Things I Loved in January

Friday, January 30, 2015


Blog Posts I Loved:
 An Honest Post on Friendships from From Roses
 Surprise 28th from Story of My Life

Music I Loved:
 Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars
 La La La by Sam Smith
 Money On My Mind by Sam Smith
 Leave Your Lover by Sam Smith
 Chasing the Sun by Hilary Duff
 Can I Have This Dance by High School Musical
 Five-Hundred Days by AJ Rafael
 Something's Gotta Give by All Time Low
 Another One Bites the Dust by Queen
 Under Pressure by Queen, David Bowie
 Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams
 Roxanne by The Police
 Highway To Hell by AC/DC

Videos I Loved:
 You In The 90s Vs. You Today by BuzzFeedYellow
 YOU'RE NOT GAY ENOUGH. by Ashley Mardell
 Living in the Moment by Ashley Mardell
 "Dear Girlfriend, Will You..." by Ashley Mardell

Movies/Shows I Loved:
 Big Hero 6 
 How to Train Your Dragon 2
 High School Musical Series
 Hercules
 FRIENDS

Things in Life I Loved:
 Going rock climbing for the first time
 Deciding to grow my hair out
 Learning how to parallel park and driving on the freeway
 The perfect, warm weather with beautiful, blue skies lately
 Driving with the car windows down on those beautiful days
 Revamping my blog template all on my own and feeling so proud of it
 Getting through a milestone with Thai that made our relationship stronger
 Reaching 10 pounds less than my original weight (although it fluctuates)
 Planning to go to South Padre Island with friends for Spring Break
 Doing the Baymax fist bump from Big Hero 6 with Thai
 Dancing my heart out without caring if I look crazy
 Playing tennis with one of my close friends, Leslie


I thought I would give this kind of post a try on here. I was inspired by Amy from catscraftsncritters to start blogging about things that I love or make me happy throughout the month. Every time I read her Weekly Overviews in which she lists the things that she loves during the week, I always feel so happy and inspired by her ability to appreciate the littlest things that she experienced. I want to see myself be more appreciative like that. Before I started typing this post, I honestly did not expect the list to be this long! It actually makes me feel quite wonderful to see just how many things made me happy, intrigued, or inspired throughout the month. I guess sometimes we tend to forget about a lot of the little things. That's why I think that starting something like this is a good idea! Not only can it help you realize all the wonderful little things that happened to you lately, but it can also allow you to look back on those things in the future.

What things did you love in January?


Growing Out My Pixie Cut: 1 Month

Monday, January 26, 2015

Back in May 2014, I made the first big chop on my hair. After having long, curly locks for all of my life, this chop made me feel as though I finally looked like myselflike my hair finally fit me. For the months following, I absolutely loved having short hair and would constantly get trims to keep it that way. On December 20th, 2014, I cut my hair to the shortest it has ever been, and most likely the shortest I would ever go. I believe it was short enough to be classified as a (long) pixie cut. I have never regretted cutting my hair, but now that I have gone the shortest I would possibly go, I feel as though there's nothing more to do. So now it's time for a change. And that change is to start growing my hair out! 

I decided that it would be nice to post the progress of my hair growth on my blog. I didn't have a picture from the back of my head for when I first got it cut, so I just used one that I believed would suffice. I'll make sure that the pictures I take in the future will be from consistent angles.



I'm really happy with how much my hair has grown out in only one month! Unfortunately I feel as though I've already reached the "awkward length" of growing out a pixie cut. I have absolutely no idea what to do with it. It looks nice in the top 1 month picture, but most of the time it looks like an awkward mullet! I especially have no clue what to do with it when it comes to fixing it to for an activity like rock climbing or tennis. What I've been doing is a sort of half pony tail, but even that looks ridiculous because it looks like a little nub of hair sticking out of the back of my head. But there's nothing I can do except to pull through this awkward length!


I've been using Mane 'n Tail ever since I cut my hair on December 20th. Mane n' Tail is a product that was made for horses but many people buy it as well. (Don't worry, they have it in the normal shampoo and conditioner isle). This brand claims to strengthen your hair to reduce breakage. It doesn't claim to help hair grow faster, but a lot of people have recommended this brand when trying to grow out your hair. I guess in the process of strengthening your hair, it also allows your hair to grow to its fullest potential rather than breaking off or splitting. I'm not sure if my hair growth progress is due to this shampoo and conditioner, but this is what I've been using!

Any suggestions for hairstyles at this awkward length? Or have any of you guys tried any products to speed up your hair growth? I'd love to know! 

Together Let's...Go Rock Climbing!

Saturday, January 24, 2015

This is my first official post from my "Together Let's..." series!  In the beginning of our relationship, Thai and I came up with a list of things we want to do together, called "Together Let's...". We were always adding new adventures to do together, but with me being a full time student and part time employee and Thai being a full time employee, it always seemed like we never had the time to start crossing things off of this list. This year will be different. To me, quality time in a relationship is vital, so I want to make sure that we set aside time to spend together, no matter how small or extreme that activity may be. These posts will document things that my Thai and I do together, whether that be experiencing completely new and crazy things together to simply cooking a nice dinner in the comfort of our home together. 


