In 2011, I Resolve...

Uhm, to sit on my butt every single day doing nothing? Sounds good? Yeah, I think so do :)


In all honesty, I really hate New Years Resolutions. I love everything about New Year including the idea of a fresh start, but I hate the whole Resolutions part of it. Last year, I made my "resolutions" so peculiar that I don't even know how I survived 20 minutes with them! I spent so much time in 2010 worrying about it that I honestly had no time just to enjoy.


So, this year, I'm making my life a little easier. My goal is to be the best me that I can be. I'm not holding myself to any form of measurement, because only I know what I can do to be better. And it's not just a one day change everything about my life project. I know that getting to be the best me is something that will take time, but it will be easy.


Yep, it should be easy as pie! My whole goal here is to do something once a day that'll improve my life in some way. It could be reading my scriptures in the morning and giving me a positive start to the day (I want to do this one more constantly though)! Or even looking up some make-up tutorials online and practicing on my make-up (I don't wear make-up very often and I like the way I look without it, but I do want to try and wear make-up more). You guys get the gist right?

I have another goal for my two babies (aka my blogs people!). In this one, the personal one, I want to be more scheduled about posts. I mean, I love the whole personal aspect of it too, but I want to keep it personal while also not making it too boring, ya dig? So here are my thoughts for the blog:


must love mondays-admit it, monday is usually the most hectic day of the week! everything is going on and it's crazy. but monday is actually my favorite day of the week! like the whole new year thing, I enjoy the whole fresh start aspect that monday brings. on mondays i'll be posting about things that i am looking forward to in the coming week or things that i enjoyed in the week past!
link-up tuesday-since most of the linky parties i take part in are on tuesdays, i'll be dedicating tuesday posts to those link-ups!
wishlist wednesday-i am thinking about making this one a linky party in itself! wishlist wednesday will be all about the things that are on my wishlist and yours too! it doesn't even have to be a material thing! wishlist wednesday is all about what you are wishing for, even if your wish is for prince william to drop kate and marry you instead =P (just for the record, i think kate is gorgeous! and they will have beautiful babies. marry your kid off instead!). 
thankful thursdays-i think this one is pretty self explanatory. this one is all about being grateful for the things in life. i know that this will be a mixed media blog post thing. 
link-up friday-again, a lot of linky-parties happen on fridays, so I'll link up and answer any questions on link-up fridays!
show and tell saturday-this is going to up in the air! it'll either be super random posts or i'll share a crafty project that i've been working on, or some recipes that i love. i'll even share pictures from my vacation (yeah, i'm late. it'll happen soon) or random things about my life or that i found interesting with y'all!
think about it sundays-think about it sunday can either be really serious or really playful and fun. i think for the most part it'll be between those variants. sometimes, i may post about something i learned in church or about a world issue or anything that has been weighing on my mind. or i may also dig through my bag off journal prompts (which are really just random questions) and i'll answer those! i'll also challenge you all to "think about it" too, so please stop by on sundays!


As for the tay irl reads, well, I'm not going to have anything too structured, but I do want to include more posts while I'm reading and stuff!


And lastly, I want you guys to hold me to both my goal and my whole blogging thing! Please? It's simple, really. Just the fact that I know you are all expecting me to be a better me will help me stick with that goal! But if you find something that you know will help me be a better me (like a cute make-up or hair tutorial, or a youtube dance you think i should learn) send it to me! I promise I won't be offended! And as for the blog part, don't be afraid to scold me if I go off track! Of course there will be times when I won't follow the schedule exactly, let's face it, I do have a life (not really, no...). But if it's been like weeks and weeks since I've done a show and tell saturday or something, then just comment or e-mail me and be like "hey, what's up...i wanted to see your pictures of *insert cool thing here* for show and tell saturday!."


In return, I also want to help you with any goals that you've set for yourself and for your blog or even for your etsy shops (anyone need a reviewer? i'll do it!!). Or even if you just need someone to talk to, just let me know! I'm always here to help you in any way that I can, be it lending an ear or whatever, let me know!!

