Meet the Newest Member of the Clark Family!!!

So I have been meaning to publish this for a while now and I just finally got it up! But,  have a new addition to our family, meet Kitsu!

(this picture was from the night we found him). We found him yowling outside our house. We had seen him following people around before. He is a 4-6 month old male kitty and we figured out that he was dumped at the park next to our house.

When we took him in he was a lot skinnier than he is now and as soon as we gave him food he started woofing it down! It made me so sad to think that someone would dump such a small kitten. We think the reason they might have was because he is going to be a bit kitty!

He has since fallen in love with me and Johnny (my boyfriend.) And I've figured out he loves sleeping with me! As shown by the pictures at the end.

However, within a couple days of having him he was attacked by a dog and was bitten down to the bone on his tail. He was not happy because he had to stay in a carrier crate for about a week and was a sattalite disk kitty. I couldn't find any pictures of him with the dish but he was so pittiful looking it was just funny and cute!

Funny fact: he now has a perminent mini kink in his tail so we nick-named him "Kinky" Kitsu. I know, it sounds like a bad stripper name!

Good news is that he is all better now. He still has a few fleas from his time at the park but he is a lot happier and I think he is glad he has a home because he acts more relaxed and isn't constantly freaked out by being picked up.

To prove he likes sleeping with me...(Johnny took these photos while I was asleep and woke up to them on my phone hahaha)

This is just a goofy picture of him with his paw on my face lol

Kistu just chilling on my chest when I fell asleep on the coutch!

And him hiding under the blankets next to my butt! hahaha he is such a goof!

Oh the Insanity!!!

A tradition that me and my two best friends have is that generally every day, that we are all at school, we all walk over to McDonalds for lunch and hang out together.

I love it when we are all together because we can just be silly together and we have known eachother since 9th grade so the inside jokes are crazy!

I love them so much and I am so happy to have them in my life. They have been with me through some intense times in my life and have never abandoned me throught it all.

It has even been determined that when I get married Rosa will be my "best man" and wear a suit and Danny will wear a dress and by my "maid of honor." haha Yup, so awesome I get to have both!

Big hugs <3 Kimmie

College Survival Guide, Surviving the Dorms! Pt. 1 - Roommates.

So for all of you living on campus for college there is one thing that is inevitable: you will be sharing approximately 246sq feet with someone you have probably never met before.

So this presents several problems: what if you don't mesh 100%? What if you have arguments? What if they are messy and you are clean? The list goes on and on. But here are a couple very key tips that will help make you living situation better:

1. Be clear and upfront. Make sure you share your pet peeves and habits with your roommate. Do you hate it when people leave dishes in the sink or clothes on the floor? Do you hate a certain type of music? Let them know. The only way you can come to a middle ground is if you are both aware of what makes the other person tick and work to avoid it.

2. Create a set of agreed upon rules. This kind of ties in with the first tip. Once you have discussed all your quirks, sit down and make a clearly defined set of rules. They can be as simple as "respect each others space and property" or as detailed as you want it. The point is these are the rules of your living space to help everything work together well.

3. Be mindful of who and how often. Having guests is ok, but keep in mind appropriate times to have someone come over. If your roommate is trying to study and you have a friend over and are playing video games, probably not the best idea. Don't forget to make your guests aware of your dorm rules. They are your guest and therefor your responsibility. Also, don't have friends over every second you are in your dorm because it can irritate your roommate and cause tension between you.

4. Invest in a pair of headphones and earplugs. If you like blasting music at max volume, go ahead. But do it so only you can hear the music, remember that you don't want to piss off the person you are living with for 8 months out of your life. Music is always my preferred escape, so if this helps you then have at it. Secondly, living in a dorm full of noisy freshman can be annoying, especially when you are trying to sleep. My dorm was right next to the courtyard and it ECHOED! So students who didn't know the meaning of quiet hours were seriously irritating especially when I could hear whole conversations from my bed. So grab a pair of earplugs just in case.

5. Address issues while they are small. Don't wait until the critical breaking point to deal with an issue. Address an issue when it first starts popping up in order to save your relationship with your roommate.

6. Save the sexy time for when you're alone! If you and your boyfriend/girlfriend are intimate make sure to save it for when your roommate is out of the dorm and will probably not be back soon. You don't want to have that awkward roommate-walking in on you moment. Also, DON'T DO THE NASTY ON THEIR BED OR STUFF! This goes back to being respectful of your roommate. No one cares if you have sex just be smart about it.

