Hello everyone!
Today I'm here with a rather different kind of post. It's quite an impulsive move, but I would love to start #ATalkToYourself series over here on my personal blog and also on my Instagram caption. Basically it's a series of my writing where you can see the subject talking to his/her own self.

I always believe that what you think has a huge control over everything that you ended up doing. That's why I would love to create a more positive influence on self-talk, since most of the times we're just being too tough on ourselves. Hopefully, some of my writings will inspire you to have victory against those demons in your head.

Until my next post, see you!
CN.

Hey! Happy New Year everyone! 🎉
We're now officially on the very first day of 2018! Wow, how fast the year's gone by. I especially feel like 2017 just flew by so fast and suddenly we're in a new year again. I think a lot of people will agree with me on that, because there were lots and lots of people mentioning the same thing to me. Oh well, before we proceed further into the year, I would like to share with you a few things that I had experienced in 2017.

2017 was one of the toughest year of my life. There were a lot of tears and pains but thankfully it's also the year where I found my rock. Everything started off quite nice, as I was working towards my goals. But somewhere along the road, I just somehow lost it, which led to a lot of disappointment and feeling crushed from within. Definitely not a good feeling to have.

I am the kind of person who wants to get everything done as quickly as I could, but not in this year. 2017 turns out to be a year of growth where I learned a lot about patience and love. It's the year where I discovered more about God's love and mercy. I learned again that my timing is totally different than His timing, and believe me, His timing will be much more perfect than any of our planned timing.

Another lesson that I got is that love costs something. You can hardly love someone without sacrificing something, or else it can't be called love because love isn't a selfish act. I was reminded not to be afraid to love someone just because I have to feel some kind of pain as a cost of it, just like Jesus suffered and died on the cross for His love for all of us.

Honestly, the only one I could really depend on in 2017 was God. I felt like I had so many broken relationships and a lot of miscommunications with the people around me last year. It's just a little bit too much for me to handle by myself and I just got so worn out at the end of the day. Therefore I started to shift my focus to God. I started to practice gratitude towards what God had given me every single day, I started to learn about His Church, I sought for every understanding and knowledge I could possibly get just to feel closer and closer to Him everyday. Surprisingly, it brought me so much peace at the end of the day.

I can say that 2017 was the year of me finally coming back home to Him. Not only because I finally learned and felt a lot closer to Him than ever before, but also because I was finally able to let go of my ego and encountered His grace on the Sacrament of Reconciliation after 6,5 years of thinking that God will just forgive all of my sins and avoiding it so much. It took a lot of courage to step into that confession room and confessed every wrong doings that I could remember. I would describe my experience as a nerve-wrecking-yet-full-of-excitement one.

Now that I'm finally back on track, it doesn't mean that it's getting easier though. In fact, it's getting harder than ever, because evil loves to mess up with the good, as you might have known. I have a goal to stay strong in Him as hard as I can. It's totally not easy, because there will be days when I just won't feel like it, since we're not perfect yet. However I pray that at the end of the day, I will always find my home again.

I might sound quite religious in this post, but I think 2017 was the time when we needed religion the most. I solely believe that religions are the means to get closer to God, no matter what your religion is. 2017 was so full of tragedies and pains and I saw people used religions to create even more pain by blaming, spreading hatred, etc.

Religions have a pure purpose, and when some people with a certain religious view commited sins, it doesn't mean that the religion itself is bad. It's not the religion we should fight, but the corruptions within it. Just remember that evil loves to make something good become bad. Don't be deceived by it and always stay close to God who is so full of love and mercy, which I believe is what your religions teach.

Whether you believe in God or not, in our darkest hour we will always seek for a greater power to help us, just like what Sam Smith sang in one of his song, Pray:
"Everyone prays in the end."
We sure do. We will always look for our home.

Keep on praying, friends, and let's greet 2018 with our improved and better self. 2017 was one hell of a year, but now we can proudly say that we've survived it well. People said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," right? 😉

Hope you're having an astonishing first day of 2018 and another year full of His grace!
See you on my next posts! 😁
CN.

Today I'm turning 25 years old! Wow!
I thought I would be in such a denial, but apparently now I take this aging up thing better than I did last year. I just can't believe that this day have actually arrived though, the day when I'm already in my mid 20s. When I was younger I used to believe that I will be married by this age and enjoying my life fully. Little did I know that not everything will be going as smoothly as what this brain of mine had planned.

