[MaeradCase]

Welcome, my fellow nerds, to my eighth step in a healthier direction!

 

I've been keeping my focus on small habits to practice consistency since my history of falling out with exercise stems from losing momentum. I also want to avoid burnout, so I'm doing my best to make my goals fun. Apparently (based on the length of what I've composed here) more fun means more details? lol XD

 

For context: I've been playing various iterations of Animal Crossing for 15+ years, and last fall Cid gave me the Switch version New Horizons. I anticipated the immediate obsessive reaction I would have to playing it, so I postponed until I finally started it a little over a week ago. One of the new features I like in this new version is the Nook Miles+ Rewards that give you a bonus reward for doing the first five tasks, and if you want to continue playing, more rewards without a bonus will spawn as you complete the tasks in hand.

 

Ahead, I've got a list of the Nook Miles+ Reward challenge names from ACNH, a list of the exercises done in the plaza of ACNH, and all my numerous wordy thoughts on how I intend to adapt the challenges into my own goals so that if I put them all on Index cards and shuffle them into a deck I'll have a random draw of which five goals will get a double point bonus for getting done. XD

 

I'm sharing the list of the tasks so that anyone can pick as they please. My picks are whichever I can pair with my personal goals. If you join me in this ACNH-themed 5-week challenge, you are neither limited to my selected tasks nor to my interpretations of what I do to accomplish them. Tbh, I am not entirely sure the list is complete despite being found online since I noticed a few missing, and tacked them on at the end. Even so it's pretty long.

 

Spoiler

Worth 100 Nook Miles:

• Catch 3 deep sea creatures
• Plant a fruit tree *
• Plant a tree *
• Plant 3 flowers
• Water 8 flower *
• Sell 20 weeds *
• Hit 5 rocks
• Change your appearance
• Take a picture

 

Worth 150 Nook Miles:

• Catch 5 bugs *
• Catch 5 fish *
• Chop 10 wood *
• Sell things for 5,000 bells
• Sell 5 fruits *
• Assess 3 fossils
• Complete 3 DIY projects *
• Customize 2 items *

 

Worth 200 Nook Miles:

• Spend 5,000 bells
• Redeem 500 Nook Miles
• Sell 10 sea shells *
• Sell a hot item *
• Chop down a tree *
• Pop a balloon *
• Talk to 3 neighbors *

 

Worth varying or unknown number of Miles:

• Catch a specific bug *
• Catch a specific fish *
• Stretch to Refresh *

 

Asterisks used to mark which ones I paired with my goals. Use them as you see fit.

 

The first thing that made me consider this theme for my 5-week challenge was the stretching that can be done as a daily activity in game. I want to scale back my goals so that I have a daily goal to do that warm-up first thing in the morning, and/or last thing at night. I don't have the ability to do it in the video game because I don't have the joy cons, but I do have the ability to do the exercises without the game giving me credit for it. So I've compiled the list of stretches used in the little exercise.

 

Spoiler

Arm Lifts while marching

Arm Rotations while marching

Side Stretches

Twists and Large Twists

Toe Touches

Body Rotations

Jumping + Jacks

Arm Lifts while marching

 

(If you watch a video of the exercises and have a better name for the exercises, please share. I feel like at least two of these have a more precise name I can't think of)

 

That being said, I already know I'm including the "Stretch to Refresh" challenge because it's already a goal I want to accomplish every day - even if I don't pull the index card. It can be a warm-up for other exercises, but I am going to consider just doing these warm-ups their own goal in attempt to promote motion. I will keep track of my daily streak in my attempt to do the stretches every day.

 

My next thought is the fact that my coloring project I originally included as one of my crafty options for my Artificer goals *never* got touched in all of January. But I *do* want to color and draw. My solution is to disguise it in a less daunting facade. I'm using "Chop Down a Tree" as a goal to sharpen one pencil. That puts me in the place where I can use said pencils. In the same theme, "Plant a tree" would be a challenge to draw something, and "Plant a fruit tree" would be to color something. I could also include "Chop 10 Wood" as a journal prompt or letter-writing assignment.

