College Survival Guide: GET SOME SLEEP!

Hey all you out there! Sorry I haven't done a survival guide post in a while, been busy surviving hahaha.

So I just wanted to do a short post on something that is important to all of us...sleep.

We all have heard horror stories about college all-nighters, how coffee will become your best friend and how sleep will become a thing of the past. I'm here to tell you that this is not necessarily true.

It is beyond crucial that you get some sleep during college and here are a couple reasons why:

1. Sleep helps revitalize your brain and keep you healthy

2. It helps thing stick in your brain better, so if you study a bit before you get some sleep it will stay better than if you wake up really early and do it.

3. You don't want to be irritable and grouchy (keep others in mind lol)

4. I said this already but the most important part: YOUR HEALTH!

For more info on why you should get sleep from really smart research peoples check out this University Sleep Study.

The key to getting sleep is planning your time effectively and studying for little bits over time rather than cramming. This goes back to time management (which you can check out that post here) and effective study habits (I will put the link here once I get that post up). But a quick Google search can help you find study habits tips and tricks. (One thing you should look into is the forgetting curve, will talk about that later.)

So anyway, just remember over all: find time for sleep. It is not something you should be sacrificing and, at the same time, not something you should be abusing either. Find a balance that works for you as with all things. But for a minimum, as a college student you should be getting at least 6-10 hours of sleep a night.

So here are some tips for sleep (that you can find in the study above):
1. Nap effectively (don't over sleep with naps, do it early in the day and for at most 30 minutes)
2. Establish a sleep ritual and regular sleep and wake up times to get your body on a schedule.
3. Make sure you are comfortable! Don't compromise when if comes to this, this is one of the biggest factors to affect sleep.
4. Don't eat right before bed and avoid alcohol, caffeine and nicotine before bed.
5. Remember that your bed is for sleep and sex! Find a different study place!
6. Get ear plugs for that one inevitable asshole who doesn't realize what time it is and needs to shut up.

Hope these tips help and, as always, good luck!
<3 Kimmie

Dear College Applicants...

Dear College Applicants,

To my eager college hopefuls, I wanted to give you a few tips for this time of year. By now all your college applications should be turned in, you have sat through the waiting process and by now you have probably already received some acceptances (which I congratulate you on!) and, unfortunately, some rejections.

So what should you be doing right now?

For one, if you have not already completed your FAFSA then get on that RIGHT NOW! This is not something you should wait on! This is free money we are talking about being given to you to pay for your education. College is expensive but you should never have to pay the sticker price. OR, if you are like me and going to a community, you can even wind up getting paid to go to school if you are awesome enough!

Step two: now that you have started getting your decision letters in you should start narrowing down your list of possibles. Go through every factor: campus, class sizes, location, price, EVERYTHING! In the end you can only choose one and you have to start thinning the herd so that you can make that inevitable final decision. Trust me, it is a difficult one because it is a huge decision but, at the risk of sounding cliche, go with your heart and what feels right to you. It is your life and you shouldn't let someone else decide for you...but that is a lecture for another time haha.

Looking back on this time last year all I can say is that I do not envy you. It is a scary time, looking forward to the dread of realizing that you are an adult now and have to act like it. Scholarships, financial aid, and stepping out on your own are all scary steps that we each must eventually take. I know feel like a bit of a contradiction. As the end of my freshman year is rapidly I feel like nothing much has really changed: I'm back at home, I still feel that I am inadequate at being an adult and scared of all the dread that come with it. But at the same time, everything has changed, I have a job and support myself, I have a car payment, go to school and have adult responsibilities.

Life is changing for you guys and all I can say is whether you are prepared or not it will happen. So whether you choose to go near or far it will be hard but it will work out in the end.

Good luck,
Kim

One day vacation and the jerks who pulled the fire alarm!

Good Morning everyone! So since I just finished my spring break (yes I know it is early and I will explain why in a minute) I thought I would give you guys a brief update on what I did this weekend.

So first off, why is my spring break so early? Well its a simple answer and its not "just because my school is weird."  It is actually because we have two eight week long sessions (as well as a 16 week session which is the main length of classes and the spring break is right in the middle of the two eight weeks.  Simple as that.

Now on to the main event! haha. I had a very last minute road trip this weekend to Nor Cal.  My aunt was going to drive up my cousin's girl scout cookie orders because it would be far too much to mail them.  But when she took her car in to get her tires changed they found a hole in her radiator.  So, me, Johnny and my aunt drove up to see her for a day. We left at like 8pm on Friday night and arrived at about 2am and checked into Motel 6.

My aunt and I spent the day with my cousin and baby cousin Christian. He has gotten so big! I can't believe he turned 21 months when we were up there! Update: he is now talking up a storm and loves pancakes (a.k.a. Cake Cakes) and is such a goof! When we first got there he was a little shy and it took him a while to remember me but he let me pick him up out of his high chair after breakfast and carry him to the car.

So after spending the day with them Ursula had to go to work and we went back to the Motel to relax and I wound up passing out for about an hour and a half.  For dinner we went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory where she works and had yummy dinner! For the record, I LOVE Cheesecake Factory!

After eating we had to say goodbye and end our very short visit/vacation.  I really hate good byes.

