March Look Back and April 2018 Goals

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Get back to the gym
"I was so slack when it came to getting to the gym last month; I was honestly surprised to see a weight loss (it must be all the extra walking I'm doing with Milla). I'd definitely like to try and get to the gym at least 3 times each week this month. I've done it before, I can do it again."

Cross: I finished the month off strong but I went maybe two times over all of the first two and a bit weeks of April. Oops.

Book holiday experiences

"Third time lucky - I better get on to this soon because I downloaded a countdown app and holy moly there's just over 5 months until we leave!"

Tick: Done and done *queue holiday excitement*

Find a dog house for Milla

"Ummmmmmmmmm so yeah, hi. I have a dog now (!!!!).
She has a bed under our patio, of course, but with the approaching Autumn weather, I'd like to give her a cozy spot to lay out of the wind and rain. It'll be nice on hotter days too, providing some shade, which we don't have much of in our yard."

Tick: I didn't have to end up buying one in the end, a (very kind) friend made one up for us. The thing is.. we have a dog house buuuuttttt it's not in our backyard. It's currently sitting on our driveway because it is huge and heavy and doesn't fit through our gate. If anyone with muscles wants to come and help us lift it over the fence, that would be grand.

Spending ban
"It seems a little redundant to have a spending ban directly under a bunch of goals that require money, but I have been extremely naughty when it comes to unnecessary personal shopping over the past few months. With the holiday experiences basically paid for and money set aside for a dog house, I don't want to buy a single non-essential item this month and nurse my poor bank account back to health."

Cross: I did so poorly with this one. Although I barely spent any money on treats for myself (I'm being an organised Little Bean and buying birthday and Christmas presents as early as I can this year. I get too stressed out otherwise), I still spent a fair amount of money over March - oops.

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Follow my fitness plan

I created a fitness plan for myself two weeks ago and so far, I've stuck to it. My plan consists of me working out twice a day most week days which does seem quite intense and my non-morning person self sure was daunted by the early morning starts at first but I've found that it has really been working for me. My motivation to work out after work is always lacking and I'm the type of person who cannot get back to sleep once they've been woken up so once the alarm goes off, rather than lay there for an hour or so, I get up and work out. By breaking up my workouts in to two less intense sessions a day, I find that I'm working out more parts of my body and I'm doing it more effectively than I would if I had done one big workout after work where I almost always slack off in one way or another, skipping bits and pieces or whathaveyou. This way, even if I skip an after work session (which I'm determined not to do), I can still feel good about myself because I still worked out that day. I can feel myself adjusting to the early morning starts (I can also feel parts of my body that I didn't know existed) and I'm determined to stick to it, especially considering my upcoming island holiday! If you're interested in a more in-depth post about my fitness plan and how I've been staying motivated, definitely let me know in the comments!

Rejuvenate the back yard

Ever since we brought our little Milla *insert all the heart eyes here* home, our yard has looked worse for wear. I've got some ideas in mind to bring the yard back to life in a more dog-friendly way (read: less plants for her to dig up).

Post to Instagram more

I've set this goals a couple of times throughout my time as a blogger but with all the drama in relation to the algorithm that is constantly clogging up my feed and just the general negativity towards the app, really, I've been finding it hard to upload consistently for more than a month (on a good month). There was a point where I went for over three months without uploading a single image! If I'm honest, though, my lack of activity goes further than just posting to Instagram and I can't even blame it on the changes that the app has been making.. I haven't really even had the motivation to take photos in general, let alone for Instagram. I've gotten a little better recently but I am nowhere near as consistent as I'd like to be (or have been in the past). The algorithm is pretty shitty, yes, but it's not necessarily about the likes and the comments for me. I don't make money from what I upload and my livelihood is not at stake.. I just genuinely enjoy taking pretty pictures and sharing them with whoever cares. It's as simple as that so there really is no excuse for me to be shying away from the app. I'm chalking it up to pure laziness on my behalf.

Come find (and motivate) me @christieee__x!

Produce more blog content

Hi, I'm Christie and I haven't been around these parts a whole lot lately. A combination of a lack of motivation, a mild case of writer's block and handful of new personal commitments has meant that I have definitely been slacking in the blogging department of late. I need to find a way to get re-inspired, which I guess more or less goes hand in hand with uploading more content to Instagram, and start blogging regularly, and most importantly, enjoying it, again.

Reply to blog comments

I went from replying to every single comment left on my posts to replying to absolutely no one (I'm sorry. Don't leave me). I read every single one of them, but when it comes to replying.. oops. It warms my heart to see that people care enough about my content to take the time to leave me a comment.. the least I can do is reply so I'm definitely wanting to get back in to the habit. If you get a reply to a comment you left four months ago, heyho! I'm following through.

This is probably the most ramble-y post that I've ever published.

What are you hoping to achieve this month?

See also:

March 2018 goals

2018 Resolutions