Happy Valentine’s Day!! I hope you all have a chance to spend today with the ones you love and if you can’t do that in-person, give those people a call or send a card and let them know that you’re thinking about them.
I just wanted to say real quick that we hit 15,000 views on Monday this past week and that was just insane to me. Thank you for being here and reading my writing. 🙂 I hope you’re enjoying the posts. If there’s something you want me to write about, let me know!!
Anyway, Valentine’s Day. In my opinion, the holiday has become a day about chocolate and flowers. Wow. I was grocery shopping for my upcoming week at school and that just really hit me. Maybe I don’t see how special the holiday can be because I don’t have a significant other but I realized just how commercialized the holiday is yesterday. Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. Flowers and lots of them. Giant teddy bears. Rows upon rows of poorly made stuffed animals holding hearts with corny little sayings. Cards with cheesy but sentimental words. To be fair though, I do really enjoy sending out cards. I feel like there’s something special about receiving actual mail. 🙂
I always help my mom do something for my dad and help my dad do something for my mom but I really didn’t think about how much this holiday revolves around material goods. A lot of holidays do. This might be a bit late considering that today is Valentine’s Day, but if you get a chance to do something more than just buy a bouquet of roses or a box of Godiva chocolate today, I say go for it. I know that appreciation and affection can be shown in so many different ways, but I feel like we can all do something to make it a bit more special.
With that said, I hope you have a great rest of your Valentine’s Day and stay happy and healthy this upcoming week. Love you all!
I go home a lot of weekends but I decided to stay at school this weekend to work on a group exam for one of my classes and something I’ve dealt with a lot this past week has been loneliness. Something that I’ve really had a chance to experience this past semester and this semester so far has been a lot of alone time. Sometimes I’ve found that feeling lonely is ok and sometimes it feels refreshing to be on my own. Other times, it doesn’t feel so good and I know I’m not the only person that feels this way, especially as we navigate this pandemic.
From time to time, as I said earlier, it feels really good to be by yourself. You have only you and your own thoughts to occupy yourself with. You have time to focus on you and you alone. You have time to take care of yourself and maybe really focus on something that needs to be finished.
Other times, feeling lonely makes you really sad. Even if you talk over text or the phone, it isn’t the same as truly interacting in person with another person. Something this pandemic has done is isolate people, whether you like that or not. We are farther apart from our friends and extended families. We are unable to interact in ways we have in the past. And even if you get a chance to be with others for some time, that time is so short in comparison to the time that you are by yourself.
Sometimes when I’m lonely, I feel like get in my head way too much. My insecurities take over and that makes me feel really yucky inside. I know that sometimes it’s okay to be sad but lately, I haven’t liked the feelings that loneliness brings up. To cheer myself up and feel less lonely, it really does help to talk to someone on the phone, even if you aren’t seeing each other face to face. It’s at least some form of interaction and I’m able to get some feelings and thoughts out of my head. I’ve also found it helpful to go for walks and workout. That’s a way to naturally make yourself more happy and free. I’ve found that trying to busy myself when I’m feeling lonely by cleaning or doing homework is only really ever a distraction and doesn’t work well for me. I might get stuff done but it doesn’t make me feel better often.
I await the day that classes are back in person completely. I wait for the days where we can meet with family and friends without much of a worry. I know these days will come soon and that there will be good things ahead for all of us. If you’re ever feeling lonely, don’t hesitate to reach out. You’re most definitely not alone. Have a good week and I’ll see you all next weekend.
I don’t think I’ve talked too too much about my bird here, but for some reason, today feels like a good day to share how Bobo, my green-cheeked conure, has been!
Bobo is three and will be turning four on May 7th! He’s a little Taurus for those of you into astrology. 🙂 Some of his favorite things as of right now include his floofs which are these big toys made of some sort of yarn or something that he loves to pull on and cuddle with. Sometimes he talks to them and kisses them. It’s pretty cute. Also wanted to say that I know these aren’t the safest, greatest toys for conures because they are such destructive birds, but he doesn’t really chew on these and he is supervised when he is really playing with them, so we aren’t too concerned about him getting crop impaction or hurting himself with his floofs. They’re really more of little cuddle buddies as opposed to anything else. He also loves himself. Bobo is quite the self-centered little birdy. Any chance he can get to see himself in the mirror, he is kissing and chatting with his reflection. One of his newly discovered loves is oranges. He has been a pretty big fan of apples for a while now, but oranges are a whole new level. He’s obsessed.
