diy mama

lifestyle blog sharing diy, family, travel, organization & disney tips

Life

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December Goals

december1Happy December everyone! It’s the last month of 2014 and instead of rushing around trying to meet all your goals, accomplish all your deadlines and make this ‘the best holiday season ever’, I say to relax. Take a minute and look back on your year to see all that you have accomplished!

Let’s see how I did on my November goals. I took Soph to every Baby Loves Books (that she was in town and we weren’t sick) as well as did a couch date once per week with Jeffrey (usually in the form of a Red Box movie.) We also got down two new signs with Sophie (more and hi.) For my ‘life’ goals, I got two Project Life spreads done! I also swam at least twice/week, for the three weeks I wasn’t sick, and did a meal plan every Sunday for the upcoming week. My ‘blog’ goals were the toughest to accomplish (as always) because I always put these goals last. I reached 1k followers on Pinterest (YAY), shot the photos for my TOP SECRET project coming up next month and did a couple Blog Life sessions. I did not revamp any old posts or do any new pinnable images, but I’m ok with that.

pumpkin

Now for the fun part, my upcoming goals! My goals for December are going to be light hearted to leave lots of time and love for my family. We already have lots of holiday events planned for this month: Meeting Santa, Company Christmas party, Christmas shopping trip, neighborhood Christmas party, decorating our home, Christmas light scouting and traveling to our family’s for Christmas.

Family

  • Go sledding & build a snow man
  • Transition Sophie to big bed
  • Lots of snuggling

Life

  • Make advent calendar, stockings & Christmas cards
  • Make Christmas gifts for friends and family
  • ‘Fill the Freezer’

 Blog

  • Have a successful Favorite Things Giveaway on the 3rd!
  • 3 Blog Life Sessions
  • Announce TOP SECRET project

stantaWhat are your goals for this holiday season? Are you going to try to jam it full of as many fun activities as possible or are you going to relax by the fire? I’m hoping to do a little of both (plus hot chocolate.) I’d love to hear what goals you have planned for this month or if you’re thinking of a resolution for 2015!

 

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Thanksgiving Tablescapes

Greetings friends! I hope your first week of November has treated you well and you’ve managed to stay warm (and not blow away!) I’ve been seeing amazing ideas in the way of activities, decor and recipes for Thanksgiving that is getting me in the grateful spirit.
tablescapes-thanksgiving

I have a lot to be grateful for in my life. I’m blessed with a healthy family who is also happy. I’m thankful to have grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and neighbors that have so much love for Sophie, it’s unreal. I’m thankful to get to take my daughter and dog on a walk at the park and be confident that we’ll have fun and feel safe. I’m thankful that I get to choose whatever pumpkin recipe I want (and possibly fail at) for Thanksgiving because money and time (a helpful husband) allows me to do so. I’m thankful for Thanksgiving (and the month of November) that helps us get into the holiday spirit by recognizing what we’re thankful for. Also, I’m thankful for you! Thank you for reading my posts, sharing my posts, trying my crafts and giving me tips and tricks on what to improve!

Here are my top 10 inspirational Thanksgiving tablescapes to modernize my decor:Gather Thanksgiving Tablescapevia Laura

Nature inspired Thanksgiving tablescapevia Karen

Gold and glitzy Thanksgiving tablescapevia Destiny

Thrifty Thanksgiving Tablescapevia Justina

DIY Birch Place Card Holdersvia Kelly

Layered Thanksgiving Tablescapevia Desiree

blog-thanksgiving place mat kraft paper white ink 6via Chelsea

Rosemary wreath Thanksgiving Tablescapevia Teri

Adding pattern to your Thanksgiving tablescape Emily Hendersonvia Emily

Peach Wedding or Thanksgiving Tablescape

via Emily

If I had to choose a favorite, it’d be a tie between Emily’s multi patterned design and the nature feel of Karen’s. I really like different aspects of each of these set ups though so I may have to pull individual pieces from each to make a totally different tablescape! Which one do you like the best or are you more traditional in your Thanksgiving table settings?

For more Fall ideas, check out my Modern Fall Decor post, Fall Nail Ideas, or my Fall Recipes & Decor board on Pinterest!
Follow Shelly Bergman’s board Fall Decor & Recipes on Pinterest.

