3 Week Journey To A Better Self: Week 3 & Reflection

Monday, May 25, 2020

It's Memorial Day, so my boyfriend had the day off from work. I made sure to post a red, white, and blue Pura Vida Bracelets picture on my instagram. Always gotta represent.
Today was day one of the 7 Day Thigh Challenge from Blogilates. It felt easier to do than the past few weeks' challenges have been, but I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow. It's good though.
I feel like I really haven't gotten much done recently. I started playing a game and tried to record, but you can hear my controller clicking the entire time. So I'm probably going to scrap that recording and try again when I have a better microphone to use. My boyfriend ordered one for me that should come in soon as long as Amazon isn't super slow. It's been taking over a month for things to arrive to us, even though other people we've talked to have had no issues with Amazon taking longer. Prime really is not worth the money.

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Wow, it really doesn't feel like a Tuesday. Even though I've been constantly home for a long time now, this Tuesday has real Monday vibes. I'm in a weird place where I feel super motivated to do something, but have nothing really to do? Like, I have lots of plans for videos and projects like that but some things I have to wait for or just don't feel like I can do right this second so am waiting. But I should just pick something and do it. I did my workout and am drinking my water, but I haven't felt great today.

I found out some really sad news today that a boy I used to babysit from my hometown was in a bad accident, already has had 2 surgeries, but has to have more. I feel so bad for him and his family. It has been a big distraction today and my dad called me twice to talk about it, so I think he's feeling bad too. The boy's dad is his friend and they live really close to my parents. I just feel bad, it's so close to home and with COVID-19 his family isn't even allowed to go see him. Such a difficult situation for everyone involved.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

I am getting very tired of being stuck in the apartment constantly. I'm really looking forward to my class starting up again because I'm so tired of not having anything that I really need to do. At least a class keeps me accountable for something. That was the point of this in the mean time. To have something, but honestly I just really don't feel motivated today.

My mom and I took an online drawing class and that was kind of fun, but frustrating trying to get her set up on it. My drawing came out pretty good though. I guess the surgery went well for the boy who had the accident and he was breathing on his own without a ventilator which is good news. Still feel so bad for him and his family. 

It's 8:40 and I still haven't done my workout and we had dinner so late and I'm just upset and don't even feel like bothering. But I have to.

Thursday, May 28, 2020

I never did my workout yesterday and have had a migraine all day which I think is related to the fact that I didn't workout, among other things. I am someone with a chronic illness related to migraines and as I have gotten older, I have gotten more migraines. I had a headache almost every day as a teenager, and it got better once I was put on a medication for the chronic illness. But I still get headaches far more than the average person and I noticed that working out helped with that dramatically. I have been headache free since I started working out daily and now today is proof to me that even one day messes that up for me. I'm also disappointed in myself, even though it is important to take rest days. I had not taken a rest day for over 3 weeks and while it was fantastic for my muscles and body in that way, the change upset my body in other ways. I'm going to have to try to find better balance. So now I am a day behind in the 7 day leg challenge, but I still did the day 4 workout today. I'm not sure if I'll just skip the day completely so I can start with Chloe Ting on June first or if I should start that a day later, or if I should just add the last video I'll have to do to my day 1 of Chloe Ting. I might do that.

I need to not be too disappointed in myself because rest days are good, it's just that she didn't build any in and I was trying to follow her callender.

I finished editing my bullet journal setup for June and got that posted on YouTube. I'm so happy with it. I kind of copied a lot of other things I saw, but I'm in love with how it turned out. I did a 70s theme and did that not rainbow color rainbow style. Lots of orange, yellow, and blue. I drew a lava lamp and some flower doodles. My favorite bit is one of the weekly spreads where I did the rainbow and then drew sunflowers over it with white gel pen. I just think it looks so pretty!

My boyfriend made me a bath for after I worked out. It was so nice, especially after doing the full 30 minute workout. He added epsum salt to it and a lush bath bomb I have been waiting to use for a while called black rose. It made the water a dark purple/black color. I want more bath bombs. I might need to make a lush order soon.

Friday, May 29, 2020

Today I literally spent most of my time playing Animal Crossing. I decided to redo my entire Museum area. I am so happy with how it is looking, but made at myself for not doing anything else. Well, we did go grocery shopping and I did a load of laundry. But I didn't do anything actually productive other than that. I'm hoping to do my tie dye tomorrow and film that.

