Just Another Saturday :)

Hey, guys! I’ve been seeing some “Day in Life” posts around, and I decided I really wanted to do one, so here we are. 😉 Just a heads up, the photos are wayyy over edited, but a lot of the photos were fuzzy (I think I used the wrong lens) and the only way they looked decent was to put a heavy filter on them. XDD Let us jump in, then.

random photo of my sunflower garden 🙂

First I wake wake up (of course XD) at around 8:45 or 9:00. Pretty early considering I stayed up REALLY late the night before. Hehehe. Anyways, first I usually get my iPad mini and check my notifications (mail, instagram, WordPress, etc.), which is something I try not to do during the week, but I decided to be more leniant to myself on Saturdays. 😉 

Next, I say my morning prayers, which I always mean to say before I do anything else, but sometimes I forget and have to do them later. Fortunately, this time I remembered after doing only one thing. 😀

I then went to get the camera, but when I got to the bag, the camera didn’t have a card, which I looked around for. I eventually found it in a drawer after my mom told me where it was, but theeeen, get this, the battery was dead!! HA. *eye twitches* I then walked around the house for like ten minutes looking for it only to have my dad point it out plugged into a wall, obvious to all. So then I waited for it to charge and postponed my breakfast. Y’all know I love breakfast, so that’s how much I love you guys. 💛 XD

Ok, so I finally got breakfast. I had raisin brand with strawberries for the sake of aesthetic, and I’ll be honest, strawberries and raisin brand DO NOT go well together. 😂 So I just ate them separately and then I ate the raisin brand.

During breakfast, my siblings randomly started playing Triominoes, so I joined in. XD

After breakfast, at around 10:40, I read my scriptures. The front of my scripture notebook says, “Lights will guide you home,” which I think is very fitting for the scriptures. I didn’t realize how late it had gotten in the morning, so I read half a chapter since it was already pretty long. I then got ready for the day (brushing my teeth, get dressed, fix hair, etc.). 

Why look! It’s a Danielle in her wild habitat. Also, yes, I still have this shirt from my profile pic in 2016.

Saturday is pretty much the only day I truly get off from routines in general, so it’s the only day I have time to deep clean. XD I started by making my bed and just kind of put stuff away gradually. I also cleaned my bathroom. Well, actually I cleaned my sink and then I ate lunch.

For lunch I had some leftover potato wedges, a quesadilla, and cantaloupe slices. There was left over fried chicken, which my family ate, but those gave me really bad cramps and nausea the night before, so, *laughs nervously* best I stay away. XD 

After lunch I cleaned my shower and vacuumed my bedroom. 

Finally, at roughly 2:00, mine chores were finished and I could travel upstairs to draw and watch youtube.

I also watched Heartland on Netflix, because, well, why not. 😂

Soon, I went back downstairs and read The Lord of the Rings for a bit. I rewatched the movies a few weeks a go and I don’t know why I never finished the books? They are AMAZING, and I still plan on re-reading The Hobbit too. 

At 5:30, for dinner we had spaghetti. I didn’t take a picture because I got lazy, but I assume most of y’all are very familiar with spaghetti and a side of squash. XD

After dinner my family had family scripture study and we started our monthly fast. I then went back upstairs to look for some fantasy writing prompts and such, but I ended up looking at super emotional stories on Pinterest. I guess that counts as my weekly sob time. XD

Shower tiiiime! I did a blackhead treatment thingie first, then I showered, and then I did my wellness routine majigger. I guess that’s what its called. :p It’s basically just lots of lotion, coconut oil, and chapstick to keep my skin moisturized. 😌 Do y’all recognize those socks? I literally forgot I had them for a few weeks, but then I remembered and they’re so comfyyy. Also, I put my hairbrush in this picture, but then I remembered that I don’t actually brush my hair after I shower in the evening because it makes my hair dry super fluffy and bleck, so please just ignore it. XD 

clean bedroom picture that looked awkward where it was supposed to go in this post XD

All ready for bed at 8:43 in my snuggly pajamas (I nearly accidentally spelled it “pajajamas” XDD) and freshly brushed teeth, I curled back up on my bed to read LOTR. I read for a little while, watched some Studio C with my dad and my brother, had family prayer, wrote in my gratitude, and head to bed. Buenas noches, mis chiquitas!! ❤

I hope y’all enjoyed this post! Lemme know in the comments if there are any more posts you would like to see! I’ve also started working on a new blog design, because, haha, it’s way overdue. XD Stay lovely!

