Validation - Short film

For some reason I have not seen this until today, in my children's literature class of all places. Beside that, I'd like to share how the topics and themes of this short film are important. One theme that stood out to me was the act of pleasing another for self gratification. Of course to some, a small bit of everything we do is for ourselves even if we aren't fully aware of it. Aside from the on-going argument of true altruism....let's focus on more simplistic ideas. In this short film I saw a lesson of smiling, loving, self-gratification, appreciation, validation, and the like. Before I ruin it further, go ahead and watch it...

 I saw how when he tried to get what he wanted, he didn't succeed. I saw when he wasn't trying anymore and instead was out there just being kind to others, putting aside his 'mission'...his mission was accomplished anyway. It's funny. Ideas in this could range anywhere from:

"what comes around goes around"

"a little kindness goes a long way"

"the happiness of those around us affects our own happiness"

"trying to please others for self-gratification won't give us the results we seek, in fact, it might not be pleasing at all" 

Tell me what you got out of it. Different life experiences, perspectives, values, etc... can add great depth to what we 'get' out of stories like these. 

Aside from how we interpret it, go out and pass on the smiles =)

Until Next Time!

Sunday Social

1. What is your favorite thing about Spring? Definitely the colors!

2. Favorite kind of flowers to grow or receive? Not the biggest fan of receiving flowers and I don't have much of a green thumb, BUT I like daisies =)

3. What is your favorite nail polish color? Oh my! Seriously?!? I like everything! For Spring, I particularly enjoy bright colors!

4. What is your favorite out door activity? Hiking! Trails! Photographing!

5. Do you have any fun Spring plans? Finishing college -_- And hitting up Angels Landing at Zion National Park for sure!

Hiking Y Mountain in Provo, UT

Hiking Pine Valley

Hiking Zion National Park - Emerald Pools

Click Chicks - Sunset

Instagram Wall!

SO..You've seen them on Pinterest:

The instagram wall is popular and it's obvious why....

It's awesome.

I was in love with the idea for a long time, but wasn't sure where to start. Should I put every.single.photo on my wall? If so, where the hell would I put it!? Then, how would I put it up without ruining my wall? Where should I buy my prints from?! yea, I just gave up on the idea for a while. Then I decided after seeing a pinner use blue painters tape, that I was just going to do it. 

I used the website: http://snapstagr.am/

BUT you have a ton of options, here are a few:

http://printstagr.am/

http://printsgram.com/

http://www.canvaspop.com/options/print-instagram-photos/

http://www.shutterfly.com/occasions/print-your-instagram-images

https://www.persnicketyprints.com/creative/instagram-printing/

and the list goes on....

At snapstagr.am you get 12 photos for $6 and if you order like 3 orders you get free shipping (at least when I did it). I ordered 48 total photos (4 orders) for $24 and was happy. The prints were great and I couldn't have asked for more. OH and they were 4 x 4. 

The wall I did so far is just the beginning!! I just had to get started without ordering all 400-something photos. I figure every once in a while I'll order a couple sets of photos and add on to my wall. I'm so giddy that I actually did it! haha 

NOW, I did a lame video on the process, so if you are bored or something hahaha here it is:

Also linked up here

It's OK Thursday

It's WAY OK that Spring Break is in full swing!

It's OK that people come to me when shit hits the fan.

It's OK that I took a tour at a University I'm not going to.

It's OK that I spend most my time doing things for other people (lately).

It's OK that grey + mint is my favorite color combo to wear these days.

It's OK that a two-year-old is my best friend during my trip to Provo, Utah.

It's OK that every time I leave town is the precise time that people need me.

It's OK that Lydia is miss attitude at two.

It's OK that the picture of me was taken when I woke up...

30 Days of Lists - Days 8, 9 & 10

Day 8 - Comfort Foods
- Anything Red Velvet
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Taquitos
- Toast
- Peanut Butter Sandwich
- Milk

Day 9 - On My 'Oughta Do' List
- Taxes
- Edit photos
- School work
- Clean the house

Day 10 - I'm Craving...

- Pet

- The beach

- A long run

- New glasses

- San Francisco 

- Somewhere new

- A visit with my best friend

Until Next Time!

30 Days of Lists - Days 6 & 7

Day 6: My Talents

Shopping

Photography

Dancing like a weirdo

Laughing & Smiling

Finishing

College

Complaining

Keeping track of things

getting behind

Dance Central

Playing games/watching shows for hours

Day 7: In My Bag

Some lip product

Calvin Klein cellphone wallet

Gum

Snacks

Change

Notebook

Kindle

Keys

Until Next Time!

