Happy Thanksgiving! ♡

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! No matter how you guys celebrate or don't celebrate, please have fun, enjoy this day, and be safe!

Ever since I've moved for college, I've been spending my Thanksgiving with my sisters. I've spent Thanksgiving with them the past two years and this year is not different. I spend it with my sisters because they live only about 5 hours away (driving) and 1 hour (plane). It's nice to be around family during this time. I really like spending time with their kids because I don't get to see them that often.

I'm actually really said that I forgot to take pictures of our dinner. It was a bit hard this year because the turkey looked so delicious, juicy, and moist! I was eyeing the turkey the whole time and almost ate some meat products, but I stuck to my guns and only had veggie things to eat. I was really proud of myself because after I ate my vegetarian-friendly things, I didn't even crave for the turkey anymore. I realized I was only craving it because I was hungry.

I did not do much this Thanksgiving because unfortunately, I am sick. :( Being sick during the holidays is not very fun since I'm not able to enjoy being with family. I also have a lot of homework to do and it cuts into family time. Sorry for the short post but there's not much I can really say about this holiday since didn't take any pictures, which is my bad. I'll be sure to take more pictures tomorrow for Black Friday!

Here's a picture from Thanksgiving last year!

Dealing with Stress

If you're in school, specifically college, it's that time of the year where things get a little hectic. I'm in that same boat, every year and every end of the semester. Some of y'all have the privilege that others do not, a break for the holidays to recuperate. It can be so easy to get stressed out. A lot of assignments are due, exams, papers, finals, and all you want to do is take a break and rest. Here are some ways that I deal with stress:

Get Organized: Get yourself organized at the beginning of the semester. Get as many organizers, reminders, agenda, etc. to keep track of your assignments, tests, exams, and due dates. This is probably the hardest thing for me. I always have the intentions of keeping an agenda, but I end up 'forgetting' to use it after a couple of weeks. I have other reminders on my laptop and my phone. I also keep post-it notes around my desk to make sure I see them and remind myself what I need to do.

Block out a time to study: This is very important. If you don't make time for your assignments or put effort into studying, you will have a bad time trying to pull an all nighter or cramming before your test. You'll creating more stress and anxiety than if you had set a specific hour or two of the day to do your homework or study. It's hard to have time for everything that you want to do: working, spending time with friends, going to school events, and having alone time. But think about your long term goals and what you want to achieve out of school. You will get the grade you deserve if you put the effort and time into it. What you put in is what you get out!

Take a Break: Take breaks while you study or do homework so that you don't burn out. I usually do 20 mins of work and take a 5-10 min break in a 2 hour study session. I like to do stretches, get a snack, walk around, have a bathroom break, or anything to give my mind a rest. It's important to do this so that when you get back to doing your work, you feel refreshed and have a burst of energy. I also like to find a funny YouTube video to watch to make me feel better. Be careful to not take your breaks too often or for too long. Set a timer to make sure you're following through with your studying plan.

Go to the Library: Or somewhere else that can help you stay focused. The library is the most obvious place to study, but sometimes people can be rude, uncourteous to others, and loud in the library. I suggest finding a place in your house, apartment, or dorm to study. I like to go into an empty classroom and do my studying there. It helps me concentrate because I'm in a 'classroom' environment.

Stay Positive! A little bit of suffering now for good grades and paying for your education is just a pathway to the future you envisioned. Just know that hard work does pay off and it will continue to pay off because you know how hard you worked to achieve what you want.

Here's a picture of some puppies to help you destress :)

Lack of posts

Hello!! Just wanted to update you guys on what I'm doing at this time. I have so much homework to do and yet I am blogging away.... But, only to let you guys know that I won't be posting much this weekend. 

I am actually starting Fall Break and I will be traveling to visit my sisters for the holiday! I will blog of all the things that we do, especially what I will be doing for Thanksgiving and Black Friday! My sisters and I have been planning Black Friday for months... to be honest, since last Black Friday. This Thanksgiving will be a little bit different for me as well since I am no longer eating meats besides types of seafood. This will be a test for me, but I hope I can stick to my guns.

I will be sharing lots of insight into my personal life and my family. So far I have only shared some things regarding technology and blog things, but this will give you an idea of my life and lifestyle. 

Well, as you can see I have a ton of homework to do before my break can even start. I better get back to doing it instead of procrastinating... I will be doing a post about dealing with stress, becoming overwhelmed, and of course procrastination. See y'all later!

