Christmas is About Presents. For Real.

Hello, all, and Merry Christmas!

I made a special Christmas video for all of you, and I'm super excited to share it! It's about the real reason we celebrate Christmas, so I hope you'll enjoy it.:)

Once again, I wish you a Merry Christmas, or a happy holiday (whichever you want).

~ Kendra :)

Notebook Problem & God's Plan for Me?

Hey, everybody!

 

The picture above contains the majority of my notebooks, but not all of them... I know. I have a problem. But I was just thinking tonight that I've been buying notebooks for years (simply because I love them), but I haven't really had any ideas for how to fill them. It seems rather pointless to just buy a bunch of notebooks and never write in them! Tonight I realized that maybe the reason I've been buying all of these notebooks is because God has been preparing me for the journey ahead of me, and it involves a lot of writing! 

This is the first time I'm mentioning this on my blog, but in March of this year, I developed anxiety. It hasn't been an easy thing to work through, but God has been so faithful to me through it. I have had numerous nights where I felt like I was never going to make it because my emotions were just so out of whack. I've also had days where I felt like my heart was just going to jump out of my chest from pounding so hard. I experienced a bit of that today when my blood sugar went low, and I was worried that I was going to go into a coma (did I mention I'm a type one diabetic?). 

But through it all, God has been my anchor. He has always been there for me, and He always will! He's been teaching me some really wonderful things through this season of my life, and I really feel led to share these things with you!

That is what I'm going to fill these notebooks with. My thoughts, feelings, and the lessons that God is teaching me through this journey. My counselor told me fairly early on in our meetings that I should try journaling my feelings so that I could process them, so I already have one full journal filled and another about half-way done. 

I just think that it's funny... 

I have always loved notebooks, and I've always loved writing. I also have recently discovered an interest in making YouTube videos, so I made my own channel! So it seems that God is combining a ton of my talents and interests into one thing that I may be able to use in order to bring Him glory! Like I said, I started a YouTube channel and I've talked about anxiety on it before, but I'm planning on continuing to use that as a platform to share what God is teaching me. Not all of it even relates directly to anxiety, but they are things that God has been showing me through the anxiety.

I just know that God never wastes the pain that we go through. He loves us, and He will never inflict pain without bringing something new out of it. So I know that the pain I have been through with my anxiety will be used somehow, and it may be through this blog, my journals, or YouTube.

 So the point in all of this is that I'm feeling like God is really starting to open up a door for me. It's just that I have all of these interests and talents that are all coming together to culminate into something that could make an impact for God's kingdom. In light of that, I'm taking the next step that I see before me, and that's to just make some videos, maybe write some blog posts. I don't know where God is taking me, but I know that it's going to be good.:)

~Kendra :)

Video Editing and My Latest YouTuber Phase

Hey, guys!

I'm currently working on a new video for the blog, but I needed to take a break from the editing for a moment. I just thought I would let you know what I'm up to right now!

My biggest complaint at the moment with video editing is that I can't listen to music while editing... I get kind of bored while doing my editing, but I can't listen to music because I have to listen to what I'm actually saying in the video.

Frustrating.

Anyways, this is random, but I've recently become rather interested in two peoples' YouTube channels over the past couple days, and those are Wengie (check out her vlog channel here) and Michelle Phan. I guess I really like watching Asian peoples' content!:) I've also been watching a lot of different interviews featuring Michelle Phan, because she's a multi-millionaire who launched her whole career using YouTube. I find it really fascinating that she's been able to go (literally) from rags to riches, just by uploading videos to YouTube. OK, so it wasn't just uploading videos, but you get my drift.

Sometimes I feel like I would like to become a hugely successful entrepreneur, but at the same time, I realize I might not be the best at that kind of job. It is very demanding, and I would probably just die... But then I tend to get caught up in all of the glamor that's projected on the internet, like jet setting across the globe, getting free stuff shipped to you, and wearing the most beautiful clothing. And then I realize, I just need to find a job that lets me do those kinds of things without having to spend a ton of time around people all day! Simple, right?

