Sometimes You Just Need a Reminder

Source

When I was younger (like early twenties, instead of early thirties--yipes!) I used to wear heels all day, every day. I swore they were comfortable (I was young, stupid, and didn't know any better), and I loved how my legs and ass looked in heels, especially with longer pants (still do!). 
But then one day I wore a pair of flats and at the end of the day my feet weren't aching and I realized maybe the pain wasn't worth the beauty? I dressed for myself and no one else, there wasn't/isn't anyone in my office I dress for so why would I make myself uncomfortable for the sake of a cute butt I couldn't personally see anyway. So I stopped wearing heels and starting wearing flats.
This means my closet is full of beautiful heels that never see the light of day anymore. It just isn't fair to them. So yesterday I decided to bring out a pair of heels to wear, yes they looked nice, yes my butt looked good, but you know what didn't look good? My mood at the end of the day. You see a typical "short" 8 hour day for me turned into a very long 13 hour day. In heels. Which I'm not used to wearing. 
As my aching feet settled into bed last night I thought to myself, this, my friend, is why you don't wear heels anymore. Which means my beautiful pumps won't see the light of day for a long time again. Currently, I'm okay with that, but ask me again in 6 months and I might have forgotten about this little episode. 
oh, and hi, I'm back. At least for this post. Because sometimes you can't shut the nagging voice in your head that says HEY PLEASE WRITE SOMETHING. 

By The Numbers

I borrowed this post from Steph at Life According to Steph, thank you very much!

1 1/2- Number of weeks I have left before I student teach

1,000,000- Number of butterflies that flutter in my stomach every time I think about it

154,605 - Miles on my car

2- Number of times I've been ziplining

42 - Books I've read so far in 2015. I'm on number 43 and 44 as we speak.

47 - Books I read in 2014

21 - Books I read in 2013

4- The number of siblings I have

9 - The day of the month that I got married

11- Number of States Dave and I have visited together. 

4- My favorite number, also the day of my birthday

44- My field hockey number when I played for a year in 8th grade. I thought doubling my favorite number would bring me luck. I consider not breaking any bones lucky, so I guessed it worked. 

1- Number of years and sports I ever played in my life

0 - Broken bones 

6- Number of years it took me to complete my bachelors degree

Care to share some of yourself by the numbers?

Things I Should Have Learned by Now

In less than 3 weeks I will be 30. Try as I might to slow down time, it's fast approaching. Part of me doesn't mind the idea of being 30 but there is another part of me that is dreading it. There are things that I had hoped to achieve before 30. I also thought I would be a little wiser by the time 30 hit. There are certain things that I should have learned by now that I just haven't. True, I do have another 3 weeks to learn it but if I haven't by now I probably won't. 

My biggest mistake in life was stressing when my plans didn't go the way I had expected them to. I thought that my 20s would be spent setting up the life I wanted to live and then in my 30s I could enjoy the fruits of my labor. This meant that I would be done school, started in my career in teaching, married, living in my dream house with 2 kids. 

I started freaking out when I was 27 and realized I wouldn't be teaching until I was in my early thirties, if I was lucky. I really started freaking out when I hit 29 and had been trying for my first baby with no luck. Panic set in when I realized that I would probably not own my dream house until I was in my 50s because of impending student loans (still panicking on this one). 

The lesson I should have learned from all this? Appreciate what I have accomplished. It may not be my dream house, but I do own a home, I may not be teaching, but I at least have my bachelors degree, I may not have a baby but I do have a husband who has shown me time and time again how much he loves me. I should have learned by now to stop freaking out when things don't go as planned. Things never go  as planned but when I look back on life and think about what has happened so far, it all worked out in the end.  

You'd think by the time I hit 30 I would have also learned patience by now, but I haven't. With everything that's happened so far, I'm still as stubborn as when I first started,  not understanding why things aren't going the way I hope they would. Taking a step back and letting what will be, will be. Just let go. Give up control of everything and just enjoy the ride.

I haven't yet, but I still have 3 weeks. Greater miracles have happened, right?

Random Thought

I think of ridiculously random things sometimes. Like the other day when I hopped into my car to run errands on my lunch break. I had parked underneath a tree so I had a few bugs crawling on the car when I went to go get in. One of the bugs was an ant that was crawling on my windshield. I figured once I started moving it would fly off versus me trying to swipe it off and potentially crushing it with my hand. 