                                   

From Apple to Android

Hello! As promised, this blog post is going to be about my experience on switching from being an iPhone to an Android. Now all of this is based on personal preference and I am in no way shape or form convincing you that one is better than the other. Everything that you choose to use for a long period of time is going to take a lot of research and based on your personal preference also.

iPhone: I had an iPhone 4 8BG in White. Now at the time, I was switching from a sliding keyboard type phone into a smartphone. I admit, I got an iPhone because I thought it was the cool thing to have. I wanted to have the same things other people had. I had a materialistic way of thinking back then, but that's the past. I didn't do much research before purchasing it, I just wanted it so bad because it was popular. I actually really enjoyed my iPhone. It was cute and I was practically addicted to it. I was on it almost all the time, but I think anyone with a smartphone eventually becomes that way one time or another. I think I was such a fan of it because I could be in a group text with my sisters, because they lived far, it was the only way we could communicate on a regular basis. During the time I had an iPhone, I became Apple obsessed. I loved a lot of the things that my iPhone had to offer, but in the world of technology and smartphones, your phone can get out of date fairly quick, and that's what happened.

I had my iPhone 4 for 2 years and by this time the iPhone 5S had already made it's debut. My first smartphone was not cutting it out for me anymore. I barely had any room to download/install the new updates and my phone was starting to run slowly and lag. The camera wasn't as high quality as it once was because of new phone with better cameras. And to be frank, Apple wasn't providing anything new for me and other smartphone companies had the things I was looking for.

Samsung: My biggest factor for switching to an Android is customization. I've mentioned this in a previous blogpost, but the Samsung phones had other things to offer than just customization. I was transitioning from a clean and simple operating system (OS) that was easy to understand. I think choosing to go with a Samsung phone was a smart decision by me. Samsung phones operate almost like a combination of iOS and Android, which is perfect for someone switching from an Apple product to an Android based phone. The one other thing that I really liked about the Samsung is the camera. The camera is literally so amazing. The one thing that really got me was that the camera can record videos in 4K. Now I'm not really sure what exactly that means, but it's similar to 1080p but on steroids; so imagine super super high quality and high definition videos. This was an important factor for me because I  had the option to use my phone as a regular camera and as a video camera without sacrificing too much quality.

I was coming from a small phone to a huge phone. Many consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to be a 'phablet', basically a phone the size of a tablet. I was very used to the size of my iPhone. It would fit anywhere. When I upgraded to a bigger phone size, I had to carry it in a purse or in the pocket of my bag, because it is way too big to fit in a pocket, and I actually don't wear a lot of things with pockets. I hold my phone instead of putting it into a bag or pocket because I'm afraid of losing it and also because I am constantly checking my phone. Now with that said, I think I made a mistake of choosing such a big phone. It's a little embarrassing to be holding a huge phone all the time and if i tried to put it in my pocket, it would look like I was trying to put a book in there instead. I have some issues with how the messages look and I kind of miss the simplicity and clean look that iPhones have. I also have a problem with the battery life, but I think it's also in part that I use my phone a lot..... like a lot.

Verdict: I think overall, I am very happy that I made the switch. I have a bigger screen to watch Netflix and I have a lot more freedom to customize it any way that I want. I did consider switching back to Apple after they announced the iPhone 6, but I don't want to give up all of the features that Samsung has to offer. Make sure you do as much research as you can before making any type of purchase. Also see if you know anyone with the phone that you want and test it out, or go to a store with working demo models. There are so many resources on the internet that can help you also.

Customizing Your Phone ♡

Hey bloggers! Today I’m going to go over the apps I use to customize and personalize my phone. I used to have an iPhone but I made the switch to Android purely on the fact that I could customize my phone and make it as cute and personal as I want. I currently have a Samsung Note 3 on Verizon Service. It is also unrooted, which basically means I did not jailbreak my phone. All the apps that I use are also free!

*Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored/paid blogpost, I'm just sharing my knowledge and experience with customizing my phone.

Quick Overview: I just wanted to include a quick overview of my transition from an iPhone into an Android phone. I'll probably do an in depth review/experience in another post, but here is a quick one. As I noted earlier, I wanted to make the switch because I wanted to customize my phone. The Note 3 has a lot of really great other features that I also enjoy. The transition was pretty hard the first week or so. The Note 3 is a lot bigger than my iPhone 4 and I had to take some time to get used to it. After a while, I began to love everything about it. There are some things that I would like to change, but overall, my transition went smooth. The one criticism that I have is that it's a little too big for me. I will probably switch into a smaller Android in the future and most likely stick with the Samsung line. Now that that's out of the way, let's get to customizing!

