Stress and I don’t really get along. It makes me sick, literally. There’s always a certain amount of stress involved in being an author thanks to reviews, deadlines, decisions, writing the actual book if you ever have time, and dealing with criticism.

Add in a rather sudden decision by my husband and I to sell our house so we could buy a new one we really, really wanted to buy. Needless to say, since seeing the house for the first time on January 1st to closing three and a half months later…there’s been a lot of stress involved.

So, how do we combat it?

Our go-to family stress relief is heading to the movies. We all love watching movies at the theater, and if there’s nothing good on, we’ll have a movie night at home and pretend all the other craziness doesn’t exist for a few hours.

If it’s just me and my hubby feeling frazzled, we’ll either play video games (Last of Us has an excellent story!) or have a Netflix marathon.

When it’s just me that’s on the verge of a meltdown…I have a few hidden gems.

And I mean hidden, because my kids will eat my treats if I leave them out! Dark chocolate is my absolute favorite, but cupcakes or brownies will do in a pinch as well. Or froyo. Or peanut butter M&Ms.

Stress=headaches=exhaustion. Solution? Dr. Pepper 10.

When I get stressed out, it feels like my muscles are all slowly twisting together. Roll out the yoga mats! Deep breathing, stretching, relaxing…definitely a must during stressful times.

When I really need to unwind and clear my head, I reach for a book. Reading takes me out of the craziness and lets me focus on something else. Sometimes it’s an old favorite, and sometimes it’s a new find. Or both at once! Right now I’m listening to Brandon Sanderson “Way of Kings” on audio book and reading Jana DeLeon’s first book in her Miss Fortune series…again.

So, tell me, what do you do to unwind when things are too stressful?