Inside Kimmy's Mind

I had a birthday!

It started with good morning kisses and a blueberry muffin. Matt went off to work while I snuggled back in bed since I took the day off. I decided to take a shower before the alarm testing began. That’s right, my apartment building decided to schedule fire alarm and unit inspections on my birthday of all days. They stopped around noon so I was able to enjoy my lunch alarm free. The cats weren’t very happy either but I could do nothing to comfort them.

After eating leftovers for lunch and playing a bit of Uncharted 2 the alarm went off again for a bit and then finally stopped for good. I realized I haven’t blogged in a few months, vlogs have taken up my time but  I want to get back into blogging. I’ve always enjoyed it but editing videos has become my favorite way to express myself creatively.  But so has journaling, I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit especially after becoming obsessed with fountain pens.

Watch some of my recent videos!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope to figure out a schedule for this little blog.

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.

For Thanksgiving Matt and I made a trip to Florida to visit his parents. Plus, it was my very first plane ride. That’s right, first! I was sick the previous week so I had some antibiotics that I had to take and I think it made me extra sensitive to movement and light.

I got terrible motion sickness so the plane ride to Florida was a little blah. It was only 2 hours so thankfully it didn’t get worse. We arrived in Tampa really late and still had to make a 3 hour drive to his parent’s house. Since I didn’t think about timing, I didn’t get a chance to visit The Paper Seahorse. I was a bummed but this definitely won’t be my last trip to  Florida. Once we finally made it to his parent’s place, we chatted for a bit and then went to bed as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

Matt is an early bird, so he was up and ready to go at like 7 a.m., I on the other hand required more sleep. We woke up to a great breakfast, waffles galore. After that we got ready and went to Sun Harvest, a citrus haven. Strawberry orange juice is to die for! I also had a yummy orange creamsicicle soft serve. This entire trip was filled with yummy treats. After that we went to an outside mall where we walked around a bit and got some pizza and then went to watch Murder on the Orient Express. After which, we went back to his parent’s house and I needed to lay down. The rest of the week would begin with a headache and then require me to return back to the house and sleep it off. It was annoying and I felt incredibly rude. Thankfully, on Thanksgiving it was cloudy and raining so my headache wasn’t bad. I then got to meet Matt’s grandmother.  She was so classy and funny. She got into the car and told Matt, “So I hear you’re engaged.” I couldn’t see my face but I’m sure I was bright red. He politely told her, not quite there yet. Love the dude. This was my first Thanksgiving away from my family so I was missing them. But Matt and his family made me feel so welcomed. And the dinner was delicious so it didn’t feel too foreign.

I did manage to go to another mall and find THE perfect Christmas gift for Mija so I’m excited to give it to her. But immediately after purchasing said perfect gift I started feeling icky and couldn’t even finish eating my lunch and we had to go back to the house.  Luckily, the evenings were much better. Even though I didn’t get to explore Florida as much as I wanted to, I did still have a lot fun with Matt and his family. We watched a lot of movies together and ate yummy foods, I couldn’t have asked for a better holiday.

Next time I hope I’m not sick and I also hope I can visit The Paper Seahorse on our next trip. I’ve never been there but I know I will love it. I can’t wait! Well, I hope you had a great holiday, or week. Christmas is coming up, and I can’t wait to give everyone the gifts I picked out for them. I love giving gifts!!! Until next time!

Thanks for reading!

Valentine’s Day: a day deemed the most important day to show your significant other that you love them.

False.

This shouldn’t be the only day you show your loved ones that you love them. This also shouldn’t only be a day for couples, it’s a day for everyone to show their love. My mother surprised me with a card, she was like a ninja and hid it in my room the last time she came to visit me. I’ve been saying this a lot, but love comes in so many different forms so why shouldn’t this day, along with every other day, be a day you show love?

