When Crazy Becomes Normal: Musings from a 30-Something Woman of the World

Most of you know me from the little profile picture atop the left side the Patch homepage. Yep, that's me ... the thumbnail, the girl who you'll often get email responses from at 4 a.m. or see running around the city on any given day with a camera and iPhone in tow.

In case we haven't crossed paths before, I'm MarieSam Sanchez, Local Editor for Cerritos-Artesia Patch -- it's very nice to meet you!

But above my ties to Patch, I am a proud mother to a 17-year-old >insert collective gasp here< -- when and how did I get so old? I'm also USC alum who married a former UCLA Bruin basketball player three years ago >insert second gasp here< -- yes this makes for very interesting sports talk in our household during both football and basketball season. And, I am also a small business owner -- a lifestyle wedding photographer to be exact, so my life consists of endless hours of writing and editing articles for Patch followed by taking thousands of photos for my clients and strapping myself to my computer and editing images into the wee hours of the night. So yeah, I rarely get a full night's sleep and if you happen to be my Facebook friend, you know this for a fact :)

Frankly, my life has been a non-stop whirlwind these past five years but I guess that's because my to-do list never ends. I have always been a super snazzy juggler of life since I was about 10. You can blame that on my parents who decided to enroll me into every dance class imaginable followed by accordion lessons. Yes, I was THAT GIRL with the big nerdy glasses carrying an accordion. But I'll tell you right now, I rocked that accordion hard and could tap dance all over anyone's hardwood floors!

This knack for being able to do a million things at once carried on into my high school years with me being in student government, honors classes, cheer squad and yes having a high school sweetheart. After high school, I had my daughter at 19 and went on to college while working part-time at a law office and also doing a million internships, you can only imagine how crazy my life was. And honestly, I think this "crazy" way of living has been such a constant in my life, it is sort of just my normal state.

Dear Internet, am I the only one who feels like "crazy" has suddenly become normal?

So while I've been living as a single mom with a trillion jobs and responsibilities for most of my daughter's life, that not so little baby girl has grown up in a blink. She's now about to start her senior year at Artesia High School. OMG. And she's soooo eager to go to the prom for the first time this year. OMG. And she's taking her permit test at the DMV this week. OMG. Can you tell I'm not ready for this? Where have all the years gone?

While aboard this non-stop bullet train I've come to know as my life, I've failed to stop and breathe these past few years and notice how much my surroundings have changed -- my daughter (I can't believe how grown up she is!), my needs (naps are like gold these days), my waistline (UGH), my metabolism (double UGH), and my horrible inability to just stop, look around me and exhale. 

I say all this because from this point forward I'm going to really try and find more balance in my life. And that means ...

• stepping away from the computer a little earlier to spend time with my kiddo before she decides she's all grown up and needs to move away to college
• making time to actually go to the gym instead of putting off until the day after ... NEVER. 
• calling my friends and best friend more often because it really does help to hear a friendly voice on the other end who cares
• going to bed before the sun rises and forcing myself to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night because it really does feel better when I let my body rest and recharge
• eating healthier and cooking more often instead of resorting to my favorite fastfood joints because I really do miss my 20-something waistline :(

I'm sure this is just the start of what will be an evolving list to a better and balanced life. But it's a start and I've put it out there on the internet for all the world to see ... because I'm a true believer that if you put your goals out into the universe, you're more likely to own up to them. 

So there you go Internet, that's my list so make me own it! And stay tuned for my next installment ... my experiment with juicing. Yep, that outta be interesting :)

HOW DO YOU FIND BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE AND STILL MANAGE TO HANDLE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES? ARE THERE ANY TIPS YOU CAN SHARE TO HELP ME ON MY JOURNEY?