However, that wasn't the case. The little ant stayed on my windshield until I made it to the local shops I was stopping at, about 10 minutes away for me, and a million miles away for that little ant. That lead to the question of the day: what happens to an ant that gets separated from its colony? 

The sad answer is that it's pretty much doomed to die, unless it's the queen. Here's more info from an article I found on Huffington Post: 

The first option: without the chemical trail to go back home, the worker ant is doomed. It could eat and survive on its own, sure, but why? It lost its purpose in life. It cannot reproduce or start a new colony. It will keep walking until it finds its nest or dies ... and the latter is very likely. An ant protected by other ants, especially soldiers, is one of an army. An ant by itself is a light snack. Also, if the night is too cold, the ant will freeze without the relative warmth of the nest.

What if it meets another colony of the same species? It depends: sometimes it will get lucky and be accepted, but more likely it will be killed. Each colony has a unique "passport pheromone" on all ants in the nest, allowing the ants to smell if another ant is family or an invader. Whether these pheromones are nest- or just species-specific likely varies among the ant world.

I'm not going to lie. I feel kinda bad, but random question of the day has been answered!

Happy Monday friends!

5 Shows that Should Have Ended Already

One of my favorite things about this time of year is reading the "cancelled TV shows" articles. I'm not sure why, it's just a guilty pleasure of mine. There's a few shows I think belong on this year's list and I thought I'd share them with you!

1. 2 Broke Girls

I used to really like this show when it came out a few years ago. Now the show seems to go for crude jokes versus funny jokes. Plus, the girls' shtick is getting kind of old. It'd be nice if they could catch a break, and then go away. Plus, the pearl necklace that Caroline still insists on wearing every once in a while (she used to wear it nonstop) needs to be lost for good. 

2. Bones

I've always really enjoyed Bones but it's been on for over 10 years (or at least it feels like it) and it's just getting old. I don't look forward to the shows anymore, because it's the same thing over and over again. Plus I think I read somewhere that you can always tell who the killer is, but I can't remember where. 

Runner Up: Pretty much any of those CSI:NCIS:ACRONYM shows. Except Castle, that's still a pretty good show. 

3. Supernatural

This was a tough one to put on this list because I love Supernatural and still do, however my big problem is that the show has lost its focus. I'm so sick of the series long story arcs that don't make any sense. I miss the days where the shows focused on making you laugh while going after different creatures. How many more times can Dean or Sam be dragged to hell or marked with something before the writers realized they already wrote it? 

Runner Up: Vampire Diaries. I don't watch this show but I'm pretty sure we're all past the vampires at this point. 

4. Once Upon a Time

I loved this show when it originally aired but now they're scraping the bottom of the barrel for story lines. I'm pretty sure the writers had no idea what they were going to write about past season 1 and they've been pulling everything else out of their ass. 

This is their logo right?

5. Keeping up with the Kardashians

I never watched this show, however I strongly feel that the Kardashians 15 minutes of fame was up....ten years ago. Can they go away already?

Runner Up: Any "reality" show. They're all fake anymore. 

What are some shows you would like to see go away?

Places I Dream About Moving To

Jenn from Much to My Delight recently posted her top 8 places she'd live other than NYC and I really liked the idea so I'm borrowing it. I love where I live right now, it's where I've grown up, where I met Dave and married him, so I don't have any intentions on moving away but I do often dream about setting up a new life somewhere new every once in a while. Here's the places I daydream about moving to:

1. Tennessee

Dave and I honeymooned in Gatlinburg, TN and I fell in love with that state. It kinda helps that I'm obsessed with the notion of the South: southern food, hospitality, comfort, etc. I even talked about longing for TN on the blog, two years ago!

2. NYC

In high school, I swore as soon as I graduated I was going to pack up and move to NYC. I was obsessed with Sex and the City and I was obsessed with city life. Quite frankly, I'm sure if I did, the city would have chewed me up and spit me out. Still, it would be nice to answer the question, what is it like to live in the city? 

3. California

I visited California about 5 years ago with a friend and honestly I haven't stopped thinking about that place since. We traveled up the coastline and everywhere we went the weather was perfect and beautiful. I often dream about moving to CA in the winter. 

4. Turks and Caicos

For my 16th birthday, instead of a sweet 16 party my mom gave me the choice to go to Turks and Caicos which I chose to do. Down there, I learned how to SCUBA dive, and visited a local bar where the owners were Americans who had packed up and moved down there to live a life of rest and relaxation. I decided then and there I wanted to become a SCUBA instructor and move to the islands and live out my life down in the warm, sunny islands. Clearly, that didn't happen but it's still nice to think about where my life would be right now if I had gone in that direction. 

