Learning To Travel

Learning to travel is as very trial and error process. It could look very thought out on paper but execution you will see you can't fill every second of your day, and you will never pack the perfect amount of clothing, etc.

First step to traveling is finding a place to go that is both fun and budget friendly. By all means if you can afford to have someone plan your trip to Europe and back your bags, be my guest. For the rest of us that probably isn't the case. With that being said you have to learn to pick a location and transportation without breaking the bank.

After you pick a place and the way you're planning to get there, it is time to decide what you want to do while you're there. A good way to help decide what to do is visit TripAdvisor and see what they suggest for your vacation spot. Along the topic of not breaking the bank, try checking Groupon for good deals where you intend to go.

Once you have those two details squared away, it is probably getting close to the time you need to pack up and leave for your vacation! One thing I personally have a huge problem with is over packing. Every time I fly I am afraid I am going to break the weight limit with my luggage (even though I never come close).  When packing think about what you NEED, not want, but NEED. You will NEED: pants, shirts, socks, shoes, etc. Once you have what you NEED you can move on to want to bring, like entertainment such as books or electronics. And above all you should be able to fit everything into your suitcase or bag. A good video to help with that is the one I have provided here.

I hope this helps anyone searching for some organization to the process! Happy vacationing,
Olivia.

Learning To Cook

For the last couple of years, I have gotten REALLY into cooking! I have my own recipe book I keep filled with some of my favorite recipes.

If you are someone who thinks cooking is a waste of time or you think you're not any good at cooking. All you need is some practice and the right recipe.

Who doesn't want to be able to cool their favorite meal when they feel like it?

Here I will share with you guys some of my favorite ways to get recipes, and the best way to go about trying them.

sallysbakingaddiction.com Is an amazing link to a blog that is built off of sugar and hard work. This blog contains both sweet and savory recipes and when I first started baking/ cooking on my own this was my number one resource. The reason I love this blog is because it gives you detailed instructions on whatever you are baking and or cooking.

Another good way to get recipes as simple as it sounds, are to go to YouTube. One of my go to channels is a subset of BuzzFeed. The Tasty YouTube channel has LOADS of easy recipes that ANYONE can follow.

Not only does Tasty provide a video walk through, they give you a written out recipe you can use and print out for future.

have fun browsing recipes and I wish you all patience with new recipes.
Remember if you give up you'll never learn those recipes!
Olivia

Learning How To Be In a Color Guard

When I was in 8th grade band, we knew that in the upcoming year we were going to have to be in the High school marching band. With that being said I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do!

Did I want to be a clarinet in marching band? A saxophone?  I had no idea, until one day a few seniors came to talk to our band and tell us some of our options. One of which was to join the color guard, at the time I had no clue what a color guard even was.

After learning I got to play with HUGE flags and wear fun makeup and dance around at half time, I WAS SOLD!

We started learning the basics at the end of 8th grade and progressively learned our half time show over the summer. I was hooked! It felt so weird to find something I was so passionate about in just a summer.

Here I am 3 years later, going into my senior year of color guard (In a couple months.) Just this morning I was thinking about what it will be like to be in charge of a whole guard. Although daunting, I am beyond excited to share this experience with my fellow soon-to-be-seniors.

One of the first things I will have to do as a color guard senior will be to go to the middle school and teach the basics to the color guard prospects. In this video they cover some of the basics that we will be teaching the 8th graders this spring.

Another part of guard that makes it so cool is winter guard as a sport. Winter guard is just that: color guard in the winter. We practice and preform inside and our routines are more dance-y and our costumes get more intricate and so do the skills that we use. Competitive winter guards are crazy good, they're all so in sync and they all embody perfection.

Now that I have sufficiently nerd-ed out over color guard, I ask you do you know anything about color guard? Have you noticed in the back of the half time show? If so let me know in the comments below :)

Have a wonderful day!
Olivia

How to approach colleges

As a high school junior I have been starting to think about colleges and what sort of school I want to go to for several years of my upcoming life.

At first I was dead set on going to U of M, simply because that is what my family told me I should go. As I got older and started to recognize my strengths and weaknesses as a student I realized I wanted nothing to do with a big state university! I wanted a small school that could provide me with a quality one on one education.

So that got me thinking how big do you want your school to be? Do you want big classes? Do you want small classes with one on one attention?

Once I knew how big I wanted my college to be, I had to ask myself how far away from home do I want to be? I want to be within a couple hours of home.

With those two ideas in mind, I knew I wanted a liberal arts college in Michigan. And with that I took to google! "Liberal arts colleges in Michigan" did the trick, and with the click of a button I was being informed of all these little colleges all across mid Michigan.

I started taking notes on all the different schools I wanted to research. With these notes I took to the schools websites to investigate their programs. I also used several online sources on how I should go about looking at colleges.

