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We made it through the first 6 weeks of 2019! January truly felt like it was never ending, yet February has flown by. The weather here has been absolutely ridiculous (Spring one day and covered in snow the next) and I’m looking forward to getting this Winter over with.
Here’s what I’ve been up this month.
Watching
My husband and I just finished Friends From College, and I’m so sad to hear there won’t be a third season.
Right now almost all of my favourite reality shows are airing, so I’m putting in a lot of TV time. Siesta Key, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Ex on the Beach, and my all time favourite, The Challenge are all back. The Challenge is particularly exciting this season as they’ve brought in some other well known reality stars to compete.
Listening To
Ariana Grande’s new album! “Ghostin” and “Bad Idea” are easily my favourite songs, but I’m not totally in love with the rest.
Otherwise, I’ve been hanging out in the alternative section of Spotify. I find that I’m on a steady genre rotation, and right now a lot of the new pop songs aren’t doing it for me. 90’s alt playlists, here I come!
Eating
Nothing exciting. With the bulk of February’s grocery budget already gone, I’m trying to be extra careful these last two weeks. I’m really proud of how well meal planning has been going this year, and I hope I can keep it that way.
This weekend I did make a batch of these soft sugar cookies and my family loved them. Replacing icing with sugar makes them sweet but not too sweet.
Shopping For
Holly’s 10th birthday is next week, but the only tangible gift we’re getting her is these skin tone markers. Otherwise, this milestone birthday is all about experiences.
I’m also just starting to write out my list for Easter. I would really like to space out purchases for Easter in March and April so that my budget stays in tact. I’m thinking new scooters!
Doing
I feel so fortunate to say that I actually got a mini break from parenthood this past weekend and my husband and I got to spend real time together. We went to see “Isn’t It Romantic”, which was absolutely horrible in my opinion. I also got to take him to his very first drag show! We had a blast at Spice Queens and even got to sleep in the next morning.
Although I have at least 3 projects I’m dying to start, I’m trying to be extra smart with our money this year, which means having to be patient – something I’m not good at. I’ve been finding little tasks to do with little-to-no money just to keep myself busy. Last week I patched and painted every hole I could find in our walls, and this weekend I painted our kitchen ceiling. What will I come up with this week? Who knows!
I also managed to finish my second book of the year – Catcher in the Rye. I’ve read it at least twice before, but I wanted to choose a book to get me back into the reading mood and this one did the trick. I talked about my struggle with reading in my Instagram post here.
Thinking
About expectations. It’s tough for me to write this, but the truth is that I compare my children. Not only to each other, but to other children around them. I’ve been worried for some time that our youngest, CJ, isn’t developing the same way as my older daughter Holly did. In Kindergarten, she could write full sentences, while CJ can hardly write the 2 letters in his name.
Although we have an action plan in place and are working with him daily, I find myself praying that he catches up so that he never has to feel behind. In reality, he’s almost a full year younger than some of his classmates, but I worry. I really do.
Planning
Summer trips and budgets. Does it seem too early for this? I promise it’s not! With the right planning now, I’m hoping to take my family on a 0 debt trip this summer. This means saving now and not using any credit cards to pay for the vacation.
Right now I’m also huge into planning our meals. I took a section of my planner and wrote out every single meal that our family enjoys as well as the necessary ingredients. Every Sunday, I can flip to those pages and pick 5-7 meals for the week without really having to think about it. It’s working out so far.
What are you up to this month?