Day 11

Task: Perfect your model catwalk today. Practice until you'd put even Miss Tyra to shame.

Now for those of you who know me, you know I love to wear my America's Next Top Model T-shirt and strut my stuff like its nobody's business! So today, I decided that I needed to work on three key areas of my walk:

1) My stride and overall rhythm of walking

2) That wind-in-my-hair look when I walk

3) The look/pose I give at the end of the catwalk

So, I put on my best heels and got to strutin'! I even wore some new clothes I had bought earlier this week to get a model-like mentality like I was in the changing rooms backstage. Lucky for me, my bedroom has full length mirrors all across my closet doors so I got the chance to study how I was doing.

The first thing on my list needed the most work, so I walked back and forth in my room until I discovered the best looking stride and rhythm. I have to confess also that I used beats from songs on my laptop to keep the beat going constant... I had too much to think about to keep a steady beat in my head! But after about 30 walks up and down "the runway" I finally made it work!

Now I was on to number two on the list, which for me is a constant struggle as some of my friends would point out. See, my hair and I have been at war since I was about..... born. So, I try everything to make it blow the right way and it blows in my face (don't ask how). Then, I came up with the idea of nodding my head side to side in order to give my hair that extra push and it actually worked! After doing this about 10 times, my neck started to cramp. So I decided it was good enough for now. Maybe I should just invest in a portable fan? Ha!

Finally, I got to my personal favorite part of the model catwalk, the pose and look you give to the cameras! I have been doing different combinations of these since I saw my first episode of ANTM. I looked into the mirror and imitated looking at a photographer and I gave him all I got! 'Side pose! Pivot, other side pose! Head up, eye wink*, smile and turn back'.... catwalk gold! So, I tried all three at once (still wearing my heels, boy were my feet aching) and it came out perfect the first time!

Being a model for a day is some seriously hard work! And I didn't even get that far to see and empathize with them for the things they go through to stay as models. But it was also a really great and fun experience getting to fool around with my hair and makeup and clothes so I could look, act, and feel like a model. Miss Tyra, I think you would have been proud! :)

Day 10

Task: List 20 things you like about someone and give your list to them.

So, I have a ton of good friends that I could've given my list to. I went on facebook to look at all of my friends and landed on the perfect person! Let's call her Erica*, and she and I have only known each other for less than a year but have been really good friends since then. We hung out, talked about guys, you know girl stuff. Anywho, I pulled out my trusty pen and looseleaf paper and went to town! I even had Miley Cyrus' "7 things" playing in the background for inspiration. But I had to wait for the good part, not the part where she rants about why she hates the guy. But you know you like someone a lot when the speed of thoughts coming to you is faster than your hand writing them all down. It all just came to me, like my head was exploding with things I liked about her. She really is that awesome and I'm truly a lucky person to have her in my life. Some of the things on the list were referenced to old inside jokes and things I know only she would understand.

When I finished writing out my list, I began to prepare how I was going to give it to her. I practiced in front of the mirror and said the phrase "I have something that I want to give you" in a million different ways! I was thinking I would see her later on today, that way I would give it to her and be able to see her reaction. Unfortunately, plans got a bit mixed up and she didn't end up hanging out with us tonight. No worries, though. Next time I see her I'll give it to her. :)

Day 9

Task: Learn how to say a trivial phrase in five different languages.


Hola readers! Como se va? Oh, how I love speaking different languages! And being born into a different culture than most Americans, I speak a separate language everyday at home! So, I thought I should give it a go by translating one phrase in five different languages. Being bilingual, trilingual if you count high school Spanish (which I don't), I figured this would be easy... Ay ay ay! Let's just say I wasn't expecting that my tongue had to do so many different kinesthetics to make out the correct sounding words. But it was super fun! I used it all day on my parents, my teacher, everyone! Well, I guess you want to know what the phrase was, don't you? Here it is in English: "Stop playing videogames and go play outside!"

Kids these days really need to do this, so I'm taking it upon myself to tell them, no matter what language they speak! Unfortunately, I couldn't put the correct accents into this document so if it sounds like there's something missing, I already know.

