It's been one heck of a couple weeks and April is gone as I speak. May is so promising and it's that inch closer towards summer. I can finally wear shorts and get my hammock hung to chill out and enjoy this weather that Chicago finally gets to see. I have a lot of goals for this upcoming month and this I really want to accomplish during my last month of freshman year. I still cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. 

01. I have been planning on a total blog revamp and would like some tips or ideas on how I can make my blog a bit better. I took this past week off for midterms and have realized that my blogging game is not what it used to be. I think I would like to change my template or the aesthetic of my blog a bit, but that'll be a night of finding inspiration and reconfiguration. I think it'll be a fresh start into the summer. 

02. Last time this year it was a month full of events for me: prom, graduation, trips, etc. This month really isn't as packed as it was last year. That said, I need to make more time for myself. I don't know if it is the warmer weather or the spark of the social atmosphere, but I've been feeling very high strung recently and always on edge about things. I'm going to finally start up yoga again and I cannot wait. 

03. Since the school year is coming to a close, I would like to start getting back in touch we people I haven't seen in so long. Everyone leaves for college and it's like you cut off all communication with them because you get so busy with your life. Yes, I've kept in touch with some friends, but not as much as I would have liked to. 

04. I do want to plan a road trip with some of my best friends this summer because college is the time to explore and go on adventures. I want to make plans, but also not make plans and go with the flow this summer. I have hopes of getting out of my comfort zone, too. 

05. I have plans on going to a few more Cubs games this month and possibly this summer. I can always find really cheap tickets and Wrigley Field is literally a stop away from campus. It's always a fun time at Wrigley. I would also like to try and see more bands play around the area. I have been to a comedy club called Annoyance Theater off of Belmont. It's a really fun place to go late at night when you just want to laugh at dumb sketches. 

06. I've been really into astrology lately and reading my daily horoscope to see what my day has in store for me. I don't think I believe everything it tells me, but I've been liking this app called Daily Horoscope a lot. It gives you your daily horoscope, weekly and monthly horoscope, sign meaning, compatibility, and more. It's just something fun I like to do when I wake up every morning.  

I don't like to be too ambitious with my goals for the month because things change, but I am going to try and stick to these for now. The sun is shining and everybody's mood is uplifted this time of the year. What are your plans this month?

It has been almost 8 months since we got this beast and I have to say, he's still growing and growing. I thought it was time to update you all on our not-so-puppy dog. It's been a wild few months having him in our family and we all love him very much. 

There are things that we've noticed in him that remind us of our old dog, Rigly, and he brings us so much joy. When he's not tearing up a shoe or drinking out of our bathroom toilet, he's honestly one of the sweetest pooches out there. 

Cooper is probably 70-80 pounds of mischief and dirty socks. I swear he's gotten into almost all of our laundry baskets and garbage cans. We've also had to puppy proof our home and get him baby gates to keep him in the kitchen when we can't watch him 100% of the time. It's funny because I call it his exhibit because you never know where he's hiding or sleeping: under the table, on the carpet,  or behind the counter. 

He's at that awkward stage in his life where he's still very much a puppy, but his body is growing at an odd rate. His head is still pretty small for his body, as well as, his legs. His torso is probably all fully grown, but he's still very low to the ground. He reminds me of a mini pony. 

He does this really cute thing when you come home, he gets all excited and nose dives into your lap then does some tap-dance sort of thing before it's too late and he's already happy-peed on your foot. In order for us to tame his excitement all the time, we take him to our nearby park and run him on the baseball field until he gets extremely tired and sleeps all day—you know, what a puppy should do. 

He's still a bit teethy or mouthy, so we have been keeping an eye on him when he gets really riled up. Every now and then he will just start attaching to your sleeve and will whip his head back and forth. I know he just wants attention, but sometimes it hurts...a lot. There are other times he wants our attention and he'll go to his water bowl and start kicking the water out of his dish just for someone to notice him, I've never related to something so much. I just wished he had another way of showing it. 

Cooper will remain a mystery until we learn and he learns that not every single item he sees is a chew toy. I guess that's what comes with raising a pup. They're unpredictable but insanely cute, so I guess he's okay. Other than that, he's fitting nicely into our family and I'm excited to bring him on more adventures during the summer. 

It's a silly thing to think about, but I've always been one to over assume or analyze situations or circumstances and that honestly takes out so much wasted energy and causes unwanted stress that I don't even need to be having. I've been fighting with the idea of not having to address my issues and just sit them out, but that usually leads me to even more analysis and agony. If only it was so simple. 

There have been times that I've been living in what could be, rather than what it is at that present moment. The thing about my anxiety is that I place myself in hypothetical, "what if," situations that don't even have a place in my scenario, or circumstance, for that matter. The worst thing is when it usually ends up okay and all I have is just another racing heart, beating at someone else's drum. 

I start basing my self-worth on what could be or what I think it might be. I start second guessing who I am and what I did. I know this is pretty vague, as I would like to keep some of my private life private, but I'm sure at least one person could relate to this feeling. What I fail to do is be present. I am not paying attention to the present moment for what it is and am just creating something totally arbitrary and irrational. If everything's okay, why worry about it? 

I guess it might be my want for answers, truth, or justification that everything is entirely okay. I would say I am a pretty compassionate and sensitive, too, so that stems from my want for black and white information.

I've thought about the way I address situations and to be honest, it hasn't done me any good at all. I need to focus on what I'm doing at that moment and that I am also worthy of myself and my own capabilities. There comes a time to second guess and rethink things, but I'm tired of living by someone else's means.

For anyone who feels the same way as I do, you are worthy of success, a great job, love, happiness, and everything in between. It's noticing first that you are capable of these things and no one else can tell you otherwise. Stop living in assumptions and be here at this moment. Try to be bold.