trying not to fall

Hello out there, FRIENDS!!!

Wow - I haven't posted since I was on my little summer break in August! Been missing you and all things blogland! What have I been up to this fall? Essentially... I have been getting my ASS KICKED in PA school! Legitimately. I have never in my life been in a higher stress situation. 11 classes + a clinic day makes it real difficult for this chick to work on life balance. :/ 

So, as you know, I started that Body For Life program in August. My first 4 or 5 weeks were phenomenal! I lost 8 lbs --- success! But then...I failed my first exam in life ever. So, I decided to spend more time on school, and less time at the gym. But that plan proves to be a problem as well, because when I don't have the gym to let out my excess energy and stress, I am just a big mess. Crying nonstop, gaining some lbs back, and not sleeping as well. It's super frustrating. It's like I'm a pendulum, swinging back and forth between school, and living a healthy life. And my momentum gets me stuck on one end of the spectrum, and it becomes difficult to land somewhere in the middle. 

The word of the season is balance. And I'm on a constant quest for it.

Amidst my normal causes for stress, I have a Naggie situation to deal with as well. She has started blaring her TV at night, and then falling asleep to it. So I can hear it all.night.long. At first, I thought she was intentionally trying to ruin me. Now I think it's just that's she's becoming more and more senile and losing her hearing, and not realizing how effing loud her tv is. So I've had to call her and ask her to turn her tv down just to be able to sleep. 

Sleep is totally at the root of my problems. I'm anxious about school, so I don't sleep. Then I'm tired, so I can't study. Vicious cycle. But on Tues I'm going to my primary care physician to get a sleep aid, and hopefully that will help get me back on the right track. 

If I make it through the semester, I will have learned a lot of lessons about coping with high-stress situations. I need to do well in school, but I need to do the little things like walk my dogs, hit the gym a few times each week, cook with my husband, go to church, see my family every few weeks...  And hopefully my quest for balance will be fruitful at some point...I'm hoping sooner rather than later!

Until then, my mantra is "4 week Christmas break, 4 week Christmas break, 4 week Christmas break..."

(I did take a 24-hour break in Fort Collins this weekend --- lounge on the couch, watched Monte Carlo, lunch with my family...refreshing!)

home sweet home --- fall is in full swing at my parents' house!

My mom even let me eat off of my baby plate :P

Cousins playing vampires with candy corn, haha. 

Sister time reminds me to laugh more often, it's therapeutic :)

Cheers :)