Finding Happiness: Balance

Remember a while back when I started talking about happiness.
I fell off the wagon a little bit.
But I'm getting back on....and so I'm gonna talk for a bit....if you care to listen!



For a couple of years now I have kind of been living under the assumption that the meaning of life..the purpose of our being here is to find balance.

Balance between work...school...family....spirituality.

Finding that happy medium....not slacking and not being overzealous.

That my friends is the key.


And I think it is the key to happiness too.


I work the night shift...which totally messes with my mind and my body..and my schedule.

I live a life of feast or famine.  I work a lot.  And sometimes I feel like I miss out on all the other aspects of my life...social and otherwise.

So on my days off I go crazy!  I binge on everything....friends, food, shopping, sometimes sleep.

Its no way to live!  Frenetic living isn't any way to live!

Its exhausting..its unfulfilling and frankly I don't get a lot of stuff done!

So I've been trying to have balance,  Its hard because my schedule leads to every day being a little bit different.  BUT  I'm trying to be consistent  I'm trying to form habits and routines.



Its still a work in progress but hey...isn't that life???

As an old friend of mine once said......"Happiness is a journey....Not a destination"

Be Happy Be Healthy everyone! 

......if you want to check out one what one of my happiness guru's has to say about balance.

UGGGHHH 102.4!

Alright peeps.....

Its official

Being sick  SUCKS

I have a new-found sense of empathy for my patients!

I havent been super sick since....at least high school...possibly middle school since I last had a high fever.


I knew Wednesday night I had a little bug  (99.9 and general malaise) but I went to work and pushed through on tylenol and lots of fluids.
It came and went in waves...sometimes I was fine and good.  Other times my coworkers looked at me and said "GO HOME you look miserable!!"

But I was fine.  I went home with the plan to sleep it off and head back to work for my last shift of the week.
I was fever free at the time and slept pretty good.

But then 11ish hit and suddenly I was tossing and turning.  I couldn't get cool....HOT MESS much?

But I kept sleeping cause I knew I needed it for that night.

(at this point you can tell I'm a nurse with student loans...cause yeah going into work no matter what!)

I finally gave up on the sleeping thing around 3 and went downstairs to get the thermometer.
I could kinda go a little cross-eyed and see the numbers change.  But I thought for sure I say a 2....and I was super annoyed cause the thermometer was CLEARLY broken.
My temperature was NOT 92!

But yeah then it started beeping all agitated like....and 102.4 was the final result.
This led to an "Oh crap"..2 phone calls to my charge nurse and nursing services...a dose of tylenol followed by another EXACTLY 4 hours later...kool-aid...milkshake...a fan AND a blanket..

oh what a mess....and oh so not fun!!!!!


try to not get sick everybody....
it may mean its a perfect time to catch up the blog....but
SSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not fun


So stay healthy everyone!!!!!

Summer Photo Dump?

Dear Adam Levine...

Wanna Marry Me???

Like for reals though.

You is super talented...even live!  And many pop stars just don't lets be honest

And super good looking....

And the only guy I've ever found attractive with that many tattoos....

I feel like its a sign!

Another concert in the summer of concerts!

This time Kelly Clarkson and Maroon 5

And they ROCKED IT!!!!

Plus I got to go with the gals from work.

Best nurses in the world!

Wouldn't be able to make it without them!

Be Happy, Be Healthy!!!!

Though The Troponins of the 3rd Floor would take great care of you...we would rather not ;)

God Gave Me You.......

My sissies and I have a tradition.....one country music concert a summer.

Last year we hit up Rascal Flatts.

This year?

Blake Shelton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a cool guy!

Plus lets be real-country concerts rock!

We got TEN TIMES CRAZIER FO SHO!!!!

He pulled out the old school cowboy hat....complete with wig for his older stuff!

SOOOOO PERFECT!

He sang a little Usher...YEAH YEAH!!!

But of course followed it with HILL BILLY BONE 

YEEHAW!!!!

(video not loading...sad face!  sorry guys!)

But honestly the best moment was the end.

The rain had held off for most of the night....but as he was doing the encore....it started up.  We had packed up our blanket and bags and had everything in our arms ready to head out after his encore song.

And then he played this extra song.

And me and the two coolest girls in the world linked arms and sang.  

We had a little moment there...and a few tears were shed.....

I'm the luckiest big sister ever!

(PS...I've always been slightly irritated that Blake gets the credit for this one...check out Dave Barnes version.........)

