The Funk

Here is a little Friday stream of consciousness for you... Happy weekend! :)

It is funny. All that time spent in graduate school has given me a new perspective post-graduation. While I am SUPER grateful to be done with homework, late nights reading articles or textbooks, or group projects, I am finding that this time after graduating has been fun and relaxing, but different. While life and work and normal responsibilities still are moving at a fast pace, I am finding that all the things I thought about doing post-graduation, I am lacking the routine or discipline to actually do them. I had projects GALORE I wanted to do once being done with school. All those nights I was writing or meeting virtually with group members on projects, I had a list of "man, I wish I was doing [insert some form of fun that doesn't involve schoolwork here]". I even wished I had time to clean...like clean your whole house clean. Now that I have that time, I am having a difficult time making a routine. Scheduling my days to accomplish something outside of normal work hours. Once I get home, I just want to watch tv. I have never been a big tv watcher, but now, that's much of what I find myself doing. My books I have from the library even remain unread. What is going on?!  I need to get myself back on track and find a good rhythm. When you are forced to do hours of schoolwork, you just do it. It is hard, not fun, but it forces productivity. I can't handle not doing something productive. Just sitting is so foreign to me it makes me feel almost guilty for doing it. I guess, like in all things, I need to find a balance. I need to balance sitting watching tv time with doing projects or other household activities. I mean, I have been keeping up with routine cleaning, etc better than when I was in school, but the extra projects seem to be just waiting to be addressed and I keep putting it off. I am not a procrastinator, for the most part. Why am I suddenly doing this? I need to get out of this funk. This "wanting to be lazy" funk. I need to get on a schedule...you know I love a good list:) looks like it is to the drawing board on "being productive post-school".

I'll let you know how this all turns out... :)

Dear Future Self: WE did it!

Dear Future Self,

I want you to remember today. This moment. This last night. You have been working so hard to get this degree finished, and you are here. You have made it. You just have one presentation left, and you have your Master's degree...GO YOU!

Future Self, I want you to remember what this feels like. The excitement, the anticipation, the I-CAN'T-BELIEVE-I-MADE-IT feeling. It has been a hard couple years. There has been less sleep, more stress, lots of reading and writing, too much snacking (which in turn lead to gaining the grad school 15...yeah don't be fooled...it is not limited to college freshmen...UNFORTUNATELY!), and not enough exercising. But, it is worth it! You made it. You got through working full time, starting to date your now-husband, got married, had a mini-moon (our short honeymoon because of being in the middle of the semester), and many fun events having to be turned down because I had homework to do. No more turning down working out, or going out with friends, or watching a moving with the hubs. I get to be a normal adult! Well, let's be honest. Normal will never be a word that accurately describes me, but I can at least attempt to be normal:)

I can't believe I made it and I now need to do a round of thanks...picture it like at the grammy's or another award show, except I am sitting at home, in PJ's and the audience I currently have is my dog watching to see if I drop a morsel of a snack to him. But I really am grateful for all the support my friends and family have given me during this time. SO here it goes:

First.....KGK...well, you rock! You met me just a couple weeks before I started this graduate school journey and you have been with me through it all. You have only known me to be a grad student. I am excited to show you who I am without homework and other school stuff to do. I can't wait to have more time for us.  I am glad I can now pull my own weight when it comes to normal life stuff like cleaning and errands.  During this whole process, you would walk the dog, do errands or chores, or just sit there and tell me I could do it when I needed to hear it most. You are the most supportive person I have ever met, and I am so grateful for you. :)

And to my friends...thank you for not giving up on me with all my "I can't hang out" or cutting fun short because I had to do more homework. Thanks for still being my friend even though I was so busy and I didn't give you a lot of my time. Well now, I have more time! Let's celebrate! :) Beer? wings? let's make it happen.

And to my family, y'all have been awesome. Listening to my rants and raves, and ups and downs about my various classes, scheduling issues, and whatever else it was at the time. You listened. I talked. and talked. But you still listened. You had no idea what I was talking about, but you still listened. So thank you for that! :)

So future self, as life gets busy with other things, because we know it will, just remember this moment just before the finish. Remember how it feels to have 2+ years of late evenings, lots of papers and group projects, and all that hard work paying off. And remember that you didn't do it without the support of your family and friends. They made it happen as much as you did sitting doing those assignments....

