Does the Fall Weather Prompt You to Make Personal Changes?

Do you feel you should change along with the seasons? Does the fall weather prompt you to make personal changes?

Every fall, I get the urge to make changes in my life. I’m guessing it has much to do with September being the start of a new school year. If you count Kindergarten, I spent seventeen consecutive years preparing for another school year. That qualifies as a habit, despite being years since I was in school.

My Irish grandmother lived on the top floor of the two-family house where I grew up. Each day after school, she and I would share a cup of tea and a few Lorna Doones. She passed away 44 years ago. Guess what I still crave at 3:30 pm every day? It’s amazing! And the most beautiful memory of my grandmother. I was blessed to enjoy that ritual with her. Sorry, I digress.

Fall Weather Prompts Personal Change

So, being it is September, it’s time for me to decide what to change this year. I came up with two things I’d like to tackle: meal planning and organizing. I had done meal planning before and loved it. But something inevitably occurred that threw me off my meal planning day, and I stopped doing it. Does that happen to you? I have the best of intentions; it’s my execution that is lacking. Indeed this is the year I will stop allowing this to happen!

Ditto for the organizing! I organized our kitchen’s “Costco” cabinet. Our old house had a “Costco” closet that let us feed forty people at a moment’s notice. It was over the top and unnecessary, yet I kept it full. Due to spacing issues in our current house, we only have one “Costco” cabinet to keep clean. Even that has become a challenge!

However, it is looking swell right now. I wrote down what was on each shelf and taped it to the wall. Each time I open that cabinet door, I am so pleased with myself. I feel great when our kitchen stays organized! Do you have a room that you need to keep organized in your house?

Personal Changes Make Me Feel Good

My next effort is my closet. It is a hot mess! I do not know why I cannot seem to keep it organized. It may have something to do with the fact that I never switched my clothes from spring to summer or winter to spring, for that matter. I kept pulling out the next season’s clothes and smashing them in. I need to do a serious Marie Kondo “tidying festival.” If you are not familiar with her, read this article: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/organizing/a25846191/what-is-the-konmari-method/

It is annoying to think we create our own clutter, which is a reflection of our life in general. I wish I had never read that. However, I have found it to be true. When my personal space is in order, my life feels in order. If my personal space is all over the place, my life tends to feel all over the place. Since I am working very hard at personal growth, I need to align my personal space with my life. I feel excellent right now, even with a hot mess of a closet. Who knows how great I will feel once I conquer my clutter? I need to find out!

Do you agree with this philosophy? From a logical standpoint, it makes sense to me. Conversely, I have trouble believing that my life cannot be great unless my closet is clean. There must be a happy medium. Although, I do find I feel better when I am organized. A life mystery for sure.

Let’s talk about meal planning. Have you ever meal planned? When we first moved into our current home, I used to type up a weekly menu and tape it to the refrigerator. I loved it! Making dinner became much easier as I knew what to make, and we had all the ingredients on hand. Therefore, whoever got home from work first got dinner going.

If you are new to meal planning, here is a link to an article on how to get started: https://www.eatright.org/food/planning-and-prep/smart-shopping/3-strategies-for-successful-meal-planning.

The first place I started when meal planning was my freezer and pantry. I wrote down everything we had frozen plus whatever staples (rice, canned veggies, etc.) were in the pantry. Additionally, I checked the dates on everything and purged anything that had expired. Then, I planned out a week’s worth of menus based on what I had available. It was that simple!

Meal Planning Made Easy

Moving on, I checked the grocery store sales flyers and planned the following week’s menu based on what was on sale. I am a big fan of the Betty Crocker website: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes. It offers simple, easy recipes that my family always enjoys.

Will your family eat crockpot meals? I am a big fan of the crockpot; there are so many good meals you can make that are ready when you are. How can you beat that? With the weather starting to get cooler, you can make stews, soups, and chili. I love main meal soups! My favorite is a sausage, spinach, and cheese tortellini soup that you can put together in half an hour. Serve with your favorite bread, and everyone will be happy! Let me know if you would like the recipe.

Depending on how far you would like to take this, you can look into crockpot freezer meals. Lauren Greutman (Cabello), a money-management expert and overall thrifter, sells crockpot freezer meal recipes. You can find them here: https://www.laurencobello.com/recipes/page/9/. I highly recommend them – they are fantastic to dump and go when you know your day will be busy. She has a unique system of putting the meals together, and she provides you with a grocery list plus recommends where to shop for the best value.

Do you have the urge to do something different now that the summer has come to a close? As long as I live where there is a change of seasons, I believe I will feel the urge to make a few personal changes simultaneously.

Please comment if I have said anything that resonates with you. I would love to hear what changes (if any) you are attempting this fall. Wish me luck with my meal planning and organizing efforts!