Update + 4 Random Things

Hi friends! Well that was an unplanned little break in there! Long story short, I've been having computer issues which have been a big pain. But thankfully, my computer's back in action so I am too! Sooo, I just wanted to update y'all on things going on in my life!

1 / I have been spending lots of time in Scripture and it's so wonderful. There's a new app from Proverbs 31 Ministries called First 5 that I really love. In the app, you can set an alarm and then as soon as it goes off in the morning, it prompts you to read through a short scripture reading and devotional. It makes for such an easy starting point to get some Bible reading in every day. I'm going to write a post about my favorite Bible/faith apps soon but for now, y'all should check it out!

2 / I really want to get a hedgehog this fall. I know, I might be crazy. But seriously guys, I've been thinking about this for ages and I just want a little prickly friend. Plus, you can't say no to this. It's just a little tricky to have a pet when I'll be back and forth between Florida (college) and North Carolina (home).

3 / I've decided that stamp collecting isn't just for weird old men. In case you don't believe me, just look at these beautiful coastal bird stamps for postcards. Or these, these or these. Also: did you know you can get stamps mailed to you? Anyone else think that's weird?

4 / I've been loving the global marketplaces that instagram has been featuring. When I was in Provence, France, my favorite thing was always to go to the market every morning. Like the colors and the smells of fresh bread and produce was the happiest way to start off your day! The Souks Market in Marrakesh, Morocco was my favorite!

Alright. There's your daily dose of randomness! I'll be back with some normal posts soon, I promise. Stick around ;)

Curated Weekly / 16

Helloooo friends! As you may know, I'm just messing around and trying some new things for the blog (I'd love if you'd take the one-question survey!!) and so I thought I'd spend a little bit more time recapping my week, in the form of a list.

1. On Saturday, after H and I had a nice visit at his school, we drove home to our hometown and had some time with our families. Sometimes I don't realize how much I miss my family until I'm back with them.

2. Sunday night (late) I had to fly back to Florida for school. I personally don't mind airports and flying but it really took it out of me to have my flight so late and that's really thrown my sleep schedule off all week. That and stupid daylight savings!

3. This week, I've been busting my booty to study for my chemistry exam on Wednesday that I honestly should have started studying for before spring break. But it's over and done. Just gotta wait for the grade now. 

4. Last night, I taught almost a full kickboxing class on my own! That was way exciting. I seriously never realized how hard it was to teach group fitness classes until I had to put on the mic and do it myself! You have to know all the moves, do them well and with good form, while teaching and motivating and encouraging your class and while listening to the music to know what comes next. AND the mic picks it up when I'm all out-of-breath so there's that. But it's really fun and I know I'm getting better at it.

5. I'm feeling a little bit of a burn out with this blog, which naturally comes every once in awhile. I'm not sure if I'll plan a short little break or try something else. If you're a blogger, how do you deal with burnout?

6. I started watching a new show on Netflix called Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and I can't quite decide, but I think I really like it. It's so odd! It's a comedy about a woman who gets rescued from an underground apocalype cult and has to figure out life in New York. Let me know what you think!

And I'll leave you with a couple links to read this weekend...

• Signs you need to declutter your digital life 
• Four breakfast tartines (open-faced sandwiches)
• Beautiful desktop backgrounds
• Ten affordable investments for better blogging

What have you been up to this week? Thoughts on this format of the Curated posts?

Curated Weekly / 7

What a wonderful, whirlwind of a week! Two hours after I published the Curated post last week, I went in for my wisdom tooth removal surgery + successfully got all four removed. I've been anxious about it, I kid you not, for almost a year and I'm so glad to have it done with. Compared to what I was expecting, it was a breeze. I don't remember anything until I got home + then I felt totally mentally alert, which was great since I was dreading the uncertainty of coming off anesthesia. I actually (tried to) do a sudoku as soon as I got home! I didn't get that far though haha!