So where do you dream about living?

I Might Still Want These Things....

I was pretty lucky as a kid, my mom did her best to give me everything I asked for. I was always aware of how hard she had to work for what she got, so I was really appreciative of everything she ever gave me. There are a few things however that I never got, going over this list there are a few things I still kinda want....

Talk Girl

I have no idea why I wanted this so bad. It was literally a voice recorder...of which I would have no use for. No wonder my mom didn't waste her money on this. 

A real Tamagotchi or Nano Pet

In fairness to my mom, she did get me one of these electronic pets, but it was a knockoff brand and it had this ridiculous setting that when it wanted to "grow" you had to hit a series of buttons at the exact time it wanted to grow, if you didn't then your pet died. This doesn't really work out well when your in school and you don't want your pet confiscated, so my pet always died. Every time it did I would grumble to myself, I bet a nano pet wouldn't do this....

Nickelodeon Time Blaster Alarm Clock

For a brief moment I thought slime ran through the top of the clock. I guess I'll never really know if that is true or not. 

iMac

I was obsessed with these when they came out. It didn't help that Felicity had one on her TV show and I was obsessed with that too. I would lay up at night and imagine what color I'd get if my mom would let me get one. I look at these computers now, and I'm not going to lie they are still appealing to me. 

What are some things you wanted when you were a kid but never got?

Currently

I haven't done one of these posts in a while and I thought it'd be fun to do one and see where I stand right now. This semester with school I feel a bit overwhelmed (if you haven't noticed by my inconsistent posting) and it's a good reminder for myself of what I'm doing. 

Watching: I'm finishing up Breaking Bad now on Netflix, right now I'm at the end of season 4. I also started watching Sherlock and Finding Carter. I had a day off recently and literally watched the entire first season of Finding Carter in one day. 

Reading: Allegiant and I'll be honest it's taking me a while to trough through this book. I normally would stop reading books that don't motivate me to read by now but I feel like I need to finish this series out. I've got about 150 pages left so I'm in the homestretch. Next up, Hausfrau which a friend lent to me. 

Listening: Speaking of Finding Carter, I'm constantly listening to the theme song, Vagabond by Misterwives on repeat. I'm also still listening to podcasts, and the storytelling ones like Risk are still my favorite.

Making: Still making my bears and quilts but I also decided to try my hand at rompers. I have all the fabric to start one, we shall see how it turns out!

Feeling: Accomplished. I spent my entire day Sunday researching and writing my final paper for one of my classes. I also put a huge dent in a final project for a class so now I only have two small assignments to complete and then I'm home free for this semester. 

Planning: My next vacation. I'm trying to convince Dave to take a quick weekend trip to Ohio (it's only a 6 hour drive!). I'm also planning my 30th birthday party which is a lip sync battle against my friends and I. It's going to be so much fun!

What are you currently doing?

What if Magic Eye was the Entry Exam to Hogwarts?

Much to my delight, I've got several new readers gracing me with their presence. Hello new friends! 

I thought today it would be good to post a few more tidbits about myself that extends beyond my "About Me" page. 

For example, Dave and I play "The Price is Right" at the grocery store. Meaning that when we check out we both guess how much the bill will be. Whoever gets the closest without going over wins. There isn't a prize or anything its more about the bragging rights, but it is fun when the cashiers get involved, which most of them do because Dave and I trash talk each other the whole time (all in good sport though!). It's a fun way to break up the monotony of checking out at the grocery store. 

Just replace "the contestant" with Dave and you got me when I win

I can't stand Dave Matthews Band. I'm sorry if you're a fan, because then I have to question your taste in music, but I'll let it slide if you will. I can't explain why I hate them so much, there was even one point where I did like them in high school for about a month. But now the minute they come on the radio I have to change the channel. There's even someone who lives a street away from me with "1 DMB FAN" for their license plate and every time I see it want to ram their car. Okay maybe not that bad, but the idea has crossed my mind. 

Source

Since I made fun of you for liking DMB you can make fun of me for this: I love Phil Collins. He was my first concert, I've loved him since I knew what music was. But even I don't freaking know what a ssuu-ssuu-sussudio is. 

#Truth

I order my hot drinks at kids temp. Also, I have no idea what a latte or cappuccino is, no matter how many times a friend explains it to me. Tea and hot chocolate for me, please! I order the drinks at kids temp because I'm impatient and I like to drink my stuff right away, rather than burning the crap out of my mouth, I'll ask for the cooler temps. 