Now here are the translations:

French: Arreter de jouer des jeux video et va le jeu dehors!
German: Horen Sie auf, Videospiele zu spielen, und Spiel drauBen zu gehen!
Italian: Smettere di giocare i videogiochi ed andare il gioco fuori!
Polish: Prosze wysiasc gry wideo i idz odgrywaja poza!
Spanish: Pare videojuegos que juega y va el juego fuera!

Phew! My mouth is numb now from attempting to pronounce these. I swear I felt like a five year old trying to read the encyclopedia only knowing how to pronounce words that rhyme with 'at'. I hope that one day, I'll actually get to use this on a kid from a different country. Well, I have to go now, I've got to go soak my tongue in hot water... Ciao!

Day 8

Task: Create a schematic drawing of what you want your dream house to look like.


I always loved drawing when I was a kid, and I was pretty good at it too. I had what you would call raw talent because I never had any formal teaching of what or how to draw. So I dove right into it. Now, I don't mean to offend any architects or other professions who use schematic drawings, but I'm not a fan of them. They just look like a bunch of lines and boxes with no real way of seeing what the actual finished rooms will look like. So instead, I created my own form of a schematic drawing and drew in what I want each room to look like. That way, you can see what I'm talking about. Here's a small but very crucial part of what I want my house to look like, the living room:



Okay, so I know what you're probably thinking... Wow! That is one beautiful living room! Thanks to those of you who I guessed correctly. And I know every interior designer on television says not to mix too many colors or prints in their rooms, but hey its my dream house! I really enjoyed doing this activity among all the other cool rooms in the house. I encourage each and every one of you to do the same for your home one day. Who knows? Maybe if you put down your mental image on paper, it will have more of a chance to become a reality!

Day 7

Task: Give all your friends great big hugs!



Honestly, I coudn't have picked a better day to carry this task out! And it got me thinking where the hug originated from. So, being the curious person I am, I decided to look it up where the hug came from. So as it turns out, nobody really knows where it came from but the first time the term was used was in Scandinavia in the late 1500s (hugga)! Cool, huh?

Hugs are a growing normal form of affection nowadays because more and more teens and young people are using hugs to show their friends and families love and affection. People are even running Free Hugs campaigns all across the country and the world! You know why? Because hugs feel amazing and everybody wants to give and receive them!

So, I got to see all of my bestest friends today at my friends' house during a barbecue. I met them all through campus ministry and we all clicked really well! They're a great bunch!

Anyway, I got to hug several of them when I first arrived and hang out while eating junk food and playing ultimate frisbee. It feels so good to know that you have people who love you and that they want to show affection towards you. I will definitely use this a lot in the future... this isn't the end of the task. :)

Day 6

Task: Learn a cool new magic trick to show your friends and family.



I have to say, this one was a bit tough to do today. I never performed a magic trick before, even a childish easy one. I used to dream of becoming a magician when I was really young but never had anyone to teach me/show me where to learn tricks. So today was my way of fulfilling my childhood fantasy of wowing people with something they never seen before.

So I went online to Google (of course) and searched "how to perform cool magic tricks" into the searchbar and got over 6 million hits! So I decided to start at the top of the list and after about 10 minutes of looking at all the disappearing/reappearing tricks, I found a really cool one that I wish I knew the real secret of... doubling your money from $1 to $2! Boy was I excited! So I watched the instructional video they offered showing the trick and how to execute it for an audience. It was surprisingly easy! So, I practiced it a few times in front of the mirror to the point that I would be comfortable doing for other people. I was finally ready.

The first people I showed it to were my mom and little sister. To add a fun component to the trick, the video told me to use a magic word and have an audience member say it (gotta interact with the audience!) so I chose Alakazaam! It was awesome! They were so surprised that they shouted "WOW! HOW'D YOU DO THAT???" to which I replied, "My dear, a true magician never reveals her secrets behind the trick." It felt so good! After that, I showed my neighbors and some other random people I ran into... they were all amazed by it. One of my neighbors even said, "Can you double a hundred dollar bill? Cus I got bills to pay." Ha ha! Awesome day, and now I have to go make some food disappear! Bye!

Day 5

Task: Speak in Acronyms and IM speak today.



