Manicure Mania

I decided to treat myself to a manicure today since I had the afternoon off. Solar Nails was the sponsor of my painted fingernails. The prime reasoning behind my mani was my parched and cracking cuticles crying (tears of blood) for some help.

Solar Nails is located right in town inside of Prospector, so it was the most logical place to go coming straight from school. They are also walk-in, so the fact that I didn't have enough pre-planning time for the occasion wasn't a problem. They sat me down right away and a middle-aged Asian (from Vietnam, he told me specifically) clopped down a small China bowl with bubble-sudded water in front of me, and motioned for me to soak my hands. I slipped my hands into the lukewarm water, which could have preferably been a few degrees hotter. It took more than enjoyably long for the man to come back, but once he did he ripped my hands from the bowl and started going to town on my unfortunate winter-worn fingers. Clipping and filling and moisturizing my much-needed-of-it hands. 

First he took off the chipped forest-green polish that was previously on my fingers. I decided to go with a gel nail polish this time, because it lasts longer (and I was not planning on coming back any time soon). The man handed me some color wheels to choose which color polish I wanted, each color polish that they had was painted on an acrylic nail, about twenty of them all attached to a center wheel. They were pretty tacky and gross to touch. I finalized on black. After I picked the color he began to tackle the nightmare of my dry skin and cuticles, cutting away at my chapped fingers and hands then massaging lotion into them. He filed and buffed my nails and did little touches of this-and-that here-and-there. At this point the whole process was starting to become pretty tedious, having already been there for about half-an-hour. After this he started to actually paint my nails. The thing about getting gel polish is that after every single coat you have to stick your hand under a UV light for a minute; the whole process ends up resulting to at least twenty to thirty more minutes, driving the last of my patience off a cliff.

What I Payed For

When the guy was finally done with my manicure I was more than happy to whip out my wallet and happier than I should have been to pay the overpriced bill, but I was just ready to get the jeepers out of there. I'm definitely the type of person that wants something done right the first time, and I usually don't mind if it takes a little bit more time to do so, but in this case the hour and a half that I was there was about forty-five minutes past my typical leisure time limit.

My experience was mediocre and consumed WAY too much of my time, but to look at the bright side, my nails are 100% more presentable and should stay that way for "up to 2-weeks" thanks to my gel manicure.

Tick Tock on the Internal Clock

Everyone has an "internal clock" that keeps on ticking, and can be disturbed by time changes, location changes, and even weather changes. Yesterday was daylight savings. We moved an hour ahead for the spring. I personally like daylight savings because I really do enjoy the extra hours of daylight in the evenings. Although I do find some effect of disorientation having to adjust to the time change. Even though it may not be significant (only an hour ahead), waking up having lost an hour did sort of put me in a weird mood for the day. I am also a person that doesn't adjust well with time differences, I always have a hard time adjusting to the jet lag when traveling on the east coast. Daylight savings is just a miniature version of that in my own backyard.

Photo Courtesy amarillo.com

Not only has daylight savings had my internal clock feeling wonky (and I'm sure I'm not the only one), but the weather has been inconstant as well, to say the very least. Several weeks ago it felt closet to mid-April or May, the flowers even started to bloom and it was frankly feeling like the end-of-spring beginning-of-summer time. The very next week we had a massive storm and got snow in heaps. It was absolutely freezing for the preceding week. The past week felt like an average winter weather routine, although these previous couple days the weather has started to warm back up again. I know we all get so excited for a little gasp of spring air in our lungs, and then when the snow comes it's like being shoved back under the drowning waters of winter. The weather definitely effects my internal clock, I've been experiencing a good deal of central confusion and lack of focus in school when it's warmer outside, and then when it gets cold again it sends me into a depression-like state. I know I can't be the only one either. Even some of our teachers have been having some talks about the behavioral issues at school, and my science teacher, Ms. McKenna, told us her insight on how she thought it was because of the warmer weather and inconsistency in the weather might be effecting our "internal clocks" and that could very likely be playing into the bad behavior in school come this time of year.

