What Living Louder Means To Me

I started this blog January 2, 2015, but i never really explained to everyone what living louder really meant to me. I started this blog at 18 years old, and I am now 20 years old so I have time to think and explore new things with this blog. This is something I really love doing, and has been an outlet for me. I created this blog, so I can express whatever I felt that needed to be said, so with that being said this is what living louder means to me...

Living Louder to me means exploring things that makes you wonder. 

Living Louder means doing things that seem impossible, but you know you can do them.

Living Louder means experiencing things you would never though of doing.

Living Louder means meeting new people, and making new friends from all walks of life.

Living Louder means taking risks that you never though of doing.

Living Louder means stepping out of your confront zone to pursue something.

But most importantly...

Living Louder is not just the action it's about being able to share your experience, thoughts, and feelings with other people around the world.

I started this blog because I wanted to share every part of my life with people. I do not want people to live in a little bubble for the rest of their lives. I want people to go out, and explore life and be able to share it with their love ones, friends, and anyone that comes there way. 

I vowed to myself on January 2, 2015 that I would live louder and I intend to keep that promise!

I hope I can encourage everyone to live louder, and step out of your comfort-zone today!

Taking On Singapore

As most of you may know my family and I have moved to Singapore. Here are some pictures and things that I have seen and visited since I have been here. Singapore is such a pretty country, very different from a place that I have lived. 

Clark Quay Riverwalk

 
This is at the Clarke Quay Riverwalk in Singapore it has several restaurants that are located near the river. I ate at the Octapas Spanish Tapas Bar, and it was very good!

Then on the picture to the right, this is the center of the riverwalk, this is where all the bars are and other restaurants. It also has a pretty fountain, that changes colors. My favorite part about this place was the color of the houses.

This is what the Riverwalk looked like at night. In the picture on the left is the bridge that lights up in different colors each night. There is also a great view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

The picture on the right is the view from the Octapas Spanish Tapas Bar. There are also boats that can take you along the river.

Haw Par Villa

 This is in Haw Par Villa, this is a park that has beautiful statues of Chinese folklore and mythology. They are famous for their Chinese folklore’s 10 Courts of Hell.

One of my favorite pieces is the one above, it is so very detailed, and I feel as if every little detail tells a story. This one had an underground tunnel that you could go under and explore as well.





I loved the archways that they made. It was so very detailed and so beautiful. The park was fairly big, and had ponds where there were turtles relaxing. There was also a miniature version of the Statue of Liberty which was surprised me.

Marina Bay 

This is the famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel. This is the hotel where they have the infinite pool that looks out of all of Singapore. The day I went it was very cloudy, because in Singapore if it's not sunny it's raining.

There are boats that go out and sail, on the other side there is a mall, which has restaurants that look out to the Merlion.

This is the famous Merlion. The Merlion has a face of a lion but a body of fish.


The Merlion symbolizes humble beginnings for Singapore as a fishing village. The Merlion is the mascot of Singapore, and there are several located around Singapore.

People's Association Youth Chinese Orchestra 

I was walking around Marina Bay, and they have this event known as In Youthful Company where students show off their talents. This show was for free and the one I got to see was People's Association Youth Chinese Orchestra. This performance was directed by Ng Seng Hong. I enjoyed the variety of music they played. They played popular Singapore songs, famous Chinese music, Japanese pop, Korean pop, plus a mash up of Bruno Mars songs. 

I hope you enjoyed some photos from the places in Singapore I have been. There will definitely going to be more to come, because i'm not done exploring this beautiful place.

Things I've Learned in My Freshman Year of College

I can officially say that I am done with my freshman year of college. It was a long and hard road but I am glad I got that done and over with. Here are some things I learned in my freshman year of college that I wish someone would have told me.

