It’s Been A While

Hello beautiful world! It’s been a while since my last post in 2016. Unfortunately, life got the best of me and I kept putting this off. A quick recap of the past years:

1. Lot’s of different jobs.
2. Was basically unemployed for a year, because, you know the struggle. However God is good! He blessed me with a great opportunity.
3. Got my Masters and good old student debt
4. Fell in love, but now it’s back to the single life.
5. Of course, lots of travel in between because that has become a true passion of mine.

Now that you’re caught up, let’s get to the reason of why I’m doing this. There’s people like me out there that are going through the same thing as I am. They are on a journey of self-discovery and self-love. I want to journal my new experiences and how they are helping me grow as a person whether it’s taking a trip to the Dominican Republic or finally doing affirmations every morning and seeing results. I want to be able to reach at least one person with my stories. Let’s go on this journey together :). Stay tuned for the next blog post I write! God bless ❤

Sustainability, Zero Waste, Fair Trade?

*****DISCLAIMER: I am not a pro nor am I claiming to be one on zero waste or sustainability. It’s just a small overview of the things that I’ve been slowly learning.*****

If you had known me 8 months ago, you would’ve know how much I loved shopping at the Forever 21 clearance rack and racking up lots of deals. I could spend $20 and get 5 dresses or 2 outfits. After a few months, I would donate or throw away my clothing. This was a terrible cycle that led to bad spending habits.

Recently, trying to get better with my spending, I started looking into thrifting tips on how to get great deals. Eventually stumbled upon a video about clothing and learned that eventually thrift clothing gets thrown out or ends up in a 3rd world country to be sold. If it’s not sold, then it gets burned. It touched on normal clothing and how fast fashion clothing takes a huge toll on our fragile environment. It really got me thinking about my role and participating in the destruction through purchasing clothing from places like Forever 21, H&M, Rainbow, & more.

I started learning about sustainable living and learning different ways to be zero-waste. I also decided to learn about fair-trade. If you’re new to these 3 terms, like I was, below is their definition.

Fair Trade:

“Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South.” – World Fair Trade Organization

You want to make sure that the trade is sustainable and that the people working for the to make or farm the items are being treated right and compensated well,

Zero-Waste:

“Zero Waste: The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.” – Zero Waste International alliance

Basically, using minimal to zero resources that can harm our planet earth.

Sustainability:

 “The physical development and institutional operating practices that meet the needs of present users without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, particularly with regard to use and waste of natural resources. Sustainable practices support ecological, human, and economic health and vitality. Sustainability presumes that resources are finite, and should be used conservatively and wisely with a view to long-term priorities and consequences of the ways in which resources are used.” – UCLA Sustainability Committe

In short terms, using practices that won’t affect future generations because resources are limited.

A good friend of mine had been practicing minimalism, becoming a conscious shopper, and has recently started her journey of living a sustainable life. She started her journey roughly 3 years ago. She would talk to us about some of the everyday brands we love and how they are messing up our environment so she decided to buy less, declutter more, purchase fair-trade, etc. We never paid much attention to the things she told us. When I would pay attention, I would think to myself, “it sounds like a lot of work and expensive. You do what you gotta do. Not for me”.

However, after learning more about my impact on this planet and even to the lives of others, I decided to make a change in my own life. I decided to be a more conscious shopper and to incorporate zero-waste practices in my daily routine.

Can I be zero-waste and sustainable? No, there are certain things that I can’t give up. However, I can take little steps to make changes that will make an impact for the future. I can use reusable grocery and produce bags to eliminate my plastic bag use. Bring my own straw, utensils, and to-go containers when I go out to eat. I’m learning to avoid products that carry a bunch of plastic/items that can’t be recycled. I am also not shopping for new clothes every single month. When it is time to buy clothing, I’ll go to a thrift store (that donates to local charities) first. If I can’t find something I like, I will research brands that are affordable and sustainable and go from there.

