Run Over by October

It's safe to say it's October, considering what my calendars look like.

What my calendars looked like on the first of the month... they've since gotten more crowded.

This is the month where I typically completely forget I'm a student and am focused mainly on what I'm doing at work. That's not to say I'm not doing my homework, but I often have to remind myself "hey, you've got a 10 page paper due in 2 days... you should probably get on that". This is the month that Homecoming and prepping students for the NACA Northeast tend to collide and explode in a multitude of meetings, emails, Word documents, and more meetings. Oh, and mid-terms too... I guess. #SAgradprobz

I've been staying afloat relatively well this year. Last year, I kind of let it completely break me down, but this year I'm a bit more mindful of what needs to get done and how I'm going to accomplish it. I recently described how I deal with my busy schedule as "completely blacking out and just doing it then waking up and saying to myself 'what just happened'." I think that is the most accurate description I've given to date!

Me either, mystery person. Me either.

I've somehow been able to fit in some personal time in my schedule, and have actually been doing some pretty fun things lately! The weekend I went to NH for the marathon, my parents also ran a 5K called Footrace for the Fallen, so I ran support crew for them in return for running support crew for me the day before. There's so many fun short to mid-distance races in our area of NH, and they try to participate in as many as they can!

I've been making a serious effort to see Brett as often as I can as well. We're both so busy and on completely opposite schedules that it's hard to be able to spend time together that isn't spent sleeping or working on other things, but we've been making the most of it. We went out to froyo the other night (Brett's first time... his mind was blown) and we always have breakfast together in the dining hall at his school after his early morning work outs, so we still get a solid few waking hours together each week!

Yes, that is his school's logo in their waffles... incredible.

Other than spending time with Brett and my family, I've gotten a solid dose of time with my old pal Microsoft Word, cranking out papers like a champ. It's kind of gross that 8-10 page papers are second nature to me at this point when that seemed like such a daunting task a year ago. I'm actually enjoying the things that I'm writing about in my classes this semester, though, which makes it much easier to get through! I guess that's another clue that you're going down the right path, right?

Though October has been stressful thus far, it's been fun as well. We're smack dab in the middle of Homecoming at BSU and we've implemented a Spirit Week component to the mix this year which has been SO much fun! I'll post more about it next week. I'm also really looking forward to NACA at the end of the month. I know kind of know what I'm doing at conferences (I had never been to one before grad school!) and it's going to be a great opportunity to chat with colleagues at different campuses to get a feel for where I'd like to possibly work in the future. It's going to be a lot more than just taking it all in this year, and I'm excited for that!

I hope you all are having a wonderful October as well! (Can you believe we're already half way through? Where is this month going?!) I'll be sure to be posting in the next couple days, but here are two photos that are summing up my feelings on life at the moment...

Talk to you soon! :)

Staying on Top of Your Health with a Busy Schedule

It's no secret that my life has been constantly hectic since I started graduate school last fall. I recently had a revelation that when June Orientation comes to a close this upcoming Friday, I will be enjoying my first break from everything school and work related (even including winter break, as I was required to do preparatory work for a class) in almost a full year. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with that sort of free time, but I can tell you that I am PUMPED.

I try to make staying healthy one of my top priorities, because if I'm not healthy, nothing else in my life would be able to get done. I pay close attention to how my body's feeling and make sure that it's getting the right attention it needs, especially if I do start to feel something coming on or everyone around me seems to be getting sick. Despite how busy I've been, I've been lucky enough to not have had any serious sickness knock me out from attending class, doing what was expected of me at work, and generally getting in the way of living my life (save for a few migraines and a small cold that I came down with over winter break).

I thought that I'd share a few of the tips and tricks that work for me in order to fend off the sickies, and hopefully you all can use them to help you out when your life gets busy!

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

This one seems obvious, but it's true. If you're starting to feel sick (you know that feeling you get in your face/throat when you feel a cold coming on?) amp up the water intake. Hydrating your body can be annoying as hell because you're forced to run to the bathroom every 20 minutes, but doing so is helping your body expel all of that gross bacteria it's trying to fight off. You're actually doing yourself a huge favor, and you'll likely wake up the next day feeling better for it. Keep on hydrating!

Cut down the caffeine intake.