• After a while cafeteria food sucks: Going into college, I was like cafeteria food won't be that bad I have eaten it all 12 years of school. Boy was I wrong! University of Arkansas has a Meal Trade where from 7-10pm you can eat at one of the fast food places on campus and it counts as a meal in your plan. But after the first semester I could not eat anymore Slims Chicken or Papa John's Pizza or Burger King. So i went to the cafeteria and they had such weird hours, and the food wasn't as great besides a couple things. 

• You are tired 95% of the time: I don't even know how this is possible, but in college I was always tired. Whether it was from staying up and studying, walking up and down hills for my classes, or 8am classes I was always tired. I would come home for christmas break and just sleep. I also learned that naps are good at the time, but bad in long term because you probably napped during your homework or study time. In the end, making you stay up late to finish and being tired the next day. 

• Don't do laundry Saturday or Sunday: Everyone does their laundry Saturday or Sunday, I would pick a time to do your laundry when you think nobody is in the dorms. Such as if you don't have a class till 1pm do it in the morning because once 3pm hits everyone will be doing laundry. Also, put a timer on your phone for when your laundry is done, don't be that person that leaves it in all day.

• Go to a teacher's office hours: This really important if you are in a class of 200 students, the teacher will never know who you are.Just go into your teacher's office hours to introduce yourself, it will help. Especially, if you need help on something going into my teacher's office hours helped me raise my essay grade from a B to an A. This will also help you if you are at a border line grade and the teacher sees that you come to class every day and went to their office hours, they might be nice enough to bump your grade up. 

• DO EXTRA CREDIT: This is probably the most important thing I have learned in my freshman year. I did so much extra credit, even when I didn't need to but let me tell you on the days that I didn't do so good on one of my papers or test that extra credit was there to balance me out. In my English class I was sitting at an 88% and I still had a paper to write, I ended up getting a B on my paper, but because I did that extra credit I ended up making an A on the paper. Which turned my 88% to an A in the class. 

• Getting a C in a class is okay: I am a perfectionist, I can deal with a couple of B's but to me a C is failing....Until i took Principles of Biology. I am an education major, so science isn't really my forte. This class however was a class that biology major had to take as their intro class, and as an education major you are required to take it. However, this class wasn't easy.. I studied so hard for these tests, went to all the tutoring sessions and was determined to get a B in the class. However that wasn't the case I ended up ending the class with a C with 2% from having a B which killed me. But after a while, I realized it was only one class. It was not going to determine whether I was going to be a good teacher or not. Getting a C is average, everyone is  either going to fail or have a C in a class it just happens... so its okay.

• Join Clubs: I know that college can be stressful at times, and you feel like you don't have time for anything. However, joining a club will help you get your mind off of things, and help you relax and have fun with friends for a bit. It is also great because you get to meet new people, and trust me, in college there is a club for everything, and if there is not make your own. I joined a club called Foundation of International Medical Relief for Children. We got to do bake sale's and went out for percentage nights. We also have a Go Fund Me, we are currently raising money for children in Uganda if you would like to donate. 

• Have some fun: Don't spend your time studying all day, go out and have some fun. My best memories with my friends are our late night iHop runs, concerts, going hiking up in the Ozark mountains, having chair races down the halls, football games, and basketball games. There are times when you just have to go out and enjoy yourself because your only going to be this young once. So go out and have some fun.

I hope this has helped you guys, and help you be a little more prepared for college because trust me I didn't know what I was walking into either.

Things I've Learned From Gossip Girl

Every girl has seen the show Gossip Girl on the CW network. This show is every girls fantasy and dream to be living in New York City. I watched this show and fell in love with all the characters and i feel that there are lessons to be learned from this show. If you have not watched Gossip Girl drop what you are doing and go watch it. Anyway here are some things I have learned from Gossip Girl.
*spoilers*

Source

• Love is dysfunctional, hard, unexpected, stubborn, but also amazingly beautiful: There is a lot of couples in the show. The most famous is Chuck and Blair and both have had their fair share of mistakes, but in the end they love each other and fought through all odds. 

