One month into 2019

Welcome to February! Woohoo we finally made it! 🎉 January can feel so long so reaching February is enough to feel like an achievement for me!

I thought I would reflect a bit on this first month of 2019 and how I was making out with my goals from the beginning of the year. Obviously so fresh into a new year, they won't all be ticked off but I thought it would be great to check in on the ongoing items.

1. Walk at least 10,000 steps a day for 100 days. I'm thrilled to say, that even with temperatures that plummeted down to -44 with the windchill at its worst, and average daily temperatures around the minus teens, I still made it out everyday for a walk. Even with our record breaking snowfall in Ottawa of 97cm in January alone (yes, in one month!), I still managed to put on about 15 layers (for both myself and the dog!) and get a daily dose of fresh air, sunshine, and daily step count. Although we battle the cold winters, we are blessed with quite a bit of sunshine, which makes for beautiful photos, even if there is a risk of frostbite!

2. Learn to play guitar. I've had two lessons so far - should have been three but there was a terrible snowstorm followed by freezing rain which caused classes to be cancelled! And I'm loving learning something new! I also love the way my teacher has structured the classes - we jump right into well-known songs that use minimum chords, which means I can almost sound like I know what I'm doing already! You'll be able to find me by the bonfire this summer leading the sing-along 🤩

3. Meditate daily. Ok so I'll admit I've missed three days this month 😕 While not ideal, I figure 3 out of 31 isn't a terrible average and it's become more of a routine than in the past. Apps are so helpful for trying to stick to something new. I've been using the free version of the "Calm" app which I've really enjoyed. I mostly use the timed meditation, but there's always a little quote at the end which I like reading as well. 

4. Finish my novel. I've been experimenting with different writing methods - X amount of minutes a day/week, or X amount of words in each sitting. I'm still working out a way to make this a daily habit and while I'm not there yet, I've managed about 5,000 words this month with a very busy schedule.

Which leads me to another update...

I did stand here a month ago, vowing to write a weekly blog post for you all. And I've really enjoyed having this extra bit of commitment to get me into my chair and write. However, I've been thrilled to add some new clients to my roster this year and have really enjoyed working with new people in different niches. I have found the work to be creatively inspiring and have loved being able to bounce new ideas off of people that are coming to this mutual space with different strengths and experiences. But this also means time is more and more limited. With point 4 becoming more and more important, I need spare creative space to work on that novel! 

So my weekly blog post will change to a monthly post. I'm still committing to a regular check-in with y'all and I don't see this as a failure. I think we all need to put our hand up and admit when it all just gets to be a bit much. There is no weakness in asking for help or admitting you've overbooked yourself. I think it takes strength to be able to do that (and no, I'm not just saying that because I'm doing it now!) So have an excellent February dear followers - we're off to the Bahamas mid-month for some much needed sunshine and heat! I look forward to updating you all on my return and in the meantime, feel free to follow along on instagram here! 

On a particularly freezing day (it had warmed up from -44 with the windchill in the morning to -31 in the afternoon!) But isn't the sunshine beautiful on the snow?? ❄️