Saturday, May 7, 2016

Lately || April, May, and uh...What else have I missed?

I came across a post this morning about how to keep yourself motivated when you're in a blog slump, and I'm totally there. It mentioned a few things to do, which I always think about doing but never do, like keeping a running list of post ideas. I think I'll remember them, but half an hour later that post idea is gone. Perhaps I should really take the advice and start writing/typing them out, because I really miss the blogging community and all the opportunities/relationships that it brings. My plan and goals are to post more than just product reviews, because those aren't that fun to read for anyone. An easy post idea, but nothing more really!
On that note, here's a little update on the past month or so.
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We hosted our first holiday dinner in our home, and it was Easter. It was pretty exciting to have people come to our house rather than us drive to different cities for different dinners. We bought some cheap folding chairs from Wal Mart and a folding table from Costco, which are also coming in handy for my dad's 50th birthday party that I'm planning for May 21st. A good investment ;) The Easter bunny visited our house too for our nephews and niece! Koshka wouldn't stop checking them out, but they were a hit! We don't have toys or anything here for them when they visit, so the Easter bunny put some magnet games and colouring books in there to keep the kiddos occupied during the dinner evening. 
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Work has been going well. Only 35/36 instructional days until Summer break! I'm too excited! We went on two field trips this past week. Staff and students were equally exhausted by the end of the week, but we made it. We went to see the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday, then on Thursday we went to the Devonian Botanical Gardens. The gardens smelled amazing and it was so beautiful. We actually got some rain for an hour or so and it was quite chilly until about 2pm. 
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My in-laws came out in April for 10 days and it went really well. It's nice to see them every April, and we'll see them again in December when Rob and I go that way for Christmas. While they were out, we started the renovations on our side entrance! It had some hideous 70's vinyl that was warped, peeling off, and full of paint splatters. It took about 6 hours to get all the old adhesive and vinyl off before my father in law started sanding the wood to make it rough/free of debris to get the new adhesive to stick. I plan to post about the process, but I'm not posting anymore about it until I finish some painting there and Rob finishes the baseboards!
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I may or may not have ordered my second Charmed Aroma candle. It's addicting! I at least wait until the candle is burnt out completely before buying another one. Rob thinks I should space it out through the year, buuuuuut I didn't listen.
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I've organized all my snail mail a couple times because it was too overwhelming to find a card to send. I organized all my Happy Mail by event/occasion! It's helped a lot and I've stuck to my goal of getting all the birthday cards mailed out at the beginning of the month. I love getting snail mail and I love sending it out. We also let Koshka venture outside without a leash. The first time, she lasted about 10 minutes before I opened the door again and I've never seen a cat run so fast to the basement. She likes to go out for a little while at a time and it's really nice :) She's definitely happier!
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You can totally see all the dog hair on the blanket, but it was still cozy. I put cinnamon in the coffee grounds this morning and it's something I am definitely going to do when Fall comes! 

My plans for the weekend are to tidy up some stuff around the house, maybe start some painting on the side entrance, and just relax. It was a physically and mentally exhausting week at work, so my self care is priority this weekend.

How do you stay motivated to blog? What does your self care look like? 

xo. Nicole