Wrong.

Alright, I guess I won't return to my editing for now. I'm almost done with the video, but I still need to mess around with it some more. I also need to get ready for school tomorrow...

 

'Night everyone!

~Kendra :)

 

 

Wow... Long Time...

I know, it's been months!

But I think I might want to get back into writing on here. I like being able to write about things that I feel are important, and to just use this as and outlet for myself. I don't want to define my "direction" at this point, because I want to give myself complete freedom to do what I want here.

That's it for now. Bye!

~ Kendra :)

January 5-7, 2016: First Day of School, Tom's Farms, Rainy Days, and Homework

Hey, everybody! I'm still getting caught up on the past few days, but as I mentioned in my last post, this post shouldn't be as long, or as detailed, as that last one.

~ Tuesday, January 5, 2016~

This was my first day back at school after my Christmas break. I was kind of excited, since this class is about English literature (I thought we were going to be focusing more on literary classics, but so far everything has been pretty contemporary), along with writing and critical thinking. I wasn't really nervous, unlike last year. This time last year, I was going to my very first college class. I was so nervous, I think I almost felt sick at times. The peak of my nerves last year came when the teacher finally showed up and unlocked the classroom door. It's amazing how much can change for a person in just a year. But anyways, happy one-year-at-public-school-aversary to me! This is the winter semester, so it is majorly condensed. It is six weeks long, so everything will go about three times as fast as a normal semester. Wish me luck with that.:P

This is the outfit I wore for my first day back at school. I really liked this look; it was so comfy and cute! The mixed prints really upped the style factor of this outfit, in my opinion.

Another shot of my outfit.

January fifth was a rainy day, so I wore my black trench coat over my outfit, and I was sure to bring my umbrella to school with me. I love going to school in the rain, because I actually get to experience it! And it's usually cold, which is just great to me.:) After school, my mom, my sister, and I had an appointment to go to, then we went to Tom's Farms for a fun little side-trip.

While we were at Tom's Farms, I saw this cute outfit on display. I purposefully didn't take a picture of the mannequin's head because her hat was a houndstooth print as well, and I thought it was a bit overkill.

While we were at Tom's Farms, I bought a few things. Or rather, my mom bought some things that I need to pay her back for.:P The first of those items is this little Albert Einstein "Watchover Voodoo" doll. The company that sells these has a bunch of different types of these dolls, and I'm sure you could find one that you or a friend might like. The one I got came with a tag that says, "THE GENIUS: I will help tap your superior intellect and show them you're not as dumb as you look." That's kind of harsh, right?;) But these little guys are available online and in certain stores. The link I attached leads to the company's webpage, but they don't sell them directly through there. I would recommend checking on Amazon if you find one you would like on their website.

And just as a note to you guys, I don't believe that these little string dolls are bad on their own. They may have the "voodoo" label on them, but as long as you aren't using them in that way, I think it's appropriate to own one if you would like one.

Another thing I bought at Tom's Farms was this locket. I purchased a different locket in Big Bear that had my name on it (which is super hard for me to find!), but I lost it while I was on my school's campus taking a placement test. That was the first time I had been on the campus, by the way.:) This locket was fairly cheap, and I wanted to replace my last one, so I felt compelled to buy it. We'll see how it looks with my outfits in the future!

And lastly, my mom bought me this orange mask ornament! It's super sparkly and colorful, and it looks amazing on the tree. And, yes, we haven't gotten around to taking the tree down yet...

On the way back home from Tom's Farms, the clouds were looking really beautiful outside. The rainy weather makes for some gorgeous clouds. Don't you just love the rain?

That concludes January fifth. Onto the six!

