February Goals

January literally came and went so fast. In the middle of the month, I hit a pretty bad slump that really made me re-evaluate the direction my life is heading. I love finding the silver lining in poopy situation. It made me re-evaluate if I still wanted to be a Massage Therapist, wanted to sell oils, wanted to continue living in Iowa, stuff along those lines. Serious life decisions were made in a two week slump because I chose to use what was a not-so-good situation for me and turn it into something positive. While I still have a bit to figure out, the ball is rolling and some decisions have been made on what I want to do. Declaring goals, however how small they may be, is something that will help me move in the right direction.

p e r s o n a l :

- Do more yoga

- Meditate more

- Read at least one book to help me grow spiritually


e s s e n t i a l  o i l s  +  m a s s a g e :

- Sell at least one kit

- Hit 1,000+ OGV to help me grow to Senior Star

- Love on my people and help educate them

- Get everything ready for a Sip and Sniff next month

- Look into room rent to start my business

- Get a firm business plan in place


b l o g :

- Post at least twice a week

- Rename?

- Redo entire theme

- Hit 100 views per day

- Grow my Bloglovin' following


For me, it's really important to declare goals. I love have something to work towards and having it written or typed out gets me all the more inspired to go out and actually get those goals crushed.


What goals do you have for the month? Season? Year? Let me know! I seriously love hearing what people are working towards!


-Kristina

5 Positive Things for Mondays | September Week 1

Mondays. Everyone seems to hate Mondays. Something I want to and will. I will guys, I will. Is to write down 5 positive things on Mondays to start the week off right. The positive things will consist of anything that makes me happy or things I'm looking forward to. Personally, I absolutely love Mondays. Monday is my favorite day of the week. So I guess we better get to it.

1. My dog, Carter.

Seriously, I love this dog. He is my first dog and the biggest sweetheart. Not only do I love him unconditionally, but today is his 13th birthday. Happy birthday, my beautiful boy. I love you.

2. My job. The new one.

Usually, my job kind of sucks. I work at a Hy-Vee in the gas station in my hometown before I move. A couple days ago while at work, I got a call from a Hy-Vee in Sioux Falls that I applied at so I could try to transfer. The scheduled an interview for today, September 1st. 15 minutes later, they called back and told me that I didn't have to come for the interview and they were just going to go ahead and hire me. I'm so thankful for not having to travel and having a job for when I move.

3. Living at home.

When I decided to move home from being in Ames, I was scared for how it was gonna go. I was sacrificing a lot of my freedom and it made me uncomfortable to do so. Now that I've been home for 3 months, I've come to appreciate a lot of things back home such as free food, free rent and utilities, and being around my family, childhood friends, and my family pets. I'm going to miss it all when I leave again.

4. My job. The older one.

I've worked at Hy-Vee for 3 years. I've worked at 2 stores: my home store and Ames #1 C-Store. Right now, I'm back at my home store since I'm currently living back home. I'm loving seeing all the familiar faces of my managers, coworkers, and fellow town folk. I'm definitely soaking it all up.

5. My hometown.

Growing up, I hated how small my hometown was. Not even kidding, I grew up in a town of less than 10,000 people with surrounding towns with much less people. It was beyond boring in my middle school to high school years not having much to do besides go to Wal*Mart and driving around since we were obviously "too mature for the park." Now, after living and travelling to much bigger places, I've come to appreciate the small-ness, the safeness, and the friendliness and the citizens. Hospitality is becoming much harder to come by and I'm glad to be living in a place where most people still have it.

So there you have it. Take a moment to think about 5 positive things in your life. I challenge you. Start your week off right.

Much love, laughter, and happiness,

            Kristina.

My Transfer College Career.

I think I finally found my calling. The place where I'm supposed to be. On Valentine's Day, instead of spending time with my boyfriend, I went roughly 4 hours away to go to Globe University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to go on a college visit. Although I'm already in college, Ames just isn't feeling as right as it used to. The energy is off and it's bringing me down, so I decided a change is in order.

As soon as I stepped in Globe University's doors, I knew the atmosphere was for me. It was small and homey. It was welcoming and had that close-knit atmosphere that I absolutely love. I signed in and patiently, nervously awaited meeting the Director of Admissions. Charlie is a laid-back, friendly, and talkative guy. He greeted us in blue jeans, a sweatshirt, and a friendly smile. During the informations
 session and interview, he was very thorough and helpful with any question my mom or I had and left no ends untied. He made sure I was comfortable and accommodated. No other college had ever gone through that much trouble.

