A College Update: The End of Round One & The Start of Round Two

Hello Friends!  How have you been?  Apologies for not posting last week; I was trying to savor my last week of winter break before having to return to the hell they call "college".  And speaking of college, I started my second semester of college today!  I've been meaning to write about my first semester experience, but I never got around to it, so here I am today - with all the updates!

My first semester of college was quite the roller coaster.  Adjusting to dorm life had a rough start, but after I while, I got settled in and things just started to flow.  The first few weeks I felt like I was struggling to find my place, and although I feel like I haven't found it exactly yet, I'm getting there.  I haven't made too many new friends, but mostly because I guarded myself a lot, and I still am.  I wasn't my usual bubbly, outgoing self during my first semester of college, but I'm hoping that with the new semester beginning, I will come out of my shell a little bit more.  I definitely put up a wall that I hope to break through myself.

Acclimating myself to studying on my own and balancing my free time with school work was definitely a struggle for me.  Looking back, I was bored a lot of the time, but realize now that I could've spent more time studying and I probably would still be bored, but I would've done better in my classes.  I did pass all my classes.  Not necessarily with flying colors, but there are no D's so that's good.  I was getting really anxious towards the end of the semester because I was really struggling in my two hardest classes, but somehow I pulled through.  I really don't know how I did it, but I did and I gave myself a good pat on the back.  My professors from last semester were incredible and I'm taking classes with two of those professors this semester.  I'm really grateful that I'm able to come to a school where I can go directly to my professor for help.  I'm able to have a personal connection to my professors: they know my name, they know where I sit, they know exactly what I wrote in my paper.  My stats professor reminded me hardcore of Ted from HIMYM and it was really weird but also really comforting because HIMYM is one of my favorite shows.

Other than that, my first semester was pretty good.  Of course I was jumping with joy when it ended, but I learned a lot of valuable lessons:
1. Don't take 8 AMs.  Having to go to class at 8 AM is a lot harder in college than it was in high school.  I'm never doing that again.
2. Go get help. I'm very prideful in the fact that if I don't understand something, I will try my best to teach myself before going for help, but in my first semester of college, I learned that sometimes it's better just to go get help.  I don't know everything, so I just have to suck it up and learn from the ones who actually know what the heck they're talking about.
3. Be more open.  I've never lived my life as an open book, and I don't intend to do so any time soon, however, I've learned that if people can't get to know you, then you can't really get to know them.
4. Be more assertive.  As I usually am quite assertive, I found that I didn't want people to think that I was pushy or bossy, I never really addressed the things that were bothering me.
5. If I'm bored, open a textbook and study.  I spent many days lying in bed, changing my blog layout or watching 'One Direction Funny & Cute Moments 2015 Part 120" when I could've been studying or getting ahead on my essays.  Although I'm really good at BS work, last minute work is never your best.

As second semester is starting, I'm looking forward to summer vacation, but I definitely plan on working harder this semester than I did last semester.  I'm looking forward to learning new things and meeting new people.  This second part of this new chapter of my life can go many ways, but I hope it goes well.  I have a lot on my plate already but looking ahead, I know it will be great.  I'm going to take the things I learned from first semester and make changes in the way I do things.  College is A LOT and it's a lot harder than I expected it to be, but I'm taking it day by day and hopefully things will turn out great :)

As always, thank you for reading!

Love, Cat <3

50 Questions You've Never Been Asked

Hello Friends!  We're back on our original posting schedule and today I am here with a tag that I found recently and that I thought was interesting.  As I always try to make sure that my readers get to know as much about me as I have to offer, I try to find creative ways to let you know the not so cliche, odds and ends type of things about me.  I found this set of questions called the "50 Questions You've Never Been Asked" tag and as I was reading through them, I realized that I literally have never been asked any of these, so that's what I'm here to do today!  Let's do this thang!

1. What's your favorite candle scent?
- I looooove candles, but my parents don't trust me with fire so they don't let me have candles... But I absolutely love the Market Peach scent from Bath and Body Works.

2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister?
- Chrissy Teigen!  How awesome would that be???

3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother?
- Any member of One Direction except Niall, so I can be close to Niall.

4. How old do you think you'll be when you get married?
- I've always felt like I'd get married young, like early to mid twenties, but as that age range nears, I don't see it fit for my current life plan, so probably more like mid to late twenties.

