Category: Self Care & Beauty

New Year, New Things: My 2021 Glow up Goals & Resolutions

Hailey Madison8 Comments
*my own photo :)*

Hiya hiya, my beautiful jelly beans! I hope you are doin alright this lovely day 😉 And Welcome to the first post of 2021 here on Sunshine & Rain!! xD

Ahhh haha, it feels really great to be back. Not sure if anybody noticed, but I recently took a break from blogging this month (until now) so I could really take time to set some things up for the New Year, and take some much needed time for myself.

BUT. I AM BACK. AND I FREAKIN MISSED YOU.

So yeah like HAPPY 2021!

I thought that for my first post of this year, I should do a little reflection of the year passed, and some Goals for the year ahead. I’m calling my hopes for this year my goals and resolutions because some of these are things that I would just really like to do, but most of these are things that I am really going to commit to. Its a mix of both.

This new year, is for new things. I know that all the chaos of 2020 isn’t going to just magically disappear because the clock struck 12 on the night of December 31st, but this year is going to be what we make it. We make our life what it is and we have the power to live fully and joyfully. I left behind and lost many things this past year, things that absolutely shattered my heart, but I feel that its time to move on from that. Of course i’m not saying i’m going to just forget it all, but i’m going to use the struggles and hurt of this past year and the lessons it taught me for the better. I think we all should, don’t you? 🙂

The world we live in today is so crazy, but we have the power to keep our eyes not on the storm but on Jesus. All things happen for a reason, and God promises that all that happens is for the greater good. It’s for our good. People you love turn their backs and walk away and cause excruciating hurt, but I know that there is a reason God lets it happen. The world is complete madness but I know that God is still in control of everything. We lose what or even who we love and it shatters our hearts, but I know that there is a reason. This past year there was so much chaos, and I am positive that there is still more to come, but God’s hand has been in everything we have experienced so far if you can look back and see. All the heartbreak and fear and madness of this past year, brought so many more people back to God, and brought people to want to know God! There was a reason for everything you and I went through this year, and God isn’t finished with his work yet. You know why? Because we woke up this morning. We made it to this place that neither of us even imagined we would be.

That was something I realized just a few days ago, in the morning as I sat there eating my cereal and looking out the window, these words just came upon my heart and into my mind. It was what I like to call my beautiful realization.

The words were, “I am here.”

These words brought such beauty and I realized what they meant.

I made it here. I never thought I would ever go through this amount of hurt and I thought I would never be happy again and everything felt too hopeless. But guess what. I made it.

I am here.

I never thought i’d see the light at the end of the tunnel. I never thought I could make it through. In the middle of my chaos I always think that I am stuck forever and it’s hopeless. But guess what? I made it, and you did too.

In every season there is a restoration in Joy coming. There is a restoration in hope and strength.

I am here and I get to live this beautiful life today. And so do you.

I look back to my past self, just from a year ago and think “Oh how unprepared and oblivious to whats coming she is.”

But I also think “Oh how oblivious she is to what she’s gonna get through.” Past me never expected any of what came that year, but I got through it and I grew through it.

Just the fact that I am here, is incredible to me. This beautiful life is a gift, and look, we are still here living it.

We lose things all throughout life. Things that we hold so dearly that when we lose them we feel that we lose everything. But hon, in the end of each season there is always a promise of light. There is always a promise of restoration, and there is always a promise of something better.

What’s coming is better than whats gone.

God promises that he never once let go of us, and he knows our heart. Honey my realization was that when nobody else truly gets it. when nobody else truly understands, He does. Hon’ He knows. I promise, and He promises. He knows and feels your heartbreak. He knows your most painful memories, and your most joyful moments. He knows you hearts desires, and your most hopeful dreams that you so happily daydream about.

Honey he will fulfill the the greatest desires of you heart and even more, as long as you cling to him. You are His everything, and He wants to be your everything.

Heartbreak hurts but heartbreak brings growth. When there is a season of waiting, a season of hurt, a season of confusion, fear, a season filled with tears. That my friend. That means God is doing something extraordinary. God is doing something so big and unimaginable, that we wouldn’t believe Him if He told us right now. (Habbakkukk 1:5) So don’t be discouraged hon’, we are all fighting our own storm, and God is teaching us how to hear His voice through the pouring rain and crashing thunder and when everything feels lost and hopeless and you feel numb and you inside everything in you is just screaming….

there it is.

that gentle whisper. His voice that calls.

He is saying “I am here“

He was always here.

He is teaching us to grow, and He is teaching us to see the purpose through our pain. When all feels lost, when all you feel is heartbreak, when all you feel is that you lost everything you loved, there He is.

The exact reason God is letting this happen is unknown, but I know and believe with all my heart that He is using it all to draw us back to him. He is calling out over, and over to you, He wants you to hear His voice.

This past year, really led alot of people to God (including myself) because when all hope feels lost He is our hope.

Yesterday, today, and forever, He is our hope. And as life goes on, into a new year, we must continue to cling to Him.

2020, was definitely not my year. It was strange, and confusing, and painful, and chaotic, but it was all for the greater good as I look back on it now. Last year taught me many things. I experienced growth. I went through some painful & scary changes. I met new people, and some people drifted away. I learned what it means to be grateful, and so much more, but overall I learned to hold onto God. He has been so good, and he has been faithful. He keeps his promises, and he loves.

I look back on 2020 and see so much change, so much hurt, but so much growth. This past year I have learned so much more about life, myself, God, the world, etc. This past year also revealed to me so many things, that I really need to change.

So, here are the things that I am really focusing on here in 2021.

  • Self Care & Working towards my Dream Body

This year I want to focus alot more on keeping my body naturally healthy, and beautiful. When I say “dream body” I don’t mean I want to be the skinniest girl in the room who eats 0 carbs and 0 sugar and works out every single day. Sadly, that’s what today’s society normally makes a dream body seem like. But I mean I want to be the healthiest I can be. I want to make good choices for my body, and take care of it because my body is a gift. All bodies are beautiful, and deserve the right care. Clearing my skin, drinking more water, keeping my nails & hair healthy, and being active, are just a few examples of things I want to focus on this year for my body. I was not so great at taking care of myself last year, and that needs to change.