Introducing The Hope Project

Hi guys! I’m sorry I didn’t post for April, but since I’m posting so early this month, I might be able to get in a second post for this month! I’m thinking about re-doing my blog design again soon, as well as making my post more around my life and less of lists and stuff because I know personally that that can get kinda boring. XD Now, shall we jump into this awesome announcement?

Today’s post is really exciting (!!!) because I’m going to be announcing a project that multiple bloggers, especially Chloë, have been working for quite some time. 😄

So without further ado… introducing:

THE HOPE PROJECT

“The Hope Project was created to make people smile, to bring them hope, and to provide a safe and happy spot on the internet, even in the midst of horrible things.

We are not licensed health care professionals, thus any tips on anxiety and depression and such are only what we, the team, have learned from experience. If you need help, please, please consider reaching out to one of the following resources:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255″

The Hope Project is a blog where posts will be shared about showing kindness to others and for yourself. All of us are so excited to create a spot where you can feel safe and get some comfort in this crazy world. It’s still a work in progress to get everything set up and such, but we’re getting there. 😀 I hope y’all are as excited about this as I am!

Make sure to check out the blog (link above) as well as the team’s blogs and introductory posts for more info (which I will link right here! :D):

Chloë

Kenechi

Clara

Hero

Nikki*

Cailyn*

Natalia*

Also, you can check out our Instagram which you you can find @thehopeprojectblog. 😀

I hope y’all are having a lovely day, and if not, there’s always better times ahead. 💛

*I couldn’t the links to these, but they should be on The Hope Project website 😀

**Featured image photo from unsplash.com

Breaking From My Everyday Normals

Hey guys! The world has definitely been going through some crazy times right now. It actually hasn’t been to different for me except I can’t go to the library and we have to have church at home. I will admit, being kept in one space for such long time with the same things to do over an over again has been pretty frustrating, but I decided to do something about it. I made myself a list of things to do besides my normal after school activities to help get my creative juices going. 😀 These were slightly edited to fit y’all as well as me. 😀

(this is what I want to try baking 😋)

• Bake a new treat for your family
• Deep clean your room and bathroom
• Paint with chalk outside
• Cook dinner for your parents
• Go on a bike ride
• Plan an event for the future (In my case, my birthday party. :D)

• Write in your journal (planner, calendar, bujo, etc.)
• Draw a random object
• Message to chats you haven’t been on in a while
• Work on blog designs
• Garden (I finally planted my sunflower garden! :D)
• Read a book suggested by a friend

• Meditate or just think in a pretty place
• Outline or write a writing project/novel
• Go for a jog at golden hour (trust me, it makes a difference ;D)
• Create iPhone (or any phone :p) backgrounds
• FaceTime a friend or family member far away
• Read a non-fiction bookabout a subject that interests you

• Design a set of clothes based off a single object or place
• Try a new art medium
• Clean random room in your house (yes, maybe even a sibling’s room)
• Craft bedroom decorations
• Read and study your scriptures
• Do a mass puzzle (by yourself or with a sibling)

And to close it off, here’s something I wrote for myself after I’d completed my list:

“You don’t always have to draw basics, exercise from the same routine, look at social media, and watch Netflix and Youtube in your free time. Yes, complete the important things first, but that only takes a little bit of your time if you don’t dilly-dally. Think outside the normal. When you find something, sit down and do it. Don’t let yourself get distracted and don’t wait for the weekend to do it. There are so many things to do that you can only do in this life.” ☁︎

5 Books I Can’t live Without 😍 + a few other favorites

*Zooms in on spinny chair* Why, hello, hello, hello, my fabulous Hoodians! I know, I know, I’m not really a book blogger. I’m a lifestyle blogger, but… reading is huge part of my lifestyle so HA. Here we are. XD

I really wanted to post about some of my favorite books because, well, there are a lot. XD But these are the ones that left me shook, and honestly, I would recommend any of these books to anyone because they are incredible. So let’s hop in, shall we? (These are in no particular order, except for the last one. I saved the best for last. 😉 ) Oh! And at the end are some honorable mentions aka books I really enjoy and desperately love but don’t quite make the cut. 😉

All of these are relatively clean except for a little bit of romance (nothing super dodgy) and language, but I would check with your parents to make sure it’s ok for you to read these if you decide to. 😀

Invictus by Ryan Graudin: *sharp intake of breath* The end. The eeend. 😩 Why are the endings of good books always so crippling yet so hopeful??? This book left me so confused (the good ones always do XDD,) but, heck, it was so good and Gram and Imogen are my ship. 😍 (Seriously though, they’re the most adorable people in the whole world.) This book is an incredible mix of sci-fi and time travel, with a well built world and adorable characters. 😍

Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan: Listening for Lions is such a lovely and sad novel. It’s technically for middle grade, but I still enjoy reading it so I don’t care. It just has this amazing aesthetic that I will never not love. The beginning is set in Africa, which is really cool and helped me have a different aspect on a lot of things. 😍 Some of the characters I honestly hate and are kind of horrible to the main character, Rachel, but she handles everything with such admirable much grace. Definitely a high recommend and favorite for me. 🙂

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson: *cue internal screaming* Me loves this book. 😱😍😱 When I first started it, I was kinda like uuuuugh because the main character, Spensa, was so extra in a really bloodthirsty way. XDDD Anyways, turns out it was JUST her (thank goodness), and her character arc was actually really interesting. Also, her and Jorgen are just great. 😂 I couldn’t help but be pretty obsessed with this book when I finished it (You know that obsessed where you check every single hashtag to do with it on Instagram and search up fan art and memes on Tumblr and Pinterest excessively? And it’s literally the only thing you can think about? Yeah. That kind of obsessed. Oh, and I did a fan art of Spensa. You can check that out on my art instagram @doodles.by.danielle. ;p).

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielson: Daaang this book is good. I did not expect the ending AT ALL. Jennifer Nielson did a wonderful job weaving unique fantasy novel. I have never read another fantasy book quite like this and HeCk I love it. Sage is just a fabulous little brat with way too many skills for thievery. XDD This is the first book of a trilogy and honestly one of the few series I’ve read that has later books as good as (or better) the first book.

How to Disappear by Sharon Huss Roat: And finally, the best for last. This book is the only Teen YA book that has left me truly wowed and like I could relate to it. Obviously the deal with her instagram isn’t that relatable, but the way she reacts and feels about people is. The characters are so realistic, and Vicky’s anxiety is written REALLY well. You actually FEEL afraid when she’s afraid, and you FEEL embarrassed when she’s embarrassed. It’s not like you’re afraid for the character or embarrassed for them. You feel exactly what the character feels as if you were in that situation. Yes, there are some cliches, but everyone’s life has a few cliches in it. ;p This book really needs more love because I was shaking when I finished this and I will forever have super high expectations for contemporary novels due to this book. XDD

Other Books I Would Recommend:

• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
• Counting by Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan
• Heartless by Marissa Meyer
• Courage for Beginners by Karen Harrington
• Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
• Jackaby by William Ritter
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
• Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
• The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
• Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
• Nest by Esther Ehrlich

The list above could go on and on, but I feel like that’s a good start for now. XD

Also, I meant to post on Valentines Day instead of today with a crêpe recipe (which I’ve tried posting the last two Valentines Days XDD), but we were super busy that week so I never got around to it. Lemme know if you would still like to see that post in a later post! 🙂

I hope y’all enjoyed this post! Tell me in the comments if you’ve read any of these or if you have some suggestions for me! 😀 Stay lovely, dear Hoodians!

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.” ☁︎ ~ George R. R. Martin

*All book cover images are from goodreads.com. Featured image photo is from unsplash.com.

2 Year Blogiversary!! + 20 Lessons for 2020

Wowsers. My decade has ended. What a cool decade. 😉 In the end though, time passes, and there are plenty of decades ahead of us all, so it will be ok. 🙂

Guess what y’all! It’s 2020 and my two year blogiversary! YEEHAW! I know, I know. I posted on here, like, four times last year. I want to do better this year, and I will! I was so happy to see the positive feedback on my last post, by the way! Thank you guys so much. I haven’t been active on here in so long, and I guess I just forgot how much fun the blogosphere is. 😄

I’m back with twenty lessons I learned from 2019. I decided to make them more straightforward this time so no extra commentary is needed. Last years post was SUPER long, and I didn’t want to do that this year so it doesn’t seem as daunting. :p

Let us hop on in, shall we? XD

One: It’s OK to cry every once and a while.

Two: The world is much too beautiful to be seen through a negative lens.

Three: Some forms of pain are good for you to experience and understand.

Four: Learning cannot be accomplished by passive waiting.

Five: Things are not usually as bad as you make them out to be.

Six: Change is essential for personal growth. Trying to prevent it can only hurt us.

Seven: Be willing to listen when others want to share their opinions and give positive input.

Eight: It’s always easiest to address a issue at the time of the issue.