So mentally, the recovery was great, but the pain is still here though I've weaned myself off the medication. A big thank you to all of you for being patient while I went MIA. :)

Other than that, it was just a normal, happy Christmas. My grandmother always spends it at our house + it's nice to have all the siblings back together. We play card games and bake and eat so much sugar, it's ridiculous. 

Early early early this morning (this post is scheduled), my family left for Michigan where we have family and friends. I'll be there for the next week, spending time with friends and hopefully seeing some snow before I go back to Florida for classes. What's going on in your world?

+ A foolproof guide to getting things done

+ A 90-day goal planning worksheet

+ "Every Day Matters"--an inspiring planner for 2015

+ 12 spiritually uplifting rituals to try

+ Beautiful botanical-themed desktop wallpapers (I love ferns!!)

+ A minimalist holiday tradition

+ How to build a capsule wardrobe--have any of you tried this?

+ How to forever cure your lack of motivation

+ A 10-minute workout that's totally doable (even on Christmas...not that I did it)

+ 7 reasons why you don't start until it's too late

+ 10 cult classic novels you should read (in 2015?!)

Okay, I'm sorryyyy, but I have more Christmasish music. I've been finding some sort of eclectic holiday/wintery songs and I just don't want them to end. I mean, these are mostly winter-themed so I still think it's okay. My favorite on this playlist is the first song--Blood Oranges in the Snow by Over the Rhine. But the new rendition of Auld Lang Syne is really beautiful and festive sounding too. In case you didn't know, Auld Lang Syne is actually traditionally a New Year's song, sung at midnight to say farewell to the past year. I never knew that! Thanks, Wikipedia. Anyways, listen to the playlist.

I've just begun it, but I'm inspired by a book that my mom gave me called The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst. It's a Christian book, but I seriously recommend it to anyone regardless of faith. Like I said, I've only just started reading the book, but the general premise is that our culture today glorifies being busy and "doing it all" but when we say yes to everything--even good things--we aren't able to say yes to the best things. I'll talk way more about this in the future, I can already tell. But as a lover of busyness, it's a lesson I'm seriously thinking on. 

A week from today, I will be seriously in the throes of preparing for the semester--revising my schedule, ordering textbooks, packing my life into two suitcases. Between now and then, my goal is to seriously relax, but also look forward to the semester. I'm taking on a lot of new things this semester, from a big research project, to working on my fitness instructor certification, to a BIG announcement coming in the next few weeks, not to mention tough classes (omg genetics)!. I want to set plans for how I'll manage it all + do some serious work on getting what I can done now so that I'm less stressed once classes start.

Oh, and I'm only halfway through one book of my two book goal for the Christmas break. Poop. 

Relax. Plan. Read. (Doesn't sound half bad!)

What does your upcoming week contain?! I hope your Christmas (or just the day, if you don't celebrate it) was lovely!

Checking In

(source unknown)

To say it plainly, this is a short post to let you know that your regular Tuesday post is not happening today.

Last night, I got a piece of bad news. In the grand scheme of things, everything is fine. But the truth is, I'm hurting right now, over something that I don't even want to care about. But that's just the way things are--rejection comes.

So this is just a short note to say that if you are hurting, wherever you are, for whatever reason, I'm thinking of you today. Sending a mental hug, so to speak, if you are the hugging type.

Have a happy Monday, you guys. Take care of yourselves. 

Curated Weekly / 2

Curated Weekly is a new series with installments posted every Friday where I share a variety of moments or interesting things (like links or photos or songs) that I've collected over the last week. I hope that this series gives you a snapshot into my world and my brain!

Once again, if you have not yet taken the reader survey for fall 2014, I would appreciate it so much if you would! It's just a few short questions about you and your goals and plans so I can get to know you better! 

These week was so uneventful...it was a nice little breather from last week, which was insane! Tuesday, I had the day off for Veteran's Day (THANK YOU veterans, and not just for the day off). My current roommate and I and another friend of ours spent a good bit of the day looking at apartments for next fall. It's actually impossible to find an apartment within walking distance (I like walking), with a balcony (I like plants) and that's pet-friendly, without paying over $2500 a month. Who knew apartments were so expensive?

