March 2018 Book Wrap Up

Hi friends!

I was a book fiend this month.  I ended up finishing six books; more than January & February combined! I will say that February ended up being a slow month book wise, but it's still crazy to think I read over a book a week.

Usually I do a whole Month in Review, but I had so many books this month that I wanted to share as its own post.  This may be something I continue in the future, as I'm doing so much reading it might be worth it.

The Picture of Dorian Grey is about a young man who accidentally sells his soul to stay looking youthful his whole life.  It details the span of his life from that point on.

I had a roller coaster of emotions throughout the story, but it ended with me being happy to be done.  Some of it was really interesting, but there was a lot of time spent on conversations, and lists.  There were sentences that went on for pages at a time with lists.  However, when there was action I felt much more inclined to read; it was an interesting and thoughtful story that would be fun to analyze.

I gave this 3.5/5 stars.

Alright, so let me tell you all a story. I had this book from my Prime Reading, and finally decided to read it because it was so hyped; everyone was constantly talking about it.  It started off very strange and by the end I was enthralled.  It's a collection of poems about the author's experiences with childhood and her parents, friends, and relationships. It is split into four parts: hurting, loving, breaking, & healing. 

I understand that is it probably overhyped, but I loved these poems.  Especially in the third and fourth sections, I was highlighting every other page.  I plan to purchase a copy so I can have it on my bookshelf and mark in it because I enjoyed it so much.

I gave this 5/5 stars.

The next book I read from Prime was Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  This is a story about a boy in middle school who is given a journal to write about his life in.  You read about all sorts of experiences he has in school, with his family, and his friend.

I thought I would enjoy it, but it turns out the main character is just kind of a jerk.  It was frustrating to me to read some of the ways that he acts, but maybe I'm just too old to understand the appeal. I just know that if my child acted like that I would not be happy.

I gave this 3/5 stars.

I finished The Phoenix Project this month!  I knew it was just a matter of time before I did, partially because it was an assignment and partially because I was just enjoying reading it in general.  It's a novel about a man who is promoted to VP of IT and must navigate both the political atmosphere and managing his subordinates.  They must work to get the Phoenix Project underway, which was meant to help the company become a success once again.

It definitely reads like a book that's meant to teach, but if you're in management this might be a great option to read without feeling like you're reading a textbook. I thought it was so easy to read and didn't feel like a knowledge dump.

I gave it 4/5 stars.

Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take 5 Minutes or Less is exactly as it sounds.  It's a book with a list of various habits that are easy to do but can make a big improvement to your life.

I wasn't very impressed with this book.  It read like a really long blog post, which wasn't ideal.  The habits given were so basic, I couldn't believe it.  They were things that most people should just do, without any sort of prompting.  Some of the ideas were strange to even consider a habit.  Like making a to-do list; don't people just do that?  I wasn't happy with what this book had to offer.

I gave this 3/5 stars.

I also decided to read Attack on Titan, which is a manga. Attack on Titan is a dystopian manga about humanity living within three protective walls.  This is because creatures, called Titans, exist seemingly only to eat humans.  In this volume, we see Erin (the main character) go through training to prepare himself for attacking the titans.  We see his backstory, as well as the first attack on the walls.

I actually watched the anime first, and saw that Amazon Prime offered this as something to read for free.  I decided to pick it up, and I wasn't necessarily disappointed, but I wasn't impressed either.  If I hadn't watched the anime first, I might have been more likely to enjoy it.  Still, it was a great story, and very dark.  Not for the faint of heart!

I gave this 4/5 stars.

One of the books I am currently reading is Fairest of All: A Tale of the Evil Queen. It's the first in a series highlighting certain villains' backstories and how they became the way that they are.  This story begins with the Queen (which is what she is referred to) getting married to the King and living with him and Snow.  I'll give a full review of this in my April book wrap up!

Another book that I'm in the early stages of reading is Valley of the Kings. I love everything to do with ancient Egypt, so I was excited to jump in and read this.

I can't tell how I feel about it right now!  I'm not sure why, but I didn't expect to read this and have it be so adult.  In the first 15% of this novel, I have read about sex, war, murder, and child abuse. There's probably more, but those are the biggest ones that have stood out to me.

I still feel drawn into this book as a topic, but the content is throwing me off. I might end up taking a little while to read this, depending on when I'm in the mood for it.










Well, that's my March book wrap up! I'm really excited and proud of the books that I finished, and I can't wait to share with everyone the books I've read in April; I've already got a few to tell ya'll about and it's only the first week!

18 in 2018 Spring Update

Hello everyone!

Today is my 18 by 2018 spring update! The original post is here, where you can check out my entire list of things I want to do/watch/read/whatever this year.  I'm bringing you a three month update, so my progress of finishing things off from the beginning of January to now!

Books
I've done a pretty good job on finishing books off this year!  In January I read The Hangman's Daughter; it was a pretty average book, and I'm glad I got to move it out of my collection and replace it with another book I wanted to read.

This month, I read two books from my list!  I first finished Milk & Honey, which oh my gosh I didn't expect to love it nearly as much as I did. I gave it 5 stars, a rare thing for me to do, and I plan on purchasing a copy of it for myself. I got it for free through Prime Reading, but it was so good I need to have it on my shelf!

I also finished off Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes that Take 5 Minutes of Less this month.  While it wasn't a bad book, it certainly wasn't my favorite.  It felt too basic for me.

I'm currently reading two more books on my list; Valley of the Kings: The 18th Dynasty, and Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen.  Both are pretty good, but I'm only about 15% into each.  Valley of the Kings is a lot more adult than I had expected, and some parts are making me a little uncomfortable. Still, I hope to finish at least one, if not both of them in April!

