tips and tricks

At least they broke 100

November 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

So yesterday out of the blue, I get a text from Drew asking if I want to go to the Jazz game. Umm….is that even a question!? So my two best friends grabbed some guys, and we all headed to watch the Jazz lose to the Nuggets in an embarrassing display of athletics. It was incredibly fun:)

November 11: Today I am grateful for my country. We are so blessed to live in this land, and I am so thankful for those who have fought, and continue to fight, to make this land free. God bless America!
November 12: Today I am grateful for my job. I am absolutely in love with what I do and I can’t imagine myself doing anything else for a career. I have amazing co-workers who have made me feel at home so quickly, my bosses are awesome, and I can honestly say I come into work every day, loving what I do. 
So how should you make today more than average? Sometimes, when someone asks you to just go do something, don’t think. Just do it!

Love love love

November 11, 2013 — 2 Comments

Folks, my roommate got engaged. Isn’t it wonderful?? Lindsay and Ethan are ADORABLE together and I am just so happy for them:) All her roomies and their families and friends went to this beautiful park right by the temple in American Fork and Ethan came up, and we all started singing happy birthday (it was midnight and Lindsay’s birthday. It makes sense) and then he said he wanted to give her the first birthday present. AND HE GOT DOWN AND BANG. Cuties. We then proceeded to get donuts and Martinelli’s and stay up far too late screaming and laughing with her that night. Happy birthday future Mrs. Clark:)

These are my “”Rules of Engagement” (I can be clever;))

1. Ask my dad for permission
2. Use my full name
3. Lead up to it with some solid mush about how much you love me
4. One knee (duh)
5. Make sure my nails are done!
6. Secret photographer is a MUST
7. Make sure we look cute and I’m not in sweats or something
8. If you can surprise me, bonus points!

Maybe I’m too picky? Maybe when it’s actually close to happening I won’t care so much. But for the time being…..yeah:)

This weekend also consisted in me actually being productive and getting stuff done, country dancing, movie nights, and shopping. All in all, a very satisfying weekend.

November 10–Today I am grateful for modern medicine. It’s such a blessing for me to know that whatever is going on, there are people who are qualified and working to provide help. It’s truly a miracle how far we’ve come.

Look at this sunset. WOW. 
Also Drew is home from Vegas:) But more on that later! 
Happy Sunday Everyone!

When I am abandoned I eat Panda and ice cream

November 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

November 8–I am so grateful for Edna, my car. I miss Jasmine, my old 1994 Nissan Altima, but I love my Corolla like nobody’s business. I am also grateful for my awesome parents and grandparents who made it possible for me to have her. I love you Edna!

November 9–Vacuumed floors. I can’t explain it, but there’s something so magical about a floor that’s be thoroughly vacuumed. It’s so wonderful. I guess you could say I’m grateful I grew up in a spotless house and learned how to clean (thanks Mom!) but yeah. Floors that have a vacuum run over them are the quickest way to my heart.

This is what’s been up:

DI with this guy….always a pleasure.

Old roomies reunite!! Only half of us still live in this country…so that’s fun. 

When Drew leaves me for Vegas…I party too hard and eat ice cream for breakfast. 
Can I share some thoughts?
Happiness is a choice. I’m sure I’ve posted something similar to this and it’s probably totally redundant. But it needs to be said. Last night there was gut-splitting laughter and rolling on the floor in this apartment. We are all stressed out of our minds. I feel inadequate to everything I’m supposed to be doing. But it’s ok. Because in the end everything works out. And even if I fail at all the things I’m supposed to do, the sunrise was still beautiful this morning. The fall leaves are still picturesque. There are still sweaters to wear. Hot chocolate that needs to be made and drunk. There are still scriptures to be read and cried over, and little kids running up and down the stairs to laugh with. So even though things are hard, they are still so good. 
I think that’s why I love November. It’s such a perfect time to remember that there are a million little things, and a million big things, that I have to be grateful for. The rest doesn’t matter.
Happy Saturday everyone:)

Take Me Home

November 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

First off. I just barely published the post I was supposed to do yesterday. Oops….don’t judge!

November 6–I am grateful for mugs. There’s something so perfect about drinking hot chocolate or milk or water or juice, or really anything, out of a mug. It has a handle for Pete’s sake!

November 7–I am grateful for heated leather seats in cars. No my car does not have heated seats, but I think I appreciate them more because I don’t have them. Or something like that.

Folks, I’m really happy.

I need to post this song because it is WONDERFUL. It’ll make your day more than average for sure.

If you haven’t heard of Us, don’t fret. I hadn’t heard of them until a little while ago. But they are amazing. You will be glad you listened.

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/rWc2ju_i9kY&source=uds

Also. I have to work early in the morning. So I went down to my car at 6:45 this morning, and there was a creepy guy in a hood, waiting by my car. Drew didn’t have to be at class until like 8 and came down to the freezing garage just to say good morning. He’s a keeper:)

Happy Thursday everyone!

