March 1st 2023

Wednesday check in! Life has been a whole lot for me lately so today I’m going to share the bad, the neutral, and the good news of the last week.

The Bad.

I have been experiencing a lot of internal/emotional angst lately and it has gotten out of control. I’ve been feeling anxious, had increased heart rates, and inability to calm down for almost 5 days straight. Although this happens, and I typically know how to handle it, this time around, I can’t figure out why I’m feeling that way so that’s made me more frustrated because it’s out of my control.

Because of feeling this way, I’m exhausted at the end of each day. I haven’t been keeping up with my workout routine, I haven’t been a great girlfriend lately, and I’ve been sleeping A LOT.

Thankfully that leads me to my next category.

The Neutral.

Because I have been feeling this way, I reached out to a professional and started counseling. My employer allows 5 free counseling sessions, per issue you’re dealing with, per academic year. I’ve worked here over 5 years and never taken advantage of this service so I figured why not try it out.

I had my first session and it wasn’t too bad. I don’t know that I felt any better after the session, but I felt good about seeking help overall. I’m happy to continue to meet with the counselor for the next couple weeks.

The main issue we discussed is a project I’m working on at work and how I feel completely unprepared and unable to do the task and how that is weighing on me continuously day after day. I’m eligible for a raise in the next month and I feel like I don’t have much to show for myself because I’ve been wearing so many hats lately that I haven’t been able to prove myself in my position and that’s wearing on me because I really need that raise.

The Good.

I had a meeting with my supervisor earlier this week to, yet again, discuss my lack of progress with this project I’ve been assigned to. He was very kind, understanding, and has broken it down into pieces for me to work on with regular check ins so he can help me progress. That’s exactly what I needed. Whether or not progress has been made, it feels less heavy to carry around now.

A surprise good for my week was a visit from a friend I haven’t seen in almost 10 years who happens to live across the ocean from me! He was on holiday from his job and just so happened to be touring Texas and I was thankfully able to host him and his buddies for a night while we all went out to Northgate and had a great time! It was a visit I didn’t even know I needed, but boosted my spirits none the less.

A scheduled good for the upcoming week is going to an OPAS show with my friends on Thursday! I love theatre and I am always excited when there’s a new show happening that I haven’t seen before. So here we come Legally Blonde!

As always, my boyfriend makes the good list. He has been really supportive while I’ve been in this funk lately and understanding of my lack of energy. He is truly a forever blessing. 😍😍

The Great.

I had the hot water line repaired in my home back in February 2022. In repairing the hot water line, they had to cut a hole in the side of my house under the sink to the outside. I knew in advance they were not going to be repairing the wall damages and I’d have to call a contractor to do so.

After multiple contractor reschedules, me turning away a really creepy guy, and rescheduling due to weather issues, I FINALLY have someone coming out to my house tomorrow!

This issue has been weighing on me for literally a year. Not only does it look terrible, I’ve been afraid of moisture getting in places it doesn’t need to be and potentially dealing with mold issues. I’ve been worried about critters getting in. And the financial burden has been weighing on me immensely.

Getting this repair is a HUGE step forward in the improvement of my home and making my home feel more complete.

Additionally, I have purchased a screen door with a doggie door that the contractor will also be installing so my Bentley will have his first ever doggie door and be able to go outside anytime when I’m working from home. 💕

AND LASTLY… I was given a surprise bonus at work that will actually entirely cover the cost of my home repair and even allow for me to have some money left to put toward my upcoming vacation to Europe! 😭 I’m overwhelmed by this in a good way. It made me cry because it just felt like such a blessing.

March 8th 2023

WOW. I made it through the last two weeks of complete chaos, unbalance and being sick multiple times!

Life truly is up and down non-stop.

This past week has been mostly good.

• I had a conversation with my boss on the big project I’ve been stuck on and stressing about non-stop and he was really helpful.
• I finally filed my taxes and got more money back this year than I ever had (typically I get $50-$100 back MAX) so that was a blessing. It paid for my home repair. #blessed
• My house is repaired and I now have a screen door with a doggie door for my Bentley boy! I’m soooo excited about this.
• Legally Blonde was a big success. I had 4 friends go with me and they all really enjoyed it. I really loved it and am glad I was able to make time for it.
• My book club met on Monday to discuss the book we just finished “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” and meeting with the book club always brings me joy.
• My bf and I spent a relaxing day by the pool this weekend soaking up some sun, which was much needed for relaxation and together time.

