Three Letters

        No, not my Greek letters but the GRE! How scary is that, it means I have to graduate soon. (Although one truly never graduates from Ole Miss) So I brought my GRE book and am beginning the stress of looking into graduate schools. I am looking to pursue audiology so that alone really limits my choices. I have 64 schools to chose from and  have already limited by location so I am really down to 20. No offense to the midwesterners but I really love the East Coast/South East region. I even stretched into Texas for Matt- its the least I could do. (My hair is gonna look awful in Texas) 

    Anyway the book is on the way and I am going to find 4 hours each week to study. This semester is really going to test my time management. Thank God for great planning and microwave meals! 

I my week breaks down like this :

04 study hours with my sorority for my classes

03 hours volunteering with Leap Frog

04 hours for GRE studying

15 hours of classes 

40 hours of sleeping (8x5)

03 hours of working out 

That is 69 hours of the week that is already planned! 

Grown Up Golden Rule

"A gentleman accepts the responsibility of his actions and bears the burden of their consequences." 

-William Faulkner

      We all remember being told in grade school to treat others how you would like to be treated. Well now that we are adults I believe it is time to add a little more to the "golden rule" Recently there has been some drama in my life. Nothing is new with that, but what I have come to understand is... things are going to go bad, that is just a part of live and the only thing you can do is react in a way that you can live with.  Because when all is said and done the only thing that matters is how you handled yourself. 

*I have never read anything by William Faulkner but living in Oxford you just have to love him! 

Auntie Ann's Pretzel Bites

  

  So we don't have a mall around Oxford so I had a slight withdraw from Auntie Ann's Pretzels. I got on pinterest and found this awesome recipe and gave it a try. I changed part of the recipe as one cinnamon sugar is my favorite and two I am not skilled enough to twist the dough into the correct shape.   My wonderful roommate ate them as soon as the smell made it upstairs. While my boyfriend requested a batch to take into the office. I would say that they were a huge hit! So here is my rendition on Auntie Ann's Pretzels. 

What You Need

• 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon butter (melted)
• 1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1 cup (approximately) Cinnamon Sugar 

What To Do

 1.  Prepare yeast as instructed on the packet. Usually involving boiling water- check your packet for the exact instructions   

2. Add oil to the yeast and stir.

3. In a separate bowl mix place powdered sugar, butter, flour and salt and mix. Place yeast mixture and water into the dry ingredient bowl and add.

4. Flour a surface and knead the dough for about 10 minutes.

5. Place dough in a covered bowl ( I use plastic wrap) and let it rest for about an hour at 80 degrees. (I used the toaster oven to keep it warm.) Dough should double in size (depending on your type of yeast).

6. Preheat oven at 420

7. Take dough and pull of small bits to ball up. 

8. Prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 tbsp baking soda. (This step is important to help give it the brown color and maintain shape.)

9. Dip each ball into the baking soda bath.

10. Place ball on to parchment paper on top of a baking sheet. If you do not have parchment paper be sure to wipe out and re-grease the pan between each batch. 

11. Bake for about 9 minutes or until ball is light brown.

12. Dip in melted butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top! 

Product of the 90's

      I am a proud 90's kid. I did not grow up looking a cell phone, computer or tv screen. I played outside, made up mythical places in the playroom and had to wait for the VCR to rewind before I could watch any of movie. My days were filled with grass stains, Magic School Bus books and slap bracelets. Lunchables were my favorite thing about going on field trips and light up shoes were all the rage. I remember when Titanic was in theaters and Michael Jordan played basketball with cartoons in Space Jam. 

 Do you remember what was your jam in the 90's?  

More Great Things About the 90's

1) Pogs 

2) Beanie Babies

3) Good Burger 

4) Wheres Waldo

5)Goosebumps

6) Babysitter's Club

7) Nickelodeon’s Getting Slimed

8) Power Rangers

9) Nintendo 64

10) Skorts!

11) Walk Men

12) Polly Pockets

13) The Oregon Trail 

14) Hansons 

15) Slap Bracelets

16) Bewitched

17) S Club 7

18) Flavored Chap Sticks

19) Spice Girls 

20) Lisa Frank 

Am I missing any?!

10 ways to improve your self confidence

     We have all had those days when nothing you do is right. More milk ended up on the counter top than in the coffee mug, you got a flat on the way to work, you left your laptop charger at home... the day seems to drag on forever. Just wait though because I found 10 ways to improve the way you feel about yourself, some happen over time while others provide instant gratification.

1) Compliment other people- having people like helps you like you

2) Sit in the front row- show other people that you are there and ready to conquer what they have coming

3) Speak up- the more you speak up the better you will get at communicating with others and less awkward it will feel.

4) Work Out- burning calories makes you feel better out your physical appearance and provides you with positive energy. 

5) Focus on Contribution - there is no greater feeling than knowing you helped someone else

6) Good Posture - how you carry yourself means a lot! Just sitting up straighter makes a positive impression. 

7) Walk Faster- you will feel more important which increases you self confidence 

8) Dress Sharp- let every outfit be a power outfit and watch your confidence level rise. They don't have to be expensive either!

9) Gratitude- make a mental list of everything you are grateful for, this will make you feel better about everything you have. 

