It’s the most wonderful time of the year! With Thanksgiving only being a week ago, it seems like December arrived SO fast this year! Since returning home from visiting my in-laws last week, Jody and I have been busy trying to decorate our house for its first Christmas! Turns out Christmas decor that fills an apartment is hardly noticeable in a house 🙂

For the first time in, I think, our entire relationship, Jody and I don’t have any big travel plans this month! We have a few day trips coming up — including a trip to Lancaster this past weekend — and then a possible trip back to Richmond to celebrate Christmas with his family, but other than that, we will be enjoying the season at home. While it seems strange to not be simultaneously planning for a New Years’ trip, I am looking forward to spending that time eating Christmas cookies and watching as many holiday movies as Jody can bear!

It is also mind-boggling to me that we are not only in the last month of the year, but also only have four more weeks of this decade. Let that sink in for a minute! Admittedly, when I realized that, it was a bit overwhelming until I realized the progress and intentional plans I have made since I started setting monthly goals. I hope to share my 2020 Goals with you soon, but in the meantime, here are my intentionally rest-filled goals for December! What do you have planned this month?

November Goals

1. Finish reading “Wild and Free” and write one thing in my planner that I’m thankful for each day this month.
2. Have uninterrupted connection time each day with Jody to talk about our day and life.
3. Catch up on my 2019 Reading List and spend an hour this week planning out November/December blog content.
4. Joyfully host (for the first time in our new house!) our friends and family at our Housewarming Party.
5. Create a home binder for keeping track of our new bills, and start purchasing intentional gifts for Christmas.
6. Complete at least two Tone It Up workouts and go to the gym twice.
7. Remember to take pictures of all of this month’s big moments and order our 2019 Christmas cards!

December Goals

1. Prepare my heart for Christmas by completing the She Reads Truth Advent Study: A Thrill of Hope. 
2. Go on an End of Year Celebration date with Jody (an idea I got from Em For Marvelous!)
3. Finish my 10th book of the year and write 2 more blog posts before the end of the year.
4. Be present through all holiday activities — whether at our home or elsewhere.
5. Finish Christmas shopping and review this year’s finances at Celebration Dinner mentioned above.
6. Complete at least two Tone It Up workouts and go to the gym twice (This was successful last month, so I’m going to do it again this month!)
7. Update Christmas Memory book following this year’s celebrations.