Inside Kimmy's Mind

Here’s my first attempt at daily vlogging for Vlogmas. I’ve never attempted it before but I’ve been really into making videos lately. I have videos scheduled and ideas for videos I hope to film. I love it!

I’m doing a different take on Vlogmas though, instead of there being a video up every day it will be a combination of a few days into one video. This first video is the product of 4 days. The 3rd, 4th, 5th and the 8th. I wasn’t able to film during those days in between, but I figured it might get a bit boring too. I might keep it to 4 or 5 days each video. Or perhaps 3? Not sure. This video was quite long, and I know not everyone wants to sit and watch a 10 minute video. Kudos to you if you watch/read most of  my ramblings.

I’ll figure out what I want to do the rest of the weeks but I think it will take a bit for me to get comfortable with daily vlogging/daily videos. Anyway, I hope you’re having a wonderful day. If you’re taking part in Vlogmas, let me know, I’d love to watch your videos.

Thanks for reading/watching.

Goodness, time has gotten away from me and I realized I never did update about my final days of my yoga challenge. Sadly, I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. BUT! I still had a lot of fun and I want to input a daily yoga routine into my schedule. Somehow.

I only managed to complete 8/30 days of yoga. That’s right, 8… -.- My goal was to do at least half, but some days just needed to be skipped. Lack of motivation, tired, hungry,… or to put it simply, I was flat out lazy. I had dedicated Tuesdays as being the days I would go, since I enjoyed the instructor. But it would be rainy, or work was extra tiring, or something. Excuses, I know. Having my friend go with me, was definitely a plus, but then we easily would want to just go home and rest.

My downfall, was also, somewhere along the way it turned into a chore, but only slightly. Because it was still something I enjoyed doing. I created this challenge for myself in hopes of creating a sense of motivation. I started off strong, but then fell flat as after the first week or so. I’m curious, how do I have the energy to maintain other aspects of my life but didn’t have the same for this challenge? Was it because this was a more active activity compared to painting or blogging? Most of my hobbies are done in the comfort of my home where I can sit or even lay down while doing them. I wish I had the determination to finish a bit stronger, but still, 8 days is still nice. I hadn’t gone to yoga in quite some time so it was fun getting back into it. And just because the challenge is over, does not mean I won’t ever touch my yoga mat again. No, I hope to visit the studio once in awhile and continue doing my stretches at home. Now, will I have the motivation for that? Probably not, but if I can squeeze it in here and there, I’m happy.

When I can get another 30 Day’s, I plan to try it out again. And hopefully, accomplish more than just 8. What about you, how do you find motivation?

Thanks for reading.

Here we are at Day 12.

I skipped yesterday for a game night at my friend’s, but I did go Sunday…after skipping a few days before that. >.< I’ve been feeling tired. But today I’m going to do my best to go, it’s at 7:30 tonight, but it has my favorite instructor so I want to make an effort here. I just enjoy how she does the class and she’s been the most friendly out of all the instructors. On Sunday I had the first male instructed class. I didn’t like the way he did it though. I felt awkward and I felt like he was disappointed in you when you didn’t do the stretches as long as he did.

He also would come up behind you and fix your poses, which is helpful but he does it without warning and it’s sort of painful. He forces you into a pose rather than working and forgiving your body for not being able to maintain or even do it to begin with. I wasn’t a fan. Tonight’s class is at 7:30…I hate going to that late of a class but the instructor makes it worth it.

I can do it! Thanks for all your support and kind words,  I hope you’re doing well and will update you again soon.

Thanks for reading!

Skipped a day…already?! I skipped Day 4,  class wasn’t until 7:30,  the 2nd to last class of the day so I didn’t quite have the energy to make it there last night. But tonight! I will make sure to go!

I felt a bit guilty for not going, but I can’t let it make me feel bad. I’m also missing tomorrow because Matt and I have advanced tickets to see Ghost in the Shell. So I can’t let skipping days get to me. To combat the guilty feeling, I might consider doing yoga at home occasionally. I already know that once my 30 days are over, I will probably only go Friday, Saturday, and Sundays. Either all three or once a week or some combination, there are many options. 7:30 classes are harder to maintain motivation for. Luckily, Katie is joining me again this time which helps me get out of the house. I do love how I feel after the class. It’s a great feeling…minus being all sweaty due to the 100 degree temp. I wanted to try out a different class but the Hot cardio is still pretty intimidating. I also wanted to try out the Super Sonic class but again, I was intimidated. Ok, I’m going to go and get ready and do a few stretches before I head out to my class. I just wanted to update you on my progress. Still pumped!

Hope your week has been going well. How do you stay motivated when attempting a challenge? Any tricks or tips?