I've recently decided to look into getting a minor in French, which no, has absolutely no practical application with my major (Plant Pathology). But I've always enjoyed French and wanted to live abroad so I'm really considering it. I'm on track to graduate a year early and I'm not in a rush to get out of college, so why not?! So last night, I took my placement test to see if I actually retained any of my five years of French (probably not). I'll get those results sometime today!

+ 3 simple ways to be (slightly) less obsessed with your phone.
+ crazy yummy lemon bars
+ 10 Bible verses for an anxious heart
+ make a diy iPad sleeve
+ a collection of top-notch skillshare classes
+ 5 easy lifestyle changes to make in a month
+ creating personal rules for blogging
+ An anthem of hope: four ways to recharge.
+ 5 ways to clean up your blogger template
+ The "I don't want to work out" workout

I'm trying out a couple new methods for linking to music. I asked about it in the survey (linked above) but if you have any additional comments as to which methods are better for you (i.e. grooveshark like last week or a link to 8tracks like this week), feel free to leave them below. But I'm trying to make sure I don't use any methods that require you to have an account or sign in. So for today, I'm using 8tracks, one of my favorite websites for playlists. LISTEN TO THE WHOLE PLAYLIST HERE. Here's the list:

Where Have All the Flowers Gone / Peter, Paul and Mary
Goodnight Irene / The Weavers
The Circle Game / Tom Rush
Lady Came from Baltimore / Tim Hardin
Always Something There To Remind Me / Naked Eyes
This Land is Your Land / Woody Guthrie
Make Your Own Kind of Music / The Mamas and the Papas
(Don't Fear) the Reaper / Blue Oyster Cult

 

These beautiful deconstructed embroideries by Sophia Narrett.

Last week, I felt like I did a pretty good job of managing my time. I focused specifically on not wasting time on dumb things, especially when I had tasks left to do. This week, my goal is to go above and beyond my tasks and start reviewing notes and material for my exams. I've learned the hard way that most exams cover too much information to review in just a few days so I'm planning on starting early!

What are your goals for the week? What's going on in your world?

Curated Weekly / 1

Curated Weekly is a new series with installments posted every Friday (even though today is Saturday!) where I share a variety of moments or interesting things (like links or photos or songs) that I've collected over the last week. I hope that this series gives you a snapshot into my world and my brain!

First off, I'd really appreciate if you'd take the reader survey! The questions are different than most surveys but I wrote them specifically because I really want to get to know you and what you love and what you need out of a blog. Thank you for taking two minutes to fill it out!

Naturally, this week I was very focused on getting all ready for the launch yesterday! If you've been around long, you know I like my life busy and busy I was. I signed up for some of my classes for next semester and I'm really excited about a few of them...along with chem 2 and a few other required classes, I'm pumped to be taking entomology (bugs) and fungal pathogens. If you're new, let me explain and say that I'm a college student studying plant pathology, which pretty much means I study bacteria, fungus, insects, and viruses that harm plants. It's fun stuff!

Yesterday was (you guessed it) pretty busy as well. I met with my wellness coach (more about that another time) and we discussed my goals for the semester as far as working towards better sleep habits, time and stress management, and overall health! If you're in college, I highly recommend looking into resources in your counseling and wellness center. My school has so many amazing, free resources and I'm so thankful for people that want to help me succeed!

And to wrap up a busy week, today is actually my sorority's semi-formal at Disney so I will not be responding to comments today! But for those of you who left them yesterday, thank you. I'm so glad you're here!

DIY morse code bracelets -- what a creative way to carry a message with you!

Cat Ipsum and kitty image placeholders -- in case you can't decide if you like design or kitties more.

Compliments that aren't about physical appearance.

How to diffuse conflict + make angry people calm down + be cool.