Well, since I've reached an age that is rather special to me. I thought I would love to write something special too. I guess you have already known what I'm about to write, because I know you've read the title of this post (obviously). So, without further ado, here are 25 things that I would love to tell my younger self:


I must admit that I was not the easiest kid to be dealt with, well I think most teenagers are. Most of us have that short-temper problem when it comes to our parents sometimes. I was an extremely moody kid, and it feels like I was always angry when they're starting inviding my personal space, criticising my poor choices, etc. But, as I got older, I finally learn to see things from my parents' point of view and I ended up realizing that they're just human beings after all. They're not perfect but at some point they always try to.


It's a waste of money and space. When you look at how ridiculously high that piles of things that you ended up never using anyway, you'll understand.

3. Everything happens for a reason.
You may not see it now, but somehow you'll see it eventually. Just trust your heart and do what you feel is right. This kind of faith will take you far.

4. You may think you're not, but you're such an egoist sometimes.
I never admitted that I was such an egoist person when I was younger. I thought that I always have a caring heart for others, but I just realized how selfish I truly am just around this year. Sometimes, when I make decisions or do something, I uncounsciously choose an option that fits me best because I want things to be done the way I think is right. I learned it the hard way to finally realizing this negative trait that I have, but I'm glad that I get it now and I can start learning to control my ego.

5. Love yourself enough to eat well and exercise.
I was that kind of girl who took her vegetables with her spoon, put it on the corner of her plate, and never touched it again. I was also the kind of girl who never enjoyed her P.E. classes. This is the one school subject which was her least favorite subject ever! I never thought that I would somehow learn to enjoy them until I see how amazing their effects to my body and health. Still not loving them 100%, but it's a progress.

6. Stop trying too hard to fit in.
Everyone is unique, so expecting yourself to be exactly the same with all of those people around you are simply ridiculous. Just find what you're good at and keep improving those traits of yours.

7. It's okay to be wrong sometimes.
You're just a human who makes mistakes and doesn't have all the knowledge in the world (even though you want to), so it's completely normal to make mistakes. I used to feel so anxious about making mistakes, but I learn that the mistakes actually help me to grow, a lot.

8. Life isn't that simple, but you'll survive.
I don't know why, but I used to think that life is going to be easy and pretty (maybe I watched too many Disney films 😂). Oh well, life is rougher than I think it was. I can feel its hardness the most, right after I graduated from university. It was the time when it's totally up to you to take the next step. Where do you want to go? That's the question that kept haunting me for a while at that time. However, as time goes, and as I learn to take one decision at a time, everything just turns out okay.

9. You'll learn how to do your makeup eventually.
No, I didn't have any makeup or skincare routine when I was younger. If I'm not mistaken, I started using face cleanser to wash my face at around the end of my junior high or the start of senior high era (?), and I started learning how to do my makeup in 2015. I thought I will never be able to do any of this, but I just love makeup now. It's kind of dangerous to leave me in a cosmetic store with plenty of money nowadays. Just telling you 😛

10. Enjoy school while it lasts.
The thing I miss the most, even now, is my school days. I just miss my friends and the unlimited time we could spend together. Now it's rather hard to find a time to meet each other that much, because we have our own schedules. I also miss how my biggest fear was not being able to do well on the tests and graduated, when my biggest fear now is not being able to earn a proper living. So, when you're still there, just enjoy it as much as you can, then step into the adulthood with confidence.

11. Capture as many memories as you can.
Capture the memories through your photographs and writings the best you can. Just admit it, you can't remember everything that is happening in your life. So, it's just nice to keep some reminders of the beautiful moments you had in the past 😊

12. Life gets easier with family and friends.
When you're lonely or tired, you can lean on your family and friends. They may not always going to be there, but when they do, they can contribute their love to help you cope better with your stress. You don't need to tell them your problems if you don't want to, but having a random conversation with them can actually cheer me up sometimes. Just try it 😉

13. You'll learn to love the things you don't enjoy.
I know you don't really like sushi and green tea right now, but will you believe me when I said that you will love them and even get addicted to them in 2016? Believe me, because even now I'm craving for a cup of iced green tea latte. Honestly, the guy you'll end up with was never your type either, but somehow you see something greater than just following your current likings. You can change your mind sometimes, so just be more open minded and get ready to fall in love with the new things 😁

14. There are some thing you'll never stop loving.
I did say you can change your mind, but there are some things that you'll always end up loving, like: Disney, reading, singing, writing, rain, the smell of the earth afterward, relaxing in a cafe, etc. These things are the things you're passionate about. Keep them always close to you, because they're who you're truly are.

15. You can't predict every single thing, so just stop expecting too much.
It's just not healthy to want everything to go smoothly as you've had planned, because you're not in control for everything. You can't control time, you can't control others, the only thing you can control is you. So, just have an average expectation on those things you can't control, because it will totallt helpful to reduce your stress.