I've been trying to spend less time on my phone so I've downloaded that Forest app where you plant trees for the amount of time you don't want to be on your phone for and if you leave the app, you plant dies. I think I like it, but I forget to set it a lot so far. Only had it for yesterday and today, so I need to get it to be part of my routine. I like that I can set colors for different things I'm doing, like workouts, schoolwork, or entertainment and it will show me a pie chart based on what I planted. I also added a self care one and I'm really excited to be using it.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

It doesn't feel right to speak about myself today. I feel so bad for all those who are being hurt by the recent death of George Floyd. I saw the video and it really hurts to watch. It is so sad that in the year 2020 that discrimination and violence due to race still occurs. I cannot do much, but I will speak out when I can. I will educate myself. I will vote in November. I will read more books by black authors and more own voices stories by black authors. I will share the posts I see. I will also be donating my commissions from people who are using my Pura Vida Bracelets code REBECCABRAND20 over the next few weeks. It is not much, but I will do what I can.

Sunday, May 31, 2020: Reflecting back on the past 3 weeks

Today is the last day of my 3 week journey. I feel like the past 3 weeks have flown by. I really felt like I wouldn't know what to do with myself during this time. But for the most part, I feel like I have kept busy. I am ready to get back to having school work to do. But I am also a little sad because I have been enjoying this freedom and am aware that this may have been the only time I will have this much free time.

So let's see how many of my goals I actually accomplished during this time.

Continuing my workout challenges

YES! I only missed 1 day and considering I went from not working out at all to working out 20-30 minutes a day for nearly 4 weeks straight makes me very proud. Working out has improved my mental health as well as my physical health and I plan to continue working out, just not necessarily every single day. I will be starting June 1st with Chloe Ting's 2 Week shred and I am very excited!

Drink 32oz of water per day

Yes, looking back on my bullet journal there was also only 1 day when I did not complete this goal. I also expanded this by allowing green tea with no sugar to count as water as well. I would like to continue drinking more water and finding creative ways like the tea to incorporate more water into my day.

Make art

Yes and no. I did make some art during this time, but I would have liked to have done more.

Record lots of things for youtube

Again, yes and no. I feel I have prepared video ahead of time much better than usual and I have put out a few extra videos than I normally would have, but I do not feel like I am ahead of things as much as I would like to have been.

Read

Yes. I read Clockwork Princess and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes during this time. I would have liked to have finished more, but I do not have time for everything. And by reading these I am on track for my Goodreads goal of reading 52 books, one for each week of the year.

Have a self care day once per week

Yes, but this was not necessarily a full day. More like doing something I would not usually do such as take a bath or trying a new face mask. I would like to keep this up.

Blog about it all!

Yes! I am proud of myself for keeping up with nearly everything I wanted to do. I will be setting myself some goals for June as well, but for now I am glad I took this time to focus on myself and doing better. This will continue on even though my 3 week journey is over. 

3 Week Journey To A Better Self: Week 2

Monday, May 18, 2020

I've decided to combine days into one post so this will be week 2. It's mostly just for me to look back on anyway so I don't think it matters much how I split it up. And I don't feel like I'll have as much to say this week since last week was me getting into a routine. So for today I did my workout and was mostly bored and didn't know what to do with myself. I did my workout early though, which made me feel a lot better because I felt like I had accomplished something earlier in the day and didn't have to do it later on. I'm excited to be able to vlog reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes tomorrow because it will give me something to do. I worked on my flipbook off and on but get tired of doing the same thing for too long. I have to keep busy though. Or entertained. We went grocery shopping which was good. Got us out of the apartment for the first time in a week.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

My book, the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes arrived in the mail so I mostly read that all day. I'm vloging my thoughts which as been fun. The video will go up once I finish and can edit. I finished part 1 and am enjoying it, but finding it difficult to grasp that it's following president snow as a teenager. So different from what we know he becomes. I did my workout in the morning before my arms started to hurt from yesterday's workout. My boyfriend and I ended up getting dinner from Wendy's so I didn't finish my water for the day because I had a giant lemonade from there. But I drank a lot of green tea earlier in the day, so I don't feel too bad about it. The goal isn't to be restrictive, it's to add in healthier things. So the fact that I'm drinking any water and more tea is much better than drinking soda or something like that.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Today I basically just read my book all day and I still only got to part 2. I didn't realize how slow of a reader I am now. I used to be able to read about a page per minute. Now I'm at like half that speed. I blame it on listening to more audiobooks instead of reading things physically.
I am not looking forward to adding the second workout video to my routine tomorrow. I still feel like I'm struggling with the first one. And my boyfriend tried the second video today because it's shorter, and it definitely looked like a struggle.