 

"Talk to 3 neighbors" immediately goes into the ranks with little creative thought needed. So long as I make contact with three friends by the end of the day, this goal will be met. To be honest, that's a very necessary goal at this time. I can try spreading it out to one per mealtime if reaching out to three at once seems daunting.

 

I'll include the DIY project challenges, but strangely enough, not for my quilt. XD I'm thinking "Make 3 DIY projects" could be writing for 30 minutes (maybe in sprint mode), and "Customize 2 things" could be editing for 20 minutes (or contemplative writing). That way I get started on the second draft. It's not going to revise itself. XD I *do* want to include my quilt as a goal, though. I think it'd be a good match with "Pop a Balloon" (because needles and pins are sharp?), and the goal could be to get a thread's length of quilting done.

 

"Sell 10 Seashells" fits with an activity I've already been spending some time doing: sifting through my phone's gallery, trying to delete the excessive hoards of saved images. I'll also apply "Sell 20 Weeds" to this task because I move files around while I sift through them. "Sell 20 weeds" is moving 20 images to trash or folders, and "Sell 10 shells" is moving 10 to trash. Another aspect of sifting through my folders of pictures is sharing them. "Sell 5 fruits" can be sharing 5 pictures with friends. "Sell a hot item" could be sharing a picture on Facebook.

 

I feel like the goals for catching bugs and fish would be a funny way to get points for eating fruits and vegetables. The goal of catching 5 fish would be to have an abundance of vegetables at my meal. The goal of catching 1 fish could be to go and get an unusual veggie (we almost always have carrots, onions, or bell peppers, but we do like plenty of other veggies that a diverse array is viable... potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, celery, asparagus, salads, corn, etc.) Likewise, for fruit, catching 5 bugs would be to have an abundance of fruit, and catching 1 bug would be to get one that I don't usually have on hand (I love so many fruits, that it's basically anything except apples which I almost always grab for an addition to my lunches).

 

"Water 8 flowers" should definitely be to use my enormous Hufflepuff cauldron mug for my water. XD That thing hydrates like magic. But I don't know what "Planting 3 flowers" would be in that sense, so it may not make it into the challenge. That fine - it wouldn't be the only challenge that I liked but didn't have a goal to align the challenge with.

 

I haven't made any of my index cards yet.  18 things to do is a lot, but I wonder if I might just get standard points for each task until I have made the index cards? Can't get a x2 bonus until there's an index card to pull? I've already had a few days to make them, but maybe I'll get them made this week, or slowly as I go, or I'll never have them made to pull and still get ridiculous point counts despite having no bonus. XD

 

I'm basically just trying to make something that sounds fun. It looks like I put a lot of effort into pairing my things with an existing list, but I really am just going with whatever sounds reasonable to me. I hope it doesn't come across as too zany or hard to follow.  And to avoid the broken link emojis, I'll just be keeping track of the Nook Miles I earn? I'm hoping taking credit for a lot of small successes this month helps me keep doing things I like. 

 

Have a beautiful day!

Sincerely,

Maerad

 

[Everstorm]

Sounds like you'll be getting a lot of mileage out of the new theme 😆  

 

I'll see myself out 🤭

[Salinger]

Wooooooooooo hey there. 

 

Will support you through the challenge ❤️ 

 

Lots of love xx

[Snarkyfishguts]

I love Animal Crossing too. I currently won't let anyone leave on my island. I'm starting to feel more like a Warden. "No Derwin! You are adorable and must stay forever!"  I like how you are pairing the game with your life goals!

[Sovalis]

I am so here for this! 🎈🎁🔔

[MaeradCase]

14 hours ago, Everstorm said:

Sounds like you'll be getting a lot of mileage out of the new theme 😆  

 

I'll see myself out 🤭

Perfection. Thank you. 😂

 

13 hours ago, Salinger said:

Wooooooooooo hey there. 

