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?

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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