Here is what my phone currently looks like: I'm not sure if I mentioned this already but I am a customization junkie. Not only do I like changing things to make them personal, but I change them on a regular basis - maybe every 3-5 days. But, my phone has been this way for about a month now, which is really an accomplishment for me. When I first began to customize my phone, I spent 2 full days of making sure I liked everything that I did, and here is the final product... for now ;)

The first two pictures are my lock screen and the homescreen that you see after unlocking it. The background for my lock screen can be found here and the background my homescreen can be found here. The bottom two pictures are my homescreens to the left and right of my main screen. The one of the left is if you swipe right from my main screen and if you swipe left from my main screen you'll see the picture on the right.

Icons: Almost all the icons on my phone are custom icons. It honestly took so long to pick one for every icon I have on my homescreens but I think it was time well spent. With the icons, it takes time and constant searching. I was very specific on the icons and style that I wanted so, it took longer because I was picky. If you don't have any qualms about icons, then you'll have an easier time finding the ones you like and match the theme you're going with.  The apps I use for the icons are Cocoppa and Iconron which can be found in the Google Play Store.

Cocoppa/Iconron: I've seen some videos on YouTube where people's phones were messed up with the Cocoppa app, but they were using the app on an iPhone. If you have an iPhone, please be cautious about using the Cocoppa app. I honestly have no issues with Cocoppa Icons running on my phone and the icons open the apps perfectly. The only issue I have is with the app itself. It runs a little slowly for me, but I don't mind waiting a little for the pictures of the icons to load. There are lots of videos on YouTube and other blogposts about how to use Cocoppa, but let me know if you want me to do a walkthrough post. Iconron is another Icon changing app. It works just like Cocoppa, it just has other icon options than Cocoppa. I use both of them because there are some icons on one app that the other doesn't. I don't mind having two apps for customizing my phone because it just gives me more options to pick cute icons.

Clock Widget: The widget I use for my clock is called 'Pink Kitty Bow Clock Widget', but you can also find it by searching 'cute clock widget' in the Google Play Store and it should come up as the first one on the list.I picked this widget because it matched the theme I was going with perfectly. The bow even moves a little when you're on the main screen. I just played with the options to make it transparent instead of the pink background because the pink didn't match my homescreen background. 

Font: I use the app called iFont to download fonts for my phone, which you can also find in the Google Play Store by searching 'iFont'. The current font that I'm using is called KG Be Still And Know. The app is very easy to use and the instructions provided are really easy to follow. My only complaint about this app is that it does take time for the preview of the fonts to load and you're only allowed to download 3-5 fonts per day.

Please let me know if you have any questions about how I customized my phone. I would also love to see how you customize your phone. I'm always searching for new ideas and inspiration :)

Blog Content

Hello! I'm here with another blog post on the content that I use for my blog. So far, I have just been playing around with fonts and it's honestly made my blog look so much better! I used to be really into HTML/CSS when MySpace was the thing. I used to customize the bananas out of my MySpace page and when I used to use Tumblr. Unfortunately, all of that information did not stick in my brain, but there are so many resources out there that can help you make your blog look super nice also!

Layout: My layout is pretty simple. I really like minimalistic/simplistic layouts because it just makes the page feel less cluttered. I don't want my blog post to be full of unnecessary things on it. For my layout, I am just using one that is provided by Blogger/Blogspot. I'm not sure what template I'm using because I just added a background. The layout of my page itself is very simple also. Just play around with the settings in the 'Customize' option of Layout section.

Background: My background is from here. This is actually a page for Tumblr themes. I found this while viewing JasmineBlu's tumblr page and followed the link that was provided for the maker if her theme. If you visit JasmineBlu's blog, you can see that I have followed a similar theme that she created, especially with adding the title header, i.e. the 'Blog Content' part at the beginning of the post and the 'always, kim' at the end of my post. I thought that added those little touches to the posts made it more personal and it shows that she cares about the content that she provides, which is something I also wanted to convey. A lot of the design elements that I use are inspiration from her.