 

Will support you through the challenge ❤️ 

 

Lots of love xx

Yaayy!! Glad to have you along!

 

4 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

I love Animal Crossing too. I currently won't let anyone leave on my island. I'm starting to feel more like a Warden. "No Derwin! You are adorable and must stay forever!"  I like how you are pairing the game with your life goals!

One of my residents left within the first two weeks, and I was so offended I let him leave before I realized that he didn't teach me any reactions yet. 😅

 

1 hour ago, Sovalis said:

I am so here for this! 🎈🎁🔔

Glad to have you along!

💰🦝💰

[MaeradCase]

Got 1200 miles today for sifting through pics this morning, doing my stretches before leaving for work, eating salad and veggie-ful lunch, drinking water from my cauldron mug, and reaching out to friends. (Actually, I think I may need to message one more to hit the goal in full... Darn)

 

I am beyond exhausted due to coming down with a cold. The medicine didn't seem very effective today, but maybe maintained use will help it kick the cold's butt. I let Cid make our dinner, and I used up all the mayo I had in the fridge to make the mayonnaise cake for my friend to try. Just finished the chocolate frosting, and I dare say it looks delicious. (Smells delicious, too)

 

On my way home I considered sharpening a pencil for those easy points that lead to more points, but I was too tired, and then I let Animal Crossing get in the way... I wanted to try copying designs I made in New Leaf into New Horizons. Turns out they get a little distorted. 😕 Darn

 

Gonna crawl into bed and sleep like the dead.

Hope tomorrow goes better cold-wise.

Maerad

[Salinger]

Really hope you sleep well and any illness buggers off in the night ❤️ xx

[Snarkyfishguts]

20 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

One of my residents left within the first two weeks, and I was so offended I let him leave before I realized that he didn't teach me any reactions yet. 😅

I had a resident make another resident cry, and the victim talked about it the next day so we were like "She's gotta go." so we planted weeds around her house and hit her with the net until she said she wanted to go. She ended up moving to my cousin's town and is super nice there. I find it all suspect.  

[Silmarilliane]

On 2/6/2023 at 3:24 AM, MaeradCase said:

Animal Crossing for 15+ years

 

Pretty sure I spent 15yrs in lockdown playing ACNH  I once spent a whole day planting all the flowers into rainbow stripes across the whole island ❤️

 

I love you're linking the nook miles to personal challenges - wish I'd done similar in lockdown instead of just playing it for 250+hrs...

[Sovalis]

4 hours ago, Silmarilliane said:

 

Pretty sure I spent 15yrs in lockdown playing ACNH  I once spent a whole day planting all the flowers into rainbow stripes across the whole island ❤️

 

I love you're linking the nook miles to personal challenges - wish I'd done similar in lockdown instead of just playing it for 250+hrs...

I have a rainbow garden by my house in game. It brings me joy. I can't keep plants alive very well in real life, so game plants make my heart happy. 

[MaeradCase]

13 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

I had a resident make another resident cry, and the victim talked about it the next day so we were like "She's gotta go." so we planted weeds around her house and hit her with the net until she said she wanted to go. She ended up moving to my cousin's town and is super nice there. I find it all suspect.  

A friend showed me around her town, and I met the creepiest looking villager there, and she told me her woes of having him around. 😅

 

12 hours ago, Silmarilliane said:

Pretty sure I spent 15yrs in lockdown playing ACNH  I once spent a whole day planting all the flowers into rainbow stripes across the whole island ❤️

 

I love you're linking the nook miles to personal challenges - wish I'd done similar in lockdown instead of just playing it for 250+hrs...

I mean I've been playing since I played the GameCube version when I was introduced to it in 2008. 😅 I've played numerous iterations, though never City Folks or Pocket Camp.

You still could! 😉

 

7 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I have a rainbow garden by my house in game. It brings me joy. I can't keep plants alive very well in real life, so game plants make my heart happy. 