Thanks for reading

I’ve been wanting to get back into yoga for awhile now. I would attend a few classes of hot yoga back in 2015 and I really enjoyed it.

I noticed my attitude changed whenever I started taking the classes. It wasn’t every day, just whenever I could. I felt more confident too, not sure if my body actually changed but I felt like it had. I had a pep in my step and I was more limber too and felt like I could push my body further. Fast forward to now, I haven’t been to a hot yoga class in ages. My body image hasn’t been the best lately and it’s been bringing down my mood. I try not to look too closely at myself, but the other day I stopped in front of my mirror and stared. The thoughts I try hard to ignore found me last night.  Soooooo….let me get to the positive part of this entry. I want to do something about my negative body image.  Bloggers Elisa and Mariz have inspired me to create a little challenge for myself.

… continue reading this entry.

I love affirmations and being positive is something I myself am working on and it’s a bit difficult sometimes. I try not to become a “negative evidence collector” but I find myself leaning more towards negativity rather than positive thinking.

Think Happy by Karen Salmansohn is the pep talk everyone and their pet cat needs. Now this book doesn’t just automatically change the way you view life. However, it helps you slowly want to change. But if you rather remain on the gloomy side, then this book won’t do much for you. I just want to express that.

The cute illustrations and happy go lucky attitude is just the bright light you may need to want to see that rainbow you seem to be ignoring. This book is small and the perfect addition to your coffee table. The cover alone brings a smile to your face and actually reading the different sections was eye opening for me. I found myself agreeing out loud.

My expectations when reading this book was that I figured it would be generic information that, if you’re not always a shiny, happy person, then it would just be annoying to read. I thought this would be the type of book that made me feel bad for not always feeling happy. After reading this little book, I felt myself feel motivated. Motivated to see myself in a more positive way. I expected the line, “If we all saw ourselves the way others see us, then we would all be happier.” But that’s not how this book was written. It was written in a way for you to feel inspired about being positive. And I’m glad the book wasn’t at all what I expected.

Learning how to be something is difficult, there are many tools available and having someone tell us what worked for them might not work for us. But this book isn’t exactly telling you how you can be happy. Only you are capable of finding happiness. I just feel as though this book motivated me, and I don’t want to be a pretzel!!!

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Thanks for reading.

Totally missed the rest of the BLOG-TEMBER challenge. Sadly, school and life just got in the way. However, it gave me today’s topic! What’s on my to-read list?!

But first! In other book related news, I’ve recently signed up for Blogging for Books, which if you haven’t heard of it before and you enjoy reading and writing then take a look over HERE!

During Labor Day weekend, Half Price had a 20% off of everything sale! I couldn’t pass up the opportunity and while I was out with a friend we decided to pop in for a bit. I managed to find several books I wanted but only walked out with three. I had to pace myself.

The books I walked away with:

•  Milkrun by Sarah Mlynowski (Currently Reading)
• The Ticket That Exploded by William Burroughs
• Lunar Savings Time by Alex Epstein

And then, I was given money for my birthday and went into Target, just buzzing around the dollar spot and art supplies when I wandered over to the books. Now, I don’t normally buy books from Target, but oh, I am very glad I did. Everyone should embrace a some YA books. I don’t judge your choice of genre, but I know some in the Creative Writing Department at UH sort of look down upon YA and Fantasy. But we should embrace these books, especially when they are well written and the plot is just well constructed and thought out. Anywho, I walked away with these lovely books:

• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (also no a movie-have yet to see it)
• A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall
• FanGirl by Rainbow Rowell (Bought this for the roomie, but I hope to read it as well)

Now, these are all the books I currently own and plan on reading, following is a list of books I have yet to get but have mentally, verbally and have written down on many lists. Here is yet another one.

• Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy by Dinty W. Moore
• Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
• Design the Life You Love by Ayse Birsel
• You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero

There were several other books, that I have written down somewhere…but so far these are the ones that have made it to the current list. And aside from books, I wanted to share my newest notebook as well. Not like I need another one, but for me you can never have too many and this one is R2D2! They had several covers to choose from, but I just had to walk away with R2. My only issue with having so many is deciding what to fill each one with and wanting to use the latest one as soon as I get it. I know, those are some serious issues.

That’s all I have for this entry, let me know what’s on your to-read list. I’m definitely adding more to mine, speaking of….I’m off to read, maybe even knit!

Thanks for reading and commenting

Today’s topic is Bucket list, and what’s on mine. But as I started thinking about this more and more, I’ve realized I’ve never really made a bucket list before. I know there are many different approaches to this type of thing but here is what I’ve come up with for mine.

