Taking the Control Back

Happy November everyone!

From Brett's game on Saturday. This scene just looked so quintessential autumn that I needed to snap a pic!
Bonus: they won their game. :)

Last month I picked out  a fun desktop wallpaper for my work computer to help me get into the Halloween spirit and I loved looking at a festive wallpaper every time I minimized my windows, so I thought I'd pick a new one for November! Like the Halloween wallpaper, I got this adorable pie wallpaper from Sarah Hearts. This was her November 2016 wallpaper freebie and I couldn't resist. I am so pumped for Thanksgiving this year - more pumped than usual - and this image just makes me so happy and excited! :D

Download from Sarah Hearts

I've been talking a lot about how my mental health has not been the best as of late, and it really took a toll on me last month. It's getting to the point where I am just SO TIRED of feeling the way I'm feeling and if something didn't change very soon, I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to pull myself out of it. So, at the end of October, I sat down with my bullet journal and wrote out a specific plan of action to take back control of my mental and physical well being. I'm not going to share with you what I wrote as I would like to keep that close to my heart, but I will let you know that I've taken up fitness planning and getting back into my #plannergirl groove!

I'm using my Kate Spade Wellesley as my fitness planner and in there I'm keeping a food log and exercise log. I've had the Kate Spade Wellesley for literal years and have never used it, mainly because I'm not the biggest fan of the personal size ringed planners. I've always needed more space! But I thought that this would be the perfect size to take to the gym with me without it being too cumbersome. I'm so glad I'm finally using this beautiful planner more regularly! I've already been learning so much about my habits and identifying what I need to change, especially when it comes to my diet. #sugarfiend

I've also been shamelessly decorating my bullet journal and my KS with stickers, cute clips, and washi, just like I did once I first got interested in glam planning. It makes me so happy to look at my planners which is fantastic because that's half the battle of staying on top of your lists - actually looking at them! Honestly I'm feeling so motivated to plan and work toward my goals right now and it's been a long time since I could honestly say that. :)

Autumn has been really putting on a show for us in these early days of November. I took Poppy out for a walk on Sunday afternoon and just couldn't stop taking photos. I complain about the weather getting colder non-stop, but I really can't argue that New England really is so gorgeous in the fall! It's too bad that we really only get these gloriously gold and red trees for a week or two before all the leaves fall, but they're amazing while they last!

My physical TBR for #BorrowAThon Round 5

We're in the swing of #BorrowAThon Round 5 at the moment and, as always, it is so much fun. I say it every round, and I may be biased, but the community around BorrowAThon is honestly the best. Everyone is so sweet and encouraging and funny - I'm always so happy whenever BorrowAThon rolls around! I can't wait for the BorrowAThon Live Show this upcoming Friday. It'll be at 6PM EST on my channel - feel free to join us, even if you're not participating! :)

Lupita fell asleep on my hand on the couch yesterday morning. Was seriously considering calling out of work as to not to disturb the cuteness. XD

I voted yesterday in the midterms. If you're an eligible voter, I hope you did too! I was really excited to vote, but I was REALLY excited about the fact that my polling place had stickers. Since becoming a resident of Massachusetts 3.5 years ago, none of my polling places I voted at have had them for any election. Of course, I wore it loud and proud all day yesterday! ;) All jokes aside, I'm so happy I live in a country where I get to participate in how it's being run. That's not something everyone in the world gets to say! If you missed this election for one reason or another, I strongly encourage you to make every effort to vote in the next. Our right to vote is not something we should take for granted!

This weekend is Richmond Marathon weekend! I'm flying down Friday morning and running on Saturday and I'M SO NERVOUS!!! I think it will be fine, but I'm honestly going into this race with no clue as to how it could potentially go. I'm sure I'm going to reach the finish line, but I just hope that the journey there isn't too excruciating! ^_^" Either way, it will be good to see my pal Erin and to test my body to cover 26.2 miles once again. I'll be updating you all next Wednesday via a race review and I am planning on vlogging so hopefully that comes together for you all as well. Wish me luck!!! <3

LINKS I LOVED THIS WEEK

Parent Trap Halloween Costumes from Carly the Prepster

A Unicorn Performing a Gymnastics Bar Routine from Geekologie

That made my day by @PopularPups on Twitter

A farm put together 31 days worth of puppy Halloween costumes from Twitter
An Inktober series completely dedicated to "Medium-Rare Vines" from Twitter

Family, Football, and Fall Festivities

It's been a while since I've sat down and given a bit of a life update here on the blog. I've been posting up my vlogs as I've been posting them on YouTube but I also haven't been doing a ton of daily vlogging lately, save for readathons which don't really focus on my daily life. I thought I'd pop by and give you all a bit of an update on what's been going on lately!

