Dedwyddwch

It actually feels less intense than I thought it would. Just requires a little self-control when I see pretty things I want to buy I actually live in an apartment, so my garden isn't by my house, it's in a local community garden down the road. For $20, I have a 30 sq meter plot for a year. It's a nice way to have a decent garden when you're in a concrete block! This week-end has been a little off track though. My work is doing a 4 day crazy week-end festival, so i've been running up a little tab at the canteen. I did plan ahead and bought food with me, but without scheduled breaks it's difficult to run half a mile back to the main building to pick up my lunch kit. At least when i'm exhausted at the end of the 12 hours I have the food left to eat for supper!

Oh that art thing is a challenge... I have actually been re-evaluating whether to keep selling my art. But then if I don't, what am I going to do with it all? I currently do acrylic on canvas and when it doesn't sell, it takes up a lot of room in my little apartment! I've been thinking about transitioning more to watercolor and doing a watercolor journal when i'm out and about in the countryside. It's more portable anyways, and the pieces take up less room. A 365 day challenge will sure give you a lot of pieces to find something to do with! I'd recommend to try setting up an Etsy shop and see what happens. It's a minimal cost, and if you tag your posts right (and have descriptive titles- extra tags!) you can get a lot of views and hopefully a few sales! Do you currently post them anywhere? I'd love to see your work!

Hello Druids! Long time since i've been here, but i'd like to try another challenge. My challenge this time is not as complicated as past challenges. We have some major expenses due in a month, so we decided to do an absolutely no spending money challenge (except gas and utility bills). No groceries! We have been doing this actually for a few weeks now. We do have a lot of freezer food, and a garden so there is no reason we should be buying groceries anyways! Except for some reason I do, I get junk food and other unhealthy things. So the last few weeks i've been noticing that I have to get creative with my food, start making things from scratch, and use what we have wisely to last us the next 5 weeks. It's actually a fun challenge, and is starting to change the way I look at my food to more healthy habits. I haven't been eating junk food for snacks (because we ran out in the first few days and couldn't buy more) and nor have I been eating out for meals. So i've been baking bread and making sandwiches and soups, eating fresh veggies for snacks, etc. I've been finding also with material things it makes me re-evaluate what I want to spend money on. I have to say no to the things i'd normally buy impulsively, and anything that is more necessary has to go on a list and wait a month or so. Few things have made that list. The second part of my challenge is to get into a stretching routine. I know I need to work on strength, but that will come in the future. For now i've been having a lot of pain in my knees, legs and especially my feet. I've had massage and everything is super tight from lots of standing and walking at my jobs (the standing is a killer!) Since I can't afford regular massages, I've been looking at some stretches and exercises to help myself in between massages. I've been finding that stretching before my shift has been making it a little more tolerable, it's just remembering to do that when i'm in the morning rush. Hopefully in a few months everything will be working smoother and I can move on to building up strength. So in a nutshell: 1. Don't spend money 2. Stretch daily I'll hopefully get to reading your challenges and commenting on them over the next few days

Whew it's been a crazy few weeks! Today is a 15 hour work day, and I was only able to get 5 hours of sleep (the result of taking a nap too late)...provided I don't get a tired headache, I should hopefully pull this through, though unfortunately the hardest part of the work is going to be the last 3 hours, when i'm the most tired. But working in a restaurant seems to knock off two of my goals- it gets me moving and after my shift I sleep like a baby. It's definitely a challenge with the food though, because I am working over supper/lunch time and don't get much of a gap in between jobs to make a good meal. I'll have to look at some quick options. One month I made 30 different freezer bags of meals that I could just throw in the slowcooker. I'll have to revisit that and see if I can make something quickly. I've noticed a lot of problems with my feet though. I have good sneakers with gel insoles but my feet hurt so bad after a shift (the restaurant part on my feet is only 3-4 hours) that I can't walk the rest of the evening. It's fine when i'm moving but when I stop and put my feet up at home, I can't get started again. I ordered some orthotics and i'll see if that makes a difference. Financially we made some big changes. We have a gas guzzling truck and since we are driving two separate directions, one of us ends up taking the truck. Our gas budget is $500/month and we've been spending between $800-1000! So we put the truck on layaway (it needed about $1500 in repairs and new tires anyways) and bought a small Honda Civic for $2500. Only catch is it's a standard and i've never driven standard before! So that's been a learning curve for me. Actually it's not that bad, the next day I was driving around the city and am getting much better with take off (though take off on a hill is a different story- thank goodness I haven't had any cars stopped behind me yet!) But learning how to drive a different car, learning my new job, and learning my new phone (not that big of a deal but it's the little things that push us over) is kind of draining. Too much changed in a matter of days, it's a little overwhelming!