~ Wednesday, January 6, 2016 ~

This was just a day at home, but I did take a picture of the rain outside! It was pouring through parts of the day, and it was wonderful.:) I basically spent the day doing homework, since class was cancelled for the day. But I got to watch "Night at the Museum" before I went to bed! I love that movie. Do you?

Yay, rain!

~ Thursday, January 7, 2016 ~

Another day at home, doing more homework. No rain today, but the sky and the grass were beautiful this morning after all of that rainfall.

Pictures rarely do anything justice, and that is still the case with this one.

Now that my blogging is done for the day, I think I will go do some more work, but then sit down on my bed and watch a movie. Maybe "Night at the Museum 2"?

~Kendra :)

January 4, 2016: My Day As A "Teacher"

 Hi, everyone! As I mentioned in my last post, I had quite a day on January fourth. I got the chance to observe a friend of mine teach her first grade class at a Christian school, and it was fantastic! In case you don't know, I am considering becoming an elementary school teacher, so this was an amazing opportunity for me. Although I didn't get to be very hands-on with the kids through much of the day, I'm fine with that since I got to experience a different side of a teacher's job. I've spent many years working with kids in various ways, shapes, and forms, so I appreciated that I got to see a different side to teaching. I'll go into more detail on what I did throughout the day as you scroll down.

~ Monday, January 4, 2014 ~

I woke up very early. Like 4:50 am early. I had to be dropped off at my teacher friend's house at around 6:15 am, so I had a bit over an hour to get ready. 

This is what I wore during the day, along with my light blue skinny jeans and Converse. It was a wonderfully chilly day out, but it was kind of warm in the classroom, so this outfit was great for adapting to the changing temperatures.

Once I got dropped off at my teacher friend's house, I pretty much instantly jumped into her car. We drove over to the school and chatted along the way. When we got to the campus, I helped her carry some bags of books and Christmas treats to the school. But before I went into the building, I had to sign in at a table and get a visitor's sticker. We walked down the hall to my friend's classroom, and along the way, I got to meet the Kindergarten teacher (who happens to be a great friend of my friend's).

This is the classroom I got to work in! I love how colorful it is, and as soon as I stepped foot into it, I felt like I could totally see myself being an elementary school teacher. If you look closely, you'll see the room has a surfing theme to it, which I think is very cute.

After my friend and I dropped off our stuff in the classroom, we went into the administrative office to borrow a cart to take my friend's Christmas decor out to her car. While I was in the office, I got to go behind the main desk and see the teacher's lounge! That was pretty neat to me, to be in the "off limits" areas.;) I also met some other teachers in the office, and they all welcomed me. One lady in a sparkly sweater was very energetic towards me, and another lady gave me a nice compliment about my hair.:)

Once we had dropped off my friend's stuff at her car, we returned the cart to the office, grabbed two large piles of papers from the teacher's lounge, and headed back to the classroom. I think this was about the time my friend took some Christmas treats to the janitor down the hall, then returned to the room to set up. My friend set those red folders on the tables down, and she got me started filing those stacks of papers from the lounge. The pictures of those papers are a little bit below.

 

 

This is just a closer look at the cubbies and little reading nook by my teacher friend's desk. I love how cute the nooks are! They're the perfect size for first graders.

 

OK, so this was my very first job of the day. I got to file away all of the student worksheets that the kids will have to fill out in the future. See all the green and yellow in the filing cabinet? That wasn't there before I started working. I filled it up so much, I had to move some of the files down to another drawer! There was more to this job than just sticking the papers in where they belonged, because I had to separate all of the papers into their respective lessons and paper clip them together before putting them away. It took me a while, but I kind of enjoyed it.:)

I got the filing done before the kids came to the room, but by that time I had started a new project. My teacher friend had me cut rectangles of this adhesive to use on the name tags on the table that tell the kids where to sit. Apparently, the kids like to pick at and peel the adhesive, so it has to be replaced now and then. It was a cool moment when my teacher friend introduced me to the class; some of the kids seemed excited that I was there, and quite a few of them waved at me. It was so cute! 