On the horizon:

I have 4 friends with birthdays.

My boyfriend has 2 friends with birthdays.

I am trying to plan a camping trip for our long weekend next week (spring break).

I found an online resource that helped me outline my blog plan and hopefully I can stick with it and get more consistent with my content.

I created an Instagram post timeline and I’m actually really excited about the content I’m about to start posting. I rummaged through some old photos of my travels and found enough to keep me posting for 6 months to build my base.

My focus is on point, my health is getting back on track, the weather is getting better and I’m happy to be back.

March 15th 2023

Hey there readers!

I was hoping to have some very exciting news to share with you today regarding my next vacation, buuuuuut unfortunately there was a small snag in the plans and now I’ll have to save it for next week.

The suspense….

Work

Anyway, life has been good lately overall. Work has been non-stop, but going well. I am finding that I wish I had more time to research and learn new things, but instead I’ve been so busy with the day-to-day that I haven’t had the opportunity. I’m staying optimistic though that it will come.

We have a lot of new employees at work and I have been so busy with day-to-day stuff that I haven’t been able to/made the time to get out and really meet them all and spend time getting to know them. Which, in my position, is really important to do. So I scheduled a friendly lunch with a bunch of staff from my area and I actually had a great turn out. We walked across the street to Chimy’s (which is one of my favorite lunch spots) and just enjoyed our time. It filled my bucket quite a bit that everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and thankful for me putting it out there as a suggestion.

Relationship

We’ve had back to back plans for what seems like months and we still have to get through another friend’s birthday weekend before it slows down. Despite the busy schedule, we’ve been doing well. We started a new show called The Sinner, which is definitely keeping our interest. It’s an American detective/ crime investigation show which was initially based off a book called “The Sinner” by Petra Hammesfahr. I never read the book so I don’t have an opinion on whether or not the show followed the book well.

Each season of the show is about a specific person who has committed a crime and a detective named “Harry” who is trying to figure out WHY they committed the crime. All the evidence is there for the who, the when, the where, but the WHY of the story is still missing and despite local police units thinking the crime is an easy closed case, he thinks there’s more to be uncovered as for the motive. He’s right and the series just keeps stringing you along.

We also need to watch the other half of YOU season 4. Despite me losing interest in the show, I feel committed to seeing it through and watching the rest of it. Part I of season 4 just didn’t do it for me.

Travel Goals

This week is Spring Break at the university, which means staff gets Friday off (one whole day)! I had planned to go camping and take advantage of having a long weekend so maybe I could get out to some of the parks that are further away from me… but mother nature decided that’d probably be too much fun so it’s going to rain and be 40-45 degrees all weekend 😭 That being said, I think I’m going to cancel my camping trip this weekend and instead stay home, maybe catch up on some reading, and keep looking at cool places to visit when I go abroad again.

My bf is going to visit his family and head out to a casino the last weekend of this month though so maybe I can reschedule to that weekend and still get a camping trip in this month. One of my goals for 2023 was to go camping at least once a month and I haven’t been out yet this month so fingers crossed for better weather in a few weeks. 🏕️

Other things

My roommate is getting ready to move out, which is filling me with mixed emotions. I’m super excited to have my house back to myself. I absolutely loved living alone before. However, I got a roommate in the first place because I couldn’t afford the house on my own long term and her rent has helped me SOOO much over the last 10ish months. Coming up with her rent for the next 3-3.5 months will not be an easy task and will definitely add stress to my life. Plus, she’s been amazing and watched Bentley any time I wanted to leave town, or had a late night, or anything like that.

I’ve been mentally struggling with my weight and body changes lately. It’s crazy how after 30 my body just started changing so much. I’ve always been really fit and active and my body has been repetitive of my work in the gym and healthy diet… but over the last year or so, aging has really not been my body’s friend. My skin is getting looser, my abs aren’t as visible, I’ve grown love handles (seemingly out of nowhere) and all those changes have been hard on my mental health. I know I’m still doing well with my fitness goals, I’m still healthy and eating well, and I’m still working out so I know I’m doing everything I can and this just happens, but it’s definitely been weighing on me.

The weather has been much better lately and that has done nothing but good things on my mental health! Being out in the sun, soaking up those vitamins, and wearing warm weather clothes all boost my mood almost instantly on a nice sunny day. I always get so excited for summer at this time of year when we start having warm days!

March 22nd 2023

Good afternoon!

I have been so excited about what’s coming up lately that I am just OOZING positivity and productivity.

