November! It’s here!?!? Can you believe we are in the eleventh month of 2016? It remains so unseasonably warm here that it makes it even more unreal that November has begun, since it’s usually a symbol that winter is right around the corner! However, this North Carolina fall is reminding me of Texas fall except the trees are changing more colors than brown 😉
As I’ve done for a year now, I’m following Emily P. Freeman’s example and sharing what I’ve learned this month. Although I believe Emily is now only doing the link up quarterly, I’m going to continue doing this monthly for the foreseeable future. Because time does slip by so quickly, I appreciate taking a moment to stop and reflect on the things I learn every month. I would love to hear what you’re learning in the comments!
Graduate school is tough…and it feels as though it’s taking over my life. Does this need anymore explanation? I’m in the valley of this semester, so to speak, when assignments, projects, and tests reach a peak that seemingly cannot be climbed. However, the good news is that the semester is truly flying by, and I will be done with classes in four-ish weeks with only exams in between me and vacation! 🙂
I’m a 1w2 on the Enneagram. I’ve shared this book — The Road Back to You — on the blog before, but I must share it again! It is so enlightening! The Enneagram is an ancient personality typing system…and since I love psychology and figuring out what makes people do and say certain things, and react in certain ways, this was a great book for me! My “type” — the one with a two “wing” — was both sobering and encouraging in its accuracy.
People have a love/hate relationship with candy corn. Do you agree? Do you love it? Despise it? I’m the former — I really, really love it, except only around Halloween. If I love it too long, I remember why some people hate it. So.much.sugar.
Walmart grocery pickup IS THE BEST INVENTION EVER. This was made for busy people — AKA everyone!! Check if you have it in your area, it is amazing! You order your groceries online the night before, choosing your ideal pickup time for the next day. They will call you about thirty minutes before your scheduled pickup to tell you it’s ready. You call them when you’re 10 minutes away, and when you get there, you pull into a designated parking spot, and someone comes out with all your groceries!! They even load them into your car for you. The best part? It’s free! No pick up fees! This has saved our health and our dining out budget with grad school. Grocery shopping, which I dread anyways, used to take over an hour of my day and now it is barely twenty minutes!
Family photos are worth the investment. For the past two years, we’ve done a fall “mini” session with a local photographer (photo credit to the amazing Melinda Jean), and every year, the resulting pictures bring me so much joy. I realize everyone may not share this excitement over pictures, but I’m such a nostalgic, sentimental person that I absolutely love preserving these memories as a couple with our puppy. Plus — Christmas cards are automatically done! And besides Jesus and family time, Christmas cards are seriously my favorite part of Christmas! (I LOVE catching up on everyone’s life through pictures and cards! 🙂 )
Choosing who you surround yourself with is never more important than in times of stress. I’ve been unbelievably grateful this month for people who will sit in the silence with me and who understand the tension of love and grief with life and all its messiness. I’m so thankful for a husband, family, and friends who are patient and show me the grace of Jesus on a daily basis. It’s truly an immeasurable gift.
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What have you learned this month?
I love it that you’re going to continue to do this every month. It has been one of my favorite posts to do and read on others’ blogs! I think I actually GRIEVED that Emily stopped doing it monthly, which is probably a little strong for blog feelings, but it’s still true. LOL!!! I believe you and I continue to be kindred spirits. The love of photos, the love/hate of candy corn {I used to love it but since clean eating, I found I don’t like it anymore, and I had to grieve that, too!!} and so much more. You are a treasure! So glad I found your blog. {Ironically THROUGH the monthly link-up!}
Bekah! This made my day 🙂 I’m so glad you found me through the link-up and commented so I could find you! I read your blog everyday and really feel that we could be great friends in real life too…as could our sweet husbands! 🙂 If we are ever up your way, I really want to tour a county with y’all, and you know if you’re ever in NC — let me know!! Have a wonderful week!
Every month I keep thinking that I should do a post like this and then I never do. Maybe it’ll be something I start up in the new year. I LOVE grocery shopping online. I kind of hate our Wal-mart, huge hassle to get to and so busy, so I haven’t tried their service out yet, but I have been loving using Kroger’s version. I’m bummed that my 3 free trials are over, so maybe I’ll suck it up and try out Wal-mart. I feel exactly the same about candy corn. I made the mistake of buying a big bag this year and it turns out I’m the only one in the family who like it. Needless to say I’m feeling wasteful, because I just can’t eat anymore. We do family photos every fall and I LOVE it! I hate actually getting my picture taken, but love looking back through the years, especially to see how much our little girl has changed.
Jess, THANK YOU so much for sharing your thoughts & tips! I just love reading your blog, they are so refreshing to the spirit❤️
Sincerely,
Liza
Liza — you are SO sweet! Thank you my friend! Hope you and the family are doing great — miss you!!