The weather and time change are just enough to have me feeling like I'm in an episode of the Twilight Zone. I'm sure that I'll get back into a steady routine within the next week or so, but I really do dislike the sense of disorientation and confusion that a disruption to my internal clock brings. I don't know, maybe I'm just extra sensitive when it comes to a stable routine. I can understand that maybe you haven't been effected at all by these wacky changes in time and weather, but long-story-short, know you're not the only one if that's the case. ;-)

Windows to the Soul

If eyes are considered to be "the window to the soul", than I guess they must be pretty intriguing. I, for one, know that eyes are one of the first things I notice about someone. If someone has striking eyes I'll most likely find them more attractive and compelling to talk to.

Eyes come in different a variety of spectrums, as we all know. Brown eyes are a dominant trait, blue and green eyes are a recessive trait. This means that brown overrules blue in a genetic showdown. To explain a little further, everyone has two alleles (genetic symbols for a dominant or recessive trait), one from each parent. So lets say that we use an E to represent our eye color, if one were to have two big E's (EE), it means the they have brown eyes because brown is the dominant trait, and if someone were to have two little E's (ee), it would mean they had blue/green eyes, since blue/green eyes are recessive. If someone were to have a big E and a little E (Ee), it would mean they have brown eyes, because the big E dominates the little E, meaning brown overrules the blue/green because brown is the dominant trait. Lets say that your dad was "EE", and your mom was "ee", you would positively have brown eyes because your dad has two big E's. Now if your dad were to have "Ee", and your mom still had "ee", you could have a chance of receiving blue/green eyes. If both of your parents had "ee", you would definitely have blue/green eyes. It is possible that two brown eyed parents can have blue/green eyed kids, because if both parents have "Ee", it means they both have brown eyes because of the big E, but if their kids receive the little E from both sides they would have blue or green eyes. It is possible for two brown eyed parents to have blue/green eyed children, but it is impossible for two blue or green eyed parents to have a brown eyed kids.

Photo Courtesy harvard-wm.org

So if the Genetics 101 didn't bore to death I'll go on, now that we know the "why's" behind what color eye you have.

Eyes are dead center the middle of your head (horizontally) and perfectly balanced with two symmetrically on both sides (vertically), no wonder they're the first thing you notice when talking to someone. Once you find someones gaze it's always a special feeling when your eyeballs seal in eye contact. Sight is such a major part to humanity. I, for one, would definitely choose being deaf and able to see over blind and able to hear. By making that contact from eye to eye it connects something that is so fragile yet important to everyone, their sight. I crave eye contact in a conversation, and if I'm talking to someone who is uncomfortable making eye contact, it makes it uncomfortable for me to converse to them.

Photo Courtesy zeiss.co.uk

When I lock eyes with another person I love the unspoken bond I immediately feel with them. Somehow I sense that I can read deeper into them and somehow touch their unspoken feelings and emotion.

Eyes are truly fascinating and are definitely more than a ball of tough, slimy tissue. They're the windows to the soul.

Morning My Sleep

I think we all know mornings can be rough. When it comes to waking up before dawn to go to school, it's not fun for anyone.

Usually my weekday mornings are on a pretty tight routine, starting with the shrill of my alarm at 6:17. After allowing myself to hit the snooze precisely twice, I end up rolling out of bed at 6:37. Trudging to my closet, I try my hardest to avoid the mirror, because at this point it's never a pleasant sight. Picking out an outfit is always a process. After praying that I'm awake and aware enough to decently match my shirt to my pants and shoes, I make my way downstairs to grab a quick apple or banana to eat.

Post breakfast, I usually go back upstairs to finish getting ready. Double checking my outfit is a must, because there are always those days where I just wasn't conscious enough to dress myself properly before getting something in my stomach. After the occasional outfit change, I'll brush my teeth, wash my face, and throw on a little mascara. I truly believe that mascara is an art, and it probably takes me longer than it should to paint my eyelashes, but it is the way it is. The clock reading 7:00 am, I'll start to re-pack my back pack. Once I'm feeling confident I haven't forgotten anything, I do one last mirror check for good luck ;), and then meet my waiting mother downstairs to leave.

Photo Courtesy prweb.com

I know for a fact that my morning routine is different than yours is, in one way or another. I also know that we probably share that same lagging tiredness when getting up for school. Everyone has their mornings. Sometimes if I shower in the morning that can help to wake me up for the rest of the day, but for the most part I don't usually shower right after I wake up because I hate having to walk to school with wet hair if my locks don't dry in time. If you share the same struggle (or like-wise) than a quick shot of orange juice can often seem to waken me up a little as well. One trick that I use is setting up my alarm across the room. By forcing myself to get up and walk over to hit the snooze button it gets me up right away and prevents the repetitive quantitive-snooze-hitting procrastination that tends to happen with the alarm an arms length away.