Can I shop fair trade? Yes, I can. A lot of products have the fair trade logo to make it easy to purchase. If they don’t have it, some of them will say it in their ingredients, like, “Fair Trade semi sweet dark chocolate chips”. Some places like Big Lots, Target, or even Walmart, have items that are Fair Trade. I can also do research on different companies to make sure that they are Fair-Trade. Taking that step has already eliminated Hershey’s, Nestle, and Starbucks for me. I’m also including purchasing items that are cruelty-free because I love our furry friends. It may hurt a half-second when it comes to the price, but it doesn’t amount the suffering and pain that others go through to make a mascara or chocolate bar. I want to know that my money is going towards helping others, not harming them or this planet.

This is a journey for me and I know I will make mistakes along the way, but it’s better to learn from them now and grow in the process.

Below are some resources that have (and are helping me) with this journey:

        Blog Posts:

A New Beginning

Sustainability in Your Day to Day Life

The Beginners Guide To Zero Waste

101 Easy Eco Friendly, Zero Waste Tips

Fair Trade Shopping Guides

What is Fair Trade?

Lush

Videos:

The Dark Secret Behind Your Favorite Makeup Products

20 FREE Zero Waste Swaps

      How Fast Fashion Adds to the World’s Wasting Problem

Full: Circle: The Second Life of Old Clothing Abroad

My Zero Waste Journey

13 Ways Minimalism Changed My Life

The Dark Side of Chocolate

Why Fair Trade Is Important

 

From the Clear Blue Ocean to the Green Oak Trees

 

Per my previous posts, it’s obvious that your girl enjoys a good trip. Over the past month, I was blessed enough to go on two pretty awesome trips to celebrate my birthday. I went on a girls trip to the Dominican Republic and then went on a camping trip to Yosemite. Both beautiful locations and highly recommended.

Ultimately, my big takeaway from both trips is that it’s important to give yourself some time to do some soul searching. I heard God telling me that I’ve entered a season of healing and a season of self-love. Getting out of your bubble and everyday routine opens your mind to things you would’ve never thought of.

Even if you can’t leave your state, take that time and go on hike close by. Being in nature can truly put your spirit at ease. It clears your head and gives you a break from the world. In a hectic world, you need to disconnect and do some soul searching.

Alright, let’s get to the good stuff about these past trips. The good, the bad, and the cost.

Punta Cana, The Dominican Republic: 

My friends and I used Expedia to book our trip. Ultimately, we paid roughly $2,100.00 for an all-inclusive trip with a round-trip flight from LAX. The hotel we stayed at was called the Occidental Carribe and it was pretty nice. We booked our excursions at the hotel (I don’t recommend doing that. Check out the CONS section) and we did one excursion everyday. We were able to go to Santo Domingo, Saona Island, Bavaro Beach, and we went so an adventure park called Scape Park. Each place was beautiful and had it’s own vibe.

Pros:

Money-wise: Including the excursions, we spent a total of $2,434.00. The hotel included breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That saved us money on buying food outside. Our transportation to get from the hotel to our activity and back was provided through the excursion company, which means we didn’t waste money on Taxis. I only spent like $100 extra, making it $2,700.00. There are cheaper options online, but my friends and I splurged a little bit on the flight. The cheaper flights were 14-20hr long going and coming back. We didn’t want to spend so much time on air and decided to spend extra for a shorter flight.

Excursions: Doing our research,  a lot of the blogs and websites recommended to book your excursions when you are at your location because you can get a better deal. We spent $344.00 on 5 excursions: ATV/Chocolate Tasting/Cave swimming, Party Boat, Saona Island, Scape Park, and Santo Domingo. The beaches were clean and beautiful. They really give your soul some peace. The best part was that the water was warm and the perfect temperature to dive in.

My tip is to take some snacks or a bag lunch because most of those excursions did not provide lunch. I also recommend to book  on through the website, not through the vendors at the hotel.  And take plenty of bathing suits because you’ll be in the water like 95% of the time.

Hotel Activities:  If all you want to do is relax at the resort but still want to do fun activities, the hotel has plenty of things to do from the morning to the night. The resort also includes all-day open bar and a nightclub on-site so you can party safely. Since we were out most of the day, we were only able to catch the main show at night. Each night was a different show. It ranged from karaoke night to a Michael Jackson tribute night. The performers gave it there 110% every night and the dancers were amazing. I kept going back specifically for the dancers. 