I am completely incapable of seeing the hidden image in the Magic Eye images. I've never been able to do it. Ever. Also, if it was the entry exam to Hogwarts (as per my title), I would have clearly failed. 

And there you have it, some more random facts about me. Do you relate to any of these? 

The One That Got Away

We all have that long lost love in our life. The one that got away. My heart aches everyday for my lost love: my first car. 

I started working at my family's gas station when I was 13 or 14. I saved all my money because really what can a 13 or 14 year old spend their entire paychecks on, right? When I was 15 I was heading home with my mom when I saw it: my perfect car. The car I'd been dreaming of since I knew what cars were. It was a 1989 Jeep Cherokee Laredo manual with a car phone (yes that matters, it's all about status!). 

I always knew I when I started driving I wanted to learn stick shift right away. I also knew that I wanted my first car to be an SUV of some type, I've never been a sedan kind of girl. So when I saw this car and it met every expectation I wanted in a car, I knew I had to buy it. I was only 15 at the time so the Jeep would have to sit in my driveway for at least another year (it ended up being a year and a half, I was slow to get my license), but I didn't care, I didn't want to pass up this chance. So I drained my savings from working those two years and paid $1600 for the Jeep plus the $20 bucks or so for the Rainbow Brite wheel cover. 

My Jeep ended up being everything I've ever wanted in a car. Unfortunately about a year into my driving it consistently the clutch and calipers went on the Jeep. It was going to cost me about $1000 to fix it and it was $1000 I just didn't have at the time. 

It's one of the few times in my life that I would go back and change things. I would have found a way to keep that car, because I miss it every day. 

And that's the story of the one who got away, excuse me while I go pine away and stare at the picture above.  

How to Look Smart When You Forgot to Write a Post....

Sorry friends, I forgot to write up an EOTWR post last night because I'm still getting used to having a class Thursday night and it's just throwing everything off. So, in lieu of a roundup, I wanted to share this really interesting article I found this week from the Wall Street Journal. 

It's about what people do to look smart, how we judge other people's intelligence, and what behaviors we do that actually do make us look smart. Check out the article and then let me know what you think. Personally, I think using your middle initial is hooey when it comes to looking smart (more like country club smart! haha) and wearing glasses is stereotypical and not really true, I know plenty of dumb people who wear glasses.....even though I am wearing mine today. But not to appear smart (consciously at least, subconsciously you never know!) 

Finally, please enjoy this picture I shared on Instagram of Squish. I have no idea how he contorted himself into that position but he stayed that way purring this little butt off for quite a while. 

Happy Friday!

Minor Annoyances

Nobody's perfect, we all know that. But do you ever do something (or things) consistently that makes you want to punch yourself in the face? Okay maybe not that violent but something along those lines? 

Here's a list of grievances I have against myself, that no matter what I do I probably will not change, complete with corresponding ecards!

1. No need to write this password down anywhere, I'll remember it!

I believe I read somewhere that the average person has to remember 19 passwords. If I took the time to count I'm sure I have triple that number. The important ones, like work related passwords, I....am able to remember (since I'm not going to tell you where I have them at). But simple ones like logins to online stores? Oh pssssh, I'll remember that no problem! Or not. Every. Single. Time. 

2. I don't pay attention at all

Have you ever liked someone's Facebook status about something terrible, like someone died or something bad happened to them? A status that is wholly inappropriate to like? I have. Or, someone will walk by me and wonder why I'm ignoring them. I'm not, I'm just not paying attention. One time Dave drove next to me in a big red truck and he claims I didn't notice for at least a mile and a half until he honked at me. I don't doubt it. 

3.  Being too hard on myself

I think we are all guilty of this, but how many times do you take a picture and think "good lord, I'm hideous!" then go back to the picture a little while later and realize it's actually not that bad? Every time. Every single freaking time. Shame on me.

4. I repeat myself a lot. 

I feel like I never truly get my point across to people. Which is something I really should try to work out before I attempt to become a teacher....Anyway, sometimes if I really want someone to understand something, I'll repeat myself over and over again rewording the phrase a little differently each time. I've gotten a little better over the years by being more self aware of it, but I still do it. 

So that's just a quick roundup of a few things I don't like about myself. Do you have any pet peeves about yourself?

