Preparing for an Adventure Abroad

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page" -Saint Augustine

Three days left.
            I have only been out of the country once in my life, over 4 years ago, and I went with my whole family. Now I have the opportunity to travel to Europe for a study abroad program. In exactly three days I will be doing last minute errands and getting ready to board a flight to London. At this point, I have a million emotions running through my body and cannot begin to describe how excited I am for this experience. I will be mainly exploring ancient Greece and Rome! Ever since I was a little girl, sitting in the corner of the library reading English-Italian picture dictionaries and seeing the beautiful pictures of Rome; I have always wanted to be a part of a land full of culture. As I got older and gained a fascination with Greek mythology, then I added Greece to my list of places I must visit. While I am abroad, I will try to update my blog with the highlights of my trip as often as possible J This will be an interesting journey and I hope to be detailed and honest enough to help you feel as if you were right there with me.

            As of now, I am just getting myself prepared for the flight there and since I know a special someone will be meeting me at the airport my nerves are not as bad as they were earlier in the week. I just have to remember to bring my camera to document every moment.

New Hobby Before Leaving for Europe

My YouTube Channel

          I used to be a behind the scenes observer afraid to show off my silly quirks until I surrounded myself with amazing people. The main people in my life who inspire me are my best friend and my boyfriend. My best friend has been there for everything I have been through and no matter what I know she has my back. She is a talented person who is very goal driven. Whenever something new happens to her I cannot help but be excited because if she can push herself against the odds then so can I. After my procedure I realized that she was one of the main people I wanted to see because I knew my health actually meant something to her. The other person, my amazing boyfriend, has also been an inspiring person because he is just as driven. A real life Robin Hood and Romeo wrapped in one. While I am home on winter break he is off with his family and even though I am away from my friends they still push me to tap into things I love to do.

  So what does any of this have to do with my new hobby? 

          I have always loved to sing. And this is something I have only expressed to a few people. The two people I mentioned earlier know this little fact about me and are constantly trying to get me to share it. So I decided, "Why not put videos of myself on YouTube? I mean that's what everyone else does, right?" Well I started to do this and now it's become something keeping me sane while my friends are away. I know I am not a superstar and this is definitely not to be famous. But just like my blog entries, it has become an outlet for self expression. So if you click on my title you can see what I have been up to. Hopefully it will inspire you to do something that you did not think you could do. I mean I am one of millions to post on YouTube so I said why be scared? I leave the country in 18 days, why not do something silly until I leave?
   

Here's one of the videos:

Seven Deadly Sins

Seven Deadly Sins

"There are seven sins in the world.
Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Science without humanity,
Religion without sacrifice, and
Politics without principle."
~ Mahatma Gandhi


In honor of an event being held at my college, I have decided to finally update my blog with a post on sin ;)
I would like to point out though that this is not an anti-christ post, so if people have a problem with me talking about what the different sins mean then they obviously need to go back to the little bubble of denial and leave my blog :) Thank you for your time.

Descriptions:

Pride: is excessive belief in one's own abilities. Basically means thinking you are better than everyone else. 

Envy: the desire for other's traits, status, abilities, or situation.

Gluttony: inordinate desire to consume more than one needs.

Lust: craving pleasure.

Anger/Wrath: dwells in hate.

Greed: desire for material wealth or gain.

Sloth: avoidance of physical work. You are L-A-Z-Y.

I'll expand later with some outfit ideas in case you ever find yourself going to a seven deadly sins event :)

You Go Glen Coco!

Realizing that I am not the only Mean Girls fan, I have decided to dedicate this blog post to some of my favorite quotes from the movie.

Coach Carr: Don't have sex, because you will get pregnant and die! Don't have sex in the missionary position, don't have sex standing up, just don't do it. Ok, promise? Ok, now everybody take some rubbers.

Karen: If you're from Africa, why are you white?

Gretchen: Oh my god Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white.

Janis: We gotta crack Gretchen. Once we crack Gretchen, we crack the lock on Regina's whole dirty history.
Damien: Say crack again.
Janis: Crack.

Damien: She's fabulous, but she's evil.

Gretchen: That is so fetch!
Regina: Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen! It's not going to happen!

Janis: What is that smell?
Cady: Oh, Regina gave me some perfume.
Janis: You smell like a baby prostitute.
Cady: Thanks.

Cady: I have a theory that if you cut off all her hair she'd look like a British man.

Janis: This is Damien. He's almost too gay to function.

Janis: And evil takes a human form in Regina George. Don't be fooled because she may look like your typical selfish, back-stabbing slut faced ho-bag, but in reality, she's so much more than that.

Damien: SHE DOESN'T EVEN GO HERE!

Cady: And that's the day Regina George died.

Honesty Hour

“We mistakenly assume that if our partners love us they will react and behave in certain ways-the ways we react and behave when we love someone.” –John Gray

Holding hands, late night talks, early morning greetings, kissing, laughing, joking, sharing, being friends, everything. When does this turn to screaming, crying, hurting, fighting? It’s all a mystery.

Lately I have dealt with many examples of unfairness in relationships; whether they are between someone and their partner or among friends. I usually try to be somewhat proper in my post but due to the proximity of this topic to my personal life, just excuse my emotional ranting.

I would like to address a few problems I have in terms of the way relationships function nowadays.

Social Media

I am of course guilty of being hooked on the drama that appears on social media sites, however, some people still have not realized that everything they say or do is going to get out. It honestly does not matter if a person keeps some of their posts private. PEOPLE TALK! Whatever you do, people will find out. Scary isn’t it? Well that is the point I am trying to make in regards to relationships and friendships. A person cannot truly believe that they can get away with doing shady or mistrustful actions and the other person not finding out. In today’s world, most people have multiple friends in common. As much as you want to believe that all your friends are there to keep your secrets, there is always one person that says something to someone else. That goes on and on until it eventually reaches the person you were deceiving. So word of advice, just let that person know if you want something else out of the friendship or relationship. Whether it means you do not want that person around or you are ready to move on with someone else.