Tribal nail art -- just for fun!

6 top ways to improve your daily routine.

Sticky garlic chicken and broccoli -- holy yum.

7 style tips to trick people into thinking you made an effort

A day in the life of a college student

10 steps to uncover wisdom in your anxious thoughts

This beautiful marine-themed moodboard in honor of Rachel Carson

(images by Danielle Kroll)

For some reason, I'm really into Hawaiian folk these days. Seriously! If you're having a busy day and you want some thing calm and soothing but still thoroughly happy, this is the way to go! Plus, it always reminds me that I need to work harder so I can graduate and get a job that pays enough so I can get to Hawaii. Logic, right?!

This week, I intend to work really hard at prioritizing how I use my time. I've talked about this before and I'll talk about it again...I'm a big believer in wasting time intentionally. If you're going to procrastinate, do another important (but less unpleasant) task while you gear up to work. If you're going to rest and relax, do something you really enjoy like reading a book or blogging or watching your favorite movie instead of being a potato and watching that same episode of House Hunters for the third time because there's nothing else on. 

Something that I definitely don't prioritize enough is SLEEP. Whenever more tasks get loaded onto my ever-full plate, I always think to myself, "oh it'll be a late night." Because when something needs to get cut, I cut sleep. Instead, I'm going to work on cutting Facebook or other social media and Netflix before I cut my sleep.

What have you been up to this week? (And yes, I actually want you to answer that question!) What will you prioritize this week?

6 Good Things Right Now

(photo by Nick West for Unsplash)

Guys I've been so pouty today. My head hurts, my room is messy, I miss H and it's everyone's fault but mine. Even though he only visited me for five days, H leaving has really thrown me for a loop and I'm still in that short-term depression stage that comes right after visits in long term relationships. Sigh. 

Anyways, I'm gonna be an optimist today and talk about a few things that are awesome right now, even when a few things aren't. Really, life is pretty good. 

1. I got two really exciting hand-lettering jobs. One is making hand-lettered chalkboard signs for someone's 40th birthday....

2. ...and the other is even cooler. I'm working to calligraph a design for a girl's tattoo! Ever since I saw the tattoo that Rebecca Caridad did for her brother, I've loved the idea and I'm so excited to work on it!

3. Work is going smoothly. The 4th of July week is the very peak of renter season in my town on Lake Michigan and naturally all of those tourists flock to my ice cream shop at night to cool off. Good for business but not for my stress levels, so I'm glad that things are calming down a little bit.

4. I'm having a lot of fun working on my note card + print line (which will hopefully be out in the fall). I'm constantly scanning Pinterest and the internet for short, new quotes. I really like using short, simple maxims that you can remember easily. Some of my favorites for prints are...

"Good things take time."

"Wherever you are, be all there." (Jim Elliot)

"Do what you can, where you are, with what you have." (Teddy Roosevelt) 

5. It sounds a little mean, but now that H isn't here, I have more time to read. Seriously, just trying to look on the bright side! I'm currently reading Revenge Wears Prada, the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada.

6. My tablet. It's an Android Venue and Android drove me crazy for a little while but now I have to say, I'm kind of obsessed. I got it as through a Dell promotion and it cam free with a laptop I was going to buy anyways. It's so much fun to use it for my hand-lettering and keeping my documents organized for work and all. Also, Netflix is so much better on a tablet than on an iPhone. Yay!

What good things are going on in your life?

Snippets 03.

1 // The weather here in southwest Michigan has been so spooky this last week. Normally around this time of year, it's sunny and perfect beach weather with the high in low 80s. I was sitting in the Tabernacle for service on Sunday morning and I looked out the windows to see this crazy thick fog that you could see rolling in. If it had been moving up, instead of towards the ground, I would have thought the church was on fire! 

From what I've heard, the middle of the lake (my town is on Lake Michigan) is still super cold, like almost with ice on it, and it keeps blowing off towards the warmer coasts and creating that weird fog. Way weird. But I'm still enjoying the cool and the mist before everything gets hot!

