Costa Rica

Hello Everyone!
This week's post is about my trip to Costa Rica.

          I had an amazing time in Costa Rica this summer. I went with a church from my hometown and held a bunch of services, had game and craft time with kids, went to the ocean, sweated a lot, and in general had a lovely time. We spent half of our time in Miramar, and the other half in Desamparados. We had a break day that we spent at the beach, and resting up before running off to the second half of our trip.

          Although I did get sick and lose my voice for the majority of the trip, it was one of the best things I've done. I had gone on a trip with the same church 3 years ago, when I was in high school, and I came back feeling completely changed. There's something about that country that just warms me to the center of my heart (and I don't mean with the heat and humidity, though that also was very present); it may be the beautiful scenery, or the beautiful language, but I think most of all it is the people that I have met when I've been there. They are so caring and generous. They welcome complete strangers into their homes, churches, and lives, and teach us how to love unconditionally.

          Leaving Costa Rica the second time was even harder than the first. And that's saying something, because several of us on the first trip began to consider running off into the jungle to hide away and then spending the rest of our lives traveling across the country. Last time, I thought I was never going to be able to see the people we had met, ever again. But during this trip, we went to the same church in Miramar that we had been to last time. Having strengthened the bond I had with the people three years ago, it was heart wrenching to have to say goodbye again. I hope I will never forget how much that country means to me, and all that the Costa Rican people have taught me.

Now, without further ado, here are some of the pictures I took while in Costa Rica:

It took us an entire day, but we made it!

The fruit in Costa Rica is indescribably amazing.

The kids loved to play soccer, and we loved to play it with them!

Mangoes, mangoes, everywhere! (they were delicious, and very loud on the tin roofs)

It's very important to find the JOY in every moment of life.

The mountains and farms were so beautiful.

Coconuts were everywhere too!

The sunsets were gorgeous!

 I found this little lizard on the way to a waterfall!

The woman third from the left gave hand made earrings to the moms of our group as a thank you gift.

We threw a part of a log down into the crocodile river and they thought it was food! (aaah!)

We did a lot of fun crafts with the children and teens near where we were staying. 

We had so much fun playing with the kids.

I am thinking about putting together a short video of some clips I took while I was there, but I haven't decided yet. If you would like to see that, let me know, and I'll do it. Either way you might see it eventually.

Have a wonderful day! <3

Kaylen

Help Send Me to Sweden!

Hello Everyone!
I have a request today. Instead of me telling you things, I would like to ask something of you. I am about to go on a 4 month study abroad trip to Sweden, and its expensive. I don't think I quite knew what I signed up for when I said that I was going to go, but, needless to say, I filled everything out that needed filling, and sent my application on it's way.

 I am leaving August 12th, and even though I'm working, I know I won't be able to keep up with all of the money I'm going to need to cover all of my costs. I am responsible for my plane ticket, my food, my textbooks, my stuff for my dorm, train tickets, and anything else that I need when I'm there. My parents don't want to pay for it, so I am doing my best to work out how to best come up with the money.

The idea that I have come up with is simple, really. It is a fundraiser. I have a page on gofundme.com and if you don't know what that is, let me explain. It's a website where people who are in need of funds for whatever cause they are working on, can hold fundraisers. They set a goal, and people can donate to their cause. It can be set up so that people who donate get a special thank you sent in the mail, which is something I chose to do. If you donate, you'll get a different prize depending on how much you donate. You can enter any amount you want to, whether that be a dollar, or $20. Any amount will help and mean so much to me. I am really looking forward to this trip, and it would mean the world to me if you would donate to my fundraiser. All of the money will go to a good cause and be used wisely.

The link to my gofundme page is here: http://www.gofundme.com/kaylentosweden

Please, please, consider donating to me, and thank you for your support. Have a wonderful day!

Kaylen

End Romanticising Laziness 2k15

I'm Back! It's been forever and a decade, and I wish to apologize for my absence. The only excuse I can use is that it was a combination of be being lazy (uh-oh) and procrastinating. Thus, I was inspired to write this post, and get up off my butt and make a difference.

It has been a good semester and beginning of summer for me, but I have been noticing more and more that people are romanticising the idea of laziness. How weird is that! Why has it become a sort of twisted competition to see who is the most unstable because of the amount of sleep we got? I haven't really noticed it as much in my life outside the internet, but then again, we don't always say what we mean to people in real life anyway. Online, is when our true colors seem to come out. People say what they mean, and explain what they feel leaving little to the imagination. I've been noticing more and more posts like this one:

"Uggghhh. Just so tired today. Only got 4 hours of sleep and got nothing done." - Person 1

Notifications:
5 People have liked your status.
2 People have commented on your status.


Person 2's comment: The Encourager
This person makes it seem like it's normal to get 4 hours of sleep a night and still function fine. They may or may not be one of the peppiest people you know, and when they say that they only got four hours of sleep (and are still bouncing with energy despite the supposed sleep deprivation), it may start to make you question if what you've been doing wrong is getting too much sleep. Unknowingly, this person is encouraging you to try surviving on that much sleep again and you'll wonder why you keep waking up in random places.

Person 3's Comment: The #Hipster
This person likes to act like its cool and trendy to not get enough sleep and be lazy. They encourage you to "let it work with you" which is basically just encouraging you to accept tiredness as normal and not accomplish anything. They probably forgot to check with their own life before commenting, or they would have realised that not accomplishing anything gets you nothing in return. Also, their comment saying that they get less sleep than you could be the start of a "my-horse-is-bigger-than-your-horse" run, but don't give in, they will be falling asleep soon from exhaustion and then maybe it won't look so cool to them either.


Instead of continuing the cycle of laziness, we need to encourage ourselves and others to make it cool to accomplish things. We tell ourselves at New Years that "this is going to be our year! We will accomplish great things! We'll finish that project we've been putting off, take that trip that we've wanted to go on for years, volunteer at a local organisation, learn a new skill!" Then, one month later, we're stuck in our same routines we were in before. The way to fix this problem is to have yourself be held accountable. Maybe it's with an app that reminds you to go exercise, or organises your to-do list and alerts you when things need to get done, maybe it's a friend who can ask you how your goal is doing and encourage you, or maybe they will try accomplish the thing you want to do with you. There are tons of ways to keep your efforts going toward your goal, so don't use "I forgot" as an excuse.

Another important step in keeping up with a new routine or accomplishing a goal is to make sure you give yourself reasonable expectations. You aren't going to learn how to become a master at french macarons in a day, you aren't going to learn how to dance like a pro after one lesson, and you aren't going to be able to organise your entire life in a day. It takes time to accomplish anything, so set mini-goals. Tell yourself (and your app or friend!) that you will reach a certain level of accomplishment by a certain day try to set a slightly lower goal, but not too low that it won't challenge you. And go easy on yourself for the first check-in point or you could get discouraged and give up.

Then comes the day you get to your first check-in for your mini goal. Celebrate if you accomplished your goal. In the wise words of Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle from Parks and Recreation, "Treat yo self!" You deserve a reward after your work. If you didn't accomplish your goal, don't sweat it. You learned that the goal you set was a little out of reach, but now you know to set the bar a little lower for your next goal. Also, remember that even though you didn't reach your goal, you tried, and that's what matters. The fact that you tried and failed is better than never trying at all. By not quite accomplishing what you wanted, you still accomplished something while striving for your goal. You aren't left with nothing, you are left with the knowledge that you did gain while getting to your goal.

The final step is accomplishing your goal. On the day you accomplish your goal, shout it from the rooftops! Tell all your friends! Tell me! Tell your pets! and Treat yo self! Congratulations on completing your goal. You did an amazing job. Even though you struggled at times and probably felt like giving up at least once, you made it to the end. And there's nothing quite like the feeling of knowing that you accomplished something and saw it through to the end. Celebrate today, and then go figure out your game plan for the next goal! Good luck!

Let me know if you have any questions or want me to be your encouragement buddy. Also, let me know if you have accomplished something recently that you're proud of or if you're about to go start setting goals. I'd love to hear about it!

Have a fantastic day!

<3 Kaylen

Self Confidence

Hello!

Sorry today's post wasn't put up very early. I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about, and then I decided to write about something that's very close to me: Self Confidence.

