2018 Reading Challenge

If you ready my year in review post, you probably know that 2017 was a rough year for sure! I didn't get as much time to read for fun as I would like and so out of my 20 book goal, I only read 8. Not bad, but far from what I wanted.  Also, of the books on my reading challenge list, I only finished three (and in the middle of a few of the others).

For this year, I decided to lower my goal to 12 books instead, since it is more attainable and I would rather surpass my goal than fall short again.  You can check out the progress I make via my Goodreads which is in the sidebar, or by clicking on the sticker below.

2018 Reading Challenge

Kimberly has

read 1 book toward

her goal of

12 books.

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1 of 12 (8%)

view books

Here are the books I am currently working on (because I am weird and read multiple books at once)

• Terry Pratchett - The Color of Magic (currently misplaced the book)
• Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice
• Neil Gaiman - Stardust
• Sarah J. Mass - Throne of Glass
• I also am an hour and a half into the audiobook for Girl on the Train and am unsure how I feel about continuing it.

These are the categories I am interested in from the Popsugar challenge:

1. A classic you've been meaning to read (from a past challenge) - Pride and Prejudice
2. A book by your favorite author - for this one I am finally picking back up the Dark Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
3. A banned book - Looking for good suggestions
4. Author of different race/ethnicity
5. A book you borrowed - Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass
6. A past Goodreads award winner - I have a couple I am considering such as Yes Please by Amy Pohler and Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
7. Award-winning book - The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
8. A book you meant to read in 2017, but didn't get to - Into the Fire by Jeaniene Frost

Suggestions are welcome for all the categories I don't have a book set for, or just in general.  Let me know what books you plan on reading this year!

Good luck

<3 Kimmie

Self Care Ideas and Why it's Important

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With the semester now in full swing, I feel like it is important to mention self-care.  Some people might be familiar with this term but not the practice.  In simple terms, it is doing an activity or taking the steps to make sure that you are giving yourself the chance to decompress from all the stressors placed upon you.

It is often very easy to forget to do this when you have a million deadlines coming up and school and work and everything else on your plate.  I am personally very guilty of this! I personally have a tendency to put everyone else first, and one day my cousin sent me the quote, "you can't pour from an empty cup."  Honestly, that quote hit me and made me realize that in order to take care of others, you have to first make sure you are taking care of yourself. 

First of all, take a deep breath, and yes I mean right now. Take another. Ok, now do a self checkup. How are you feeling right now? Is anything bothering you? What is on your mind? If there is anything pressing that needs to be taken care of, write it down and deal with it in a few minutes.  Try to clear your mind if you can, I like to imagine being on a beach while doing deep breathing. That is how I help when I am in an anxiety attack, fun fact. This is good to help calm you down and get you started in relaxing.

Important note, self-care doesn't require Bath and Body Works candles and Lush bath bombs. That is a fun option but not the only type. I define self-care as anything that helps you relax or de-stress.  Self-care is important because with so much stuff on a daily basis that demands our time and attention it is easy to forget about making sure we are doing well.

And now, after lots of Pinterest and internet scouring, here are some of my favorite quick, fun self-care ideas, enjoy!

• There are the obvious and popular ones like take a bubble bath, hot shower, light a candle, etc.
• Get a piece of paper or journal and just write! Get out everything in your mind, don't pay attention to grammar or spelling or if anything makes sense, just write.
• Follow along with a meditation or self-hypnosis audio track.
• Make some comfort food.
• Declutter an area
• Write yourself a love letter
• Look in the mirror and compliment yourself.
• Put on some music and have a dance party.
• Watch a stand-up comedy or comedy movie.
• Call or text a friend or family member, catch up!
• Cuddle your pet, or your human lol
• Blow bubbles! (I love this! Don't forget to pop them too!)
• Try and say goofy things in an angry voice.
• Watch funny YouTube videos. (I love silly animal fails or Markiplier raging)
• Do some stretching or work out  
• This releases endorphins (see Elle Woods lol) and there are studies that show exercising regularly can help with depression - Linked a couple studies for your reference
• Write down a list of things that make you happy

These are just some things I like to do, but honestly, self-care is as simple as doing something you know will make you smile or feel happy or relaxed.  Self-care is about taking some time out of your day to make sure you are doing well, to make sure you are happy and relaxed and sane.  Taking care of yourself is not selfish.  I hope these help and you guys are able to make self-care a regular part of your life.  Now go make your own list! Any other self-care ideas you may have, share them below!

Have a great day,

<3 Kimmie

My Vacation Snapshot

Hi everyone!

Prior to the start of the semester, I had a really fun vacation I wanted to share with you.  I got a new boyfriend back in October and he and I went to Disneyland with our friends and he met my mom and grandparents! He did really well with my family and they all loved him.  Here are some fun snapshots from our vacation!

The pin said "I lava you"

I hope you all had an amazing winter break. School is back and session and I wish you all luck and let's kick this semester's butt!