I am hardcore harvesting crops in this game, and trying to work my way to flower color diversity before I get involved in complicated terraforming. 😂

 

Week 0 Tuesday Update:

I got 1150 miles today thanks to doing the warm up, sifting through pictures, sharing several with friends, texting friends, and using my cauldron mug. My cold still has me feeling gross, my medicine still sits badly in my stomach, and I still could use a long day of rest to recover, but work needs me so not really an option unless it's pressing.

I didn't do anything crafty, but it was game night, and I got to spend time with friends, so still a good end to the day. 😃

 

Thanks for checking on me!

Sincerely,

Maerad

[Silmarilliane]

14 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I have a rainbow garden by my house in game. It brings me joy. I can't keep plants alive very well in real life, so game plants make my heart happy. 

 

I think the only thing stopping me going back now is the guilt from all the neighbours  but my house there brings me a lot of joy - I have a games basement, an underwater-themed jazz music room, a gym, and a starry night bedroom. Ahh,,, maybe I'll play again this weekend...

 

6 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

I mean I've been playing since I played the GameCube version when I was introduced to it in 2008. 😅 I've played numerous iterations, though never City Folks or Pocket Camp.

You still could! 😉

 

I accidentally ended up with my friend's neighbour that she kicked off her island... I was not happy about that haha! I do still have my two first neighbours though as I just can't give them up.

Fair to get all the flower colours - I'm still missing one (I think a purple something) which is quite complicated to make, and involves remembering which hybrids are hybrids of others. I have fully terraformed to have quick access to the back beach with jumping pillars between 👌 and also did the weather-lookup thing so I know when the shooting stars are coming. However, I've always really sucked at fishing, which seems quite a big thing for the game

 

Sorry the cold is sticking around, hopefully it departs soon.

 

Also, what games did you play?  

[Everstorm]

Sorry the cold is still kicking you when you're down.  Hopefully,  you start feeling better soon.

[Sovalis]

Hope you're feeling even a tiny bit better today, Maerad. 🎈

[MaeradCase]

12 hours ago, Silmarilliane said:

 

I think the only thing stopping me going back now is the guilt from all the neighbours  but my house there brings me a lot of joy - I have a games basement, an underwater-themed jazz music room, a gym, and a starry night bedroom. Ahh,,, maybe I'll play again this weekend...

I'd love to visit and have you over on my island if you do play this weekend. I've heard playing with others makes the game better. @Sovalis also has an island on my list of destinations to visit. 😍

 

12 hours ago, Silmarilliane said:

I accidentally ended up with my friend's neighbour that she kicked off her island... I was not happy about that haha! I do still have my two first neighbours though as I just can't give them up.

I used two copies of New Leaf for between-town interactions, and found that residents want to move where you visited. 🤔

 

12 hours ago, Silmarilliane said:

Fair to get all the flower colours - I'm still missing one (I think a purple something) which is quite complicated to make, and involves remembering which hybrids are hybrids of others. I have fully terraformed to have quick access to the back beach with jumping pillars between 👌 and also did the weather-lookup thing so I know when the shooting stars are coming. However, I've always really sucked at fishing, which seems quite a big thing for the game

I think it's a beautiful game that has something for everyone's preferences. My friend that played with me this weekend had spent all her playtime fishing and diving on her island, so she and I had quite different resulting islands. 😅

 

12 hours ago, Silmarilliane said:

Sorry the cold is sticking around, hopefully it departs soon.

 

Also, what games did you play?  

In addition to original GameCube version of Animal Crossing, I've played Wide World on DS (I was borrowing a friend's copy, as a guest villager in their pre-established town). I didn't play City Folks on Wii, but I've been playing New Leaf and its furniture game Happy Home Designers since 2020.

I play some other games, too: Legend of Zelda, Pikmin, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, etc.

 

10 hours ago, Everstorm said:

Sorry the cold is still kicking you when you're down.  Hopefully,  you start feeling better soon.

Maybe? I didn't remember to grab a dose of medicine to take at lunch, so my nose has been simultaneously stuffy and runny...

