New Year New You

Coming up with New Years Resolutions this year has been difficult! I have no interest in setting mindless resolutions such as loose x number of pounds. I know come February my mind will no longer be on keeping my resolution. Instead I want to set goals that are meaningful to me and where I am in my life right now.

First up on the list is I want to become closer to God. This is first and foremost on my list! I have always been very active in my faith. In college however it was easy to get caught up in all of the excitement and begin missing Sunday mornings at church, forgetting a prayer before dinner, etc. That isn't easy to say because it is definitely not something I'm proud of. This year I am making a goal to put my relationship with God first and everything else second.

My next goal is to excel at my senior internship. I can't wait to get my masters and begin teaching but the first step is this internship. I want to take advantage of this opportunity and learn as much as possible! I am ready and excited to begin in just over a week!

I want to spend more time thinking of others this year. This is a big goal that has lots of parts to it! By this I mean I want to perform random acts of kindness, I want to send more thank you cards, I want to check in with friends and family more, I want to put others before myself.

Don't forget to enter the My Memories Giveaway  I am hosting. You can enter it here!!

Reunited and It Feels So Good

It's tempting to say my favorite part of Christmas break is Christmas day but, if I were to be completely honest I would have to say my favorite part is getting to spend time with family and friends you have been separated from. I was very lucky to have many of my good friends attend the same school as I but there are still a good handful I only get to see on special visits and trips home. Last night all of my high school friends decided to get together for the night. We had an absolute blast! I don't think I have laughed so hard in a long time. My favorite part of the night was looking at old pictures and listening to our old CD's. Hello Spice Girls and Nelly, ha! I am so fortunate to have remained close with so many good friends!

My post is coming to you late because I have been spending time with my grandmother all day. She is big into playing cards so my sister and I had lunch and played canasta for a while. I learned a new game and now understand why she loves it so much! Lucky for me I get to spend time with more friends tonight!! My mom, sister and I will be having dinner and drinks with some family friends. Quality girl time that I LOVE.. I'm sure I'll post about it tomorrow!

Don't forget to enter the My Memories giveaway here!

Looking Back and Giveaway!

With only three days left in 2011 I have been doing lots of looking back at the past year. For me 2011 absolutely flew by! It was definitely a year full of good times! I decided to make a scrapbook about special moments that occurred. Sometimes scrapbooking can be very time consuming, expensive and messy so I decided to make one online using a digital scrapbooking software. I had so much fun going through old pictures and reminiscing! I don't want to picture overload you so I'm not including every single page but I did want to share my creation!

My Memories has an award winning digital scrapbook software that is extremely easy and fun to use. My Memories Suite is rated #1 by Amazon and Top Ten Reviews. Using this software, anyone can create digital scrapbooks, photobooks, cards, calendars and gifts without having to buy expensive and complicated software programs. My Memories has generously offered to give one lucky reader a My Memories Suite Scrapbook software!

Mandatory Entries:

1. Follow my blog

2. Go to My Memories website and pick out your favorite digital paper pack, leave a comment telling me which one you picked!

Additional Entries:

3. Like My Memories on facebook

4. Follow my memories on twitter

5. Blog about this giveaway (and leave a link in your post)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry!

The winner will be announced January 4th!

Oh, the holidays

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, I know I sure did! On Christmas Eve my mom and I cooked a pasta dish for the family. She makes up the best dishes that I will have to share sometime! This one was linguine with chicken, sun dried tomatoes, zucchini and squash sauteed together with our one secret ingredient. (; Every Christmas Eve my sister and I are allowed to open one present. The present I opened this year was the game Catch Phrase. My family sat around and played this game for a while. It was absolutely hilarious to hear some of the answers that were coming from my family members.