• GRADUATE– this is very important. And  I want to achieve this! I wish it was happening this semester but I’ve waited this long so what’s one more semester…as long as it is just one more. I can do this!!!
• Travel– I’m actually a huge homebody. I hate packing because I’m always worried I’m going to forget something or leave something at the place I’m visiting. -.- Such negative thoughts. But there are places I would love to visit, I’ve never been on a plane before. And of course I would love to visit another country, but I wouldn’t mind even visiting another state or even another city in Texas to start off small.  Baby steps… :3
• Second language– I really hope to become fluent in Spanish, I have another semester left but I want to be able to respond in Spanish. My dad’s first language was Spanish and my grandmother only speaks Spanish. I’d like to embrace my Mexican heritage and actually learn the language. This is all up to me.
• Move– I hope to move into a two bedroom apartment with my roomie/sister. We share a bedroom at the moment and even though it’s not terrible,  I hope we can work hard and be able to move into a place with more space. I want a kitchen table but we have no room for one. Some day soon…I hope.
• Mind-Speaks– I hope to be able to devote more time to this and make more product for the store. I want to be able to represent Mind-Speaks in different craft shows and fairs. It’s just going to take some time. <3
• Write– I want to do some more writing. Creatively I mean. I haven’t done it in awhile and I’ve forgotten how much I enjoy it.
• TFL– This one ties in with the previous one, I want to submit a story to this journal one day.
• Knitting– I want to complete my Star Wars scarf before the winter season is over!
• Reading– I enjoy books so much and haven’t made time for it lately, so here’s to changing that!
• Hair dye– Lately, I’ve been envying people with dyed hair. Mint hair to be exact and I hope I get a chance to dye my hair before I can’t. Maybe just the ends? Because technically I’m not allowed to have my hair dyed an unnatural hair color for my museum job. But if it’s just ends I could hide them in the rest of my hair….possibly. It’s just something  I want to try.

I’m not sure if this makes for a great bucket list, I know it might not be as worth while, but these are all things I love and want to either improve on or accomplish. And that’s the point of a bucket list, no? These are things you want to experience, no? Well, that’s what I did for my bucket list. But of course, this isn’t set in stone and it’s not like this is the end of it. It will continue to grow and grow as I grow. Can’t wait to read what’s on your lists!

Thanks for reading and commenting

I haven’t been doing well on this challenge. I’ve already missed three days. T-T School just drains me during the week, sadly I have no energy for anything. But I’m doing my best to make time for the things I enjoy, blogging is one of these things.

 

Today’s topic is to write a letter to your 16 year old self, but I’m going to write this letter for the past and future me. To the me that felt/feels insecure. Whether that be physical, emotional, or mental- I’m covering all of my bases and just tackling anything and everything that ever made me or might make me doubt myself. The me now would like to tell the past me how strong I am for being able to accomplish the big scary thing I might have been going through at that time. There were several.  You did it! I’d also like to say that to the future me. Actually, I’d like to say…. you WILL!

You WILL pass your classes this semester!

You WILL graduate next semester!

You WILL get a career and job!

You WILL create a life for yourself!

You will, I will!

I would also like to thank the past me. I know there were moments you didn’t think you were doing your best and you felt like giving up would be so much easier. But you didn’t give up, you just continued and you’re still doing that. But I’d like to thank the younger me for giving me a chance to trust myself. And even though negativity sometimes makes itself comfortable in your head, then/now, you do your best to block it out. This post is to remind the future you to continue making an effort. And you’re really happy. As cheesy as this entry might have been on my part, it’s nice to sit down and just think some positive thoughts.

I’m hoping this letter experiment went well for the rest of you Blog-TEMBER bloggers and can’t wait to read what you wrote. How are you doing with this blog challenge, even though I’ve missed a few days, I’m still enjoying it a lot. I’ll do my best to finish strong.

Thanks for reading and commenting

 

Today’s prompt is all about style. Now, over time, my style has changed. I’m sure that is true for most people, I’m loving how mine has evolved as I have gotten older.

I went from only jeans and band/anime t-shirts in my awkward teens years which transitioned into blouses at the end of high school. To finally discovering tights and pretty dresses as an adult. I usually wear tights or leggings, I never liked showing my bare legs or arms, it’s a comfort thing. But during this summer I started wearing my dresses without the security of my tights, it’s just been so hot, and I have no idea how I managed to go through all those years wearing my tights in this Texas weather. Still, layering is something I will always enjoy, which is why I enjoy the fall and winter seasons much more. Layering is totally ok when its cold.  I love buying pretty tights in different colors along with cardigans. Recently, I’ve even been buying a lot of different shoes too. I never saw myself as a shoe person, but I’ve been converted.

… continue reading this entry.