REALISTIC MORNING ROUTINE FOR SCHOOL

Image credit: Pink Pot, edited by me.

7:00 - my mom walks in my room and starts yelling. first attempt at getting up

7:05-7:10 - several more attempts until I actually sit up and put in my eye contacts

7:12 - go to the bathroom: pee, take out my retainer, brush teeth

7:15 - get dressed. Since I have school shirts I have to wear every day and a strict dress code about pants/skirts, this doesn't take much time. Plus, I already came to school in my pajamas a few times - so who cares what I wear.

7:20 - makeup & hair: I usually just fill in my eyebrows and either leave my hair alone or put it in a ponytail - depending when was the last time I washed it.

7:24 - breakfast: I usually eat a quick bowl of cereal with milk and take my medication with the milk that's left over.

7:30 - take the food my mom made me (and/or) money for the day and stuff it in my bag and leave to the bus station.

7:33 - get to the bus station. I usually wait a couple of minutes until it comes. While waiting, I start watching Snapchats that I missed last night (add me on Snapchat @zoeeozstar).

7:35 - get on the bus and sit down. I then finish checking my Snapchat, Instagram, and messages.

7:55 - this is when I get to school. My classroom is on the 3rd floor - which means A LOT of stairs. I walk quite slowly since I'm still checking my Instagram (I like getting to where I finished the night before).

8:04 - is when I usually get to my classroom. I drop my backpack and step outside to the lobby. I usually choose a table and lay on it (because it's morning and I'm tired) while I finish checking my social media. Sometimes my friends try to talk to me but I explain to them that it's morning and I need my 'Internet Time' so they leave me alone - unless they're in the mood to piss me off.

8:15 - the bell rings and my classes start. Here comes hell, how fun :)

*All of these times are approximate and change daily.

How long do you take to get ready in the morning? Which of these do you do?

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS 2016

 Photo credit: Pink Pot, edited by me

SCHOOL
-Get better grades
-Choose which high school I want to switch into. (I already am in high-school but have to switch schools)

-Get accepted to that school.

SOCIAL
-Make friends with people who already go to that school.
-Keep in touch with my friends who won't go to the same school as me.
-Make friends at whatever school I choose to go to before going there.

BLOGGING
-Keep blogging and stick to my blog
-Improve my photography
-Get a domain
-Start a newsletter

GOALS

-Go on a trip abroad with my friends.
-Take nice aesthetic pictures for my Instagram feed

-Snapchat everything fun I do to a new Snapchat account so at the end of the year I can look back at all the nice times I had. (you can add my personal Snapchat by snap-code now by scanning this or add @zoeeozstar):

What are your plans, goals and resolutions for 2016? 

WHY I LOVE VOLUNTEERING

As you may or may not know, I LOVE volunteering. I love making people feel better and helping them.

I started to fall in love with helping others in 7th grade when I had to volunteer somewhere for a school project (I had to write a journal of what it felt like and my experience). My school didn't give many options for 13-year-olds, so I ended up volunteering at a school for autistic kids once a week (for 3 hours).
I worked with a couple of my friends with the first graders, which was really hard. They were hard to communicate with. None of us liked it too much, but we didn't really have an option.
But I did like the idea of helping people who can't help themselves. When I told people about what I do they were proud of me and it made me feel good.

In 8th grade, I had more options of where I wanted to volunteer at, and I chose a home for abused families. A few of my friends (different ones, who I wasn't as close with) went with me on Fridays. This was no longer for a grade, although it would be mentioned on our report cards.
I really liked the place. The kids were really nice and I played with them. We'd jump on their trampoline until it broke (literally, that happened), filled in colouring pages when it was yucky (cold) outside, played hide and seek and even had water fights a few times. It was really fun.
I love that place, what they do and the people there. Unfortunately, I don't go there anymore since I flew to America this summer, and I never arranged to start going again, which is a shame.

This year, I'm not exactly volunteering. I'm taking a course by The Red Flag (MADA - Israel's main ambulance service) so I can volunteer with them starting next year. The course is on Sundays from 5-9PM and there's A LOT of learning done. I won't lie, it's hard, but I think the things I'm learning and will be very useful for my future.
Since I live in Israel, I will have to go to the army when I'm 18, and this MADA experience is going to help me become a paramedic/first aid person in the army. I've always said that I want to do something that makes a difference in the army, but I don't want to be out with a gun people trying to kill / kidnap me. I love my country, but there's a limit.

Throughout this whole experience, I've also been passively volunteering with Jeremy's Circle (which I will write a blog post about) but it's my moms organisation, but basically we help family's who have Cancer in the family be who they are (mostly let kids be kids). At Jeremy's Circle, I mostly play / talk to other kids and brighten up their days. I also hand out our T-Shirts, chocolate milk and lunch.

In conclusion, I think it's easy to say I like helping others, even if it's just a bit. If you currently need help with any mental issues or just having a bad time I recommend you check out this post or this Pinterest board.

What do you do to make others feel better? Do you volunteer anywhere?

Picture credit

IF YOU NEED MOTIVATION TO RECOVER

If you've been here for my old blog (Zoe's Secret Style), you probably know that I suffer from depression, and have gone through rough times.
I have started recovering almost two years ago, and I take medication on a daily basis. I will never forget what depression is like, but I am getting happier.
I have been absent from the blogging community part of the internet for a few months, and now that I'm back, I realize, not everyone is recovering. A lot of people are still suffering from mental illness, and a lot of those are in the exact same place they were X time back. 