Be Happy Be Healthy

I Don't Want This Weekend to End

PRETEND this was posted July 22  hahaha




Ever gone on vacation and not wanted to come home?

Wait doesn't that describe every vacation??

hahaha


But really.
This weekend I got the opportunity to go with a few friends to a lake house in Indiana.
Can we say AMAZING!!!!

Like seriously gorgeous!

I have serious opinions about vacations.

They should be about relaxing.  Yeah do fun stuff...but don't over schedule or over do it!

Its been a crazy couple of months...some huge stuff....but mostly just the day to day grind.

So getting out for a bit was a welcome adventure.

Windblown...no makeup or hair doing....

Usually not a good look....unless you are on VACA!!!!

midnight boat rides

naps on the dock

late nights on the deck

lakeside sunrises and sunsets

tubing

swimming

floating

good food

good friends

good talks

PERFECTION

Like seriously....this picture has not been doctored in anyway....and was taken on an iphone......

GOOD GRIEF GORG!!!!

 It was very hard to go home.  VERY hard.  I didn't want to...but at least we've got the memories.

Smile Cause it Happened everyone!

And don't forget.....Be Happy Be Healthy!

So Hey....

Hi everyone!

I promise I didn't die!

Sorry it has been soooooo incredibly long since I posted last.

I have been doing sooooo much and have had soooooooo much to write about.

But I'm going to try and catch up.

So be prepared for a blog blitz!

In the next few days its gonna be catch up time!

GET READY!!!!!!

Yes I Will Go With YOU!!!

Best part of living in St Louis

The insanely large amount of FREE stuff to do ALL the TIME.

For example.....
FREE JOSH TURNER CONCERT!!!!!!!

For reals awesome!



I got to go to with some really great friends.
And got to hear some really great music.

What exactly is Harrison looking at????

Poor Dan!

Such a FUN concert!

GORGEOUS!!!

I have such AMAZING friends!!!!!

Do I LOVE him???  YES I DO

#married #kids #whocares!

Be Happy Be Healthy!

IHOP at Midnight???

I have kinda a love hate relationship with summer.

I love it for many many reasons...obviously.

We won't go into all of that!

Why do I hate it???

Cause people go on trips and leave.

This past little while 2 of my really good friends left.....major sadness!!!

It was a hard 4..and 10 days...respectively.

Plus a 3rd friend had family in town and we didn't see him much.

So our group went from 6 to 3.  And though I ADORE the other 2...it always felt like something was missing.

AKA 50% of us!!!

BUT...everyone is back!!!!!!

So to celebrate...an IHOP run was made.

Did we disturb the other 4 people in the IHOP at midnight?

LIKELY

Did we drive our poor waitress nutty?

DEFINITELY

Did we have a good time???

ALWAYS!!!!

Things learned???

Sometimes after midnight the only way to get people to shut up....is to make out with them ;)

Red velvet pancakes are not pancakes....they are just cake

Turkey bacon...no thank you!

Sugar packets in water does not make it taste good.  

Trying to add lemon to it...doesn't help

Be happy Be Healthy peeps!!!!!

dear boys...like the good ol days

Full of wit...a little bitterness....and lots of love!



dear trouble
its like a bad recording of an adele song...could've had it all
shame on me...cause i knew when you walked in
but it's all about christina perri at this point...don't come back for me
love
girl who got played like a 2 dollar banjo

dear lonely
did you really think it wouldn't hurt me at all?
you basically told me i wasn't worth the work and the effort
yeah that made me feel super duper grand!
NOT
love
broken

dear bug boys
you ditched us...why am i apologizing??
love
say what now?

dear bug boys
awww y'all are great. forgiven!
love
a girl who hates spiders

dear sneaky
seriously dude....i rarely trust guys who wear pants that are tighter than mine
love
you ain't getting none of this

dear black tie
oh you are a baby but sure i'll give you a tour of my little town
even though you are like 3.5 years younger than me...no worries!
love
cradle robber

dear eye candy
could you be more perfect???
here's hoping that you didn't see me drooling! YIKES!!!
love
a girl who reverts back to a giggly teenager the minute you walked in the room

dear hometeacher
thank you. that's all. thank you
love
a grateful girl

dear new kid
i missed you so much so glad you are back
you give really good hugs
and you are a really good listener and you are really kind
and you smell nice and you are so understanding
thanks love
steph

dear addition
I DONT WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOU LEAVING!!!!
I DONT WANT IT TO HAPPEN
love
the queen of "de nile"

dear into me
aww you are so sweet...but lets just be friends forever
FRIENDS FOREVER
love
girl patting your back
(see this for clarification....minute 4:55)

dear sad one
i know it has been hard.  i know you need friends right now
and i...we are here for you...friends for sure
you won't escape now!
love
on it!