<3 Kimmie

My Year in Review - the Good, the Struggles, and the Chaos

This year has truly been a rollercoaster.  I have moved three times and faced potential risks of being homeless.  I went through the pain of getting over a brutal breakup, but dated two people and now in a relationship with one of them.  I have had my car broken into three, yes three, times and the most recent of which they smashed my passenger window.  I cut out fast food (mostly) and am teaching myself to cook and meal prep.  Still trying to manage money better.  Had a falling out with friends, made new friends, started seeing a chiropractor, went back to therapy, got a new tattoo, and a slew of other events.  One word that definitely doesn't come to mind for this year is boring.

I didn't give this blog as much attention as it deserved and I really hate that with how busy I have been due to work and school, a lot of other things in my life have been neglected.  So tonight I decided to just sit down and write, to reconnect with why I started blogging in the first place.  I wanted to just let the words come and reflect on my year.

This year has tested me in a lot of ways.  There were a lot of tears, sleepless nights, heartache, stress and being terrified of not knowing what would happen next.  However, this year was not without its good moments.  I learned a lot about myself this year.  People came into my life who helped me learn more about myself and who I want to be.  They helped me grow as a person, teaching me new lessons and some I maybe didn't want to hear.  A year ago I certainly never would have pictured myself where I am today - a stronger, but still slightly unstable, but now capable of handling a whole lot more crap than before.

If there is one thing this year has taught me, it is that you can always get through it and that even when you don't realize it or want to ask for help, you have people who are willing to stand by your side, to dust you off and help you back up.  I am so incredibly thankful to all the people in my life who have helped me through this year; to everyone who has reminded me that I am strong enough to get through whatever storm I was facing, to lend a helping hand because they knew I hate to ask.  I know I will come out of 2017 as a stronger person, more willing to ask for help because I know that I have wonderful and caring people standing by my side.

Despite all the insanity of this year, I am happy to see the leaps and bounds I have made and I am excited to see what 2018 has to offer.  I don't really have resolutions but I do have goals for myself, to continue my growth as a person. 

Los Vegas Shooting

I woke up this morning to the news of the mass shooting in Los Vegas.  It breaks my heart to hear about this terrifying event.  I have friends who were at this concert, as well as friends who live in the area.  I can't even begin to understand why people do things like this.  So many people were injured or killed for no reason except because some lunatic decided to make a country festival target practice....I have no words to describe how horrible this is.

Please if you can, donate! Go down to your local Red Cross or Blood Source location to donate blood and help the victims.  If you can afford to, they have a GoFundMe account set up as well.

We need to come together to a country and stand against this tragedy.  At the last count I saw, about 50 people are dead and over 400 injured.  Please do what you can to help.

Back to School! Goals for Fall 2017

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Holy crap summer is already over?! School is back in session and being lazy is no longer a thing.  I have a lot of fun content planned for the new school year.  Starting off with just a short post to share my goals for this semester.

1. Consistently update calendar with upcoming assignments and "backwards plan" in an effort to complete my assignments ahead of time.  The goal is to do a little at a time and have it done!
2. Study a little every day! This one is a valiant goal, but studies do show that those who study consistently, do better in class.
3. DO THE READING BEFORE CLASS!  This is an area I have consistently struggled with all throughout college and I want to really focus on this, especially because this semester I have teachers who have assignments due at the beginning of class to prove you did do the reading.  
4. Finally, GPA.  This semester I want to shoot for mostly A's. I am trying to bring up my cumulative GPA in order to get into an honor society.  It's one of my biggest goals, but each of the ones listed before are essential to reaching this!

Let me know what your goals are for this upcoming semester and feel free to comment.  Good luck everyone!

<3 Kimmie

Work, Ferrets, Moving and Summer School

Hey everyone,

I hope you are al having a great summer so far.  Just wanted to catch up, it has been a crazy summer so far. I have been working a lot (but what else is new lol) and doing summer school, had my birthday, some sadness happened, and finally found somewhere permanent to live!

So to get the sad part oit of the way, my ferrwt Kiki, after being sick for a couple months passed away back in June due to an insulinoma. Basically, she was the opposite of a diabetic where her body over produced insulin because of microscopic tumors on her liver and pancreas. She was not doing very well and as hard as we tried, we couldn't get get her system to stabilize. I'm just happy that she isn't hurting any more and I'm happy for the time I had with her. Zero, since she passed away has been doing well thanks to hanging with the cats and has started hoarding plastic bags....its cute, funny and a bit heart wrenching.

On happier notes, my birthday went well with the exception of a creepy dude hitting on me. But I got to go to a club again and went bowling the next day. I'm really glad I got to spend time with friends and family.

Also, this summer I also got to go to Fanime Con/Clockwork Alchemy and finally got to go floating down the American River! Plus, I started a new job working with kids with autism! I'm excited to be working in a psychology field!

My last event before school starts is going down to LA to visit family and friends. This summer is drawing to a close and I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer!

- Kimmie