The photos and stylings of this post are not of my own. You can click the links to take you to the original masterminds behind the eyecandy in this round up. Also, please pin from their sites rather than this round up.

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November Goals

november goalsHappy November! I know, it’s been November for a couple days, we’ve even changed the clocks already to fall back, but I’m just getting around to my November goals. This weekend was a whirlwind, literally, with the crazy weather we had here in IL.
We were able to Trick or Treat at a few houses, then came back to share chili with some friends. We also got the house childproofed (more on that later)! We took it easy though, knowing the next few months ahead are pretty crazy with travel, by playing a few board games and watching some new movies.
IMG_6960Let’s see how I did for my October goals. I did fairly well with accomplishing my October goals, in my opinion! This was a huge month for our family. Sophie had her first Birthday, complete with awesome Sprinkle & Confetti party, she started walking, we had a vacation where we went to Medieval Times and watched our 90 year old Grandma fly a plane! I really focused on being present and putting my family first in regards to managing my time. If there was a choice between cleaning up the kitchen, writing a post or just playing chase with Soph and Jeffrey, I chose my family every time. I’m pretty sure the kitchen was never fully clean the entire month of October, but I’m ok with that.

I took Soph to every Babies Love Books but one, because she was still snoozing (you never wake a sleeping baby!) I found a couple people that volunteered to watch Sophie but I’d still like to have an emergency sitter on hand. We also did TERRIBLE at family walks. We took once/week which was 90% due to the cold weather, rain or it being dark by the time Jeffrey got home. I swam 2-3 times/week, read Eleanor & Park (not as good as Fangirl in my opinion) and did not do laundry on the weekends! My biggest disappointment of goal achieving this month was finishing Blog Life, but I worked on it a lot and it’s freaking huge (which is a good thing!) I did, however, make three new pinnable images and revamped 20 Date Ideas and Nail Polish Organization!
pinnable-imagesNow for the good stuff! My November goals are going to be more manageable since there are a lot of things already planned for this month.

Family

  • Continue Babies Love Books (even if it’s raining or snowing)
  • Teach Sophie 2 sign language signs
  • 1 night/week ‘couch dates’

Life

  •  1 Project Life spread
  • Swim 2 times/week & swim lesson
  • Meal plan every week & 1 freezer meal/week

Blog

  • Photos for TOP SECRET project coming in January
  • Blog Life
  • 2 pinnable images and revamp 1 post
  • Reach 1,000 followers on Pinterest

What are your goals for this month? Will you be taking it a bit easy on yourself knowing the madness that is to come, paired with cold/rainy weather and possible sickness? I encourage you to make at least 3 goals for this month that can be measured. It really does help me to stay focused on what I want to accomplish, helping my mind stay on track. I’ll leave you with the best photo taken this month:

leaves

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20 Date Ideas

S U N  S A F E T Y
Hopefully these date ideas will inspire you to spend some time with someone you love!

1. Find a recipe and cook it together. Make it a theme night and play music to match the type of meal.
2. Go off the grid for the weekend- no cell phones, no TV, no computers. You’ll be amazed at what you can do for entertainment.
3. Go see a movie at the drive-in.
4. Go to a restaurant you both have never been to and order their specialty.
5. Buy 3 bottles of the cheapest wine and have your own wine tasting at home.
6. Play a board game.
7. Go bowling and order cheese fries.
8. Have a spa night. Take a relaxing bath then follow up by taking turns giving each other massages.
9. Movie or TV marathon.
10. Play some miniature golf.
11. Hit some balls at the batting cages.
12. Be in control and go to a shooting range. Be careful!
13. Put together a puzzle.
14. Go on a food crawl. Go to a different restaurant for an appetizer, entrée, and dessert.
15. Go fishing with worms.
16. Dress up to the nines and test drive a car you have no intention to buy.
17. Pack lots of blankets and drive out in the country to look at the stars. Don’t forget brownies!
18. Snuggle up by the fire and read a book with hot chocolate together.
19. Give yourself an imaginary budget. Then separately go online and pick out all the things you would buy for each other with the money.
20. Get active! Go on a bike ride, hike, geocache, etc.

Have you heard of ‘couch dates’? They’re a great way to stay regularly connected to your lover every week or so. I’d love to hear more suggestions on fun things to spice up a Wednesday night!

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