Yes, I am in a relationship, but I don’t usually make a huge deal in doing the typical couple-Valentiney-things. I spent a lovely evening with the boyfriend, we ate dinner, dessert- he made me a strawberry cake- and watched Avatar. I loved it. I love him. He makes every day special because loving someone isn’t something that can be expressed once in awhile. It’s not something that is only shown in order to make a pretty instagram photo. It’s something that isn’t always seen but you feel it. I feel loved every time Matt looks my way, when my siblings tease me about something, when my mother answers the phone when I call, or when my dad saves the day when there’s a storm brewing. I am indeed lucky. And I bet, if you took the time to see all that is around you, you’ll feel the love too.

So please, treat this day like any other day, don’t let the candies and flowers make you feel as though you don’t matter. Relationships are great, but loving yourself is just as great. I hope you spent this day with loved ones, and I hope you spoiled yourself because you deserve it.

That was my 2 cents on this Hallmark Holiday.

Thanks for reading.

♥

I enjoy the holiday season, the nice cool weather, when we have it, the yummy smelling candles and spending time with family.  But also because I really enjoy making/finding and wrapping gifts for my loved ones. I’d like to think I do a somewhat-good-job at the whole gift giving thing. Sometimes?

I try to anyway. However, there are times when I can’t seem to figure out exactly what to get and this is one of those times. Well, I have something but every time I look at it I get more and more doubtful. The gift I’m speaking about is for a special someone, yup- for he who is known as boyfriend. OK, that was a bit dramatic of me, but it’s still odd for me to even type out. His actual name is Matt and I adore him. He, of course, is great at the whole gift giving thing. He bought me the Cogsworth Funko Pop figurine! (Pictured above) It’s been one of those things I kept meaning to just order online but never got around to it. He just surprised me with it, a thank you for cat sitting his adorable kitties. And then he surprised me with a Pastry Pet that he got on a recent trip to Seattle. Meet Nilla the Mini Donut Cat, made by MarninSaylor. It’s so cute!!! These unexpected gifts make me smile, he makes me smile.  I hope to become as attuned with him and the things he likes as he is with me. I get excited whenever I learn something new about him so I don’t see being unsure about his gift as a bad thing…I just hope he likes it.

That’s all for now…more to gush about next time. I wish you a happy holiday, I’m looking forward to the new year and I hope you are too.

Thanks for reading.

My mantra. 

I made this bracelet at the beginning of January to inspire myself when I was feeling less than shiny. And it’s not like I need this as a way to force myself to be happy. I am a very happy person, I love my life and  I love being me. I bought it, a long with a charm with the letter “K” on it,  because I’ve always loved the letter “K”, so they jingle next to each other and it’s just, well… nice.

Valentine’s Day was yesterday,  and I spoiled myself quite a bit.

First: Every Day by David Levithan

I don’t really want to go into too much detail about this book, because I will probably type up a review once I finish reading it. But I’ll leave you with this. It’s what made me want to read it in the first place. The sequel came out as well, technically it’s not a sequel, it’s the same story but from a different perspective.

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

Second: Stablio Markers

We just got this new 30 pack in at Paper Source, I hesitated at first but then I decided to gift them to myself for Valentine’s. I am so glad that I did too, because I just love having that many color options. You can never have too many marker pens, and again!!! Colors!!!

Third: This new A+ bag!

 There’s a zipper compartment in the flap, which I love, was hoping to get it in brown, but bags and wallets were on sale at Target so most of them were gone. 20% off! But I’m loving it.

That’s my mini haul for you, there are a ton of things on my wish list of things I’d love to buy, but I spoiled myself enough for already for quite some time. I’m so spoiled!!! But Happy Valentine’s to me and to you as well!

 To finish up the holiday, I cooked myself a very delicious dinner. Beef teriyaki, it was very good, if I do say so myself. I might have let the meat get a bit chewy, but all in all, still a win in my book. Even though I didn’t have a romantic Valentine’s this year, I don’t see the need in being sad about it.  I still like this holiday, and working at a store like Paper Source, where I’m surrounded by lovey dovey things all the time, it’s sort of hard to hate this commercialized holiday. Plus, the decorations and cards are really cute. I never put that huge of a focus on it even when I was in a relationship, so  I don’t see the need to hate it now that I am single. Whether you’re single or in a relationship, I hope your day, your week and the months to come are filled with love!!!