  • Confidence & Self Love

I want to work hard this year at becoming more confident in who I am, and truly loving myself. This has always been such a big struggle in my life, and I dream of the day that I have mastered not caring of others opinions about me and still loving myself. Confidence is always hard, and as I look back on last year… sadly I cannot remember a single moment when I was truly confident. Confidence is not “they will like me”, Confidence is “i’ll be fine if they don’t.” I want to work at walking with my head held high because I know who I am and who I belong to. (and, that would be Jesus by the way, which leads to my next resolution 😉 )

  • Closer Relationship with Jesus

I want to be the closest with God I have ever been this year, and have the strongest faith I have ever had. I want to spend more time with God and really put in my commitment to being with Him. I want Him to be my guide, and comfort through it all. This year I want to seek and find Him in everything, and He was & He is my everything.

  • Finding Joy

Although difficult, the art of seeking and finding joy is quite beautiful. This year I want to train myself to see the light in all situations, even when it feels impossible. Positivity has never been something that I am truly great at, negativity often creeps in on me and just screws things up. I want to seek joy through the pain and find the positive side in all things. I want to seek joy in everything, and find the joy in everything, and I feel that this will really improve my life this year.

  • Being Genuine & Staying True

This year is a new chance to really stay true to my heart, and not be anything other than who I am made to be. I want to stand up for what I believe in no matter what others think. I want to use my voice for the better, and do what I can any chance I get. I want to be my own unique person and not have to change myself for others. I want to be genuine and pure in everything, and do what is right and good even if i’m afraid. All the time I have chances to speak up for something, but sometimes I just don’t. And that too should change.

  • Working Hard in my Education

Ahhh, school. The one thing that I never fail to struggle with. Haha, This year I want to put in my best effort into all my work. I want to learn all that I can, and no matter the struggle with it I want to stay committed and work hard. Last year was honestly a terrible school year for me. I was overwhelmed and ended up making some not so good decisions which brought guilt and even more stress & struggling that I couldn’t handle. So this year, schoolwork really needs to be something I put more dedication into.

  • Grow the Blog

Sunshine & Rain has really became a huge passion of mine this past year, and I want to continue to use that passion for good. This blog is my outlet into the world and this is how I can really spread things out there, so I want to make Sunshine & Rain the best it can be. This blog grew so much this past year in so many ways and I want that growth to continue! I want to spread light through my blog, and use it to make an impact on those around me. From remodeling the design to maybe even going self hosted/premium (which I actually have lots of questions about so feel free to shoot me a message and tell me anything about it because it would be greatly appreciated.) I want Sunshine & Rain to grow for the better. 😉

  • New Things & Practicing Bravery

This year I want to explore a little more, and be more open to trying new things. Last year I really held myself back from so many things and it actually started to drastically lower my self esteem. There are so many things that I wish I would have gone for, and didn’t because I was too afraid. Bravery is being afraid and showing up anyways. This year I want to pull up my big girl pants, put on my brave face, and do so much more.

After all, I haven’t seen everything yet, and perhaps, that is a beautiful thing. 🙂

– got that from a Morgan Harper Nicole quote, love ya Morgan xD

  • Being the Light

Kindness. Love. Compassion. I have always had a huge passion for all of these things, but sometimes I let my own emotions get in the way of showing these. I want to do better by showing anyone and everyone the light & love of Jesus, because we are called by Jesus to show these things. I love love, and I love loving people. And I really want to become better at showing that throughout daily life. Not just to the people in my home, or my close friends, but also to the people outside. Strangers need kindness and love and compassion too. 🙂

  • Finding my place

This is the year I want to work towards finding myself, and even creating who I am. I want to discover who I am made to be, and what I am able to do. I want to find where my heart belongs & where my soul fits. All of this will be a life long process, but this is where I officially start the journey.

All of these things I have talked about lead to my word of the year. I’ve never had a word of the year before, but this really summarizes everything i’m focusing on this year.

My 2021 word of the year, is Discovery.

Discovery.

I want to discover more about the world around me. I want to discover more through my faith & relationship with Jesus. I want to discover new people & friendships. I want to discover who I am destined to be by God. I want to discover my own unique voice and what i’ve been equipped with to make an impact. I want to continue to discover the lessons, and joy and beauty of life.

This year is going to be my year,

of Discovery.

Don’t worry I shall return super soon, I’ve got a lot more coming so be sure to Subscribe so that you don’t miss out ;D Okay bye loves xD

Blogmas Day #23: A Day In my Life

Hailey Madison12 Comments

Good evening lovely people, and Happy Wednesday! I hope that your day has been full of sunshine 😉

I am very happy to welcome you to Blogmas Day #23! Guys we only have like, 2 days of Blogmas left after this! Which is kinda a relief but also sad 😦

Ahhh anyways, today I am sharing with you guys a simple day in my life! Haha this definitely wasn’t my usual daily routine at all, but I hope you guys like getting a little peek into my daily life! I did actually take all these photos yesterday, so this was yesterdays routine. I very much enjoyed putting this together, and I hope that you enjoy reading it too!

Let’s just jump right in now ;D

I usually wake up around 7, and I like to sit in my bed right after waking up to take some quiet time with Jesus, and to sit and read for awhile. It’s so cozy just staying there for awhile cuddled up in your blankies with a good book. I am now on the second book of The Overthrow series and OH. MY. CABBAGE. I am so in love with it.

