So I'm back in school. I've survived my first week and i'm about to start my second. My classes are hard and I'm honestly a little scared of them. I'm going to do my best and learn to be okay with that. If school wasn't enough, I have college apps to worry about to. In other words i'm going to be really busy most of the time. My stress level is going to be at an all time high but I just have to remember to breath. Breath and just do what I have to do. At this point in time my priority is going to have to be my college apps. Unfortunately that doesn't leave a lot of time for the things I do love to do.

I'm not going to be blogging as often and when I do it's probably going to be sporadic. I'll try and post on Saturdays for now, but I might throw a Motivation Monday, or a Whatever Friday, or something here and there. I'm really sorry about this, I know it sucks and that it's annoying. Anyway, I figured I owed y'all an explanation as to why my blog is going to be a little cray at the moment.

To all my people who started school already, we can do this, we can survive this year. We are strong and awesome. It's as simple as that. To everybody else who hasn't started school, good luck, don't be afraid, you got this!

Now for the fun part! Since school often requires us to stay up late and lose precious hours of sleep, caffeine is something of a necessity. So I thought I would share a recipe I found for some awesome coffee! (if you're not a coffee person, green tea is a good alternative)

Caramel Macchiato Frappuccino  

Ingredients

¾ cup fresh espresso or double strength coffee, use a caramel flavor if you can find it

¾ cup milk (soy, rice, low fat, 2%, whole, etc)

3 tbls Torani Caramel syrup

pinch of xanthan gum (about 1/16 tsp)

2 cups ice

Instructions

In a large blender, add warm coffee and xanthan gum and process on slow speed for about 30 seconds. (The warm coffee helps to completely blend in the xanthan gum.)

Add milk and caramel syrup and blend for about 15 seconds just to combine. Finally, add in ice and blend on high power until ice is completely crushed and blended into coffee mixture.

Pour into a large cup and top with whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce if desired.

© Around My Family Table

Enjoy! Happy Studying! Or just staying up late!

Goals for the 2015 School Year

So I've been thinking a lot about school. I've been thinking about how crazy my life gets, how crazy I get. Then I get really, really nervous. While I'm super psyched to start my senior year i'm plagued by my fears and anxieties. Then I decided that I needed to stop being so scared about what tomorrow was going to bring and just enjoy today. I needed to learn to let go and just breath. There are a lot of things I need to work on this school year.That got me thinking, why not just start a list of goals and things to improve or change this school year. Here are my goals for this school year.

1. Stop being so apologetic and just be fearlessly me. I'm a shy person and that is probably never really going to change but I don't have to be sorry about the way I am. I'm proud of who I am, I'm the first to fangirl over Harry Potter and freak out over my latest OTP. But I feel like I need to take that confidence and bring it to a bigger scale. I need to be unafraid to be myself in a world that asks me to be small and quiet. I am tired of making myself smaller for other people, toning myself down because I'm afraid of being too much. So this year I'm done trying to cater to others and just be loud and crazy (if I feel like it)
2. Talk to people more. It's not going to kill me to strike a conversation with someone in class. It's not going to be the end of the world if someone doesn't like me. I'm going to try and talk to people more, try and make some new friends while I'm it. Though as a shy girl, i'm probably going to take baby steps with this. 
3. Take care of myself more. Lately I've talked a lot about practicing self care, about putting yourself first. I'm the first to admit that I tend to want to take care of other people before myself. I know that I have a bad habit of putting school ahead of my own needs. I'm a work in progress and while I am taking care of myself I know I could be doing a much better job at it.
4. Get grades I'm happy with. Every year I set the bar high. I want straight A's and I'm going to work my butt of to get them but if the best I can do is a B i'm going to be happy with that. Over the past year I've learned that we are more than the value we assign to a red mark on a test. I've learned to be okay with the best I can do instead of beating myself up because I'm not good enough. 
• This includes AP tests and SAT scores. 
5. Wear outfits I feel great in. This means different things to different people. For me it means putting in extra effort into outfits. I've made this goal every year since freshman year and I think I've done a pretty good job at fulfilling this goal. This year is going to be no exception
6. Volunteer more. All of my high school life has been spent pouring my heart and soul into my school work. That doesn't leave a lot for volunteering so I want to make more of an effort this year.
7. Drive. I'm 17 and I still don't have my licence. I need to get on it!
8. Make an effort to hang out with my friends.This is it. This is my last year of high school I want to be sure I make a ton of memories with my friends. I want to spend my time laughing with them, planning out prom together, freaking out over college apps with them. 
9. Finish college apps two weeks before they are due. I just need to be sure that everything is the best it can be. That means finishing early so I can fix any last mistakes and I don't have to be worries about my application not going in.
10. Stay organized!!! I always start off the year really organized and I usually falter a quarter of the way in. I want to make it more of a permanent thing. So I decided to start a bullet journal because I've heard great things about the system. So here goes nothing! (click here to find out more about bullet journal)
11. Make more time for the things I love. Sometimes school gets in the way of me doing things for fun. So I want to make more of an effort to write and read and dance and taking pictures. I want to have time to watch 3 movies in a row and binge watch my latest obsession on netflix. 

