Shareables.

Hi!  It's been a long time.  Oops.  Not sure how that happened. 

Guess it was kind of a busy couple weeks.  Anyway, today I just have a few little shareable things to, well... share.  These past couple weeks, as you most likely already know, have been ROUGH.  Lots of tragic, horrid, awful, terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad things have happened.  I am not going to go any further into the details or offer any ideas or opinions about them other than to say - stuff like this makes me VERY anxious and upset.  Maybe that's another reason why I took a little blog breather.  It just gets to be too much.  I wish I was the kind of person who could hear about tragedies and separate myself from the pain and realize that I have no control over the situation or the fact that these things happen.  I mean, I think everyone feels pain and connection to tragedy like this.  I'm not saying I wish I didn't care.  That's not true at all and sympathy is part of what makes us human.  It's just that sometimes I simply can't shake the despair, empathetic pain, sorrow, and fear that comes along with weeks like this one.  It is certainly nothing compared to the agony felt by victims and their families during times of tragedy.  I cannot possibly imagine how they feel.  But I just wanted to touch on the fact that I know what it's like to be a bit debilitated by fear and anxiety during these times, and it's OKAY.  Even if you weren't physically hurt or don't know anyone who was physically hurt, it's ok that we are affected.  It's good that we are affected.  It's ok to take some time to process events like this.  It's good to take some time to process things like this.  You're not weird, you're not ridiculous, you're not selfish, and you have the right to be really upset.  Be kind to yourself.  And I wholeheartedly believe in doing this from time to time...

... in fact I would lose my sanity if I didn't unplug myself from bad news on a regular basis.  Being informed is important, but so is the ability to function and relax and live your life.

Enough about that!  Here's another incredibly powerful idea to ponder.  I'm sure you've already seen it, but if not PLEASE take a moment.  I have a weird thing about resisting youtube videos that people recommend to me - as in, I either never watch them or it takes me a week and constant pestering to finally give in.  I have no idea why this is.  No idea.  It's just a weird thing.  So sue me.  The point is, I was hesitant to hop on this bandwagon until enough people whose opinions I really value and can generally relate with had recommended it and said such amazing things about it.  And they were right.  IT. IS. AMAZING.  So beautiful.  Watch it.  Just watch it.  If you've already seen it, watch it again.  It made me cry (but what doesn't??).  But seriously.  Watch this right now:

Dove Real Beauty Sketches

And while we're on the subject of viral links you've probably already seen, I'd also like to share "Instagram's Envy Effect," an article that quite a few of my friends have referenced recently.  Wow.  The ideas mentioned in this article pretty much sum up the reason I started this blog.  Life ain't perfect.  No matter how many photos I/we post on our various avenues of social networking about canoe adventures, trips to Thailand, or beautiful experiences with friends (yeah, sorry, I know I do that a lot), it's NOT FAIR to assume that these instagrammers are perfect and content and perfectly content!  It's not fair to them and it's not fair to you!  You really think trips and great weather and nice friends and good food makes your life perfect?  I wish!  These things can make life good-fortune-filled and nice, but wow, they're not everything.  So just keep that in mind.  I hope I've been transparent enough about the fact that the fun things I do and adventures I seek and photos I take are in an effort to make the best of each day and not to give you the false impression that I never have bad ones.

Also I can't get enough of this song:  "Turning Page," by Sleeping at Last.  Holy smokes.  It's gorgeous.  If you're feeling some Springtime, love-is-in-the-air, driving with the windows down twitterpation, it's perfect.  In my experience, anyway.  Goosebump CENTRAL.  Was it in a Twilight movie?  Yes.  I'm just going to be honest about that.  Look beyond it, people.

Today's jam:  "Little Numbers" by Boy

Peace be da journey (ever seen Cool Runnings? I sure hope so)!

We're only human.

So here's something funny.  I had a whole different idea for this week's post than what I'm about to share.  I've been thinking about it all weekend, in fact.  Crafting it in my head and thinking of all the hilarious and insightful things I'm going to say.  But then here's what happened:

(1)  I woke up at 9am this morning, you know, a good Sunday-Sleep-In.  Sometimes you gotta!  But this time I took it to the next level and thought, "I'll jusy lay here for a minute with my eyes closed before I actually get up."  Folks, that never works.  For me anyway.  There's no such thing as, "I'll just close my eyes and lay here for a minute and then get up."  No sirree.  So after my quick 10-more-minutes, I rolled over to look at my phone again and saw that it hadn't been 10 minutes.  It had in fact been TWO HOURS.  It was 11am.  WHAT THE?!  That doesn't happen to me very often anymore.  When I was a young high school student whippersnapper, I could sleep in until 11am on the weekends, no problem.  Make that noon.  Nothin to it!  But not lately!  So I HATED this.  Even though my body really needed it, most likely.  As I mentioned in my last post, I was sick this week.  And I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing allergies for the first time.  Wowsers am I ever sorry for you chronic allergy-sufferers out there, because this ain't right!  Anyway, it's probably good that I got a little more sleep.  But Anxious Andie didn't like that she had accidentally let a good chunk of a perfectly usable day go by.  So she was NOT amused.  Logical and sense-of-humor Andie kinda was though... 

(2)  Due to the accidental sleep-in, I woke up reallllly hungry and had breakfast (brunch) at 11am.  No problem.  That's fine.  Lounged around for a bit, cleaned, talked to Russ on the phone, ran some errands, you know.  Sunday stuff.

