15 Reminders for the New Year

1. This is YOUR life

So, stop looking for other people's approval for everything. It is your life, so love it and do whatever you want. Who cares about what other people think about your life? What matters the most in the end is if you have enjoyed it. 

2. Take care of your body 

Take good care of yourself because it's the only place you'll always live in. 

3. Appreciate what you have 

Take some time every day to give thanks for all that you have, because you do have A LOT. 

4.  Keep a journal is a good idea 

Doodle. Write. Chronicle your adventures. Keeping a journal is something everyone should do because your journal will become both a therapist and a good friend who will always listen to you no matter what time of the day and won't judge you or interrupt. 

Read good books, watch good movies, listen to good music

5. Laugh, smile, and laugh more

6. Be a loyal person

Be loyal to your friends, family, and in love. Stay true to your word

7. Spend more time outside

Take long walks, explore new places, the list goes on.

8. Read good books, watch good movies, listen to good music

When life pulls you down and you want a break, just dive into a good book with some good music jamming or into a movie.

9. Smile at people, even strangers 

Make someone's day!

10. Try new things 

Every day, try to do at least one thing that you've never done before.

11. You only live once, so live in the moment and HAVE FUN 

#YOLO So if you want to do something, do it. If you want to try out something new, do it. If you want to do something crazy, do it. Just do it #Nike And, don't forget to live in the present and make the most out of every moment of your life. Have fun and enjoy the ride that is life!
(Excuse all the hashtags)

12. Travel, see new places, have spontaneous adventures 

Every year, go to at least one country that you've never been to. Every week, go to at least one place you've never been to. Every day, have an adventure.

13. Take breaks to relax 

Every once in a while, take a break from working to just sit back and relax. We all need breaks.

14. Find a hobby, spend time on your hobby

Music. Photography. Basketball. Doodling. Painting. The list goes on!

15. Be kind, be gracious, be humble, be gentle. 

❤| Because life itself is a gift

With my computer still on my lap, I sit back on the sofa and let myself relax.

I close my eyes and let my lips curve into a smile, it was a long day but I chose this moment to just stop for a second and fully enjoy the moment. I had turned on some calm piano music just before and I just let the music consume me, erasing all signs of stress or worry. The fact that I stopped for a second, closed my laptop that I had been working on earlier, made all the difference in my mood.

I kept my eyes closed for a while and simply reflected over my day while eliminating myself of all stress and worry.

After that I opened my eyes and continued working, feeling a million gazillion times more happy all because of that short moment.

∞| A heart on my hand

Every morning, right before I walk out the door, I like to take a black pen out of my pencil case and draw a small heart on the base of my left ring finger.

A small heart.

The heart could represent many things, but for me it is a reminder.

A reminder to do all things out of love, to be more loving. It is a reminder to strive to be patient, kind, non-envious, non-boastful, and basically the definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The thing is, I always desire to be loved by other people and often forget to make others feel loved. Whenever I see the heart on my finger, I am reminded of my decision as a Christian to do all things out of love for others.

A heart can represent many things but to me, in this stage of my life, it is a reminder to do all things out of love for other people and be as much a loving person as possible.

★| Health benefits of ALMONDS

Almonds are the seeds of the fruits of the beautiful almond tree that bears fragrant pink and white blossoms-- in fact, the almond fruit's cousins are the peach and apricot fruits. Almond nut actually refers to the seed of the almond fruit. Tasty and nutritious, almonds make a great snack and are loaded with minerals. Just by eating a small handful of almonds every day can help promote heart health and weight loss, fight against diabetes, and even act as prevention against Alzheimers! Read on to find out some major health benefits of this special nut, tips on eating it, and some fun facts about this seed-nut. 

✈| Zadar, Croatia

Some of the many pictures taken during our stay in the beautiful city of Zadar, Croatia. These are put in totally random order, so there's both scenery and people pictures. (: Zadar was truly gorgeous though and I hope I can go back one day in the near future. I even heard the sea organ for the first time in my life and it was magical. 