Morning grogginess should be shot down by it's source, which is lack of sleep in the first place. These days sometimes it's hard to give myself enough time to sleep, as previously discussed in my, Super Sleep Deprived post. I think that this is an aspect of time management that takes practice to perfect and time for someone to learn how to plan ahead in order to get everything on their to-do list checked off in time to get enough sleep at night. This being said, the more sleep you get and the more consistent you are with your sleep schedule the less you will be mourning (of your sleep) the next morning.

Second Quarter Finals

With two days left in quarter two, units and lessons are ending, and the final tests, quizzes, and assesments are resurfacing. I am not a great test taker, so when up to 50% of my ultimate grade in a class is relying on a final, it can build up some anxiety. I also know that I can't be the only one who does fine in class but struggles when given a sixty-question multiple choice test. I have a hard time believing that a Scantron score can give a full perspective assessment on how much I'm learning or how "smart" I am. I find it sad that a number, like a test score, is what's determining my learning levels, but until they find a better system I'll be up at all hours studying.

Scantron
Photo Courtesy: delmar.edu

Just thinking about how many tests I have the next day gives me that tickle of uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. The stress from it all starts to affect other aspects of my life. I notice that I am more irritable with my friends and family when I am stressed out from school. I get tired more easily and often. I feel so overwhelmed by everything that sometimes I don't have any energy left in me to contain snapping at someone.

Everyone gets stressed out from school, a stress relief can be helpful. Sometimes going for a run with some good music can help me take my mind off of things for things for a little bit, sometimes all I need is a long hot shower. Deep breaths are also important ;). Although it is crucial to have a relief to all of this anxiety, you can't just ignore what you need to do because that will make it worse. You need to make sure you are studying and preparing for your classes because this will make you feel more confident going into your test, and in the process hopefully relieving some of your stress at the source.

Photo Courtesy: mindpostinspiration.com

Good study habits are NEVER a bad thing. The number one thing on my list of bad habits probably has to be procrastination. Take it from someone who puts the "pro" in procrastination, don't do it. If you get what you need to get done before it has to be done it gives you so much more wiggle room for something to go wrong. Turning in your work earlier makes school amazingly easier, and not on time, early. Give yourself more than one night to study for your tests too. It's one way to eliminate majorities of your stress. No one likes a last minute time crunch. Another study deficiency to kick to the curb is your phone. I know it can be harder than it should be sometimes, but if you can keep it in a drawer while you study for half-an-hour or so while you study, you'd be surprised by how much more you retain from your studying just by being completely focussed and immersed in what you're learning. One other thing that can help you if you're going through the same end-of-the-quarter shenanigans that I am: sleep. A full eight hours is a must if you're looking to at least keep your eyes open during your tests. Yes, that is a very hypocritical thing to say on my part, but we all try, right? ;) Keep up good study habits and that will most likely make your week go ten times easier.

Good luck on your finals, god knows I need it.

Airplane Shenanigans

The previous weekend I took a trip to the East Coast with my family. (Yes kind of bizarre that my parents decided to go out of town the week before Thanksgiving break but you know how it is...) With the knowledge that a drive to Maryland can take up to three days, as you can assume we took a flight.

When catching a flight, any normal person should probably get there about one-and-a-half to two hours early. Although I don't think you could classify my hectic family as normal, we decide to show up to the curbside check-in with approximately forty-five minutes to spare until take-off. Great, right? No, actually, not-so-great. For some reason it takes the five of us an extra half-hour than scheduled to get out of the house.

After so conveniently arriving to the security line with t-minus twenty-seven minutes until take off (probably about when they started to board our flight), we slipped through the weaving lines and metal detectors. Thank god for TSA Pre-Check. Post-security, we all started to pull that awkward speed-walk (the one that's too slow to start running, but fast enough to get that weird little wiggle in your hips) trying to get to the gate in time. We made it fine, as we always somehow do.

