Young Writers Society

I watched The Karate Kid movie over the past two days and I forgot how young Ralph Macchio looked when we was in his twenties. And it was also my first time watching the movies so I got +1 smile points for the movie in general.

Today, my sister made me smile.

She has a very mature personality and is usually very logical, unemotional, and strict about stuff being taken seriously and done the right way. But somehow, she also has this really goofy, carefree, innocent and childlike side that comes out at the most random moments.

When she's in that mood, the tiniest, most mundane things can seem so hilarious and entertaining to her that she busts out laughing- and she has this super loud infectious belly laugh.

Anyways, today she was sitting on the couch looking at something on her phone and started laughing hysterically. I went up behind her to see what was so funny and it was a stupid cat meme.

I started laughing too- not at the meme, but at my grown-up baby sister who's a full-time manager at 16, has straight A's in AP calculus and AP chem, and got a 1500 on her SAT without studying, laughing her butt off at this stupid meme like it was the funniest thing in the world. I love her so much lol

I was the only one home for a good chunk of today. I was starting to feel alone and worried about my dad because I hadn't heard him from a bit, so I decided to shoot him a text and he almost immediately called me after he got my text to tell me about it - even though he was only fifteen minutes away from home. It made me smile when I realized that he knew exactly how I was feeling and why I was texting.

I got to do a bit of cycling after a long time, it was just confined to our small side street because reasons but it allowed me to process the mess that is my brain at the moment by getting some fresh air and being alone for a while so that was helpful.

I'm late by a few days, but the memory still makes me smile, so it totally counts!

A few days ago I went kayaking with some friends, and it was a lot of fun. It was probably the best kayak session I've had. The area we were in was so beautiful, and I remembered to bring my waterproof speaker this time. I'd say I'm decently fast at kayaking, but I learned I suck at being slow. :p

We went into this narrow and windy mangrove area, and I kept getting stuck at the branches because I was bad an maneuvering at super slow speeds, lol. But we all struggled together and at one point got stuck and bottlenecked each other at this super narrow part. It's hilarious thinking back upon it now, but luckily none of us needed to jump out and swim to untangle the kayaks!

Picture uploaded below so I can share nature's beaut!

yes, I now have interesting feet tanlines

This technically made me smile yesterday, but I won $25 gift card by taking part in a study through my college! The study involved answering questions at the beginning and end of the semester on how one of my online classes went. There was a high chance of getting the gift card, but it was still technically a raffle. I completely forgot it was a thing until I got an email with the gift card yesterday.

What made me smile today was seeing how many people put me down for Most Likely to Like this Post in the YWS Best & Most Awards 2020. There had already been some nominations that made me grin, but seeing that six people thought I'd like the post - right after I liked the post - was a fun start to my day.

This morning I woke up and saw that one of my work friends tagged me in the comments of a text post and referenced one of our inside jokes. Seeing that she saw that and thought of me made me happy and was a nice start to my day :)

Bit of a silly reason today but yesterday...my best friend was feeling a little down because the weather was dark and gloomy but without raining. I asked her if she'd be happy if today was sunny, she replied that she wanted it to be rainy and I promised her I would try to make it happen because I'm stupid like that. And then voila it started raining heavily a few hours ago and its still going..so...that made me grin like mad especially when she said she was feeling better today...

This was yesterday, but my Mum gave me the blazer I borrowed from my aunt years ago for a contest, and I felt very dapper putting on, which made me smile because I am v a i n (when it comes to formalwear).

We were putting away our Christmas tree ornaments today, and Leo kept climbing into the box that we store them in. I'm not sure what he thought we were doing, but it was really cute seeing him try to repeatedly steal some of the less breakable ornaments. c:

I try to avoid being sappy nowadays, but this still made me smile, so I thought I'd share anyways, just this once. :P

It's easy to miss the small things when you're in a serious long-term relationship, and I used to be better at recognizing every detail, but I try my best to appreciate the little things when I do notice it.

Yesterday my partner entered the room I was in with a plate full of food, which I assume was his dinner. I would joke and tell him he needs to share per the "girlfriend food tax rule," and usually he goes, "Well, if you wanted some food, why didn't you let me know before I got it?" or some variation of that before he finally gives in saying I can have a "small bite" even though it always becomes a big chomp, and he'd laugh and complain that that was not a small bite.

But this time, before I could even say anything, he gives me some of the food and said, "I don't know if you're hungry, but I made extra for you anyways because I know you'd want it."

Sometimes it's the little things that can make you realize you're so in love. :)

I got to talk to my bestie today! I haven't been able to in weeks, so it was definitely the highlight of the day.

My boss told me to stay after a (virtual) meeting to talk one-on-one with me about a couple random things, one of which is where my desk will be when I return to the office. She ended up giving me a spacious corner office with windows and an expensive standing desk. It was my previous mentor's old office who's a PhD with many years of experience, so I was surprised she gave it to me, an early career Bachelors.

She told me, "You've been doing good work, and even though that office would go to someone with a higher grade level, I want to recognize you for your good work." :') gosh... THE EGO BOOST IS REAL. lol

she's also giving me a waaaay too expensive work computer and laptop soon, so now I'm wondering if she knows I'm thinking of switching jobs this year LOL is she secretly bargaining with me

What made me smile today was beginning able to talk with my friend I haven't heard from in a long time and Start posting my story I been working on!

I was playing Pokémon Crystal today, and I caught a shiny rattata! I’ve never encountered a shiny Pokémon in any other game I played, so this was a great surprise!