Month: January 2020

Why New Year’s Resolutions don’t work

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We’re just about finished with January and almost everyone has already given up on their New Year’s Resolutions. Whether you made a resolution to eat better, lose weight, read more, go to bed early, etc. most people [80% of us] have already given up on our resolutions.

I think resolutions are funny. I make them, I won’t lie, but year after year we fall short on achieving our New Year’s goals for a variety of reasons. There are simpler ways to reach these goals, but people think just because they write them on their whiteboard above their desk that they will achieve them. Whether you’ve made no progress on your goals or have decided to give up completely, here are a few ways to actually achieve your goals, whether you start today, February 1st, this next Monday, or in 2021.

  1. Set attainable goals: A goal to write a book when you’ve never written more than 5 pages for a school paper is not realistic. Setting smaller, more attainable goals like writing a short story or planning out that novel you’ve dreamt of writing allows you to still make progress on your lifelong dream but they’re less daunting and you can 100% complete them and be happy with your success instead of being upset that you fell short on writing a whole novel.
  2. Don’t make tons of resolutions: The biggest mistake I used to make [2018 Alicia was far too ambitious] was to make 8-15 resolutions for the New Year. I could only focus on one or two of these resolutions and would get disheartened when I would fail the rest even though I was making progress in some areas of my life which was in fact, still progress.
  3. Make a plan on how to achieve these resolutions: Making a resolution to “Go Vegan” is so unrealistic it’s not even funny. I remember when I went vegan, it was hard. I ate fruits, veggies and protein bars [and Chipotle] for the first few months because I had no idea what I was doing. After hours of research about going and eating vegan, I was able to incorporate a variety of vegan foods into my diet. For larger and longer-term goals [getting healthy, learning a new hobby, etc.] you have to research and make a plan to achieve these resolutions if you want them to work out.
  4. Check-in on your goals every so often: Ever two weeks I have an event in my calendar that says “Resolution Check-in” where I look at what I’ve been doing, see if it’s working or not, make changes and sometimes even change the resolution as a whole. You won’t be the same person in March as you were in January and it’s okay to make those changes accordingly.
  5. Realize it’s okay to have setbacks: When you’ve been eating unhealthily or drinking soda or whatever for YEARS, you are going to have a setback or two. Realize that it’s okay. Don’t beat yourself about it and try to not do it the next time you’re tempted.

Finally, remember that completing a New Year’s Resolution doesn’t occur overnight. So many HUGE resolutions will take months if not the entire new year. Take it slow and you can [finally] achieve your New Year’s Resolution[s].

❤ Alicia

Saalt Period Cup Review

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Hi all, Happy Thursday! Slowly but surely getting into that routine // self-care practice of writing when I can. As you’ve probably seen from my Instagram or blog posts here and on LVNG Limitless [RIP], I’ve been actively working to live a more sustainable lifestyle. One of the many ways that I produce waste every month is through period products. Tampons and Pads produce an obscene amount of waste over the course of a lifetime and I was 100% over that. So, after much self-debating and a trip to Target, I came home with the Saalt cup, a silicone cup that replaces single-use period products.

 

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In short, I’m in love. The Saalt cup has truly changed my life in such a short time and I am NEVER going back. After just six months of using this cup, I’ve saved over 24 pads and 60 tampons.

Short story long, I don’t have to worry about my period anymore. I will not lie, the first period I used the Saalt cup for, I was PARANOID. It’s a weird feeling at first, I cannot lie. I thought it would leak and I wouldn’t know, I thought it would get stuck, millions of thoughts flooded my mind during those first five days, and guess what? None of them were true! I didn’t need to worry about a thing [although I am glad I paid extra careful attention just in case].

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the cup itself

During all of the periods I’ve had that have followed using the Saalt cup, I do not worry about my period. Most days [except for day three which is my heaviest flow] of my period I change it in the morning after my shower and before I go to bed and that’s it. No leaks, no ruined underwear, no pain, nothing. It’s just like a regular week, with a little bit of added silicone.

