How This Cat Will Live in Japan - Sad Ending

Nice to see you guys again~

I'm sad to say this but...my dream has to be postponed. I will not be going to Japan my Senior year of high school with the AFS exchange program at all.  My mom agreed before but now she sat me down and told me I cannot go (I am disappointed but not angry). I have been given many opinions and objections to my decision which have valid points so I have to retreat for now. Most of the opinions and objections were of the beliefs of what might or could happen if i go to Japan; first I will have no money, the plane may go down, there might be a tsunami, volcanoes may erupt, I might get kidnapped, I will be effected by the radiation leaking out of the power plant that was hit in 2011, I will get a disease or I will have no family to turn to in times of need. I really want to go but without parent signature and permission I cannot go. With all that I had to make the decision to stop because of the other possibility that I wont be able to pay the $15000 because I was unable to raise it or win a scholarship. So I will wait. But I will still gladly take donations and help because I have not given up...As you have seen I wrote "postponed" meaning that I will save my money, work hard in school now, go to college because of that money, major in teaching and Japanese, and than go to Japan becoming an English teacher. I know this is sudden and I hope no one is disappointed or sad because of this...I am still going to try hard!! Please still support me.

P.S. I AM STRONG. I WILL MAKE THIS POSSIBLE.

How This Cat Will Live in Japan - Holidays

Happy Holidays Everyone~

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and will have a Happy New Year~

I want to give thanks, first, to God and Jesus Christ for being there for me and always sacrificing for me. Without them I don't know where I would be. I want to thank my family for their support and guidance over the years. I also thank my followers for their support!! Thank you all!

Now for my New Years resolution: I want to become closer to God, work out every day from Monday to Friday, and I want to become more confident and driven to reach my goals.

Updates on my abroad:
I have earned up to $1000 in 4 months. I will be able to pay for the $900 deposit!! Thank you everyone who has supported me! I am very moved that I'll be one step closer to go on this exchange program with AFS to Japan.

The difficult part is raising the rest of the money! $14,100......This is going to take some work...but I have faith that I will get some support! I will make a Donors Choose account with my teacher, I still have my Gofundme, I am still recycling for money, Drawing for profit and getting donations randomly from friends and family.

I hope you all keep your eyes on me! Please support! Thank You!! <3 ~

How This Cat Will Live in Japan - Slowly But Surely

Yolo!! because I can lol

Well you guys know what month it is! December lol and you know what that means! Christmas!!
Yes, Christmas...reminiscing about the year, being thankful for what has happened, gathering with the family, snow, warmth of the lights, the Christmas tree with presents underneath, the food, red and green colored things every where and the New Year. These are all the things that makes December, December right?

All these things are great! I have been in a very good mood this month. You know all my hard work to raise money for my exchange program...I can say that even though it is taking a while to do things, things are coming together. I just need patients to get through this. Lets just say that probably by the end of January I will be able to pay for the first deposit of $900 for my exchange program to Japan!

I am really excited but I can't forget that the program is like $15,000....a lot. That means I will have $14,100 to fund-raise for after I pay the $900.  That's so much. But I got this, I love the challenge. This will allow me to grow and be independent by working for what I truly want. If I keep going this way I will have a story to tell, meaning I am not going to be like *stuck up/spoiled brat voice* "Yeah...I went to Japan...My parents paid for me to go. Well, it was a good trip.." I will be like "Yes!! It was the greatest thing in life!! Japan is AWESOME!! I had to do this and that and this too to raise allllll that money! It was a lot of work but it was worth it! It was the best thing in life! I will never forget this!" I want this to be an inspiration to others around me so they can try and achieve their goals too.

By the way lets get down to what I have done....

• I have been selling more drawings since the last time I posted on here
• I have been getting lots of support from my friends and family(they donate)
• Recycling is really amazing you save the earth and get paid for it 
• I am working on my Full-scholarship with teachers to make it the best *crossing fingers*
• Since Christmas is in a few more weeks I am getting Christmas money because that is what I asked for!

I just really get motivated from all the help I get... like I want to support myself and get a part time job (I have been trying hard) but since I am 16 and live in New York there are hardly and jobs available even though it is the holiday season. I get motivated to try harder when the people around me gives me support. With all my heart I want to do my best and go on this exchange so I can prove that even I can do this.

Please pray that I can raise all the money necessary for this wonderful life changing experience and/or make the most amazing scholarship essay ever!!

If you would like to help me out please donate to my gofundme:
http://www.gofundme.com/blk8a0

I really appreciate that you read this! Thank you! Until next time~ Bye ^^

How This Cat Will Live in Japan - Try Hard

Hello guys long time no see! (^o^)/

Well as you guys may know from the last post, I had to stop my cupcake sales... but I have done my High School Working Papers and am currently looking for a part time job. It's very difficult to find a part-time when you live in a city, you may think its the exact opposite but you are mistaken. Around where I live you need past job experience and have to be 18+ in most places....I am 16 and inexperienced...But I am not Giving up just yet!! I am going to as many stores looking for a good working environment part time job!! 

I still have my Gofundme account up and my blogs to draw people in and at school I sell art to students and teacher, which they seem to love. Also, I  have been talking with my schools college adviser for scholarships and having her revise my essays. But all in all, I'm not going to stress myself to death 'cause when there is a will there is a way!

