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  • Another Year of Blogging!

    • CSU
    • miss Colorado
    • triangle mountain
    • Blogging

    Well my friends. Here we are again. Another year, another blogiversary. Yay for more blogging! Including this post, we have reached 247 posts, a lot of pictures and way over 10,000 views. For all of that and for all of you I say thank you. 🙂

    Thanks again for being here to read everything I have to say. Thank you for being here to listen to my rants and hear about my adventures and struggles and journey through life. Blogging really is just so much fun. If you’re bored and looking for something to do, I totally recommend blogging. There’s really a lot you can do with it!

    It’s crazy to think that little, high school freshman me started this off and here I am now, a sophomore in COLLEGE still writing for the same blog. I’m clearly boot-free by now (anyone been around since then? haha), still have my sweet little, wonderful doggies Marty and Boo, gained a feathery friend (was Bobo in the last Blogiversary??), learned that chemistry is super hard and NOT a favorite class of mine, and of course continued to spend time and love life with my wonderful family and friends.

    It’s crazy to think that this will be my last Blogiversary as a teenager too. The big 20 is coming up in October. It’ll be my golden birthday too! I’ve got two-and-a-half years left of college. My sister goes OFF to college this upcoming fall. I take the DAT for dental school NEXT summer. Life is happening so fast, wow. With that in mind though, it’s important to be thankful for what we have in the moment and cherish it all right as it happens.

    With that in mind, I hope you all have a wonderful week. I’m so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to pick up blogging and share my life and thoughts will you all. Don’t forget to live in the moment and be thankful for even the little things. 🙂 See you next Sunday.

  • Game of Thrones: The End of an Era

    Ok. I really don’t even know where to start. Most of you will probably not know this, but I LOVE Game of Thrones. I have always been a huge fan of the show and just recently, as in like last weekend, the show came to an end. Now that my emotions have calmed down, I feel like I am ready to share how I feel about Game of Thrones season 8. For those of you who are interested in the show and haven’t started it yet or are just now working your way through the seasons, I would like to warn you that spoilers will be in this post. Feel free to click away and come back later. 🙂

    Alrighty, first off. The music was FANTASTIC, as always. Ramin Djawadi is a musical god. The music is just breathtaking and intense and exciting and beautiful all in one. I listen to the soundtrack for the entire show on a regular basis.

    Onto the actual plot of season 8 now. Leading up to the Great War, everything was a bit slow for me. When episode 3 (The Great War) came around, WOW WAS THAT INTENSE. I was sad to see Theon go, but I do believe that his character was redeemed. It was sad to Theon die but I truly wasn’t as upset by his death in comparison to Jorah’s death. Personally, I was more traumatized to see Daenerys’s most faithful and loyal advisor go down. He died protecting her and that whole thing was just so so so sad. With the Great War, I also feel like the Night King deserved a more epic death. I was glad to see Arya get the kill but I still feel like he was worthy of a more interesting death considering that the entire show had practically led up to winter coming. I feel like Melisandre was an unsung hero of the episode. Her fire powers were incredibly helpful to the Dothraki, Unsullied, and the entire army fighting to protect Wintefell. The scene where she kit the Dothrakis’ swords on fire gave me CHILLS.

    Episode 4… This was a big one for me. First of all, seeing Rhaegal die was heartbreaking. Literally heartbreaking for me. You could ask my sister and she would tell you that I was a mess. And then to see Missandei die was traumatizing too. That set Daenerys up to become the “Mad Queen”, so to say, for sure. Greyworm did not deserve to see Missandei die and honestly I was so excited for the life the two characters could have had together. This episode was probably the most frustrating for me because it was clear that Daenerys had snapped and the morally good and truly only morally good character in the show had taken a dark turn.

    Episode 5 was just a disaster in my opinion. Jamie leaving Brienne was wrong. He should have stayed with her. Considering that he had redeemed himself and come so far as a character, I thought it was pathetic to see him return to his sister Cersei. While I do believe that Cersei deserved a death better than being crushed by falling rocks, I was still pleased to see her dead. She had caused a lot of heartache in the show. Jamie, not so much. Poor Brienne. Poor, poor Brienne. Looking at Daenerys, she had lost everything. I believe her actions were extreme in that she definitely didn’t need to burn down King’s Landing but I do believe that she really had no choice. Cersei and Euron Greyjoy had taken the last few people (and dragon!) away from her life. She had truly slipped into insanity. SO SAD!

