July 2016 In A Nutshell

Here's my monthly nutshell for this month of July! Enjoy reading!

July 1st, 2016: Went out shopping and out to lunch with family; my dog got a Nemo-style life vest for when he goes on my grandparents' boat.

July 2nd, 2016: Went and did some errands with my family and I even got some things for myself, too. Also got some yoga and meditation in on this day, too.

July 3rd, 2016: Got a delicious soy chai tea latte from Starbucks (I havent had one in forever! It was good!); treated myself to a hot bath on this day (since this day I had a lot go on in my mind I'd rather not discuss on here); even my sister was nice enough to fold up and do my laundry for me.

July 4th, 2016: Made some delicious guacamole today; my sister made cake balls in the color of the american flag; had a nice enjoyable 4th of July of celebration with some neighbors and of course my family.

July 5th, 2016: Today was the day we left from my grandmother's house and went ahead home; also got ice cream on our way home too; even started season 2 of "Supernatural" today on Netflix; did my evening yoga and meditation on this day.

July 6th, 2016: Went and got my groceries today and even stayed on budget too ($70 is my max grocery shopping) and also went to Starbucks and walmart as well; took time aside and did a yoga video in my room; made dinner; even took time to do some meditation before bed as well; also recieved my mom's old fitbit charge HR model too.

July 7th, 2016: Had an important meeting to attend to today and even made a smoothie for that as well; watched "Supernatural" on netflix (like one episode by the way).

July 8th, 2016: Got some delicious Panera for lunch; even took a walk around the block (since this day got the best of me).

July 9th, 2016: One of my Amazon orders came in the mail (a new book- "Tonight the Streets are Ours" and I began reading that today); went and also saw "The Secret Life of Pets" in 3-D with my family.

July 10th, 2016: Began a new thing with my daily reads- a gratitude journal! It is awesome! Organized underneath my sink as well; also one of my favorite FOB members (Pete Wentz that is) was on "Match Game" on ABC tonight, too.

July 11th, 2016: Went out to do some errands with family and even got Starbucks (Youthberry Granita FTW!) and made my doggy some dog friendly "Pupcakes" with a Peanut Butter Cream Cheese (Stevia Sweetened) frosting. Also, got my hair colored too with a hair dye kit I got today.

July 12th, 2016: Went on a nice walk with my momma; did another grocery store run; headed out to the water park with family; took the trash bin out to the curb.

July 13th, 2016: Both my Birchbox and Ipsy subscriptions came in the mail today! Had a nice, but awkward therapy sesh; went to get things for my doggy at Petsmart; went for a nice evening walk with my sister and mom; also, did a yoga video tonight too.

July 14th, 2016: Got a new iPod case in the mail today; listened to Switchfoot's new album Where the Light Shines Through on Spotify as I did my adult coloring book; also painted my nails, and even treated myself to a face mask, pore strip and a foot massage (yes I do that- I feel it's good to treat yourself once in a while).

July 15th, 2016: Did loads of laundry and even did a face mask tonight! Watched a hilarious movie on Netflix called The Fundamentals of Caring with one of my favorite actors: Paul Rudd. Yoga video happened tonight as well!

July 16th, 2016: Made my family some desserts and appetizers for their arrival home from their small getaway. Tried out my new L'Oreal Color Vibrancy Spray on my hair today too.

July 17th, 2016: Hyatt walk time! It was lovely; finished my Mindfulness book today too; made shish kebabs for dinner!

July 18th, 2016: My new Play by Sephora box came in the mail today and I recieved wonderful goodies in that box. Did some quick errands out with my mom and made my dad some clam dip- mix softened cream cheese, canned clams + juice, white pepper, and worcestershire sauce. It's not my favorite thing to make but my dad really likes it.

