Where were we? Oh yes…this little slice of heaven and onto Tuesday … check in here for part 1 

Tuesday

Tuesday went a lot like Monday, with the exception of the dinner location. We started the day off at the beach, where I went on a seashell collecting method. According to my friends, I became the beach boss and found some of the best shells. I also found an intact sand dollar (I guess that is hard to do?).

Rather than hit up McGuire’s, we went to a very tourist-y restaurant called The Crab Trap. There, I finally got to eat my beloved crab legs (and teach all of the southern girls the proper way to crack crab legs … my daddy would be proud). We had a very attractive waiter, and spent a lot of time flirting with him and having a good time.

Because half of our group was leaving the next day (stupid jobs) we went out with a bang on Tuesday! We had made a modified version of Hippie Juice and proceeded to get drunk  (notice a trend here?). Tuesday night involved some girls getting a little too drunk and wanting to chase each other around with the fire extinguisher. Luckily sober people (ahem, me) were able to avoid that crisis! Bedtime came quickly that night, and I think I was sleeping before my head hit the pillow.

Wednesday

Wednesday it rained. All freaking day. Not only did it rain, but we lost three of our friends who had to go home, making it a very strange kind of day. Wednesday also seemed like it was the longest day ever. One of the girls and I left to go restock on groceries and then went out to go shopping. Of course, we had to first stop at a little tourist trap where we found this gem:

Believe me, we were just as shocked as you are! We picked up a couple touristy items, mainly as gifts and continued on with out expedition. We discovered a small mall and a bookstore, and I found a Panera Bread! I’ve seriously missed Panera like no other. My friend got to experience her first Panera trip, and she definitely approved!

After we got done shopping, it was still raining so we came home and took a nap. We thought about going to see a movie, but decided to skip the movie and hit up the RedBox instead. They picked up The Vow … and I hate to say it, but I was disappointed by the movie! Maybe I need a little more love and happily ever afters.

Stay tuned for our final (and craziest day yet) on Friday!

I have to admit, that I am a candle addict. There is nothing like sitting down with a good book, a thunderstorm and a fabulous smelling candle to relieve stress for me. So when I found Bare Elephant, I was intrigued and had to learn more.

Bare Elephant is a company based out of Louisville, Kentucky that uses soy and recycled wine bottles to create beautiful candles that both look and smell amazing. I love the vintage look of the candles and love knowing that I am helping the earth when using the candles.

According to their website, here are some fun facts about soy candles:

Benefits of Soy

• All of our wax is KY soy which is a renewable resource and supports local farmers
• Soy wax is non-toxic and clean burning
• Soy candles burn slower and cooler than paraffin wax, making for a longer burning candle
• Soy is naturally biodegradable

Main Reasons to Avoid Paraffin

• Paraffin candles contain up to 11 carcinogenic compounds
• Paraffin is a non-renewable resource 
• Also creates air pollution and black soot

First of all, I really really really wish I could make my computer and the internet scratch ‘n’ sniff. Because the pictures and the descriptions don’t even fully do them justice. These candles smell so.freaking.good. I knew exactly what was going to be in my mailbox when I opened it up and could smell the candles already. Yum.

And when they say long-lasting–they mean it! I am famous for going through candles ridiculously fast, simply because I love how they make my room smell and I love the atmosphere in a room with a candle. I am not going to have that problem at all! I burned a candle for 6 hours yesterday, and I could hardly tell that any wax was gone!

Bare Elephant’s candles come in both an 8 oz and 16 oz size and are priced extremely reasonably, for $14 and $24 respectively. Not only can you purchase a candle from their site, but you can also have the chance to win one of your very own! Make sure you check out Bare Elephant on Facebook and Twitter and enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received two candles to review, however all opinions are my own. 

This past week I spent some time in a little piece of heaven — Navarre Beach. To say that it was an adventure is about the world’s biggest understatement. Not only did I cross off two things on my 101 list (26. Go on a road trip, 34. Spend a weekend at the beach) but I also got to spend time with some amazing ladies (most of us are School Psych girls, one is a friend of a friend) and make unforgettable memories.

The first half of our week went a little like this:

Sunday

We woke up early and were on the road by 7:15! It was about a six-hour drive and we got there right around 2ish. On the drive there I was forced to face a fear of mine over and over again … driving over bridges! Guys, there are a lot of bridges between Starkville, MS and Navarre, FL … keep that in mind if you have a fear of bridges like I do! Being a bunch of psychology nerds that we are, my passengers decided to use the Premack principle on me … every time I made it over a bridge without crying, I got a piece of dark chocolate. Yes, my fear of bridges is that severe … no judgement.