As soon as I decided to get out of bed and start my day, I walked out into the dining room to see all the beautifully wrapped presents underneath the tree that my parents had put together while we were in bed last night! Ahhh, I wonder what we got *smirks*

I started to make my morning tea, and while it brewed & seeped I went outside to feed the chickens, and just give them all some good morning cuddles xD

This is Dino! He’s my chick xD

This is Miss Fuzzy, she loves cameras xD

Sweet Miss Polly

And Miss Turkey! (yep, we have a chicken named Turkey)

This is all 8 of the chicks in one photo, I will definitely have to do a full introduction in a future post!

I came back inside to sip on my Roobios tea, take my vitamins, and eat a delicious egg & spinach scramble that my Mama made for breakfast!

After I finished eating I went ahead and started working on my chores for the day. I had to clean my room, vacuum, and do some laundry. While I worked I jammed with my headphones and came back every once and awhile to sip on my tea xD

After chores were finished I went ahead and picked my outfit for the day, threw my hair up in a bun, and hopped in the shower.

The lovely OTD ❤

After I finish showering I like to do some skin care, and make myself feel pretty 😉

I start by cleansing my face and neck with witch hazel & a cotton ball

I then use babyganics lotion (which is actually amazing) to moisturize and soften my skin, and it gives it a great hydrated glow

And of course you can’t forget to moisturize your lips! My lips get super dry and cracked especially in the winter, so lip balm is basically my best friend. This EOS chapstick is my favorite I have ever used. It hydrates my lips so well, and actually brings a really glossy look.

On the days I don’t wear any mascara (which is actually more often than when I do wear it) I like to just curl my lashes. I don’t know what it is but even just curling your lashes is so pretty and so fun.

Feelin’ cute and ready for the day! xp

I then put on my glasses because I’m in love with them and they’re really cute (and because why not?) and then sipped on the last bit of my tea.

Lunch was ready at this point so I had some yummy Salmon with green beans (but i’m sure you already picked up on that part) While I ate I watched an episode of Little House on the Prairie with my siblings.

ooh and I also had a delicious piece of chocolate afterwards.

Cuddles with Tanky Roo are an essential part of my day ❤

I also found him laying like this later in the day. He’s a weirdo. But it’s okay because he’s my weirdo.

That evening we were actually having company over, so I spent awhile cleaning up my bedroom and some of the house. (as well as editing some photos for this post)

Later in the evening, I started my adventures in shadow photography. You can actually check out my whole post on it right here: Blogmas Day #22: beauty through the shadows

Before our friends showed up, we ate at dinner of meatloaf, potatos, and broccoli which was amazing.

Company showed up around 6, and stayed until about 9 pm. The rest of the night I spent playing Scattergories, Clue Junior, Uno, and singing with the girls. The whole night was hilarious and the game of Scattergories had us all cracking up.

My night ended with getting into comfy clothes, cuddling back in bed with a book for awhile, and then going to sleep.

Ahhh welp, thanks for being the amazing person you are and checking out the latest here on Sunshine & Rain! I hope that you enjoyed this post, and if so, then you should totally subscribe to the blog because why not? ;D

I shall return tomorrow loves, and until them, I wish you sweet dreams through the night. 😉 *blows kisses* Happy Holidays! 😘

Blogmas Day #11: Happy Moments (12/11/20)

Hailey Madison1 Comment
*pinterest*

Hey loves! I hope you have had a wonderful day, and welcome to Day #11 of Blogmas here on Sunshine & Rain! (GUYS. 14 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS. JUST 2 WEEKS! xD)

Today I would like to take some time to sit an reflect on some Happy Moments from today, and this past week. Today has been a different day than it usually is, and I think it’d be nice to write about the highlights of the beautiful day that I was given before it comes to an end, and another day begins. 😉

Happy Moments for me are really special, and I am very grateful to have had quite a few this. Writing about them makes me even happier, and reflecting on them makes me feel well rested and brings me comfort at the end of the day seeing all the good things I experienced.

I often have trouble being grateful and finding happiness in daily life, even in the little things, so this really helps me. Talk to me in the comments about your own happy moments from this week, because I would love to hear about them 😉

Here are my recent Happy Moments from this week, big and small.

*pinterest*

  • 2 days ago I woke up to sunshine peeking through my window and pouring onto my blankets. I stretched, closed my eyes, and then layed out in the pool of sunshine for awhile. It felt really nice. 🙂
  • Hanging out with my sweet little chicks in the backyard
  • This morning I took a break from schoolwork, and walked in my room to find Tanky baby (my doggo) laying in my bed enjoying a pool of sunshine too.
  • Enjoyed a piece of dark chocolate after lunch yesterday
  • Kept up my blogging streak up to 10 days in a row, today marks 11! xD
  • Facetimed an amazing human being that goes by the name of Livy while she taught me Tik Tok dances, and we talked about weird dreams we had, recipes for delicious broccoli, and Christmas.
  • Had a phone call with another lovely friend called Rea, who is also an amazing human being. We talked about doggos, and a bunch of other things that I can’t remember.
  • Got hit upside the head with a baseball bat by inspiration for writings
  • Looking out the car window at night while the trees and streetlights blur by, and my
  • headphones blast while I’m deep in thought.
  • Getting Chick-fil-a for dinner. Got some delicious waffle fries, chicken nuggets, and chick-fil-a sauce to top it off.
  • Laughed at some hilarious MEMES
  • Having some nice extra free time after finishing school and chores today
  • Went school supplies shopping and got some cute stuff
  • Watched The Grinch (Jim Carrey version) with my family
  • Getting a good nights sleep in my cozy bed after long days
  • Got some lovely comments and support from lovely people (I mean you guys; D)
  • Made some yummy hot chocolate for me and my siblings this morning for breakfast, and ate granola and frozen fruit with it.
  • Ate chicken salad for dinner last night
  • And ate pizza at some point this week
  • Caring for myself in the mornings
  • Being overwhelmed with excitement for a bunch of things

Those are my happy moments, and ahhh, I feel very happy looking back at them. 😊

Thank you for checking out the latest here on Sunshine & Rain! Haha, I hope you enjoyed my random ramblings about my life this week. And if you did enjoy, it would be amazing if you subscribed to the blog so that you don’t miss out on any upcoming content!