Oh, my. These are the kids' homework folders, and just let me tell you, this job took me ALL DAY. I was adding things for the kids to take home into their folders throughout the day, and they got so full that my teacher friend didn't want to put anything else into them until the following day. So basically, I took out the old homework and replaced it with current homework, fliers, and the kids' art projects from weeks gone by.
 

Each of the kids has a number assigned to them, and those numbers are on their folders and (sometimes) on their art projects, so it helps with organizing things. But it wasn't until part of the way through the day that I got a master list of the names of the kids and the numbers assigned to them, so it kind of made my job that much longer until then. I had to find the names on their projects and then paw through all twenty-four of the folders to find the correct one. I should have taken a photo of the giant pile of things I had to put into the folders.:P Although it was a long job, I still liked doing it. I enjoy organizing things, so this was right up my ally.

So, after a few hours of classroom time, the kids went to recess. During recess, my teacher friend and I went on a break of our own. My friend showed me where the snacks were in the administrative office, and we headed back to the classroom to eat. I think once I had finished eating, I got assigned to put the aforementioned craft projects into the kids' folders, in addition to the fliers and things I was already working on. After a little bit, we went back to the playground to get the kids and bring them back to class. During this class time, I think I continued to work on the folders. But there was this one time I got to play a math game with one of the kids, which was super fun.:) Every time I started beating him at the game, he would act disappointed and kind of exclaim things at me. He was quite the character!

Eventually, we dropped the kids off at the lunch room. The lunch room is in an auditorium-type room, which included the stage pictured above. I thought the stage looked kind of cool and creepy since it was dark and empty. Once we had taken the kids to the lunch room, my teacher friend and I went to the cafe to get some lunch of our own. I ordered chicken tenders and seasoned fries with a diet Coke. While I waited for the order, I poked around the bookstore that is connected to the café. I love that bookstore... Once our food was ready, we sat down to eat. Man, those fries were super salty! I didn't finish eating before my friend did, so she went back to get the kids while I finished.

When I got back to the classroom, my teacher friend and the children weren't back yet, so I continued working on this project. This is a lesson plan book that I had to put the "master" papers back into according to their lesson number. Remember all of those green and yellow papers in the filing cabinet? Those were copies of these "master" sheets. Apparently, a lot of the jobs that I did that day were jobs that my friend's assistant does, so not only was I helping my friend, but I was helping her assistant too! My friend's assistant said I was welcome back anytime.:)

This is another shot of the lesson book I was organizing. It's pretty colorful with all those tabs!

 

This is the filing cabinet I was working at and the coffee corner. I stayed over here for the most part, except for when I had to put together those homework folders. Then I was down the counter a bit.

 

A closer look at the coffee corner.

 

 After some more time in the classroom, it was time for the kids to go to the computer room and learn about the computers. On the way there, I saw this door and just thought it looked cool. It looks kind of like a door that could lead to anything! Anyways, while the kids were in the computer room, my teacher friend showed me around the school, mainly the computer room and the library.

 

I love Nancy Drew, so when I saw this shelf in the library, I had to take a photo.:)

 

This is the side of the library that is called the Paw Store. Basically, when the kids do good things, they get rewarded with "paws" that they can exchange for prizes.

 

More books in the library.

 

While we waited for the kids' time in the computer room to come to an end, I helped my friend in the classroom. I cut up some "Thank You" cards for her students and stuck them into their already too-full homework folders. I was still cutting the cards up by the time the kids came back.

 

These are all of the kids' backpacks and jackets hanging in the classroom. 

 

When the kids came back, and once I had completed cutting up the "Thank You" notes, my teacher friend gave me another job to do. I had to take pages from these magazine-type things and staple them together, along with a note from the school about ordering the books in the magazines.

