How to Stop Procrastinating!

1.  Buy a planner.  Whether you use a daily, weekly, or monthly planner, this will be one of your biggest assets to stop procrasting.   In it, you could write all your appointments, classroom numbers, HW assignments... pretty much anything!  You could also color-code them by using different pens or highlighting important things.

2.  Keep your binders and notebooks organized.   It's amazing how by just having dividers in your binders and separate notebooks for classes can help sooo much!  Though sometimes it's easier to only carry one notebook for all your classes than twenty, doing so will help you when you need to refer back to notes for a particular class.  If you like to take notes on your computer Microsoft Office's OneNote is a Notebook on your computer.  Practically saved my life last semester.  Get it!  

3.  Visit the library.  At the beginning of the semester, most students will not have all their textbooks, cause they were ordered online... Well visit the library then.  You can usually find the textbook on reserve and the library is a nice quiet place to study.  If you're having difficulty staying awake, just walk down the book aisles. 

4.  Read Your Syllabus.  Though many times long and boring, this important document usually has all your assignments written out.  Some professors don't mention that you have homework.  So check your syllabus before you have a surprise hw assignment or test pop up on the day of class.

5.  Carry Highlighters and Colored Pens.  These little tools will help whether writing in your planner/calendar or just taking notes.  They will help important parts stand out and can help you identify what you are refering to. 

6.  Invest in a Hole-Punch.  You won't believe how many time a teacher will pass out papers--not hole punched.  If you don't have a hole-punch back in your room.  You'll forget to put holes in it and you will most likely eventually lose the paper, many of which can be important.   So invest in one you can keep in your dorm room or binder.  That way you organize your new papers right into your binder.

Though these may seem like obvious give-aways or like a waste of time and resources or just a simple distraction, implementing these tips into your lifestyle this new semester will help keep you more focused and hopefully on track. 

New Haircut

Last Monday, I finally got the courage and took a brave step to a new look.  I donated all my long curly locks in hope of growing my hair out naturally (straight).  No Perm.  This also gave me an excuse to try out a new hair style.  Short.  I absolutely love it!   One thing I must say though, no matter what length, having nice hair will always take work.   Just depends what you'd rather spend time on.  Styling it or washing and conditioning it?

One thing I've definately become known for is my drastic changes in my look.  Rather than slowly ease myself to short hair, I went all the way! Which I honestly find more fun.  Before cutting my hair, I had it down to my waist, no bangs, and super curly.  Very pretty, very time consuming.    Though it sometimes is hard to listen to people's comments such as "You look like a boy."  I think it's very important to be who you are and what you like.  People will always judge no matter what.

Have the confidence to be yourself!

 "Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear: Forget your people and your father's house. The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord." Psalms 45:10-11

Simple Tips for Keeping Your Room Organized

For most of us one of the hardest and most time consuming tasks is keeping our room organized.  However there are a few tips I would recommend to help you with this.

1.  Use Prescription Bottles for Storage.  I know we all have somewhere hidden in our room some sort of empty prescription bottle.  I collect mine and use them to store safety pins, quarters for laundry, bobby pins, and other small little items.

2.  Label Your Closet Drawers.   For me, I've found this to be one of the most useful tips ever.  Before this I always had my clothes being moved around put in wrong drawers and such, especially when I was at home, and  someone else was trying to put my clothes away.  But now whenever I need to find something I know exactly where it is!   The best way to organize like this is probably by type (eg. t-shirt, jeans, shorts, tank-top)

3. Have a Set of Hooks For Hanging Items.  For all my purses, backpacks, and my umbrella, I have a pair of hooks on the side of bookcase.  This creates a convenient location where I can hang all my bags, whether full or empty.

4.  Fold Your Bed.   This may seem like a no-brainer.  But for some people [including me] this could be our downfall.  Though this chore doesn't take long to complete, day after day it can become quite repetitive and we might not do it.  However no matter how organized a room is, it will not look like that, unless the bed is folded.

5.  Get Rid of Clutter!  I love to keep random things such as paper bags, boxes, and other random goodies that may eventually be of some use.  However this is probably one of the biggest problems ever.    Before you know it, your entire room will be full of great resources with nowhere to put them away.  

6. Do Not Use Paper Bags for Storage.  Though paper and plastic bags may work great for carrying stuff.  These items should never remain in them.  They quickly get worn out and look trashy just lying around in a room.  I would suggest to use a box or better yet a storage container for these items.   But be careful not to have a whole bunch of boxes.

My DIY Projects

During my time at home I started a few projects, some of which I have not completed. [redecorating my room]  but there were a few that I did.

Distressing My Old Jewelry Box

 

 
So I haven't finished this one completely yet... I still need to paint the knobs so I can put it back together.  But I took this very kiddy looking jewelry box and sanded the designs off and a bit more, to get a slightly distressed look.  I plan to paint the knobs black and put the jewelry box together again, but I think it looks nice so far.

Making a Cute Shirt and Scarf Out of a Dress

So I took this old dress I've had for years, but never had worn and switched it up!  I cut the bottom section off to turn into a baby doll top, and used the left over scraps to make a really cool scarf.  :)

With the help of a sowing machine, some sissors, and time.  This was a quite simple project. 

Super Awesome Cape? I say, YES!

I made this cape!  It's kind of like shawl....

So I took a really long dress I had and cut off the bottom to make it into a summer dress.  Adorable!  But I had all these left over scraps.... another scarf??? Nah!  I decided to be brave and try making a winter cape. 

So now I have a dress and a cape to go with it!   There are a few minor adjustments that can still be made... such as a bit more hemming and stuff.  But with the nice lacey bottom it gave it a complete.  Since I didn't start off with a circle like most material asks for, I used some ribbon as a draw string to make the collar.   Whoot, whoot! And I'm a beginner, you can do it too!

BEFORE - the left over material

Day 27 - This was my favorite shirt

So it's always a bummer, when something that used to be your favorite doesn't look the same anymore.  Unfortunately I came across this when I wore one of my favorite shirts, it just doesn't look the same without my long curly locks.  Oh well, gotta learn how to wear everything.   It's still a cute outfit

Outfit #27:

Day 26 - Colored Denim

Since short hair is a little harder to look girly with than long hair, one of my recommendations is to wear bows, headbands, hats, or just more girly outfits, which is what I did today.  I started off my outfit with this adorable headband with a flower.  Then I continued by wearing pink denim pants (one of the fashion challenges) and a cream colored shirt.  To add a bit more color I added a scarf my camp counselor gave me last summer, and then added some airwalkers to complete the outfit!  It may have made me look a bit younger, but you could definately tell I was a girl :)

Outfit #27:

Day 25 - New Style

Only 5 more days to my fashion challenge!   And I've decided to switch it up.  I totally changed my style, but I getting a new hairstyle.  I'll probably post pictures next week.  It looks really cute, but very different.  To go with this new style I most definatly rocked the skinny jeans, with some sandals, a t-shirt, and some nice big earings!  whoot whoot, simple but stylin.  ;)

Outfit #25: