Stress Management

Stress Management

            Hey everyone! Today I thought I’d write about ways to manage stress. Before I begin I want to say that these are ways I cope with stress. These methods may not work for you, but I hope that you are able to find something that helps you.

            Recently I’ve been stressing out a lot. I’ve been stressing about school, work, and friendships. Some of the things that have been happening to me are getting canker sores, bad stomach aches/cramps, and I’ve even been losing some of my hair. I finally decided that  this would not just go away and that I needed to find ways to manage this stress. I would like to say that I have this all figured out, but truthfully I don’t. I am still actively trying to figure out ways to manage this stress.

            The first thing that I do is talk to my friends. When I start to feel overwhelmed I will message one of my friends and talk about what is going on. This does not totally get rid of my stress, but I do feel a little better. Another thing I do regarding friends is I’ll get a hug from one of them. This works for me, but may not work for you.

            If those two things don’t work or if a friend is unavailable I will take a nap. This may not be the best thing to do, because it is probably not great to sleep every time you are stressing out, but it can be good sometimes. After a nap I wake up feeling more clear headed and able to calm down about whatever is bugging me.

            Another way I manage stress is I will take a break and read. I will usually do this when stressing about homework and school. I will do a section of homework then take a break and read. I will go back and forth doing this until I get my homework done.

            The last thing I do is exercise. I usually run on the treadmill, but recently I have started doing yoga. A good fitness channel to watch is tone it up, on you tube.  Pinterest is also a good place to get different exercises from.

            These are a few things that work for me. I don’t know if everything will work for you, but it’s worth a shot. I hope you all found this a little helpful. If you have any other ways you manage stress, let me know. I’d love to hear your methods!

-A

Things I'm Thankful For

Things I’m Thankful For

It’s been quite a while since I’ve last posted. Let me start by saying happy Thanksgiving and I hope you all had a great day with your friends and family! Today is a day where everyone gives thanks for what they have and in light of that I am going to list a few things that I’m thankful for.

The first thing I am thankful for is my family. They have been such a blessing this past year. They have helped me when I just needed to talk or when I needed some extra help with bills, gas, or whatever I needed. I know that I can always count on them to be there when I need them.

Another thing I am thankful for are my friends. Just like with my family I know that they will always be there for me. I can go to my friends for anything, whether it is for a hug when I’m feeling sad or stressed, some much needed advice, or just to hang out. I know that no matter how far away they are they will always make time to talk to me.  I am also so thankful that they listen to me about all of my current obsessions!

The last, but definitely not the least, is my boss and her family. My boss is so great! She is very understanding and supportive about my school schedule. She is always a listening ear and willing to give me advice. She is also very generous person. Besides my boss I am thankful for the kids. Even though they drive me crazy sometimes they definitely make me happy.  They are all so sweet, at times, and it makes all the crazy times worth it. There is not a day that goes by where they don’t make me laugh at least once. They all make work so much more fun.

Those are just a few things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving. I have been so blessed this year, and look forward to the coming year. I urge you all to think of what you are thankful for this year.  I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving.

-A

What Would You Do For Someone You Love?

       

Today’s post is based off the ending quote in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately. The quote is, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, that I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” Sydney Carton said this before being executed. If you have not read the book, Sydney Carton switched places with a man named Charles Darnay, the husband of Lucie, who Carton was in love with. He did this so that Lucie and Darnay could be together, and Lucie would be happy. That brings me to my question for you. What would you do for someone you loved?
As stated earlier, Carton gave his life so the Lucie would be happy and that she could be with Charles. As I was writing this I got to thinking about what I would do. I definitely would put that person’s happiness before my own. I don’t think I’d go as far as being executed, who knows, but I’d definitely want that other person to be happy even if I am not. Don’t get me wrong I would definitely be happy that they were happy.
As I end this post, I encourage you all to think of what you would do for the person you love.
-A

Disclaimer: I got this picture off of pinterest, it's not mine!

Bucket List

        Recently I was looking on pinterest and noticed all the pins about things that can go on people’s bucket lists. I began to add things to my board for my bucket list. I decided to share some of the things I have on my list, and what ones I have accomplished. 