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the storage pouch

So, of all period cups, why the Saalt cup? Well, besides the fact that it’s roughly half of what other name brand period costs retail for [Diva cup in particular], it comes in two sizes [most do], with the bigger size being blue [what could be better ??], the packaging is absolutely adorable, it comes with a carrying case, and three little pamphlets about usage, helping communities, and how to follow it. Not only this, but for every Saalt cup you buy, it gives one to a menstruating individual in need of period care.

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the how-to guide and their mission

The how-to guide was extremely useful [especially because I was quaking in my boots because I didn’t know if it would hurt] and reading about how women in 3rd world countries have to miss a month or so of school or work every year due to their period. Due to this, many people drop out or quit their jobs because it is so difficult to work or go to school while menstruating without the proper period products.

In my opinion, you don’t need to buy both sizes. I have the larger size and even on my lighter days, it does the job well.

I would recommend the Saalt cup [or any period cup for that matter] to every single menstruating human not only because of the lack of waste you are creating but also because of the care that they give to those in need.

A huge 5/5 stars for the Saalt Cup. Thank you for giving back, being affordable, and being the absolutely cutest period cups to line the shelves.

*Please note: If you use an IUD you cannot use the saalt cup because of the suction. You would run the risk of having your IUD come out.

❤ Alicia

Exploring my options: What does post-grad hold?

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I’ve done a lot of reflecting during the time I’ve had this blog. From what I’ve done during college, outside of school, and before college, it’s one of my favorite things to do. However, in less than four months [WHAT??] I will be graduating college. What comes next? I know a lot of what I don’t want to come next, but I’m not certain what will come next. I have options. A shit ton of options actually and it’s terrifying. I’m almost positive everyone has as many options as what I’ll mention in a minute but everyone takes the typical path: grad school or a job because they’re easy and the proper ‘next’ thing to do in life. If we’ve made one thing very very clear from my time of writing, it’s that I never do the proper thing. So, what the hell am I going to do in four months? What the hell are any of us soon to be graduates going to do in four months? Beats me, but at least I have options and the ability to make a pro-con list. So, let’s have at it.

Grad school

I know that one day I will have to go to grad school. Whether I go to grad school for education, Spanish, business, etc. who knows? But I’ll have to go eventually. A month or so ago, my advisor told me she has recommended me for grad school into the Spanish department at OU. This would entail a “TAship” which would mean free tuition. I would still have to pay room and board but I would also be paid for being a TA so I would be able to manage on that salary. I wouldn’t be able to save much if anything, but I could live off of that.

I always knew I would go to grad school. However, I NEVER thought I would go for Spanish. I could do it, obviously, and it would be tremendous for my Spanish skills and teaching skills [since I would have to teach an intro level course] but it’s never something I thought I would do. I need a year off. So I would, if I took this opportunity, start in the fall of 2021.

Be a “Cultural Ambassador” in Spain

This is also a new option for me which was shown to me by my linguistics professor who is a liaison for the program here. I’m not 100% confident on my teaching abilities because I really still haven’t taught a class by myself even though I’m supposed to [lol] so I would like a bit more practice [which could change come the end of the semester] before taking on my own classroom. This Cultural Ambassador program would basically entail me being a part-time teacher in a classroom in Spain teaching about my language and culture. I would be making a living wage and living in Spain as well as having time to travel. It’s also very nice because it’s only a 9-10 month commitment so it’s not too much pressure for me to adore the job because if I don’t want to renew the job, I don’t have to. I can apply starting January 30th [which I will be doing] and if I get it, as long as I don’t get offered another job, it is probably what I will be doing right out of the post-grad gate.

The Peace Corps

The Peace Corps has been something I have always wanted to do. Since I first heard about it five or six years ago, I knew it was something I had to do before I die. My only concern with it is that it’s a 27-month program. I have a few friends I know doing it right now, so I want to talk to them before I do it in the near future. I will do it eventually, but I want to know if now is the time for it or not. Obviously, if I do it soon, I would probably go and teach. However, if I ended up going later, what I did would definitely depend on my career path then.

