Living with Intention {September}

For me, 2016 has been all about living with intention.

Is been my hope this year to be more intentional about the choices I make – how I choose to spend my time and making the choice to be more present in the moments I share with my family & friends.

Living a more intentional and purposeful life is a pretty broad statement, so I’ve decided to break things down into smaller goals for each month and, to keep myself on track, I’ve also decided to share my journey here on the blog (because let’s face it, it’s often so much easier to talk yourself out of doing something, than into doing something).
 

 
 

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The freedom and spontaneity of Summer had me had me struggling again to stick with these goals. Honestly, I found myself just wanting to float through the last few weeks of Summer and had little motivation to stay focused on much of anything.

I will say though, that I’m definitely looking forward to the routines and predictability that Fall brings and I’m feeling ready to regain my focus and intention.

Here’s a quick recap of my goals for August and how I’ve done following through…

{family}: Continue to encourage Carson to get himself ready each morning, including making his own bed (even if it’s not perfect!). Give Carson 2-3 extra chores to complete each week as well as regular jobs such as dusting and unpacking groceries.

It’s so important to us that our little man finds value & satisfaction in taking good care of himself, his home and his possessions. At four years old, Carson is perfectly capable of so much more than we’d given him credit for and I must say, it’s been incredibly rewarding to see how proud he is when he accomplishes these new tasks all on his own!
 
 

{home}: Start AND finish as many projects as possible to renovate the outside of our home.

I’ve been doing my very best to start crossing a few of the tasks off of my ever-growing to-do list. Though much of it has been out of my control (waiting on contractors, orders to go through and deliveries to be made), the ball is officially rolling on most everything I’d hoped to start. I cannot wait to share more details about it all soon, but in the mean time, you can follow along on Instagram for all sorts of sneak peeks.
 
 

{blog}: Create a video to share!

Ugh! Not even an idea of something to film … I’m beginning to think I’ll never break through this one. Any ideas of something you’d like to see???
 
 

{myself}: Run 10K without falling over dead.

Ha! With the few runs I actually made it out for, I’d be lucky to make it through half that.
 
 

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For the month of September, here’s what I will be choosing to focus on to help me live with intention:

 

{Family}: With Fall rolling in, gone are the lazy, spontaneous days filled with little more than some bike rides and play dates at the park. Carson’s got school, sports activities, & music lessons and of course, we need to (and want to) be there through it all. Back to school also means back to work for Mom too as I head back into the classroom as a teacher-on-call a few days a week. Work on the blog is picking up too as we work through not one, but three renovation projects all at the same time! Of course, this also means completing said work when we’re not at our day jobs.

All this to say, we’ve got a lot on our plates.

I’m a firm believer in the importance of finding {balance} in life and though it’s tempting to take on every single opportunity that comes our way, I’ve been very conscious of not over-scheduling ourselves.

I think one of the key elements to finding balance in life, is making time for sleep. Reading this brilliant book by Arianna Huffington really affirmed that for me. This month, I’m going to work hard at reminding myself and my family to make sleep a priority.
 

Let’s get specific: Everyone in this house will get 7-8 hours of sleep each and every night (11-12 hours for that little man).

 
 

{home}: Fall is most definitely in the air this month and these cooler temperatures are making me feel a rush to get all of our outdoor renovations wrapped up. There’s still so much to do, but I’d love to get things finished up.
 

Let’s get specific: Finish our outdoor renovations.

 
 

{Blog}: I’ve got a love-hate relationship with the One Room Challenge – I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself great at working under pressure, but I do LOVE the feeling of having another room in our home completely finished from top to bottom.

I thought we had things figured out, buuuuut, all of a sudden I’m finding myself wanting to go a whole other way.
 

Let’s get specific: Figure out which room we’ll be taking on and create a clear plan for the space.

 
 

{Myself}: Remember that over-scheduling I chatted about earlier? I’ve been very intentional about the things I’ve been committing my time to lately, trying very hard not to spread myself too thin.

However, not one of those things I’ve deemed important enough to devote any time to has been eating a healthy or nutritious meal. I know that education, exercise, downtime, food and sleep are important parts of nourishing every body, mind and spirit. But out of all of these smaller pieces of the puzzle, food seems to be the lowest on my list.

I have coffee for breakfast. I scarf down whatever is my fastest option for lunch. And, though I’m very conscious of providing healthy food for my family, I don’t cook a big old dinner for them as much as I’d like.

This month, I’m making food a priority.
 

Let’s get specific: Eat breakfast. Have a healthy lunch. Take the time to cook meals I can be proud of through the week.

 
 

Feeling strong and ready to refocus my mind on what’s really important this month!
 

What are your goals this month? I’d love to hear how things are going!

Wishing you SUCH a lovely day!
 
 
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