Cons:

DO NOT BOOK THROUGH THE VENDORS AT THE HOTEL:We ran into an issue with our last excursion. When we reached out to our Expedia Local Expert for a refund, we were basically told they were siding with the excursion company. We reached out to corporate Expedia and they confirmed what the manager of the expert told my friend, “These are vendors are people we partner up with. They use our logo, but they are considered a 3rd party”. We had also complained to the hotel regarding the Local Expert and she told us, “They are separate from the hotel.” Basically, that party vendor loop hole that Expedia used. 

My tips is to spend the extra money and book through whatever website you used. They’ll have documentation of the excursion and what you paid. Hopefully they’ll be more helpful and willing to refund your money back if things go wrong with the excursion.

      The food kind of sucks at the resort: My favorite meal was breakfast. It had the most variety and the healthiest options. The rest of the food was pretty bland. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to try too much of the local mom and pop food places because our resort was away from the main city and our excursions kept us busy. When we finally had the chance to try something authentic, it definitely tasted much better. Also, due to the timing of the resorts lunch and dinner, you might miss it when you come back from your excursion. The only thing they have available is a burger shack. If you want to get a snack, you have to purchase it at the little souvenir/market shop they have at the resort. 

 

Yosemite: 

Yosemite was very beautiful. I have always seen it in pictures. To see it and experience it in person was amazing. The trees were so large and green. The air was fresh and clear. The meadows had a mix of green with hints of yellows and purples. The infamous Half Dome was crazy to see in person, it was large and breath-taking.

I’m not a camper, I camped twice with he who shall not be named, and it wasn’t anything that really grabbed my attention. However, I really wanted to visit Yosemite and hotels inside the national park for Labor Day weekend was out of my budget. My friend wanted to visit Yosemite and suggested that we could always camp. I agreed to it and looked at it as a new experience because it would be two non-campers that would be roughing it. Sure enough, I am now open to camping.

      Pros:

It’s Yosemite, like, everything was a pro. The rangers were very friendly and let us know the easiest hikes for us to do and what would be less touristy. The weather was perfect for hiking and there were plenty of restrooms everywhere. On top of that, there is an area that has food, drinks, restrooms and lunch tables making it easy for everyone to grab something to eat before you start your adventure.

Campsite: We camped outside of Yosemite at a campsite called Yosemite Pines. It was hour away from the center of the national park and 30-40min away from a local town that had lodging, food, and drinks. The campsite had FREE showers with warm water, a sandwich shop, a pool, and a mini market. It was also a family-friendly campsite and provided activities for the kids.

The Scenery: No matter where you go in the park or even outside of the park, the scenery was impeccable. Driving to park and seeing the green trees was one thing, but getting into the park and seeing different views of the park was spectacular. The waterfalls were amazing and took your breath away. Being in nature makes you appreciate the beauty that this world has to offer. 

My tip is get there first thing in the morning to get a head start of the day and enjoy some long hikes. Also, ask the ranger of some good hikes and which ones to avoid. Different people are on different levels and can do more than others or are restricted.

Cons: Don’t book on a 3-day weekend. It sounds like a great idea, but there are SOOOOO many people. The park ranger told us that there were 40,000 people over the weekend. Also, when you decide to book, get a place inside the national park. There’s so much to do and see at the park, you need to start early in the morning. It’s hard to find parking because everyone is at the park and a lot of people are willing to get there before 7am. We spent 2hrs looking for parking. 

 My tip is to listen to all of the bloggers and book up to 6months in advance if you decide to go during peak time. Maybe look into going during the off-season and you can probably reserve up to 3months ahead rather than 6. 

Pictures:

 

Taking A Break From Social Media

In my recent spiritual journey, I’ve been compelled to do more fasting. As I’ve learned over the past few months, fasting doesn’t only mean to give up food, there are other ways to fast: giving up sweets, shopping for new clothing, social media fasting and more. I decided for that for 4 weeks, I would take a social media fast beginning at 7pm at night.

