Hello 2016!

So I never thought I would come back to this blog and type up a post, but here I am.

I have to be honest; I really don't know why I stopped blogging since May. Who knows. But here I am again, which is hilarious since 2016 is a day from now, and I thought I would spend my last months of 2015 blogging. 

Just a while ago, I read my last post and I couldn't help but smile because everything about it was so happy and encouraging and full of joy. And I want to feel those emotions through blogging again. This is my happy place. My go-to-place when I need to rant, be encouraged, or just talk about the most random things. 

So whether there will be short/long breaks in between, I'm going to give blogging another try.      :)

As 2016 comes along, I was able to cross off a lot of things on my 101 list.

And here they are:

           6.   Take a yoga class. (June 2015)

           7.   Attend a festival event.(September 26, 2015) 

         12.  Go to homecoming with my friends. (October 25, 2015)

          30.  Sing in front of an audience. (October 4, 2015)

          31.  Host a party. (December 25, 2015) 

          32.  Have a picnic with family. (December 19, 2015) 

          37.  Sing karaoke with my friends. (December 28, 2015)

          41.   Make cake pops. (June 4, 2015)

          42.  Go on a family road trip to another state. (August 2015)

          43.  Try something new. (December 1, 2015 - auditioned for school play) 
        

          44.  Hike to a waterfall. (August 2015)

          54.  Become baptized. (November 22, 2015 - a milestone in my life) 

          56.  Attend 3 school events I've never been to. (3/3) (football game, homecoming, waterpolo)

          60.  Volunteer for Operation Christmas Child. (December 12, 2015)

          62.  Watch actual snow fall (December 20, 2015)

          64.   Join a new organization/club at school. (Music for Healing)

          87,   Have a movie marathon.  (June 2, 2015)   

          92,   Be a crew leader for my church's VBS. (June 17, 2015)

          94. Visit a state I've never been to.  (August 2015 - Oregon)

          98.  Have a photoshoot. (December 26, 2015  - s/o Phoebe & Lorraine)

A Life Update

HEY EVERYONE! IT'S BEEN THE LONGEST TIME EVER. I MEAN EVER. BUT I'M FINALLY BACK BLOGGING AGAIN.
I still can't believe it's been 3 months, and I PROMISE I wanted to blog, but school and stress caught up to me and I just didn't have the time for it.
BUT NOW THAT SCHOOL IS ALMOST OVER (4 WEEKS OMG!!), I'll have more time to dedicate myself to this blog :)

SORRY FOR THE CAPS, BTW. I JUST REALLY NEED TO EXPRESS MYSELF RIGHT NOW.

In case y'all been wondering what I've been up to. These past 3 months have been super DUPER crazy, especially March and April. I've been catching up with school work and extracurricular activities and it's been a huge rollercoaster ride.
So far, April has been the best month of 2015 for me. I feel that these two months have gone by really slowly.. maybe I'm being more productive??
Swim season and choir are finally coming to an end. It's been pretty stressful with practices and rehearsals everyday, but to make life easier, I created my very own PERSONAL PLANNER.

Just this past week, so many things have been going on and it just reminds me to be thankful everyday. GOD IS GOOD. Oh and ever since March, I haven't listened to the music radio at all. I'm not kidding. Every morning and afternoon, I always listen to the Joel Osteen radio. I definitely recommend listening to his messages especially if you need some faith, hope, or encouragement.

April was definitely full of surprises. I felt like I was stuck in April for 2 whole months. That's how slowly time went by for me.
I was able to check off several things from my 101 list that I accomplished in just April alone. So here's what made April the best month of 2015 for me so far:

1. celebrated my mom's 50th birthday!
2. hung out with my cousins
3. got my ears pierced
4. got a haircut
5. made staff leader for a leadership development camp
6. received position for division key club: 2015-2016 FTC/STC!!
7. accepted into Link Crew for school
8. aced my English presentation despite being super nervous
9. got a PR for my 50 breaststroke in our last swim meet (next week is our league finals!!)
10. MADE A PERSONAL PLANNER AND ORGANIZED MY ROOM
11. Some of my photos that I've taken was published in RE:NEW. SAY WHAT.

This month has made me extremely, extremely super duper thankful and happy. Sorry for my grammatical errors.. I'm just really happy okay. Anyway, I can proudly say to myself that April was a month of productivity and trying new things. It definitely wasn't easy trying to step out of my comfort zone and go for things like applying for staff leader, but if you never try, you'll never know what will happen.

Praise the Lord for His blessings. And I hope this month will be just as exciting as April. I will continue to update my 101 list and I hope to catch up with you guys soon. :)

~ Mel

Celebrated My 16th Birthday!

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The title says it all! Yes, this past Monday I turned 16. Yay! Turning 16 is a pretty huge deal to me.. I guess it's because I'm two years closer to becoming independent and heading off to college. Anyway, enough about the future.





