Good afternoon everyone, I’ve seen a few people post their year in pictures, and I really wanted to do it too!! So, here’s my year in pictures.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
What good habit do you want to begin this month?
A habit that I want to begin this month is drinking 64oz of water or more daily. Water is so important to our bodies to function and have so many benefits other than keeping us alive and I’m really crappy getting enough of it. I’ve been trying to drink enough water and marking my cups I’ve had on a whiteboard in my bedroom.
I’ve read that it takes 21 days to make a habit, so I put this little sheet blow on what I filled out for my goal of drinking water. I’ve used it in the past ad highly recommend it if any of you want to make a habit or 2 as well!
What is your habit you want to start this month?
Alicia
Hi everyone, 2017 was one giant rollercoaster for me. I learned so much and I wanted to showcase the top 17 things I learned in 2017
Afternoon everyone, I’m back again for the 31 days of self-love challenge. Here is Day 2!
Get rid of a limiting belief that you have about your abilities
The phrase “I can’t” is a staple in my vocabulary. I use it day in and day out, whether it relates to running the extra mile at the gym, finishing homework, or being home on time. If there is a task that is even a slight inconvenience to me, I can’t do it.
Obviously, I can do most of the things I can do, I just say that I can’t.
There’s a quote from Confucious that says, “He who says he can and he who says he can’t are both usually right.”
When I say I can’t do something, I won’t and therefore I can’t. However, when I say I can do something, I’m going to try and more likely than not will succeed.
I need to start saying “I can.” There are some things I physically cannot do, yet. Instead of the phrase “I can’t” I want to start saying “I can’t do it yet,” because if I can’t do something today, or even tomorrow, eventually I will be able to say I can.
Alicia
Hi everyone, so one of my intentions for the year is to take care of my physical and mental health. A very important aspect of both of those things is self-love. A few months back, I saw this 31 days of self-love challenge. I figured I would kickstart my year and try it because self-love is very important and it’s a great thing to practice. So here’s to 31 days of self-love and much more after that.
Day 1 What is your biggest struggle with loving yourself?
I think my biggest struggle with loving myself is that I am constantly comparing myself to others. And I believe this is an issue for many others. We live in a world where we idolize Instagram models and how many likes other get on pictures so in return we post pictures with filters and funny captions and the best lighting to see who can get the most likes.
I’m trying a bit of a social media detox. I have deleted twitter and facebook from my phone and will probably do the same for Instagram soon as well. I may redownload them when I want to post something or if my roommate says she tagged me in a meme. Social media is a great thing, I’ve discussed it before, we use social media to keep up with friends, keep up with politics around the world, and so much more, but social media is also a very negative thing. We thrive off of likes and comments, and how many followers we have. I think we all need a detox every now and again to remind us what’s really important in life and how superficial likes, filters, and followers really are.
If any of you would like to do the challenge as well, here are all of the prompts for the month. Love yourselves!!!
Hi everyone, so happy 2018 again. Now I know most people make New Year’s Resolutions and usually I am one of them, however, this year I’m going to be making intentions. I’ve mentioned the organization I’m involved with at school, CHAARG; well the founder of that organization makes intentions, which inspired me to the same. Basically, you make an intention(s) you hope t do daily, weekly, monthly, and then for the year. She also puts a quote that she wants the year to be like, so I’ll do that as well. Here are my 2018 intentions.
EVERY DAY
> 1 hour of journaling//meditation//reading
> 64 oz of water
> Exercise: whether that be the gym, yoga, a walk, etc. Anything to get my heart rate up and my body moving
EVERY WEEK
> Coffee//Lunch//Workout with someone… Ideally, a different person per week
> Write: My goal is to write weekly, maybe 3 times, I would love to write daily but I’ll be a little less optimistic to start
EVERY MONTH
> Read one book: I got 6 for Christmas and I have many more on my TBR so let’s hope I can keep up with it.
> Discover a new podcast series
THIS YEAR
> Vacation: I’d obviously love to go more but I’m trying to save as much money as I can
> Take care of my physical and mental health
2018 QUOTE
> “She designed a life she loved”
> “I just really want to be the warm yellow light that pours all over everyone I love”
> “You just have to surround yourself with people that have the same heart as you”
What are your intentions for the year?
Alicia
Happy New Year everyone! I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting over the past few days and weeks and I really wanted to review my past year. It’s been quite a rollercoaster of a year and has simultaneously been the best and worst year of my life if that makes any sense whatsoever. So, here’s my 2017 in one post
January started off pretty rough because we had to put my dog down. But it ended on a good note because I had finally convinced my family to let me go to Peru.
In February I visited Ohio University for the first time and fell in love with all that Athens and OU had to offer. I immediately could see myself as an OU student and the day of my visit I found out I had been accepted and I was pumped. At this point, however, I still hadn’t made my decision although I sort of always knew I’d end up in Athens
In March I got to see my absolute favorite bands perform live, and was 10 feet away from Brendon Urie. It was a great night with great friends and great music and I am so thankful for one of the best nights of my life
The best month of my life and year. I spent the entire month of April in one of the most amazing places on the entire planet, Peru. I spent is the month with some amazing people, amazing food, amazing views, and some not so amazing sunburns but all in all, April was one of if not the best month of my entire life.
If April wasn’t the best month of life, May took the cake for that. During May, I went to Cusco, climbed Rainbow Mountain, went to Machu Picchu, decided on a university, and adopted my dog, Poppy. The entire month of May was a plethora of great news and amazing memories
Happy Birthday to me! In June, I turned 20 and had a great birthday weekend doing some of my favorite things, registered for my first semester at Ohio University, and went to a few great concerts with some great people.