    And then with the final episode… Oh boy, let’s try not to cry thinking about it. The shot of Daenerys with Drogon’s wings behind her… breathtaking. Some of the best cinematography and editing I’ve ever seen. Jon Snow killing her. NOT SO BREATHTAKING. I feel that Dany’s death was meant to occur based on what happened in episode 5 but I completely stand by my opinion in that she did not deserve to die. That was so wrong. And then to see the last of her dragons burn down the Iron Throne and fly away with her body was so sad too. To think that Drogon would have to live the rest of his 200-year life alone was so sad, and is so sad to think about (even though I know he’s not a real dragon). To see Bran as the king of the six kingdoms was underwhelming, in my opinion too. I’ve never been a huge fan of Bran as a character and his journey to King’s Landing and journey to the throne reaffirm my opinions. His demeanor and deep, monotone voice just don’t sit well with me.

    In the end, I was glad to see Jon go beyond the wall. I was happy to see Sansa become the cunning, clever, strong young lady she had become. I was extremely happy for her to declare Winterfell as its own kingdom, making Sansa the queen of Winterfell. To see Arya leave to explore beyond Westeros was exciting too. Could there be a Game of Thrones spin-off from this? The things that made me upset: Dany’s death, the death of the dragons minus Drogon, Tyrion’s betrayal to Dany, Missandei’s death, and Bran’s rise to power. Honestly the whole season was upsetting! In a good or bad way though? It’s hard to tell…

    Some of you may disagree and some of you may not. Overall, the season seemed rushed to me. It was still an incredible, unforgettable ending to an incredible show though. It’s so sad to let go of the characters and the story and the amazing world of Westeros but I am excited to see what legacy Game of Thrones leaves behind. I stand by my girl Daenerys til the end, House Targaryen: Fire and Blood.

    Have a good week everyone.

  • My First Year of College: A Reflection

    first year of college

    And just like that, I am done with my first year of college! Wow was that an experience! Here’s what I have to say about my first year at Colorado State University.

    It feels like I was just moving into my dorm. At first, living there felt like I was in a hotel but then over time, it began to feel more like my own living space (minus the fact that I shared the room with another person). People were always telling me that it was going to be hard to adjust but I really didn’t find it that difficult. I have always been close with my family and I kept myself busy throughout my time at school so I never really felt “homesick” or worried about my transition into college life and a more independent life.

    My first semester, chemistry was rough. I had the worst professor out of the general chem professors offered that semester and had to teach myself a lot of the material. Thank goodness I had a decent high school chemistry teacher. She saved me a lot throughout that class. I squeezed by with a B+ which wasn’t what I had hoped for, but was still incredible considering the amount of work and difficulty of the class.

    Second semester, chemistry was tough again but I really enjoyed my honors seminar on dance, my biology class, and my honors section of ecology. I had a wonderful professor for that class and it consisted of only eight other students, considering that it was the first honors section ever offered of that class. My schedule was extremely flexible and I really loved all of the free time I had in the afternoons.

    This first year of college, I really learned that if you take time to get stuff done right after class or in between classes, you can allow for more time to do the things you really want to do. The work you put into a class is the results you’ll get out. I studied my butt off this past year and I think that the work I put in really paid off. I’m really proud to say that I made the Dean’s List for both the fall and spring semester (as long as everything went well with my finals this past week!).

    Some of my favorite memories include getting cookies from Insomnia Cookies one night with one of my friends, going to get breakfast with my chemistry friends on a snowy Saturday morning, hiking Triangle Mountain with my roommate and one of my other friends, and the countless hours I spent studying and working on chemistry with my chem study group who I am proud to call my good friends. Ram Welcome, dinners with my floor, decorating my friends’ doors for their birthdays, trips to Torchy’s Tacos, and trips back home helped make this school year the memorable and amazing year it has been.

    I’m sad to be leaving Alpine Hall 375 but I’m so excited to see what’s next for me at CSU. This next year is going to be tough but so much fun. Organic chemistry, I’m looking at you! Thanks to everyone who helped make my first year of college the magical, fun experience it was. See you in the fall CSU!