Thursday,  May 21, 2020

My boyfriend got the day off of work today because he got called to do something for work at 3am and it took an hour to do. So I didn't do much reading like I had planned, but we did go on a hike. So not only did I do the blogilates, but I also got some extra cardio in! We walked for almost a mile. It was so nice out too, 75 degrees. I wish we had a yard so I could just sit outside, but instead we are stuck in our apartment.

Friday, May 22, 2020

I finished The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes! I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was enjoyable, but very strange to read. And the constant references to the original trilogy were too much for me.
And OMG my legs are so sore from the hike yesterday! I thought my legs were in pretty good shape, but clearly I was WRONG. It's my calves. It was a struggle to get through my arm workout because of it. But I'm pushing through. It's fine. Now I'm not really sure what to do with myself. What did I do before this? lol. I feel like I've been reading and vlogging every day that it really became routine and kept my mind occupied. I was hoping we could go out this weekend, but it's a holiday weekend and I do not want to be anywhere near a crowd of people. It's bad enough that things are opening up, it's going to get people killed.

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Got my vlog of reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes up. I'm retty happy with it, but it is 40 minutes long so I'm not sure if anybody is actually going to bother watching. Other than that I really didn't do much today and definitely didn't even start drinking my water until nearly 7pm. I also didn't exercise until like 9pm again and that really threw me off.
And my legs hurt so bad still! I'm thinking about taking an epsum salt bath tonight because I know that will really help. Did you know that epsum salt helps sore muscles because magnesium is a mineral that can absorb through your skin? And that's what is actually helping. Weird right?

Sunday, May 24, 2020

I keep wanting to type March even though it's May now. Feels like it's still March though, let's be honest. I feel like this week I have really been slacking on writing every day, but I also vlogged so I feel like I reflected on my day in that way instead.
Today was the last day of the 7 day arm challenge from Blogilates and I definitely see and feel a difference. I am so excited for leg week next week, but I'm also a little disappointed that my arms won't be getting as much attention. I think out of everything my arms would be the one thing I'm most insecure about. I don't mind having thicker legs or a little bit of a belly, but my arms make me feel pudgy. I guess everyone has something like that right? Not only do I feel stronger, but these challenges are doing wonders for my mental health as well as my confidence. I think I said it before, but I'm really glad I decided to do this. It's been so good for me truly.
I have also been keeping up with my 32oz of water per day. I think I could maybe add more. Really just having the water bottle full and with me has made the difference in that department. That and the fact that we haven't bought any soda in a while. I have been drinking a lot of tea also. And I don't like sugar in my tea so that's been good. I did get a starbucks drink today though. The drive thru is open near us now and I really wanted to get my free birthday drink before June when it expired. So I got it, and I don't think people should feel guilty for something like that every once in a while. Is it healthy to drink a chia frappachino every day? Heck no, but as a treat once in a while I think it's fine. People shouldn't feel guilty for self care things unless it becomes self-indulgence and a constant thing.

So how do I feel after week 2?

I really am kind of disappointed that I only have one week left before my class starts up again. I'm nervous because it is part one of my Capstone and I have no idea what to do besides build off of what I've done in the past already. I suppose the professors will help us, but I feel so much less connected with online school. Like, my undergrad professors still talk to me and I've been to one's 4th of July and New Years parties in the past. With this, I don't feel comfortable asking one of my professors to look over something I do wince I feel like they don't know me.
I really want these new habits to stick, and I'm pretty hopeful that they will. Supposedly it takes anywhere from 21 days to 3 months to form a habit. This will be 21 days and I'm hoping to stick to it. I think in June I want to do Chloe Ting's 2 Week Shred challenge. I've watched a few result videos and some of her videos and it looks like a fun thing to try. I think I will have built up enough strength through the blogilates challenges to be able to push myself a bit further, even if I do have to do the modified moves and work my way up to the full moves. That's what I've been doing with the weekly challenges and by the end of the week I can almost do everything without the modifications. Very proud of how far I've come in only two weeks, so would be interesting to try a different fitness influenser's video for a change. I always do blogilates when I feel like working out, so it'll be good.
As for the water drinking, I think I need to find a way to make it taste like something. Like, green tea is much more appealing to me than plain water. Especially when the water just gets warm and almost stale tasting. I've never been a water lover.
As for self care, I definitely need to be better about other ways of self care. This next week I really want to focus on skincare. I tend to only wash my face once per day and sometimes that one time is only with water and not an actual cleanser. This is also self care and I need to treat my skin better if I want it to look and feel better.
I didn't complete all the goals/tasks I set for last week, so... let's set some more in addition to the ones I didn't finish!

