A year wiser. Happy birdday to me~

It is my birthday! Altough I am of the belief that until the exact time I was born I am  still not a year older (I still have till 10:30 pm). This has been one of my best birthday days (???) in years.

Mental Health. I Grow Stronger.

I know I've shared little sneak peeks on instagram, but here it is!  My quote/mantra/inspiration for this year will be the phrase: I Grow Stronger.


I'm pretty sure I've shared this before, but just in case I haven't... I struggle with Major Depression and a Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

It's been a Cold Christmas...

I've spent all Christmas sick. I still am sick, but I wanted to at least post something.

Here is a little sneak peek at what I got for Christmas. My friends and family know me so well. These cheered me up a bit. I got a coaster from anthropologie (I love me some coasters), a mug, Color-your-own greeting cards because I love sending snail mail! And many other things that aren't shown here.

I've also been working, feeling miserable all the while but I did my part. I spent yesterday in a feverish haze filled with strange dreams and feeling either too hot or too cold. My mom did make me a cup of tea today for my cold, I love her so much! It's Ginger and honey tea.

I wish all of you great health and that you enjoy the holidays with you loved ones.

What gifts did you get? Tell me in the comments!

Con amor,

Yaris ♡

Finally finished.

There was a power outage yesterday, and I decided to make the best of it. I finished a couple of my before the year ends goals.I'm proud of myself, and my productivity.

Santa baby.

Slip a sable under the tree for me. I love this song! It's my Christmas ringtone. Anyways, Minki's Christmas sweater came in the mail today and some markers I ordered to practice handlettering and other artsy things.

Today we took Minki to the pet store, just for a little outing.  On our way in we saw Santa Claus was going to be there to take pictures with all the good doggies. We've never had the Sassfluff take a picture with Santa before,  so we decided this year was the year.

She made lots of dog friends while waiting for the big man. One was as energetic as her, and goes by the name of Lina Sofia. Very pretty name for a pretty dog. The other friend is a service dog, she is a majestic dog and her name is Isabella. She wasn't too excited to take a picture with a strange man in a red suit, hahaha.

Minki took her picture with my sister  (Isn't she beautiful?), and was like the little model she thinks she is.

Con amor,

Yaris ♡

It's been a lazy day with you.

I took today as a lazy day. Nina joined me with no hesitance at all. Yesterday was emotionally draining for me, and I started to feel it all today. So I decided to take it easy, spend some cuddle time with the doggies, and a little sketching too.

Look at Nina's cute little paws! She has been an adorable little grump today and I have enjoyed it immensely. It made me feel all warm and cuddly inside.

I've always been into calligraphy and hand lettering, but haven't given it a serious try until today. I've spent the day perusing this blog and I'm in love! Dawn has so many helpful tips and practice sheets on her site. It's an incredible blog and very inspiring to me. I'm late in the game but I'm taking a stab at her December Challenge (clickity click~), although I'm mixing and matching the prompts I've missed. This here is the one I'm working at today:

Ha, you can see a sneaky little Minki in the picture!  I'm planning on following this in 2017, I hope if any of you are interested that you join me too. I'm also really excited, because I ordered a Calligraphy Starter Kit. I can't wait till it gets here and for me to start my calligraphy journey.


What are some hobbies you guys have? Is there anything new you're thinking of trying in 2017?

Con amor, 

Yaris  ♡

Just blogging.

So, here I am blogging to pass time while I wait for a doctor's appointment....

My psychiatrist moved and I had to find a new one in the area. It's my first time seeing this one and I'm so anxious. I feel like it's the day of a final presentation in a huge college class. My stomach is in knots and I've got to keep my hands moving otherwise I'll be a shaking mess. So here I am typing away my anxiety, ha.


On the bright side I'm loving my boot game right now. I bought some really cute boot socks and I started using the first pair today! I have, maybe, three more (or two more, gah my memory) that I can't wait to try on. I also have some new boots that are being delivered. I can't wait!

I've been thinking about making myself a new work space in my room. It'll be smaller, but a lot cozier. I'm a bot excited to see what I come up with! I'm jotting down my ideas while waiting for my appointment. I might sketch a little something,we'll see.

Tomorrow I'll start making the cookie doughs for some Christmas gifts I'm thinking of. Come back tomorrow and maybe I'll make a post linking some of my favorite make ahead recipes!

Tell me, what is/are your favorite type and cookie flavors?

Con Amor,

Yaris  ♡

Cleaning and cleaning.

I've been cleaning since Friday, and I'm finally taking a well deserved break. It's taking a long time because we're not only cleaning but we are also cleansing our closets and drawers. We are separating a lot of things to donate. Although, so far I'm the only one doing this daily and the rest of the family do it during the weekends (when they're not working).


 Anyways clearing out my closet I found my sister's old guitar and I was checking the strings and was able to record this cute little thing:

I've also been setting out Christmas stuff, so Minki got lucky. I set out some of her X-mas theme toys. Just look at that sassfluff being all cute!

Oh, and during my unplanned hiatus our freezer fizzled out so we've been freezer-less for a while. Today the new one finally came in and I can't wait to start using it! I have a ton of make ahead cookies recipes I've been dying to try and now I can. I'll keep you guys updated..

How has your week started? I'd love to know.

Con amor,

Yaris ♡ 

Of dogs and gifts.

Good morning to all!


It's finally Friday, and I've spent all my morning with my cuddle bug Nina. I was awake in bed going through emails and other notifications while she slept the morning away. She is a napper, she loves her sleep!

She got so grumpy when I said it was time to get up. Look at that little grumpy lion cub face! She is adorable.