7. Roommate, not a lifeline. Your roommate can be your friend, but for those shy freshman, don't make your roommate your only friend or lifeline. It can lead to them getting seriously annoyed with you and more issues. So try to branch out, have them introduce you to their friends and go from there. Just remember that you have to force yourself to make friends. Don't bog down your roommate.

8. Be nice, but don't expect to be best buddies. When you first meet your roommate and start to get to know them, remember to always be friendly and kind to them but don't expect to become the very best friends ever. Personalities may not always work together completely. But even if you don't become best friends always remember to be friendly and supportive, because you are living with that person for 8 months!

9. RESPECT! This is just so simple I shouldn't even have to explain it. Your parents should have taught you to respect other and you MUST carry that on especially when you live with people. Just respect them and their property. 'Nuff said!

10. Don't talk shit. Yes, roommates can be frustrating but don't complain about them to a mutual friend because that just creates more conflict. If you need to vent, talk with someone who is an outside party like your friend from home or your significant other or parents.

I love these memes to describe roommates: Click here!

If all else fails, just remember the old saying, treat others the way you would like to be treated. Try to get along and put in effort to make the relationship work.

Big hugs <3 Kimmie

Lets talk about that GIF!

That awkward kiss cam moment when....

I saw this on my feed and thought it was the funniest thing ever! First off, that this guy was even prepared for this was like intense forethought. I give this guy props for coming prepared! I wonder if this will inspire some of you to follow the old girl scout, maybe boy scout too, saying of ALWAYS BE PREPARED!

I just couldn't stop laughing when I saw this! I am writing this in my Political Science night class bored out of my mind and to be honest I'm not even sure what else to say about this but I just really wanted to share it with all of you.  Have a wonderful night all!

Big hugs <3 Kimmie

Zero to Hero Day 21 - Valentines Weekend

Building on my last post, I wanted to talk about how I fell in line with a bit of the insanity surrounding Valentines Day.

I didn't actually do anything really spectacular on Valentine's day. I spent most of my day actually babysitting my coworker's 18 month old grandson.

My actual "Valentine's Celebration" happend the next day. Me and my friend Rosa organized a double date with our boyfriends. We went to an all you can eat Korean BBQ place in Torrance and let me just say, IT WAS AMAZING! Seriously, you get all you can eat for $10/person and you grill the meat yourself in the middle of your table. I ate so much it wasn't even funny! But the crazy part was I didn't feel like I was going to go into food coma afterwards.

To top off the day the four of us went to go see That Awkward Moment in theaters. I have to say it was a lot better than I expected. It was really funny and well put together. The characters were incredibly well developed and I loved how the storyline played out.

Zero to Hero Day 19 - Kimmie on Valentine's Day

What do I like about Valentine's Day? Honestly, my favorite part is how people run around crazy like it is the make it or break it day for a relationship. I mean honestly, you should be making your significant other feel special and loved every day of the year not just one.

So I thought I would post just some funny picutres and quotes about love that I like:

1.I saw this picture on Google and couldn't stop laughing. I love Sheldon!

2. This picture basically explains Valentine's day. I honestly think that the amount of pressure we put on this day is silly. Give me a hug and maybe a flower or just spend the day with me and I will be happy.

3. If you want to talk to me about love lets talk about the poem the poem from 10 Things I Hate About You. I feel like it accurately describes being in a relationship with someone. You hate some of the things that they do but all in all you truly love them. One of my favorite poems ever! (Plus I adore this movie! Heath Ledger singing = 'nuff said!)

4.Just all the LOLz

5. Thats one way to say it lol

6. I seriously think they should start making these!

Overall, I think that valentines day is way to overplayed. But pictures like this make me laugh so much and I hope they made you laugh too :)

Zero to Hero Day 16 - Prompt

Do you have a reputation? What is it, and where did it come from? Is it accurate? What do you think about it?

Do I have a reputation? Honestly, I am not sure what my reputation would be today. Probably that one random chick. Or the bookworm, or that insane kid who snorts when she laughs. Could be none of these, could be none of the above. Not really sure, but you get the picture lol.

I know that in the past I had a reputation that didn't show me in the best light. I allowed myself to get influenced by people and actions that I shouldn't have and for some reason that today is beyond me, I allowed myself to do things that I am not proud of.