I am still a junior in high school, so I have plenty of time to look around, but it is honesty so fun to visit colleges!!

Just this last weekend I went to my first college this last week and it was amazing! The environment was so positive and it felt like everyone was there for their education, not because they were forced into being there.

Learning to Want More

I know the title might throw you off, but I mean just as it says.

People everywhere need to learn how to accept and find the love and friendship that they need. With this being said, everyone needs different things out of their lives. Personally, I need more attention than an introvert, and less that an egomaniac. To some I could be seen as an ego maniac for needing attention, and I am okay with that, simply because I know that is something that I need to be happy in my own life.

Attention is just one of the many facets that come into play when discussing what you need out of your own life. People also need love, friendship, self-care, etc. If in any way you feel these things are not being fulfilled then what's stopping you from seeking more out of your life?

Often times I find it hard and or upsetting to have to disturb the flow of things in order to seek what I need. For example, what if you're in a toxic relationship (friendly or romantic) and this person just makes you feel small and unloved? Is it worth taking a beating mentally just so they don't get their feelings hurt?

If this is EVER the case you should seek out more in your own life. Find what you need. Find who you need. Find whatever makes it so you can live a full and happy life.

If you are in a position of knowing that someone makes you unhappy, why would you keep letting them put you down? I got into the pattern of letting people treat me poorly, and not asking myself why I kept letting them do it to me? My only defense? I wanted more for myself. I felt unloved and not needed, so why would I stick around? I got more for myself

Though separation can be dramatic and painful, time keeps going and life moves on. You are not going to be sitting there on your death bed asking yourself why you ended a friendship because you thought it would make yourself happy. You are going to be thinking about all the wonderful things that you sought out in your own life, and all the wonderful, loving people that you let into your life because you decided you wanted more.

Above is a TED talk on healthy relationships, that I found to be something good to think about. below here is a link to a website that describes types of abusive relationships and their traits, if any of these hit a little too close, maybe you should seek out more: kidshealth.org/en/teens/healthy-relationship.html?WT.ac=t-ra


I wish you all happy loving relationships,
Olivia

Learning Meditation

Recently I have been getting into the idea of meditating, and getting in touch with my breathing. It has really helped my psyche.

Contrary to what most people thing, it is beyond challenging to clear your mind and be at peace with your thoughts. I have learned to control these things with some help from different YouTube, and an app called Headspace. The app walks you through a 10 minute breathing exercise and as simple as it sounds, it proves to be rather difficult. (10/10 would recommend if you're new to meditation).

Another route you could take to learning to meditate is simply crashing and burning. Some people find it hard to sit still and try to clear their mind without any background noise, if that is the case you can always listen to some calming sounds such as rainfall or jungle sounds. YouTube is a good source to find these sounds.

I also have tried yoga in attempts to clear my ever buzzing mind. I don't do crazy stand on my head and count to a fifty, I like to do wind-down-yoga like or bed time yoga to help clear the mind. This is one video I LOVE to follow when I am needed a good mind-clearing

My favorite time to meditate or do yoga is when I get home (around 4 or 5). The reason I do this is because this is when my brain is the most cluttered and needs calming. This is just what works best for me, but it works whenever you can fit it into your schedule. remember if anything else you should do it the same-ish time every day and in the same area. The consistency will help you establish a routine.

Happy meditating,
Olivia

Summer

SUMMER IS 9 DAYS AWAY!!

With that being said I have some drinks to help you cool off this summer!

1.) Punch

I get a glass and fill it halfway with ice and put either cranberry or cran-grape juice in the bottom of the glass so it is about 2/3 full.  In the last third I fill the cup up with Sprite or some other sweet bubbly drink. To garnish the top of the glass I put a few raspberries into the glass and push them down under the ice with a straw. If done carefully You should have a slight color gradient.

2.) fruit smoothie

Get 1 frozen banana, peeled and sliced, 2 cups frozen strawberries, raspberries, or cherries,1 cup milk, 1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt, 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, 2 to 3 tablespoons honey or to taste, Blend until smooth and then add about 1 cup of ice and blend until smooth again.

3.) Chocolate Peanut Butter smoothie

1/2 cup 2% milk, 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup, 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter, 1  sliced ripe banana,1/2 cup of chocolate protein powder, 1 cup of ice, blend until smooth.

4.)  Iced Tea

Take Tea bags and put them in boiling water, take tea bags out when tea is ready, then add ice.

5.) In a 1 gallon container, place 2 cups sugar and 1 cup hot water, and stir until sugar

dissolves. Add 2 cups of lemon juice and cold water to render 1 gallon. Stir until well mixed.

Pour lemonade over glasses of ice, squeeze slice of lemon on top of each, and garnish with

a  sprig of mint.

And there you have it: some yummy drinks  to keep you cool this summer *wink*