Monday, December 30, 2013

salt scrub

I make most of my own cleansing products.
I got into a chemical-free phase (craze) a while back.
And thus began my making of most things that go on my face.
I use this salt scrub on acne and scarring and I love it.
It is very good at preventing acne, stopping acne, and clearing up past acne marks.
And since it's salt it does burn tarnation out of your face the first little while of using it.
It doesn't do it to me anymore cause I use it everyday.
And my skin always feels better when I use it.
Without further ado.....






































Alrighty, what you need is these three things up there.
(About the spatula....it looks like it came from a Barbie play set but it didn't.
I acquired it from some beauty product of the past.
If you don't have one then you can just apply this with your finger.)
So you fill the container with the sea salt.
Then add water until it looks similar to a slushie and mix it all in nice and good.
When you use it apply it to areas that need a lil' TLC.
Leave it on for ten minutes and then wash it off.
Sometimes the water in the mixture will dry up after a few weeks.
So occasionally I will re-add water before I use it.
And there ya have it people.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

la cuisine gastronomique









































(Once upon a time a girl said "Man, ranch makes everything better. If Obama was covered in ranch he would be the best president ever." No, that girl was not me, but it might as well have been.)



When browsing through pinterest I never have any trouble finding food ideas for college students.
But these ideas are always oober fancy and just as expensive.
There should be a more realistic food guide.
A list of the food that you eat when you get home from class and think,
"hmm...this tub of butter is starting to look yummy."
This is, of course, after you raid your roommate's food first.
(Which I don't recommend because sometimes they sneak laxatives into the food to find out who is eating their food....but that's a story for another day....)
I have found that college students get hungry enough to eat really weird stuff.
I haven't yet met anybody desperate enough to eat a tub of butter but I hope to someday find that person.
One day I made spaghetti noodles and then after they were cooked I realized....
I had no sauce.
And I sure as heck wasn't going to go buy some.
So I improvised.
I used ranch.
And surprisingly....it was disgusting after a couple of bites.
One day on my way to work I picked up a co-worker and he gets in the car with a sandwich.
I ask him what kind.
And he says boldly, "butter and sugar."
I could only nod my head in understanding. 
Sometimes you have to get creative and just throw every leftover in a pot, cook it, and cross your fingers.
Tam and I did this last year.
I think there was a mac-and-cheese cheese packet, rice, beans, beef, carrots, and a butt load of salt.
And you can bet that it was nasty.
But we ate it.
Cause that's what you do in college.
It's the life, it really is. 

Friday, December 27, 2013

walking






























I've always loved walking.
Growing up I would walk around the neighborhood with my sisters.
When my cousins and I would get together we would walk around m grandma's park.
In Cedar City I would walk the streets with Tami.
And now I walk around Provo....alone.
And there's nothing better.
Most nights after work, especially recently, I have craved a nice long stroll.
So I put on ten pants, five jackets, grab my pepper spray and a shank, and head out.
(Can't be too safe, am I right?)
Did you know that the world is so peaceful in the middle of the night?
Surrounded by nobody else and an easy silence I can finally relax.
I can remember all the good things of the day and forget all the bad.
I walk until my legs are tired and my buns are frozen off.
And then I realize that I still have to walk back...
So I distract myself by singing out loud because nobody can hear it.
Sometimes, as I walk past the dorms, I pretend to be an R.A. and give a talking-to the the freshmen breaking curfew.
And it's a lot of fun.
So when Provo makes me feel so alone I just walk.
Because when I walk I can pretend that I am anywhere in the world. 

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

cruella de vil

Aw Christmas.
The time for change.
Or is that New Years?
Eh, we can change it to Christmas this year right?
I hope so cause I took it upon myself to drastically change my luscious locks.
But first.....look at how massive my sister's dog is.....
I thought it was gonna kill me.
And also, it might be a horse?
Her other dog can literally run right under his belly without trouble.








































After wrestling the dogs we got a bit bored.
So what else do you do when you have a hair stylist sister except do crazy things to your hair?
My sisters shaved part of their hair off.
This seemed appealing to me but of course, I wanted something a bit more shocking.
So I chose to dye my hair.
Just half.
Fire red.
:)
I needed to do one last (?) crazy thing before I become a teacher.
It was a long time coming.
Be kind to me BYU.





