OMG!! 2Day waz soooooo mch FUN! LOL :)

We all know somebody (or someone's teenage daughter) who speaks and/or writes like this. So I gave it a shot. I never really used to mind when people spoke this way, okay I did but at times I was guilty of doing it too. I'm notorious for my sideways smileyface and lol, I admit it. The phrases I came up with today were pretty funny seeing as IM speak is generally a bunch of letters and numbers. Here are a few:

CTCIWSTDOS!!= Change the channel I wanna see the Dr. Oz Show!! (*I'm a huge fan)

LGTTMABCAPAS!= Let's go to the mall and buy clothes and purses and stuff!

And my favorite...

AFAICSSSCWAIMFTOUWDKWTHIGO!= As far as I'm concerned, sports shows should come with an instruction manual for those of us who don't know what the heck is going on!


So next time you get the chance, you can impress your friends with your hip slang speak with these trusty acronyms! TTFN!! (Ta ta for now!) :)

Day 4

Task: Genuinely complement every single person you come in contact with.


"My goodness! Did you do something to your hair? It looks fabulous!"
"Hey tiger, have you been working out?"
"Those earrings really bring out your eyes!"

Ah, compliments. We all love receiving them. Hearing one good thing can really turn around your day for the better. Today, my prime targets were the people in my Chem class. Since I haven't spoken to many of them in the past, it was much easier to start getting to know them using my compliment as an icebreaker. I started it off by telling my professor that I liked her earrings. But I think her expression said it all, her nose scrunched up and she squinted her eyes... she thought that I was being a kiss-up. "Thanks", she said not changing her expression. But no worries, that didn't stop me. I gave everyone compliments in my class, and I didn't make it obvious that I was doing it either. I just kind of let it slip into conversation and out of a class of 12, here was what I got as a response:

7 polite thank you's
4 reciprocated compliments
1 raised eyebrow and "what do you want?"

That last one was pretty funny since it was an older lady, she seemed very suspicious as to why I complimented her out-of-the-blue. Understandable. And, I think it was cool that I got a few compliments out of it too! Hey, like I said, we all like getting them! Another interesting thing I found while doing this is that guys take compliments as flirting, which was not what I was going for at all! Oops, sorry gentlemen for giving off the wrong signal. I'll definitely work on that in the future...

Day 3

Task: Imagine that you are an undercover spy whose mission is to find a homemade bomb created by Dr. Evil to destroy the world.



Secret Agent L reporting for duty! Dr. Evil has gotten away for the last time, now that I and my new recruit Agent R (my youger sister) were on the case!



Boy, oh boy! This was quite a task to perform all by myself, so I gathered some help from my little sister in locating and disarming the bomb. First, we needed to get disguises so nobody would recognize us. I impersonated an old lady wearing a headscarf and bifocals and R put on a wig and sunglasses so our enemy, Dr. Evil, wouldn't be able to identify who we were. Using our drawing board, we drew out a map of all the places we have to go in order to find the missing bomb. Then we got right into it! We searched every room, bathroom, and closet in the house! But we ran into some trouble on the way... in the blue room (my room). We got on my laptop to see if we might find a clue when all of a sudden, the door slammed shut and we were locked in! Then all of a sudden, a video popped up on the screen of Dr. Evil~I made this before we started using photobooth and distorted my head so I looked like a villain~ warning us that we will never get to the bomb in time and that he will rule the world. Lucky for us, R and I were trained by the best monks in China the art of Kung Fu. Together, we kicked the door down and were back to searching for the bomb. When we got downstairs, we heard a mysterious ticking sound coming from the wardrobe closet. We carefully opened the door and lo and behold it was the bomb! We quickly tried to disarm it but we were running out of time. So we cut the red wire and managed to stop it with 7 seconds to spare! Dr. Evil's plan was foiled once again and the world was safe for another day.

Needless to say, this was an awesome adventure! I haven't pretended like that since I was a little kid. And R was ecstatic that I came up with a fun game we both could play together. I always thought that when you grow up, you have to act older and throw out all your thoughts of make believe. But I was very, very wrong. You are as old as you feel and today I was 8 years old! Imagine how happy everyone would be if they tried doing this even once. Well, I better sign off now, my Barbie has a date with Ken and she doesn't have anything to wear! Toodles, readers!



This message will self-destruct in 10 seconds. 10....9....8....7....6....5....4....3....2....1...