Tinfoil Dinner

November 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

So last weekend I went on a super duper fun date! We went to our friend Garrett’s house and had a bonfire in his BEAUTIFUL back yard. Really though, they have a pond and a cute little bridge. It’s adorable. ANYWHO. Bonfire. And we made tinfoil dinners and had s’mores and everything. It was delightful.

So to make your day less average today, here’s the tinfoil dinner recipe. It was so fun and easy and I would totally recommend it as a fun date, or even just getting a big group of friends or family together to do it!

Ingredients: 
2 small or 1 large brown potato per person
1/4 lb of ground beef per person
1-2 carrots per person
1/8 onion per person
Spices to taste
Begin by cutting all the vegetables into small pieces. You will want them fairly small or they will not cook! Then brown up your hamburger a little. You can do it raw if you are camping, I just air on the side of caution so we cooked our up a little to make sure it would be done on time! Spray a fairly large piece of tinfoil with cooking spray. Place the hamburger on the bottom, making sure to season with salt and pepper. Then place potatoes, carrots, and onions on the top. Season with salt and pepper, other seasonings that work well are: parsley, chili powder, cajun spices, basil, garlic powder/salt. Wrap the tinfoil around the dinner TIGHTLY. Make sure there are no places for air to get in or out or it will not cook right. Place on the embers/coals of the fire. Let cook for 30-40 minutes. Carefully remove from the fire and enjoy!
Happy Wednesday everyone!

Quotation Marks

November 5, 2013 — 4 Comments

What I’m grateful for:

November 4th: I’m thankful for Pinterest. But really. I’m not quite sure how I lived without it. I mean, what did I do with all the spare time I don’t have??

November 5th: I’m thankful for chocolate milk. Don’t know what I would do without it!

Today I have quotes to make your life more than average:) It’s fitting, since I’m grateful for Pinterest today, right?

Just three of my faves. I’m slowly realizing that life is hard. But quotes like these make me happier for some odd reason haha.
Happy Tuesday everyone:)

Just a few things…

November 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

So we’re changing up the blog a bit. After talking to Steph from Six Sisters Stuff, I realized I needed to make my blog a little more constructive. I’m not sure that I’m really great at any one particular thing, so I want to make this a mash up of all the wonderful things that people like reading.

I am just an average redhead, but I think I have lots of days that a more than average. So I’m going to blog about things that either made my day more than average, or things that could potentially make your day more than average!

Yes this is another re-vamp to the blog, and it probably won’t be the last one. But that’s ok:)

So let’s try this out for a while and see how it goes, eh?

Also, it’s November! Last November I did something I was grateful for for every day of the month, and I want to do that again! I know I’m already behind, oops….but let’s get to it. Last year I started out with the big things, and this year I want to start out with the smaller things and move up to the bigger ones. This isn’t to lay out an order of what’s most important to me at all, I just want to save the biggest things for last:)

So. Here we go:)

1: Daylight Savings. Today it was seriously the best thing ever. I watched the clock change from 1:59 to 1:00 and it was awesome! (Mom I was helping a friend, that’s why I was still up.)

2: Painted fingernails. Shallow? Yes. But seriously there are few things I love more than having painted nails.

3:  Boots. Ok it’s fall, sweaters and boots are a must right now. And I seriously love boots so much! They are wonderful, they keep you warm, etc. etc. It’s great:)

So now that you’ve read all this boring stuff, here’s some pictures for my Visual Literacy Photography Project. They were super fun to take:)

Happy Sunday everyone!

A Day In The Life

August 21, 2013 — Leave a comment

So here’s the day in MY life as a college student, things that I found worked and things that didn’t work for me. This may be good for you, it may not work at all. I just know that I liked hearing EVERYTHING that I could about how to survive day-to-day in school. So here we go:)

7:00–wake up. I didn’t have classes until 10, but I still tried to wake up between 7 and 8 every day so I got things done. Sleeping in on weekends is GREAT. But if I made myself get up at a reasonable time, life was so much better.
8:00–finished getting ready and had breakfast. I always ate something for breakfast. Skipping breakfast is BAD. I usually just had toast and milk or something like that. But usually skipping breakfast is a bad idea!
9:00–I had a rule that from 9 to 5 I was either in school or doing things for school. If I treated school like a work day, it worked out better for me.
12:00–I usually had lunch around this time. I brought my own lunch from my apartment to save money and be healthier. I usually had crackers and string cheese, baby carrots or another veggie, and whatever fruit I had bought that week!
4:00–I usually got home around 4:00. Some people liked to stay on campus to do homework and study, I liked coming home and grabbing a snack, then spending an hour or two studying and doing homework. It’s your personal study habits that will let you know what works for you!
6:00–I started making dinner/eating dinner at this point. Our roommates made dinner for each other a few nights a week, so sometimes I didn’t have to worry. It’s always better to start making dinner early, so you don’t hit 8:00 and then decide to cook some Ramen for the 18th time that week. I loved snacking and making fast meals was necessary sometimes, but when I planned out, shopped for, and prepared a healthy meal, I was happier and felt less guilty about a bowl of ice cream later!
8:00–by this time I was done with school and homework for the day, we would have ward activities or plans with our friends, sometimes I needed to do homework later into the day, but most of the time I got to watch a movie with my friends or go play a game with the guys. It is important to give yourself some free time!
11:00–I tried to get ready to go to bed by 11:00, be asleep by 12:00 every day. Sometimes, this didn’t happen and I would get to bed WAY later. Sometimes, I was able to get to bed earlier. This was just a good goal for me to make sure I got a decent amount of sleep every night.

