Hey y’all. Somewhat ironic that in my last post I talked about how I had an average of 3 1/2 posts per week and then I go 2 weeks without posting at all. Sorry about that. With school having just started, I was trying my best to stay on top of things, reduce my stress level and try to keep from putting things off and procrastinating (in my schoolwork, that is). I was working on creating a balanced start to this year and figuring out how to manage things to keep everything in order. I have a bigger house to keep clean and organized than I did last year, plants to water everyday, meals to cook everyday, laundry and grocery shopping to do, school to go to, homework to do, an art club to manage, a business to design things for, and all the million little other daily to-do’s. I also try my best to set aside time every night for my bible study, try to get a good amount of sleep and I’ve been trying to allot time to exercise as well. I’ve been doing good so far with my exercise regimen this year! Last Saturday morning, my friend Jessica and I went to a free yoga class in Audubon park and I went to two Pilates classes last week as well. I also went to a really good Health and Nutrition talk on campus by Deanna Latson. I already am feeling so much better after just a few days of good exercise and it has helped really well with keeping my stress level down. I really want to try my best to keep up with exercising more regularly this year! I think I’m going to take a Pilates class every Monday evening, go to the gym and create my own exercise plan on Wednesdays and then take an afternoon PiYo (Pilates/Yoga) class on Fridays. 🙂

So anyway, I was working on my balance of everything the last couple weeks and I haven’t had any time leftover for anything, so no blogging has gotten done lately. (even though I have lots of projects and things to share!) As soon as I felt like I had everything on a nice schedule, we threw the whole thing off by going home to visit in our hometown this weekend. (20 hours of driving in 3 days! Eeek!) Driving 10 hours home and then back for just a weekend is one of the most miserable things ever. We spend so much time in the car, are worn out, its impossible to get any work done, and it is just energy draining. But it is more miserable to miss out on things that are going with my family. This particular weekend was my high school’s Homecoming weekend. Both my little sisters were getting dressed up for the dance (and wanted me to help do hair and take pictures), my little sister, Jill, was performing 3 different times with her colorguard team and the band, and my older sister Blair was coming home with my nieces as well. I didn’t want to miss out on everything, so we decided, sort-of last minute, to make the trek home.

It was a busy, whirlwind of a weekend, but it was lots of fun as well.

 It was the 150th anniversary of our school district, so Friday all the schools were out and at our football field they had a celebration event with big blow-up slides, food, games, face-painting, etc. I took Evie and she had a blast. Later my mom and older sister, Blair, came with my other niece, Georgiana, and she loved it as well.

Later that night was the Homecoming Football game with performances by the band, the colorguard, and the cheerleaders at halftime. Also at halftime was the recognition of the attendants and the queen candidates and the announcement and crowning of the Homecoming Queen. We all went to see it and watch Jilli perform with the colorguard.

The high school band and colorguard performed at the Homecoming parade on Thursday, but we weren’t home yet and missed it. However they also performed on Saturday morning at the Murphysboro Apple Festival Parade in a nearby town, so I got to see Jill flag twirling again then. (Both the HHS band and color guard won 1st place there too! Way to go Jilli!)

There was also the Homecoming dance of course. I helped with hair do-ing, make-up-ing, getting ready-ing, and picture taking. It went very much like this story I wrote about the events of last year’s Homecoming for my creative writing class. My mom made Jill’s dress again this year and she finished it the morning of the dance, as usual. 🙂

Even though it was hectic and only felt like I was home for a millisecond, it was nice to get to spend time with family and enjoy the nice fall weather. (Fall doesn’t really exist in New Orleans!) I love the cool, calm, peace of Fall in a small country town with family and football games. I only wish I could have stayed longer! 🙁

On to a busy week ahead though! (with lots of work to do that I didn’t get done this weekend! So much for balance!)