Oh the fixed bed time Sunmage, that's the next step! I think i'll aim for 10:30 and try to put everything away by then. I am selling my smartphone, so that should make it less tempting to sit in bed and browse the internet!

Hello! I'm not sure what to say about the sleeping. I often feel tired when I wake up, but yet I have been feeling like I am sleeping better, if that makes any sense. I am sleeping more solid, when I go to bed I am out until the morning where in the past I was waking up 5 or 6 times a night. But yet i'm still tired. Maybe it is the point in the sleep cycle where I am waking? I also discovered an awesome thing...a $5 sleep mask! It is so hot in our place we have to sleep with the bedroom door open so the cool air reaches us. But I need pitch black to sleep and the light from the doorway being open has been keeping me half awake. So after months of this, I went out and found a sleep mask and it works wonders! Movement has been good, I have been working my new job which keeps me on my feet and moving. And I played baseball this weekend! Maybe that's why i'm sleeping more soundly, i've been moving more and my body feels wiped at the end of a shift. I don't really remember all that I ate, this last week has been a whirl! I did make a number of breakfasts, paleo banana pancakes and then oatmeal with berries. Oh and I had chicken spinach wraps. But most dinners have been eaten at work (it's cool that the restaurant actually makes their staff a little dinner or lunch as a bonus!) or on the road as we've been out a fair bit. Ok a small rant...i've been a little bothered today. Is there anything wrong with being a bit heavy? I know I want to get moving and eating healthier, and the goal behind that is to lose some extra pounds. But I have some friends that keep pointing out that I have gained weight. Not in a nasty way, just an observation way, especially when we go clothes shopping (but I guess that's to be expected). I do want to get healthier, but in some ways I don't mind my body. It just seems like others do. I used to be much smaller, around 140 lbs. But I had zero confidence and I dressed like crap in my mom's baggy hand me downs. Now I am at 180, but i've gained confidence throughout those years and have learned how to dress nice and look attractive. So I actually feel better now than I ever did when I was a smaller size. I'd rather be bigger but confident than tiny but not confident. This isn't to say I don't want to lose some belly and I don't get frustrated with it when clothes don't fit, but i'm just bothered that people keep pointing it out. I like that people are caring about me, but if I am heavier, is that an unacceptable thing?

For veggie juices, i've just made a mix of whatever is in my fridge. But i've really liked apples, grapefruit, carrots and peppers. I think that was the mix. Maybe there were oranges? We usually have those ingredients lying around anyways, so it would make sense. Oooo, I should try doing something with watermelon! I can never eat a large one myself, it'd be a good way to not let it go to waste.

Well this first week wasn't the greatest. We had some crazy days and then went on vacation, neither of which are good. I decided to hand out some resumes so I can fins something in the next few weeks to tide me over at the end of the month when I leave my full-time job. I got a few calls withing the first few hours and started working the next day without an interview even! It's my favorite restaurant so I couldn't say no. And we were working some late hours trying to help an unorganized friend move house. But bonus with both of those, restaurant work and helping people move house, it gets me moving so it meets one of the goals! The weekend we went up north to visit family and I basically just sat and read. I read the book thief. I haven't sat and read a novel in years, so I was so glad to curl up on the beach/sit by the lake and read. But my family was watching me, so I wasn't allowed to cry at the end of the book. This week, after a number of days with an empty fridge (no sense going grocery shopping when you are going to be away, so you just stretch it out) I have made some plans for some basic healthy meals and I have done some shopping. So we should be on a good track! As far as sleep goes, it's never good on vacation as we stay up way too late visiting. And i'm now sitting here at midnight typing this. But I "borrowed" a decent pillow from my mother in laws stash (i've been using a folded up blanket until now, which my chiropractor says is bad) so that's one step to a better night! We have some major changes coming up, so on the way home we made a solid financial plan and thought of ways to save and stick to our budget. It felt very druid-y, getting to live on a very tight budget and really think about our purchasing, not just buying whatever we want. It'll be hard to stick with the budget, but I feel some attitude and mental changes from both of us this weekend and it feels more freeing to be restricted with our spending. Does that make any sense? It wasn't part of my goals, but a good life step nonetheless, so I shared.