I've struggled with self confidence for a very long time now, as I'm sure most everyone does. I was a very self-assured kid, the popular one at school that had a lot of friends, but didn't kick anyone out of my friend group. Then we moved almost an hour away from where we had been. It forced me to make new friends, which I had always been good at before. I assumed it would be easy, but my identity had been founded in my friends, and I had to learn how to be myself in a whole new world with new faces and very different experiences than my previous friends. Thus started my struggle with understanding who I was and who I wanted to be.

Every day, seeing myself in the mirror in high school, I would see myself and think to myself, "You look good. make a difference, or just get through today. Do what you can handle, but do your best." Looking back, I had no idea what I was doing, and I struggled the whole way through. Some things happened to me during high school, and they broke my idea of who I was and what the world was like. I am still working through recovering from them, but I'm grasping at what is me and what is going to be me.

It hasn't been until just this past year that I feel like I am beginning to grasp who I am. I moved away from home to college in Chicago, and I had a chance to get away from all of the stereotypes and predispositions in my old town. I got to show who I had been trying to become back home to no avail. New friends meant a chance to make a fresh start and work on sowing my best parts of my personality, and attempting to hide my emotional scars, rough past, and insecurities.

Sometimes we get caught up in, "this is what/who I am, and I don't think it will ever be able to change." That's one of the worst things to say to yourself. Changing yourself for the better, like getting rid of a bad habit, and seeing yourself as worthy of love and attention, takes time. It's a daily struggle. There are times when you don't know if you can keep doing it because it's just easier to fall back to how you were before. Sometimes you will slip up. But that is ok, because there are people who want to help and remind you of your importance. And remember, you can do it. You are worth it. Sometimes it will be very difficult, but take it a day, an hour, a minute at a time, and you can learn to love yourself.

If you ever need a reminder of your worth, a note of encouragement, or a little boost of confidence, send me a message or leave a comment, and I'll be happy to be able to tell you how much you mean to this world <3

Have a wonderful day!

Kaylen

My Skincare Products

Hello!

Today I am going to talk about skincare. I have suffered with spotty, oily, acne-ridden skin from the young age of 10. And I don't mean the kind of skin that gets a spot or break out every once in a while, or just around the nose or hairline. I mean the kind that covered my face from forehead to chin, also my arms and back. I have every type of annoying acne, from white heads to black heads to cystic acne. I have tried going to the dermatologist with minimal positive results. Most of the time they prescribed me things that either dried out my face or did nothing. We were down to a last resort medication called Accutane, but my father said no. I've stopped taking any medications except a topical (on skin, not ingested) gel. I've been relying heavily on meticulously taking care of my face. Through the past eight years I have learned how to take care of my skin, including the importance of using good serums, a proper face wash for my face type, and even the task that seems most self-explanatory: how to wash my face. So, below I'm including a list of my favorite face products that I can't live without. Just click on the name, and it will bring you to the site where you can read more about them individually. Disclaimer: None of these are very cheap or available in a drugstore, but I personally haven't found anything from drugstores be able to help with my problematic skin; so you have been warned.

Face Wash: Dark Angels - Lush
Facial Serum: Midnight Recovery Concentrate - Khiels
Spot Treatment: Grease Lightning - Lush
Facial Mask: Pores No More - Dr Brandt
Toner/Primer/All-in-One Serum: Mèreadesso All-in-One Moisturizer - Mèreadesso
Eye Cream: Wonder Eye Cream - Balance Me

I hope this can be of some use to you, or that you at least enjoyed hearing about what I use for my skin. I can make individual reviews for each item at a later date, but I thought it would be good to share what I've learned helps me in the hopes that it can help someone else.

Have a wonderful day!

Kaylen

Feeling Sluggish

Hello!

Today I'm going to talk about feeling sluggish. You know, the kind of day where you wake up and think, "ok, I'm tired, but I'll be fine in a couple of minutes", and then you walk around in a semi-sleep state all day and look like a walking zombie? That's the kind of day I've been having, and I wanted to share some ideas with you to help you (and me) to have a better day. 

Step 1: Stand in the Sun.

