2016 Overview + Looking Back on Goals

Hello from the Philippines! I've been having such a great time here, hence the lack of posts (which I warned about haha) but at the same time I'm also getting new ideas for future posts, and potentially... videos? 

Anyway, 2016 was a huge year of transitions for me. I moved to Australia, I got married, and I've been pretty much adulting for the rest of the year after that hahaha. Although a good chunk of my life wasn't documented here as it happened, I was still pretty active on social media (ahem, Instagram), and don't worry, many things I've experienced this year can also be saved for separate posts next year ;)

With the blog, I took a purposeful hiatus this time. Last year it was accidental and this year, while it was initially unintentional, I decided that I can't apologize for living my life in the moment. HOWEVER, I have gotten back into writing more regularly and it's been good (despite me being on vacation & slacking here haha, but you understand). Instead of pressuring myself to get straight back into my old schedule when I'd write 3 times a week, I now just have one post up a week until I feel comfortable to get back into more frequent posting.  As I've done with previous years, let's look through my goals for this year: 

Blog Goals: 
[] Get back to at least 2 posts per week  [] Send out a biweekly newsletter [] Have Instagram following hit 1500 [] Have Twitter following hit 1k [] Meet up with at least 4 other bloggers/influencers [] Start selling something (whether physical or digital) [] Make the move to self-hosted [Does my wedding count if I use the photos for my blog? haha] Pose in at least one full-on photoshoot (with a makeup artist/hair stylist, photographer, etc) 
Personal Goals: [] Go on a road trip with friends (carry over from last year) [x] Take at least two major trips (domestic or international) [x] Move. away from SoCal (;  [] Read at least 6 novels for pleasure [x] Go on a trip with Darell to anywhere [x] Become fully self-sufficient (parents do not financially support in any way at all) [] Take some kind of creative class (dance, crafting, etc) [x] Regularly attend a small group

Okay, so I clearly slacked in my blog goals but like I said, I'm not going to apologize for living my life! That's the hardest part about being a content creator, I think. It's the fact that while it's something you love, you always need to be thinking about the next thing. When you're out with friends, it may be taking photos or videos for a blog/vlog post. When you're at home with your partner relaxing, you might actually be writing instead or planning out what to do next. It's a hard thing to do, but it is definitely worth it when you can nail it all down. For me personally, having a full time job also really drained me from being able to write as much as I wanted to, but thankfully I'm done with that so I can focus more here!

Having said all that, I am pretty proud of myself and my personal goals, however! I accomplished almost all of them, which is really great. I went to Gold Coast, Australia and here now to the Philippines for my two major trips. I moved away from Southern California. On my trips I went to this year, I went with Darell, my new husband :) I have become fully self sufficient financially. And I also finally began regularly attending small group at church, something I hadn't done for maybe two years or so until this year. 

I've been seeing a lot of memes about people saying 2016 wasn't that great of a year, it wasn't anyone's year, etc, but honestly it was my best year yet! Yes, it was the hardest and most emotionally draining for many reasons (hello, US election) but I wouldn't change anything I did this year for the world. I'm excited (but kinda shocked) that 2016 is done already, and I cannot wait for whatever next year brings! 

I hope you are able to celebrate the end of this new year on a positive note even if the year itself wasn't very positive! Happy new year, and I will see you next year ;)

How to Move Abroad in 4 Months: A (Somewhat) Simple Guide

So it's official, I've lived in Australia for just over 10 months now, and it's safe to say that I've adjusted pretty easily and quickly to living here. Jobs pay well here, housing is cheaper (at least cheaper than LA/Orange County), and it's definitely safer here in the most "ghetto" suburb than anywhere else I lived in America.


I actually didn't intentionally mean to write this after the US election! It was a post I'd wanted to write for a while and it's been a little over a year since I made the decision to move here, so this time last year I was finishing up my last semester of school while also slowly transitioning myself out of America and into Australia.


Lots of people talk back home talk to me and tell me how jealous they are that I'm living in a place that is on so many peoples' bucket lists (although my hometown of LA is also on tons of peoples' bucket lists... haha) and how much they wish they could move out and do the same.


If you're one of those people, I say DO IT! As Nike says, JUST DO IT.