What is it, and where did it come from? I don't want to go into specific details because it is rather embarrassing and a dark time that I prefer to forget about. Though, to give you a little insight: I am a very friendly person and sometimes that can be taken as flirtatious and I didn't reign that in and rumors flew and yeah. (Before you judge! I never slept with anyone and the acts I am talking about were stupid little things that got blown up but they were big to me because I know that I shouldn't have.) But truthfully, at that time the reputation I was gaining, no matter how negative, did have some truth within the horrible downwards spiral that started. Even though I know most of the rumors were stupid lies made up by people who didn't like me or didn't know what they were talking about, they were started because of actions that I chose to be a part of and so I only had myself to blame.

Is it accurate? What do you think about it? I don't think the reputation that I gained was accurate and as soon as I figured out it had formed I did take immediate action to fix it and do whatever I could to get away from that reputation. So I think that it made me shape up and grow up a bit but overall, it just reminded me how cruel people can be and how one small slip up can lead to a slippery slope of negativity.

So, that is my little confession for the day in response to today's prompt. I know I chose a bit more of a serious, reflective take to this post but thats ok for me. I just have one request. Please no negativity or harsh judgmental comments! No one but me really knows all the details so I would appreciate it if those out there didn't make snap judgements based off of the vauge details I presented here!

Good luck and big hugs <3 kimmie="">

College Survival Guide - Smart Scheduling

Lets talk about scheduling! We all know the basics of don't overlap things, give yourself time, space, and blah, blah blah. But what does that all mean and how do you affectivly schedule your time? Well, take out those planners because Kimmie is here to help!

Let me start by saying that smart scheduling is more than just writing down things on a calendar, it is actively mapping out your days so you know that you have time for everything. I talked about the basics of this and the importance of writing everything down in my Organized and Prioratized post but this post will be going farther in depth about the importance and key points of smart scheduling.

1. Start with the major blocks. Start with things that repeat or you know you are committed to such as classes, work, youth group, church, etc. These things are key parts of how you spend your time so it is crucial that you block this out first!

2. Write everything down! If you have an assignment assigned to you or a deadline for work you want to write it down so you don't forget and you can prepare for it. I honestly can't put enough emphasis on doing this so you can be up to date and keep your life organized. This has become such a habit for me, and I lost my schedule when I moved home, every time I went to write something down in my planner and couldn't I honestly was like "I feel naked" because I couldn't. Felt like this:

3. Plan your day. Each morning or the night before set aside a couple minutes to plan out your day and goals for the day. It will help you keep your day on track and know what you have to do and need to do.

4. Set aside personal time. The cliche "all work and no play makes me a dull boy" works very well if you forget this step. You have to set aside time for yourself to relax, decompress, or dance around the house in your underwear.

What ever it is you have to create that balance like a scale. Just remember that you sometimes have to put yourself first and this is one of those excuses to let yourself just unwind.

5. Review your to do list. If you are like me (insane and wacky! haha) then you might have an ongoing to do list, if not you should. Look at the things you have on this list and then set aside time to get some of the things you have on there complete. (Don't forget to prioritize by what is more important or has a sooner deadline.)

6. KEY POINT: Make sure not to over book yourself! This includes not giving yourself sufficient time in between commitments or allowing things to overlap or just over committing. Even if you schedule perfectly and are still running ragged then you should rethink that "perfect" status. Don't burn the candle at both ends!

Good luck and big hugs <3 Kimmie

P.s. and to send you away with a smile I had to include a gif from Risky Business because when it comes to dancing in your underwear Tom Cruise is an expert!

A Truly Terrifying Day!

I started the day by sleeping in till about noon, getting up and taking a nice warm shower.

However, the entire day changed gears when I stepped out of the shower to the news that one of my dear friends and "big brother" Krys had been taken into emergency surgery for an aortic tear (a tear in the aorta valve of his heart). For a little background info: Krys has a heart disease that causes the lining in his heart to be thinner that it should be. Also, his mother died from an aortic tear (the same thing he went into surgery for) from this very same disease. So you can gather why everyone was terrified.

Apparently this morning he came downstairs complaining of chest pains and a horrible headache. His step mother is a nurse (who through her training saved his life!) noticed that his chest was puffed out and noted that he needed to go to the hospital. Thankfully because of this they caught it early enough and we did some reading and usually this is fatal because it is not caught early enough and most die on the way to the hospital so just making it to the hospital and 30 minutes of scans was a major plus!