So basically....

CONGRATS Y'ALL. We made it!

:)

I'm off to do my last presentation of grad school...here goes nothing EVERYTHING! :)

~AMK

The Riveting Mundane

Oh the mundane. Filled with all the daily commotion and routine. It is funny...when I try to think of things to write on this little blog, I feel like I need to come up with something so special and creative so I can remember all the great things in my life for years down the road. Well, honestly, for all of us, most days are just filled with normal day happenings.

So why write about it?

Well, our normal day things change over time. Right now, my days are filled with getting up, going to work, coming home, doing homework, making dinner (most nights), and spending time with KGK and Buddy. Sounds pretty boring, but really all is great. It is nice to be busy with these things. It is fulfilling to have a job I love, a dog I couldn't imagine my life without, and a husband who is the best gift ever bestowed upon me. I am very blessed, and I love my simple little life.

Do I wish I had more adventures?

Sure, but sometimes life doesn't guarantee that those adventures won't be harder than they are fun. So sometimes these days and weeks of mundane are not so bad sounding or so boring to read. But rather they are worth writing about, worth remembering, worth treasuring.

So why don't I write more?

Fear, I guess. And time.  Fear that what I write won't be catchy enough or exciting enough for my limited following. The lack of time to do fun or catchy things or the fact that I didn't cook a share-worthy meal in few days, ok a week, ok a couple weeks.

But what writings am I most drawn to?

The mundane. The ones that I can most relate to. The posts and articles that I can read, and then think, "man, that is so me right now."

Is it fun to read exciting stories about lives that seem so different than mine too?

Of course. Those are the stories that help expand who I am. Make me realize that other people's stories are mundane in their own ways, and we all just share little pieces of the internet to share how we view the world through our own eyes. May seem boring to us at the time, but to others, it may be riveting. You just have to work at it.

Have I felt bored with my life lately?

Not at all.  My life feels very exciting, actually. I guess I just think the mundane isn't worth writing about or I don't make the time to document for myself. I really should be better about that.


Do you ever feel your life is too mundane that it isn't worth sharing? Because you shouldn't. :)

~AMK

Not 36 hours ago...

Every have one of those days where you are completely overwhelmed and have so much on your to-do list that you just do nothing. Nothing. I mean, your list is screaming at your for attention, yet you sit on the couch, watch TV and eat like crap, when you know you should be up and moving and getting stuff done. You even have conversations about how you need to get so much done, yet you still sit there despite your best efforts to pump yourself up.  Instead, you watch 3 movies in a row and neglect grocery shopping, cleaning and all other things you need to get done on those precious 48 hours we have of our own called, the weekend. Yeah, that was yesterday. I sat on the couch ALL DAY. I think there is a permanent mold of where I was lounging. Well, I lie. I did shift from one couch to the other as the evening went on. Then fell asleep on the couch until 2 am when I finally made it back to the bedroom. OH Yeah, productivity at its best:)

But I will say, sometimes you need to have those days.  You get yourself so worked up and worried about all that needs to get done that you don't actually have any energy left to do those things. So Sunday, was my day of rest. I did some homework in the morning, but I did NOTHING the rest of the day. I didn't realize how much I needed it. I think I would have gone crazy crazier if I didn't just do nothing. It was so nice.

So now, I am refreshed. My task list doesn't seem as daunting as it did just 36 hours before. I am ready to tackle it now.  I am ready to do all those things that I set aside for some much needed rest and laziness.

So here is to revitalized energy and going full force into my to-do list....

 And here is to you too...because we all know everyone's lives are crazy at times....go you. :)

~AMK

Motivation Shmotivation

I am in my last week of coursework and I could not be more unmotivated. I have 2 papers left and a final and have found everything else to do besides do these last few things. Christmas shopping, decorating, cleaning, Charlie Brown shows on tv...you name it. Anything except doing my homework.  I should really get on this already. I mean, they are due by this weekend. I think I have a case of senioritis...or since you aren't really a senior in grad school is it almost-last-semesteritis kicking in? Graduation, May 2013, you cannot come soon enough.

