There comes a point in one's life where one realizes they have a problem. This point happened a couple days ago for me.

I woke up late and was rushing to get out of the house to make it to my internship on time. Sadly, I didn't have enough time to consume my regular morning coffee. I got on the bus and was just thinking the whole time about how badly I yearned for just one little cup of caffeine. I got there early with a mere 10 minutes to spare. The first place I went? Tim Hortons.

"Can I have a medium double double please", I said, rubbing the tiredness out of my eyes.

"That'll be $1.70." 

I reached my debt card towards the cashier and she shook her head, "I'm sorry, we don't take debt here."

My world stopped. No. Debt? What does that even mean? I was furious! There was no way I could continue this day without at least one cup of coffee.

"Is there anywhere else I can go?" I pleaded, on the brink of tears.

"There's a Starbucks around the corner."

I felt a glimmer of hope. Yes, it'll cost me $1.00 more for coffee I don't really like, but it's coffee nonetheless and I just need my fix. I thanked her and quickly walked toward the direction she pointed to. 

Everything fell into place when that warm coffee finally hit my lips, that familiar taste making my taste buds scream in joy. This day is going to be okay. I finally had a coffee.

Once that coffee was done and I felt like myself again, that's when I realized I had a problem. I shouldn't need a substance to make me feel like me. Thinking back even farther than a couple days ago, I've been drinking 1-2 cups of coffee everyday since high school. 

Being a university student, coffee is considered a food group for us, but maybe we should start thinking about why we need it. I think it's fine to indulge in a cup once in awhile, but once its a dependancy problem, we really need to take a step back and evaluate the reason why we continue to drink it and the long term effects it could have on our health. 

Personally, I believe my body is starting to rely on that caffeine to give it the energy it needs, but in turn, my body is not learning how to energize itself. So, instead of reaching for a cup of coffee, I'm starting to reach for a fruit smoothie or a cup of tea. 

I'm only on my second day of being caffeine free and I'm craving some coffee at this moment, but I already feel better physically. Yeah, I'm a little more tired than usually, but I don't feel constantly bloated like coffee makes me feel. I've read that it takes 2-9 days for you to get over the caffeine withdrawal symptoms, so once I get to day 9, expect an update!

-Anna xox

Hello all!

This summer I decided to make 3 things my primary focus: mind, body, and spirit. I want to enrich all of these aspects of my life and continue to nourish them for not only this summer, but hopefully the rest of my life! Before summer started, my focus was mainly money, money, and more money. But since I am working from home and doing my own business, I have a lot of free time to focus on me and make myself a better person. So why not get the body I've always wanted?

My close friends and I decided to make a competition between each other on who can lose the most weight and inches by the end of the summer. We are all doing it in different ways and all have different weight goals, but at the end of the day, we all just want to be the best we can be! If we are not healthy now when we have minimal responsibilities, there is no way we can be healthy when we are busy all the time.

So what does this mean to me? Well, I started the p90x program roughly a week ago (so that covers the body), I make meditation a part of my weekly routine (I guess that covers spirit), and read on a daily basis (there's the mind!). I also incorporate multivitamins, biotin (helps my skin, hair and nails A LOT), and a cup of green tea to my daily diet. I don't know why, but these little things just make me feel so whole and content with my present life.

That being said, here's some motivation for all those trying to get fit this summer:

No longer in Wonderland.

P.S. I'd love to know what your goals are this summer! Leave a comment below :).

As you all know, school is officially complete for the year! It has been a crazy 8 months full of all nighters, friends, assignments, exams, and... guys. I believe I had a pretty good year and met some really interesting people. In my opinion, the first year is supposed to be the fun year where you are supposed to discover who you are and who you want to be so my grades aren't the best, but I'm thankful I passed.

Despite the fun year, I am happy to be home to unwind and relax in my extremely comfortable bed. It's nice not having a worry on my mind and hanging out with all the friends I'm not able to see everyday. But I know this honeymoon phase will not last because starting next week, it's all work, work, and more work. It all pays off in the end though.

Since I'm not exactly in University at the moment, I still do not know whether or not I will end up posting on here in the summer since I have a writing gig elsewhere. But anyway, just wanted to give my final thoughts on the year! I hope you all have a good, productive summer and see you all in September (but hopefully before than).

No longer in Wonderland.