Movies
I actually have no progress in this category!  The more I think about it, the more I realize I just don't like movies that much.  I'm still going to try to watch some of the really popular ones, but I still don't feel any pressing need to watch anything.

TV Shows
This category has definitely had the most changes this time!  
 
I actually ended up finishing Total Drama season 1 this month, so I get to cross that show off my list!  It was a lot of fun, a little inappropriate, and a great throwback to my younger years. I probably won't watch season 2 on, because I'd never seen it and don't care enough to, but I'm glad I watched this.  I ship Gwen and Trent so much!

I decided to make a change to my one of the shows on my list as well.  I didn't realize that The Office season 1 was only six episodes, and that I was already on episode 6.  That seemed like a gimme, and I didn't want to just call it good because the whole point of adding this to my list was to watch it, so I decided to switch season 1 to season 2.

I'm currently watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3!  I ended up finishing off season two at the beginning of March, and wanted to keep going.  I'm on episode 6, so still a ways to go, but I can't wait to possibly get to season 4 soon! I might end up finishing this entire show this year.

Bucket List
My bucket list hasn't been worked on much!  A lot of what's on here actually requires me to be out of school and have a regular job, so I haven't finished much yet. I expect to see a lot more progress in the next two updates.  I was, however, able to finish two "extras", or items I added to the list after the fact as additional things I wanted to complete.

One of those was to update my GoodReads want-to-read shelf, which I'm so glad I did.  I removed over 1,100 books on my list that I'd never heard of or didn't actually want to read!  This makes it much easier to look at my list and feel as though I could pick any book and be happy with it.

I also made a vision board!  It's not quite finished yet, but I do have the basic layout of it done, and I can't wait to finish it up and share it.  I might write a blog post about it as well; we'll see where I decide to go with that.  Either way, it's beautiful and I love it! 

Beauty Products
I've used up two beauty products in the past three months: Bite Beauty's Glace and my strawberry Chapstick.  It's not much, but I hardly wear makeup, so I'm proud of finishing off two!

On the other hand, I have been a decluttering fiend - I've already completed my goal for makeup products with it.  I've decluttered __ products!  I'm just gong to make a quick list of them and a short explanation, since that would take forever!

1. Estee Double Wear Foundation - Rattan (too dark)
2. Fenty Beauty Foundation - 220 (too dark)
3. Smashbox BB Cream - Light (too dark)
4. Bare Minerals Serum Foundation - Light (too dark)
5. Maybelline Baby Lips - Mirrored Mauve (didn't like the color)
6. Mark Jacobs Lip Liner - Primrose (broke)
7. Revlon Lip Butter - Sorbet (didn't need)
8-9. Softlips Lip Balm - Vanilla (formula is bad)
10. Sephora Lipstick - R49 (didn't need)
11. Clinique Almost Lipstick - Black Honey (didn't like the formula)
12. Sephora Lipstick - Truly, Truly Outrageous (didn't need)
13. Lorac Lipstick - Hipster (didn't like the color)
14. Tarte Lip Paint - Fetch (didn't like the color)
15. Colourpop Ultra Satin Lip - So Wavy (didn't need)
16. Urban Decay Vice Lipstick - Big Bang (didn't like the formula)
17. BareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick - Speak Your Mind (didn't like the color)
18. Laura Mercier Velour Lip Colour - Sensual (didn't like the color)
19. Touch in Sol Metallist Lipstick - Jasmine (didn't like the color)
20. Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick - Muse (didn't need)
21. Manna Kadar Liplocked Stain - Shae (didn't like the color)
22. Too Faced Melted Latex - Hot Mess (didn't like the color)
23. Manna Kadar Bronzer Highlighter Duo (didn't need)

I'm super proud of my decluttering! I'm working hard to move things out of my collection that I don't or won't use, so this is a great step in the right direction. I don't believe I'll ever be minimalist in my collection, but knowing I'm getting rid of things that won't work for me makes me feel really good.

Skincare Products 
So I've made a decision that I'm really not decluttering any skincare products, so everything on this list is products that I've used up.

1. Youth to the People Moisturizer
2. Derma E Hydrating Night Creme
3. Yes to Blueberry Face Wipes
4. Tucker Ashley Eye Cream
5. Lierac Serum
6. NoTS 28 Remedy Acne Poor Deep Cleanser

I've been bad about doing my skincare routine, so there's fewer products here than I'd like. Still, I'm moving them out slowly and am proud!

Well, that's it everyone!  The progress isn't phenomenal, but I can't be mad, either.  I plan on continuing to work on my list this year, and hopefully I'll have even more progress to share with you all at the beginning of summer!

2018 Goals Spring Update

Hello everyone!

It's that time of the year where I give you the quarterly update on how I'm doing for my 2018 goals!  Here's my original post, if you're interesting in seeing my rationale behind picking them all!

Something I noticed is that I'm really hitting that slump in following through with my goals.  I fully intend to re energize myself, and I already feel so excited to jump back onto keeping up with what I decided I wanted to do!

These are all broken up into different categories based on what they're meant to help improve, just as a way to not have a big list with little direction for myself.  Now let's get into this!

Mental Health
Develop a self-care routine. I'll be honest with you all, I've been really bad about this! I forgot this was even a goal of mine, and I haven't actually done any sort of planning for my self-care, so it's just sort of whatever happens that day. Well, I've decided to change that!  I have a Happy Planner that I bought and don't use for a lot of things (mostly random stuff), so I might as well write down my self-care plan for the day!  I'm using my self-care ideas as a basis for what to jot down!


Read 24 books. This is one goal I can say I'm doing a great job at!  I have currently read 8 books this year, and the end of March is when I should be at 6, if I'm keeping to my 2 books a month goal.  My reading hasn't been super consistent, but that's okay!  I'm really proud of being ahead and hopefully staying ahead.