When we got to the beach house we claimed our rooms and started unpacking (well, my roommate and I did … everyone else pretty much threw their things down and headed out to the beach). We didn’t get to stay at the beach long, thanks to an impending thunderstorm, but were able to get in the ocean (a first for me!) and then go grocery shopping. Our night ended with alcohol (as most nights did) and hanging out. We played a couple of drinking games and decided to go to bed.

Monday

Monday was our first day of beaching and inappropriate comments. Anyone that heard us playing in the ocean heard mention of “sand in the lady bits” and “weenies happen” (weenie waves that is). Around 1 I realized that my pasty skin needed a break from the sun (even with sunscreen on) and a couple of us relaxed before dinner. We all showered and went out to McGuire’s, an Irish Pub in Destin with fabulous food. There also was a delicious drink called an Irish Wake that I devoured very quickly.

Hello day one of sun. Clearly a break was needed.

After dinner we came home and stayed up playing Pictionary Man.  It probably should have been turned into a drinking game, but we knew we had plans for the rest of the week, and a limited budget for alcohol. Drunken Pictionary Man, however is now on my list of things to do before graduating from grad school!

Our first two days were so much fun. Stay tuned for what happened the rest of the week and more inappropriate comments on Wednesday!

I am an absolutely terrible blogger. In the past two weeks I have been so busy, that I forgot to schedule this fabulous guest post that Jenn provided me. Better late than never, though!

Jenn is the author behind Crippled Girl, who rocks way harder than she rolls. She also happens to be my birthday twin (years don’t count, right?), and one of my closest blogging friends. Not only do we constantly Skype, but emails, text messages, and phone calls lets me know that she is always there. When I’m not keeping her busy with my rants and adorable puppies, you can find her on Twitter and blogging about the ups and downs of life! She’s also a pretty ballin’ web designer and I have her to thank for my current blog design!

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Since the lovely Amanda has been telling me about her exciting beach trip for the past few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about my favorite trip to the beach, which was incidentally, the first vacation I had ever taken without my parents.

I was sixteen-years-old when I tagged along with my friend, A, to Ocean City New Jersey. A was three years older than me and was one of those “friends of the family” that felt more like a sister. I was in awe of her worldly knowledge and bad-girl antics that surely I wouldn’t understand until I was nineteen.

We crammed into the backseat of A’s old blue station wagon, along with A’s fiancé and older brother, who drove us through the insanity of Philly stop-and-go-and-then-get-nowhere traffic.

We stayed in a run-down hotel that was only a few blocks from the boardwalk, with balconies on every floor overlooking the main street. At night, boys would hang off of balconies and invite us (and every other female they laid eyes on) to come to their rooms to party.

Just goes to show you that Jersey Shore antics were happening long before MTV got there.

That weekend was a whirlwind of excitement and freedom I hadn’t felt before, and memories. It was the last time I’d been able to walk on the beach (and even then, It took A’s fiancé and brother under each of my arms to help me walk that far on the unstable sand). I had an enormous crush on A’s brother at the time . . . and later that summer he came out of the closet. I still have the bright orange hoodie with hibiscus flowers on the front that I bought on the boardwalk with my own money from my first job.

I’ve been to the beach numerous times since. But there’s something about that first vacation without the apron strings of your parents that makes you feel young and invincible – and it’s the kind of thing you never forget.

Do you remember your first beach trip? What about your first vacation without family?

Stay tuned to hear all about my beach antics next week!

While I haven’t had much will to write anything this week (and won’t until my paper is done) I thought I would share with you all an outburst of cuteness! This is what has been getting me through this last week and will be getting me through next week!

First up, the kitties!

Next, my favorite Boston Terrier ever, Mr. Milo and the little Cocker Spaniel I fell in love with. 

Thirdly my little chub of a nephew!

And my super adorable baby cousin

You can’t say they didn’t put a smile on your face….

I definitely have not been around a lot lately, thanks to the grad school life. So rather than having a formal “this is what is going on in my life” kind of post, I figured I would update you on the important things.

