Picture Canvas for the Wall!

After getting everything moved in and completing the list of 10 Things to Do After Moving to a New City, I am excited to be getting some home decorating done! I am also so excited about this project! I have done three of them and they have all turned out great! My goal for the new apartment was to decorate and make it feel like home after we finally got moved in. Matt could not care less about what is on the walls, but I do. I love decorating and having everything colorful. I have been working on the dining room and the living room the most, but my next goal is the bathroom and bedroom.
I decided that I wanted to have quotes hanging on the walls, but I didn’t want to pay $25+ for the decorative signs that you can find on the internet.

10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Starting College

As college gets closer and closer, I keep thinking about all the things that I have learned and worked on since I started college last year. There are a lot of things that I truly wished that I would have known before started college that I didn’t think I would need to know. Some of these things are from other people. There are a lot more things, and every person you ask will be slightly different in the things that they tell you, but it is still good to have some idea before walking into class.

5 Things YOU can do to THANK A BLOGGER!

Sometimes, even if people are reading your blog, and you have page views on them, It can still feel like you are talking to a wall. If no one is mentioning your blog or sharing it with their friends, it can start to feel pretty lonely.
Even if you aren’t talking to a wall, it can the the idea that it isn’t very interesting, or no one found your tips that you were offering helpful.

There is a lot of up and coming with blog writing being more popular, but a lot people don’t seem to understand exactly how to appreciate the blog! I read another blog post similar to this one and it inspired me to get it out to my audience as well. I thought the way the other blogger wrote it was very insitful and I had never thought about it as people not really knowing what goes into putting together a blog.
This is probably the think I spend a bigger chunk of my time doing. I spend a good amount of time thinking of ideas for blog posts. If I am not writing it, I am trying to get the perfect pictures for my blog. Or creating cool logos in Photoshop or other such things. There is a lot of little things that go into a well put together blog.

5 Things You Can Do To Thank A Blogger!

1. Subscribe to their blog
This is obviously one of the ways that you can really show your appreciation. When you subscribe to their blog, you can get the link to their posts after they post, so you will never miss a single thing! This can be annoying if you already get a ton of emails, or you don’t check it regularly. If you don’t want to subscribe to the blog itself, follow them on Facebook, Pinterest, or where ever they post the links to their blog! That way you can always check them out!

2. Leave a comment
This seems to be one of the hardest things for people to do. Comments can do a lot for a blog. They can provide encouragement, constructive criticism, or other great ideas. Since I read another person’s blog, I have made it a pact to comment on at least one post every time I visit someone else’s blog. This way I show I was there, thank them for their post, ask them a question or make a comment, but I also connect my blog t
o that comment so they can check out what I write.
This is really great because I have had my blog for almost a year and a half. I have over 80 posts on my blog, but only I have only ever had 6 comments one any post. I would love to see this number go up. It also gives a great idea to the blogger of who is reading their blog and where their traffic is coming from!

3. Share it on Pinterest
Everyone knows how quickly social media works. If one person posts something, then their friend posts something about it with the link then all of their friends see it… so on and so on.. You understand my point. One of the biggest satisfactions of a blogger is seeing that a lot of people read it. One of my posts had over 300 views on that post alone. I didn’t think it was that great of a post compared to some of my other ones, but it is a good feeling to know that people shared it so much that it got that many views. I appreciate everyone who repins and shares my blog on Facebook. Your explanations don’t have to be as long as mine, they can be as simple as “Check this Out!” or something to that affect.
Also, If you see my pin on Pinterest, even if you have already read my blog, it would be great if you could share that with other people! Especially if you like the post a lot.

4. Exit a page through one of the ads on their page
People who don’t blog don’t really understand this concept because it is kinda hard for some bloggers to understand as well. When a blog has ads on the side, they are usually getting paid for those blogs. Mine are PPC or Pay Per Click. This simply means that for every person who clicks on an ad, I get a little money from it for the advertising. Let me tell you, it really doesn’t amount to much, but it is cool to see all that work pay off, even if it is 50 cents. I definitely don’t blog for the money, but that is why I started when I originally started this blog. Im still really struggling for some more ways to get that great traffic to my blog.

5. Tell other people about their blog!
Easiest way to share something is to tell other people to check it out. This sounds really simple, but how many times do you say, well I saw this thing on pinterest. Instead, what about saying “I saw this thing on a blog called…. “” You should check it out.
Even if they don’t check it out right away. Sometimes they will stumble across it later and it will click that they have heard about the blog before. Then they will go looking for the post that they heard about.

