Reasons To Visit Ecuador

In April, I was privileged to be sponsored to go to Ecuador. I was in a group who went to Ecuador and worked in several orphanages. It was probably the best time of my life. It really was!

I was in Ecuador for only about 9 days, but it was great! I loved the people! and I loved the culture! I would have loved it even more if I was able to communicate since I don't speak Spanish- biggest regret of high school!

We traveled for 2 days to get to Ecuador, and arrived at night. It was the first time I had ever been out of the country, and I loved it. Even at night, I was so impressed! It was beautiful!!

We traveled to Cuenca after landing in Quito and got to our "home" for the next week or so.

While I was there I:

• Ziplined through a jungle/forest.
• Ate guinea pig
• went to a Cathedral
• Performed "The Three Little Pigs" in Spanish. Keep in mind that I only speak English
• Fell in love with the culture.
• Somewhat started learning Spanish
• Bought Ecuadorian lottery tickets

It was the best time you could imagine.

I still find myself wishing I was back in the wonderful city or back with the culture of helping people even if you can't solve every problem. The culture was such a loving, caring atmosphere, yet it felt as though no one wanted to be a bother for anyone else.

They had such pride in their cities and each other. It was definitely a change from the United States, where if there's a candy wrapper laying on the road, people ignore it. In Ecuador they had cleaning crews hired to maintain the cities and if there was trash laying around, regular people would pick it up while they walked to the store or restaurant they were headed to. They had such a sense of pride and accomplishment.

I will always say I left a part of me in Ecuador, and I need to go back to Ecuador. 

Missing In Action

So it's safe to say things in my life have been crazy since I first started this blog.

• I started a new "real" job
• My dad passed away
• My mom's health has declined as well
• I started working on my personal health and devoting time to myself

So, it's safe to say that this blog was put on the backburner.

But, I'm baaaaack. :)

Stayed tuned because I won't be staying in the background much longer.

Instagram & Pinterest

So, guess who finally got an Instagram & Pinterest?

That's right! I did! So if any of you lovely people would want to either follow me, and tell me you are from the blog, or comment your username and I will find you!

 

I don't really know much about Instagram so I might need a couple people's example just so I know what to do. I've had a Pinterest account for a little while, and I would love for you to follow me on that as well!

So I'm sure its a big surprise but my username for Instagram and Pinterest are both "imtheoriginalcinderella".

So let me know which one you are on and we can be friends? Or at least we can boost each other on social media! (:

Top 9 Maya Angelou Quotes

Almost every single time I find a quote online that I like, it usually is by Maya Angelou. She was a great woman who was very influential with her words and actions.

I LOVE every single one of these quotes and many others too. Let me know which one was your favorite?

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9.

Let me know which one is your favorite? 

Finding The Right Pixie Cut.

It's hard to make a change so dramatic with your hair. It's a big change! If you're like I am, and your hair doesn't grow very fast, then it's a big commitment! But trust me. It's the smartest decision you could ever make concerning your hair. It makes it so healthy, unless you dye it crazy colors and put crazy chemicals on it.

Finding the right pixie cut is the most important thing. My philosophy is that every single person can pull off short hair, they just have to find the right cut. 

But how do you do that?

Here's some helpful tips that I slowly realized when I was looking for "The One".

1. Decide if you want long or short bangs. 

This will truly save you more time that you would think. 

Here's the difference.

2. Decide if you want shaved sides or not.

Here's the difference.

3. Remember that the color of hair in the picture isn't always the same color of hair you will. 

Trust me. It'll make a difference.

Here's the difference

These are relatively the same cut, just different colors and

that makes them seem and feel different.

4.Decide if you will do two colors or not.

 

The difference.

 

But no matter what you decide to go with, Just remember you can have fun with it!

Somedays I spike mine in the back and other days I curl it. Other days I poof the front and have tons of body, and sometimes I'll just put on a beanie. Just remember to have fun with it!

Check out my post, Pixie Cuts Are Heavenly to see my thoughts about cutting my hair into a pixie.

Thanks for reading! :)

Everyone Needs A Little Pep Talk Every Now & Then

Something I always do when I find myself getting down or feeling sad, I always try on my own to boost my spirits before I turn to anyone else.

 I've been known to be very independant and self-sufficient, but we cannot maintain the strong image that we all try so hard to do. So when I find myself trying to cheer myself up, I usually end up listening to music. Yes, by now if youve read any of my posts, you know I love music.. just a little. :)

Anyways, I tend to listen to a certain song called, Beneath Your Beautiful, by Labrinth featuring Emeli Sande. I love, love, love this song. I talk about it in my post, Songs Everyone Should Listen To (My Playlist), so check that out if you end up liking this song. (:

So while you listen to this song ,I hope you clicked the link, :) I want you to read the words, because that's what cheers me up the most. And the music is beautiful as well.

Here are the lyrics, (I don't own them).

"  You tell all the boys "No"

Makes you feel good, yeah.

I know you're out of my league

But that won't scare me away, oh, no

You've carried on so long,

You couldn't stop if you tried it.