You might be thinking, “That’s probably just a few hours, that’s not really a huge deal.” In the contrary, it meant I barely had any time to be on social media. I work a standard 8-5 job and work out after work. I don’t really check my phone at work because they have everything except for twitter blocked, I have to use my data if I want to be on other social media platforms. It’s really not a huge deal for me to be on social media during work hours anyways. I’ll look at it during my lunch and when I’m waiting for my workout class to start. I normally do my social media looking when I’m home, so taking it away starting at 7pm meant I probably only got an hour total on IG, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat.

Now you’re probably saying” get to the point of this blog post. Where’s the why and why does this matter?”. Okay here it is.

I decided to take a break beginning at 7pm because I noticed I would try to squeeze a few extra minutes on IG before knocking out. The only thing was those 5min soon turned into 20 min, then 30 min, resulting in a lack of sleep. On top of that, it just feels like in recent years, social media has become more and more toxic for us regular people. It’s a great place to get your cause out there, promote your small business, explore the world from the comfort of your bed and see those special moments in someones life. However, there’s the negative side, tons of photoshop (even on your favorite body positivity person), couples putting staged pictures for the “GRAM”, people doing ridiculous things to gain followers (AKA: STOP LICKING ICE CREAM AND GARGLING MOUTH WASH YOU GROSS CLOUT CHASERS), and overall, no one being authentic. Everyone has a curated page and I’m guilty of that too. If you look at my personal account, all you see is a social person who likes to go out and travel. You don’t see my real struggles behind the smiling face, partially because it is my private life and not everyone on my IG is close to me to know what’s going on and also, I want it to look like I am that girl, even if I’m on the floor crying right before I take the picture.

Taking a break has been a really nice thing for mentally. Now when I go on it, I can only be on it for a few min and get off. I highly encourage for more people to do the same. Set a time in the day or just get off for a few days to refresh your mind and truly be in the present.

I’ll admit, that was one of my least favorite things to do when I would travel with people. We would go somewhere nice, they would spend 30min just taking selfies, at one point I had to walk away from the group pictures because we were wasting time trying to find the perfect angle for all of us, rather than soaking up this old castle in Germany. Yes, I used to be that person in college and h.s., “let’s take pictures!”. In fact, I will bust out a few selfies for the gram, but I also know that I need to sit there and be present in what’s going on.  Focusing on that bomb selfie takes away from experiencing life.

Anyways, I went off on a tangent. Sorry for being a hot mess of a writer sometimes, but like they say in church, gotta keep it real.

So yes, it’s a great way to refresh your mind and remember that all those pictures behind them are not real. Those IG models, a good chunk got surgery and photoshop (same with some of your fave body positivity people). Some of those popular beauty gurus are people who are toxic and will back stab someone to get to the tops (hence all of those “apology videos we’ve seen from that community). Some of those “world travelers” are probably in debt over taking the perfect selfie. Like one of my fave rappers sings, “Those money phones are money loans”.  If you’re on it 24/7, you start believing that is reality and start comparing yourself to everything you see online.

Being off of it for just a few hours a day helps you stay grounded and it doesn’t fill your head with these crazy ideas of someone else’s life being perfect and this whole, “She’s 21 and already a millionaire. She looks so happy in those Gucci slides”. So what if that’s their life. They may look perfect and have all this money, but they probably don’t have many people in their circle who truly love them and care for them like you do.

“I don’t have friends and I don’t get along with my family. Their life is better. You don’t understand!”. No, I don’t, but you can’t use that as a crutch either, join a community, whether it’s church or meetup. Life happens in real time, not on social media.

It’s ironic, the thing that was supposed to connect millions of us is the thing that is making a few of us feel bad about ourselves or worse, get disconnected from reality.

I’m going to continue fasting from social media to stay away from getting sucked back into that whole. It’s great in moderation, but life is better. Despite how messed up this world can be at times, at least it’s real and not photoshopped.

Would you guys consider taking a break from social media? Do you see some of the people around you being affected by the things they see online? Is it good or bad? Let me know below :).

So Little Time, But So Much To Do!

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog! I hope you are having an amazing and beautiful day!

