Bloom Where You’re Planted

The teen years are hard, right? Full of weird emotions and sometimes you just don’t know how to feel. But whoever you are, all teens experience some unhappiness with something or other. Like Harry in Order of the Phoenix and Katniss in Mockingjay- sometimes the situations you’re in just make you want to curl up into a ball and never leave your room.

I moved to the town I’m living in now three years ago, and until today, the only thing I liked about the town was my school (which is a story for another time…maybe). I hated the landscape, I hated the amenities (one small Target? Yeesh), I hated the people (dang, what a horrible generalized statement).

Today, I went downtown with my best friend, Lucie (the brownie bites guest poster!). We volunteered at our local library for a few hours, then went to a corner cafe for lunch, then to a new pottery place (LOVE!), then to a cute antique shop, then to a fabulous bakery that is super cheap but soooo yummy, which was good because by then we kinda ran out of money… hahaha!

These businesses were really small, local businesses, and the owners were SO NICE! At the corner cafe, we ordered a sweet potato cinnamon roll, and the guy waited until we finished our sandwiches to heat it up and put on fresh cream cheese icing- heaven! At the new pottery place, we painted a butter dish and soap pump for our moms for Mothers’ Day; the store was so artsy and colorful we couldn’t not fall in love! The antique shop was full of the most amazing things and ridiculously awesome old coins, and the dude there was really enthusiastic and helpful. At the bakery, I got four delicious cookies for 80¢!

Basically, what I’m saying is that you can find lovely gems wherever you are. If you’re really sick of your town, doing the same old stuff, I highly encourage you to explore and find those gems! You won’t regret it, and you might even find some of your favorite places! Make the most of your life, because there really is beauty in everything 🙂

What are your favorite quirky places?

P.S. Sorry I didn’t get any pictures!

Book Review: The Program

How do you guys like the book reviews so far? If you ever have any book recommendations for me, or thoughts about books, don’t be shy in the comments! I love to hear from you!!!

book image from suzanne-young.blogspot.com

Book: The Program
Author: Suzanne Young
Rating: PG-13– language, mature content
Score: 7/10

Summary:
When teen suicide becomes an epidemic, The Program is created. It’s supposed to cure teens of the depression that causes them to commit suicide, but it does this by taking their memories. Sloane has lost her brother to suicide, and her friend to The Program. She has her boyfriend, James, now, but how much longer can they hide their depression, even when they’re together?

Review:
Such an intriguing concept! The topic is really interesting, and the protagonists are realistic and easy to connect to. However, I thought it was kind of watered down. I think the book could have been so much more exciting; I guess I understand that because the book is about depression, the tone is low-key, depressed, as well, but I think that element of depression could still be in the tone of the book without sacrificing some of the excitement, suspense, or quality. I’m not sure if I will continue reading the rest of the series. That being said, overall it is a good book that I would recommend for an all-day weekend read, preferably during a storm or a cloudy day, because it’s definitely not light-hearted!

Have you read The Program? Tell me your thoughts and opinions in the comments! And if you’d like to know what some upcoming book reviews are, subscribe to the monthly email newsletter!

Hey, we could start a book club!!! Yeah?

Book Review: Before I Fall

All riiight, it’s time for a review of a book that’s really popular as of late. I’m not sure how many bestseller books I’ll review, but I can tell you that the next review will be a popular book too. This week’s book isssss *drumroll please* Before I Fall!

book image from Lauren Oliver Books

Book: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Rating: PG-13 — adult content, language, drinking/drugs/smoking
Score: 5/10

Summary:
Sam Kingston has THE life- she’s a popular girl with a boyfriend and great friends. She shouldn’t be the one to die, right? Fortunately, she has seven chances to redo the last day of her life. Sam discovers some interesting things, like how much she loves her family, what her boyfriend really thinks of her, and the secrets her best friend is keeping from her. What can she change in the lives of other people, and how can she change her own perspectives, before she is gone forever?

Review:
The plot of this book is really interesting. However, the beginning was slow and boring. There were lots of things I didn’t enjoy reading because of my personal beliefs and morals, like underage drinking, [talking about] sex, and smoking. Maybe this is normal teen stuff, but I’m not a stereotypical teenager, so I’m not really sure, haha. I really did love the character development, though, and reading about what Sam did each day to change the outcome. But the negative actions were so frequent that it made the book not very enjoyable for me.