Christmas morning mom cooked a huge breakfast (that we ate around noon, so brunch) that was amazing. My grandmother joined us for all the fun. After breakfast was present time where I felt so spoiled. If you're reading thanks mom and dad for everything!! I'm finally on the IPhone wagon thanks to my parents! The meal and opening presents always gets the best of me so I had to take a quick nap before recouping to head to the movies! When my great grandmother passed away a few years ago we had to find a new tradition of what to do Christmas night. This year we decided we would go see the movie We Bought a Zoo. I was shocked to see how packed the theatre was! Apparently this is something lots of people like to do! The movie did not disappoint at all! I HIGHLY recommend it for everyone of all ages. When we got home from the movie I had to hit the sack because a fever had popped up. I haven't felt well all day today but don't have a fever any longer. Hopefully it's a 24 hour bug that will soon be gone! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eves Eve

Sometime I think the build up to Christmas is what I love the most. Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE Christmas day. Once it ends though, it's so sad! The weeks before Christmas is when many of the fun traditions and activities take place that I love so much. I love driving around looking at the Christmas lights, decorating the Christmas tree, baking cookies, shopping for gifts, wrapping gifts, giving/receiving Christmas cards and everything else that comes along with the Holiday. Here are a few of my favorite traditions during the Christmas season!

I love the Elf on the Shelf!! I didn't learn about this until last year when the family I babysit for started doing it for their little girl. Many of the second grade classrooms also have an Elf during the month of December! If you haven't heard of this before you can read about it here. It's so much fun to see the excitement it brings to all of the kids. They can't wait to share where their Elf ended up and the note he wrote. Part of the magic of Christmas is believing.

Christmas lights are another favorite of mine. I love them on houses, on fences, trees and everything in between. One of my favorite ways to display them is through lighted Christmas balls. I don't know if that is the correct term for them but it's the best I could come up with, haha. A neighborhood in Greensboro that I drive through while shopping does these. They are wire balls lit up in an arrangement of colors. When the whole street does them it is magical. The pictures don't do it justice! I always think I am driving through Dr. Seuss land with all of the colors. It is absolutely gorgeous and a must see if you are ever in the area!

The last tradition that I couldn't live without is Christmas music! Hearing Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is an automatic mood booster. I even have to admit that I like the new Justin Bieber Christmas album! I begin listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving and don't stop until well into January. I don't care what anyone has to say- I enjoy it! What is your favorite tradition during the holiday season?

Pretty Dresses

Last night I was watching What Not to Wear with my family and the question "What would you buy with $5,000" came up. (It has to be on clothes of course) Someone said work clothes, my sisters boyfriend said shoes but my sister and I agreed we would spend the money on dresses! I would buy a pair of pants or two and a few tops, but other than that I would be content wearing only dresses. To me a dress is the easiest piece of clothing to wear year round. You don't have to match a top to a dress or find which pants look best. A dress is so easy and comfortable!! (to me at least!) You can also wear them SO many ways!

you can wear just the dress

or add a cardigan

pair it with boots

add heels

in the summer

in the winter

and obviously a million other ways! Do any of you love dresses as much as I do?

Me in one of my favorite seersucker dresses last summer!

Finally Home!

I got home for Christmas break Saturday afternoon and couldn't be happier. Sometimes you just need a break from college life for simpler things. Since I have been home I have done a lot of:

sleeping

I have been sleeping a lot..I think it's a combination of catching up from all the sleep I missed this semester, and the fact that I don't really have anything that I need to get done. Whatever it is, it's nice! I know in January I won't be so lucky.

eating

family

On Sunday, my dads side of the family gathered for our annual Christmas lunch which was followed by Candlelight Service at church. This is my favorite service of the whole year. The church is gorgeous with all of the Christmas decorations and the service really helps you remember the true meaning behind Christmas.

friends

I have a very close group of friends from highschool that I have remained good friends with. When we get together it is seriously non-stop laughing.

Yesterday I was SO excited to go to the mailbox and have a package from Coffee at Nordstrom!! I won one day of her 12 days of Christmas giveaway! I won a surprise package that contained gloves, a scarf, sticky notes, fuzzy socks, candy, and a clutch. Thanks Crystal! I LOVED everything!! (I'm even wearing the socks now!)

Questions Answered!

I had fun receiving questions from everyone!! I'm always curious about all of your fascinating lives and don't mind sharing about mine one bit! I have to tell you I'm not that interesting though, haha ..typical college student! Now on to the questions..

1. What is your ideal grade you want to teach?

Right now my internship is in a second grade classroom and I absolutely love it! I would be very happy if I could land a job in a second grade class in the future. I would also be happy in kindergarten or first though!

