Wednesday Things/Currently…

(From our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic – it was paradise!)

Hello again! In my last blog update before I got married, I mentioned that I was going to start doing “Currently” posts instead of my usual “Wednesday Things.” Just thought I’d add that little reminder since I’m back to posting regularly on the blog!

Currently…

Loving… My wedding highlight reel. Yes, still. I’ve watched it just about every day since my videographer gave me the link!

Reading… nothing at the moment. I just finished Night Circus by Eric Morgenstern for Bonnie’s Book Club (one of my favorite bloggers – go fall in love with her, too!). It. Was. BRILLIANT. I got it as an audiobook, which was read by Jim Dale (who read the audio books for the Harry Potter series and is absolutely amazing). For months now, I’ve been raving about audio books, but now that I’m not driving to school everyday or an hour just to see my man anymore, I’m definitely not driving nearly as much as I had been. I guess it’s time for me to sit and read one of my hard copy books!

Watching… Parks and Rec. How did I ever fall behind on this show? We’ve also been catching up on Arrow but sometimes we just need better acting/happier content/shorter episodes. What are you watching?

Anticipating… getting another job. I’m still writing for My Subscription Addiction (and loving it – seriously, what a dream job!) but I’d love to get an hourly job that 1) isn’t waitressing, 2) lets me work during the same hours as Luke so we still have our evenings together, 3) is something I don’t hate, which requires that it’s also 4) not waitressing (oh, did I mention that already?). Also, I’d like to avoid the retail industry. I’ve been sick for the last two weeks, which has given me an out from pressuring myself to go apply anywhere, but now that I’m feeling better I’m definitely antsy to get out there and talk to people.

Eating… chocolate. Seriously, I got to review Treatsie‘s new Chocolate Bar Subscription box and the gourmet chocolates have been amaaaazinnnng. Also, because I’ve been sick – like I said – I made a super yummy “Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole” thing. And I got to use my new bakeware!

Planning… A date night. Between post-wedding catching up and Memorial Day plans, the only times Luke and I have spent away from the house together has been for family get-togethers, but I really need a date night. Did you know that Frankenmuth has an adventure park with rope courses and zip lines and everything? I’ve been dying to go there since I found out about it last fall. It was too cold then, but now that it’s summer I definitely want to get all over that.

Needing… to get back to exercising. I’m in a new town, so I need to explore good running routes. Like I said though, I’ve been sick and haven’t wanted to push myself to go running when my lungs were making me have cough attacks every 10 minutes. Now that I’m better there’s no excuse!

What are you up to? What did you do for Memorial Day weekend? =]

 

Ways to Feel Better Instantly

The past 9 months has been a whole lot more on my plate at once than I’ve had to deal with, probably, than ever before. Two deaths, my dad losing his job (and starting to work for himself!), getting engaged, planning a wedding, finishing university, and trying to cope with the fact that my life will look completely different in two months. I am 100% uncertain regarding just about every important aspect of life in the next year; I don’t know where I’ll be living, where I’ll be working, what I’ll be doing, how often I’ll see my mom, what I will be able to afford, etc. In addition to all this, my personality definitely makes it easy for me to get caught up in stress about the future. This is why I decided to flesh out a list of ways I know that I can start to feel better instantly. If there’s ever been a time I need a list like this, it’s right now!

