Goal Summary for October 2019

Was October 2019 long for you? It seemed to go on forever. But not in a bad way. We went hiking for two weekends. I went into work 18 out of 19 days in a row. I made more time for reading. When you do a lot it makes the month feel longer somehow. I exceeded all of my goals this month, except for fitness [again].

Books

I added The Secret of Southern Charm by Kristy Woodson Harvey to my library holds on after someone on Instagram recommended it. I didn’t realize its the sequel. It didn’t matter. The story line can stand on its own as a family of southern women reunite for a summer to handle various situations in their lives. Harvey’s writing made it easy to empathize with and understand each character’s motivation. I liked it enough I read the first book after that, and am planning to read the third in the series too.

The Secret to Southern Charm by K. Woodson Harvey

Artemis by Andy Weir made this science nerd incredibly happy! Set in a colony on the moon, the story follows Jazz as she tries to upgrade her small smuggling career with a much larger job. Weir includes scientific descriptions of various lunar phenomena that add to the authenticity of the story. Very similar to how he did in The Martian, but this one isn’t quite as a science heavy. But there’s enough twists and drama to pull you through if science isn’t your thing. I absolutely loved this one!

Explore

Leaves on a footbridge in Bear Creek Lake State Park

Hiking with your dog in the fall is the best.

October was apparently the month of hiking for us. Early in the month we went to Bear Creek Lake State Park. The leaves were barely starting to change. It was still beautiful. The lake was calm and picturesque. In the center of Virginia with not much else around to do, camping here seemed popular. Gimli was a huge fan of traipsing through the woods, crunching leaves, and smelling all the smells.

Stopping to take in views in Kemper Park.

Later in the month we headed to Charlottesville for the Monticello Trail. [Specifically Kemper Park for Carter’s Overlook] I was hoping for the leaves to be more colorful. And since the trail runs through the city, it’s easy to grab beers after. The leaves had more color, and the overlook with mountain views made my soul happy. We went to Three Notch’d since they have patio and we had Gimli boy with us. Keep in mind that if UVA has an event going on, things might be quite busy.

OTHER HIKING ADVENTURES: Asheville in the Rain | Walking the Tolkien Trail

Craft

I haven’t been feeling very inspired to crochet lately. Instead I made more cards. These thank you cards will replenish my stash quite nicely. And they were super simple to crank out. I’m thinking I may do a few more in this layout with different patterned papers.

Fitness

Now to the goal I can’t seem to get to every month. I did yoga a few times. I had a lot of days where I got 11,000 steps. But I didn’t make my goal of steps every weekday + yoga once a week. It just didn’t happen. My resting heart rate has gone down a bit and my cardio fitness went up some. So there’s that. In November my goal is the same as it was in October. Maybe this go round I’ll do it.