What March Brings!

March is here and that's crazy talk. March has never stood out to me as a "busy" month. Busy months to me have always been the beginning/end of year along with end of June/beginning of May and then the end/beginning of August/September. Why? School of course. This year is bringing old and new adventures. I'm graduating Dixie State College University. What will August look like for me this year? Who knows. Enough of that, we're here to talk about MARCH!

SO let me outline what's to come in this green month:

• the outline for my capstone is due
• four big projects are due
• Article Presentation
• SPRING BREAK
• Macklemore concert @ Dixie!
• Pine Valley Cabin with my weirdo Psychology club peeps
• 30 Days of Lists!
• Two awesome daily photo challenges 
• testing out my influenster goodies
• adventures unseen!

It's like the bittersweet month. So much fun and stress packed into 31 days. I can't tell if I'm supposed to be happy or worried. I decided that being worried doesn't get anything done, therefore I decided to just start getting shit stuff done. What first? Well the first day of 30 days of lists! of course!

Here is the simple post featuring day one. I am aware it's not super crafty or awesome, but since this is a daily activity I need to just do something everyday rather than worrying about it being super artsy and tricked out, I just want it to be fun...no added stress or pressure. If I have some extra time on my hands then right on. The link in the list above leads to the most recent post featuring 30 Days of Lists. 

Next, those school assignments and crap...well every one of them requires hours of reading, thinking of giving myself a set amount of time that's dedicated to reading. Maybe it'll help. I work several graveyards in the next week or so, hoping to get some of this reading done during that time. 

SPRING BREAK!! During this awesome week of a "break" that actually feels like a week long guilt trip, I have planned a concert featuring Macklemore, here's some of his stuff:

Also, the Psychology club (I'm the secretary) is headed to Pine Valley! The college has a cabin out there we can rent for a night, so we did! I'm excited. Then to keep up our monthly visit to Zion National Park, we might go during my Spring break. 

Go HERE to find the photo challenges I'm going to try to keep up with. 

Follow this blog to stay tuned to my future adventures seen and unseen!

Until Next Time!

30 Days of Lists - Days 4 & 5

Day 4 - On an average day I...

- Go to the gym
- post on instagram
- check email
- take photos of anything & everything
- take a nap
- worry about school work
- clean my glasses
- fill my water bottle



Day 5 - Things I would like to do by the end of the month...

- make some jewelry

- finish a book (or 3)

- finish a draft of my capstone paper

- go to Zion National Park

- have a fun Spring Break

- do my taxes

- catch up on posting project 365

- order prints

- practice yoga more often

- come up with my 24 by 24


I'm loving the 30 Days of Lists project! It gets me crafting, even if just a tad, much more often! Check out the flickr set I made that will hold all 30 lists!

Until Next Time!

March "I Choose"

The goals for this month were based on what worked and what didn't last month. Here is March:

1. I had this as a goal for February and it had me chop my long hair off. This time, who knows where it'll take me! 

2. I've been making jewelry for a little while and have been working on putting up a store. This month I'm working a little closure to my grand reveal haha. 

3. I've got a ton (in my eyes) of makeup and it has no home. I'm looking to give it one. Keep tuned for a video!

4. This is a HUGE issue for me. This month holds a TON of projects/assignments and what have you due in school, I simple can't afford to screw around.

5. This is just a craving. Plus, Daniel likes when my goals include food.

6. This goes along with the whole "I can't afford to screw around" idea. Plus, my photos (Project 365) reeeaaally need to be posted. GEEZ! When they are, you'll find them here. 

Until Next Time!

February "I Choose" recap

You might want to call it Fail February. HAHA guess I shouldn't be so negative. I had a fantastic month! It was my birthday month and I had some grand adventures. So, let us see how I did:

1. Success. I chopped my hair off. Shortest I've ever been, it was a trip.

2. Success. I've only made a few juices in February, but the goal of getting the juicer back on my kitchen counter has been completed.

3. Success. Here is my post on the book. It's a nonfiction, deep, and brutally honest read. 

4. Fail. Well, technically I did edit photos each week. BUT I didn't catch up on editing my 365 photos and I was aiming at editing and posting those once a week. The goal to succeeding here is to be caught up in the first place. I learned my lesson. 

5. Success. Blogpost on that coming soon!!

6. Fail. In fact, I just bit them more throughout the month of February. I think I want to get gel nails again and hopefully they'll give my nails a break from all this ridiculous biting. 

Until Next Time!

