February coffee date
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Hello, March!

230302_HelloMarch_cheesecake
230302_HelloMarch_cheesecake
230302_HelloMarch_cheesecake

Here's what's helpful about keeping a blog and sharing monthly goals: towards the end of the month I can say, "Hmmm, what did I say I wanted to do??" and I have a reference. I did this exact thing last weekend.

Even without a goal list I get a lot done every day and every month, and so do you!! There will always be tasks and to-dos to fill my time. (Always, always until retirement I guess?) The challenge is fiercely clearing out a bit of time to keep moving forward on the things that matter to me but that are easy to put off. The practice of writing down goals helps me find momentum inch by inch. The reward, in my opinion, is a more intentional and fulfilling life.

And so here we are in March. I find myself thinking back to this time three years ago, super pregnant with Maeve and feeling like the world was crashing around us. I'm sure I'm not alone in that. Next week on The Girl Next Door Podcast, Erica and I have an episode called COVID Time Capsule where we're remembering and processing the COVID-19 pandemic together. I wonder if my thoughts will always drift back to March of 2020 when the calendar flips from February every year?

Spending time looking backward to March 2020 makes me even more thankful to be here in March 2023. It's an especially good perspective since I've shared about feeling a bit too busy lately. Life feels quite peachy compared to what we were about to endure in March 2020.

So let's look to the month ahead, but first check in on my February goals and ta-da list:

230302_HelloMarch_galentines
230302_HelloMarch_galentines

February goals

+ Complete trust management tasks. Made progress but not completed. We did complete the paperwork to get our Eau Claire house into our trust and we put our Fidelity brokerage accounts into our trust. That feels good! What's left to move are our bank accounts and our Vanguard investment account.

+ Start our 2022 family photo book. Just barely fit this in after reviewing my goals last weekend!

+ Develop a timeline and task list for my writing project. Made it happen just in the nick of time.

+ Plan our March trip to Salt Lake City. 

+ Complete house notes and recommendations document for hosting HomeExchange.

+ Host a Galentines afternoon with neighbor mom friends. Yes! A total of eight women gathered at my house, and all but one lives on my street which is so incredible.  My neighbor Jessica hosted with me and we served bruschetta, dips, and veggies. For dessert we had brownies and cheesecake (both Trader Joe's) with strawberries and whipped cream. We also had a favorite-things gift exchange, which are always fun. My heart was full gathering and laughing with women who are part of my neighborhood community.

230302_HelloMarch_OTF

Other February ta-das:

+ Bought new towels (brand recommended by an AirBnb blog), sheets, and king-size pillows, all of which have been on my to-buy list for a long time. I'm really happy with each of these purchases! (Pillows purchased from Costco but I can't find a link on their website. They are Sealy brand and were $25.99 for a pack of two.)

+ Worked ahead on blog posts to create a short pipeline of posts aka scheduled posts ahead of time. I hope I can build on it and keep it up although one busy week can set me back to zero (argh).

+ Celebrated my eight-year anniversary at Orange Theory and attended my 635 class! I still love Orange Theory and am so thankful I discovered the workout eight years ago.

+ Went on two hikes: one family hike and a one-on-one hike with Dash.

 

Big things happening in March:

+ Boys' two week spring break. We'll be traveling for a good chunk of it but there will still be nearly a week of spring break left when we get back. We should probably make some plans for keeping the boys busy!

+ Salt Lake City trip. We'll be driving to Salt Lake City with stops at the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. I'm excited!

+ Host two HomeExchange families. While we're in Salt Lake City another family will be staying at our house. It'll be our first time hosting so we've been getting the house ready. Then, when we get back, we'll decamp to my parent's Arizona house for three nights while a couple from France stays in our house.

 

March goals:

+ Get our house ready to host. I'm appreciating the opportunity to look around our house with fresh eyes to see what little improvements we need to make. For example, since painting this summer we have not replaced the toilet paper holder in the primary bathroom. We don't even notice its absence any more but we'll install one since other people will be staying here, and I know we'll appreciate having one as well! Another thing we're doing is installing a smart lock on our front door (we already have a keypad entry into the house from the garage).

+ Make progress on our 2022 family photo book. I'll plan to use Maeve's nap times on the days she home with me for this.

+ Read books and listen to podcasts about parenting tweens. Erica and I will be recording a much-requested episode about parenting tweens this year. Both for my own parenting benefit and so that I can offer helpful advice on the podcast I'd like to read some books and listen to podcasts on the topic. We'll share any resources we found helpful on the podcast!

+ Complete teacher appreciation gifts. Teacher appreciation week is not until May but as a high five to my future busy self I want to get these done this month. I'm trying to be very conscious of how busy we feel in April (the end of Chris's semester, birthdays, anniversary, Easter) and in May (the end of the boys' semester).

 

I hope your March is off to a good start. Set your intentions for the month, write them down, and keep moving towards even if by little steps.

Happy March, friends!

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