As I rolled my carry on down the aisle to seat 27D, the man sitting next to me whips out a disinfectant spritzer from his breast pocket and started spraying his seat, tray table, and arm rests with a quite paranoid urgency. As he quickly sat himself down he took a few deep breaths to seemingly calm himself down. This is a true story, I kid you not. I think Ebola has hit some people a little hard in the head.

From that point on the four hour flight was breezy, shout-out to Delta ;).

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice... Kind of...

It is October 23rd, and the pumpkin-spice lattes are stinking up Starbucks. It's that time of year when you can walk to school in a sweater being freezing and have to walk home feeling 212º. The candy is being sold in bulk at all the grocery stores, and the spectrum of colors has already come and gone in a fiery flash of orange and yellow. Now, with crunchy-brown leaves on the ground, and a disgusting layer of mud coating the surface of the ground virtually everywhere, we are left with the grand season of Fall.

Photo Courtesy of dmu.edu

Fall is not my favorite part of the year. First of all, I simply can NOT stand the weather. When the forecast is up to par, the sky is either deep breathing into the crackling dead trees, raining pointless drops of precipitation (where is the snow already?), or the air is cold enough to nip at the tip of your nose. Today, for example, was frosty in the morning, but by the time I had to walk to the high school for fourth period I was uncomfortably warm in my long-sleeve and boots. It's that obnoxious unpredictability of what the weather that day might be like as well. Raining in the morning and sunny and windy in the afternoon, or cold in the morning and hot in the evening. Getting ready in the morning is more difficult than it should be for me.

Photo Courtesy socialismandorbarbarism.blogspot.com

The beginning of Fall means the ending of the first quarter in school. Which always brings the loveliness of test finals, last minute retakes, and extra credit, and of course the praying that your grade point average might rise those last thirty-four-hundreths of a point. (I have this really frustrating A- in Math).

As I am sure you are aware, *Halloween is on the 31st. 

*Halloween: An American function in which people put on plastic costumes, ranging from the Grim Reaper to Snow white, and knock on the doors of unknown neighbors asking for chocolate in shiny wrappers. A "fun" time for people of all ages.

Halloween is not particular number one on my list of favorite holidays (that'd probably have to be the Fourth of July). I'm not so sure why, maybe it's the fact that my night never really goes as planned, not necessarily in a bad way though. Maybe it's because it's always a struggle trying to pick out what to wear, and how not to get judged doing so. Maybe I don't like gory costumes, and the little princesses running around make me miss those days. Maybe it's because I simply hate the idea of carved pumpkins and cheesy orange and purple decorations across people's lawns. Who knows...

Each day through Fall is another day closer to Winter, I season more liked by myself. Sooner or later we'll get there. In the meantime, don't put cheesy orange and purple decorations all over your lawn.

Super Sleep Deprived

Is nine hours really how much you're supposed to get? I'm expected to get nine hours of sleep a night... that's seemingly impossible. Yes, I am not the best at managing my time per say, but for me to get a full nine hours of sleep that means I have to be out cold at 10:00pm if I am waking up for school the next day at 6:00am. Lets see here; if school gets out at 2:25pm, I go straight to swim practice after. Swimming is from 3:00-5:00pm. After swimming I can also have lacrosse some days, if lacrosse practice is from 5:30pm-7:30pm, that usually doesn't leave me getting home until 7:45pm or sometimes even closer to 8:00pm. By the time I come home and get something to eat for dinner, that's already pushing 9:00pm. That leaves me to shower (the chlorine often leaving knots the size of dreads in my hair doesn't necessarily help with time efficiency), and get ready for bed. At this point it's usually around 9:30pm or 9:45ish. Keeping in mind I still have yet to get to my schoolwork for the day, I generally get to bed around 11:30pm or 11:00 on a good night. Thats also if I don't get sucked into the vortex typically called Tumblr for an extra "ten minutes" (which is an hour when we're talking Tumblr). *Side-note: My phone is probably the sole excuse of my unhealthy time-management skills. Leaving me with six to seven hours of Zs.

Photo Courtesy imgarcade.com

Sometimes I feel better going off of three hours of sleep then I would six. At school lack of sleep can definitely start to catch up to me. Between the five to six hours of sleep I've been getting over the course of the past three weeks, the stress overload, and my science teacher's melodic voice-- how could you not have a little understanding for the exhausted and half-asleep head bob? That's bad, I know... I should at least be able to stay awake during class.