  • Moms, This One’s For You: Happy Mother’s Day!

    moms
    Me and my wonderful mom 🙂

    It’s Mother’s Day again, woohoo! I just wanted to quickly give a shout out to all the wonderful moms out there. Thank you for being there for us. Thank you for being our best friends, #1 fans, tutors, nurses, and so much more. Moms, you truly are the best!

    I’ve been so fortunate to have my mom throughout my life. She’s an amazing, hard-working, beautiful person and I can’t imagine life without her. She is so strong and so determined and so inspiring and I hope that I can be half the person that she is at some point in my life. Mom, thank you for helping make me the person I am today. You’re beautiful, funny, and my best friend. (Also, sorry for posting this picture. I really liked it so I felt the need to post it, haha.) I love you so so so much.

    This post is going to have to be short because FINALS WEEK IS UPON US HERE AT CSU! Good luck to all my fellow Rammies out there. One final stretch here and then it’s summer time, well at least for a couple of days. I’m taking summer classes that start next Tuesday…

    Make sure to spend some time with your mom today. She should know that you love and appreciate her every day but today is the day to really show that love and appreciation. If you can’t be with your mom today, call her or Skype her or FaceTime her and let her know how much you love her. She deserves to hear it! 🙂

    If anyone else out there has finals this week I wish you the best of luck. If you’re already out of school, you’re so lucky. I wish I was in that position. I’ll be there soon though! Anyway… Have a wonderful week!

  • Dead Week Part 2: Finishing Freshman Year

    dead week

    This week is going to be a lot, so for my sake and sanity, I’m gonna keep this one short. Dead Week is here again! This time around I have a dance performance, two different speeches to prepare, a five-page paper to write, a practical to study for, as well as my three final exams to study for. Full plate over here!

    This semester has been a wonderful semester and I was fortunate to have so many wonderful professors and lab teacher assistants. The semester had its ups and downs (particularly my chemistry grade) but I’ve pulled through and challenged myself to overcome all the adversity I’ve faced. I’ve made it this far and I only have another two weeks to go so I need to dig down deep, find the strength to finish strong, and get outta here!

    My experience in the dorms has been interesting nonetheless and I’ve made a lot of wonderful friends on my floor, but I am honestly SO ready to go home for the summer and then live on my own next semester. I’ll get my own space and won’t have to worry about accommodating and bending my schedule to benefit others.

    Dead Week really is a lot about finding the mental capacity and strength to finish everything out on a good note and I’m praying that all of my finals and performances and speeches go well. If you’re interested in seeing my dance performance for my honors seminar, leave a comment and maybe I’ll post it in a future post! My honors seminar is about everyday movement and dance and this final dance is a fun project my professor has us doing.

    To those of you also dealing with Dead Week this week, you got it! Stay positive and finish strong. Stay organized and allow yourself some time to relax and get away from the books and papers. If you’re interested in reading my blog post about my first experience with Dead Week, I’ll link the post right here. I hope you all have a great week and I’ll see you next Sunday! (Haha, hopefully…)

  • Boo’s Ninth Birthday

    • Marty and Boo
      What a baby. 🙂
    • Marty and Boo
      Boo was probably just about to start barking in this picture.

    Time sure flies when you’re having fun with some adorable, wonderful dogs. This past week, our sweet little boy, Boo, turned nine. His birthday was this past Wednesday, and honestly, that’s been the hardest thing about college, missing out on family birthdays. It all worked out though because my family did a great job spoiling him and I had a chance to get some hugs and kisses from Boo this weekend at home.

    I remember when we first went to see Boo. He was just a couple of weeks old and he was so little in comparison to the rest of his siblings. He was the little runt of his litter, which is funny in my opinion because Marty was the alpha of his litter! When Boo was old enough for us to take him home, which was around two months of age, he was the most precious adorable, sweet little baby ever.

    Whatever Marty did, he did. And he learned very quickly that the way to get what you want, is by barking. He’s not annoying or misbehaved when he barks, but he definitely does allow his voice to be heard if he’s wanting a carrot or some cheese, or even to just go outside. He might not be the biggest fan of my grandpa’s blue heeler, but that’s a story for a different time… 🙂

    One of my favorite things about Boo is his ability to sing. Yes, you read that right. He sings. When I play piano, he howls along, but he’s different in that he changes his howling and tone based on the song I’m playing. If I’m playing at more of a fast and intense tempo, Boo sings louder and his howls are more choppy. When I play a slower song, his howls become deeper and longer and it’s precious!!