Goals for Week 3:

• Do a skincare routine morning and night
• Continue working out daily with the blogilates 7 day thigh challenge
• Finish Blood For Blood - seriously, you've been reading this book for like a year! You just finished a different book in a week! You like these characters, just do it!
• Make tie dye lounge wear
• Post my June Bullet Journal setup video
• Try to make drinking 32oz of water per day more interesting - maybe add fruit or include sugarless teas as a part of my water consumption.
• Take a bath
• Finish Wolf drawing I started 
• Make larger versions of video game sketch

3 Week Journey To A Better Self: Day 7 & Week 2 Goals

Sunday, May 17, 2020

It's the end of week one of my 3 week journey to a better self! It feels like this week has both gone by extremely slow and extremely fast. Like, during the week it seemed to drag on but now I'm feeling like how could this first week be over already?

Today has been a bit of a lazy Sunday. I haven't done any reading the past few days even though I would like to. Maybe I will listen to Clockwork Princess tonight. I only have 2 hours left to listen to and that is totally doable. But I also want to read Blood for Blood... I think the problem is that I have too many options for what to do and instead of doing any of them, I end up doing nothing or jumping from from thing to another. I spent most of the morning playing Animal Crossing and I totally could have listened to a book then, but I didn't think to do that. And then I tried recording some but had no luck with what I wanted to do. Seems to be a theme lately. But I will not give up. Tomorrow in the game starts museum day and I am hoping to film that and upload it to my gaming channel tomorrow.I also worked on my flipbook for a bit today. I'm hoping to have that ready for my Thursday main channel upload. And that was most of my day. The boyfriend cleaned the kitchen while making lunch and I am so grateful. I just couldn't deal with it.

I just completed day 7 of the 7 day glute challenge and showered the sweat off before writing this, and I am feeling like I am getting so much stronger by doing this. I still struggle through every workout, but today I was super motivated knowing that it was the last day of glutes and that tomorrow starts arm week. My arms definitely need help with building up strength so I'm excited but also very intimidated based on the moves. I hope I'll be able to do them all. Or at least modified versions. Got to remember that it's okay to do modification and build your strength up! I'm super proud of myself for working out every single day for 2 weeks straight so far. Cassey didn't build any rest days in between these challenges and I feel like if I were to take one now I would definitely lose my momentum. And 20-30 minutes of working out per day isn't that much that it's unhealthy, especially when the rest of the day I'm just sitting around the apartment. It's good for me and the goal is to get stronger, not to worry about weight. I don't see a point to trying to take measurements or track pounds lost. Numbers will not help me to be stronger.

After today's workout I jumped in the shower and made time to shave. I've been putting it off mostly because I have nowhere to go but the apartment, but today I shaved for ME. Because it makes ME happy. It makes ME feel good. And I like that smooth feeling after shaving. I think my life needs more of doing things for me and not worrying about other people or feeling like I'll be judged if I do or do not do something. I have to focus on me and everything else comes second. Look at that, only one week in and we're already getting into life lessons.

Overall this first week has been good for me. I feel so good working out every day, I've been able to be creative with art, and I've also had the time to play the games that I love and read. I think I do need to give myself some more concrete goals to follow for the week 2 though, or more like deadlines for things. Like the flipbook for example, I know I want it done before Thursday so I have time to edit and upload my footage. So I've been working on it every day. So here's some goals for week 2:

•  Actually list the rest of my Animal Crossing Cards on ebay - this and my Pura Vida Bracelets commissions are my one source of income at the moment, so I really need to do this
• Finish my flipbook - edit footage, upload as Thursday video unless book video is ready instead
• Read and vlog reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins - My book is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday so if I mange to read it in 2 days I would like that vlog up before my flipbook
• Continue working out every day with the 7 day arm challenge from blogilates
• Finish Wolf drawing I started 
• Make larger versions of video game sketch
• Make the effort to clean 1 thing every day - Could be dishes, laundry, a room of the apartment
• Read more - you can listen to audiobooks while playing games like Bloons TD 6, just put them on!
• Continue drinking 32oz of water or more 

