study break

my brain hurts. studying for the CPA exam sucks. the few things keeping me distracted sane include:
  + working out (which is going really well for me and my sister, i might add!).
  + watching tv, including: sons of guns, workaholics, say yes to the dress, the walking dead, and any of the apartment/house buying shows my mom has on (my tv show selection is so random! hah!).
  + trying to read books (currently reading requiem and attempting to finish the bell jar. almost done!). i have been missing reading so much lately, but i feel so guilty whenever i do read because i know i should be studying. it sucks!
  + fun run. go download it. you just need to.
  + blogging. not necessarily me posting, but reading other people's posts. it helps me so much to get my mind off of things. what would i do without you, blogging world?
  + free cheesecake cards to cheesecake factory.
  + trying out new recipes (even if i don't end up liking them).
  + making future plans. i'm dreaming of when i'll get to move out in a few months and decorate my own apartment! it's so exciting!
  + car rides with my special someone.
  + & snapchatting friends throughout the day.

and now that i've posted this, i'm back to studying. i know, you're jealous.

justin bieber

remember that time i entered a contest to meet justin bieber? remember that other time that my sister tried calling in to KIIS fm to win tickets to justin's concert and she was caller 103 and she had to be caller 102?... darn you justin! one day i will meet you. i also plan on meeting louis from one direction. it's a love hate relationship with those two.

yesterday.

the important things i did today yesterday:

• i started my day off with my Bible and daily devotional.
• i applied for graduation. WHATT? so weird.
• i went to a bodypump class with jessica, hung out with her all day, and had crepes for lunch. 
• becca tried to poison me with a messed up herbalife shake. on purpose.
• i dyed my hair.
• i watched episodes of parks and rec and fell even more in love with andy. 
• i managed to finish all most of my homework for tomorrow!

yay for good days!

Am I there yet?

I cannot wait until I'm done with school. I know I should enjoy the time I have left, having not a lot of responsibilities and what not. But I seriously cannot wait to not have to take accounting exams and to be able to potentially move out and be on my own. I know I have the CPA exam first before anything else haha so I'll want to die from that, but I know it's worth it. Just like going through school for six years and sticking with it is worth it. But for now, I'm looking forward to being done with school and moving on to the next phase in my life. One thing I've learned over the past few years is that you never know what's going to come your way or what God has in store for you. So with that said, i'm excited, I'm nervous, but I'm looking forward to what's going to happen over the next few months. I'm hoping it will at least consist of: lots of tea lattes. Lots of iced tea. Anything tea related. parks and rec and dr who marathons. Sushi. And more time with God in my mornings and my everyday. You know, the essentials.

running into an old friend

so i've been going on runs lately. and when i say lately, i mean since last tuesday hah! anyways, tonight i went on a run and this truck parks some distance ahead of me. and as i slowly (oh and when i say run i mean more of a jog since i don't go fast at all!) am going past the truck, i notice that the guy getting out is a guy i went to jr. high school with! seriously, when does this happen? so there i am all sweaty and gross and am saying hi to someone i rarely ever see. at least i was working out so it's excusable that i looked disgusting? yeah, we'll excuse my grossness. so yes, i literally ran jogged into an old friend. and now i feel like a grandma because it's 7:30 and i am ready for bed! and i slept in this morning! what is wrong with me? but instead of sleep i will patiently wait for lauren to start live tweeting her re-reading the hunger games. YES! too bad natalie isn't here to read along with me. we always have the best time when we read books out loud together. like when i read the maze runner series out loud. uhm so much scarier that way!

Psalm 138:8

Psalm 138:8: "The LORD will accomplish what concerns me;
Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands."