I love Brene Brown's TED talks! Good luck on your challenge!

I love you drawings! I have a lot of trouble with the loose illustrative drawings, mine tend to be more tight and stress me out. Sometimes it's very freeing for painting just to do a loose impression instead of stressing about details. Btw, how do you upload pictures of your drawings? Do you have to first upload them to a different site and then link to here or can you upload directly from your computer here? And your challenge accepted gif made me think of this:

I second the Flylady link, she really helped me. I never really got into the routine of her babysteps, but what I really took away from her years ago was to get rid of clutter. At the time my house was filthy and full of junk. I slowly went through and took stuff to the thrift store (or you can try to have a garage sale to make a bit of cash!). Now I am addicted to decluttering! If your house is so full of stuff, it will never be clean, or you will spend every minute of every day trying to keep it looking clean. But if you get rid of clutter, even if it's not as clean as it can be, it will still somewhat look like it is. A counter full of stuff looks dirty, no matter how clean and scrubbed the actual counter is. But if you remove the clutter (and get rid of it, it's a one time cleaning task!) then the counter looks cleaner automatically, and then when you do wash and scrub it, it makes your effort visible and worthwhile. http://www.becomingminimalist.com/creative-ways-to-declutter/ Anyhow, that's my ramble. I love decluttering because the space feels free afterwards, like a breath of fresh air. A friend is organizing a garage sale, so i'll be going through my home again to find stuff to sell. I need some extra cash and our home is getting full again so it's a win-win. Good luck with your challenge!

A sleep challenge is a great idea. I too have that as part of my challenge, I spend way too may hours staring at a phone or computer in bed! But books are bad ideas for me before bed, as I never want to put them down, and even when I do I stay awake imagining myself as a character in the story! Don't stress the sleep challenge though, as if you're worried about falling asleep so you meet the challenge, it might end up keeping you awake longer. I find when I know I have a super busy day tomorrow so I NEED to fall asleep early, I end up stressing so much about falling asleep that i'm awake till 3 am. What app do you use for yoga?

You know the druids was the guild I completely passed over when I was looking through the guilds yet now i'm back for my second challenge here! Well I’m going to try to keep it simple this challenge, last challenge was a bit much for me! So my main goal: work on my better relationship with food. I made some improvement last challenge with simply just ignoring junk and processed food, and stuffing in extra veggies and fruit. I didn’t go paleo or cut any groups out (except for junk but that’s not really a group). I would like also this time to add more fruit and veggie juices into the mix, as I find it’s a good way to add extra vitamins and it uses up the leftover veggies and fruit that might otherwise go to waste. So that is my main goal this challenge, to continue with that. And keep a darn food log! , I also want to add a bit of fitness in, but I never seem to be consistent with certain activities. So my goal is half an hour a day, at least 5 days a week. Any sort of activity, as long as it gets me moving. Going for a walk, gardening, swimming, BBWW, whatever works that day. Lately I’ve been struggling with my sleep. I’m staying up late watching TV and such and my sleep is suffering from it. And then the rest of my day is a struggle. So I also want to make sleep a priority. Get to bed at a decent hour. Track my sleep with my sleep app. Do whatever I can to get a good night’s sleep! And a mini goal: I’m an artist and lately I’ve been too tired and busy to paint, and I feel stale when I don’t get a chance to use that creativity! So this challenge I want to finish at least one painting. My paintings are relatively quick, I can finish a few in an afternoon, but by putting it as a challenge it will push me to set aside a bit of time in the next few weeks to paint.

Great concept! And now for some cheering (and gif uploading practice)!

Glad to hear you finished things off with a bang on your vacation, with lots of exercise and also quiet time! Definitely post the chipmunk pictures, that'd be so cool to experience! I think in this challenge I discovered that running just isn't my thing. I made the challenge because my sister and I signed up for a 5K, which i'm glad we did. I played pickleball and that was fun, and I might join indoor soccer. But long distance running just wasn't my thing.