04.15 Goals Roundup

I've been feeling a little uninspired this past month. In the past, I've constantly looked at my goals list pretty often as a reminder to accomplish as much as possible that I wanted to do. If I had a spare moment, I'd look to the list and see what I could be doing right then to work towards crossing something off that list. I hardly kept tabs on my goals this month though.  Honestly, I just didn't feel like it.

1. Read a book: I read four books this month! I finished "Gone Girl", "This Boy's Life", "If I Stay", and "The Red Book". "Gone Girl" was the best by far; I had a hard time putting this book down even when I was tired. I thought I figured out the plot in the beginning, but I was terribly wrong. "This Boy's Life" was also a good read. It's a memoir about an adolescent boy's early life and how his upbringing and experiences shaped his future. I'd recommend reading both of these books. On the other hand, "If I Stay" was kind of a letdown for me. I had high hopes for this book after watching the movie trailer's adaption a year ago. The book is cataloged as "teen", and I think this subset of people would enjoy this read a lot more than I did. I also finished "The Red Book" on the last day of the month. I almost gave up on the book in the beginning as it was a little tricky to follow all of the different characters' complicated lives, but I'm glad I stuck with it. If you're the type of person who enjoys learning about life's real lessons and what's truly important to a person, then I'd suggest reading this book as well.

2. Go to the gym every single day: I guess I should start off by explaining my intention for this goal. I didn't actually feel the need to work out every single day, in fact I think rest days are vitally important. Rather, my gym offered a special promotion in April; every day you go to the gym in April, $1 would be subtracted from next year's membership fee. The catch though, is that you have to go a minimum of 20 days to be eligible. I made it to the gym only 21 days, which is completely fine by me. I reached the minimum amount of required days, but perhaps even more importantly it made me get creative with my workout routine. There were a few days where I just got my membership card swiped, walked around the gym, and then left. The majority of the days I biked or ran. But sometimes I arrived at the gym having just finished a five mile run or so, and really didn't feel like doing anymore cardio. So, I decided to work on my arms and lift weights. I'm still very much a novice when it comes to this, but I have been consistent which is the most important thing. I don't plan on becoming the body builder type in any way, but I could use some upper body strength. I like to joke that I have baby biceps now. Although to be completely honest, if we're sticking with this metaphor, my biceps are still in the conception stage.
 
3. Photograph my recent handmade items and share them on the blog: I was really hoping to get this done, but unfortunately I didn't. I really wish I had a backyard where I could take beautiful pictures of everything handmade, a tripod would help too. But since I lack in those departments, that means I have to enlist Lauren's help and either wait for the perfect lighting inside our apartment or venture outside and feel awkward during photo shoots. Hence, why this hasn't been done yet.

4. Sew/finish sewing at least three wearable items: I was so close to finishing a Pretty Blouse in April, but I didn't actually get the hem sewed until today. I started it an embarrassingly long time ago, but it's finally done now, just one day late. I didn't even touch any other garment fabric in April though. So much for my big sewing plans.

5. Hit the 10,000 step mark every day for an entire week. Sundays are killer: I'm so mad at myself for not being able to do this. I was so close the third week of the month, I even accomplished my step goal on the dreaded Sunday! Then I slacked off on Friday.

6. Create two new recipes: I came up with an idea to use overnight oats to make a pancake, and I created a delicious recipe for vegan cookies 'n cream ice cream!

7. Blog daily: I got off to a good start and kept up with my daily blog posts. Then about halfway through the month I had a difficult time coming up with interesting/original things to talk about. Instead of just blabbing my way through the month, I decided to let go of this goal because I thought it was better to not post anything at all versus writing a really boring, useless blog entry. I will say though, that I blogged a lot more and thought about blogging more often than I had in the past.

8. Run/walk across the Ben Franklin Bridge into New Jersey: I was really excited to do this, but I never planned out this mini trip. I still hope to do this one day though.

9. Finish all of the planned Easter goodies: Suffice it to say, I finished all of the Easter projects. Albeit some were a tad late, but everything eventually got done! I made a hummingbird pouch for Abby, and a cross stitched pouch and bookmark for Lauren.

10. Figure out a mother's day present for my mom: I've actually been constantly thinking about this task, but I can't seem to come up with anything to get my mom. I've found a lot of stuff I want for myself, but my mom and I aren't exactly like-minded. We tend to like the complete opposite things, which I think is why picking out a present for her is so hard. I better come up with something quick though as mother's day is almost here and I still need to mail her gift!

Score for April: 3 out of 10.

I know I could have done a lot better this month, but my heart wasn't in it this time. Hopefully I'll feel a lot more inspired in May and get a lot more done!