July was a pretty irrelevant month for me. It was filled with more concerts, which are always fun, but all in all nothing too extravagant. We also started Poppy’s heartworm treatment and I spent a week sleeping on the kitchen floor with my sweet girl. It was rough for her but we made it through
August was my last month at home and filled with a lot of puppy kisses, seeing friends, and a road trip to Tennessee for the eclipse. The month ended with one final road trip to Athens to start school at Ohio University. It was a rough start but I had high hopes for my semester especially since I also got my first real job!
With classes in full swing by September, I joined CHAARG at OU and met amazing people and got a visit from my family. I also got some fish (RIP Adam and Adam the 2nd) with my roommate and we really started to get to know each other!
We got our final batch of fish (that are still living) in October. I also went home for a weekend which was nice to relax and see Poppy. I also donated blood (it was Olivia’s first time), started studying my butt off and got the chance to relax at the end of the month with Halloween.
November started off strong with a visit from my dad for Dad’s weekend, and OU’s first basketball game. I then was lucky enough to become the Treasurer of 4 Paws for Ability on campus, which is an organization that helps match service dogs with those who need them. Most of that month involved studying my but off so it was then nice to destress with a trip home for Thanksgiving. When we got back from break, my sink became filled with sewage and it took a few days, but finally, maintenance was able to give us a sewage-free sink.
What a weird time to meet new people. In December I think I met more people than I had all semester. It was also finals week which kicked my ass and then I was able to further my belief that men are trash (maybe not all men but the ones I attract sure are). Then was Christmas and New Year’s all here we are now,
That’s my 2017, and I loved a lot of it, even though it was one of the most difficult years of my life, it was also one of the best. Can’t wait to see what 2018 holds.
Hi everyone! Today’s Blogmas post is a review of the Netflix original “A Christmas Prince.” So many people have been debating watching it because it’s not an ‘original’ Christmas movie. However, I figured I would watch that 92-minute movie to see how it ranked.
For those of you who haven’t heard of the movie, straight from Netflix comes this brief synopsis: “Christmas comes early for an aspiring young journalist when she’s sent abroad to get the scoop on a dashing prince who’s poised to be king.” I don’t want to give anything else away so you’ll all have to watch the movie for yourselves to see what happens with that journalist and the prince. 😉
Pros:
Cons:
Overall Review: Overall, I adored this movie. I am a sucker for a cliche but if you aren’t you’ll probably hate it. It sort of reminded me of a Christmas Ella Enchanted just without the violence. I really liked the plot twist in the movie (that I will not share) and it was just overall a very cute and sweet movie. I’d say a 9/10 from me tbh.
Until next time
Alicia
Hi everyone, still going strong with my Blogmas posts. Today’s Blogmas post is all about giving a successful Secret Santa gift and some tips and tricks I use to try to give the best Secret Santa gift ever!!
Are there any other tips you have for Secret Santa gift giving?
Alicia
T-minus 3 days until Christmas and there are still many people at malls running around picking up some last minute gifts. I feel like with all the commotion with getting the bulk of the gifts we tend to forget about the stocking stuffers. Those are always some of my favorites gifts to receive because they are usually the first I open and it’s always fun to see what ‘Santa’ puts in them. Here are a few random ones that you can usually find in most stores and some pretty close to check out.
Hello everyone, I have been one to talk about my love of ugly Christmas sweaters, and I figured I’d also share the ones I have. I only have 3 of my own at the moment but I’m certain my collection will grow. So, here’s my collection and a backstory behind each of them.
Let it Glow- The most recent Christmas sweater purchase and the most ‘fun’ one. This light up sweater was a hit at a few parties over the past few weeks and I love to dazzle the crowds with the color changing lights.
Shrek Christmas- This sweater was a gift from Santa 😉 last Christmas. After receiving Shrek and Donkey pillow pets the year before, I guess the tradition had t continue. This sweater is actually really comfortable and if there wasn’t a lifesize Ogre head on it I’d love to wear it regularly.
Homemade Sweater- I’ve discussed this sweater in posts before so I’ll keep this one short and sweet. My entire family slaved over the sweater for hours trying to make me the perfect ugly Christmas sweater. Let me say, this one is always a big hit for everyone who sees it
Do you have any funny Christmas sweaters?
Alicia
Hi everyone, I was nominated for the Unique Blogger Award by Rachael! Thank you so much for this award and everyone definitely go check out her blog!! I love reading it. Let’s get started with the award. 🙂
The Rules:
My answers:
My questions:
I nominate:
A Soulful Saga Beachy Girl Monique A real messy beautiful twisted sunshine
Shinavy Blogs A Beautiful thing Life of Blind An Emzy Life KaylaAnn
Hi everyone, continuing with my Blogmas posts today and today I will be talking about some Christmas traditions I have. I always felt like I don’t have any but after talking about what to do in Chicago for Christmas I’ve realized that I do have a few traditions of my own and here they are!
Those are my traditions, what are yours?
Alicia
Hey everyone! If you’ve learned one thing about me it’s I love Christmas! Due to this I love doing Christmas related outings close to home! So…. I’ve decided to make a guide to Christmas events in Chicago and the surrounding area for myself and anyone else who lives here or is around for the holidays!!
What are some holiday events in your city?
Alicia
Hi everyone, sorry I’ve been a bit inactive over the past week. Just being home and recovering my lack of sleep over the past semester paired with seeing friends has taken its toll. Also, I queued up some posts for the past few days which I realized this morning never posted and were saved as drafts so I’ll have loads of Blogmas posts coming in the next few days. Until those upload, here is my ultimate Christmas playlist!
Living off Leesh 