dear big man on campus
you are so overwhelmed and don't even know how to respond
so i won't hold it against you
i'm gonna give you a chance to change and get out of this time. i'll be here when it's all normal again
til then
friend

Don't forget to check on on Elise!!!!! http://www.elisespiecesblog.com

I Should've Just Gone To Bed

PLAIN WHITE TEES


YOU LET ME DOWN!!!!!??????


Why didn't you put out this song SIX years ago???????
I have needed this song soooo many times since then!!!




I know I'm all about memories and enjoying the moment and remembering all the fun times.
And yes there were many AMAHZING and AWESOME moments that happened when I was "supposed" to be in bed.
Pranks...Rock Canyon park...Smiths...Stargazing...Movies...Dance parties...Skype...phone..and in person convos and confessions


BUT....
Full disclosure...there were also a few...eh hmmmm...moments when I should have just gone to bed!

Finding Happiness: 3 Suggestions

This week I have been working on my happy....

Baby steps...one thing at a time.

This week though-I actually did three!

 (applause applause!)

Confession...they kinda are all connected and kinda all were the same thing...but I feel much more accomplished by saying 3....

1. You've gotta get out of your own way!!!

Life happens...sometimes we are unhappy

Sometimes you can blame situations.  Sometimes you can blame others.

BUT

How often do we blame ourselves?  Probably not as often as we maybe should.....

Gosh we get in our own way soooo much!  We don't let ourselves be happy...by making choices that will CLEARLY make us unhappy

So this week I got out of my own way.

2. Sometimes you have to trade what makes you happy in the moment for what you know will make you happy in the long run.

The easy route is of course the right now happy.  But right now happy doesn't last.  And sometimes it even leads to long run unhappiness.  Long run happiness can be hard in the right now-cause it is hard at first.

But worth it right?

3. SPEAK OUT...SPEAK UP...Say what you want to say

I had a very important conversation this week.  About getting out of my own way...and long run happiness.

It was not a fun conversation.  It meant I had to be vulnerable and open.  Both things I really DON'T like being.  

As I was driving home...trying to distract myself and hold back tears.....this song came on

Thanks universe!

You all know how obsessed with I am this song...

Like CRAZY obsessed.

Pretty sure I have posted it AT LEAST 3 or 4 times!!!!

(I love this video too..the girls are sooooo cute!)

You can be amazing You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug

You can be the outcast Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love

Or you can start speaking up

Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do As they settle ‘neath your skin

Kept on the inside and no sunlight Sometimes a shadow wins

But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

Everybody’s been there, everybody’s been stared down By the enemy

Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing Bow down to the mighty

Don’t run, stop holding your tongue

Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live

Maybe one of these days you can let the light in

Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

And since, your history of silence Won’t do you any good

Did you think it would?

Let your words be anything but empty Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

So be brave everybody.....

And be happy...be healthy!

Prettier With a Boy????

This fact is something I have been thinking a lot about lately.

Have you ever taken a trip down memory photo lane...and noticed patterns?

"Oh that was a good hairstyle for me"
"Oh poor clothing choice there"

"What was I thinking for like...a year!"

Well a pattern I have noticed in my own trips....

I look prettier during the times I am dating someone.

And post breakup...the pictures look HORRID

Exhibits A B and C  (please excuse the awkward cropping...done to protect the innocent)

(also...I will not exhibit the bad picture examples!)

I commented to my sister the other day 

"I need to get a boyfriend so I can look good in pictures again"

Silly girl say what????

Now I will admit that there is some truth to this statement.

BUT...

H54F!!!

1.  Lots of work=lots money=lots of time with fun co-workers
I really do have the best co-workers in the world.  Do I brag about them enough??????


2. Car wash!!!!  Poor Jonas is a hot mess...so we cleaned him up!
Cleaned out...vacuum....a good scrub....
Now he is all sparkly

3. FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS!!!!!!!
Arch grounds...GREAT friends.  A bunch of people are here in StL for the summer...so we had a blast with them!

4. I have such amazing friends...they watch out for me and always are the greatest.

plus...aren't they good looking?

5. No work today=movies, reading, blogging and general laziness.  Could not be better!!!!