So this was a normal weekday for me. I’ll be honest, weekends were totally different! But this is a schedule I generally stuck to, and hey, it got me really good grades and a fun time! Maybe it’s something you want to try out:)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

The Top 10 Things You’ll Need In College

August 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

So everyone probably has their special items that they felt were crucial for college. I have a few of those as well. So welcome to Maddy’s Top 10 Things You’ll Need In College!

10. Hangers. I never had enough! Make sure you bring plenty so you can fit all your clothes and don’t have to wad them up in piles all over. Nobody wants that.
9. Pens. I used pens up the WAZOO at school. Get plenty!
8. A good coat! You walk outside every single day. Rain and shine and SNOW. So get a coat that will keep you warm during the freezing winters. You won’t regret it!
7. Vegetables. Yes this is happening. Vegetables are a crucial college item. You’ll think you’re all big and tough and don’t need to buy them, but you do. They’ll help you not get sick!
6. A laundry bag or basket. I had both and it made my life SO much easier.

5. Ice cream. This is also happening. It’s important to eat healthy. It’s also important to have treats so that you don’t stress out too much. Find a HEALTHY balance and let yourself go there sometimes!
4. Appliances. Chat with your roommates about who has a toaster/iron/waffle maker, etc. You don’t want to have to buy everything yourself, but you also don’t want to get to school and realize you can’t have waffles!
3. A good computer. I used my computer EVERY SINGLE DAY. I wouldn’t recommend buying a cheap one and hoping you’ll get by. Invest in one you can use for all of college.
2. A solid backpack. Yes there are cute ones that are cheap in every store, but I wouldn’t recommend one of those. You will have lots of books and probably a computer in your backpack every day. Get one that will last!

And the number one thing I would recommend to have at school?

1. A good attitude!!! Cliche? Maybe. Crucial? YES. The more you try to be happy, the better your day will be. The more you tell yourself you can do something, the more likely it will be that you can!

Love ya’ll:)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

What they won’t tell you about the first week of college

August 19, 2013 — 1 Comment

So you’re off to college? It’s going to be fun. But here are a few things that they WON’T tell you about the first week. These are things you need to know!

1. You will be homesick. You’ll have this moment (or momentS if you’re me…) of nostalgia about how great home is, how much you miss your bed, and you’ll reminisce about how fast your childhood flew by. It happens. Embrace it and find a way to cope.
2. You will be spending a lot of money. You’ll be stocking up on groceries, realizing you need this kind of container, buying books and dropping TONS of cash. Just accept that it’s better to get it all at the beginning, than get to a day before a paper is due and realize you don’t have a stapler.

3. Know the answers to the following questions: What’s your name, what’s your major, where are you from, how many people are in your family. These questions will be asked SO MANY TIMES the first week. Just know the answer and be ready to answer/ask these questions. A LOT.
4. People are going to make a snap first impression of you. This can be changed throughout the year, but people will spend five seconds talking to you and think they know you. So make your first impression a good one!
5. You and your roommates will play nice the first week. Be polite, but also be real. If you don’t want to share food or plates, nicely let them know. The rules you set towards the beginning will set a precedent for the rest of the semester. So talk about cleaning and sharing while you’re all being polite!
6. College is nothing like high school. The classes are harder, you will have to study differently, your free time is different, and your friends are different. Just accept the fact that things change, people change, and that’s all normal.

7. Try new things! Try foods you didn’t eat at home, read a book you haven’t read before, open yourself to new ideas and situations and embrace it! College only happens once!
8. Take pictures. You’ll want to remember this first week, I promise!
9. Make your goodbyes meaningful. I wrote notes to my family and friends. Things changed over the year and I’m so glad my family and friends had that note from me before I moved out.
10. HAVE FUN!!!! You will be stressed out of your mind, freaking out and sad, but try and have some fun! It’s the beginning of the rest of your life. Enjoy it:)

Remember, the first 16 days of anything are the hardest. You can do it! Good luck to all my dear college freshmen.

Happy Monday everyone!