1. 1.Polar Bear Plunge: I saw this done on The Bachelor, and I thought it looked like so much fun! It is going to be a tough one though, because when it comes to being cold I am a total wimp. I am known to wear jackets in the summer, so we will see how long it takes me to get this one done.
2. 2. Go on a stargazing date: I did do this, and loved it. This quickly became my favorite thing to do on a date or even just in general!
3. 3. Have a kiss in the rain: This one is cheesy I know, but it’s something you always saw on movies as a kid! By kid I mean 12… I did accomplish this too!
4. 4. Go to the Super Bowl: I am hoping to be able to accomplish this one day. I really only would want to see the Cardinals though, so I’m not holding my breath on this one.
5. 5. Go Kayaking: This is such a small thing, I know, but I’ve never been kayaking and it is something I want to be able to do.
6. 6. Stand Up Paddle Boarding: Like my last one, this is also small. It is big enough to make it on my list though.
7. 7. Go to Monaco: I would love to be able to travel to Monaco one day. I also want to be able to visit Monte Carlo while there!
8. 8. Go to the World Series: I love baseball; it is easily my 
9. favorite sport. Going to see the world series would be a great experience in my opinion.
10. 9. Write a book:  I recently decided that I want to write a book. I haven’t really began to work on it much, but I generally have an idea of what it will be about. Stay tuned for that as the year goes on.
11. 10. Go to a Rodeo: I have wanted to go to a rodeo for the past year or two, and it really is such an easy thing to do. I just have not gotten a chance to go. Hopefully this year will be the year I go.

   I have not done most of these things but hope to do them in the coming year. What is on all of your bucket lists? 

-A

Witch Glasses (Color Therapy Glasses)

In my previous post I mentioned that I have trouble sleeping through the night. Two weeks ago I went to the chiropractor, and he asked me what my quality of sleep was like. I told him that I usually wake up in the middle of the night and stay awake for the next hour or two. His solution was red color therapy glasses. I am going to share my personal opinion on them now. Just a heads up, all opinions are my own and I do not benefit from any of this.  I like to call them "witch glasses," but in all honesty they are amazing and really do work!

The red glasses are designed to block the blue lights that electronics and other lights give off. These glasses also help relax you, resulting in a better night’s sleep. They work great, and I sleep through the night with no problem. 

I put the glasses on before I go to bed, and keep them on for 20-60 minutes. While wearing them I can feel myself starting to relax and doze off. I started tracking my sleep with my fit bit and noticed that I am sleeping through the night, and getting a better and deeper sleep. The only downfall is that I sleep 10-12 hours straight and wake up exhausted in the morning. This is usually fixed by getting up and moving around. Below you will see pictures of what my fit bit tracked while I was asleep!

    All in all, these glasses are amazing! If you want to know more about them you can contact me, and I’ll send the link to the website. Again I am not benefiting from you deciding to look more into these glasses.

-A

Before

After

Things I Look For in a Guy Pt. 2

A few months ago I wrote about what qualities I look for in a future husband. In this post, I wanted to mention some more specific qualities I look for.

The first thing I look for is whether or not I think they will take me to look at the stars. In fact this was my dream date for the longest time. I actually have gone stargazing for a date, and it is my favorite thing to do. I love it so much and want to date a guy who will enjoy looking at the stars as much as I do.

The second thing I look for is that they will watch scary movies with me. I've grown to love watching scary movies lately, but I am such a wimp when it comes to them! I get super paranoid after, so I will not watch them alone.  This next thing kind of goes along with this too.

The third thing I look for is that they will stay with me until I fall asleep. I’m not saying they have to do this all the time, but every once in awhile is nice. As I said earlier, I get super paranoid and am unable to fall asleep. At these times it really helps to have someone stay with me for a little bit. Not only is it hard to go to sleep after watching scary movies, it is hard for me to go to sleep in general sometimes. If someone is with me while I fall asleep I tend to stay asleep longer.

The last thing I look for is that the person I date understands and accepts my love for gifs! This is probably one of the biggest things, because I love gifs and will send them to anybody that will accept them. At the moment I only have three friends that really understand my love for them, and will send them back. One other friend understands this obsession, but in no way supports it! I do have one friend that will send me gifs when I’m having a bad day, and sometimes (most of the time) it helps. We’ve even been known to have whole conversations just using gifs. I want to find someone who will send gifs back to me, especially on bad days.

What do you all look for or what did you look for when dating?

-A

Dreams

In the past week I had two very interesting dreams. While thinking about them I began to think about what caused these dreams.  Was it my subconscious trying to send me a message? Was it too much caffeine before bed? I'm not sure exactly. Anyways I thought that I’d share these two dreams with all of you. Enjoy!

