Having Trouble Sleeping? Zzz

  Hello everyone!

Last night, while I was in bed, I thought to myself, What are some things that I do to help me fall asleep? I thought about it, and thought about it, and decided to write this question down in my notebook so I wouldn't forget it because I was way to tired to keep my eyes open. The next morning, before I left the house to walk to my school, I composed a list of things that help me fall asleep. I wanted to share them with you, in hopes that you can learn some new tips and tricks. Sleep is very important for your health. Having at least 8 hours of sleep is really beneficial, and can improve your health a lot for you, mentally, physically and emotionally. So if you want to find out some new ways to fall asleep, read on!

One of the things that I like doing before going to bed is listening to music. Just music, not even songs that have lyrics in them. If you don't know what music to listen to, here are some of my favorites and recommendations:

• Kiss the Rain by Yiruma
• River Flows in You by Yiruma
• Canon in D by Pachelbel (both instrumental and piano version)
• Maybe by Yiruma
• Piano version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King
• Piano version of Fairy Tale by Guang Liang aka Michael Wong
• Piano version of I Can Go the Distance from Hercules
• Moonlight by Yiruma

 Listening music relieves my stress. It's really relaxing. Soon you'll be yawning and falling into deep slumber.

Another thing is to keep cool in bed. Being too hot is uncomfortable and so you'll be tossing and turning the whole night. I know because it happens to me EVERY summer. Try having less blankets and wearing thinner clothes. It works!

Before bed, try writing in your journal. Write about your day, your worries, what is stressing you right now, your feelings and emotions. Create a to-do list so that you don't think of it while you're trying to sleep. I recently got a journal about a month ago, and ever since I've been writing in it every night before I go to sleep. It's been working so far!

Try not to go on any electronics at least 20 minutes before going to bed. I know it seems IMPOSSIBLE, but try at least. But the thing is that it's light, and it won't make you tired, but awake. Try reading instead. It tires out your eyes. I know it's really hard to do, but pick a book you're interested in and you won't complain.


I hope you find a way to help with your sleep because it's very important! Thank you for reading this post! Have a great afternoon!

Keep Smiling,
M-L

The Jitters!

          Man oh man do I hate talking in public.

I don't know why, I just feel so nervous when all eyes are on me, and everyone is focusing on me. It's especially odd in my case, because normally in class (now), I actually participate a lot and I hope that teachers see my hand raised and will call on me. But then when it comes to presentations in front of a class, I get soooo nervous, you have no idea... I guess maybe it's because I know that my audience is actually paying attention to me when I have the floor, whereas if I participated during class times, I know that no one is paying attention to anything. Is it just me? Does that happen to you?

I have found some tricks that sometimes help me with my nervousness. I say sometimes because there are times when I can't do anything to get rid of the nervousness in me. But today, I will share with you a few tricks that I do to get rid of my jitters for any kind of situation I'm in! Enjooooy!

The number one thing is to breathe slowly and calmly, keep your breathing consistent. Everyone does that if they're nervous or scared. You try to relax yourselves so you're not stressing out. So take deep breaths. Try not to think of anything. At my Hapkido school, before we start classes, we close our eyes, put our heads down and start breathing in through our noses and breathing out through our mouths. My Hapkido Head Master/teacher says we do that to get everything out of our minds so we are relaxed and we empty out our minds.

Another trick that I like to do is to modify your brain into being confident and prepared for whatever situation you're in. For example, if you have an oral class presentation. First of all, practice speaking your presentation before hand. Second, tell yourself that you'll do great. And it's fine if you mess up once or twice during your presentation. That is what I mean by modifying your mind into being prepared for any situation.

Distract yourself from your worries for a while. What I like to do is listen to calm music. And it's also a good time to control my breathing.

Write your worries in a journal of yours. It's like you're talking to someone about your problems and you're pouring out your worries. I like writing in my journal at night. I don't necessarily do it everyday, only when I feel like it.I skip a day or two.

Now I don't know if you guys do this too, but what I do to get my mind off being nervous is pinching myself. No, it's not self-harm by the way. It's just a little pinch on my leg. It helps me get my mind off things. It works the most out of all of the other ways I calm down my jitters. I know it sounds... odd. It sounds like it's weird anyways, but it actually works for me.

So, I hope you have enjoyed reading this post! Hope you find a way to calm down the jitters!

Keep Smiling,
M-L

My Music Playlist #3

          Hey guys!

It's been a while since I've updated you guys with what the music I've been into these past few days/weeks. So, here is an update for you all!

• To Zanarkand - Final Fantasy X Soundtrack: This piece is very relaxing. I think it's an ideal piece to listen to while you study, or even just to close your eyes and relax. It's from the Final Fantasy X soundtrack. I've never actually played the game before, but I've heard this piece before and I fell in love with it. In fact, I'm learning to play it on the piano =). 

