brave and beautiful

I am Brave and Beautiful - a beauty movement that is sweeping the globe. Colbie Caillat started it with her recent song and video called TRY. My blogging friend Megan of Brassy Apple wanted to push this movement along and invited women from all over to share what they looked like without make up and I joined in!! Colbie's song says, "Take your make up off. Let your hair down... Look into the mirror at yourself, Do you like you? Cause I like you... "

Megan and her friend Cobi of Peacefrom6pieces have been the team behind this whole project. Their worldwide vision included creating their own video inspired by the song TRY. The talent of Robbins Creative made it possible for them to pull it off. You have to click play and see the beauty and bravery displayed and you might even recognize a few faces in there.

Me along with 101+ other blogging women from different backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, ages, shapes and sizes have decided to be Brave and Beautiful! You can join in this movement too by sharing what you look like without makeup on. You don't need a blog either! Just tag your photo with #IamBraveAndBeautiful on Instgram and search the hashtag to see who else has joined in. ALSO, if you tag it with a second hashtag - #ColbieTRY we just might be able to get Colbie Caillat's attention since she was the inspiration behind it all!

Are you brave and beautiful? I am, here I go!

i'm a makeup girl. i never leave the house without makeup besides to go to the gym first thing in the morning. i don't like to be seen without makeup. being put together is really important me, and having my full face on makes me feel put together. even on days when i am doing chores around the house and don't get ready for the day until later in the evening, i still feel the need to put on all my makeup. sometimes i try to wear less makeup, but i can't seem to do it. 

when megan first starting talking about her secret project and helping women feel brave and beautiful with who they are, i was very excited. i am still very excited, but i am also nervous. through this project i have realized that makeup is my comfort zone. makeup makes me feel better about myself, and it also hides a lot of my insecurities. sometimes you have to start out of your comfort zone.

                                                                                       photo credit Kaycie E

posting no makeup shots almost made me run away from this project. posting my naked face for the whole wide world to see is definitely out of my comfort zone, but the point of this whole project is so much bigger than myself and my fears and insecurities. it's about celebrating the beauty within us all. makeup or no makeup, we are all brave and beautiful. 

Don't stop here. Get clicking around - its a blog hop! Below are more brave and beautiful women bearing more than their natural beauty. They each have a little bit of their heart to share with you. Some get very personal. Some share stories. For some this was very hard to do yet they gathered their courage and did it anyway. We hope as you click around (and YES pin these different posts!) you will feel the importance of it, the empowering effect it has and that it encourages you in some way.

>>>>>>>Important info! Blog Hops often have glitches the first day. If the link has an ERROR, simply click on the HOME button for each site, or google the blog name next to the link, and you should see their brave and beautiful post there. Links will be updated as soon as possible.<<<<<<<<<<<<

1. BrassyApple 2. Peace from 6 Pieces 3. Is this Really My Life 4. Among the Young 5. Love Me Dani Marie 6. Sweet Charli 7. Kim Orlandini 8. XO, Ashton Tilton 9. She Calls Me Mama Leisha 10. Raising Memories - Canada 11. A Little Tipsy 12. Amy Cornwell 13. A girl and a glue gun 14. My Craftily Ever After 15. Maybe I Will 16. WhipperBerry 17. Paging SuperMom 18. All Things Thrifty 19. Ashlee Marie 20. The Project Girl

21. One Little Momma 22. Entirely Eventful Day 23. Diary of a Brown Eyed Girl 24. Tips from a Typical Mom 25. Utah Sweet Savings 26. Flats to Flip Flops 27. One Krieger Chick 28. What Meegan Makes 29. Simply Kierste 30. Live to be Inspired 31. HoneyBear Lane 32. Pretty Providence 33. Ma Nouvelle Mode - in FRANCE 34. MomEntity 35. Serger Pepper - in ITALY 36. Kiki and Company 37. Girl Loves Glam 38. Thrive

39. The Potters Place 40. Crafting in the Rain 41. Cooking With Ruthie 42. Delineate Your Dwelling 43. The Pennington Point 44. Bakerette 45. The Happy Scraps 46. Shannon Baird Photography 47. Tried and Tasty 48. Lionesses at the Gate 49. Fry Sauce and Grits 50. Lolly Jane 51. That's What Che Said 52. Sugar Bee Crafts 53. Your HomeBased Mom 54. Happiness is Homemade 55. The Crafted Sparrow 56. R&R Workshop 57. I Should Be Mopping the Floor 58. Sassy Steals

59. Let's Eat Grandpa 60. Being Spiffy 61. Sumo's Sweet Stuff 62. Ginger Snap Crafts 63. Bless This Mess 64. Apronista 65. Dreaming About Someday 66. Frenchie 67. Tastefully Frugal 68. Four Marrs and One Venus 69. Your Sister Circle 70. Over the Big Moon 71. See Vanessa Craft 72. Infarrantly Creative 73. Family StoryTelling

