Travel Bucket List

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– Mark Twain

Traveling around the world is definitely on the top of my bucket list, so why not create a bucket dedicated to travel!

Now, coming up with this list is very difficult. I really want to visit the whole world, but like a to-do list, I have to prioritize. So here is a list of the top 10 places I want to go (in no particular order).


Firstly, Ireland. As a historian, I love looking up my family ancestry. I've learned that some my ancestors are from Ireland, so naturally, I would want to visit!

https://www.interrail.eu/en/destinations/ireland

https://www.ireland.com/articles/magazine/

Second, the United Kingdom. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. There are many places within this country I want to visit.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g186338-London_England-Vacations.html

https://kindlingwords.org/west/

https://www.eurocentres.com/en/language-school-brighton

Third, France. I have been to Paris before, and of course, I want to go back. But I would also like to visit other parts of the country.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/paris

https://medium.com/great-runs/great-runs-in-c%C3%B4te-dazur-french-riviera-96a44eb5754c

https://www.myholidayguru.co.uk/holidays/magical-eco-lodge-provence/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC3s1YNGowQ

Fourth, Italy.

https://www.trafalgar.com/nz/destinations/europe/italy

https://preferredhotels.com/offers/italy-in-style

Fifth, Greece.

https://www.worldtravelguide.net/guides/europe/greece/

Sixth, Nepal.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/nepal

https://mosaicadventure.com/what-to-do-in-nepal-if-not-trekking/

Seventh, Morocco.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/greg-sheridan/morocco-north-african-oasis-offers-a-vision-of-stability/news-story/4cc779d5554ae25ad1c73a38454c28b7

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/morocco

Eighth, Canada.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/canada

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/countries/canada/

Ninth, Brazil.

https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/south-america/brazil/

https://www.abercrombiekent.com/travel-destinations/latin-america-luxury-travel/brazil

Lastly, Mexico.

https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/country/147/mexico

https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/caribbean/mexico/holidays-mexico.html

I hope you thought that this was interesting. What are some of your dream places to visit?



Until next time, À bientôt!!

Emmalily93

New Year, New Me

res·o·lu·tion -- a firm decision to do or not to do something (definition brought to you by Google search haha)

As a child/teen, I always came up a with a list of New Year's resolutions. Did I follow them? Probably not. Did I know if I followed them? Heck no. Come December 31st, I have never taken out my list and checked to see if I followed my resolutions. Also, I hear this a lot, why make resolutions at the beginning of the year when you should just start them right here, right now. I can totally understand why people would feel that way, but it is refreshing to start anew.

SO. My New Year's resolutions of 2018. I feel like mine are always the same, something that I am always working on.

1. Eat healthier- although I am vegan, it doesn't always mean I eat healthily. I want to be careful of what I put in my body.
2. Be more active- I don't want to call this "exercise more" because I will abandon that haha. I want to get out and explore, whether this is with walking, biking, or cross-country skiing.
3. Be happy with myself- I want to concentrate on my mind and soul. I will attempt to have a more positive view of myself. 

I hope that I can stick to these resolution, or goals, because I really want them to happen. 

A Bientot!

emmalily93 xx

And I'm Back...

After a long moment of hibernation, I have developed a bubbling sensation to create. So here I am again, after way too long, I am blogging again. I don't know what my blog will turn in to, but I guess we will see won't we :) To kick things off, I will do a top 10 things you may not know about me!

1. I am vegan: I started my vegan journey last year in May. It hasn't been a perfect journey, but I feel healthy and happy!
2. I have a cat: This is also a new addition to my life. I got my cat Cooper last year in February. He is quite a troublemaker but I love him to bits!
3. I am a teacher: Once again, new. I started my first year teaching in the fall of 2017.
4. I live in a new town: I moved due to #3, and I love this little town I live in.
5. I still have my Christmas tree up... #noregrets
6. I danced for 15 years: Mainly consisted of ballet, tap, and jazz.
7. I am addicted to the Sims 4
8. I don't have very many friends (and that took a sad turn haha)
9. I miss college
10. I own a record player: I don't have very many vinyl records, but I still love listening to music in this way.

I am so excited to start my blog up again! It is fun and relaxing to create and express myself in some way. 

À Bientôt! ("See you soon" in French)

emmalily93 xx

Things That I Believe...