The school year is finally underway, I survived September, and things are finally settling down a bit. If you've been following along with this blog for a while, September and April are always the busiest months of the year at work. I'm really happy with how September went for us this year - we have multiple succesful programs, we're trying out new things, and - the best part - really connecting with the students. Our staff is still fairly new (the majority of us have been at MHC a year and a half or less) but there's definitely a difference in how we're connecting with the students this year which is making our work so much easier.

The Nichols football program is doing much better this year than they have in previous years! It's been great to see the football program Brett dedicates so much time and energy to finally make some visible and tangible improvements. While they're 2-3 half way through the season, Brett is confident that they have the potential to pick up a couple more wins which is amazing. I can't wait to see how the rest of the year goes!

I did lose my grandfather a few weeks ago. I mentioned this last week here on the blog and in my Tackle Your TBR vlog & wrap up but I didn't feel right writing a "life update" and not including this. He was a loving and hard working guy, and always ready to crack jokes and enjoy himself with his family. It's still weird as he's always been in my life and we will miss him dearly. <3

I'm running marathon #4 on tomorrow and I am NERVOUS. Training this summer went really well, but as the school year kicked off and my schedule got busier training got pushed to the wayside quite a bit. I'm trusting my body and my knowledge of fueling and stretching properly to propel me across the finish line, but I'm still pretty apprehensive about taking on 26.2 for the fourth time. (Can you believe it?! Marathon #4. I still remember everything about marathon #1 so vividly!)

Life is still quite busy but I'm happy with how most things are going. I have a huge stack of books I want to get through, I'm drawing, blogging, and YouTubing more consistently, and I would say that I'm overall content! I'm looking forward to the coming weeks that will be packed with family visits, holiday food, and lovely end of the year festivities. I hope all is well with you guys, too! Happy fall :)

Return from Opening

Hey everyone! I'm alive. :)

Mount Holyoke Convocation 2015

93 degree weather + 5,000% humidity. Everyone basically melted.

The opening of the fall semester is hectic, and with learning a new job and figuring out a schedule for myself on top of that, blogging has been put on the back burner for the last couple of weeks - sorry about that! Things have finally *officially* opened - students are back, programming has slowed down a bit, and things are falling into somewhat of a rhythm - and despite some major tilts in my personal and professional life, things are going pretty well. I'm able to take time to myself, spend time with Brett on a semi-regular basis, and I've been working in exercise into the mix as much as possible. It seems like things are starting to hit their stride a little bit and I'm enjoying it!

 

"Zip up or ZIP OUT"

Bison pulling off a huge win over Anna Maria last Saturday! 51-29!

Cool kids at Nightfest on Saturday

The insanity of Org Fair on Wednesday... and this isn't even close to how packed it got!

Anywho, apologies for the lack of updates. I had quite a few things scheduled to be posted over the last two weeks, but honestly it just wasn't realistic to sit down and write when I had 1,000 other to-dos on my list. Higher Ed is crazy, y'all! BUT that leaves me with a lot of ideas to work off of for new posts! I'm going  to get back into the swing of blogging a couple times a week starting next Tuesday, so I'll see you all then!

...right? ;)

A Few of my Favorite Links {#11}

Happy Tuesday everyone! Several snow days and impromptu days off the past couple of weeks have allowed me to roam around the interwebs and accumulate quite the list of links to share with you all today. From the Patriots to puppies to adopting elephants (you read that right), I'm really excited to show you all my favorite things on the net as of late!

Patriots Win Super Bowl XLIX!

{Source}

THEY FREAKING PULLED IT OFF! The Patriots won their fourth Super Bowl Sunday night and what a game it was! I don't think I ever went through so many emotions while watching a football game in my entire life. I was happy, I was sad, I was angry, I wanted to hide and turn off the game all together. Seriously, you should have seen the room I was in on that final Seattle drive. We were all SO depressed! I did not think we were going to be able to pull off a win. I thought for sure that we had lost a third Super Bowl in a row. Then BOOM, our undrafted rookie makes the play of the freaking century. WOW. What an ending. We are the champions once again!