I know that it's never as easy as talking about it, but I was able to make the decision to move and take the steps toward doing so pretty much from the end of October/November-the first week of February. That's roughly 3 1/2 months. & it's not like I was working a full time job either! I was still a full time student for almost half that time, and I worked 2-3 part time jobs in the meantime. On top of that, I still had financial things to deal with (which I will go into later in this post).

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Here are the things that I considered in the process of moving abroad:

LONG-TERM COMMITMENTS: Do you have anything that will potentially hold you down or cause you to hesitate in moving abroad? Is it a really good paying job that you may have to leave without guarantees of getting it back when you return? Do you have car or house payments to make? Or maybe there are children or older family members in the picture that need your care? 

If you answered yes to any of these questions, see if there is any way to get around these things. See if there is someone that can take care of that family member or if there's children, see how you can take them with you. If it's long-term payments, see your options for those, whether it's selling, deferring payments, or if you can rent out either of those things to someone who will pay for it while you're gone (I don't know much about these things so I am not an expert on this stuff). With work, see if you can be transferred to an international branch or if your job can be set aside for you until you come back (this may only work if you'll only be gone one year/have seniority at your job). I know I've also heard stories of people moving to doing remote work for their companies as well! Even if you have these things holding you back, I definitely believe that it is still possible to move and travel!

If you answered no to any of these questions, then you're one step ahead! 

Thankfully, I made this decision when I finished my biggest time commitment: my college degree!

+ HOW I DID IT: This was me for the most part when I decided to move. The biggest obstacle for me was finding a roommate to take my place in my apartment (that was a nightmare). When my family questioned me wanting to move so soon, I said to them all of these things: I'm not physically or financially tied down to anything or anyone at that moment. Many suggested that I get a full time job first to save up a lot before moving but I said then I would be tied down and I wouldn't be able to pick up and move as freely as I wanted to. 

LEGALITIES: What are the laws for people who want to move into the country you're looking at? What kinds of visas are available for foreigners who want to move and work there, whether temporarily or permanently? Do you even have a valid passport? Please make sure that you are indeed, moving to your desired country legally and that you are eligible to do so. 

+ HOW I DID IT: For me, the easiest option was the Work and Holiday or Working Holiday Visa (WHV). It's a visa that allows foreigners from certain countries to live and work in Australia for at least one year. The WHV specifically for Americans (Work and Holiday) does not allow us to renew it for a second year, while for those who have the Working Holiday can if they work on a farm for at least 3 months of their first year.

While the WHV is relatively easy to get, especially for Americans (I got approved right after submitting my application), the downfall is that you cannot work at one company for more than 6 months while on your visa. This is because the visa is meant to allow you to travel around so they don't want you tied down to one job if you desire to move around the country. For someone like me who wanted to settle in one place, this was pretty sucky, but it's been pretty good still nonetheless. If you are interested in learning more about the WHV, I can definitely do a whole separate post on this in the future!

COST OF LIVING: Have you looked into what it would cost to realistically live where you want to move to? How is rent for a house or apartment in the city or suburbs? How well do certain jobs pay? What is the average cost of groceries? 

+ HOW I DID IT: My visit to Australia last October really put it in my mind that I was meant to live here for my next season of life. Because I had visited before making my decision (on top of my then-boyfriend/now-husband already living here), I already had an idea of what living here would be like. 

The US dollar is stronger than the Aussie dollar, making it easier to save up money for initial moving costs. With that considered on top of me wanting to live in the suburbs vs. the city, renting a room in an apartment or even renting out a room in the house I currently live at is at the same price/cheaper than what it costed for me to live in a less safer suburb back in America with less space. *Please also take note that I am from the LA area and lived in Orange County for the last 4 years so I am also in a more expensive part of the US.* 

Honestly, the most expensive part about living in Sydney is mostly American makeup brands, but that's for obvious reasons.

Next Steps to Moving Abroad:

SAVING UP/CLEANING UP: What is the plan? How much do you make per week? Can you do more to make money? What can you sell that you don't need anymore? What can you cut out of your daily

/weekly expenses? 