Here are my sites and blogs (if you wanna check them out and hopefully contribute):

Gofundme- http://www.gofundme.com/blk8a0

Interesting Facts- themoreyouknowjapan.blogspot.com

AFS- fundmehelpme.blogspot.com

Deviantart- supergirllaura001.deviantart.com

How This Cat Will Live in Japan!! - More to Try

Hello there! ^^
Well let's make a list...I tried:
Kickstarter-failed
Indiegogo-failed
Blog:AFS-failed
Bondfire-failed
Cupcakes sale- to low an income
Gofundme-ongoing
Asking for donations-ongoing

Well as you can see I failed quite a lot lol but this isn't going to stop me! I am one of those people that can't cope with failure and that inability to cope makes or breaks me sometimes. Some times failure makes me wallow in shame, pain and sorrow but there are those awesome moments that my failure's shame, pain and sorrow makes me try again and again to get what I want; the second or third time I come around to do what I truly want makes me come back strong and ready for the fight. I am also very motivated by people who try to put me down because I don't only prove to them that I can do this but I also show myself! I am saying this to let you know this goal of mine is making me strong and I believe if you have a goal you are serious about you should also have the same mind set...BE STRONG!

As I said before I have failed a lot of times already on the online donation things; so I have started to fill out my school working papers so I can go out and look for a part time job after school. That means I have to stop making cupcakes...I won't have enough time for that. I will try not to stress myself out with school, homework, work and home...Please pray that I'm able to get through this and be able to find a good suitable job.

How This Cat Will Live in Japan!!-My Fundraising sites..

Many of you guys wanted me to just make a post about my fundraising sites, so here we go! Enjoy...
I have done a few fundraising most of them online..I have used Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Gofundme etc.
Lets start with Kickstarter. Lets make this clear...Kickstarter is an "all-or-nothing" organization so if you don't reach your goal it is impossible for you to get the money you have risen if you didn't reach your goal......which personally I think is..stupid, for a lack of better words. Fundraising sites usually only gives you a certain amount of time to raise all the money you need, in the case of Kickstarter only 2 months. My Kickstarter finished a while back and I wasn't successful in reaching my goal. So the money I raised I was not able to receive.   https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1932689328/life-in-japan
Indiegogo is a flexible organization you can make your project into an "all-or-nothing" or "flexible" project. But Indiegogo is not very popular compared to Kickstarter. It also has a certain amount of time you get to raise the amount of money you want, 2 months. I put my project for Indiegogo as flexible and it has finished a while back too. I did receive my donations which was good. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/life-in-japan/x/8081920
I am using Gofundme right now. Gofundme is pretty good. You get to deactivate it when you are done with your project! I find that very helpful lol    http://www.gofundme.com/b1k8a0
In the case for AFS the donation gadget is very good. The "Sponsor an AFSer" is a non-tax deductible was to donate and raise the money for the tuition amazingly lol which is a plus. But right now my gadget is not connected since I rolled over my application! I have to wait till 2015 for the gadget to be re attached.  http://fundmehelpme.blogspot.com/
Bonfire is a fundraising site that allows both the supporter and the fundraiser to receive something. They give you a certain amount of time to fundraise as well. I only have 21 days...well 17 days left to sell at least 10 shirts. Also you have to make a logo..that's the point..to sell your idea basically lol you can either make it on the site or make it yourself. I made my logo myself, from my mind. I haven't sold anything yet though...  https://www.bonfirefunds.com/life-in-japan
I hope this gave you an idea of the things I've done so far.. (only online though)
Just keep in mind that you need to share your sites around, everywhere, and not be shy to tell everyone that you know about your sites! Good luck to everyone who is trying fundraising sites and other fundraising methods...its not easy...God bless...^^

How This Cat Will Live in Japan!!-In School Fundraising

Hi, you amazing people! ;p
School started for me on September 4th and its been a good start of the year... other than all these hard classes!! T^T
Let me tell you my schedule:
Period 1- Gym
Period 2- Pre-Calculus
Period 3- Health
Period 4- Physics
Period 5- Lunch
Period 6- Spanish
Period 7- U.S. History
Period 8- English Literature
Man! My favorite classes are Gym, Health, Spanish and English Literature! The others are just driving me crazy! But I am going to try my best in all my classes to get 80's + on my report card and stay in a GPA above 3.

Well here is the point to this post lol
I have started to sell cupcakes in school to students and teachers! I started on September 17. I make 2 different sets of cupcakes; small cupcakes for 75 cents and Muffin sized cupcakes for $1.25. The most favored flavor is vanilla and strawberry. I usually take 12 small cupcakes and 3 big cupcakes with me to school. It may take a long time to get a large amount of money together but every day I profit between 5 to 9 dollars. The average amount earned would be about 18 dollars but half goes to buying more supplies and the other half gets put away. I think this is very good. Making and carrying cupcakes is so easy and fun. I suggest anyone who is trying to fundraise for anything should do this!

On another note... I opened a new fundraising project online with a site called Bonfire. You make your own logo and make a shirt (online) and sell it! If you want to check out my design please do and show support by purchasing a shirt! https://www.bonfirefunds.com/life-in-japan