{Source}

Budweiser "Lost Dog" Super Bow XLIX Commercial


It seemed like this year's Super Bowl commercials erred on the depressing side (check out my thoughts on that here... #COMmajorprobz), but Budweiser stole my heart once again by continuing their #BestBuds legacy and claiming my #1 pick for Best Commercial of Super Bowl XLIX. Their 2014 commercial was also my favorite of last year's Super Bowl, so if you missed and are a puppy lover like myself, I definitely recommend checking it out here!
Here's What Real Healthy People Actually Snack On

{Source}

I'm definitely a snacker. I prefer eating many smaller meals throughout the day instead of sticking to the big three (though I'm a huge fan of breakfast), and I'm always at a loss for what to grab when my tummy is rumbling. I know I should snag an apple or banana, but when I'm hungry, having just a piece of fruit or a salad does not fill me up and leaves me a little frustrated. This list gives you extremely healthy options for snacks which also keep you satisfied for a few hours! (I especially love mashed avocado on wheat toast! YUM)

How to Be Productive Every Day

This is a cute little post from one of my favorite blogs, Lemon Freckles, that gives you a few handy tips on how to stay productive. Even though this post is aimed at students or those who are self-employed and tend to work without someone peering over their shoulder, I think these tips can really apply to anyone. Being productive can seem elusive on some days, and we all know what happens when we're not productive - we get stressed. Try out a couple of these tips to help stay on top of your mountains of to-dos!

#CowArt

A friend of mine posted this on her wall and I couldn't stop watching/laughing. A couple of farmers in the Mid-West decided to get a bit creative when feeding their cows and tried to see if they could get the herd to create some aerial designs! Click play to see what they create - so funny! :) 
30 Day Push-Up Calendar

I just completed this 30 Day Push-Up Challenge that I found on Pinterest! My upper body strength is pretty low, so I knew that I wanted to challenge myself to do more with it. I decided to kick off the year with this challenge and I actually got all the way through! The thing I liked most about doing a challenge is that I had an opportunity to exercise each day, even if my day was busy. I also really enjoyed that with this challenge, you're given rest days every 2 days so your muscles can grow and adjust. I really felt a difference in my upper body strength and will very likely be doing this challenge over again!

DoYouYoga

In searching for a February fitness challenge to attempt, I stumbled across DoYouYoga.com. (True Life: I just typed "DoYouToga" and almost didn't catch it...) This website is an awesome community of individuals learning and practicing yoga and features blog posts, a message board, and even video courses! I'm currently participating in a 30 Day Yoga Challenge video course which has been awesome so far! (I will be posting a full review when I am done!) If you're interested in trying out yoga for the first time or learning more about this form of exercise, I highly recommend joining! (You should also add me as a friend here!)

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

{Source} | {Source}

WHY AM I JUST FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS FOUNDATION?! I heard about this organization through a monthly favorites video on YouTube. It is a wonderful organization committed to the rescue and preservation of Wildlife in Africa, especially orphaned elephants and rhinos. The best part? You can donate and foster an elephant or rhino! The program works by receiving donations from foster "parents" or families, and you can then receive updates and photos on how your fostered animal is progressing! SO AMAZING! I know for a fact that when I am more financially stable I am 1,000,000% going to participate. Take a look at their website and read up on the organization. It is wonderful! (P.S. Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story by Daphne Sheldrick has shot right to the top of my to-read list upon discovery of this organization! #newrolemodel)

What links have you been loving lately?

How to: Make Buffalo Chicken Dip

The Super Bowl is this Sunday and my team, the New England Patriots, are playing! Because of this, I thought it would be fun to share the recipe to one of my favorite appetizers of all time - Buffalo Chicken Dip! I LOVE this recipe and it is an absolutely perfect treat to bring to your Super Bowl party this weekend!

I first discovered Buffalo Chicken Dip at a 4th of July party a few years ago, and while I was a little bit skeptical of whether or not I'd like it (I'm not a huge fan of spicy foods), I gave it a shot and instantly fell in love. The ingredients in this dip really cool off the spiciness of the Buffalo sauce, and if you'd like you can even opt to use a more mild or more intense Buffalo sauce, depending on what your spice preference is. This recipe only calls for 5 ingredients, can be completed in about an hour, and will be a huge hit at whatever party you bring this to! Let's get into it, shall we?

Life of a Football Girlfriend

I'm sure most of you have gathered this already (or know me personally and are well aware of this fact) but Brett works in Collegiate Athletics as a Strength & Conditioning and Football Coach. He's currently in the midst of the third football season since we met and the second since we've been dating. Football has always been a part of our relationship, and likely always will, but I'm completely okay with that. I grew up in a football-loving family and enjoy sports myself, understand the basics of the game (as far as a spectator is concerned... when Brett gets into his theories and techniques I get lost pretty quickly), and love that it's a source of such joy and passion in his life.

I think it's a good thing that I was an athlete from age 5 'til I graduated college because I definitely understand the time and energy that is demanded from collegiate athletics. That being said, dating a college football coach comes with some pretty unique relationship dynamics. I thought it'd be interesting to share with you all this part of our relationship, and give you an idea of what life is like to be the significant other of someone who's life revolves around the world of sports. (I'm sure that those of you out there who also date full-time coaches can relate to some of these!)