Finish one coloring page a month. I had great intentions with this, until I forgot all of my coloring books at home.  Turns out, you can't color when you don't have the coloring books!  So, as of now I haven't been keeping up.  I'm going to turn that around starting now, however.  I actually finished my march page already; yay!  It's a super fun dot-to-dot book I found at Wal-Mart.  I'll show you all the finished pages some other time.


Journal every day. This is another goal that I had great intentions with, but then completely fell off the wagon with.  I'm going to have to fix this.  I also downloaded some apps I'm going to try, and see if that helps me with doing some journaling and reflection!


Physical Well-Being
Eat breakfast every morning. I think something that will be a recurring theme is that March is a month that I really didn't focus much on my goals.  Again, I plan on changing that and getting back into eating something every morning to jump-start my metabolism!

Stop eating candy. This is one goal I've done a pretty great job at!  I do have the occasional chocolate, but I've essentially stopped eating candy altogether.

Work out 3x a week. If we're being honest, I haven't worked out more than twice this whole year. I have been feeling some motivation lately, so I might start scheduling it in like I should be. As it stands, I'm kind of failing!  This week that I've been writing my post, I've decided that I'm going to go to the gym so the past two days I've gone and done some running. This is a sign of turning tides, I hope!


Get to 150 pounds. My weight hasn't done any significant change since the beginning of the year! I've been trying to eat better, but not really trying that hard.  Hopefully after I'm out of school and can have a consistent schedule I'll be better.



Education
Graduate with honors. Not much to report on this - I haven't graduated yet, and my grades are what will determine whether I accomplish this or not, so it's a waiting game!

Get A's in every class. So far, I'm not doing too bad!  I can think of at least 3 classes I'll definitely get A's in, and the other two I'm certainly working hard to try and get them.



Finance
Get a job in human resources. I am so excited, because I've started applying for jobs now!  I've currently applied for two, but we'll see how things keep going in the next few months.  Now that I know where I'm settling, I can apply to even more.

Pay off credit card balance every month. After getting my tax return and getting my balance to zero, I think I'm doing pretty well!  I'm spending a lot more this month than I like, so I definitely need to slow down, but I should still be able to pay it off no problem!


Pay every bill on time. I am happy to say that I have been great about paying all my bills, and I've actually been paying them all ahead of schedule!

Begin budgeting and watching finances. Again, March is a month that I fell off the wagon for. I didn't end up following my spending very well this month, but I plan on fixing that asap!  No reason to wait when I can do it now.


"Stuff":
Makeup Low Buy. As of this post, I have yet to purchase a single makeup item!  There hasn't been anything that's drawn my attention as a product I need, so I've been enjoying saving my money. 


18 in 2018 project. I can't say too much on this, as I actually have a post next week that will be going into detail about how I'm doing with this project.  Check back if you're interested in hearing about it!


Space:
Keep a clean and organized living area. I'll admit, I haven't been doing a good job at this!  I have fluctuating moments of being clean and organized, and then just letting it fall on the wayside.  I swear I will get back into this, especially when I can move out of my single room and into an apartment!


Develop and follow a cleaning routine. This is another thing that I just completely forgot about and will need to refocus on!  That same planner I'm putting my self-care plan into I can put my cleaning schedule on.  I will also pick one thing each day to do as my daily task for the week, so that I have a good setup to work from. I can't wait to make this happen!


Read all stories in FF folder. I haven't been super productive in this category, but I'm slowly chugging along!  I'll be sure to keep working on it when I have more time to focus on reading these stories.

Organize Pinterest. This is huge project I've given myself, but I feel like I'm really doing a pretty steady job at working on finishing it!  I've determined what needs to be done for each board, and am making my way through each. As long as I keep it up, I think I'll be done by the end of the year!


Time:
Become more aware of the time I have & use. Having my daily planner is nice to see my day in general, but it hasn't done much to help me improve my usage of my time. I'm going to spend more time focusing on what I'm up to, and I have this awesome app called Atracker that will help! I can't wait to see what I'm doing with my unmarked time and see how I can be more productive.



That's everything!  There are definitely some areas that I've been doing great with, and some that need a little work. That's okay!  It's still early in the year, and my goals are still important to me, so I intend to regroup and focus again.

How have you been keeping up on your 2018 goals?

 

Podcasts I've Been Loving (Spring 2018)

Hello everyone!

Today I wanted to share with you all some podcasts I have been loving to listen to lately!  I noticed as I was compiling this list that they're all kind of dark; having to do with ghosts and murders, plus a supernatural TV show.  This was not intentional!  I didn't even realize that most of what i listen to is dark and scary until making this list.

I definitely understand that this might not be your jam, so I'm sorry if this post isn't very beneficial to you! I promise next week's post will way more lighthearted.

Every podcast listed in this article is available through iTunes; if you use any other app to listen to podcasts, you'll have to check their respective pages to see if they're available.

If you've been keeping up with my recent posts, you'll know that I've been watching a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer recently!  One of my favorite things to do is watch an episode, and then listen to Lani and Alastair talk about what happened in the episodes, analyzing every little detail, and rate it versus other Buffy episodes.  If you love Buffy just as much as I do, I highly recommend checking this podcast out!  If you've never seen it but are interested in a detailed breakdown, I'd suggest watching an episode and then listening to them.  They also cover the show Angel as it fits in based on publication date.

Unfortunately, this podcast has been abandoned and will not be continued, however, Lani is doing her own analysis on the podcast "Still Pretty", that picks up where Dusted left off.  I have yet to listen to it, as it starts in season 6 of Buffy and I'm not that far yet, but if you are, you can continue the listening there!

