What’s Brewin’ with Samantha

What’s Brewin’ with Samantha Welcome to my multi-use landing page / blog. Follow along for updates and things that I do!

04/21/2026

CHUTES AND LADDERS: THE CHUTES

About two years ago, I burned out again.
It was Christmas time—this is when it always seems to happen for me—and I had to sit down with myself and face something I couldn’t see before.There were patterns. Not random. Not surprising. Patterns.
I realized there are four core pillars to my mental health. And every single time I’ve burned out, those four things were already slipping long before I hit the wall.

Number one: sleep.
I stop sleeping properly.
Once upon a time, I was a solid nine-hours-a-night person. In bed at 10, up at 7. Like clockwork. It worked for me.
But when life gets busy—when I take on too much, say yes too often, or just try to do everything—sleep is the first thing to go. Not because I don’t value it, but because it feels like I don’t have time for it.
So I trade sleep for productivity.
And it always costs me more than I think it will.

Number two: exercise.
When I’m not sleeping, I’m definitely not working out.
Sure, I might be on my feet all day at work, but that’s not the same as intentional movement. I stop choosing it. It becomes optional… and then it disappears completely.

Number three: my faith.
This one’s harder to admit.
I stop reading my Bible.
I stop praying.
I stop listening.
It’s like I quietly decide, “I’ve got this,” and try to run everything in my own strength. I don’t always say that out loud—but my actions do.
And that disconnect adds up.

Number four: food—specifically, “girl dinner.”
This one feels small, but it’s not.
Instead of making actual meals, I start grazing. A piece of toast here. Something out of the fridge there. Then something else because I’m still hungry.
I’m eating—but I’m not feeding myself.
There’s no intention. No structure. No moment where I sit down and say, “This is a full meal.”
It’s just… survival snacking.

At that point, I made a mental list and told myself: These are non-negotiables. If I keep these, I stay grounded. If I lose these, I’m on a fast track to burnout.
Simple enough, right?
Except… knowing that didn’t stop it from happening again.
That’s been the harder realization.

Awareness isn’t the same as change.

I can’t rely on willpower to keep me consistent. I’ve tried—it doesn’t hold when life gets full.
So I’m starting to see this differently now.
This is about building a system.
My fitness, my food, my faith, my rest—
they aren’t separate things to manage. They’re one system.
And that system is what allows me to actually live—not just survive.
Because when I neglect it, I don’t just lose habits.

I lose the capacity to keep going.

04/17/2026

Around this time every couple of years, I am reminded how different outdoor running is from treadmill running. Outside, you have to fight the wind, deal with uneven ground, and when it’s hot… you’re just hot. There’s no escape from it.
I just finished my first outdoor run of the season, and I am sore everywhere. My body is not happy about it. Yet still, I can feel that endorphin high sitting in the background, so I guess it’s not all bad.
Exercise, as much as people don’t like it (and honestly, I don’t always either), is an important part of a holistic life. That said, it doesn’t have to be intense or painful or make you question your life choices for 30 minutes straight (I am just crazy). Even just going for a 30-minute walk every day can do a lot—clear your head, lower stress, support your heart, and just make things feel a bit more manageable.
It doesn’t have to be extreme to matter.

04/09/2026

BEYOND ANXIETY: ADHD & ME

And here I was thinking that doctors misdiagnosing women with “hysteria” instead of listening to their actual concerns was a thing of the past.
But here we are again.

With the different presentation of ADHD in women, we’re still being overlooked.
Instead of the “can’t sit still,” all-over-the-place energy that people commonly associate with ADHD (especially in men), many women experience something much quieter—but just as overwhelming:
An overactive mind.
Constant internal noise.
Difficulty focusing, not because there’s no attention—but because it’s everywhere at once.
And because of that, women are often diagnosed with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, or more—without anyone stepping back to ask if those are the root issue, or just part of the picture.

That’s not even accounting for the number of women who try to figure it out on their own—self-diagnosing without fully understanding how all the pieces connect.

I fell into that camp.
Around age 14, in junior high, I started developing depressive symptoms. I struggled to relate to my peers, and I began withdrawing—partly to protect myself, and partly because I was afraid of hurting the people around me. Perfectionism had always been there, but by high school, it had intensified. And by the time I got to Bible college, anxiety hit hard.
Panic attacks.
Constant worry.
Difficulty focusing or following through.
I stopped starting things altogether—because I was too afraid of not finishing them.
About 10 years after all of that started, I had “joked” enough about having ADHD that I finally began looking into it seriously.
The following year, my family doctor agreed.

And don’t get me wrong—there was relief in having a diagnosis, but it didn’t suddenly fix everything.
The depressive thoughts, the anxiety, the burnout—those didn’t disappear. Because they weren’t random. They were symptoms of something deeper: emotional dysregulation that I still have to actively learn how to manage.
Things like regular exercise, a healthy diet, medication, community, and counseling—these are all tools. They help.
But ADHD isn’t something you cure.

It’s something you learn to understand.
Something you learn to work with.
Something you learn to manage over time.

And maybe that’s the shift:
Not asking, “How do I fix this?”
But instead, “How do I support myself within this?”

04/04/2026

Okay, I’ll be honest—I definitely started this by researching blog formats and “how to write a good first post.”
And then I realized… that's not the point of this.

The point isn’t perfect.
It’s real.

And for me, real usually starts with just… doing the thing.
Every time I’ve done something that actually worked out, I didn’t start with a perfect plan.
I started messy, and figured it out as I went. 🫠

So here we are.

How is this page going to work as a blog?
I don’t know.
I have ideas floating around in my head, but I have no clue what this will actually turn into, how consistent I’ll be, or even if it’ll last past my run in May.

What is the purpose of this “blog”?
Honestly… a few things.
I’ve collected over 200 people on Facebook across different seasons of my life. And each version of me—each season—was a little different.
Part of me wants to bring that together.
If you’re here and you’re curious, this is a place where you can actually get to know me beyond a snapshot in time.
Another part of me (a little selfishly) always wanted to be a content creator. I still don’t really know what I’m doing with my life, so maybe this scratches that itch.
And also—I just need somewhere to put my thoughts.
Because if I can’t see them, they’re gone almost instantly.

So yeah. Welcome to whatever this is.
My wildly chaotic, unmedicated, caffeine-balanced, Jesus-fueled life.

This is going to be… fun.

03/31/2026

On May 2, I will be participating in To Write Love on Her Arms’ Move For It 5k fundraising event. Every dollar we raise helps fund life-saving mental health care.
And right now, the need is urgent—too many people are struggling without access to the support they deserve.
Here’s why this matters:
Every 40-43 seconds, we lose someone in the world to su***de.
Su***de is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-24 in the U.S.
Access to mental health care remains one of the greatest unmet needs in America.
To Write Love on Her Arms exists to change this reality. For 20 years, they have been a safe space and a source of hope for millions of people around the world. Your support directly removes barriers to therapy, expands peer support connections, and sustains national outreach to people in crisis.

Why does this matter to me?

I’ve been personally affected by mental health struggles and crises. I’ve lost friends to su***de, and I’ve known what it feels like to be in that place myself. I’ve learned unhealthy ways of coping, and I’ve worked hard to find healthier ones.

As much as I don’t always love running, I choose it because it helps me regulate the parts of my mind that can feel overwhelming.

I believe in a holistic way of living—mind, body, and spirit are deeply connected, and I see that more clearly with time. This is one small way I care for all three. And this kind of living includes faith—alongside the people I love, the way I steward my life, and how I care for my body. Each piece matters, and when they’re in alignment, I feel more grounded, more steady, and more whole.

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Grande Prairie, AB

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