I love you guys lots, and I will see you again super soon! (by that I mean tomorrow ; D) *blows kisses* Bye-bye! 😁

7 Day Phone Detox: The Benefits & My Experiences

Hailey Madison31 Comments

I take a 7 day phone detox the last week of every month.

No pictures. No messages. No music. No editing. Nothing.

Yep, that’s right. For a full 7 days I don’t touch my phone at all. It sits on the dining room shelf and it stays there all week.

Here’s my post on why I do it, the huge benefits taking time away from our phones, and why you should try it!

We are all so attached to our phones, no matter how much we deny it. It becomes a habit and it ends up becoming a bad one, and it often wastes our time…. and ALOT OF IT.

Did you know that the average teen spends over 7 hours on their phones/socials every day? By the end of the week, the average teen would have spent over 49 hours on their phone! That’s more than 2 days worth of time!

At that rate, by the end of the year the average teen would have missed over 2,500 hours time of many other things they could have been doing. They could have been hiking, or reading a book, or studying, or drawing, or learning a new skill, or writing, or praying, or anything else in those 2,500 hours!

2,500 hours. That’s over 104 days worth of time wasted by the end of the year! There are 365 days in a year, and 104 days worth of time was just spent on a screen.

That time could have been used for so many other things, to make life better, more enjoyable. But, no. Instead, they were scrolling through their socials.

It makes me really sad seeing that some teens are just letting their lives pass right by them while their noses are sucked into a screen. And it often makes me really sad seeing these teens stuck on the phone, when they are right in front of eachother and don’t even bother to engage in conversation!

My parents have always been stricter than most with my phone time. But, over time it’s not only been their choice, but I’ve also accepted it as my own choice as well.

I have a time limit set on my phone (by my Mama) for 4 hours time a day. After that, my apps shut down and I can’t do anything on the phone, without a password only known by my Mom to unlock them.

I have rarely ever surpassed that time limit, and most people’s jaws drop when I say I spend a maximum of 2 hours on my phone every day! Which to be honest, 2 hours still seems like a lot and way too much time to me.

I don’t even have social media, not any. No Insta, no Snap, no VSCO, no Youtube, and no Pinterest. Once again, its not just my parents choice, but also mine. I don’t even want socials right now. Maybe later down the road I could make my own Pinterest account, or make an Insta, but not right now. Just awhile ago, I actually made the choice to delete YouTube completely off of my phone. I spent so much time on it, and it really started to bother me. And lemme tell ya, I don’t miss is at all.

Eventually, I will work on a post entirely on my thoughts and choices with social media.

Anyways, do you realize that 7 hours is actually over half of your entire day? And not only that, but a lot of girls actually admit that they’re normally on their phones at times like 3 am in the morning!

And they wonder why they have trouble sleeping?

Haha this post is in no way calling people out because if you struggle with phone attachment don’t worry! I still completely understand, and I know how hard it is to stay away from it!

But again, that doesn’t make it okay to let your phone get in the way of your health. Mental, and Physical.

Whenever I find myself getting super attached to my phone, like can’t-put-it-down-for-15-minutes-attached, then I know it’s time for a break.

So, at the end of every month, I take a one week phone break! For me, just taking a single day off of my phone is not enough, because I know the next day I’ll come straight back to it. After a full 7 days, I feel so very refreshed and I barely missed my phone at all!

After my break, I feel so good about myself and I can look back on my week and see all the things I’ve accomplished without my phone! During the week of not having my phone, it felt so good not having to worry about missing calls or texts and not worrying about always having it with me 24/7! Now i’m not saying in order to take a break it has to be 7 days, because you can take as much time as you want, and do whatever works for you!

I started seeing how attached I really was to my phone, when I started to notice whenever I was bored, I would immediately look for my phone. Or whenever I was first taking phone breaks, I kept catching myself reaching into my purse pocket for my phone out of habit, only to once again remember it wasn’t there.

Here are the top 5 benefits I have loved that have come out of taking nice 7 day phone breaks!

PRODUCTIVITY

I have always found that in the mornings, and late nights, I have felt most productive. Those are the times when I actually want to clean my room, get school done, finish chores, do self care, and actually do so many other fun things! Ya know why? Because mornings, and late nights are when I don’t have my phone. During an entire week of phone freedom, I feel SO FREAKING PRODUCTIVE and it makes me feel really good! I got so many things done during my phone break, and it’s amazing.

Whenever I have my phone, I sometimes am guilty of being very lazy and unwise with my time. I’ve noticed sometimes that I tell myself early in the morning that I will definitely get this or that done later in the day, but once my phone is in my hands, all I want to do is sit down and spend hours on end on it. I used to tend to do that alot. So, when you don’t have your phone in your hand all the time, it really refreshes you, and helps you to use your time for so many better things!

It’s FREEING!

POSITIVITY

Whenever you’re scrolling through your socials, how does it make you feel? How does it benefit your life or health? Often times, we can get sucked into social media out of boredom and all the sudden we start losing our positivity. This is often because of seeing other peoples lives in these perfect pictures and filters, and we start to compare our own lives to that. Always mindlessly scrolling through your socials can really break you down without you even realizing it. Doing this becomes a habit, which takes away from your time.

Staying away from socials for awhile can be really good for you! You are freeing yourself from the mindset of always having to have the perfect life like you see in all these other profiles, and it really gives you time for yourself. You get away from that which feeds into your mind negativity, and over time can tear you down completely.

CREATIVITY

I have always been a very creative person, but when I have my phone, I quite often find myself in a burnout stage. When I let go of my phone for awhile, I have actually found that that’s when so many ideas basically explode in my mind! I can get so much inspiration, and ideas, and artsy things outside of my phone. Just stepping away for awhile has actually helped me so much to brainstorm, and I have written down so many creative things and ideas from it!

