Well, happy May! April was more of a whirlwind than anything else. I realised I didn’t catch up with Lilian for the entire month, and all the things I had planned were done away with just like that. I’m posting this on the first of May, as I started on it this morning. Normally I would just backdate this post to yesterday, but I’m not a big fan of backdating.

Over Easter we visited some of Nick’s family and spent a couple of days relaxing on the Gold Coast. I also attended the Women Techmaker’s Summit in Sydney.

Nick and I made some more progress with our wedding invitations. They required a couple of iterations but we undoubtedly saved several hundred dollars by doing it ourselves. I was kind of lazy with it that I didn’t want to make changes to the original invite, but they looked a thousand times better than what I thought I could make possible. Thanks, impostor syndrome. 🙄 Nick helped me set up georgiesaidyes.com. We chose to keep details limited for privacy reasons. I really wanted to do something more with it, like add photos or something cute, but we’re really busy and the planning requires a lot of effort as it is.

Brandon also graduated a few days ago! 😊👏

Just before writing this, I was:

Mulling over how I almost forgot to write this post.

This past month, I achieved:

I tried – successfully – to go without caffeine for two weeks. It went really well. I opted for decaf teas (mostly herbal or chai) and the only tea I drank was in fruit flavoured teas that I bought on really hot days when I didn’t want a more unhealthy option.

As for whether my previous five-pots-of-tea-a-day really contrasted with the small amount of caffeine this time, I am not really sure. I found this article that says caffeine is actually beneficial, but then numerous articles that mention how caffeine contributes to belly fat. You can’t always believe what you read out there…

I went to the gym five times a week on one occasion!

I also created my 27 by 27 list. I made some progress on it, having met up with Leanne last week. I met her at a Girl Geeks event when we were both presenting, and thought it ought to be fun to get to know her better. She helped build an escape room she currently works at!

This past month, I learned:

I learned that pushing yourself can be really hard to even try, but that it can come with so many benefits in the end.

This past month, I got bored of:

My clothes. This is honestly a vicious cycle. Or a never-ending one. I can’t tell. I just keep getting bored of my clothes and buying new ones and it doesn’t stop. 🙊

But that’s OK, because I enjoyed:

The decaffeinated chai tea I bought last September that I really hadn’t had much of.

Today, something that made me happy was:

Being able to mail some of our wedding invitations. I still have stamps left over from sending Christmas cards in previous years, so I used those. 📮

Also, on Mondays we often try to park at a different train station, but there’s limited parking and we often have to park on the street where it’s a ten minute walk to the station. This time, we nagged a spot much closer to the station, between other parked cars, where someone must have just recently left. It’s kinda sad that we get so excited about car spaces, but that’s Western Sydney for you.

Today, something I could have done better was:

I’ve got one from yesterday. I could have not overreacted about the state of our wedding guest list. It has, from day one, been stressful trying to accomodate everyone we want to accommodate when we have limited spaces. When two cultures combine and different opinions combine. And sometimes it causes a clash. But sometimes you have to take a chill pill… sacrifices have to be made.

Tomorrow, I’m going to:

Hit the gym in the morning. And Nick and I are seeing Hans Zimmer in concert in the evening. 😁

Next month, I’m looking forward to:

I get to pick up my bridesmaids’ dresses some time in May. It’s my birthday in May, too, but I have nothing planned. I am looking forward to going to more meetups that I have signed up for. One of my personal goals is to attend more meetups and hopefully learn more about upcoming technologies.

Next month, I’m going to make the positive change of:

Not buying any more clothes. And generally saving quite a bit of money.

One thing on my to-do list is:

To send some invitations in the mail. 😻

One happy photo from this past month is:

If I had to write a book or record a film about this past month, I would call it:

The April Before August

After I post this, I’m going to:

Head down to Starbucks under my work building and grab a green tea latte. Short size, likely, soy milk, and no sugar. That’s my usual drink these days. 🍵