2010 {Candids}

Here's to 2010! My year in photos...

January 2010: Went to O'ahu for Stake Conference. Met Elder Cook of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. Also, Abe was there. We snapped this picture for my Elder Dude.

February 2010. Tsunami day. Yes, I did feel that it was necessary to take a picture of my super cute outfit on Tsunami day. Mmkay.

March 2010. Went on my very first field trip as a "kumu" to Pu'u Moi ranch in Hamakua on the big island and got this shot. Big Island has the most beautiful waterfalls.

April 2010. Glee came back! Enough said!

May 2010. This picture refused to rotate. Anyway went to the beach with this cutie pie.

June 2010. Became Mama to this beautiful baby girl. She was soooo litttlee and sooooo cute!!! Well, she's still little and cute but not this little and cute!

July 2010. Hung out with this beautiful lady. We went to our first bon dance with a bunch of our other friends and even ran into our high school speech teacher. it was AWESOME!

August 2010. Beautiful sunrise over Bellows in Waimanalo, O'ahu.

September 2010. Hung out with this cutie pie! My baby brother, Cyrus. Too bad he's 6 and not a baby anymore!

October 2010. Went to the Justin Bieber concert and threw out all of my previous thoughts of him. He really is a great live performer and the boy can dance. Plus, he's pretty darn adorable too!

November 2010. The La'ie Hawai'i Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was rededicated! I got to go to open house three times and it was amazing.

December 2010. WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY FREAKIN POTTER. enough said. :)

(via)

I have this set to post at 10:00pm Hawaii time, but by then everywhere else in the world will have rung in 2011 already, so Happy New Year everyone! (How is it in the future?)

I pray that God will bless you and your family with a wonderful, healthy and prosperous year in 2011!

2010: The Good, The Bad, & The....WTFeven was that?!

For my ultimate recap of 2010 post, I wanted it to be original....kind of. I suck at coming up with ideas of my own. Anyway, I have named this entry The Good, The Bad, The....WTFeven was that? Because "The Ugly" is just too obvious. And can you even describe a year as "ugly"? 


Anyway, as I may or may not have said in previous posts, 2010 was a crazy year. I went through a lot of changes. Looking back, I am definitely not the same person I was on December 31, 2009. Heck, I'm barely even the same person that I was in May 2010!


This year was a roller coaster ride. A very intense roller coaster ride. With terrifying hills, crazy loops, and bone chilling speeds. Like any roller coaster ride, I was excited when I first got on (AKA the beginning of 2010), but now that it's over, I'm excited to get off! It's not a ride that I would choose to ride again, but at least I can tell my friends that I survived it!


