Tonight, I tried styling my hair a bit different and it did not come out the way I wanted to. It honestly looks like a big frizzy mess which sucks but its fine. I will survive. Thats what it is like having curly hair, or maybe thats just a me thing.
Anyway, lets talk about January because it was a month.
January 15th 2021 marked one year since I was home, with my dog and family and on a place. And it feels like the longest time ever because I miss them all and I would never have thought I would be stuck here in Canada with no end in sight. I am not blaming Canada, I am just blaming the pandemic and the idiots who do not think it is an actual problem.
Hearing that there are things going on with my family with me not being there, it is hard. My grandmother fell, my uncle got robbed, that is not how someone wants to start their year. My family means the world to me and they are my weak spot. The moment I hear something is wrong, I overthink and become worried. They are all I have. The good news is that this was a month filled with birthdays – my cousin turned 13 and my grandmother turned 66. It was also my god mother’s birthday and a few other cousins.
I can finally say I am finished with all the grad school applications. Even though I applied to 3 schools, it was a very tedious and stressful process because every program expects something different. With the exception of one school/program, everything else has gone smoothly so far. And I don’t have hope for that one frustrating school, even though they have a good program.
Just to explain some of what has been going on, they have my contact information wrong and my referees were not able to submit the references. I tried to fix these issues, but there is only so much that I can do keeping in mind others time and how different places deal with things. I understand that it is application season for a lot of programs, but being strict with those deadline, especially with everything going on, is just going to hurt the applicant. Another program is a bit more flexible with those supporting documents. Like I said, I do not have hope with this school anymore.
Now, I am playing the waiting game to find out whether or not I will get in, which is scary because admissions is competitive.
In terms of a job search update, I have been applying to jobs here and there but just not as serious as before. It had nothing to do with grad applications, but more because I was busy. I did attend my school’s virtual career fair which was an interesting experience. One of the people at that fair, turns out I actually had an email conversation with them back in June that I talked about here. I did get a job interview because of a referral from my mom’s friend, and it was okay. But seeing that they never contacted me back about whether I got it, I think I have an answer.
With everything going on this month (being busy, family, grad school applications), my mental health was trash. One day I would feel okay, the next depressed and then slept it off after that. I got really nauseas one night because of my anxiety, and I think that it was causing migraines and toothaches. Because one day it was there and the next it was gone. There were days I could barely get out of bed, and others I just could not stop talking. Emotionally this month was rough.
An interesting fact is that I completed something called Mental Health First Aid Training (MHFAT), which was a very interesting experience. It is about providing support to someone who’s mental health has declined or is in crises. There are 3 modules, the first a self-paced online courses, with modules 2 and 3 being via zoom.
I really tried avoid spending money in January and I think it went okay. Other than bills and books on sale, I bought:
- a switch game – Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered
- an sd card that I had been putting off for a while and could not my game without it
- watercolor paint, paint brushes and a journal – some part of me wants to learn how to paint, so I got some stuff. I will play with it soon.
I think I did good with not spending that much money this month. Way better compared to other months. I think it had a lot to do with stepping back and thinking do I really want this now because a lot of the times, I do make impulsive decisions. It also had to do with waiting because I did not need it right now.
I did not really watch that much tv shows. I’m caught up with Below Deck because its my guilty, but nothing else. And I did not Netflix binging. I started rewatching Suits because why not . The earlier seasons were really good and its been a while since I watched it. I watched How to Ruin Christmas: The Wedding, which is a South African mini series on Netflix and I was surprised by how funny it was and I started watching the Fate: the Winx Saga, which is supposed to be the live action of Winx Club. Here’s the thing, I might be one of the few who actually enjoyed it. I understand it being white washed and nothing like Winx Club. And I think my enjoyment comes from not thinking about it as a live-action Winx Club, and instead more dark academia.
I did watch a lot of movies this month and its because my mom and I have made it a thing to watch movies on Fridays and Saturday nights. Some of the movies we have watched are:
- A trip to Jamaica
- Think Like a Man
- Think Like a Man Too
- Jumping the Broom
- Just go with it
- Hot Pursuit
There was a lot of reading this month, that I am very surprised by. Not only did I read 7 books, I tried to diversify my reading both in genre and setting. This month I read:
- Happily Letter After by Vi Keeland
- Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
- His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie
- Burn (Dark in You, #1) by Suzanne Wright
- Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite
- The Invitation by Vi Keeland
- Paper Princess (The Royals, #1) by Erin Watt
I’m really like Vi Keeland’s writing. Hopefully I get to pick up more of her books
In case you want to catch up, this is what I posted throughout the month:
- Happy New Year
- 2020 Recap…
- Every BOOK I read in 2020
- Wanting to learn how to paint
- I feel like I can’t breathe
- Kindle Deals Today!!!
- Mental Health is a Strange Thing
- Let’s Chat: Grad School Applications are submitted
- Let’s Chat: Getting Bad News about my Family Again
- Is this school even worth all this trouble?
I think thats all that went on this month. Hopefully I did not miss anything, most likely I did.
Arristella 