My Normal: A Week With Petra

Today I'm going to do something a little bit unusual. I've never done this type of post before, but the concept seemed a bit interesting to me. Some of you may find this type of post boring; but it's something new, so I thought why not? 

I've been blogging for over a year now, but I feel like my schedule has made it near impossible for us to get to know each other. You don't really know me, aside from the fact that I enjoy scholarly things, ranting about books while trying to write them at the same time. And you may or may not have picked up my love for photography, depending on how observant you are. I also realized that I don't really know you. So, friends. This is an attempt at bridging the gap between fact and fiction and bringing a dimension of realness to this space. I hope you enjoy! 

Note: My school schedule happens to be that Monday/Wednesdays and Tuesdays/Thursdays mirror each other. My mornings and evening Monday-Thursday are the same. 

 

5:00 AM - Wake Up Call! The alarm clock goes off and I immediately groan. I grab my reading light and my devotional book My Utmost for His Highest and I read the little tidbit of the day. I then fill whatever time is left with quick prayer to begin the day and a bit of Harry Potter reading. Reading something familiar really helps wake me up. 

5:30 - Good morning, Dad! Around 5:30, my dad pops his head in and whispers, "are you coming to the gym this morning?" I mumble a confirmation and he leaves. I splash water on my face and pull on my workout gear. I chug down several ounces of water and we leave. 

5:45-6:45 ish - Work it! I hit the gym hard, generally starting with my cardio. I usually run for anywhere between 30 and 50 minutes, depending on the day. I get to watch the news while doing this, which is nice because I usually have no idea what's going on in the world. I move straight from cardio to strength training, with a circuit of weight lifting and then stretching. After about an hour, we head home to continue the beginning of the day. 

7:00-7:20 ish - Getting ready. I take care of showering and personal hygiene as quickly as I can, trying to buy extra homework time. 

7:20-7:30 ish - Breakfast. Breakfast is either made by yours truly, or my mother. If she's not making breakfast for everybody else yet, I fix my own and get started on school related things. 

7:30-9:30 - Miscellaneous. Whatever homework I have due that day and didn't happen over the weekend happens right now. Usually last minute Precalculus, Chemistry, and Rhetoric. 

9:30-11:00 - Precalculus class. Starting the day off strong with math. Right now we're doing Trigonometry and I'm enjoying that quite a bit. 

11:00-12:30 - Chemistry class. Yep. I know. I jump straight from math into a math-based science on Monday morning. It's lovely. 

12:30-2:00 - Rhetoric I class. Usually I have lunch either during Chemistry or during Rhetoric I. It depends on the day. 

2:00-3:30 - Miscellaneous. Homework for my last class of the day and for Tuesday usually happens in this time slot. Think reading things by C.S. Lewis, studying for a Spanish quiz, or doing Precalculus homework, which was assigned earlier in the day (but I usually procrastinate that, so that doesn't happen very much). 

3:30-5:00 - My favorite class of Junior Year; Get To Know C.S. Lewis. I love, love, love this class. We have such good discussions about literature and Theology, which is an instant YES. 

5:00-5:30 - Break time! Yes, I give myself a break after this long day of classes before starting on my homework. I probably should just get it all done after classes end, but my brain is usually pretty tired. This is the time I use for replying to messages and checking social media. Pinteresting also happens. 

5:30-6:30 - Family dinner. Pretty self explanatory. Dinner with my family. 

6:30-7:00 - Dinner clean-up. Dishes, mostly. 

7:00-9:00 - Miscellaneous. Homework for tomorrow and chilling. 

9:00-9:30 - Prepping for sleep. All that fun stuff. Face washing, teeth brushing, pajamas, etc. 

9:30-10:30 (or 11) - Reading. Sometimes for school, sometimes for pleasure... It just depends on the given day. 

11:00-5:00(AM) - Sleeeeeeeeep. 

The only difference between Mondays and Wednesdays is the occasional youth group attendance on Wednesday evening. But that doesn't happen very often. 

5:00 AM - Wake Up Call! The alarm clock goes off and I immediately groan. I grab my reading light and my devotional book My Utmost for His Highest and I read the little tidbit of the day. I then fill whatever time is left with quick prayer to begin the day and a bit of Harry Potter reading. Reading something familiar really helps wake me up. 