16. Your social skill will get better, just embrace it.
I used to be socially awkward and I guess sometimes I still am. I also totally love to observe others from afar better than engaging in conversations. I would always think that I had a really low social skill and I would never have any friends, but through my university years I improved a lot and I didn't really push myself, it just came really naturally. So, yeah, no worries, you'll do just fine.

17. Stop getting angry all the time, it's just tiring.
My father said so to me. He knows this because he's the kind of person who gets irritated easily too. So, I know he's talking about this out of his experience. It's totally relatable to me, because I have to admit that it's really tiring to get mad you know. Your head just feels like it's bursting and all negative thoughts just keep spinning and spinning. When you're done with your anger, most of the time you'll reflect on the foolish things you've done while you're angry. Let's try our best to keep the heat down, shall we? 😊

18. You are in control of your emotions.
I used to lean on others to make myself feel better. It would totally work when that particular person was available at the time, but when they didn't I would've felt even much more miserable than before, which is bad, really bad for my mental health. I stil do this bad habit sometimes, and I try my best to control my emotion at times. When I just can't, sometimes I will cry, pray, and just have some sleep. These things will totally help me feel at peace again.

19. Goodbye is unavoidable.
Even when you hate the fact, there will be some friends that you'll end up never meeting again, some people who have to die first, and some people who you just grow appart. Just accept this fact. If you end up meeting them again unexpectedly then it's good, if not then you can only hoping they're enjoying their days.

20. You'll find him.
I was always afraid that I will never find my life partner, but don't worry girl. You'll definitely find him and the wait is definitely going to be worth it.

21. Don't really have any care on any negative comments about you.
I pity people who feel the need to say bad, negative, unconstructive, and plain evil things about others. I feel like they're actually the ones in pain, and it's just their way to scream their broken hearts out. Don't take this kind of comments seriously because it will end up making you broken too. Try to be a positive influence to them instead if you're able.

22. Life supposed to be a gift, not a torture.
When you have problems in life, don't feel like they're tortures. Yeah, they're freakin' hard and stressful sometimes, but they will shape you for the better. So, in a way, those problems turn out to be the gifts for you right? 😉

23. You thought you'll always love comic and fantasy books, but at the end you'll love heavier books.
Admit it, as much as you love to imagine those amazing stories in your head, you're also so thirst of knowledge. That's why the more you grow, the more curious you are about lots of things, and your book collections will have more variety of books 😁

24. Be grateful, always.
You always seem to forget this. At the time of hardship, just remember what you have which others don't. It will make you think and finally see the bigger picture of your live, then you can see how small your problems are compared to the grace you've had.

25. You'll always have Him who loves you through all eternity.
I never really realized that He loves me this much. Now that I've seen how much He truly loves me, it's just hard to unsee it. Now, His words and Church are the place for me to find peace to go through my life. I would love to share this beautiful experience of mine with you on another different post, because this one is quite long already 😂 Just try to lean to God more, because He'll always be listening.


Alrighty, that's it!
I hope this list could be a pretty good advice and guidance through your teenager time when you're still not quite sure about life.

See you on my next post! 
CN.

Hello again!
Sorry for being away for a while. I just in need of  some little time with my family, friends, and also myself. I hope you've been missing me though 😉
With June ending, we're officially halfway through the year 2017! Wow, time does fly so fast!
Alright, before stepping further into the other half of the year, I would love to share a few things that I enjoyed last June. Let's start, shall we? 😁

MUSIC

For music, there is this one particular event that totally made me feel hopeful for the future of this world. It is the One Love Manchester concert which was held by the one and only miss Ariana Grande. It's just spectacular and full of such amazing songs and singers! My favorite ones were when Ariana performed Where is the Love with the Black Eyed Peas and also her perfomance of Don't Dream It's Over with Miley Cyrus. Check out the performances below if you want to experience the power of music ☺

I also fell in love again with these amazing duets of Disney Channel awesome productions: True Love from the series Liv and Maddie and also Meant to Be from the movie Teen Beach. I used to really loved it already, and apparently I still do ☺

I still love K-Pop songs, and these new songs of Mamamoo just got me so excited! I love them all because they're so unique and talented! Enjoy their newest songs: Age Gag and Yes I Am 😆


A new Carly Rae Jepsen song to put back the summer mood! Totally love her newest song Cut to the Feeling!