5. Do you know a hoarder?
- I've joked that my mom is a hoarder, but she's not, so no.

6. Can you do a split?
- Nope.  I'm a pretty flexible person, but my legs just won't do it.

7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike?
- I was almost going to skip this question, but I decided that honesty is the best policy... I don't know how to ride a bike.  It's not something that I was really interested in learning when I was young and I still don't care.

8. How many oceans have you swam in?
- Just one, the Pacific, and I didn't really even swim in it.  I just splashed around.

9. How many countries have you been to?
- Two... to good ol' US of A and Mexico.

10. Is anyone in your family in the army?
- I have a couple veterans in my family but no one is currently serving.

11. What would you name your daughter if you had one?
- I have a few names that I really love, like Olivia Jane and Layla Rose, but it all depends on if I have a daughter and how my future husband feels.

12. What would you name your son if you had one?
- I really like the names Rian (REE-in) and Liam.

13.  What's the worst grade you got on a test?
- It was definitely below a 50%...

14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child?
- Lucky for you (and me) my parents weren't too strict about the whole television thing when I was a kid, so I watched A LOT of TV lol.  I really loved the shows Hi-5, Out of the Box, Rollie Pollie Ollie... etc.

15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight?
- I don't have a specific memory of that Halloween, but I was probably one of the Disney Princesses.  It was a typical thing for me.

16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games, or Twilight series?
- I was OBSESSED with the Twilight series.  I read the entire series front to back, back to front, about 20 times through.

17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent?
- I'm American so you know how Americans are... We don't think we have accents but we do.  I think it'd be cool to have a British accent though.

18. Did your mother go to college?
- She says yes.

19. Are your grandparents still married?
- Yup <3

20. Have you ever taken karate lessons?
- Nope.  Don't need them.  I can break any bone in your body without proper training.

21. Do you know who Kermit the Frog is?
- Of course.  Isn't it a shame that he and Miss Piggy broke up?

22. What's the first amusement park you've been to?
- There's a Six Flag down the road and I basically grew up there.

23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in?
- I'd love to be fluent in Mandarin or Korean.

24. Do you spell the color as grey or gray?
- It depends, but I most often spell it as "grey".

25. Is your father bald?
- Nope.  He's got better hair than Harry Styles.

26. Do you know triplets?
- I don't think so, but I know several twins.

27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook?
- How terrible is it that I haven't seen either through to the end?  I obviously don't have a preference then...

28. Have you ever had Indian food?
- I eat Indian food religiously.  It is one of my absolute favorites.

29. What's the name of your favorite restaurant?
- Taco Bell.

30. Have you ever been to Olive Garden?
- Yup.  It's nothing special.  Go to North Beach in San Francisco if you want REAL good Italian food.

31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, BJ's, etc.)?
- My parents do.  When can I get a Costco membership?

32. What would you parents have named you if you were the opposite gender?
- I have no idea, and if I ask them they won't take me seriously, so I guess it's a mystery forever.

33. If you have a nickname, what is it?
- Cat, but I'm sure you figured that out by now.  I have a lot of other nicknames, but I got by Cat.

34. Who's your favorite person in the world?
- Niall James Horan.

35. Would you rather like in a rural area or in the suburbs?
- Ya girl is from the burbs so...

36. Can you whistle?
- I can whistle backwards!

37. Do you sleep with a nightlight?
- My case of nyctophobia does not just need a nightlight, but a lamp.

38. Do you eat breakfast every morning?
- Absolutely.  It's the most important meal of the day!!!

39. Do you take any pills or medication daily?
- This question is quite personal, don't you think? But no, I don't.

40. What medical conditions do you have?
- Uhm is it just me or it this getting super personal...

41. How many times have you been to the hospital?
- I've gotten plenty of X-Rays for potential broken bones, but I've never actually been in the hospital.

42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo?
- Multiple times.  It's one of my favorite movies.

43. Where do you buy your jeans?
- Forever 21 and American Eagle Outfitters.

44. What's the last compliment you got?
- It was on my makeup and compliments about a girl's makeup are the best because do you know how hard we work?

45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning?
- I do, but as the day progresses, I noticed that I slowly forget.