INDEPENDENCY

I feel so very independent and strong whenever I have stepped away from my phone! It’s crazy how phone attachment can actually make you feel so chained down, and unable to do things on your own. You feel like you always need it to do everything, and just letting go of that really makes you see how much you can actually do on your own. You get super dependent on your device, and and without realizing it you make it basically your entire world.

I have been so proud of myself and been able to love myself so much more seeing all the great things I can do, and the amazing choice that I made by myself to stop holding on to my phone so tight.

LIVING PRESENTLY

And finally, stepping away from your screen allows you to live presently. When we’re sucked into our phones, we very much tend to let our lives fly by without even taking notice of it. There are so many amazing, and even not so amazing things happening in this real world right now that we are completely missing. And even if you’re there, doesn’t mean you aren’t missing out.

Don’t worry about taking pictures while you’re there! Try living in the moment and just take in the beauty, and happiness of it all right now! Of course, I am pretty sure that we all love a good selfie or an aesthetic photograph to look back on later, or share. But you shouldn’t be worried about being able to look back on the good times with a photograph, when you weren’t truly enjoying the good times at all.

Thank you guys so much for checking out the latest here on Sunshine & Rain! I very much enjoyed creating this, and can’t wait to create more. I also can’t wait to chat with you guys, and definitely let me know your thoughts on this post! I love you guys a bunch, and I’ll see ya again very soon!

I hope you feel pretty today, keep smiling lovely ; )

Previous Posts:

Coffee mugs, old books & an orange cat

Igniting Inspiration Week #8

How to Create the Best Morning & Night Routine For You

How to Create the Best Morning & Night Routine Routine for You: + My Summer Morning Routine

Hailey Madison21 Comments

You’re scrolling through YouTube, and you come upon a video with the title “My Morning Routine.” You watch the video all the way through, and this person seems to have literally the perfect ideal morning routine. They get out of bed early with no trouble, they make the healthiest breakfast possible, do their daily tasks, and stay as clean and organized as can be. They seem to get everything done in order, and the morning breezes by so easily for them.

…Andddd here you are, struggling to even get out bed, managing to throw together a decent breakfast, and the rest of the day just goes however it chooses to go from there. Why do their mornings go so perfectly and yours just, don’t?

Lemme share a little secret. Nobody’s routine goes exactly the same every single day, and everybody has their own ideal routine that works amazingly just for them, even though it may not work for someone else.

I used to be super intimidated by seeing all these other teen girls sharing their own amazing morning & night routines, and seeing that my day just wasn’t like that. Well, what I didn’t realize was that my routine wasn’t supposed to be the same as someone else’s. Everybody has a unique routine that will help keep everything organized, cleaned up, stress free, healthy, and will give your day a great start and end.

I myself use these exact steps to create and switch up my own routines, and I guarantee that they are super easy and it’s so much fun creating an amazing Morning, and Night routine just for you! Making a fresh, new routine for anything is so healthy, and it’ll make everything so much more enjoyable. : ) So you don’t need to stress over your mornings & nights being unorganized, or just uninteresting! Today I am here to help you out with my complete guide to creating the best routines you can. Use these simple steps to create the perfect morning routine, night routine, or both, just for you!

Alrighty, let’s go! 😉

Step 1. Visualize

By this, I mean to visualize what you want in your routine, and why you are making a new, better one. Are you doing this because you want to be healthier? Better organized? Less stressed? More free time? You are going to want to base your new morning, or night routine off of these things, because this will help with adding and taking away things from your ideal routine. You may want to write these things down. Actually, making a new routine can help so much with all of these things! Once you have visualized what you want the outcome to be, it’s time for the next step.

Step 2. Lay Out

Grab a pen, and paper, and start with scribbling down all of the absolutely necessary things in your routine. Things like making breakfast, brushing your teeth, getting dressed, making your bed, doing whatever work is to be done, and whatever other obvious things that are always apart of your morning or night routine. Once you’ve done that, you should now add the things you would like to include in your new routine that you didn’t have before. Like making a new time to wake up and go to bed, getting in some exercise, time for writing, staying away from your phone, bible study, spending time outside, making your bed, what tine etc.

Be sure to take note of things that need to be done in the morning and at night. Pick a good fitting time of morning that you want to wake up. For example, if you have work at 6:00 am and you want extra time to do things before you leave, you may want to set your alarm for a few hours earlier, rather than 30 minutes before you have to get out the door. Or if you just have schoolwork, or an early day event, just try and wake up as early as you can, while still getting plenty of rest.

The whole point of making a great routine just for you is to make time for yourself, take everything slow, still manage time well, and to start and end your day in the best way possible!

Step 3. Organize It

Look at all the random scribblings you have written down of all the things you need to have in your routine, along with the things you want to add/take away from it, and start organizing those in order of exactly how you want your routine to go. Try and make sure you are very SPECIFIC. Instead of just listing “Self Care”, try listing it as “Brush Hair, Shower, & Do nails.” This isn’t necessary, but it does help me to be more organized and envision what I need!

Example routine list:

  • Wake up at 4:30 am (Stay off of phone!)
  • Daily devotion in bed
  • Make a good breakfast
  • Hop in shower with music
  • Brush teeth & Do hair
  • Get dressed
  • Look over to do list
  • Work for 1 hour
  • Take a break and come back to it

And the list goes on from there! One thing that I like to do with my routines, is to be very flexible. It does get kind of boring doing the exact same things every single day, so I like to be as flexible as possible and switch it up sometimes!

Example would be, one morning I do Prayer, Breakfast, self care, and then start on schoolwork. Then, if I want to make things a little different, another morning I’ll switch up that order a bit! It keeps things interesting whilst still staying in order, so I definitely recommend switching up the order of your written routine to experiment a little with how things work. Just use the different orders of your routine to switch it up some days!

And that’s how you create an amazing routine just for you folks! You should now have your own unique routine, that works great around your daily life! I really hope that these tips helped you out, totally let me know if you have any questions and give me your thoughts on this!

