March Goals Revisited

I have no idea where March went. For a month with 31 days, multiple snow storms and working a lot of weekend over time it flew by! Which means it's time to revisit my March Goals and see how I fared. (Spoiler Alert: Not well)

Stars = In progress

Squiggly Line = Accomplished

Blank = Nope.

10 minutes of pen & paper... I didn't do this every day, but I definitely got out my sketch book, notebook, pens & paper more often than I have been. I think on average I intentionally put pen to paper 2-3 times a week. The good news is every time I did it was much longer than 10 minutes. Still something I'm going to work on because I would like to make this a daily habit.

Do yoga once a week... The closest I got to this was stretching first thing in the morning when I got out of bed. Far from formal yoga. 

Read 2 books... I'm a little ashamed to say I didn't even pick up a book this month. I have three that I'm saving for my trip but I also have a stack hanging out on my to read table. This goal is going to get taken a lot more seriously once my work contract is over. 

Start trip preparations... This is a clear win! I got travel assurance, approved for a credit card so that I won't have to carry a ton of cash and picked up a few things like sunglasses, a new bathing suit and a comfy but cute plane outfit!

Get enough sleep... Nope. I did not get enough sleep. 

Eliminate 2 bags of clutter...  I totally emptied my closet last weekend and forced myself to try everything on and the only things that went back into my closet are clothes that I liked, fit me well and I could see myself wearing at some sort of event. It was so helpful! I didn't follow the "Toss it if you haven't worn it in 3 months" rule because I have some dresses in my closet that I haven't worn in over a year, but they still fit and would be appropriate to wear to a wedding or something like that so I kept them. The dress that was really a size too big got tossed even though I wore it last month. I did the same thing with all of my dressers and decluttered a lot of clothing. Next up is to go through my desk and scrapbooking supplies. Anything that I'm not using and can't see myself using will get taken to camp for the office or arts & crafts room. 

Update planner daily... Again, I didn't do this every day. I also didn't just do it on Sundays either. It was more of a twice weekly thing. I definitely want to keep improving on this. 

Follow meal plans... An improvement over constantly scrambling to grab things to eat at work while I'm on the way out the door. Still not as diligent and organized as I want, but most days I knew what I was taking with me and had everything packed first thing in the morning. 

Overall I made progress, which I think is really important with goals. It's hard for me as a perfectionist not to accomplish everything exactly as I envisioned it but the reality is it takes time to get into new habits and modify goals so that they fit my lifestyle. Check back tomorrow when I share my April Goals! 

March Goals 2015

I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions. Or January goals. Or February goals. It's a trend I'm breaking for March. Time to be intentional about getting some things done and making myself make time for things I've been letting slide. 

Here's what I'm doing in March.

10 minutes of pen & paper... It doesn't matter if I journal about my day, write a poem, doodle hearts & stars, re-write the same word over and over and over again. I need to physically engage in being creative without technology. I love blogging, photography and all of that stuff but there is something extra healing about old fashion pen and paper. And I'm going to make it happen for at least 10 minutes each day.

Do yoga once a week... I'm not going to set myself up to fail and say I'm going to do this every day. I know I can throw on a yoga video at least once a week this month and give my muscles a good stretch.

Read 2 books... This is self-explanatory. By the end of the month I want to have two books started and completed.

Start trip preparations... Flights are all booked and accommodations are secured. All that's left is the fun part! Deciding what attractions to visit (and not visit). I get to make a packing list! Shop for a few warm weather necessities, get a hair cut...lots of fun preparations!

Get enough sleep... I've been working non stop. It's a make hay while the sun shines situation because once my contract ends in April I won't have the option of working over time, at the same time there's only so many hours in a day. Some of those hours need to be for sleep. I haven't been doing a great job of that lately but it's something that's going to change.

Eliminate 2 bags of clutter... I have a lot of "stuff". Clothes, hairbands, knickknacks, coffee mugs, shoes...and you know what, I don't need it (or in some cases use it), so I'm getting rid of some things. Our church has a flea market in the summer but I won't be around then so now is a good time to round up some donations. And make my drawers/closet a little easier to close.

Update planner daily... I always spend Sunday night updating my planner for the week, but I'm not great at adding to it during the week. I'll look at it but I don't necessarily update it, instead I'll wait until Sunday. Which is silly and I have no idea how I developed such a habit. Starting this month though it's going to be a part of daily life.

Follow meal plans...To be clear, I'm not embarking on any sort of Whole30, vegan, gluten-free, no salt, only eat foods that start with M diet plan. That's not the way I believe in eating. I do eat better when I plan out my meals in terms of knowing what I'm going to take to eat at work each day and prepare things in advance.

What are your goals for March?  I'm joining the #friendswithgoals link up to share my goals this months and see what other belongings are aiming to accomplish!

Friday's Here!

I had a really solid week. I'm 98% recovered from being sick and I'm pretty much back into my normal routine. And it feels so great. I'm linking up with Oh Hey, Friday to share five things about my week. A couple of favourites, a comical predicament and some inspiration. 

{one}

Gold. I've never been a lover of gold. I have always preferred silver jewellery and was of the mindset gold stuff made things look tacky not classy. Except I bought a t-shirt at Target a few weeks ago that had some gold in it and I saw a blanket at Winners and some canvas prints with gold writing. I have to admit gold is growing on me.

{two}

Pinterest

Donuts. I have a specific craving for a vanilla dipped sprinkle donut like the one pictured above. Except that every time I go into Tim Horton's to get one they don't have what I'm looking for. Sure there are sprinkle donuts but the past two weeks they've been heart sprinkles or the rectangle type of sprinkles. And by golly I want round rainbow sprinkles on my donut. I would also like a good cup of black tea along with my sprinkle donut to balance out the sweetness.

{three}

I'm waiting on some prints I ordered from Etsy and I was just matched with my Galentine's Day swap partner from the Blogging Elite. Which means I've got so much fun mail to receive and send in the next few weeks! It makes me so excited. Mail makes me so very happy!

{four}

Pinterest

This quote. It speaks to me in a big way. I'm a pack rat, a borderline hoarder and have a lot of difficulty getting rid of anything that has any sort of emotional attachment. Whenever I attempt to declutter I always justify keeping things by saying one of two things: "I might need this someday" or "I can't get rid of that because...*insert random memory*". Which, for some things is crazy, I am definitely going to make it a goal to be more intentional and serious about decluttering in the coming months. 

{five}

Thursday we had a potluck at work. I made honey garlic chicken and was pleased with the outcome and nervous about I was going to transport the chicken to work. I put the chicken laying flat on the floor of the passenger side of my car and it made it safely into town without problem. Parking at work is a bit of a nightmare. It's all on street parking and with the snowbanks piled as high as they are it takes some manoeuvring to get close to the curb (snowbank) so that you don't get a mirror taken off by a passing car and also not so close that you get stuck in a snowbank. So I parked...and then I realized I had to get the chicken out.  I was optimistic at first and thought maybe I could squeeze between the snow bank enough to open the passenger door but upon further inspection there was no way that was happening. I knew what I had to do. Somehow I needed to get the chicken across the seats without tipping the foil pan and spilling sauce all over my seats. I think we all know where this story is going...made it safely over the passenger seat...did not make it over the drivers seat. Honey Garlic sauce puddle right in the middle of the driver's seat. Of course I didn't have time to clean it because I was standing on the side of the street and I had to go to work. Eight hours later I drove home sitting on a grocery bag but turned my heated seats on out of habit. 

If anyone has any advice on getting honey garlic sauce out of upholstery and/or get the smell of garlic out of my car I am all ears.