Update | Sorry... again

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Just when I think I have a handle on updating this blog regularly, a bunch of random things come out of left field and knock me off of the roll I've been on.

I just got out of my last written final as an undergraduate and am now waiting to go into my next final which isn't technically a final but we're required to sit and watch the rest of our class present their research projects even if we already presented. Going out with a real bang, huh? I decided to take this time until that "final" starts to explain what's been going on in my life to whoever cares to read about it.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on this blog yet, but I'm employed after graduation! Which is generally a really rare thing to hear of, especially employment within the field you've been studying for the past four years. I'll be working in direct care with children and adolescents with different mental and/or developmental disabilities who also have severe behavioral disorders/exhibit aggressive and self injurious behavior.

The decision to accept the job offer was possibly the most difficult decision I've had to make in quite some time. It's really going to be an amazing experience and will prepare me for the direction that I eventually want to take my career in down the road. I'm excited to start and I'm excited to hopefully have a positive impact and make a difference in these individuals' lives!

Along with the acceptance of this job offer came a lot of confusion and paperwork and loss of paperwork and missed phone calls... not to mention trying to find an affordable apartment to lease since living at home would be too far of a commute in both an environmental sense, as well as for my sanity. Driving for a total of over two hours, 5 days a week, and not getting home until well after midnight each night? No thank you.

Yesterday was the official day that everything for my job and apartment was finally settled and I can feel the weight slowly lifting off my shoulders. I'm going to dedicate tonight to get some blog posts done and queued up for you guys for at least the next few days.

Thank you so much to those of you who stuck around during my brief hiatus, and to those of you who are newly becoming accustomed to the chaos which is this blog. You guys are the bomb dot com!

I hope you're all having an awesome day! You can expect that recipe utilizing the grapefruit vinaigrette to be up soon, along with some other fun posts I have planned. Yay for motivation!

- Sam

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Update | Friday Thoughts

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With graduation rounding the corner quicker than I had realized it would be, I'm finding myself experiencing some anticipated, but still not welcome, anxiety. I am extremely excited to start working in the field I've been passionate about and studying and preparing for for the past four years, but it's a bit scary. I've been trying my best to focus on the present and just deal with things as they come, but I still find myself constantly thinking about the future and what I'm going to be doing after graduation.

In an attempt to calm myself down, I've been trying to schedule some "me time" whenever I possibly can within my schedule of going to class, my internship, working at the coffee shop, and babysitting. Today is one of those me-days. I have an unexpected day off! I was supposed to babysit from 6:30am-2pm, but I was told I actually wasn't needed for the day, and since the schedule was already made for the coffee shop & I requested off for babysitting, I wasn't scheduled to work there either.

I started the day kind of sluggish, but in a good way. I set my alarm for 8am (even on a day off, I feel like I'm wasting the day if I sleep past 8. I know... I'm working on being less crazy about this). I guess by body is getting used to my routine of waking up earlier than that most days, because I naturally woke up around 7:30. I tossed and turned for a while, trying to snag a few extra minutes of sleep, but my body was already awake and it was not going back to sleep for anything.

So I laid in bed for a while, talked to Chris, checked twitter and instagram, and snuggled with Benji - the normal situation before I got out of bed, ate a banana, got all ready for the gym, and then whined and complained to Benji (yes, my cat) about not wanting to walk outside because it was 12 DEGREES OUT. Eventually I made myself feel as guilty as possible about not going, and dragged my butt over to the gym and had a mostly cardio-focused work out.

I came home, showered, and ate this delicious breakfast:

...which was VERY easy to make:

1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/4 chopped avocado
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp (or more) of your favorite hot sauce
a pinch each of salt, pepper, onion powder, and paprika
1 tbsp chia seeds

Cook the zucchini over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until they start to brown. Scramble in the eggs. I usually whisky the hot sauce directly into my eggs, but you can add it separately if you want. Add in the spices and cook your eggs to your desired done-ness. I usually cook them VERY dry. Add the zucchini and eggs to a bowl, stir in the chopped avocado and chia seeds, and enjoy!

I would have liked to add some chopped tomato and some onion instead of the onion powder to this as well, but I don't have any on hand at the moment. Today is a day for doing anything and everything that calms me, so grocery shopping might be on the list for later today. Yes, grocery shopping is definitely something I consider me-time. I love it. I'm also a big fan of cleaning, which is another thing I will be tackling today. And lastly, reading. It may be reading for my abnormal psychology class, but the book we're required to write a paper on for Tuesday is actually extremely interesting, so it doesn't seem like a chore. Maybe I'll do a review on it for the blog... who knows.

If you've made it to the end of this unnecessarily long blog post, thank you for reading. Sometimes you just need to let your thoughts out, and this blog is one of my outlets for that. I hope you're all enjoying your Friday!

xo Sam

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