Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like all you literally ever do is go, go, go, and do, do, do? *sigh* Do this–do that. Sleep a few hours here–get up–go to class. Go to work–do homework–go back to work. Write–write some more. Scarf down your dinner–don’t be late for class–don’t over-sleep–and repeat. Arguably, some might say this is just the pattern of life; however, I’ve seen the other side of life *wink* It isn’t always a never-ever-stop situation filled with eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner in your car while speeding down the interstate (even though this is the case sometimes).

Now, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with being busy. I LOVE being involved and having my schedule filled with lots of different happenings; however, lately, it seems like I have had my plate too full. Picture this–you’re trying to eat a huge steak with a baked potato and another heavy fixing, but the only plates you have are those super-bargain paper plates from the dollar store. No matter how many you stack together to create a heftier plate, it is still ridiculously flimsy. If you manage to get all of your dinner on the plate, everything is going to either leak and get all over your grandmother’s nice table cloth (and you know how picky grandma is about her tablecloths), or it is all going to end up in the floor because the plate can’t handle the job. THAT is a pretty good visual on my plate-of-life lately. *wink*

A peek inside my life at Northeast State. Each of the people in this photo (minus the guy in the ballcap--he's our lab assistant) are some of my mass communications buddies. Today, we were giving tours of the lab, control room, recording studio, TV set, and classroom to high school students. It was really awesome getting to chat with them about broadcasting (one of my majors) and what it's like hosting and being on camera! — A peek inside my life at Northeast State–Today, the mass communication department (which includes me) gave tours to high school students of the lab, control room, recording studio, TV set, and classroom. It was really awesome getting to chat with them about broadcasting (one of my majors) and what it’s like hosting and being on camera! THIS–this *right here* is one of those good stresses I am thankful God has placed in my life. :)

In my college experience thus far, I have learned the difference between good stress and bad stress. Good stress is the stress associated with the things we love–for me, I love writing and working on news packages at school, but sometimes those things stress me to the tenth degree. Bad stress is the stress associated with the things you have to do even if you really don’t want to–for me, that’s laundry, grocery shopping, paying bills, and all that jazz *cue Chicago*

After the chaos of this week, I have learned one very, very, very important lesson–it’s okay to say no. This sounds really simple, right? Yeah–yeah, I know. If you don’t want to do something, or you don’t have time–just say no. Well, I feel like saying no is like saying you’re going to go impulsively skydiving–it’s easier said than done. For me, I have a hard time with saying no because I am a chronic people-pleaser. I like to keep people happy, and I like to help out anyone anyway I can–BUT sometimes, I honestly cannot because my plate is too flimsy to hold all the “fullness”…AND you know what…that is actually okay. It makes me human. It’s okay to say no…it’s okay to not be 100% perfect and make everyone 100% happy all of the time because SOMETIMES, we have to set aside time for ourselves in order to make our own lives easier and happier. :)

Blooper from my most recent photo shoot with the coolest dad ever--mine *wink* — Blooper from my most recent photo shoot with the coolest dad ever–mine *wink*

Now–I said all of that to say this. For my fabulous dedicated readers who were looking forward to Weekly Whistle this week…you probably didn’t find one, and that isn’t your internet’s fault. That would be mine. With so many different stresses going on this week, I did not time manage properly, and instead of posting blogs, I drafted a research paper. Ahh…. #collegeprobs *wink* I promise to try my best not to let it happen again because I have filled my Google calendar with so many reminders and alerts that it scares me a little…but only a little *wink* So, to make up for missing out on this week’s Weekly Whistle, check out the photo + outfit details below :)