doing things differently

For the first few days, I've been trying to avoid thinking. About anything, everything.

And it hasn't been working out. So instead of continuing down this dreadful path that isn't doing me any good, I've decided to start doing things differently.

• I'm going to start blogging again, because I kind of miss it. Quite a lot.
  I went to the beach twice last weekend, and I was the driver! (Very exciting because I'm not very good at driving but it was kind of nice.) So I'll be sharing photos with you sometime this week.
• I also started juicing today which was interesting. I've always been a smoothie person because I don't like wasting food or throwing away the fiber in foods, but I watched the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead Sunday night so I'd thought I'd give juicing a try. I shouldn't write something off before trying it, right?
• I also need a more productive way to tackle school and learning, because I really do enjoy learning and I want to read more. But I just get so burned out on Tuesdays and Thursdays I end up doing practically close to nothing on the other days.

So what have you been up to lately? Have you started on your spring cleaning this year?

a quick update

Hi guys! Sorry I guess I took a week off from my blog without even realizing it; it was always in the back of my mind, but I kept drawing a blank when I thought about what I wanted to blog about. But I just wanted to let you all know I'm still alive! (cue cricket sounds)

I spent this weekend with some friends and while it was nice, it was also kind of stressful. Remember what I wrote that post about being an introvert? That's kind of what I felt all weekend - I just wanted to be myself, have some me time. But at the same time, that's the last thing I needed - to be left alone. I didn't want to spend the weekend wallowing in my own self-pity, so in times like that, I'm still not entirely sure what to do.

We went out for dinner on Saturday night and I ordered a New Orleans benefit with house potatoes on the side; it was really good, and I forgot to eat my leftovers. (Eeep.)

I'm possibly going to the beach this Saturday; I'm not quite sure. To be fairly honest, I don't want to. But at the same time, it was my idea to be begin with. What would you do if you knew you needed to take some time off from other people, but you already semi-made plans? I'm actually craving for just a weekend to myself to sleep in, cook, have a Netflix binge, maybe go for a run, do whatever, but I just want to be by myself for a while.

The only downside to rescheduling is that the reason why I came up with this idea in the first place is because my friend's birthday is on Sunday so I thought hanging out on Saturday would be a good idea, but at the time, I didn't take into account how exhausting and stressed out I was feeling.

Anywho, yeah. Just wanted to post a quick update and I hope you all are doing well!

exciting news! // college edition

Happy National Pancake Day!
I don't actually know how to make pancakes, ...so I made toast instead.
It's basically the same thing, right? Kind of? Well, anywhooo, my friend bought this ricotta cheese spread from Trader Joe's which I tried the last time I was over at her place and it was so good I just had to get a tub of it on Sunday.

Onto the exciting news I wanted to share with you all, it turns out that I'm graduating with not one, but two associate degrees! One is in Liberal Natural Sciences and the second one in Social Sciences (or Liberal Arts Behavioral Science if I can't get a class sub'd.) Which is really great considering that I legitimately wanted to quit college altogether last year due to the high amount of stress I was putting on myself. (...some things don't ever change.)

The counselor that helped me out today was so nice and it was just really refreshing and lovely. I've met a fair share of counselors who haven't been that helpful and were actually kind of intimidating, and while I'm sure that wasn't their intention, I wouldn't really want to go see them again.

It hasn't actually sunk in for me yet, but there are some serious upsides to this:

• All the work I'm putting into this semester is going to pay off (because having six classes, an online program, and trying to maintain good health isn't easy). And the best part is it's already March!!! which basically feels like I'm halfway through. :)
•  I actually went back to college this semester - I know I said I would do it, but saying you'll do something and actually doing it are two very different things. So I'm really proud of myself, like extremely proud, because I was such an emotional wreck last year.
• I'm going to let myself relax this summer, and also eat a lot of cake because my friend promised she would buy me a cake after this is all over. (I will literally be more than happy to devour all that cake by myself.)

This means that after May, I'm done with community college.

That also means I can start finding a job after that's all done!
Also really excited to work on my fitness goals and ebook this summer.

How is your week going?

failing in order to succeed

This was a concept I didn't really understand while growing up, but I'm starting to understand and accept it. Better late than never right?

My psychology professor talked about how highly successful people understand that they have to fail multiple times in order to succeed, because they learn what works and doesn't work.

So now I'm constantly reminding myself that failure is a part of the progress and I'm inevitably going to be bad at something at first (and probably continue to be bad at said thing), but eventually I'll get better. And so will you.

That's how life works, and I think a lot of people tend to forget that and expect everything to go smoothly the first time around. But things won't go right the first time around, or probably the second or third, but in due time everything will work out and all your hard work will pay off.

So if you're struggling right now, just keep going and don't give up. All the struggles and obstacles you're going through right now will help you succeed in the future; keep going forward, especially when you want to throw in the towel, because that's when it's most important to keep going.

There have been so many times this year where I just wanted to throw in the towel, but instead I choose to go forward and push through, because I always threw in the towel in the past. And that didn't get me anyway, so this year, I'm deciding to do something different. Sure, it's uncomfortable sometimes and it's hard work. But there's been more good than bad so far, so I must be doing something right.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”  ― Albert Einstein

* This post was inspired by Leo's most recent blog post on zenhabits (more specifically the bulletpoint on fear and my personal experience with fear of failing.) Definitely one my favorite blogs; I actually check my e-mail when I get a notification, which is not something that happens very often.

What's your favorite blog? What have you been reading lately?

run molly run

March is here, and I'm excited yay! Can you believe it?! I remember just saying happy new years to you guys just a while ago, and it's already the third month of the year?!

February was a really wonderful month full of good vibes and energy which was nice because it was also a really stressful month of having lots of coursework and social outgoings.

So for March, I'm going to focus on two things this month (besides focusing on my coursework) and those two things are:

1. Run twenty miles in the month of March
2. Read the vegetables and fruits sections in my The Encycylopedia of Healing Foods

I've been trying to get back into running for a while now, and it's harder than it seems! Mostly due to a lack of time and also because I can't find my exercise clothes (has it really been that long since I last exercised?) So my goal for March is to start small, but just start. The hardest part of doing anything is starting, so that's what I'm going to do this month.

I've had this book for a few months now, and it's time to get serious about reading this thing (also because I've been really enjoying eating a plant based diet). Not to mention there's lots of vegetables I haven't tried yet like artichokes, beets, dandelion, etc.

February goals that were a success (or almost a success) //

1. Maintained a fairly clean room for almost the entire month of February; then again, I was barely ever home, so I didn't really have the opportunity to mess it up.
2. My focus on school was on point. I stayed up on nights that I went out so I could work on my coursework and projects a little before heading to bed.
3. I actually ate more veggies! Can I get a high five? This has been a goal for mine for how long? Also started meal prepping and drinking more tea wooohooo. (I'm on a roll here.)
4. I also continued blogging; there were times when I didn't want to, not because I didn't find it fun, but because I wanted to be lazy and just not do it. But when I'm lazy in one area of my life, it starts to affect all the other areas in my life so I tried to be as not lazy as possible which turned out great in the end. (x)

How did your February go? 

Are you excited for March?! Any plans?