photo diary 03

May 24 - June 13

Last week of school, graduation, first week of freedom, first week of work.  Yep, that's been my life lately.

But i've also been going to shows (saw Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros again when they came to town!), taking a lot of photos on my Fujifilm Instax, eating pancakes at Denny's in the wee hours of the morning and watching the sunrise at the lake with friends, writing in my Moleskine, going on adventures, drinking cheap drinks, cuddling with cats, and listening to new music.

It's weird and overwhelming starting a new job.  So much pressure and bolting around the immense store for long periods of time.  Just waiting for that first paycheck.  Sigh.  I miss my friends.

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Soaking up the sun.

top, shorts, & sunglasses - H&M / shoes - Wet Seal (last year) / bag - thrifted

Lately, i've felt a bit of cabin fever and have been longing to go on little adventures.  There are some woods just a two minute walk from my house, so today i decided to break out the ol' Canon and throw on some sunnies and go for a bit of a walk.  The weather was gorgeous and it was refreshing to get some fresh air.

I've been wanting to go out and take pictures lately.  Going out and snapping photos, and then coming home and going through them with a tall glass of lemonade makes me utterly happy.  It's the little things in life. :)

♥

Stay positive.

The past year, especially the past few months has been a time of major change for me.  The people i've met, the experiences i've had, etc. have changed me as a person and have changed how i view things in life, in the best of ways.  I love the person i've become.  I've learned to be optimistic and to accept the things that i cannot change.  This change was nothing i planned or that was forced, but it was genuine and organic.  That's the best kind of change in my opinion.

I met my new set of friends through my now ex-boyfriend, and i am so appreciative and lucky to have met them.  I've never met someone who fully accepted me and loved every part of me and my personality, until now.  They make me want to be a better person, make me love myself, and help me look for the good in everyone.

I have so much love for my friends.  I feel so fortunate to have them in my life.
And i couldn't have asked for better timing.  I met them all just a few months ago, about a month or two into the second semester of my senior year.  I lost my job, got kicked out of National Honor Society, had to get my college plans sorted, lost my parents trust.. everything seemed to be going wrong and i was miserable.  My friends from school that i'd been friends with for the past one or two years were starting to move on as well, so i was kind of alone and had a lot on my plate.  Although my situation had not changed immediately after i became friends with them, the way i viewed my situation changed completely and with my change in perspective came the slowly but surely change in my situation.

If there is one piece of advice i have to give to anyone it would be to stay positive, no matter what you're going through.  Everyone goes through tough times, but what makes everyone different is the way each person deals with the tough times.  Making the most of everything helps you be a happier person.  You may have to fake it at first, but once you learn to genuinely appreciate every moment and accept things as they are, the happier you'll be.
When i got fired from my job, i immediately entered panic mode.  But one of my friends said, "Everything happens for a reason.  If you got fired, it wasn't meant to be and you'll find something better."  It changed everything.

It's all about perspective.

I hope some of you read through this, if not that's okay too.  It was lovely to let it out.  All i hope is to spread a little bit of positivity into the world.

♥

photo diary 02

Instagram name: @laurakristinexo

What i've been up to: Trying on maxi dresses, going to prom, spending as much time with friends as possible, finishing up my last days of high school (i graduate in a week and a half, crazy!), taking pictures of rainbows, shopping with my sister, driving over Hoan bridge, etc.

Other news: I don't want to speak too soon but i had an interview yesterday at Michael's Arts & Crafts for a customer service job and it went really well!  Calling them back tomorrow, fingers crossed. :)  My last day of high school is tomorrow then i just have a few exams.  I have mixed feelings about this.

Hope you're all having a lovely week and enjoying the weather if it's been nice where you are. :)

♥

Obsessed with Instagram.

As some of you may already know, Instagram is finally available for Android, woo!  Since i downloaded it yesterday, i've been absolutely obsessed with it.  I've been going through the old (as well as a few new) photos on my phone and testing out different filters on them - a few of them are above. :)  If any of you have Instagram, make sure to follow me! ;)  My username is laurakristinexo!

