Total Chaos

This week was utter chaos.

School started on Monday, which resulted in a mad dash for some parents to last-minute register in order for their kiddos to go to class. Tuesday was the same kind of deal.

Wednesday wasn't as crazy at school, but then we closed on our house (at separate times mind you, Sam in the AM and me in the PM). So much signing!!! Good thing I remembered the date.

Then we started packing up the apartment, and the slight chaos turned into complete chaos!

We went to our house on Thursday to retrieve the key in the key box, and found that the box had been taken and the key hidden under a rock. Finding which rock took a good 20 minutes, along with the fact that it was in the front yard and not the back yard. Go figure!

We brought over most of our kitchen, with the exception of some of our small appliances, and began wiping down the cabinets.

Friday was the day our washer and dryer were being delivered, along with a visit from the locksmith. The washer is hooked up and fabulous, but the dryer delivered has a 4-prong cord and our outlet is 3-prong. Sam is taking care of it and it should be remedied by Tuesday. We brought our closet contents and all of my paintings.

Finally Saturday was moving day. My parents showed up with the moving truck and we began loading everything around 8am. At 9:30 we arrived at the house where our unloading team of friends/family carried boxes to various rooms in the house. While we were unloading, our new bishop and his wife came by to say hello, along with our neighbor across the street. So far, we are certainly feeling the love.

Then we began the unpacking. For some reason, our important documents were scattered among multiple boxes, so we spent a good chunk of time frantically searching for them (marriage license, passports, etc.). Luckily Sam found them all. This frantic search warranted a special dinner from Cafe Rio and a trip to the grocery store to stock the fridge with produce.

We are exhausted, but very fortunate that we have Labor day next week so that we can finalize putting our house in order.

Stay tuned for photos (once I have put everything away)!

Learning to lead vs. Actually leading

So registration happened last week, and I learned a valuable lesson about what it really means to be a leader.

You know, learning about leadership in the classroom and then actually being thrown into a situation where I am the leader are two completely different things.

My insecurities practically drowned me as we muddled through the first day, by the time Monday was over, I was convinced that this job might be too large for me.

By the time we got to Friday, I was singing a different tune. Nothing could drag me down!

Then Monday happened, and I was back to feeling very much like intro Andie from Devil Wears Prada.

I guess I never thought that learning to learn would feel like such a challenge. I guess I have a lot of growing to do.

As a leader, I'm evaluating the needs of my space and the resources my bees bring to the table. It all seems like a bit of a puzzle right now, but I'm sure I'll get there.

Two days later, my perspective has changed yet again.

I guess part of being a leader is to be constantly evolving and always learning.

I'll get there.

Studio C taping: Season Finale

In a sweet moment of pure luck, I managed to win tickets to the very last taping of Studio C for this upcoming season. I needed it too, we've both been majorly stressed out lately and thoroughly enjoyed laughing for two hours. They were filming parts of the season finale, including the very last sketch of the season (fingers crossed that they keep in in post-production, because it was hilarious!).

We went with Sam's friends Matt and Aimee. They were nice enough to check us in for our line number so that we didn't have to leave work in the middle of the day. They thought it was a pretty sweet deal as well, because it meant we got to have a double date AND see a show we all like.

My sweet husband, I'm so happy we were able to swing making it to this taping and end our summer on a joyous note. I still can't believe we were in that lucky group of 7% whose email addresses were chosen this summer AND last summer.

Funk

funk¹

fəNGk/

informal

noun

1. 1.

   NORTH AMERICAN

   a state of depression.

   "I sat absorbed in my own blue funk"

   synonyms:

   a (state of) depression, a bad mood, a low, the dumps, the doldrums, a blue funk

I've definitely been in a funk lately. I've lost a lot of my structure and routine stability. Plus I haven't felt so hot the last few days, although I can't really blame everything on PMS can I?

I like my new job, there's just so much to learn in such a short amount of time. This is draining me emotionally because I haven't quite built up my confidence in this new role. It's making me insecure and depressing me a bit, which has started spilling over into my view on the world.

As funked up as it's been, I know that these feelings and emotions are circumstantial, and that things will (and already are) getting better. I told Sam of my feelings last week, and together we decided to pay special attention to our spiritual and emotional health for the next few weeks.

We kicked off this pledge by attending a temple session last week, and plan on going to the temple to do weekly endowment sessions for the next little while. We are also going to unplug a bit and spend more time interacting with each other rather than relying on electronic stimulation. I'm also gearing up to start a new month-long fitness program (a hybrid schedule of the 21 day fix and PiYo) to match the new weekday schedule that comes with this new job (7:30am start time means 5-5:30am wake-up call to exercise!).

However, I've decided to take this opportunity to revamp my lifestyle a bit.

We found out there aren't any internet hot spots near our new house, so I've been trying to convince myself that I don't need home internet. Now I'm being reminded just how much there is to do beyond Facebook and Netflix! I decided that I wanted to spend more time reading, so I decided to pick up some personal development books from the library and see if I could improve myself a little. I also received a beautiful journal as a graduation gift that I plan on using to track my personal development.

I know I've been emotionally tapped out for about a month, but my pity party is over and I'm ready to embrace my new life. I have a new job, no more school, and will soon have a new home.

Now is the time to reinvent myself and evolve into a better version of myself.

P.S. We also found out that we'd won tickets to the last Studio C taping of the summer. What a great way to kick of this reinvention!

A Few Seconds of Summer

Let me start by saying how I love the band 5 Seconds of Summer.

I never really understood the real meaning of the name until today. I sat at my desk and listened to the quietness of an empty school, and imagined what it would be like in three weeks when the kids would come back and the new year would start.

It suddenly dawned on me that it was August!

No.

It couldn't be.

Summer couldn't be coming to a close.

Graduation was just yesterday!

Regardless of my mental protests, I came to terms with the fact that summer was ending soon and I was trying to grasp at the last few seconds I had left of that quiet summertime feeling.

What happened to summer?

After thinking about it, I realized that mine hadn't gone by fast, but instead had been a summary of events that came and went in chunks of time.

For starters, I had three weeks of working at Westminster in between graduation and the Elmer family Hawaii trip. The day after we got back I started my new job and promptly worked part time for another three weeks before heading back east to visit the Dunn family for another two weeks. The day after I returned I began house hunting, and found a house I wanted. This week will mark four weeks since I came home from the east coast, and we are under contract for our house and signing an endless supply of paperwork.

I feel like I've done nothing and everything since May, but I'm sure I'm not the only one!