Now, onto the final part of this post. 😉

My Peaceful & Productive Summer Morning Routine:

  • Peacefully and slowly wake up at 7:00, and drink water first thing.

I just love the feeling of peacefully opening your eyes and seeing the morning light peeking through your windows. I love knowing and feeling that God calmly and slowly woke me up for another morning, just with his gentle whisper. (Well, that and my alarm going off.) It’s so soothing to sit up in bed and just acknowledge how beautiful a new day is. I drink water first thing in the morning because you go a very long time through the night without water, so it’s very good to hydrate when you wake.

  • Jesus Time (Thank him for waking me up, and just talk with him in bed.)

I like to sit in my bed, and start my day off with talking to Jesus. It really brings me such joy and peace to be able to have a conversation with him, and know he’s listening to every word. Jesus is my best friend, and I love taking time to pour my heart out to him.

  • Open my blinds & windows. Grab my bible, and notebook, and do some peaceful morning bible study on my floor or in my beanbag chair by the window.

I love that moment in the morning when you get to open your windows and you just get this beautiful explosion of calm light. If it’s warm outside, I like to open my windows to let air and the sounds of the morning in. I love sitting by my window or spread out on my floor to do bible study, I normally read my chapters on my daily bible reading schedule, and take notes on things that stood out to me.

  • Put up my hair, and hop in the shower with my morning worship playlist.

I put my hair up in bun, and hop in the shower to wash up. I don’t actually wash my hair every day and you can check out my post right here about it! I also love having some morning worship music playing from my speaker.

  • Clean my face, and moisturize skin.

To clean my face, I use witch hazel. It helps get rid of extra oils, blemishes and red spots, and it feels really soothing and replenishing to your skin! I also like to use a little bit of lotion on my skin to moisturize it.

  • Get dressed, brush out and do my hair, & put on mascara.

I’m trying to get into the habit of picking out my outfits the night before, because I gotta admit it does sometimes take awhile for me to pick my OTD haha! I then take down my hair, and brush it all out. If i’m feeling super productive, i’ll even do something with my hair other than just leaving it down, and i’ll put on some mascara.

  • Do nail care if needed. File, trim, and moisturize nails.

My nails and cuticles get super dry, which slows my nail growth, and makes my nails super brittle! So I like to use a Tea tree oil nail saver to moisturize, and strengthen my nails. Sometimes i’ll paint them too, to keep them protected.

  • Sit in front of my mirror, and recite my positive affirmations.

Positive affirmations really boost my confidence and thoughts in the mornings. I like to sit in front of my mirror by the window, and look myself in the eyes while reciting my positive affirmations aloud. They really bring me joy, peace, and self esteem for my day. I am currently working on writing about the effects of positive affirmations, as an upcoming post.

  • Make a healthy and hearty breakfast, & say good morning to Tanky Baby. ❤️ (my Doggo)

I love having a delicious breakfast. My breakfast usually consists of things like yogurt and granola, sausage, sweet potato, zucchini, brussel sprouts, caramelized onions, eggs, toast, mushrooms, strawberries, bananas, and alot more. Haha, I know it probably sounds super weird to be having that kind of stuff for breakfast, but it is so good to have alot of colors on your plate!

  • Make tea, & Start my schoolwork at the kitchen table.

I occasionally like to treat myself with some tea while I work on my schoolwork. I boil the water, let the tea packet seep for awhile, add maple syrup and cashew milk, then pour it over ice in another cup.

  • Take a brain break halfway through school, and go spend time outside.

Taking breaks in between work is really beneficial for me. I can get really frustrated with schoolwork sometimes, and taking a break helps me with that. Getting outside as well really clears my head and freshens my mind so I can come back to work and be focused. When i’m outside I either bike, skate around the street, or sit and write in the sunshine.

  • Finish my Schoolwork, & put it away.

Once I’m finished with my main work, I put all my supplies away and start on my other daily work!

  • Put on my headphones, make my bed, clean up my room, & start on daily chores

Chores are so much more enjoyable when you’ve got a nice bop playing! I always have my headphones with me when I’m cleaning up. I start with picking up my bedroom, and then doing the other chores i’m assigned to that day.

  • Free time! No phone until later.

After this is mostly free time to myself, and I like to wait until about early afternoon before I grab my phone. Staying away from my phone for awhile gives me room for creativity throughout my day! Sometimes at this point i’ll work on blogging, or get some other small things done on my to do list.

Thanks a bunch for checking out my latest post here on Sunshine & Rain! I’d love to chat with you guys down below, and totally let me know your thoughts on this. I really enjoyed putting this together, and I can’t wait to start working on the next upload. xD Have a nice day beautiful, you deserve it. See ya later dudes! ✌❤

Previous Posts:

Busy Life & Upcoming Posts

Igniting Inspiration Week #6

Igniting Inspiration Week #5

How I Naturally Care For My Hair: I only wash my hair once a week?!

Hailey Madison46 Comments
*struggles to find good hair pictures*

Hey gurly! I’m back with another one of my rantings of randomness which I still do hope you enjoy, but there isn’t actually a whole lot of an intro to give so I am just going to start haha!

I know what you’re probably thinking. I only wash my hair once a week? Ew. Gross. But actually, it’s not gross at all! Sometimes I even go 2 weeks and only wash my hair once. I promise I still bathe every day, I still stay clean without washing my hair. No, it is not because I am too lazy to wash my hair, it goes far beyond that. But today I am explaining the ‘why’ to why I don’t wash wash my hair every day like most girls do.