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changes

An accumulation of events that have occurred over the past few weeks and months has inspired this blog post, which i hope some of you will read through all the way and not just disregard it as a tl;dr ramble.  Either way, it'll be nice to get this off of my chest.

Being the fourth quarter of my senior year of high school and having recently turned 18, so many (necessary and unnecessary) changes have been and are happening in my life at the moment.  It's time to move on from the people i've been surrounded with and places i've become familiar with over the past 13+ years of school, etc. and it's time to grow up a bit.  For a while now i've been resisting these changes but i think it's finally time to embrace them.  I'm in need of new people and experiences, and i need to start getting more realistic with what i want to do with my life career-wise.  I've told myself that as long as i'm happy and have my family and friends, it doesn't matter what i do - and that remains true.  But there does come a point where reality sets in and unfortunately, money and responsibilities are part of that.  As much as i'd love to live in my own reality, there are bills to be paid and mouths to be fed.

At the moment, i'm still discovering who i am as a person and what i want to do with my life.  I'm trying to cut out all the negative people and things in my life that are just bringing me down.  I've been partying less and trying to focus on myself and my family more.  I got myself a boyfriend that i absolutely adore and make an effort to see him whenever i can.  And i've also been getting a move on the whole college thing.  I'm taking my placement exams next week sunday (ahh), and i've been having to fill out endless forms and make decisions about next school year constantly.

As some of you may have noticed, i've not been on here much at all and honestly, i haven't been putting in much of an effort to catch up on everyone's blogs (not even my favorites) or blog myself.  I still do not want to shut down this ol' blog because i have put a lot of time and effort into it over the past few years and i still do love it, i just need to focus my energy on other things at the moment.

This is not a goodbye from me, you'll be seeing me soon!  In the meantime, you can keep up with me on Twitter and Tumblr.  I hope you all understand where i'm coming from, and if you don't, that's fine too.  Hope you're all doing well.  See you soon!

Lots of love. :)

♥

Home is wherever i'm with you.

Just another quick post to let you all know i'm still alive and well!  I've also wanted to talk about a few things so here goes!
♥ My birthday's coming up (well, it's in 50 days haha) and i'll finally be 18!  Not sure what i'm going to do to celebrate it yet though, probably just do something with friends - probably my favorite way to celebrate my birthday.
♥ Since i'm turning 18 i've been contemplating getting a few tattoos!  I have three in mind and i kind of know where i want to get them.  I've been wanting "this too shall pass" for ages, i know it's a tattoo that everyone thinks of as a bit cliche, but it's a phrase that has always been floating around in my mind & has gotten me through a lot of times - good & bad!  I'm thinking of getting that on the inside of my arm.  I also really want "home is wherever i'm with you", one of my favorite lyrics from one of my favorite songs ever (from Home by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros).  I think it would very much sum up this time in my life & is always a phrase that will be very near & dear to my heart. :')  Not sure where i'd get that, i'm thinking on my foot or something!  The last one i've been thinking about is something on the side of my rib cage or behind my ear.  That would probably be more for ~the sake of art~ & being pretty.  I've always said to myself that if i got a tattoo that it would have to mean something to me.  This is all hypothetical of course, i'm such a commitment phobe - and when it comes to my appearance, not sure how i would feel about a tattoo!  I absolutely love them on other people but on me?  Hmmm... will have to contemplate some more.  You only live once though, right? :)
♥ In terms of blogging, i apologize to those of you who have been anticipating a blog post from me.  Admittedly, i do have a bit more free time now that exams are over, but as i feel like i've said over & over, i've just been wanting to spend my time doing other things (catching up on sleep, hanging out with friends/family, etc).  Not sure where i stand with this blog atm, but i definitely don't want to completely abandon it.  Have been considering changing it up a bit since i don't have much interest in beauty blogging really anymore - i feel like there are just so many other beauty blogs & i don't know, just lost my ~passion~ for it i suppose.  I am still head over heels in love with photography, just haven't been taking many photos lately.  We shall see.
♥ As i've said in, like, every blog post from the past few months, thanks for sticking by me lovelies.  Hope you're all doing well. <3
♥ Favorite songs of the moment: Midnight City - M83, I Know the Truth - Pretty Lights, I Want to Take You Higher - Sly & the Family Stone, I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues - Elton John.