Dream One:

This dream took place at a restaurant. I was with my friend, and we ran into my chiropractor and his friends. We ended up sitting with them, which was super weird to me. We all got talking and he mentioned that he was a chiropractor. That sparked an earlier conversation that I had with my friend, and she ended up telling all of them that I thought that my chiropractor was dreamy. Needless to say I was super embarrassed. It didn’t help that in this dream he was super cocky and began to make fun of me. I woke up after that, and remained super embarrassed for a good 15 minutes after waking up.

Dream Two:

In this dream I was driving on the freeway headed toward my church. On the way there I saw some of my ex’s family walking toward the church too. One of them had a broken foot so I gave the three of them a ride. When we got to the church, the one with the broken foot was trying to prove she was okay, and began to try to run up and down the steps. In the end she stopped, but it took forever to get her to stop.  When I woke up from that dream I was super confused, because I hadn’t seen these people for months!

I have no idea where these dreams came from or what they mean, but they sure are enjoyable to analyse. If any of you have any ideas of what they mean feel free to share!

-A

Perseverence

     For the past few months I have been taking statistics. It has been super stressful and time consuming, and there were a lot of tears! I put a lot of effort into the assignments and tests, but no matter how hard I tried, it just wouldn't click. It took me forever to complete problems, and I had trouble getting assignments in on time. When the time came for the final, I realized that I would have to basically ace it to pass the class.

     Recently, I started watching Grey's Anatomy, and I’ve been obsessed. I like how Dr. Grey is able to still work in the hospital and focus on her patients, even when she is clearly having problems. In the episode I watched yesterday Meredith found out she had a half-sister, and even had to help treat her. She did that without letting her personal issues get in the way. Granted she did have a meltdown when she was finished, but those are allowed every once in a while. J When I was getting ready to take my finals yesterday, I posted a photo to my Instagram and Facebook. It was a picture of a notebook that said "Meredith Grey didn’t become a surgeon and get to marry Dr. McDreamy by not studying." I knew my final wouldn't be fun, and there was a good chance I would fail the class, but I decided to do my best and hope it was enough. Maybe my teacher would find a way to let me pass because he knew I'd been working hard? I could always hope!

     Yesterday I finished my final, and I ended up failing the class. I took me a while to finish the final, and I had a breakdown with tears in the middle of it. Actually, that happened quite a few times while I was taking statistics...luckily it was an online class. But every time I got stressed or was having a meltdown I would text or message two of my friends. They both talked to me until I was able to calm down. Sometimes they would hang out with me just so that I could take a break and forget the stress of the class. If it were not for them I would not have been able to make it through this class. I do have to take it over again, but I know that I can get through it and that it will all be worth it in the end. If there's one thing I've learned from Dr. Grey, it's that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to. This is just part of the path to becoming what I want to be and living the life I want to live.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to this picture. I got it off of https://www.pinterest.com/pin/487233253408908840

New Year Goals

       It's a new year, and I hope you all had a fantastic time ringing in 2016! I spent the day with friends and family. I even had time to reflect on my last year. It was a little hard at times,and I had to message my best friend to talk me through it. I had been looking at pictures and came across some of my ex fiance and me. Many of you know I was engaged, and that the engagement ended a few months ago. As I was looking at these pictures I became upset, because I was supposed to get married this March to a guy I loved so much. Even though there were those hard moments, there were also great moments! I found pictures from when I first started dating my ex, my trip to California, and even my trip to Payson with my mom. Even though not everything is going to go the way I wanted/planned, I am prepared to make this one of my best years so far.

      Today when I was at my friend's house I set goals I want to accomplish during the year. My first goal is to go to the gym 5 days a week. I won't share why, because it's a pretty crazy reason, but it will definitely be a good change. To do this I have my friend texting me everyday, just to hold me accountable. My second goal is to blog post once a week! I am already off to a good start on this goal. :) At the end of the year I want to be able to look back and see all that has happened. My third goal is to read the scriptures everyday. I originally thought of this goal, because at the singles ward I was challenged to read Matthew through John before the end of the year, this was back in November. I started out pretty good and read 5 chapters a day! Towards the end of it I began to slack off and did not end up finishing it. I have a lot more time this year, and do plan on finishing the Bible. My fourth and final goal is to cook at home twice a week. I am notorious for going and buying fast food on my night to cook. I will admit that I'll still probably do that, but I will definitely cook at home those two nights a week too.
      As we kick off the new year I encourage you all to think of your last year, and what you would like to accomplish this coming one. Let's make this a great year. Happy New Year to all of you!
-A