I've been spending the majority of my time lately checking tracking for gifts that I got for my family. I've also become a gift wrapping machine! Every gift I already have, I've gift wrapped.

Now I'll spend the rest of today and this weekend finishing Christmas cleaning, so the decorating can commence.

I'll hopefully post more (Fingers crossed) this weekend. Until then, happy Friday!!!



What are your weekend plans? Have any of you started Christmas decorating?

Con amor,

Yaris ♡

A Tropical Christmas.

Hello hello!

It's been a very long time!

I know, I'm so sorry for the unannounced hiatus. I was not well health wise for a couple of months. I kept getting sick. No matter, I'm back now and that's what's important. The weather here has been very hectic. It's either chilly and humid or hot and humid. There has also been tons of rain. It's tropical weather and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I've been playing around with my drawing tablet and made these Christmas cards. I've missed blogging and like I keep saying I'll try to keep up with it!

This one is my absolute favorite! It came out so cute. 

I know they're aren't the greatest, but practice makes perfect. I hope you guys like it and feel free to use them too. I'll keep you updated with Christmas in Puerto Rico.

Till next time!

                                                                        Con amor,
                                                                             Yaris ♡

Errand day.

Hi guys!

Today has been a long day. I've been running errands all day long!

I opened a new bank account, since I didn't have one here. So it's all ready for my financial aid refund, I'm kind of excited to start college classes again. I feel like a freshman all over again.

I did some grocery shopping and went to a freshmart.. I'm trying out a new drink made with ginseng, I already tried the ginger ale flavor and it was so refreshing. Next one up is an all natural cola flavor~

Anyways for lunch we went to a nice place called Crepe Maker. It was absolutely delicious! I had a pesto chicken crepe it looked and tasted amazing. I couldn't help but take a picture of it.

They have so much variety, I am definitely planning on going there again. Hopefully soon!

How was your Saturday?

                                                                          Con amor,
                                                                             Yaris ♡

life lately. a little hectic.

I've been pretty busy lately. I've been spending time with the family, have been busy at church, been looking for work, and I am starting my classes again. I took a year off, and I think it's time to start up again. I'm facing my fears and difficulties head on. Wish me luck guys!

And I'll blog a lot more now.

I'll leave some pictures of what I've been doing and I promise that there are more to come!

So, has has summer been for everyone else?


                                                                           Con amor,

Yaris ♡

Oración del día: Familia.

Dios bendice a mi hogar y los miembros de mi familia. Dales salud y fortaleza para enfrentar el día. Te doy las gracias por bendecirme con mis familiares. Que mi casa te sirva y te pongamos en el centro de todo lo que hagamos. Provéenos lo que necesitemos. Que vivamos haciendo tu voluntad y seamos buenos mayordomos de lo que nos haz dado. Pido tu protección sobre todos nosotros.

 Que esta familia dependa y sea tuya.

                                   

                                                   Amén 

the rainbow bridge.....

I want to introduce you guys to Moonlight.... I never had the chance to post about her here before.
And now that I am it's not a happy occasion.  Moonlight is one of our dogs that does not like taking pictures, all she wanted was to be petted, and loved. We didn't adopt her, she adopted us. And now she has left us and crossed the rainbow bridge.

She came to us when I was in my Senior year of high school, my mother had received several calls from my brother about a dog that kept sneaking into our yard. When we came home after school I found her in the backyard all huddled up to herself. When I first approached her she coward away, so I instead sat on the stairs and gave her her space. I slowly gained her trust with reassuring whispers and a caring heart. I spent a couple of hours doing this, I hadn't even gone inside my house to change out of my school uniform.

When we finally started bonding I immediately named her Moonlight, because of her colors. I called my mom over to see her and we clearly saw signs of abuse and abandonment. Let's just say we are both softies when it comes to animals. There was no doubt or discussion, it was a mutual agreement that she sneaked into the right home.

She became inseparable with Suki, and our eldest dog Alea (I have no pictures of her because she is a wild child at heart and cares not for picture taking). She was afraid of leashes, water hoses, and of being tied up, giving her baths was almost a battle. But we still love her, she's family and always will be.



I looked up into the sky today and saw it wasn't as bright and sunny as usual, it's like the sky is mourning her loss too. The only good thing about all this is that she isn't suffering.

I'm glad she gave us the opportunity to give her a forever home, and that she was meant to be a loved and cared for family member and not abused or abandoned...


I'm going to end this post here because as I'm writing this my heart is filled with pain and my eyes are watering. Thank you for just letting me get this out of my system.


                                                                        Con amor,

Yaris ♡

Minki's day out.

Finally after a long delay!

Wow this was in January, I'm sorry I've been sick and right now I have an upper back muscle spams that hurts so much I can't move my right arm much and can't turn my head completely  to the right.

So, on January 28 we took Minki out and here is the post I was gonna make (picture spam is very possible):

We took Minki out on a little trip to Petco. She had so much fun! And I really enjoyed taking pictures of her, she's such a happy and affectionate little fluffball.

She paid a little attention to the fishes, but her absolute favorite were the guinea pigs. She was so curious about them and wanted to play with them.

Oh and of course it wouldn't be a day outwith Minki if she didn't have every single employee and costumer pet her.

We ended the day with some ice cream for the humans, and Minki had a little whipped cream (I didn't take a picture because I was busy with ice cream. It's hot here in the island so ice cream was my priority at that moment and not taking pictures.....

(this post was originally supposed to be posted yesterday...)

                                                                         Con amor,

Yaris ♡