April favorites

1)Biking to Downtown Wake Forest

I really enjoy biking into town during the weekend. For example I will go to the library, look at the historical homes, or browse the galleries. It's great because It's fun and I can get exercise at the same time. Okay and if you go to the Wake Forest coffee shop you gotta get the Coffee Toffee frappuccino. It's amazing!

2)Flowers

Flowers really enlighten the home, and it fits the mood for spring. I got these flowers from a bush near my house. I have a vase in my room with these same type of flowers except three little bundles of them. I saw the same type of flowers as these on my bike ride today in the historical area of Wake Forest. You don't see these type of flowers around the area a lot so it's cool to spot them.

3)Going on the rope swing

My brother Cal built a rope swing at a bridge on the green way and I go there almost everyday. There is two ropes tied to the bridge, one of them is just a rope and the other one is a rope with a board attached to it. I sit on the one with the board and to get navigation and speed I control the other rope when I'm swinging. It's really fun to go on the rope swing because your swinging right over the creek and it's relaxing to go on it. 

4)Jesus shoes

Literally I wear these shoes everyday. I just obsessed with them and I just got these a few weeks ago. There is always mud on them. I think these shoes represent me a lot and I enjoy the vibe of them. My friends also pray to my shoes.

5)U2

I love listening to U2, specifically the Songs of Innocence album. I like how the music sounds and I enjoy listening to them in my everyday life. My favorite songs are Iris, Raised By Wolves, California, Cedarwood Road, Sleep Like a Baby Tonight, and The Troubles. I discovered U2 from my mom's itunes account and I've only heard a few songs from them so I'm sure there is a lot more songs from them that I can look into. 

How do you view yourself?

I was talking to my friend Aryan and he suggested that I write an article on self esteem. So here I am.
 Self esteem is how you view yourself. Your self esteem can either be high or low. A person's self esteem is affected by many things, some examples include appearance, status, relationships, how others treat us, media, etc. Having a high self esteem is what we all want right? Feeling great about yourself is important.

 I have a beauty mark above my belly button and I used to not want to wear two piece swimsuits because I was embarrassed of it. I'm not embarrassed of it anymore I mean I felt pretty good when I wore my two piece swimsuit yesterday. I was like damn why was I so embarrassed over it.

If you have low self esteem I would advise you to read the numbered list but if not you can skip over it.
1-Know what your strengths are-make a list of what you are good at(this can be a mental list or physical list)Review your list whenever you are feeling stuck or if you are feeling negative.
 2-Step out of your comfort zone-When you step out of your comfort zone you feel feel a lot better as a person and you will grow as a person.
 3-Try exercising-Exercising improves your thoughts about yourself and after you exercise you  feel great.
4-Think positively about yourself-When you think positively about yourself it will instantly boost your self esteem
5-Dress in something nice-When you are wearing something that you like you feel great.
6-Be nice to people-You start to feel good about yourself when you are kind to people.
7-Be grateful-Be thankful for what you have
8-Take action-Make an effort to achieve something. Don't overwhelm yourself, just start small. But you have to take action if you want to see results.

I thought it would be good to just write a post about this because how you view yourself does effect you as a person. We should try to be the best person we can be no matter what our issues are or how different we are.

Things I've learned from being a minimalist

I've been a minimalist for five months now and I've learned a lot from minimalism and I'm still learning. I thought I would share what I learned from being a minimalist. 

1)Less is more-If you get rid of the excess that is not adding value or joy to your life you will live a more meaningful life. By owning less I am happier. I have more freedom. I live in the moment. I'm contributing beyond myself. I'm focusing on my health. I'm setting an example. I'm focusing on my passions. My space is cleaner. I'm not attached to my stuff. I can find things easier. I'm getting more out of life by living with less.

