April Goals

Happy Tuesday! Can you believe it's April? March really flew by which is a little surprising. March tends to last forever...kind of like January. Just as I expected, March was an emotional month. I had good days and bad days. 

In March, John, the boys, and I went to a new-to-us ice cream shop, Jeremiah's Italian Ice. We had a good time and the treats were delicious. We went to the Smyrna St. Patrick's Day Festival. Raphael and I went to our newly renovated library and checked out some books. Raphael even got his own library card! My coworkers and I had a babyshower for our friend at work. John, the boys, and I celebrated Easter. We visited Mami. Mami and I had a much needed talk in March and all is well now. I baked a lot in March and am now obsessed with making 4 inch cakes. Side note: I blame Instagram for my cake obsession.

The only real "bad" thing that happened in March was that my wedding ring got damage at work. Fortunately, it was not a costly fix and I was able to get my ring back from the jeweler in less than a week. 

Of course, the anniversary of my baby brother's death was on my mind throughout the entire month. I was hit with wave after wave of emotions. I don't think I will ever get over his death. There's a quote by Jamie Anderson that I came across recently that has stuck with me: "Grief, I've learned, is really just love. It's all the love you want to give, but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in the hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go."

Those words are one hundred percent true. I'm really thankful that I came across those words. I'm sure I'll continue to think of those words for a long time.

It's a new month and I'm feeling ok. I'm looking forward to a few things this month. I'm really excited to have started April off with spring break. We're staying home this year and I'm so excited for that. Raphael's birthday is coming up soon and I can't wait to celebrate his day. In fact, I plan to celebrate his birthday all month long. I'm also looking forward to the solar eclipse. I don't think our state will experience the full solar eclipse, but we'll still get to experience a parital solar eclipse. I'm also looking forward to the Spring Jonquil Festival. 

Before I continue to ramble about all the things I want to do and see in April, let's get to the main reason for this post which are my new goals for the month and my quick recap on my March goals.

Recap of March Goals

• Read 5 books: It was a slow reading month for me. I read 13 books which really surprised me. Normally, I read way more than that, but I'm ok with how much I read. My favorite read for the month was A Little Drop of Courage by Hayley Kaye. I also listened to a short audio book, May You Love and Be Loved: Wishes for Your Life by Cleo Wade. This was my second audiobook that I have listened to and I actually liked it. Audiobooks are not my preferred method of reading, but this short audiobook was the perfect little pick-me-up. I actually listened to it while running some errands.

• Make 1 layout a week: So, I didn't work on a layout a week, but I am content with how many layouts I worked on throughout the month. I worked on some layouts for the Awesome Ladies Project. I also worked on some layouts in my Project Life album, but didn't finish several of them. 

• Go for a walk on the Silver Comet Trail at least once a week: Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go to the Silver Comet Trail once a week. The weather has been a little unpredictable and now pollen has arrived. 

• Participate in Exhale's March blog hop: I'm kind of sad that I didn't participate in the blog hop. However, I was just stumped on the prompt and I was also going through a little creative slump during March. Honestly, I'm not surprised given the fact that March is always a difficult and emotional month for me.

• Work on a project from 2023: Yikes! So I didn't do this. I completely forgot about this goal.

• Try 1 new recipe: I made pancake muffins. I used various toppings like pumpkin spice baking chips, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and cinnamon sugar. These were so easy to make, and the boys loved them. I also made a two-tiered four inch carrot cake on Easter and I also made some cupcakes using leftover batter from the cake.

April Goals

• Read 5 books

• Participate in Exhale's April blog hop

• Complete one month's worth of Project Life layouts

• Work in my traveler's notebook

• Try 1 new recipe

• Watch a new (or new-to-me) movie or series

What are your goals for April? How did you do in March? 

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Corina Rainer on Unsplash