I’m being spoiled in my first fall in Chicago with warmer-than-average weather. It’s going to be 70 degrees until Friday! The word perfect gets thrown around a lot, but it accurately describes Chicago right now. It’s my ideal weather, especially for running. November is going to mean the start of many changes for Graham and me. His work is winding down and mine is ramping up, though we are fortunate enough to be in a situation in which we could visit Phoenix this winter to escape Chiberia, aka Chicago in the winter. I have goals in mind for this month that will put me on the path toward where I want to be mentally, physically and professionally.
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Rogers Park, Chicago, has been beautiful this fall. I plan to photograph more of the changes before winter. |
- Yoga every day. I plan to practice yoga every day this month, whether it’s for 5 minutes or 60. I’m already seeing the benefits from just a few days of consistent practice.
- Sign up for a race and keep running. October was among my slowest months runningwise. I plan to find a race to do, devise a training plan and stick to it. I want to also do more strength training classes to complement this goal.
- Write at least 20,000 more words in my book. Start on children’s book idea that popped into my head recently. It’s inspired by one of my nieces.
- Plan more of our Costa Rica trip. I have the itinerary pretty much set; I just need to finish booking hotels and activities. Excitement is an understatement for how I feel about the possibility of seeing turtles.
- Use my Nutribullet again. I stopped using this before we moved to Chicago and it’s collecting dust. I need to incorporate more vegetables and fruit into my diet in any way I can.
- Finalize our winter plans and prepare/pack.
- Start holiday shopping list. I already printed our holiday cards, and I’ll ship those out after Thanksgiving. I was going to use one of those popular photo card services, but when I saw the price to print just 40 cards, I was shocked. I decided to put my own photo printer to good use; that’s why we have it, after all. I printed my own holiday cards for the cost of new ink, which I needed to replace anyway. And I still have enough ink to print many more photos and cards.
P.S. Linking up with Tutu Tuesdays!

Marette Flora is the founder of Floradise blog and personalized gift shop. Marette is a passionate storyteller and creator. She attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication.
She is passionate about creating helpful and meaningful things.