Getting back to the Motel at about 10 we finally got to bed about 10:30. Then about a half hour later I was getting shaken awake and told the Motel might be on fire as the fire alarm was blaring outside our room (litterally right outside the room). Rushing out of bed I tried grabbing our stuff to throw in the car to keep it safe...Come to find out......some punk kid pulled the fire alarm and had been standing next to the gas station across the street laughing...

I was NOT a happy camper and murderous tendencies were definetly present.

Moving on, that was taken care of and we had to wake up at 2am to drive home because I had a competition for Jobies the next day, oh joy. I unfortunatly didn't do as well as I hoped but I still moved on the the finals and I will now be practicing my butt off!

All in all a pretty busy and exauhsting weekend.

Hope you all had a great weekend!
<3 Kimmie

Switching it Up!

So I realized that I never did the blog post I had been planning on for my change in hair color. So here we go, better late than never!

Overall the whole process of bleaching, lightening and dying took about 10 hours!  The reason it took so long was because the dye started burning the back of my neck and we had to wash it off and start all over. And we couldn't finish it all in one day so my friend came back over and fixed it the next day.

I'm really happy with it because I have been wanting to go Alice in Wonderland for a while and I saw this picture on Facebook and fell in love and decided to go for it!

So yah, this is my change for a while :) and I guess now I am a bit more of a "Kimmie in Wonderland" haha

What is self-confidence?

What is self-confidence?

Honestly, for me it is one of the hardest things to attain.  I am always afraid just relaxing.  Always afraid of what people think.  I see my best friend Rosa and I’m honestly jealous of how tough and confident she is.  She knows who she is and she is comfortable with that. I don’t understand how to be like Rosa, how to have that strength and presence. 

God I wish I could be like her…

Most of the time, I hate who I am.  I hate the girl I see in the mirror and more often than not, I’m not quite sure who is looking back at me. 

I know that I let people believe that I am all happy and bubbly, but inside I know that there is just this scared girl who doesn’t have a spine and wants to curl up in a ball…wallflower, shy, afraid…

I so badly want to have that confidence, to be able to stand up for myself, to stand tall and know who I am and know that no one can take that away. Oh how I wish…

Defeat and Motivation

One of the hardest things to do is pick yourself up and keep going when all the odds are against you and at every turn something goes wrong.

That's how I feel when tackling the challenge of cleaning and repairing my house. I feel like every time my boyfriend or I make a dent wither someone else in the house dirtied what we just accomplished, or we find something else that needs repairing...

It really dampens your spirit of motivation and drive.

Sometimes I just want to curl up and cry every time we find something new that kicks my goal in its butt and makes it harder.

But, I do know that you have to take every setback with renewed motivation and realize that you can't let ever little issue tear you down.

And that is what I'm trying to do. So for everyone out there dealing with a similar challenge of motivation I hope this is a little confidence booster.

Always remember that you can do it! You are strong and powerful and just remember that if nothing else, I believe in you!

College Survival Guide, Surviving the Dorms! Pt. 2 - Laundry

I just wanted to do a quick post about doing laundry in the dorms. I know you are probably thinking that this is really simple and, why would you do a post on that Kim?

But! There are probably a couple things you haven't thought about with this simple task.

1. Pick a set time each week. You want to have a regular time or "laundry day." This will help keep your schedule balanced and running out of clean clothes. Also, try to find a time that is somewhat unique to you. Try to avoid times where everyone is doing laundry.

2. Use as study time or relax time. If you are sitting in the laundry room you can spend the time reading or doing homework in the time you have waiting for the washer and dryer. It is a good time to be alone with your thoughts or have quiet time believe it or not.

3. Collect spare quarters. These can be used as your laundry fund, because most colleges have paid laundry rooms. I know it sucks, laundry isn't free anymore.

4. Separate your clothes. There are so many ways to separate your laundry and it all depends on each person's individual preference, but here are the basics in four loads: whites/lights, darks, delicates and towels/jeans/bedding.

5. Choose the right settings. Check the tags on your clothes and find out whether they need cold water, hot, low temp drying, etc. Here's a few tips for water temp: hot for whites, linens and towels, cold for anything you don’t want to shrink or fade (including any whites that fall into this category), warm for everything else.

6. Fold Immediately!!! When taking your clothes out of the dryer don't just toss them into your hamper and deal with them later. Fold your clothes as you are taking them out and put them away as soon as you get back to your room. This helps avoid wrinkling and looking like you just rolled out of bed 24/7.

7. However, if you do have wrinkles, invest in a small iron and ironing board.

8. Don't forget your supplies! You will need: detergent, dryer sheets and optional are fabric softener, bleach or color bleach like Clorox 2, and Woolite.

Hope these few simple tips helped!

9. Laundry baskets. Sturdy plastic laundry baskets are fine but, if you are tight on space, try to go with a collapsible basket.

10. Keep everything together. Keep all your supplies together so when you go to do laundry you are not digging around searching for what you did with everything.

P.s. When you go to do laundry, check the soap dispensers because sometimes people will leave soap in them which is a score, or bleach, then you know which washing machine to use for your white clothes!

Big hugs <3 Kimmie