3 Week Journey To A Better Self: Days 5 & 6

Friday, May 15, 2020

OMG. I spent the entire morning and early afternoon trying to upload my video of my Animal Crossing New Horizons 5 star island tour to youtube. It was so frustrating. It took 15 minutes to upload and then another 15 to process and then didn't work so I had to start over. Then 30 minutes later, I had the whole description typed out and everything uploaded and it didn't upload the HD version. I don't know why it didn't because my mp4 file was high quality and when I tried the 3rd time without doing anything differently, it worked perfectly fine.
I also tried to record Bloons TD 6 but my video corrupted somehow and I just gave up and decided I'd start over. Which sucks, because that was another hour wasted basically.
After that I really didn't do anything productive. I did my daily workout so late and my boyfriend and I stayed up late watching Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix while he played Bloons TD 6.

Saturday, May 16, 2020

I surprisingly didn't wake up late today considering I didn't go to bed until like 1:30 in the morning. I tried recording Bloons TD 6 again today and the video capture didn't work right. It came out flashing and lagging so I gave up. I recorded an hour and 3o minutes worth of the game and it was all lost. AND that was the second time I had gone through the tutorial. AND I didn't realize until I tried to edit it after my boyfriend and I had done the co-op and I had progressed like 11 levels. I'm so frustrated. I feel like I shouldn't have started a gaming channel. This was supposed to just be for fun, but now what should be fun and easy became frustrating. So we'll see. I'll probably just stick to Switch games until I can sort out my computer issues. At least I know the capture software for that actually works.

Didn't do anything besides that. I haven't done my workout yet, but don't worry. I will get it done. I'm thinking of taking a bath tonight. The world is too stressful lately and I need to remember why I am doing this. For self care and becoming a better version of myself while I have the extra time to. No need to stress over things that should be fun.

3 Week Journey To A Better Self: Day 4

Thursday, May 14, 2020

It is day 4 of my personal journey. I worked on my flipbook a bit this morning, and then again this afternoon, but it still has a long way to go. I keep asking my boyfriend to look at it to see how it is, but he says "there's no story progression" even though I'm not asking about that. I just wanted him to see how the color looks. I'm pretty happy with it considering I'm no professional and this is my first flip book ever. I never would have had the patience for it without the kit from Andymation. I give that man props for being able to make all the flipbooks, stop motions, and animations he does. He's brilliant! I wish I could make things that looked that good, but for now I've got my light bulb project.

I also made matcha sugar cookies because I made royal icing the other day instead of buttercream and didn't want it to go to waste. We ran out of vanilla so I had to leave that out of the recipe, but I don't think you can tell. I think I'm on a green tea and matcha kick lately, and I'm cool with that. I think people either love it or hate it. The cookies are so sweet though because of the frosting. But so delicious!

I definitely had to do the second video of my workout after that. Cassey really kicked my butt into gear with this one. The first video was a bit easier to handle, but the second one burned so bad! Definitely had to take a few breaks, but that's okay. I'm getting stronger and taking it at my own pace. And I'm feeling great about it and about myself!

I decided to make a playlist of songs I've been listening to during quarantine. I did it on Spotify and just just called it "Quarantine." Spotify had some interesting suggestions as you can see from the picture. I'm tempted to make a new playlist just for these songs lol. 

3 Week Journey To A Better Self: Day 3

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Already starting to lose track of the days. It hasn't been that long yet, is this how other people have felt this whole time? Anyways, today was the first day where I really didn't feel like working out and really had to push myself to do it. I honestly almost stopped after round 2, but I kept going because I made a commitment to myself to do this to better myself. And I know that I feel better when I do workout. I really wish I had a fitbit or a smart watch that could track things like heartrate and steps for me. I'd be really curious and it would help a lot just in general. I'd also be curious about sleep. I feel like I either toss and turn all night or barely move at all, no in-between! I'm finishing up my last few oz of water as I'm writing this. I drank a lot of green tea today, so I wouldn't have been too mad at myself for not drinking the full 32oz of water, but I'm still glad I'm doing it. It's good for me.

