Remember how I said April was going to be a little bit of a hot mess around here on the blog? Well I wasn't lying. My post schedule is really off and I have multiple topics I want to squeeze in. Yesterday was a fitness post on running. Yep, you heard that right. I decided to take up running. And hey, I'm still alive to talk about it.

Today I want to talk about travel aND moving a bit. If we don't know eachother well then you probably don't know that I grew up in the military.  I moved just about every 3 years and that really screwed up things like family get togetters and high school. Because every kid wants to be the new kid in high school right?

I HATED it. But then something happened. I grew up. I loved to visit new places and learn about the history of our country. I appreciated all of the moves I made as a child. I packed myself up at age 21 after graduating college and headed out to Las Angeles. That was an experience in its own.

I ended back in Pennsylvania where I'm from, but I had the experience. I got the itch again when I was 28. I needed a change. This time I only went to upstate NY but hey its something. It's again taught me valuable lessons and has grown me as a person.

Today I feel the itch to make another move. It's not in the card quite yet, but could be in the next year. So rather than picking up everything, I travel for vacation. Next up Denver. A city I've never been to and an opportunity to visit some hot springs. It's a city full of beauty and lots of things to do.

Denver was the answer to my prayers because a deal I couldn't pass up came up and I'm was able to make this flight for only $145 round trip with taxes included. Sometimes it all works out. The universe answers our prayers.

How do you feel about travel and moving? What was your biggest move?

Sore muscles. Stiff neck. What in the world did I do to myself? Oh that's right. I decided to start running. If you vaguely remember me mentioning running in the past, it's probably because I didn't. I don't run. I have tried. And failed. MANY times.

I have been practicing yoga again for 8 weeks straight. Ninth if you count Sunday. When I got on the treadmill on Friday morning I thought, why not? I feel stronger than I have in a long time and I've really learned to breathe, which was always one of my issues when running.

I warmed up for 4 minutes before I took the 1 minute plunge. I guess you can call it jogging more than running, but it was more than walking folks. Everyone has to start somewhere right?

To my amazement I didn't huff and puff the whole time. I didn't feel like collapsing in a pile of mush. I made it through the first minute and dialed it back to a brisk paced walk. I alternated between a brist walk, incline, and jog for 20 minutes.

It was a huge accomplishment for me. I felt great. And then I didn't. Saturday morning came and I was really stiff and sore. It didn't slow me down, but reminded me of what I did.

I took the rest of the weekend easy, minus my yoga and I recovered. Last night I tried again. I am still sore this morning but not as bad. I do have one question to those of you who do run regularly: Any advice on helping out the shins? They seem to be the only part of my body that struggles through my running intervals.

I'm gonna keep at this. It's gotta get better right?

Why hello there. Nice to see you all. First and foremost I want to thank everyone for the support this week. Thanks to everyone who have taken my survey. If you haven't I would love if you did. Plus you will be entered to win a $10 Starbucks gift card!

Today I am interested in finding out what keeps you coming back to a blog. Is it based solely on the content? Do you enjoy the style of writing? Maybe you just absolutely love the design?

I want to say I come back to a blog only for the content, but to be honest I have come back for the style of writing. For example humor. Sometimes I could not care one bit about the content but if the writer can keep me entertained just by their approach I'm hooked.

I also come back if there is a product linked to the blog that I enjoy. And by product, this could be a service they offer. Take Helene from Helene in Between for example. Her blog to me is one big service. She uses her space to help other bloggers succeed. I know going into her blog what to expect and leave with valuable and useful information.

I guess you could say I am very niche friendly. But speaking about a niche, do you think they really bring in more readers? If I blogged specifically about cats, do you think I'd succeed as a blogger?

That I'm not 100% sure about yet, but I've read a lot of "reports" about this. I enjoy being a lifestyle blog with a few specific topics rather than marrying myself to just cats.

What do you think? What keeps you coming back to a blog? Anything specific?

So this week marks the first week of my "test" for this blog. It will be pretty random but I have a lot of ideas that need to be tested before rolling them out in May. If you have no idea what I am talking about, please check out my post from Friday. It will make this less confusing :)

Today I wanted to host a quick poll to get a better understanding of all of you and add that to some of my research for my ideas. Every person who takes the poll will be entered into a drawing for a $10 Starbucks gift card. The poll will last the whole month of April to help capture a whole cycle on this blog.



Because this is a quick random poll, you will need to comment that you took the poll. This will be on the honor system as the poll does not ask for your information.

I appreciate you taking the time to take the poll and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Are there any fools in the house, cause it's April! Yes I know that's pretty corny, but it's Friday, it's a new month, and it's that much closer to summer. What's not to love? I want to do a quick update on March goals and then get into the more important exciting stuff.

In March I vouched to keep up my new fitness schedule, which I did with flying colors! I also said I would keep reading. Check. I read 2 books. I touched on hosting a get together, but that didn't happen. That's okay though because summer is coming and more opportunities will arise. I talked about revamping the blog.. that is still on the list and I will talk more about that in a few minutes.. Last but certainly not least I talked about getting more wedding planning done. This I also passed with flying colors. I have so much more done, I can't even believe it. A post about that coming soon..

So I have to say, I pretty much aced March. I kicked its butt! I feel like I gave myself some attainable goals and in the end it still feels great. So now let's move on to April. With keeping March light and not putting to much pressure on myself when it comes to this blog, I was able to make a decision on what I want to do moving forward.

In May this blog will be 2 years old. I have dabbled in so many ideas over that time. Some did well and others bombed. I had some pretty high points and a few pretty low points. I almost quit all together last summer. But here I am, a month away from my 2 year blogiversary and I am feeling more confident than ever with this space.

So I am giving myself one goal for April. It will pertain to this blog. (I will also continue to exercise and read, but I didn't feel like it needed to be a goal this month). I am going to do what I call a test run. What this means, is I am going to test out some of these new ideas. I am going to see what is working and what isn't. This also means this blog may be a hot mess over the course of April, but I promise it will lead to a more stable space come May.

I am going to clean up some of my pages and revamp a few of my images. I will be posting on different days inconsistently to see what days appeal to my readers best. One week I may post just once and another I may try for 7. I understand this sounds crazy, but it is research I need to make this space better. Pay attention, there may be a quiz at the end. ;)

So there you have it. My crazy plans and goal for April. I am hoping you have as much fun with it as I will. It's a risk, but as I learned this week, you can't move forward to the better things in life if you don't first learn to take some leaps and risk.. To change!

What is the biggest risk or craziest idea you implemented in your blog or professional life?