As these months passed by, it’s crazy to think that we are in June! June signifies my 3rd month of being in my single season, but it also means that it is the beginning of summer. Warm days and more time to explore southern California with my close peeps or even alone  with the fur babies. I’ve entered into a recent resurgence of  curiosity and exploration of local areas around me. I’ve also been open to creating new friendships within my church, which has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone.

With summer finally being here, I have told myself that I need to check out a new location at least once a month and do something I’ve never done before. This can include a hike, a concert, hot spring, etc. Overall, the goal is to try something new that is not within a 15min radius.  My first stop was a little mountain in the desert called Salvation mountain, located in Calipatria, CA 92233.

Salvation Mountain was created by Leonard Knight, who experienced a revival in spirituality at the age of 31 and decided to dedicate his life to Jesus. His passion led him to spread a simple, yet powerful message, “God is Love”. He painted and created what is today called, Salvation Mountain. Filled with colorful words, verses and the message of Love. it is definitely recommended site to see. Roughly a 30 to 40min drive away from Palm Springs and you drive by the Salton Sea, another site to sea (get it, teeheehee).

Salvation Mountain was on my bucket list and I can finally check it off. It was an amazing experience going in person and seeing all of the hard work a man that had a passion for Christ. He must’ve spent hours, days and nights to create such a masterpiece to spread such a simple and awesome message of love. You have to add it to your list of things to see. If you live in California, I would say to go first thing in the morning to avoid the heat. We headed back home around 11am and the desert heat was starting to rise at 90 degrees. Also, stop by Palm Springs for a quick lunch, it will be a great way to explore 2 places in one trip. Also, it’s not a hike, you can park in front of the mountain and go dressed in casual sneakers. Of course, take plenty of water because of the heat and be careful driving out there, there is a two-lane road, which means drivers hop on to the opposite end of the road to pass you up.

This was the best way to kick off my summer of adventure. I got out and explored a new area and in turn, my coworker also got to get out of her bubble and explore something out of her 30min radius comfort zone. It was a great bonding experience for the both of us.

I have plenty of more adventures I want to go on. If you guys have any recommendations, please let me know! Also, if you have any suggestions of how I should right these particular blogs, less background, more background, do you want to know how to budget for these trips or events, let me know :).

Love you guys! Don’t forget, God bless you, Jesus loves you!

Moving Forward ->

Hello beautiful world! The sun (or the moon) is out and shining bright! You are amazing, beautiful and alive! Thought I would start this one with sending you guys some positive vibes!

Okay, it’s officially been one month of being single. I wanted to share my experience with you guys and hopefully be able to help you too. Or maybe you’ll be reading this and want to give me some tips on healing or simple life advice.

To be honest, I’m very happy to have gotten dumped. God truly has a plan for everyone and his for mine was go on this journey of singleness. I genuinely feel like a lost a part of myself being in a relationship and thought I needed to find myself. The truth is, I don’t need to find myself, I need to reinvent myself and strive to be a better version of me. To become who God has called me to be. It’s only been a month and I’ve seen a difference in myself spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. Obviously, there’s still a lot of work that I have to do, but I’m being proactive and taking the steps to continue to heal and become a better me.

First I would like to say that I do not wish my ex any ill-will. I have love for him as person and hope he finds his happiness. He wasn’t a bad guy, he was like a pineapple. Rough on the outside but sweet on the inside. We were simply too different and it wasn’t meant to be.

Second, I’ll finally cut to the chase and give you a weekly summary of what I did to get better and end it with how I can continue to work towards reinventing myself. Again, if you have any advice or tips, feel free comment below and let me know!

Week 1: I spent Saturday morning and afternoon broken-hearted over what happened. Thankfully I was texting my college besties throughout the day and we had a heart to heart. They cheered me up and encouraged me to stay strong. All of my friends rallied around me and lifted me up. I would cry in the mornings on my way to work or in the evening, but I refused to bottle it in. I still had a lot of emotions that needed to be processed, I turned to journaling and lots of prayer. If you don’t want to talk others (I encourage talking to everyone, including your barrista), journaling is a healthy way to write down your raw emotions and get EVERYTHING off your chest. You can also write a letter and rip it up afterwards. I watched a lot of sermons and self-help blogs on broken hearts and how to move one. I’ll add the links to them at the end of this page. If you’re not spiritual, meditation was another recommendation those videos mentioned. Overall, find a way to process and let out all of your emotions, cry, yell, write, whatever you have to do, do it. Bottling in those emotions will not help you heal. I also decided incorporate more self-care. I bought some facial products, a scrub and I dyed my hair.