And just to think that makes me sad. I remember what it's like. I remember hating myself. I remember crying myself to sleep every night, and I remember thinking that was normal. I remember hurting.

I just wanted to say, to whoever's struggling with an issue like depression / anxiety / etc., it can get better. A lot of people will tell you it will go away, it's just a phase. It might 'go away' by itself. But it probably won't.

Fight for it. Fight for your mental health. Fight for your happiness.

Click to Tweet: Fight for your mental health. Fight for your happiness. 

If you wait and cry, nothing's going to happen except you feeling sorry for yourself, and it will, most likely, just get worst.

If you want to feel better, which you do (don't give yourself that 'I deserve to suffer' crap because you don't and you deserve better), try talking about it. Family members, friends, psychologists, psychiatrists, or anyone else you feel comfortable talking to.

If you don't want to talk about it, or can't, there are other ways to get the terrible feelings out of you.

Some of you like looking for positive quotes on Pinterest, some of you like painting, or reading or writing or listening to music or watching TV and get yourself distracted.

Some of you like breaking things because it gets the stress out of you. Some of you like working out.

And some of you don't like any of these, and that's okay. Explore. Try new things until you find what makes you happy. 

Try to be happy.

Convince yourself you're happy. It might feel like you're lying to yourself, but lying becomes reality. Fake it until you make it.

You'll feel better faster if you start doing something about your condition.

I hope you all feel better, even if you aren't suffering from a mental illness.

I love you, and I care about you. I genuinely want you to feel better.

Picture credit - Pinterest

MY DEAD SEA / MASADA EXPERIENCE

My family, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all came to a long weekend at the Dead Sea (Israel) to celebrate my cousin's Bat Mitzva. Some flew all the way from the New York area. Luckily, I only had to suffer of a two hour drive. I had a great time and decided to write about my experience.

FRIDAY

Most of us left at around 13:00 and rented a bus to take whoever was going there, from Tel Aviv (where I live) to the hotel. Since I had school and other appointments, my brother, stepdad and I only left at 15:00, and we got there around 17:30. 

The drive was beautiful. Even though we only drove for two and a half hours, the view and the sites we saw kept changing (big cities, farms, desert, etc.). 

We had some free time in our hotel until dinner. Since some of my cousins are very religious, we said some prayers before we started eating. After dinner, we (my siblings and non-religious cousin) went back to our room and watched Bob's Burgers on Netflix (very recommended), until we went to sleep.

SATURDAY 

On Saturday, we woke up early and went on Jeep tour around the area, and had a great time. If you have me on Snapchat (@zoeeozstar) you've probably seen my brothers and I making jokes and having fun.

We got back just in time for lunch. Since it was Saturday, none of the restaurants were open, so we ended up eating at McDonalds. We made fun of ourselves because we stayed at such a fancy hotel and ate food from McDonalds - who does that?!

Later on that day my mom and I went to a 'salt pool' in the hotel, that was like a heated version of the Dead Sea. It felt so good and calming! Since it was only open to people over the age of 16, there were no little annoying kids running around splashing and peeing in the water. It was very nice.

SUNDAY

Two of my brothers (Ido - 15, Iftach - 12) and I went to the pool and the Dead Sea. Later on, Iftach left us and Ido and I went to the salt pool and Jacuzzi (I didn't know it was spelled like that until now, it's so fancy and French).

Anyway, we took showers and left to a Bedouin village and learned about their way of living. We ate dinner there and it was amazing - SO MUCH FOOD.

Mine: Dress - H&M (similar)

His: Shirt, Shoes (both on sale)

MONDAY

Finally, the day of the Bat Mitzva. It was a busy day. 

6:00 - wake up, getting ready, dressing up, makeup

7:00 - breakfast

8:00 - we hired photographers who took photos of us in the morning and during that whole day.

8:40 - leaving for Masada

9:00 - we get there, take some more pictures

9:20 - more cousins come, they were late and it was annoying. We went on a cable railway that took us to the top of the mountain. There is also an option to hike up, but we were all wearing fancy dresses and shoes. Not a great idea.

9:40 - the service starts. My cousin lead the prayers and read from the Torah for the first time, very exciting! At the end, we threw candy at her (Jewish tradition).

11:00 - we had another activity where we made Chalas (special kind of Jewish bread, usually eaten Friday night).

13:00 - got back to the hotel. Packed up quickly and had a big lunch (they make a big meal - almost like a banquet - for people's last meals there). We ate SO MUCH! The food was so good, we asked them to pack it up for us (there was so much of it, we'd never be able to finish it)

15:00 - bus left from the hotel 

18:30 - My grandparents and I went with my cousin (the Bat Mitzva girl) and aunt back to their hotel in Herzliya. We walked around the Marina (port) until about 20:30 and drank hot chocolate. Then my grandparents (who are staying in my house) went back home.

The hotel also had a spa (that costs extra money) and a gym that I never got to try. This is the hotel and I recommend it a lot. This post isn't sponsored and I genuinly really liked the hotel.

Have you ever been to Israel / the Dead Sea? Tell me about your experiene!