is that the angel comes and visits at various times during the holidays and assigns my kids “jobs” to do. Some of the things they’ve had to do are pick up litter at a local park, donate their spare change to the Salvation Army collector outside the stores, assist at our local food pantry for pets (yes my community has a food pantry for pets and its awesome!), spend some time helping their grandparents, etc. I know Henry may be kind of young for this idea (and you don’t have to use an angel…I just really liked the concept), but it may be something to incorporate with both your kids as they get older.

  • nancy November 4, 2015, 2:40 pm

    I had open shelving in my laundry room too and it looked disorganized no matter what I did. It was well worth it to have cabinets installed. While we were at it we put in some lovely glass tile accents on the wall and painted the whole room a beautiful shade of lavendar. It was then my favorite room in the house 🙂 As far as the bathing suits go–I have had several Athleta suits and loved them all. Christmas trees are always debatable—I couldn’t imagine not having a real tree and my husband grew up with artificial. We always got a real tree for our kids but after a couple of years of having the tree dry out terribly before Christmas we were very happy to accept the gift of a nice artificial tree when friends wanted to get a smaller one for themselves. The up side to having an artificial tree for us now is that we can put it up over Thanksgiving when college kids are home and it won’t have become a fire hazard when they come home for Christmas. I hope to get a real one again some time but for now the fake tree is just fine 🙂

  • Julia @ Lord Still Loves Me November 4, 2015, 3:02 pm

    Every year, the time goes by so much quicker! Pretty soon, I feel like it will be 2025 in the blink of an eye. Crazy. I definitely think you should sign up for a Turkey Trot, because it is a great way to get your family involved too. 🙂

    I’m currently working on an adventure novel, and I would loved to have that finished before the clock strikes 12:01 on January 1st, 2016!

  • Grace November 4, 2015, 9:47 pm

    Which baby book do you have? I’ve spent a ton of money on baby books & can’t decide on the …

  • Rebecca November 5, 2015, 4:51 pm

    Volunteer stuff…… I adore Operation Christmas Child, and it’s something that kiddos can help with. Sure, it’s technically religious, but it’s so fun and rather easy, and it’s super rewarding to know that you’re sending something to a child in need. A lot of them keep their shoeboxes and go on to meet the people who sent them or help with OCC when they’re older. It’s so fun to hear stories.
    (We’re the drop-off hub for our area as of last year, so I’m SUPER plugging OCC right now. Hah.)
    Otherwise, our youth group loves to go caroling at assisted living homes and then stay to play Bingo! Or just bring little gifts to pass out, or treats. Those seniors love their coffee time, y’know? 🙂
    There are plenty of fun little things you can find to do, I’m sure. There might be opportunities listed at some of your local malls or libraries or something. You can always check those kind of places.

    We have never had a real tree in my life, and I’m not sure I ever want one. They seem like a nuisance more than anything, and the expense of a fake one is once and done (well, however often you purchase one. We got a new one last year.) versus having to pay yearly for a tree. I personally love being able to drag the tree up from the basement along with the ornaments and decorations instead of having to drag it in separately. But hey. Your house, not mine! 🙂

  • Amber November 6, 2015, 10:33 am

    You should look into sponsoring a family or putting together a hamper for a family! A non-profit like Boys and Girls Club or Big Brothers, Big Sisters could match you up with a family and then you could take Henry shopping for the items and have him help assemble them and explain it’s for a family in need!

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