No updates about work. It’s going. Not good, not bad, just truckin’ along.

Travel Goals

I was not able to go camping last weekend because of rain and a cold front that passed through, but I’m really okay with that because I still accomplished quite a bit at home. I got a new blog post written, mapped out my Instagram plan for the next couple months, and planned some of my trip!

I do however have a free weekend coming up at the end of the month so I may go camping then.

BIGGER and better news, I’ve officially booked my flight to Europe! I can’t wait to get back on a plane (although I may not be saying that after 15 hours onboard). I will be checking some new countries off my list, definitely some new cities, and I’m getting to meet up with 3 friends from Germany! That’s a huge win.

I’ve been making lists and writing ideas constantly about what to blog in the next couple months and I am flowing with ideas! I can’t wait to pull it together for you all.

I’ve been spending every moment of free time I have learning about blogging and how to be successful and there is SOO much information out there. I’m just trying to soak as much of it up as I can.

I want to try to vlog my trip while I’m in Europe so I’ve also been awkwardly recording myself do mundane day-to-day things and working on my editing skills (which are cringey at best right now). I know my videos will probably such at first, but I’m okay with starting at the bottom. It can only get better right!

Can’t wait to ask you all to subscribe.

Relationship

Although my blog is focused on travel and eventually will be only travel content (the goal is to get rid of book reviews and stuff like that once I have enough content), I still want to write about my relationship each week. Traveling mostly as a solo-female, I still really find joy in coming home to my guy when I finish a trip. He’s a great supporter and I’m so thankful to have him in my life.

Softball season started back up for my bf so we’re spending two nights a week at the softball fields until the end of the season and I’ve really enjoyed that time.

This weekend we’re going to Galveston, Tx to celebrate a friend’s birthday so fingers crossed we’ll have great weather and be able to be out at the beach for awhile! Update you next week on that trip.

As for other relationships, I don’t know if I’ve told you before, but my mom and I are really close. I call her for advice, to rant, and just generally to check up on her at least twice a week. She still lives up in Michigan so we see each other about once a year. Things in her world aren’t too bad right now, but if you want to send Michigan some sunshine, she’ll be thankful.

I’ve also had the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend recently that just brought me unmeasurable joy and that happiness has just been in me for days. #thankful.

March 29th 2023

Travel

My brain has been thinking about my upcoming trip all day, every day lately! It’s real, the ticket is bought, I’ve got my visa for Turkey, I’ve secured hostels for the first nights in Istanbul and Prague and I’m compiling a list of everywhere I want to go and content I want to make.

I’m stuck on the next part of the planning process until my German friend gets back to me about what train station I need to get to when I get into Germany for him to come get me, but then I’ll book my train to Amsterdam, secure accommodation, and keep trucking along!

I have 26 days until I leave! (I think.. math isn’t my strong suite. I leave April 24th!).

I’ve purchased everything I’ll need for my trip and it’s all arrived and ready to be packed EXCEPT my passport/RFID blocking wallet, which has been delayed twice now and I’m concerned I may never get it.

Relationship

This past weekend we went to Galveston to celebrate a friend’s birthday and had such a great time. The weather was absolutely perfect for a beach visit. The Airbnb we rented was beautiful. The company was incredible. we had so many laughs and created some great memories. We also all drank A LOT throughout the weekend so when we arrived back home on Sunday we were all pretty exhausted.

Jay and I binged the rest of Part II of YOU and also Season 3 of The Sinner. When we finish up The Sinner I think we’ll go back and finish up Kaleidoscope, but that one was slow going for us.

Other Things

I am heading to another OPAS theatre show tonight with a colleague and we’ll be watching Anastasia! I’ve been looking forward to this show since September so I’m pretty excited. However, I’m also a bit nervous because I am feeling very tired today and these shows are quite late into the evening which makes for a very long day.

My roommate is moving out next month, and despite her being amazing, I’m so ready. I’m in a good place, I’m feeling motivated and I want to start making youtube videos/more content while I’m home, but I haven’t been doing it because she’s also home. So that’s exciting. Oh, I made a Youtube banner this week! One step closer to official 😊

I made a 6 month Instagram Post plan and it’s going pretty well so far. I have 75 followers today and will be posting a new travel related photo/video every Monday and Wednesday mornings. I’m hoping this will lead more people to my blog and Youtube channel when I get that set up too.

And that wraps up March 2023!

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In case you missed last month’s updates, head over to my Journal page to get caught up!