A Highway Day Ahead

So today I'm heading back to Memphis to finish off my sophomore year of college. Gulp. That sounds really scary. Gosh I can't believe it's over halfway done! This break flew by but I am so thankful that I got to spend some time at home for a few days. However, the worst part about breaks ending is the drive back to school. Yuck, not looking forward to this but I've got my goldfish and gummy bears to keep me company!

I put together a mix that's going to get me through the first couple hours of my drive. Especially when highway driving, music is critical!

First of all, music helps me get over the initial few hours of homesickness as I'm driving away. I'm really an independent person. I wanted to go to college 6 hours away from home for a reason but I still hate saying goodbye. I always have a tough time leaving my parents and the goodbye with my long distance boyfriend is unbearable but I can handle it. I just need some sunglasses and some happy tunes to get me through.

Secondly, music keeps me awake! Hours on the highway is truly mind-numbing. In the car I need something upbeat that I can dance to and belt out lyrics. It's totally embarrassing but I do enjoy these secret jam sessions. Anything that can keep me awake and alert is important!

I'm getting ready to head out so I guess I'll see you on the other side!


All packed and ready to go,
Emily

Relationships trump Spanish papers.

So I'm type A. I'm constantly moving, constantly working, constantly go-go-go and it's hectic. In the midst of school and life in general I easily get caught up in work and meetings that I fail to put my true priorities first and focus more on the busyness in my life. I've been working more on taking a breath. Because quite frankly sometimes I just need to chill out. The work will get done, it always gets done but I need to quit putting off the things that are truly important.

Yesterday I got some time to really step back and reflect on a lot, mainly focusing on everything in my life that is good. I thought about everything in my life that is rewarding and everything that I want to hold onto. And this is something that I think I need to do more often. I've never been consistent on journaling or keeping a diary but I do need to work towards a way of stepping back and checking in on my life. I think sometimes we get so caught up in jobs and school and work that we fail to recognize when things are falling behind and most of the time it is the most important things that we push aside.

I'm personally at fault about pushing relationships aside in order to focus on work. I push conversations to the next day and I opt out of social events with my girlfriends to finish up projects that I could work on later. However in doing so, I take little steps away from these relationships and I underestimate the toll that this takes. I need to stop assuming that these relationships will stay strong even if I'm not making deliberate efforts to strengthen them. This is such a faulty way of thinking and I'm working on changing this. We can't build and keep relationships if we don't work at them.

Friends, family and significant others trump work any day so why are we focusing so much time on work?

My problem is I need to breathe. I need to take a step back and call my dad on the phone. I need to walk to my friends house and vent on her couch (wine optional). I need to Skype my boyfriend and simply smile. Because ultimately, at the end of the day that spanish paper didn't really matter and that budget project was just a grade but these relationships I'll have for the rest of my life. And that, is what I need to be focusing on.


Feeling grateful,
Emily