Poor Charlie Brown.

Cute Christmas Centerpiece! :)

Fighting the crud in our house this week. Rest and homework it is.

Now about those papers...

~AMK

Finding the Light

As our lives are constantly in flux, we all have our ways of finding the light in the midst of all the crazy. I have many friends with young kids now and I just don't know how they get everything done in a day. Even other friends without kids, have their own set of crazy, and I still have no idea how they get so many things done in a day. Because let's face it, we all have crazy. It just comes in different forms.

For some of us, finding the light while all the crazy is buzzing around us can be overwhelming, tiring, and having feelings of not being able to catch up.

It is amazing how the grass is always greener can be so in the forefront of our minds when the crazy is upon us. Sometimes we are able to look past it and see our own green grass and other times it is so hard to stop drooling over another's greener pastures.

We all need encouragement and help in times of crazy. We just do. We need each other. I remember being in college and thinking, "Man, when I graduate and have a 'real' job, I will have so much more time. After 5, my time is my own. No homework. No obligations until the next morning."

Cue the laughter now!

Then, as I get the 'real' job, I think, man, I wish I had someone to share all this time with. Then, you find your One, and you suddenly have other things filling your time. Good things. But still things.

With all that is looming on my to-do, I fall into this sense of wanting more time.  More time to get things done. I need like 1 week to get caught up on life.  But let's face it, I would find other things to do than the productive things, right?!

Well, last night was a productive night. I didn't tackle much on my to-do, but I had a great sense of accomplishment by the time I went to bed.  I went to 2 classes at the gym and was energized! I got group work done for class, FINALLY washed the new silverware we got from one of our showers, did reading for class, worked around the apartment, etc. etc. etc. And still got a good night sleep. It feels so good to have those bouts of energy and get caught up. Makes you feel like you can take on the world, doesn't it?!

This weekend, I am hoping to carry these feelings of determination and energy. I still have a few things I need to get done and out of the way before the BIG DAY:) So time to get those checked off the list.

I try to remind myself in those times where I feel like other people are able to get so much more accomplished than I do, or they seem to have more hours in the day than I get, I just try and remember that we all get the same 24 hours and we need to utilize what we have of it. Sometimes you need to lay on the couch and watch tv. And that's cool. You gotta do that sometimes. And other times, we need to get up and get moving. Sulking won't get the dishes done, but forcing yourself to tackle one project will feel better than if you don't do any at all. JUST.KEEP.SWIMMING.CLEANING. :)

So cheer's to the freakin' weekend y'all! :) Where our time is our own! :)

Happy Weekend!

~AMK 

Sun-vantage & Puppy-Love

I have been trying to soak up every minute of these cooler temperatures the past week or so...aka it hasn't been in the upper 90's! We have actually had the lower 80's some days so that has been so nice!

Homeworking Outside

Because school is in session, I have tried to bring my readings outside onto the patio. Always more enjoyable reading textbooks outside rather than at your desk.

 

I also had the chance this past weekend to bring Buddy to the Bark Park with his girlfriend Abby (yes, they are in love). We also met up with another friend and her dog, Sadie.

Buddy checking out his ladies;)  I think he likes what he sees :)

The 3 had SO MUCH FUN! The chased each other, wrestled, and barked a whole lot. They definitely got a lot of energy out...Buddy has been sleeping for DAYS because of it. That makes this Momma happy:)

That's a happy pup right there!

Thanks Heidi for the great shot of the love-pups on the ride back home:) Tired puppies!

I also have been working at keeping our plants alive. And when I say working, I mean, it is a J-O-B! Whoever said that if you can keep a plant alive, then you can keep a pet alive had a SERIOUS green thumb because plants die so easily. At least a dog will "tell" you when he is ready to eat!

colorful water can

But, I have been faithfully watering our flowers on our patio. We transplanted them into larger pots, and  they are doing much better now. So we have some happy flowers to go with our little sunflower bird house (that has had a hummingbird scoping it out in the past couple weeks)!

The sunflower bird house we got from the garden center at our local farmer's market.

I hope the little guy makes that his permanent residence because they are such interesting creatures.

Until next time, enjoy some sunshine! :)

~AMK