• "Fashion is the most powerful art their is"- Blair Waldorf : Blair Waldorf had one of the best clothing on the upper east side. I can agree that fashion is a work of art, you are the canvas and what you wear is what makes you special.

• Best friends are forever: Blair and Serena are the best of friends, they go through their ups and there down but in the end they are always by each other sides no matter what.  

• Scheming is a hobby: After watching the show I feel like Blair Waldorf is the queen of scheming. Blair had made it a hobby and she was very good at it. But I think we have all learned how to scheme because of Blair.

• The Upper East side is the place to be: When watching Gossip girl the upper east side, is what every girl imagine living, big city, lots of shopping, that is literally your goals as a woman to be able to marry a Chuck Bass or a Nathan Archibald and live on the Upper East side. 

• An outfit is incomplete without a headband: Blair had the most must stylish headbands and an outfit was not complete without them. Even now in the winter I wear cute headbands, and I love them.

I loved Gossip girl, I loved the ending and everything. These were just some things I took out of it, I hope you enjoyed them!

Top 5 Ways To Get Over A Breakup

Every girl has a relationship that they think will last forever, and then once it's over it is hard to pick up the pieces. Breakups are tough but so are we. We all have our own way of getting over someone, but just remember you deserve so much more. So here are some ways to get over a breakup..

1. Treat yourself: 

• Go out with your friends- Have a girls night out or go get lunch its nice to get out and just have some fun with friends. 
• Eat your favorite food - Go out and buy some chocolate or your favorite candy and favorite snacks or just go to your favorite restaurant. 
• Do something you love- If you enjoy drawing, go draw. If you enjoy taking pictures go do it. Don't let anything hold you back from doing something you love
• Go to a spa- Go get your nails done or go get a massage. Just relax, its nice to just treat yourself with a good spa day. Even if you just want to do your own pedicure or even your own face mask.
• Go for a nice walk- Enjoy the beauty of nature, and its nice to just get you thinking and clear your head. 
• Listen to your favorite music- Don't listen to breakup music it will just make you sad. Listen to upbeat music that makes you just want to dance and get up. Music that makes you happy is just a must to have on reply.

2. Time:
I'm not going to lie you don't just wake up one morning and you are suddenly over your ex. It will take some time to get over your ex, no matter how long you were together. This is something that everyone says "you just need time" and that's what you hate hearing no matter what, but its true!

3. Delete: 
As hard as it is you have to delete your ex from social media and your phone this is one of the hardest things to do. As much as you don't want to do it now, if you don't you will just want to text him or stalk all his social media to see if he has been hanging out with any girls. This will just make you feel worse. So just do it early it will help you out in the long run.

4. Write It Down: 
Write down your feelings on paper. This will help with getting your feelings out and not keep them from being bottled up. It can be a letter to your ex boyfriend, and you don't need to send it, or you can write it for yourself.

5. Remember You Are Worth More:

A year from now you are going to look back and laugh at this. Don't let a guy keep you down, you are stronger than that. Show him that you are better without him. You are worth so much more and he needs to realize that he lost something really special.

That are some different ways to get over a break up. Remember that you are worth so much more, and don't need him to be happy. I hope these tips have helped you. (:

My Teen Court Experience

For the past couple years I have been in this program called Teen Court. You deal with real teen cases such as theft, assault, minor in possession, minor in consumption, and ect. I have learned so much and made friends that will last a lifetime. I'm going to share my experience and hope you can take something from it or do something new and exciting.

I started teen court because one of my friends mentioned to me and she thought it was something I would like doing. So one day in the summer I decided to go to one of the training to be an attorney and I liked it. I continued going, but I was never a good public speaker. The more I went the more I got use to talking in front of people. Going up in front of my peers and debating a case really gave me confidence to go up and talk in front of crowds. The friends I had made throughout this experience as really impacted me we weren't just friends we were family. We had our wins and we had our loses and we fought our cases like crazy wither it was objections or bad cases we went through it all together. I saw them every Tuesday no matter what even if I had a big test coming up I would go just to take a breather and clear my head. It was never boring there, and I always left smiling.The ladies in charge of teen court were family to us always there to give advice and make sure we stayed out of trouble and always looking out for us. Teen court is definitely something I wouldn't have been able to do on my own but with the help of my friends I was able to step out of my confront zone and explore new things. Leaving teen court I feel I was able to help teens make wiser decisions and learn from their mistakes and be able to give back to their community. I learned so much from this experience and something I will always remember.

