Utensils, Mexico, and Sherlock

                                               taken from Tumblr.

Wait, my favorite what? Well, Shosh, umm.. I guess a spoon. Maybe. I think she agrees with me considering her

snide remark after Adam's daring answer was fork. 

First of all, can we just appreciate what an amazingly ridiculous question this was? I have a friend that asks questions like this, and I always find myself thinking very hard about my answer. As if it might really matter. But, who am I to decide that these kinds of things don't matter anyways?

Although the first episode of Girls was, frankly, not up to par, I think most of us could agree that the thirty minutes that followed were actually quite enjoyable. Thank goodness Girls is back. 

                         The family tree this year.

After a wonderful and harsh winter break, I have finally made it back to school, and I feel that I am well on my way to being ready for summer in about one week. It’s funny how easily I get bored of the present- always thinking about the future and how I will conquer it (this is not always a good thing). However, I am trying to be much more mindful and present. I’ll let you know how that goes..

Andry and me. He is a child at the children's home that I spent a week at during break.

Over the break, I managed to drive all the way to Mexico and back (see above), read almost as much as I would have liked (see below), acquire a macbook (!!!), and experience a full on melt down that only a young worry wart like myself could manage.

A book I read during break.

As far as my classes this semester, I think I have already felt a bit of the serious stress that is beginning to blow me over. Get this: in my French class, I get to look forward to a video conference each and every week with a partner who is in a class in France. Scary? Most definitely.

                                                                                                                                                                                 taken from Tumblr.

Now that we got all that unimportant jumble out of the way, can we take a moment to discuss Sherlock please?
Since I finished watching the third season, I watched it again, and now I am re-watching the whole show. It’s impossible to stop. Sherlock falls in on my life just like in that picture (I wish I meant that literally...). Someone please fangirl with me over Benedict Cumberbatch. His eyes melt me every time.. 

   

Finally, here’s a life-changing song to put a little groove in your day.

Hope everyone is having a good week. Let me know what your favorite utensil is, and if you love Benedict Cumberbatch as much as I do!

Tea Time: Old Playlists

It's time for tea so grab a cup, and let's talk.

Every once in a while, I get bored with the playlist I have listened to on repeat, and I end up going on Pandora or Youtube and finding a bunch of great songs so I can create new playlists. I even name these playlists with the date on which I make them because I know that in a couple weeks, I am going to move all that music to my main library and delete the playlist. So, today I am going to share my favorites from my November playlists.

Citizen Cope

I know I am a little late to this party, but I just recently realized how much I love his music. He has a solid folksy rock feel, and I am obsessed. I have a few songs of his on my most recent playlists including "Lifeline", "Dancer from Brazil", and "For a Dollar". My current favorite is "Son's Gonna Rise" which is the video posted above.

Pentatonix

Who doesn't love Pentatonix? They sing entirely a capella with incredible talent. They recently came out with their new album PTX, Vol. 2, and it has some great tracks including "Hey Momma/Hit the Road Jack" which is the video above.
Two of the guys in the group, Mitch and Scott, also have a youtube channel called Superfruit. Everyone needs to watch it because they are perfection. No one really experiences how wonderful these guys are from just watching their Pentatonix music videos, and they are truly hilarious. So, two thumbs up to Superfruit.

Bonus

Here are some links to some of my other favorite songs recently! Let me know your current favorite songs and artists so I can check them out!

Moondust - Jaymes Young

Stars - The XX

I See Fire - Ed Sheeran

No Reason to Pretend - Aaron Sprinkle

The Stable Song- Gregory Alan Isakov

Call Me In The Afternoon - Half Moon Run

Los Angeles - Peter Bradley Adams

          

The Adventures of Sickness

After a six hour drive back to school yesterday, I woke up this morning with a sore throat, a headache, and enough lethargy to keep me from being able to motivate myself to go to class. What a bad example I am.. 

Upon waking, I had a brief memory of waking up in the middle of the night thinking I was going to die because of the scratchy pain in my throat. Luckily, it started to get a little better once I got myself out of bed and drank some tea. I didn't even have a cup of coffee this morning which is very unusual for me, so clearly, I must have been dying. In my huge flowery mug, I steeped some hot water with a Rooibos tea bag and added some honey for its health benefits. I also had some green tea today, but it is most definitely not one of my preferred teas taste wise.