My one and only semester at Iowa State started off horrible and ended horrible. I contacted my Academic Advisor in March to get signed up for classes before the incoming freshman and she didn't bother with helping me get signed up for classes until the beginning of August and didn't even ask my input on which classes I'd like to take for the semester. I got signed up for 15 credits of strictly core classes with no electives. I went stir-crazy before midterm hit. My boss had me still at 25 hours a week until midterm when  requested no more than 15. I was swamped and my anxiety kicked in. Hard. I had no time for myself, let alone any time for my boyfriend and my dog.

After the informations session and interview at GU, Charlie took me and my mom on a tour of the one-building campus. It is a new, two-story building with multi-purpose class rooms. The biggest class size is maybe 20 people with only around 200 people enrolled at the Sioux Falls campus. Large groups and pressure to do well set my anxiety off. This place is very small and very open to my creative, hands-on learning style, which is wonderful. After the tour, Charlie helped me fill out the "application," which is basically the personal info for your student file. The interview/question session a the determining factor on admission as well as high school diploma/GED, minimum standards on either SAT or ACT or bachelor's degree from another college, and immunization records. They get to personally know you and not worry about your past experience at other schools.

After midterm at ISU, I decided that I was not meant to be there. I suppose that the main reason I transferred to a big university was because it was the cliche thing to do; Graduate high school and go to a big university. I found out the hard way that big universities are not for my learning style or anxiety. I can't sit in a 500 person lecture hall and retain any information. I can't wait in a huge line waiting to take an exam. I had an anxiety attack. Every. Time. I've been a test-nervous person since elementary school, so I wasn't surprised, but how else was I supposed to take my exams? My GPA suffered tremendously.

After the meeting and tour with Charlie, I decided that Globe University in Sioux Falls was where I should've gone to begin with. It just took some experimenting and learning about myself to get there. I'm not saying that Iowa State is some horrible University that is out to get everyone and you shouldn't ever go to Ames or shouldn't consider an education there. My experience was just horrible and I'm glad I found where I need to be.

I know this was long, but the point is that you have to do what makes you happy. Don't do what the cliche thing is or do what others think you should do. If it makes you happy, then do it. Don't just settle for something because you don't want to trouble anyone. Go to school where you want to. If you want to. There is a school, job, whatever that will be perfect for you.

Bucket List: Part 3 of 9

Here is yet another portion of my bucket list. Having a bucket list and completing stuff on it is completely do-able. These whole whopping 9 pages so far is proof. It can be done! The bold ones are completed!

51. Feed a giraffe
52. Meet someone from the Harry Potter cast
53. Get married
54. Have a baby
55. Get my belly button pierced
56. Make out with someone with Pop Rocks in my mouth
57. Stay at a Bed & Breakfast
58. Get all the tattoos I've always wanted
59. Finish a tube of chapstick
60. Try Chicago Style Pizza in Chicago
61. Get a white ink tattoo
62. Celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans
63. Watch the full sunset
64. Not be single on Valentine's Day
65. Ride the London Eye
66. Visit Toronto, Ontario, Canada
67. Jump fully clothed into a pool/body of water
68. Tie dye a shirt
69. Sleep in an underwater hotel
70. Conquer my fear of heights
71. Learn how to play cello
72. Explore a rain forest
73. Learn fluent sign language
74. Pet a giraffe
75. Touch a sting/manta ray

Bucket List: Part 2

This is a continuation of my bucket list. You can scroll down further to see "Part 1". Bolded stuff has been done. Hope this inspires you! :)

26. Get a Harry Potter tattoo
27. Go to London
28. Go to Germany
29. Meet Jenna Marbles
30. Visit the Titanic Wreck Site
31. Get my re-nose pierced
32. Have sex on a beach
33. Learn fluent German
34. See a Broadway show
35. Go on an ice cream date
36. Adopt a hedgehog
37. Get a bird tattoo
38. Study abroad
39. Go to Ireland
40. Visit Ground Zero
41. Watch Disney movies all day
42. Become a nurse
43. Have a paint fight
44. Have a mud fight
45. Be a surrogate for someone that needs it
46. Ride on a subway in New York City
47. Learn how to waterfall braid
48. Put a piece of gum on the "Gum Wall" in Seattle
49. Crowd surf
50. See Mumford and Sons live


















Deathly Hallows tattoo on the inside of my left ankle


















My hedgehog, Arri Jean Minerva :)














When we went to New York City, we got to see Mary Poppins and Phantom of the Opera