The Good
- I turned 20 in January! It was a BIG change, but not really. I guess it's kind of hard to understand. I felt older and more responsible, but still young at the same time.
- I got to give a very special little boy his hawaiian name! i felt honored when my cousin asked me to name her baby. It was the first time I got to do it for family
- I got to meet Elder Quentin L. Cook at a Stake Conference. He even shook my hand. It was my first time meeting or even being in the same room as an Apostle of the Lord. It was pretty amazing.
- I began enjoying work a lot more. I got closer with the kids, got closer with my co-workers. It was wonderful.
- (This was 2009 ish too, but more 2010) I learned what it was like to live independently as an adult. I worked and payed my rent and bought food and other necessities, while also being able to get things that I enjoyed, all while also going to school. And you know what? I did really well.
- I sent a bunch of friends on missions (2009). Ok, technically I didn't, but a lot of them did leave on missions. Mmkay?
- I survived Tsunami '10. Which turned out to be a 3 foot wave. Not even big enough to surf on.
- Working with little kids helped me build up my immune system! I haven't been sick all year! And if I was sick it was because of my allergies and not because of germs! yay me! lol
- I moved back to O'ahu!
- I got my Lady Luvs and Mr. Merli-Boo! It was my welcome home gift.
- I made new friends in my new ward!
- I went to the YSA Conference in Oahu and met some pretty awesome new people.
- I went camping for the first time in years! It was so much fun!
- I got to attend temple open house twice! two of which i ran into isaiah. which is irony.
- taylor swift released her album speak now which was amazing, of course.
- I became an aunt to two beautiful little boys.
- I went to Florida and Las Vegas for the first time. And I fell in love with both places. I got to spend time in Disney World with extended family. And I got to enjoy cowboys in Vegas! It was A W E S O M E.
-I went to Disney World for the first time and I had the absolute time of my life. I even got to go on a Disney Cruise! And we became members of the Disney Vacation Club. This was my year of Disney.
- I went to THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY -FREAKIN- POTTER. It was the BEST thing ever. I've never had so much fun! I friggen LOVE Harry Potter and to be able to go there was a dream come true. It was the BEST day of my entire life. (so far)
- I went to the Justin Bieber concert in October!
- I made a lot of new & wonderful friends. I'm super blessed to have them and I can't wait for our friendships to grow next year!
- I got EVERYTHING that I wanted for christmas! Including my sewing machine, Zumba, Just Dance 2 and Dance on Broadway for Wii!
-I realized that I am, in fact, a crafty girl.
-I started this blog back in October and I made a ton of new bloggy friends and I learned a lot from all of you!
-I witnessed a close friend of mine get proposed to and then she asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding!!


The Bad
- I started having problems with my ex-roomie. It was beginning to get very hard living with her.
- My stupid uncle and his stupid family moved out of the house that they were living in with my grandma and didn't even have the courtesy to tell her...until the weekend that they were moving. Friggen idiots.
- And then they moved back in like 10 months later because they couldn't pay the bills at their house because they are friggen idiots.
- Tsunami '10. Although it wasn't big, the circumstances behind it were scary and sad. The tsunami was triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Chile which injured and killed many people. The people in Hawaii were blessed with safety from the tsunami, but earthquakes were really devastating throughout many parts of the world.
- I almost broke my leg twice. Once because I fell off of a moving car (idiot ex boyfriends fault) and the other because clumsiness + rain in hilo= lots of slippage.
- I realized that I do, in fact, have an anxiety disorder. It's not too intense, but it's pretty worrying. 
- My friend's father passed away & of course, out of respect I went to the funeral. It was the first funeral I went to since my grandpa's. 
-I had mood swings like it was no one's business. I thought that the whole moody teenager thing ended when you weren't a teenager anymore. I was wrong.
- I suffered more migraines than ever before in my life this year. It was crazy!
- I had to endure electric shock therapy on my arm. It was gruesome. OK, not really. I am a drama queen.


The...WTFeven was that?!
Life threw me so many curve balls this year, I can't even remember them all.
So yeah...haha.


As usual, the good far outweighs the bad! Yes 2010 was a huge roller coaster ride, but I learned a lot from it (like that fact that I don't like roller coasters =P). 


I feel like I really grew up this year. I feel like turning twenty really meant stepping out of being a child and I began my transition into adulthood. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm a full fledged adult. Heck, I'm no where close to that, but I know that with every decision I've made this year, every obstacle I've faced, I got one step closer to becoming truly an adult.


I think 2011 is going to be a really important year for me. For starters, I'm turning 21!!! But that's even closer into the adult world. I'm going to learn so much more and I'm going to encounter many things and I'm going to be a different person on December 31, 2011 than I am today. And I want to thank you all, my blog readers, for joining me in the process (sappy, sappy, sappy!!).




Stay tuned, later on tonight i'll be posting one more recap (yeah, i enjoy recapping my years, it's a great way to remember to do better next year). It'll be all pictures and hardly any words! 

Fill in the Blank Friday {Last of 2010}

Head on over to Lauren's blog to answer today's New Years themed questions & link up!

