Catch you on the flip side.

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals" -Zig Ziglar

All great things always come to an end, right? This is the second-to-last week of my ninth grade year. I had many ups and downs but overall, it was a pretty fun year. I met so many nice, new people and I also experienced a ton of new things. In my first blog pot, I mentioned that my bucket list would be for my ninth grade year. With that being said, my bucket list must come to an end.

This bucket list brought so many positive things into my life. It encouraged me to try new things from taking a spinning class to trying a coconut. It also brought me closer to a lot of people because I was able to share my experiences with them, and my blog readers. My bucket list has given me no regrets and I encourage all of you to make one too. It doesn't have to be now, but sometime in your life a bucket list might just come in handy. From suffering from boredom to craving adventure, a bucket list could be the answer to your situation.

I hope I can continue to try new things by making a summer bucket list. Who knows, I might just have to start a new blog theme for that one.

Do 10 random acts of kindness.

How great is it that our small acts of kindness can make someone else's entire day? Pretty great right? It gives me a warm feeling inside when I see how happy someone can get from just one simply "I love your shirt".

I gave this item on my bucket list a little spin. I took some time out of everyday last week to ask people what kindness meant to them. Tons of answers were pilling up ranging from little acts like giving hugs to large acts like giving someone $1000. After recording everyone's opinions of kindness, I made "The Kindness Rules".

Treat people how you would like to be treated. Say "I love you". Write loving notes. Say "please" and "thank you" and mean it. Forgive. Respect everyone. Don't hurt others on the inside or out. Give. It's nice to be nice. Hug. Say "good morning". Listen. Share. Lend. Inspire. Help. Smile. Encourage. Offer. Donate. Compliment. Open doors. When you get new clothes, give away something old. Give flowers. Give kisses. Apologize. Support. Let everyone play. Play fair. Do all the good you can in all the ways you can.

Those are just a handful of the answers that I received. I hope you can use this list to take some time out of your life to put a smile on someones face.

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see" -Mark Twain

Eat something that I have never eaten before.

Believe it or not, I haven't ever eaten a coconut before. I know it's crazy, especially since I have lived in Miami for 10 months, but I ate my first coconut a couple of days ago

My family and I were at the Fairchild Market last Sunday. We were peacefully sitting under a couple of palm trees when my brother noticed that there were HUGE coconuts hanging from the trees. We were about to move, but then out of the blue, one fell with a bang right behind me. I didn't expect my visit to the Fairchild Market ending up to being an almost-death experience.

I picked up the coconut after all of the shock flushed out of me and realized that there was milk in it. My family decided to take it home so we could try to break it open. Well let me just say that you missed out on me trying to "hammer" a coconut open...

After many hours (more like 30 minutes but it felt like hours), I finally managed to crack open that pain-in-the-butt coconut. I was expected there to be a waterfall of coconut milk but there was only enough to fit into the palm of my hand. Once I got all the milk I could out of this "killer" coconut (get the reference?), I took out some of the white flakey strips inside of it.

The white flakey strips tasted like the coconut smelled. I really enjoyed it and I plan to eat more coconuts in the future. But next time I will probably have someone crack it open for me.

After this experience, I realized how important it is to try new things. Don't let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. Do what you love and don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things.

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths" -Walt Disney

Sick as a dog.

I don't really understand why people say "I am as sick as a dog". What does a dog have to do with getting sick? If I had to make up my own simile involving being ill, I would say "I am as sick as a marathon runner". No, marathon runners are not sick, but right now, I feel as if I had just struggled through 20 of them.

All this week I have not been feeling well. With that being said, I haven't been able to complete a new task on my bucket list. I deeply apologize, I have broken one of my "bucket list goals" that includes checking off a new addition to my bucket list each week. Sorry!

While I have been sitting in my bed all this week, I did look up why people said "I am as sick as a dog". If you're curious, it is because dogs eat just about anything they find, and that often leads to them getting sick. So it is fitting to describe someone who is not feeling well as being "sick as a dog". B(arf)!

"If you fall behind, run faster. Never give up, never surrender, and rise up agains the odds." -Jesse Jackson

Do something new.

"If you do what you've always done, then you will always get what you always got" -Mark Twain 

Whether it's eating or exercising, I have always loved trying new things. This week I tried something new that was fun and beneficially. I tried spinning for the first time. (Not the thread and needle type, but the exercising type).

By definition, spinning is an INTENSE form of aerobic exercise preformed on stationary exercise bikes and led by an instructor who sets the constantly varying pace. It is extremely INTENSE. I hope I have made my point about how INTENSE spinning is.

So it was my first time spinning and I was kind of nervous that I would find some way to mess up. I have to admit, my foot did fly out of the "foot-holder" a couple of times. Spinning was an excellent was for me to burn some calories and to relieve stress. They blasted the music, the lights were low, colorful lights were shining everywhere, and the instructor was yelling commands left and right.

My friends and I were only spinning for an hour and we came out with sweat-covered faces and barely moveable legs. It was a really fun and hard exercise.

Trying spinning this week gave me motivation to try even more new ways to keep myself fit. I am now going to try to motivate myself to workout more and more each week to get in shape. Now I can add that to my bucket list.

Volunteer somewhere.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill

Why do you volunteer? A hand full of students volunteer because it looks good for colleges, but you should volunteer because you want to. The key to volunteering is to follow your passion. I am volunteering this summer at Miami Children's Hospital. It's the right choice for me because I love kids and working in the medical field has always been my dream. Also, seeing all of the sick children's smiles spread across their faces as volunteers walk into their room will definitely make my summer.

You have probably read about families who have been impacted by certain diseases and created a charity to help cure those diseases. Those families are passionate about finding a cure. They want something good to come out of their tragic loss, in memory of their beloved family member.

Are there any particular causes that are important to you? You need to be happy with what you are doing and work in an area where you have ability. For example, if you are passionate about children (like me), volunteering at Miami Children's Hospital would be perfect.

Volunteering is not all about benefitting the people you know best. It's about helping a complete stranger who needs you most. It's one of those things that leaves you with a good feeling. It doesn't only make a difference in the community, but it changes your perspective on what is important in life. Volunteering reminds me that the world is way bigger than I think it is.

Volunteer work may seem simple but it means so much to those who are affected by it. It's never to late to start.

Eat healthy for a week.

So this week, I completed another task on my bucket list. I ate healthy for a whole week! I know it doesn't sound that hard, but trust me, not eating my favorite junk foods for a week has been a very challenging task. 

I started out most days with fruit. It really benefitted me because an apple or strawberries is easier to grab and go to school with than a bowl of cheerios. I usually don't eat breakfast and when I do it's not the healthiest, but this past week, I noticed that eating a healthy breakfast gave me so much more energy throughout the day.

My go-to early morning breakfasts.

When I get home from school, I'm starving. An easy snack to have while studying for an AP World History vocabulary quiz is a Naked smoothie. My favorite flavor is strawberry banana, but Naked has so many flavors to choose from ranging from sweet smoothies made of blueberries and bananas to cherries and cranberries.

My after-school strawberry and banana smoothie.

Over the weekend, while eating lunch with friends, I was still able to maintain my healthy diet. I ordered a salad crepe from The Crepe Maker rather than one of the dessert ones. Believe me, it was very hard to turn down a strawberry-nutella crepe.

Salad Crepe.

"Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live in." -Jim Rohn.