I listened to more of Clockwork Princess today. Things are really starting to happen now! I'm 73% through and I still don't want it to end! I never thought I'd say that about a Cassandra Clare book! Next I want to finish Blood for Blood finally and then maybe start World War Z. I really am interested in reading something Pandemic related. I think looking at parallels are interesting. I know that some people get anxiety from it, but I am a researcher and I need to know things.

Today I also started using my Andymation flipbook kit for the first time! Filming a video of it. I'm enjoying the process, but you need a lot of patience for it! That is something I'm only good at in moderation. I tend to want to get things done really quickly, but art lets me take a step back and slow down! I think it's starting to look really cool, so hopefully it'll be fun in the end.

On an unrelated note, I had a birthday discount coupon to use at American Eagle, so I made an order of a pair of sweatpants, a bralette, and a new bathing suit because I've gained weight and my old bathing suits do not fit. It's a bummer, but they were ridiculously old anyways and I don't even know if I'll get to use it for sure or not with the state of the world right now. I got it cheap so fingers crossed it fits and maybe I'll be able to at least wear it once. The sweatpants I anticipate wearing a lot and the bralette I just hope fits. I really have to guess my sizes. I'm really excited for them though. I really need to slowly update my wardrobe. This is what happens when you have a chronic illness that can make your weight drastically fluctuate. I don't even care about the weight gain or loss, I just want clothes that fit if that makes any sense?

3 Week Journey To A Better Self: Day 2

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

I am starting to look forward to my daily workouts because it gives me not only something to do, but also makes me feel like I've accomplished something. Being able to check off a workout every day also is making me feel better about myself. I post the graphic from blogilates on my Instagram stories daily but I am also checking off workouts in my bullet journal. This is helping a lot. I'm only a little sore after yesterday's workout which means I am definitely getting stronger by doing these. Although, I feel like leg/butt exercises have always been the easiest for me. Once we hit arm week, that's when I'm really going to struggle. I did struggle a little bit to do today's workout just because I already hurt from yesterday. But that happened last week with the ab challenge as well. I know it's going to get easier from here. Plus after my workout I showed and exfoliated my body, which is usually something I only do if I'm shaving, but was a nice self care moment.

I also painted my nails today while I listened to Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. I'm over halfway through the book, and I'm really glad that I'll have Chain of Gold to look forward to because I love these characters and don't want their story to end. For my nails I decided to do a gradient starting with black on my thumbs and going through various shades of purple and then pink on my pinkie nails. I also added the Aurora Unicorn Skin topper from Holo Taco on top and it looks amazing.

And just a random thing about today is that my dad found this instant coffee yesterday while looking for something in a cabinet that doesn't get used much. He told me he didn't remember buying instant coffee ever and it must be older than me. When he dumped it out today, he found a coupon that expired in 1992! That coffee is at least 4 years older than me. We find entertainment in the littlest of places these days. 

3 Week Journey To A Better Self: Day 1

Hello all,
As I am writing this, it is May 11th and it starts the first week of my 3 week break before my next grad school class begins. During this time I was hopeful that I would have a job, but given the current situation that hasn't been possible. Instead, I will be using this time to better myself and forming good habits. This might be the only time in my life that I won't have work or school to worry about for this long of a time, so I have a plan.
So what does that mean?
Well, I have started getting back into working out. I just completed the Blogilates 7 day ab challenge and I plan to continue with her 7 day challenges over the next few weeks. Today began glute week and I am so excited! I already feel such a difference in myself after the week of abs and these workouts really are challenging without being so hard that I feel like giving up. lol. They have also made such a difference in my ability to fall asleep at night and for that I am so grateful! I just did today's workout and I feel like it was so much easier because I have built up the strength over the past week to be able to do the exercises. I am really proud of myself.
I am also trying to drink at least 32oz of water per day and I have been healthier with my snacking. I've swapped things like chips and pretzels for fruit or carrots and hummus. We've been making homemade hummus, yogurt, and kombucha. So good!
I hope to not only work out during this time but also to take part in other forms of self care as well.
This not only means having a self care day including a face mask and painting my nails, but also creative outlets and reading as well. I am so hyped to have this time to be creative and do things that make me happy.  

Things I plan on doing during this time include:

• Continuing my workout challenges
• Drink 32oz of water per day
• Make art
• Record lots of things for youtube
• Read
• Have a self care day once per week
• Blog about it all!