Blogging isn’t for other people, at least when I do it. I like to write a lot anyway, but I sometimes struggle with it. I hope this helps people see the customs of bloggers. The more time I spend on other blog sites, the more I am learning about my own blog!

I hope to improve my blog for all of my readers as I work on it in the future!

Can you think of another way to thank a blogger that I didn’t mention? Let me know!?

Thanks for reading!

Name Canvas: For a Rainy Day

I have spent many hours searching for ideas to decorate the apartment walls. I have done some pretty cool stuff this week and I am super excited to share them all with my readers!

My New Blogging Plan

I have struggled with what this blog is about most of the time that I have had the blog. I have spent hours searching other blog sites and reading all about what they do for their blog to make it work.

I am going to try something new and I hope to keep with it throughout the school year. I may have a few weeks were I struggle to keep up, but I will make sure to at least post every once in a while. I am really excited to start this!

My plan is to have a different theme for every day Monday-Friday. Each day will have a theme but it will be broad enough that I can write about a lot of things that are under that category. Every week will have a different blog post for that day of the week.

Monday’s theme is Money Saving Mondays. There will be different things like saving money on a certain project, idea, or bill. Depending on the week, it may be something kind of off the wall, or something that Matt and I have really applied in the house.

Tuesday’s are Tasty Tuesdays. This includes recipes, kitchen tips that I have found helpful and other kitchen oriented posts. This may get pretty narrow depending on the week, but I am going to work on trying a ton of new recipes soon!

Wednesdays are Weigh In Wednesdays. This may be misleading because it sounds like I am 100% focused on weight, but it will actually be about overall health. It will be for mental, physical, and emotional health benefits. Sometimes it will be about my physical process of getting to my initial goal weight (Seems like I was at the same place last year) Sometimes it will be health tips that I have put together or learned along the way!

Thursdays are Try It Out Thursdays. This will be college tips, new craft projects, decorating tips, or just a new place that I visited in Omaha. It will be recommendations for things that I think everyone should try at least once.

Fridays are Freestyle Fridays. This is really broad because I wanted to have a day where I could write about something not in one of the previous categories. It may include a variety of many things. Some of the posts may fall into some of the categories above, but they also may not. This may include traveling or fun things that Matt and I do. This is just kind of a fun day for me to play around with my blog.

I hope to you check out my blog posts for the weeks to follow. I know that I am going to aim to continue this plan for the rest of the summer at least, but I hope to continue it into the school year as much as I possibly can!

College Dining Hall Rules.

This link is for every runner that needs to feel better about their mental thought process during a run. Or anyone who can’t really relate and just needs a laugh. It made me laugh out loud in the dining hall and look like some freak. It happens (:

Now that you had a good laugh for day. You can finish reading my post!

So this week was the first week back from spring break. I started thinking back to the eating habits that I developed when I came to college. NOT GOOD.

Education Abroad

When I was young, I would spend Saturday mornings on the couch just like any other kid. I curled up in the living room in my pajamas with uncombed hair to watch TV, but instead of watching the typical kid’s cartoons, my father and I watched the History, Discovery, or Travel channel together. I was always fascinated by the history of things not talked about or stressed in the average history class such as the history of other countries and the history of products that people use every day. This is when my love for history and my desire to travel the world started to blossom.

My parents ensured that our family went on a vacation every summer. It was always somewhere filled with fun, but also educational. One summer, we spent two weeks traveling throughout southern Nebraska. We stopped in Red Cloud to read about Willa Cather. We spent a day in Pioneer Village in Minden learning about the settlers of the west. We concluded our trip in Hastings during Kool-Aid days.

During the first semester of my freshman year at UNL, I took two history classes. I took Women in U.S. History and The Minority Experience. Both of them were the highlights of my day because they gave an unusual perspective on the classic U.S. history tale that is taught starting in early elementary.  They were the typical history story from the different perspective of women or minorities, such as Hispanics, African Americans, and Native Americans. These really interest me because they are often the stories that go untold or unexplored in history.   

From childhood to a blossoming young adult, I always had a love for long walks along the tourist paths. One of my strengths is being able to travel and spend many hours visiting new places. Being a soldier in the National Guard has given me the ability to always be ready to move, but to sit and wait when it is required of me. 

University of Nebraska is providing a three week trip to South Africa this summer that I am aiming to go on.On the trip, we will participate in a home-stay, historic sight-seeing, including the prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, spend some time on the beach, and learn about the differences in the culture of South Africa.  