What are your goals for this year?  Let me know in the comments below!

Go Check out the rest of my back to school series so far!

Day One:Back to School: Books and Movies
Day Two: Mixtape Monday + Organization
Day Three: Student Survival Guide
Day Four: Goals For the 2015 School Year
Day Five: Cute Hair Styles
Day Six: Open Letter To Students

Student Survival Guide

School can be the source of a lot of stress, anxiety, and other not so pleasant emotions. School can become crazy and that craziness can be a defining part of your life as a student. Since I am a senior this year I figured I know a thing or two about dealing with all the crazy. So here are some tips and tricks to help you survive school, maybe even thrive. Today I'm going to talk about tests, friends, orginization and other random stuff.

Back To School Series:
Day One:Back to School: Books and Movies
Day Two: Mixtape Monday + Organization
Day Three: Student Survival Guide
Day Four: Goals For the 2015 School Year
Day Five: Cute Hair Styles
Day Six: Open Letter To Students

Random Tips:

• Don't try and be cool and fit in. It's not worth it. Just be you and find people you can be you around. That "cool" circle is not as awesome as it seems. 
• Makes lots and lots of playlists! Trust me it's cathartic and helpful. Plus they're awesome when you do have to work late. 
• Dress in what makes you feel comfortable and happy. 
• For me that means dressing up, wearing skirts and dresses and all that jazz. If you feel like you look good, you'll feel good. What you wear affects how you act. 
• Takes a lot of pictures. Trust me when you feel nostalgic you'll want to look through some pics.
• Say yes to going out with friends. Even if you don't feel like going out, it usually ends up being worth it. 
• Follow some Studyblrs on tumblr (if you have one). They post a lot of helpful things plus it's motivating to see other people get so intense about studying! Plus they have lots of stuff to help you get orginized. 
• I follow: Studivation, Lil Study Corner, Me Learning to Study, Study Blog, The Orginized Student
• Follow my tumblr here
• Always have perfume and deordorant handy. Trust me this is just a necessity.
• Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. A lot of the memories that make me smile or laugh started because I decided to ignore my shyness and anxiety and just go for it. 
• Youtube has a lot of tutorials for everything you need. Use 'em.
• Crash Course is crazy helpful!
• You can often find power points or outlines for textbooks here. I find them really helpful!
• Don't join a billion clubs because you think it looks good for colleges. 
• Join a select few that you feel the most passionate about.,
• Maybe even start one.
• Always have a person you can talk to.
• I can not stress how important this is. There are going to be days that suck so much thats it's impossible to bear it all on your own.
• It can be a friend, a sibling, a parent, or a therpist. It's important to have someone to listen to you vent and offer some advice without being judgemental
• Priotoize your health first,then your relationships, then school. 
• How to be a Happier Person
• Let's talk about health
• This post has some meditation stuff for those of us with anxiety! It's super helpful!
• Have lazy days.
• These are vital for mental health. It's important to set aside time for yourself.
• Reward yourself after a test or at the end of a project or just because.
• Watch some movies, read a book, eat some brownies, bake some cookies, stay in your P.J's all day,

Letter to December #6

Dear December, 

It's currently 11:30 pm and i'm very tired. It'll be tomorrow by the time you get this. I'll be at school, trying not to fall asleep, desperately clinging to my consciousness because I have in class writing, tests, and last minute teaching going on. 

School is crazy and quite frankly i'm really done with it. I know I have Winter break in less than two weeks, but right now amid all the cramming and bad teachers, I'm starting to freak out and wanting to just stop and take a breather. But as my APUSH teacher said this morning, "Now is the time to push yourself".

So here I am with no tea, not on my bed, and with no blankets or sweater near me. I'm not happy. I know it all be over soon, and I'll look back at this and just be glad I was able to say I survived. But until then I'm stuck in a circle of procrastination, going to bed late, napping, procrastination. Fun.

As much as I love you December, you also tend to bring the hardest weeks into my life. With finals and dealing with relatives on Holidays. But I just have to remember that some rough moments have to balance out all the hot chocolates, candy canes, presents, and all around festive cheer. I guess it's like they say, December, you need to have some bad to balance out the good. I think it's a good trade off, or at least I do once i'm on break. 

But for now it's time for me to go to bed and try to not hate myself in the morning for my poor life choices. Thankfully I have Christmas music on repeat and working on my master playlist! You can't ever really be sad while listening to christmas music, you know? 

Love Always, 

Letter to December #5

Dear December,

Sometimes you don't even realize how fast time goes until your standing and wondering where exactly it went. You kind of snuck up on me. I was just minding my own business thinking the end of the year was so far off, but in reality its not. Now I can feel the pressure to do well on my finals even more than I did last year. I'm kind of freaking out. 