Thanks for reading

2016 did not begin the way I had hoped it would. During the final days of 2015, I decided to end my relationship of two years. This decision was extremely difficult and painful for me to make, but in my heart I know it was the right thing to do. For both of us.

I’ve written this entry over and over again. Not sure how to explain it, this isn’t about what he should have done, or what I should have done differently. The reality of it is, we just no longer fit anymore and I felt as if we were going in different directions. And sadly, I couldn’t see us ever getting on the same path. I love him dearly and hope that when enough time has passed he will look back on our relationship, at all the wonderful memories we share, with fondness. Because that’s what I will see.

Now on to my promise to myself. Breakups are difficult and I’m doing my best to keep my mind positive and look forward at what’s to come. It’s been pretty difficult, and I expected that but I’m going to allow myself all the time I need in order to heal. Because he was a very important part of my life and this is going to take time. I need to learn how to make myself a priority again, and how to let go. Thankfully, my friends have made it a bit easier to keep my mind on other things. Even my coworkers have also been helpful in this area.

 My manager bought me Star Wars tights! Both R2 and Vader! I think Vader just needed some floral in his life so I paired it with this dress and I love how it looked. Just an unexpected level of awesomeness. These also made me feel a bit stronger and currently, any added strength is definitely appreciated.  Got tons of compliments on them too. 🙂 Aside from cute tights, I also have three new apps that I have been using to keep my mind from sulking for too long. Neko Atsume, Sims Free Play and Daily Curiosity.  Who doesn’t like collecting cats?! I do! So whenever I start feeling teary eyed, I just check to see if I have any new cats in my yard. I desperately want a pet cat!!! And Sims is just a great way to distract myself from the less than bright moments. Daily Curiosity is great for leaning random facts, I find it interesting. I’ve also kept myself busy by building and painting dino models. Triceratops was therapeutic, stegosaurus was a bit of a poop. But the finished product came out great, even though I think some of the ribs are in the wrong spot. >.<

 I’m just taking it one step at a time. I have things to look forward to this spring, graduation and the birth of my first niece, both in the same month! Looking forward to the little sea monkey gracing us with her presence and to beginning a new chapter of my life.  That’s all for now….

Thanks for reading

I hope your holiday was as wonderful as mine, I spent a few days at my parent’s house, now that we are all adults we usually open presents on the 24th. For some reason my mom wanted to prolong it this year.

Receiving gifts is a lot of fun, and even though the holiday isn’t supposed to revolve around such things it’s fun buying, wrapping and unwrapping gifts. My mom likes to buy us each a big gift that is then surrounded by smaller gifts. She’s adorable. I couldn’t imagine what she would give me this year but she surprised me with a new camera. I’m not a fancy photographer, but I’ve been wanting a new camera for blogging/vlogging purposes. I hope to return to vlogging a bit more, even though I no longer have Premiere, with the right camera I think I can have fun making vlogs again. First impressions: Compact body and a great zoom. It looks easy enough to use and takes pretty good quality pictures and video. It’s a Samsung WB350F, a point and shoot camera, I think it will do what I need it to do. Plus it has wifi share capabilities which is pretty neat. 🙂

This camera makes my third Samsung product and I’ve been loving Samsung a lot. My Samsung Galaxy 6s cell takes wonderful pictures and video so I’m hoping this new camera will take just as good if not better quality pictures. I’m excited to test it out and start vlogging again, just need a nice case for those vlogging outings. Never did get to that point where I could vlog openly in public, but who knows maybe I will this time. I want one of those pleather body cases that allows me to take pictures without removing the case. The quest to finding one begins!

Moving on….

… continue reading this entry.