 

4 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Hope you're feeling even a tiny bit better today, Maerad. 🎈

... And yet today seems okay. Thanks for the encouragement, guys. 😍 I'll be back later with a tally of today's miles so I can take credit for whatever it is I do when I get home from work. 😅

[MaeradCase]

3 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

I'll be back later with a tally of today's miles so I can take credit for whatever it is I do when I get home from work. 😅

I earned 950 miles. Barely squeaked by with a couple goals including water, exercise, and veggies. I finally colored. I know I should allow myself to have some satisfaction about finally following through, but I'm pretty tired and can't manage nicer than passive aggressive toward myself.

 

(I colored the weapons, shield, and a few remaining things on top of the desk)

 

Gonna clean up and go to bed. 

Hope y'all had a good evening.

Sincerely,

Maerad

[Salinger]

Really cool Art!!!!!!!!!

 

Hoping you are having a nice rest ❤️ xx

[Sovalis]

I think it looks great. I get the passive aggressive though, I deal with that with my own art on the regular. Hugs if you want them!

[MaeradCase]

On 2/8/2023 at 11:44 PM, Salinger said:

Really cool Art!!!!!!!!!

 

Hoping you are having a nice rest ❤️ xx

Thank you!

 

19 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I think it looks great. I get the passive aggressive though, I deal with that with my own art on the regular. Hugs if you want them!

I appreciate the hugs and empathy. Thanks, Sovalis. 😃 I will continue to color, enjoy the results, and tell that boogieman brain to shut it. 😂

 

Wow, 1400 miles (1200 - turned out I still had my sharpened pencil still marked from Wednesday) earned today thanks to sifting pics, eating veggies, talking to people, drinking water, warming up, and surprise round quilting now that Critical Role is on. (Was gonna do editing (and maybe I should get points for turning on editor brain while reading?), but kept playing New Horizons instead. 😅)

Gotta pay attention to Matt running his game. See you all tomorrow!

Maerad

[MaeradCase]

Am taking credit of 1400 miles today. Water, fruit, veggies, pic sifting and sharing, warm-up, and taking credit for turning on editor brain (probably could take credit for it yesterday, too, but in addition to jotting down a thought I also went on two information deep dives (mountain farming and noteworthy river details)). Got Cid a plushie and GirlScout cookies as an early Valentine's gift. I got myself a box of Lindor and a Valentine set of Kraken Sweetheart dice. (Cid doesn't celebrate enforced romantic expectation holidays as a rule, so I don't expect any surprises, but we are going to get tacos on Tuesday)

 

Gonna play a little more New Horizons and spend the rest of the evening with Cid. 😉 Have a good weekend, guys. 😃

Sincerely,

Maerad

[XBlackWidowX]

What a fantastic challenge, so many different things to do! I am following!

 

On 2/6/2023 at 11:24 AM, MaeradCase said:

: sifting through my phone's gallery, trying to delete the excessive hoards of saved images.

Ohh, I know it well, it reminded me it's something I have to do as well. I need to take pics at work daily, so my phone is so clattered.

 

On 2/6/2023 at 11:24 AM, MaeradCase said:

The first thing that made me consider this theme for my 5-week challenge was the stretching that can be done as a daily activity in game. I want to scale back my goals so that I have a daily goal to do that warm-up first thing in the morning, and/or last thing at night. I don't have the ability to do it in the video game because I don't have the joy cons, but I do have the ability to do the exercises without the game giving me credit for it. So I've compiled the list of stretches used in the little exercise.

That's great! Sometimes stretching can feel like a burden and I wanna skip it, but afterwards I feel  so good.

 

On 2/6/2023 at 11:24 AM, MaeradCase said:

"Talk to 3 neighbors" immediately goes into the ranks with little creative thought needed. So long as I make contact with three friends by the end of the day, this goal will be met. To be honest, that's a very necessary goal at this time. I can try spreading it out to one per mealtime if reaching out to three at once seems daunting.

I have a similar objective in my challenge, but it's about talking to the family members. Before I always postponed it and then it turned out I didn't contact someone for months. But after including it in my battle log, I am doing so much better!

