Count Your Blessings

After one of the most relaxing and enjoyable weekends I have experienced yet this semester, I've been thinking about the many (MANY!) blessings in my life. I think I too often get caught up with the unnecessary stressors in my life and therefore have no time to enjoy the good things. So I'm going to make a list of things that bring me joy and you, my two (?) readers, need to hold me to spending more time on these things and less time worrying.

-Doing nothing with my friends. Just sitting, watching TV, exploring new stores, going to the park, getting a cocktail or coffee, anything like that.
-Curling up with a good book that is not required for my classes.
-Coloring in coloring books. Seriously, I bought a Sesame Street one the other day and it's the most relaxing thing ever. Just stay in the lines and pick any color you want. I could spend hours with my crayons and coloring books and be supremely happy.
-Sending (and receiving) letters. Old-fashioned correspondence, people! It's great. Let's rediscover the letter.

That's just a short list of things I should do more of. There's more, but emails for work are calling my name.

And on a side note: After catching up a little with an old and very dear friend this weekend, I realized just how bad I am at keeping in contact with my loved ones. So I am going to work on it.

Chillaxing

I have decided that sleeping 12 hours in my bed at my parent's house is the best medicine for the anxiety and stress I've been feeling lately.

Facing future decisions that I don't feel equipped to make, mountains of homework that I don't have enough time to do, and worrying about Mom has made it difficult to relax. But I think I overcame that battle in the last 18 hours I've been home. Instead of finishing my paper that I promised my favorite professor I'd finish last night and give to him on Monday (it was due Friday by 5:00, but he is a lovely man and gave me an extension with no penalty), I watched Night at the Museum with my parents. Instead of snuggling up with Walden (60 pages due by Monday night) I got caught up with one of my favorite TV shows online. So I might need to spend some time this afternoon working on all of those things, but I felt truly relaxed last night. And after sleeping 12 hours, I feel great.

I love a weekend with no plans. I need to do this more often.

What's a girl to do?

In September I visited a seminary in Kentucky and loved it. The professors were incredibly kind, the students were helpful, smart, and friendly. The campus housing was impeccable and the location in the city was ideal.

On Sunday I visited another seminary in St. Louis. It felt like home. I could really see myself there. The problem is, I won't get as much financial aid there as I will at the school in Kentucky. But the other really positive thing is how close the St. Louis school is to home.

I don't know what to do, but hopefully when I find out if I'm accepted to those two schools and know what kind of scholarship packages I can get I'll be able to make a better decision.

I loved both schools, but one more than the other. I just hope the school in St. Louis accepts me!