Nine: There is no end to problems in this life.

Ten: Some things aren’t worth fighting over.

Eleven: Curiosity is sometimes best left unsatisfied.

Twelve: Only look for faults in yourself if you intend to fix or accept them.

Thirteen: Strive to be better because better will always be there for

Fourteen: Bad things are bound to happen, but we shouldn’t let them stop us from being happy.

Fifteen: We often don’t realize how stupid a decision is until after we have made the decision. 🤷‍♀️

Sixteen: You don’t always have to face responsibility head and immediately.

Seventeen: If you don’t know what a word means, don’t say it.

Eighteen: Never insult or put down another person’s beliefs, even if you don’t agree with them.

Nineteen: Do not take your own promises lightly.

Twenty: Even butterflies have blemishes.

There you go! I hope that I can apply these this year. I know some of them sound harsh, but I couldn’t really word them to sound softer. 🙂 I can’t say they’re all exactly truth either, as my wisdom is limited. XD That’s just how I needed them to be for me.

I hope everyone’s year starts off well. 😀 I’ll be going with my mom on a trip to drop my sister off at college. Not the best for me, but I know it’s the best for my sister. 🙂 I am excited to see some cool things on our trip and fly on a plane for the first time. 😬 It’s all gonna be good. 🙂

The sun will rise and we will try again. ☀︎

*All photographs used in this post are from unsplash.com and do not belong to me.

My Christmas 2019

(Late) Merry Christmas my lovely Hoodians! It has been-haha-a VERY long time since I last posted, but you know what? That’s ok. :p

Anyways, today I bring you my gift haul (I didn’t want to use that word, but I could unfortunately not find a suitable synonym, so, alas, here we are) of my 2019 Christmas! Just a disclaimer I am definitely not trying to brag or anything. I really love reading blog posts like this, and I figured I’d try one out and see what happens.

Quick announcement before we jump in! I got an art instagram! Actually, I got it several months a go, but you can find me @doodles.by.danielle or at the link at the bottom of my homepage. My art isn’t the most amazing thing you’ll ever see, but I am proud of it and trying to improve. Hopefully you’ll enjoy what I share as I strive to improve my work and become a better artist.

Let us commence. 😉

Firstly! My family did a dirty Santa on Christmas Eve with some little knickknacks, and I got a jar of cream nail polish. I don’t really paint my nails that much, but I’m sure it will come to use eventually. :p

In my stocking I got this cool bear claw self-scratcher thing. I also got a pack of juicy fruit gum, my favorite flavor. Also, my little brother got me these really good juicy fruit, tropical packs, and if you look at the photo closely, you can see I’ve already opened one. XD

From my mom, I got me these reeeeally silky, soft socks infused with shea, and they feel SO good. I know because I just put them back in the packaging after wearing them so the photo would look more… actually, I probably didn’t need to do that now that I think about it. XD I guess I wanted to show you what the packaging said. So now you know what it says. 😉

My mom also got me this cool headband that I was really confused about when I first opened it but now understand and am super excited to try out. 😀 She and my dad then gave me $100 dollars for clothes (that’s what the little red tag says on the back) , and I am REALLY excited because there have been some clothes I’ve been wanting for ages.

My sister got me pineapple-mango candle, and it smells SO GOOD. Not kidding. I wish I could let y’all smell it. :p She also got me these cute heart shaped tacks that are now pinned on my bulletin board, and they match my room perfectly. 😄 Thank you, Nicole. ❤

AAHHHH! Aren’t they gorgeous?!? My dad got me the beautiful screenplays for the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I love Harry Potter, so I’m slowly building up my book collection for it. :p Just one Christmas at a time. >:) I’m actually surprised he got me these because my dad isn’t a huge fan of buying books when you can get them for free at the library. XD

😍😍😍 My grandma got me this über fluffy sweater that I am actually in love with and am so excited to use. It’s so sooooft and I want to wear it every day despite the constant heat where I live. *melts into fluff* It will very be useful for when I go on trips this winter, though, so I am excited for that. 😀

Lastly, my parents got me this lovely suitcase, and I’m VERY excited to have it. I haven’t had a suitcase for the past year, so this is nice because now I don’t have to use our really large duffel bags or my not quite big enough backpack for a three day trip. XD

That’s everything. I hope you guys enjoyed this post. 😀 I also hope everyone had an amazing Christmas, and if you don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope you had an amazing day anyways. ❤

I would love to hear about your Christmas and what you got, so don’t be afraid to tell in the comments.