After considering all of the above, the biggest thing to do next is to save up. A lot of this means working more hours and potentially getting a second job (especially if you don't have full time work) but it also means starting to clear out your life so you can have less stuff (and also have some extra cash). This also means cutting out other things so that you can save up even more. Most of this is eating out and cooking your food/bringing your own food. If you also tend to do things like getting your nails done, you may have to cut down on that as well. 

+ HOW I DID IT: As I've stated before, I didn't have a full time job during this time. From October until early December I was in school full time so I pretty much just had one main retail job and for the month of November I interned at a marketing agency (paid). At some point I got a second retail job as well (I can't remember if it was during or after my internship) and worked those two jobs for pretty much the rest of my time in America. In between both jobs, however, I picked up random gigs, like babysitting, cleaning, and taking a friend's kid to school once a week. I also began selling my things. I worked my butt off to save up as much as I could. 

On top of that, I still had my bills and got into a solo car accident (thank God) plus a parking ticket (because I was scared to drive my car after said accident) that set me back a little bit as well. I got a credit card during this time to slowly build my credit and pay for some expenses until I could reimburse them (don't worry, despite all my financial setbacks I have never made a late payment & my credit score has risen 100 points in the last year!). 

PLANNING LIFE ABROAD AHEAD OF TIME: Do you have an idea of the city/suburb you want to live in? Have you started looking for jobs/a place to stay? Do you know anyone over there that can help you?

+ HOW I DID IT: This one was actually easy for me because my husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) was already living here and I also have a cousin and aunt who live here as well. I was able to find a place to live through a Facebook group for people who attend or are involved somehow with my husband's school, but it was also nice to know that I could stay with my family or even some friends I made through my husband (he lived in a house of all guys, no girls could live there) if I absolutely couldn't find anything. 

Finding a job was much harder, as I did not secure a job before moving. On a WHV, it's much harder to secure a job ahead of time since most job postings online expect someone on a more permanent visa. HOWEVER, I did end up finding a job a week after arriving. For Sydney specifically (as I cannot speak for other places) it's much easier to get a job by going somewhere in person with your resume rather than applying online. However, do still try just in case!

*Travel pro tip: If you don't know anyone in the area you are moving to and are struggling to find a place to live, I recommend joining travel groups on Facebook. That way you are able to connect with and find people in your desired area before you head out there! Of course, as with all online friendships, use your discretion in meeting people. 

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So once you work out all of these details, you're good to go! You can book your plane ticket and head on out. I had a goal of moving to Australia within the first or second week of February, and I bought my one way plane ticket 3 weeks before I planned on leaving. I was cutting it close, but I knew that I would somehow be able to make it happen. 

+LAST THOUGHTS: This period of time in my life was quite honestly one of the most difficult and most trying times of my life. There were times where I would just drive and cry heading from work to class or class to church or whatever because I was so stressed. I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for my bills or if I'd have enough to last me in Australia in case I didn't find a job right away (thankfully I had family generously help me out with some extra cash before I left). I had lots of obstacles in my way but everything somehow worked out great. I would think to myself, "When will I ever get out of this" and feel like I wanted to just crawl into a ball and cry but once I got to my terminal at the airport, all the pain and stress was worth it. 

So have you considered moving abroad but didn't know where to start, wasn't sure if it was possible? If you answered yes, I say go for it! If you have any questions about anything please shoot me an email or call me out on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!

Hi, My Name is Kriselle G, Nice to Meet You

Hello! It's been a while since I've been here, but with good reason! You might be able to tell by the title that a lot of things have changed for me since I've last logged on, and I wanted to share a little bit of that. 

First of all, I'm married! I wasn't even engaged when I last wrote a couple months ago but Darell proposed to me on our 6 year anniversary and we got married 6 weeks later. (& for those of you wondering, no, we are NOT pregnant). 
I won't go into too much detail about the last few months right now because that'll be for another post at another time, but pretty much it was the perfect timing to do so. It may have seemed a little fast but the rest of our relationship wasn't (I mean it's been 6 years) and in so many ways, everything kinda just fell into place for us and we knew that getting married when we did was perfect for us. 
We are still living in Sydney. Darell just started his second year of school and I've been working full time since the time we got engaged, and since the wedding is done, we are settling into our daily life together as husband and wife. 