74. Albion Gould 75. Life as Mrs. Larson 76. Tried and True 77. Play.Party.Pin. 78. Bite of Delight 79. Ink Happi 80. ObSEUSSed 81. U Create 82. My Mommy Style 83. Find it Make it Love it 84. The Contractor Chronicles 85. Novae Clothing 86. Mommy Makes Things 87. At Home with Sweet T 88. We Like to Learn As We Go 89. House for Five 90. Organize and Decorate Everything 91. Sassy Southern Gurl 92. The Creative Mom 93. Keep Moving Forward with Me

94. The Benson Street 95. Mom 4 Real 96. Sowdering About 97. illistyle 98. The Crafty Blog Stalker 99. A Fiery Red Life 100. Cupcakes & Crowbars 101. One Sweet Appetite 102. My DayLights 103. Restless Risa

104. Sypsie Designs 105. Vintage Mother 106. Like Mother Like Daughter 107. 30 Handmade Days 108. Queen Be and Me 109. Apples by Ashley 110. Boutique Cafe - in CANADA 111. Just My Little Mess 112. Bombshell Bling 113. Sarah Tyau 114. Taradara Make it 115. Capturing Joy 116. Ivory Lime Photography 117. Jenkins Kid Farm 118. Free Time Frolics 119. Bella Storia 120. Dana Ohlsen Photography

Ready in join in?Snap, hashtag and share! Tag @BrassyApple and @Peacefrom6Pieces if you can too!

Also follow our Bravery and Beauty PINTEREST board for more inspiration!

2014 goals

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i never used to pick a word for the year, but the past couple of years i really like having a theme word for the year. before we talk about 2014, here's a little rundown of 2013...FUN (i blogged about my plans for the year)

daily fun... i started out posting on twitter daily, but dropped off pretty early. i still had a lot of fun in 2013

document 12 runs...got started but need to keep working on this 

spend less...hit and miss/needs improvement

send birthday cards in the mail...mostly successful. probably my favorite goal of the year. plan to continue. make sure i know when your birthday is

write in my journal at least once a month...started and finished strong with a gap in the middle

monthly goals (1 per month all year)...no sugar january, month of hair, month of blue, 30x30, focus on blog, transfer to bloglovin, 30x30 again, write down money spent on food for month, 30x30 again...i did ok on monthly goals and need to do a little better in 2014

i made good progress on a lot of goals and had a lot of FUN

and now my word for 2014 is...

BALANCE

with all the fun and other things of 2013, my life was pretty out of balance. i want to continue to have fun and enjoy life, but i also need to take care of myself. i have a goal to spend reasonable amounts of time on things i want to do, things i need to do, and things in between. i'm pretty sure more balance will help me have a happier more fulfilling life.

i'm still trying to figure out exactly what BALANCE looks like for me, and i'm excited to spend 2014 getting there.

as well as my quest for BALANCE, i like the idea of setting monthly goals.

january...no unnecessary spending (no clothes, no makeup, no nail polish, etc.)

february...i'm considering month of hair again, but i'm not committing yet

march...maybe read a book or i might change to something else

april...something autism related for autism awareness month

may-december...still undecided

i obviously still have some thinking to do. i will continue to set goals throughout the year.

here's to a fun, healthy, productive, and BALANCEd 2014.

the surgical story

Drew was my little buddy the couple of days I was at his house. He was fascinated with the crutches and ice pump.

surgery = no contacts, no makeup, no jewelry

My other post about having surgery was mostly to prevent people from freaking out because they didn't know. I still got a little of that but nothing too bad. Here's the rest of the long story....

After the Ogden marathon back in May, my hip was bugging me. Since I had the Utah Valley marathon 3 weeks later I went to physical therapy a few times. It seemed to be getting a lot better so I ran Utah Valley (mistake #1). Looking back, my 45 minutes off my normal finishing time should have been a big clue that I was injured, but no. I ran Wasatch Back (mistake #2) the next weekend. By the end of that, my hip was killing me, and I couldn't walk. I spent the rest of the summer going to physical therapy 3x/week. I was gradually getting a little better. At least that's what I thought.

By the end of the summer, I hit a big plateau in therapy and still couldn't walk with a normal gait. I finally went to see a sports medicine doctor. After a x-rays and a MRI, they found a tear in the cartilage of my hip. I tried 6 weeks of swimming only and a steroid shot, and still I wasn't better. Before even seeing the doctor for the final time I decided to have surgery. I was pretty sick of not being able to do what I wanted to do, and surgery seemed like the only solution.