1. Crawfish. Did you guys know that people in the south eat crawfish? Because when I moved here, I had no idea whatsoever! As far as I was concerned, crawfish were just the little guys that crawled around in the creek at camp. But on Friday at a baseball game, I was able to experience my first crawfish boil!

My sister and my previous understanding of a crawfish.

Mr. Crawfish, before he ended up in the boil. I had no idea they were alive before they were cooked! And this guy was way bigger than I expected them to be!

The crawfish, corn, potatoes, sausage and mushrooms from the boil. Yes, we ate them off of newspaper. Probably not the most sanitary thing in the world, but they were delicious!

2. Cramming. Guys, I am counting down the days until May 4th. Because as of May 4th, I will be done with my second semester of grad school! But between now and then I have four finals, a presentation, and a 20 page paper (that I haven’t started on). To say that I’m just a little overwhelmed and stressed would be an understatement. I’ve been spending a lot of free time putting together study guides, finishing up projects and trying to get everything wrapped up.

Last night I was working on some cases for Psychopathology while Chloe caught a little cat nap.

Just a snapshot of three days of my week. Unfortunately it doesn’t get any less busy before the end of next week.

3. Chemical Engineering. Let me tell you, if I have learned one thing this year it is that I made the right choice in not being a Chemical Engineer (I still love you Ashley!) Not that I ever thought I would want to be an engineer, but my assistantship has definitely reinforced that idea. For those of you that don’t know, part of my assistantship is working on a grant for an intensification program in the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum. What that means–I honestly couldn’t tell you. But what it means for me is that a couple of times a month I have to go to a chemical engineer class, administer some surveys, and observe the teaching method. It also means I am bored to tears and super confused for about an hour. Well this week I am lucky enough (ha. ha. ha.) that I get to go twice.

In case you don’t follow me on Twitter (Say what?! You’d better go over and do that right now!) here is just a sample of my thoughts while in the chemical engineer class.

Be prepared for more gems like this around 8am tomorrow!

Has anything exciting been going on in your lives?

Guys, I’ve been a serious slacker. Like big time. It wasn’t until a new blog friend commented on my 101 page that I even thought about updating it lately.

I need to start prioritizing better and making my goals happen! From now on, I’m going to have two main goals a month — some of them are on going and some are short term. But either way, they need to happen. After all, I made the list because they are things that I need to do!

So without further ado, here is my update on what has happened since the last time…

3. Take a zumba class (Completed 2/6/12)

My roommate and I checked out a Zumba class at the rec center back in February, and it was so much fun! Unfortunately the class fell on a time that I had class and I couldn’t regularly go … in addition to the other 8 sessions our rec offers. But because it was such a good work out, starting in May when I have a little more free time, my goal is to go to at least two Zumba classes a week (with the exception of my vacation!).

59. Sing karaoke at a bar (Completed 1/26/12)

This is another roommate adventure! We typically enjoy ladies night at a local bar on Thursdays and found out that a neighboring bar has karaoke every Thursday as well! After a couple of drinks and some encouragement, the roommate and I got up to sing Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance. I know, probably not the most exciting song to sing, and I definitely wasn’t singing alone, but I had fun with it! It was nice to let me nerves and inhibitions go and really have a good time with friends. Again, this is something that we are definitely planning on doing again!

89. Buy living room furniture (Completed 1/10/12)

Guys I did it, and I made a big girl purchase when I moved into my new apartment. I found an awesome deal on Craigslist (a small couch, an oversized chair and ottoman, a coffee table, a side table, and a kitchen table with chairs for $600) and decided that I needed it. So my living room is no longer naked, and I have an amazing place to relax when I don’t want to be in my room. See, big girl things!

The month of May is going to be dedicated to health. My water intake and at least one exercise related goal will be completed. Get ready to watch me go!

Springtime in the south means I am experiencing “summer” back home, and I need something to keep me cool. I have discovered a local snow cone stand with about 3295034 flavors (maybe just a teeny exaggeration), but have you ever looked up the nutritional information for a snow cone? Well let me tell you, the only thing that is in one is sugar. And lots of it.

Which brought along my quest for a cool treat that is healthy … and not just in the zero calorie way. If I’m going for heathy I want the good things too–fruits, vegetables, and protein. I have heard of green smoothies before and decided that would be the basis for my healthy treat. I already drink a lot of smoothies as it is, and thought that I would try my hand at making smoothie popsicles instead, using a popsicle mold.