I’m finally graduating! It’s happening! I was able to apply for graduation and come the Spring I will be done with school!!! Done! And then paying back loans and finding a full time/well paying job with benefits will be a definite must. Oh, joy.

But I’m not gonna let worrying about that ruin my holiday vacation. At the moment I’m just gonna concentrate on Christmas presents!!! After working at Paper Source for a year, I finally learned how to wrap the Paper Source way….sort of. It’s still not perfect, but compared to how I used to wrap it’s pretty magical….and pricey. Paper Source has the most beautiful paper and ribbon ever, Christmas happens only once a year so why not just go all out a bit? Plus, I had fun making the bows for my family’s gifts. My father is the best at wrapping gifts, however he never uses his wrapping skills. But he likes to critique how we wrap gifts, so this year I made it my goal to out do him with my newly acquired wrapping skills! (still perfecting them)

I got my Christmas present from the boyfriend a bit early. He surprised me with tickets to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening night! I thought  I’d have to wait weeks until I could see it, and even then I thought we would have to wait in line to make sure we got seats together, but the theater he chose was actually sort of empty. And not to mention, the seats were recliners and it was just one of the most amazing movie experiences ever. I sported some Leia buns and my usual death star necklace and one of my many Star Wars shirts. And I bought the bf a nice collard Star Wars shirt from Hot Topic. I’ll update again with my Star Wars review, but I want to see it again before I do. This was one of the best gifts ever and I’m so glad I got the chance to see this movie on opening night.

2015  is almost complete and as usual I can’t believe how quickly it has come and gone. I have so much to look forward to/ be thankful for.

Thanks for reading and commenting

Halloween this year was spent dancing with the boyfriend, well attempting to dance anyway. I’ve never been one for dancing, but it’s really cute to see how happy he becomes when the music starts. He seems to really enjoy it and for him to share something that he loves with me makes me happy, even if I’m not always in the best state of mind.

For me I enjoy the idea of dressing up for Halloween, but sadly I never have enough time to devote to making a full costume. My sewing skills aren’t the best but I still enjoy the process. I personally, love staying in for Halloween. Getting comfy and watching scary movies while eating candy is the best. But this year, the bf invited me to a Masquerade party, and even though he wanted to still dress up in costumes, I just wanted to dress up in a pretty dress and just have fun being elegant for the evening. I went shopping all over Houston trying to find the perfect dress. I was also hoping to use this perfect dress for a friend’s wedding that is coming up soon. Just when I was about to give up, Ii walked into this small boutique, a boutique that I wouldn’t have normally noticed. A mannequin was wearing this beautify tulle dress with pretty trees and deer sprinkled on it. You can’t tell from this photo, which hopefully next time I take more pictures, he’s not a fan of photos. I was really happy with this dress, plus it was only 5 bucks! The store was having a huge sale and thankfully this dress was a large, it’s fro China so  I was lucky that it fit me. Feeling comfortable in what I am wearing at least makes things for me a bit better when I’m not sure about a situation. I’m not the best at blending in or even with being social and when I’m uncomfortable I shut down and just keep to myself. But thankfully the bf danced with me and did his best to teach me how to Lindy Hop. Not easy. But still, fun. I just wish I had more rhythm. :/ A work in progress.

 Didn’t get much candy that night, nor did we have time to watch any scary movies, but it was a nice weekend. I managed to have both Saturday and Sunday off, so it was nice sleeping in for a change. For the next few weekends I’ll be working a lot so no sleeping in for me any time soon. After Halloween, the boyfriend and I went on this bike ride that left me super sore afterwards. I’m so out of shape, and wasn’t prepared for such a ride….even if it wasn’t as intense as some bike rides are. I totally should have stretched before riding and definitely need a new bike seat. >.< Bike riding is a lot of fun though and hope to continue pushing myself so that next time I won’t complain as much.

 Always hiding from the camera, but it’s the challenge of capturing him that makes it so worth while. That’s all for now, until next time.

Thanks for reading and commenting.