Meanwhile, I try to stay busy during my unstructured days at home. I have close to 0 friends at home, thank goodness for Candace. The rest are in Utah taking summer classes, on missions, married or traveling. I'm trying to stay productive and stay on the positive side. I'm very grateful for my optimistic nature in bleh times like these!
Find the good and making the most of my down time:
- Lots of family time! Hanging out with my super cool bro, Chris, almost everyday. He's gonna be a teenager next week, I gotta stay close to him during these next tumultuous years!
These are some of the many pics we took on a boring long car trip :D
- My parents are grateful for how "helpful" I am around the house. Frankly, I feel like I need to contribute to compensate for my free rent somehow.
- Plenty of sufficient sleep! I'm sleeping in til I naturally wake up - usually a rare luxury! This means I sleep for about 9-9.5 hours each night. Lovely results include flatter tummy (research shows hormones released during sleep help burn fat instead of storing it), smoother skin (cell repair plus less stress), and a less naughty appetite (body secretes less of a chemical that makes you crave bad carbs, sugar and fat). I will enjoy this treat while it lasts.
- Self-motivated daily exercise. Since I don't have my dance classes scheduled in, I have to practice self-discipline and drag myself out of bed every morning (I like to exercise on an empty stomach and get my metabolism fired up for the rest of the day!) and choose which home DVD I'm putting on haha. I alternate between dance aerobics, pilates/yoga and weights.
- Quality scripture study time. I listen to a General Conference talk every morning during breakfast, then look up whatever scriptures I feel prompted to afterwards. I'm sure the Lord will reward this effort somehow!
- 2 words: Food Network! Aka educational entertainment - getting cooking ideas for college single life and my future as a wife/mother.
- Reading for fun, which is almost impossible during the school year. I'm currently gonna start Gross National Happiness by Arthur C. Brooks, who gave a phenomenally inspiring forum at BYU this last semester. Plus I have plenty of authors I want to explore, all of whom I was introduced to in my American Literary History class.
- Picking back up my piano practices. I'm learning Clair de Lune right now.
- Catching up on my movie list. Recently saw He's Just Not That Into You, liked it. Also want to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and 17 Again, but also Sleepless in Seattle and Steel Magnolias for the first time haha - can't neglect the classics!
- Learning Microsoft Excel and Outlook. It's not like I can't figure it out for myself in proper time but I'm desperate for a [clerical] job, for which these skills are critical. I went to a job agency who sent me some assessment tests. I can type fast but I failed pathetically in Excel (51%) and Outlook (57%)! But the nice lady, Candice, didn't give up on me. She sent me some online tutorials, which will hopefully make me competent enough to land some decent jobs now and help me in the future.
So there. I'm trying to enjoy all this free unstructured time but I am eager to start earning money towards next year. PRAYERS APPRECIATED!
Way to go Linda! Unemployment can be so hard, so way to turn it into a good thing. Isn't it so nice to have time to practice the piano again? Ahh, I just finished practicing for today and it felt SO good. By the sounds of it, we are way more alike than either of us ever knew! Too bad we never hung out in Provo :(
ReplyDeletei didn't know you had a blog! i admire how you manage your time... it takes so much discipline to be like that!
ReplyDeleteLinda, The Curious case of Benjamin Button is a fave of mine too! I really liked the hummingbird symbolism what do you think it stood for?
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen you in a few years lets see if you can remember me!
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