5 Happy Thoughts for Monday | Week Four

I've come to love making these posts. Listing things that makes me happy helps me to reflect on when times weren't so crazy and hectic and help me be a whole lot more thankful for what I have.

1. Space Heater.
With the colder months being right around the corner, I am thankful for this nifty item to make sure my hedgie is always warm and not on the brink of death from being too cold. Thank you, space heater. You will be saving my exotic animal from hibernation for yet another year.

2. Fall.
Fall is my runner-up favorite season, coming in close on spring. I love the deeper colors, feeling all snuggly, the lovely feeling of switching from iced coffee to warm coffee, and of course, playing in the crunchy leaves.

3. High School Friends.
Over the weekend, my best friend from technically middle school came into town. It was so wonderful to see her. With most of my friends not being home and being alone most of the time, I've come to re-appreciate my friends. Especially the ones that have been around for a long time.

4. Mini M&M's.
I've been obsessed with these things for months now. I bought a tube of them awhile ago and rekindled my love for them. I like to buy the large bags of them so they are always handy if I'm feeling slightly munchy for something sweet. I kept the tube and use that to serve up my serving size. Without that tube, I'd demolish half of the bag in one sitting.

5. My daddy.
Tomorrow, on September 23, this man will be aging another year. He's always been a fun-loving, rather involved parent and always has your best intentions in his mind and heart. It only seemed fitting to mention him this week. Happy birthday, Daddy. I love you.

Circa 1993. One of my favorite pictures ever.

Proud to be a Hufflepuff.

CAUTION: MAJOR HARRY POTTER NERD ALERT BELOW! This post is also in honor of Hufflepuff Pride Day on September 18th.

Hello. My name is Kristina and I'm proud to be a Hufflepuff.

Now some of you you may ask, "A WHAT?!" No, you heard me correctly. A Hufflepuff. If for some odd reason that I won't be able to comprehend you don't know what a Hufflepuff is, let me enlighten you. "Harry Potter" is a 7 book series about a boy, Harry Potter, finding out he's a wizard and makes super awesome friends, learns about magic as well as his past, fights the forces of evil, and is sarcastic along the way. If you haven't read any of the books or seen any of the 8 movies, I encourage you to do so because quite frankly, your missing out.

Anyway, in "Harry Potter," there are four houses in the magical school of Hogwarts that you are sorted into and is more or less your school family for the next 7 years: Gryffindor (the brave-hearted), Hufflepuff (the kind-hearted), Ravenclaw (the smart-minded), and Slytherin (the cunning ones). Like everyone first obsessed with the series, I wanted to be in Gryffindor, where all the main characters were sorted. It wasn't until after the last movie that I realized that I belonged to Hufflepuff more than any other house. At first, I didn't want to be because everyone thought it was the lame house. As I further searched the meanings and values of Hufflepuff house, I couldn't imagine belonging anywhere else.

You may belong in Hufflepuff,

 Where they are just and loyal.

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,

 and unafraid of toil.

For a little insight as to why Hufflepuff is quite possibly the best house, Hufflepuffs are fair, kind, patient, and hard-working. We love feeling cozy in our environments and have a little more appreciation to the earth, as our dormitory has many windows and tons of greenery, almost like a Hobbit Hole.

If that's not enough convincing on why Hufflepuffs are amazing, our house is right next to the kitchen and in the video below, J.K. Rowling herself explains why Hufflepuff is your favorite.

Which house are you proud to belong to?

Much love, laughter, and happiness,

                 Kristina

To read more on Hufflepuff or other Hogwarts houses, visit: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Hufflepuff

DISCLAIMER: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions stated are honest with no intent to infringe on copyright with Warner Brothers or J.K. Rowling. Strictly a fan post.

5 Favorites YouTubers.

If anyone truly knows me, then they'll know that I love YouTube. I'm obsessed with watching videos, have made a few myself, and am subscribed to almost 200 people. This past year to six months is really when I got super hooked. Since YouTube and Bloglovin' take up most of my free time, I thought it'd only be fit to share with you my top 5 favorites of all the favorites when it comes to YouTubers.

1. Zoella.
I only discovered Zoella about 6 months ago. I was instantly hooked. She's an honest, silly, gorgeous, british person that I can connect with and relate to on so many levels. Zoella makes beauty, fashion, and lifestyle videos and also blogs. She makes videos that I genuinely enjoy and always look forward to her uploading whether it be on her main channel or her blog channel. She's so lovely. She also has the cutest little guinea pigs.