46. What flavor tea do you enjoy?
- I'm not really into super fancy flavored teas.  I like your basic green and black teas.  Many peach or a berry tea, but that's it.

47. How pairs of shoes do you currently own?
- At first I felt as though this question was forcing me to go count the amount of shoes I own, but I did not give in.  Instead, however, I will give you the approximate number of 30.

48. What religion will you raise your children to practice?
- I won't force religion on my children, because my parents didn't force any religion on my brother and I growing up.  I feel like because we weren't forced to believe in anything and rather, we were educated about what our different family members believed in, it made me more open minded to religion and led me to make a clearer, more educated decision about what I want to believe in.  So I'm not going to force my children to believe in anything, I'm going to take my the same approach my parents did when I was growing up.

49.  How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn't real?
- Santa isn't real???????

50. Why do you have a tumblr?
- I don't get what this question has to do with anything....

And that is all the questions!  They got kind of personal towards the end, didn't they?  I hope you enjoyed this and learned a few odds and ends things about me!  You can answer any or all of these questions in the comments or tweet me using #thecaitlynlee!  I can't wait to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!  See you Friday!

Love, Cat <3

A Year in Review: 2015

Happy New Year Friends!  I've been MIA since 2015 because I got super sick, but I'm back and ready to start the new year!

2015 was an incredible year for me.  I had so many amazing opportunities, got to see lots of cool new things, and more, so to kick off the new year, I'm going to do my Year in Review of 2015!  For this Year in Review, I will be going month by month and sharing with you some significant dates and events!  Hopefully I can look back at this in the future and remember all the amazing memories I made in 2015!  Enjoy!

JANUARY
29 - Pantene Beautiful Lengths - Making the Cut

~ This is one of my favorite memories of my entire life.  On the 29th of January, I donated 9 inches of my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, who will use my donated hair to make wigs for cancer patients.  Myself and about 20 other girls in my school were sat in front of the entire school at a rally, where we had our hair cut.  My hair is my baby and this was a huge sacrifice for me to make.  It was the second year my school did this and when I was asked the first year to do it, my response was NO, but this year I felt compelled to do it.  Like I mentioned before, this was a big "sacrifice" for me to make, however as I feel that my hair is a huge part of why I'm confident and beautiful, I want to help someone else feel that way as well.  Sometimes you have to lose to let others gain.  Two of my bestest friends in the whole world "made the cut" as well and I can honestly say that it was one of the best experiences I've had.  Nothing compares to the feeling you get when you know you're contribution is helping people who truly need it.

FEBRUARY
9 - The Ultimate Selfie

~ Okay this is not super significant or anything but it's important to me... (Plus nothing exciting happened in February sorry lol) This selfie of One Direction is so important to me.  I love it a lot and I'm crying just looking at it.  ZAYN :'(

MARCH
23 - Chaos and the Calm

~ Nothing exciting happened in March either... except that one of my favorite albums of all time came out!  James Bay's album "Chaos and the Calm" came out on March 23rd and my life was changed.  James Bay is one of my favorite artists ever.  If you haven't heard his music yet, you should definitely give it a listen RIGHT NOW.

25 - RIP Zayn

~ Zayn left.  That's it. I'm still sad.

APRIL
1 - Cords and Announcements

~ This was a very special day for me.  As we only had less than two months left of senior year, it started to get really bittersweet.  On the 1st of April, I received my first pair of graduation cords and my graduation announcements to send to my family and friends.  It was starting to feel so real and I honestly can't believe that I'm already done with high school.

17 - The Call

~ On the 17th of April, I received a phone call from my dream college.  If you aren't already aware, when I applied to my dream college, I was deferred to regular decision then waitlisted... But on this very special day, I got a call that would change my life forever.  It was someone from admissions who wanted to know if I was still interested in the school and that I was admitted.  Generally if you're waitlisted, you don't receive a response until after May 1, when all the admitted students give their decisions.  My situation is extremely rare.  Of course I said yes to the admissions officers and here I am today! (Well not today because I'm still on winter break lol)  I cried.

