Happy Hump Day Quote

This is one of my favorites!

Quote of the Day!

The Lorax

While babysitting this weekend, I made the wonderful decision to watch The Lorax. I had wanted to see it for a long time and I'm so glad it finally started streaming on Netflix. The kids and I loved it so much. I'm a big fan of Dr. Seuss's children's books. I think that they send some great messages. The Lorax teaches kids to be kind to the environment. It also teaches children to stand up for what they believe in and to speak for those who don't have a voice of their own--like the trees. If you see something bad, change it! I also really enjoy how it shows that everything in our world is connected. The small things really do matter! Don't forget that! You have no idea how much something you do today can impact the world you'll live in tomorrow. Check out the trailer for The Lorax. It's streaming on netflix and it's available on DVD!

Your Rights: Safe Places & Self-Care

I want to share this with you just as a reminder that safe places are important. It's important to be in an environment where you are comfortable to express yourself and your feelings. If someone makes you feel like less of a person when you try to be your self or express your feelings then they are not providing you with safe place. They may not be doing it on purpose but it happens so you just have to be on the look out for people who may be bringing you down. That way, you're taking care of yourself. You should never feel belittled for talking about what's important to you.
When you're in a situation like this, it's hard to figure out what to do. You might not want to eliminate them completely from your life so what do you do? I think when you have someone in your life that is providing a high amount of toxic energy but you can't separate yourself there are a few things you can do.

• Try to avoid topics that result in conversations that can hurt you and further damage your relationship. If you're struggling with body issues and this person is constantly policing your body, then try not to have conversations about your body with them. 
• Let them know that certain things that they say bother you. If someone tells you to just "cheer up" when you're feeling depressed, tell them why that's not okay. Tell them that when they say things like this to you, it hurts you because it makes it seem like the depression you feel is something simple that can just be fixed by changing your facial expression.
• Focus on the positives. Try to ignore any negatives that they may be sending and vent later if you need to.
• Most importantly, remember that you are enough. You're a beautiful and wonderful person. No one can ever change that.

I found this link of a list of Your Legitimate Rights. Keep these in mind when you're struggling.

1. You have a right to need things from others. 
2. You have a right to put yourself first sometimes.
3. You have a right to feel and express your emotions or your pain.
4. You have a right to be the final judge of your beliefs and accept them as legitimate.
5. You have the right to your opinions and convictions.
6. You have the right to your experience - even if it’s different from that of other people.
7. You have a right to protest any treatment or criticism that feels bad to you.
8. You have a right to negotiate for change.
9. You have a right to ask for help, emotional support, or anything else you need (even though you may not always get it).
10. You have a right to say no; saying no doesn’t make you bad or selfish.
11. You have a right not to justify yourself to others.
12. You have a right not to take responsibility for someone else’s problem.
13. You have a right to choose not to respond to a situation.
14. You have a right, sometimes, to inconvenience or disappoint others.

♥ 

Happy Weekend!

The first week and the last week of classes are always the mot stressful. There's just a million and one things going on. For me, I know that I have a hard time getting back into that school routine. No more winter break, no more sleeping in and HOMEWORK. I forgot all about homework in the few weeks I had off of school. Now I have homework everyday and deadlines and due dates. You can't just slip back into a routine like that so this weekend I'm going to work on getting myself organized. I'm finding that keeping myself organized keeps me afloat. I can't afford to be unorganized this late in the game. Graduation is just getting closer and closer. My eyes are on the finish line.

I'm hoping this semester goes well. My classes are all very interesting. The class I'm most looking forward to is Politics of Women's Health. The readings seem to be interesting and this class seems to incorporate a lot of the things I find interesting. I don't really have any complaints about my classes this semester but I know that I will have a lot of work to do this semester. I guess that's just the perks of being a student.

I love school but I'm so happy for the weekend to finally be here. These are some of the things that kept me smiling this week:

• my education
• seeing people I missed over break
• volunteering
• free food! (That's always a major perk of the first week of the semester)
• Some of my favorite shows are back! Modern Family, Scandal, and Grey's Anatomy all premiered this week!
• Downtime. I didn't have a lot of time to just relax this week but now they the weekend is here, I can finally unpack and clean and watch a few movies before my course load becomes overwhelming. 

I hope your year has been getting off to a great start.

Love♥

Happy New Year!!

It's the first day of the year and I spent it relaxing with family. The spring semester is going to start soon so I'm glad to have this time to just relax! I'm looking forward to what this year brings. Last night, I tried to make sure that I won't bring any of last year's negative energy into the new year. I will remember the lessons I learned and hope that they can help me in the new year. Remember this quote:

"Today, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one."

I hope that 2013 is good to you.