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Merry Christmas.

A few photos from my Christmas Eve!  Spent it with my immediate family.  We feasted, opened presents (i will probably show you all what i got in another post!), and just relaxed by the fire.  Probably my favorite way to spend Christmas, with loved ones, warmth, & loads of treats. Today i'm going to my uncle's to celebrate with more of my family & eat some more!  Hope you're all have lovely Christmases. ♥

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I'm still here.

1. Posey pose, 2. Amazing onesies from Target, i need the bunny one in my life!, 3. Reading, milk & cookies!, 4. Best fraand, 5. My fave tee in my wardrobe, 6. Love these little treats, trying to get in the ~Christmas spirit~, 7. Kindle case, woop., 8. Essie "Lady Like", 9. Mug shot

Long time, no see.  A bunch of stuff has been going on lately & on top of my laziness, i just haven't wanted to blog as much as usual.  Not making any promises of trying to blog because i don't know if i'll be able to keep them!  Thanks for sticking by me though, it's crazy that while i kind of abandoned BCD, i've still been gaining followers.  Thanks again, i don't deserve you guys. ;)

Lately, i've really just been trying to hang out with friends as much as possible, while still working, keeping up with school, etc.  I also bought a Kindle a few weeks ago and i've been totally loving it!  I bought that mushroom case off of a seller on Etsy, might do a seperate post on it eventually, but yeah.  Hope you've all been well. ♥  Even though i may not be on here too much, i'm always on Twitter & Tumblr.

Can you believe it's already Christmas Eve tomorrow?  I'm in denial.. there's no snow on the ground & i still have so much shopping to do!

♥

Movember.

November is one of my favorite months for many reasons (the weather, getting into the holiday season, etc), but one of the top reasons is No Shave November.  Something about a guy with facial hair... nom.  I do like a bit of scruff to be honest, it's just so ~manly~ i suppose. ;)

Not only do i enjoy the men participating in No Shave November/Movember getting scruffier as the month goes on, but i think it's awesome that it raises awareness for men's health (prostate cancer, etc.) as well.

Movember has an official website on which you can donate money, learn more about the cause, participate, etc.!

Since i cannot grow a beard or a mustache of any kind, i thought i could kind of show my support through these quirky little earrings (above :).  I think they're adorable & they were only $5.50 from Claire's, woop.

Hope you're all having nice weekends. ♥

Can you believe Thanksgiving is only a few days away?  Crazy how fast time flies!

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Catch-up.

Looking like a goon/leopard print cardigan from Goodwill - brand is New York & company, little metal ring from thrift store, working clock necklace (also from work), dream catcher (thrift store once again!), assembling my own furniture (girl power), organizing my vanity, vintage sale outtake.

I feel like so much has happened since my last chatty-type post & i'm feeling the need to fill you all in!
I suppose the biggest thing is that i got my license, i've had it for a little over two weeks now.  The freedom is amazing, just not looking forward to designating most of my paycheck to gas & insurance every week!  I suppose with freedom & all that good stuff comes responsibility & having to grow up a bit. *tear*
I also passed 700 GFC 'followers', which is madness!  I don't say it much, but i really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to read/leave comments on this ol' blog.  Thank you everyone! :) ♥
Have been obsessed with a few things lately, particularly: Drive, leopard print, the color red, dream catchers, and subtle jewelry.
I apologize for not blogging as much, i do miss it!  Really wish i had more time not only to blog, but to catch up on everyone elses.  Wish i had more free time, whenever i do get a little time off i usually spend it hanging out with friends, sleeping, or watching Youtube videos!  The lighting has also been a bit crap for taking decent photos, but no more excuses. :P

I hope you're all doing well. ♥
Feel free to follow me on Twitter, i update that loads more. ;)

♥