A Little Home.

(warning: long post ahead!)

I love UCLA. I love my friends, the campus, Westwood, my classes, the fun events, just everything.

i can't believe that i get to go to school here :) 

But with all that said, I definitely had a tough last couple of days this week. It all started on Wednesday when I just felt completely exhausted. I hadn't realized how little sleep I was getting (compared to my usual amount) or how hard I was working myself. It got to the point where I took 2 naps on Wednesday afternoon and still felt super, super tired. I was tired of dealing with people all the time, so I called my mom. The second I started talking to her I just burst into tears. And immediately she recognized that I had completely wiped myself out - because one of my reactions to being overtired is that I cry really, really easily. She listened to me rant for a few minutes, and then she was like "Julianna. I know this voice. I can tell that you are completely exhausted. Everything that's stressing you out right now will look so much better after you get some good sleep - you just need to go to bed right now." So at 5pm I just passed out on my bed. And woke up feeling much, much better.

just thought i'd throw this little gem in here! hahaha :) 

Lesson #1: I need to know my limit of when I am exhausted. and I need to start going to bed earlier!!

Another thing that made the end of this week really hard was being homesick. A lot of my friends left last night to go home and it made me realize how nice it would be to be able to go home, see my family and my kitties, sleep in my own bed, and have some SPACE. I love everyone here, but that doesn't mean that I can be around people 24/7. As my mom put it, I'm a really outgoing person, but I need my alone time. And living in a triple makes that really, really hard. So I escaped to Starbucks for a few hours today to study and being alone was so nice! And  as I'm typing this there's no one in the room and I've been alone for over an hour - new record!!

Lesson #2: I need to escape for a few hours a week (at minimum) to just have some ME time.


I definitely learned a lot this week! I still am figuring out how to balance everything, but I know that eventually I'll get there.


This song perfectly describes how I was feeling this week:

I am so thankful for technology because my mom's been sending me kitty pictures and videos and I love skyping my parents. Just little bits of home help a LOT.

Anyway! I also wanted to do a little weekly recap of my workouts for you guys - I'm trying to make it a priority to fit them in. It keeps me sane, gives me some alone time, and always makes me feel better! :)

Monday: 4.5 miles with the running club that I'm a part of!
Tuesday: 1 speedy treadmill mile + Tina's Pug Workout
Wednesday: 2 treadmill miles + upper body weights workout
Thursday: a Cardio Hip-Hop class (one of the classes I get to go to as a part of the group fitness pass I have!). it was really fun- brought me back to the one dance class I took as a sophomore in high school! I wasn't very good but I think I'll be going back every week because I know that's the only way I'll get better. Not to mention booty-shakin is so much fun! ;)
Friday: 3 miles with the running club
Saturday: bike ride into Westwood (to Starbucks, Target, & Trader Joe's) - I'm counting this as my workout because biking back up the hill to my dorm is really hard, especially with my books and the stuff I bought!

And some recent eats (you can also check out my WIAW post!):

I had a coupon for a free Odwalla bar with the purchase of a juice - & I'm really glad I bought the juice because I think that combined with lots more fruits/veggies, my daily vitamins, and working out has kept me from getting sick! 

I've been eating lots of whole wheat crackers with almond butter - it's the perfect snack to tide me over in between meals. 

My almost daily breakfast: oatmeal with a little brown sugar, raisins, and almond butter (I put spoonfuls in baggies and bring them with me to breakfast. I'm a freak. hahaha but it makes me happy!) 

Iced coffee productivity! I've found I get so much more done if I leave my room and go study elsewhere.

One of my favorite lunches so far - a small cup of shrimp and corn chowder, a side salad (which was really good! it had a ton of chopped veggies, good mixed greens, and a really good vinaigrette), and a banana, which I ate with almond butter, of course ;)

Vanilla greek yogurt with frozen raspberries and frozen pineapple - the the perfect snack for a hot afternoon. 

A turkey, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on wheat bread. I took off the top piece of bread because I love open face sandwiches, and I had some sunchips with this too. 

A LOT of spoonfuls of Barney Butter have been happening. So I guess it should've been no surprise when I hit the bottom of the jar yesterday. It was definitely a sad day! I bought a jar of TJ's almond butter last week so I've started using that (and a third is already gone... whoops!) because I can't be buying $9 jars of almond butter on a college budget. Now you know what to send me for my birthday in november! ;) 

Right now I'm doing laundry and getting all my stuff organized - I'm thinking a low key night is in order! I'm definitely pretty tired so a night with to-go food sitting on my bed catching up on my TV shows sounds absolutely perfect. 

do you ever feel like you need 'a little home'? 

what lessons did you learn in college? (or what have you learned so far?) 

stay tuned for a post on my {unusual} college dorm room necessities and a post on how to stay healthy and active in college! :)