At this point he made it out of surgery a few hours ago. The surgery went as well as can be expected. They repaired/replaced his aorta and a coronary artery with Dacron, and replaced his aortic valve with a mechanical one. There are still a lot of risks, including internal bleeding, infection and other complications. However, the doctor was fairly optimistic about his prognosis, and his should be home in a week at the latest barring any complications.

I really hope that his recovery is speedy and everything will be ok and, to be perfectly honest, I'm terrified. So please, if anyone reads this, keep him in your prayers and thoughts.

Cry Baby - Movie Review

Hey everyone! So I wanted to do a quick review about a movie that I got to watch the other night for the first time. Cry Baby staring Johnny Depp and Amy Locane.

It was very well done at dramatizing what life was like during that time and I thought that it was a very interesting movie and story line. I did really like the movie and this is all just my personal opinion and reaction to the movie.

The story focuses on the two opposing groups: the Drabs (a.k.a. Greasers/low end kind of people) and the Squares (Socs/preppy, well brought up people) in a similar way to other movies like the Outsiders. In the beginning of the movie the female lead, Allison (Locane), says "I'm so sick of being good" and walks over to talk to Cry Baby's (Depp) gang. So at the beginning we see the good girl wanting to go over to the "bad side" and the "bad boy" starting to fall for her. I feel like this whole "falling for each other" thing happened way way to fast within like the first 30 minutes. It was like "oh your different I love you so much even though I pretty much just met you."

At first I really just could not get over that dramatization and just how cheesy the acting was. In fact almost the entire time I was sitting through the movie I kept going "....Huh? What?" due to the dramatization. It is really cheesy and I feel like the acting was a bit overdone and just ".....what?..." worthy. However, this actually came together very well and actually works for the movie and its storyline.

When it came to characters, Amy Locane's character Allison kind of pissed me off a bit. If you think about it she was a tad slutty. This woman rides off on the back of a motorcycle with a boy she has only had one short conversation with and then makes out with him and says she loves him and...you get the picture. Then, something happens (not going to spoil it if you haven't seen it), and she instantly goes back to her ex who is responsible for the event that I won't mention. But she just runs back to him despite her grandma, who used to be super anti-drab, telling her to think it over. THEN, she goes back to Cry Baby less than 30 minutes later in the movie!

Cry Baby's character was really interestingly put together about why he cries one tear each day, essentially in tribute to his parents. Plus, Johnny Depp is just plane amazing in this role. (Johnny Depp as a greaser, seriously! Drool fest!)

One of the other characters I fell in love with watching this movie was Traci Lords as Wanda Woodward. I just love her attitude and spunk and HER CLOTHES!!!! She is absolutely beautiful and I kind of wanted to be here after watching the film.

Overall, I really liked this movie, it just takes a bit to get past the over dramatizations and cheesiness. I would really recommend this if you haven't seen it yet!

Brain Dump - Zero to Hero Day 6: A New Element

This post is basically just because I had a lot of things on my mind and decided just to write. So I apologize if there is no real structure to this. Welcome to the workings of my mind:

When I look in the mirror, to be perfectly honest, sometimes I hate the face I see looking back at me, sometimes I call it a liar because of the smile that I don't usually feel, and other times I just don't recognize myself. I guess this would be the moment to cue Mulan singing Reflection.

But truthfully I just feel so lost most of the times because I don't know who I am or what I want anymore. Everything is changing and my life is spiraling even father into chaos and it feels like I'm trying to dig my way out of quick and with toothpicks. To me it is as though everything I thought I had control over and had planned out so incredibly carefully has crumbled into chaos and disorder.

I feel like the hardest part about life and just existing in general is finding out who we are and just where we fit in this chaos we call life and society. Life is one crazy race to figure everything out, find our place, and be settled and know what we want and who we are.

But if you have lived in the real world for more than a few moments you would know that this is an impossible standard that we try and accomplish every day of our lives. But no matter what we still aim for this thinking that it is the equation for happiness.

In the end, find the best side of you that makes you happy and don't worry about everyone else. Yes, I still feel like Mulan but thats ok, I'm 18 and am slowly accepting that it is ok to not have everything figured out just yet.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my rant/brain dump. Big hugs from my computer screen to yours!

(Don't forget to check out the Zero to Hero challenge: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/zero-to-hero/#6)