 

This is the finished stack! Because the kids' homework folders were already super full, my friend just decided to wait until the following day to send them home with the kids.

 

This is the wall above the classroom with waves and "Even the waves obey His voice" painted on it.

 

And this is a shot from the end of the day, after the kids were all picked up, and my friend and I put the chairs up on the tables. If you look at the far end of the room, there is this special table made out of a surf board. Every week, one student/"Surfer of the Week" gets to sit there along with a friend of their choosing.

 

Once we had finished cleaning up the room and resetting it, my teacher friend and I hopped into her car and she dropped me off at home. The day was a long one, but I had a wonderful time. I'm really appreciative to my friend for bringing me along with her so I could see what a typical day in the classroom is like. I was home-schooled up until I started going to college, so I really enjoyed being able to experience this day. The reason this post is so detailed in the recounting of the day is because I know sometime down the road, I'm really going to be glad I wrote down so many details. I love revisiting special days in my past, and this is one of them.

 

I'm still behind in recording the past few days, but thankfully the past few days haven't been as memorable as this day was. If they were, I would have to spend a lot longer on those posts.:P The next posts shouldn't be quite as long as this one. I should get started!

 

~Kendra :)

January 1-3, 2016: AG Place, Poodle Sweater Outfit, and a New Planner

Hello, people out there in the wide world! It's Kendra, back from a long absence. Since it is the start of a new year, I thought maybe I would give blogging on this site another shot. I want to post photos and observations from my day and use this blog as a personal account of my life. I just want to use this blog as a place to post whatever I'd like! So you can expect a hodge-podge of things from me in the future. But for now, I'm going to catch up on documenting the past couple of days.

 

~ Friday, January 1, 2016 ~

 

 

First up, this is the outfit I wore when I went to the American Girl store with my mom, my sister Emma, and our friends (Jaclynn and her mom) for the premiere of the new Girl of the Year, Lea. I wore this with black jeans, a black leather jacket, and my classic black Converse. My shirt says, "God is my refuge when life gets cray-cray. Psalm 45." I love it, but the grey color isn't the best on my skin tone on its own, so I usually pair this shirt with something more flattering to my coloring. In this case, I used denim and bright green. 

 

 

We got to The Grove before the AG store opened and we could go in, so we poked around the rest of the outdoor mall. This year, instead of standing in a long line in order to get into the store, the AG employees assigned us numbered groups and told us the approximate time to come back for our group's turn in the store. During our time meandering through the shopping center, we stopped in Crate & Barrel, and I found this ceramic ginger grater. I pointed it out to my mom and jokingly told her, "Apparently they don't like gingers!"

 



 

When we returned to the AG store, I took some photos of the displays that caught my eye the most. This is a picture of the window display that AG designed for Lea. The colors and setting inspire me to go out and explore!

 

This is a picture of the display for the AG doll Rebecca. She's an aspiring actress, so she has a very theatrical display.

 

This is the Julie doll's display. Her time period is in the 1970s, so she has a fun, "groovy" look to her archive. I've sat in that chair before; it's pretty cool! It's funny to think of how many other girls have sat there, and how excited they must have been to be at the store. I remember the days when there were only three American Girl Places in the country, in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. So it was a dream come true if you ever got to go to one of the stores, with many people making special trips to the AG Place. It is still like that to a degree today, but there are more locations nowadays, especially if you include the little stores that are now opening up in some malls.

 

Sorry for the poor photo quality in these next couple photos; the sun was in a horrible place for these pics. This next photo is a picture of Lea's rainforest house and her pajamas. The hut has a hammock, some animal friends (some probably available separately), and lots of cute little accessories. I love this set, it totally makes me wish I could live in a little hut like this! Also, you might notice the bunk near the roof -- it comes down. 

 

This is a shot of Lea's hiking outfit and accessories, a little fruit stand, and a random person's hand...

