In November…

I know I always say that time goes too quickly, but man… November flew by! I can’t believe Christmas is so close, we’re close to next year’s holidays/birthdays/etc AND that the decade is almost over!? I really cannot believe any of it.

You may have noticed that blog content (as well as Pinterest, Twitter, AND Instagram content as well) was few and far this month, which I explain why later on in the post. However, I’ve missed creating and sharing SO much, and am more than ready to come back again and make 2020 the best year for The Small Adventurer yet! 🎉

♡

TIDBITS FROM THE MONTH:

♡ I’m going to be honest here: I was SUPER lazy this month. I was mostly either asleep, or watching a movie. I upped my medication a few more times, and it is working really well, but it also makes me super sleepy the next day. Daytime naps are now almost a guarantee for me, but it’s not just the medication to blame. I’ve had a sleeping disorder my entire life, which makes it impossible to get a decent sleep at night.

Daniel and I also don’t have a real sleeping OR eating schedule yet, which is something we hope to fix next year. I also started taking melatonin pills – as advised by my neurologist – to help avoid my lack of sleep affecting my seizures. I wasn’t expecting them to work at all, but they honestly knock me out! I’ve been falling asleep SO much faster than usual, plus I also haven’t been waking up countless times during the night like I used to, so that’s great. However, Daniel says I now snore slightly, so that sucks 😅

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♡ Since starting my most recent epilepsy medication, my seizures have slowed down significantly. At one point this year I went two weeks seizure free, which was a first for me. They eventually came back, so I upped my dosage. I then reached over a MONTH of being seizure free (also aura free, which is one of the worst parts of my epilepsy), but then they came back after Daniel and I went away for the weekend and our sleep schedule got REALLY messed up, which is why my doctor told me to take melatonin. I was so down after they came back this month, but between my neurologist, Daniel, and an old friend who is now a nurse who sent me a lot of nice messages after watching my Instagram Stories about my epilepsy, I feel a lot better now.

♡ Towards the start of the month, Daniel and I went to his older brother’s wedding. Daniel’s family live really far away so we don’t visit very often – in fact, I think this is only the third time in five years – and it was nice to see everyone again. The actual wedding was beautiful, too. Out of all of Daniel’s family, his brother is one of the ones I know the LEAST – and I only met his now-wife a couple of times – but the entire thing still made me super emotional. The only other wedding I’ve been to was in another language, so it was a first for me to get the full experience, and I really loved it. The “after party” was really fun too. Daniel and I don’t drink (well, *I* don’t, and we usually have to drive home, so he doesn’t either most of the time), and we were pleasantly surprised at how no one cared or tried to force us to drink, and we still had a great time around everyone else whilst they were getting very drunk 😅

IN NOVEMBER I:

DIY Back to the Future “Hoverboard” Place Cards

It took some time, but I’m finally BACK with a new post! I’ll go into more detail during my end of month recap post, but just to ease all your minds: everything is fine! I’ve honestly just been too exhausted to do much at all this month, which resulted in a huge gap between today’s post and my last one on November 4th 😅

As I mentioned earlier this month, Daniel graduated from university this month 🎉 and to celebrate, I was going to dedicated this month’s creations to him and his interests, as well as throw him a Back to the Future themed party. Don’t worry I’m still going to do both of those things, but they WILL be more spread out since I didn’t really post much at all this month!

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I’ve got a list of creations (both food AND crafts) that I want to make that are either inspired by one of Daniel’s interests OR are based on a “graduation” theme, so I plan on making my way through that eventually. However, with Christmas coming up so fast, it’ll most likely be into 2020 that I actually finish all my ideas AND manage to throw the BTTF party!

The reason for the delay in the party is the fact that I want more time to come up with fun things to make for it (these place cards, for example) AND Daniel and I are currently watching all the Star Wars movies together, and we want to finish them before we watch a different movie.

To sum up the last four paragraphs quickly: the content I promised is still coming, it just might take some time 🙊 Now, let’s get onto today’s tutorial on how to make the coolest place cards for your Back to the Future viewing party!

Handmade Graduation Gifts: Mini “Diploma” Treats

If you read last week’s DIY post (which you totally should, by the way) you will know that Daniel graduates from university at the end of this month so I am recreating what I do on the blog each July and letting his interests inspire and drive this month’s creations 🙌

I still can’t believe that, in less than a month, Daniel will be FINISHED with university! DONE! No more working nights and weekends whilst going to school all day, ergo having virtually zero time together except for when we stay up way past midnight just so we have time to talk.

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After this, he will (hopefully soon) going into a much less physically enduring job, and therefore his tendonitis hopefully won’t flare up as much! SO MUCH is going to change, but before we jump right into a new chapter of our lives, I feel that it is my responsibility to ensure that we properly reflect on and celebrate getting through the past 3 years.

Daniel has had virtually no time to himself ever, and he deserves all the celebrating AND relaxation in the world once his exams are finished! I am planning on throwing a Back to the Future viewing party (as that’s his favourite movie, and I like Michael J. Fox) for just us two sometime in December.

Since I am waiting for some things to arrive, need to study the movies, make a lot of “props” for the lounge room, AND plan out some BTTF-themed recipes for the day/night, it’s going to take a while to put together, that’s why I am going to spend this month making other graduation-themed fun things – starting with today’s super easy “diploma” treats – until it’s time for the party.

Before we get started, I feel the need to clarify that I’m using the word “diploma” for SEO purposes mostly, as Daniel is getting university degree, not diploma. Now, let’s celebrate! 🎉