Does anybody else think it’s totally bananas that we’re 1/3 through December already? Anyone? BANANAS.
Jeff and I have spent the last few weekends putting the house together and it’s really coming along. However, now that we have our furniture all inside and most of our things on the walls, it’s paiiiiinfully obvious that we need. to. paint. Most of the walls are white which I’m fine with, but the longer we’re here the more dinge and ick we find, and a coat of paint would do a lot of good. Not to mention the kitchen is some weird green + super light yellow combo and literally everyone who has come over so far has stared at the weird green wall and said, “That’s not really…your color.”

Yeah, you’re telling me.

The green wall is the actual bane of my existence BUT painting vaulted ceilings sounds about as fun as…nothing. So we wait.

It’s been way fun to take all my things and decorate a new house with them. It’s like getting new things!

AND since last year was our first married Christmas, we bought/received a lot of decorations after the holiday, so taking out Christmas things has been like…well, Christmas. So many things I forgot about! The place looks a little bit like Santa threw up and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I don’t want to jinx anything buuuuuuut I feel like I’ve made it over the hump of 2014. I know, it’s December, about time I get over the hump, but still – it makes me happy. Let’s revisit the ol’ November To Do List, shall we?

November Goals

Finish ALL of the editing in my queue; after culling the corporate shoot I did this weekend, and making the finishing touches to the head shots I did Thursday, this girl is DONE. I finished the corporate shoot and the headshots, and actually had two more last-minute sessions around the time we moved. I finished those tonight (!!) so a happy-jig is forthcoming.

MOVE. And have as much put away as possible before going back to work on Monday, without getting TOO worked up and Type A about everything being perfect (HA). Done and done. Like I said, we really need to paint, but I have no idea when this is going to happen.

Update all Mad Photo info with the new address and phone number (PS YA’LL my new number is listed on the Facebook page and you can ALWAYS get a hold of me via email) I’m pretty sure this is done, so if you see anything that says I still live in Iowa, please let me know. Pleassssse.

Start working on new business cards because even though I have 70 billion left, a bunch of old phone numbers is not going to do anyone any good. Done! These should arrive this week and I’ll show you right away. GET EXCITED.

Buy a dining room table because WE WILL HAVE A DINING ROOM. Black Friday, wutwut?? A new dining room table, 4 chairs and a bed, that’s what. The BF experts were all like DON’T BUY FURNITURE ON BLACK FRIDAY but we did and I really do think we got some killer deals AND the furniture looks amazing. I’ll show ya when I do a house tour on the blog which will be sometime next year. Probably. Maybe.

Decide on/purchase new lens for Mad Photo since my go-to bit the dust in an ill-fated camera strap accident that we are not talking about but THANK GOD the new Nikon is unharmed. Ehhh. Done-ish. I’m pretty sure I’ll be picking up a 50mm 1.4, but I’m torn between the Nikon and Sigma Art, and having a really tough time pulling the trigger. Might be waiting a bit on this one, but I’ll be SUPER excited to order it when I do!

Have celebratory date night with Jeff. We’re thinking about Carnaval because we’ve never been and have heard the grilled pineapple is INSANE. Any other ideas? We date-nighted it up about a week after we moved in and tried Carnaval for the first time. It was good! It was delicious actually, but we both decided it wouldn’t necessarily be the kind of place we’d go often. Dinner is crazy meat-heavy, so I can’t see myself craving it – but it was definitely great food!

GET A COSTCO MEMBERSHIP BECAUSE WE WILL HAVE A PANTRY. Then buy box of 75 Keurig K-cups because I can. YES. And guys. Costco is THE BEST THING EVER. Obviously we bought the giant box of K-cups, but in addition I’ve discovered some pretty fabulous finds including but not limited to some sort of microwaveable Chinese food, thin crust pizza, a lifetime supply of gum, tech gloves for shooting in sub-zero temps, roomy men’s sweatpants that I have yet to take off, a 24 pack of Wholly Guacamole avocado packs and a lot of English muffins that Jeff can’t remember the name of (breakfast things? biscuits? croissants? no to all of the above.)

Celebrate Turkey day with Jeff’s family and my stretchy leggings. Obviously.

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

December Goals

Have super fun photog night this Saturday with a few local photographer friends – can’t wait!

Not to be super vague but…finish 2015 business plan with lots of SUPER FUN THINGS that I can’t wait to share with everyone!

Finish client End of Year Thank You.

Finish first draft of 2 wedding invitation clients (YAY MARRIAGE!)

Tidy up the Raves page on the website because it’s kind of a hot mess right now.

Start/finish Christmas shopping. Stop judging me.

Go to the gym once/week to ease back into what USED to be a regular occurence. Stop judging me.

Prepare of January Whole30. AGH. The fact that I’m (probably?) doing this is…I don’t even know. I know the more recipe prep I can do ahead of time, the better the chances are I’ll succeed. Lord help us all, and the man who has to live with me when I haven’t had sugar for 28 days.

Take our Christmas card photos – yay!! We’re a little late to the party and will probably have to do a New Year’s card instead of Christmas, but my FABULOUS photographer friend is home from Indiana so I snatched her up and we’re making it work. I am so excited!! Get ready to be over-shared with.

Purchase a lens. Maybe.

Cut my mullet. I’m in the process of growing my hair back out to what it used to be (like…not that long, but longER), but the back is growing much quicker than the front so I get a monthly mullet trim. It’s great fun.

So…what’s on your December To Do list?