Last Sunday, I spent the night stuffing myself with food. Of course my family helped me, too. We ate at Café Santorini in Pasadena. The food was so good! Just thinking about it makes my stomach grumble. Sorry about my sucky phone camera quality. I promise their food looks 100000x better than this. 
On my birthday, my friends and I took a bunch of photos at school. Then they sang "happy birthday" to me at lunchtime. I'm a happy girl. (:

 There's this thing at my school called singing valentine grams, where someone can request a song for the choir department to sing to the person's crush/friend. Who knew I would get a gram! On Thursday, three girls came into my math class and started singing "Lucky" by Jason Mraz ft. Colbie Caillat. It turned out one of my guy friends requested that song for me! :)

What I've been up to:

// I had my first official rehearsal with my church's worship team on Wednesday

// Today I helped sing for worship, and it's been 3 years since I've last sang in front of people

3 songs I recommend:

- Boom Clap // Lennon & Maisy

- I Wanna Go // Yuna

- Melody Changes // Katie Sky



February Goals 2015

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I consider myself to be a goal type of person, so I'll be creating monthly goals from now on. I didn't really do much in January, so I'm hoping this month will be different.

February Goals

- Celebrate turning 16!

- Wash my face 2x a day no matter how tired/lazy I am

- Do laundry this month

- Update my journal

- Create a Bible reading plan

- Volunteer for an event  

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3 upbeat songs i recommend listening to: 

- Afterlife // Ingrid Michaelson

- Better // Gardiner Sisters

- Let's Get Started // Dylan Gardner

 What are your goals for this month?





The Little Things + A Grateful Heart

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One of my favorite, inspirational quotes. Although, it took me a good 15 minutes to edit and insert the quote into this pic (above). #thestruggleisreal

 Let's all take a minute and obsess over how adorable my dog is. jk. Behind all that white fluffiness, he's an evil minion. And if you look closely, you can see specks of dust on the floor. How pleasant.

Last week happenings:

// I ended up getting sick last week ugh, but it was bound to happen because people kept on coughing on me at school.

// I bought Adobe Photoshop + Lightroom, and words can't explain how excited I was to use them. I used Lightroom for this pic (above).

// One of my all-time favorite movies.. THE LONGSHOTS. It's definitely worth watching!

// Cute cup alert!



// Up until last week, I had no clue there were flowers in my backyard! This is why I love photography. When I'm looking for objects to take pictures of, I start to notice the little things.

THIS IS AMAZING GRACE

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 I spent my MLK weekend up in Big Bear (#79 on my l01 list) with my church group. It was a 3-day retreat and we stayed in one HUGE cabin. I spent my weekend playing card games till midnight, driving out to the city, singing my favorite songs, and learning more about God. The whole experience was really exciting and exhilarating. I was able to get on a deeper, more personal level with my small group.  

 

Before the retreat, I sometimes felt like I took too much credit for what God has blessed me with. When life was going so well for me, I have to admit, giving thanks to God wasn't the first thing that came to mind. I could say that that this retreat opened my eyes and made me realize how selfish I was.

God deserves all the credit. He's worth living for and deserves to be glorified. So with this being said, I hope to continue this journey serving Him.

P.S. I really recommend listening to "This Is Amazing Grace" by Phil Wickham. I love the lyrics!

HELLO 2015 + GOALS!

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Ah, I'm still unable to register the fact that it's 2015. I keep looking at my calendar and questioning myself, "where did time go?" It's going by crazy fast! To be honest, it's pretty upsetting how I spent my 2014. I can recall wasting away many of my days doing nothing.

But this year, it'll be totally different. I am very determined to stick to my 2015 resolutions. So let's welcome 2015 with open arms and make the most of this year!

My 2015 Goals:

• Create an efficient daily morning routine. Surprisingly, I'm a morning person. I can't stand waking up late with a sense of lacking productivity. However I do waste my mornings on my phone, so creating an efficient morning routine will make a big difference.  

• Get baptized. Many opportunities were open for me to get baptized in 2014, but each time, I used the excuse "I'm not ready." This year, I will take that opportunity.

• Read one book every month. I love reading books, but because  of school, it's hard to fit my reading time in.

• Spend more time at church. I have to be honest. During sermons, I get very distracted and I find it hard to stay focused. But this year, I promise that every sermon I go to, I'll write down what I learned in my gratitude journal.

• Go on a rollercoaster. Sadly, it's one of my fears.

• Get my ears pierced. This is something I've been wanting to do for quite awhile.

• Create a blog schedule.  Even up until now, I'll still post either a month later or 2-3 times a week. A blog schedule is very much required!

• Be more confident. Setting more goals for myself and seeing what I've accomplished will help build my self-esteem.

• Eat healthy. I have to admit, I'm a junky. That's why I have an acned face. I'm going to cut down on the junk food, and eat more greens and drink more water!

• Run 2 miles. I can barely run a mile, so this is going to be an interesting challenge.

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