Get a job in America

The education job fair is in April and I will probably not be back in Athens for it so my advisors will give my resume and portfolio to schools of sizes, locations, etc. that I’m interested in. If I get offered a job either close to home or somewhere I could see myself living, I might take it. I would LOVE if they could pay // help pay for grad school. We will see what April brings.

Get a job abroad

There are two former COST students turned teachers here in Thessaloniki and it sounds like a dream. Having a year by year contract so you can go home or somewhere else to teach whenever you please is amazing. Not to mentions living in Greece and having ample time and places to travel. It would be great to live here but obviously, that’s not really up to me. If I were to get offered to stay here, I’d have to think it over, but I think I’d eventually take it. Who wouldn’t?

Something else??????

My dream would be to move to the Pacific Northwest, get a tiny house and a dog, and work at a vegan restaurant and write and read in the woods in my free time. However, I do not think that a small vegan restaurant or bakery salary could pay for the lifestyle I would love to live. So, this might have to wait.

As we can see, I have options upon options. I need to keep my focus and not let anyone or anything influence my decision for post-grad life [as I did with college] so that I can do what I want and be one happy camper after I graduate.

❤ Alicia

Bittersweet

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*sidenote: I wrote this post a month ago but never posted it so to my friends or whoever that read this: imagine you read it last month or at least pre-Greece.

 

Bittersweet. This semester has absolutely flown by and I don’t know how I feel about it. I’m officially done at Ohio University and next semester I will be headed to Thessaloniki Greece to student teach for three months alone. I’m beyond excited to teach in Greece but I can’t help but feel melancholy to leave Athens and all my friends behind. Five semesters in one location is honestly not enough. Five semesters in a place that’s become my home is 110%, not enough time. I love Athens Ohio, Ohio University and every single person that I’ve met in my five semesters there with my whole heart and being away from them for the next four months is honestly not something I’m looking forward to. As I said, yes I’m excited to go to Greece [how can you not be excited to spend three months living out your Mamma Mia fantasy and seeing all of the history this country has to offer?!] I am so pumped I’ve made a packing list already, I’ve booked my flight, I’ve got my apartment and everything else is in the works but going to Greece and being separated from the people that I love more than anything is kind of a shitty trade-off.

I cried every day last week. I cried saying goodbye to my friends I cried listening to songs about leaving and new beginnings. I cried at bars. I cried in my apartment. I cried in my classes. I cried at work. I cried in front of professors, friends, strangers, etc. I’ve just been crying.

I want to end this with a little bit of a thank you. It’s impossible to thank every single person that has impacted my life at Ohio University, but I do want to thank the ones that have truly made by Ohio University experience the best experience of my entire life.

To my gorls, thank you all for always being willing to get donkey, hit the gym, and let me spill all of my tea. To Grace, thanks for introducing me to Harbour the Band and for always getting me to lift arms even though I never want to. I’m sorry I never texted you back when we were CHAARGmas babes however I’m really glad that we’re friends now and I consider you one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met in my entire life. To Hannah, you are the most beautiful human being I’ve ever seen in my entire life and I know you don’t always believe that, but I hope one day you do. You make my day every time I see you and you are such a bright light in my life you have no idea. To Jess, thank you for being the mom of our friend group and for always keeping us all in check. You were going to do the most amazing things in life [and at law school] and I cannot wait to be there for all of them. To Kenzie, I’m so glad you awkwardly snapchatted me that one night in February because I gained an amazing friend from that. Thank you for always letting me know that it’s okay to treat myself even when I definitely shouldn’t be. You can always use a little or a lot of treat yo self in your life. Finally, to Sami, the CHAARG gods [Grace] were really thinking about us last fall when they put you in my small group. You have become one of my best friends over the past year-and-a-half so thankful for that. From our nights out to our Friday shifts at Boyd and everything in between I’m so thankful to have you as a friend. Try not to die next semester.

To CHAARG, you’re the reason I stayed at Ohio University. When I transferred here I had no friends and was worried I would never make any at all during my time here. Thank you for giving me five of the best friends I could have ever asked for.