1. Close out of all of you tabs on the computer, and actually shut it down/restart it.
   I know I’m not the only one who tends to keep tabs open on their laptop because I plan to read or make some sort of use of it in the future. Having a cluttered computer without actually shutting down or restarting it for a few days just begins to feel like being in a cluttered room. Clearing off my computer makes me feel like I can breathe a little bit better, and go about the things I actually need to do on my computer with more organization.
2. Clear out your inbox.
   No, seriously. How many emails are in your inbox? How many have you already handled? How many are spam? I just looove going through all my emails and mass-deleting useless ones, or unsubscribing from newsletters or subscription emails. On top of all of that, I couldn’t survive if I didn’t label and archive my emails. If my school sends me an email about graduation, I read it, label it, and archive it. Same with important emails from anything else (especially online shopping receipts and such). Archiving in folders means I know exactly where to look for it later, if I ever need to reference it. It’s like deleting everything without having to worry about losing it.
3. Clean your room.
   Just do it. Start by putting everything all in once place – a chair, bed, the middle of the floor, etc. Play music. I end up reaching a state of flow at some point and just go until I know I’ve either finished or made some significant progress.
4. Just do one thing. Then do another.
   Mail that letter. Answer that email. Make that call. Set up that appointment. Doing one thing will help you feel like doing the next thing, and soon enough you feel like you’ve been at least marginally productive.
5. Chocolate! 
   This is self-explanatory. Treat yourself. Be nice to yourself.
6. Write it out.
   Here I am, doing just that. Whether it’s a blog post, a journal entry, a letter to a friend, or a list of some kind, getting it put down on paper helps you separate yourself from and organize the things buzzing around your brain.
7. Hug someone
   This one is science, peole. Oxytocin is released in your blood stream when you hug or shake/hold hands with someone for more than 6 seconds.
8. Look at baby things.
   Watch youtube videos or browse pictures of baby animals and baby people. This is science, too. Don’t pretend you don’t love doing this.
9. Stretch.
   Whether you do yoga or just need to stretch out a bit, it feels amazing. Put down your phone, take your eyes off of your computer, step away from the to-do list, and just stretch. There’s no way to doubt that this will make you feel better right away.
10. Work out.
    It’s okay if it’s just going on a walk! You don’t need to go spend an hour at the gym to gain benefits (both physically and emotionally) from exercising your body. Getting up and going on a short walk outside is worlds better for your sore back than pain killers or further resting. (Also science.)
11. Look at pretty things
    The specific way I tap into this is browsing and curating my Inspiration Board on Pinterest.
12. Remember that there are more important things.
    Sometimes you just have to remind yourself that there are more important things than killing yourself over not getting 100% on a school project, or being 15 minutes early to everything. Cut yourself a little slack once in a while, and remember that there are people who love you no matter what. That you’re not going hungry. That you are smart, capable, and special.

If you’ve been feeling like you really need a pick-me-up (who hasn’t at some point during this ridiculous winter?), hopefully some of these ideas help, or at least get you thinking about what makes you feel better.

What kinds of things always seem to brighten your day?

Some of the Best Chocolate In The World!

This chocolate is SO good!

 

Buy me some!

…And I’ll love you forever.  ;]

 

 

Something to smile about #10:  (Do I have to say it?)  CHOCOLATE.

Twitter Deprived.

     Because I am not allowed to use my phone during school, I’ve been extremely Twitter deprived. And I came up with a solution, however, I feel pathetic for admitting this. 

     I labeled a page in my notebook “tweets,” and I wrote what I would tweet, had I access to my phone.  I don’t want to upload a billion tweets on Twitter because some of them are long, and there’s waaay too many to do at once.  Plus, they can also be viewed as my copping out and just blogging bullet highlights of my day.  So here goes:

 

– I think it’s amazing that some girls can sit and slouch and still be skinny and have a good figure.

-Great, my old, antique necklace is leaving gross dirt or something on my tank top.

-The girl who drives me CRAZY in my second and third our class got a mullet.

-I feel really dumb. I was just the last one to finish the pop quiz in Intro to Stats. I know I got something wrong. I looked at one I had a difficult time on off of some one else’s sheet (the teacher had stacked the papers together near my desk) and I totally messed up the order of operation.

-Self conscious. 

-Ugh. Chemistry is next.

-Note to self: bring food to eat in 3rd hour, especially Wednesdays, since we don’t have lunch. Heck, I could bring a whole mean and eat it in there.

-I like the name “Gina Lynn,” but I don’t want to use “Lynn” or “Marie” as middle names for my future kids because that’s so common.

-Chemistry is thankfully better than it was yesterday. I like my teacher better today, I actually understand what we’re doing, and it’s… almost enjoyable. My teacher seems much more happy and comfortable actually teaching, as opposed to lecturing and going over rules and such.

– I just lost the game (again).

-I love hot dogs.

-I forgot how beautiful some girls are at public school. Especially in my AP English class.

-Crazy girl asked to borrow my notes. I feel so smart!

-I’m going to prove my chem teacher wrong by getting great grades and sitting in the back.

-Because everyone talked and no one paid attention during Channel One announcements, my AP English teacher made everyone write a one-page (at least), single-spaced “journal entry” on everything they learned from watching Channel One.                                                                     Owned.

-I’m on a “your face” rampage today.

-The first song we learned in Show Choir is “Hakuna Matata.”

-I had  half a year-old chocolate bar for lunch.

-I think we should have late start + abbreviated classes everyday, not just Wednesday.

-“I can’t read the words on this map! The words are too tiny!”
  “Well, I’m sorry the world is too big for your happiness and comfort.

-My water is smarter than your water. 

 

     In show choir, we all played the “ten fingers” game, where everyone puts up ten fingers, and one-by-one, around the circle, everyone says something they’ve never done. If anyone else in the circle has, they put one finger down. The goal is to get everyone else to have no fingers left.   One of the guys got down to negative eleven.

     So, the second day of school ended up really good. Even though I liked my hair better yesterday.  =]

 

Thing to smile about #5:  Driving past places that have their sprinklers going when it’s pouring down rain.