Samantha K Schmidt

When it comes to hosting dinners some people come off as naturals. The table is perfectly set. The desserts are beautifully displayed. Meanwhile, there are those of us who find hosting to be incredibly stressful. As a natural introvert, hosting for me has always been a bit of a challenge. I love it, but it took me a long time to find a balance in obeying by all the social courtesies while still feeling comfortable. You may have a similar struggle if you are a self-described Type A. No matter your reason, here are a few tips to make your hosting experience as stress-free as possible. 1. Don't be tied to the clock. This will be the biggest challenge for my fellow Type A's. My husband had to explain to me that setting a time for a gathering meant expecting people to be late. As someone who is perpetually prompt this was hard to grasp, but it is certainly true of our friend group. If we set a time for 6:30 people show up at 6:45 and realistically aren't ready to eat until ...

Life has been crazy! As you can probably imagine. My husband has been in and out traveling and spending overnights with students. Our in-laws came down briefly for our 2nd baby shower which was a lot of work! Over 80 people came to celebrate our little man and my mom, in-laws, husband, and my mom's best friend worked their butts off. I helped where I could, but tried not to overexert myself. My emotions have been on a roller-coaster ride. I wake up some mornings incredibly motivated and joyful, but can switch to melancholy by the end of the day. These emotions are not all that new to me, but the rapid switching back and forth is a more recent challenge. Friday, I spent the day with a previous student and her mom at Disney. It was an awesome day, but my feet were throbbing by the end. I topped it off with a day of last-minute shopping and organizing for the nursery on Saturday. The nursery is 99% complete. Meanwhile, the busy weekend taught me that my body is running out of fu...