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March Smiles

April 5, 2020 By nextphaseinfitness 14 Comments

Following is my monthly wrap up of things that made me smile during the month. Earlier in the year I made a commitment to myself to make a concerted effort to think about the great and positive things in my life, and in particular, those things that make me smile. These days, most of the things that make me smile are the simple, every day things that many would consider to be unremarkable. No longer do I need big things or big events in my life, to make me happy.

When I decided to write monthly, about the happy moments during the month, of course I had no idea that Covid-19 was about to appear in our lives, causing life, as we know it, to change. March was mostly a sad month for most of us, as we tried to come to terms with the way our lives would look for the next few months. There was also the disappointment of  events that we had been looking forward to, being cancelled. March, however, wasn’t without it’s happy moments. I’m so pleased I wrote these moments down, as they occurred. I have a feeling that, had I not, I wouldn’t have been able to remember them at the end of the month, due to virus overwhelm. Following are my happier moments during the month just gone.

Weather: The beautiful autumn weather that we had during March, along with a little rain, certainly did make me smile. It’s a pleasure to get out into the garden at the moment, and see that it’s actually not looking too bad after the summer. Usually at this time of year, I’m despairing of whether any amount of time I spend working in the garden,  is going to bring the results I crave.

Garden: There were many hours spent working hard but having fun, while rejuvenating our vegetable garden and creating a new herb garden. We now have most of our winter veggies planted, except for those that will go in a little later in the season. So far we have broccoli, silverbeet, cabbage, lettuce, bok choy, peas, snow peas, onion, leek, and beetroot. I put in a new herb garden and planted a strawberry garden.

 

Blogging: April is Blogging April A-Z Challenge time, so during March I’ve spent hours making sure my posts are ready to go, come 1st April. This year I’m participating in A-Z on Best Bookish Blog.  We had theme reveal day in March where I revealed that my theme, once again, was book reviews. Many hours have been spent in the past few months reading, in readiness for writing my reviews. If you’re interested in reading I’d love you to follow along as I post a book review everyday. Theme Reveal day was a March highlight. I look forward to that day every year, when I get to check out other participating blogs, and read about their themes. I’m always in awe of the topics and themes chosen by bloggers.

I’ve been loving participating in the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge on my family history blog, Tracking Down The Family.  This challenge requires me to collate research that I’ve done over many years, and turn that research into a story about an ancestor, every week in 2020. Each week is themed, which gives it an extra challenge.

Cycling: Late March was the time that I was due to get back on the bike, after months of knee rehab. When the day arrived, I was very nervous that my knee would be injured again by pedalling for a longer period.  I tried to think only positive thoughts, as we headed off bright and early to the O’Keefe Rail Trail. Our intention was  to avoid others on the trail,  while practicing social distancing. I was quite hesitant at first but needn’t have worried as my knee passed the test with flying colours, as the pedals turned for 16k. It was just a short ride as I had to go to work later, and also because it was just meant to be a short test ride.  I’m now very excited to start riding regularly and increase the distance.

What was the highlight of February for you? I’d love to hear about it and promise to reply to all comments.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: life, March Smiles

Comments

  1. Joanne Tracey says

    April 6, 2020 at 11:22 am

    Your veggie garden looks amazing. Glad to see you’re back on the bike and I’ve been seeing your A-Z coming through. Wishing you a healthy April.

    Reply
    • nextphaseinfitness says

      April 8, 2020 at 10:19 am

      Thanks Jo. You take care and stay safe too

      Reply
  2. Deborah says

    April 6, 2020 at 11:31 am

    March has certainly brought with it many changes and challenges.

    We’ve had great weather as well. Some rain but not too much. And finally (FINALLY) here in my part of Qld it’s starting to get a bit cooler. Still tshirt and shorts weather but I’m not needing the airconditioner on each day.

    Reply
    • nextphaseinfitness says

      April 8, 2020 at 10:19 am

      I’m envious that you’re still in warm weather clothes as we drag the coats out. My soon in Noosa loves to tell me how lovely and warm it is up there

      Reply
  3. Vanessa says

    April 6, 2020 at 3:05 pm

    I love autumn and spring – the rare weeks when it’s not so hot that you need air con on. You can actually enjoy the outside and fresh air.

    Reply
    • nextphaseinfitness says

      April 8, 2020 at 10:17 am

      Autumn’s my favourite time Vanessa. Thanks for popping in

      Reply
  4. Leanne | www.crestingthehill.com.au says

    April 6, 2020 at 4:16 pm

    Jennifer where do you find the time??? You work, you do giant gardening projects, you blog, you do the AtoZ, you do 52 ancestors, you’re off on bike rides – and so much more! I’m just sitting around at home having a very restful and unproductive life. I guess you’re making up for my lack of effort!

    Reply
    • nextphaseinfitness says

      April 8, 2020 at 10:14 am

      Leanne when you put it that way it’s sounds exhausting. I don’t sleep much so most of what I do inside the house gets done in the wee small hours. Thanks again for popping in x

      Reply
  5. Debbie Harris says

    April 6, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    I’m so glad to hear you got back on the bike Jennifer. I’ve also had a dodgy knee lately and luckily I found that cycling has been good exercise for it, as it’s low impact. I agree the weather has been lovely although it turned a tad cool here on the weekend and we broke our rule and put the fire on earlier than usual, it’s called extenuating circumstances. Your garden is looking great and the rain recently should have helped it along! Love your March smiles 🙂 #lifethisweek

    Reply
    • nextphaseinfitness says

      April 8, 2020 at 10:16 am

      Deb cycling has always been great for my knee too but this time there was no bend in my leg. If it makes you feel better, we lit the fire early too x

      Reply
  6. Laurie says

    April 6, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    Glad to read you are back on the bike. It’s spring here in the US and time for us to get our bikes out of storage and hit the trails again. Of course, we will have to find a trail that isn’t too crowded and practice social distancing but I am excited to get out and ride!

    I’m going to have to check out the family tracking blog. That sounds like a fun project!

    Reply
    • nextphaseinfitness says

      April 8, 2020 at 10:17 am

      Hi Laurie I feel slightly envious that you’re going into spring as we start to get ready for the dreaded winter.

      Reply
  7. Denyse Whelan says

    April 9, 2020 at 2:55 pm

    Lovely to see how much you are making time for in the great outdoors while you can!!

    Thank you for linking up for Life This Week. Next week’s optional prompt is 15/51 Share Your Snaps #3 13.4.2020 Happy Easter. Stay Safe. Stay Home. Stay Well. Denyse.

    Reply
    • nextphaseinfitness says

      April 10, 2020 at 2:56 pm

      Happy Easter to you also Denyse. We are struggling with no phone or internet. But able to check in if we walk a distance from home. Take care x

      Reply

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