The Noteworthy Life of Natalie

Hello everyone,  I haven't been writing a lot these past weeks BUT NOW I'M 20 AND I'M TRYING TO BE MORE PRODUCTIVE AGAIN! I've been quite overwhelmed a week ago because I was about to turn 20. I feel like 20 is an age that comes with more responsibility than any other age. I feel better now because I changed the way of thinking a bit but now I was in the mood to write a list of what I have already accomplished in life in order for me to look back on when I'm stressed about life again. I will comment on a few things while I'll leave others without further explanation. So here we go: 1. I GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE: To some people this is a no brainer. To me it was too. As soon as I turned 17 I applied at a driving school and in December of 2017 I got my license. This is not just a piece of paper. It shows that you are ready to take responsibility. Whenever you step into your car you know that you are in charge of driving safely. Your own safety and others. It's a...

Hey you, who's reading this. I hope you're having a great day today. I wanted to take some time to just write...it might get a little confusing today but sometimes that's what makes the most sense in the moment (I'm writing this after midnight lol).  My last blogpost was a few weeks ago and honestly that makes me unmotivated. It makes me feel like I've failed at achieving whatever goal I had. I also don't journal every day anymore because my mind was wandering a lot and I couldn't get any clear thoughts. Writers block is a thing obviously but it makes me feel crappy. That might be because of astrology or whatever and me being a virgo or simply me being me and me being me being a person who plans a lot.  I always imagine perfect days and a perfect life. Most of the time there's just something blocking my way. Metaphorically and literally spoken. I write to do lists a lot and when I don't, I feel like I'm a mess or even broken. My mind keeps thinki...

Hello my friends and welcome to this special blogpost. Why is it so special you might ask? Well it's the first (but probably also the shortest) blogpost after I've written finals over the past two weeks. To celebrate that I finally had the courage to get my ears pierced - earrings, not actual piercings.  A lot of people tell you that it doesn't hurt at all and that you don't feel it but obviously that has to be fake news because they are shooting an object through your ear. I'm here to tell you how it feels.  Obviously pain tolerance is a very individual thing but science says that redheads actually feel more pain than others do.  To me personally it only hurt for a couple of minutes and definitely not as much as I thought it would. I felt it throughout the day sometimes but it really wasn't bad at all. I also paid attention not to sleep on my side because I felt like it might not be good to lay on my ear so I didn't have the best sleep ever because I usuall...

Hi Friends, this time I won't write a lot because I should be studying for finals right now. That's why I thought it would be cool to present you my favorite products and things that I've used the most. SKINCARE During quarantine I've seen what a huge impact a good skincare routine can have. My favorite brand to use is MOY by Stefanie Giesinger. In Germany you can get it at a dm or online. I use the Cleansing Gel, the Glow Day Cream and the Eye Cooling Stick every day and the Beauty Sleep Mask every other day. I cleanse my skin in the morning and in the evening because it usually get's oily and breaks out really easily. It's not an expensive brand and I'd recommend it to you. BODY CARE After this whole Covid Situation started my hands were really dry because of washing my hands so often. I really recommend the Neutrogena hand cream to you. It leaves your hands hydrated without them feeling too oily and it's even suitable for pe...

Hey Friends, if you've been paying attention to every blogpost I have posted so far you'll know that I love writing things down on a piece of paper. While that's not only good for organizing you day to day life, it's also good for organizing your thoughts and feelings. I've been journaling on and off all my life. Then Jo Franco, who you might know from the YouTube Channel "DamonAndJo" or her brand "Shut Up and Go", published a video on her own personal channel and long story short: She made a journal club. Right away she started a 30 Day Challenge on Journaling. Now, there's also a 60 Day Challenge and the goal is to have a FULL YEAR (or more) of journaling. I joined in when Jo was already on day 30 or so. At the beginning I didn't do it daily because there was a few days where I was at my boyfriends house and other days where I was way too tired because of school and studying for finals. After ten days I managed to do it consistently...