I'll be posting about the wedding and the wedding planning process soon, but for friends and family in America reading this, don't worry, we are going to do a big wedding down the line. The Aussie wedding was intimate and simple, but we of course want to share the love with our huge families and friends back home. 
This is like my 50th time "restarting" the blog so I won't guarantee a certain number of posts per week and what not but I will say this: I will be working on this blog and my business as a content creator. I will say that even if you don't see any content up here on the blog, just know that I am still working on something behind the scenes. 
There are a couple ideas I have in mind that I need to sort through and work out, and I may or may not get back into Youtube in the future! These are all dreams of mine that I hope to accomplish with the help of some blog friends & my handy dandy husband :) 
Also, this blog will be shifting a bit as you will see in my content. This blog is meant to help others (mostly myself) live & love life better. & one way to do that is to talk about serious topics. So sometimes, you may come upon a post regarding race or different aspects about marriage that may not be easy to talk about. I believe that talking about the hard stuff is so important, and change can't happen without it. I will still share things in regards to food or fashion or whatever, but I am going to take a stance here and let you know right now, it's gonna get real. 
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So I hope that you sit back, relax, and stay tuned for what is to come! I'm excited to share this journey with you.

The Habit of that Sydney Livin'

WOW. It's been about a month & a half since I last wrote. SO MUCH has happened since then & I've had so much I've wanted to write about but just haven't. Let's just say that I'm really enjoying being here, and I've gotten into my own little routine every week. I now have a job, take public transit almost daily, and have made some friends outside of Darell's friends that I now call my own. 
The transition to living here was almost seamless for me, even the public transit, despite almost never taking it back home in California. & although I'm just as paranoid as ever for my safety, Australia is generally safer than LA, no doubt. 
I'm having a hard time writing this post because I'm unsure of whether or not to unload on the last month & a half now or putting it into separate posts, but I'm not sure when's the next time I'll be able to write (my schedule is about to get a ton more busy in the next few weeks). 
But let's see... 

In the last 6 weeks I have:

• Seen an opera at the Sydney Opera House
• Started attending a connect/small group at church (something I haven't been able to do in years)
• Worn colored contacts for the first time as a result from work
• Attended the 20th anniversary of Colour Conference for the very first time, and it changed my life. 

Other than that plus random/lazy days with Darell & our friends, I haven't done too many touristy or crazy adventures simply because I've been focusing on work, finding a job, saving money, etc. 

I'm going to be trying out a writing challenge for the month of April on random topics so hopefully it pushes me to just start writing again. I really miss it, and I really miss being in and apart of the blogging world. If I want to someday work remotely, I'm going to have to get used to working from home. 

Greetings from Sydney || Initial Thoughts

By the time this post is published, I will be in Sydney! I am currently writing this post on my flight while most people are still sleeping around me, but my flight has no wifi, so you guys will be reading this post while I get settled into my new home.

My life since my last blog post has been all over the place, but I guess I’ve been saying that a lot for the past year.

Life is full of surprises. That is one thing that I have learned from this experience and I don’t think I’ll ever fully get over that fact. Another thing that I’ve learned is that God truly moves all of a sudden. I’ve had a lot of things work out unexpectedly or at the last second, and I can’t think of any other way for it to have worked out the way that it did except God.

I’ve also had to really stand firm in my faith, not just in God, but in myself. As with any big decision, this one has come with opposition, with all of it being from people in my family, people so near & dear to me. I understand their concerns completely, but no matter what I say or how many years I’m away, I don’t think they’ll ever fully understand why I decided to pick up & leave when I did and the way I did.

Yes, I want to explore the world and travel and yes, my boyfriend is already here, but what pushed me over the edge to make this decision is bigger than myself. I have a God that calls people out into the unknown, sometimes asking you to take a step when you can’t see anything in front of you.

& trust me, it’s not easy. Regardless of what is motivating you to move forward, it is never easy to not know everything going into it. But at the same time, isn’t that life? When you go to college, you don’t know exactly how things are going to play out. When you get into a relationship, you also don’t know how things are going to play out. When you move anywhere--whether it's to another country or across the street, you don't know how things are going to play out. With anything in life, you really never know. But I think that is the most terrifying & beautiful part.