Just thought I'd share this verse on here. That way I can remember it later :). I love this promise. The Lord will accomplish or perfect or complete that which concerns me. It's good to be reminded that God knows what concerns me and exactly what is going on in my heart. And He promises that He'll handle it and take care of it. Who knows in what ways He'll do that, but He'll work everything out. I know I'm being really vague here but I'll probably just share later what it is exactly that's concerning me.
Okay, time for me to enjoy my last morning here in Oahu. I can't believe the summer is almost over and school will be starting soon! Crazy! But at least this means that fall is coming and hopefully that means it will rain. Boy do I LOVE the rain :)

why blog?

nothing to do with the post. just a pretty photo of san clamente.

i've been thinking a lot about blogging and why i love it so much (even though, i don't post on here often enough). i absolutely love reading blogs and seeing little snippets of people's lives and i love reading other believer's blogs. it's always such an absolute encouragement getting to read what other women are learning from God and how He is working in their lives. it's just a cool glimpse to be able to read about God working in other people's everyday, even if i don't know them personally. which is why i want my blog to be a place of encouragement. i want it to be a place where i can be raw and real, but most importantly i want it to be a place where i am giving glory and credit to God. it's easy to get caught up in the blogging world. it's easy to get caught up in the mindset of, "well, what do people want to read?" or better yet, "what do people want to see? outfit photos? food photos? DIY photos?". and that's not what this life is about. God doesn't have me here just so i can post pictures of what i wear everyday. or what i ate for lunch. none of that really matters. none of that is what makes me me. i'm not trying to bash blogs that are like that (because i love reading them! really!). so this doesn't mean that i won't post pictures of what i did over the weekend or what i've been up to lately. i guess i'm just trying to figure out what God wants done with this blog. because i am accountable for myself and for my actions. i want to give Him full reign over every area of my life, including this space on the internet. even if no one ever really reads this, it doesn't matter. because God knows what i put on here. God knows what i share on here. i just want to live my life fully for Him and allow Him to be in charge. because honestly, it's much better when He's in control.

hi.

i'm still trying to process everything that happened in romania. it was not what i expected, but i'm not entirely sure what i did expect going into this trip. it was interesting and hard and a time for real growth. but, i'm happy to be home. and i'm happy to see what God has planned for the weeks to come (and even the months to come. can you say graduation next year? ahh!). He's probably got some cool plans for me, not going to lie.

a little (romanian) update

so i have been in romania now for two weeks. and it has been hard and wonderful all at the same time. there have been many challenges and a lot of struggles that i've had to deal with personally. it is nothing like i expected, which is a good thing. i had way too many expectations before i came here. i didn't realize it then, but i definitely recognize it now. i'm excited that God wants me to be here and wants to grow me to be more like Him. it's hard being away from home and being out of my comfort zone. but it's a good thing. i'm trying to keep my focus on the Lord, and not on what's at home or what's going to happen when i get home. God gave me this verse before the trip and i can see already how much i need this reminder daily.

image found here

and if you know me at all, you know i'm pretty quick to give in to exactly how i'm feeling or my emotions. my mouth always runs way ahead of me and i'm super fast to acting on impulse. it's easy to be here and to dwell on how i'm feeling and how i want things to work. but that's not how it should be. at all. so this summer is going to be so good because i know God is going to really grow me and help me to get over myself. it's going to be hard, it's going to be a daily challenge, but God will be faithful to see me through it all. i'll leave you with two photos of natalie and i from our first morning at cluj:

natalie

me

kbye for now! happy 4th of july!

life lately.

hi! it's been a while since i've posted anything. i mean, no one really reads this but still!
so, in official nerd news, i am now the community service director for cpsa at my school. yes, it really is as cool as it sounds :). 

vice president and community service director!!!

school wraps up on thursday! i am so happy to have the summer off from accounting. my brain needs a break. hopefully, once school starts back up in the fall i can wrap everything up and be done in march! that's insane. eeeeee!
i went on a hike with jessica the other day! besides me almost breaking my ankle (which happens a lot actually! i have such bad ankles!), it was a really great hike! afterwards, we decided to dye my hair. so now it's a redish color. and i love it! thanks jessica for dying it for me!!

i leave for romania on the 19th! that's so soon (uhm 17 days....17!!)! and i'm going to cry. hard. i can just picture it. good thing i already told ryan that this is going to happen.
that's about all that's been going on lately! i mean, nothing too exciting! besides watching michael play witcher everday. which is exciting to me, but probably not to you. kbye!

i got an iphone.

i'm officially cool and now own an iphone. this is good because now i can put pictures on the blog!! pictures like this:

so cool!

currently

Reading: Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Divergent is one of my favorite books and i have been waiting for Insurgent to come out. i'm only in chapter 4, but so far so good :) plus, four is there. possibly my favorite book boyfriend ever. yeah, he probably is.

