How To Deal With Stress

Stress. We all deal with it and in my experience it all comes at once. In the past week has been so stressful, probably one of the most stressful weeks of my life. Back in June I applied to go back to school in Britain but it was a very long and tedious process. Between my qualifications, finance approval, time difference between myself and the college in U.K. and interviews it took a very long time to get approval. I am happy to say that it all worked out and I got my approval so I can get my student visa sorted finally.

My cousins wedding was last weekend as well. It was such a fun time, the most beautiful weather and I wish him and his new husband a lifetime of happiness but as anyone knows it takes some effort to get ready for a wedding. I wanted to get them something special for their house and their new life as a married couple so my boyfriend and I decided to get them a wool blanket with a Scottish tartan pattern on it. Everyone knows I am all about the Hygge so this is something they can cuddle under when the weather gets colder. Between getting that blanket, my outfit, James' outfit and organizing everything it was a very busy week.

After the wedding we had to make our way to Ottawa for a less than happy reason as it was my Grandpa's funeral. We went the day before on the Monday and stayed in downtown Ottawa, of course the weather was less than ideal and poured rained the whole drive up, normally when there is a big thunder storm I would much rather be inside curled up with a good book but you have to do what you have to do. By the time we got to the hotel I was so tired I didn't want to go out anywhere so we just hung out at the hotel and watched horrible cable television. The Tuesday was a hard day for me but I know my Grandpa was looking down on me and smiling and luckily the rain held off for the service. I will always miss my Grandpa but I am glad I was in Canada to say goodbye to him.

After we got back to Toronto some good news came my way (finally!). I had my small little aliner trailer up for sale for awhile and a family was very interested in buying it so we made a last minute plan to drive up to Prince Edward County and sell it. I know the family I sold it to will have a great time camping in it as I have. Although I was sad to let it go as it has been the source of many happy memories those are in my head and I will never forget the amazing times I've had camping with family, friends and most recently my British boyfriend. It was another unexpected thing that came my way this week but I am glad it did!

Of course when applying for any university there is always a lot of paperwork and being an international student there is even more paperwork. It took a long time and luckily this week I finally got my go ahead to apply for my visa and get to the U.K. After all the stress and running around getting different documents I could finally get my application in for my visa (on a rush basis) and go to the biometrics centre to get everything else done to get my visa approved.

Now after the most hectic vacation week ever it is time to relax. My boyfriend is doing his podcast so I am on the bed listening after we ordered pizza and I can finally relax. The last thing to do this week is pack up our suitcases and wait for our flight. Now that I can finally put my feet up and take a minute I'm looking back and thinking of what I could have done differently to not get so stressed out and irritable. One of the things is when I get stressed is to simply take a break and come back later to whatever what stressing me out, go outside, take a walk or just take some deep breathes. Another thing that I should have done more of is making a list, my mind sometimes gets to frazzled with everything going on and I forget something, by making a list I can keep track of everything and feel accomplished by ticking off all the boxes of the tasks that I've done.

Something I have learned from the British is that with a cup of tea or coffee no problem is too great to handle. Taking the time to make a nice cup of tea and sitting on the couch to take a break. I also really enjoy watching reality television to my mind off everything, to watch mindless television is my escape and I can refresh and take a breather.

Follow along this week on my Instagram (@canadian_hygge) and TikTok (@carpeltunnel0) to see my move to the United Kingdom!

Happy Hygge!