One thing I'm shamelessly interested in is serial killers.  I was looking for a good podcast to listen to that talked about them, and this is what I found!  Every Monday, a new episode is released.  Each serial killer has two episodes; one that discusses their childhood up until their first kill; sometimes they talk about more.  The second episode is more on their crimes and how they were caught.  It's super interesting, and they find a ton of information that is honestly really scary to think about!  It is very detailed, so if you're squeamish when it comes to hearing gory things, I would suggest passing or heeding their warnings, as they always tell you when it's about to get especially gross.

This is actually a podcast I started listening to because I enjoyed the hosts of Serial Killers so much.  It's hosted by Greg, who is the male host of Serial Killers.  Every Thursday there is an episode released featuring the ghost stories of famous places around the world.  There is a lot of fact and fiction mixed into this podcast, as you'll usually jump in with a story, learn the history of the location, and again hear more stories.  I really love the way this is set up, and it's kind of creepy without being too scary!

My Favorite Murder is a must-listen-to podcast for any true crime fans, especially women!  Karen and Georgia are hilarious, they swear a lot, and provide incredible advice.  Every week, a full-length episode comes out, that has both woman researching and sharing a true crime story they've chosen each.  They also have "minisodes", which are hometown stories sent in from fans that are chosen and read; usually 4-6 an episode.  These topics range from hometown murders, to crazy survivor stories,first responder stories, and anything else deemed interesting.  I'd recommend this if you're looking for a more personal podcast that feels like listening to two friends chat versus a fact dump.

If these podcasts aren't your thing, I completely understand!  I've been pinning a lot of new podcasts I want to check out, so hopefully next time I share my favorites they'll be more your tastes!

Do you listen to any podcasts? What's your favorite?

Self-Care Ideas for When You Need a Quick Pick-Me-Up

Hi everyone!

Today I wanted to share with you some quick pick-me-up ideas for when you need to take a little time to be you!  Self-care is something that I am so passionate about, and everyone should take part in it!  There's not a limit of who can do it, and there's not a certain type of person who should or shouldn't.

This list is meant to be self-care ideas for when you're really feeling down, or overwhelmed, or just in need for a little you time. A lot of the lists I saw had things like "book a vacation" or "go to a new city".  Those sound amazing, but they don't really help in the immediate time for me personally, plus I can't afford to take time off of work or booking a vacation, so these were more realistic to me!

There are a few very popular ideas that you may notice are missing from this list, like reading and working out.  While those are certainly important, I didn't include them because I feel like they should be habits more than they should be things to do when you need some self-care. Of course, this is all personal preference! If reading is what really helps you feel better, by all means do it.  But I would recommend setting aside time every day for reading, journaling, and working out, as it will help you feel better in the long run!

I hope you enjoy these self-care ideas, and feel free to save this picture and use it whenever you need it!

What do you do when you need some self-care?  Are any of these habits of yours? Let me know!

February 2018 In Review

Hello everyone!

I'm here to bring you a recap of how February went for me! Honestly, I'm in shock that it's already over.  I know it's the shortest month of the year, but come on!  I had a lot going on for school this month, but that's not really something I think ya'll would be interested in hearing about, so I'm sticking with the slightly more interesting stuff.

Books
I slacked a little bit on reading this month! It's not that I wasn't reading at all, it's just that I didn't read enough to finish anything.  I was also reading stories online, so I don't count them as actual books.

I started The Picture of Dorian Gray because one of my groups on GoodReads chose to read it as the classic of the month.  I didn't think it would take me the entire month and have me still not finish it!  I am pretty close to being done, but right now I'm really swaying between liking it and just wanting it to be over.

This is required reading for my Management Information Systems class, and I have to say, I am really enjoying it!  I don't read it unless I have my assignment open, as there is a question to be answered for every chapter, but I binge about 10 chapters when I do read.  It's super easy but so interesting, and something that I honestly really love. I'll give a full review once I'm finally done (hopefully in March!).

Movies

I only watched one movie this month, and that was Fifty Shades Freed!  My sorority sisters and I went to the movie together and watched it.  Between this one and the second, this had much more action and plot, and a little less naughty stuff.  Squeezing everything into two hours made the movie feel rushed, as there was so much that didn't get addressed in much detail that could have used it.  That being said, it was still cute and steamy and something I'm glad I went to!

TV Shows
The shows I watched this month were the same as last month!

I got over my fear of being heartbroken and watched the episode that was holding me back, so I ended up seeing episodes 17 - 21 this month!  Only one left until I finish season 2 of Buffy and can move on to season 3, which is on my 18 in 2018 list.

I'm so close to finishing this too!  I watched episodes 17 - 24, and so I only have 3 left.  I can't wait to also mark this off of my list!

https://lifeismessyandbrilliant.com/free-bullet-journal-planner-currently-watching-printable/

I found some super amazing printables by Messy and Brilliant that I put all of the TV shows I want to finish on!  I'm so excited to have this, as it's super cute and fun for me to color in the squares as I go; like a habit tracker, but for TV!  If you like the look of this, please go to her original post and download it!

Events
The events that I had this month were very social in nature!

First, I started going to something called "Tap Room Trivia", which is basically just a trivia night at a local brewery.  I was invited by two of my friends, and actually really enjoyed going!  Now, every time I'm free on Thursday nights I'm going to head there and hang out while trying to win some free drinks! It's a really popular event, so I probably won't have much luck, but at least it's fun.

My sorority also hosted a "Ladies Weekend" this month!  The big thing for me during this time was Canvas night, where some family and I went to a campus building and were lead through designing our wood boards.  We were given stencils, and got to paint the board any color we wanted, then paint over the stencils.  I did this last year too, but it was much more fun with people this time!

Loves
This month, I was introduced to a website called Positivity Space.  It's basically a website that has options for you to write your positives for the day, do breathing exercises to help relax, and a space where you can vent if you're having a bad day.  It also tracks your usage of the website, so you can see how often you're actually reflecting on your day!

