Happy April!

And just like that....it's April! I feel like I was just bundled up in my house as snowed literally poured down on the DC area. Now the sun is shining, everything is in bloom (my allergies can attest to this!), including the beautiful cherry blossom trees, and we've smacked into Springtime with full force.

So how was my month? Here were my March intentions:

1. Complete the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart Success! And it was great.

2. Try out at least 5 new recipes Yes! I made spicy tomato chickpea soup, sweet chili-lime tofu and crispy sesame kale from Vegan Yum Yum, banana chocolate chip muffins from The Joy of Vegan Baking, cran-apple muffins from 1,000 Vegan Recipes and last night I made the Happy Herbivore's chickpea tacos! I've also made about 10 different variations of a green smoothie over the course of the past month.

3. Get back into a gym/yoga routine This was going pretty well for the brief period there before I fell at Whole Foods and messed up my knee/hip/back. Just the thought of twisting into a yoga pose or making it through a spin class these past few weeks has been painful! I'm getting back on track this week (more to come on this in a later post).

4. Write in my paper journal on a regular basis Giant fail. I say I want to do this nearly every month and it's the first thing to go out the window when I run out of time. Any thoughts for making this more of an automatic habit?

5. Get a head start on my big research paper that is due May 3rd Hmm, on the one hand, I did write a three page paper proposal that helped me to consolidate my ideas. I also gathered a bunch of research. However, that research is sitting in a giant pile in my bedroom and I only have an introduction written, so that's not much of a head start. My goal is to read and get through writing 10 pages this coming weekend and then 10 more the following weekend. Then I will just need to add a few more pages, edit it and voila! My last grad school paper ever will be complete!

My April goals:

1. Finish my last class and paper for graduate school (preferably without going insane).

2. Get back into journaling!

3. Eat well/work out lots/lose some weight. I don't want to put strict parameters on this one but I do intend to get back on a healthy track. More on this in a later post!

4. Let go. There are a lot of things in my life that have the potential to change in the next two months or so. My type-A personality has me making list after list, over planning and trying to guess and/or control the outcome of all of those things. None of that is good for one's stress levels! Right now I feel on the verge of potentially an entire new life. It's scary and refreshing at the same time.

I wish you all a wonderful April full of flowers, time spent basking in the sun and fantastic new beginnings!



{Photo credit: *yasuhiro}