(3)  Decided to sit down and really dig into this new budgeting software that my parents told me about.  YIKES.  I mean it's great and the geeky part of me (so almost all of me) really likes stuff like that and crunching numbers and filling in forms and the like.  I know, CALM DOWN, right??  I can't be tamed.  But then I had a question and called my dad and he started to help me.  Like the great dad that he is.  But an interesting thing happened:  About 2 seconds into the call, I became incredibly, illogically, and SERIOUSLY impatient and annoyed.  And the thing is, my dad wasn't being annoying.  Nope.  He was being extremely helpful and patient, while I was being a beezy.  I mean I think I reined it in before things got too ugly, and my dad didn't seem to notice or think too much of it (probably because he's been the only male in a household of all women for 25 years, sooooo... this wasn't the first time).  But still, I was baffled by this!  Why is my blood boiling with impatience???  Why do I want to throw my hazelnut macchiato across the room??  What is wrong with meeeeeee?!

So here's what I realized.  First of all, my day started a little wonky when I slept so much later than I had planned.  Second, I haven't eaten since that 11am brunch.  WHOA.  That's bad news bears.  For me, there's "I could eat," "I'm hungry," "I'm really hungry," and "I'M HANGRY" (Thank you Kent Silver for introducing me to that term).  HANGRY.  Hungry + Angry.  And 8 hours without food is not a pretty sight for this girl.  It's really ugly in fact.  

And this realization got me thinking.  I've been reflecting a lot lately on all the things that I used to underestimate before I started getting control of my anxiety.  Meaning all the things that really impact me and my moods and anxiety levels that I always either tried to ignore or thought couldn't possibly be affecting me.  Well y'all, these things MATTER.  Getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods and enough of them, drinking water, getting exercise - these are not only for people who are trying to look like Jillian Michaels or training for a marathon.  These are things we all need!  And ladies, Aunt Flow is a nasty little minx.  She will curse you with mood swings and zits and what feels like 200 extra pounds and try to break you down and if you're feeling like crap, blame HER, not yourself.  I don't mean use her as an excuse to be a horrid awful moody beezy to everyone you know, but just realize that our bodies work in mysterious ways and if you're feeling extra anxious and upset and fat and zitty and gross, don't be too hard on yourself.  In a week or so you'll feel like a gorgeous goddess again (HA ok probably not, unfortunately, but just go with it) and all will be well again.

So the moral of the story is:  Don't underestimate the power of simple little daily needs and occurrences.  They can turn any kind, normal, even-tempered individual into the Incredible Hulk in no time flat.  Happens to the best of us.

Today's jam:  "Tonight I'm Getting Over You" by Carly Rae Jepsen

 (... you have your coping mechanisms; I have mine...) 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening, everyone.

Sometimes you gotta.

I'm sick today.  Blegh.  Fever last night, congested, aches, the works.  That ain't right!  But sometimes when I'm sick and miss work I get it in my head that I have to be all melancholy and down in the dumps and kind of sad all day to go along with the sickness and somehow make it more acceptable that I'm missing work/school/whatever my responsibilities are.  Do you know what I mean?  Does that ever happen to you?  Like, if you're going to miss work you better not have a good day.  You know?

Anyway.  That's messed up!  I'm already feeling under the weather*, so why should I have to feel worse by forcing myself to also be sad and lonely and upset over the fact that I feel pukey?  So tonight, after a full day of laying on my couch and watching Full House and Boy Meets World and frowning because I felt like I shouldn't be allowed to enjoy a sick day, I finally had enough.  Partially because I found myself watching Snooki & JWoww, and that was the last straw.  And also because I was about to dig into my Easter basket which made me homesick for this past weekend of family, friends, sunshine, reunions, the Easter Bunny, and the best travel companions in all the land.  And after talking to my dad on the phone tonight and receiving this text from him yesterday:

... my homesickness was rampant.  And on the way out to my car to grab my Easter basket that I forgot to bring in, I noticed the sky was AMAZING.  So I thought, "Rather than go to town on this basket, I'm going to go watch the sunset and get a $1 vanilla cone from McDonald's."  And even better, I decided to call one of my very favorite humans on the planet, my dear friend Megan, who joined me on this adventure!  It was perfect.  We got to catch up after a longish period of time apart, enjoy the beautiful evening, and eat our delicious and deliciously cheap treats.  And even though I still feel sicky wickets, I had the epiphany that I don't have to be SAD about it.  And that led to the epiphany that I do that ALL THE TIME!  If I feel like I should have some reason to be upset and BLAH about something, even if I can't think of what that reason really is, I still let it get to me and drag me down.  I'm going to work on that.  

And if you can relate to this issue, and are interested in my advice, it's this:  

When in doubt, GET THE HELL OUT.  

Change your surroundings.  New scenery.  Get off your bum.  Change the channel.  Take a lap.  Take a shower (that really works).  Just get outta there!  Wherever "there" may be!  Trust me on this.  

I highly recommend a long drive with a good friend and $1 McDonald's vanilla cones.  Thanks for bein (the BEST) part of my scenery change Meg :)

Today's jam:  "Royals" by Lorde

Laters on the menjay!

Name that movie!  5 house points for the winner.  Don't let me down Gryffindors.

  
*Weird phrase, huh?  I looked it up and one source says it comes from sailors in the olden days.  When one of them wasn't feeling well, they would go downstairs under the deck and away from the weather until they felt better.  Now we know!  Do you think that's really it?