Fonts: All of the fonts that I've used to create my header and blog titles are from dafont.com. This is the best place to find new fonts. It's super easy to use and download. The have options to download for both PC and Mac, which is perfect for me! There's also an option to preview the font before downloading it. Just type in whatever you want into the box and the fonts will update with a preview of those words. I used the search option because I noticed that the fonts that I liked were labeled KG. So if you're looking for a font that I used in one of my posts, search KG. If you're not able to find it, let me know and I'll give you the exact name of the font I used. The best part about DaFont is that all of the fonts are free to download. So go on that downloading spree and experiment with fonts!

Editing: The one thing I don't like about Mac is that there isn't a base program like MS Paint. I had a lot of issues trying to figure out how to edit my fonts because some of them have layers to it. There are alternatives to MS Paint that you can download if you're a Mac user, but I'm getting a subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud for school in a few weeks, so I didn't want to download any programs. Right now I am using Microsoft Word. I use the text box option so that I have the ability to move the text box wherever I want it on the page. If you've tried to edit a picture on Microsoft Word, it's a serious hassle, but editing fonts is really easy. Again, you'll just have to play around and experiment.

Social Media Icons: The icons themselves I downloaded from JasmineBlu's blog. She made those really cute icons that I'm currently using for my social media buttons. I'm using them temporarily only because I don't have time to create my own and I thought that they fit well with the theme of my blog. I suggest checking out XOMisse. She has a lot of resources available on her blog that can help with HTML/CSS. That's how I made the icon pictures into links. The internet is your best friend, especially Google, if you need any help with coding. The internet will answer all the questions you need.

Other: If you're at a total lost, check out the Blogger Forums! There are so many people there that help with any of the questions that you have. I'll admit, I'm super new to this blogging concept, let alone customizing. I've used the forums once and if I ever get into trouble, I'll probably use it again.

I hope this post has helped you with inspiration. I'm a customization junkie, so you might see my page go through different phases and themes. Please let me know if you have any specific questions.

About Me ♡

So here we go, an official 'About Me' post. I usually don't like doing one of these but I have a feeling we're going to be good friends, especially if I update my blog regularly. Let's hope that I do. I'm not really sure where to begin, but I'll just jump right into it.

♡ A bit of history: My parents immigrated from Vietnam to America during the Vietnam War. My dad and his younger brother travel by a boat with other refugees. On the boat, my dad met my mom. I guess you can say the rest is history, but it takes a lot of courage to leave everything you know behind and put all your faith in doing well in America. I am the youngest of four children. My two older sisters have their own families and kids and my brother is doing amazing things with his contribution with The Mission Continues, you'll see his amazing-ness in the future. I'm not super close to my family, but I feel like I have a great relationship with my parents and siblings. This picture was during my uncle's wedding. The picture on the left is an old picture of my parents. (The picture on the right) My two sisters are on the left and my brother is in the blue with my parents on either side of him. And of course that's me in the red :)

     

Let's get down to the facts of me! I don't like doing lists. I feel like they're really impersonal, but I don't have another way of doing an about me without doing a whole life story (and that'll just end up really long). So here's a list of things about me for the time being, I'll update it eventually and I'll also have longer posts about some of the things that I want to share, or leave a comment if you want to know something specifically!

