IWSG #4

At the beginning of every month, as part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, I take a look at my successes (not just in writing), share the ways I hope to improve in the next month, answer the IWSG question of the month, and provide inspiration (if I have any).

March Goals (Because I didn't have April Goals)–
✓ Read a book.
✓ Finish planning D.C.
✗ Reserve a rental car for Boston. (In-laws did it.)
✓- Blog ahead and get prepared for the April A-Z blogging challenge! (My last post for the challenge was completed the day before it went live. Staying ahead just barely happened…)

Additional Successes –
✓ Politics! Participated in the Tax March, and the Science March, and sent faxes to my representatives.
✓ Hosted Easter on a budget.
✓ Continued working on my 101 in 1001 List. (26 tasks currently completed.)
✓ DuoLingo! I'm now at 12% fluent in German. (Whatever that means.)
✓ Blog follower and twitter numbers are up!
✓ I have tickets to see Trevor Noah (from The Daily Show) in October! :)
✓ Got to explore more of Boston than I've ever seen before – Chinatown, Little Italy, and the Freedom Trail!
✓ Spent time with family – birthday dinners, Easter, and seeing family we never get to see.
✓ Completed April A-Z! Meaning: I edited over 2,000 images, put together more than 20 long form blog posts, shared 4 video files (out of many), crafted my first gif images, and commented on over 200 blog posts (not including comments in response to my readers).
✓ Budget cuts. We've been slashing our grocery and restaurant budget. While we aren't doing amazing, we are definitely doing better. And that deserves celebrating. (It's the little accomplishments sometimes.)
✓ Set up a Bullet Journal to help me with blogging.

May Goals –
• read 2 books. (I'm so behind on this yearly goal!)
• put together my resumé and look for jobs.
• Continue to stay involved in politics.
• Also, keep working on my 101 in 1001 list.
• Stay positive. :)

IWSG Question: What is the weirdest/coolest thing you ever had to research for your story?

I can't think of anything. I research a lot of different things for different reasons, but it all depends on who you are as to whether or not you think it's "cool".

In college, I spent a lot of time researching how art in books plays into a child's learning. I was considering going into art education. I have to say that was one of the most difficult topics I have ever researched. There just isn't a lot of information available.

Your Turn

Did you do anything inciteful or fun in these past two months? Were you a participant in the April A-Z challenge?