Week 2: One of the tips I came across when watching those videos/sermons was to detox and get rid of the negativity. I was already watching one a sermon a day, but after the breakup, I started watching 2 or 3, along with videos that discussed healing, breaking soul ties, how to be single and overall anything with a positive message that could help detox my mind from any negativity. I also started drinking one green smoothie a day to cleanse my body from all the dirt inside. I started going to church more and joined a small group. On top of all of this, I started working out more because it is a proven way to increase endorphins.  Listening to more positive things in my morning, drinking a green smoothie everyday, joining a church group and exercising made me feel stronger and like a layer of negativity shedded off me. Using the body scrub every night felt like I was scrubbing away the toxic stuff on my body. I started using a “detox” facial mask to clear up my skin, and homegirl started getting her nails did.

Week 3:  With a detox and self-care routine in place, I started changing my room and decided I wanted to get rid of a lot of clothing that I had by giving back. I met this really nice lady at church, she told me she visits the poor in TJ every week and gives them clothing and food. She asked for donations, I decided to run with her question, I donated half of my clothing and some blankets that my ex and I would snuggle up in. As for my room, I cleaned it up, washed my rug, bought an oil diffuser and bed set, giving it a bit of a revival. I continued to lean on God by praying, going to the church group and started fasting. Unfortunately, it was a hard week for me. I kept reminiscing about my relationship, the breakup and found myself even missing him at my low moments. However, I saw a picture of his pop up on my IG. Dude, I was so triggered. I want him to be happy, but I don’t want to know about it and I don’t want him to know about me. The past needs to stay in the past. I unfollowed and blocked him on there, spammed his email, and blocked him from my mom’s IG and his phone #. It felt empowering and gave me a weird emotional pick up. Like, “no, you have a purpose in this journey. You’re working so hard to get better. Keep up the hard work.”

Week 4: After struggling in week 3 and seeing how triggered I was Sunday night from seeing his photo, I decided to fast again. I fasted for 3 days and prayed for healing and for other things going with my family. I kept up my exercise routine, kept drinking green smoothies and matcha lattes, kept praying and my girls had my back the entire time. I feel that fasting helped me clear my mind and made me feel more renewed. I also started going on short jogs during lunch to clear my head a little more. This week went smoother than the 3rd week. The new routine has helped a lot, but having my faith, family, and friends really helped me. I told my coworker that part of journey was to spend time with my friends and family, to make up for lost times. Being in a relationship, it’s not you anymore, it’s them and their family too. So I am making up for lost time with the people that matter the most to me. Being surrounded by their genuine love and laughing at silly jokes/actions has really helped me emotionally and mentally.

What’s next: I’m going to keep drinking a green smoothie a day to help clean my body from the inside and keep up a healthy exercise routine to stay healthy. I’m glad to incorporate running into my workout regimen, it clears my head. Definitely need to continue doing this self-care stuff because it genuinely works. Journaling has also been amazing, I don’t do it every single day, but I try every few days just to reflect on my emotions and what’s been going on. Really interacting with this new church I go to and just leaning on God in general has really made some changes in my heart, so I decided to volunteer at church. I get to give back to the community and meet more people that have a similar belief. I will also continue to spend time with my friends and family because those are people that will be in my life forever. Men and women come and go, but family is forever. I also joined meetup so I can do activities with people around my age and try new things. Overall, I want to keep moving forward and improving myself. There’s no limit when God is by your side, but there definitely is no turning back. I feel more at peace with myself and much happier.

Videos that helped me: 

How to heal a broken heart

How God can bless a broken heart

How to heal from a broken heart – Heather Lindsey

Relationship Goals

Detox your life

Life detox 

Detox

Finding you worth in Christ

How to be single 

Soul surgery 

 

Being Alone.

