THRIVE - April Review

*  Cate's Blog Every Day in May wants a list of ten bloggers we follow regularly. Truth is the only "famous" blogger I follow regularly anymore is Cathy Zielski. Brene Brown and Stacy Julian are still in my reader but they rarely post. Otherwise, the people I follow are bloggers who have become friends. And you all know who you are!  I don't want to single anyone out or make anyone else feel left out if I publish a list. So I'm using today for my THRIVE review.

I'm trying to stay accountable to myself for the things I have set out to do. THRIVE is a big word. This is what thriving looked like in April...

1. Read A Book:  I read "Find Your Happy" by Shannon Kaiser in April.  You can read my scathing review Here.  

2.  Try A New Recipe: I did!  Chicken Scallopini with Capers. I shared the recipe here.

3.  Declutter:  With traveling so much of the month, I didn't actually do a new decluttering project. But I did get all those boxes from March off to the charity shop! And I took some books to the crop to sell at the yard sale table. 

4.  Complete An Unfinished Project:  I made significant progress with Rachel and Becca's Kindergarten through 6th Grade School of Life albums. I think I have about 4 digi pages in each to create to call them done. Here are some examples of the pages I did this month:

 One thing about creating for twins... one design does double duty. I made this page twice, only changing out the focal photo.

 Becca - keeping these pages super simple

 Somehow we only had one copy of this field trip photo. Scanner to the rescue! The scanned version (with a little photoshop help) is actually clearer than the original.

 Two 8.5.x11 digi pages adhered to 12 x12 cardstock with bits of the newspaper clippings and awards program added. The pages are the same except that the ad each child drew is different and clipped directly from the paper.

 Title page for Rachel's album. They change a LOT between Kindergarten and 6th grade. And somehow I had no small copies of the 1st & 2nd grade photos, but had Fall and Spring versions for 5th & 6th grades. 

5. Improve Flexibility - A little backsliding on this one. I'm back to 6" from the touching my toes. Which is why stretching will be a priority again in May - I need to get back into the habit!

6. Scrapbooking - My Favorite Five - Not this month either, not a single one of the photos I identified in this post were scrapped during the months of March or April. I didn't think they would be. But a lot of scrapbooking WAS done and I WILL get to those photos. A few of them are what remains of finally being finished with Rachel and Becca's K-6 albums. So they will remain on my list for May. GOAL.

7.  Photography - I haven't looked at Kim Klassen's classes since I posted my THRIVE review last month. That will change soon. It's on the list of things to do.  I did manage to get outside for a few Spring shots.

8.  Art Journaling - I haven't had any time to do this, but I do have some mixed media/altered art projects in mind for this month that will likely take the place of actual art journaling. Projects I'm excited about. So stay tuned.

9.  On the Wellness front - I literally ate my way through Baltimore, the Poconos, and the Dallas area of Texas during the month of April. I enjoyed a lot of foods that I don't normally have at home (Maryland crab cakes and crab bisque, Thai, blueberry crepes, Texas barbeque...). I don't regret a single bite, but my "numbers" continue to be moving in the wrong direction.  I AM still moving more - had several days during my trips where I hit 10,000+ steps.  And walking around the block (that's about 1/2 mile in quite hilly terrain) is happening regularly at home. During the month of May, I'm committed to reigning my eating back to healthier choices and smaller portions.

And here are the April pages from my One Little Word Planner:

 I had a full calendar in April with lots of travel. The large photo shows sunset from the vantage point of 30,000 feet on the way home from Texas.

1. Numbers;   2. Work conference in Baltimore MD; 3. Crop in the Poconos with friend Krystal
4. Melissa and I at Frisco Mercantile; 5. Texas Bluebonnets in Ennis; 6. Target practice with 9 mm S&W

 April's One Little Word Assignment was to capture how our word is manifesting in our lives via photos.  The stamped copper penny is a charm I bought from an Etsy shop to have a tangible reminder.

My gratitude calendar - noting the best thing that happened that day or the thing for which I am grateful that day.