Life, Life
Life has been good for me aside from ongoing car issues. But I remain positive and hopeful about what is coming up. I was able to spend time with family members for my sisters birthday – which is always great. Family time is one of my favorite things!
Work Life Guess who is starting their second part time job this weekend? You guessed it! In order to get ahead financially (and save up so I can afford a bigger place) I decided I needed to get a second job.
Blog Life
I am happy to report that I have worked on many of these drafts that have just been sitting there. There are several posts that I have completed and are scheduled to post during the next couple of months. WOO HOO. I haven’t added too many new drafts as I want to work on the posts that I have planned first – but if there is a topic that I really, really, really feel like I need to write about, I will definitely be added that to the ongoing list.
College Life
Now that I will be working 2 jobs (and my side hustles + Avon business) I really have to organize and plan how I will work on my 2 Senior Projects. Because I love writing and doing research so much it doesn’t feel so much like work or a task that needs to be done so that is a good thing (for me.) I have been sticking to the schedule I created so far and will tweak it a bit based on my new work schedule and availability. I am super excited to be getting closer and closer to graduation!
How was your week? Let us know in the comments!
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
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Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
Life,Life Life has been… interesting lately.
About a month ago I started having car issues. Slowly different things were found to be the culprit and were fixed but we still have some issues that need to be looked into. This has lead me to getting a bus pass for the first time in over 5 years.
Instead of coming and going as I please, I have to rely on the bus. I don’t have a problem riding the bus, however, the time it takes travelling and waiting for a transfer bus cuts into time that could be spent doing other things like sleeping, blogging, writing my two Senior Project papers and so on. It has been such an inconvenience that I have found myself near tears dreading the long bus adventures.
Actually riding the bus is a different story. I see a lot of interesting people and get to view the city instead of focusing on driving. It has actually inspired me to get out and go do more things (even though the introvert in me is saying “stay home and read a book”) – I actually went to walk around the mall and browse in Barnes & Noble. I didn’t have to worry about driving around the parking lot for 10 minutes trying to find a parking stall.
I have decided that even if/when I get my car fixed, I am going to catch the bus a couple times a month to go on some adventures. I’m only going to stay in my area (Honolulu) and Waikiki/Ala Moana – but this has actually been a good change (for the most part) – but pray we figure out what is wrong with my car because I miss her dearly.
Blog Life
I have been very productive behind the scenes when it comes to blogging tasks. I have been more organized and actually been working on these 50+ drafts that have been sitting there waiting for some action. I plan on posting at least 2-4 times on every blog that I contribute to and I feel like I am off to a good start. I have a bunch of posts scheduled to post within the next couple of weeks so let’s see how I continue to stay consistent with everything else going on in my life.
Work Life
Nothing new to report. Still enjoy my job. It has came with more challenges mostly in the form of us being busier. I have been looking for a second part time job (possibly for evening/weekend) – but with the car issues that has been a bit difficult since public transit adds 1-2 hours of travel time usually. So trying to increase my side hustle and Avon income more instead since that is something I don’t necessarily have to travel for (as often) – wish me luck.
College Life
We are in week 2 of a new semester. I feel good about this semester and I think if I continue to stay on top of everything I will do great and not stress out (too much) this semester. I’m happy that I only have to physically go to my school once a week. Since I am doing 2 Senior Projects it required a lot of writing which is actually good for me because it is forcing me to write something daily – a habit I have been trying to have for quite sometime. This should help me not only with school and freelance work but also with my blogging. I consider that a major win.
I hope that you all are doing well and have a great weekend. Thank you again for stopping in to read about what I have been up to this week.
What are your plans for the weekend? Anything exciting happen for you this week? Let us know in the comments!
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
Here are my favorite resources for college students.
Favorite Resources for College Students: Buying, Selling and Renting Books
chegg.com: I used chegg for the first time last semester to rent 2 textbooks. I saved hundreds of dollars and would definitely use them again! It was super easy to order my books and they sent me online trials of them so that I could start reading before the books reached me. Returning the books was just as easy. They give you a due date for return and you can print the return label from their website – free of cost. If you need to keep the books a little longer there is a fee so make sure you return them on time! half.com and ebay.com: These were my go-to places in the past to order textbooks. I have found so many great deals and saved hundreds of dollars on books by searching these two websites for textbooks. amazon: I have ordered textbooks from amazon several times in the past. I like that I can usually find any textbook that I need – sometimes at great prices. ecampus: I haven’t personally used ecampus, however, I have heard great things about the prices from several other college students. bigwords.com: I just discovered this website last semester and had never heard of it but I thought I would add it in there if you want to check it out.