Mindfulness Monday

This Mindfulness Monday was inspired by the following video:

This topic really hits home. As a child and even in my teenage years, our home held quite the arguments. Whether they were heated between Mom & Dad or between say...Dad and myself (or any other combination involving two parents and three children). I could go into detail, but I rather not. 

I would however like to talk more about one of the points made in the video above. The one about being calm. Now, as difficult and silly as this point may seem, it's definitely one to consider. While reading and researching through the years I've learned about the brain in the palm of your hand. The idea is when you're flared, you lose access to the thinking part of your brain. The rational. The part that makes sense and understands more of the big picture of what's going on. The part that regulates what's going on. The part you really need access to most often. When you're flared you are running on emotion, you're just running almost like a chicken with its head cut off. This idea comes from Daniel Siegel. Here's a video of him explaining it. He has a much better, more professional way of doing so.

Now, since learning this I've used it quite a few times. Not every single time, I'm not an overachiever. BUT enough times to realize it helps...a lot. TAKE A BREATHER. TAKE A STEP BACK. THINK. Don't just go to war, there are definitely times for that, just not every time. Realize the difference. 

Here is a link to the "How to Pick a Fight" as discussed in the video above.

Until Next Time!

The Things They Cannot Say

Daniel actually found this book a while back, I'd say November/December. You know, around Christmas gift buying time (wink wink). He was looking into it (found it on Reddit) and then thought I would really dig it. He was right. He showed me this clip:

Then told me that there's a whole book coming out telling about the lives of many in the military. The real, unfiltered stories. The writer also has a story of his own to tell.
Daniel ultimately couldn't get this book for me for Christmas, it didn't even come out until January. Eventually, I did get my hands on it and started reading it one night during my grave shift. I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. It didn't take long to read it. It was hard to read, though. The details of the lives of these men are hard to read.
In this book, the "chapters" are stories about a different person. What I really enjoyed was at the end of each there was a postscript, if available, telling you the most up-to-date info the writer had on the person before publishing this book. It was nice to know a little extra, like what happened and how they're doing.
This book has taken my personal favorites number one spot. Who would have thought my favorite read would be nonfiction. Aside from reading this for pure interest, it was also filling a second purpose. I am doing a huge paper as my senior project to get my bachelors in Psychology, this paper is about PTSD and mindfulness. This book is serving as a nice additional resource and reference. As a person who isn't heavily involved in the military and who doesn't have first hand experience with PTSD and its affects on veterans and how it comes about, this book was an amazing insight into that world. Of course, it doesn't give me any right to say I understand any of what they're going through, but it does widen my perspective and helps me understand the best I can without going through it myself.

As you can see, I super marked the book. I didn't want to completely ruin it so I stuck to tabs. I'm in love with post-it tabs. Anyway, I super tabbed it because there is a ton of interesting things in this book to keep track of. For my paper in school as well as my own self interest. 

If you believe this is the kind of read for you, if you can handle what can be seen in war, done in war, and all of the continuing wreckage after (mentally and physically), then this will suck you in until the finish. I'm not meaning to be grim, there's some hope in here as well. 

Find the book here.

Until Next Time!

30 Days of Lists - Day 2 & 3

Day 2: About Me

In case you can't read my handwriting:
-Daughter, Significant other, Sister, Aunt, Student
-Photographer
-Reader, Learner
-Fitness Junkie
-Procrastinator
-Nail Biter
-Love color, especially pink & red
-Addicted to shopping
-Wear my watch all day, everyday, 24/7
-A little geeky & a lot silly
-Love Life


Day 3: This  YEAR , I am going to              . 
-Graduate
-Make jewelry
-Take more photos
-Read more
-Study mindfulness (more)
-Focus on my job
-Be confident

A little additional information, I am graduating college. I'm getting my bachelor's degree in Psychology. I make jewelry and will advertise my shop soon! I love reading and can't wait to read just to read (instead of for school). I have researched and practiced mindfulness throughout my college career, I can't wait to learn more and take it to a different level. 

Until Next Time!

30 Days of Lists - Day 1

I've been waiting for this project to start for a while!! Here we are in March!

Check out the cover & title page of this notebook here.

Now the first list!

This was a list of why we are listers! I kept this one simple, sharpie markers have never wronged me.
In case you can't read my amazing hand-writing, I am a lister because:

• I like to have everything laid out in front of me.
• I L♥VE to organize things.
• they keep me focused
• I like lines
• I L♥VE to write

That last one, about writing...it serious haha check out my doodling problem. 

Until Next Time!