S T R E S S.

Stressful. This is the best way to describe everything right now: my life, activities, feelings, thoughts and mostly.. decisions. 

School is at its peak of difficulty. My university applications are due by February 1, and are going to magically be finished and arrive in Ontario before then (good luck Aimee.) I have had some friendship and relationship troubles lately, which has been rough. To say the least. 

When I get stressed, I not only feel stressed.. I look the part too. Maybe it is only me that can see it, but I see tired eyes, a dull complexion, hair that just wont cooperate, an outfit that looks sloppy and not put-together, and various other things. Stress takes a toll on every aspect of your life. 

However, to every cloud there is a silver lining. 

Yesterday I played hookie from my literature class to get a few things done off my crazy to do list. It is actually crazy- color coordinated, post-its all over the place, a key at the bottom to understand the colors and symbols. I don't typically show this to people, basically only to prevent people from immediately regarding me as a caffeinated nut-case. And I went to my candlelight pilates and yoga class- my new favorite pastime. All it took was an hour of working my little a** off, and 30 minutes of meditating to calm me down. 

Basically, the point of this little rant is to say this:

Even when you are stressed, you will to find some way to pull through. In the meantime.. there are a couple ways you might get through it a bit easier.

- Drink tea. I know it's girly, but I honestly feel tea is an emotion builder. When you want to calm yourself, chamomile is the way to go. For energy (not a caffeine-high), I like peppermint. Nothing feels as good after a workout as a steaming mug of green tea. And for every-day.. chai and earl grey come to my rescue. 

- Work out. I know, funny coming from me, as I am incredibly lazy and anti-fitness 90% of the time. But I do find it helps with my stress as long as I do not think about everything I have to do while I do it. That's a big no-no.

- Make a to-do list! Or even better.. a PRIORITY list. Sometimes it stresses me out to see everything on paper that I have to do.. but in the long-run it's a great reality check. Plus, you can be like me and get creative :)

Without these three stressors.. I don't know what I'd do!

Keep this in mind the next time you feel that anxiety and pressure creeping up on you. 

All for now,

Aimee OC

Fin de Año.

Prospero Año Nuevo! 

(or for all those who don't pretend they are fluent in spanish.. Happy New Year!)

New Year's Eve has always been something that I either dread or have extremely high hopes for. Usually, I end up being surprised. Although this one was to put it lightly the POLAR OPPOSITE to last, I found it rather rewarding in the end..

We started the day with a surfing experiment (me, being blessed with hopeless coordination opted out of this activity). All in all, I think it was enjoyed by my siblings much more than my mother who considered laying on the board like a dead fish to be 'surfing'. 

I then declared my 'independence' from the family, something I do every so often. It's just a nice break from the stressful family environment, and a great opportunity for me to belt out Taylor Swift while making scrambled eggs with no shame in the world.

Our next adventure was to the Haleakala Crater --> a dormant volcano. We had been to the 10,000 foot high mountain before, but it got so cold we did not enjoy it. This year, we looked ridiculous in heavy jackets and pants when we went to Taco Bell for a little 'snack' pre-trip. The crater is something that I cannot articulate completely and do it justice. It is just one of those things that is best experienced, and not told. You find yourself above all- the city, the clouds, everything. It is an incredible feeling. My family watched the sun set for the last time in 2010.

This brings me to Lesson #5 (even though I haven't explained how I came to this lesson at all.):

Lesson #5: Sometimes.. you have to give them the 

benefit of the doubt. (As hard as it can be.)

I'm not going to elaborate on this except to say that today I found myself at the lowest of low points, as a bit of a psycho-girlfriend. I have to be honest. But once I realized this tough-love lesson... I feel 1000x better going into the new year, and just a tad stronger. 

All for now,

Aimee OC