The first thing we decided to do was go rock climbing! Now, let me tell you that I have never done this before in my life. I underestimated just how hard it would be. Rock climbing requires you to have a good amount of upper body strength, and the amount that I have is pathetic to none. I always knew that I was afraid of heights, but rock climbing made me realize just how bad my fear actually is. It's not like leaning against the railing of a bridge or looking down from a tall building, because with rock climbing, you have only your own strength to rely on. Because of this fear, I was only able to reach about 2/3 of the wall up once without my legs shaking, my hands getting sweaty, and just becoming overwhelmed with anxiety. Seeing the kids on the walls around me climb with ease...well, it made me feel pretty defeated to say the least. I'm sure I looked pretty pathetic while freaking out and only being about half way up the wall. Thai, on the other hand, was absolutely amazing! He reached the top almost every single time and didn't seem scared at all! Our hands and arms are so sore after doing this. But I could tell that he really enjoyed it, and despite all of my failures, I also had an amazing time and want to go again to try and get better!

My New Year's Resolutions for 2015

Saturday, January 10, 2015


1) Get out of the house more | This past 2014 felt like a blur, and not in the good way. When I think back on the year, nothing memorable really stands out to me because it was a kind of uneventful. This year I want to prevent myself from being a hermit and prevent myself from getting into those ruts. In the beginning of my relationship with Thai, we made a "Together Let's..." list, which is basically a list of things we want to do together. There are many things we still have yet to do. I want to be able to cross at least one thing off of that list every month and document those experiences on my blog.

2) Take more pictures | One of the reasons I believe that 2014 was so unmemorable is because I didn't take many pictures (and frankly, I have a pretty bad memory without having pictures to look back on). That's why I want to document my experiences better this year. But not too excessively; I don't want to miss living in a moment because I was so busy trying to capture it. 

3) Read more books | This is another common resolution, but it doesn't make it any less important! There are so many books I've bought in the past year that have just been sitting on my shelf collecting dust. There is a 50 books in one year challenge, but I feel as though it would be too difficult to read that many books with school, homework, work, working out, and also spending more time going out. Instead, I'm going to set my goal to read 25 books this year. That's about two books per month. If you'd like to see books I've read or want to read, click here for my Shelfari.

4) Spend less time on the computer | The good thing about my resolutions is I feel like many of them compliment each other. By getting out of the house, reading more books, and working out I will be able to accomplish my goal of spending less time on the computer. Specifically, I want to stray further away from League of Legends. Although I have loved the game for years, I feel that it is time to start moving on. I realized that a majority of the people in my "gaming life" aren't very positive to have around and aren't really what would be considered friends. I'd rather make other kinds of friends with different interests outside of League once I move to Austin. Not only that, but I feel as though the time I spend playing games could be time better spent doing something else.

5) Get my body to the place I want it to be | After years of trying to "love what I have" but always finding myself falling into insecurity, I want to finally make a change. The first goal I set for myself is to lose 25 pounds. Right now I'm not comfortable with sharing what my starting weight is, but I'm sure when I meet my goal weight that I'll be happy to share. Not only do I want to lose weight, but I also want to get my body healthy along the way by eating at least one fruit and/or vegetable every day and working out. I want to be able to feel confident in my own skin, and this year is the year it will happen.

6) Work on becoming the best version of myself I want to work on my attitude and reactions. I realize that these two things are really important in affecting the outcome of a situation. If you decide to have a negative attitude toward someone and then react in a hostile way, the situation is bound to go downhill. I want to work on strengthening my relationship by being more loving and understanding. Rather than getting annoyed or lashing out, I want to see myself calmly and openly communicating. I also want to work on my happiness. I never feel good when I'm down and decide to react by writing a negative blog post or text people negative rants. I feel as though doing this is making me dwell on the negatives, and I'd rather focus on spreading happiness rather than negativityOne song that really inspires me to be the best person I could be is the song Live Like You Were Dying by Tim McGraw: "I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter, and I gave forgiveness I've been denying...Some day I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying."
I've never made a legitimate list of resolutions before, but I decided to do it this year. Ignore those people who talk down on those who make New Year's resolutions and say that no one ever goes through with them. Prove them wrong! You don't have to set extreme goals for yourselfany small step is better than taking none. It may seem as though some of things you want to accomplish are too difficult, but what I like to keep in mind is my favorite quote from my favorite TV show Scrubs: "Nothing in this world that is worth having comes easy." I absolutely love this show. Here's a clip from the episode with the quote; it always hits me hard every time I watch it because it applies to my life in so many ways. You really can do anything you set your heart and mind to. Good luck to everyone out there; I wish you all happiness in this new year.