I love the simple layout and how I can bookmark this to my homepage to fill it out every time I see it.  It also forces you to reflect on your day and think about the good, even when it's hard to.

Well, that's it from me!  February went so quickly for me, and I'm excited to see where March takes me!

How was February for you?  Have you done anything that I have? Let me know!

My Current Nighttime Routine

Hello everyone!

This week I wanted to do something a little bit different!  I've always been focused a lot on beauty, but I've found that I actually enjoy writing about things going on in my life more! It feels like it's more what I do on a regular basis.  Surprisingly, I don't wear makeup very often!

I've never set up a routine for myself until this year, and I do have to say I enjoy it!  It's nice to be able to look forward to something at the end of the night, no matter what my day was like. I've been a little lax about following it to a T, so I think I'm going to work harder at keeping myself on track with using it!

I typically start my routine at about 10:00pm.  To some people, this is super early, and to others they're already asleep - if you're interested in using a similar routine, make it work for you!  I have found that I want to be in bed ready to sleep at 11:00, so starting it an hour before usually works pretty well.  Before I start, I always have my Christmas lights on instead of the harsh overhead light to give a more relaxing ambience to my room.  This is totally optional, but something I really love!  This is also the time where I shut down my computer for the night.

 1. Skincare

The first thing I do is head into the bathroom to do my skincare routine.  I start with a cleanser that requires wetting my face, rubbing it in, and then washing it off. This helps me feel like my face is fresh and clean!  I then move on to my serum, my eye cream, and my moisturizer. Typically, I like a thicker cream moisturizer that will sink in and really feel hydrating.

I have combination skin, so this routine is what helps me feel like I'm on the right track with taking care of it properly.  If you have your own routine that works, use it!  It all depends on what feels like it's working best for you!  While doing all this, I also like to have either the Podcast episode I'm listening to or a playlist on Spotify going so I have something to listen to as I go through the motions.

2. Planning & Reflecting

After I finish my skincare, I brush my teeth and then head back into my room!  This is usually around 10:15, but it could be more or less time.  Once I get back to my room, I like to grab my planner & journal out.

Usually, I plan my next day out first.  I migrate any tasks I didn't complete to tomorrow, and write out my schedule. I have also been including a daily goal lately! As you can see, I have a planner with a page for each day that lists the times along the side & has the notes section where I put my to-dos. I bought mine from Target, but when I looked online I couldn't find the same style.  If you love it, I would suggest going to the store and looking!  It's a Blue Sky planner.  I personally think this style of planner works best for me, as I can have a visual of what's going on in my day.  I've tried so many types of planners, and this is the one I always come back to.

After I finish filling out my plans for the next day, I move on to my journal.  In January, I tried to just write about what happened and how I felt, but this didn't feel like something I was really utilizing and wasn't helpful for me. Instead, I have a small list of different prompts that I like to use to talk about my day.  These include things like my mood, highlights of my day, productivity, daily gratitude, random thoughts, something I really loved, anything!  It's whatever I feel like putting down.  I also like to write a small blurb about anything big that happened that day, or expand on my mood at the bottom.  I didn't show a complete page since I don't necessarily want to share my innermost thoughts!

On Sunday, I look at my assignment planner and write down everything that needs to be finished in the coming week.  If you're not in school, you can skip this step, or you can write your weekly goals down, have a to-do list without deadlines, etc., and write down all of the things due for the week ahead on a separate piece of paper.  I actually do this because I don't like writing due dates in my daily planner!  Since I plan one day in advance, I'd rather see an overall weekly view and get my assignments done before they're due.

 3. Reading & Unwinding
Planning and reflecting can take anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on how focused I am and how much I have to write.  After I finish all of that, it's time for me to kick back and relax until I fall asleep.  I usually try to read whatever book I'm currently on, but sometimes I play games on my phone or check Instagram. It's really free time for me to do anything I feel like!

Well, that's my night!  This is always a work in progress, but I enjoy being able to know exactly what I can expect out of my night and enjoy the ritual that comes with that. 

Do you have a nightly routine? What do you look forward to before bed? Let me know!

January 2018 In Review

Hello everyone!

Today I wanted to bring you my update for the first month of 2018!  Wow, can you believe it's already over?  I'm a little bit in shock if we're being honest; where did all the time go already?!

So, I kind of struggled with whether or not I wanted to post this for you guys!  Since I'm doing my 18 in 2018 project, I didn't want to just constantly write about the exact same things over and over for you.  However, there are things I'm doing in my life that aren't on that list that I still wanted to share! There might be some repeats, but I'll link any reviews in my 18 in 2018 post back to these so I'm not actually repeating myself!

Events: 
The biggest part of January was that school started again!  I've been in classes for over a month now, and I have to say with the exception of one class, I'm really loving how it's all going!  My classes are 1 1/2 hours instead of just 1 hour, so I have class four days a week versus five.  I get to have my Fridays off to catch up on homework or get ahead!  I really love the way my schedule ended up being, even if it does mean I'm on campus for 10 hours on two days. 

I also bought a new Keurig this month!  I've made a conscious shift in my spending habits and was using an old Keurig my dad gave me instead of buying coffee every morning.  Unfortunately, it decided to stop working so I had to invest in a new one.  In the end it all worked out, because I absolutely adore it!  It's got a touch screen and water reservoir, so I don't have to fill up a cup every morning, plus it fits my travel mug so I'm not pouring coffee from a small mug to my larger one. 

Finally, I went through my entire GoodRead's want-to-read shelf and cleared it out!  I used to have over 2,000 books on my shelf, most of which I haven't even heard of.  Why were they even on there??  I'm so happy to say that I'm now down to 827 books.  This is still kind of a crazy huge number, but at least I know that all of the books sound like something I would be happy to pull off of my list and read!  Plus, a lot of them are books I own either physical or digital copies of. 

