Pictures

Some Halloween-inspired nails. Purple with some orange polka dots that I made with my new nail dotting tools.

I also painted some clothespins! We use them as "chip bag closers" in my family so I just sat in front of the t.v. and watched the Mentalist while painting my little heart out. I made an "OSU" one for Oklahoma State University and then I made one for Ohio State University and my mother saw it and told me to make another for my Aunt Melissa. The first three, the OSU and Ohio ones, I attached a magnet to the back so now we use them to hold papers!

Spencer's aunt had made his parents a tile that had a quote on it. I was amazed at how cool they looked and so I asked her how she made them. Turns out she just put stickers on a tile. So, my mom and I got some sticker quotes from the dollar store and then she bought the tiles from Lowes. This is how mine turned out. :) I set it up in the living room. The stand was also from the dollar store.

Spencer and I made some Hello Kitty cookie. Mine is the one on the right his is the one that looks like a mouse. :) The other cookies didn't end up looking anything like hello kitty.

Lastly, I got some Hello Kitty footie pajamas! I love them!!!

Lexy

Hey Good Looking, Whatcha Got Cooking?

Triple Threat Cupcakes- oreo bottom, cookie dough middle, brownie icing. I also bought some cute halloween cupcake liners and sprinkles. In fact this is the second time I used the sprinkles and I still have a whole bunch more. They were only $2.50 at Target (minus the chocolate chips). ;) Despite spending quite some time making these, I never did try them. I'm not sure how they tasted, but my family ate them up and my boyfriend even took a plate to his house to hoard away from my family.

Also, when using the recipe, it made entirely too much cookie dough mixture. I'm not quite sure what to do with the left overs.

Then, yesterday, I made Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast. As you can see from the picture, on this particular 'sandwich,' I used waaaaay too much cream cheese. It was kinda gross. But I learned and started using way thinner layers and more strawberries and it became delicious. I do want to try it with syrup added though. I wish I had the strawberry syrup they have at IHOP. That would make this PERFECT!

I'll post links to the recipes I used, they are both from pinterest. See you soon!

 Love,
       Lexy

Happiness Update

It has been awhile since the first post for this blog. Because my first post was about my working on becoming happy, I've decided to readdress my situation.

The goals I made at first were good goals, however over time I have added more goals to cover other areas of my life. I know I won't be happy if I am only doing homework, cleaning, sleeping, and working out.

I've added new goals to my life which include starting up a hobby and trying to be more appreciative of my family and reading more.

In the terms of my first few goals, I have not been working out like I've wanted to. Here and there I do get a bit more exercise within my daily routine, but nothing that was planned as a workout. While reading Gretchen Ruben's book Happiness at Home, I begged to differ of her opinion about abstainers to moderators. In her book she writes that moderators tend to have issues creating healthy habits because the feel they can cancel their choices of putting things off until late. As a result she abstains from things instead of letting them in in moderation. So, no sweets for her! Halloween? NOPE! Christmas? NOPE! I felt like arguing with her from the moment I started reading that! How in the world could that be healthy? But then I realized, I'm a moderator! I SAY that I want to workout at least 3 times a week and then I put it off until the last three days of the week and something comes up so I'm not even able to workout those 3 timse. So, I push the plan to the next week. Instead of doing this I am going to go for Gretchen's all or nothing idea. I am going to plan on exercising daily. A simple walk counts and can be easily done. This way I KNOW that I have to have at least 15 minutes set aside daily to workout and I don't have the opportunity to procrastinate another day.

Sleeping had improved and then decreased, but now that Spencer has to work during the day, we actually go to sleep at night. We've been getting to sleep a little bit earlier now. This truly helps me feel like my day was more productive just by getting up before noon and showered. In addition, I don't have the need to take naps during the day.

My homework or school life was also doing well until it wasn't! Haha. Like I mentioned in my last post, I was falling behind in International Economics. However, I have spoken with the teacher and am now on track to be catching up. Next week I plan on getting together a table to record all my grades that I have so I can see which classes I need to work harder on. It is my intention to get all A's this semester and I really believe I can do it. One thing I still need to work on is getting my homework done in a timely manner. I still wait until last minute to do EVERYTHING! This has an incredibly negative effect on my mood. I become cranky closer to the due date and then rush to get my assignment complete. Plus, I miss out on doing activities with my family and boyfriend.

Cleaning is one area that I have been doing quite well in. In fact, because of my cleaning efforts, my parents bought me an outfit! They really appreciated everything I was doing around the house. This is something I want to continue doing despite the fact that nothing stays clean for longer than two hours!

Now my new goals have actually added a lot to my happiness! I have wanted to start up a hobby, a productive way to spend my time. I've decided to craft, cook, and scrapbook. So far I haven't done any scrapbooking. However, I have crafted a few things which I've posted and I have cooked some new recipes that I haven't posted. Creating something cute or delicious is something I love to do. I feel so accomplished afterwards and it prompts me to be even more productive with my time. Energy creates energy. I have a whole bunch more crafting ideas up my sleeve along with some more recipes I want to make!

Appreciation is another big goal for me. I feel that I am not as close to some members of my family as I'd like. Or that they sometimes feel that I don't care enough for them. My parents do a lot for me and I'm incredibly thankful for that! I love them both dearly and I plan on doing small, simple gestures to show them how much I car. For example, I left a sticky note in my dad's car before he went to work. I later told my mother about it and she told me that dad loves that sort of thing. In addition, I've done it for my mom before and she loves it too. So, I plan on doing it more and in more creative ways. I don't know how yet, but it'll happen. This applies to Spencer too. Sometimes because I'm around him the most and am so comfortable with him, I take my frustrations out on him. He doesn't deserve that and I know it doesn't make me feel any happier to make someone else miserable. I've lately been paying more attention to people's feelings and I think paying attention is not enough, I need to learn to act certain ways because of it.

