I have high hopes for April. By the end of this month, I will have one more assignment due (a one-question essay final) until graduation. It feels surreal. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. For my professors to tell me I didn’t learn enough to graduate with this degree. It happened before, so I’m on pins and needles, hoping it won’t happen a second time.
April marks a month of preparing for life after college, taking my health seriously (I mean it, this time!), and organizing my life from the inside out. It’s sure to be a busy month, but I can’t wait to dig into all it has in store for me!
For once, I managed to accomplish all the goals I set last month. I didn’t make them too hard, as I was dealing with shingles and trying to figure out why I ended up with them so my goals were to heal and cope with stress, as well as prepare to read my short story aloud. I did heal, even though there were days it felt like my blisters were never going to go away. And I have taken some steps to help with my stress levels: to-do lists, making school a priority, knowing when I need to relax, and taking long walks when I feel overwhelmed. So far, so good. As for my short story? Well, you all know how that went!
For April, though, I have some very specific goals to accomplish:
- Complete the IronGirl 5K. I’m still not sure how I’m going to feel on race day, knowing I should be running the half-marathon. But every time I think of the race, it feels so good to know I just need to accomplish 3.1 miles, not 13.1. Ideally, I’d like to PR but my running hasn’t been up to par these last few weeks so I’m just hoping to run a good majority of it.
- Keep school the priority. I have two exams, a slew of blogs and quizzes, a portfolio website, and a short story standing between me and graduation. I want to give my full focus and attention to school and finish strong and luckily, the workload isn’t too insane. As long as I keep on top of everything, it should be a smooth month, school-wise.
- Clean up my resume and begin applying to jobs. I had to submit a resume for my capstone course and it was pretty rough, to say the least. Luckily, some awesome resume rock stars looked it over and gave me lots of pointers. Since then, I haven’t done much with it but I do want to spruce it up to make it more presentable. Also, happening this month: applying to jobs. I’m excited to see what’s out there, but not fooling myself that I’m going to find something quickly. I’m prepared to search for 3 months before I’ll let discouragement set in.
- Start meal planning and limit trips to the grocery store. My mom and I are terrible at meal planning. We usually end up at the store 4-5 times a week because we only buy for a few days. In the past, we have tried to become better at planning our meals throughout the week but we always fall off the horse. We end up spending 3x as much in groceries because we’re poor planners. Plus, this gives us an opportunity to try out new recipes as we usually just resort to the same stuff every week. (Any good websites for meal planning?)
- Take Dutch on longer walks. Since we live in an apartment, Dutch gets a short little walk a few times a day. But even at age 9, he’s an active little guy and I know how much he enjoys our longer walks – even if they do make him incredibly tired for the rest of the day. I want to get better at taking him on longer walks throughout the week, at least 1-2 miles, because I want him to stay active and it makes him so happy.
What are you most excited about in April?
Can't wait to see this month unfold for you.
In April I'm excited about a girl's weekend in a small town in Texas this weekend and celebrating three years with my little from Big Sisters /Big Brothers of America.
Woo hoo for ItronGirl! I'm so excited!
Not only am I excited about IronGirl this weekend, but I am SUPER excited for my 21st birthday on April 14th and then the 4-Miler race I signed up for on April 17th! It's my first 4-Miler race so automatic PR! 😉
Well I'm hoping April means no more snow. Fingers crossed.
I am hoping that April will be as successful as March! 🙂
I'm excited for outdoor dates. And not having to put a coat on anymore (I hope)… and maybe finally really finding my reading bug again!
That's so crazy that you're so close to graduating! I feel like for me it's still so far away, which technically it is haha. Any idea what kind of jobs you want to apply for? Good luck with your goals!
I'm most excited because I'll be able to eat potatoes again here before too long! Good luck reaching your goals.
Another great set of goals! Good luck on the 5k!! I haven't ran a 5k in years! I would like to do one this summer as it would be a good break from the long distance races I usually do!
My goal for April is to pass this finance exam that I am taking next Wed… which is 6 hours long… eeks.
So exciting that you got a kindle!
whew! at the grocery store 4-5 times a week? That's exhausting thinking about it…haha.
Good that you had your resume looked over 🙂 I think that has always been one of my weak points.
Great stuff! Wishing you all the best of luck… and let me know if you ever need another pair of eyes for the resume/cover letters; I do them every day in my day job 🙂
I'm trying to get on the meal planning bandwagon, but it's especially difficult because my mom still cooks dinner most nights and I hate to say no to her. Still, I know I need to plan because on nights when I don't eat with my family, if I don't have something in mind, I get lazy and then am starving, so I end up making something easy (which usually doesn't equal healthy).
First off – such major props to you on meeting your March goals! That's such a great feeling 🙂
I definitely need to make law school a priority this month. I have 3 major papers (~30pgs or so each) due and 2 exams. I set some ambitious "end of schooling" goals for myself and if I buckle down I can meet them. If I let Lazy Girl take over, I'll be mad at myself for the rest of my life, ha!
What am I looking forward to? THE END OF LAW SCHOOL. Hallelujah and Amen. Longest 3 years ever, ha! 🙂
those are all great goals, good luck!!
as for me, i'm most excited for my birthday this month. i'm such a child, i love birthdays a little too much, haha.