Currently April

 

 Loving, Looking Forward to, Buying, Planting, and Cleaning

Loving

 Daughter made me a "frosted" snowman!

 

I'm loving the weather!    Snow is a favorite and to have it snow for a few days already in April is amazing.  I'm enjoying all the cozy - warm blankets, hot sips of tea, the hum of the pellet stove, and the calming it brings as we slow down.

Looking Forward to

 

Steak & Chicken / fried rice / vegetables, miso soup and salad with ginger dressing

I am looking forward to more date days with my husband.  This was an unexpected date - my husband was having surgery and we spent the night near the hospital and needed to eat.  We also learned that a restaurant that we loved going to before the pandemic and had closed due to the economic strain, had actually re-opened under a different name and different style.  It used to a Japanese teppanyaki style sit down place, but now is a fast-food type format.  While we will always greatly miss the teppanyaki cooking, we are excited that it has the same menu!  It was very nice to take it back to the hotel and enjoy a really good meal and pictured is just one serving.  We had a lot leftover and from now on we can order one meal and share.

Buying

 

The past few months, I've been buying groceries a little differently.  Years ago when the term organic was newly floating around, I was shocked by the what I learned about foods, but the organic prices were even more shocking and completely out of our very tight budget.  I had no way of really making any changes to organic.  While our budget is still very tight and prices of food are skyrocketing higher, I have been seeing one thing a little favorable, the prices between healthier options are not hugely different.   We still cannot afford to switch everything to organic, but we have been able to make better choices because there are so many more choices available.   Online buying also gives me more time to research a choice and compare better.  Things I am effectively buying better is eliminating as many bio-engineered products and focus on  items with simple ingredients.  This will be a long journey but I feel it is an important one for our family.

Planting

There is no planting happening right now.  Our weather usually doesn't permit any planting until after Mother's Day.  For now, we've been just putting together garden beds and trying to plan out a small garden and clean up the weeds.  I've even pondered skipping the work of a garden this year and just taking our time to design it better.

Cleaning

Ugh, this is humbling, but I have cleaned out 40 boxes of "stuff" that wasn't needed in our home.  The hard part is that there is still so much more and our home really doesn't even look like I've done this much because it was all stuff buried in closets or under beds.  I know that it is progress.  I have to keep whispering to myself that we don't have a garage or basement, so really everything in our home is everything, but it's still a task that will continue to bother me until I finish clearing out more.  It's the beauty of raising a family and being married for nearly 33 years.

April Monthly Goals

-:- continue blogging ✓ a work in progress and way behind but still trying!

-:- visit family

-:- do another puzzle

-:- leave flowers on Corrie ten Boom's grave

-:- finish painting dining room table

-:- paint guest bathroom

Continued from previous month(s)

-family game nights This STILL has been a struggle with different schedules

-read my Bible daily through the year - I was caught up, but I am sadly behind again

-eat better and lose a few pounds / healthier choices

This post will be linked at this month's edition of "Currently" hosted by Jennifer.

See past Months of 2024: January | February | March