April 2023: I’ve Been A Busy Bee + Investing In Myself

April showers came in with full force this month. I hope the flowers in May are extra beautiful because of it! 

There is something wonderful about April. The sun starts to come out earlier, the days get a bit longer, and the cold starts to fade. Driving to work every morning is a lot easier when it’s bright outside. I swear during the winter months I contemplate quitting my job daily because of the commute haha! 

Writing this post and reflecting I can definitely say I’m feeling blessed for this past month and excited for the months to come. So, let’s chat more about it and wrap this month up.

April was busy

It was a busy month for me you guys! Now, if you were my co-worker that has children, you would say it wasn’t actually that busy and just wait until you have kids, but for this DINK(WC) (double income, no kids, with cat lol) household, it was busy!

We have been slowly but surely planning more wedding things. I’ve been doing some research on an officiant and really need to actually connect with someone but it’s so hard to pick!! I’ve also been trying to find someone to do my hair and make-up. 

On top of our own wedding to-do’s, we have also been attending friends’ weddings and I’m a bridesmaid in one of my friends’ weddings coming up in July so there’s lots of things going on with hers too. It’s honestly just wedding central over here right now. 

I also had a week off work in April just for a bit of staycation and that was amazing! Nothing better than a week off at home with no plans. Luna (my cat) was super happy about the quality time together. How exactly do I become a stay-at-home cat mom? I need to know this.

Overall, it was a good month full of friends and family and good times. Even though it was super busy and at times I felt so tired, I am blessed for all these good times. 

Goal updates

Instagram: Getting closer and closer to 2k! Sitting at around 1704 followers. Instagram has still been slow for me. Definitely struggling with figuring out how to grow on Instagram but growth is happening nonetheless. 

TikTok: Small progress this month— 102 followers. I have only posted one or two things on TikTok this month. I did get my first hate comment though and then when I responded the person deleted their comment so there’s that lol. 

Email list: Good news!! I have reached my email goal!! My goal was 100 and I have 108. That is 13 new email subs from last month. Yay! The new goal is 200!

Workouts: I’m not going to lie, in April I didn’t track my workouts. I walked a lot and went to the gym once a week. I did a couple of home workouts each week. My main goal for April was walking and I definitely did that. I’ll be back to tracking my workouts in May because I like it and definitely missed seeing the month overall. 

Reading: April was a slooooow reading month. My reading total for the year is 15. I finished 2 books this month and currently have 2 books on the go (The Atlas Six and Honeymoon for One).

Freelance writing: I feel like a lot of my time and energy went into my freelance writing business this month. I stepped up my game with my cold pitching. I received some promising responses but did not secure any new clients. It’s tough guys! I updated my freelance writing page and my portfolio. I also invested in a course to help me learn more about the business of freelancing and how to improve my outreach. So far it’s been super helpful. I did a little math (which if you know me is not my thing lol) and found out my response rate for my cold pitch emails is 12% so I so feel good about that! 

Some favorite things from April

This is my fav part because sometimes I forget about the great things I enjoyed so I get to look back and remind myself of all the good!

Favorite meal: Pesto pasta!! It’s an oldie but a goodie.

Most entertaining TV show: I’ve been watching Shadow and Bone while walking on the treadmill. I watched season 1 when it first came out but then never continued it so I restarted from the beginning! Loving it!

Favorite Spotify playlist: Lately I’ve been reliving my emo teen years when it comes to music so I’ve been listening to Alternative 2000’s!

Yummiest drink: I had these yummy wine coolers at a wedding we attended. They are called Xoxo Botanical Wine Spritzer. Highly recommend!

The most fun book: Take the Lead by Alexis Daria. It was a dance romance with a grumpy wilderness guy who has to go on a dance competition show. Sounds really random but it was similar to Dancing with the Stars but in book form and with romance!

Favorite Amazon purchase: I actually didn’t order a ton of things this month! Surprising haha. However, I did get a pack of lint rollers which is essential if you have pets. Grabbed these ones and they work well.

Favorite YouTube workout: 30 min HIIT by growingannanas. It was hard and sweaty and made me feel great!

Favorite insta post: Mindset shifts you need to make to start living your best life!

Top 3 blog posts of April:

• How To Stay Consistent With Your Goals (With Journal Prompts)
• Solo Dates For Boosting Self-Care: How To Date Yourself
• Easy Ways To Increase Your Daily Movement (+ Enjoy It)

May is for investing in yourself

I challenge you to invest in yourself this coming month! 

That doesn’t mean you need to spend money though. Investing can be many different things. For example, investing in yourself could be spending more time on self-care. You are investing TIME. 

So, here are some ways you can invest in yourself this coming month:

• Spend time doing a hobby you enjoy but haven’t done in a while 
• Learn how to be financially smarter 
• Focus on your physical health by investing in healthier foods
• Set goals and invest your time and energy to work on them 
• Get a cute journal and spend time journaling each night 
• Take a course and learn something new 
• Start thinking about your future and put 10% of your paycheck away in savings
• Treat yourself to a new outfit or a hair cut—investing in your appearance is okay!
• Find a mentor and spend time mastering your craft or improving on something
• Book a vacation, near or far. Invest in your curiosity and wonder. Go somewhere you’ve never been. 
• Get a therapist and invest in improving your mental health. You don’t need a reason to see a therapist either. Sometimes it’s just nice to talk to someone who gets it.

I hope you find at least one way to invest time, energy, money, and so on, in yourself. YOU are the most important person in your life. Take care of yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The saying that you can’t fill from an empty cup is cliché but it’s also true. 

So much time and energy is put into other people and things. When is the last time you intentionally invested in yourself?

Purchasing the course for my freelance business this past month has made me want to keep investing in my personal development. I see the benefit and while not everyone has the extra money to purchase something, there are ways to invest in yourself for free.

So, figure out how you will improve yourself in May! I am so excited for you and how you are going to feel this coming month. 

Tell me how you’ll invest in yourself in the comments!