Cute right?

So, its been a while since I've posted, but it has been crazy lately. I'm still working on the posts I blogged about before, and a few more. So those should be done in the next week.

Like I said this past week or 2 has been crazy. I've had 2 Thanksgivings, a Christmas tree lighting, and I'm working on Christmas gifts.

But that's all I'm going to say about it. This post is actually about unflattering pictures. People have a habit of taking the worst pictures of me and posting them on facebook, so here's a few, maybe you'll laugh maybe you'll think about how there's a similar one of you posted somewhere by a lovely friend or family member.

Getting food with your eyes closed is cute right?

And a clarinet sticking out of my head.

Yes, those are Hannah Montana band aids.

Chewing...

Lovely.

"Who's taking a picture now?" basically every 5 seconds of prom pictures.

Ew.

My awkward forced smile.

Yea, there's just a few, Ryan won't let me untag myself anymore...

Little things.

This time of year is really chaotic.  There's a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.  So between the holidays and everything that goes with them, I like to think of the little things that make it worth while.

1. Smiling children.  I babysit more this time of year because parents need to do Christmas shopping and have a date night here or there. I love the chance to be the reason for a smile on a little face.

2. How every leaf and every snowflake are different.  It's one more way to see how amazing God is.

3. Hot chocolate, tea, and cappuccinos.

4. Dates you can only have once a year. Pumpkin carving, holiday parties, etc.

5. Scarves, hats, gloves, coats, and boots.

6. Walks in the park.

7. Lots of yummy food.

8. Curling up in tons of blankets.

9. Being able to leave my hair natural without worrying as much about frizz and poof.

10. Baking. This might be one of my favorite things to do ever.

11. Candles. In my house, this is the time of year to burn tons of wonderful smelling candles.

12. Bonfires.

13. Everything cherry, apple, and pumpkin.

14. Watching the Macy's thanksgiving day parade.

15. Tree lighting ceremonies, there's a few around here, but I love going to Downtown Cleveland for the festival.

16. Stuffing. It's my favorite food on thanksgiving, so much so that my mom gets me my own box.

17. Soup in bread bowls.

18. Getting and decorating the Christmas tree.

19. Black Friday shopping.

20. The first snow of the season.

21. Ice sculptures.

22. Foggy mornings.

23. Gingerbread houses.

24. Deciding on what to give everyone. (:

25. Sledding. I'm determined to make my cold weather hating boyfriend go this year.

26.Candy canes, and not just the mint ones, I'm the person that can sit around eating them all day everyday if no one stops me.

27. How untouched snow looks.

28. How everyone's noses and cheeks are all red.

29. Seeing animals reactions to snow.

30. New Years kisses. Last year was the first year I'd had someone to kiss at midnight and I'm glad that was how I started off my new year. 

I'm looking forward to getting through the holidays, though I really do enjoy this time of year.  

UPDATES:  

My hair is actually making me really happy. I'm actually okay with leaving it be most of the time.  Here's the latest picture of me (:

Also, I have a lot of post planned, most are kind of deep. About things like depression, anxiety, panic attacks, eating disorders, etc.  There's been a lot on my heart, and I'm glad I have somewhere to write it. I hope you guys don't mind my brutal honesty, and I hope you'll give me feedback too.

Life.

There are a lot of things in my life that have changed recently. Things I couldn't control. I want to make more changes, but this time, on my own terms.

I want to feel beautiful. People always tell me that I am, but I can never understand why. So I'm going to do something about it for a change rather than just always disagreeing with everyone. I've already started the no poo challenge, and my "bye bye beehive challenge" inspired by Miss Aunie. (: I'm looking for the best ways to make my skin and nails healthier, and to boost my confidence. I'm going to try to take compliments better, and feel better about myself.

I want to be healthy. I'm 5'5" and about 113 pounds. I am by no means overweight nor have I ever seen myself as such. I haven't really exercised in 2 years, and I could definitely stand a change in my diet. What that means is that I will be doing 10-20-30, running more, and working out a good diet for myself. -side note: Diet means what you eat, healthy or not. It does not mean a plan to lose weight.-

I want to dress better. I tend to lean towards jeans and hoodies and tee shirts. I want to start dressing more mature especially since people don't take me seriously because they look at me and think I'm about 14.

I want to improve my relationships. With Ryan, with friends, with God, with family, with people in general. Ryan and I aren't doing bad, but I never want to stop striving to be a better couple.  I have very few friends, and I want to improve those friendships as well as make new friends who I can go to when things get tough. I love God, but I've noticed that its hard for me to sit down and study my bible or to go out and serve with my church. I think I've just gotten so used to it that it doesn't feel as important to me. I want to set up a plan to spend time with God and grow ever closer to Him. In the past year, I have had a lot of trouble being close to my family or Ryan's family. I want to fix that, and I'm still not sure how, but I'm going to start by writing them each a letter so they know what they mean to me and that I want to have a better relationship with them.

I want to move out of my house. I want to get out on my own and start the rest of my life. In order to do that, I need a job to afford it.

I want to improve my singing skills.  I haven't decided how to do so yet, but I miss my 4 octave range and my near perfect pitch that I had when I was in high school choir.

I want to learn. I'm going to study to become a psychiatrist, a pastoral counselor and a worship leader.

Finally, I want to beat my depression and my anxiety.  Through prayer, I have stopped self harming, but I still have times of overwhelming sadness and not wanting to do anything. I have so much anxiety that it makes it hard to make it through the day without worrying about a panic attack. I want to beat this. I know I can't do it on my own which is why I'm seeking help from God.

So there you have it. These are my goals aside from traveling and marriage and kids and all that. I have those goals too, but right now, these are the things I'm going to work on. The rest will come in time.

Challenge Updates-

No Poo Challenge: I've been doing this off and on since I mentioned it on here the first time, and I intend to do it more consistently, I haven't used normal shampoo in about 2 weeks.

The bye bye beehive inspired challenge: It has been 22 days since I have used a flat iron, blow dryer, etc. on my hair. I'm actually doing fine without them. Do I wish I could have pretty straight hair rather than my natural hair some days? Yes. But I haven't given in or taken my flat iron back from Ryan's house yet. I'll post pictures soon. (:

Input?

I know its been a few day since I've written a post, but I promise to anyone who reads this that I'm working a something I hope you'll love. If you happen to stumble onto here before then or after even, I'd love for you to leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or what I should write about. (: Thanks in advance! :-)