Little Miss Chemist

Photo taken from picjumbo.com

If you know me, you know how I am not a big fan of socializing. I tend to "hate" on people a lot. Now I put the word hate in quotes because hate is such a strong word, but at the same time it is often used nowadays. Simple things such as people driving recklessly around me make me so angry and I just hate on them.

With this project, I plan on hating less. I know there are lots of things that I can't control, like the amount of crazy drivers on the streets. And since I can't really control that, I shouldn't waste my time and energy just thinking about "what if there aren't crazy drivers around"? Or just the fact that I'm hating on every person who doesn't agree with my opinions and values.

I'll let you know how this goes. It's going to be a big challenge since I just have an automatic reaction of just hating on everybody. Hopefully this goes well :)

-N

Photo Taken from CartoonBucket.com

As to what Timon and Pumbaa said, it simply means "no worries".

Photo taken from YouTube.com

As a kid, I always enjoyed getting gold stars from my teachers. Because of this, I've been seeking to get these "gold stars". I mean, it's not a bad thing for me to want the gold stars, right? It made me try my best in everything. But there comes a point where it does become a bad thing.

This is a recent thing for me!

For those of you who really know who I am know that I worry a lot. It definitely is difficult not to overthink about something, well at least for me.

I have a co-worker who I talk to a lot, and I guess we've developed some kind of a friendship. One day, I came to work, and I just felt really sad. Someone reconnected with me and told me why we stopped talking. I know for a fact that I can take criticisms, if they make sense, but this reason just didn't make sense to me. Instead of getting mad about it, I just got sad. I was thinking that it was a really petty thing, but that's just my opinion. As soon as I got to work, my coworker asked me what was wrong, so I explained what happened. Then my coworker told me, "That's the lamest excuse ever," and then went on about how "stupid" the reason was. Towards the end, my coworker said, "My father once told me to never let anyone rent space in your head for free. You should do the same."

It is not easy. I tend to dwell on whatever people say about me. But then, if you think about it, you can't really please everyone. Some people will just say mean things to you just to make them feel good about themselves, and it's not your fault if that ever happens.

So this is what I told myself, "I'll take my coworkers advice and try my best to not even let anyone rent space in my head for free!" So far, it's been going great. All I care about are the people who actually care about me, and I feel like there is less things for me to worry about.

You should try it. Maybe go for a week, a month, without having to think about anybody who doesn't really add value to your life. See the changes that happen!

xx

Photo taken from http://www.resplashed.com

In the beginning of the book, Gretchen mentioned her "Adult Commandments"; it's a list of rules that, as an adult, she will live by. It took me a while to complete this list, and as soon as I completed the list, I started trying to follow all of them, even though I haven't officially started my happiness project. It was DIFFICULT! I never knew that trying to start this happiness project was such a challenge. But before I get into this, I want to share my own ten commandments as an adult.

1. Be yourself
2. Never let anyone rent space in your head for free
3. Work hard, play harder
4. If you don't need it, you don't need to buy it
5. There is only love
6. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all
7. Not everything is about getting gold stars
8. Show your smile to everyone
9. Hakuna Matata
10. Don't procrastinate; do it now

Photo taken from Google Search

Recently, I have started listening to The Happiness Project audiobook. I am halfway done and I am inspired to change a few things in my life to fulfill my happiness. Gretchen Rubin, the writer, had herself be the lab rat of this project.

I borrowed the book from the library and failed to start reading it because of how busy I was. I initially gave up and returned the book. Later on, I found out that I can borrow audiobooks online and just listen to it through my phone. I have been listening to different podcasts while working so I told myself, if I cannot find time to open a book, I'll just listen to it. I borrowed the audiobook two days ago and I am almost done with it.

I have learned a lot while listening to the book. I made sure that I have a notebook next to me to take notes. I feel really inspired to actually make my own Happiness Project. I decided to post them here on my blog, and hopefully like what Gretchen Rubin's book did, inspire other people to start their own Happiness Project, as well.

-N

This weekend, Grant and I, joined by my co-workers, went to Mt. Olympus Water Park at Wisconsin Dells. The experience I had with my co-workers was great. I enjoyed their company, and hopefully they also enjoyed our company.
The hotel rooms at Mt. Olympus are very nice! There were two queen size beds and a bunk bed, that I adored so much. They looked really cute, and if I could bag the bunk bed, I would have. The room included a mini fridge and a microwave. There was a small flat TV hung on the wall, which I hardly noticed because I was too focused on having fun with my co-workers. The first night we stayed at the hotel, we got in at 1:00AM because we got out of work late. It was a nice place to stay in. I was being a party pooper and slept at 3:00AM because I'm an old grandma!

The next morning we had brunch at a place called Denny's Diner. Don't be fooled, this is not your average Denny's chain restaurant. We thought it was! Having brunch there was not a mistake. The people who work there are very nice and accommodating. Their coffee tastes very good, and the food is also good! I had the pancakes and they were so fluffy. Although we have mistaken that diner as the chain restaurant, we were glad we made that mistake because it was very satisfying eating there. If you do plan on eating brunch or dinner at Denny's Diner, make sure you bring cash because they only accept cash. There is an available ATM in the diner, if you forget to bring cash.

After brunch, we decided to head to the water park and have some fun in the pool. The Indoor Water Park at Mt. Olympus was a bit disappointing. There were only four water slides that you can line up to and each slide takes about 30 seconds from top to bottom,  a lazy river that takes about 5 minutes to complete a round, two hot tubs that you have to line up for in order to get in, a kiddie pool, and a pool that is about 5 feet deep. I was expecting a little bit more before going to the water park because the hotel was really nice. They offer a locker for you to use while you're swimming. They are $10 to rent the lockers. If you are 21 years old and above, make sure to bring an ID because they have a bar in the water park.

For dinner, we went to a place called Pizza Pub. They were offering an All-You-Can-Eat option for only $15.99, and Grant and I thought it was a bit pricey. But then after seeing the prices on their main dishes, we both thought that the AYCE option might be worth it. We both had the AYCE option and they have different choices of pizza, chicken, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, salads, & dessert. I was looking forward to eating the mashed potatoes, because I love mashed potatoes, but I was rather disappointed at how they tasted. The pizza was good, and the chicken was good. Grant also liked the mac & cheese, but mashed potatoes though.

Overall, I had a pretty good weekend. Hanging out with my co-workers outside of work and not talking about work feels pretty good. I was able to get to know them a little bit more, and I enjoyed having a water park trip with Grant for the first time. It was a cheap trip to have, and it was so worth it.

(The pictures did not occur in chronological order.)