Favorite Resources for College Students: Paying for school & books – Financial Aid, Grants and Scholarships
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid): Offers financial assistance through grants, loans and work-study funds. Sallie Mae/ Navient: You normally have to go through your school for loans through them, however, they also have scholarship information on their website as well. Your college
+ Their website and social media: A little search can give you a wealth of information.
+ Financial Aid Office: Get to know your Financial Aid Officer/Counselor and know them well. They will hook you up!
+ Bulletin Boards: Check out the boards around campus – you can sometimes find scholarship opportunities that you didn’t even know existed.
+ Clubs: If you are in a club on campus ask if there are any scholarships or grants that the officers know of.
+ Classmates: I often find out about scholarships from other classmates so if you have some fellow students that you feel comfortable talking to – bring it up in conversation.
+ Your Job: Many companies offer scholarships, grants and other financial resources if you are working towards a degree (especially if it is in the field that you are currently in).
Favorite Resources for College Students: Music for Studying
Focus at will Coffevity: If you like the “buzz” of coffee houses you will LOVE this website. Pandora: I like to listen to their Classical stations sometimes. Youtube: You can search and create your own study playlists.
Favorite Resources for College Students: Studying & Learning Resources
Khan Academy: They offer FREE practice exercises and instructional videos on hundreds of different topics. Helped me significantly with a statistics course! Also great if you just want to learn some new information or brush up on a topic. BioDigital: Want to learn more about the human anatomy? How does 3D simulation sound? You can check out all the different parts of the body and learn more about what is going on inside. Blackboard: Tons of great resources and valuable information. Crash Course (youtube videos): Great videos to learn about different topics from History to Psychology. Most of the videos are 10 minutes or less and there are also playlists if you want to learn more about something.
Favorite Resources for College Students: Productivity
ToDoist
Favorite Resources for College Students: Team/Group Projects and Collaborations
Slack: leaves all messages so others can read them Trello: you can add ideas, links, pictures and more. set dates, view calendar. Google Hangouts: Great for video conference calling. Google Drive: Great for collaborating and working on projects. My last group project used this and it was so great because we could all work on the project at the same time, there is a chat feature as well.
Favorite Resources for College Students: File Storage
Whether you are looking for a place to file your assignments, syllabus, pictures or anything else I suggest that you always have a backup stored somewhere besides your computer or flash drive. Just imagine working hours and hours on a paper and your dog knocks coffee onto your laptop ruining it. Dropbox: If you need a FREE online space to store all of your assignments, pictures, files and so on, Dropbox is the place to do it. You can also share files. It has computer/laptop/tablet and mobile access.
Favorite Resources for College Students: Google Drive: If you have a google account/gmail account you should be taking advantage of Google Drive. Some schools even offer it as a part of your student account.
More Favorite Resources for College Students
Ibotta: Check out Ibotta to get cash back when you shop at your favorite grocery stores. Use my referral code, bgfbcpf, and you can earn an extra $10. Sign up at Ibotta.com Amazon Prime: “Getting an Amazon Student membership has been one of the best things I have done recent., you already receive:
FREE Two-Day Shipping with no minimum order size on millions of items. Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access. 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon, and new events on MyHabit.com. Update now to get Amazon Prime for only $49/year (normally $99/year) and also enjoy:
Unlimited, instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video.
Thousands of books to borrow for free, as frequently as once a month, with no due dates through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Access to over a million songs and hundreds of playlists, ad-free.”
My favorite college bloggers
Dani Dearest
Sara Laughed
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
Well look at you – surviving the first week of this year! 2016 was a huge struggle for many people apparently, but it is a NEW year and we can choose to make this a time of new beginnings as well. I want to thank you for stopping in and reading – whether you have been reading my blog for years or if this is your first time here. Hello. Aloha. Welcome. Thank you!
If you’re wondering what a Flashback Friday post is – it is my way of recapping what I was up to during the week. I attempt to post these as regularly as I can, however, that does not always happen. With this new year I do plan on scheduling these out and working on them throughout the week because I am more likely to complete the post if I work on it in that way. Anywho, here is the first one for 2017…
This past week has actually been great. I had some stressful situations occur but I can definitely say some really great things have happened. More good than bad happened so I am hoping to ride this positive wave right into the first quarter of the year. What really put me in a great mood was getting a raise at my job. WOO HOO. Who doesn’t like to get rewarded for their hard work?