Court is adjourned 

My Favorite Quotes

These are some of my favorite quotes from movies, television shows, books, and people that I find motivational and relate to my life. I hope you like them...

Movies /Television Shows 

• "Spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself, and a little less time trying to impress people" - The Breakfast Club

• "Sometimes you need to step outside, clear your head and remind yourself of who you are. And where you wanna be. And sometimes you have to venture outside your world in order to find yourself." - Gossip Girl

• " The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it" -Lion King

Books

• "So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them." - Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

• "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. Its not" -The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

• "Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy" - Harry Potter by JK Rowling

People

• “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent” - Victor Hugo

• "Be the best version of you" - Zoella 

• "Do more of what makes you happy" - Alfie Deyes

Those are some of my favorite quotes I hope they inspire you and become one of your favorite quotes. Let me know what your favorite quotes are.

Reasons Why Every Girl Needs A Guy Best Friend

Many people believe guys and girls can't be just friends, but I believe that is false. Guys can be more straight forward and help you more than girls can. So here are some reasons why every girl needs a guy best friend. 

1) They do not judge you. Girls can be very judgmental at times but with guys when they know you and don't like you in that way they see you differently and do not feel the need to judge.

2) They are your perfect wing man. With girls it's pretty obvious when your best friend talks to your crush they know something is up. When guys talk to guys they don't find it that obvious, which is super easy for your guy best friend to swoop in and ask about you 

3) Help you when you have guy troubles. Guys know how other guys think making it easier for them to tell you if they have a crush on you or how and why they act the way they do. 

4) They are always completely honest with you. Unlike a boyfriend if you ask if they like this outfit or if this makes you look fat they will lie to not hurt your feelings. Guy friends will tell you an honest answer because they really care about you and want you to know the truth.

5) There is never any drama. Girls can have drama any once in a while but with guys they just shake it off and they just go with the flow.

6) They teach you what they like in girls. As girls we never know what guys look for in a girl... with guy friends at least they can tell you what they look for in a girl and what they don't which can be similar or different for guys.

7) You can eat whatever you want without judgement. When you go on a date with a guy you sometimes watch what you eat so you don't look like you are pigging out. With girls sometimes they count the calories which makes you not want to eat something fattening. With guy best friends you can eat whatever you want and they do not care.

8) Teach you things your girl best friends can't teach you. They teach you how to do more manly things such as help you understand football, teach you lessons on guys, and how to love yourself by being you.

9) Your own personal body guard. When you have been through a bad breakup or feeling victimized your guy best friend will always be there and have you back no matter what. He is there for you and have his friends on call for backup in case anything were to happen to you. 

10) They love you like family. They see you as your little sister and nothing more. They love you no matter what happens or what they do. He is your best friend that will always be there for you no matter what.

It takes some time to find a best guy friend that you can trust and have your back no matter what. But having one is defiantly something that is essential in a girls life. 

Facts About Peru

I was born in Lima, Peru and it is one of my favorite places in the world. In March I was able to go back and revisit my home. I want to share some facts about my culture and home, and hope one day you will be able to visit this beautiful country. 

Food

Everyone always tells me that the food is their favorite, and there are so many varieties. Here are some of my favorites.

• Ceviche- This is a dish that contains tilapia fillets that is cooked with lemon and has onions and peruvian corn and served with sweet potato and can be spicy. This dish is one of my favorites, but it's also not for everyone.

• Inca Cola- This is a soda that is very popular in Peru. Its bright yellow, a lot of my friends said it tasted like bubble gum. Personally to me it doesn't, but I've been drinking it my whole life.