This trip will help me in my future because I hope to use my degree to help families of deployed soldiers. The United States Military is made up of all different kinds of people. Having the knowledge of different cultures will help me, help them.  I am excited to go on the South Africa trip to Cape Town because it is not a topic commonly covered in history classes in school. 

I have also never been out of the country and I am looking forward to the experience of another culture that can only be gained through visiting that country. I believe that this trip will truly be a chance of a lifetime. I cannot wait to see how this trip will benefit me in the near and distant future. I look forward to learning all about the different cultures and broadening my horizons.

           I appreciate everyone who can help me with this cause because it is truly something I believe is worth my time to travel. I understand that not everyone cannot give to my fund, but I would really appreciate the people who can! I hope to see the world and experience life while I am still young.
    Take a virtual tour of South Africa to see how truly beautiful the country is right here! The beaches and ocean looks so inviting!
    Thank you very much! If you can, please Donate here!

Date Night Jar

     Hey! Sorry to my readers, I was sick all weekend and have been busy on the go and working out the last few days. Yesterday, Sean and I spent two hours at the YMCA, just working out and messing around. We played basketball, racquetball, and we swam. Then we had supper at grandma’s. (Always a treat)
    Today, I spent the day making his Valentine’s Day gift. I put together a “Date Jar”.
I put glitter on the ends of the sticks to make it easier to tell which date falls into which category.

Here are the dates:

At Home (Stuff You Have)

• Wii Competition: Pick a game and go for the gold
• Pinterest Food: Spend time browsing through the food section of Pinterest. Make one
• YouTube Date Night: All the funniest Videos
• Write a bucket list and make plans for at least one of them
• Plan your dream vacation together (Sight seeing, hotels, costs)

At Home (With a trip to the store)

• Chopped challenge: pick up a basket of food and make what you can with it
• Chefs for the Night: Choose a hard recipe and attempt to make it together
• Rootbeer Floats and a Movie: pick a movie from home to go with your floats.
• Sundae Bar: Buy a gallon of ice cream and your favorite toppings
• Redbox Date Night: Get a movie out of the ordinary
• Board Game Fun: Pick a game and play

Going Out (No $)

• Duck Date: Grab a loaf of bread and feed the ducks
• Childhood Books: Go to a bookstore and read favorite childhood books together
• Giving Back: Spend a night Volunteering or helping out
• Photo Vacation: Create photo proof that you went somewhere you didn’t
• House Hunters: Drive around in search of open houses, pretend to be a newly married couple in search for the perfect house

Going Out ($)

• Fly a Kite: buy a dollar kite and go to the park
• Dollar Store Gifts: Spread out and find each other 1 gifts
• Thrift Store Finds: Find the best deal under a set limit of choice
• Appetizers and Dessert Date: Go to your favorite restaurant for only Appetizers and Dessert
• Bowling. See who can get the best/worst score
• 3 Places and a meal: Try hitting a few different places. Have an appetizer in one restaurant, a main course at another, and dessert somewhere else
• Dinner and A Movie
• Animal House: Go to the zoo. Make sure to bring back a stuffed animal or something else to remember the fun trip with. Take Lots of rediculous photos together!
• Tourist in your town: Every town has some kind of tourist attraction, and most people in that town have never visited the ones right there. Make a day of learning about the little things in your town or a nearby town.
• Mini golf
• Find a museum

So first step is to make a list similar to the one above, you can add or change things that you and your significant other like to do together, or have done in the past.

Then gather your materials:

• Glitter, Paint, Makers, Ribbon or whatever you want to use to distinguish groups
• Popsicle sticks
• Glue (if you are using glitter)
• Sharpie (to write the dates)

     I had bought glitter for a Christmas present idea that never got finished. It had been sitting on top of the dresser since then, so I decided it needed to get used. Like I said, you can use anything to mark each group as long as you can distinguish the groups apart. 

    After I had gotten everything ready, came the messy part. Getting the glitter on the end of each Popsicle stick. I had glitter everywhere, but I got it cleaned up.

Then let the glue dry and there you go. When it is pretty dried you can start writing the dates on them, but be careful not to smudge it (I got glitter all over my hands.)

This is what the date sticks looked like after I was finished. 

     There. Another Pinterest Project complete and I would say that this one is success. I already gave it to Sean since he bought me two books for my Valentine’s Day present (: {I only have 450 pages left in the second book he bought me on Monday.} Sean liked them. I still need to finish the jar for it, but all that consists of is placing ribbon around the top of it.