1.   New Year's is (awesome/lame/other)       the BEST HOLIDAY EVER!!!!! New Year's has always been really big for me. In Hawai'i, we celebrate super intensely. So many different cultures have different ideas about what New Years is, but since there is a strong Chinese culture (the Chinese have huge superstitions about New Years), it's become part of local culture in general to celebrate New Year in a big way. Everyone pops fireworks, families have huge get togethers, everyone pretty much stays close to home. It's a pretty big deal. And I love it!   .

2.  Last New Year's Eve I   went to a New Year's Eve party at my then-boyfriend's aunty's house. Then I watched him pop fireworks. It was pretty boring. Which is unusual for me.  .

3.  My New Year's resolution is       I don't really have actual resolutions. I just want to live a better life. Be a happier me. This year wasn't my happiest and I know I can do much better. The plan is to do more things that will make me happy and will boost my confidence. Getting healthier and putting more effort into my clothes and make up so that I like the way I look. Reading my scriptures and becoming more in tune with Heavenly Father and just living for me. I think this year is going to be really crucial to my life. I think I'm going to grow up a lot this year   .

4.  The best way to spend New Year's Eve is   with family, just having fun! We usually pop a few fireworks, with the biggest ones going off at midnight.    .

5.  My prediction for an up-and-coming trend in 2011 is       jeggings are still going to be pretty in, but I think fashion for girls will get a lot more girly. More emphasis on dresses and skirts. As usual, accessories will always be key to the whole fashion thing. I think accessories will also head more toward the girly side, lots of flowers and bows and pretty things. OK, maybe that's just for me.  .

6.  This New Year's Eve I will        probably be at home, maybe watching a few movies. I'm hoping that my grandma will make corned beef and cabbage for dinner! Then of course, the annual neighborhood block fireworks extravaganza!     .

7.  A fresh start is       the best. I mean, every day is technically a fresh start, but the new year really just symbolizes new beginnings. For me, I always feel that the new year means that there will be new experiences and my experiences from the past year were meant for that moment in my life. New Years is really more symbolic      .

New Years Preparation List.

Hey guys!
If you haven't been able to check out my new reading blog, TayIRL Reads, please do. Or, if you have any friends who love reading, send them over! I am currently reading Memoirs of A Geisha by Arthur Golden. If you want, you can even read it with me!


As you guys probably already know, I am soooooo excited for the new year! And not so much Christmas (I'm gonna be a total Scrooge McDuck this year, I know it =P). The New Year is exciting for me because I am a really huge fan of a having a New Start. I think it's cool how the universe (literally) constantly gives us the chance to start again, to do better, you know...all that good stuff.

Well, I also believe in starting the new year off on the right foot. To be honest, I'm pretty superstitious about New Years (blame my Chinese for that one...). It's nothing too big, but I really believe in starting off the year how you want to end it. So, if you're bummed out and mopey on New Years eve/day, you'll probably have a grumptastic year. But, if you start the new year off with a smile on your face, then you'll probably be smiley all year. Really, it's just all about your outlook. Last year, I had an interesting New Years full of ups and downs, which is why (I believe) my year was a full on roller coaster of emotion. 


Anyway, I am really looking forward to 2011 and I want to start the New Year off right! I am already in that positive thinking state of mind (I'm pretty sure 2011 is going to be AWESOME) and I'm trying to stay extra, super healthy so that I don't get sick on New Years, but here's a list of some other stuff I want to get done by the time 2011 hits!


01. Clean/Rearrange & Reorganize my room. It has been somewhat of a mess since I came back from vacation (possibly because I still have not unpacked anything...), which is actually really unlike me. So, over the next week I'm going to clean my room and take pictures of it in it's current arrangement.


I'm the type of girl that enjoys moving things around and playing with the looks of a room (I'm telling you, I should be an interior designer. Do they have majors for that?). I don't really like my room looking one way for too long. It doesn't have to be a whole furniture reversal most of the time, but it will be this time. 