If you don’t mind reading about the stuff I mentioned above, then it’s a great book, but if you’re like me and that stuff bothers you, I wouldn’t read it at all.

Have you read Before I Fall? What did you think? Were you bothered by some of the topics and main characters’ actions? Let me know in the comments!

SWITCH Students and Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Hope you had a good St. Patrick’s Day! …We’ll come back to that later…

But first, on an unrelated note, I want to introduce you guys to a really good reference for, basically, life. My church has this fabulous youth group called SWITCH Students, and something new they’re doing this year is a blog to post all the sermons. And the lessons are GREAT! I’m not sure how often they update it (the most recent post is from February but we meet every week), but the posts that are on there now are, in my opinion, super important for teens (and everyone!) in this modern day to read!

You know what the best reference is? Yeah? The Bible. UMM YES! I know, it’s challenging (but totally worth it), so look at the SWITCH page for some awesome ways to implement the Bible in your life!

Now I’d like to show you the bracelet I made for a little green accessory 😉 It’s kind of like a charm bracelet, so I think I’ll just make new charms for each holiday!
You just need: jewelry wire, fabric paint, and metal file (optional)

If you want to read more awesome and easy DIYs and craftsy stuff, be sure to follow the blog and subscribe! PLUS, when you subscribe you get a free password organizer, and a free font each month! Whoo!

What’s your favorite holiday craft?

On Being A Student Athlete

Hello! As a happy Tuesday post, naturally I’m going to talk about school. Hooray. Okay, but seriously, for any of you readers out there who are full time students PLUS athletes, I think this post will be very helpful. Actually, I think this post will have good tips for anyone looking to be more productive, set up in a nice DO and DON’T list plus more thoughts below!

DO- Put priority on your education. Please, if you really have to choose, your education is so much more important than athletics!

DON’T- Miss too many assignments. Your grades will seriously suffer if you never turn in any work, no matter how brilliant you are. If you’re behind, it’s okay to skip practice once in a while to catch up! Especially in high school, your coaches will understand, because if you fail your classes, you won’t be able to participate in your sport anyway.

DO- Take pride in good performance. You work hard to earn good grades and good athletic results (be it scores, points, etc), so enjoy the rewards you’ve rightfully earned!

DON’T- Beat yourself up about mistakes. You’re only human. Mistakes happen. The best thing you can do is to shake it off and move on. Mistakes are excellent learning opportunities, though, so try to learn!
As an example, I’m a swimmer, and this past season I missed my event! It was at a big invitational, and because I didn’t swim my individual event, technically I wasn’t allowed to swim in my relays! I was devastated- I never once thought that I would ever miss my event, and I felt awful for letting my team down in the relays. Thankfully, other girls had been missing their events at this meet too, and the officials let everyone swim. Even though I swam in the rest of the meet, I still remember how crushed I was when I thought I had let my team down, and I know that I’ll pay much more attention in future meets!

More thoughts…

-Having an after school activity really cuts down on procrastination. It’s true that the task will take up as much time as you have, so if you have a small time frame, your task will be done quickly.

-Set deadlines for yourself. This goes with the thought above, because you will need to stick to your deadlines to complete your tasks.

-Use a planner. And use it often! Write down your schedules, all your assignments, other tasks, and whatever else you need to keep on top of things; then, look at it a couple times a day to keep yourself on track!

-It’s so great doing an after school sport or other activity. Sports really do lower your stress and help you stay focused overall. Even if you’re not a sporty person, join a club you like such as Drama, Art, Band, Choir, etc. to do something fun, social, and mentally relaxing! Having something other than schoolwork to focus on gives you a much-needed break from all the school stress.

-Doing activities makes you a well-rounded person, which helps you to learn more and get out into the world. Opportunities expand as you do! Plus, it’s always fun to be involved with something you love!

It is challenging juggling academics and athletics, but it truly is worth the effort! I hope that today’s post has given you ideas and tips that you can apply to your life!

Be sure to follow the blog and subscribe to the newsletter!