The roads were cleared enough this morning to make the trip to work. I forced myself to get up this morning, work out (it was arm day..thank god I am CSR so that I don’t have any lifting), and then leave early enough to take it safe on the roads. I blasted my work out playlist the entire drive, naturally filled with A Day To Remember, Bring Me The Horizon, and Rise Against songs to jam out to.

My day is filled with training our new Veterinary Assistant. So far, it seems like she is retaining the information that we are giving her and asking good questions as the day goes on. This gives me hope for the rest of her training. It’s hard to stay in veterinary medicine, the mental load alone is hard to carry most days. She sort of reminds me of a younger me, when I entered Vetmed, I was only twenty-two, just like her.

It’s nice to sit back and train all day, it’s a nice cushion coming in from a three day long weekend. I’ll be here until 5pm tonight, hoping that there are plenty more phone calls, emails, and text messages to tend to prior to doing close down stuff to get out on time for my appointment.

Every 3-4 weeks I got ge tmy nails done by one of my friends. It is a nice little self care tool that I have done since my wedding. I enjoy having my nails done and having them look nice. I do think it has been helping them grow as well. They are long enough to hinder my typing, and I cannot wait to ask her to cut them down a little so that I can actually function.

of course, I have no idea what I am going to do for them today. I was thinking maybe a light purple with white flowers on my ring fingers? Maybe lavendar flowers – I’ll figure it out.

On another note, it has been seven days and I am still going strong on my New Years resolutions and goals. I have not drank Alcohol, I have been working out with only one rest day so far, and I am writing every day without failing. It’s nothing significant but, I am pretty proud of what I’m doing. If I can do simple tasks like this, I can do anything.

Now, I am going to finish my cup of coffee and enjoy the rest of my lunch break before diving into this afternoon. Nothing beats Caramel Macchiato.

I think I have too many hobbies. Managing them occasionally can be a little tiring, but rewarding all at the same time.

I feel as though my hobbies waver depending on the day.

I love crocheting because it brings new projects and joy when they are gifted to people or just used at home in general. My sister in law still wear the hat I made her two Christmases ago, it means the world to me.

I love writing (obviously) so I aim to write and blog everyday. I find it a good way to exercise my brain. It also allows me to let go of those small thoughts that swirl around my head. I work it out on my own.

I enjoy working out. It allows me to expend all of the tension from the morning or the day. I also get to watch my progress grow and I feel better and better about myself every week. I’m so proud of myself for it.

I like drawing because it gives my mind something to focus on entirely, the fine details, and the color variation. I do not draw often but when I do, I always seem happy with the outcome.

I have fun playing video games too. There aren’t many games that capture my attention long enough to play for hours on end.

I love plants. I love caring for them, watching them grow, and acquiring ones from my wish list.

Sometimes one hobby or another will be neglected, it’s not on purpose, I just get overwhelmed and I need a moment to take a deep breath.

I’ve been getting better at maintaining them through a helpful app for self care called Finch, which sounds ridiculous but it truly works for me.

I gain rewards by doing simple tasks and it helps me keep up on things I enjoy, and my mental health. It makes it easier to stay on top of household chores and even my self care.

I have tasks set for cleaning the house, washing our bedsheets, doing one thing I love (any of my various hobbies), doing laundry, and drinking plenty of water throughout the day. It truly helps.

For whatever reason this gives me a sense of accomplishment and I’ll keep doing what I can to keep up with my mental health this year.

Now for today’s hobby: crocheting! (Hopefully attaching some granny squares together).

Here is ther verdict: My Macbook’s battery needs replaced, the irony is that is going to cost me more than it is worth. The question of the night last night was: Trade in and upgrade or replace the battery. Ultimately, I choose to trade and upgrade because as the technician at Apple kept saying, “I would be concerned how much longer you will be able to access certian websites and this Macbook of this age…is no longer recieving updates.” Essentially, mine is a dinosaur – yet, works perfectly fine other than the pad track and battery. For eight years old, that’s impressive to anyone. It’s the longest a laptop has ever lasted me – so I do intend to get a new one.