2 // I've been taking advantage of this cool weather to get some yard weather done before it becomes completely sweltering out. My backyard is two levels (because my house is on a dune) with terraced gardens in between. Even in the month it's been since we were here and did yard work, the gardens are filled with those little weeds. But as far as yard work goes, I don't mind weeding. I actually enjoy the cathartic experience of pulling out all the things that stifle our plants so that they can grow and thrive. I don't really enjoy accidentally picking up worms though. #ew.

3 // I'm still reeling from all the gorgeous views that I got to witness on my CA trip earlier this month. Honestly, it just blows my mind how such high mountains such as these cliffs in Yosemite could be formed by rivers and glaciers over thousands of years. 

What's going on in your life lately, friends?

THE CASE AGAINST SCHEDULING BLOG POSTS

(photo by me, at Alcatraz)

There are a lot of great reasons to schedule your blog posts ahead of time. By writing posts ahead of time + scheduling them, I've been able to take time off to study for exams, vacation or just busy times. Any of you bloggers who have tried scheduling out posts ahead of time know that it can be an extremely convenient practice.

But over the last few months as I've been scheduling posts as much as two or three weeks in advance, I've felt more out of touch. Some days I don't even know what post is going live, only that it's a Monday/Wednesday/Friday so there must be one!

I find that I don't mention much what's really going on in my life...because it would be weeks-old news by the time it went live! For example, in the last couple posts, I haven't mentioned that I've been in the Sierra Nevadas on a hiking trip for the last two weeks. But that's because I wrote those posts a month ago!

Somehow, that just doesn't feel right. I want you to know what's going on right now, and in the same way, I want to be updated with you and my favorite bloggers. If I was just writing for a newspaper or something, scheduling would be fine. But because blogging is about community, I'm feeling the need to add that little life update back into my posts.

I'm not saying I'll never schedule posts again! I probably will when I'm on vacation or during exam weeks. But I'll try to write my posts less than a day or two ahead of time when possible so that I can stay in tune with what's currently going up on my blog. Make sense?

I will still keep an editorial calendar (which I recommend all bloggers do!) and will probably plan out posts ahead of time to some extent. But I want to make sure I focus on sharing more of the day-to-day details, and that just doesn't happen when I schedule posts. 

So I mentioned that I wanted to share more of what was going on in my life, like right now? Here's what I've been doing lately:

• I graduated, just over two weeks ago. Super exciting! Super crazy! Super busy!
• Two days later, I flew to San Francisco with my family.
• Over the last two weeks, we've been hiking through Sequoia, Yosemite, Big Sur, Kings Canyon and Lake Tahoe. We've been swimming and rafting and sleeping in yurts (no, really!) and ziplining and driving (so much. How is California so big?!) and so much more!
• I'm currently in Sacramento with friends, getting ready to fly home tomorrow.
• It's been crazy exciting but I'm ready to come home to NC.

Now that I've updated you, I want you to tell me. What have you been up to? Do you schedule posts? Tell me why you do or don't!

What I Learned About Confidence From a Middle School Spelling Bee

Hi lovelies! I'm so happy to be back from my little break. Exams are over and the universe lets out a collective sigh of relief (mild hyperbole). Today, I want to share a story from junior high + where I got what I call my quote-manifesto. It's about to get a little serious, a little sappy, a little cliche around here, but this post has gotta happen. If this isn't your deal, no worries, I'll be back with the previously scheduled sass on Wednesday with a post on bioluminescence (oooh, science!). 

So to start out my story, let's just put it out there that middle school is literally the most fragile, insecure, her-snarky-comment-about-my-hair-made-me-cry-for-days sort of stage in our lives. Anything--and I mean anything--can ruin you in middle school, from whatever your mom yelled to you as you got out of the car to what kind of food you brought for lunch.