July 19th, 2016: My mom and sister surprised me with Starbucks (yay!) and lavender scented epsom salts from Walmart (I got the new shaken berry sangria herbal tea from Starbucks in case you were wondering). Took a nice hot bath (since I had the house to myself tonight whereas the rest of my family went to a ball game) with the epsom salts I mentioned earlier, lavender + eucalyptus essential oils, and dr. teals lavender bubble bath.

July 20th, 2016: My mom got three to four teeth pulled today so I co-helped in attending anything she needed; took Hyatt for a walk; enjoyed "America's Got Talent" on NBC since Louis Tomlinson guest judged that night. <3

July 21st, 2016: Watched a couple episodes of Supernatural on Netflix today; also got a video filmed for my YouTube channel as well; got a new book from Amazon in the mail- Milk & Honey.

July 22nd, 2016: Went out and did some errands (even tried the new iced coconut milk mocha macchiato at Starbucks- I normally don't care for the taste of coffee but it wasn't too bad of a drink- don't worry tea is my first love and always will be).

July 23rd, 2016: Went and grabbed some lunch and some redbox movies to take back with us to my house; my sister and I watched those redbox movies- Krampus (eh...), and The 5th Wave (better).

July 24th, 2016: My mom made a delicious breakfast this morning; made banana nut muffins; went for a nice walk on the trail near my house with my family; re-read some more of a book I got from Amazon (Tonight the Streets are Ours).

July 25th, 2016: Watched Zootopia with family (it was a cute kids' movie and as an adult, I even enjoyed it); my sister and did each other's makeup.

July 26th, 2016: Cleaned my mom and I's makeup brushes and I also got rid of makeup I wasn't even using too; made guacamole; went out and did errands with my family.

July 27th, 2016: Had a nice but enjoyable therapy sesh today; went and saw the new Ghostbusters (IT WAS HILARIOUSSSSSS!!!! Just sayin') and browsed around the mall and even Target too; also went to Nando's for dinner.

July 28th, 2016: Left to go down and visit my grandparents today (packed up all of my things way prior to this).

July 29th, 2016: Went on my grandparents' fully licensed pontoon boat for a nice ride; did a quick store run with my parents; got ice cream at Mickey D's; Tacos for dinner! YUM! Yoga video tonight I did, too.

July 30th, 2016: Went with my parents to the OC Brewery in OC MD and enjoyed that; got a McFlurry at Mickey D's today and my sister caught all three of her poke-stops in her Pokemon go! app.

July 31st, 2016: Had a delicious breakfast from McDonalds; went and did a random walmart store run; also went out to a cool dive bar/restaurant called Nantucket's and tried new things (and a new cocktail too!) and also went to the Yacht Club that's near my grandparent's house.

I hope you enjoyed this monthly nutshell! Tune in for August's post!

Lauren :)

Lessons I've Learned In Life | July 2016

There are lessons that I've learned over the course of my life and I thought I would share them with you today.

Life Lesson #1- I'm Not the Same Person I Was, I Am a Better Version of that person than I was before.

I was always one of those people that never felt up to par, and I always tried to do things that never made me feel better about myself. I tried to get into gaming when I was dating my now-ex and it failed because it was something I didn't enjoy. I enjoyed yoga/meditation, the Lord, and my family and still do. That makes me happier and makes me feel like a different person. I am myself but just better.

Life Lesson #2- I Never Took Proper Care of my Inner and Outer Self, but I choose to do things for myself that make feel like the best. 

So the things I do to take proper care of myself (besides eating well), I take daily time to do yoga (I've been enjoying the yoga with adriene videos on YouTube), and to do meditation (I use the Calm app and I usually do between 5-10 minutes; the sound I love is the waves crashing on the beach- makes me feel at peace); reading books is something I still enjoy but never did before. Also, I love to do face masks and drink tea (I'm not much of a coffee drinker- tea makes me feel a lot happier). 

But for the mental aspect of it, you have to realize the big picture which is if you take care of yourself properly and if you love yourself, taking care of yourself will be easier than you think it is. 