Until then, I need to focus on saving and praying that this one won’t kick the bucket in the mean time. It makes me feel good that this laptop has survived so much and it only took an old battery to offically think about retiring it.

So, this morning I needed to focus my energy on something that would make me happy before I wrote on my dying Macbook. I decided to do my plants care in the morning, something I typically save for before bed, and I added some new paste to my plants that need encouragement on growing new leaves. It says it can take two-eight weeks to start showing any signs of growth, but I choose to put my hope in that. My baby Fig Leaf (Figaro) is hanging on and my poor golden pothos (Harry Styles – because duh) is balding.

I cleaned the house to keep my body moving, and now I am headed to brunch with my in-laws while we wait on the impending snow storm to hit us tomorrow night, I am going to try to get as much sun as I can.

Thank god for heated jackets.

When I am most inspired and ready to roll – I seem to always hit a road block. This little speed bump happens to be my MacBook. When I got home last night, I had a few mintues before my husband got home, I put dinner in the oven and logged onto my laptop to look over some community colleges in the area.

I noticed when I opened my Macbook, the battery was fuller. Using it for 10 mintues brought my battery down significantly and in my curiousity, I clicked on the battery symbol. There is a caution sign with a note that reads “Service recommended”.

So, I go to a chat on apple support. What comes of it is: Your battery capacity is not within the normal limit and I need to have a technician look at it to see what it wrong. I made an appointment but I am not very optimistic about the potential outcome.

In reality, My Macbook is old (not too too old). It is a 2017 Macbook Air, and I have put it through hell and back in these last 8 year between school, photography editing, Sims 4 obsession every 6 months, and writing. I would hate to part with it, but sometime I wonder if upgrading would be beneficial or the better choice for me. (But I do not have $1000 laying around for a new one, nor is my trade in value worth it – $80, if you were curious….That’s it).

I am hoping there is a better option after they take a look at my Macbook tonight. I just have to decide if fixing my battery for $300 (That’s what Google estimates it as – they can never tell you for sure until you’re there). Is going to be worth hanging onto this for a few more years versus commiting to an expensive purchase.

Honestly, I cannot help but laugh at my luck. If I’m laughing, that will make it easier, right?

Anyways, keep my poor Macbook in your thoughts. (I know it will consume mine).

I want to graduate with a degree. Each passing year it seems more and more impossible but it weighs heavier on my conscious. I began a degree in Biology, wanting to pursue Zoology – but not knowing th outlet I can plug into following graduation.

I grew discouraged and took a break for my mental health – now it has been 5 years. Since then, I fell in love with veterinary medicine, but I do not have any prospects when it comes to if I want to be a technician or not.

If I am being honest, I don’t know that I would be good at it if I went to school for it and I cannot face another failure. However, dropping out has been one of the bigger disapointments I have found in myself.

I have thought about finishing my biology degree and just having it in my back pocket (I mean, lots of people have degrees they don’t use) versus seeing if any of my previous credits would be counted towards a technician license.

Yet, I find myself more and more at home with the idea of writing. Writing for what reason, I do not know. I love blogging, I love poems, and I love writing stories. Again, my fear of failure does not get me very far. I simply write and no one ever reads it.

I realize at twenty eight I should have it all figured out, or at least have an idea of what I want to do for the rest of my life. So, I suppose I am going to try again and see how far I get.

All I know that I want in life is to be happy. I am happy with my husband and love life, we are going to start a family and being a mother is so exciting, and I just want to live comfortably, which we are. So to me, this is all just a bonus.

Time to look into colleges again.

No one prepared me for the heartbreak of planning a wedding.

It’s not the compromise, or picking colors, it’s not deciding who to put next to whom at a table. It’s not even who to invite or what food should you serve. All of those tasks seem – easy compared to right now.

It’s the aftermath of those decisions in the age of social media and absentee family members breaking their vow of silence. It’s the comments of:

“Would have been nice to be included.”

