Keeping My Sanity!

Well, the month is almost over and I have yet to get a blog post up. We can all thank my busy school life and the fact that February is such a short month! I thought that it would be great to talk about the 12x30 challenge that I have been doing for the month of February. The theme was organization and cleaning. Even though I have been so busy I have still made time to clean and organize my life. It's how I keep myself sane. These are just some of the things I did and do often to stay organized.

1. To-Do List

I make daily and weekly to-do list all the time. It's great having them to keep myself on track and make sure I don't forget anything. Some of my to-do list are for the spam of a few weeks. One of those list are the crafts I am making for my little.

2. Deep Cleaned My Dorm Room 

When I get busy I let things pile up and don't actually put things away. It's mostly clothes piled at the end of my bed and books covering my desk. I finally dedicated a few hours the other day to just clean my whole room. I was stressing and apparently my new stress reliever is to clean. I organized all he bins under my bed and made a pile of items to bring home over spring break. It felt amazing to have a clean room again.

3. Organized My Notes

This might seem little and a little bit common sense but I had papers and notes everywhere! They were just thrown in a drawer and mixed up. I was always forgetting papers or losing things. I hole punched all the papers and put them into sections in a binder. Now I can't lose anything!

4. Cleaned Up My Files

The files on my laptop were a mess. I had to delete so many things that I didn't need. I than made folders for each of my classes and placed files in them for easy access. It made my laptop faster and neater.

5. Cleaned The Forgotten Places

My roommate and I are going home for spring break in two days (yeah!) and before we leave we deep cleaned some areas of our room. The fridge, microwave, under our beds, and under the rug really needs to be clean. It was so bad and I'm so glad we did it.


How do you stay organized and clean? Any tips you have for me?

xoxo,
Lauren

There's A Nurse In Me

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I have a confession to make. At about the mid-point of winter break I started to think about coming back to school and coming back to class. I knew this semester was going to be hard and it scared me greatly. Doubt started to fill my mind. Could I do this? Did I even want to be a nurse?

At one point I thought about either leaving college all together or switching majors. I cried on the first day of classes because I wasn't happy at all. The second day of classes was the first time I got to wear scrubs and let's just say I had zero excitement. I cried the third day of classes because I just couldn't do any of the work and was so stressed. Since last week (my first week), things have gotten a little better each day. It's a slow process but I am getting there.

It's extremely hard to have doubts about something that you once loved. It's extremely hard to think you had your life together when you no longer do. Actually, its really scary to think about and to have to work through those emotions.

I allowed myself to suppress to my emotions for a week and only a week. After that first week was up I made myself really thinking about what was going on. I thought about why I was feeling that way and came to some realizations. I was more scared about the class than anything else. I was letting fear take over.

Because of the self love month, I was able to come up with an activity that helped me see things a little more clearly. I feel like this could help other people out there even if they aren't a nursing student.  Maybe you're not sure if you want to be a teacher or if you are doing the right thing.

What I did was make a list of all of the reasons why I would make a good nurse. Why I want to continue with school. Here's my list.

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I enjoy helping people and that's what nurses do. 

The human body and the medical field interest me a whole ton. 

I have a mothering instinct. 

I have a passion for nursing and you need that. 

It's my dream. 

I am selfless and would do anything for anyone. 

I am good at staying in control when there is chaos. 

So I am taking this and carrying it around with me. I need to be reminded why I am doing what I do. If you are having any doubts about your life choices make a list as to why you would be good at that. It will help I promise! 

xoxo,

Lauren 

P.S. If anyone was wondering I am staying on top of my self love journal and writing one thing down every day. 

I Am Loved

As part of my self love month I am taking a look at the people who love me. Sometimes it is hard to love yourself if you do not feel loved by those around you. I know there are times where I have felt so down on myself because I didn't feel like people loved me. It can be hard at times to see that people love you, especially if the things they do are daily and go unnoticed. Today I want my readers to stop and a make a list of the people that love you. Things long and hard about it. If you want to take it a step farther write down how they show it.

1. My parents

They will do anything for me. Just a few examples include my mom driving things to me in the icy rain and my dad giving my money because I can't work while at school. 

2. My siblings

My sister will ask about my dad or send me a simple text. My brother will listen to me rant and watch Tangled with me. 

3. My aunts and uncles

They always give me tons of advice, ask about how school is, and general just listen to me. 

4. All of my cousins

I have had some drive me back to school and take me out for a girls day. 

5. My grandmother

She always believed in me, listen to me, and gave me all the motivation I needed. 

6. My best friend, Bridget

Even though at times I don't think she is listening to me she always is. She will do random things for me. And if those aren't enough she tells me she loves me. 

7. My best friend, Jill

This girl tells me she loves me, listens to me rant, always helps me through my problems, and doesn't get mad at me when I am mean to her. 

8. My roommate, Erika 

Let's just say I'm not the easiest person to live with. I can be crazy and loud. Erika has spent many nights singing and dancing with me. She has helped me so much, like when I'm too lazy to get up. 

9. My Big, Carolina

She surprises me with her love. She ask how I've been, and puts up with me. She crafted so much me and had me to a point. She has made me a random cake because I just wanted one. 

10. My Big Big, Tori

She's so sweet to me. She has offered to help me with school and actually apologized for breaking a promise because she was sick. 

11. My Spir, Sami

God I love this girl! Sami will tell me how much she loves the crafts I've made for her. She listens to me and laughs with me. 

