July 2015

Hey guys!

I know I haven't blogged at all during this year. And I take absolute responsibility for my lack of blogging. I admit I've had many opportunities to blog, but I just didn't. I can always justify my actions and say that I was busy with school, driver's ed, practice, etc., but I feel as though they wouldn't truly justify me going MIA.

Now I'm not here to say that I've 'reformed' and that I will promise to make a whole new upload schedule that I promise to keep. I already know that I will not be able to fulfill that schedule.

I just came here to say sorry. And to admit that it is more difficult to create a schedule to follow because sometimes I don't have inspiration for a post and I fear that once I skip a post, I'll end up with the mindset that it's okay to skip the rest.

So in conclusion, I will just post whenever I am feeling inspired. See you guys in my next post!

- A. J.

January Check In | AprilShowers

Hey guys! It's been maybe 23 days since I last posted! I just wanted to tell you guys that I am still trying to keep up with my New Year's resolutions. 

So far, I've posted twice this month (not too bad for my schedule). I can get better grades though. I think I am improving more on sports, at least it feels like it compared to last season. I actually am trying to use more of my "unwanted" makeup (I can do a blogpost on makeup that I regret buying or a project tin pan). Now for rest, I haven't been getting the amount that I should get as a teenager... I never promised to make YouTube videos lol. I haven't really been writing things down in a journal, but sometimes I'll type it on my computer if I think of something 'good' so I think it's a start. As for smiling more, lately this month hasn't been as great as I hoped, so I will be praying that February is different (: 

Where have I been lately? School and sports. Those come first on my list right now (no offense!) 

What have I been doing lately? Mainly staying up until early in the morning. Procrastination IS really bad. Please try to avoid it as much you can! 

What plans do I have? Honestly I'm not sure yet, I've been trying to get more organized. We'll just see if it works lol.!a.    

Anyways, how have you guys been? It's been a while since I have blogged, so maybe leave some of your funniest stories of January in the comments section down below? 

                                                   - A.J.  

New Years Resoutions 2k15 | AprilShowers

Hey guys and Happy (Late) New Years!

I know I didn't get a chance to type this post up until a few days later, but I honestly didn't know what to post. I didn't just want to just write "Happy New Years." So I came to the conclusion to post my New Year's Resolutions.

1. Post at least once a month on this blog
2. Get better grades at school (although this should always be a goal)
3. Get more athletic (Improve in sports, get more flexible, etc.)
4. Use up my 'unwanted'/least used makeup (if you guys want, I can make a post about that)
5. Actually get some rest
6. Maybe dabble into some video tutorials (I'm sort of iffy about this one, I don't want to seem like I'm jumping into the YouTube band wagon, so we'll see)
7. Keep a journal, or write little things that happen down
8. Smile more

Well there you guys have it! Eight of my resolutions so far, I may be adding more to this list as the year goes on.

I hope everyone has a great year. See you next time!

- A.J.

Christmas 2K14! | AprilShowers

Hey guys! Sorry (again) for not posting as much as I should. I can give you a list of excuses on why I haven't been blogging, but I need to remember #NoExcuses

Anyways...

How are you guys? How's Christmas? Are you on Winter Break already?

I got off of school last Friday, and I won't go back until the second week of January, so I have a lot of rest time, unfortunately I still have homework. But it shouldn't be too bad if I manage my time and plan everything out. I don't want a repeat of Thanksgiving Break where I procrastinated until the last minute and went to bed at 3 in the morning of the first day of school. Keep in mind that I get up at 6:30 AM. So lesson for everyone, DO NOT procrastinate. Life would be easier.

Back to today...

IT'S FINALLY CHRISTMAS!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone that celebrates it! If not, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!! I hope everyone's day is wonderful and filled with joy! Love you guys (:

- A.J.

Black Thursday/Friday Haul 2014 | AprilShowers

Hey guys! I just came back from all the Black Friday and Black Thursday sales! Now I only went to three stores, but (in my opinion) I did a lot of damage.

This haul might be boring to some of you as I did not purchase anything makeup for clothing wise, save for a scarf or two. But it's a haul nevertheless lol.

First I hit up Target on Thursday. Target opened at 6pm this year. So my mom and I left to stand in line at 4pm. It was honestly not that bad. The people standing around us were for the most part, pleasant. The Target employees were communicating with the people in line. They even passed out the sample energy cliff bars, maps, and this year they included this give away (it was just a coupon for an ornament but glad they were still thinking of their customers).

The moment 6pm hit, I calmly walking inside. Believe it or not, there were overexcited people standing in line behind us. They even let their 11 year old kid run? That's what can start stampedes. Luckily the Target employees were calmed and told him that if he continued to run, the store would be closed.

At Target, I bought DVDs. They were the DVDs that I either did not have a chance to purchase when they first came out, or movies that I watched many times but did not purchase.

From top to bottom: Noah, American Hustle, Neighbors, Ender's Game, The Dark Knight Rises, Now You See Me, Identity Thief, The Wold of Wall Street, About Time, Despicable ME 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Gravity, The Book Thief, Man of Steel, Bridesmaids, The Notebook

I bought a total of 16 movies that ranged from $4 to $9. I like to think that I saved A LOT of money lol.