On the topic of food, Bobo has always been pretty comfortable with the pellets and treats we get him that were recommended, but I know that they’re supposed to eat a lot of fruits and veggies too. We’ve tried to get Bobo to eat more actual fruits and veggies in the past but he either hasn’t been interested or has been too scared to try. It has been really encouraging to see his curiosity grow and his fears settle as of lately. I’m not sure if that’s just a part of Bobo maturing more or what it is, but he has been much better about wanting to try things. He has tried and really enjoyed strawberry, apple, orange, grapefruit, and lettuce so far. We are still working on blueberries and bananas (although he does like banana chips). If anyone has any tips for helping out birds that are scared of food, please let me know! I would love to have Bobo eating more real fruits and veggies. 🙂
Bobo chats a lot too. When I say chat, I really mean that he speaks. He has been jumbling a lot of his words lately and I think that’s pretty cute. He has also definitely been trying to say a lot of new things but I can’t quite pick up what those phrases and words are yet. He works hard though, that’s for sure. He enjoys beat boxing, calling my dad’s name, and asking, “Are you a good baby?” We are still working on the response to the that. 🙂 He also enjoys saying many words and phrases in Russian including the words and phrases for bird and sweetie. He tells us good morning when we uncover him and he always makes it very clear if it’s past his bedtime. No particular words for that, but we do get some sassy chirps and screeches occasionally on that. He likes to shush people too.
I never thought I would be a bird person ever, but it’s crazy how much a sweet lil’ green bird has changed my life. He’s a pretty incredible little guy and I feel so lucky to have Bobo in my life. I hope he will continue to be curious and want to try new foods and new things (as long as he doesn’t get himself into too much trouble!!). If anyone out there also has a green-cheeked conure, or bird of any type, let me know what you do to help with getting your birds more comfortable with new toys and foods! I’d be curious to hear what you have to say. Have a great week and I’ll see you all next Sunday! 🙂
See, I laugh because I think it’s funny that I have to go back for more school. 🙂
Back to school again! Don’t you all love another back to school post?! So my classes started this past week but we were fully online. The plan is now for us to transition into our hybrid and in-person classes. Fingers crossed it works, oh boy. I still have a few classes that are fully online for this semester but my university has hopes that with enough testing, we will be able to have a more “normal” semester. I really hope that’s the case!!
After being hope since Thanksgiving break, it’s going to feel really weird going back to living on my own. I’m used to have my food made for me (thanks Mom!!) and having the ability to do a lot of the things I like to do when I like to do them. I’m used to being able to go for walks with my dog often and not have to wear a mask every time I practically step outside. There will definitely be some adjustments to make as I get back into my school routine and I know I’ll make it work. I just hope I can deal with the loneliness part of things okay again. I’m really glad I have technology to help me there at least!
To prep for going back to school again, I did the usual- play some tennis and grocery shop. Not that tennis has anything with getting ready to go back to school, but it is a lot of fun! Lately, my mom and I have really good luck getting food from Target. I don’t know about you all but I really think that Target has improved their grocery department IMMENSELY. We can get a lot of the same things that we get from King Soopers (all-natural, no GMOs, etc.) for much cheaper and the quality is still really good if not better than what we find elsewhere. More reasons for me to love Target.
I hope you all have a good week and if you’re getting back into the swing of things, whether that’s at work or at school, we all got this. Stay safe and stay healthy and I’ll see you all next Sunday! 🙂
For my 21st birthday this past October, my family got me a Samsung Watch 3 and now that it has been a little while, I wanted to go ahead and give my review! Honestly, I’ve been pretty impressed with all of the things that my watch can do and I’m so thankful that my parents and sister are the wonderful, generous, amazing people they are because I’m in love with my watch.
I have the 41 mm Samsung Watch 3 in mystic bronze (OoOoOoo). It also comes in a silver color in the size I have and then if you want a larger watch face, there is also a 45 mm size that comes in black and silver. It supposably has at least a 2 day battery and water locking features. It tracks my heart rate, stress levels, oxygen levels, steps, sleep, exercise, and various other health related things. While I have really loved having my fun new accessory for the most part, I’ll share both the ups and downs of the Samsung Watch 3, just so if you’re interested in getting it, you’re getting more of the full picture!