12. My sorority in general

They do little things like say hi and talk to me about my day and life. Little things that make me feel loved. 

13. My friends, Jeannie, Joann, and Anya

They will listen to me and give me advice. They want to hang out with me and we can just lay around and they won't care. 

In the past few days I have just felt the love. I have felt how much I mean to some people. They show it and don't even now it. It's nice to know that their are people out there that. 

xoxo,

Lauren 

Loving Your Appearance

School hasn't gotten busy yet but I know it will come next week. While I have time I am sitting down to write a little. It's still self love month over here on Little Lion Gal so I thought I would do another post about loving yourself. I am going strong with my journal and always writing down one things I love about myself each day. Watch now I'll jinks myself because I said that. 

Today I want everyone to make a list of all of the things they love about their physical appearance. It is completely ok to love the way you look. I don't find it conceded at all. You have to be happy with yourself for other people to like you. 

1. My short, healthy hair
2. The color of my hair. It catches the light so well. 

3. The shape of my face

4. The color of my eyes

5. My little hands

6. The shape of my legs. Yes this is weird but I love the different the curves in my legs.

7. The way my hips stick out

8. My big butt

9. My skin and all its flaws. It amy not always be clear and that ok. 

10. My chubby toes

11. The size of my breast 

12. My freckles

13. My smile
14. My straight teeth.
15. My weight 

Honestly, I felt so good about myself after writing that list. There was a huge smile on my face and I thought it was such a great idea. My whole attitude changed after that. If you make a list let me know. I would love to see what other people wrote! 

xoxo,

Lauren 

I Am...

In January I am looking at myself and really seeing what I love about myself. I am going deep down to really see every aspect of my life. This activity is a combination of a project from grade school and a pin on pinterest of positive words.    

What you do is start by writing I am at the top of your blog post or piece of paper. Than write down everything you are after that. Are you smart? Are you positive? Are you an artist? Are you a good writer? Think of all the things you are. It really makes you think positively and think about all of your good traits.

I am…

Smart

Positive

Hardworking

Caring

Loving

Forgiving

Funny

Courageous

Selfless

Worthy

Creative

Thoughtful

Brave

Sacrificial

Open-minded

Talented

Strong

Interesting

Beautiful

Perfect

Wonderful

Keep the list going. Write down as much as you can think of making sure you look at every aspect of your life. If you write this on a piece of paper you can add to it whenever you think of something. I am going to write this on paper and add every time I think of something.

xoxo,

Lauren

Self Love Journal

I made this simple, quick journey to go along with my self-love month. One thing I am doing every day this month is to write down something that I love about myself that day. Instead of writing it on a piece of paper I made this little book with a  page for each day.

Supplies

Paper (construction, computer, scrapbook, etc.)

Ribbon

Markers/Pens/Crayons

Hole Punch

Optional

Stickers

Pictures

First cut the paper into smaller sizes. The book can be whatever you want it to be. My paper was already cut so I skipped this step. I wanted mine to be almost like a pocket book. You are going to need 17 pages.

Than hole punch a hole in the top and the bottom of each piece of paper. Make sure that the hole is in the same spot on all of the pages.

Next write the date at the top of each page (January 1, January 2, etc.) You can write Thursday, January 1 or just write January 1. It’s up to you. If you want you can use stickers too.

Decorate your cover however you want using stickers or drawings and than tie the pages together with ribbon.

It will take you almost no time to make this. It is also really cheap if you already have the supplies like I did. If you make a journal I would love to see them.

xoxo,
Lauren

P.S. Leave the book in view so you remember to write down one thing you love about yourself each day.

2015 12x30 Challenge

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I saw this challenge and thought not only was it cool but it was something that I want to do. This yearly challenge could really help me become a better person and I feel like it will improve different accepts of my life. Sticking to this challenge is going to be hard. It’s not for a month its for a year! A whole year! I have never before done something for a year although I have attempted to do a few things. I plan to stick to it as much a possible and planning ahead.

Each month is a different theme/topic that you work towards to better your life. This isn’t nesserely a blog challenge but more like a personal challenge. You don’t have to blog every day and you don’t have to talk about it much on your blog. I do have post ideas for the month of January but my whole blog won’t be focused around just this topic. I will throw in some post through the month to go with the topic and challenge.

January’s theme is Self Love. The goal of this month is to love your self more than ever better. Love your decisions, love your dreams, and nurturing everything about yourself. You can do anything as long as you are focusing on loving yourself in some way.

I want to start out the month with a pledge to myself. A pledge that I would love to follow, not only throughout the month, but the year and hopefully beyond.

My Self Love Pledge 2014

I pledge to always accept myself for who I am. To never want to be someone or something I am not. All my flaws make me who I am.

I pledge to never change for anyone. If someone wants me to change they can leave my life. The only time I change is when I want to and feel it is right.

I pledge to see at least one thing I love about myself everyday. It can be a skill, a personality trait, or something on the outside.

I pledge to trust in my abilities and never doubt myself. If I think it I can do it.

I pledge to forgive myself for mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes it is a part of living.

I pledge to stop criticizing myself and others.

I pledge to stand up for myself. To do it in a nice and kind way. To never let anyone walk all over me.

I pledge to love myself everyday from here on out.

I may print out my pledge and put it on the inside of my closet. It’s a perfect place because I go in there multiple times a day and it will be near my clothes and mirror. It’s one of the first places I go in the morning and the very last place I go at night. I have a few more monthly activities I want to do that I show you later.