After spending 15 minutes at Target, I went home and had my Thanksgiving dinner.

The next day, my mom and I headed to Barnes and Noble at 6am. We honestly thought that there was going to be a long line there. Nope. So we were just really early. So we got some Starbucks and hung out in the car since it was too cold outside. After a while, we decided to walk around, so we went to the World Market.

It was cute, there must have been a line since there was a coffee and cookie stand for the customers. Of course the line was gone since the store has probably been open for a while.

There I bought two scarves. There was a buy one get one free on most of their items and the scarves were too pretty to pass up. They were $9.99 each, so it's basically 50% off.

Then we walked deeper into the store and I saw this cute mini shopping cart for $7.99! It's used as a gift basket for mini product samples, but I honestly just wanted the shopping cart. It is probably the best investment I've made so far lol.

Because we spent a certain amount of money at the World Market, we received a free shopping bag, which was a bonus!

After shopping at the World Market, we still had enough time to put our newly bought items into the car. Then we just waited, along with a small crowd of people, for the opening of Barnes and Noble at 8am.

At Barnes and Noble, I did a lot of damage because I bought some of the signed copies that they were selling. Luckily I have a membership and I had three coupons, so I was able to keep the costs down.

Top to Bottom: Four, Eleanor & Park, Silver Shadows, Endgame, The Bane Chronicles, Neil Patrick Harris' Choose Your On Autobiography

I would like to say that this year was a success. I have enough books and DVDs to keep me busy, unfortunately I still have a lot of homework to do.

Anyways, that was how my Black Thursday/Friday was like. How was yours? Did you get everything on your list?

- A.J.

Happy Thanksgiving! | AprilShowers

Hey guys!

Again, long time no blog lol. As most of you know (if you're American), it's Thanksgiving Day! So Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I am honestly so thankful for everyone that has/is keeping up with my blog, no matter how many times I don't blog. Thank you for always being there. I love you guys! Hopefully more blogs will follow lol.

Anyways, sorry for the lack of blog posts and such.

- A.J.

Mid-November Check In! | AprilShowers

Hey guys! I know, long time no blog lol. But wow, I just looked at the date right now, and it's already November 15! Time is flying by so fast! If you're American, Thanksgiving is in a week and a half! Christmas is in a month and a half. 2015 will be here in less than two months!

I know what you might be thinking, "Don't remind me!" or "Can time just stop for a second?" Unfortunately you can't. Don't worry, there are PLENTY of times when I wish I can stop time. But other times I just think, I can't relive this moment again, so I might as well just enjoy it right now.

I will totally sound like a hypocrite right now, but it's better to live in the moment rather than constantly trying to document it. I constantly take pictures, but it's my way of preserving the little moments in life, and it helps me remember the fun times I've had. But if I had to choose either to enjoy life at that time or to document it through a tiny little iPhone, I would rather be worry free and have fun living.

Okay, I was just awkwardly ranting. But anyways, moral of the rant: Don't overlook the little details just because you want to capture the whole picture.

Till next time!

- A.J.

Goodbye October! | AprilShowers

I know I'm 4 days late, but I decided to write a Halloween post for you guys!

Anyways, since Halloween was on a Friday this year, I still had to go school. Luckily, we're allowed to dress up in costumes to school, so it wasn't really a big deal. It's actually more fun that way, walking around and seeing teachers actually dressed up. 

Since I'm get easily afraid of a lot of things, I just went as, "THE Dark Supreme Overlord" I know what you guys might be thinking, I sound really narcissistic/full of myself or just plain stupid. Don't worry! It's an inside joke among my friends lol. Besides, it was the easiest and cheapest outfit I could pull off. All I did was search through my closet for any black articles of clothing. Then I made a crown in an hour, and BAM! I had my costume.

Photo Credits to my wonderful friend!

 Later on, after school, since I did not have practice, some of the kids on my team met up to do some trick-or-treating. Now some of you will be horrified and shocked when you read this, but I've never gone trick-or-treating before that. I know, 16 years have gone by and I've only been ONCE! It was actually an enjoyable experience, it was just cut a little short due to some of the other kids needing to get back home or go to work.

One thing that was not fun at all was that it started to drizzle and it was cold, but due to adrenaline I was all pumped up and didn't feel the coldness. So the following day, I got sick (Thankfully AFTER my karate class). My head was pounding, I felt drowsy, I was just a mess. And to this day, I'm still sick. It's alright though, I'm feeling better, my voice is just a little raspy and my throat feels scratchy.

Well that was my Halloween in a nutshell. How was your guy's Halloween?

- A.J. 

Inner Happiness | AprilShowers

Hey guys! I know today's post may seem depressing, but I was just having a bad day, and I thought maybe I can help some of you out there (Wow, this sentence does not make sense, but I'll just roll with it).