Of course a new year often means new years resolutions, setting goals and all that jazz. I try to set goals throughout the year but I do think the new year is a good time to reflect and reevaluate where you are at with previous goals, what needs to be done (or let go) and what goals you would like to set in the future. It is a new beginning.
I have mentioned before that the rough and wild ride of 2016 kept me from planning out 2017 the way I had originally intended on doing but I won’t let that stop me from doing it now. It isn’t too late. So this past week (and couple of months actually) I have been really thinking about what I want to do with this new year. This new beginning.
First thing I did this week was really purge and get rid of things that are no longer serving me. From physical objects and emails to people and relationships. It has been a very freeing experience. I have been feeling bogged down with stuff lately and letting go feels so wonderful. Another bonus is when you let go of certain things it makes room for the new.
Another thing I have been doing is planning out how I am going to take better care of my health. As many of you know my Father passed away in October. He has lived most of his adult life with several health issues and it as always difficult watching him suffer. Boy was that a wake up call.
I have intended on taking better care of myself (and have been trying off and on) but his death really reminded me that life is short and if there are things I can do to live a healthier life full of energy and minimal illness – that is the life I want to choose. One step I took so far this is I went to my ophthalmologist to get checked for any damage diabetes may have had on my eyes and was told I was not having any issues so continue to do what I was doing. Last year I significantly lowered my A1c and plan on lowering it more this year.
Another thing I worked on this year was planning out my Avon business and other side hustle goals. I am trying to avoid having to get second part time job so organizing and setting goals should put me in a place to make the extra money required to take care of my personal expenses. I looked at how much money I made from Avon, blogging and my other freelance work last year and I know I can double if not triple it this year if I set small goals, hold myself accountable and am consistent.
So… that’s what I have been up to this week. I am taking the route of making this year about ME. Improving on who I am and the things that I do because I know it will pay off in the end. Better health, losing weight, self care and making that money.
**Cheers to a new year and a new me (and you if you so choose).**
What do you hope to accomplish this year? Let us know in the comments.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
Welcome to 2017. If you are familiar with hertaintedlips.com you know that we do Flashback Friday’s most Friday’s and post about what happened during the week. I like the idea of it and I did a year in review post for 2015 last year so I thought it would be fun to do it again this year even though it didn’t end up on a Friday. I hope you enjoy it!
January
+ I moved! I ended up moving closer to my job into a small little place to call my own.
February
+ I got the flu from h#ll – so glad that I got over that but I was out from school and work for a little over a week and had so much catching up to do.
+ On the bright side, I got a lot of freelance writing and other money making opportunities – just enough to cover the amount of money I was out of since I was going to school more and had to cut back my hours at my job.
March
+ Launched a new blog project with Kristina called 2BigHeffas.com. We share about our journey to healthy living. From weight loss and working out to cravings and our favorite fitness apparel. This has been a really great project for me.
April
+ This was the month before finals so life was pretty crazy. Not much going on with the blog.
May
+ Did this month even happen? HA!
June
+ This was a great, yet a tough month! I had family members from different states come to visit which meant lots of fun, laughter and new memories with them. Unfortunately I also a horrible allergic reaction which resulted in me being hospitalized a few days and one of my Aunt’s passed away. Let’s just say I was being tested. *whew*
August
+ New semester of school started! Just four more courses left (as of August 2016) before I can graduate with my Bachelor’s Degree. Unfortunately I could only take 2 of them during this semester but I was so happy that I am getting closer to graduating.
+ I got some exciting offers in regards to moving my blog forward (business wise) so it was an exciting time to be a blogging business woman.
September
+ This month went by super fast! I was super busy with work and school.
October
+ As the year was quickly coming to a close I made sure that I spent a lot of time with family and friends whenever possible. My modified school schedule allowed that flexibility and I was so happy for that. Unfortunately, My Dad ended up in the hospital and weeks later passed away. It was a really rough time.
+ Started planning out holiday posts as best as I could considering the circumstances – product reviews, gift guides and sharing coupons and sales.
December
+ After a very long and tumultuous year things seemed to settle down a bit. I reflected on what happened and tried not to dwell too much on the bad things. The holidays are usually my favorite time of year because of time with family and friends but this time around it took me longer to get into the spirit. It wasn’t until I was trying to cheer someone else up by taking them to see Christmas lights that my Christmas spirit really kicked into gear.
What wonderful (or even not so wonderful) things happened in your life last year? If you have a year in review post please share it below!
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
