Good Morning!

Good morning everyone! This morning has been okay so far. I definitely enjoyed my extra hour of sleep! (I don't have to come in to work until 9AM on Thursdays!) Let me know what you guys thought of the last post. I think it's good to reflect on ways to improve your happiness on a regular basis. One thing I read recently said that happiness is not an emotion, but a choice. I like that. Every day you have to make a conscious decision to be happy regardless of what comes your way. It's certainly not easy, but nothing worthwhile is. I have been trying this out lately, and it really has worked wonders on how I see my life.

Roman and I

One thing I was doing for a while (need to get back into this!) was writing three things that inspired me, made me happy, or I was grateful for in a journal every night before bed. It really helps to put things into perspective. If it sounds lame to you, just humor me and try it once. You may be surprised!

Like I said in the previous post, staying positive is a lot harder than staying negative. Negative thoughts come naturally, but if we make a conscious effort to change that little by little the positive thoughts will start to come easier too. I personally wonder what would happen if more people did this on a daily basis. Would people become happier and more caring towards one another? It's a nice thought for sure.

Let me know what you think about this!
Do you write in a journal?
Do you make a conscious effort to be happy?


Britny

The Power of "Me" Time

If you don’t like who you are and where you are, don’t worry about it because you’re not stuck either with who you are or where you are. you can grow. You can change .You can be more than you are.

~Zig Ziglar


This quote really speaks to me. So often I get stuck in a rut, and I get down on myself. We all do. It's in our nature. But we are the only ones who can make a change. It's easy to get stuck in a negative frame of mind. Psychology teaches us that negative things have more impact than positive things. So for every one negative thought or event that occurs, we need many more positive things to make up for it. Keep that in mind when you are having a rough day. I can always think of something to be grateful for no matter what. I am so blessed in so many ways. 


One thing that has helped me is to truly devote attention to myself at least once a day. It doesn't have to take an hour. Even just 5 minutes of you time can help. Do what makes you happy and you will be energized to get through the rest of the day. Running has helped me in more ways than I ever imagined it would. I am not athletic by nature, trust me on that. I was the bookworm growing up, and I never played sports. I look forward to running, because it is the only time in my day that I am not trying to multitask. It is my time to focus on myself. I never realized the value of that until lately. How can I be of any use to others if I don't take care of me first.

I challenge you to do the same.


What are some ways that you make time for yourself?
How do you replace negative thoughts with positive ones?




Let me know if you have any suggestions for future posts!

Blog Goal-Setting

Hi there! Anyone? Well, at this point I have no one to blame but myself for my lack of followers on this blog. I haven't exactly been committed to writing posts. Right now I am trying to learn how to make this blog more Britny-friendly as well as reader-friendly for potential followers (*crosses fingers*). At any rate, I am not very happy with the current layout of the blog, so I am going to (hopefully) create my own header and tweak the layout to represent the blog's focus more. I hope to add a few features to the blog as well. I want to post more often for obvious reasons and make the blog more personal. More pictures for sure! Thanks for being patient!

Britny

Summer Thoughts

A lot of excitement is going on around here. Roman and I are about to move in to a house together; I just graduated college; Roman just finished EMT school; I am about to start a masters program in the Fall. It's like a new beginning, and its both exciting and nervewracking at the same time. Don't you hate how the smallest seeds of worry can grow faster than anything in the garden can? What if? That is one of the scariest thoughts one can have. I need to be better about dealing with worry and focus on the present. I can't be in control of everything, and if I could that would be very unhealthy anyway.

Focus. I need to focus on the positives. I am with a man that I love. I have a college education. I have a bright future ahead of me. No matter what life dishes out I can take it. Writing that down makes me feel better.

Reading other people's blogs is my escape most of the time, but maybe I need to read about my own life from time to time. I want to grow always. I want to be a better person every day. I struggle at times with anger, stress, and worry but don't we all? Happiness is about seeing the good in all things. Happiness isn't something to look for...it's already within me. I need to realize that. In some ways, we all do.

Good News Abounds

So.......A lot has happened since my last post. I guess that should be obvious considering it's been nearly a month and a half. But you know what I mean... I recently applied for a public health masters program and I found out today I was accepted!!! Now my main goal is to get a GA position on campus to help with tuition and living expenses. I have an interview with the university clinic next Thursday and *fingers crossed* I hope I get it.
On another note, I have been really enjoying DIY projects lately. If it involves spray paint and thrift store finds I am there! It is soooo fun making the unexpected beautiful. It brings a smile to my face for a multitude of reasons: 1) Reusing undesirable objects and making them better is better for the environment. 2) It's infinitely cheaper than buying things at the store! 3) It's fun! :)
The list could go on and on, but seriously don't ever underestimate that ugly thrift store or clearance find. With a little imagination and paint, it could become your favorite thing. For example: I found this St. Patrick's Day chalkboard on clearance at Target for $3.50
Kinda tacky, huh? Well, this is how it looked after some white spray paint! (oh and the above pic was taken after I removed the little key hooks you see in the next pic)


Much better in my opinion :)

Resolution headway:
I biked 22 miles this past Sunday!!! I am still doing pretty well diet-wise too. Roman and I both love our healthy options such as brown rice and wheat bread better than white bread and rice so it's not really all that hard for us :)

My bad!!! A much needed blog update...