More to the religious songs. I've been enjoying these songs by Owl City and Beyonce a lot throughout June 😊

YOUTUBE

There are some videos on youtube that really made an impact in my point of view this June. First off is this video by the famous youtuber Michelle Phan. I never really subscribed or followed her videos before, but this very first video of her that I watched really touched my heart. If you're in a struggle with your life right now, you might want to watch this video:


I also got interested with this video about religions by LizziesAnswers. If you're interested with Christian theology, you might have some interest to watch her videos.


Then, I also found this awesome channel, full of inspiring videos, called Lavendaire! I haven't watched all of her videos, but I truly want to! If you love some inspiration and motivation in a video, then you must check out her channel!

FILM & TV SERIES

In June I watched the finale of Pretty Little Liars which was totally the end game of the series. I felt so happy to finally know the answer of all the mysteries, but I also felt kind of sad because it's over already. Totally want to watch the series all over again from season 1 someday 😁


I suddenly got the urge to watch Teen Beach and Teen Beach 2 again this June! I still totally love these films and the stories. It's a story of two teenagers who got stuck in a musical film and looking for a way to get back into their world. Totally fun and full of beautiful songs! ☺

TECHNOLOGY

I decided to buy something kind of pricey this June. My brother and I bought this Sony a6300 camera and the lens. We're going to share this camera so we're splitting the bills. My father also bought me another lens later on, so I can take pictures conveniently. I'm still learning on how to use it since I've always used Canon cameras before, but I'm pretty sure I'll get used to it soon 😊

FOOD & BEVERAGES

Here are some food that I've been enjoying in June! More details will soon be posted on my Food Travel posts! 😉




Alright, this is it for my June favorites! It's a little bit late, but stay tune for more stories on my adventure in June, because it's been lots of fun!

See you on my next post! 😁
CN.

Valentine's Day is already over and we're now approaching March. However, it doesn't mean that you need to stop showing your love to your girl.
Yes, I'm talking to you, boys!

I'm a firm believer that you don't need a special occasion to show how much you love your partner. However, sometimes boys can be so clueless about how to show his feelings to the girl he loves. Well, hopefully after reading this post, you'll get one or two clues about it.

Love is in the little things. So, yes, you don't always need a huge gesture to show your love. Here are some little things you can do to say you love her:

Surprise Her

Doing something for her when she least expect it is a really grand gesture. It can be a surprise gift, a surprise visit, or any kind of surprise that will make her happy. The point is to do something that you rarely do, but you know she'll be thrilled if you do it.

"What has gotten into him?! but whatever because it makes me happy."

Remember the Small Details

I know it's really hard. But, I gotta admit that girls love it when her partner remembers a small detail that she ever mentioned before, like the pretty shoes she chose to wear, the things that made her upset, etc. Not everyone was born with this talent though, so if you're having a really short-term memory, just keep on reading and find something else for you.

Ask Her Out

You asking her out on a date is already making her feels so happy. For her, it shows that you want to spend time together with her, and she's glad that you want to be together with her. Even when you ended up doing nothing, just being with you is quite enough for her.

Tell Her About Your Day

Most of the times, girls will always do the talk. She will really love it when you initiate to tell her about your day. Believe me, she wants to know about all those things that are happening in your life.

Ask About Her Day

Don't forget to ask about her day too, if she hasn't told you so. This will make her feel really special because you want to know what she's been up to. Just make sure that this won't happen:

Contact Her

Been busy the whole day or week? Just make sure you make some time to either call her or send her a chat. She will really appreciate it and feel so loved, because you're still looking for her even with all your hectic schedules.

Leave a Sweet Encouraging Message

Who doesn't like a sweet short message to cheer up the day. For all I know she'll feel stronger to face anything that comes in her way.

Praise Her

Do this, especially when she's really insecure about herself. You can tell her about how good she looks to you, or how strong she is, or basically anything that you admire about her. This will be a good reminder of how amazing she really is.

Say Good Night and Good Morning

Simply saying good night and good morning will make her feels special already. Do you know why? That's because she's glad that she's in your mind at night before you go to bed and in the morning when you wake up.

Brag About Her

This will totally put her over the moon. Especially when you brag about her to the people you're close with, like your parents, best friends, etc.

Create Something for Her

Something that you create especially for her is of course will be deeply appreciated. Whatever your talents are, whether it's cooking, music, writing, drawing, etc, your girl will totally feel so touched for a present that you make from scratch.

Defend Her

Girls love to feel protected once in a while, especially by her man. When you know someone has wronged her, it will make her feel better if you can defend her honor. Preferably without involving any violence acts, of course.

Hold Her Hands

One of the simplest thing you can do to make her feel your love is just by reaching to her hand and hold it tight.

