Hi November

Is it really November already?  Someone pinch me because I can hardly believe that we have less than two months left in 2014.  I'm starting to reflect and take stock on this year.  Considering that I spent much of last month with patchy internet, I didn't do too bad with my October goals.

I'm very proud of myself for picking up my camera a lot more than I had been.  I actually took the picture above on Halloween.  My sister was here to visit and the kids wanted to go on a little walk.  So, I pulled out the double stroller and off we went.  Now on to my goals for this month.

Holiday Prep

The holidays are always a busy time.  The stores and roads get more and more crowded the closer it gets to Thanksgiving and Christmas.  So, my goal for this month is to finish up all of my holiday prep for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Thankfully, I've already gotten a head start on this goal.  Most of Thanksgiving dinner was purchased this weekend including the turkey and I've already been wrapping gifts as I buy them.  I'm looking forward to being able to just sit back and enjoy celebrating with my family.

Blog Sponsors

This year was a great year for YUMMommy in terms of sponsors.  And I'm looking forward to making next year even greater.  This month I'll be re-evaluating some of the sponsorships that I currently have and deciding which companies I'd like to continue working with.  Also, I want to start reaching out to a few more of my favorite brands and seeing what kind of projects we can collaborate on in 2015.

NaNoWriMo

This is my second year doing NaNoWriMo and I'm super excited.  Last year, I failed miserably.   There was so much going on that I could barely concentrate on day-to-day happenings less more writing a 50k word novel.  However, I'm in a much better place and I have already gotten off to a decent start.  Also, something that I'm doing different this year is that I've joined a few writing groups and have been interacting more with other writers.  Some are moms like me and understand how hard it is to juggle motherhood and trying to create a great body of written work.  I'll leave you guys with a look at my current book cover.

I'll be doing weekly NaNoWriMo diary posts and sharing a few excerpts from this Surviving You as well Forever Branded here.  Hope y'all will stop by!  And if you're doing NaNoWriMo be sure to add me as a Buddy.

Home Life

While Moo is doing great in school, there are a few things that her teacher asked me to work harder with her on.  So, this month I really want to make sure we get on top of those things and nail it.  Also, I'll be working with JJ on learning how to communicate using full sentences.  Right now he speaks mostly using random phrases or just one word.  I think he's up for the challenge and I'm on the lookout for fun activities that will help us with this.

We've been in our new place since the end of May and I feel like we haven't quite personalized it yet.  So, I've been pinning a few DIY and craft projects that I want to try to spruce this plain canvas.  I've been keeping my eye open for some awesome curb finds, too.

Faith

Sadly, we haven't been to church in a minute.  We've been catching the Joel Olsteen telecasts on TV.  While that's all good and well, there's nothing like going to church and being surrounded by your church family and pastor.  I feel awful for missing as much church as we have considering we're back close to the church we had been going to and have at least three churches in our neighborhood.

My goal is definitely to make it to church at least 2 Sundays this month.  Moo has been asking when we're going back and I don't want her to get discouraged.  We've been doing our morning and nightly prayers as well as bedtime devotions.

What are your goals for this month?

Playing Catch Up

This whole time change thing has my body out of sorts.  The clock says 10 PM but to my body says it's 11 PM.  Throw in the fact Moo has been staying up late every night, JJ has been extra cranky during the day and I feel like I'm a doing a million things but not seeing any fruits from my labors and you get me spending today play a game of catch up.

While I haven't completely neglected my novel, the only time I have to really work on it is at night after I finally get Moo down.  By that time I'm so drained my creative juices feel nonexistent.   And I meant to finish the chapter I was working on last night but I fell asleep.  Friday, I did make a little bit progress, but ended up falling asleep on top of my glasses and bent over the laptop.  I'm so glad that screen on this thing folds all the way down because I would have broken it.

I did manage to push the top of one of my lens out.  And now I can't get it to go back in.  I've tried pushing it back in and almost snapped my frame.  So, now I have to fit in a visit to the eye doctor.  Some of my friends have already finalized their Thanksgiving menus, taken recipes for test drives and more.  I just started looking at turkey prices.  I do have my menu finalized though. (Look for a post about it this week).

I also caught up on some reading this morning.  In January, I set a goal to read 150 books this year.  Sadly, I haven't even read 50.  I've even been slacking on reading to the kiddies.  So, the plan is read at least book every night.  And for me, I'll be completely a minimum of two books a week.  I'm determined to at least finish this year out with 50 books read and yes, I'm including the books I read to the kids.  A book is a book.

I caught up with a cousin of mine and found out he's been living here in the Queen City for 8 years!!  8 year y'all and I didn't even know it until today when he told me on Facebook.  He actually thought I had just moved here.  The truth is I've been here longer than he has.  I haven't a clue how we haven't run into each other at the mall or the movies.

Do y'all know how much stuff and how many important events went down in these past 8 years that he could have been a part of.  He missed out on being at my college graduation, visiting me in the hospital after I had the kiddies and hanging out for the holidays.  All because we didn't the other person was here.  I've never been more thankful for Facebook than I am today.  

We've exchanged numbers and I'm looking forward to the kids meeting him and reconnecting.  He's 4 years older than me, but we grew up together and always had fun with my other cousins and siblings at family cookouts.  Then he went off to college and we lost touch.  Looking forward to reuniting though.

I'm also catching up on my Bible study because tomorrow is Monday, which mean my Bible 365 post needs to be done.  Well, I'm off.  See y'all on Monday!

What have you been catching up on this week?