Hello my Friends, this time I want to tell you about my experience growing up as a bilingual child as I often get asked how it was. There's also quite a bit of prejudice and I just want to tell you my point of view. It's not scientifically proven but chances are that other bilingual people had similar experiences. So I was raised talking German and Czech. Two completely different languages. I was born in Germany but as children we spent at least all of summer in the Czech Republic. My Czech grandma really wanted us to learn Czech in the best way possible so even though we went to kindergarten in Germany, we have learnt both languages at the same pace. Our mother mainly talked Czech to us and even when we answered in German she'd talk Czech back to us. My sister and I talk both languages (somewhat) fluently and without accents. Many people assume that bilingual children always have a phase of language mixing. We never had that. Yes sometimes we answered back in the o...

Hello my Friends,  this is for all the lazy couch potatoes, the procrastinators and the ones who aren't as confident as they want to be. I'm all of the above. I'm sure a lot of you have seen people working out all of a sudden because of quarantine and for some people that might be just the motivation they needed but for others it does the exact opposite. I want to show you what working out did to me.  WHAT IS A WORKOUT? Well, to me it's any type of movement where you burn calories or strengthen your muscles. I'm definitely not a pro in this so listen to your own body. To me, working out can be anything from yoga, home workouts, dancing, jogging to taking walks. Yoga can be pretty chill and it might not feel like a workout all the time but it definitely strengthens your muscles. Dancing can be a pretty cool cardio workout without feeling like it and some people just need to go for a run or do home workouts in order to feel the endorphins rush in.  WHY Y...

Hello Friends! As promised here's a blogpost about the things I wish I knew before going on my Interrail trip. I'm also going to include a few tips and tricks that made things easier for me. So here we go: THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE GOING ON MY INTERRAIL TRIP: Think about it! If you're an introverted or shy person and you think solo traveling will get you out of your comfort zone, that's not necessarily true for everyone. I had a really hard time talking to people and I missed home very much even though I thought that traveling will make me more confident and outgoing (which it did but not as much as I thought it would) You don't need to go for a full 30 days. This is a thing I totally didn't think about. I thought that if I went, it had to be for a full month. Yes, I still went for a full month but I really thought about quitting before I got to Amsterdam. Don't feel bad if you don't enjoy it as much. Don't put yourself under pressure. ...

Hello Friends, this time I want to write about the Interrail trip I took last year and what problems I had. Keep in mind that everyone has a different experience and prefers one way or another of doing things. How it all started:  It was summer 2019 (I don't remember the exact date) but if you didn't know, the EU hosts a contest every few months for everyone who turned 18 in a period of time to WIN an internal ticket. My dad convinced me to take part in it and a few weeks later I looked into the spam folder of my e-mail account and there it was. I GOT IT! I don't really remember the process completely but I know that one day I got a letter of DiscoverEU. It had my internal ticket, a map of Europe, a booklet and a cool wristband that you usually get at festivals. So I downloaded a cool app on my phone to finally plan my trip properly. Luckily, my parents paid for my journey (also as a birthday/Christmas present) as they thought that it wo...

Hello my Friends, this blogpost will be a little more personal and serious. Before I even tell you anything about my story, I want to tell you what a toxic relationship looks like to me: It's not necessarily an abusive relationship - or at least not physically abusive. It's much more of an emotional abuse. Other people might not recognize it as toxic OR they could recognize it much earlier. So here's my story: I've been together with this guy for 13 months. We met in school, in Spanish class and he was like the "class clown". One day, mid-schoolyear he texted me on Facebook and immediately showed some interest in me. I was single and desperate at that point. He was a nice guy so we met up one day and on our first date he was really really nice and we talked about almost everything. One thing led to another and we made it official. It was my first relationship. Everything was fine, he had super nice parents and I still like his friends to this day (even t...