How To Stay Possitive When You Feel Like Everything Is Falling Apart Around You: Self Care in Quarantine

The world is in a weird place right now, and I think everyone is struggling at least a little bit with adjusting to the "new normal." You might be doing work or school at home full time for the first time ever. Or you might be a senior who is rightfully upset that they can't complete the year with their classmates. You might just be someone struggling with job loss or with the illness itself. Here are some tips that have helped me lately to get back on track and feel a little less down.

1. Get into a routine: I feel way less productive if all I do is roll out of bed and spend the day in my PJs until it's time to go to bed again and change into new PJs. Making a routine will allow you to feel some sense of normalcy each day even if all you are doing is watching Netflix. I just finished my class and have 3 weeks before my next one starts. I do not currently have a job because we just moved in February and I was planning on looking during this time that has turned into quarantine. I know that without a routine I am going to go stir crazy, so I am being extremely mindful of this. I always make sure to get up, make the bed, have my coffee, take my medications, get dressed, eat breakfast and start my day off right.
2. Journal: This might seem lame or unhelpful, but journaling can help free up space in your mind and allow you to get out your emotions in a healthy way. I am someone that has a hard time sleeping being my brain goes into overdrive. I cannot get the racing thoughts to stop sometimes without getting them out on paper and telling myself to let go. This will also be something to look back on to share with your children or grandchildren when they ask you about the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 for their history class. If you have kids, get them into it too. You could even go a step further and make a time capsule. Add drawings, photos of the price of gas, journal entries, a letter to your future self.
3. Make your bed: This is such a simple task, but doing it first thing in the morning really gives you a sense of accomplishment and can inspire you to do more. I always feel better when the space around me is clean. And I love being able to crawl into a made bed at night rather than a mess of sheets, blankets, and pillows.
4. Don't forget to shower!: Something as simple as a shower can make you feel refreshed and ready to take on the world. If this is something you've been struggling with, remember to take it slow. You don't need to do a full routine, just wash your hair, body, and get out. Save shaving for another day. Or if you feel like doing a full routine, maybe use a deep conditioner or a DIY  body scrub. Whether you do a quick wash or a full on spa day routine, just make the effort and you will feel better for it.
5. Drink more water: Again, something that seems so simple. I am the kind of person that loves my coffee, tea, and soda and doesn't really like the taste of plain old boring water. I have been challenging myself to drink 32oz of water per day lately in addition to my other preferred beverages. I add lemon to it or other fruit that we can find easily at the grocery store, and this makes it way easier to drink the water because it actually tastes like something.
6. Exercise!: Now, if you are like me, this is the last thing you want to do right now. So start slow and do something you like! Walk your dog, walk around your neighborhood, do a stretching routine, follow a youtube video... the possibilities are endless. For the month of May, I am following the7 day challenges that blogilates is releasing every week. This first week has been abs, but honestly it is really much more of a total body workout. I am so sore! But it feels so good to check off that box every day! Doing something like this that I can follow along with and check off really makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something every day rather than UGH I need to workout. I have also been sleeping way better and my anxiety has been helped so much by this. And these are things I know happen when I exercise, it's just finding that initial motivation to do it!
7. Read: I enjoy reading but it can be difficult for me to allow myself to take a moment to slow down and pick up a book. I feel like I don't deserve the time to relax when there are so many other things I should be doing. But this is a bad mindset to have and I am trying to get past that during this time. But, I have found audiobooks really helpful because I can do other things at the same time. I use scribd and Libby for my audiobooks and this also prevents me from spending money on books if they are available to me on these apps. 

I hope you find some of these tips helpful... hopefully it's not just a repeat of what everyone is saying. These are genuinely things that have helped me feel better during this time.

Feeling Down Lately... They Called Me With No Job Offer

Sometimes I can't help but get down on myself and wonder if I picked the wrong field to study. I got my BA in Environmental Studies and am currently working on my Master's of Science with no jobs in sight. Especially no jobs in sight now with COVID-19. Don't get me wrong, I am glad I am safe at home and that other people can be safe at home. But I also had high hopes of being able to find a job in the field that I have been dreaming of being a part of for so long and have worked hard to become a part of. I am scheduled to graduate in December of this year, but where I stand now financially, I am not sure that I will even be able to achieve that.

Recently, I was contacted by a place I had sent an application to and they asked me for a phone call. I was so excited. I thought for sure I was at least being consider for a position. Why else would a business ask for a phone call? So I scheduled my phone call and waited anxiously for it. I did my research, learned about the specific Environmental Management System they used, prepared the skills I had that could relate to their specific business. I had all my ducks in a row. I barely slept the night before out of nerves. I waited for the clock to hit 11:30 and for the phone to ring.