Books:

The first book I finished this month was Unconscious Branding: How Neuroscience can Empower (and Inspire) Marketing.  It was a required read for my Buyer Behavior class, which of course I did not read during the semester, but I thought was so interesting I wanted to finish it.  It's a very information heavy read, but something I'm glad to have finished!  I enjoyed learning about how the unconscious part of our brain controls so much of our daily lives as well as our spending habits and how to connect with it as a marketer.  I ended up rating this at 4/5 stars.

 

While I'm definitely old enough that this doesn't really count as an actual book read, I wanted to give it a quick go before I passed it on to my 8-year-old sister.  Hopefully she enjoys it; I know I did!  The Pony Pals is really a standout series, as it's not just about the horses, but about the young girls and how they all learn from their experiences.  I'm surprised by how much it really appeals to me.  I gave it 4/5 stars as well.

The Hangman's Daughter was the most disappointing book of the month.  I enjoyed the concept of a man trying to prevent a witch hunt, but the writing really threw me off.  It was super interesting in the beginning and end, but was so slow in the middle. There could have been about 75 less pages in this and the same resolution would be had.  I was also super uncomfortable with the way they treated the title character, Magdalena.  She wasn't in 3/4 of the book, and when she was, I did not like her as a character in the beginning and didn't like how everyone else interacted with her in the middle and end.  I'm okay with the resolution, but there was just so much more that could have happened with this that didn't. I gave it 3/5 stars.

TV Shows:

Alright, so Total Drama Island is a show from my younger years that I really loved!  When I was browsing Netflix I saw that this was on there and I added it to my 18 in 2018 list, and then I decided that this was the show I wanted to watch after taking a pause on Buffy.  I got from episode 1 to 17, which is pretty great! There's only 9 episodes left in the season, so I could get through it in February if I really wanted to. We'll see!  It's a really funny show that's surprisingly adult for being on Cartoon Network.

Before I can start on Season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I have to get through season 2 and let me tell you guys, I've already seen it and I got to the next episode and had to stop.  It's a really heartbreaking one, and I just didn't feel like putting myself through the emotional wringer. I started on episode 13 and got to 17.  If you haven't seen this show, try to watch it! It's so great, I can't wait to keep going in February.

Things I Love this Month:

If you're looking for music to help you focus or relax, this is it!  This playlist has been on repeat all month and will probably continue to be.  I use it when I'm working on homework because there's no words and I really love the calming nature of piano music.  I highly suggest listening to this if you need to focus your mind on a task and struggle to do so!

Well, that was January for me!  February is likely to be a busier month school-wise than January was since we're getting into the bulk of learning now.  I'm hoping I'll have some interesting stuff to share with you all!

How did January treat you?  Did anything fun happen? Let me know!

 

My Low/No-Buy Goals for 2018

Hey everyone!

I'm wrapping up my 2018 posts with some low and no buys that I'll be working on maintaining throughout the year!  If you haven't already, be sure to check out my 2018 Goals and Resolutions post, where I mention my desire to do a makeup low-buy.

A low buy is when you set a limit of either amount of purchases or amount of money spent in a time period; this could be as small as a day, or as large as a year.  If you want to do it for even longer you can, it just might get harder to track.  A no buy is when you set a time period and don't allow yourself to purchase anything.

Since my word of the year is Mindful, I thought that a low and no buy would help with that a lot.  Not only will it help me control my spending, it'll also keep me from bringing in more stuff and help with my "less" mindset.

Makeup - Strict Low Buy
I've talked a lot about this already, so it's pretty clear what I plan.  I'm allowing myself 12 makeup purchases in the year of 2018.  I chose 12 because it's one a month, but I don't necessarily have to only buy one in one month.  If I find 3 things I like in one month and nothing for the next four months, that's okay!  I'm hoping that by the end of the year I purchase less than 12, since I don't count Ipsy in this total.

Stationery - No Buy
If I showed you my stationery collection, you guys would freak out!  I don't want to count totals or try to track down all of the notebooks, sticky notes, notepads, etc.; it would be insane.  I should also include writing utensils and office supplies in general, but I'm not as bad about buying them as I am about buying paper products.  This year, I'm not allowing any purchases so that I can actually use all of the stuff I own; I'll probably never need to buy another piece of stationery in my life!

Stickers - Strict Low Buy
Another thing I own way too much of is stickers.  I don't use them nearly enough, either!  This year, I'm putting a strict low buy on them by only allowing myself to purchase a monthly sticker kit each month for my Happy Planner.  This isn't even something that I really need, so I'm waiting until I feel like I have enough disposable income to buy them again.  This may not be until I have my first adult job!

Clothing - Low Buy
The most difficult decision for me to make this year was how I wanted to allow spending on clothing.  I have a lot of clothes; this is something that I have definitely acknowledged and I'm trying to declutter them as I go this year.  As I am starting to move into the workforce, I'm sure I will find that I need a lot more professional clothing options.  I'm saying low buy because I want to be conscious about what I bring into my closet now.  I don't want to purchase casual clothing anymore because I certainly have enough of it! 

Restaurant Meals - Strict Low Buy 
This is a weird one, but I didn't know what else to call it.  Last year I had the problem of going out to eat way too often; like at least once a week.  This wasn't good for my bank account or my weight.  This year, I'm going to limit myself to going out to eat twice a month, max.  If I don't have to pay for it I might make an exception, but I'll play it by ear!  This also includes any restaurant, so anything from McDonald's (fast food) to Dominoes (delivery) to Perkins (sit down).  Any order where I'm buying prepared food when I could eat at home!

