May Goals and photo dump!

Wow... where did April go? I mean it was here one second and then gone the next.

Did this month blow past for anyone else?

I stayed busy between work and trying to have a life. Honestly, it was chaotic, but fun. Don't think I'd like a month like this every month.

So, let's see how we did in April. Just as a refresher, here are my April Goals.

Blog Goals

Post once a week.

Add cooking to the blog.  

Life Goals

Keep up with the chore chart.  

Only buy coffee two times a week. 

(It doesn't help Dunkin Donuts is 7 minutes away from work.)

Health Goals

Go to the gym five times a week. 

Prep two meals a week. 

Well then, I did all right in the Blog Goals section. I posted once a week and added cooking. To see my first cooking post, look here

Life Goals

Well, I did not keep up with the chore chart. It was pretty sad actually. One day I'll find a circadian rhythm that is actually conducive to humaning.... Until then, I'll muddle through. 

I made the Coffee goals. Knowing that I would have to report back to you all, whoever you all are, held me slightly more accountable. 

Health Goals

I did not go the gym 5x a week. I don't know what happened. I think I got sick, and then it's gotten hotter lately, which makes it hard to be motivated. Maybe this month I'll back it down to three times.

And I may not have meal prepped twice a week, but I did it more often than not, which is an improvement. 

Now time for 

May Goals

Blog Goals

Continue to post once a week. (Gotta do it for more than one month, so it becomes habit.)

I think that's my only blog goal this month. 

Life Goals

Keep up with the stupid chore chart. I made it for a reason.... 

Find a place to live. (I'm not homeless, just moving.)

Save up more money for a huge vacation to China!

Stop eating out as much as possible. 

Write 30 minutes once a week. 

Health Goals. 

Make it to 145 lbs by the end of the month. 

Go to the gym three times a week. (Which shouldn't be hard, I attend three classes a week.)

Up my running interval on the treadmill to 6 minute spurts with 5 minute walks. 

Well, since this has been a text heavy post, I'll show you guys some pictures of what I've been up to. 

Camping (What's a freezing cold camping trip with out a poodle dog?)

Israel at the ruins of Bet Sha'an

Hiking!

Ethiopian coffee

A Dramatic Production for the MS foundation LUNA

Cirque Du Soleil's Ovo 

The dragonfly was my favorite!

More Hiking Pictures!

As always, 

Here's to hoping we find what we're searching for. 

Heart to Heart and April Goals

All right, it's been a month. Annnndddd before we dive head long into the April Goals, I think I'd like to take a minute and just chat.

Last year was chaotic for me. I went to Israel, for a second time. (Which if you all are interested, I might be inclined to share.) To do that, I took on a second job, which is why I wasn't posting as much after September. 

I think that's when things got difficult.

I won't say I work harder than anyone else, but what I do for a living, working with the elderly is draining. I was working in a memory care unit at the time, which is more emotionally and mentally involved. Then I would work at an Escape Room on the weekends and some week days. (For those of you who don't know what it is, I'll explain. You're "locked" in a room with a group of people; sometimes friends, sometimes strangers. You must all work together to escape the room. It's a lot of fun, and it's even more fun to be the game master, which I was.) 

That job wasn't hard at all, just a lot of extra work, and then I was trying to maintain a social life, blah blah blah. 

And I think I've said it before, I always get sad during the winter months. Maybe it's lack of sunshine; maybe it's negative connections. Probably both, but it got really bad last year. The worst it's been in a while. I was letting what other people thought about me control how I viewed myself.  It amplified my own insecurities. and then we being the spiral downward.

 To put it plainly, I wasn't doing well. 

Anyway, I started going to the gym. I quit the second job. (Well, went to an on call sort of status.)  I pushed some people away that weren't healthy while I healed. 

I realized that I needed the gym.  

I won't say I suffered from diagnosed depression. I haven't been diagnosed so I can't suffer from it, and I intend to keep it that way. But I get the blues really easily. Especially if there is the slightest hormone fluctuation in my body. The gym dispels a lot of that. I feel it mentally and emotionally if I skip too many days. I literally need the gym. 

I'm going to say to all you out there who have depression or something of that nature. Hit the gym. Maybe find a buddy to go with you at first. Because it's intimidating. I'm still intimidated by the buff people who know the machines. Doesn't matter though, I still go. I have every right to be there, and so do you.

 I say the gym because it's easy to fall off the work out band wagon. It doesn't have to be big, it can be walking on the tread mill, or something. Join a yoga class.. Make an appointment with a trainer/buddy so you have to go. It had a two fold effect, for me. You get endorphins.

Then, on top of the endorphins that keep you from killing people, you also start to look better. You feel yourself loosing weight gaining muscle. Then suddenly you'll  notice that daunting 30 mintues on the treadmill becomes an hour. When I started going to the gym, the elliptical kicked my butt. Now, I actually half trot/half walk on the treadmill. 

But enough of that. I got better was my point. Now, I want to get back to blogging, maybe not as much as I was, but this whole sporadic thing has got to stop. Writing is my art. Blogging my medium. I'll never excel if I don't use it. 

As I was deciding what I should blog about, I realized I missed doing monthly goals. It kept me accountable. 

So here we are. April Goals

Blog Goals

Post once a week.

Add cooking to the blog.  

Life Goals

Keep up with the chore chart. 

Only buy coffee two times a week. 

(It doesn't help Dunkin Donuts is 7 minutes away from work.)

Health Goals

Go to the gym five times a week. 

Prep two meals a week.