Reading books! I love reading books! Some time ago I decided not to buy books any more. This has saved Spencer money and time (he hates waiting for me to pick out a book from the store). Now I make weekly trips to the library myself. I've read quite a few books over the last few months and it was all (mostly) free. This is the way it should be! I'll be doing a post later on books.

For a while there, I was on the verge of falling back into my bad cycle of unhappiness. However, I feel like I have recieved lots of prodding from books, horoscopes, quotes, and blogs to put me back on track. Along with the fact that I know my family supports me 100%, I know that I need to put myself out there and try my hardest to accomplish the best I can. I deserve it and so do my parents and boyfriend.

Why do I Love October?

Spencer and I bought the newest Resident Evil. :) We've played the last two-player together, but it took awhile for Capcom to make another two-player game for Resident Evil. This one comes with three different campaigns. Right now, we are playing the campaign with Leon and Helena.

Playing Resident Evil freaks me out a lot, but it's a nice break from Call of Duty: Black Ops.

In addition, we've been watching an episode of season two Walking Dead everyday. I buy Netflix for 7.99 a month and we don't use it as much as I wish. Now, that we've been watching this I'm glad I still pay for it. I love Daryl. His character is really rough, grungy, crude, and rude, but I love him! Haha. Plus, I love that he uses his crossbow instead of a gun. Another GIANT plus... He's from my FAVORITE movie- Boondock Saints. :)

One more reason I love October- the weather. We've been getting rain, having cold days, trees turning beautiful colors, it just feels like there is a sense of relief in the world after all that heat and drought!

I'm off into enjoy some more!
                   Lexy

A Message from Above

"You have gotten so used to a bad situation that it has become the norm for you. That doesn't mean it's okay to linger in that situation any longer. Somewhere deep down inside you know that something is wrong, though you probably don't consciously acknowledge it to yourself or to others. It's time to face the fact, Aries. You deserve much bettre than what you've come to accept as you lot in life. First you need to come to grips with the fact that a change is needed. Then you need to get started making a change. You deserve it." Horoscope (Aries) 10/9/12

Wow. Sometimes I think horoscopes are just fluff, but this one really hit home. It is so true. Especially in the aspect of my International Economics class. I've really been slacking off from that one. I'm going to e-mail the teacher now and will force myself to go to the next class. I need to get back into control of this situation. My grades are important to me and one reason I tend to get depressed is if I fall behind in classes. I need to be proactive.

                         Love,
                               Lexy

Halloween

From Pretty in Pink

 

 

To Tricks and Treats

Nail post.

So, this is my first official nail post. Over the last week I actually did my nails more than usual. So, here are the last few nail looks before the halloween challenge and my first one with the challenge.

My first semi-sucessful attempt at taping.Obviously I need to work on that...

This was actually two polishes, a gray one and a shimmery purple. In the light is was really purple, but if I tilted my hand side-ways it was soley gray.

This is the design I used for my Halloween 'scary movie' challenge- Frankenstein. As a free-handing newbie, I'm quite happy with them! :)

I'm excited for the next nail topic!

Challenges

I love firsts! Today is October 1^st in case you were wondering what I meant. J I just feel like it’s a fresh start each time! An added bonus- It falls on a Monday! I think that is absolutely wonderful. Monday is what I consider the beginning of the week and with it being the first, this is a perfect opportunity to start off with a clean slate. So, to kick off this week and month I wanted to post a quote:

“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that the highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil. And who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.

A life of slothful ease, a life of that peace which springs merely from lack either of desire or of power to strive after great things, is as little worthy of a nation as of an individual.”

-          Theodore Roosevelt

This is just the kind of inspiration I need. I’ve been getting rather mopey and lazy as of late and this sheds some light for me. I need to get busy! When I get busy and accomplish things, I develop more of a positive attitude and get more enjoyment from my day.

That being said, I created a couple challenges for myself or went out and searched for some anyway…

First up is a nail challenge! This one is going to be so much fun for me! I love doing my nails and wearing my creations around town. Most people love my nails after I put some real effort into them. A bonus is that I also love October and all the Halloween-themed things that come with it. I’m a fan of the haunted houses and spook walks. I love carving pumpkins and eating candy. What’s not to love about October? I found this challenge Here. J

Next is my health challenge! I truly want to get in shape and I’m sick and tired of JUST saying it. I am going to start doing cardio at least three times a week and strength training at least twice a week. I want to fit into smaller clothes and start loving my body. My BMI is currently in the obese category which is not acceptable to me. I want to make being healthy a habit, not a period in my life. So, the actual challenge this month is to work out a total of five times a  week, drink 8 ‘glasses’ of water (64 oz), and eat at least one fruit or vegetable a day.

Craft challenge: For this challenge I simply need to do four crafts this month, about one for every week. Basically, I’ve been putting off my crafting and have tons of projects to complete before I move on to different things or add more possibilities to my plate. Plus, I’m running out of room to store all my supplies!

Organization challenge: I believe that this will be the hardest one of all, probably because it encompasses so much within this category. I need to get back on track with school. I’ve been missing a few days and haven’t been studying as much which is not a habit that I want to keep up. So, I need start organizing my time a bit better along with my essential materials to get through a day. I’ve made myself a couple printables to help keep up with my day. Have you ever heard of a home management binder? Well basically, I’m making a Lexy management binder. It is going to be great! But I’m still working on it. J I’ll show you it in the future. This focus of this challenge is to streamline my planning to accomplish what I need done without last minute freak outs.

Off to get happy,

                Lexy