Update/Self Care Tips

As you may have noticed I took a short hiatus from blogging. I actually deleted all of the my social networking profiles in order to try and separate myself from the internet and computer, which has been extremely successful but I do miss writing for my blog. Also I am deleting my name from all posts and my photo does not show my face for personal reasons.

Not much to mention about school, all my classes are pretty so-so and I have been very busy in general now that I am working a job as well as being a full time nursing student. And with this busy schedule. I have been taking special attention to practice self care, something that is put aside for a lot of university students. Here are few tips that have helped me stay healthy mentally and physically through my busy schedule:

1. Meditation. It sounds dorky but there are many different types of meditation that are very simple and easy to practice. For me personally I just listen to music and lay down. focussing on the music really helps me relax and helps me de-stress. Even for 15 or so minutes it makes a world of difference.

2. Eat Healthy. At the beginning for college this was very hard for me in particular and I ended up gaining some weight. It is important to eat foods that will give you natural energy that will in turn help you get through the day without drinking five energy drinks. 

3. Treat Yourself. Yes eat healthy but don't be afraid to treat yourself every once in awhile. It can be anything from going to get your nails done or making some chocolate covered strawberries (something I have been doing a lot lately).Just remember to give yourself some love.

4. Exercise. A lot of people avoid this at all costs. You have to make time in your schedule to exercise or else it usually won't get done. So many studies have shown the benefit of even 30 minutes of exercise each day. I really enjoy the universities Zumba classes and on the days that I don't go I go for runs and do basic weight lifting and such. It gives you more natural energy and with the combination of eating healthy and exercise you will feel really good physically.

5. Time Management. Added stress from procrastination or over scheduling is very detrimental to the body and mind, so work on creating a calendar and schedule your week in advance so you don't run into any unwanted stresses and difficult situations later on.

(this photo and the one before it have been reposted so many times without accreditation on so many websites that I cannot find its origin, if the photographer sees this post, please comment and I will put a credit here)

Those are just some basic self care tips and if you are ever feeling overwhelmed and stressed, don't be afraid to take a moment for yourself.

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CLASSES!

This will be a short review of my classes so far. So I have had each of my classes once so far and I am actually not looking forward to too much which is a shame.

I have Philosophy 220. Which is just the second level and I really enjoyed my class last quarter, I thought I would hate philosophy but the readings were really interesting and the tests were not too hard. This quarter though, I spaced out when she was just talking about the syllabus.. *sigh* I hope it isn't like this everyday. The one thing that I am excited for is that we are watching The Matrix and writing a reflection about it and incorporating some ideas from Descartes writing I believe, so that should be pretty interesting.

Next, I have Psychology 120. This is my first psychology class and the only reason I am kind of excited about it is that it is a nurse prereq so it actually is important. Again, maybe it was just the syllabus part, but it seems pretty boring yet again. I don't mind if it is challenging just as long as it is also interesting.

And Lastly, I have Intro to US politics, which should probably be my most interesting class. I took AP Government in high school (didn't pass the test so I have to take it again now for my social science II). The only bummer is that we study some local politics and being a California resident, I can't really do anything about anything. Like some girls were talking about writing to the city council regarding the Yessler Terrace Housing reconstruction that is going on right now but if I wrote to them and they did introduce some sort of law, I wouldn't be able to vote on it so it would be pointless.. We shall see.

I'm not too worried about stressing or anything, even though this is my first quarter taking on a job, so far it isn't too much even though I am way over scheduled I still find time to sit, relax, and do my homework.

Also one of my closest friends in the dorms can finally hang out this quarter (last quarter her classes almost killed her) and I am super excited to finally get to hang out with her!

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Bachelorette and SPRING QUARTER (and spring break)

WHOOP!

Ok so I have literally started writing several posts and then just stopped and honestly it is because I ave much more of a real life now then I did a few weeks ago. Over spring break I had plenty of time to but instead I just hung out with old friends (something I thought I would never do seeing as I pretty much became almost exclusively reclusive my senior year before I left) and I hung out with my mom, a lot. WHICH WAS THE BEST. 

Unfortunately I didn't get to see all of my friends and when I did it was just for a few hours to catch up and share college anecdotes (which left us all laughing on the ground because funny things happen in college). So thats pretty much all I did and I am really happy that I ended up going home (I was originally planning on staying in SeaTown but bought tickets last minute) and I am now ecstatic for summer.

NEXT, I shall talk about the movie Bachelorette which is my new favorite feel-good comedy (it replaced She's all That which is a huge thing for me but they might be tied I don't know yet). 

Its a picaresque film about three bridesmaids who rip the dress the night before and have to find a way to fix it before the wedding the next day. Isla Fisher is by far my favorite actress in this, she plays a dumb, retail-forever woman who is just hilarious throughout the whole film. That is really all I had to say.... I just really like Isla Fisher in this movie and I think she is just great and the reason everyone should see this film. It isn't a film of sustenance at all, like I said earlier it is just a feel-good for when you have nothing to do (NETFLIX movie if ya know what I mean).

Just yes.

Also I have just started a job as well as my last quarter of freshman year. The job is just a sandwich making deal and super simple which is nice. The only downfall is that it is a 5-10am shift, which I will get used to I just need to make sure I take care of bed time and such but a further review of that later once I have some more time there.

And finally, I am so excited to be done with this school year. It isn't that I haven't enjoyed it (I love college a lot) it is just that once spring break happens all I can think of is summer... I am so excited for the beach and the sun and all that jazz. My mom bought me surf lessons for my birthday and I am super excited for that too. I just have a lot to look for in the coming summer, thats all I am saying.