Photo Courtesy imsa.edu

I've gotten to a point where I'm so used to going to bed at later hours that I can't even fall asleep when I do scrape up the time to. Sometimes I try falling asleep to music, that can either do the trick right away or totally backfire and resulting in me wide eyed for an extra hour or two. Counting down from one-hundred is a myth, and counting sheep is a joke. I know they have sleeping pills and other medical options out there, but I'm that type of person that will NOT pop the pill unless I am in dire need. Sleeping drugs kind of scare me.

Thus I am still waking up every morning with bags bigger than a Louis V under my eyes. Long story short, I think I've accepted the fact that I will not be getting my full nine hours of sleep.

Dress to stress...

Alright between school, sports, friends, parents, and sometimes just the elephant-on-your-chest of life itself adds up. A.k.a. stress.

Definition and Photo Courtesy of Merriam-Webster Dictionary

If feels like a little tornado gusting inside of your stomach and tumbling its way into your chest, sucking the breath from your lips and leaving you wide eyed. It smells of body oder and tastes like the sourness of nothing between your teeth. As the sweat collects on your hairline, you suddenly become aware of the massive weight your clothes now seem to put on your body, your cotton t-shirt dragging you down to hell. All you can do is sit there and simply tell them you're fine. Even though the monster inside you is punching holes in your wholeness.

It happens, the chemical build up of toxins due to the fight or flight reaction process our bodies experience for survival purposes. Stress and anxiety are purely a human extinct, but purely the thing eating kids alive these days. Stress can lead to depression. Depression is the third leading cause of death in people ages fifteen to forty-four, and it is estimated that ten to fifteen percent of teens are depressed. We all experience it, the stress and anxiety, yet some of us still can't cope with it. That being the scary part.

My cause of stress is mostly caused by school work and deadlines. I'm a natural procrastinator, and don't act like you haven't ever been there too; pulling the two-hours-of-sleep nights to get that project in on time. Well, maybe not to those extremes. Homework isn't always the most pleasant when you struggle managing your time. Then why don't we through a little after-school practice or game in there, which is always something to look forward to, until the reality of that blog post you had to do tonight is looking you in the eye. Along with the fact that you had gotten in a fight with your mom that morning sprinkled on top of the situation. Now she is ignoring you the whole ride home. You still haven't caught up on your reading you needed to do yesterday, as  well as feeding the dogs and doing your laundry before your mom gets even more mad at you then-- KABAM! It started as a little salamander slithering through your tummy but now it has escalated to a basketball stuck up your sarcophagus and before you know it the stress seems to have engulfed you whole. Yes, I know the feeling.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Once more.

Maybe twice.

That can usually do the trick. For me, at least.

If you are interested on learning more about the direct side effects and health facts behind stress these are a few links that you make take use of:

Mayo Clinic

Help Guide

American Psychological Association

University of Maryland

Oh the Places We'll Go

Wow my first blog post! This is exciting... I'd like to consider this the first baby step to an exceedingly winding, changing, and rousing path; don't feel like you can't turn back a few miles in if you don't think you'd like to stick around for the hike [as much as I'd miss the hiking buddy]. Hopefully this will give you a trail map of what my blog will somewhat look like.

This blog is birthing from an assignment in 9th Grade English, to be up-front and honest with you. I plan to have a lot of fun with this though. Life as a high-schooler is complicated, hormonal, and frustrating as I've come to figure out my first two months as a freshman. Life is a journey and everyone has their own, this blog will definitely give you a glimpse at mine. If you find it on here it's because I either: feel the need to write about the matter, find it interesting, fun, and exciting [chances are you will too], or relate to it.

Besides those guidelines, which are pretty broad, I don't have any other specific plans for this blog, so it should be super fun to see where it takes us. If you don't like my blog I'm alright with that, this blog is for me just as much as it is for you. You can take it or leave it ;)

I am pretty much as close to an inexperienced blogger as it gets. I've never had a blog before. I have read and heard of several blogs in the past, but have never been intrigued to an extent as to start one of my own. This assignment encourages me [more bluntly forces, shoutout to Mr. Parker;)] to try something a little bit out of my comfort zone, so work with me a little bit through this process and we'll embark on this unknown-territory together, reader and first-time blogger.

Photo Courtesy: beversbendblog