Okay, so I didn’t mean for this post to get super cheesy & cliché, but at the time that I’m writing this in my seat (I actually have a whole row to myself haha #winning), it still hasn’t completely hit me yet, so I’m reflecting on the last few weeks. They have been so hard and so emotional for me, but God is so faithful. I’m sitting here looking at my tv screen, and I can’t believe that I’m 4 hours away from Sydney at this point. This is of course different than the last time I was heading there because this isn’t a visit or vacation, this will be my new home! The fact that I bought only a one-way ticket and am not completely sure when I’ll be back in LA completely blows my mind.

Anyway, before I start rambling I will leave this at this. As I start figuring out what my next steps will be here, here is a quote from one of my favorite movies, A Cinderella Story:

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game”

#BeBrave2016: Post Grad Plans + I'm Moving!

Photo credit: Jonny Hargrove 

I think that with my first post of 2016 talking about my goals and being brave, I think that it's about time that I update you all with my life lately.
As you know, I graduated with my Bachelor's Degree last month. I had a really rough last few weeks of school but I made it out alive (barely haha)!
Of course, the first thing everyone wants to know after someone finishes college is: what now? 
If you asked me this question a year ago, I would have said that I was going to get a job and work/save up to be able to travel and start saving up for my future. I was also thinking about working to make it so I could work for myself by the time I graduated.
If you asked me this question 6 months ago, I would have said "I don't know." I was thinking about probably going to get a job and work until Darell moves back from Australia then seeing what happens from there // or just moving to somewhere like Seattle, Washington and doing social media marketing there // or try to make it so that I can work for myself by the time I graduate. 
If you ask me this question today, I can give you an idea of what I will be doing in this season of post-grad, but there is nothing for sure. And it is definitely nowhere from where I imagined myself to be right now. 

2016 - Be Brave

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wow, I can't believe it is 2016, but you know what, I am ready for it! I kicked off the new year lying in bed because why not (I also have work on New Year's Day) and I'm not mad that I did. It was actually nice for me to chill & relax by myself. 2015 was a very hectic year and I want to embrace the rest that I can get before going into full swing for 2016.  Anyway, it's a new year, so that means new goals! Here is my plan for the year:  Blog Goals:  [] Get back to at least 2 posts per week  [] Send out a biweekly newsletter [] Have Instagram following hit 1500 [] Have Twitter following hit 1k [] Meet up with at least 4 other bloggers/influencers [] Start selling something (whether physical or digital) [] Make the move to self-hosted [] Pose in at least one full-on photoshoot (with a makeup artist/hair stylist, photographer, etc) 
Personal Goals: [] Go on a road trip with friends (carry over from last year) [] Take at least two major trips (domestic or international) [x] Move. away from SoCal (;  (I will talk more about that verrryyyy soon) [] Read at least 6 novels for pleasure [x] Go on a trip with Darell to anywhere [x] Become fully self-sufficient (parents do not financially support in any way at all) [] Take some kind of creative class (dance, crafting, etc) [x] Regularly attend a small group B E  B R A V E. Last year, having "pursue" as my word of the year was something that I didn't fully realize until about October. It wasn't until very late in the year that I realized just what pursuing God was doing in my life. I was planting seeds for the whole year and I started seeing them flourish, funny enough, during the time of harvest.  This year, I am deciding to have the word "brave" as my word of the year, but my phrase of the year will be to "be brave." This year is going to be a huge deal for me, especially because this will be the first time that I am not in school since I was in kindergarten.  There are a lot of things happening in my life and I will be sharing them soon, but this year I need to be brave in everything that I do. Not only do I need to just do what I set out to do, but I need to silence the noise around me that is only tearing me down. I just know that there are things that will happen this year that will be unconventional in many ways and that people will have their own opinions on (good or bad), but I need to be brave enough to seek God and go wherever He leads me despite how crazy it sounds. As a people pleaser, this phrase will really test me this year (not to mention, it will also help me accomplish all of my goals on the list above!).  If you want to follow along on my journey or if you want to join in and "be brave" this year, I'll be using the hashtag #bebrave2016 on social media throughout the year. I hope to see you join in on this movement with me this year!  And with that, I'll end this post for now. Don't forget to #bebrave2016.