Some people literally think I am the grossest person in the world for not washing my hair every day, but one thing that some don’t realize is that just because your hair is oily does not mean your hair is dirty! Oil, is not dirt. In fact, your body’s oils that release from your scalp is actually your body’s natural treatment to help your hair grow, keep it strong, repair, and keep it healthy! If you are always constantly washing away these oils and replacing it with chemicals in a shampoo, or cheap and artificial treatments in a plastic bottle, your hair is not going to be healthy or the best looking at all. Your body’s natural oils really benefit your hair in soooo many ways if you let it soak into your hair and let it do what it’s supposed to do! The more you wash these oils out, the quicker you hair is going to get oily, so that leads to more washing, which leads to quicker oils, to more washing, to more oils, to more washing, to more oils and it just goes on forever.

The reason you hair gets super oily even after just a couple days after you have been washing it so frequently, is because your body knows that your hair needs those oils to stay healthy. So your body is basically saying “MAYDAY, MAYDAY. WE NEED MORE OILS!” It starts to over produce because your hair isn’t getting enough of those oils. After that, out of habit you may just wash your hair again and again just starting the whooooole process over.

The good thing is, you can re-train your hair not to over-produce or get as oily so quickly. And you can train yourself not to wash your hair out too often either.

The results I have gotten from only washing my hair once every 1-2 weeks is amazing! Of course, at first it does feel kinda gross with super oily hair but after I wash it my hair feels so much softer, stronger, and it looks so nice and healthy! If you don’t like the idea of just walking around places with your greasy hair down (It doesn’t really bother me anymore, ill walk around with my hair down and pretty greasy all the time and don’t really care haha), just throw your hair up in a messy bun, high or low ponytail, braid it back, and you really can’t tell you hair’s oily at all! Besides, I don’t think someone is going to walk up to you and go “Ewwwww your hair is gross!” The thing is, it’s not gross. It’s healthy.

Now i’m not saying to immediately jump right in and just go an entire month without washing your hair! (You can still just rinse the excess oils from your hair with warm water without completely washing it all out) You can totally jump right in if you feel like that’s what you want to do but you’ll probably want to ease into it slowly. Pick one or two specific days out of your week to wash your hair, and ONLY wash your hair on those days. Still of course take a shower every day, but put your hair up on the days you aren’t supposed to wash it. (It also is so much easier sometimes to just throw you hair up and jump in rather than have to work to wash your hair sometimes) Don’t wash your hair more than once on those picked out days either. After going a few weeks of this, you can slowly but surely ease down into it more until you have a steady routine for washing your hair! And gurl, after you finally wash your hair after having it greasy for so long its just aghhhhh it’s amazing! It looks so much nicer, healthier, and cleaner, and it feels great!

If you want, you could even just go shampoo-free for awhile at first instead of skipping washing your hair entirely. You basically still wash your hair (still not so often though) but only use water to rinse it! No shampoo. I have seen a lot of people do this and have loved it so much! Wouldn’t you rather be able to proudly say that you have happy, strong, naturally healthy hair? Than to say you use a bottle from the store with dangerous chemicals in it to treat your hair? I think we can agree on the first one my friend.

My Mom has always taught me to look at the ingredients on a box, or a bottle before you just go ahead and buy it. This not only goes for hair treatment, but for food, drinks, nail polishes, cosmetics, toilet paper, candy, and basically everything else. My Mom’s rule is, if you find a word in the ingredients and you can’t pronounce it, it is probably dangerous and unhealthy. It’s most likely poison. If it’s a suuuuuuuper long ingredients list that seem oddly long for something even just like a small bottle of body lotion, it’s most likely pretty unhealthy. The shorter ingredients list, the better. I would much rather live a happy, healthy, and strong life, than live an unhealthy life full of putting poisons or things with no beneficial purpose or nutrients on my skin, hair,and in my body. (Be prepared for an entire post on this in the future) The bottle may look pretty, and say a bunch of things and list ways it will benefit you to lure you in. But if you look at those ingredients, it can get pretty ugly.

Now i’m not saying you need to stop using hair treatments forever, you can totally find so many healthy and completely natural hair treatments that are totally great to use and will probably benefit your hair even more! Our own body’s are gifts from God. It is our job to watch what goes into them, and on them. I proudly stand up for my own health and proudly say that I take care of myself. I love my hair, and I want it to be the healthiest, and best looking it can be.

So, if you would like, I challenge you to take advantage of quarantine (because there isn’t really anyone to see your oily hair anyways if that bothers you) and go ahead a take this week as a time to start a better hair care routine! Throw out bottles with harsh chemicals in them, and find some better healthy things to use on your beautiful hair.

If you have any questions, I would happily answer them for you! I hope that you enjoyed this post, and that it helped you as well! Til next time my Chicken Nuggets! ; )

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limited edition you 🌻

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You are 1 in a million: Actually, 7.53 billion in fact. You are the only you. An Original. You are Limited Edition.

Hola dear beautiful flowers! *exhales* Today is going to be a more serious thing to cover. As you seen in the title, we are going to be going over the topic of the ‘limited edition you.’ The topic of who we are; or more specifically who you are, what makes you yourself, and what makes you uniquely you. Also how to see yourself as who you are. To see yourself (and others) beautifully and not who you want to be, or what you wish you could change. I know I deal and get anxious about this alot, and I know that I’m not the only one. So this is kinda random outta-the-blue thing to pop out of nowhere but I know there is somebody that might need it. So i’m gonna make like a bunny and hop right in hehe.

You are yourself. I know, as plain as that sounds it’s true! You are the only you in the entire universe, and you could never be exactly the same as anybody else. Yet for some reason, we try so hard to be like other people. We try to please other people by making ourselves “better”, but if you look closely it’s nowhere near better. No matter who we are or what we look like we always seem to be insecure about something or even lots of things about ourselves. I know this is a really hard thing to overcome, insecurity digs deep and we end up hurting ourselves deep inside because of it. I know I’ve definitely talked down to myself through my insecurities in the past, with just too many things I’ve told myself to keep track of. Things like “My laugh is so annoying” “My hair looks stupid like this” “This outfit is just totally wrong”. I was, and still often am always so worried about what other people think about me or how they see me and to be honest, I’m sick of it all. Paying attention to other peoples opinions about me in the past completely stopped me from being myself and loving the things I do. For example; I’d get an outfit that I absolutely loved and thought suited me. But if I got rubbed wrong about it or got one not-so-nice comment on it I’d hide it in the back of my closet and basically decide to never wear it again. I have slowly worked on training myself not to care about what some people might think, because if I love it then I am going to continue doing and they can’t stop me.