To Boyd Market, Thank you for the best 5 semesters of cold Monday morning shipments, dead birds, ‘crackhead’ hours, 10-2 smoothie shifts, Register 1 pow wows, Friday afternoon tea parties, ladies of Boyd tik toks, and the best people I’ve ever worked with.

To Olivia Labenne, you were my first friend at Ohio University and I’m glad that I can still call you a friend 5 semesters later. Thank you for dealing with me 24/7 from late-night coffee runs to Walmart fish shopping and of course the Adams first floor. I would not have survived sophomore year without you.

To Olivia Hovan, you made working at Boyd Market bearable and you were the reason I did not quit that job. I’m so thankful to have made a friend as great as you and I can’t wait to come back in April and work with you again. I’ll see you at Palmer 😉

To Anna and Liz, last year I didn’t think I could be friends with my roommates ever again however you guys changed that for the better. You two have become two of my absolute best friends and you got me through this fall semester, and I don’t know how I’m going to get through spring semester without you both. Thank you for always listening to my rants about my life my classes my work and my friends and never complaining. Sorry I can’t help but fall asleep on the couch.

To my instructors, thank you for challenging me, shaping me, and giving me support during my time here. I had the absolute honor of learning from some of the most intellectual, cultured, and compassionate people Ohio [and abroad] had to offer.

To Anne Scott, you are the reason I am graduating from this university. Without your constant support, guidance, and tools I would not be where I am today. I cannot wait to be the best teacher [or whatever I end up doing later on] because of you. I will always be grateful to you.

To everyone else not listed above. Thank you for dealing with my constant sarcasm, my snoring [now fixed thank you sinus surgery], my major changes, and everything else in between. I cannot wait to see where life takes each and every one of us. See you all at Homecoming [maybe 😉 ]

Alicia

Time for a change

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Hello! I just posted and realized I had changed my blog URL and didn’t give anyone a fair warning. Live Pulchritudinously will forever and always have my heart but I figured since I’m growing up, about to be living my post-grad life, and wanted to have an acute and catchy name, that Living Off Leesh will be my new URL.

As you all know, I’m a part of an organization called CHAARG. CHAARG is very reliant on social media, specifically Instagram. I created my Instagram account for CHAARG roughly two and a half years ago and have almost 500 posts, 2600 followers, etc. on it. Since I’m basically no longer a CHAARG member [what can I do from Greece?] I wanted to continue my healthy lifestyle and blogger duo by maintaining that Instagram account as well as my personal blog. My _inCHAARG Instagram name started out as alicia.ou_inCHAARG and then morphed into leesh_inchaarg [leesh is a nickname that I have] which I then wrote a note in my phone that livingoffleesh [a mix of Live Pulchritudinously with the living and off leesh for my nickname and also the phrase lol] would take the place of that Instagram username once the time came. Well, the time has come for me to turn my student org Instagram into a cute lil Instagram blog as well as a platform to share my writing, which, as you all know, I’m trying to do a bit more of in 2020.

So, here’s to 2020, new goals, new friends, new writing, a pulchritudinous life, and of course, to living off leesh.

❤ Alicia

My first Greek week

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Adjusting to Greece has been, in short, absolute hell. I love it here, I really do, however, I am struggling like no other. I spent my first 5 days alone outside of school with the exception of the three times that I spent with my coordinating supervisor. Every other time I’ve been to a new country I’ve been with people. This time, I’m completely alone. When I’m alone I retreat into my room, watch TV, play on my phone and sleep. And honestly, that’s all I’ve done this week besides the time I was actually at school.

I arrived Monday night an hour late. I was picked up at the airport at about 10pm. I made it to my apartment and talked with my host and supervisor for a while and was finally alone at 11:30pm. I unpacked a bit and fell asleep.

The next morning, I was picked up at 3 to go walk by the sea, explore my community and get coffee. I told myself I would explore on my own beforehand as well as go grocery shopping. I left my apartment for the first time at about 1:30 and went to a corner store nearby. I bought bread, pasta, lentils, etc. They only had nonperishables.