    He’s always been the baby of the family and always will be. His kind demeanor and sweet, sweet, sweet personality make him such a lovable and wonderful dog to have and I’m so lucky that I’ve been a part of his amazing little life. Him and Marty get along so well and my family and I are so lucky to have worked with an amazing breeder to have two amazing little dachshunds.

    May there be many more belly rubs, jam sessions on the piano, carrots, cheese, and squirrel chases in his future. Have a good week everyone!

  • Invisalign and Easter 2019

    First of all, I’d just like to say, HAPPY EASTER! Today is a beautiful, wonderful day and I hope you’re all spending time with family and friends, having a good time. This weekend has been another great weekend for me with family and it became a whole lot more interesting with the two pieces of plastic that I’m wearing in my mouth for the next three months. I got Invisalign!

    Saturday morning, one of the dentists my mom works with was willing to help my mom out and together, they applied these little buttons to my teeth that will help move my teeth around along with the retainers. In total, I have 14 sets of retainers that I will be changing every ten days and in total, the process should take three months, which is super cool.

    I had braces in second grade for about six months and then again in sixth grade for a year. Technically, I have a retainer that I’m supposed to be wearing nightly to prevent my teeth from shifting around so much, but it messes with my bite, so here we are with the Invisalign. That’s going to hopefully adjust the minor shifting that my teeth have done and give me a new retainer that doesn’t mess up my bite in the end.

    It’s been weird adjusting to the Invisalign (well it’s only been a day, but still) in the sense that I have to take the retainer out and then put it back in after eating or drinking liquids that aren’t water. I’ve always taken pretty decent care of my teeth, but I feel like I’m going to go into hyper-cleaning mode as a result of this, which isn’t a bad thing. Because I want to eventually go into orthodontics, it has been interesting to see the process for Invisalign so far and be able to experience some of the technology that I will be working with some day in addition to regular braces that most people associate with orthodontists.

    Now I need to go plan a quick little surprise Easter egg hunt for my sister before I head back up to Fort Collins… Thanks for being here on this Easter Sunday! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of this wonderful holiday and that you have a great week. See you next Sunday!

  • Caramel Cloud Macchiatos and Trips to Boulder

    trips to boulder

    This isn’t even stuff that happened this past weekend, but it did happen the weekend before and I felt the need to share now. My mom and I had a mission, and that mission was to find a new tennis skirt at Lululemon. And of course the closest Lululemon was in Boulder. Since I was home for the weekend, I took a trip to Boulder, the home of the enemy (Go Rams!), and went to the 29th Street Mall.

    I honestly forgot how scary Boulder was. I used to visit all the time considering that my dad worked at CU Boulder, but it has gotten weird, let me tell ya. There were just a lot of weird stores and the overall vibe was just a little weird. Regardless, I found my skirt at Lululemon and will happily be wearing it on the court whenever I get the chance. We also found a couple of really cute racerback tank tops and another cute shirt for working out in. I would definitely consider Lululemon to be on the more expensive side of clothing, but the quality is amazing, and their clothes last for quite a long time, so the price is worth it.

    After our time at Lululemon, we walked around Macy’s and then Brandy Melville, which I didn’t realize was an actual, physical store. I’ve known that you can shop at Brandy Melville online, but like I said, I didn’t realize it was an actual store you could shop at in person. I also knew a bunch of girls that LOVED Brandy Melville clothes in high school and made the biggest deal of it, but I’ve never really understood that. If Brandy Melville is your style and you love it, I’m not judging, but still, wow.

    There’s honestly a lot of clothes that are that way in my opinion. As long as you’re comfortable and confident in what you wear, then that’s awesome! There really isn’t a need to go around making a big deal of other people’s outfits, judging them for the brands they wear. Clothes are clothes, let’s keep that in mind. Kind of like with the brand Supreme, I never understood the appeal. Super limited edition, super “cool”, and super expensive. And the only thing that separated Supreme hoodies from a perfectly good and comfortable hoodie from Kohl’s or Target was the logo.

    Anyway, back to the story of my weekend. After our walk-through of Brandy Melville, my family and I stopped at Starbucks (woohoo) and finished our Boulder afternoon adventure with caramel cloud macchiatos. And if you get the cloud macchiato iced, it’s even better. Honestly, the cloud macchiato is my favorite all-time drink at Starbucks. It’s beautiful and so tasty and so different from any other Starbucks drink I’ve ever had. It’s unfortunate that it’s a limited edition drink, but it’s really not too big of a deal. Hopefully they’ll bring it back around!

