Looking back at my spring hit list, I realized that to achieve your goals sometimes the only way to do so is through structured, bite sized pieces. If you’re like me and absolutely cringe at the thought of structure or schedule being imposed on you I understand that to stay on track it can be hard. So I thought to stay on track, I would challenge myself to try and stay consistent with five things for the month of April. Nope, this isn’t an April Fools, I’m actually going to try and stick to a routine and plan.
So I said I was going to continue with my fitness journey. Well this is a nice motherhood statement, but after finishing the downhill in February I didn’t really commit or set another goal for myself. So for the month of April I’m going to commit to the following:
10,000 steps a day minimum
No doubt the fur monster has been a great motivator to get me out and active again. I take him for two walks a day usually before work and in the afternoon or evening and I have been tracking my steps and activity on a few Apps on my phone. However I notice my average could be stepped up to see more benefits and help for an easier transition to shorts season so I’m committed to doing at least 10,000 steps a day, which seems like an easy task but when things get busy sometimes a person forgets to make time for it.
Starting the Day with Hot Lemon Water
Now this one will be extremely difficult for me. One of my critical priorities in the morning is making coffee, and then dealing with everyone else’s needs. It’s been like that for years. It’s possibly the only structured habit I have- Ha! But for the month of April, I’m committing to starting my day with hot lemon water and see if the benefits of doing so is worthy of continuing through the rest of the year.
Meatless Mondays
Last week I was having lunch with a girlfriend that told me she had decided to go meatless for a month and although she found it difficult saw benefits overall with how she was feeling and was going to continue with a meatless Monday concept. I’m planning on doing the same for April. I’ve found some great black bean spaghetti at Costco and love these stuffed peppers so I’m excited to try and share some new recipes.
Other items on my spring hit list included creating a landscape plan for the yard and potentially a garden and finishing off my home office for a function space that I could actually start planning and creating more C&C content and projects in. So some of the items I’m tackling for April include:
Cleanup and Planning for Habitat Enhancement
This winter I had time to sit back and look at the land around the house in the woods and daydream what the plan would be to utilize the space going forward. As the winter went on I found out that my property is a little haven for deer and moose as it’s protected and provides them habitat for grazing. There are two large overgrown areas on the property that I think the previous owners had a garden as the soil quality is excellent. From many years of being unused it had turned into overgrown thistle patches. Not great to look at and diminished land quality for everyone. So the plan was to manage the weeds, turn the area over and plant a garden or formally landscape it. However after seeing the wildlife activity this winter and reading many disturbing reports on wild honey bee decline, I’m going to seed a wildlife blend that is protein rich with wild flowers to also attract butterflies and bees. It will look wild compared to the groomed landscaping I was originally thinking off, but overall it’s best for those critters around me.
Learning More on Graphic Design and Video
I thought hard about my home office, particularly when it came to the needs or the function of it. Compared to my office in the city, I wanted this to be a place that would continue and grow my creative projects and continue to inspire me in that function. So now that it’s practically finished and functionally I am going to challenge myself to finish a video and graphic design project for the month of April. It may not be perfect but just a few of the things I wanted to challenge myself to learn and share on the blog.
So stay tuned and feel free to try some of these things out with me and let me know how you’re doing!
Hey Brandy! When selecting a wildflower mix for your bees, be sure to contact your local seed supplier and ask lots of questions! Many wildflower mixes are actually a jumble of noxious weeds! While they may look pretty, they can overtake the rest of your yard/garden and be extremely difficult to get rid of!! The seed supplier should be able to provide seed certification that shows the species composition.
Your county lands person would be another excellent contact! Each county will have a list of prohibited & noxious weeds, and some even enforce these! Meaning you can potentially get fined if they find out you’ve planted noxious or prohibited weeds.
Looking forward to seeing the in progress and finished area! Thanks for thinking of the bees!
Shelby
Thanks so much for the tips Shelby! I have heard that most generic wildflower mixes are such, so I will be sure to research before seeding!
Check out http://www.wildaboutflowers.ca as they are local – very close to you I think as they have plants and seeds all native to southern Alberta.
Will be interested in your recipes for Meatless Mondays as this is something I am considering as well. My daughter does it and uses her go to cookbook – Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon which I have as well.
Lemon water is my morning ritual before my coffee – buy lemons at Costco for the best deal.
Looking forward to more posts of the progress.
Have a great day!
Thanks so much! I’ve checked out the wildflower place and it looks great! Also I am trying to stick to my lemon and water routine with a few fails, but at least I’m successful with meatless Monday!