I was always reasonably well-liked in the "upper middle class" of the junior high social hierarchy. But come sixth grade, I knew my downfall was coming + I knew that it would come in the form of a spelling bee. 

I used to be freakishly good at spelling. Like really good. But more importantly, I thought that made me freakishly bad at being a cool person. I hated being smart, being good at things that other people weren't. 

But because I hate to lose, I found myself in this spelling bee at my school. And I won it. Spelling bee in the county. Won it again. The region. Champion. Then I had states. And it was then that I decided I didn't want to be in the spelling bee anymore. Because who really does spelling bees anyways?

So I tried to quit, but my parents wouldn't let me. They sat me down on our green leather sofa and made me watch a movie--Akeelah and the Bee--about an inner city girl who competes in the National Spelling Bee. In the final moments before the competition, she remembers where she's from and doubts that she belongs there. And at that moment, she reads this quote from Marianne Williamson (bolding mine):

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

That quote is the reason I finished and competed in that spelling bee, even though I lost. But more importantly, that quote has shaped the way I carry myself ever since. You know what? I'm an intelligent person. I am beautiful. I am talented. And I'm capable. 

It's not cocky and it's not silly to believe in your own power. 

Because of that one juvenile movie, I have a manifesto, one that guides so much of what I do. 

What's your quote-manifesto?

P.S. Like when I get serious? Thoughts on being a multipassionate blogger and on honesty/Jerry Springer (yep I'm for real).

Long Term Goals + Dreams

As I'm getting ready for a big new stage of my life (college), I've been thinking a lot about my future. These days, it feels like every choice I make is going to determine the rest of my life. Where I chose to go to school, who I choose to live with, what major I choose to study. To make these choices, I'm having to look to the future + know towards what destination I want to aim my life. It's not something I do very often, but it's been really eye-opening + I think valuable. I find that I have a lot of dreams that just aren't compatible with each other. But I still think they're worthwhile dreams to maintain, since any one of them could be in my future!

I also think there's tremendous value in sharing your dreams with others and so I thought I'd share my dreams with you. If you'd like to share your long-term dreams with me, please link up below! I'd love to read them.

+ Graduate from college first! My plan is microbiology or biotechnology with a concentration in botany. 

+ Get an advanced degree, at least a masters, maybe a Ph.D. I wanna be smarttttt. 

+ Work in a research field for a little while or pursue graduate teaching. 

+ Grow this blog until I earn a little income off it. I don't dream of making blogging a job, but I am inspired by the idea of getting financial encouragement to continue this hobby. I haven't decided whether I will offer sponsorships in the future, but it's definitely an option. 

+ Grow a family. Whether it's just a husband or a husband/child (I can't handle more than one!).

+ Do freelance design part-time. I don't want to get a degree in design but I'm motivated to use the skills that I have, particularly for new + smaller bloggers to have an option for custom designs.

+ Open a stationery shop with my own designs. This one's a big one + might just be a dream (I've never confessed it out loud/in a post!--but that's okay). I keep coming up with ideas for cute cards with confidently quirky-cute designs and want to make them so badly! I am very interested for now in getting to make some cards for myself, just for fun. If anyone has any tips on designing for print/where to print things like that (I've heard StationeryHQ), give me a holler!

+ Become a master calligrapher and do a little freelance calligrapher for friends or family. At the very least, I'd like to continue the practice and become comfortable with (pointed pen) gouache, brush and india ink calligraphy while experimenting with different papers.

+ Write a book on science for the average person that doesn't include "cliche" science facts. I want to talk about technicalities in fungi and genes and proteins. I want to teach anyone, especially people without a science background, that the biggest beauty in our world is not because of it's colors and aesthetics, but because of its complexity. 

Now link up your dreams, pretty please, so this link up isn't all lonely!

New Series // Snippets 01.

A few weeks ago, I shared some of my vision for this blog and how what I was currently doing didn't line up with that vision. I realized that I didn't just want to teach on this blog, though I truly believe that everyone has something to teach. I realized that I also wanted to show life through this blog. I want to read about what's going on in your life and though it may sound self-centered, I want you to know what's going on in my life. I believe it's a deep human instinct to want to share life with others. Why not do that through my blog?