5:30 - Good morning, Mom! Around 5:30, my mom pops her head in and whispers, "PETRA. WAKE UP. It's time to get up!" She pulls on my blankets, smacks me a few times, tickles me, and then leaves when I'm up and at 'em. I splash water on my face and pull on my workout gear. I chug down several ounces of water and we leave. 

5:45-6:45 ish - Work it! I hit the gym hard, generally starting with my cardio. I usually run for anywhere between 30 and 50 minutes, depending on the day. I get to watch the news while doing this, which is nice because I usually have no idea what's going on in the world. I move straight from cardio to strength training, with a circuit of weight lifting and then stretching. After about an hour, we head home to continue the beginning of the day. 

7:00-7:20 ish - Getting ready. I take care of showering and personal hygiene as quickly as I can, trying to buy extra homework time. 

7:20-7:30 ish - Breakfast. Breakfast is either made by yours truly, or my mother. If she's not making breakfast for everybody else yet, I fix my own and get started on school related things. 

7:30-9:30 - Miscellaneous. Whatever homework I have due that day and didn't happen over the weekend happens right now. TGC 6 reading, Latin translating, or writing a summary of my history reading. 

9:30-11:00 - Latin III class. It's so. Much. Fun. I love it. We have an awesome time translating and jokingly complaining about how hard language is. 

11:00-12:30 - The Great Conversation VI class. Another close favorite. This class is coincidentally all-girls, comprised of mostly seniors with a few juniors sprinkled in. In other words, it's a lovely, mature, well-read class, where everyone can relate to each other. And our teacher is completely wonderful. She loves having good discussion about good literature and she takes advantage of the male-absence and teaches towards girls. It's amazing. It should be illegal to have that much fun in school. 

12:30-2:00 - A Closer Look at the War for Independence class. Another super fun class! We discuss our source reading and summaries, as well as battle strategies and maps. It's time well-spent, that's for certain. 

2:00-3:30 - Spanish I class. You'll never guess what I have to say about this one. Hmm? Wait... how did you know that I love this class? Whatever would have given you that idea? Ha. Ha. Yes. Ahem. This is another class that I adore. My teacher is wonderful and it's so much fun to learn another language and speak it at the same time. 

3:30-4:30 ish - Break time! 

4:30-5:30 - Family dinner. We eat quite early on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because my siblings have sports practice later on. 

5:30-6:00 - Dinner clean-up. 

6:00 - 9:00 - Miscellaneous. Homework for the next day and catching up with friends. 

9:00-9:30 - Prepping for sleep. All that fun stuff. Face washing, teeth brushing, pajamas, etc. 

9:30-10:30 (or 11) - Reading. Sometimes for school, sometimes for pleasure... It just depends on the given day. 

11:00-5:00(AM) - Sleeeeeeeeep. 

Fridays are a bit odd for me. There's no structure, at all... which is a nice break, from the four previous days of strict scheduling. Fridays are reserved for tests, papers, big projects, and other homework that has been put off until now. We also schedule doctor/dentist/chiropractor appointments on Fridays. When my family is actively taking music lessons, these also take place on Fridays. If it's more of a relaxed day, I'll spend lots of time doing the few assignments that I actually have to do, listening to Hamilton, and watching shows in the evenings. It's a lovely thing when I have a lazy Friday. 

Saturdays are much like Fridays, but without school (usually). Sometimes we have plans with friends and sometimes we stay home and watch movies or clean. 

Sundays begin with a mad rush to get ready for Church. We have Sunday school from 9:30-10:30, church from 10:45-12:00, and our return trip puts us back home around 1:00. We eat a family lunch and then either relax or grocery shop. Two complete opposites, but it's true. There's no in between. Sunday evenings usually involve watching shows and planning for the next week. I try to get to bed early to get a headstart on the next week, but that doesn't happen very often. Then 5 AM on Monday morning and it all starts over again. 

So... what did you think? Do you like this type of post? 

What does your schedule look like? 

Do our schedules look anything alike? 

Let me know in the comments below!