#NoDistractionsChallenge

As I'm typing this, I'm listening to my course on control commands for Linux OS. I recently took up some small courses to improve my knowledge of IT and just to basically do something on the side. I have always been interested in Internet Technology. I figured why not give it a try. I'm working on Course 3 of 5 and so far so good. It feels really good to be improving myself. But that's not what this blog is about.

I recently been feeling the need to get away from Social Media. I remember it being such a great place to express my individuality and creativity. But as technology grows and times change when a new generation takes over... There's just been too much... chaos. There's no original ideas, there's just the same things over and over. People express themselves through others expressions. Its very... disconnecting. I, for one, thought that I would never get tired of being able to share and express myself. But its becoming more of job than being something of a hobby. It takes the fun right out of it. So I figured, lets just a take a break from it. Take a break from Social Media. My problem is, I still had access to it.

Fast forward to this past month, which has been a difficult one on a personal note. I stumbled upon the "No Distractions Challenge" video. Since now of days everyone is so distracted and dependent on our phones, why not get rid of what is distracting you on there. The challenge is that you clean up your phone, get rid of the Social Media accounts that you often check every damn second, turn off the annoying notifications, and declutter your phone life. I never felt so inspired to gain more time and gain back my life. So I cleaned up my phone.

I'm going on week 2 without Social Media apps and I realized all the notifications and even text messages that corresponded to what I posted are no longer a problem. I've had more time to breathe and enjoy the moments of my life. I have never felt so good. I still have to deal with the twitchy fingers though of checking an app.... which thankfully are not there. It feels less stressful. I definitely recommend anyone to try it and see how you feel after. 

That's all for now.

~ J

Clean.

So here it is, 2:16pm on a Tuesday late afternoon.
I'm sitting here at home on my day off.

And just like every other day off I plan my day accordingly...I make plans and I break the plans. Instead of waking up early and following through with errands...I sleep in and end up waking up naturally. Wishing I woke up at a decent hour in the morning. I do some mundane errands around the apartment, Like washing the dishes, doing the laundry, and clearing the expired foods in the cabinets. Never mind that its the holidays and I really should be on task for any last minute stocking stuffers, gifts, and prepping Christmas cards to be sent out. But the past months has been filled with work. Working a lot and working odds hours that has made the rest of this year exhausting. I never feel rested for a new day and I never feel I've accomplished much because of that exhaustion and not feeling up to doing the things that I want to do.

I haven't been sleeping well at all. I have all these ideas and goals that haven't been put to light, just sitting at the back of my brain, playing over and over in my mind as I try to sleep at night. A few months back I decided to get a journal to document why I can't sleep. And I know for a fact that only I am to blame because I allow myself to give up when I'm too tired or when something feels to complicated. So then projects of mine get started but they are never finished, and so they just sit. Sit for months just like the material things that I have come to accumulate over the years. The things that I have purchased in hopes to make myself happy, only its just temporary. And so they sit. Collecting dust, never seeing the light of day again.

These past months I've been trying to change that. Trying to get back on track. I'm the type of person that has to rely on things to motivate me, whether its watching someone on YouTube clean up their space, or looking at photos on Pinterest to give myself ideas where to start. All the elusiveness probably has you wondering, where the heck am I going with this? I basically felt myself drowning in chaos. Whether its at home, in thoughts, or at work. I've come to find that I'm letting myself get to a point where I don't care. In most cases, that is a wonderful idea. In my case, I've been needing to do major clean up. Because like I've said...I've let things go but I've let things pile. I've let material things clutter up my closet, my workspace, my kitchen....But I'm in the process of getting this clean.

I want to live simple.

The older I get, the more I am realizing there are so many things I don't need, I have never needed, and that I wasted money on buying (especially since I haven't used quite a bit of things). I started reading the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I had heard wonderful things about when I was searching of ways to start cleaning or how to declutter. Though I'm not quite doing it the way the book suggests, I've recently started to clean areas of my life and starting to think in ways that I should have a long time ago.