I want to start a fairly regular series on my blog called Snippets, just about my thoughts in my daily life. I'd love your feedback and thoughts in the comments!



ONE. Some of you know that I'm going through the college selection process (yes, I'm that young). Lately though, it's been full of rejection. In the last week, I got rejected by one school, waitlisted by two others, and turned down for a women in science scholarship that I had sort of been banking on. It hasn't been easy, but I've been proud of myself in the way that I've handled it. I'm trusting that those colleges weren't the right ones for me and that there is something better in store for me. It's been a lesson in strength, in patience and in faith. I'm feeling encouraged that I still have two great schools that I like to consider (UVA is one of them!)

TWO. I love love love plants but I admit that I'm not the greatest plant mama. I've had my kale get attacked with some moldy-fungusy thing and my pansies are just getting all shriveled and brown because of all of our freezing weather. I spent some time today nurturing my little babies, pulling off the dead blooms or moldy leaves and clearing out the soil. I found it deeply therapeutic to spend time picking out the things that were suffocating my poor plants so that they can (hopefully!) live and thrive a while longer.

THREE. On a more lighthearted note, I've been using an app called Argus over the last week or two to track my steps every day. The recommended goal is 10,000 steps per day, and I find I don't even get close to that if I don't schedule in a good run or a session on the treadmill. It's ridiculous the kind of satisfaction I got when I hit 17,000 steps after a long day walking around UVA. Little victories, y'all!

Get Happy in 10 Minutes a Day

Hi friends! I'm hanging out at the Nectar Collective today and talking about ways to get happy when your life is busier than Martha Stewart at Christmas. Click the banner to see the post!

finding rest in the crazy.

Lately, life has just been hitting me hard. I hate to say that because I know there are so many people who are being hit even harder by life, but the daily grind has been a bit much for me. Lately it feels like there's always a paper to write, someone to call, an application to turn in and a miles-long to do list.

And that busyness is just part of life and the stage that I'm in. It's okay that I'm busy. But I'm struggling to maintain my level of positivity when I get only a few hours of sleep a night and don't have even a spare hour to do something just for fun.

This week, I'm making just one goal. I need to rest. I've been driving myself to do everything that my sleep and mental rest is basically nonexistent. I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to make rest happen, but I'm going to make it a conscious goal to rest my mind whenever possible, even if that's just for a few minutes here and there. I'm going to look into some meditative breathing and things like that to deal with stress. If any of you have advice on that, please comment below!

Oh and one happy thing...I got to hang out with this little piglet this weekend. :)



Thanks to everyone who has left comments on my last few posts. You are nice and you are important. I like you.

How do you rest your mind when life is busy?

 

Weekly Wishes #14: positivity + giraffes + sisters

Today, I’m linking up with The Nectar Collective for Weekly Wishes.  The Weekly Wishes is where we all can share our posts about goals, challenges, and wishes for the week! 


Last week, I wished to work on exercising more and make good progress on my big project with Aukele. Kele and I hit a setback on our project but we're still trucking and I'm so excited to share it with you all very soon! Get excited!! However...exercising...I have had the weirdest/most annoying bout of the flu since Monday night (still have it!) and that kind of puts exercise in its place. But I'm putting it back on the list again for this week!

I'm buried under makeup work but I've got a new week ahead of me! Here are my weekly wishes for this coming week:

Exercise! Just...yes. This needs to happen.

Do my makeup work, promptly. I’ve got soo much makeup work to do because I missed all of my classes last week. I really need to carve out time to get back on track!

Schedule blog posts for next week! Exciting thing--I'm going to the mountains next Sunday through Wednesday. But don't worry, I totally will have fun things ready for you! Side note, if you're interested in guest posting, shoot me an email or tweet at me!

