weekly wishes + orderliness + hippo flips

Hello pretties! ]Can I just say this is the second weekend in a row that has just been fantastic? My team won our soccer championship earlier today, I love my new design + I've just been blessed by so many kind words from so many kind people today. I'm just really, really grateful.

As far as weekly wishes go, last week I made a goal to watch a TEDTalk everyday. So I failed at that; I maybe only watched them three days. But I watched more than seven talks so I'm counting this week as a success. I'll be sharing my favorites in the next few days!

In this coming week, I want to practice orderliness which sounds like something I'd be practicing in 18th century England or something, but it's more of a state of mind. I actually looked it up + it means 'the quality of appreciating method or system". And that's a big thing I strive for. Whether that means keeping my things organized or my living space or just my mind, I want to keep my life neat.

Science Bit of the Day

Not super sciencey, just cool. (Image + excerpt from The Guardian)

An elephant bull charges a female hippopotamus as her calf scampers to safety. This female hippo was flipped several feet into the air as she stood her ground against an aggressive elephant bull at the Erindi Private Game Reserve in Namibia. (The hippo was just fine) (Also, how cute is the calf?!) Photo by Rian van Schalkwyk/Barcroft Media.

finding rest in the crazy.

Lately, life has just been hitting me hard. I hate to say that because I know there are so many people who are being hit even harder by life, but the daily grind has been a bit much for me. Lately it feels like there's always a paper to write, someone to call, an application to turn in and a miles-long to do list.

And that busyness is just part of life and the stage that I'm in. It's okay that I'm busy. But I'm struggling to maintain my level of positivity when I get only a few hours of sleep a night and don't have even a spare hour to do something just for fun.

This week, I'm making just one goal. I need to rest. I've been driving myself to do everything that my sleep and mental rest is basically nonexistent. I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to make rest happen, but I'm going to make it a conscious goal to rest my mind whenever possible, even if that's just for a few minutes here and there. I'm going to look into some meditative breathing and things like that to deal with stress. If any of you have advice on that, please comment below!

Oh and one happy thing...I got to hang out with this little piglet this weekend. :)



Thanks to everyone who has left comments on my last few posts. You are nice and you are important. I like you.

How do you rest your mind when life is busy?

 

Choices + free iPhone backgrounds

Because I believe that your attitude is always a choice.

           

Download any of these iPhone backgrounds.

P.S. If you like these, please pin or share them using the buttons below.

fresh pair of eyes [playlist]

Here in Southwest Michigan, it's been a rainy couple of days. As I went for a run in the rain a few days ago, I admired the forest around the roads where I live. Even though I was listening to rock for my run, it made me feel like this:

Quelqu'un M'a Dit//Carla Bruni
Go On//Elephant Revival
Take Me Somewhere Nice//Mogwai
Love Song #1//White Buffalo
You Ain't Alone//Alabama Shakes
Bruises//Chairlift
I'll Drown//Soley
Old Friends//Simon & Garfunkel
Where is My Love//Cat Power
It's Only Fear// Alexi Murdoch
I Won't Give Up//Jason Mraz
Fresh Pair of Eyes//Brooke Waggoner
Chanson Triste//Carla Bruni
Cheers Darlin'//Damien Rice

Listen on Spotify.