Then my phone call happened. One of the first words the man said to me was that there were no job openings currently available. My heart dropped. I thought, why are we speaking over the phone now then? Why are you wasting my time? Everything I had planned immediately went out the window. It was supposed to be a 30 minute phone call which ended up being 45 minutes, with me talking for less than 5 minutes total and him going on about the water treatment facility and how a position MIGHT open up in the future and how I could "literally get my feet wet" starting working at the company. I tried to ask specifics about the job and he couldn't give me any and deflected by offering me a tour. I originally said yes, but later emailed saying no. I said I have no experience with that, as in actual NO EXPERIENCE, but that didn't matter. My skills would be useless and all he could describe was sludge removal from lagoons and how it could be a "resume builder", why did you call my resume impressive then?

This whole situation was extremely embarrassing for me. Here I was putting myself out there, then thinking I had a shot, then being offered a position that, not only did not exist, but was also so low a skill level that other companies look for people with high school degrees or equivalent to do the job. I was so embarrassed and felt humiliated. Here I was with a big list of skills on what they called an "impressive" resume, and this was my offer? A non-existent job, with no salary offer, no day to day responsibilities to state, and not utilizing a single thing I put on my resume? For something that might not even happen. My mind could not wrap my head around what happened.

I suppose I was one of those people who had high hopes of being able to save the world in one way or another. I thought that I would find a job that made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile and important. That my reason for existing was to help ensure the planet continued to exist. And when things look as grim as things are right now... I can't help but feel I made some mistakes in my life. I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I do. When something like this comes along and hits you in your ego it makes you question if you are in fact better than that or if all you are ever going to be worth is a body to move sludge.

But maybe that is also just a feeling my generation has in general. Sure, some Millennials were lucky to find jobs and be able to support themselves and start families. But how many of us are doing what we actually want to be doing? Maybe that is something I will have to accept. Maybe all the studying wasn't worth it. Maybe I just know a lot of information that will never get me anywhere besides behind a cash register or worse. And Maybe I just need to learn how to accept that. I really hope this isn't true. But for now, I've just been feeling down lately... and I think it's okay sometimes to just let yourself feel what you feel in order to move past it. I'll get there eventually, but for now I just want to curl up in my blanket and forget the rest of the world for a while.

Overtone Rose Gold For Brown Hair Review: With Before & After PIc! Plus discount link!

I recently decided to try Overtone the color depositing conditioner. I wanted to get the rose gold color for blond hair, but they were out of stock so I picked up the rose gold for brown hair. My hair is dark blond and lightens when I go out into the sun. The ends are more of a highlighted blond while my roots are closer to a light brown. I knew that because my hair was lighter it would be more of a bright pink than a rose gold and I was fine with that. Keep your hair color in mind while ordering if you plan on doing so.

I ended up ordering the set that included the color depositing deep conditioner, a regular size bottle of their everyday color depositing conditioner, and a travel size bottle of the everyday conditioner.

It arrived very quickly, it took less than a week, but I did order the express shipping because I was worried about it taking too long in the current situation. It was packaged nicely and I found it funny that the box said they would put a mirror there but I already know how good I look. We like a company with humor. 

 I was a little intimidated by just how neon the color in the container was! But I followed the directions and I really loved the bright pink results I ended up with! And it smells super strongly of cinnamon which was amazing. But if you are sensitive to smell, might be something to consider. The everyday conditioner has the same smell, but not as strong.
The deep conditioner left my hair feeling soft but definitely like there was something in it. It almost felt slightly chalky, but this did not last long. It did not feel damaging at all, which I liked because I am still trying to grow my hair out.






 

Here's a little Before and After photo:

For me, the bright color lasted about a week and a half before fading to what would be considered more of a rose gold look. I was not using a color safe shampoo, but I did continue to use their everyday conditioner. My roots faded significantly faster because I do not put conditioner there. I think the color would completely fade after maybe a month and a half. I ended up re-dying my hair after the one month mark because I had used about half the container for my first color and wanted to use the rest. Came out just as good the second time.
I highly recommend if you want to try a non-permanent hair color. If you want something that will last a long time though, this might not be for you.

If you are interested in trying Overtone, check them out at this link to get $10 off your first purchase!