10) Personal Commercial- take 30 seconds and list everything positive, really bring out the best in yourself. 

reference

The Closet Monster

     I HATE cleaning out my closet. I don't like throwing away clothes but I love shopping so my closet is full to the brim. Over my winter break I picked up You Are What You Wear, What your clothes reveal about you by Dr Jennifer Baumgartner. 
       She is brillant! It is true that I only wear about 1/3 of what is in my closet! Sad but I can't manage to purge the other 2/3 that just take up space. Ask my roommates I am always complaining of not knowing what to wear because all of the clothes are so overwhelming. So I took the challenge, I managed to throw away any article of clothing that was stained, ripped or overly worn. I didn't make me feel automatically better about my collection of clothes but my closet sure does look better. If I really did throw away 2 out of every 3 articles of clothing I think I would go into shock with how much space is in my closet! 
     Not only does Dr. Baumgartner talk about the collection of clothing but your clothing choices. She had me considering the size of my purse. I was questioning how much crap I really needed to care around. I carry my favorite nail polish around, a dozen gift cards, more then three different shades of lip gloss and my purse is SO heavy! You can actually see the bottom of my purse now that it is all crap is gone! It is so easy to find things now! 
    I won't give much more away because her writing is so eye opening you really need to read it yourself. Dr. Baumgartner hits all the major topics including how to accessorize for your clothing style, manage your label obsession and even how to dress appropriate in the work place. Not only is it clothing advice it is the deeper issue that is the root of the problem. 

It is not the typical self help book so don't let that from stopping you from buying it! 

What Others Thought of the Book: 

Philadelphia Tribune, 3/23/12

“[A] fashion guide that is like no other.”

VIVmag.com, 5/16/12

“Baumgartner gets to the issues underlying wardrobe woes…Part style guide, part psychological examination.”

Tucson Citizen, 7/19/12

“[A] nifty new book…If you want to dress and feel better about yourself and how you look, this could be the guide you have been searching for.”

Dr. Robin Zasio, PsyD, featured doctor on the A&E hit series “Hoarders” and author of The Hoarder In You

“Dr. Baumgartner gives us a captivating look into the psychology of what we wear. Her perspective is insightful and relatable, offering a unique opportunity to unlock this complex relationship.

Facts About Me

Inspired by : I Wore Yoga Pants

I have done one of these in the past but it's been a few years so lets give it another go! 

The beach is my heaven

Nothing bad has ever happend to me on the beach 

I adore the sun, sand and more importantly beach hair. 

There is an instant relaxation that comes over me when I am near the ocean. 

The beach during the off season is even better! No unfortunate guys in banana hammock in sight! 

I love peas!

There is an embarrassing story of me falling asleep in my peas as a baby but ever since I could remember I have loved them. Don't ask me why, I have no idea! 

If you let me  I will eat of bowl of them for dinner every night, I have been told that is a bit odd but oh well. 

I rowed crew

And actually was pretty good at it.

During my high school years I joined the crew team (nerdy I know) but it was still a blast.

Anyway I rowed on a lightweight 4 and a lightweight 8 and we went to the National Regatta twice! During my years as a rower I got hyperthermia twice but that is beside the point.  

I am the fifth from the left or in the fifth seat if you know crew terms 

Gone with the Wind is my favorite movie 

I have watched it more times than any human should. Even wrote my SAT essay about Scarlett O'Hare's strong female character. It is my all time favorite movie despite how long it is. The book is even better than the movie. I tried to read the counter part from Rhett Butler's point of view but stopped because I didn't want it to ruin my love for the story. 

I am always cold

And I do not mean cold hearted, I mean physically cold. My hands, feet everything is always cold to the touch. The doctors said its just poor circulation but clearly they don't know what it's like to have ice cubes for fingers. In addition to always being cold, I hate the AC. Even in Mississippi during the summer time, I loth having the AC on me.  

Last but not least...


My dream is to travel to every continent 

Silly I know but Antarctica sounds awesome- given I have the proper parka! Australia has always been appealing, it looks beautiful and so exciting. I have traveled to Europe- Italy to be exact although really wish to see London. Thailand would be awesome- I saw it once on The Amazing Race and have been stuck on the idea since than. As so Africa the pyramids would be grand but South Africa looks amazingly gorgeous. South America would have to be Peru for Machu Picchu, it looks breath taking in picture imagine how amazing it looks in person. 

"Set Your Goals High and Don't Stop Until You Get There"

      I really mean to blog more often but I always get so busy. This semester I promise a new blog post each week! You know it has been too long since you last logged on when you cannot remember the email linked to the account. Needless to say, tonight I was determine to log on- it only took 45 minutes and a couple of password hints. 
     Blogging each week is just one of my goals this semester. I also am trying to run three times a week, call a parent everyday and take a calcium supplement each morning. Each goal is something I used to do although have stopped for one reason or another. 

     My goal progress has began- I went for a two mile run this afternoon. Being out of shape is no joke, I am going to be sore tomorrow. I called my mom today to ask for her pear recipe which totally counts and I called my dad yesterday to talk football. As for the calcium supplement I am trying to find one that doesn't taste nasty.
  
   Taking calcium is really import to any women as we are most likely to suffer from osteoporosis. So ladies make sure you are getting 1,000 mg of calcium a day! If you do not get enough calcium in your diet than it is taken from you bones. I had a stress fracture a few years ago and it is still not healed because I was not getting enough calcium. Bottom line casts are not cute so get your calcium!

"Set Your Goals High and Don't Stop Until You Get There" -Bo Jackson