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!!

Insert Witty Title Here

Howdy y'all,


When I was in Vegas last week, there was a Rodeo going on hosted by the MGM Grand which is also where we stayed. Imagine my immense joy when I found out that there would be loads of cutie cowboys roaming around for a week and also when I found out that they'd only be playing country music for a week. Well, I was mighty happy. I was so happy, in fact, that I started speaking with a "country" accent. This also happened when we had our layover in Texas. Yep, I do that pretty often. In fact, the voice in my head is reading this in a country accent right now.


In case you couldn't tell from that paragraph, this is going to be a random entry of random stuff that y'all need to know. So stick with me. I know we can get through this.


Now, for our first order of business I need to let you guys know that I will be starting my reading goal that I talked about a few entries back tomorrow. If you don't remember, you can check out the post here, and you can even check out my reading list. I also started up a new blog, which will focus only on my reading goal. It'll include personal book reviews, information on how my goal is going, and I'm even hoping to start a virtual book club with some guests and linky parties there in the new year. You can check me out over at TayIRLReads.blogspot.com.

And don't worry, I'm not abandoning this blog! The whole point of having the two separate blogs is so that I can blog regularly here and do all my bookish things there!


Now it's time for the Appreciation part of this random post. I have a few lovely ladies that need thanking.

First, have you noticed this awesome new blog design? Well, I owe a big huge thank you to Julie over at Leelou Blogs. The blog design that I have is one of her many free, pre-made ones, but I wish I had the money to pay her to make me a personal design (Dear Santa, can you please give me money for that). Her designs are beautiful and I'm sure they take a lot of time to make, and she still provides so many of them free of charge. So, if you're thinking of giving your blog a makeover, I would recommend Julie!


My second big, huge Appreciation cyber hug goes to Stephanie! She just made an appreciation post for all of her followers and I just wanted to thank her for mentioning me. So thank youuu!!! Steph is super awesome. Her post about the day zero project actually inspired me to make one of my own. So it's her fault that I'm forcing myself to read like a bazillion books. :P. No, but really, her blog is great and you should really go and check her out! Thank you again for your nice words and also for following me, Steph! You are awesome!

And last, but certainly not least, I wanted to honor an incredible woman. Though I have never met her, she has truly influenced my life in a way that no other person has. She has given me one of the most priceless gifts that I could ever imagine and I love her and appreciate her for it. (Warning: I will probably start typing in Hawaiian now...) Mahalo nui loa e Ke Ali'i Pauahi Bishop. Thank you for all that you have done for me. Thank you for all that you have done for the children of Hawai'i. Without you and your legacy, I would not have had the opportunity to graduate from Kamehameha, nor would I have the job that I have. I am grateful for the opportunities you have given me and the doors you have opened for me. I can only hope to one day be as amazing a woman as you were. I can only hope that I will one day be able to leave my own legacy on the children of Hawai'i. Thank you, Pauahi.

For those of you who may not know, Bernice Pauahi Bishop was the founder of Kamehameha Schools. It's a private K-12 school in Hawaii with campuses on three islands (Maui, Big Island and Oahu) as well as over 30 Pre-schools statewide. Pauahi was the granddaughter of King Kamehameha I, which is why the school was named after him. After Kamehameha V, the last of the Kamehameha Dynasty, passed away, Pauahi was next in line for the throne, but she gave it up so that she could better help the people of Hawai'i. During her lifetime, Pauahi had a great love for her people. In her will, she left her estate and money to her trustees asking them to build a school for Hawaiian children. And that's how Kamehameha Schools was founded. We can have a more in depth Hawaiian History lesson later :P

I was lucky enough to attend for high school, and I actually worked at one of the pre schools on the big island, and I am still a substitute there. Every year around her birthday, December 19, we celebrate her, her life and legacy and all she has done for us. So Hau'oli La Hanau e Pauahi! 

Well, I guess that's all.
Please don't forget to go and check out my new book blog! I'll be starting my first book, Memoirs of A Geisha tomorrow!

 

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!