Day 2

Task: Sing in your car really loudly to whatever song is playing so the people driving around you can hear.

Alright, so let's be honest with ourselves for a moment: everyone sings in their cars when their favorite song comes on! If you say otherwise than you're lying, my friend, and you should come clean. Whether its rock and roll or polka~does polka even have lyrics?~ we all like to sing-along to our favorite tunes. Today, I tested out my vocal skills for the traffic masses. I warmed up with Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me". Just as I got to a stoplight, I turned to the car on my left and began serenading a 75-year old man in a bright yellow convertible! He just smiled and waved his index finger back and forth like an orchestra conductor would to his company. As I drove off, we waved goodbye and I continued singing loudly down the street. In my 30something minute car ride, I sang everything from Lady Gaga to Skillet! I really had a blast living out my "cruising with the windows down and the music up" fantasy!

Now I really wish that all of my experiences today were that great, but unfortunately they weren't. My loud singing was received with shocked stares, blank stares, angry stares, basically I got stared at a whole lot. One guy even put his music up louder to block out my singing. But it was people like "old convertible guy" who made it all worthwhile for me, I know that I made someone's ride home a little brighter~of course, not as bright as his car! Ha ha. One of my favorite quotes is by George Horace Lorimer:

"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction."

Day 1

Task: Speak in a british accent all day long.



'Ello there gov'na! Lovely day! Would you like a spot of tea with your crumpets? Pip pip!



Okay, so I really laid it on thick today with my british accent. The Queen would've been proud! Seeing as this was my first task ever, I think it went very well! It really made me admire how actors can change their accents to whatever their role calls for! And seeing as I'm a typical American girl, I don't encounter this accent too often. Also, if a guy is the one speaking it, I'm automatically more intrigued and fascinated with him! Come to think of it, I don't know why we girls get all worked up when we hear a british guy speak. I guess its because he could be saying "Can I get a ham sandwich?" with that accent and it still sounds romantic! Ha! I'm not sure why I went off on that rant but anyway here's how one of my conversations went:

Me:(british accent) 'Ello! It's bloody hot out here isn't it?

Stranger: Um, yeah I guess. Summer is usually pretty hot.

Me: Might you know where I would find the lavatory? I can't seem to find one.

Stranger: Uhh, the bathrooms are down there (pointing).

Me: Jolly good! Thank you, sir!

Stranger: No problem. (giggles as he walks away)

To be honest, I think he was expecting Ashton Kutcher to jump out and tell him he was being Punk'd or something. Most of the conversations I had were of that same nature. However, it was really tough to keep my accent purely British... sometimes words came out in an Australian accent! It was certainly a lot of fun going out and doing it. And hey, if I gave people an interesting story to talk about to their partners at their dinner table tonight, great!

Introduction to the 365 Days

Have you ever felt like you were just surviving each day as opposed to living it? Not really going anywhere or doing anything with yourself? I sure did, a lot. I remember when I was a child and didn't have a care in the world. I could just LIVE and enjoy myself. I'm not sure when that feeling ended but somewhere along the way it did. And I got swept up by all of the pressures and troubles I was having that I forgot about the most important thing in my life, my happiness. I've seen plenty of people say "Get up and go live!" but I was too afraid to step that far out of my comfort zone and do something. I became complacent with my life and lost all enjoyment of it.

It wasn't until very recently that I realized how much I was wasting my life being unhappy and how little time any of us have on this earth. See, a close relative passed away recently and it came as such a shock to the entire family. We were all devastated when we received the news. No one could believe that someone's life could be cut so short and without any warning. So I went for a drive in my car to try and get my mind off of it and turned on the radio to WAY-FM 89.7 and Britt Nicole's song "Walk On The Water" came on. As I listened, my favorite lyrics came on:



"What are you waiting for?

What do you have to lose?

Your insecurities try to alter you.

You know you're made for more.

So don't be afraid to move.

Your faith is all it takes

and you can walk on the water too."



As the song continued to play, I realized that I was the only person keeping myself from being happy. So I came up with a plan to inject some joy into my life for the next 365 days. Each day consisting of one fun and/or interesting activity I will perform for the entire year. And thanks to one awesome friend by the name of Angi, I will blog each and every day about what I did that day. I hope you have as much fun reading about it as I have actually doing it!