Sometimes we base ourselves off of our reflection in the mirror, or off what other people say we are. Someone isn’t fond of something we are doing and suddenly we are pointless. One person doesn’t like our sense of style and then we immediately tell ourselves we have terrible taste. We see one little part of our appearance we wish we could change and suddenly we are considered ugly. One thing I struggle with a lot, is I am actually a pretty short girl, 4’11 to be exact and I am bothered by this almost daily sometimes. I mean at this point I’m pretty used to all my friends being a good amount taller than me, but then sometimes it can lead to more insecurities. Being short and pretty tiny isn’t always fun, but hey there are advantages to it! For example I can fit in suuuuper small spaces in hide-n-seek. *smirks* I am sometimes teased about being so small, and my friends will make some pretty great jokes about it but it doesn’t bother me. It’s really funny actually if you stop worrying about it! I have chosen to accept who I am, or more specifically my height, and love who I am.

So let me tell you gurl, you are beautiful! We are all beautiful and that’s the truth. If you have a friend or someone else making you feel otherwise, then maybe it’s a good idea to find someone else to be around. That person is not worth it. It is totally okay for people to have their own opinions, but sometimes they should be kept to themselves, and peoples opinions shouldn’t affect and decide what we do with our lives. Each and every part of you is beautiful, and different from everybody else. And it was specifically chosen by God. You were chosen. From the sound of your laugh, to the color of your eyes, to your unique sense of style, to your fingerprint and every other part of you, your flaws and all! It was chosen by God. You were chosen. You were chosen for a specific purpose to fulfill on this earth that only you have. Isn’t that amazing to think about? You were chosen. You are not the reflection in the mirror, you are not your past mistakes, you are not your fears, you are not your insecurities, you are not the sizes of clothing you wear, and you are not what other people think about you. You wanna know who you are? You are beautiful all around! You are that spark of joy and creativity on the inside. You are your favorite color you put almost everywhere. (That’d be yellow for me haha! Whats your favorite color?) You are your special talents. You are the sound of your laugh, and your unique smile. You are your closest and best friends who share inside jokes with you. You are your favorite memories. You are your kind deeds and goodness to others. You are your future dreams. You are the way your hair is sometimes lazily thrown up into a bun. You are the places you love traveling to. You are the way you walk with confidence and your head held high. You are the jam out\dance sessions you have when you’re alone in your bedroom to your favorite songs! (Well, don’t know who all else does that, but I do hehe.) You are also royalty to the most high King of all, a precious and very much loved daughter. These are all the unique things that make up the unique you. I want this to help you see just how much of a prized possession, how loved, how amazing, and how beautiful you are. You are 1 in 7.53 billion. You are the only you. An Original. Limited edition.

You are a limited edition chicken nugget. xD

My New Year’s Resolutions:

Hailey Madison8 Comments

Haloooo again! This is sort of a delayed post, considering New years resolutions usually start at the beginning of the year but it’s only about a month late so I think we’re still good! *thumbs up and nods* If you don’t know what New years resolutions are, they are bigger and more specific goals you set for yourself and commit yourself to accomplishing throughout the year. They aren’t just random goals that you’d like to accomplish, but they are goals that you are putting out there and saying “I will commit myself to this, work hard at it, and I will accomplish it.” It’s things that you want to do to help yourself become a better person, or better at some things in certain areas. So, I will be sharing a short list of things that I am going to work my hardest at accomplishing this year!

  1. Self Care. Mental and Physical:

This is something I feel like lots of people struggle with, including me, and it’s something I am going to work hard on. When I say mental health, i’m talking about fear, stress, anxiety, low self confidence, and esteem. I definitely have trouble with all of these daily. I’m so tired of looking at myself so negatively. I have found that taking time for myself and only myself is very good for this. It can be things like stepping away from life for just a short amount of time every day to sit down with a cup of tea, essential oils diffuser going, curling up under some soft blankets, and relaxing with a book……aaaaahhh. Even thinking about it relaxes you a little, doesn’t it?

Now when I say physical health, I mean eating healthy, exercise, staying hydrated, and taking care of your own beautiful body. Taking time away from life to take time for yourself to exercise, give yourself a nice mani-pedi, making a healthy and yummy snack can all count as physical health, as well as mental health! That’s because it’s taking time for you and ONLY you, to make sure that your body is getting the treatment it deserves. We should respect our bodies, appreciate them, and take care of them. If you struggle with self confidence, self esteem, and speaking positively about yourself, then taking care of your body can actually help sooooo much with that! Trust me, taking care of your body makes you feel really good. So not only am I trying to do this more, but I encourage you guys to try and do the same!

2. God time. Prayer and Faith:

I want to spend more time this year with Jesus, God, the Lord my Father, by reading my bible daily, praying more often, and trusting him throughout life. I worry alot, like ALOT alot, and I find it hard to find peace through it all. But you can find peace by having faith, and trust in God. I always find myself stressing and worrying over the future, things that haven’t even happened yet, and stressing over the past, which most of the time are things that already happened a long time ago. It’s really hard now to worry, and hard to let go of the past. But you’ve gotta stand up and say “No. I’m moving forward.” I want to have more faith and trust in God that he will lead me, guide me, help me, and get me where I need to go in life.

Thank you so much for checking out this post! Today’s post was a little bit shorter than usual, but I feel like I got everything out that I needed too. : ) I enjoyed typing this up, and creating it so you guys could see what I have decided to work harder at this year! Comment some of your 2020 resolutions, I’d love to hear about them! Ciao,