 

55 minutes ago, MaeradCase said:

Got Cid a plushie and GirlScout cookies as an early Valentine's gift. I got myself a box of Lindor and a Valentine set of Kraken Sweetheart dice. (Cid doesn't celebrate enforced romantic expectation holidays as a rule, so I don't expect any surprises, but we are going to get tacos on Tuesday)

That's so sweet! Happy Valentine's Day!

[shaar]

On 2/10/2023 at 8:33 PM, MaeradCase said:

 Got Cid a plushie and GirlScout cookies as an early Valentine's gift. I got myself a box of Lindor and a Valentine set of Kraken Sweetheart dice. (Cid doesn't celebrate enforced romantic expectation holidays as a rule, so I don't expect any surprises, but we are going to get tacos on Tuesday)

 

We don't do expectation holidays here either 'cause it's just not our jam, BUT this year we talked before Valentines and each got the other one surprise - I got my husband a beef jerky variety pack and he got me an enormous cat stuffed plush. XD 

 

Valentines falling on a Taco Tuesday though is AMAZING and I hope you guys enjoy the hell out of it!!

 

[MaeradCase]

On 2/10/2023 at 8:23 PM, XBlackWidowX said:

What a fantastic challenge, so many different things to do! I am following!

Thanks! I don't have to do all of them, but I want to give myself credit for what I do accomplish.

 

On 2/10/2023 at 8:23 PM, XBlackWidowX said:

I have a similar objective in my challenge, but it's about talking to the family members. Before I always postponed it and then it turned out I didn't contact someone for months. But after including it in my battle log, I am doing so much better!

Awesome! 😃

 

11 hours ago, shaar said:

We don't do expectation holidays here either 'cause it's just not our jam, BUT this year we talked before Valentines and each got the other one surprise - I got my husband a beef jerky variety pack and he got me an enormous cat stuffed plush. XD 

Neat! Cid got groceries yesterday and splurged on chocolate, so that was a pleasant surprise for me. 😍

 

11 hours ago, shaar said:

Valentines falling on a Taco Tuesday though is AMAZING and I hope you guys enjoy the hell out of it!!

 

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Definitely going to! 😍

 

Weekend update: I've been consistently getting close to 1000 miles, so that's good. I'm pondering if drawing and coloring should get extra points, or if I should leave them since to change them would make the point scale change... I mean, reevaluating is what week 0 is for, right?

 

I tend to get absorbed in the sifting through pictures, but since that's also with progress on the agenda, I guess that's fine.

 

I certainly need to reevaluate what constitutes reaching out to friends. Sharing pictures is already getting credit for basically throwing out a hook for correspondence, but what I'm meaning to do is have meaningful conversations... So maybe I'll tone it down to one friend to fulfill the task.

 

This weekend was delightfully packed with Animal Crossing. Thanks to @Silmarilliane I have rounded out my island's produce with all the veggies and the last fruit tree I was needing. She also gave me a chance to wish on a lot of stars in addition to a meteor shower that took place on my island when dusk came to my side of the globe. 😉

I would have spent all day today changing my island's layout, but I intentionally took breaks, if only at meal times (thanks to Cid making each meal this morning). I did stretches throughout the day, I colored this morning before I started playing, and at lunch I took a jab at editing. At dinnertime I pulled out two games for Cid and me to play, which didn't go too badly. I've cleaned up and I'm posting, but I'm headed back for a bit more before I head to bed. 😂

 

Alright, that's enough for now. I'll update the points scoring chart tomorrow for those interested in what that breakdown will be.

 

Thanks for being here!

Sincerely,

Maerad

[Silmarilliane]

8 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

reevaluating is what week 0 is for, right?

 

Yep, I'd agree with this - if something needs tweaking, make the change now rather than wait for the next challenge for sure.

 

And you are welcome! Hope you managed to get all the star fragments, and also are underway finding your weather seed! It definitely makes that part of the game much easier