I do have some hopefully good posts coming up, so stay tuned for those. I’m going to try to post at least once a month next year, but no guarantees. 🙂

Have a beautiful day and stay lovely!

Breakfast: The Most Important Meal of the Day (and how to make it yummier)

Hello, my lovelies! I should win an award for longest, weirdest title. XD But yes, today’s post is all about breakfast.

Today, I will convince you that breakfast should be the most important and best part of your day. In other words, I really like breakfast and I want all of you to like breakfast too. XD

Why Should I Eat Breakfast?

I have a lot of public schooled friends who skip breakfast either because they don’t feel like it, they forget about it, or they don’t have time for it.

Skipping breakfast is actually really unhealthy.

Why?

You’ve been sleeping about eight hours. Your body fasts while you sleep. It receives no nutrients except from food you may have eaten before bed. The thing is, your body is still running a lot of its functions while you sleep, but it’s doing this without the consistent nourishment it receives during the day. When you wake up, your brain and the rest of your body are pretty tired. Breakfast is the first opportunity you get to gain nutrients, so your brain will get pretty angry if you skip out on it. #hangry

Yes, dear friends. That is one of the reasons you’re so tired in the morning.

What Should I Eat For Breakfast?

It’s easiest for your body to turn carbs into energy, so your brain pretty much runs on carbs. When it runs out of carbs, it runs on fats. When it runs out of fats, it runs on protein. When it runs out of protein, it runs on anything your body can provide. When it runs out of that, you die.

So, kids, eat carbs for breakfast.

You actually want all three macronutrients (carbs, fat, and protein) in your breakfast, but you especially want carbs.

When it comes to carbs, eat whole grains. That petty white bread will not benefit whatsoever. Waffles (recipe later in the post), pancakes, toast, fruit breads, whole grain cereals, and granola are all pretty substantial. Also, frozen waffles and pancakes shouldn’t be considered real food because they have just as much nutrition as white bread and can cause cancer, so you’re not really doing yourself any favors when you eat them. *shrug*

No, bacon is not the right kind of fat if that’s what you’re thinking of. Yes, fat is essential for you to live, but you’ll want healthy fats inside foods such as: certain oils, avocados (it’s like a healthy version of butter, but don’t eat to much or it won’t be much different from butter XD), dairy products, and nuts. So, you can spread avocado or cheese on toast (bam! two birds in one stone), put nuts in your cereal or pancakes, eat yogurt on your granola, or just drink glass of milk with whatever you’re eating. And no, just because I said dairy products does not mean you can have ice cream for breakfast. (I wish, but my parents would never let me.)

Protein is usually something you can skip as long as you get it in later meals, but it’s still a good thing to include. Protein can be found in a lot of foods I already mentioned, but you can also have eggs or (I couldn’t refrain) bacon and sausage (just for a change-up from the healthy stuff XD).

When Should I Eat Breakfast?

I’ll eat breakfast whenever I please, thank you very much. But for the sake of actually answering the question, it’s probably best to eat it at least two hours before lunch. This gives your body enough time to digest it before you stuff it with more food. >:)

Now For the Yummy Part!

WAFFLES. WAFFLES. WAFFLES. WAFFLES. WAFFLES.

I love waffles.

So. Much.

As you can probably tell, waffles are my favorite thing to have for breakfast. So, I hereby bring you this yummylicious, crispy, and fabulous waffle recipe that my dad has made for me and my siblings every Wednesday since I can remember. This recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, and quadrupled, and it can also be used for pancakes.

Ingredients:

• 1 heaping cup of flour (You can use all purpose or whole wheat. Do NOT use self-rising.)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 cup milk

Instructions:

Step 1: Thoroughly stir flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add egg, oil, and milk. Stir batter until smooth.

Step 3: Pour batter into waffle iron. Close iron and cook until golden brown (or in my case, brown. I like them super crispy. XDD).

Step 4: Take out of iron and serve with desired toppings. 😉 (I usually just eat mine with syrup, but I also love strawberries on them. Who doesn’t?) Recipe makes four to six waffles.

I hope y’all enjoyed this post! I definitely enjoyed writing it. Have a fabulous day, lovely Hoodians!

*Featured image photo from unsplash.com as well as all other images except for the last one.

Awesome Blogger Award + Liebster Award (+ pick what I post next!)

Hullo, my lovely Hoodians! I would normally apologize for not posting in ages, but at this point I think y’all are used to me posting only once and a while. Anyways, I was nominated for these awards awhile ago, and I decided it’s been long enough since I last posted. On that note, shall we commence?