2)Going shopping is a waste of time-Getting new items is nice but most of the time you don't need it and you're wasting your money. If you have clothing already why do you need more? because it's just too cute? No if you have clothing already that you enjoy don't go get more. I'm not being sexist or anything but woman are usually the ones who love spending their money on stuff they don't need. I really wish more woman can wake up and be like "maybe I don't need that necklace" "I already have ten necklaces". I gotta say ten necklaces is even a bit too much.(this tip is for compulsive consumers) But aye if you need something for real go get it. 

3)You don't have to spend you're money once you get some-Back when I used to be a little kid I always just spent all my money as soon as I got some. I felt as if I had to spend my money because I was greedy for toys as a little girl. But finding out about minimalism made me realize that I don't have to spend my money as soon as I get it. I can invest in something with my money. 

4)Clean spaces look better than a pack rat nest-When your room is clean you feel great right? Clean your room. Your space will look more visually appealing because you got rid of the crap you don't need. You know that barney snow globe that's just collecting dust, just donate it if it does not bring you joy. But aye if that barney snow globe is giving you lots of joy keep that barney snow globe dude. 

5)You're more focused on your passions-Minimalism has made me focus on my passions more. I update my photography page a lot, I love writing on my blog, I paint, I enjoy decorating my room, I explore new places, I'm doing the things I love to do. Just one year ago I used to just sit inside all day and browse useless websites. I'm glad I'm actually getting off my ass and doing something. I read theminimalists.com and they really inspired me. Now here I am living it and being totally happy. I'm the happiest I've ever been honestly. 

6)Technology isn't everything-Too many people now in days don't go out and experience real life because they are too busy online. I think life is too short to just stare into a screen all the time. I've talked to some kids in my earth science class who say that they spend their whole weekend on their phone, I think that is really unhealthy because you need to go out and breathe some fresh air.

7)Contributing beyond yourself makes you feel good-When I was decluttering my life I gave a lot of my stuff away to my friends and I donated it too. It felt amazing to know that I was helping someone out there who needed the help or that I would give joy to another person. I think people can be selfish at times and giving to another person will make you less selfish. Everyone benefits from giving just remember that. 

8)Living in the moment is better than worrying about the future-Living in the moment is great because you can think about what you have to do right now. Right now I'm writing this post right. It is great to plan for the future but don't worry about what the future holds for you. If you think your future will be great then it probably will be. But if you want a great future you have to take action right now. Don't wait til it's new years to say "new year new me" because we all know you will be the same person as last year okay. 

9)Your stress will decrease a bit-Stress is something that lots of people have right? Minimalism helps out with that. When you get rid of the stuff that you don't need or the stuff that you don't get joy from or the stuff you don't use, you will be less stressed. Less visual and mental clutter means less stress. 

10)You can find and clean things easier-The great thing about being a minimalist is you know where everything is and your space is so easy to clean. It literally takes five minutes to clean my room. I used to struggle with not knowing where something is because there was piles of clothing and books and who even knows what on the floor. Now my room is mostly always clean and everything has a place. 

11)You don't get upset by small things anymore or hit the panic button-I used to get upset by small things and I would sometimes hit the panic button for some situations that were not a big deal.I'm the kind of person who fixes the problem as soon as it occurs instead of complaining about it. For example: Snookerdoodle got out a week ago or so and me and my dad went to chase her. It's funny watching her run because she can literally run forty miles an hour. We got her back with a treat, she always comes back so it's not like I'm going to worry about nothing. Take action people

12)You're more productive-I've noticed a change in my productivity when I became a minimalist. I used to just sit around all day online but now I get bored of being in the house and I get bored from being online. On weekends I go out two to three times a day. I'll take care of small tasks immediately and if I have to do work for school I'll do it. 

13)You care more about your health-I don't know what it is about minimalism but it makes you care more about your health. I make sure I get some exercise in everyday, I get some of my exercise in by going on bike rides, walking home from school, and doing workout videos. I try to plan my workout schedule but it never works out.

How to deal with your dog

Dogs are dogs. They will chew at everything. They will want to play. They will misbehave. That is just how dogs are. 

Tips

*Close the doors to some areas that would be dangerous for your dog and close the door if they could chew on something that you don't want chewed.