Watching: well, last night i watched some of How I met Your Mother with natalie. j-just would be proud of me, since she's been telling me to watch the show for a long time now. and i was not disappointed! it's pretty funny!! natalie was dying laughing every five seconds. 

Thinking about: this book, forgotten god by Francis Chan. i just finished reading crazy love by Chan a few weeks ago. i downloaded all the books for free on Easter and am so happy that i did! Chan really wants you to dig deeper into God's word and wants you to really understand what you believe and why you believe it. this book is all about the Holy Spirit. and so far i have been loving reading it! the fact that the God of the universe dwells in me is insane. and i've thought about this stuff before, but going through this book in particular has really helped me to understand even more how much of a crazy idea this really is! but it's so true! and i'm so thankful that God does dwell in me and that His Spirit resides in me.

Loving: lot's of things. #1: beach babe dvd. i love karena and katrina! they're really inspiring and funny. and i really have been enjoying working out with them through their dvds. seriously, go buy a copy! #2: blogging!! i know i haven't been blogging much, but it really makes me happy reading other people's blogs. makes me feel like i'm a part of their lives in some small way. weird? i don't think so!

Anticipating:  how i leave for romania in exactly 7 weeks. and that i will be there for 7 weeks. and 7 weeks seems like such a short amount of time (as in, i can't believe i'm leaving so soon!!!), but then it seems like such a long time (as in, i can't believe i am staying in another country for 7 weeks!!). i'm excited. but mostly really nervous. but, me being nervous or worried is because i'm simply focusing on myself. focusing on my needs and my wants and my insecurities. and not focusing on what God has planned or what He wants to do with the 7 weeks. so, i'm trying to be a little less worried or anxious :) but still, 7 weeks!!!!

Listening to: this song has been stuck in my head lately. i first heard about sucre through elsie's blog because her husband is a part of the band (and he is an amazing musician!). and the lead singer, stacy, was originally in the band eisley. i knew she looked familiar! i've also been listening to the mars volta a lot recently. talk about bringing back memories! hmmmm

Eating: peanut butter. lot's of peanut butter. peanut butter and cheez-its. it's so bad for you. but it's so good at the same time. so i try to limit myself to just a few pieces a day. it reminds me of going to my grandma's house when i was little. she always had these orange crackers that had peanut butter in between the crackers. yummy!

Feeling thankful for: a lot of the little things. lately, i've been really thankful for my health and the fact that i don't have any health issues. it's something that i easily take for granted everyday. the fact that i don't have any allergies or sensitivities. it truly is a blessing that i easily forget about.

we love pp

so, did i mention that natalie and i love phillip phillips? oh i didn't? well, now you know!

you're in love with him too now, huh?

dude, he's so amazing. and, we just love him. we knew our love for him was meant to be as soon as we heard that his name was phillip phillips. natalie and i love when people have first names as their last names. some examples include: matthew christopher, luke bryan, bob dylan, cara lucas, or bob branden daniel. we wish our last name was really paul instead of paulk. cuz then we'd have a first name as our last name. bahaha. our first name as last name obsession started way back when jon peter lewis was on american idol.

he was so cute!!!

yeah, jpl was super cute. the one week i didn't vote for him, he went home. i'm not even joking! it was personally my fault that he went home. i'm sorry jon peter lewis!

in other news, i'm pretty sure i gave myself a bladder infection today. because i drank 1.5 liters of water and then held my pee for over an hour. and then i couldn't even walk to the toilet cuz it hurt so bad. yeah, i'm an idiot! hello!