I certainly didn't include everything I spend my money on, but these were the categories I have the most problems with, and what I wanted to focus on controlling.  In general, I'm trying to pay attention to how much I'm spending and what it's on this year.

Are you doing anything to curb your spending habits? What do you have too much of? Let me know!

18 in 2018

If you read my 2018 Goals & Resolutions post, you might have noticed that one of my goals was an "18 in 2018" project.  I want to use this as a fun way for me to make sure I'm either reading books that I've had for a while/love and want to reread, watch movies and TV shows I feel like I'm missing out on, and in general decrease the amount of things on my plate.  I also enjoy seeing a list, so that when I'm done with one I have another right there for me to choose from instead of my entire collection.

I've been a little back and forth on how often I want to update you all on my progress, but right now I think it's going to be every quarter.  While I'm sure I'll be able to get a lot done in a month, I'd hate to only end up showing one or two changes to my lists a few times; it would be a waste of a post. 

Books
1. Wicked: The Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
2. 1984
3. The Great Gatsby
4. Milk & Honey
5. The Hangman's Daughter
6. Water for Elephants
7. Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen
8. Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take 5 Minutes or Less
9. Valley of the Kings: The 18th Dynasty
10. The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love the Lasts
11. Pride & Prejudice
12. A Song of Ice and Fire
13. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
14. The Opposite of Loneliness
15. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
16. Black Beauty
17. The Hobbit
18. The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman
There's a few different reasons why I picked these books.  Some of them are books that I've read and loved and want to reread, some have been sitting on my shelf for a long time and need to be read and moved out.  I also have a few of my kindle books that are Amazon Prime books I want to exchange for others and NetGalley books that need a review. A wide array of books!


Movies
1. The Hot Chick
2. Finding Dory
3. Beauty & The Beast (Live Action)
4. The Secret Life of Pets
5. The Little Rascals
6. Stardust
7. Bee Movie
8. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
9. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
10. Breakfast at Tiffany's
11. Walt Disney Short Films Collection
12. Nacho Libre
13. The Benchwarmers
14. Tropic Thunder
15. Moana
16. High School Musical
17. A Cinderella Story
18. Harry & Snowman
All of the movies on this list are movies that I haven't seen yet that are either classics or new movies that I feel like I'm missing out on by not watching!  I also made sure that every movie on my list I can find on either Netflix or Hulu; it would really suck to not be able to watch them after adding them here!

TV Show Seasons
1. Gossip Girl - Season 3
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 3
3. The Great British Baking Show - Season 4
4. Grey's Anatomy - Season 12
5. American Horror Story - Season 3
6. Stranger Things - Season 1
7.The Office - Season 1
8. Friends - Season 1
9. Big Mouth - Season 1
10.Once Upon a Time - Season 1
11.Orange is the New Black - Season 3
12. Sherlock - Season 3
13. Dexter - Season 2
14. One Punch Man - Season 1
15.Total Drama - Season 1
16. The Originals - Season 2
17. Scream: The Series - Season 1
18. The Guild - Season 1
Again, this is a combination of shows that are classics that I need to watch or shows that I started and haven't finished yet.  Can you believe I haven't seen some of these shows?  I can't either.

Makeup Used Up/Decluttered
Unlike my other lists, the make up used up list is going to be added to as the year goes on and not have items crossed off. This is because I don't have any specific makeup items I want to use up this year, I just want to use what I want to use and then see if I happen to finish anything off!  I do still need to focus a little bit on getting things out of my collection which is why I still have a goal of finishing off 18 items.

Skincare Used Up/Decluttered 
This is the same exact idea as the makeup use up.  I have a feeling I'll be able to fly through the skincare since I use this much more than makeup, but I still want to make sure I'm working hard at shrinking my collection.

Bucket List
1. Get an adult job
2. Live on my own
3. Learn calligraphy
4. Make my blog more active
5. Organize my Pinterest
6. Get an Emotional Support Animal
7. Fill an entire journal
8. Paint a canvas
9. Graduate with honors
10. Go to a zoo
11.Visit a trampoline park
12. Start a scrapbook
13. Go to a spa
14. Visit a new state
15. Keep to a budget
16. Have a date night with myself
17. See a musical
18. Go to a wine tasting
As you can tell, my bucket list is full of different activities I want to be able to say I did this year!  Some of them are corresponding to the goals I've already set such as organizing my Pinterest and graduating with honors, while others come directly from my actual bucket list.  Since I'll be graduating college, I really want to start experiencing more in my life. This feels like a great start!

Well, there you have it!  As I write this, I already want to get started crossing things off my list. I'm so excited to have this direction for my year.  It'll also feel so good to be able to minimize my large collection of "stuff", and this is definitely the best way to jump start that.

Have you ever heard of an 18 in 2018 project? Are you interested in joining? Let me know!

 

My 2018 Goals & Resolutions

Hello everyone!

I am so excited for this post!  I absolutely love the new year, because it means new challenges for myself to tackle, new habits to include, and inspiration abound.  I feel really good about the goals & resolutions that I've put together for myself this year.

I've decided that my word for this year is going to be mindful. It fits into so many aspects of my life that it just felt like the best word to apply to this year's goals.  My goals are also sorted out by areas I want to pay attention to with my mindfulness, as you'll see below.

Let's jump right in now!

Mental Health:
Develop a self-care routine. This year, I want to make a big push to work on my self-care!  Self-care is sincerely one of the best things that anyone can do for themselves, and doubly so for myself.  Every day I want to have some small self-care time for myself, whether it be taking a nap or listening to a podcast, for example.  I want to have one pamper night every week, where I do things like masking or painting my nails.  Finally, every month I want to have a "me day", where I only do the things that I want to do and not have to worry about keeping to a schedule.  This may be difficult to do while I'm still in school but I want to really make a push to take care of my mental health.