So lately, I've been feeling a little depressed. I'm not the only one who notices it, some of my friends do too. Now I wouldn't say I'm typically a happy-go-lucky type of girl, but when my friends start to constantly ask me what's wrong, then it's probably not a good thing. The only problem is, I don't know the real reason why I'm sad (I blame the teenage hormones lol).

Later on, when I was evaluating life (cuz I soooo have the time to do this *note the sarcasm*) I realized that everything's changing. Friendships are shifting. New people are walking into my life, some are walking out. Others are unfortunately staying... And I didn't like all of this. I realized that I craved to go back in time and relive some of my favorite memories. I wanted to go back to a "simpler" time, before my life started to feel so complicated. And as the quote says, "Loneliness is not about how many friends you have, it's about feeling disconnected from the rest of the world." Well that's how I felt, I couldn't just stop and rewind time whenever I felt like it. I had to face the present. Trying to live in a world no matter how much you don't want to really disconnects a person. While you're wallowing in your own sorrows makes you forget how to live.

I know that trying to pull yourself out of a depressed state is difficult (I know, I've tried), it doesn't always hurt to focus on one good thing about your day, no matter how little it is. In order to attain happiness, one does not need to always have better things or more friends, one must find happiness in oneself.

Again, sorry if today's post is a little depressing, but I just had to get this out of my chest. Anyways, thanks for reading guys! Hopefully I'll have a happier post next time (:

- A.J.

20 Random Questions Tag | AprilShowers

 Hey Guys! I'm back with another post (: I decided to do the 20 Random Question Tag so hopefully I can give you guys an insight of me as a person (That sounds kind of creepy...) Anyways, enjoy!

- April

1. Thing you cant leave the house without.

  - I'm ashamed to admit it, but ever since I got a phone, I've NEVER left the house without it...

2. Favorite brand of makeup
  - This is hard lol. I don't have a lot of makeup, but I still like to check out reviews to see what's good and what's not (yes, I'm weird like that lol). But if I had to say, my favorite high end is Burberry and low end would be Revlon, but the brand I want to try more products are probably either Lancome, Chanel, or Bobbi Brown. 

3. Favorite flowers.
  - I don't really have any favorite flowers? But I do think carnations are pretty lol.

4. Favorite clothing store
  - NORDSTROM! (Can you tell it's my favorite? lol)

5. Favorite perfume
  - I tend to switch perfumes whenever I feel like it, but right now I've been using my Burberry The Weekend perfume more

6. Heels or flats
  - Although I love how heels look, they're painful (that and I'm still sixteen, so I don't really have anywhere to wear heels to). So I guess I'll go with flats.

7. Do you make good grades
  - I would like to think so lol. I try my hardest (every student's response). 

8. Favorite colors
  - I like black, grey, and blue (basically the only colors I wear). 

9. Do you drink energy drinks
  - Yes, I have to drink Gatorade for the electrolytes to help keep me hydrated for sports.

10. Do you drink juice
  - I'm not ashamed to say, Capri Sun IS life...

11. Do you like swimming
  - When I was five my cousins (they were like 30 then) tried to teach me how to swim so they put me in the ocean (wearing a life vest/floatie) and they surrounded me to make sure I don't get away (I have no idea what that was for). I kept sinking even with the life vest on... So ever since then I've been terrified. But my freshman year of high school it was required to take swim for pe, so I sort of overcame my fear. I still can't float though. 

12. Do you eat fries with a fork
  - When I'm eating regular fries no, but when I'm eating Carne Asada fries, then mostly lol.

13. Whats your favorite moisturizer
  - For face moisturizer I use the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion +

14. Do you want to get married later on in life
  - Yeah, someday lol

15. Do you get mad easily
  - Oh yeah... In third grade my friend once told me I had anger issues, she was right 

16. Are you into ghost hunting
  - Oh no... I get so freaked out easily. I went to Haunted Trails recently and I had to hold my friend's hand the whole time lol. 

17. Any phobias
  - Not that I can think of? I only have some fears, but I'm not deathly afraid of them

18. Do you bite your nails
  - I used to, but ever since I got braces I stopped because I couldn't bite them anymore.

19. Have you ever had a near death experience
  - Plenty, they mostly involve cars though. I've almost gotten hit by cars and I don't have a license nor a permit. 

20. Do you drink coffee
  - I'm going to channel my inner girl, yes, I occasionally drink Starbucks, except I don't like the taste of hot coffee. I only drink frappuccinos.

A New Beginning | AprilShowers

Hey guys!

I know I haven't posted something in over a year, and I deleted all the posts that I previously had. But I'm back!!! Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? I'm not sure lol.

Hopefully I will continue with my blogging. I know in my last post (some of you may or may not remember, but I stated that I was going to keep posting no matter what. That didn't go so well...) I stated that I was going to continue posting articles blog some more, blah blah blah. I am deeply sorry for not keeping up with my promise. But this time, I will actually try to blog more.

Sorry for such a short post (and to my new page viewers/followers, please disregard this blog post and HIIII lol). And to the followers that stuck with me through the beginning, thank you for being there!

P.S. I know my website may or may not look odd/weird. I'm still constructing parts of it. Sorry for the inconvenience! 

- A.J.