What’s New Wednesday #27: Spring is in the Air 🌻🌹

Spring is officially in the air! According to the calendar, I’m supposed to smell the rain coming and see the dreary winter disappearing already. Well, it’s a little slow-going this year, but I’m holding out hope that in the next week or two we’ll see the change. This winter has been way too long in my opinion. Nevertheless, seeing as yesterday was Spring Day in South Africa, I thought we’d make that our theme in this week’s What’s New Wednesday. 🌹🌻

The first part of this post will be about “Spring Cleaning”, while the second part will be the usual things I often chat about in my What’s New Wednesday posts. So, grab a snack and get comfortable!

Spring Cleaning

Okay, so because our Spring is during the Northern Hemisphere’s Autumn, usually my reading/viewing schedules look a little grimmer than most folks’ plans. What can I say? I love me some Halloween. 😉  That being said, I still get into the spring mood by doing the typical spring things …

Cleaning Up My Body

In my last What’s New Wednesday, I talked about getting more active. Well, on the upside, I don’t hurt as much after a workout anymore (thank heavens), but the process of getting fit is going slower than I anticipated. Nevertheless, the endorphins are helping me stay positive for the most part and I do feel healthier. Whoohoo! Still, all that hard work doesn’t help one bit if I don’t change my diet.

So, I’ve found myself a printable meal planner that’s both pretty and will help little old me stick to my plans.

And you’re probably wondering what my plans are, right?

• Cut out my excessive coffee consumption (3 small cups a day max)
• Drink 8 glasses of water per day
• Eat more fruit and vegetables
• Add an extra “no-meat day” to the weekly meal schedule
• 1 gluten day per week allowed (I’m gluten intolerant, but I really love bread, pasta, and pastries)

These aren’t BIG changes, I know, but hopefully it helps in the long run. I already don’t have a lot of sugar in my diet (a candy bar every now and then is the biggest contributor to my sugar consumption). I don’t really drink any alcohol (a few glasses of wine once every three months, maybe?). And my dairy consumption is limited to my coffee intake (and maybe a bit of cheese now and then). That’s it. If anything, I just need to get rid of the gluten and add more fruit and vegetables.

Cleaning Up My Space

Last week, I already started with my spring cleaning by tackling my wardrobe and I also deep-cleaned the bathroom. This week, I plan on tackling the kitchen cupboards and maybe my bookshelves. It’s pretty straight forward cleaning and organizational work, so … I don’t have much to say about it. LOL!

Cleaning Up My Soul

This year has been utter hell. Every time I feel like things may go better, something else happens. 2020 has tossed me up and down and ’round and ’round so much, half the time I don’t even know what day it is. I’ve tried everything I can to stay level-headed, but it doesn’t always work. So, basically, I decided it’s time to spring clean my soul a bit.

This entails:

• Making more time for self-care.
• Taking on less work.
• I won’t be on social media as much.

Again, these aren’t major changes, but I’m praying they’ll do the trick and help me get back to being my usual silly self. 🙂

TV/Film

Children of the Storm (A.K.A. Racheltjie de Beer) is a South African “pioneer” type of film revolving around the legend of Racheltjie de Beer who sacrificed herself to save her brother from freezing to death. Now, this was a great slow-burning film and the cinematography was fantastic. I quite enjoyed it, but it should be known that it’s not the way I remember the story. Still, if you’re looking for something to watch that’s a bit different, tadam!

The Little Stranger is a movie I accidentally came across on Netflix. I have no idea what it’s about, other than it looking like a gothic horror movie. The trailer looked good, though, so I’ll get into this one sometime this week. 🙂

Cam is another film I didn’t even know existed. This one is a psychological horror that revolves around identity theft. That’s all I know (and all I need to know, to be honest). If you’re looking for something like this, it’s a Netflix movie, too. Whoohoo!

Books

Okay, so I have a whole spring reading list planned out that’ll come in a separate post. That said, I am currently reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. While I’m aware this was recommended reading in some high schools in the US, this was not in our curriculum. I kind of understand why. LOL! I’m not enjoying The Scarlet Letter quite as much, but hey, we can’t enjoy everything. I’m pushing through, though, because my reading list for the upcoming spring season features some incredible titles I can’t wait to escape in.

Music/Podcasts

  Taylor Swift’s album, Folklore, is currently playing on repeat. I love how every album of hers is different yet somehow the same, and although this isn’t my favorite album of hers, I have to admit that the atmosphere it creates is kind of addictive.

I’m also currently listening to Lore, which is a podcast about weird and creepy stuff. You’ve probably heard about the show and the book series already, but I’m kinda enjoying the podcast. 🙂 Nothing better than some spooky stories to get you in the pre-Halloweeen mood, eh? LOL!

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And that’s it for this week’s What’s New Wednesday! As you can see, I’m pretty excited about Spring arriving, and I’m so ready for a positive change. SUNSHINE! Oh, what I won’t do for some proper sunshine …

I’ll see you guys again soon!

Monique