Covah nominated me for the Awesome Blogger Award, so thank you so much, Covah!

The Rules:

Thank the person/blogger who nominated you.

Tag your post with #awesomebloggeraward

Answer all the questions given to you

Nominate at least 5 bloggers and inform them of their nomination

Give them 10 new questions to answer

The Questions:

When and why did you start blogging? I started blogging in 2015, so about three and a half years ago. I think I started because my sister had created a blog and I thought it was cool, so I made one too. XDDD Anyways, now I do it because I enjoy it. 😄

What is your current mood? (using a color!) Ooh, that’s tough. Well, it depends on the day, I think right now I’m in a pale pink mood because I’m in a cheerful and productive mood. 😀

If you could only read one thing for the rest of life, what would it be? GASP, you dare ask such a thing! *faints* Probably the scriptures even if I don’t read them as much as I should, they’re still the best books! 😄

What will you do to help change the world? I want to help make modest a trend. It makes me uncomfortable and sad that girls are so willing to display their bodies in often inappropriate ways by wearing immodest clothing. I want to be a fashion designer, and I plan to only design clothes that fit to good standards.

What is your favorite historical event? This is a toughie, but probably Joseph Smith’s vision in The Sacred Grove. 😀

What is your favorite school subject? Probably history. Mostly because it’s my easiest subject and I’m so over school by now. 😜 However, I have been enjoying Geometry a little more lately *gasp* as I’ve gotten further into the book.

Do you play an instrument? If so, which one/s? Haha, nope. XD I used to want to sing, and before that I tried violin, and before that I tried piano, but by now I’m just done with learning music skills.

Have you ever been or are vegan or vegetarian? No. I like meat waaayyy too much. XD

What do you want to be when you grow up? As said earlier, I want to be a fashion designer. 😀

If you could tell your past self something, what would it be? Take correction as something to help you, not to offend you.

The Nominations:

To be honest, I can’t think of a single blogger I know who hasn’t done this (also I’m too mentally drained right now to deal with so much linking). XD So, instead of nominating specific bloggers, I nominate the first five people who like this post. 😀

My Questions:

What’s your favorite song right now?

If you could go anywhere (real or fictional) where would you go?

What’s your favorite Netflix show?

What is the first object you see when you look to your left side?

Which do you prefer: winter sports or summer sports?

What is your favorite dessert?

What is your preferred cuisine (Asian, Mexican, Italian, etc.)?

Google or Bing?

Ice cream or donuts?

What’s your favorite cereal?

The fabulous Maysa Rose nominated me for the Liebster Award, so thank you Maysa!

The Rules:

Acknowledge the blogger who nominated you for this award

Answer 11 questions the blogger gave you

Give 11 random facts about yourself

Nominate 11 blogs and notify them

Give them 11 questions to answer

The Questions:

What is the outfit that you are quick to grab in the morning? Whichever jeans I have that are clean, a t-shirt, and an oversized sweater. 😉

Do you have a dream that you hope to achieve? To become a haute couture designer. ☺️

What is your favorite season? Winter, for sure, but autumn is a pretty close runner up. 😉

Which do you prefer: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate? Milk chocolate.😋 Dark chocolate is pretty delicious, depending on the percentage of cocoa, but I don’t like it in large amounts. I’m not particularly huge on white chocolate. It tastes a lil funny to me. 😣

What is your favorite thing to do during your free time? Read and draw. I’ve been drawing a LOT lately. Maybe I’ll post some sketches here, soon. 😄

How do you deal with stress and anxiety? This is probably not a suggested method, but I ignore it. XD I push whatever is making me anxious or stressed into the back of my mind, focus on something else, and try to forget about it. Once I’m approached with the thing making me anxious or stressed, I just get it over with and go with the flow. If I need to stop and take breather, I do so. I also tell myself that nothing is as bad as it seems, which is true.

What is the biggest lesson that you learned in 2018? Hmmm. Probably this: recognize the faults in yourself before you recognize the faults of others. This is super important to me because it has helped me a lot with personal growth. It also motivates me to not be so eager and direct in pointing out other people’s faults when I have plenty of faults myself.