In conclusion, I wanted to document my journey through the KonMari method of cleaning. So I hope that in my sharing this, it will help you as well if you are trying to declutter your surroundings and Life. And with that being said, my journey will be in full gear for the new year. So I hope for greater opportunities and less clutter.

xo, J.

Fresh.

Today starts a new streak for inspiration and motivation. I have definitely been lacking it a lot in that department lately. But with the help of my sister, Mary Ann. I have acquired a brand new, beautiful tech toy to explore and play with. As it turns out a long while back my laptop basically died. Not completely but with the lack of updates and funds to actually fix it, it was basically as dead as a laptop can get. I couldn't even log in to my profile because it said there was missing files and it couldn't load correctly. 

After just receiving my new laptop yesterday evening, I seriously felt I've been missing out on a lot of opportunities and well, just working technology to begin with. So CHEERS to a brand new leaf. I've just been spending my time getting to know this new beauty and basically personalizing it to fits my needs and to my liking. BOY IS IT EVER SO DISTRACTING. Haha. I've been on a cleaning streak lately and well, after I decided to write this post I sat down and have been playing with the laptop since.

So in conclusion, CHEERS TO A NEW LAPTOP, I feel blessed that my sister willingly decided to help me. And I feel the inspiration to due some well overdue justice by updating a lot of my accounts and finally being able to update my Photography website that had been at a stand still since my old laptop died. I've also got a lot of others things to do but I'll talk about that at another time.

Until next time :)

Yours Truly, Jennifer.

October Chill.

I suppose there's a sort of trend going on...Where I psych myself up to make new posts more often but I end up only writing a post once a month. Only I didn't post anything for September. It was a wonderful month nonetheless so let's do a bullet point recap shall we?

{September 2015}
> Busy Month
> Hours of Work
> 9th Marriage Anniversary :)
> Anniversary Trip to Disneyland!
> New job title/position at work
> Made a new friend:)

It was a wonderful month! I will be posting some videos of our Disneyland Anniversary Trip on my YouTube channel soon!

October so far looks like this...
> VERY busy work month
> Husband put in his 2 Weeks at his current Job
> My husband lands a new job
> Continues his flight school
> I'm swamped in work :-P

I'll be heading down to Olympia in the next couple days to help train some new associates for a brand new store. I am beyond excited and thankful to get to have this opportunity. My managers have a lot of faith in me and as an employee that's all we can ever ask for. That's it for now... Sorry this update isn't so glamorous. Its my day off and I have got tons of things to do and so little time.

Until next time!!!
~Jennifer

New Look, New Outlook.

Good Morning! Literally. I'm not a morning person and I've never been (lord knows I try!) but by forces of nature I woke up before 8am today. I'm feeling quite proud. Seeing as its now 8:22am but that's besides the point. About a week ago my husband and I took a mini trip/retreat along the Olympic Peninsula here in the beautiful PNW. Our final destination (in fact most of our stops along the way as well) were a "no mobile service" area. It was very interesting and relaxing being away from social media, internet, and crowds of people. Something that we both enjoy quite often. During that trip, it reminded me to appreciate more people time. Time with loved ones. So much distraction in today's society and yes, technology has made so many things and ideas possible but we can't forget to enjoy Life, savor moments, and just appreciate the company you are with. I hope that more people start to get back into that one on one interaction with people.

Anyways, before I get sidetracked again :-P I really just wanted to say that I hope to write more blogs to document and be able to remember some amazing events this year. I already write in my own journal think it would be nice to actually get back into blogging. We'll see!!! No promises. This past month has been a whirlwind! Can you believe its already June??? That's half of 2015 already gone and passed us by. I really hope everyone is enjoying Life and being able to be your best selves. And just BE HAPPY!!! :) Okay, so essentially since this is just an update post I better do what I do best and make a list of good points lately. I'm no good making this even remotely witty or interesting. Best of Luck to all graduates this year too :):):)

What I've Done This Past Months:

- Explored more of WA

(I honestly feel like I have been to more places in Washington State than people who have lived their whole lives here. Case in point: This one lady told me she had never been to Federal Way. Its just 30 minutes away!!! WOW)

- Rode Mopeds on a Beach with my husband:)

(First time and it was EPIC!!!!)- Tried a new haircut

(LOB - Long bob with soft blended layers, I am LOVING IT)- Hiked a mountain in Central Oregon

(I cannot seem to remember the name of it apparently)- WORKED A LOT :-P

Umm....drawing more blanks lol (I need coffee)

Things I've Updated On This Blog!!!

