Hi, my amazing readers!

I’m stunned – It’s the end of October! Wow!

Here’s the link to my October Goals post:

• Getting Personal #38: October Goals

—

Ready?

Here we go!

---

1. Prep the house for our first overnight visitor! – Accomplished!
2. Donate blood! – Did not accomplish.
3. Plan our Halloween costumes! – Accomplished!
4. Decorate the house for fall! – Semi-achieved.
5. Clean up the clutter and plan my office space! – Accomplished!
6. Recap my 44 for Bill Movement participation. – Did not accomplish.
7. Celebrate birthdays – Mom’s and Mia’s! – Semi-achieved.
8. Read at least two books on my 2016 Reading Challenge list, and publish those book reviews. – Semi-achieved.
9. Join the Portsmouth Public Library. – Accomplished!
10. Read through Megan’s cookbook, and try at least two of her recipes! – Accomplished!
11. Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals. – Accomplished!
12. Get ahead with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments. – Accomplished!
13. Get excited for our wedding anniversary getaway! – Accomplished!

---

Here’s the breakdown:

Prep the house for our first overnight visitor! – Accomplished!

• This one was a little wonky. Our original visitor wasn’t able to come down during the weekend of October 14th due to a work schedule conflict. It actually worked out okay – There were some unexpected changes that weekend, and Al and I ended up moving a good chunk of furniture from my parents’ house to ours.
• However, Al’s parents stayed with us this past weekend! It was awesome. We had a great time. They stayed overnight on Friday, and then went to see some of our family yesterday.

Donate blood! – Did not accomplish.

• I was so close. My favorite phlebotomist, Spencer, was able to work the drive at the beginning of October, for the first time in over a year!
• Unfortunately, I just barely missed the mark. For women, you need a score of 12.5 for hemoglobin, and I got to 12.4. Argh!
• I’m beefing up my vitamins and investing more research into iron-rich foods. I will give again in December!

Plan our Halloween costumes! – Accomplished!

• We went to Kathryn and Tim’s annual Halloween party on the 22nd as a wizard and witch headed back to Hogwarts. We had matching Griffyndor ties, collared shirts, and dress pants. We also showed off our wands from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Decorate the house for fall! – Semi-achieved.

• I showed off my painted pumpkins, and I was able to give another stylized “V” one to Al’s parents! Mom was so excited – She can’t wait to put it in the house on the farm!

Clean up the clutter and plan my office space! – Accomplished!

• I finally got so fed on a Sunday night that I turned into a tornado and went to town. It’s still a work in progress, but I have all my doll items in an organized pile now.
• Plus, there was enough floor space to move the vintage yellow couch into another corner! I can’t wait to transform that space into my reading nook.

Recap my 44 for Bill Movement participation. – Did not accomplish.

• This didn’t happen. I’m still writing letters!

Celebrate birthdays – Mom’s and Mia’s! – Semi-achieved.

• We went out to dinner with my mom and dad to Szechuan Inn, a great local Chinese place. Mom had a great day!
• We’re hoping to meet up with Mia in November to celebrate her. They were super busy in October, and Nick and Savy both got the plague after attending a wedding!

Read at least two books on my 2016 Reading Challenge list, and publish those book reviews. – Semi-achieved.

• I finally finished Go Set A Watchman!
• Here’s my review: Book Review #19: “Go Set A Watchman”
• Currently – I’m deciding which book to tackle next.

Join the Portsmouth Public Library. – Accomplished!

• I marched in there after the blood drive on October 1st. The man that helped me was wonderful! I’m hoping to visit next Saturday to check out my first books!

Read through Megan’s cookbook, and try at least two of her recipes! – Accomplished!

• I successfully made Burger Bowls and Chili-Lime Sweet Potato Fries!
• We’re gonna look through the Shrimp section next!

Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals. – Accomplished!

• I officially signed up! Woohoo!
• I started emailing Penni, who posted in a forum that she was essentially left high and dry by her “match.” She’s wonderful!

Get ahead with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments. – Accomplished!

• I finished my midterm exam ahead of time, and I feel like I did well. We graded them in-class on the 25th. I missed a few questions, but I got all of the extra credit right! I’m pretty sure I scored a high B or a low A.
• I put in some good work on both folders last weekend and this weekend. Everything is due at the end of November, and I feel really good right now.

Get excited for our wedding anniversary getaway! – Accomplished!

• We’re going to Hatteras Island, North Carolina! We love the beach, and I can’t wait to show Al all that Hatteras has to offer. We are so excited to get away, and enjoy our first anniversary!

---

Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished on 8 out of 13 goals! Woohoo!
• The three goals that were Semi-Achieved: I’m happy that I was able to do as much as I did this month!
• The two goals that weren’t accomplished: I’m excited to conquer them in November and December!

---

Did you have any goals for October?

If so, how did you do?

Come back tomorrow to see my November goals!

---

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