02. Get a new dresser/mirror. That's also a pretty big Christmas wish list item for me (along with a bike, and some awesome fabrics/thread/mad sewing skills). The current dresser that I have belonged to my cousins and I apparently have way too much clothes, so the drawers are kind of falling apart and I don't have enough closet space.


03. Get rid of all the clothes that are tattered or don't fit me anymore. I've never actually done this for the new year before, and it doesn't really have anything to do with a superstition, but I just want to make sure that I have clothes that fit and that are nice.


04. Make amends. This one is probably going to be on the harder side for me, because I tend to hold grudges (not good, I know). But chinese superstition says that you should be at a positive place and not in "debt" whether it be personal or financial. 


05. Put money in all of my purses. Speaking of finances, another superstition says that all a persons money bags should have at least a few coins in them, and the person should be carrying money on them. It's a sign of good finances in the new year.


06. Do a My Year In Review based on my Twitter Statuses. You know those Facebook Status  in a year thingies? Well, I deleted my old facebook right smack dab in the middle of the year and I won't be able to do that, so instead I'm going to go through my twitter statuses and make my own year in review kind of thing.


07. Blog about this year. That will definitely be fun!


That's all that I can think of right now. But I'm sure more things will come up in the future. What are some things on your "To Do Before New Years" list? And share some cool New Years Superstitions you've heard of too!

Let's talk New Years!

Yes, I am quite aware that it isn't even Christmas yet (how many days til that anyway), but of all the holidays in this season, my absolute most favoritest, favorite holiday is New Years! OK, I lied, Thanksgiving is my most favorite, but since I was flying on Thanksgiving day and I'd just arrived in Florida and we didn't do much of anything, we're going to go with New Years as my favorite this year. And while I think Christmas is awesome, it just isn't fun when you're in the weird age between being a teenaged kid and being a full fledged adult, so you don't get any really cool presents. Yeah, I'm in that stage right now. I am also in the stage where I'm too old to go to fun teen stuff, but I'm still too young to go to a good night club (not that I enjoy clubbing anyway, I just want to be old enough to have that option, kay?). OK, sorry, I'm done complaining now. Let's just go with Christmas is not my favorite winter holiday and we'll leave it at that.

Now New Years, well New Years in my book is awesome! For as long as I can remember, everyone on our street would get together have a huge potluck with fireworks (most of them illegal). All the TV stations would have countdowns of their best show episodes from the year. We get to watch how different countries and cultures are celebrating the New Year. And we get to have a HUGE party. I think my love for New Years shows my strong connection to my Chinese heritage. The Chinese really know how to ring in the new year, let me tell you!


Anyway, on to the real point of this blog. Starting in 2011, I've decided that I am really going to focus on working on my Day Zero Project goals. I've got 5 down and only 96 more to go! And I can't think of a better way to go through 2011 than by working to complete some goals! I've already decided that I will be starting to write a book as well as my autobiography beginning in 2011. And I have some other plans for the month of January and beyond, but my biggest goal is, drum roll please.....


My book list!

(via)

Oh, how I wish that beauty was in my house! Anyhow, I am super excited to start on this goal. I love reading, it's one of the things that has always kept me sane. I know that no matter how crazy life is, I can enter into another world for a while by simply opening a book. It is honestly the greatest escape.

My reading list is pretty long, but hey I do have 962 days, and I'll probably give myself the full 1001 since I should have started this project sooner, but we'll see! I'll also probably start a separate blog to do book reviews and what not, just so that I don't flood my personal blog with stuff. And, I may even start a virtual book club thing. So, if anyone else is interested in reading through my list with me (or even just reading SOME of the books on the list) let me know and we can talk and figure things out.



Well, I better go and figure out which books on the list I actually own so I can start there. Or maybe it's time for me to head down to the library!










P.S. Stay tuned for a new blog design (hopefully!!) over the next couple of days. I'm getting a bit tired of this one, it's time for something new!