It's starting too feel more and more christmas-y everyday. My family and I put up our Christmas Tree on Saturday. I decorated it with my mum, while everyone else slacked off. That's okay, I don't mind. Decorating is one of my favorite things. Once I finished the tree I put up tinsel and lights and ornaments and wreaths all around the living room. I went a little crazy. But I do that almost every year. I decorated my room as well. I have a mini Christmas tree, Christmas lights up with ornaments hanging them as well as tinsel. I LOVE IT. 

Isn't this beautiful! Lol this isn't mine, i'll put up a pic soon!

Everything is moving by so fast December, I don't know how to hold on to anything anymore. It seems the more I cling to my memories of yesterdays the faster time escapes me. I guess that just means I have to be more focused on the here and now. Like I was yesterday when I was trying to make it seem like Christmas threw up in my house. I even changed my screen saver to a Christmas print thing.
I was caught in the moment, letting life engulf me, letting Christmas thoughts whirl around my head. Maybe I should listen to Elsa and let go a little bit. 

Love Always, 

Blogtober: Dear Younger Me

Hey. Hows elementary school going? How's long division coming? If it's not going to well, it's okay, you'll end up using a calculator anyways. What about english? Still writing 6 page essays? Good. It's nice isn't it, writing. I'll tell you a secret, you end up writing more as you get older and *whispers* you even run a blog!!! Amazing I know! Enjoy being in the single digits while you can. Run free and be crazy. Let your imagination run the world around you, reality can wait, when you're this young. I know, I know, you're not "young", but a few years from now, you'll agree. Just don't try to be older than you are. Just stay what you are. You're not too old to play pretend. You're not too old to play hide and seek. So go ahead and just be you're elementary school self!

Middle School. It sucks. I know. And you know what, it doesn't really get much better. You do meet some pretty cool people though. So even if middle school life sucks, just remember you have people. I know you're sad right now. And it's a scary sad. I know that life isn't what you want it to be, and that sometimes you don't know what to do with yourself, and I know this sounds like B.S but just smile because you'll be okay. Maybe a little scarred, a little charred, but okay. I know that right now you probably don't feel like enough. But you are. I promise. It's hard for you to feel that you are, but just keep telling yourself that because one day you'll look in the mirror and believe it. So life sucks now. But don't forget you have people. You have really awesome friends. Some pretty cool siblings. You'll survive and maybe not be wiser, but definitely stronger.

The beginning of high school sucked. I know. I've been there. You were a shy girl thrown into a place where being social is essential to survival. And sometimes people suck and they ignore you, when all you're doing is being nice and three years later you still kind of hold a grudge. And that's okay. That's high school for you. I know you're waiting for some great friends, and that waiting really sucks and whoever says they don't mind it, is lying. Patience is a virtue but it can also be torture waiting. It'll be worth it though. You're friends are awesome. I know you had to leave your old friends, but those who really loved you and whom you loved are still friends with you. Whoever says otherwise is lying to you. So be weird, crazy, wild even, you'll find people who will accept you. Word of advice though, forgive people, but don't forget what they did, it's important to know where you can place your trust.

Alright young me. It's time for future you to get back to her life. The life that is pretty much not what you wanted as a 6 year old, or what you thought high school life would be like when you were in 7th grade. 9th grade me. You got it right, for the most part. Yes, I still go to BHS and no, I did not end up taking 6 AP classes, I'm taking 4. Life is not like the movies. High school especially. And that's okay. You're working hard to get where you want to be. Don't ever be sorry for that.

Love Always,

Study Tips

Back To School Playlist

     I don't think I've ever been so busy in my life. It's that time of year again. The one we all dread, the one we wish could never come. Back to school. I wen't back two weeks ago and i'm going to start my third week and i'm already unsure of how I'm going to survive the year. But I guess I'll take it week by week and just go with it.

      If your anything like me and are constantly studying/doing work/procrastinating/wondering why you decided to take 4 AP classes then you probably like to listen to music as you work. So I thought I could share my back to school playlist! So here's part tres of my Back to school Series. Part 1, Part 2

1. Brand New Day by Kodaline
2. Shake by The Head and the Heart
3. Little Black Dress by Sara Bareilles
   
4. These Streets by Bastille
5. Cool Kids by Echosmith
6. Big Jet Plane by Angus and Julia Stone
7. Sweater Weather by The Neighborhood 
8. Island in the Sun by Weezer
9. Summer by Calvin Harris
10. Flawless by Beyoncé 
11. Fancy by Iggy Azalea Ft Charli XCX
12. Shake It Off by Taylor Swift
13. Uncharted Sara Bareilles

Tell me about your first day, if you've gone back to school. Tell me about your morning jam, or your latest song obsessions:) Have a great week guys! 

DFTBA,