On Wednesday, I woke up at 3:30 and was awake until the following night. I was picked up at 8:30 from my apartment and we drove to school. I met at least 25 different people whose names I couldn’t tell you now. I then on 4 hours of sleep, had to observe 5 classes during the next 6 hours.  I got home, cooked myself dinner and went to bed at 6:30.

Thursday I woke up at 1:30am and was awake, once again, until the following night. Never in my life has jetlag affected me this hard, or at all really. I watched TV and tried to go back to sleep, without prevail, until my alarm went off at 5:45 and it was time to shower. I drank an entire pot [10 cups] of coffee this morning and boy did I need it.

After school that day, I was told to get on the wrong bus and ended up in a suburb I’d never heard of [not that I’d heard of any of the suburbs in Thessaloniki] which was a 97-minute walk from my house. With no uber, lyft, or way to get a taxi, I walked to a shell station which had wifi, called my dad and sobbed. It definitely wasn’t a matter worth crying over but my sleep-deprived, caffeinated self needed a good cry. A woman who spoke perfect English came over, comforted me, and got me a cab home. I’m forever indebted to this woman. I got home this night, cooked dinner, and went to bed.

Friday morning was the latest I slept, waking up at a smooth 4:00am. I made coffee early that morning and got ready for school. Fridays, are my new favorites because I get to spend the majority of the day with the ELL teacher. Something about her is very comforting and I love being in her class. Friday evening, I took 2 Benadryl and went to sleep.

Saturday was really good. I spent the morning with the COST coordinator here at an open market [it reminded me of a market I frequented in Spain] and at a cute little coffee shop.  I got to spend the evening with 2 former COST students turned teachers as well as another teacher from America. We got dinner and drinks and the whole night was a ton of fun.

Sunday was a day just for me. I woke up at 11 [thank the lord for sleep], ate breakfast [pasta because I ran out of bread and I forgot that shops are closed on Sundays], and relaxed all day. I could have explored, I could have done anything, but I didn’t. I finally did a bit of schoolwork and activity planning at around 8pm but all in all, I needed a day to relax and I’m feeling much better about my time here. Albeit I’m still anxious about everything and afraid the students hate me as well as unsure about how I’m going to teach using a curriculum I have no practice in, but hey. I survived my first week in Greece and if I can survive the week that I did, anything is possible.

❤ Alicia

My new home :)

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Hi all. It’s January 7th at 2:38pm and I’m sitting on my couch in my apartment in Thessaloniki, Greece. Traveling always gives me a reason to write. Traveling always gives me a need to write. My favorite thing to do when at an airport [not this time but I’ll get to that in a minute] or in a hotel or at a café is to write. We all knew that. Just wanted to give everyone an update about my current life, what I’m currently doing and another promise that I won’t have time to write a lot this semester with 12 weeks of student teaching, the edTPA, living in a foreign country by myself for the first time, etc. However, on my first and only free day that I have while in Greece, I wanted to take a bit of time out of my hectic day of grocery shopping, unpacking, turning an Airbnb into a home, and figuring out this new city that I live in to write a little bit.

This semester I have the amazing opportunity to participate in the COST program teaching Spanish and ESL at the Pinewood American International School in Thermi Greece, a suburb of Thessaloniki. I will be working with 4 [yes 4] teachers teaching grades K-12 in Spanish and English. I will also be completing the edTPA [basically a huge 3-part project that I need to do well on in order to graduate and become a certified instructor] during my time here which will take up a huge chunk of my time.

Finally, I will be exploring and living in Thessaloniki. I speak absolutely no Greek so with the help of Duolingo, my students, and the people I meet I’m hoping to at least learn enough to get by in my day to day life.

I’m absolutely exhausted from the past 24 hours of travel, middle seats, layovers, delays, and 8-hour time differences. I

I don’t know much of what this semester holds for me, but I do know one thing, I’m the happiest at 11:30pm when I first get to a new country.

Now, I’m off to have coffee and a walk along the sea with the coordinating instructor here in Greece. Here’s to writing at least a smidge more this year, ❤

Alicia