Is there a particular song that you love right now? There are several. :p Here’s a few: Dying For You ~ Otto Knows (ft. Lindsey Stirling & Alex Aris); Feel So Close ~ Calvin Harris (cover by Megan Nicole); Annie ~ A R I Z O N A; Red Ribbon ~ Madilyn Bailey; Supercut ~ Lorde; and a few others. ;p

What subject/class do you struggle with most in school? Probably chemistry. Yeah, definitely chemistry. XDDD

Are you organized? I think I’m pretty organized. My spaces are pretty tidy most of the time. 😉

Are you a morning person or a night owl? A bit of both? I can stay up late, but I also don’t mind waking up. I think I’m more night owl, though.

The Random Facts:

Just earlier I got a whisk stuck inside a blender! Yay!

People used to think my sister and I were twins. (btw, we’re not XD)

I’m learning to speak Spanish.

My favorite dessert is ice cream, but donuts come second. 😉

For breakfast I had crepes with berries and powdered sugar. 😌

My favorite restaurant is a french eatery. (so delicious ;D)

I LOVE oversized sweaters.

I once sold a cheesecake for $40 dollars. #yeet

My preference for color is pink, but I only own like three pieces of pink clothing. 😥 XD

I want to move to Europe when I grow up.

My favorite sport to watch is snowboarding.

The Nominees:

If your favorite color is yellow, the thou art nominated! 😄

My Questions:

What is your favorite restaurant?

Your favorite number?

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

If you had to move to a different planet, what planet would it be?

What color is your bedroom?

What is your least favorite book series?

Something you think is overrated?

Who is your favorite YouTuber?

Where is your favorite place to travel to?

What is your preferred type of grass?

What is you favorite animal?

HALT!!!!

Before you click out of this post, I need y’all’s help! Here is a list of post ideas. Comment down below which post excites you most. I intend to post MUCH more this summer than I have recently, and I would love to know y’all’s preferences.

• How to Make Pinterest Worthy Crepes
• Recent Artwork (sketches and such)
• My Favorite Movies and TV Shows
• Breakfast: The Most Important Meal of the Day
• Decorate My Room With Me!
• My Summer Break To-Do List 2019

Knowing what y’all want to read will help me feel so much more motivated to post more often, so please please please tell me which of these you want to read most!

I hope y’all have a fabulous weekend! Stay awesome! Au revoir1 😉

*Images used in this post are not my property. Featured image photo is from unsplash.com. Credit to original owners for award images.

1 Year Blogiversary! + 20 Lessons for the New Year

Happy New Year, my dearest Hoodians! It’s that time of the year when we’re on the bridge of memories and the unknown. My blog is also now an entire year old!

Now, for this kind of post, I would normally post stats along with goals accomplished and goals to be accomplished. Unfortunately, literally everyone does that, and I do not feel like writing all that stuff that I’m pretty sure you’ll skim over. Instead, I bring you a list (inspired by Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules to Life) of 20 Lessons I learned throughout this past year. Each “lesson” is accompanied by my thoughts on it. 🙂

(These were originally called “My 20 Rules and Truths”, but I felt like I couldn’t prove any of these to be either and renamed them more appropriately as “lessons”.)

Also, I wrote these to apply to myself, but a lot of these can probably apply to you too. 🙂

One: “…love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, and strength;” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:5) The rest of these won’t be scriptures, and this is more of a reminder than a lesson. However, it still felt necessary to add. This is something I’m not really sure I’ve accomplished yet, but I want to so much.

Two: The pain always goes away. No matter how much you hurt- mentally, emotionally, or physically- it will fade. It may take years or it may take a few days, and though it might seem so bad that death is the only way to end it, that is not true.

Three: Beautiful girls are only beautiful if they know they’re beautiful. What is the point of people telling you you’re pretty if you don’t believe them? You are truly beautiful when you can look in the mirror and say it without thinking it’s a lie.

Four: Search for the good in others before you judge them. I once based my opinion on a person completely on one wrongdoing. I then realized they were nicer then I thought, and sure, they shouldn’t have done what they did, but that doesn’t mean they’re always doing wrong.

Five: You have to want to succeed in order to succeed. I find that if I don’t care about something, I don’t do as well as I could. If I care about it though, I can do really well. You won’t get any better at something if you don’t want to.

Six: Younger siblings aren’t so bad. I guess by this one I mean this: Tolerate people you don’t like until you understand them better. They’re probably not as bad as you think. This could mean siblings, friends, teachers, or really anyone. I have yet to fully believe this one in the case of my younger brother, but I’m slowly getting better. :p

Seven: You don’t have to have everything everyone else has because not wanting those things makes you stronger than them. Being able to tell wants from needs and not wanting the wants is a great strength that results in a lot of common sense. You’ll find yourself more content with what you have as well.