• Alfajores- These are my all time favorite dessert. They are cookies with a sweet caramelized center, and covered in powdered sugar.

Places
There are so any places to visit in Peru being such a beautiful country.

• Machu Picchu- It is up in the Andes mountains and is one of the seven wonders of the world. Elevated up 2,430 m above sea level but it's defiantly worth the climb.

• Lima- This is the capital of Peru, and the city I was born in. It is a beautiful city and you can looks out into the ocean.

Facts about Peru

• The Peruvian flag is red and white 
• Peru is the sixth largest producer of gold
• A traditional dish in Peru is guinea pig 

Pictures from my trip

 These four photos were from a show I went to in Lima Called "Brisas Del Titicaca" where they served food and saw dances from different parts of Peru.

These are from a place in Chosica called "El Bosque." You can go swimming go up and hike all the way up to a mountain and over look the whole town. When I went they were having their anniversary of the Bosque and they had dancers and singers and my cousins made me go up there and sing. Then days later I find out I was in their magazine. In the last picture is a dessert called Picarones to me they taste like donuts with syrup and are so delishious! But watch out for the bees!

                                                                

Towards the end of my trip I went to Santa Maria beach. In March in Peru it's like the end of summer and there weren't that many people at the beach but it was still beautiful. The  sea food is especially good there because they catch it fresh. 

Those are some facts about Peru and a couple a pictures from my spring break trip. I hope you liked them and go visit Peru one day.

A Girl's Guide To Not Being Bored

Every girl experiences when they are so completely bored and have no clue what to do or where to begin doing something. I know I have, so here are some fun activities you can do by yourself or with your friends. 

• Go to the movies with your friends
• Watch the sunset 
• Read a book that is highly recommended
• Go to the mall with friends 
• Draw something
• Learn a new sport
• Cook something new
• Experiment with your makeup 
• Make your own jewelry
• Learn new hairstyles
• Redecorate your room
• Do a random DIY on Pinterest
• Take pictures of random things and make it beautiful
• Volunteer at a nursing home with friends
• Bake or cook something and hand it out to the homeless people
• Watch a documentary
• Watch a new YouTuber
• Make your own clothes 
• Start a Fundraiser
• Start a YouTube Channel
• Paint on a canvas
• Learn an instrument
• Go out and make a new friends
• Attend a yoga or zumba class
• Start your own blog
• Write heartfelt letters to friends and send them in the mail
• Write a book or short story
• Shadow someone in a career you are interested in
• Visit a university
• Have a girls night with your closest friends
• Try new foods
• Listen to new music

There are so many things you can do so you don't end up laying in bed all day wishing you did something. Hope it helped let me know what you liked to do, so your not bored.

A Beginners Guide: Airports & Traveling

Airport

Summer vacation is here which means everyone will be traveling. Traveling can be very stressful especially if you have never traveled anywhere or never traveled abroad. I love to travel and have been almost everywhere, but it can be overwhelming if you haven't. These are some of my tips to help you with traveling & airports.

1) Pack The Essentials: When traveling I like having a Longchamp Le Pliage Handbag because its big enough to fit all my items and have them handy. Just be careful when flying with liquids they have to be under 3.4 ounces per container. In my makeup bag I like to have my chap stick handy because your lips will become chapped due to the air pressure. To me gum is very essential. When lifting off your ears will feel like they are about to pop but chewing gum before lift off and before landing helps them not to pop.

Travel Bag Essentials by livinglouderxo featuring white handbags

2) The Comfier You Fly The Better: If you are flying a long flight a short flight it's always better to wear something that you will be comfortable in. Let be honest the seats on the plane are not the best, and its better to wear something that will make you feel comfortable and stylish.

Travel Outfit by livinglouderxo featuring leather tote bags

3) Know The Way Around The Airport: Airports can be very overwhelming; be able to know where you are going and where your terminal is located. Depending on how well I know the airport i'll print off the map (on their website) or have it handy to be able to get around and not get lost.