You've built your wall so high

That no one could climb it,

But I'm gonna try.

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful?

Would you let me see beneath your perfect?

Take it off now, girl, take it off now, girl

I wanna see inside

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight?

You let all the girls go

Makes you feel good, don't it?

Behind your Broadway show

I heard a boy say, "Please, don't hurt me"

You've carried on so long

You couldn't stop if you tried it.

You've built your wall so high

That no one could climb it.

But I'm gonna try.

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful?

Would you let me see beneath your perfect?

Take it off now, boy, take it off now, boy

I wanna see inside

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight, oh, tonight?

See beneath, see beneath,

Tonight

I'm gonna climb on top your ivory tower

I'll hold your hand and then we'll jump right out

We'll be falling, falling but that's OK

'Cause I'll be right here

I just wanna know

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful?

Would you let me see beneath your perfect?

Take it off now, girl, take it off now, girl

'Cause I wanna see inside

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight, oh, oh, oh, tonight?

See beneath your beautiful, oh, tonight.

We ain't perfect, we ain't perfect, no.

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight?  "

Isn't that great? I love it! Did you listen to the song? If not, go look it up. It's a beautiful song. It was so underestimated when it was released, and I think that was such a mistake.

You are so much stronger than you think. You don't even know how strong you are, and how strong you can become. 

You can do such great things. 

Someone somewhere loves you. And relies on you. You may not realize it now, but you bring a smile to people. You brought one to me when you decided to read this! (: 

But really, you might not realize how much you effect other people. It reminds me of the quote "People won't appreciate what you do until you quit doing it." The other people might not realize it until you're not able to be around them.

So don"t count yourself out. Ever. EVER. 

This quote means a lot to me. It's one that I read as an insecure little teenage girl, crushing on some guy at school. Well, he was unable to realize that I liked him, and that I had something going for me. And I was crushed! 

That is- Until I ran across this quote. I thought I was just some person who wouldn't be able to get a boyfriend. Let me remind you this was years ago and my view on this has changed. 

But this quote is so true! You are great. You don't need someone else's justification or someone else to think you're amazing. You are. Just think about that. Take a minute to think how great you are.

 

Do what scares you

.

Do things for yourself. 

Take time out of your busy schedule to appreciate thing that you do.

Then you will be able to see how great you are. 

And how much other people appreciate you.

And love you.

Because they do.

And I'm pretty sure I would if I actually got to know you. :)

Okay, last thing I'll say is to love yourself. You truly need to! 

It's probably one of the hardest things you will ever have to do, but think about this.. How can you expect anyone else to love you if you don't love yourself?

So I know its hard, but start loving yourself! :)

Reasons Why Young Actors Shouldn't Be Underestimated

It's safe to say that ABC'S "Pretty Little Liars" is my favorite show ever. I stated that in my post, 10 Things About Me. If you haven't read it, go check it out! I want my readers to know me!

Anyways! Since "Pretty Little Liars" is one of my favorite shows, I thought I would use the actors from it to show that young people aren't just stupid teenagers who are aging into adulthood. They actually might know something about the world and have something besides their acting skill to offer.

My first point is that young actors know how it feels to be young and have pressure! That's what they deal with 24/7. They know how it feels and they know how it effects a person.

My favorite quote from one of the "PLL" cast is this one said by Troian Bellisario who plays a teenager named Spencer.

Isn't that quote great? It shows that she has had people trying to tell her who to be, and that she could see the value in being herself even when she's pressured to be something different.

Maybe I'm the only person who would make the connection between this quote and her character, but on the show, Troian plays Spencer, the girl who is pressured by her parents to be perfect. In every way. School. Family. Sports. Friends. Her body. In every way possible, and she can't handle it. So maybe Troian Bellisario has learned from her character she plays that you dont have to be perfect, and it's okay to be you.

I might be the only person who LOVES this quote. Maybe not.

The next quote that I feel shows that youer actors shouldn't be underestimated is by Ashley Benson. I like this one as well because it shows that she knows through playing her character Hanna, a girl who grows up as a chubbier child and the pressure of losing weight and being that "perfect" looking person. 

So as a slightly heavier person, I love that she put this quote out for the public to hear. So, I love this quote. I love that she says all you have to do is love yourself and you can be happy. I love that she can let people know that it's okay to be who they are and be imperfect.



Another one that I really liked was this one by Lucy Hale, who plays Aria. I thought this quote was great. It really made me think. I'm my worst enemy and critic, so why would I want anyone else to do it too? I don't understand why we do it, but we all do. So how about we stop letting people get us down, and why don't we make the changes necessary to eliminate our critics? I know, it's easier said than done, but I think we should all try.

As you can guess, I love this quote as well. Shay Mitchell tells it how it is. In her the way she portrays her character in the show, as well as in real life. I keep this quote in mind frequently, because somethings things do have to get worse before they can get better. And that's okay. And we need to realize this or life will be much harder than it should be.










So the last thing I'm going to say in this post, is that younger people sometimes do know what they're talking about. And sometimes they do know a thing or two about life. So not every young teen actor should deserve a bad rep.