“My brother will be heart broken if he’s not invited.”

“Thanks for the invite.”

“My feelings are hurt.”

From people who don’t say happy birthday, didn’t grow up going to soccer games, haven’t talked to me in years (despite seeing me at family events), and couldn’t tell you one fun fact about me other than how we are related. Without a single congratulations from their lips.

But instead, they will beg me to allow them to have a plus one. I try to guilt trip myself into inviting people and telling them they will pay for the meals, drinks, or whatever is necessary to bring someone else. They will complain that they weren’t included or complain it’s in a different state than where they live.

And instead of saying thank you, instead of allowing me to live in my happily engaged bliss – I have to justify that my decisions are my decisions simply because I want them as so.

I have to remind them, this is my wedding – come or don’t. It’s not about the money, it’s not about excluding people, it’s about celebrating my future husband and I’s commitment to each other – forever. That I want an intimate wedding, small people that are an intricate part of my life, of his life.

And I lie awake at night and wonder why they couldn’t spare the kindness that I would spare them.

Because I’m not entitled to anyone’s life. That won’t stop me from being happy for them, that won’t stop me from telling them congratulations, and if I was included, I’d happily be present. However, if I wasn’t, that’s not going to stop me from wishing them the happiness they deserve.

My wedding, is not a family reunion. My wedding is not a party to bring your own ride home. Its my day, and I’ll continually fight for what I want because that’s all that matters.

No one prepared me for that, so I had to prepare myself. I will choose to say my peace and walk away.

I have a bad case of the Monday’s…every Monday.

It’s something about setting the tone for the week, that I think I struggle with the most. I want to set a good tempo, then one small thing happens that sends me tumbling down to the regular depressing start of my week.

I overthink, I try to be a perfectionist, and I expect too much from myself. I set my expectations too high, it’s unachievable.

I want a good week, so bad, every week. I typically pick it up on Tuesdays, throwing myself back into the flow of the week. I gain my footing, I keep going, I keep trying and eventually, that is enough for me. I just need to start my week off like it was a Tuesday, every week.

So tomorrow is my Monday redo.

The other night, I dreamt of my late grandmother.

It has been four months since she passed, although I have grown around it, I still miss her dearly.

In my dream, it was as if she didn’t die yet. That she knew that she had cancer and she was living her life out the way she told me in the hospital she would, when she got out. She lost weight, she was active, never in one place for too long, she wanted to see the world with her family during her last few months.

We stood in front of the hospital, we were dropping her off since she was declining. She was crying, upset, but firm on us leaving her there. She handed me a credit card, told me that I needed to take care of myself and that she was sorry. She hugged me, crying, and told me that she loved me.

Naturally, when I woke up I googled the dream meaning. What the website told me was, I am looking for guidance and support. Which makes sense, one of my favorite past times is listening to her advice in her living room. She always gave the best advice and I need it now more than ever.

I feel stuck between content and unhappy. I feel like I am struggling to find the sunshine in the storm. I’m getting married, but no one prepared me for how stressful it was to plan a wedding, or have people tell me that they would help me when they have ignored my calls. I know it will be worth it in October, walking down the aisle and marrying the love of my life – but this road to it is so rocky.

Now, I have to imagine what she would tell me.

She would tell me that she loves him, that he is perfect for me, and that she is so happy to have him in the family. (She’s cried so many times, blushing about him, being so happy that I found him). She would tell me to say “screw it” to people who were giving me shit about inviting them, or having my wedding the way I wanted to. She would tell me that all of the trouble I am going through now, would be worth while in the end because my day will be perfect as long as I was setting it up according to what I wanted and not what every one else wanted.

She would tell me that the stress I feel from work, is only a bad day, and that everyone has bad days. She would tell me to keep pushing because she is so proud of me.

She would tell me to keep working on finishing my degree, because she knows that I can do it. It’s just hard starting otu but it will get easier, she would promise me this.

Somehow, I find comfort in that.