Cutting Myself Some "Slack"

I feel like the past month has been a complete whirlwind! It seems like just yesterday that Kolby popped the question, and now here I sit less than two weeks away from my wedding! It's all so exciting! The countdown has officially begun!

I've had to "cut" some things out of my routine lately, mostly because my schedule has been crazy busy with the addition of the following:

1. Wedding Planning, Purchasing, Etc.
2. Meetings After School to Arrange Various Wedding-Related Things
3. Starting My Masters in Educational Technology-eek!

Just adding those three things (even though one and two kinda go hand in hand) has made my so-perfectly-organized-and-planned original schedule do a complete one-eighty. I haven't been sleeping as well as I should, laundry is piling up, Lucy isn't receiving her usual evening or morning runs/walks, there is a Shark mop still residing in the corner of my dining room that hasn't been put away, the bathroom toilet paper is still sitting on top of the counter instead of placed neatly on its metal spinner thing, etc. I even realized the other day that Kolby and I hadn't gone to the grocery store in what was probably two weeks! WHAT? How are we surviving like this? 

Not to mention school. Oh boy. I'm usually the teacher who is completely OCD about my desk being clean, papers being graded in a super-efficient timely manner, and lessons that are completely typed out and prepared weeks in advance. As of late, I have found myself scrambling in the morning to set out the day's lab supplies, grading papers from last week, and entering grades frantically as I wolf down my lunch (can't forget to eat in the midst of this madness!)

Usually, I would start to feel completely overwhelmed about all of this chaos. Trust me, I'm not one who adapts well to change. However, because I am so completely elated and happy with my life, I have found myself pleasantly okay with cutting myself some "slack." I'm lucky to be in my Master's Classes with two close friends, so I don't feel overwhelmed with work. Plus, my classes are completely online, so working at my own pace/at my own time has been tremendously awesome. I've even submitted an entire MONTH'S worth of assignments for one of my classes so that I don't even have to think about it until after the wedding. (Hey, I still have a little OCD in me).

I've also cut myself some slack at school. I'm lucky that this week my kids have Human Growth and Development, so I have some time to play "catch up" with grading and planning. I haven't been degrading myself like usual when my room doesn't look perfect or when my materials aren't readily accessible on my lab table like usual. It's okay not to be perfect 100% of the time.

I've cut myself slack at home by not stressing about the little things like the Shark mop or the toilet paper, and just taking care of those little things when I have free time. I'm still cleaning twice a week (or three if I find the time) and I took a MUCH NEEDED personal day last Thursday and found time to go grocery shopping. Hooray for having food! I even did some normal things this weekend, like catching up on my DVR shows like Project Runway, reading on my kindle (even if it was my textbook), and sleeping in. Heck, I even baked some brownies! I can't tell you how nice it was to do something "normal" during my week!

I've also found that there is no shame in asking for help-you can't do everything by yourself! That's what family and friends are for, and trust me, I'm so thankful for the help that everyone has given us over the past month! 

I really think it's important to not take things too seriously, and to give yourself a break every once in a while. Life is too short to spend sweating the "small stuff."

February is going to be absolutely amazing...have I mentioned that yet?