Action Replay + Gratitude List: March & April 2018

Let me start with how thrilled I am to be finally writing this post. I didn't do a replay post for March as I was travelling and once I came back, I jumped head first into the A to Z challenge for April and that left me no room to write anything else. As much as I enjoyed the A to Z challenge this year, I felt really constrained as I was sticking to a theme. There was so much I wanted to talk about all the other things under the sun, but with writing a post everyday, I couldn't find time to write other posts apart from the challenge ones. But now, I'm free and I cannot wait to get back to the writing groove and talk about things that matter to me. Before I get to doing that, let's see how March and April fared.

March was a pretty chaotic month in terms of work, but I'm not complaining. It kept me busy the way I like it to be. Health and lifestyle took primary focus and I continued to eat healthy and stay fit. However, the highlight of March would be our fifth wedding anniversary. I still can't believe that I have been married for half a decade. Cal and I have been together for seven years now and have been married for five. When I look at it that way, it feels like such a long time. Together, we've grown so much. Together, we've achieved so much. Together, we have created a life for ourselves. Together, we have seen all the ups and down. Together, we've got past all odds. Together, we'll continue to fight it all.

We traveled to Europe to bring in the milestone. This was a holiday we have been planning for a long time and it sure was a dream vacation for us. We first traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is now my favorite city in the world after my beloved Bangalore. Next, we traveled to Salzburg and Vienna, both in Austria. Here, we witnessed snowfall for the first time and it was such a pretty sight. We even crossed the Austria-Germany border and went to Bavaria for a short while to witness the Alps and the most beautiful lake in the world, Lake Konigssee. Next, it was time for Budapest, Hungary. This is a city of bridges and each one is more beautiful than the other. The night cruise on the Danube river is one experience I would never forget! Then we headed to Amsterdam, Holland. This immediately became my favorite city after Prague. This is a city of canals and every street here is as pretty as a picture. Cal and I explored all the cities on foot and the two weeks that we spent together in Europe, brought us much closer and taught us so much about life.

As soon as I came back from this vacation, I had to jump into the A to Z challenge for April. I had the theme sorted and all the titles too, but the posts had to be written. This, while I was in the middle of a release at work. With barely time to write one post a day, I couldn't write posts ahead and schedule them. Today as I look back at the 26 posts that I wrote last month, each one of it was written and posted on the very day, apart from a couple which I wrote later and back-dated it to reflect Saturdays. I hate writing on the weekend as it is the time for me to spend with my husband and take care of my home, but for A to Z, I had to make an exception. While the theme I chose looks simple enough, narrowing it down to one favorite was very tough. Then picking out favorite scenes from them was another ordeal. In the end, I think I did a good job at it and I'm satisfied with how it turned out to be.

During the first week of A to Z, I was breaking down. I couldn't manage all of it. Work, writing, household chores and everything around was burning me out and I was losing grip on things and I hate not being in control of what I do. Yeah, I'm more the Monica than you'll ever know. I knew I had to take another look at these things. Once I decided to sit down and simplify things, everything fell into place and I was managing to get things done one after the other. Of-course prioritizing one thing would mean putting another on the back burner. This time it was cooking. Throughout April, I barely slept well due to the stress and the blazing heat and since I couldn't wake up early in the mornings, most of our breakfasts and lunches were at work. I continued to make dinners though, so it was a small win. I'm so glad to have such a supporting husband who understood my pressures and did not complain one bit. He knows what is important for me and doesn't let me give up on it. I wouldn't have been able to survive April without him.

It is now time for the gratitude. Here's what I'm thankful for in March and April:

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~ My Job: Kept me really busy, but I learnt a lot of new things and explored new areas.

~ Travel: Nothing makes me more happier than travel and traveling to four and a half (the Bavaria bit in Germany that I mentioned above) countries in a fortnight with the love of my life was an experience that we'll never ever forget.

~ Books: Even though I've had two hectic months, reading was pretty decent. I read a total of 11 books in March and April and now I've surprised myself. Most of them have been good reads and a couple of them have already made it to my best books of the year. You can follow my reading journey here.

~ Blogs: This A to Z I read so many new blogs and fell in love with some great content. As I broadened my horizon on reading blogs, I'm finding so many new bloggers with such good content. This, I will continue month after month.

~ Persistence: From almost giving up on the A to Z Challenge to completing it successfully, I'm so proud of myself for holding on. As much as I wanted to give up, I pushed myself to get it done. So, if I say that my A to Z posts have my blood and sweat in them, I would not be exaggerating.

~ Celebration: Five years of being married was nothing short of a celebration. More than the husband-wife relationship, for us it was all about being together and celebrating the love and respect we have for one another.

~ Love: What is life without love, eh? It gives you strength when you have exhausted all of it. It brings in a flood, when you are all dried up. It lifts you up, when you're heavy and bound. It makes the world go round, yes, but for me, it keeps me together.

That was my March and April. I'm looking forward to May to read more, write more and most importantly catch up on the non A to Z blogposts from bloggers I love, which I've missed reading this April.