✈| Plitvice Lakes National Park

 The largest national park in Croatia and oldest national park in all of Southeast Europe, this place was truly stunning and awe-inspiring.

I'm back!

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that I haven't been able to write in such a long time! I got back from a vacation in Croatia yesterday, though, so that's my excuse. Since I haven't really uploaded my pictures on my computer, I only have some random pictures that were taken now. I thought I'd post them now and I'll post the official pictures tomorrow. Croatia was beautiful though, and I enjoyed every second of my time there, well, except for the mosquitoes. We went to so many places-- including Split, Zadar, and Zagreb-- and had lots of fun. I wish I could post all the pictures now, but, alas, I can't.

I do have to say this though, I'm absolutely, completely in love with Croatia.

Although, I'm ecstatic about the fact that I'm now reunited with my violin and back in the beautiful city of Budapest that shall always be the most wonderful city in my opinion.

♛| Hanging out with a good friend at Margit

Hiya people! Today I got to spend a whole afternoon with a good friend of mine at the one and only beautiful Margit Island. It was super fun and, as usual, pictures were taken because I love using photography to capture memories in life. Today was a perfect day at Margit Island-- the sky was a stunningly beautiful shade of blue with wispy white clouds, the weather was warm but not too hot, and the scenery was stunning. Before I get into my extremely descriptive mood, let me start posting some pictures here. (:

This picture has a super awkward story behind it, to summarise it? I was taking pictures of this dude because I thought he was pretty cool. Then, he waved at me! Ha-ha, talk about awkward. I'm just the epitome of awkward.

★| 10 Reasons Why You Should Drink More Water !

Water is very important. In fact, you are up to 60% water, isn't that crazy? The fact that such a big percentage of you is water makes it obvious that you need water to survive. Water is needed for non-painful movement because it lubricates your joints, carrying off waste products in your body, regulating your body temperature, and myriads of more things.

Read this post to find out...
1. Some reasons why you should drink more water 
2. How to drink more water
3. When to drink water

♫| How to Wash Your Face

Washing your face is one of the easiest yet most important things you can do for your skin. Read this post to learn the best way to wash your face. 

1. Tie your hair back

I'm assuming you're a girl if you're reading this, but if you are not, ignore this step. Tie your hair back and clip back any loose hair or your bangs. It is highly suggested to always keep your hair away from your face whenever you're at home because hair tends to irritate the skin and cause possibly breakouts, which no one wants.

2. Wash your hands thoroughly 
You don't want the germs from your hands be rubbed all around your face, do you? If you have any eye makeup, remove before you wash your face.

✿| Reasons why I like LITTLE WOMEN

So, today I did not have any ideas for a blog post... I decided to go to an online Random Topic Generator and after it generated many topics I could not write about, it decided to give me this topic above! To answer the question... that question is a hard one because I love many novels and it is so hard to chose one that I like the most. 

I would say Little Women is my favorite book. Read on to find out the answer to the question in the picture below!

♛| Budapest Zoo (part 1)

So, last Friday Csilag and I hanged out for a whole afternoon in the wonderful world of animals (in case you don't know yet, I love animals and writing in parentheses.) Since I was quite busy the past few days, I never had time to sort through the myriads of pictures taken during that day and post the pictures I liked. That's why I'm going to post most of them today, several days late. There is a "part 1" in the title because, well, there may or may not be a "part 2" coming some day in the near future.

Isn't this picture just cute? These two lil animals were so freaking cute, I literally stood there and watched them for a while before realizing that I was at the zoo to take pictures. Haha, I love animals and will always do so. 

♛| Budapest Curry House Restaurant

So, yesterday Csillag and I met up at 1:00 to hang out for a whole afternoon! We first went to an Indian restaurant so that I could have a taste of Indian food for the first time in my whole life, I was not expecting it to be really good-- it turned out A M A Z I N G. My favorite type of food is not Indian food, no kidding! The name of the restaurant she brought me to is called Curry House

Haha, this blog post was meant to be posted yesterday, but I was way too lazy to sort through the pictures on my camera... so I decided to post them today! These are only a few of the pictures and I'll post more pictures from the zoo tomorrow and the days after, because I gotta go write chapter 12 of my Wattpad Book-- only have 1200 words done now, 800 more to go!