- New Layout/Look

- New Title

- New Blog URL

Until next time....

Jennifer

Writer's Block.

Well Shit 2014 is long gone and now its 2015...
Who's up for a Life update???
No one.
Anyone.

I'm going to make one any how. Let's see my last post was about my Poshmark closet. I was on a cleaning out my closet kick but that kind of fell through. Now as far cleaning, I'm on such a WAY bigger project. Instead of Spring Cleaning its more of a project CLEAN HOUSE!!! The year of 2015, I didn't set any resolutions like I normally do. That was more of tradition. This year I have more of a Life Goal... Ready for it???....(Let's all say it together) TO LEAD A SIMPLE LIFE. What does that mean to me? Well, I've spent the past years caught up in all kinds of hobbies or obsessions with make up and reviewing products. Most times I never got to use them so a bunch of items just sit collecting dust. So now I'm wanting to clean space and only keep the essentials and things I enjoy. I don't want anymore of the clutter. So starting with my closet which has been a disaster, instead of having to choose from 20 shirts (for example), I'm going to pick my best ones and donate the rest. And then I'll move on to pants, short, sweaters, shoes, purses, and so forth. I'm pretty much over the Material world with ruling my bedroom.

Anyways, I'll be cleaning every bit of our place, one big area at a time. So nothing too exciting here. I've been working a lot and so has my husband. Sometimes I feel like I don't have time to just think. I would love to be able to vlog or something but as soon as I clean up the other little bits in my Life that are unnecessary I'll be able to make time for more of the things I love. Its sounds worse than it actually is LOL.

I've been rolling with the waves...going with the flow.... going on new adventures and just really enjoying the little things. And you should too:)

See you next post!

Toothaches & Dental Woes.

We've all gotten through January 2013, Yay! But February continues on with my "dental woes" as I'd like to call it. In January, my birthday came and went... And that's when everything started...
I noticed my gums were becoming more and more sensitive, which in this case my husband and I began to look for a Dentist. Now let's back track a bit... Adult life = adult responsibilities. I never really had to worry about making any type of health appointments. When I was covered under my parents plans, they made the appointments, when I got my own health plan at 21 years, well I ended up moving up to Washington State to be with my husband. And when we were apart of Military coverage well, it was easy and not needed. This past year, I had decided to withdraw from dual coverage and primarily moved to my husband's health plan (since it's way better!).
Fast forward to a couple week ago, I was in desperate need of a check-up, and finally after a recommendation my husband booked a time slot with our new dentist. Tuesday the 21st was my visit to be exact! I was quite nervous even though I prefer the dentist over a hospital visit. It went pretty well, they were very nice, and I went home with my prescription.
A week later, gum pain and toothaches. It gotten pretty bad that I could barely talk. So I went back for an emergency visit. Got two new prescriptions. And the next couple days up until now has been a challenge. Pain wise.
I must say, I've never felt much pain as I had within the past 2 weeks than I've had felt in my life. Not to mention I haven't taken as much medication ever as well. I could barely concentrate on anything aside from the discomfort and aches that I feel. I could hardly talk or even get through a shift at work without having to just leave or go into a "zone". It's been a little depressing.
So remember kids and adults, wisdom teeth are not your friend. But a Dentist is! Don't forget to get your check-ups!! I'm awaiting my follow up for next week. I sure wish it were sooner.
P. S. Sorry for the poor blogging/writing. I'm still not 100% focused:-P