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Ikiru (To Live)

So I am currently working on my final paper in which we have to reference the Japanese film Ikiru and this movie is so incredible. I can honestly say that it is one of the greatest films I have ever witnessed. With a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, its pretty obvious I am not alone on this one. 

It is about a boring bureaucrat, Kanji Watanabe, who discovers he has less than a year to live, he realizes that he has done nothing with his life and hasn't been living at all in fact. In a panic he seeks life through other people, first an author who he goes out drinking and dancing with, the night ends up with him throwing up blood in the street. Next he seeks out a young woman who used to work for him until she quit to go work for a toy shop. She is very joyful and lively and Kanji finds himself enjoying himself for once. She gets creeped out and he tells her about his inevitable death to explain why he has been acting like he has, he asks how she is so joyful all the time when all she does is labor and eat. She tells him that when she is making the small bunny toys, she feels like she is playing with every child in Japan. This inspires him to go and create a park out of a swampy area. He seeks to do something meaningful with himself before he dies. 

Here is the trailer:

"I have less than a year to live. When I found that out... somehow I was drawn to you. Once when I was a child, I almost drowned. It's just like that feeling. Darkness everywhere, and nothing for me to hold onto, no matter how hard I try. There's just you." -Kanji

(Kanji with the young woman, Toyo)

"All she can convey to him is her simple-minded pleasure in manufacturing cheap little toys that will bring pleasure to someone," -William Bernhardt

He succeeds in making the park, he does it with fervor and passion and truly enjoys his endeavor. I could go on and on about what happens and how it is such a great film, but you should really watch it yourself. It is truly one of the most moving films I have ever seen. I literally want to cry while I'm writing this. I don't think there is any amount of praise I can give to express how I truly feel in my heart about this film.

The last scene is him swinging in the park he helped come about singing a lullaby called, "Life is Brief"

life is brief
fall in love, maidens
before the crimson bloom
fades from your lips
before the tides of passion
cool within you,
for those of you
who know no tomorrow
life is brief

"Wantanabe's triumph is not overcoming meaningless, but in seeing it clearly and resolving to live in its void." -Jeffrey Gordon

I should be writing my paper on this right now but I just needed to rant about how much this film moved me, which I can't really do in the paper, but I will try and convey as much of that as I can in it.

Please watch this, it has helped me rethink the way I live my life for the better, and it is truly a masterpiece.

~~~

"I can't afford to hate people. I haven't got that kind of time." -Kanji

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis!

Ok, but not really. So last night I had a dream that I went to a Macklemore and Ryan Lewis concert, I don't really remember the concert part of the dream but the meet and greet part. I just remember getting to take pictures with them and talk to them like real people and not crazed fans. And now that I am awake I am sad because I feel like that will never actually happen for me ever again. I went to their concert back in 2011 down in San Diego and it was so incredible. My friend said it literally changed her life. And we were front row at this tiny little concert venue and I don't even know how to describe it, it was literally just the best and I feel like crying right now just remembering it which is sad. Now they are huge! And don't get me wrong I am so proud of them and I wasn't an "original" fan but I was there for a long time before they got big. I am just sad that they might not have anymore of those small concerts that are super personal and if they do, tickets are probably going to be incredibly expensive..sigh..

So I guess we could say this is a bit of a throwback Thursday..

But any who, other than my dream I have just been in finals mode the entire time. I have presented my art project (still have to write a paper for it), finished philosophy completely, now all I have to do is start and finish my english paper that is to be ten pages and write a revision of another english paper.. so I have been keeping pretty busy. 

I am going home for spring break (which wasn't a thing up until a week or so ago) which I am really excited about. The absence of sun is starting to really get to me and I'm not sure I could live here for the rest of my life, I'm a cali girl and I don't think that will ever change. I am considering transferring to a school back home for junior and senior year but we shall see.

So other than that I have been pretty much just watching cat videos and eating more than I should waiting for this quarter to be over so I can go home to the sun..

Oh my goodness, I just started watching a video from the M & RL concert I was at, and started tearing up.. what is wrong with me...

~~~

BUTTER

I just finished watching the movie Butter and even though it wasn't the best movie, I just loved it. Starring Jennifer Garner, Yara Shahidi, and Olivia Wilde (who plays the best badass stripper I have ever witnessed in any film). It was lighthearted but also serious and the acting wasn't the best but you can definitely tell that the actors and actresses had a good time making the film. Also, blast from the past, Alicia Silverstone from clueless played the mom and she is still the best as ever. 

I don't really have much more to say, it was just a hilarious, light hearted film with a ton of familiar faces in it. I definitely recommend this film if you're feeling like you want a few laughs.

The trailer:

Also, random, but here are a few songs that I have been obsessed with lately:

Ke$ha- Die Young(Deconstructed)

Imagine Dragons- Radioactive (I want to dance so hard to this song you don't even know)

"Really? The butter police? Wow.."

~~~

S'mores in the City!

Today, while shopping at Value Village on Capital Hill with my friend Aubrey, we happened across some marshmallow roasting sticks and we both got a bit nostalgic for the good ole camp fires over the summers. So we were finally like, "Well why can't we roast marshmallows?"So we gathered supplies and made it happen!

We bought:

A shot glass

Small Christmas candles

Marshmallow roasting sticks

A lighter

Marshmallows

Graham crackers

and Hersey chocolate bars

First we melted four candles into a shot glass in order to get a bigger flame for top notch s'mores. Then we found a good corner on the city streets and got down to roasting. The s'mores didn't have the campfire taste but were still delicious non the less. It was a really fun bonding experience for my friends and I and we have decided to make it a weekly thing.

(from left to right: Aubrey, Izzy, and me)

All photos taken by Aubrey

Even being in a cold, rainy city, we still are able to bring a little bit of summer and home with us.

~~~