 

This is Samantha's display. Her story is set in the state of New York, during 1904. Some of her books talk about the suffragettes' fight for the right to vote, so that is featured in her display, along with a "Teddy" bear (very popular in those days), a porcelain doll, and a painting set. 

 

This is Maryellen's diner set. It's so cute and retro! Maryellen's story is set in the 1950s, and this diner totally captures the vintage feel of those days. I think the jukebox is a great touch.

 

This is Maryellen's display, with a black and white TV, a rocket, a poodle skirt, and the black and white checkered floor.

 

This is a shot of Maryellen's outfits and play-sets. She's one of the newest dolls to be added to the AG family, so I thought I would get some photos of her outfits.

 

I think this play outfit is super cute. I love vintage things, so her entire wardrobe is adorable to me, but I liked this outfit particularly. Maybe because it is her most casual look, and I love the little cherries on her clothing.

 

This is the classic poodle skirt look of the '50s, along with another shot of Maryellen's diner set.

 



 

This outfit is pretty cute, but I really just liked the telescope and "stargazing" feeling I got from looking at it. My sister bought the sweater, skirt, and boots of this outfit, but I think the accessories were sold separately.

 

Once we left the store, we went to the concierge to get our parking validated. On the way there, we saw this "Star Wars The Force Awakens" poster, and I had to get a picture of it. My sister Emma and I both really like Kylo Ren, but I believe Emma likes him more than I do... Or at least she shows it more than I do.;) Also, whenever we go to the concierge, there is this older guy who works for the valet, and he's always super nice to us as we walk by. I think he's nice to everyone, which is really sweet.:) He asks my sister and her friend Jaclynn what their doll's names are whenever he sees their big bags from the AG store, and he even offered to take our picture with the poster pictured below. I love that guy, and I don't even see him that much! He'll probably never know that he makes an impact on complete strangers' lives just by being kind to them.

 

~ Saturday, January 2, 2016 ~

No pictures from this day, since all I really did was stay home and look on iTunes all day. I was trying to choose what music I wanted to buy with the gift cards I got for Christmas. I was on iTunes almost all day, listening to so many samples of music and so many YouTube videos in order to make my final decisions...

 

~ Sunday, January 3, 2016 ~

Shown below is the outfit I wore to church. I was taking some photos when Emma came in, so we took a weird photo together. I have so many weird photos of us, it's not even funny.:P

 

 

This is a nicer, head-to-toe picture of my outfit.

 

And a detail shot, brought to you by the photography expertise of Emma.;) If you're wondering what my necklace says, it says, "Never let anyone dull your sparkle."

 

When we got back from church, I got busy designing a planner for the new year! My mom discovered these Erin Condrin planners that you can design yourself. I've been meaning to buy a planner to help me spend my time wisely, and this one is really fun because I got to pick out the pictures that went on the cover. I went for something kind of artsy and imaginative by using some of the photos I've saved on Pinterest. I spent forever getting my planner to look right, and I can't wait to see it in reality! But apparently there was a bit of a bump in the road with the ordering process... My mom wants to use a discount code on our purchase, but because of the way it's set up, we can't have it honored without some help from the company. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. But I'll be sure to take a picture of the planner whenever it gets here!

 

During the day, while I designed my planner, I watched "Good Luck Charlie" on Netflix with my sister pretty much for the rest of the day.:P I also finished choosing what songs I wanted from iTunes, and I made my purchases! I love buying new music; it just makes my life feel better somehow. Music is such a big part of my life, so getting new music kind of adds a new spark to my life.

 

I'm going to start working on a post about what I did today so I can try to get caught up, but I don't think it will be up tonight. There was a lot of good things that happened for me today. I got to observe a fist grade class taught by a family friend at a Christian school, and I got to experience a fantastic day there. Many pictures to come!

 

~Kendra :)

P.S. This is the day that I officially changed my blog's name from "Me, Myself, and I" to "It's A Ginger's Life."