Even if it's just through a window (if it's frigid outside like it is here today). There is a part in our brain called the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, SCN for short. That's the part of our brain that picks up signals from the eyes when they take in light, and stops our brain from making melatonin, which is the hormone that makes us feel groggy. Also, sunlight is just a way to make you feel good. Think like a cat bathing in the sun while it naps.

Step 2: Drink Water.

I myself am quite bad at this. Water is one of the main things that makes our bodies work. And, if we don't intake enough water, it's like not oiling gears, it won't run right. So, we can work together on this. I have recently downloaded an app called Waterlogged from the iTunes app store. It is a great way to keep track of your water intake, and it gives you goals throughout the day. You can set what times you'd like it to remind you of when to drink water, and you can enter the amount of oz/mL of water that you drank.

Step 3: Eat Lots of Healthy Food.

Yes, yes, we have all heard it before, "Eat healthy and your life will improve significantly!" We know in our minds that we should be eating healthy, but we all have that one vice that just won't let go. Mine is sugary candy. I am nearly a vegan, so I eat healthy about 98% of the time. I allow myself to indulge in not-so-healthy "college food" occasionally which accounts for 1% of the 2. The other 1% is my candy obsession. It's pretty much under control when I'm buying my own groceries because I have very little money to spend on anything. But, when there are sales on candy (i.e. after christmas and valentines day and easter and pretty much any holiday), I go a little nuts. I go on a sugar high for about 2 weeks and then crash. It's disastrous and not healthy, and I know I should stop... but it just tastes so good! So, my tip to you and me, is to avoid things high in sugar. Sugar causes a quick spike in energy and then drops you down into a well of exhaustion and sadness. Instead, try eating foods high in protein and carbohydrates. Foods like, granola, peanut butter and toast, eggs, oatmeal are really good for getting you going if it's a snack or breakfast. They boost your energy in a way that lasts and is slowly released to your body instead of jumping up and down like a pogo stick. 

Step 4: Nap.

This is basically an essential to getting though college, and pretty much any other time of life. Naps are a great thing. They energize us, allow us to relax, and make us feel more refreshed than when we went to sleep. The tricky part is to not let them become a habit. We need to make sure that we are allowing enough time to sleep at night and not making naps our "second sleep". If we mess with our sleep schedules too much, our bodies and brains can be re-programmed to expect short amounts of sleep several times a day, and then our sleep cycles are short, and not nearly as restorative as they need to be. But, if you are having a down day like I am, go for it. Enjoy that nap, and be refreshed. 

Step 5: Friends.

If you have friends that you normally enjoy being around (I wish that for all of you), then try hanging out with them for a little while. Usually just being in the company of people who are happy can dramatically improve my mood. If you aren't near your friends, try giving them a call, Skyping. Texting can sometimes help, but actual voices are preferable because it seems more like you're talking to a person instead of just a screen. 

Step 6: A Movie or Show + Cuddly Fort.

Watching a favorite movie or and episode or two of one of my favorite shows is always something that makes me smile. I try to avoid sad movies/shows and instead aim for a comedy or fantasy; something that will take my mind off of my "bleh" day. Of course having lots of soft pillows and blankets makes the experience about a trillion times better, so I like to burrow myself in cozy-ness and forget about the world outside for a little while. One movie I've recently watched was Amélie. It's a fantastic and artistic-ly filmed movie. It's about a cute woman named Amélie who lives in France and enjoys helping others and seeking justice. It is a romance story, and a beautiful film. 

Step 7: Music.

Music is something that got me through my toughest times in high school. I found that listening to different music that fits my mood helped me feel better when I was feeling down or just not in a spectacular mood. I also do some research on new artists every few months and helps me not have to listen to pop music all the time.  The way I do my research is, try going onto other countries' iTunes stores and looking at their top charts. It's a great way to find new music and hear different artists and styles from around the world. All you have to do is just google "iTunes _____" and fill in the blank with the country of your choice. Their top charts are often filled with artists I've never heard of, and I end up loving the music of. There are three artists I've recently been loving the work of. The first one is a band I've known of for several years called, Panic! At The Disco. Their work is very unique, but still very well done. My favorite song by them right now is called, "This is Gospel". The second artist is Adam Barnes. I have only recently heard his music for the first time, but it is really beautiful music. My favorite song at the moment is, "She Will Stay Beneath the Moon". The third artist I'm really enjoying right now is one that I discovered through Sweden's iTunes top charts. His name is Thomas Stenström, and my favorite song by him is called "Slå mig hårt i ansiktet". It's super catchy, and his voice is gorgeous. I've provided links to the youtube videos of these songs so you can give them a try yourself!