I made a couple of appointments with different surgeons and found out I would have to wait until March to have surgery. I was so done with the waiting game by that point. I started calling around and found another surgeon that did arthroscopic surgery. I had a consultation with him and felt really comfortable with him and his experience. He was booked for the year but opened another surgery day for December 2. Within a couple of hours of leaving his office, I scheduled surgery for a week and a half later.  It's really crazy how things work out. I was really upset and stressed about not getting into the other surgeon for so long, but it turned out to be a huge blessing. I'm so happy I went with Dr. West. He dedicated 1/3 of this year to studying this exact procedure to be the most effective and efficient. His dedication made me feel very comfortable with him.

Michelle took me to the hospital. They took me straight back to pre-op, and I was ready to go pretty quickly. I was about to walk down (ya walk down) to the OR when some equipment broke. I ended up waiting/staring at the wall for the next hour before they were ready. I walked down to the OR, got on the bed, and that's all I remember. The next thing I knew I woke up in the PACU. I was SO nervous about going home (to Michelle's house). I was pretty stressed about getting around with crutches. I had the nicest nurse. She suggested I spend the night and even came to my room to talk to me for a bit. Michelle came to check on me and visit for a while. A few hours later, the night nurse came in, and I knew her. I was so happy to know my nurse. It really helped relieve some of the anxiety. By the time I got out of bed and moved around a little, I realized the crutches would be ok.

I spent the night in the hospital. Dy picked me up the next day and took me to Michelle's for the next several days. I was hooked up to an ice pump for the next week, but other than that I did really well. I have been able to move around really well, and I haven't been in pain at all. Being on crutches hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought although it has been very interesting (more on that later). I am healing really well and expect to be completely back to normal soon. It's weird to say lucky when talking about surgery, but I really do feel like one lucky girl.

blogging the bach..in paradise 2.2

was anyone else surprised last week that after paradise is a thing? did you watch it? we did not and probably will not. 3 hours of the bach per week is plenty.

who's watching: the whole bodily clan (celsey and shawn, amanda and roommates alyssa and alexis, alicia and husband adam, and lacey)

post rose ceremony

what i saw
there was so much going on here that i really have no idea what was going on

what i heard
why is she talking?--lacey about tenley
she acts like a little 16 year old but she's 24--lacey
it's because no one wants her--cel
it's because every time she's on camera, she's throwing a fit--lacey

what i thought

how am i supposed to count the tear tally when lauren is crying the whole time?

joshua arrives/date/joe arrives

what i saw
doesn't the bach provide sunscreen? these people are fried-all of them

what i heard
i'm sad jillian and her black box went home--cel
i'm jealous of her beach waves--cel
if i'm going to get a tattoo, i'm definitely getting a front shin--cel
she's just like ashley but so much worse--alexis
she has to squeeze her eyes really hard to get those tears--alicia
not one of you meat heads could help carry her suitcase--amanda
she puts in her own extensions and they look terrible--alicia
can he not read?--lacey
that would be me actually- talking to an animal--alyssa
so no one came to save her so she's all good now--lacey
if i say it with a laugh, maybe people won't think i'm such an ___--amanda
wait because he's a big guy they have a future forever?--alyssa
he's got to stop using these analogies--alyssa
so josh is not as passive as we thought--alexis
you are on bachelor in paradise. i don't know why these people are so devastated they're not finding good people--alicia

what i thought
jj has the worst tattoos ever
jj thinks he is the most amazing thing ever
obviously i don't care for jj

at the house/joe and juelia's date

what i saw
juelia and jared having a heart to heart
carly and kirk might as well get married already

what i heard
is she wearing a retainer?--amanda
duh have you seen the show--cel
now she's doing yoga--cel
worked for disney, worked for hugh hefner-same thing--alicia
you know you've been married too long when you don't even know what's cool--cel
just cuz he sounds like a hick doesn't mean he knows how to ride a horse--cel
he had no preference. you volunteered--amanda
this seems like such an awkward date--lacey
she rides a horse like juan pablo--amanda
why does he keep rolling his eyes back in his head?--alicia
dan, you're being a weasel--amanda
mikey's the type of guy that will text a girl every day- hi--alyssa
why didn't she go home when her sister went home--alicia

what i thought
juelia is really trying hard to make this date work

night at the house

what i saw
a lot of people embarrassing themselves

what i heard
her hair is naturally going into dreads--alexis
i hate boys--alyssa
they do so good at making you cringe for them--lacey
jade seems as boring as my little pinky toe--alexis
she looks like she's having an allergic reaction--alicia
it's almost like her cheeks swell like she's allergic to her own tears--alicia
jealous on mikey looks terrible--cel
i wonder if he's watching this finally realizing--amanda
he's so territorial. he's like a dog--alyssa
they're #matchymatchy --cel
you're wearing matching v necks. help a brother out--cel

what i thought
i feel so sad and embarrassed for juelia
poor mikey doesn't get it either

clare and jared date/back at the house/michael arrives/michael and tenley date

what i saw
uncomfortable, awkward jump
ashley i crying.again and having no idea how to deal with her makeup