1. My favorite color is actually purple! For some reason I am attracted to pinks if you can't tell from the design of my blog. There are some other reasons to why it looks that way, but the main one is that I don't like pastel purples and pastel pinks look better. It's easier to match pastel pink than it is pastel purples. I also love classic colors like white, black, and neutrals.
2. I am 22 years old! I'm often mistaken for younger, but I take it as a compliment. I would rather look younger than older, because who wants to be old? ;P
3. I'm in college and I'm expected to graduate in Fall 2015 with a Bachelor's in English Literature. I'm planning to continue my education and get an MFA in interior design, but we will see how life works out.
4. I am in love with Chipotle. I have classes late on Tuesdays and I'm usually too tired to cook something to eat when I get home so my fiancé and I go to Chipotle for dinner instead. We call it Chipotle Tuesday. I remember a time when I absolutely despised Chipotle, but that's behind me now and I have nothing but love for it.
5. I have a pretty keen eye for details and a great appreciation for anything hand crafted.
6. I'm a super self-reliant type of person, so if there is anything that is produced that I'm not satisfied with, I will try to make it myself. 
7. I'm extremely introverted. I am only really close to a few people, and those few I can count on one hand. I have friends, but not on a regular socializing basis. I have people I talk to in class and stuff, but not life-long friends. I'm just very limited and cautious about the people I let into my life. Nothing horrible happened in my life that lead to this, it just happened. 
8. I love to laugh! Laughing is the best medicine, for anything really. I love when I can enjoy a good time with company that makes me laugh. 
9. I am a Netflix junkie, but who isn't nowadays? My favorite shows that I've watched form beginning to end at least 5 times are How I Met Your Mother and Bob's Burgers. King of the Hill used to be on Netflix, but sadly it's not on there anymore, but I still love that show.
10. In addition to Netflix, I'm a YouTube junkie, but again, who isn't? I watch a lot of gaming vids/Let's Plays, drawing/sketching videos, and on the occasion makeup guru vlogs. I watch because of the content, but also as inspiration for creating my own content some day.
11. I'm an Apple fangirl turned into a Samsung fangirl. I still own Apple products, but I'm slowly migrating back to a Windows computer and Android OS. I like Apple and it's simplistic design, but I can't play any games on my Mac! But everything is personal preference so I prefer some Apple things over Android/Samsung and vice versa.

I can't think of much else to say, but again, I'll do an updated one of these or a specific post about any of the things I provided. Let me know in the comments if you want to know anything else, I'll be happy to share :)

About This Blog

This post is basically the type of things that I will be blogging about. I want this blog to be the embodiment of my personality and my interests. Right now there is an overwhelming amount of pink, but I promise I'm not a super pink person :) I will do a proper 'About Me' in another post, but for now, I will explain the things that I most likely blog about.

♡ Life/Lifestyle: This will be the majority of my blog, just life in general. I am still in college but I'm in that transitioning phase of my life where I am about to be thrusted into the real world. I also want to share my everyday life with you guys, however boring and repetitive it may be. This is a personal blog after all and I want to document my memories to look back and feel nostalgic and also appreciate all the things that have happened.

♡ Relationships: If you've read my previous blog post, you might know that I am in a long term relationship. We've been together for six years and we're actually engaged. My fiancé is a large part of my life because we live together. He supports me in everything that I wish to do and vice versa. I also want to share my experiences with other relationships like family and friends, since I live far from them.

♡ Health: I think you can tell from my previous blog post that I am very aware of my health and wellbeing. Documenting your progress helps keep you motivated and helps keep you accountable for what you do and accomplish. I will be documenting my ongoing journey of living a healthy lifestyle. I also think that my experiences can help others. Sharing is caring, in my opinion, and I never want you to feel like you're the only one struggling. I struggle every day at when it comes to eating habits and working out, but talking it out helps a lot!

♡ DIY, How To's, Crafts, Art: I really love making things and creating things. I will try my hardest with documenting my progress through any type of project that I have going on, whether it is personal or for school. I am actually moving into a new apartment soon and I will be doing furniture shopping and decorating. I'm also really into interior designing and its a hobby/passion of mine. I love anything that has to do with art and I have always wanted to do something in that field. I'll also include some tutorials or provide links to tutorials that I use for anything of my content. That includes editing software, design content, blog design/content, anything along those lines that I use and could be beneficial for you too.

♡ Home/Saving: I think this falls into the DIY category of my blog, but I thought it would be important to include. As I noted earlier, I am a college student and usually that means I'm broke most of the time. I'm not really broke, but I save my money for those dreaded school loans instead of spending it. Sometimes that means I don't go out as often or splurge on clothes/makeup, but I will share my secrets to saving and deals.

♡ Gaming: I actually don't play that many video games besides a select few, but I love watching other people play. I spend a lot of my spare time watching other people play video games on Twitch.tv and on YouTube. I'm also buying a new computer after I move into my new apartment so that I can start creating content for YouTube and for streaming on Twitch. I only play a few games, only two that I can name off the top of my head and that's The Sims and Animal Crossing. I'm not limited to only playing those games, but those are the only ones that I have the most experience with, and even then it's  limited. I am also a big follower of League of Legends. I don't play, but I try to watch all of the tournaments games like, OGN, LCS, IEM, etc.

I hope this gives an overview of what my blog with entail. I will probably blog more about other things and I will do an updated one of these when I feel like I need it. This is mainly to help me keep organized and give you guys a feel for what I like and what I will be posting. I'll do an About Me in my post. ~