Misleading Actions

The hardest part about talking to someone new is figuring out where you stand with them. That is because the lines can get so blurry. I used to believe that if someone was looking for a meaningless fling, then they would not put in a lot of effort forming a friendship with the other person. I guess I was mistaken.  Why act like you are more than friends with someone, if you are just going to cut them out completely the moment other people make comments? I can only assume insecurity or guilty conscience.  

Honesty

Honesty does not seem to exist anymore. Question for my readers: if a person is already seeing someone, why would they cheat? There is no point. Like the quote says, “DON’T CHEAT. If you’re not happy just leave.” The longer you keep it up, the more complicated everything gets. More feelings get involved and you end up hurting people that you supposedly care about. How do you know that the person you are cheating with wants to be involved? If they do, then you might as well be with them instead of hurting the person you are actually dating.

Overall, what I am trying to say is that I think people truly need to think about what they want. No one wants to get their heart played with. 

Embracing Inner Strength

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you do. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

As I count down the days to my road to getting healthy, I remind myself how important it is to find my own inner strength. This past weekend, I found out a lot about myself as a person and a young woman. In just two days, I dealt with a small heartbreak, a brush with the law and a major workout. 

I am a person with a huge heart and very guilty of falling too hard for people. But what I have realized is that life is way too short to put up a brick wall and shut people out. The reason it seems like I fall fast is because the moment you enter my life, you enter my heart in the way that I will always care for you. It honestly does not matter if I dislike you. If you are in trouble, I will be there for you. 

Many people find this as a weakness, but you know what? I am extremely strong. It takes a strong person to allow themselves to be vulnerable towards others. Because with that vulnerability there is always a chance for pain. I could be a coward and keep myself closed off from others and hate the world but that would just hurt me not anyone else. 

This weekend reminded me how far a smiling face and friendly personality could get it; in addition to the benefits of being single for awhile. I never really understood what my godfather meant when he said that my beauty and intelligence is a powerful thing and it could get me anything. For one, I never thought I was that beautiful because of how ugly people made me feel. However, this weekend when my friends and I almost got arrested for some minor illegal actions, I remained calm and handled the situation in a mature manner. To the point that they let us off with a warning and allowed us to continue with a great night. 

Another important thing I learned about myself is that I am no longer putting up with people that are draining for me to be around. I will turn you down if I do not like you, I will probably say something that you disagree with, but I am no longer apologizing for being myself. If you do not like what you hear or what I do then you might as well keep your distance.

Let's just say this weekend was a big, much needed, confidence boost.

Life always throws random/crazy situations at us, but it is up to us to find the inner strength and maturity needed to face life and say, "Is that the best you've got?"

Top 10 Relaxation Techniques

“Stress is an ignorant state.  It believes that everything is an emergency.” 

~Natalie Goldberg, Wild Mind

If you’re like me and get very stressed out, here are some ways to help you reduce the stress and find relaxation. Some stress might be good because it helps motivate people to actually get work done, but too much stress can be very damaging to your body. In my case, practicing the following techniques could help keep me around longer.

1.       Meditate!

Do activities that will keep your attention calm such as; walking, swimming, painting, knitting, etc. Do this activity for at least 5-10 minutes a day.

2.       Picture Yourself Relaxed

Imagine something or somewhere that evokes calm thoughts and distracts you from the chaos that is causing stress. This can be anything from imagining a cozy robe, lying in bed, being on vacation. Anything that is peaceful.

3.       Breathe Deeply

When your body in under stress, it causes your breathing to get tense and shallow. So change it by taking a deep breath and exhale slowly. Repeat 10 times allowing yourself to relax more and more with each breath.

4.       Look Around You

Practice focusing on one task at a time. For example, if you are outside focus on the clouds, the flowers, or little things. If you try focusing your attention on one task at a time instead of multiple things then you will be able to prevent stress from building up.

5.       Drink Hot Tea

So, I know people are hooked on their coffee, but coffee raises levels of the notorious stress hormone, and cortisol. Green tea, however, offers health and beauty. It’s not horrible guys just give it a try.

6.       Show Some Love

Little actions like cuddling with your pet, giving an unexpected hug to family or friends, snuggling with a spouse, or talking to a friend about good things in their lives are all amazing and simple ways to lower stress. Hugs are great!  

7.       Try Self Massage

Follow these steps if you have no time to have a pro give you a massage and you feel tense.

1.       Place both hands on your shoulders and neck.

2.       Squeeze with your fingers and palms.

3.       Rub vigorously, keeping shoulders relaxed.

4.       Wrap one hand around the other forearm.

5.       Squeeze the muscles with thumb and fingers.

6.       Move up and down from your elbow to fingertips and back again.

7.       Repeat with other arm.

8.       Take Time Out

I know this isn’t kindergarten, but taking a time out for yourself can be beneficial in reducing stress.  Just go off for a bit and have some alone time. Often having other people around can cause more stress than necessary. Like my mom says when she goes missing for long hours after work, “sometimes I need to runaway”.

9.       Take a Musical Detour

Okay, I know most people my age are not major fans of classical music, but want to know something? Listening to at least 30 minutes of classical music can create calming effects equivalent to 10mg of Valium!

10.   Take an Attitude Break

It only takes 30 seconds to change your attitude to a positive one. I am guilty of being stubborn, but it’s true. Just try a little optimism; it might just shock you how much better you will feel.

Resources 

http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/blissing-out-10-relaxation-techniques-reduce-stress-spot