The Year in Review

Let's not sugar coat it, 2014 was a tough year. But when you look past the rough spots, it was a pretty good year. 

The Good:

I finally decided to stop being like Van Wilder and graduated

My sister got married in Jamaica and I took a ton of pictures

A trip to OBX proved group vacations aren't all that bad

The Bad:

I miscarried over the summer and while it sucked BIG TIME, the love from all of you lifted my spirits

I think I started to really open up more on the blog, sharing things like

Singing in Inappropriate Places

My struggle with depression after Robin Williams' suicide

Dave and me beating each other up at night

I wrote a short story and shared it here: Part 1 Part 2

Music that meant something to me

My Simpsons themed wedding

And sometimes Life smacked me in the face and said "wake up dumb ass!", like

When I got handed a "sign" wrapped up neatly in a little metaphorical bow

Finding a beautiful place both physically and mentally

Plus a few other favorite posts, like

Dave's promise to never leave my pizza burning

Having awesome women in my life

Winter isn't all that bad

I set a goal for myself (besides  my 14 in '14 challenge) on Goodreads to read 35 books which I've surpassed and read 47. I want to set a goal next year for 50 books, but it might be a little high reaching. We'll see. Anyway, here's my top 5 favorite books from the year:

1. This is Where I Leave You

2. Gone Girl

3. Every Day

4. The Husband's Secret

5. The Alchemist

Steph shared a really good quote on her year in review post: "There are years that ask questions and years that answer." This definitely was a year that questioned a lot for me. We shall see what 2015 brings....

I Hate Winter but...

I am not a fan of winter. I hate being cold, I've never been a fan of snow, and the shortened daylight hours makes me lazy and grumpy. But if I'm going to get through the next few months I need to find the silver lining in winter so I created a list of things that I get to enjoy more because it is winter. 

Like the fact that hot showers are infinitely better when they warm you up after a cold day. I love the feeling of the warmth spreading through my body starting at the tips of my toes and spreading upward. It's one of my favorite parts of the day during the winter. 

Or that my cats, who are already cuddlebugs suddenly can't get enough cuddling in. The warmth of their soft fur and the weight of their bodies sitting on stomachs and legs is about as comforting as you can get. 

Plus, hot chocolate with marshmallows (and/or whipped cream!) is always for some odd reason a little bit more delicious when it's cold out.

And, even though we lose daylight which stinks, the quiet that comes along with dark days is nice too. I love having a break from all the hustle and bustle of life. Have you ever been outside in the evening when it snows? It's one of the most beautiful sights you'll ever see, and it's so quiet you can literally hear the snow fall. 

Finally, the best part of winter? Clothes are a little bit looser and comfortable so it hides more. No need to worry about dieting or passing on the pie, your leggings and sweater tunic will do all the work to hide that extra few pounds!

What are some things you enjoy about the winter?

Four is My Favorite Number

Four is my absolute favorite number so when I saw Lauren's post on fours, I just had to borrow it for my own!

4 names people call me other than my real name:  Nic, Nikki (by select few, I hate it!), Pickle (again, select few), Nic Nic

4 places I have been: Vermont, Jamaica, Turks and Caicos, Tennessee

4 things I don’t eat: pickles, peanut butter, sushi, spicy food

4 favorite foods: mashed potatoes, steak, chicken gravy, milky ways

4 things I’m always saying: "shut ya face", "like um", "what the", "really"

4 things I'm looking forward to next year: hopefully getting pregnant and having a healthy baby (I hope I haven't jinxed myself!!), continuing grad school, possibly student teaching (eep!), another great year with an amazing husband

4 movies I have watched more than once:  The Avengers, Big Fish, Where the Heart Is, Hot Fuzz

4 places I would rather be right now:  on vacation (any vacation!), reading on my couch with my kitties, laying in bed with Dave laughing at Buzzfeed articles, sewing in my craft room

4 books I recommend:  Gone Girl, The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear, A Dirty Job, Ready Player One

4 tv shows I watch:  Sons of Anarchy, The Simpsons, Modern Family, Chopped

4 jobs i've had: gas station attendant, bank teller, customer service rep for an insurance company, hoagie maker

What are some of your "four" answers?

To Christmas Card or Not Christmas Card...That is the Question.

Source

Christmas cards always seemed, to me at least, like something families with children did--not a married couple with two cats. When Dave and I got married three years ago, I was 26 and still felt too young to send out Christmas cards. I thought, who cares about the two of us besides family? 