Just Say the Words

And of course, your girl will totally feel your love when you say the words sincerely. You don't need to keep saying it, because the words will lose their meaning if you said it too often. Saying it once in a while and do some of the things above will surely show your love to her.



I hope these tips would be helpful to all the boys out there. Just remember that everyday should be a Valentine's Day to your girl 😂😉



See you on my next post!
CN.

Hello everyone, how's 2017 treating you so far? Well, for me it's still quite a good start. I hope it's been a great start for you too! :)

I've been thinking to write this post for a while, but I just wasn't quite sure what to write.

December 2016 wasn't really counted as a nice month. Yes, it ended beautifully with my trip to Bali. However, before that trip happened, there were a lot of complications that made me felt exhausted and sad. It made me lost my excitement for 2017. I was always excited for new year before, but not this time.

As I entered 2017 and tried to look back at all the things that happened in 2016, I found something.
I finally discovered that 2016 wasn't such a bad year after all. It was just a matter of point of view.

in 2016...

I traveled quite a lot. I even had my very first traveling abroad experience with my boyfriend, which was so much fun. I also managed to go back to my hometown in Makassar again after years not visiting it.

I started documented my life intensely on my blog and diary. So, now I can open them up and look at things I've done in 2016. I even won a blogging competition by Gramedia once. Well, I just won the third place, but still, it was still a great achievement.

I made lots of new friends, which was really exciting! I can't wait to see how these friendships will grow.

I started to work in a company that is so welcoming and I've had a great experience so far.

I finally hit 1k followers on Instagram (I know it's not really important, but it did make me proud because I worked quite hard for it).

I also learned that life is so full of precious moments that sometimes don't get enough recognition. Most of the time we just get caught in our hectic schedule/work/deadlines/life/etc, that we forget to just stop for a little while and actually enjoy our surroundings and what we're doing.

If you have been in a relationship long enough, then you'll know that it's not always sweet and magical. Sometimes, it can get disastrous and depressing. Usually in this state, a fight will occur.

I just watched episode 335 of a reality TV show from Korea called "We Got Married", and I got a precious advice on how to deal with a fight or heated conversation with your loved one from Chef Susumu.

In this screenshot below, you will see Saeho, one of the 'husbands' in this TV show, asking a question to Mr. Susumu:


to which Mr. Susumu then replied:


I found some great wisdom in his answer. It gets me thinking of how many times I got so defensive during a heated conversation, that I forgot about what's really important: compromising.

If you want your relationship to work, both party should be open-minded and willing to compromise and understand each other. It might sound easy, but it's not always the easiest thing in the world. Sometimes when you're too angry, your ego just gets the best of you. You have to learn to keep your own ego away for a while, and find a solution that will work for everyone, not just your own self.

Thank you Mr. Susumu! It's such an awesome advice for everyone!
Hope this advice from Mr. Susumu will help someone out there facing problem with their relationships.

Happy Sunday everyone! :D

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Music has a power to tell stories and affect somebody's mood. Those are the things I love about music. I really love the stories in the songs, especially when I can relate to it. As I'm listening to it, it will be as if it's talking to me, and I just love that feeling. I listen to music when I'm happy, when I'm bored, but especially when I'm sad and lonely. I just come to music to lift my mood up and make that beautiful smile appears again.

Today I want to share a song that has been helping feeling better when I'm kind of feeling down and tired. The lyrics of this song are just so perfect and they help me to believe that everything's will be alright. It's a song called Be Alright by Ariana Grande. In this post I will tell you how I relate the lyrics of this song to my daily life. You can listen to this beautiful song here:






The chorus is my favorite part! We need to remember that we have control over our emotions and decisions. Yes, we can cry now and then, but you need to remember to set your mind right. Those tears should be a release, and after you're finished with it you need to make up your mind. Here's where a positive mindset will surely helps a lot. You need to be able to tell yourself that everything is going to be alright. You need to decide that you're going to be alright. Not anybody else, it's just you.

The way that the same lyrics are being repeated twice shows that sometimes we need to keep saying it again and again. It's almost like we're hypnotizing ourselves. It's all in our head, and it is indeed the hardest part. It will be easier to persuade others, but it's harder to persuade ourselves sometimes. But, I believe it's just a matter of practice. The more you train yourself to think positive, the more easier it will be time after time. Practice makes perfect, right?

When you have the strong believe that you're going to be alright, no matter how many times you've been pushed down, you will still be able to get back up each time and say I'm going to be alright.

I hope you all will have a great start for this week. Tell me what you got in mind about this song :)
Happy Monday!
CN.

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