LIKES I’ve really enjoyed being able to track workouts on my watch. I can see how many calories I’ve burned and what my heart rate has been throughout my workouts. Whenever I set my watch to track a workout, it has a couple of faces I can flip between. One shows the duration of the workout and total calories burnt and another shows where my heart rate is and then it classifies a few different heart rate zones including: low intensity, weight control, aerobic, anaerobic, and maximum. I think it’s helpful to see what exercises and workouts really get my heart rate up there so I find it useful to look at all of that.
There are a couple of cool settings on the watch, one of my favorites being “good night mode”. When I’m ready to go to sleep for the night, I just hit the little moon icon on my watch and it shuts the face off for the night and prevents me from activating anything that would regularly turn on my watch face. It’s super nice because I don’t wake up during the night from the bright light of my watch face or from notifications. Thank you for that!
It’s pretty customizable! I’ve never been a big watch person in the past because I feel like I just get a little bored with the same thing being on my wrist all the time. I say this and yet I wear the same two necklaces every day, haha. Oh well! Anyway, I really like that I have the ability to customize my watch face and widgets to use my watch to its fullest potential and get it to fit the looks I want. I consider myself a pretty organized person and I love having the ability to organize so many different things on my watch, and like I said, truly set the watch so that it fits my lifestyle to the best of its ability. In addition to being able to customize everything I’ve mentioned so far, I think it’s super cool to be able to customize notifications on the Samsung Watch 3. I can choose when and how I receive notifications and what specific apps I do and don’t receive notifications from. I’ve found it very helpful to have text notifications on while I’m away at school and not near my phone, so that if I get something from family, I can see it and respond right away if needed.
DISLIKES Battery life hasn’t been as amazing as was promised but I’ve honestly still had very few issues with the battery life of my watch. I think the watch’s battery life is advertised being around two-ish day but don’t quote me on that! I often find that if I try and go without charging it for around two days, I usually HAVE to charge it partway through that second day. That’s really not too bad at all and like I said, this isn’t the greatest issue for me but I was still a little bummed to see that it doesn’t fully live up to what I had heard about the battery life of the Samsung Watch 3. I’ve found workarounds by seeing what can optimize the battery and I charge it when I go to shower or really don’t need it on and I’ve found that everything works just fine that way!
I’m not sure if I just have really small wrists and there isn’t always an accurate reading but sometimes I feel like my heart rate isn’t accurately read when I do workout. As mentioned earlier in this post, I love love love being able to track my heart rate and burned calories but it doesn’t exactly help when my watch says that my heart rate is around 150 when I know it definitely isn’t and then it incorrectly determines calories burned from there. If anyone knows a way to ensure that your Samsung Watch 3 more accurately records heart rate more frequently, please let me know! This isn’t a huge issue that I have, again, but it does bug me knowing that my calories burned may be an overestimate. At least I’m aware of that!
In general, I really like the size and look of my watch but sometimes the bezel makes it feel a bit bulky. Again, this really doesn’t bother me too too much but when my watch gets caught on my jackets it kinda does. We got my sister the Samsung Watch Active 2 for Christmas and that doesn’t have the bezel that my watch does and sometimes I wish that I had done more research and asked about that but I’m overall so so happy with my watch and I don’t think I could switch it, even if I really wanted to.
OVERALL CONSENSUS!! If you’re a Samsung user and you’re looking to dive into the world of smartwatches I HIGHLY recommend the Samsung Watch 3! It has the look of a real watch, it looks classy, and it really isn’t too bulky. Yes, I did say that my watch sometimes gets caught on my jackets but that issue comes up so rarely. If I’m being honest here, putting together the dislikes part of this post was really hard and I feel like I had to be quite nit-picky when determining what it was that I’m not totally happy about regarding my watch.
Overall, I’m so happy I have this fun little gadget to help me keep track of me and I really hope that it continues to be a properly functioning and helpful little watch. It’s a stunning little accessory that works for when I go to workout AND when I need to dress myself up a little. I love it so so so much. 🙂
I hope you all have a great week and I’ll see you next Sunday. Stay safe and stay healthy!!