21 - IES

~ At my high school, all the seniors have to participate in this big event called the International Economics Summit, or IES for short.  We get into groups and are assigned a country and then spend months researching that country's economy and how we can "improve" it.  It's a lot of work and a huge chunk of our final grade.  I was lucky enough to be in a group with my friends and we were assigned South Korea, a country I already knew A LOT about.  We worked really hard since January and finally in April all of our hard work was displayed for everyone to see.  We got 100% on our IES assignment and I can tell you that I'd never been so happy in my life.  IES was the reason I chose to study Econ in college.

MAY
16 - Senior Prom

~ Tbh this day wasn't that special for me, but I'm including it because I made my parents spend a lot of money on this day and for that I'm forever grateful.  I had fun, I got to dress up, but that's about it.

22 - The Announcement & The Last Day

~ On the 17th of April I got the call that I was admitted into my dream college, and there was NO WAY I wasn't going there, but on this very special day, I officially announced to my family, friends, and social media followers where I'd be spending the next four years of my life.  It was a momentous occasion.  This day is not only significant because of my announcement, but also because of the fact that it was my last day of high school!  This was also the day I received my last set of graduation cords.  Lots of stuff happened on this day lol.

30 - GRADUATION! (And Grad Night)

~ This day is definitely one for the books.  After four years of working my butt off in high school, I was finally able to put on my white cap and gown, cords, medals, and receive my diploma.  You never think that high school will end as fast as it did, but it truly goes by.  Graduation is such a special day in 2015, and probably the most important day.  After graduation of course is grad night. It was a lot of fun, but I was honestly too tired to really remember it lol.

JUNE
24 - Eighteen

~ I officially reached adulthood!  My parents took me to a San Francisco Giants game for my birthday and Buster Posey hit a grand slam.  All in all it was a pretty amazing day.  I got to eat cake and watch baseball, what more could I ask for??  You can read about all the exciting things I did for my eighteenth birthday here!

26 - Thinking Out Loud

~ Another one for the books - I saw Ed Sheeran... AGAIN!  I love that ginger man almost more than I love my boyfriend and I honestly feel so blessed and honored to be in his presence.  I went with my best friend and to top off what was already an incredible night, WE MADE ED'S INSTAGRAM.  I can definitely say that when Ed comes back from his break, I will be willing to give him all my money just to see him again.  The first concert of #CatsSummerofConcerts

JULY
11 - The Best Day of My Life

~ Again... another one for the books, except this day will have it's own chapter.  I GOT TO SEE ONE DIRECTION.  You're probably thinking, "Why is this a big deal if Niall is your boyfriend?" and truth be told, I think the same thing, except it's such a big deal to me.  It honestly feels like a dream and even when I look back at my vlog, I can't believe it happened.  I probably died, met God, and came back to life multiple times on this day.  Harry wore his gold boots, Liam wore his hat for the encore, Louis slayed me the entire time, and my love wore my favorite striped t-shirt <3 (but you can read more about it here! And watch it here!)  This day was 100 out of 10 and I wish I could go back and do it all over again.

21 - She's Kinda Hot

~ The third installment of #CatsSummerofConcerts was 5 Seconds of Summer!  It was my second 5SOS show and I felt like a trained professional rollin up in there.  It was a very hot day and I didn't learn the lyrics to their new song until a few hours before the show.  I vlogged and blogged about it too!  You can read here and watch here!

24 - Crazy Good Summer

~ The fourth and last installment of #CatsSummerofConcerts was Poptart's Crazy Good Summer!  I somehow got these tickets for free and it was the most amazing thing ever.  My best friend and I got to see and meet Rixton, Jhené Aiko, and Jessie J FOR FREE.  I sang karaoke for the people in line and got free Meet and Greet passes and a selfie stick (watch me sing!).  I got hold Rixton's setlist and I accidentally poked Jessie J but she forgave me.  This was such an incredible night and you can watch it here, read about it here, and watch me karaoke here!  The MC of the event kept asking me to sing for everyone again and again.  Read about my experience here and watch my vlog!

AUGUST
8 - Get to Know Me

~ What a huge day this was.  I uploaded my first talking video onto my channel!  I was really hesitant to talk in videos because I was afraid I would embarrass myself but after I did it, I was really happy! I'm definitely not a camera shy person, but for a while I didn't even want to film covers, I'd rather just record them.  This was a huge step in my YouTube thingy and I'm really glad I did it.  You can watch it here :)

22 - Move In Day

~ On this special day, my parents forced me out of their house and into a small, confined, college dorm room.  It wasn't necessarily against my will, but I was (admittedly) not very happy about it.  It was a huge step that I needed to take for my future and I can't say I'm glad I did it, but I'm satisfied with how things have been going.  Boy am I glad to be home though.  Read about my move in experience!

