Category: personal

The big thing about April is that I took an entire week off work (next week!!) for the specific purpose of crafting, working on projects around the house, and whatever else I want to do. I am sure that I will spend some extra time with Meredith too, but I am pretty excited about the prospect of getting so much done. Therefore, most of my goals this month are personal.

There is the monthly quilt progress, and then I will actually have to take my sewing machine in to be looked at which is kind of a bummer. No matter what I do the thread on the underside is loopy and loose. I thought it was me being a newbie, but I had my brother’s girlfriend who sews professionally look at it and she couldn’t figure out why it was doing that either. I am hoping it’s an easy and cheap fix.

On my vacation I also want to do a huge closet purge and organization. I don’t have a ton of clothes and I don’t buy them very often but there are a bunch that I don’t wear and I’m ready to start working on my style and this is the first step. My husband also has a ridiculous amount of old clothes and somehow I need to go through them as well (praying for his cooperation here). Meredith just got a bunch of hand-me-downs and since space is limited in her closet I have to do a purge on her stuff more frequently and it’s definitely time for that.

I’m excited to get completely caught up on Project Life and also to take on a “just for fun” craft that I didn’t get to do last month. I am also trying to start thinking of my house in terms of small areas or corners instead of by entire rooms so it’s less overwhelming. There are a couple of areas (mainly the breakfast nook and the front sitting room) that are very close to what I’d call “complete” and I think if I put my mind to it I can finish one of them.

Finally, I want to continue to focus on my marriage. Taking inspiration from The Happiness Project (which I loved and skim through every now and then) I want to do more outward showing of love. No matter how great my feelings or thoughts are toward my husband, he won’t know of them unless I tell him or show him. I tend to let busyness and childcare and fatigue get the best of me and I find myself slacking in our relationship. But if I just put forth a little extra effort life is so much better.

Also, I realized this morning that I didn’t get my act together to post this month’s Book of Lists on the appointed day, so I’ll be doing that next Monday, April 8.

Here’s how I did with my March goals.

No screens while with people. I think I did really well with this! It was hard at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly and pulled out my phone less and less. I am a little sad that I haven’t been very active on Twitter or Instagram lately, and I do miss that interaction, but my life is very full right now.

Do The Love Dare. This is a relationship challenge that lasts 40 days and each day includes a few pages of reading, a challenge, and a space for journaling. I have been very consistent in reading each day and I have tried to follow through on the challenge if it applies to our situation. I have done journaling only sporadically but I’ve still appreciated the daily reminder to not neglect my marriage and I feel like in general our relationship has improved because of it.

Cut all blue triangles for quilt. I completed this in a couple of hours one weekend and it was very satisfying to finally DO something with that fabric. I can’t wait to see it come together.

Honor the speed limit. I did this. I wasn’t always perfect, but overall I was aware of what the speed limit was and stayed within 5 mph of it. I enjoyed the freedom of not having to worry about getting pulled over, and I felt safer. This, like the “no screens” goal, is a change that feels right and won’t be too hard for me to keep doing.

One craft or project just for fun. The spirit of this goal was not fulfilled, since I wanted it to be for something completely different and random. I did things for fun, like the quilt cutting, Project Life, working on a cross stitch, and making a birthday card for a friend, but those all served different purposes. Next month I’ll have more time so I think this will be a carry-over.

Get caught up on bills. After a rough start financially in 2013, we are finally in a much better place. We are caught up on bills and unplanned expenses and should be able to start saving more from here on out.

More family walks. We did go on more, say 1-2 a week, but before this month we hardly took any walks at all. I would like to do this a few times a week ideally.

March felt really busy for some reason and was kind of a drag at times. But I am loving the monthly goals format and I’m so glad I chose to do it this year. April goals coming tomorrow!