Read 24 books.  It's always a goal of mine to read, and I seem to fail every year with the amount!  I always pick way too many. Last year I chose 60, which is more than one book a week, and with how busy I was I didn't even come close.  This year, I want to make it a far more reasonable goal and say that if I read two books a month I'll be happy!  I'm hoping I can knock this goal out of the water and add more books on later in the year!


Finish one coloring page a month. I know, this is a bit random!  I own a lot of coloring books and I really love taking the time to color, so I figured this would work perfectly.  Plus I just got a set of 48 colored pencils; it's a sign.

Journal every day. Again, I own a lot of journals and I never use them! This not only helps me get use out of my stuff, it's really good for anxiety to get all the thoughts out of your head.  It'll also be nice to see if there are any patterns in my moods and behaviors. I'm also really excited to be able to look back on my day and see what I've been up to!

Physical Wellbeing:
Develop a healthier lifestyle. I know, this seems like a super vague goal, but it's kind of an overarching goal for the year. I have more specific things I want to do below!

Eat breakfast every morning. The first step of starting the day off right and in a healthy way is to eat breakfast!  It kicks off your metabolism and gives a boost of energy.  I want to make sure I'm giving myself the best head start by eating!

Stop eating candy. I don't eat candy super often, but it really is just a bunch of extra sugar and bad stuff to put in your body.  While there's a lot more junk food I can cut out of my diet, I want to start with this!

Work out 3x a week. This may be the hardest one for me!  Going to the gym is a mixed bag for me as to whether I like it or not.  I struggle when I don't have a clear plan, so I'm hoping that going with a friend will help me stay focused and enjoy being there more!


Get to 150 pounds. I'm a little less strict on this goal!  I would like to lose weight, and that's an easy weight to set my goal at, however it's not all about numbers for me.  If I weigh more than 150 pounds but look fit and healthy, I won't be upset about not technically completing the goal.

Education:
Graduate with honors. This means graduating with a 3.60 GPA or higher. I currently have exactly 3.60, so I'm cutting it pretty close!  It also means I'm going to be working very hard to get good grades this coming semester, so that I can graduate and get those cords!

Get A's in every class. Part of the reason that this is on my list is because of the goal above, and part of it is because I want to leave on a high note. A's are a great way to feel accomplished about a class, and it'll push me to pay more attention and work harder in the classes.

Finances:
Get a job in human resources. This is more career than finance, but it still fits in well. I want to be able to graduate college with a job in the major I got a degree in!  That's the short-term career goal I have set for myself.


Pay off credit card balance every month. I made a nasty habit of spending too much money last year with my credit card.  While I'm not out of control, I'd still like to set a conscious goal of either having my balance at a predetermined amount or have no balance at all. That way, I'm not paying a bunch of interest or leaving myself vulnerable to spending over my limit (highly unlikely but could happen!).


Pay every bill on time. I don't necessarily struggle with paying my bills on time, but I know that the more I have to pay, the more likely it is that a bill will slip through the cracks!  I also want to make sure that I'm not paying the crazy late fees that come up when you're late.

Begin budgeting and watching finances. I set up a spending log where I want to track how much money I spend each day and on what.  This will hopefully help me slow down on shopping and especially buying food at school when I don't need to!

"Stuff":
Makeup low buy (12 items or less). While I certainly don't need more makeup, I also know that restricting myself from buying any new makeup will make me more likely to buy it.  By allowing myself the opportunity to purchase, but limiting how much, I'm much more likely to succeed!  Plus, I'm expecting that I will not end up buying 12 items anyway, as I've been pretty good about not purchasing things that I realize I don't need.  On top of the spending side, my makeup collection is out of control!  I really need to stop adding things to it, and this will help me be more conscious.

18 in 2018 project. This is something I'm most excited for!  I have multiple different categories (movies, TV show seasons, books, activities, makeup & skincare) that I'm trying to either accomplish, use up, and/or move out of my collection!  It seems strange at first, but I'm someone who has an unimaginably long list of things to read, to watch, etc. so by picking 18 things I really want to take care of, I can feel as though I'm accomplishing something!  If you guys are interested, I can definitely do a separate post on more about what 18 in 2018 is and what my specific items are.

Space:
Keep a clean and organized living area. This is a vague goal, but it's something that I just want to see and remind myself.  Clean and organized reduces stress and anxiety for me, so it's important that everything in my home looks and feels nice. 


Develop and follow a cleaning routine. Last year I put together a cleaning list for myself and then I never followed through with it. I'd like to restart that again and actually use it this time! 


Read all stories in FF folder. Look familiar? That's because this was a goal last year of mine to accomplish!  I didn't complete it, as you can tell, but I did get pretty close!  It won't be super hard to finish up this year, it's just a matter of actually taking the time to do it.


Organize Pinterest.Pinterest is a source of entertainment and learning for me, and I want to make sure I have it organized to a way that is easily accessible and understandable to me.  This was another goal of mine last year that I did not accomplish, but I really feel like it's important to do this year. I've already been working on it, plus with Pinterest's new sections within boards, it'll be easier than ever!

Time: 
Become more aware of the time I have & the time I use. While this is a rather vague sounding goal, it's important for me nonetheless!  I have a beautiful planner that I'm using that has a daily page with the times listed on it.  I've decided that I will write out my schedule as per usual, but I will include my daily tasks as well as habits to be written in the schedule.  This will hold me accountable to actually doing the things on my list, so it's a win-win!  I also find this goal important because I tell myself I have no time to do anything, yet I find myself sitting around doing nothing productive more often than I care to admit.


Well, that's it!  I know it seems like a lot of stuff, and it really is, but it's all things that aren't super hard to implement but are so important to being happy with myself and my life. I can't wait to see what this year has to bring for me!

What are your new year's resolutions? Are any the same as mine? Let me know!