When did it happen?

Last Friday, I had the honor of being the chaperone of the Pi Beta Phi house, as it was initiation weekend and the house mom had to leave for the night. I got to stay in the guest room too- which was awesome because that was "forbidden" (well not really) when we were members. Anyways, it's funny because the more I spend time with these girls as an adult, the more I step back and realize how different "real life" is and it makes me miss college. Not necessarily the classes or tests, but the schedule and the abundant amount of time to spend with friends.

But when did life get in the way? When did all of a sudden work become the biggest priority and that instead of getting to hang out with friends all the time, we have to be adults and make money to pay our bills---otherwise we get in BIG trouble because our parents aren't there to bail us out? It's like the real world just slaps you in the face right after college is over. All those nights I can remember in college just thinking how awesome life would be when I had a job and made money and didn't have to worry about anything. HA. Funny how life works, right? You always want to get older, move on to the next big thing in life. Sometimes moving so fast, that you forget to stop and enjoy the present. I am completely at fault here.....Jimmy likes to remind me of that, which is why I keep him around- always reminding me to not stress out, why worry about something not in my control, and most of all- have a good time! And then you get to where you thought you always wanted to be and realize- wow, those times in the past, when I lived with my friends and they would drop everything when I walked in the door and had a bad day to talk about it and make sure I was ok. And they would scratch your back and play with your hair, and their shoulder to cry on or their excitement to gossip with you would always be just a room away. If the room next door was empty, there were 40 more filled with someone to chat.

I miss those days. Now I know getting older inevitably brings on more responsibility, more commitments, the need for better time management, but also it requires you to continually perform a self evaluation of where your priorities lie.....which is the equivalent to where you are spending your time. I can tell you right now, how the hours in my week rank. Being the numbers person I am, I'll break an average week out for you.

Total hours in a week: 168
(All are approximations)
Sleeping: 49
Working: 40
Working out: 7
Watching TV: 8 (in the fall of course)
Pi Phi stuff: 3
Eating: 14
Wedding stuff: 10
Cleaning/house stuff: 10
Church: 1
Talking to friends: 8
Talking to Jimmy: 8
Talking to my family: 8

So there you have it. I'm proclaiming my "priorities" to the blog world. How sad is that break out? Obviously, sleep and work are non-negotiables that have to remain as is (however, it would be nice to bump up the sleep #, bump down the work #). But if you really look at that list, it seems to me as church/God is the least important to me because I spend the least amount of time per week doing that. Then Pi Phi (no comment), working out, and talking to my friends, family, Jimmy, and watching TV rank next. Really Brittany? I think that watching TV is of equivalent importance as talking to my family and friends?? Even worse, that planning our wedding and cleaning/working on our house is more important than that. WHOA. That's where I start to realize that the line has been crossed and it's time to re prioritize. Maybe like a fall life cleaning? Similar to the actual spring cleaning I guess, just with my time.

With that said, what shall I do to proceed to do in attempt to get my time/life back on track? What will help me to realize that God, my family, and friends are ultimately the most important thing in the world? That they are NOT and shouldn't be equivalent of watching stupid TV shows or cleaning my house. Unfortunately, I don't have a magical answer (if I did, I would probably write a book, start a TV talk show, and be really rich)...but I have a way to start. That is spending a weekend in Manhattan with my very best friends, celebrating K-State homecoming...but ultimately spending time together like the good old days. Cramming into a hotel room, going out on the town, and gossiping like if we don't talk fast enough and say everything we need to tell them that the world might not go on :) Wait maybe the talking way too fast is just me, but you get the drift.

I have a feeling that's exactly what I need to give myself a life refresher. Realize it's time to bump up that time spent being with and talking to the people I care most about---not Blaire, Chuck, Serena, Silver, Annie, Naomi, Meredith, Alex, Izzy, and Christina (and McDreamy of course).

So what does your weekly time break out look like? Do the way you spend the hours in your day add up to what you see as priorities in our life, or do you need a fall life cleaning as well? If you do- I'm right there with you....so join in the fun :)

Here's to a weekend full of good friends, good times, and great memories!!