1. We're on completely different schedules. We are both so busy with all of our commitments, which usually means we wind up missing each other for most of the day. He's usually up at 4:30 AM for lifts with his athletes before working his 9-5, while I'm usually working with my students or in class long after business hours come to an end. We still manage to send texts or Snapchats between meetings throughout the day and strive for at least a 5-minute phone call before he passes out at 8 PM. Though we'd, of course, love to be able to make more time to speak to each other each day, we're still lucky enough to have those few interactions.

2. Time spent together typically involves him working or sleeping. But to be fair, I'm also usually doing school work or sleeping as well. For the most part, we're just happy to be in the same room for more than 5 seconds, so it doesn't really matter what we're doing. We're both very understanding of how busy we both are and know there's work demanding to be done!

3. Conversations tend to revolve around work. But who can blame us when that's what's consuming our lives. Brett literally lives his job from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to bed, and he is with the same people for 4 straight months. (It's similar for me, although I admittedly have much more personal time than he does and get to interact with people from 3 different campuses, so it's definitely not the same.) However, I really enjoy his stories from his job. He works with a staff of 20+ people and a team of 100+ athletes (and that's just the football team - he trains nearly every team on campus!), so no two days are the same!

4. I'm really good at packing a sideline survival kit. I developed this skill as a kid travelling to my sister's softball and soccer tournaments growing up, but I'm really good at knowing what to bring along with me in order to prioritize my time spent watching practices and killing time during half time and time outs during games. (I've found this to be prime time to catch up on my reading for grad school!) Whether I'm cheering on the team or getting work done, I'm certainly never bored in the bleachers!

5. Technology has made it much easier to support the team. Some of these games are far. (I mean, that's coming from a small-stater though, so 2 hours away for me is far.) If I could, I would be at every single one, but as a grad student I am:

a. broke and have to save my gas as much as possible, and
b. usually drowning in homework, so I really have to consider if all of the travel time could be better spent at the computer getting projects done.

That's where things like LiveStats and streaming come in! It allows me to "watch" the game without actually being there. Of course, nothing beats watching the game in person, but at least I'm still in the loop of what's going on. (Unless, of course, the technology crashes, but it's usually pretty reliable!)

6. It's an awesome professional development experience. As funny as it sounds, Brett and I are really in the same field. Different aspects of the field, but we're both working with students to enrich their college experience. I love being able to observe how he's interacting with his athletes, how his department is arranged and deals with their day-to-day business, and meeting everyone he works with. Student-athletes are a pretty misunderstood population, and getting the chance to interact with them through Brett keeps me educated and aware of what's happening on the athletics side of student affairs.

7. Summers are cut short and fall activities are non-existent, but... I get my man for the whole rest of the year! Yes, August-November I get some real quality time with myself and we don't get to do fun things like go apple picking or spend the day at the local fair, but the rest of the year we get to make up for that lost time. Of course, he's still working with the rest of the athletes doing Strength and Conditioning and Spring Ball, but we don't have to miss entire weekends together and can even (*gasp*) go on dates! So although these 4 solid months can get lonely, I have the whole rest of the year to plan and get excited for!

---

I love that Brett does what he does for a living. It's awesome that I get to see his work in action on a fairly regular basis, and it's even more awesome that it makes him happy. We're two very lucky people to be able to say that we're both pursuing what we love!

What does your S/O do for a living? How does it impact your relationship?

I'd love to hear some stories in the comments!

Food, Football, Friends & Family

I had a wonderfully relaxing weekend with Brett, watching the Pats take the division title over Indianapolis, eating awesome food (including my favorite Buffalo Chicken Dip! I'll have to share my recipe with you guys one of these days...), and playing with Brett's adorably awesome niece and nephew. It's amazing being surrounded by great people without the worry or need to be anywhere or do anything except eat good food and enjoy the company!

Little Sophia was loving playing with my camera and got some pretty awesome vlog footage for tomorrow, haha! She's just starting to get the hang of walking and is learning more and more words (well, at least noises that sound like words) each time we see her like "socks" ("caks"), "ball" ("bah"), and "Brett" ("Beh"... pretty similar to ball!). So adorable! She's the first baby I've really been around and seen develop over time (Brett and I started dating about a week after she was born!), so it's been a very cool experience to see her grow!

How was your weekend?

Friday Night Lights

Last night Brett took me to his hometown high school to watch his old team, the Millis Mohawks, take on Ashland High. Going to a high school football game brought back so many memories of my own high school days. I'm pretty sure I went to every single home football game my freshman and sophomore year just to hang out with friends. It was always such a blast, and last night was, too!

Weekend Update

I can't just name my post "Weekend Update" and not include an SNL GIF.

This past weekend was action-packed! I was slightly losing my mind with all of the reading and I desperately needed some fresh air and human interaction. Needless to say, it was definitely nice to take some time away from the books and do some new things!