We are a quarter of the way through the year already and I thought it was time we had a quarterly review and life update about what's going on in our world...
Wedding bells are ringing...
So anyone who has been following our blog for the past year will know that I am due to get married at the end of this month and I am happy to announce that we are still going ahead with it. Obviously it isn't going to be quite the day me and Conor had originally planned, with fewer numbers and options available to us, however we just wanted to take this opportunity while we have it to get married. We will still be hosting a celebratory party later in the year when we hope Covid restrictions will have eased even further. I am planning to write another Wedding series on the blog to showcase our creative makes, however this will now be in two halves, with some posts in May and the rest in November (after our wedding party).
Garden Transformation
So over the past couple of months we have finally managed to put the final touches to our back garden transformation. This has almost taken a year to complete, after we started the process last summer during the first lockdown! We have listed some photos below to show you our progress timeline...
Before: April 2020
May 2020
June 2020
October 2020
March 2021
After: April 2021
We still need to add some flowers to the back border and we also want a few more planters near the front of the garden but the main bulk of the transformation is finally complete!
Crafty Makes and Workshop Projects
Over the past couple of months we have enjoyed working on seasonal projects to celebrate Valentine's Day and Easter and also released an Easter project kit at the end of February for some of you to complete at home, alongside our instructions and video. We are continuing to work on new ideas and craft projects to share with you and hope to potentially have another craft kit available in May/June. Fingers crossed towards the end of summer we may be able to consider hosting our workshops in person once again but that is all to be confirmed as lockdown restrictions ease even further.
New Craft Room!
Another project I have been working on since November last year, is the transformation of a small bedroom into a craft room. This has been a fairly long winded process, especially in the light of Covid restrictions and lockdowns, however I am almost ready to reveal the room transformation and share with you some pictures and video of my craft room and how I have started to organise my craft tools and accessories. This will all be revealed in a separate blog post which I hope to share with you later this month!
Resolution Review
If we rewind back to the beginning of the year, some of you may remember I wrote a post about my resolutions for 2021 and I thought now would be a good time to review how I've been getting on with them and if I've given up on any!!
Start selling on Etsy
So at the moment this resolution is still a work in progress. I have been working on designs for invitations and samples for other products. I have a plan in place to hopefully launch an Etsy store in June as I wanted to get the wedding (well part of it) out of the way so I could focus on this venture. So hopefully by the next quarterly update I will have more to share on this resolution.
Paint my nails once a week
Write a daily diary
This resolution has been a great success! I'm so chuffed that 3 months down the line I am still writing a diary and I often use it to make myself To Do Lists for the day, writing ideas down for craft projects and blog posts. I often write down things that I have done during the day, how I'm feeling etc which is helpful to read back so I can look back on what I've done.
Write down one positive thought everyday
So this resolution was suppose to go hand in hand with writing my daily diary, however about a week into January I started finding this resolution hard to keep up! I don't want to say that it was hard to come up with something positive to write down, but it was more that I was thinking of the same sort of things and it felt like I was just repeating myself just for the sake of writing something down. To some extent some might say that it is worth continuing even if it is the same thing as it is just to act as a positive reinforcement for the day but I just found this difficult and it felt like I was pressurising myself to write something positive which in turn was having a negative effect on me. Therefore I decided to write positive things/ thoughts down as and when I felt like it and maybe practising being positive rather than writing it down is actually more effective!
Go for 3 walks per week
This is another resolution that started to peter out around mid February. Throughout January and the beginning of February I was hitting my target of three walks per week, even more sometimes and during a mixture of weathers. However when the weather got very cold towards the end of February I started doing more Joe Wicks work outs most mornings and I think I took to this a bit more during the colder weather rather then going out for my walks. I have lately been out on a few odd walks and I want to try and increase this over the next few months again as it is such a great activity for mindfulness and I just love being outside!
Write 4 blog posts each month
I am happy to say I am achieving this target every month and I have enjoyed planning my posts, especially for the recent seasonal holidays of Valentine's Day and Easter. I have considered writing more blog posts in certain months but I don't want to burn out and then lose motivation or inspiration for new blog posts. I hope everyone has been enjoying them so far and it's nice to bring some consistency each month.
Donate to one charity every month
This is another resolution that I am proud to say I have kept up and so far I have donated to MIND, The British Heart Foundation and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. I'm looking forward to donating to more charities throughout the year and even though it's only a small contribution, it will all help to make a difference.
Try one new recipe per month
This resolution has been successful as well and for the past 3 months these are the new recipes I have tried:-
Nadiya's Chicken Teriyaki Noodles - also make this with salmon
All these recipes have worked really well and it's been lovely trying some different dishes. As you will have noticed, three out of the four are sweet dishes! Maybe need to focus more effort on some savoury dishes!
Spend More Think Less
I think this resolution is one that I will continue to work on. I feel like I have been a bit more relaxed with spending money over the past 3 months, however this is probably due to the fact that due to the current pandemic we have not been needing to save money for day trips and holidays. We have also been working on some home improvements, especially around the garden and the want to get those things finished has motivated me to spend some money and get what we need.
Enjoy Life
I think this will be a resolution that I will always try to improve on and since we have been in a lockdown for the past 3 months, some might say that the start of the year could have made this resolution a write off! Even though it has been a difficult few months, I can look back and say that I think I have made the most of life and used this as an opportunity to be creative and do things around the house and enjoy being off work. This has been a once in a lifetime (fingers crossed!!) opportunity to catch up on things we may normally have no time for and I have appreciated that. Hopefully this month onwards will allow us to get out more and enjoy life in more ways to make the most of everything we have!
So that's it for our first quarterly review of the year so far! I am motivated to keep up with my resolutions and am looking forward to what the rest of the year has in store for us. With lockdown restrictions easing there is much to look forward to, especially my journey into married life!
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