Eight: Treat others as you would like to be treated. I’ve been treated kind of like servant before. Not in the sense of being asked to do things for everyone, but in the sense where “friends” have cared for and noticed me when they wanted me then completely shoved me aside when they were done with me. Obviously I didn’t like that very much, but then I realized I’ve done the exact same thing. I deserved exactly what I got, and if I want to be treated better then I have to start treating others better.

Nine: Treat yourself well after you’re done treating others well. You should be your first priority. Make sure you are caring for yourself properly. Sometimes it’s ok to stop doing everything for everyone so you can just worry about yourself, and you can give others an opportunity in the meantime.

Ten: It’s OK to only have one friend, as long as they need you like you need them. This one was the hardest lessons for me to learn. If you take the true definition of a true friend and apply it to all of my friends outside my family, I don’t have any. It took me a long time to not care and be satisfied with the fact that my sister is the best friend I’ll ever have or get. Find a friend that you can trust with your life.

Eleven: Get done what you should in Reality before you retreat back to Fantasy. I am often hindered by my overactive imagination. It has lowered my productivity levels significantly. I have to force down daydreams to focus on pretty much anything. Your performance in reality is more important than anything that goes on in your mind.

Twelve: If you do rather than attempt, you will be better at life than your peers. My performance at the simplest things have been significantly better than my peers because I did it rather than put in weak attempts like they often would.

Thirteen: Do good to others because you care, not because you pity. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do good for others because you don’t care about them, but more like we have to learn to care for everyone. It’s harder to appreciate a good act based on pity compared to one based on love.

Fourteen: Appreciate what you have because you never know when it will be taken away form you. I remember when I moved. I complained a lot about Alabama while I lived there. Then I moved to Florida and realized things were great in Alabama and I didn’t appreciate them enough. Now I try to focus on the good things a bit more.

Fifteen: Always settle personal disputes in private. Do you really want someone to base their opinion of you on an argument you had with your mom at the store or how you snapped at a waitress at a restaurant? Hold a polite and graceful aura that will make others respect you while in public. Personal issues can be handled at home. This is the same for social media. Don’t express all your rage on your phone. People will think you’re simply a hater. I try to avoid making any negative comments online, though I still have to work on getting rid of angry words and thoughts.

Sixteen: Try new things, but make sure they’re safe first. Never go into a situation your unsure about unless it’s the only choice. Weigh pros and cons. Think twice. If assurance is received from a trustworthy person, then it is usually ok. Once when I was younger, a friend I probably shouldn’t have trusted as much as I did convinced me to go into the deep end when I wasn’t the greatest swimmer. I nearly drowned. Of course she didn’t mean to get me hurt, but she also knew I wasn’t a very good swimmer, and she should have considered it. Now I try to make friends who won’t push me into those kinds of situations. Of course, in some situations it is better to jump into it without thought, but those are special cases. Choose the safer path.

Seventeen: Simply because you do not like it does not mean it’s bad. My brothers do not like modern music. They say it is bad because they think it’s ugly and unappealing. But I like it. I think it’s great. Obviously there some actual bad songs out there, but something is bad only if it is based off evil.

Eighteen: Only squeamish people get colds. Translation: fear hinders more than it protects. Obviously there are situations when fear is appropriate. But fear on a consistent basis ruins you. I used to be scared of so many things. I would panic easily. I would put myself in a bubble of personal protection. It made me make foolish decisions. I was miserable. I’ve learned to let go, and I’m much happier. Fear may be safe in the short term but is dangerous in the long term.

Nineteen: Recognize the faults in yourself before you recognize the faults of others. If we were all able to recognize our own faults, the world would be much humbler. It is not my place to judge your faults for you just as it is not your place to judge my faults for me. We ought to only judge ourselves.

Twenty: Be the person soaked in sunshine. I want to be the person people will look at and think, “I want to be as happy as she is.” I want to be able to have an aura of light around me that radiates pure joy. I want everyone to be able to be happy,

There you have it! Twenty lessons I’ve learned throughout the year. This list is my guideline for the new year, and my main goals is to turn the knowledge I’ve gained throughout 2018 and turn it into wisdom. Once again, Happy New Year! May we all turn from saplings into tall strong trees covered in beautiful blossoms by the end of 2019. Let us all make friends with 2019, despite its current foreboding appearance.

Before I leave, I want to say thank you to you all for making 2018 great for this blog! And thank you, 2018, for being an amazing year in my life. 🙂

*Featured image photo from unsplash.com