Wednesday 31 May 2017

30 Day Fitness Challenge

I like being active.  It isn't only good for the body.  I find that it refreshes and calms my mind.  I like outdoor workouts whenever possible and I also enjoy doing home work outs.  I have been trying my best to get active lately, but I haven't been getting as much exercise as I should.  I have decided to combat my lower activity level with a challenge!

For the whole month of June I plan to be active every single day.  Nothing seems to motivate me quite like a challenge.  If you want to see how I am doing with this challenge, you can follow me on Instagram @peacefulsimplelifeblog. If you want to join in, you can use the hashtag #peacefulsimplefitness.



Fitness comes in many forms.  I like quiet activities like walking my dog and yoga.  I also like doing more intense workouts with some running, biking, strength training, and HIIT workouts.   I will be counting any activity that I do in my challenge.  I hope to mix it up between quiet activities and more intense workouts.  It should be a fun (and challenging!) month.  I hope you will follow along and join in!

Friday 26 May 2017

High Five For Friday- 26.05.17

Hello everyone!  It has been a while since I have participated in H54F!  This week has been quite lovely and I am happy to share my highlights with you.  I am linking up with TifKatie, Della, and Becky for High Five For Friday!

1.)  We had a long weekend last weekend.  (Monday was Victoria Day.)  We got our raised gardens planted, spent some time in the city grocery shopping, and even made it to the lake twice!  It was a wonderful weekend.  I wish I could bottle the feeling that we all get at the lake.  We always leave the cabin feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and happy.  Miss. E loves the cabin and she never complains or whines when we are there.  It is lovely.




2.)  We have enjoyed 2 (!) yummy strawberries off of the strawberry plant that we are growing this year.  They were super sweet and tasted just like summer.  I am certainly looking forward to more strawberries over the summer!


3.)  I got in some reading over the weekend.  I have been enjoying the Seaside Knitters Mysteries.  I love a good mystery that isn't gory and doesn't kill off characters that I like.  I quite like this series.  I have also been reading The Best Yes.  I really enjoy reading Lysa TerKeurst's encouraging message about doing our best to discern the important "yes" moments in our lives.  I think that this is a struggle for everyone at some point in their lives and I really appreciate the message.

4.)  The weather has been GORGEOUS this week.  It has been warm (sometimes hot!) and calm.  I love being able to go outside and walk the dog.  I also love spending time in the evenings watering our garden and plants.  It has been relaxing and uplifting.

5.)  I have my own domain!  I finally figured things out (of course it was easier than I thought!).  I am excited to have my own little space on the internet.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  I am excited to celebrate a very special little lady's 3rd birthday this weekend.  3!  Where does the time go?  

Wednesday 24 May 2017

Hallway Closet Cleanout

It really doesn't take that long to tackle certain projects in our homes.  Often we dread a task and then put it off.  I was doing this with our hallway closet.  When you move you just want everything unpacked and put away.  Sometimes the places that we decide to put things don't end up working well once we live in the house for a little while.  Our hallway closet was this way.  I decided to tackle it one Sunday evening and was happy to find that it only took me 20 minutes to complete.

I have been doing a better job of keeping "like" items together so that I know exactly what we have and what we don't.  In my closet, I grouped together "like" items and gave them all a home.  We purged a few items (outdated medications, a cold pack that we never use) and moved a few items to where they belonged in other parts of the house.

Before:




After:


(Please feel free to ignore the shelf paper that is peeling off of the shelf!)
Organizing really takes a lot less time when you only own what you need and use.  I was so happy that there was very little to get rid of this time!  Striving for more simplicity in our lives has certainly taken a lot of the stress out of cleaning and organizing.


Tuesday 9 May 2017

April- Goals and The No Spend Year

April was a pretty good month for my goals and resolutions.  It was also a busy month with Easter and Hubby's birthday.  I am happy with my progress and I am hoping that May will be even better!

Goal #1-  Complete a No-Spend Year.

Not spending money is becoming easier and easier.  I don't even really think about making purchases, which is nice.  Our home is currently lacking blinds and curtains, but that is the only thing that is really making me want to shop.  Otherwise, it hasn't been that challenging!

Goal #2-  Establish a self-care routine.

I was pretty good with this goal.  I was consistent with working out and staying on top of my water intake.  I completed my Whole 30 and will share my experience with you soon!

Goal #3-  Say Yes to Family Time.

This goal went well this month.  It was easier because there weren't many things challenging us in this department.  We had a lovely Easter with family and we even got to see my younger brother at the end of the month!

Goal #4-  Start School in September.

I talked to school this month and asked all of my questions.  I will likely apply in the summer and start in the Fall.  This goal will be at a standstill now until the summer when I apply to the program.

Goal #5-  Learn more about traditional prayers and incorporate them into my prayer life.

I have finished reading a book about traditional prayers, which I found really interesting.  I found the scriptural references and explanations to be informative. I hope to work on incorporating them into my prayer life this month.

Goal #6-  Establish a routine for the blog and stick to the blog's vision.

This month wasn't great for blogging.  I have done a little behind the scenes work, but I got a little stuck in some of the technical stuff.  I hope to be better about blogging this month and iron a few things out behind the scenes.