This is Gospel

She Will Stay Beneath the Moon

Slå mig hårt i ansiktet

I hope my advice has helped at least a little bit. These tips are by no means a complete list, and I'd love to hear any other ideas you have. Please leave comments/questions/concerns, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. 

Have a lovely day!

Kaylen

Body Image

I am not going to apologize for a very wordy and long post as my first regular post because I think that a lot needs to be said about Body Image.

Alright! Down to business. The first thing I'm going to talk about body image. I want to start out with this as my first topic because it's important as a sort of disclaimer to my blog. Something I want everyone who visits this blog to know is:

You are worth so much to so many people. Your life has worth. And you are breathtakingly beautiful.

I feel like we don't hear that enough, and we get bogged down by all of the pressure to "better ourselves" and to fit the mold of society. No matter your body type, no matter if you have clear skin, no matter if you wear makeup or not, you are unequivocally unique and worth all of the love in the world.

I have had a fairly poor self confidence since about the age of 11. When I was younger, I did gymnastics, and stayed stick thin because such is my genetic makeup. Then, when I got to middle school, found myself without friends, and on top of that I quit the gymnastics team because I didn't like the new coach. I spent about 99% of my time outside school just sitting in a chair, eating and reading fantasy books. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't regret reading, but what caused the problem was the lack of exercise (or really any movement except to go to school and to eat), and the constant snacking from after school until dinner, and then from after dinner until eight or nine at night. As you can probably guess, this did not do wonders for my body. I gained 50 pounds by eighth grade. I started sixth grade around 100 pounds, and started 8th grade at a little over 150 pounds. Of course, some of this was due to normal weight gain as I went through puberty, but the vast majority of it was just me, refusing to give my body the love it deserved.

I am finally learning to love my body. I have gone through spurts of being healthy and exercising in the past couple of years, but I didn't really stick with anything for more than a few months. I have started to finally become healthy by eating healthy food and exercising regularly, and though I have not lost all the weight (thank goodness!), I have settled at my best weight. What I'm working on now is switching some of the fattier areas of my body into muscle. I'm striving for a healthy body that can support me and the adventures I am challenging myself to. I don't hate the fat on my body anymore. There used to be times when I would stand in front of a mirror and hold my arms in such a way that it would cover up the areas of fat that I wanted to get rid of. I believed I was ugly and that I needed to change who I was  in order to become desirable. I know now this is not at all the case.

It took me years to understand that I am beautiful and important. I want this blog to be a place where people can share their stories and feel at ease with their bodies and find peace of mind in the fact that we are all perfectly imperfect. We are all worth more than we know, and are loved by more people than we realize. We need to remind ourselves every time we look in the mirror that we can have confidence to be who we are because there is no one in the world who can be better at rocking who you are than you. Have the confidence to tell yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to. Have the confidence to love yourself.

Have a wonderful day!

<3 Kaylen Mae Vandergon

Hello! 

I'm Kaylen, just a humble blogger living in the big city of Chicago. I am in college, and fashion and makeup have almost always been a major part of my life. Ever since I knew what fashion looked like, I have wanted to be "one of those girls" who knew how to put together an outfit and who could stop traffic and steal the breath of strangers as she passed by. I realize now that beauty isn't just outward appearance, and now I aim to stop traffic with both my inner beauty and also my outward confidence. 

I am starting this blog to be able to share my thoughts and opinions on different fashion, beauty, and occasional chatty things in my life. I hope you enjoy your time here! I'm aiming at blogging about once a week. I shall try my best, so please have patience as I get used to this blogging thing. I will be mostly reviewing makeup, face/skin products, and some clothing websites.

Please feel free to leave me comments in the comment section and let me know what you like/don't like about how I'm doing things, your thoughts and opinions on your experiences of the things I write about, and even just to say hey! 

Thanks!

<3 Kaylen Mae Vandergon