[a list of things I believe that are true, no matter how silly they may seem]

• True love
• You can have more than one soul mate (or you can love more than one person)
• Dreams can be premonitions
• People can share dreams
• Karma
• Reincarnation
• Second chances
• Fictional romance can happen in real life but only once in a lifetime
• Thinking with both your head and your heart
• Dancing frees the soul
• Photography captures emotion
• I'm a hopeless romantic

Let's be honest, I am not sure if this is a list of things that believe or a list of things that I wish were true...

Procrastination and Motivation

Well hello there everyone!

So, first off is some apologies for not posting in a long time. I've been super busy with my last year of undergraduate school. It has been crazy! But come summer time I will be blogging more! Yippee! On to my main subject :]

(Disclaimer: I am most definitely not a professional counselor or life coach. The following is just my experiences and advice and strategies that worked for me.)

Today I really want to talk about something that has been on my mind lately and that is procrastination and motivation. Naturally as a college student I am a major procrastinator! It is so easy to push things off until the last minute and to be honest I work best under pressure. Lately though I have noticed that it has been detrimental to my mental health and my grades (not to horrible though!). A week ago I got sick two weeks in a row and I feel I haven't been putting enough effort in my work. I always make goals and promise that I will get my work done early but that NEVER (maybe rarely) happens! I struggle with 'senioritis' and my struggling YouTube addiction (which I know I will never give up!). But today I had a major turn around while working on an assignment that was due earlier today. I had decided to get my butt in gear and work hard to get everything done, especially since finals week is two weeks away!

Being on task and motivated is hard but anyone can make an effort to being more efficient in school, work, etc. One thing that I do is make lists. I have a lot of lists. Sticky notes (big and small), pieces of paper stuck one my wall, big (or small) white boards, and last of all a planner. I live by planning out my work time, my classes, working out, meetings, and sometimes even planning out time to go to the library. Making a plan can you be more organized and will hold you accountable to do those things. I highly recommend writing down deadlines for projects in a planner, a calendar, or even the Google calendar if you have a Google account.

As for motivation, it is more of a self change. Every time you need to do something but you feel a lack of motivation go ahead and give yourself a pep talk! Tell yourself that you can do it! Being positive can be an improvement by itself. Also, if you find it extra challenging to be motivated maybe you can sit down and figure out why you may lack motivation. Personally, I felt a lack of confidence. To help myself gain more confidence I reminded myself of all my accomplishments and my capabilities. Gaining motivation is all about being positive about life and yourself. This is the most challenging part of life and it takes time so don't be discouraged!

I hope everyone has a great day/night/weekend!

Until next time!
emmalily93 xx

Body Image

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone is having a good new year so far!

One thing I really want to talk about is self body image. I have suffered with negative self body image for the longest time and for the past year I have really seen it affect my life. Recently, as in just before I decided to write this, I have decided to try to start loving my body. I've seen this work with one of my best friends but I feel that this was never going to work on me. The main reasons I thought this was because as of right now I am not healthy and I am working on getting fit and being in a healthy weight range (for I am overweight mainly because of the classic unhealthy college diet). So I feel this body I am currently in is quite temporary, so why would I love it? Well I think if I don't start to love my body I will forever hate the body I am in even if it is a healthy body. So aside from my new years resolution of being active (in school, exercise, healthy eating etc.), I will start loving my body more. This article I found very helpful in finding ways to help with my self esteem and I hope that it will also help you. And, although I am not 17 anymore, I like Seventeen Magazines "Body Peace Project," found here. It has lots of resources in helping you gain confidence and you can even sign a peace treaty with your body.

I hope that this blog has helped at least one person :)


Oh and also! Check out this video from Zoella and Sprinkleofglitter! It provides a great look into general body images and how it doesn't just affect curvier people.

PS- School is going well! I have started my research on my capstone for history. It is on the counterculture of the 60s :)

Of History, Photography, and Procrastination

Hey everyone!

So this is my very first post. Unfortunately I am doing this instead of writing my history paper for finals... Shame on me! I think my mind is ready to write for fun and not write for class. Even though my topic is interesting (World War II, more specifically Pearl Harbor). Actually it is quite funny that I am writing about this because today is December 7th! How ironic... Below is a video of that famous speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Anyways, I hope my blog is fun to read! It will mainly be about life, photography, and travelling (big or small). The next two pictures are examples of my photography final! 

Hood River, OR

Portland, OR

Oh and by the way, these photos were taken by a Holga 120N, black and white medium format film. They were scanned into a computer. :)