2. Shaytards.
There are so many things I can say that I love about the Shaytards. Shay, his wife Colette, and their 5 children make vlogs Monday-Friday. There's just something about their family that is funny and amazing to watch. Shay has this very outgoing and creative personality so it's always exciting to see what kind of content he'll put out. FUN FACT! Shay and Colette have been making daily vlogs going on 6 years!

3. Meghan Rienks "Meghan Rosette."
I've found Meghan through a collab that she did with Eleventh Gorgeous about a year ago and honestly, I like her more than them. She's only a couple months older than I am. She's got this hippy-esque, free spirit vibe and is super down-to-earth and silly that it would just seem absolutely wrong not love her, so she definitely deserves her spot in my top 5. She makes beauty and fashion videos and has helped me to understand makeup so much more. Thank you, Meghan.

4. Aspyn Ovard.
Aspyn is a YouTuber that I found through Meghan, funnily enough. She makes beauty, fashion, and DIY videos. I love her sense of fashion and how she edits and puts her videos together. Like Zoella, Aspyn is a person who I can relate to in a lot of aspects and since I can relate, it makes her videos that much more enjoyable for me.

5. Brittney Lee Saunders.
Most of the other YouTubers that I mentioned are quite mellow compared to Brittney. I enjoy her videos for their hilarity and her 'tell it like it is and I don't care what you think' personality. She is so spunky and outgoing and I just love her. I found her only 3 months ago and I'm so happy I did.

So there you have it. My 5 favorites. Quite frankly, I don't see this list changing much soon. These guys are much too fantastic. I love you all.

Much love, laughter, and happiness,
                 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.

I'm moving.

In case you all haven't heard, I'm moving. Again. I've been thinking about moving for about a year now because of how unhappy I am in my current town and school. To get myself out of this rut, I decided that it would best the best decision for me, so that's what I'm doing.

Yes. I am moving again, but not just once. I'm going to be moving twice in the next 5 months. On Saturday of this week, I'll be moving back to my small hometown back in NW Iowa to live with my parents and will hopefully be transferring back to my job that I had in high school. As much as it may suck that I chose to move back home, it'll be beneficial in ways of me saving and making money until I move again in October. Free room and board and free food for how many months will probably help a lot more than I'm imagining it will. I'm sure gonna miss my freedom and space.

In the beginning of October, I plan on moving to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to go to Globe University to become a massage therapist and I'm getting that super nervous/excited feeling. As of right now, I'm moving to both back home and to SoDak with it just being my dog, my hedgehog, and I and quite honestly, the only thing that I'm not gonna like about living with no roommate is the help and splitting of the bills. I've been through so much awkwardness and hassle with having a roommate that it'll be nice getting out on my own. Officially.

*Now time for a little disclaimer. Don't get my wrong, there were times where I liked having a roommate, but I'm the type of person where it's uncomfortable for me to go sit in the living or dining room with them or be cooking dinner at the same time as them because it feels like I'm intruding in on their space and time to be by themselves, so I stayed in my room with my animals most of the time until they went to sleep. Having a roommate may be for some people, just not completely the right thing for me.

All in all, this move is a pretty big deal. First time officially alone. First time paying bills without any other person worrying about them. First time moving alone and getting everything set up without any help. Hopefully, this will be my last time moving. Last time transferring. Last time switching my profession. But at the same time, it'll be my last few steps to officially growing up which is a bittersweet thing for me. I guess we'll see how it goes this time around. Fingers crossed.

Well wishes to all,
                       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.

A few life updates

A few updates of the events that have happened in my life in the year 2013 since I haven't updated at all. Sorry guys.

On December 12, 2012, I started dating this man. He's witty, funny, stubborn, and does all the cute, little things that warm my heart. I've got myself a good one.

 I've also gotten myself an adorable, female pomeranian. Addie is mischievous, spunky, and smart, but is also one of the most loving dogs you will ever meet.

To start my sophomore year of college off, I moved into a new house that I rent. It's a small and cozy little place.

I'm gonna start trying to upload more. I feel that after my first semester of putzing around, that I really want to focus on this more and make it a priority. It makes me happy and I mean, everyone loves a little happy in their lives, right?