Final Fantasy X Soundtrack - To Zanarkand

• All I Ask Of You - Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack: I actually watched Phantom of the Opera with my Mom and Aunt this summer and that is how I discovered this song! I totally fell in love with the melody and both of the singers (Patrick Wilson and Emmy Rossum). Oohh my gosh, the male voice in this song made my heart melt!! It's so dreamy! I recommend listening to this song! Did I mention it's also a romantic song? ;) 

Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack - All I Ask Of You

• Can I Have This Dance - High School Musical 3 Soundtrack: Just recently I've been reliving my childhood memories by listening to High School Musical songs! And I remember how much I loooooved Can I Have This Dance! I've been listening to the song more often now and honestly... I've been kind of imagining me singing with that one person... ^-^... but nah, I don't sing too well so... -_-   =P

High School Musical 3 Soundtrack - Can I Have This Dance

• Rather Be - Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne: My cousin introduced me to this song. Can we just talk about the violin part?! Holy cow am I obsessed with the violin parts in this song!! The melody itself just makes me dance. The female voice singing reminds me of the voice of Adele's. I really like it!

Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne- Rather Be

• For the First Time in Forever Instrumental - Frozen Soundtrack: Yes. I was sucked into the Frozen whir wind... I like the songs a LOT. But not love. I have to say though, I really like the instrumental version of For the First Time in Forever. Especially towards the end, that is my FAVOURITE part!! I like the voices in the song, but the instrumental version is just as powerful as the version with Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell, to be honest. I say to check out this version, and you might actually be surprised how the music goes. 

Frozen Soundtrack - For the First Time in Forever


And there you have it, folks! My updated playlist! There's a lot of different genres and artists that I've been listening to, and I like it. It gives me a variety of songs to listen to, based on how I'm feeling. Anyways, see you next time!

Keep Smiling,
M-L

Freaky and Festive Favourites 2014

     Hey everyone

How was your Halloween this year?
For this post, I want to share with you my favourites for the spooktastic event that is Halloween! Food, costume, decoration, and more are all going to be included!

Food: Please don't tell me that I'm the only one that gets obsessed with the Pillsbury holiday themed sugar cookies! They are so cute and delicious and incredibly festive! Seriously, they have cookies for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, and I think they even have cookies themed for Thankgiving. If you want simple but festive Halloween cookies that doesn't take too long to make, the Pillsbury cookies are for you. All you have to do is lay the pre-made cookies onto a baking sheet and bake them in your oven for a dozen of minutes, depending on how you want your cookies to be. And paf! You've got about 24 cookies with a Halloween design on them! Easy huh?

Costume Idea: Okay, so even though this is my favourite costume idea for Halloween, I'm not dressing up as that simply because I don't have the necessary things and I don't want to buy my costume this year. But, my favourite costume idea for 2014 is Vanellope Von Shweetz from Wreck-It-Ralph! Vanellope is so cute and sassy. Her outfit is even more adorable too! I wanted to be Vanellope for Halloween and I thought I had almost all of the same clothes as her but it turns out that I only had a sweater similar to hers and I didn't have a brown skirt or mint coloured tights... Oh well. But Vanellope Von Shweetz was my favourite costume this year!

Decor: My fave decorations this year was the fog machine! They are so cool and if you put it in front of your house, it draws attention and makes it look really spooky and scary. Speaking of scary, another one of my favourites decorations is the blood... I know it sounds creepy when you think about it, but technically it is supposed to be creepy, right? The blood splotches are so... frightening and that's what I love about them! It's like a freaky sensation but you're still drawn to it! I don't know, is it just me?

Movie: I've always enjoyed watching Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire during Halloween. It's pretty old, it was made in 2000 I believe. It feels very nostalgic to me whenever I watch the movie. When I was younger, I used to play detective, or spy or something of the sort. If you've watched the movie, you can kind of get what I'm saying. It involves a vampire hunter and the main characters going on "adventures" like detectives. When I would watch it, I would imagine myself as one of the characters. And you know what? I think I've been watching it every year now..!

Book: This isn't technically a Halloween book, but it's kind of like one because it involves zombies. Can you guess it? Well maybe not because I've only started reading it a few weeks ago. It's Monsters from the Ashes Trilogy! Yup, I FINALLY HAVE A PAPERBACK COPY!! After months, I finally have it within my grasp..! I think it is an appropriate book to read during this time of the year because it's extremely creepy and suspenseful! And gory... I'm lovin' it!

Candy: I have saved the BEST for last!! CANDY! Alright, so my favourite candy for this year... ^_^. is Hi-Chew! They're not your typical Halloween candy. In fact, they're from a Japanese brand! At first it feels like you're chewing gum, but then the candy dissolves. It's very chewy but HIGHLY addicting. I did get quite a lot of Smarties when I went trick-or-treating (yes, I did ^-^).

Anyways, how did you guys spend your Halloween this year? I hung out with my friends and recently discovered that I'm pretty good- no, great- at foosball..! Then I got an overload of Doritos Roulette chips, Sprite, pizza, and homemade pumpkin spice cookies!! And I went trick-or-treating... AWESOME HALLOWEEN FOR ME!

Keep Smiling,
M-L