Me sitting on one of the tables, totally random picture, but I love the gold wallpaper print on the red wall behind me-- it is so pretty and I want it in my future house. (Why did I just tell you that?)

✿| A TRAILER for my Book and... randomness

An awesome person on Wattpad made me a trailer for my book on it, I liked it so much that I thought I'd share it on my blog.

If you want to read the book? The link is: http://www.wattpad.com/story/18550147-two-worlds-one-girl-massive-editing

Don't hestitate to follow me on Wattpad-- I'm @Rains_Voice-- and vote for the chapters you liked in my book. Oh, and PM me if you ever want to talk with me because I love making new friends!

✎| DIY Zentangle iPad Case

I recently decorated a white case for my iPad that came with it when I got it, because I thought a white case was too boring for my tastes... So, I had to get a sharpie and make the case more exciting! Through the process, I took pictures of every step and thought I'd make a tutorial on how I did this. You can do the same thing to any white notebook you have or basically anything white, with your favorite quotes on it or even without quotes. The one I did above is not 100% done, because I will finish it when I have time in this summer. Anyways, read on to see a STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL on how I did this! (: 

✿| A book I started on WATTPAD

Hey people! I just wanted to tell y'all that I started a book on Wattpad (a writing and reading website) called "Two Worlds, One Girl" more than a month ago and wanted to share it with you.

Summary of Book: 
One day, a perfectly ordinary girl walked home from school to find that she had became an orphan, in a blink of her eye. She was forced to live in the house of an aunt who loathed her, since her parents were gone. But what truly made her special was that she had found the bridge between the world she had always lived in and a secret, hidden world. A notebook was given to her on her 15th birthday by her mom, who said, "This notebook will change your life forever." And it did, it was the bridge that linked the two worlds. Two worlds, one girl. 


Trailer to the Book:
The person making it is still editing it, but the final version will be out tomorrow-- I'll be changing the link to the final version when it comes out! :) 

http://youtu.be/ngP14sMklKs

The link: 
http://www.wattpad.com/story/18550147-two-worlds-one-girl-massive-editing

❤| 50 things I'm thankful for

Picture + Quote by Rain's Voice 

My heart is full of gratitude as I look around me... I'm sitting on a brown sofa with my Mac propped on my lap that has a pillow on it. A beautiful view outside the window greets me, the sky is beautifully blue and it is a perfect summer day outside. Music is playing and the fan is facing me, keeping me from getting too warm. My guinea pig is in his cage-- eating grass and occasionally running around his cage, making lots of noise. I sit back, with pillows behind my back, and smile. 

Life is good.  

God is good. 

¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•.¸¸.•♥•¸.•♥•¸.•♥•¸.•♥

Things I'm thankful for

1. Life.  I mean, how cool is it that I am in this world now, living? 

2. ♬Music.   It is one of the things that I can't live without

3. Family.   We have our ups and downs, but in the end, I love every one of them and cannot imagine life without them. 

4. Friends.   I cannot live without the friends I have, friendship is such a beautiful thing. 

5. Color.   I'm obsessed with color 

6. ☆Stars.   I love looking up at the stars in the night. 

7. Books.    Because I cannot go past a single day without reading. 

8. Education.   The fact that I can have an education is a beautiful thing. 

☀| You miss 100% of the shots you never take

Photo taken by Rain's Voice (me) and the quote was also added by me. 

*this post will be edited on August 5th*

Hey you-- yes, you. 

Do you dream of doing something but are afraid of doing it because you've never done it or because there is a high chance of you failing when you do it? The answer is probably yes, and for me, this happens a lot in my life. We, as humans, tend to avoid chasing after our dreams that other people say are impossible. We let go of dreams all because of the thought that we will fail if we pursue them. 