I spent the day on my laptop of course (minus a couple necessary errands), and continuously hit the re-blog button on tumblr. I had created a new fandom blog on tumblr the other day, so that received a bit of my attention as well. 

When I finally pulled my fingers away from the keyboard, I realized I had not eaten yet; luckily, my sweet mother had sent me back to school with some frozen spaghetti after Thanksgiving, so I promptly threw a plate full in the microwave and enjoyed it while watching Lilo & Stitch. I honestly believe that this movie was way underrated. I had not watched it since it first came out, and I never noticed the crazy genius lines, and the great quirks of Lilo's adorable character. I highly recommend re-watching it (or watching it for the first time if you have never seen it!).

Hopefully, all the tea and medicine will heal my body soon, and I can be back in prime condition for all my exams! 

Do you agree that Lilo & Stitch is actually really good? 

What do you do on days when you are sick?

          

HOW TO: Conquer Your Exams

Get the coffee ready and grab your armor because guess what... Exam time has arrived once again. People, this is not a drill. The last few days of classes are almost done which means it is time to cram for those exams and crank out those papers. Since exam time is so stressful, here are three (kind of) practical ways to make it through with at least a little bit of life left in you for Christmas.

WEAR COMFORTABLE CLOTHING

Now, personally, I do this all semester, but for those of you that have the will to dress nice for class, this is not the time. While you sit in the library for hours on end, you most definitely do not want a tight waist band digging into the new tummy chub that has most likely accumulated around your middle during the semester and the Thanksgiving feast.

PLAN AHEAD

This one may seem obvious, but trust me, you want to do some extra planning ahead during this time. As a lady of procrastination who does not even know which days her exams are this coming week, I know that planning ahead will save so much stress and anxiety during this time. Plan to the extent that you know what you will be doing every second this week, including study and sleep time (okay, that may be a bit extreme, but let's at least pretend it will happen), and STICK TO IT. Don't forget to plan in some rest and relaxation time as well!

DRINK WATER 

I know that during exams, coffee is the drink of choice for most of us, but don't let yourself get dehydrated! Carry a water bottle with you and remember to sip on it. Water energizes and refreshes you, and it can help prevent headaches. Hopefully, it will also combat those nasty stress breakouts that come with this time of year.



If all else fails, and you get way too stressed out, don't forget to just dance it out. I hope these tips help you to pass all your exams with a little less stress and a little more comfort. You can do it- I believe in you!
Happy testing!

          

           

BLOGLOVIN IT

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HOW TO: Write Your First Blog Post

Well, here we are on the first post of my blog. Is this supposed to be easy? Because it most definitely is not. I have been thinking about this for a few days- trying to figure out what I should write about. I have felt that this first post will define what my blog will be, and I have decided that I just will not let this be the case. However this first post turns out can not possibly be a deciding factor for a theme of all the posts I plan to make in the future. So let me tell you the bit I have planned. The one thing I hope to get out of this blog is that I come to know myself better. As a kid struggling to make it through college, I can not help but feel the urge to "find myself". However, instead of setting out to find myself, I want to aim to create myself. Recently, when making a choice no matter how small, I try to remember to think, "Is this decision going to steer me in the direction of the person I want to be?" Although, isn't it difficult to remember that you want to be a giving person when you are asked to do someone a favor in the middle of the night that you really do not care to do?

I recently read a blog post by the beautiful Carrie Fletcher on her blog All I Know Now entitled "Dating Myself". She talks about how she needs to get to know herself better and learn how to be on her own. Not that my shy little self gets too many offers from guys, but I do absolutely need to apply this advice to my life. After all, I am living an important part of my life right now, what with the college stuff and everything going on. Carrie goes on to say that it is important to go out and try new things on your own. This is hard though isn't it? Being alone sucks, and we all know it. As an introvert, I love my time alone, but I most definitely don't want an abundance of it. So, as I set out on this journey to be documented on this blog, I hope to create myself, get to know myself, and hopefully get to know a few of you as well!

Let me know how you create yourself and if you are going to try (or already are) dating yourself!

Amanda

XXX