*Make sure you close the toilet seat thing because they will want to go in there and drink/eat the stuff in the toilet.

*Take them on multiple walks a day if they have lots of energy because then they can calm down and it's like a weight off your shoulders.

*You gotta play with your dog, be a good dog owner people.

*Don't underfeed or overfeed your dog you just need the right amount for your dog to be healthy and to grow.

*If they start being aggressive try to eliminate the person/thing that is causing the aggression

*Teach your dog stuff man(I taught snookerdoddle right shake, also she chewed up that stuffed animal in the picture)

*Take your dog to regular vet visits, you need to make your your dog is healthy.

*Treat your dog with care and kindness. I absolutely hate people who mistreat their dog. If you mistreat your dog it just shows how much of an asshole you are. Please, anyone if you know someone who mistreats an animal try to take that animal away from the abuser. I'm really passionate about treating animals with care if you didn't know that already. 

*Make sure you take your dog out to take a dump or go pee because I'm pretty sure you don't want them to pee or poop in your place.

*If they do something good reward them and if they do something bad crate them.

*Try to keep your dog off the countertops because there is food they can get to

A trip to the North Carolina museum of art

 Today we went to the North Carolina museum of art because I've been wanting to go and look around a bit. We quickly looked around the older building and spent lots of time in the newer building that is more modern. I gotta say, I loved the design of the new building. I have not been there in a few years so this was my first time going in the newer building. They had a gift store(didn't buy anything), a cafe, and the permanent collection. I enjoyed the modern pieces of art and a few other paintings from artists that I know of. I took a few pictures of the paintings I liked a lot. I don't know the names of them because I didn't look at the names, but they are really cool. I like the swan and the dog painting because it reminds me of snookerdoddle, my puppy. I liked the Claude Monet sea painting with the moon. I also liked a few others but I didn't photograph them. They also had sculptures and the work on the sculptures was really detailed. 

I know there is two posts in one day, that's only because I wanted to tell you guys about this. The posting schedule will go back to normal next week. 

March Favorites

1)Myrtle beach

Myrtle beach was really fun and this deserves to go on my favorites list. I wrote a whole post about Myrtle beach so if you want to check that out click on the travel label and then boom it will pop up. So we went there for the weekend for my brother's soccer tournament. Our hotel was a penthouse view right on the ocean so it was great. Yeah it was kinda stressful at times but it was fun. The food was good, we ate at a few cool places. 

2)The little red writing book

This writing book is great for learning how to write better. I've been reading two chapters a day and it's really great to learn new writing techniques. It made me think of things in a new perspective. I also really enjoy how cute the imagery in this book is. There is exercises in the book too to help you practice.

3)Painting

I really have been enjoying painting over spring break. It fills my time and it's really fun. My dad is a painter and he has some of his work hung up around Wake Forest. He has been painting for many years and has sold lots of his work to people. Well not so much now in days because there is no market for art anymore unfortunately. You can try looking for his art around Downtown Wake Forest, look for anything that says Ed Hardy. He enjoys painting cities. Anyways I could do a whole post about that. So back to me, I was like I enjoy painting and genetics are on my side so why not? I made a artwork page on my blog too so if you want to check that out you can click on the artwork blue tab at the top of my blog. I've been adding to my "gallery" a lot so I would check that once a week or so if you're interested. 

4)Coffee

I have been loving a nice cup of coffee in the morning. I love it when we get new coffee creamer and then you can try out the new flavor, it's pretty great. I bought my own coffee mix kinda thing, it's like coffee powder and then you put it in the hot milk and mix then put the creamer. If you want the coffee mix just go to the dollar store and get the cappuccino box in the hot drinks section. You know I bike to the dollar store to get this stuff. You know it's good when you don't mind biking to get it.

5)Ipod/Mp3/whatever

I've been loving this mp3 player. I listen to music with this all the time, especially at school. I really enjoy my playlist. It includes Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, and the Eagles. I like how it's a small  and mobile device and you can easily take it anywhere with you.