Life Lesson #3- No Matter What Your Thinking, You'll Get Through the Day On a Right Note.

I would always dread waking up every day for school and my old volunteer program, because it was something I didn't look forward to. But if I didn't get up, I'd be sleeping all day (which would be nice). The point is as long as you get up and get out the door and you have your day set right, it'll be fine. One day, you'll look back and realize it was worth getting up and getting out and enjoying life.

Life Lesson #4- As long as the waves move in a direction towards you, you'll never have to look back.

I love this verse from Psalm 93:4 because it stands true to it's ground; God's almighty love is like the sea- it moves in a way that directs his love towards you. But the lesson here is that when the waves would be coming towards me (whenever I was at the beach in life), it came to me and made me feel happy. But it went back in the ocean and then it came again but it didn't give me that sense of happiness like the first wave crash would. But as long as the wave crashes towards you and doesn't leave you, you'll never have anything to worry about. We are taught to move forward and not to go back to the past. So, whenever you go to the beach, think of that wave and let it go upon your feet and savor that moment and don't think twice about it. 

Life Lesson #5- Train your mind to think like a positive person would; otherwise you'll act like the rest of the world.

I absolutely adore this verse from Romans 12:2 (Romans 12:1 is great too) and it teaches me that if you train your mind to love God and not what everyone else likes in the world. I would always try in life to fit in with everyone but that necessarily wouldn't work; my mind would tell me- "Do not blend with everyone else". So, I stuck with that lesson in life- I was the person that never blended in or tried too hard to please anything or anyone. I did try too hard when I wanted the same key chain as this popular girl had; she eventually tossed it away but I kept mine. But the lesson here is that your mind is like an boxing match- you can prepare myself for the fight you'll win for or you won't and you'll just lose (that's a good analogy I think). Train your mind to have positive thoughts; when I was at my old program, I was always nasty and negative and lashed out at anything or anyone. I never thought about what I was saying first before I put it into my mouth. I eventually lost the battle on this one in my mind. But when I went to therapy, my therapist taught me a trick- when your mind is negative, use the phrase- "Stop That Thought" and it'll train your mind to physically stop the negative sayings. It worked with me (which is good). Think positive here, peeps; don't be like the rest of those people in the world. Different is a great thing.

Life Lesson #6- I fear change but I never gave up on what I had to gain of that change. 

In life, I have had to go through change (i.e.- moving, friends, new schools) and I freaking hated it! But what I gained was a new perspective on the things I needed in life: my family, and friends. When I was dating my now-ex and I asked myself, "Is this the change I needed in life is without him?" My mind was like, "Yes. You're not happy; you need to be back to the way you were before he existed in your life." So, I went with that and broke up with him; It hurt us both but I gained a chance for change. I changed my inner and outer being to doing things I loved- like hanging out with friends that made me happy, yoga/meditation, etc. I gained a whole new lease on life when I dumped my ex. I felt that change made me a new person. It's like a gained a life again. And I freaking loved it!

Life Lesson #7- If your scared to do something, DO IT! It'll be better for you.

Having do something scary is never good anyways, but if it you get off of you. It's going to be fine. I've always had to go with choice that genuinely scared me in life, like roller coasters. There was this one roller coaster I enjoyed at Busch Gardens (it's no longer there now), and I was terrified to go on it cause of the heights and loops. But as soon as I got on, I was having fun. It was an awesome ride! But life choices, on the other hand, I had to decide where to go to for my new volunteer program two summers ago (2014) and I eventually went with one that seemed like fun. It was a scary decision but it made it easier. After being there for not even a year, drama started, everyone was so negative and down on everything and I was like, "Lemme out of here!" I did get out but I had to go through that scary process again of finding a new place and I was so scared but the decision of going there was like the icing on the cake. It was just right.

I hope you enjoyed today's post! Let me know if you want anymore inspirational posts like these!

Hope to see you soon!

Lauren :)

-Proverbs 3:5-6-