Tuesday, December 24, 2013

an update









































I've been working on a challenge to live with only 100 items.
I kinda keep forgetting to go through my stuff.
But these last couple of weeks  I have been selling a whole bunch of my clothes.
And it has felt so good.
I have less belongings and more money for adventures.
I follow this one blog called the daily simple.
Check it out yo.
Every time I read one of her posts I am inspired to live my life more simply.
(One of her recent ones was beautiful. It was titled Simple Moments Defined)
But the one that I want to write about is one that she wrote about Craigslist.
She writes about the free section on Craigslist and how this is such a great resource.
She posts a lot of the things she doesn't want anymore on this section and people that need it contact her.
This way, that person doesn't have to go to a thrift store to buy it.
I decided to give it a go since Christmas is coming up.
I posted a few random things that I have acquired over the years.
And the response was great.
All week I have had people e-mailing me and calling me wanting the things I was giving away.
I met up with all sorts of people and got to know complete strangers.
I have gotten a couple of board games from D.I. that I haven't played in a while so I decided those could go.
One woman e-mailed me wanting these games for Christmas.
And I got to hear her story.
She has six kids and her husband is out of work and these games were going to be such a big help on Christmas.
I met up with another woman wanting games.
I handed them over and she said she was going to deliver them to some families that were in need.
And then she gave me a hug and it was awesome.
I love hugs.
I am so grateful to have had the experience of meeting so many awesome people this week.
So, thank you Craigslist.
I thought you were only the source of horror stories on dateline.
But apparently you offer so much more.
Like free puppies (I'm serious...people just give em away on the free section.)

Sunday, December 22, 2013

a face with fur

Some people know that one of my favorite topics of discussion is beards.
They are beautiful.
Oftentimes I fall in love with a man's facial hair more than with the man.
I know of one particular beard that I just can't seem to forget.
It looked like it had been conditioned with unicorn's spit.
I don't know what that means, but that beard was luscious!
If it was normal for strangers to stroke beards then I would be all over that.
The cashier at my visit to Walgreens today had a beautiful mustache.
To most people this mustache might look like it belonged to a pedophile.
But to my eyes it was beautiful.
And I told him.
(Then I asked him if I could stroke it and they kicked me out.....)
So let's look at some facial hair.
These are the most lovely that Google had to offer:













































And this guy should just win a million dollars:



































For copyright issues: All of these pictures were stolen from the internet. All of 'em.

Friday, December 20, 2013

extras

Some pictures from my phone:





































(my planking minion.)






































(Trying to attempt this has been hard. Real hard.)






































(I have become skilled in the art of card houses.)






































(A lot of dancing is done at work.)






























(Crow pose)






































(Look at this handsome devil.)

Sunday, December 15, 2013

black and white

Aw these are much better, right?








Saturday, December 14, 2013

horses

I forgot how frustrating film was.
I ruin a lot of pictures.
But here's some horses I found when I was exploring.






Friday, December 13, 2013

confessions and observations

>Sometimes the clothes I wear make it super difficult to go to the bathroom. While I was walking to school I thought it was a good idea to wear three coats and five pants. But then when it took me twenty extra minutes to take them off I realized the foolish mistake I had made.

>This was my day on Youtube: watching a video about the Sandy Hook shooting.....then watching a video about a boy being chained and tortured......then watching a video about feral children.......then watching a video about a family that walks on all fours.....and next up in line to watch is about child brides. Dang suggestion column gets me every time.

>Eating with a stuffy nose is the most terrifying thing ever. You are risking your life every time you take a bite.

>I recently watched The Purge. Then I went to the Black Friday sales. Anyone else realize that that movie was based on this night?

>One of my teachers wore his sweater backwards to class the other day. Wanna know how I know? Because the logo that is supposed to go on the front left corner of a shirt was on the back right.....

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

creativity






































When did creativity die?
We're given instructions and guidelines for everything and expected to follow them to a T.
And you know what the silly thing is?
We do.
Or, at least we try to.
When I was a preschool teacher the children were instructed to draw a flower one day by my fellow teacher.
I was working with one of the children and while he was drawing the flower he kept asking how he was supposed to draw it.
I kept telling him to draw it however he wanted, but he didn't accept that.
He thought that he had to draw it exactly like Ms. K. had instructed him to.
Creativity gone.
And it continues through age.
A professor gives us an assignment with explicit instructions with the understanding that we will not stray from those instructions.
Why can't it be done how we best understand it?
Why do our presentations have to look cookie cutter with everyone else's?
And why do we freak out when they don't?
We are killing creativity.
Why do teachers give such specific assignments that produce the exact same results from completely different students?
Instead of the instruction: write a 3 page report on the characters and ideas in "such-and-such" book......
Why don't we write: Show me what you learned from the book.
This could produce reports, skits, art, songs, etc...that all have the same purpose but so much more impact.
Don't get me wrong.
Specificity is often a very good thing and is necessary for certain students.
But, given the right tools, I think that a little confusion leads to creativity.
So....go confuse someone.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

