*FACE PALM*

Hello life,

So this morning (1 am to be exact), I dropped my phone down the elevator shaft in my residence hall.

My poor iPhone 5 fell five stories and landed screen first on stone cold pavement..

Needless to say...it was rough when it came out.

 This first picture actually doesn't do it justice. After I got my iPhone from the elevator shaft, the whole top screen was up, but I shoved it down. 

I know it seems horrible, but honestly...I am extremely impressed with my iPhone.

I actually was expecting worse, and on a good note, it still works (meaning Siri, noises, and all things not pertaining to the screen).

As for my case it was in, I always use Speck brand cases, and my case ended up with a tiny scratch. 

If you aren't impressed by that then...no.

The reason the screen is so screwed up is due to the way it fell. It hit the upper right hand corner and shattered due to landing glass screen first on the concrete below. 

As for what to do now?

Well I had insurance on my phone through my provider, and to be honest, they were absolutely useless. 

I regret buying the insurance.

I paid a lot for my phone, and insurance wants me to pay $169 for an iPhone 5c. Which, I never wanted a 5c. I just wanted another 5, but apparently, Apple doesn't sell them anymore so they are non-existent.

PEACHY.

But yeah...now I have to wait to get my overly priced replacement iPhone 5c on tuesday. 

*eye roll*

I also have to find order a replacement screen protector for my phone since my old on has tons of glass.

Personally, I am proud of my iPhone, Speck case, and Zagg brand screen protector. 

My screen protector is the "invisible shield dry full body original" by Zagg, and I will always return to them. For one, they have a lifetime guarantee and free replacements, and for another, they are scratch and tear resistant. I have never had a scratch.

I cannot speak highly enough of these products. I personally would take a Speck case over any other any day (including Otterbox, who I dislike). 

On a lighter note before my phone fell to its untimely demise, I had a lovely time at the basketball game!

Here are some pictures (side note: I was in the fourth row of student section, and they showed me on TV!!)

 (Sophie, myself, and Noor <3)

 (Katie <3)

 (Noor, myself, and Sophie <3)

 (Myself, Cedric "Thor", and Katie)

(Sophie, myself, and Noor [By the way Brannen Greene was creeping in the background <3

 Warm up

Sebastian and I <3

Overall it was a beautiful day. Oh, and here's the video clip:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152019396538842&set=vb.40139773841&type=2&theater

My parents will also be home for a week soon, and I just can't wait to see them because when they leave, I will be a mess. 

I am also proud to say that my French has improved greatly. 

Avoir mes amis!

So....uh...HEY.

FAIL. SMH.

I tried guys...I really did...for like two days.

So, update for now then haha. Well...I haven't been home in over 2 weeks which isn't all that surprising seeing as I have had no time to even sleep let alone drive.

Also, the weather for the time being has decided that instead of the warm weather I keep hoping for, let's just dump a whole lot of snow...over 12 inches...so much so, that they have to cancel school...twice. 

....SERIOUSLY?

What is even going on with this weather *insert sassy eye roll here*.

So, my mom flew out to Portland to be with my dad for a little while, and I miss them....tremendously.

That's really pathetic seeing as she has only been gone for two weeks. Now as for my dad and dog, those are different stories. Dad left before my winter break even finished, and since I haven't been home since winter break, I haven't seen my puppy in over a month.

IT. SUCKS. 

Also, we (meaning Mom, Dad, and I) can't STAND leaving our puppy at home alone, but we had to seeing as: I am in college, Mom and Dad are in Portland, and there is NO WAY we were putting him on a plane or in a hotel. NO. 

So, Henrry has been taking care of him. 

I miss him....A LOT...like...to the moon and back.

I've noticed I have been more emotional lately, and I contribute that to stress, lack of sleep, and everything becoming jumbled in my life.

The weird thing is, I have been relatively...calm.

Before (over this summer), I used to fight panicky feelings. I would freak out and try to calm myself down. Now, I try to stay calm and not acknowledge that it's happening. Now that I have typed that, it sounds like I have had a lot of my episodes. Honestly, I haven't. I have had a few, but nothing so bad that I couldn't work through it.

I feel like now I'm just mumbling. Currently, it is a Friday night, and I am in my warm, cozy dorm blogging. To be honest, I am okay with that. I needed a night to myself, and tomorrow, I am sleeping in. Lately, I have been so exhausted that I have almost fallen asleep in public places (like the bus, class, and while eating). For those of you who know me, you will realize this NEVER happens to me. 

I am always hyper and pumped, but something about this week has just drained me. 

Another contributing factor, I think, is that fact that I am a dual major. So for those of you who don't fully understand this, let me break it down for you. 

An average college student will choose a major, most will throw in a minor or two, and certain students will go all out and major in more than one subject. For me, I chose English and French.

For a student who is only studying for one major, they need to take gen eds (general education courses I.E. 100 level courses, and 200 level courses). Then after passing the required gen eds, students start their major. For most students, this is somewhere between sophomore to junior year. 

Now for me, I had many incoming credits (classes I took in high school) plus I took the French proficiency test. I scored fairly well on the test and was placed sophomore level French. I chose to take the honors section of it, and although I thought I was dying, it was so worth it. 

But anyways back to the point, I am taking twice the course load to graduate within the same time frame as a person with just one major. 

So for example, I had/have to take a few gen eds (Geography 104/105, English 102, and French 231/241). This semester, I started my English major, and next semester, I will start my French major. 

While I don't regret choosing to dual major, I do get stressed out and easily worn out due to the work load. 

My flight is officially booked for Portland over spring break, and I am excited and nervous all at once. 