To be completely honest. I’m not sure what direction I’m going with this so I’m going to wing it. There isn’t advice, but if you have any suggestions for me on this journey, let me know 🙂

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I found love but I find myself to be single again. Don’t cry for me though, I’m stopped crying a week ago. Now I’m learning to be by myself and love myself.

I prayed a lot over that relationship. There were plenty of ups and downs since we were so different. We worked hard to make it work, especially when it came to our spiritual differences. I’m Christian and he was agnostic. Every Christian knows, “you’re not supposed to be unequally yoked.” I struggled with that a lot. I loved him, but I didn’t want to go against God either. I always felt that there was a purpose to our relationship, so I stayed. I prayed and I loved.

My prayer was simple, “God, if this is meant to be, please help us get through everything. If it’s not, please help us hit that wall so we can walk away.” He hit his wall and I hit mine minutes after he did. That was God telling me, “It’s done. It’s time to start your new journey.” It was time for us to let go and move on. I needed to find myself.

Back in October, I was feeling depressed. I felt lost, like I lost my identity. I turned more to my faith and prayed so much. I also went to a therapist. Praying, talking to a professional, journaling and doing different activities got me out of that funk. Now that I’m single, I can truly rediscover myself and learn new things about myself. Overall, happiness is what I want in my life.

As of now, I feel the best things I can do for myself is to continue to seek a deeper relationship with God, take care of my mind and body, and create new memories with the important people in my life. God has a plan for all of us, I’m choosing to trust in it. I’m trusting this is my season to date and love myself.

What are some tips that you might have about dating yourself?

Photo by Jens Johnsson on Pexels.com

Characters, Costumes, and Club Cosplay

 

“A place where you can truly be who you want to be, even if you’ve always wanted to be ‘the Batt-man’… or rather, ESPECIALLY if you’ve always wanted to be “the Batt-man”. Join us for a night to honor the Nerd in us all!  Feel the freedom to express yourself in a fun and safe environment!” Club cosplay

First of all, I am not an expert on Cosplay, the culture, the lifestyle, etc. I am simply a person who is trying different things this year. Cosplay was on my list of things to try. Well, Club Cosplay was on my list of things to try. Second, it was freaking awesome! Can’t wait for the next event at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney!

So what is cosplay? Personally, I always thought of it as a people dressing up in superhero costumes. I never thought to much about nor thought about going to an event. I was wrong and could possibly be given dirty looks if I tell that to a die-hard fan of cosplay.This is what iFandBoy told me, “Cosplay is a shortened form of two words – costume and play. The early 90s saw the rising of cosplay into popular culture, although it probably originated initially in Japan. It is the practice of portraying a fictional character – at times completely identifying as that character while in costume (and thus acting as if the individual was that character to add to the authenticity of the experience).”

My friend was the one that came across Club Cosplay and told me we should check it out. I had a lot of fun seeing all of the different characters and how much time and effort a lot of people took into making their outfits. Not this girl, I decided to treat it like Halloween. I put on a skimpy outfit and grabbed the closest ears I could find. I was Minnie Mouse. On the bright side, I wasn’t the only one showing skin and I was the only Minnie Mouse there. Oh yeah, one Minnie out of the Batman’s Jokers, Harley Quinn’s, and Superman’s.

    

Anyways, back to talking about the event itself. Everyone at the event was very friendly and you could tell the hosts and the rest of their staff loved what they were doing. It was  nice to experience this event. I honestly loved seeing how creative people could get with their costumes. I also enjoyed that the music was a mixture of everything! They played 70’s, 80’s 90’s, hip hop, techno (I don’t care, I was raised in the time EDM was called techno), live music, and impersonators. What really won me over was that they played Backstreet Boys! Can’t beat the 90’s boybands ;). At the end of the night, it basically turns into a mini rave, which was awesome! Shout out to their DJ’s for keeping us moving!

As for the people who participate in cosplay, from my observation, you can see that it is a community and they have respect for each other. They also love getting creative and becoming their favorite characters. I hope for the next event, I can actually talk to people and get a better understanding of cosplay itself, how they feel?, what attracted them to cosplay?, how many years have they been doing this?