Happy New Year everyone! I apologize for being gone for a bit but I needed some time to focus on my academics and also family and personal life for a bit. I’m back now though! I’m back and hopefully you won’t have to deal with hearing anything else about big stressful tests for a while. 🙂 I just thought this week I would do a little update on where I’m at and just wish you all the best for 2021.
Christmas was quiet but very good. My family and I had a wonderful breakfast and included my great aunt’s cheesy potato recipe. We used to go to her house Christmas mornings when visiting family in New Mexico and so it has been nice to keep some parts of our old traditions in our Christmases the past two years we haven’t been to New Mexico. We also Skyped with my aunt and uncle that live in New Mexico and enjoyed opening presents with them. I really hope I can see family in person soon and I bet many of you can agree with me on that! Basically right after I finished opening presents, I spent the rest of Christmas Day studying as much organic chemistry and math as I could to feel decent going into my DAT the next day.
I finished strong with my fall semester. I still made the Dean’s List (despite my B in anatomy) and my other grades looked really good too which I am super thankful for. Following my semester, I had a few weeks to really study hard and prepare for the Dental Admissions Test, which is also known as the DAT (I referred to it as the DAT above). I had been preparing to originally take the DAT in August but I wasn’t feeling ready so I made the decision to reschedule my test to December 26th, the day after Christmas. Throughout my semester, I dedicated a lot of time to reviewing material for the DAT, but when I was finally free from my schoolwork, that’s when the hardcore studying really kicked in. And I’m happy to report that all that hard work really paid off. 🙂 If I’m being honest, I thought I was going to have to retake the test but I scored above average so I’m really pleased with how I did.
Finishing out 2020 was very low-key. I spent a lot of time just recovering from all the stress and exhaustion associated with the DAT and playing tennis with my dad and sister. We rang in the new year with sparkling cider and that’s basically where I’m at right now. For next year, I think I’ve decided that I’m going to call it good around 10 pm on New Year’s Eve. I STRUGGLED to stay up til midnight if I’m being honest.
With the beginning of 2021 there was a lot that happened in our nation’s Capitol. In response to it, I just want remind you all that it is important to be respectful and it is important to be kind. I understand the frustration. I understand the anger. From both sides! There is a lot done by our government that is right and there is a lot that needs to be improved. There is absolutely no justification for breaking into and vandalizing the Capitol building however. That is low. If we want change, we must first go with clear heads and then make the decision to respect ourselves and others.
I wish you all the best in 2021 and I really really hope that it’s not 2020 part 2. I’m glad to be back and I hope you all will still around for another year of blogging. Have a good week and I’ll see you all next Sunday! 🙂
To those of you in the United States, I just wanted to wish you all a very happy upcoming Thanksgiving! I hope you are all doing well, staying safe, and staying healthy out there. Things have been everything but normal this year and there a lot of things that have really frustrated and upset me this year. I bet we can all agree with that statement in some way. Regardless of the many challenges and struggles our world has faced this year, I think it’s always very important to focus on the positives and the little things we have to be thankful every single day. I just wanted to take some time to reflect on some of those things. 🙂 Hopefully you have some time to do the same this week.
I am thankful for my health. I am thankful that my university has given me so many opportunities to get tested for COVID-19, even if I haven’t necessarily been happy with it at the time. This has provided me with some peace of mind, even if I knew I was perfectly healthy without the test.
I am thankful for my family and friends. My family and friends have been nothing but supportive, caring, wonderful, and awesome beings. I’m so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life.
I am thankful for my education. I feel fortunate for the knowledge I have and the opportunities that my school has given me so far. I look forward for all that is still to come.
I am thankful for my faith. It has allowed me to find more peace of mind. I know to trust in God and all will be okay.
I am thankful for the beautiful state I call home. I don’t know what I would do without my mountain view every day. Thank you for being you, Colorado.
I am thankful for all of you. Thank you for being here and taking time to read this post and every other post.
I hope you all have a chance to reflect on the things that matter the most to you today, tomorrow, and every other day. Even the little things can mean a lot. Have a wonderful week and happy upcoming Thanksgiving! Stay safe and stay healthy.