My trip to Walmart left me with a lot of choices on  how to make my healthy creation! You can see more of my trip here. Ultimately I decided to go with frozen strawberries, mangos, peaches and pineapples as my fruit and leafy spinach as my vegetable. I know that pineapple has a strong taste, and was hoping it would overpower any hint of spinach!

Next up was the liquid for my treat. I typically use some kind of juice in smoothies, as it adds flavor and nutrients and was so excited when I came upon the Silk Fruit&Protein in the milk section of the store. I was even more excited when I saw the nutritional information! Not only is it lactose free (my stomach thanks you), but it also has 10% of my daily value of protein, while having very little fat.

After finding my ingredients, I was off to find the popsicle molds. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find popsicle molds anywhere! Instead I found some pretty awesome plastic freeze jars (similar to mason jars) and decided that a sherbet would be better to eat in the long run than a popsicle.

Once I had all of my ingredients (simple, just three of them!) it was time to go home and see if I could handle eating a green smoothie!

(Yes, I use my washing machine as extra counter space. You would too if you saw the layout of my kitchen)

My only problem was trying to figure out how much spinach I should put in my smoothie pops. I didn’t want the tasting like spinach (that wouldn’t be very refreshing) and I still wanted them to pack a nutritional punch. So I set out to experiment!

The first batch I made was my (in very scientific terms) control condition. This mixture had 1 cup of the Strawberry Banana Silk Fruit&Protein Juice and 1 cup of the frozen fruit. I needed something to compare my green smoothies to!

The second batch used 1 cup Silk Fruit&Protein, 1 cup frozen fruit and a half a cup of fresh spinach.

The third round used equal ratios of Silk, fruit and spinach.

(From left to right no spinach, 1/2 C spinach, 1 C spinach)

And into the freezer they went. After a couple of hours, I pulled each out and decided to do a little taste test. Neither my roommate nor myself could taste a difference in any of the three sherbet cups! Even with a 1:1:1 ratio, there was no spinachy taste!

And the best part of all of this? The nutritional value. Here is the nutritional value for 8 oz of Green Smoothie Sherbet with 1 cup of spinach

Over 3 grams of protein, and less than a gram of fat for this yummy treat? Sounds good to me! It looks like this will soon become a staple in my diet!

Have you ever had a green smoothie?

What are your favorite smoothie ingredients?

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions are my own. To learn more about Silk Fruit&Protein make sure you check them out on Facebook and Twitter! #SilkFruit

Yes, yes, we meet again. It is April and there are two weeks of classes left, which means that I enter  the “it’s time to not have any fun, but rather to cram, study, and complete projects” phase. Except this time, I’m still having fun. Every free moment of my day (ha….) has been spent working on a totally amazing room redecoration (be ready to have your mind blown in the next couple of weeks) and trying to keep my sanity. I’m also spending a lot of time at church and truly discovering my faith…it is so amazing. I’m also trying to figure out if I will have a summer assistantship or not (you know, the difference between $7000 and a regular paycheck).

So I just wanted to give you all a little check in. Be prepared for an amazing recipe and the start of a room transformation this week!

Moving away from everything I have known has been a journey for me. A journey towards faith, calmness and peace. A journey towards Christianity and living my life for God. A journey that I plan on continuing for the rest of my life.

I’m not 100% sure what sparked inside of me, but conversations with Christians, particularly with some Christian bloggers, absolutely pushed me in the right direction. I wanted to be like them. I wanted to have the understanding and the joy that they had in their lives…and I discovered that it was God that brought that joy and understanding to them. I discovered that knowing God and following God is what would make my life whole.

My Christian Walk has been a main focus in my life recently, and with that Praying and Journaling to God. I feel like I am always so busy, and I have to remember to make time in my day to read His word and to reflect on it. And because I’m much better at focusing when I am writing something down, journaling has really been helpful for me.

I journal to pray, I journal to talk to God, I write down verses that make an impact on my life. I can’t wait to look back at my journals years from now, and reflecting on how my life has grown closer to God. I wasn’t 100% sure of how to journal to God, but I think I have found a method that works for me. Some of you have heard of the SOAP method….

This little image is printed on an index card and sits inside my Bible. It gives me directions for how to journal and I have felt my relationship with God developing even further. More so, I am getting so much more out of reading my Bible, as I apply it to my daily life.

Do you journal to God? Do you have any specific ways of doing so?