and natalie is embarrassed that i post this stuff. and i'll probably get embarrassed about it later. but oh well!

i have a final in 12 hours

accounting is going to kill me. it seriously drains the life out of me. but i love it at the same time! i'm crazy?

and finals are making me feel like this... okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but whatever haha

in happier news... the hunger games come out in 8 days. holy moly!!! nat and i have loved these books for 4 years now. so i'm super stoked to see it as a movie! and i am just warning you that i will give everything away if you are in my theater. and i might yell at you if you are team gale (is that a joke? seriously). and don't be alarmed when natalie and i cry and scream like little babies (we do tend to do that when it comes to books that we love). i'm excited!!

i'll leave you with a picture you can admire until the movie comes out:

oh peeta hutcherson! you are too much!! bahaha

and ps. i'm freaking out about romania. 7 weeks? that's long!!

restroom club

Why is it that I only ever go to blog when I'm in a sad/ weird mood? Oh well. Anyways... So last week at work, I went to go clean the men's restroom while we were still open. and I thought no one was in there and just went in. Then a guy came out of the stall. And I was just standing there with my mouth open (I didn't see anything though!). Then I started giggling. And he was like, "I was wondering why someone was knocking on the big door." Then I just kept laughing and said sorry then left. And, to top it off, he is a regular! So I will see him again. Haha embarrassing! Side note: I've walked into the men's restroom at school so many times! I just am never paying attention I guess! But then the smell hits me and I know I'm in the wrong place. Haha

it's sunday

was obsessed with this (and now the whole world is too...)

now have been listening to this

currently reading this (2nd time now. it's so so good!)

dreaming about this (i didn't tell you that i was going to romania this summer for 7 weeks? God is good :) i'll post about it later)

i'm really not in the best mood right now. but i wanted to write a little something on here since it has been so long. currently pondering and thinking about this verse. it's a tough one! especially as i'm getting a bit older.

and praying over getting this (a tattoo in general, not any of those specific ones)

and i smell like this

night world!

The A-Z of Chanel

A. Age: 21 (almost 22...sad!)
B. Bed size: twin? it's tiny.
C. Chore that you hate: washing dishes. i miss our dishwasher!
D. Dogs: casey and sandy. but sandy is an alien.
E. Essential start to your day: reading "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers
F. Favorite color: it's always been blue but i really love greens and browns right now
G. Gold or Silver: it depends!
H. Height: 5'4"
I. Instruments you play: my stomach (only Mel would get this! and i doubt she'll ever read this hah)
J. Job title: student, cashier at chipotle
K. Kids: maybe someday, if it's God's plan
L. Live: California
M. Mother’s name: Annette
N. Nicknames: bellie, giggles, chan, or natalie might refer to me as, "you dumb" (in a loving sister way ;) )
O. Overnight hospital stays: 3 days when i had pneumonia in high school
P. Pet peeves: rude customers at chipotle. especially when they demean the crew members
Q. Quote from a movie: my favorite quote that i can think of should not be shared. but it's in the opening credits of 500 days of summer. and natalie and i laugh so hard at it every time. actually there are lot's of quotes from that movie that we love. but again... inapprope!
R. Right or left handed: Right handed
S. Siblings: my best friend, Natalie aka NATAKIE
U. University: Cal Poly Pomona
V. Vegetable you hate: onion. that's a vegetable right? euw sick
W. What makes you run late: everything. procrastination and waiting to get ready at the last minute are very typical of me (ahem, maybe you should fix that CHANEL)
X. X-Rays you’ve had: lots and lots. i had three surgeries on my right elbow, so i don't know how many x-rays i had just for that alone
Y. Yummy food that you make: when i bake cakes, they are very yummy. or spaghetti squash with tomato sauce. maybe i should make food more!! because i do love food :)
Z. Zoo animal: well, i love sea world animals. so they aren't really zoo animals, huh? but i love being able to pet the manta rays at sea world!