Audrey Life

When the Stress Adds Up

I’m just going to free ball it today and let the words fly.

The past 6 days have been incredibly stressful. I wake up so grateful to have such a tough supportive partner, but when you both carry the same personal and professional stress, it’s just freaking hard.

I thought about listing all the things that have me stressed, but seeing them spelled out isn’t going to help. I’m also not going to list coping mechanisms because I just don’t care right now. I’m stressed and that’s life.

I will say that I handle stress better than I once did. Instead of shutting down or getting ungodly angry or holing up in a dark room to sleep I just cry it out, maybe write a few words, and pull on my big girl pants to handle the situation as best I can.

I’m Type-A, but I’m a realist & I know there are a million things outside my control. I try to plan for the tangible things and limit my worrying when it comes to the rest. (I forgot that yesterday, had a total melt down, and was reminded of this mindset by K. Thank you, dear.)

On top of my normal stress, it stresses me out that I’m probably stressing out the baby. I imagine she’ll emerge as a total neurotic psycho (like her mother) or be the most zen child out there because she lived through the nervous energy that pumped through my body the past 9 month. I’m praying for the latter.

Surprisingly, my anxiety is low. Pregnancy kind of muted my social anxiety and the stress I feel is just pure stress with actual problems as the source. My depression is a sneaky little monster, though. Pregnancy has only fueled that. (But this isn’t about that.)

For the record, I am perfectly ok. The kid moves around and kicks my bladder. I sleep ok at night. I’m eating well. I distract myself with books and dogs. My marriage is great. My mental health is just fine. I could just use a littttttle less stress, but that’s just life.

And I’m not trying to be vague. My stressors aren’t a secret, they’re just mundane and universal. Huge shifts at work, the upcoming travel season (mostly for K this year but I can’t bow out completely), “maternity leave” and what it’s going to look like, etc.

I know I don’t need to say this because you guys don’t ever think the worst of me, but I am well aware of how fortunate I am. I’m excited to welcome a daughter soon, I very much enjoy my job, I live & work with my favorite human on the planet. I am hashtag blessed and I know that. I’m just stressed & rambling, & I appreciate your patience today.

Hopefully your week is a little less ahsadkjfhshg than mine is… And hopefully you have awesome weekend plans! Tell me about them 🙂 We’re going to a race and I honestly cannot wait to drown out my problems with the sound of engines and the smell of tires.

Audrey Favorites & Recs

Nothing to Say (& Blogger Love)

I can’t seem to muster up the motivation to write much today.

I have a bunch of things in my drafts folder, but nothing feels right and I don’t have the patience or creativity to finish any of those posts right now.

We have a work event this weekend & my house is a total wreck (for no good reason at all) & I’ve been sleeping terribly. And that’s what’s new in my world, lol. (I hate when people whine and complain 24/7 and I realize that’s kind of what I’m doing…)

I’m also incredibly pissed and frustrated and saddened and outraged every time I open Twitter or Facebook… so there’s that, too.

I’m in need of a little hibernation (which I won’t be getting this weekend or next), isolation, cold weather (LOL), and relaxation. I’m anticipating none of those things, but I’m trying to chill a little each night after work to pitifully charge my little battery.

(Like on the SIMS when their “fun” bar is running low but between sleep, work, and socializing you just can’t find the time to let Susan stand at the easel and paint for a few gosh dang minutes.) (No? Just me with that wacky comparison.)

I feel like I’m a little derailed today. Sorry.

All that to say I actually have nothing to say. So I’ll leave you with a few other blogs to visit that will most certainly have better content than me today:

  • Emma visits the most beautiful places and Hever Castle might be one of my favorites. (Nothing at all to do with my Tudor obsession…)
  • Last weekend was sh*tty and heavy and so avoidable in my opinion. Lindsay says it well in her post this week.
  • Take a break. Cry it out. Anxiety sucks and Emelia‘s openness with her anxiety is such a brave testimony to the pressures we’ve all felt.
  • I am truly feeling Chelsea‘s lessons from July. She always shares a few lessons each month & encourages her reader to, too!
  • Julie‘s stroller reviews, Kristen‘s circuit tutorial, and Steph‘s wedding advice all win for “Most Helpful Posts Ever.”
  • I am still laughing SO HARD at Amanda‘s horror story from her most recent vacation.
  • And last but not least, Steph‘s take on her worn-in kind of love is so honest and beautiful. Definitely worth a read!

Tell me about your weekend plans!

Audrey Family, Weekend Recep

The Last Weekend in July

It’s Tuesday & I am still a walking zombie in recovery mode. Ha. But the crazy busy social weekend was all worth it. I don’t always share a weekend recap, but when they’re memorable I like sharing here.

K’s extended family was in town last week/end from Texas, Kentucky, & Tennessee. After work on Thursday we went to his aunt & uncle’s house to visit and eat pizza.

After work on Friday we took our corvette to the car show at a neighboring town festival (The Corn Festival). K spent all week cleaning the car up- it was her first show ever. We weren’t expecting to win anything, but we ended up taking second place in the “1994 and Newer” category! (We have a 2013 because it’s the year we were married.) We were both shocked and pleased 😊

I love the corn fest because they serve corn on the cob cooked over fire with the husk still on the end for $1. You slather it in butter and salt and stand there eating it like a tried and true Midwesterner. Lol. I love sweet corn and I could put away a dozen of those bad boys, but I only had two on Friday.