On a different note, I am an ally for the LGBTQ community here at KU, and I attended a meet and greet with Orange is the New Black's, Laverne Cox. She was FABULOUS. 

 

Her speech, while very serious and controversial, was also funny and enlightening. I loved it.

Also a few weekends back, I attended a home basketball game, which I will be doing again tomorrow, and I took these pictures:

 This is Dylan <3

 

This is Tim (from London) and Hamad (from Kuwait)

 This is Hamad again

I had a really good time, and to be honest, I have been feeling pretty good the past few days.

I hope this continues, and I shall see you lovelies later <3

Avoir et bon courage!

Changes Are Coming!

Bonjour mes amis,

Alright so, I promised to keep you updated, but I have been doing a pretty crumby job of it so far.

While we were in Portland (right after I upload my vlog actually), the software on my MacBook was deleted somehow. So, I had to go to the Apple store in downtown Portland to get it all fixed up, but now, everything is working fabulously. 

Since Daddy Rayl is officially working in Portland, he had to fly back out a few days after we arrived home. I think I have mentioned before about how worried I am about their impending move. Well while he was packing, everything finally hit me like Miley Cyrus on her wrecking ball. For some reason, I just started bawling, and yes, I know I'm an ugly crier. I felt horrible for my dad because he was like...."Uh, why are you crying?? It's not like this is goodbye forever, haha." But, I just couldn't help myself. So, reality has somewhat hit. 

I am actually really proud of myself in the way that I am handling all this change. When I was younger, change wasn't a big deal to me; I just adapted and went on. Now though, it's different because my parents will be away from me, and I guess that scares me a little bit. I think when I was running all the scenarios through my head, they seemed way worse than they are now that it is happening. 

Anyways, I head back to Lawrence tomorrow, and I start my second semester in college.

Before that happens though, I decided to make a list of things I want to accomplish this year.

I thought about calling this list a New Years resolution, but let's be real...those never work out. 

So, here we go!

1. I will stop stressing the small things and start looking at the overall picture.
2. I will push outside my comfort zone (whether that's flying alone or just doing something without trying to think every step through).
3. I will read more. (This one shouldn't be too difficult.)
4. I will study more. Last semester, I didn't study as much as I could/should have. 
5. I will get more involved in things I love and I am passionate about.
6. I will hug and love more, and I will cut back on talking down on people. 
7. I will travel more.
8. I will reconnect with my sense of wonder.
9. I will cope with stress in healthier ways than having panic attacks, like dancing.
10. I will be stronger.
11. I will exercise more.
12. I will eat healthier and prevent myself from diabetes.
13. I will stop relying on technology so much, and if I want to talk to someone, I will talk to their faces not through a text.
14. I will ready myself to go abroad.
15. I will be more organized.
16. I will listen to more music in all different genres. 
17. I will help someone in any way I can.
18. I will clean my car and keep it clean.
19. I will keep in touch with my friends better. Because schedules are so different, it is hard to keep up with everyone, and sometimes, your best friends fall out of touch because someone THINKS they are too busy.
20. I will work on my Français more.
21. I will make more friends.
22. I will start to love myself more and see myself as a beautiful person. Now, this one seems so simple, but it is so difficult to be completely okay with how we are.
23. I will pray more and get in touch with God again. Although I am not the most religious person out there, I want to get in better touch with God. I know Grandma isn't in pain anymore, so I will always have that to be thankful for.
24. I will start thinking of how blessed I am instead of comparing my blessings to others'. 
25. I will listen more.
26. I will call my parents at least four nights a week to say goodnight, and I will ALWAYS tell them "I love you" EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. You never know when it will be the last time.
27. I will stop worrying about impressing other people or trying to fit in. It never helps how I feel about myself. Acceptance like that is only temporary.
28. I will stand up for those who are being brought down.
29. I will make myself available to anyone who needs someone to talk to.
30. I will, at least once, do something crazy. Something that absolutely terrifies me, and I will be okay. (I'm not talking about crazy things as in stupid crazy. I mean fun crazy.)
31. I will watch more Disney movies.
32. I will stop dogging my mom. Hurting her doesn't help her.
33. I will visit Grandma and Grandpa's grave at least once this year. It's the least I can do. 

I would love to hear what you guys are going to do this year!

Avoir mes amis.

Portland Day One Vlog

Hello Lovelies, 

Okay so first on today's list is to apologize for the major delay. I promise I had the vlog edited and ready to go onto here, but YouTube was being dumb. It has taken over two days for my video to upload. I don't understand why, but it is no excuse. 

So essentially, all we did yesterday was look at houses (that's why I didn't vlog it), and the day before that we had our meltdown at the airport. 

One thing I forgot to mention in the video was that Delta actually lost our luggage and sent it on our original flight to Portland, so when we arrived in Redmond, we had nothing and had to drive over 3 hours to Portland airport to stop our luggage from being flown to Redmond.....

They really need to organize their airlines better. 

Oregon is very beautiful (as well as Washington, since we are looking for housing in both areas). They remind me of Colorado since there are mountains everywhere. 

I saw Mt. Saint Helen which was the coolest part of the trip so far.

We only saw four houses so far, and only two of those were decent. 

It's so stressful. We also need to sell our house in Salina ASAP. 

On the plus side, I decided to take the plunge and buy the American Apparel disco pants. 

I cringe a little when I think of the cost... *crying*

Although they are extremely pricey, the quality cannot be beat. I have been researching them for over three months now, so I felt that I had enough research invested into it. 

They won't arrive until I am home, so I will update you more then. 

But here's the video I promised <3

Also if you know me then you know I love music and remixes. I just found a remix of Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball, and I love it. I leave the video too ;)