2. What is your favorite online and in person store to shop at?

I love shopping online for affordable cute dresses at Modcloth and LuLu's. I also love JCrew and take advantage of the JCrew factory store- you can only find this site on the weekends but they have great deals! (comparable to outlet prices). In person, I like to shop at Nordstrom (because they have EVERYTHING), Francesca's, local boutiques, Ivy & Leo and Ann Taylor Loft! It was too hard to pick just one- I love to shop!

3. Is the boy you went to Semi and Christmas cocktail with a potential BF? Or are you dating at all?

No, afraid not! This girl is one hundred percent single. I met Dylan recently and am so glad I have had the chance to get to know him and attend these date functions with him. Other than that we are just friends. I'm still waiting patiently on the right guy to come along.. we'll see!

4. Do you have any big plans for Christmas break?

I plan on heading home tonight or tomorrow morning and couldn't be more excited! My only plan is to relax, spend time with family and old friends, read and enjoy the holiday! I do plan on completing all of my graduate school applications over break. That is big for me!! I will be applying to ECU, NC State and Appalachian.

5. What do you want to do after you graduate?

Now that is the question of the year! The answer is terrifying and exciting (to me, anyway!), I don't know. I'm running out of time and need to figure that out soon! I plan on getting my masters in Education immediately. My two choices are Option A: Get my masters as a full time student living in Greenville, Raleigh or Boone. Option B: Get my masters online and start teaching at the same time. I think I would really like to live in Raleigh but we will see where life take me!

6. Do you have a job right now?

I babysit M-F for a local family and love it!!

7. What do you like to do in your spare time?

This semester spare time was hard to find. When I find "me time" I love blogging, shopping, reading and catching up on my favorite TV shows. Oddly enough, I also enjoy blasting my favorite music and cleaning!

..and lastly just for fun, check out this video! It will surely bring a smile to your face!!

Lets talk hair

Let me just start by saying I am in no way a hair expert! I am constantly afraid of damaging my hair to the point of no repair. I started growing my hair out last year as well as got highlights for the first time. Since then I have noticed it's much harder to keep colored/long hair healthy!! I have a routine I use to cut back on hair damage but am always looking for new solutions and tips to keep in mind. With colder weather approaching I need solutions to keep my hair healthy pronto!! After doing a little research and talking to my hair dresser here are some techniques I will be using:

Problem?

 Loosing hair when I get out of the shower

Solution:

Stress along with colder weather causes this! Maybe now that the semester is finished my stress level will go down! Sleep, water and exercise help also!!

Tip:

Don't wash your hair every day. It strips out the natural oil your scalp produces causing dryness. This is easier said than done! I still find the need to wash my hair every day.

Problem?

Dead Ends

Solution:

Get your hair trimmed on a regular basis.

I'm worlds worst when it comes to this! Whenever I finally go in

for a haircut my dead ends have surpassed bad and become horrific.

Tip:

Keep your hair moisturized by using leave in conditioners

I currently use, on a daily basis:

Problem:

Damage from heating tools

I will not stop using my hair dryer/straightner. I will however..

Solution:

Protect my hair from the heat! I use this every single day before I blow dry and again before I use my straightener!

Tip:

Use a wide tooth comb with wet hair instead of a brush

Here's to pretty, healthy hair!

WILW

It's that time again! I'm linking up with Jamie over at This Kind of Love for a WILW post!

I'm loving that I have my LAST final today. Next semester I have my internship so I officially will never have to take an undergraduate class again!

I'm loving that I finally have a hair appointment tomorrow. My hair needs a trim BAD!

I'm loving the questions I have been asked. Keep asking them here! They can be about anything, I will post answers later this week!

I'm loving the the book suggestion I got from a fellow blogger yesterday. It's called The 10 Women You'll be Before You're 35. I ordered it on amazon for only $1.oo before shipping cost!

I'm loving that in just a few days I will be home for Christmas break and can see all of my family and friends!

I'm loving that I was walking on campus in the Education building and stumbled across my picture hanging on a bulletin board!

I'm loving my pinterest finds this week...

"If Santa was stuck in my chimney I would..."