So, I usually hate that expression, but it applies to this situation perfectly. I have been a little lazy in the blogging world from the writing standpoint, but very active from the reading standpoint. My new obsession: YoungHouseLove. I am a few years behind on all of their blogposts, so I have been reading each and every one from the start. Needless to say it is an addiction.
In other news, I have been doing pretty well this wonderful month of February. This semester is almost at its midpoint! Spring break is around the corner (Yay!), and my graduation date gets closer and closer. I am not sure if I am excited or terrified by the prospect of getting a "big girl" job. I went to a career fair last week, and I was a little daunted. I really hope I will not have too much trouble breaking into the job market come May. More updates as I peruse jobs and get more nitty gritty into the job-seeking process come late March.
Thanks to my aforementioned obsession with younghouselove, I have been making little updates around the apartment that I am very proud of. Roman and I went thrifting at the local Salvation Army and brought home some great finds in need of just a little TLC. We found a nice lamp base (ugly blue color) that I happily spray-painted plum! I also found the cutest lampshade at Target which brought the total cost of a custom-looking bedside lamp to $26! I also made a recent update to the drawer pulls on my dresser. Before there were some icky gold and oldfashioned pulls, and now I have some swanky-looking oil-rubbed bronze ones to the tune of $19.98 thanks to Target clearance! Don't worry, I will make sure to include pictures as soon as tonight! :) Sadly, I do not have the befores but I will make sure to include them for my next projects which are sure to come in the near future.

:)

A New Semester

So last week I started school and work again. This is officially my last semester in college as an undergrad, and I still can't believe it! I am only taking 4 classes, so I can try to have a relaxing last semester. Lately I feel like I have little to no motivation for school, so I am just trying to get through this semester one week at a time. It's even more difficult knowing I am so close to finishing. Part of me wonders how long it will take me to miss school and want to go back. My plan is to take at least a year off before I go to graduate school so I can recharge and hopefully figure out what I want to do as my career.

Right now I am really interested in the psychology behind appetite, and I am also really interested in public health. I have found a few programs that are a blend between public health and the behavioral sciences so I am hoping I can get into one of those. I hate not knowing for sure what I want to do. I feel so much pressure, because what if I choose the wrong thing? I feel like what I do for my career is what defines me as a person, but I don't want my career to be my whole life either. All I know for sure right now is that I need a break. Maybe taking a year off will enable me to really focus on myself for once, and I can figure out what really makes me happy.

In any case, I need some serious motivation to get through these next 4 months. Roman and I have already decided we want to go on a cruise the day after I graduate so I have something amazing to look forward to! I love traveling, and I think not being able to do that lately has taken a toll on me. My adventurous nature is making it hard to stay put for so long!

Resolution Headway:

I have still been eating healthy, but I did have a minor slip up last night. I had taco bell and a rootbeer (not very tasty though). I have still been exercising, but not as much as I could. I did try one thing that really made a difference. I put on some ankle weights while cooking and doing errands and I really could feel the burn! I think I will do that on days I don't have as much time to exercise.


Well that is all I have for now!


Britny

Whole Living Challenge: Make A Stress Plan

So far, I have been doing well keeping up with my resolutions. I have continued to exercise on the Wii fit, and I really look forward to it! Tuesday I start school, so I will be making that daily bike trip again (here's hoping it is not as hard as it was back in August and I have maintained some of my fitness from before the holidays).
You may be wondering what the title to this post is about. Well, there is this really cool magazine called Whole Living I have been reading lately and they have a great site you should check out www.wholeliving.com. Every day they send me a challenge by email. Today the challenge is to make a stress plan. The stress plan is basically a list of relaxing activities you can do to help relieve daily stress you may encounter. I think this is a great idea. Some of my own ideas include:

1. yoga (it really is as relaxing as they say)
2. reading a good book or magazine
3. drinking a cup of hot tea
4. taking a bubble bath
5. listening to music

Taking time for yourself really is a good way to relieve stress, and I want to do this more often. For some reason in the past I thought if I couldn't do EVERYTHING on my to-do list I was a failure. That is ridiculous I know, but it is part and parcel to my perfectionist ways. Moving on though, I heard about an awesome 10K called the Crescent City Classic that I would like to take part in. It is farther than the 5K I had originally planned on, but I think I can do it if I start training now. Roman, my boyfriend, says he would be willing to train with me so that is definitely a motivator. I really think this year can be different. I want to be a better person inside and out. Negativity needs to be pushed aside. I am ready to be happy for the sake of living and not having to rely on outside events. Well I think that is enough for now.


Britny :)

Whole Living

Lately I have started to realize that a lot of what has caused me stress and anxiety comes from my own doing. That is a pretty hard pill to swallow, but I know it's true. My resolutions (haha I know many people don't take these seriously, but I really plan to) this year are to eat better, stress less, and be able to successfully run a 5K. These sound like big goals I know, but I have written out specific steps I can take to accomplish each one. I have found through experience that attempting to achieve a big goal in one step is not usually successful. For this reason, I plan to take small steps every week in order to achieve my resolutions.

As far as eating better, I have begun to do a lot of research on eating organically and cutting out processed foods. I have already started making a lot of changes in the past few weeks, and I feel a lot more energized than before. I cannot afford to completely eat organic, but I am making small changes that I can afford. I am not going to let all these "excuses" keep me from reaching my goals like I have in the past. Plus, if you really think about it eating more expensive organic food now may prevent you from needing to spend thousands on medical care later in life. Food for thought, huh?

On another note, stressing less is also important for me. I am a perfectionist, and I always have been. This has always been an issue for me, and it has caused me to have a lot of bad symptoms like seizures, headaches, and lately heartburn. It's not getting better, and I need to make some changes. I am sick of feeling tired and unmotivated. A few ideas I have for decreasing my stress level is to think positively (no more negative comments about myself if I can help it), make more time for myself, learn to meditate, and take a yoga class. I have begun to do some yoga on my wii fit and I love it!

In order to complete a 5K, I want to exercise at least 3x/week for 30min. and continue to ride my bike to work and school. Also, I will start by walking up to a 5K until I feel comfortable with running.


Let's see how I do this year! Hello 2011 and a happier Britny!