Things have been so crazy lately and it’s crazy to think that it’ll be Thanksgiving soon and before we know it, December! With all of this comes the switch back to online classes. Before this semester started, my university made the decision to fully transition to online classes to hopefully prevent more students from contracting COVID-19. Hopefully that works.
I’m all for fewer people getting sick, but I’ve really hated having to deal with all these online classes. I teach a class for the honors program at my university and that has basically been the only fully in-person class I’ve had this semester. It’ll be hard for me to transition to being online for that class and I can’t even imagine how difficult that will be for my freshmen. It has been a really weird semester for them already and so I can’t imagine what that’ll be like for them when we’re fully online.
I’m honestly really excited for this semester to be over. It has been a big odd ball, that’s for sure. I’m practically done with my anatomy class, considering that was a class that I could take at my own pace anyway. I just have my exam on the upper limb tomorrow and then I’m DONE!! My business law class will also be finishing up in the next week once I turn in the last two assignments. My only remaining classes will be my cell biology class and macroeconomics (blehhhh). Having just those two online classes will be kind of nice but I’m worried that I won’t be able to find any motivation to do work. We shall just have to wait and see.
If anyone else out there is switching to remote learning soon, I feel for you. It’s tough but we will get through it. 🙂 I hope you’re all staying happy and healthy. Have a good week!
This semester I’ve learned a lot of things, but one of the biggest things I’ve learned is that adulting is hard, or at least whatever it is that I’m doing seems like adulting and it’s a lot.
Living in the dorms the past two years, I didn’t have to worry too much about preparing my food. Most of the time, I would get something from one of our dining halls or their express shops or I would pop something in the microwave and voila, my food would be ready. This year, things are a bit different. I have a kitchen! I’m very happy to be able to make food for myself but it has been an interesting balance trying to make sure I still get all of my school work done and then also cooking and making something decent for myself to eat. I’ve enjoyed being able to use my kitchen though for the most part. Very thankful for it as well. 🙂
When I lived in the dorms and even living at home, chores have always been a thing. Cleaning up after myself has always been a thing. I would consider myself a pretty clean person but I never realized how much responsibility comes with having a space to yourself like my apartment until I’ve had to take care of it. Vacuuming and cleaning the floors are a regular part of my weeks. Cleaning my mirrors and wiping down countertops, tables, and my decorative table are also things I have to keep up with. Dishes, laundry, the lists go on and on and on. I may sound like I complain when I say these things and sometimes I do complain that there’s so much to do and only one person to do it. But I’ve also learned that I appreciate cleanliness and that cleaning up around my apartment makes for a great study break sometimes.
Reflecting on what I’ve mentioned here with my food situation and my cleaning, I feel like I still haven’t done much of this thing that people do call “adulting” but I feel like I’ve had a good introduction to what’s to come.
Sorry for another short post this week. I have a lot going on with school and I’m really trying to finish two of my classes early since I have the chance to with them being asynchronous and fully online. Final push here!! Have a great week everyone!
This week, I’ve got a lot going on so I need to keep this a bit short. An anatomy test and econ test are in my future unfortunately. I hope you all had a great and safe Halloween! It’s crazy how fast the year has flown and that it’s already November. I also hope that you are all staying happy and healthy. With flu season on its way and the cold temperatures coming in, it’s more important than ever to be healthy. With all of what is going on in our country currently, especially with Election Day being on Tuesday, I just wanted to remind you all to be kind.
We may differ in our political views and opinions but we need to respect one another. You don’t need to sever ties with your family and friends, just because they vote for a different person. Yes, these choices matter, but that shouldn’t be what ends a relationship. You don’t need to call people names solely based on the fact that they filled in a different bubble than you did on the ballot. Let’s act like mature adults with this wonderful right we’ve been given. You don’t need to create an environment of hate and tension in a time when that’s really the last thing our country needs. We may not see eye to eye on various issues, but we need to recognize that and choose to be the better people. We need to use our heads, think with clear minds, and do what we think is best not just for ourselves but for the wellbeing of the country. We need to educate ourselves, and learn the facts, so that we can be better people and functioning members of society. More than anything, we need to BE KIND. Not just on Tuesday with the election or throughout the week but every day.
Be good to each other. Be kind and stay healthy and safe. See you next Sunday.
