notes from january | life update vol. 1

Note: this beginning part of the post was written two weeks ago but it still holds very true to me!

As I write this at 2am (it’s only the first week of the semester, y’all…) from my little chair in the ADPi violet patch – a.k.a. a fancy name for our lounge area upstairs – fueled by Alan Menken’s slowly dwindling Disney playlist on Spotify, my head is spinning with the concepts of ethical decision making and Rushworth M. Kidder’s four paradigm dilemmas. (talk about a name, jeez.)

My winter ethics class has pushed me to actually think about the impact my words can have on others. Previously I’ve used this blog just as a way to share my advice in a big-sister kind of way, which I love. However, I’d like to go a little more in-depth. I want to share my personal thoughts and feelings on different subjects, and share my passions with the world – or at least my small corner of the internet. I’m aiming to do so by using this blog as a slightly less-personal version of my journal (there are some things you just have to write out and let go) but I plan on starting today.

One

I’ve been living for Andy Grammer’s newest album lately. It’s called The Good Parts and believe me when I say that EVERY song is ‘the good part’ of the album. Seriously, it’s like the kind of album you listen to and think to yourself, “this one is my favorite,” then listen to the next one and think “wait, this one is my favorite.” Totally, 100% recommend. If I absolutely HAD to pick a favorite, like someone is holding me at gunpoint had-to-pick-a-favorite, it’d be the song 85. I think the message of this song stands out the most to me but my other favorites following (very, very) close behind are Civil War, Freeze, and Spaceship.

Two

I was at home the other day (I’ve only been back at school for two weeks and I’ve been home twice, oops) and went into Old Navy with my mom – no surprise there. I picked up these tank tops (in navy and pink) and these jeans. Now’s the time of year to hunt through the clearance rack because people are returning their online-only purchases, so they’re all marked down to 50%! My jeans were nine dollars. I couldn’t pass them up.

I now own four of this style of tank top, but they’re so soft and easy to dress up or dress down that I think they’re definitely worth it! I’m also loving this purse, this shirt, and this sweater. This 14° weather I’m waking up to is not my favorite, so I’m itching to add some lighter clothing for warmer weather to my closet. I don’t mind winter fashion but I am not someone who wears dark colors, so I’m excited for the seasonal palette to brighten up!

Three

I rebranded! I’ve been looking into doing something like this for a while with more modern fonts and a bolder color palette, and finally took the time to redo my logo. I love it and I think it’s a lot more ‘me.’ I’m also hopping back on the video train and need to find time to go through and edit my January recap video, but it’ll be up soon! Promise!

Four

Last but most important…my family adopted a new dog!

I didn’t share this on my social media or my blog but our dog Abby crossed the rainbow bridge back in September. We actually had to amputate her leg from cancer and that helped her a lot, but it came back. She’s in a much better place now and I’m happy she’s not in pain anymore, but it was still really hard to let her go and it’s still hard thinking about it. Our other dog Rosie is still with us and it made a huge difference having her with us throughout that time.

We’ve always been a two-dog family though and it was pretty quiet around the house, especially over winter break, without Abby around. I started sending my mom pictures of dogs I found on Petfinder throughout January and she kept telling me it was too soon, it was a bad time…but the last dog I sent to her I just could not get out of my head! She was at Petsmart on Saturday and Sunday and since she wasn’t adopted on Saturday, I told my mom she had to go see her on Sunday.

We visited and immediately fell in love with her, and since our other dog Rosie tolerates her (she is twelve and very much the dominant dog) we knew it was perfect. Riley is a nine-month-old shepherd mix (I’d say German Shepherd) and ornery, but super cute. She loves sticks, fetch and destroying every single toy in sight. I have to resist going home every single weekend to see Rosie and Riley.