Choose positivity. Whoa Allie, four goals?! You're crazy. Anyways, this is a new one for me. I'm a bit of a pessimist to be honest, but I just want to take time in the midst of the stress this week to be happy. Any tips?!

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One way to choose positivity--linking up with Erika for Grad-itude again! Grad-itude is a link up about being grateful! I loved looking through everyone else’s happy thoughts last week so I’m in it again. Here are three things I’m grateful for right now.

My health. I'm still under the weather right now but it first off makes me thankful that I'm not sick all the time! Like, I never appreciate being able to keep food down or breathe through my nose until I can't anymore. Secondly, my flu is so not a big deal compared to how sick some others are. I got a good life.

My sister! This weekend I visited my sister at school and we hung out all weekend. My sister and I are polar opposites, but I'm appreciating that more as an okay thing the older we get. Love my sis!

Good music. So in the middle of all my crazy makeup work and travels and busyness, I listened to some really great music this weekend. I had my Pandora set between Jim Croce, Avett Bros and Barcelona and it was just awesome. No thumbs down over here!

Now head on over to The Nectar Collective & Chimerikal and join the link-ups.

What do you wish for this week? What are you grateful for?

freebie background: "be the best you can be"

Hey friends! I hope you all had a super lovely restful weekend!

I've really had this phrase on my mind lately. And what better reminder to have on your screen! I made you a desktop background from it--you're welcome! If anyone's interested in an iphone/ipad sized background, comment below and I'll add it! To download the image, click the laptop!



What's your favorite life-advice? Share it!

life-changing advice.

Hi y'all. So I know this was yesterday's Blogtember prompt but I've been sick so I'm allowed to be behind on things, right? Please say yes.

Day 3. Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered. 

We're gonna keep it short and sweet today. The simplest, smallest piece of advice I try to guide my life around is this: be the best you that you can be.

That's it.

That's something we always here as kids--"you don't have to do the best, just do your best." But I mean it in a different way. I mean that every action you take, take a split-second (our brains are speedy like that) to think, "Is doing this going to make me a better person or a worse person?" Oftentimes, that can put you back on the right path.

But take it a step further--it's not always about right and wrong. Maybe you want to have ice cream. Does ice cream make you a worse person? Possibly. But that advice puts the question on you to decide and weigh the benefits of health versus happiness. And it's totally okay to choose happiness. It really is.

Take life day by day and just be the best that you can be. That's all anyone could ask right?

And to put you in a good mood, here's a pretty picture.



 

Weekly Wishes #9

Hey all. Today, I'm linking up with The Nectar Collective for Weekly Wishes. The Weekly Wishes is where we all can share our posts about goals, challenges, and wishes for the week! Last week, I had quite a few goals! Here's how I did.

• Get through my Bloglovin' feed? Ah no. But I did make significant progress! I'm just barely under two hundred!


• Get a new sponsor?? Nope, not this week. I do have a super awesome guest post coming up from Crystal at The Happy Type and I'm so excited to share! If you ever want to guest post/sponsor CMS, check out the sponsor page.


• Brainstorm topics for the first week of school posts? Yessirree sure did! Get excited!


• Make progress on school reading and college apps? Yep! I started my apps and am just waiting to hear back from my counselor before I finish!

I'm finding that my goals are just too vague so it's hard to really make progress. So I'm making a goal to make my goals more concrete (yes, my goals involve goal-making).

Now, for this week's wishes:

• Keep on truckin' through my Bloglovin' feed! I'd like in <100 ideally. Work on it a little bit everyday!


• Try to comment more on blogs! Make at least one thoughtful comment everyday--more is great!


• Plan two posts and write out one for the first week of school.


• Go home!! By this time next week, I'll be home in Charlotte! I get to see the boy eeeeeeeeee.

Now head on over to The Nectar Collective and join the Weekly Wish link up.

What were your wishes this week? If you have a blog, tweet me, or comment to motivate me and help me reach my wishes!