If you’re into Cosplay, tell me, how did you get started in this world? What do you love about it? What has been the best Cosplay event that you have been to?

P.S. I didn’t take the pictures. I found them on google.

Venturing out

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

It’s March 2016 and so far, I can honestly say, I am sticking to my new years resolution of trying different things!

Towards the end of last year, I was blessed with the opportunity to live one of my dreams of traveling to Europe. I didn’t get to see the whole place, but I was just so freaking happy to go! The pictures above do not do it justice. Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, and Austria were all so beautiful. The weather was something this Cali girl wasn’t used to but found a way to suck it up end get lost in the beauty of each location.

I was lucky enough to bring in the new year in Germany and promised myself that the new year would be filled with more adventures. Trying new things and simply getting out of my bubble. I realized that I am getting older and it’s about damn time that I change my old ways. Less club/bar hopping. More festivals, concerts, traveling, and random adventures!

As of now, I have been able to cross traveling off my list. I’m still trying to visit one more country by the end of the year. I saw one of my favorite bands perform live. I’ve also been to a festival where they throw colors at you. Not too shabby. Each new experience has made great memories. I want to look back at my 20’s and say, “Damn, you tried so many different things. Great job little one!”

I hope to continue to try new things and document them along the way. I know I’m not the only one out there that is trying to do more with their life. I need ideas. What are some things that you want to try? Something that you are afraid to do. Let’s go on this journey together and get out of our bubbles!

 

 

The Single Life

It’s February, which means it’s the month of love. The month to tell that special person how much you care about them and how much you love them!

That’s all fine and dandy, but what if you are recently single? What if you are talking to someone but it’s that weird situation where you are together but not exclusive? What if you’re like me, single for a lot of years? Are you going to be that crazy cat lady/guy? What if you don’t like cats?! Does that mean you’ll be alone forever? Did I swipe left to the love of my life?

Ok, that’s just over thinking and over analyzing a normal part of being a human. There is hope for all of us. So please do us a favor and swipe left on the creep and the possible hooker. You may be lonely, but don’t sink to a new low. You are better than that.

Growing up, I used to get bummed out about not having a date or being single on Valentine’s day. I was a late bloomer, so this girl was not getting asked out on Friday nights. That feeling stayed with me up to my college years. Well, maybe up to my Junior year of college.

In college, I would hang out with my friends on Valentine’s day. It usually led to us partying the night away and waking up with a hangover the next day.

Now that I am just a few years older, I don’t feel bad about Valentine’s day or being single. I could care less! Why do we feel bad for a stupid day that isn’t even a holiday? Why do I have to feel bad about being single?!

No, I refuse! You should refuse too! Being single isn’t bad. There’s nothing wrong with you. You have a beautiful soul and it’s always better to focus on yourself and do whatever makes you happy! Don’t settle for less, it’s not worth it and you’ll get hurt. Save yourself the tears and avoid someone that will drain your inner beauty and your energy.

If you are single, enjoy it. Go out with your friends as much as possible, travel a lot, try something new, and find what makes you happy!

Being single has shown me that I can be single and happy. Of course, it gets lonely. However, after a few failed relationships, I learned that it is better to stay alone than to jump into something that won’t make you happy.

I am believer that God has the right timing for everything. I don’t feel sad or alone anymore. I know that God will Bless all us single people with that special someone on his timing. Not ours.

Some tips for how to single:

1. Write your feelings down in a journal. Get all of your suppressed emotions out. You will feel better in no time.
2. Go out with your friends! Turn up, go hiking, go shopping, go to the movies, amusement parks, anything that gets you out of the house and puts a smile on your face. My personal fave is a weekend getaway.
3. Join a meetup and meet new people. Get out of your comfort zone and do something different. Meetups are great ways to meet people around your age and do fun activities. I met one of my good friends like this.
4. Do things on your own! Don’t forget to spend time by yourself. Meditate and think about what your long-term and short-term goals are. What are your dreams? I recently took a big step and did a tour abroad. I met people around my age and had a great experience. I went by myself and found out that I’m definitely an explorer.
5. Have fun! Laugh and enjoy it. The only time you can be selfish and do what you want to do!