the sleep cycle






































Holy cow everyone.
You loved the yoga post!
More than the "I-hate-Provo" posts.
And THAT is saying something.
So let's talk yoga again.
Like a nerd, I have been further researching the benefits.
And one of the major benefits is that it helps with insomnia.
I used to come home from work at 2 in the morning and lay in bed for an hour before falling asleep.
The next day I would have to take a two hour nap to make up for the sleep loss.
Since I have been keeping up a fairly consistent yoga routine this semester I have started having better sleep.
And now I don't need those two hour naps everyday.
In a study done by Harvard researchers they found that insomnia was linked to cancer, chronic pain conditions and depression.
They then did a study with different types of insomniacs.
The participants had to do yoga everyday for eight weeks.
And the results were amazing.
They found great improvement on sleep efficiency, total sleep time, total wake time, the amount of time it takes to fall alseep, etc.
All because the participants started doing yoga.
So here's your fact for the day: yoga can improve sleep, which can then improve other health conditions.
And in addition, here is a link to one of my favorite yoga videos: YOGA
Just do it.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

honest abe































I took this picture many weeks ago.
I wish that I could say something inspiring like bloggers do about how I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since that rainy day when I saw it.
But actually I just saw it two minutes ago in my computer files and thought,
"Dude. Let's post this and write something awesome."
So here is my very un-inspiring post about honesty.
Ya know, some bloggers post their life story to their blog and make it a sort of a journal.
But heck.
I wouldn't let any of you punks read my journal so I sure as heck ain't gonna write anything serious on this here blog.
I'm not about to reveal all of my secrets or all of my stories.
There's a time and a place for that and it's not right now.
So this will be as serious as I get in my honesty today:
>Sometimes I wear the same clothes two days in a row and cross my fingers that nobody notices.
>I lost my mail key somewhere in the snow and my roommates don't know yet.
>I just finished my presentation two minutes ago that is due on Monday and ya know what? It's beautiful. That just goes to show that I didn't have to do it three weeks ago.
>I have a tattoo.
>That last one was a lie....I just wanted to say something that would actually be gossip-worthy.
>I'm a freak. (I think everybody already knows that but....I just needed to be honest with myself.)

And ya know what?
That's it.
My conscience is clear now.

Friday, December 6, 2013

an escapade







































This morning we went exploring up the canyon.
I'm  trying to enjoy this winter weather and all.
But this is not the escapade to which I am referring.
It all started last night.
I head to my car to leave for work when I notice that I have a flat tire.
Gosh dang it all to heck.
Nothing a little rope and duct tape can't fix right?
Luckily, some men from my ward stumbled upon me while I was brewing fix-it ideas in my mind.
They kindly helped me put the spare on and I was on my way to work.
But then the most exciting thing of the night happened.
As I was driving to work I turned left in a fairly busy intersection and....
my door FLIES OPEN!
All I could do was scream and attempt to grab it to pull it closed.
But alas, my arms are not that long.
I couldn't stop my car because there was people behind me.
I couldn't pull over because the shoulder was covered in a snow drift.
So.....since I was in no immediate danger I had to drive the 100 feet or so to the parking lot.
With my door open.
On my way home from work I had to hold the passenger door closed while I drove.
Since this is uncomfortable and fairly unsafe I started brainstorming again.
And this time rope would do the trick.
I rigged up a leash that is connected to my passenger door that I can hold onto while I'm driving.
It's real ghetto.
Oh, and mom don't worry.
I got my flat tire fixed without spending a dime.
Those mechanics always take pity on me.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

namaste































Guys.
Yoga.
I got into it about a year ago because of my scoliosis.
I had been really off and on with it until this semester.
When I really decided that I loved it.
It helps in all aspects of life.
It calms your mind, it strengthens your body, and connects you to your self.
(I sound hippie right?)
It's amazing to learn what your body can do with practice.
It's amazing to appreciate your body for what it can do and for it's differences from others' bodies.
If I haven't convinced you to try it yet then here are a few more benefits:
> Increased arm strength
>Oxygen to the brain
>Slower breathing (less stress)
>Better posture
>Increased lung capacity
>Less chance of heart disease
>Increases metabolism and helps digestion
>Decreases joint pain

So type "yoga" into your YouTube search bar and get after it.


Tuesday, December 3, 2013