This is hard to do, especially when you're working extremely long unconventional hours, but coffee and soda actually dehydrate your body and make it harder for your immune system to fight off sickness. If you are starting to feel that "omigod am I sick? I feel sick, I must be getting sick" panic, try and cut back on the caffeination and trade it in for water or something rich in vitamins. If you're really feeling sluggish, trade your coffee in for something high in vitamin C, which actually makes your body more awake and alert in a natural way!

Have something healthy to snack on in your bag.

I try to make sure I'm eating one or two raw foods a day when my schedule gets busy, like an apple, banana, baby carrots, etc., and I find that if it's right there in my bag, I'm more likely to eat it than if I have to go out of my way to buy something in the moment. If I can't get my hands on the real thing, I usually snag a Naked smoothie or something similar. Unfortunately, they're pretty high in sugar (I'm unsure if it's the natural sugars from the juices or otherwise), but they're also packed with vitamins so I do tend to feel a difference if I drink one of them. Oooor it may be a placebo effect, but as long as you're feeling better, right?

Make sure you're getting a good sweat regularly.

Another way to get yucky sickness bugs out of your system is to sweat them out. When my schedule really ramps up, I try to make it a point to work out at least once a week. I have to be more intentional about the timing of my work out (if I'll have time to shower after, if my body will benefit more from a good night's sleep than a workout at 10pm, etc.) but I really do strive to make sure that I'm not letting too many days go by without some at-home yoga, strength training, or maybe even an early morning run (if I'm lucky/motivated enough).

Set boundaries.

I do have my work email on my phone, and one of my jobs even requires my attention after-hours, but on the nights I do have off, I make sure that work is not on my mind. It's unfair to my mental health to be checking up on and worrying about work-related issues when I already devote my whole day to it. Yes, it's important to stay on top of things, but when I have my evenings and weekends off, it's more important that I am taking care of the things that are important to me in my own life instead of worrying about things that can wait until the morning. So when I'm cuddled up in my bed watching Netflix and eating pizza, I make it a point to make sure the work email stays unread.

Actually sleep!

This also seems like a no brainer, but once I get home from a long day of work and class, I'm totally wired, even if I've been exhausted all day. I find myself wanting to do all the things I've been wanting to do all day but couldn't because I was working or in class: binging on TV or Netflix, reading my book for hours when it just got to the really good part, or catching up with an old hobby that I haven't even thought of in 3 years. You know, just anything besides sleep. However, in order for your body to really recharge, you've got to get some quality shut-eye. I find as soon as all the lights are off and I just let myself relax, I pass out in a matter of 10 minutes. Unfortunately I don't allow myself as much sleep as I'd like, but I always make sure I at least get 5-6 hours each night (which may not seem like much, but it's enough for me to function on, haha).

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I hope you guys find these tips helpful in your busy lives. Remember that you need to take care of yourself before you can take care of anything else. Make your health a priority and you will feel better in every other aspect of your life!

Caffeine for Blood

If you can't tell by my Twitter and Instagram feeds, the past few weeks of my life have been totally run by school work. Just like how work ran my life in October, school has run my life in November, so sorry for the lack of updates! I've been wanting to blog, but I figured no one really wants to hear about my presentation on Kolb's Theory of Experiential Learning or my paper titled "The Impact of Social Identity on Campus Involvement" (unless, I mean, you do, and in that case... why? :P). I've been chugging coffee in order to trick my brain into working at a high enough level to process grad work, and I'm pretty sure my blood about 90% caffeine and sugar at this point.

That's what I came into grad school expecting, but expecting to experience something and actually experiencing something is completely different. So again, zoning out in front of the TV and sleeping during my free time have taken priority over blogging and even working out (working out during my free time made me feel guilty that I wasn't working on school work... is that weird?). I'm hoping to get back into the habit of regular writing and exercise during this Thanksgiving break (I mean... I have a half marathon to run on December 8th... ruhroh) now that two of my major projects are done. Let's see how that goes.

Basically, sorry for being a bad blogger lately. I have a few exciting things coming up that don't involve school, work, or eating my body weight in candy while watching How I Met Your Mother reruns for the umpteenth time and passing out in a pile of wrappers and shame, so stay tuned! :)

I hope you all are doing well and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!