4) Check If Your Flight Is On Time: Once you have passed security, check the screens located around the airports to make sure that your plane is leaving on time. Sometimes planes may be running late or have changed terminals so be aware of your flight time and terminal. Then head to your terminal or if you have time buy yourself a snack.

5) Get Ready...Get Set...Fly: Once they start calling first class business class and etc be ready to board. Once getting on board find your seat and be courteous of all the other people trying to get through while putting your carry on in the overhead compartment. Depending on where you sit don't immediately put on your seat belt until everyone in your row is there, because then you will have to unbuckle and re-buckle which is inconvenient. Then once the flight attendants put on the safety video be ready to lift off.

I hope you liked my traveling tips and hope you have a safe flight wherever you are going. I promise it's not as scary as you think (:

My Favorite Netflix TV Shows and Movies

Famous Logos

As any regular teenager we all have our own obsessions, and mine just so happens to be Netflix. Netflix is a website where you can watch millions of TV shows and movies for only $7.99 per month. I could honestly sit all day and watch episodes or movies all day, so I thought I put together a list my favorite TV Shows and movies on Netflix.

TV Shows:

How I Meet Your Mother:

Gossip Girl 

Friends

Orange is the New Black

Pretty Little Liars

Once Upon a Time

Heroes

American Horror Story

Movies:

Stuck in Love

Camp Takota

GBF

Family Weekend

Rent

Chalet Girl

God's Not Dead

These are just some of my favorite shows and movies and I hope you watch them. If you have any Netflix favorites share them in the comments below. You can never get to much Netflix ;)

The Truth About Senior Year of High School

As my senior year of high school comes to a close I am excited and sad at the same time. You wait twelve years for that moment when you get to walk across that stage and receive your diploma. I remember even at an early age they would tell you the year you would graduate and put them on t-shirts. But that always seemed ages from now, but as senior year comes to an end that time finally comes. So since I am almost done with high school I feel as if I should  help students who are about to start their senior year of high school and share the truths of senior year.

1. First semester senior year is a struggle: Your classes may be a super easy, but there is still a lot of things that you have to worry about: getting the right ACT/SAT score, picking colleges you want to apply to, filling out college applications, college essays, teacher recommendation, and etc. School may be a blow off but trust me your stress level will be all over the place.

2. You secretly care somewhat about your grades: You probably already got accepted into college and everyone is saying "i don't care anymore" "wait we had homework?" "there is a test?" all those kinds of statements, Its true tho, you won't work as hard as you have your previous years but you still end up doing the homework to keep that high GPA. Even though you say you don't care, but deep down inside you do.

3. Its's true you meet people you wish you had meet freshman year:
Through your four years of high school you will meet  new people and they will come and go. Maybe you meet your best friends or your worst enemies. But you will end up meeting people that you wish you meet freshman year. My school has a event called Senior Picnic towards the last few weeks of school. We went to a ranch and all hung out and  I meet some really cool people that I wish I had meet earlier.

4. Prom isn't stupid: At first I decided I was not gonna go to prom and then my friends convinced me to go last minute. Me and my friends did not have dates but we made the most out of prom and it was something special that I will always remember. It really doesn't matter if u have a date or not, it's the attitude you have, so make it memorable.

5. You learn to take in each moment: As the day comes closer to graduation, you begin to start taking in those moments you have left because you are never gonna see most of these people after graduation. I remember during prom and senior picnic I would just looked around the room and saw how everyone was having fun and how I felt at that moment and let everything sink in.

6. Time Flies: You will never really feel like a senior. I feel like it was just yesterday and I was in sixth grade writing a letter to my future self as a senior. Time really does fly, and you just have to make every moment count.

Senior year has been my favorite part of my high school experience, and I will always remember it. I will always remember the Friday night lights and painting my parking spot and all these activities that the school planned. I just hope your senior year is as memorable as mine.