morning – Jaclyn Grace

Happy Saturday!

Today is an extra happy Saturday because my mom and my brother came down to visit me! Anthony is working on a paper right now though, so I figured I would hop on here for a few minutes and catch up with all of you.

I am so proud of myself after this week for a few reasons. The main reason being that I finished my first full week of working in and commuting to NYC, as well as living in my very own apartment. I had been so nervous for this week for so long, but now I realize that I had no reason to be. It was a piece of cake…. well kind of. I struggled a bit towards the end just because I was so darn exhausted.

screen-shot-2017-01-14-at-5-24-54-pm — Mandatory first day of work selfie!

The second reason is because I worked out this week every morning at 5:30 before work. If you know me, you know that I would be happy sleeping until 10:30 every single day. This was so hard, but I’m so happy that I forced myself to do it. I loved coming home each night knowing that I had already been active for the day.

Before moving to Hoboken, I did tons and tons of research regarding which gym would be the best for me to join. Unfortunately, fitness is super expensive in this area and as a new grad, I’m still trying to get on my feet. Eventually I hope to start taking classes here and there at local studios (they have barre, yoga, and spin classes that I can’t wait to try ) but for now, I figured a program that I could do for less money from my apartment would be best.

With this criteria, I decided to jump on the Beachbody bandwagon and sign up for a year of on demand workouts. This allows me to stream any workout that I want straight to my TV and includes a great variety. Some of the more popular ones included are Insanity, P90X, 21 Day Fix, and Core de Force. I’ve mixed it up a bit to see how I liked the different programs and I haven’t been disappointed yet.

Right now I’m fully committed to 21 Day Fix and have already finished Day 7/21! I’ve been sore every day and I LOVE that the workouts are only 30 minutes each. I’m not sure I could handle getting up much earlier than 5:30 everyday!

screen-shot-2017-01-14-at-5-36-17-pm — My favorite post-workout / pre-work protein shake 🙂

Now I’m off to the supermarket to get some snacks and games for us to enjoy during the Patriots game. Go Pats!!

xo,

Jaclyn

Peaceful Mornings.

When it’s cold and miserable outside the last thing that I want to do is get out of my bed in the morning. I will fully admit that I am not a morning person… but I’m not really a night owl either. In an ideal world, I would choose to go to bed early and wake up at a comfortable 10 o’clock every day… averaging about 12 hours of sleep per night. Unfortunately that is not even remotely possible with my school schedule. In the past my morning routine has consisted of hitting snooze for a solid hour and then frantically sprinting around my apartment trying to get ready, pack my bags for the day, and make breakfast all within 20 minutes of having to leave for my class.

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One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to start each day off on a calm, peaceful, and positive note – and this frantic routine definitely would not have allowed for that. I made some major adjustments and can definitely feel the positive effects! Each morning I have been setting my alarm clock for 7 AM and hitting snooze until 8 AM (old habits die hard).

At 8 AM I get out of my bed, make my breakfast, which is the same every single morning – steel cut oats, 1/2 banana, cinnamon, 1 tbsp almond butter, and a sprinkler of dark chocolate chips. I swear by this breakfast to satisfy my sweet tooth for the day and keep me full until at least lunch time!

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While the water is boiling for my oatmeal, I make my coffee and make my bed. I read somewhere that one common habit among highly successful people is that they make their bed… every. single. morning. I will admit that it is a huge pain, but it does make me feel slightly more organized and like I have my life together when I walk into my room and don’t see a huge knot of sheets and blankets covering my bed.

I always light my “Oatmeal Cookie” candle and sit down at my desk to enjoy my breakfast and coffee once they are ready. Instead of jumping onto Facebook immediately during breakfast, which has been my habit for probably the past 7 years, I take about 10 minutes to gather my thoughts, say a prayer, and write in my journal. I like thinking about what I have to do during the upcoming day and all that I have to be grateful for in my life.

I have been doing this for about 15 days and I feel happier, calmer, more patient, and more grateful each and every day. What works for me may not work for everyone, but it definitely is a better way to start my day than running around like a madwoman!

xo,

Jaclyn

What is “Always My Sunshine”?

I started this blog several months ago because I missed writing, I missed expressing myself, and I missed being creative. I have always loved to write, but studying engineering does not give me many opportunities to do so. I spend most of my time solving equations and complex problems, and occassionally preparing a technical lab report. The closest I get to creative writing is when my younger brother sends me his college essays to edit at 10pm the night before they are due (Sorry Ant!).

I didn’t start this blog for anybody besides myself. In fact, I will be surprised if anybody even reads what I write on here. I wanted a way to document what I am thinking about, ideas that I have, delicious recipes I find, workouts that I enjoy, and things that go on in my life on a daily basis. Recently, however, my mom mentioned that I should start a blog to document my experience as I study abroad in Australia.

I will be traveling for approximately two months between Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. Instead of waiting until I return home to share hundreds of pictures and try to remember all of the little details, I will try to upload details of my adventure weekly. This will allow me to share my experience, as well as this blog, with family and friends back home.

One thing that I know my family will ask me is “Why did you choose “Always My Sunshine” as your blog’s name? What does that even mean?” Though I know that I don’t need to justify my decisions, I will share that I chose this name for a variety of reasons…

1. I aim to be able to find the sunshine in every situation, and if I can’t find any sunshine I want to be able to create my own. To me this means having a positive attitude and finding the hidden blessings in everyday life, which is something I am still working hard on.

2. In my life, my family and close friends serve as my own sunshine. Being around them uplifts me, it makes me feel at ease, and it reminds me how lucky I am. They are and always will be my sunshine.

3. To me, sunshine symbolizes happiness and peace. Whenever I visualize my happiest place, it is always full of bright sunshine and warm rays shining down on me while I am surrounded by the ones I love.

What better way to name this little project of mine?!

xo,

Jaclyn