A Bit of Advice Before Bedtime

Today has been a heart-wrenching, unending day for me! While preparing for for bed this evening, I discovered something that's quite mind boggling to me: I typically read and analyze cases twice as much as I sleep.

If only I felt comfortable reading cases more quickly, then I most certainly would. Unfortunately, I'm sure that whizzing through cases would do much more harm than good simply because I would not remember, understand or internalize any of the material. So, what do I plan to do? Well, I'm going to rest for a little while and wake up with a fresh start to a brand new day!

Trying to stay motivated isn't easy, but there are things that may make it easier. Here are a few tips that I used to stay motivated:

• When frustration begins to hinder me from comprehending material, I stop reading! I relax, eat dinner, and/or take a nap if I have time. Later on, I go back to the assigned task. Returning to readings that may have initially seem overwhelming to me tend to appear a bit less daunting the second or even third time around. 
• I also reward yourself after meeting or exceeding the goals that I've set. For completing an assignment or two, I may reward myself by not doing any reading outside of class the next day or by even taking a well deserved nap. For surviving a long, arduous week, I may go bowling, salsa dancing, or skating. One thing that I try not to do though is reward myself when I don't deserve it. It may seem trivial or cliche, but it works for me. 
• I smile a whole lot! Even when I'm upset, exhausted, or disappointed, I try to keep a smile on my face. There's a quote that says, "Life is a mirror; we get the best results when we smile at it." Sometimes a simple smile helps me feel better about whatever situation I'm in. It reminds me that no matter what is going wrong, I still have something to smile about!  

I think that's it for now! I should get some rest. If I haven't told you yet, thanks for visiting my blog! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

My birthday was earlier this week! That's right! My birthday! Not to mention, it was my first birthday in Illinois. I initially expected to spend my celebration of birth alone in my apartment watching movies and being bored, but my new friends here saw to it that I enjoyed every moment of my big day! By the end of the night, I was crying tears of joy simply because they all cared so much about this new stranger from Virginia. (There aren't many Virginians around  here.) 

If you're curious, here's how my birthday turned out. I woke up bright and early after getting a birthday phone call from one of my sisters. After talking with her for a little while, I decided to stay awake and get dressed for the day. It came as such a surprise that one of my cherished Oberlin friends contacted me from Europe only a few moments later. He wished me a happy birthday and told me that I'd be receiving a postcard in the mail really soon. Since I hadn't spoken to him since mid-January, the simple gesture helped me to be a bit more optimistic about my birthday. 

It just so happened that a new friend of mine joined me for lunch. I ate a tasty stir-fry meal with rice, broccoli, carrots, pineapples, green beans, a dozen other yummy foods. Shortly after lunch, I went to work, which was also surprisingly fun. Every since the summer of my ninth grade year in high school, I have been so blessed to work at the most wonderful places with the most fun-loving people. Spending the day at work on my birthday wasn't any different. Actually, being with my co-workers ended up being one of the highlights of my day. Once our work was complete, many of us went to sing karaoke as a way of celebrating my birthday and bonding outside of the office. I can proudly say that I have no voice today after performing, encouraging others, and singing for nearly three hours. Three songs were dedicated to me - the birthday girl - even from complete strangers. I ended up singing Respect by Aretha Franklin and Ain't No Mountain High Enough. All in all, we had so much fun that we may make karaoke night a summertime tradition, but only time will tell. 

A Blog Post Inside of A Blog Post

If you have visited my blog before this morning, then you've probably noticed quite a few changes. In other words, I've become addicted to widgets‼ It seems like there's a widget for everything. It's pretty exciting for blogger like myself. Here are a few of my favorite additions:

• A poll for all of my visitors
• I personally think everyone should be apart of this big decision that I have to make - putting my Oreo song on Youtube.
• A lovely bookshelf widget
• Please don't forget to leave me book recommendations‼‼
• A couple of Twitter widgets
• Yes, I've rejoined Twitter. Now that summer is in full swing, I have a bit more time on my hands. Leisure reading and social networking are two fun ways for me to spend my free time. Well, those things as well as catching up with friends and family... Wait a minute, that's social networking too, isn't it? In any event, if you're worried that everything I do revolves around reading words on a page or screen, fear not‼‼ With the other free time that I have I also sleep, cook, jog, and socialize with the wonderful new friends that I've made here. A great example is the neighborhood ice cream social that I went to the other day. It was surprisingly pleasant‼ Initially, I thought that the event would be rained out, but it wasn't, which was fantastic. While at the social I had the chance to meet many of my neighbors, none of which I had known beforehand. I just thought I'd share that... Now, back to the topic of discussion. If you have a Twitter, then you should most certainly follow me, especially if you were one of my followers four scores and ten years ago.

P.S. I love lists‼

My Inner Alarm Clock

Friday . . . 7:25a.m.

Saturday . . . 6:54a.m.

Sunday . . . 7:57a.m.

Monday . . . 7:38a.m.

Tuesday . . . 7:14a.m.

Every since I moved last week, I have not been able to sleep past eight o' clock in the morning, and it's not for lack of trying. Last night I went to sleep at about 3:30a.m. in hopes of waking up a little later this morning. That didn't work either‼

I have yet to figure out what has caused the appearance of my new inner alarm clock. At first I thought that it may be as a result of moving to a new time zone. However, I only moved one time zone over, and before relocating I most certainly was not waking up before 9:00a.m. every morning. An older friend of mine said that at a certain age, the body creates it's own "work clock." So, although I don't have a job that requires me to wake up this early, one day I will and my body knows that all on it's own. Consequently, it will become habit for my body to wake up without an alarm. I guess I could believe that. My mother has never used an alarm clock for as long as I can remember, and she's always on time for work.

Does the body simply revert to it's own sleep schedule at a certain age? Could it be the change in time zone? What do you think?