The thing is...

♛| A day spent at the Danube River

Today, my mother and I decided to spend half of our day outside in the beautiful sunshine again. This time, we were going to go to the Parliament, but decided to stay near the Gellert Hotel (4 minutes from our place) which happens to be situated right next to the Danube River. We took some pictures and I brought my iPad with me to write the 11th chapter of my book on Wattpad (link? http://www.wattpad.com/story/18550147-two-worlds-one-girl). I thought I'd post some of the pictures taken today like I always do, just to let you have a glimpse into my life! 

Sitting on a bench with the fountain right across from me, life is good. 

♛ | A day spent at the park

Today, my mother and I went out for a whole day to a park that happens to be situated right behind our place. I brought some books, notebooks, and my iPad with me so that I could read and write outside. While, my mom brought almost nothing because she was planning to go out only to relax. ☼ The sun was extremely hot today, but we managed to sit in a picnic table that was covered by fabric, shielding us from the sun. In fact, the place where we sat was actually cool! We just got home and I thought I'd post some of the pictures taken today (There are only 3) so that you guys can have a small glimpse into my life.

 #butfirstletmetakeaselfie -- We had to take a selfie before actually settling down on a bench seat in the park because, well, selfies are important! 

Random picture of me writing in a notebook, I don't even know when my mom took it! 

The park behind our place happens to also be the home to a Subway/Metro stop! I love the fact that the stop is here because as a result of it being here, there is a pond behind made in the park as of now-- and more playgrounds.  

I feel so lucky to be living where I am now mainly because of the park, I like parks.

♬| Reasons why you should watch the movie FROZEN

Ever since the movie Frozen came out in the November of last year, I have heard many of my classmates tell me how great of a movie it is. And so recently I watched it, half a year later, and I fell in love with it. It is a movie about a fearless girl by the name of Anna, who teams up with Kristoff on a quest in an extremely snowy situation with a hilarious snowman named Olaf-- a quest to find Anna's sister Elsa who is the one whose ice/snow powers have caused winter to come over the kingdom. It is a great movie with a great theme and in this post I'm going to give a list of why I like this movie. 

1. Adorable Olaf and his hilarious antics 

"In Summer," which is a song he sang fantasizing about how much fun he would have in warm weather, dancing in the sun. 

"Bees-a-buzz, kids that blow dandelion fuzzAnd I'll be doing whatever snow does in summer.

Olaf is obviously oblivious to the fact that he would melt in summer, because of this, this song is witty. Olaf represents a character who is so adventurous, yet doesn't know anything about this world, that it is almost a fault.  Because he was built by Anna and Elsa when they were still small, he represents pure childish innocence.

"Oh, and I don't know why, but I've always loved the idea of summer, and sun, and all things hot.. -Olaf

★ Kidney Health | The Disease, Symptoms of Kidney disease, Cures, What to eat

Your kidneys are very important organs in your body. They are located on both sides of your body/spine, near the middle of your back, and just below your ribcage. Kidneys have a lot of work to do in your body.


What your Kidneys do                                                   
1. Remove wastes and extra fluids from your blood (basically, the kidney is like your heart, it acts like a pump that cleans your blood)
2. Make urine
3. Keep your blood pressure controlled by releasing hormones into your blood.
4. Help keep your bones healthy
5. Help you make red blood cells
6. Control your body's chemical balance.
7. Remove drugs and toxins that are introduced into your body.


That is a lot of things that your kidney has to do and it is why your kidney is greatly needed by your body. The bad thing is that kidney disease is a growing problem in the US and in the world.

"One in 10 American adults have chronic kidney disease (CKD), more than 20 million American adults have some level of CKD"
 -Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

♛ | A Perfect Summer Day

Today was a truly beautiful summer day that was not too hot, nor cold (duh)-- everything was perfect. So, my mom and I went outside for a short trip and we took pictures long the way!

A random shot of my mother just outside of our place, I love the color green now. 

Me being weird in the subway station...