The evening entertainment in the festival beer garden was provided by a local band- and K’s dad was the bass player. We stuck around for a few sets. Much of his family was there to drink and watch so we had more time to visit with them.

Saturday was a loooong day filled with family and alcohol (not consumed by me, ha). K’s uncle likes to organize brewery/winery trips for friends and family so he put together an itinerary for 22 of us. We all hopped into two white passenger vans and spent 11:30am to 9pm riding all over Ohio Amish Country. We visited 2 breweries, 3 wineries, and an Amish restaurant.

I feel like I’m carrying this little chick low; especially in this pic.

K’s family is great. They are welcoming and, regardless of your length of time in the family, treat you like you’ve been around forever- meaning they’re blunt, witty, & hilarious. So many different personalities that mesh so well together. We don’t see everyone often, but when they’re around it is always an actual party. We all had a really fun and exhausting time on Saturday- it was so nice of K’s uncle to organize the day and chauffeur us ♥

Last but not least, on Sunday we traveled to Lexington, OH for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. My brother works for Honda and snagged us all tickets so we showed up ready to spend the day at the track. This was our second time going and we were way more prepared this time.

My dad and K rented a golf cart and I 100% made fun of them for being so extra… but it was the best decision ever. We brought our pop-up tent and coolers and chairs, too. We spent about six or seven hours at the track and saw quite a few races, the last being the Indy 200. It was a hot day but we were prepared with our drinks and shade (and golf cart!) so it was a lot of fun.

It was a looong fun weekend. This little introvert is ready to shut herself in a dark room for a few days and sleep/read/meditate. I love family weekends & I’d never turn them down, but my battery is drained!

I hope all my friends had a full and happy weekend. Sending you strength to make it through this week!

On a more somber note, on the way home from the race Sunday I learned that a blog-friend had passed away. Grace of Rebel Mommy Book Blog fought cancer once before and kicked its butt but it came back recently. We “met” through a book swap and she was the sweetest, most generous person. She has the most beautiful little family and I can’t stop thinking about them. If you were a follower of her page, I thought it’d be best to share the news with you ♥

Audrey Life

Weekend Thoughts

It’s Tuesday, but I don’t post on Mondays, so you’re getting my weekend thoughts late.

We had a fun weekend. I accidentally spent a lot of time with my family but that’s never a bad thing. Haha.

A quick recap: Dinner with my parents on Friday (an anniversary treat to us). Prom prep for my cousin & derby viewing on Saturday. A bridal shower (I attended) and baby shower (K attended; it was co-ed) on Sunday. 

And now a few thoughts on the weekend…

Prom and high school are such a huge deal when you’re young. I tend to forget that. This summer marks TEN years since my graduation and my head is in such a different place than it was a decade ago. My 17 year old cousin went to prom this year and she looked incredible. She’s a very low-maintenance, jeans and t-shirt, athletic kind of person. Seeing her in a dress with her hair done and a full face of make-up kind of floored all of us.

I watched the derby for the first time ever. I even placed a dollar bet on Long Range Toddy (Stephanie’s rec on her Thursday post, lol). I know NOTHING about horse racing or the rules, but here’s my opinion anyway…
I don’t have a problem with the objection or the disqualification if those are the hard rules. I have a problem with the team that filed the objection… Country House wouldn’t have gotten second if Maximum Security hadn’t left his lane. He not only benefited from the move, but he benefitted from calling the winner out. Meanwhile, the three or four horses/jockeys/teams that were cut off AND could’ve been seriously hurt, didn’t file the objection… even though it happened to them.
I just think it was sneaky & opportunistic in a bad way.

And that’s my 2 cents on that. I was also surrounded by dogs all night so I wasn’t actually mad about anything.

I know it happened on Monday, but the newest royal arrived and it just makes me so giddy. I love that family. And Harry’s interview was the hands down cutest thing I’ve seen all year.

He can’t stop smiling and giggling and I love it.

I had more thoughts, but I’m already late getting this posted. So instead of my rambling, tell me about your weekend! Do you love the royals, too? Or can you barely recall the Queen’s first name? Derby thoughts?

Audrey Weekend Recep

What a Weekend

Coming at you live & late this morning.

For being a short month, we’ve sure packed a lot into February. We’ve had business events in three cities so far (Cleveland, San Antonio, Dayton) and zero free weekends. We’d planned to stay home & recuperate this past weekend, but my mother-in-law planned a surprise cabin trip for my father-in-law and we were whisked off to the woods for a night.

That said, it was still a relaxing, fun, slow paced weekend.

My father-in-law turned 60 on Saturday. We celebrated with lots of family, pizza and a taco bar, more cake than anyone deserves, and games. It’s rare to get everyone together with no agenda. We played Cards Against Humanity (some folks for the first time LOL), Mario Kart, and other games. We also went hiking- which might have been ill-advised given the high winds warnings. #LiveLifeOnTheEdge

K and I got home late Sunday afternoon, finished watching the NASCAR race, and I did some dishes, laundry, and picking up. After a quick shower, I was about to grab some food & settle in to watch the Oscars. And then we lost power.

SIGH.

We ended up in bed at 8:30pm with two dogs & multiple blankets. Monday morning was a chilly one. Ly is a husky mix so she stayed home and was quite comfortable. Enzo came to work with me. We finally got power some time around noon.

And that was our weekend.

Will next weekend be a quiet one at home…? Only time will tell.