SEPTEMBER
13 - HBD

~ This day is special because it's my bb's birthday!  But that's it lol.  HBD Nialler

23 - Dorm Tour

~ After being an official college student for a month and a day, I shared with you all my dorm tour!  This video is very special to me because I was finally getting comfortable in my new "home" (Home in quotes because I still don't consider it home) and I was excited to share it with you!  You can watch it here!

29 - Class Bonding

~ I don't know if I've ever mentioned it on my blog, but in my first semester of college, I took a class called "Sports Talk".  It's a public speaking/first year seminar class that focused on language used in sports.  It was four hours long every Friday but it was my absolute favorite class ever.  There were only 16 of us and we quickly became a little family.  My professor was incredible and he paid for our entire class to go to a Giants game.  The end result of that particular game wasn't in my favor, but I had an amazing time bonding with my new family.

OCTOBER
7 - Pay It Forward

~ On this day, my outlook on life changed for the best.  I was in Starbucks with my friend and the man in front of me kindly paid for my drink and handed me a "Jesus" card.  Needless to say, it didn't change my religion, but it changed the way I see good and evil in the world.  You can read the entire story here, or watch it here!

23 - 1D AF

~ In my public speaking class, we generally gave speeches about sports figures and topics, but for our informative speech, my professor told us to talk about something we truly feel passionate about, and of course I chose One Direction.  It was the best speech I'd ever given and my entire class was 1D AF after.  This isn't a huge deal, but it was so memorable for me because I made my class smile and laugh and I felt like I really brightened peoples' days with my deep love for those four (five) boys.

NOVEMBER
2 - It's Christmas!

~ Okay so it wasn't actually Christmas, but you knew that...  This day is special to me because it was the day I started to deck out my dorm room with Christmas decorations.  To many of my neighbors' dismay, my room was the most Christmas-y out of all the rooms and I loved it.  I'm definitely started on November 1 this year though.  You can read about my Christmas dorm decor here!

7 - Sat(ea)days

~ On this very special day, my best friend Soni and I went to tea!  It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was awesome because we went out and bought ourselves entirely new outfits and spent half of what was in our bank accounts on this tea.  I had a great time bonding with her and I think this is starting to be a tradition... I can't wait for this year's annual tea!  Oh also, I got a tiara cause they know me there. It was glorious.

22 - I Was Blessed

~ Sorry if the title of this one offends any religious friends, but I had to.  On this special day, my boyfriend Neelo stepped out in a suit and spectacles and my life was changed.  It's not a big deal to you, but I want to remember this day forever.

DECEMBER
4 - Bye Caitlyn

~ December 4th was a very sad, but also happy day for me...  It was the last day of my public speaking class :(  I was so sad and I'm still sad that it's over, but that day was so awesome.  I got to spend time with my new family and it couldn't have been better.  My final speech was a noteless story about my first 5SOS concert and I let my class go through a roller coaster of emotions with me. I love them to pieces and my friend took that awesome candid of me.

11 - The End of the First

~ December 11th was such a stressful day for me.  I took two finals for my two hardest classes and I finished my first semester of college!  It was such a major milestone for me and it was a rough road to get there.  College is hard guys.  I did it and I'll definitely remember this day forever.  I also made this pun like that same week.  I thought it was really funny.

12-25 - The 12 Days of Catmas!

~ If you're a returning friend, you know what this is already, but in case you don't, from December 12th until Christmas Day, I posted here every day!  You can read all the posts here!

And that concludes my Year In Review for 2015!  It was such a memorable, incredible, life changing year for me!  I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store!  Thank you for being a part of one of my favorite years yet!

Don't forget that you can listen to all the covers I did in 2015 on YouTube or SoundCloud!  I can't wait to give you more in 2016!

As always, thanks for reading!  I hope you loved what I had to offer in 2015!  What were some of your favorite memories of 2015?  Let me know in the comments or tweet me using #thecaitlynlee!

Love, Cat <3