14 Weeks Later and These are 14 Things I Learned

It is hard to believe summer ended. It is also hard to believe that 14 weeks ago I finished my junior year and was about to embark on a three week adventure through Europe. 14 weeks later the goodbyes have been hard and being back at school early is weird.  I have been reflecting on my summer. I love seeing what I learned about myself and my world over the summer. I decided to write down the 14 things I learned in 14 weeks. What are some things you learned over the summer?

1. Exercising is truly the best stress relief. I’ve was working our for what had to be at least five hours a week. I am so low stress and calm it is an amazing feeling.
2. Playing in tournaments is kind of stressful but when you do it for fun it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. I would not have been a good enough player to play in a tournament last summer.
3. Eating healthy makes me feel absolutely amazing. I had such a clean diet this summer and never felt better or been in better shape. My workouts have also been much more productive because I have a lot more energy.
4. Family  is precious. I spent a lot of time with my family this summer. There have been times I felt like it was too much but then times I absolutely love it.
5. Once you turn 21, your group of friends can be in their thirties. I have been hanging out with a lot of married ladies with children. It was a blast. I suddenly have something in common with them and can actually join in their conversations.
6. Cooking isn’t so hard. I kind of learned this during the past year but I think I was reminded of that this summer. Our family has been helping out with a lot of the cooking this summer and I fell in love with it. I already have a Vitamix and now I want a spiralizer.
7. Blogging is a lot of fun. I knew this already but having all summer to generate content and write weekly themed posts has been a great experience. I need to figure out how to keep up the constant blogging even during my busy weeks of school.
8. Goodbyes are the worse. I think I knew this in some small part of my brain but last weekend proved that fact with a vengeance. I was not ready to say goodbye.
9. New adventures are exciting. This summer I embarked on a new adventure with my parents through Europe. I had my own adventure of a tennis filled with mostly tennis and workouts. I have many adventures to come with being a club leader for multiple clubs at one time.
10. I am ready for a relationship. For a while I don’t think I was mentally or emotionally ready for a real relationship. I had two very short lived ones my freshman year and since my last one ended in March my freshman year, I have not been ready for another. Now I am. So now I wait.
11. Shopping isn’t that much fun. I have always loved to shop. I don’t know if it was the art of accumulation or having new things to wear. Whatever the appeal was, it seems to have worn off. Before we came out to the Cape I cleaned out my entire closet. My niece has been prancing around in my hand-me-downs all summer. Since then, I have no desire to clothes shop and when I will have to for teaching I am dreading it.
12. Pinterest is absolutely amazing. I am now obsessed. I spent most of my free time on Pinterest, playing tennis or blogging. These three will obviously change as school work comes into play but I am in heaven at the moment. There is always something new to see. It is ever-changing.
13. Silence is golden. I don’t mean this in terms of not saying something might be better than saying something for the sake of someone’s feelings. I mean that when a house which is loud 99% of the time becomes silent and you have a chance to enjoy it, do so. That has been a theme for me this summer.
14. TV is overrated. For the longest time I was hooked on TV. I would have multiple shows I watched and had the need to be caught up on them 24/7. This summer the one show I am watching is Big Bang Theory. All my other shows have fallen to the wayside and I don’t miss them. When I am not watching Big Bang Theory I am reading or writing. I am happier and feel less lazy doing those activities.