I personally am not a fan of the greeting card type of Christmas cards. Don't get me wrong, I love to get them, but I hate to send them. They seem too impersonal for me to send. And sending out a personalized picture card seemed too weird to send if it was just Dave, the cats and me. 

But this year I'm starting to feel differently. I want to send out personalized cards, even if it's just us and our fur babies. I flip flopped on the idea for a few days and decided that this year we would send them out. It feels a little weird still. I mean, we've been married three years and we're just now sending out the cards, with no kids? But I feel like I'm hitting that "age" where Christmas cards are okay to send.

So we attempted to stage some nice pictures in front of the camera, but they didn't look right. Then I thought back on the past year. All the ups and downs, highs and lows, and decided to just share a few pictures from our year, to sum it up nicely for family and friends while wishing them well for the holiday season. 

What are your thoughts? Do you send Christmas cards even if it is just you and your significant other? 

Sweet Dreams Are(n't) Made of These

I'm going to assume that I'm the only one who still has nightmares well into adulthood. Sometimes they vary from the ridiculous (like Freddy Kruger is chasing me) to the way too real for my taste (like losing Dave or one of the cats). There are a few things that I do still that I wonder if I'm the only one that does. 

Like not put my leg out beyond the bed, just in case. 

Or, pulling the covers all the way up to my chin, just in case. 

And, taking a running leap into the bed, just in case something is hiding underneath ready to snatch me.

Or, sometimes (and this is the most terrifying) I'll know I'm in a dream, and I'll tell myself to wake up but I can't. I try to yell out to get Dave to wake me but my voice is always muted, or I'll try to flail my arms and legs to get him to wake me but I can't because I think they're tied down. I can feel myself hyperventilating but I can't wake up until my body lets me. 

Do you still do any of these ridiculous things? 

What Would You Do?

Source

I was driving home from school the other night around 7 pm. I was all alone on my local bypass, nothing but me and my headlights. It reminded me of another time when I was all alone on the bypass a few years earlier. I was coming home from school that night too when all of a sudden out of nowhere a big tow truck comes up behind me, high beams blinding me in my rear-view mirrors, and he was following veryclose.

I normally don't engage these kinds of people, because you never know who is psycho or who has a gun. If I'm in the left hand lane, I get over to the right. If I'm on a road, I'll normally turn off and let them get ahead of me. But in this situation, I wasn't going to pull off the side of the road, who knows what this person would have done if we stopped? So I slowed down (very slowly too! no jamming on the brakes) less than the 55 mph that the road allowed, down to about 35-40. I figured going slow would make them get bored enough to go around me, which is exactly what this person did. 

When they pulled around me though, they positioned the truck in between the two lanes so that I couldn't pass and slowed down even more, almost like they were trying to force me to stop. I have no idea why this person did this or what was going on, literally one minute I'm alone on the highway, the next I've got this psycho coming after me. I didn't know what to do, so I pulled my phone out, turned the screen on and held it up near my head like I was going to make a call. As soon as the person saw me do that they sped up and disappeared. 

I was really shaken and when I got home a few minutes later and told Dave about it, my biggest regret was that I didn't call the cops or 911. I really wished I had given them this truck's info, but how often do cops just go out looking for crazy drivers? My guess is that unless it's happening, not very often. This whole ordeal lasted no more than two minutes so by the time I had my wits about me again, it was all over. 

What would you have done if you were in my situation? Have you ever had a scary run in on the road like I did?

Be in the Moment

Before I got sick last week, I was having a rough day. I had about an hour and a half to spare before I had to go to work. I was far enough away from home that driving home and hanging out wasn't going to happen so I decided to drive around and "get lost". 

 
As I was driving I found myself focusing more about things that happened in the past that bothered me, or things that I needed to get done. Past and future, that's what kept flip flopping around in my mind. I noticed that by doing this, not only was I stressing myself out more, but I really wasn't enjoying my drive. 

I took major issue with this. It was a beautiful day and I never get to just drive around with no intended end point, and I was wasting it by being upset about things that I couldn't change or worrying about things that I couldn't control. I started thinking about all the times I was in a great moment and I didn't get to appreciate that moment because I was thinking about past and future. 

So I decided to start thinking "be in the moment" and when I found my thoughts wandering to other things other than what was going right then and there, I would think "be in the moment" again. Eventually I ended up here:

It was like I was being rewarded for enjoying that free time a little bit more, and it felt so good. And a bad day ended up being a great day. 

Had any recent epiphanies lately?