On Being a Morning Person

Truth: Sometimes, I'm an absolute bear in the mornings. I literally feel like sometimes I wake up growling. I didn't know it was a problem until we got married but it's a real thing! Maybe it's because I've never really lived with a morning person, but Bryce can get up right with his alarm and get so many things done, whereas it is so hard for me to get out of bed sometimes, even if I'm not really that tired!

I really want to work harder to utilize my mornings and make them a more useful period of time for myself. I read somewhere that you have to practice getting up right when your alarm goes off, almost like on autopilot. I think when I wake up in the mornings I forget all the things I had planned to do when I went to bed and find reasons I don't have to get up yet, which is a BAD thing!

I'm trying to make goals to wake up first thing when my alarm goes off. I feel like if I can do that one thing then I will feel much more ready to do other hard things throughout the day. If I always accomplish the first thing on my to do list, I feel like that would be a pretty motivating start.

For the most part I feel lost and frustrated on this topic though, so any recommendations, I'll take them!

New Recipes

I don't know if you're like me, but I am much more excited to make dinner when I'm making something to be excited about. These past few weeks we have been trying a lot of new recipes, and it has been a great break in our day and way to spend time together. Here's a list of the ones we liked.

One Pan Ranch Chicken and Veggies

I don't think I ever really appreciated chicken thighs until making this recipe. And it was SO easy. I had to study so I sent Bryce home to make it, and he had no problems at all. The only hard part was chopping up the vegetables he said. Couple modifications we made: line the pan with foil before because it makes clean up a LOT easier. We also steamed the potatoes in the microwave a big first before cooking them. They best part about this was we could really just dump all the vegetables we had on the pan with it for an easy lunch and dinner. 

Spinach and White Bean Soup

I get kind of sick of having tomato based soups so often, but I don't like adding so much cheese or cream to them either, so this soup was a nice alternative. We just used regular sausage similar that you can grill like hamburger and doubled the vegetables (which is pretty normal for us). It was so warm and cozy tasting, and seeing as Bryce had just gotten braces on it kept him fed for a few days. 

Zucchini Meatballs

We've made these a few times actually. And the best part is you can really throw whatever you want in them. We double the veggies and add carrots when we make these, and use either ground turkey or ground beff. This time we also tried Prego's Vodka sauce and it was delicious! I know the recipe calls for fresh basil but usually we use dried and it turns out great. 

Spicy Cauliflower Soup

We're going to probably make this one this week. I'll probably substitute the coconut milk in this recipe for half and half or something but I love cauliflower soup because it tastes so warm and creamy without adding a lot of dairy products

More Common Occurances

Things that have changed:

- Any plans we make for any weekend are usually changed by the time that weekend comes because I'm too scared to do anything taking up for than 1.5 hours in fear of hurting my grades. It's a real thing. I don't think we've followed through on any "all day" type plans in months

- Self diagnosing myself with whatever disease we're discussing is a real thing. There was a moment this week where I had the 100% thought of "what if I have HIV?!", but I've also had Restless leg syndrome, Hypothyroidism, Diabetes, and ADHD (the more common concern of mine) in the past few weeks.

- I'm going to MEXICO! I'm so excited! We will be going on a mission trip to Chihuahua to help people down there to have eye exams and giving out glasses. I am so excited but also sad because I have never been away from Bryce for that long. But we figure, it's a once in a lifetime experience that I can't pass up! So I'm going! Ahh!

- Date night Thursday's are a real thing. We get so burned out by Thursday that Bryce usually watches a movie for a pit while I casually work on my Methods lab and we cuddle. Thursday's are the best.

- I've learned that it's not as hard to take a part of your life you don't like, throw it out and move on as most people make it seem. A few weeks ago Bryce and I were talking about a friend who I just never was happy with whenever I talked to them, so I deleted that person from my phone and never looked back. And I am SO MUCH happier without that friendship. It was amazing to me, I feel like I get caught thinking I'm stuck with some of the things or situations that bother me, but I really do have the power to act and make changes, make my life happier. I want to remember that in the future.

- This whole "inactivity" thing is really getting to me. I feel so tired and don't want to leave my house to workout once I get home, and the stress and sitting in class all day but not walking very far make me just feel blah so if anyone has any suggestions for that I'm all ears.

Also, we never take pictures because we never have any reason to. People ask me all the time "How's school?" and the problem is, there isn't really an answer to that. So please, if you see me or talk to me, ask something else! Ask me if I had a good day or how happy I am that day or what I'm stressed about because chances are I have something to say, but the mention of the word "school" just makes my brain go numb.