    I hope you all have a great week. I’m glad that the weather is finally getting warmer, especially after having a horrible bomb cyclone x2 this past week. See you next Sunday!

  • One of My Favorite Places on Earth

    favorite places on earth

    As many of you know, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to the island of Oahu this past summer after my high school graduation. This past week was a rough week of tests and speeches, so during one of my study breaks, I took some time to look through my camera roll on my phone and I stumbled across some pictures from my Hawaii trip.

    It was at that moment that I realized how much I LOVED Hawaii and how excited I am to be able to travel there in the future. Out of the many places I visited while in Hawaii, Byodo-In temple was definitely a favorite and I would consider it one of my favorite places on Earth, as of right now at least.

    I remember first arriving at the temple and thinking it was going to be some small, so-so, meh kinda visit. Boy was I wrong! The scenery was gorgeous, the temple itself was gorgeous. Even the swans and frogs were gorgeous! Like who calls a frog pretty?

    The peace and just overall feeling of the area was so peaceful and calming and with all of the stress I dealt with this past week, it was wonderful to find a way to relax myself. I bet a lot of you can relate in some way. Remembering a relaxing time or a calming place you’ve been can really help actually calm you down!

    Everything about Byodo-In temple was just magical and just thinking about the feelings and calmness I felt there make me so content and at peace and I love it. I really hope to visit again in the near future. I’m not quite sure when but I know I’ll make it happen. Have a great week everyone. 🙂

  • 10,000 Thanks

    10000 thanks

    This past Monday, this blog hit a big milestone in my opinion. We reached 10,000 views! To some of you, you may be thinking, “Yeah, 10,000 views, whatever. That really means nothing. Not that big of a deal.” That’s ok if that’s what you think, but to me, this was a pretty big deal. That means that people are reading this blog and what I write! And hopefully that means that you’re enjoying what I’m writing and feel inclined to come back every week. So for that, and for this week’s blog I’d just like to take some time to reflect on the life of my blog and say thank you, 10,000 times.

    I really never thought this blog would amount to anything to be completely honest. I started doing this all for myself to share my love for writing and put my thoughts and feelings and ideas somewhere I could look back on later in life but I never really thought that others would get on board.

    Disregarding my welcome post, my first actual blog post was published June 8, 2014 and it was about some tips for tennis tournaments. From there, I posted about a variety of things, that those of you who’ve been around a long time probably know about.

    I wrote about my two injuries, both to my sesamoid on the bottom of my left foot as well as my peroneal tendon subluxation and eventual surgery on my left ankle. During the two years I dealt with injury and wasn’t really able to play any sport at the level I was used to at the time, this blog and my website were a great place for me to put my energy and time into. I was able to share my thoughts and love for the things I do and love in life here and I think that my blog really helped keep me sane during that time of my life.

    I shared experiences from my numerous trips to New Mexico and also Omaha, Nebraska, New York, and most recently Hawaii. I’ve talked about all of my breaks during school from getting off of summer break, to spending time with family during Thanksgiving break, to the joys of winter break, and also spring break, which I recently came back from. Even just my adventures around Colorado are written about here on my blog, and those have been a lot of fun to go back and look through.

    This blog has been a place for me to share stories of times with my families and my sweet, amazing little dogs, Marty and Boo. And when Bobo, my green-cheeked conure became a part of my family, you all heard about that too.

    From the time I started high school, to graduating near the top of my class, you’ve been with me. From the beginning of my college experience to March 31st, 2019, you’ve been here too. From every goofy, random post about polar bears and my favorite foods to eat on rainy days, you’ve been here and listened to what I have to say and I really, really appreciate it.

    So thank you. Thank you all for being here to hear what I have to say. Thank you for sticking around, through good and bad posts and good and bad times. Thank you for hopefully enjoying what I write and giving me something to get excited for. Getting ready to post on Sundays has become one of the highlights of my weeks and thinking of post ideas has become a really fun part of my week too.

    So here’s to the next 10,000 views. I’m excited to see what’s in store for this blog and my website and the future in general! Thanks again for being the amazing people you all are. Thank you for taking a little bit of time out of your day to read this blog and spend some time with me. Have a good week everyone. 🙂