August: an Update

Can you believe it's almost September? I feel like August just started, and we're already preparing to bid it farewell.  As I near the end of the month, I'm realizing that maybe I put too much pressure on August, and it's bending under the weight of all I've tossed on top of it.  But instead of freaking out and feeling like I need to do more more more, I'm trying to be content with where I am and what this month has brought.

In the back of my mind, I was saving September as my month for working on some small apartment projects-- painting our bathroom, mounting our TV on the wall, things that make your house feel more like you actually live there.  I've already stretched myself thin with work for September; I'm taking two classes at work in addition to my normal night shifts those weeks, and additionally, I picked up some overtime because we are in such need of people to work overtime right now.  I anticipate that September will whiz by, though I'm hoping I won't wish it away.  I'm not even coming close to overcommitting in October.  After seeing what I've done to myself for the month of September, I'm planning on fully enjoying my month of pumpkin spice lattes (which are now available in Starbucks, as of today!), scarves, and tall boots.  So my September ambitions will likely be small.

August hasn't been the breath of fresh air that I wanted it to be.  We've definitely taken care of some of the things that we needed to get take care of in our home, but there's still a lot left that I want to do with the month.  We finally found a desk chair (pretty early in the month actually!) that is now set up in our pseudo-clean desk space.  I have too many books, notebooks, etc. that tend to clutter that space, so I'm still working on getting it a little bit more organized.  I spent an entire day at the desk going through wedding photos and adding them to Facebook; I've also paid some bills at the desk, and Scott has done a little studying there.  It's serving its purpose well, and I think it's just nice to know that we have a space for reading, writing, studying, and drinking tea (I'll confess that I'm the only tea-drinker that sits at that desk!).  Here's a little peek at what the desk looked like when we first set it up.

A lot of big stresses have been taken care of this month.  We finally received our wedding photos which allowed me to work on designing our "Thank You" cards-- this will be my next big project once those arrive! Hopefully I can send them out by early October at the very latest.  I love writing letters to people, so I'm actually very much looking forward to this task.  I bought new pens the same day we bought our desk chair and can't wait to use them for writing notes of thankfulness to friends and family for their presence and kind gifts at our wedding.  

Another big accomplishment for the month: for all legal purposes, I am now officially Cristina Davis!  I also have an Indiana driver's license and will soon be receiving my Indiana nursing license plate in the mail.  I've been excited about these license plates since I moved up here.  They have stethoscopes on them and either say RN or NU as a prefix on the plate.  Here's a picture of one below.

I wanted to finish three books by the end of this month, and this goal is still pending! I have finished one and shipped it off to Chancey-- it's called Beautiful Ruins and was my honeymoon read.  I'm 100 pages from finishing The One and Only by Emily Giffin, and Radical is one I'm hesitant to rush through because it's so thought-provoking.  I can't wait to crack open some new books in September... but there's still a few days left in the month for me to finish my last two books! Any book recommendations for September? I'm thinking of reading Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist and The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller (meant to read this pre-wedding, never got around to it).  I've joined Goodreads to keep up with new books and to find book recommendations, but I always love a good recommendation from a friend!

One August goal is moving to September: joining a gym.  We've had a change in heart about where we want to join, and I'm going to wait for Scott to finish his busy period of studying this month before we go together to join.  Seeking Jesus has been something I haven't done enough of this month, but I am trying to be intentional about going to church and finding ways to get involved.  I know faith is best lived out in community with others, so I'm searching for how to do this with my forever changing work schedule.  

While it hasn't been the restful renewing month I anticipated, it's been filled with things that needed to be done.  There's only a few things left that I must do before I can enjoy my pumpkin season.

Hope you're all having a Happy Monday!

Lots of love,
C.