April Tending List + March Recap: Cultivating What Matters in 2018

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April is here! And what better way to kick off a month than with a holiday on the first day. March was a really good month for me as far as getting things done. I had thought February went pretty well, but according to my tending list, March was much more about making things happen. Here’s a recap of how my March goals went, and what I’m cultivating in April: 

 

March Monthly Goal Review:

 

Study Philippians: So I’m not even through the first chapter as far as actual studying goes. But, I’m happy with that! I continued to use the Risen Motherhood Abide sheets. I also did all the Philippians verses in my Write the Word journal. Along with that, I read through the whole book at least weekly. This is the most important goal–to root myself in the Word of God–and I’m really thankful to be able to report progress this month.

Hang spice rack/calendar/redo kitchen: Completed 2 out of 3. These are household projects I’ve been planning on doing since New Years sooooo yeah. I’m celebrating progress here too!

Have family over for dinner/have friends over: We had my inlaws over for a yummy dinner of barbeque and brownies. Someday we’ll have friends over 🙂

Follow meal plan all month: So I never actually made a meal plan or did the grocery plan for it. But, we didn’t eat out nearly as much and I cooked fairly regularly. So I’m happy with the progress we made on this.

Get our taxes done/W2: I got everything together to get our taxes done. Still need to actually do them, but we’ll get there.

Make blog public: Done! I decided to launch “softly” by just telling some friends and posting it here and there. I’m trying to not be super perfectionistic but instead just put myself out here. I’m not a professional blogger and I don’t need to compare myself to people who have been doing this for years–but it’s hard not too. Still working on that!

Get setup with Amazon Affiliates: Signed up.

Read two books: I read Good News for Weary Women, which I blogged about here. I got a library card and read Expecting Better by Emily Oster. I also started Wait & See.

Weekly Goals:

Use my RM Sheets to Study Philippians: I aimed to do this twice per week and made my goal about half of the month. Going to do this again in April as well.

Write the Word Journal: Done! This is the most I’ve used this journal since my husband gave it to me two Christmases ago. I’m going to keep this up in April as well.

2 blog posts: I got about one done per week. While I could easily write two blog posts a week; designing graphics and images and formatting take me a lot longer. I did a lot of work with the theme this month too. So, I’m happy with the progress.

Go to church: I really don’t want to write this, but we didn’t go at all this month. We listened to the sermons, but our actual presence was nada. We’re going to prioritize this in April.

Face mask: I added this in mid-month when I splurged on some skincare products at TJ Maxx. I got a pack ofcharcoal face masks and discovered the joy of slapping one on and soaking in the bath. Ahhhhhh.

Daily Goals:

Get in the Word: Did better this month than any previous. I want to keep this momentum going into April. I saw a marked improvement in my attitude and patience throughout the day on the days where I spent time reading and praying.

Tidy for 10 in 2: I wasn’t super consistent with this, but I will say our house looked much better than previous months! We’re like the least tidy couple in America sooo any progress is good here.

Breakfast from home: Did a lot better on this too! I also ate a lot less fast food this month overall. My go to breakfast has been a big cup of greek yogurt, a half cup of oats, and two tablespoons of peanut butter stirred together. It’s not exciting, but it keeps me full for 3-4 hours. The peanut butter is the best part, of course.

 

Now onto April!

April Monthly Goals:

Study Philippians even more: Continuing from last month. I think I may set myself an incentive that if I finish the Abide sheets I’ve already printed, I can order a Give Me Jesus journal from Well Watered Women when they release the new ones. We’ll see.

15 complete posts on blog.

Unveiled Wife devotional: My friend Christie loaned me this devotional. I want to do better at praying for my husband and loving on him, so I’m going to give this 30 day devotional a try.

Create a newsletter opt-in: I have a few ideas but I’m not 100% sure yet. It seems like most bloggers offer printables of some sort, but honestly, I don’t own a printer. It feels weird to offer an incentive that wouldn’t incentivize me. Need to do some more brainstorming here. 

Get haircut/highlight hair at home: Haven’t had a haircut since October when I cut off like 12 inches. It’s time! Aaand I did a box dye on my hair last month. It wasn’t terrible but I’ve watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials on how to actually highlight, like with bleach and foils, and I think I can do it. So uh, wish me luck?

Make dentist appt/go to dentist: Exciting stuff here.

Go on Babymoon!: SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS. My super amazing lifelong friend and her husband gave us a Marriott stay back when we got married. But we never were able to use it because right after we got married we moved and were just trying to get settled and survive. So now we’re going on a babymoon to Asheville, NC! I am counting down the days. 

Plan our trip: I’m the planner in our family, so I’ll make a rough schedule for the week. I’d love suggestions!

Register for childbirth class & infant CPR: Need to get these done before July ideally 😉

Attempt to restore camera

 

Weekly Goals:

RM Abide study: Aiming for 2x a week.

Post on Instagram

Write the Word–Psalms: Going to focus on Psalms this month since I used up all of Philippians.

Face mask

Go to church

Workout video: Also aiming for 2x a week. I did this one the other day and thought I was going to die.

 

Daily Goals:

Root in the Word

Blog stuff: I want to just do something related to this blog every day.

Lunch from home: Now that I’ve pretty much got breakfast down, time to stop spending money on lunch.

Skincare: Trying to develop this as as consistent habit. I literally just started washing my face this month (so embarrassing) so clearly there’s some progress to be made here. 

Wife devotional: Made a daily goal to keep me accountable on my monthly goal.

I’m so excited for April! Going on a vacation at the end of the month is just the best motivation. As the third trimester gets closer (4 weeks away), I’m feeling really motivated to get things done before I have a little buddy to “help” me get things done. Because that’s how babies work, right? I’d love to hear about what you’re cultivating in April!