what i heard
these guys are dumb as rocks--alexis
ashley's been really normal--alexis
she had the bird flu for a minute but now she's fine--cel
how did tenley go from no guys to so many guys?--lacey
i don't know how all those women at the playboy mansion didn't teach jade a thing--cel
he's like jamie otis--cel
then she'll go home and makeout with another guy because they need their rose too--alicia
i don't know how to dance to this--cel you just bump and grind--alexis

what i thought
i really thought clare and jared might work but things went south fast
tenley and michael's date was the fanciest we've seen so far in paradise

rose ceremony

what i saw
some interesting fashion choices
humidity is getting the best of some of these people
one of the worst kisses in the history of the bach between joe and juelia

what i heard
that's because you're drunk--cel
carly and kirk have the right idea-stay out of everyone's way and lay low--lacey
i think joe got a little bitter after kaitlyn--alyssa
she's trying to pretend like she's the bachelorette--alexis
and he just solidified himself a rose--lacey
all the guys are like i would rather just go home--cel
none of them are (here for love). they're all there to get famous--shawn
if chris is giving you tough love, it's serious--cel

what i thought
joe is super scary
clare is in the same position as last year-no one to love and ready to leave. maybe she should try another method for finding love.
to be continued is the worst. why do they do this to us?

tear tally..21 (counting was a little tricky since some of these people cried for a substantial amount of time)

i had a bit of a struggle with the format this week. i probably need a new structure for next week. did you watch this week? what did you think?

unblogged bloggable-#bearlakedladies

I don't know how it happened, but somehow this post never got published. In fact, I have quite a few posts from last year I will be catching up on over the next few weeks. One of my goals for 2019 (more on those in another post) is to get and stay caught up on this blog.

Back in August I went to Bear Lake with girls from book club. We have the best time together, but we hadn't spent a lot of time outside of book club together. Some of the girls live in the same neighborhood so they spend a lot of time together. Some of us know each other from other things, and some of us only know each other through book club. This weekend was so much fun and made us wish we could spend lots and lots of time together always.

We left after work on Thursday to drive up. Utah was basically all on fire this summer, and Bear Lake was no exception. This fire seemed so close and big (probably because it was so close), but luckily it was quickly contained. We spent the first night watching the fire and chatting about the weekend.

Some of us (me) like a lot of makeup. Some of us like a little makeup, and some of us don't care so much about makeup. I like to wear makeup especially when I know there will be a lot of pictures. Pretty soon we were all in the bathroom doing our makeup and trying to convince everyone to put on lipsense.

Bonnie made our lunches every day to take to the beach.

The air pump didn't work very well so we ended up blowing up several rafts and floats. It was worth it when we were out on the lake for a few hours floating around.

We rented a water trampoline and found out it is pretty hard for several adults to stand up at the same time. It was ridiculously fun, and we laughed a lot.

Playing crack the egg and other funny games

I'm not exactly sure what happened here except I know we convinced a kid to get on our tramp and take some pictures for us. Somehow the phone survived.

Even at 7 months pregnant, Dylan was not about to miss out on the fun.

Kendra left and Aubrey came (with baby Rosie)

We tried really hard to get the perfect jumping picture.

But we just couldn't quite all get it together.

Aubrey and Aubrey (and baby Rosie)

Bear Lake is beautiful! We had so much fun and can't wait to go back again.

blogging the bach 18.3

is it really only week 3?!? with all the sunday night specials it seems like this season is going on and on. speaking of the sunday night specials, i have a few things to say about this week.

1. for some reason, i looked up des and chris's proposal on you tube last week. it is the most awkward thing ever. it looks like they are happy so that's good, but i would want a do over.

2. does anyone else feel like you could be friends with the bach people? i really like some of them.

3. i've seen lots of stuff about trista's book on social media. i love trista and ryan. i really want to read the book

4. i always say i want a fake wedding ring...either that or neil lane

now onto week 3 of juan pablo and his ladies. make sure to go check out what ashley and kimberly have to say and link up below if you wrote a post.

date #1...cassandra

juan p doesn't want to waste her time since she's a single mom. so, what about all the other girls and their time? just wondering

by the time she told us for the 5th time this was her first first date in 3 years, i decided she has nothing else to say about her life. i kind of want to know more about the former part of her nba dancer sitch. i mean i agree. first dates suck, but your car turns into a boat which leads to a sunset makeup and dinner cooked by a hot (even if he can't speak english) dude, who cares when your last first date was. this is better.

i'm not sure about cassandra yet. she's not my fave, but i don't hate her.

date #2...group date

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juan p says camila is 1/2 his life and the other 1/2 is soccer. where does a woman fit in?

digressing for a minute...i played soccer once. i was 5. i picked flowers all season long. my sports anchor dad never made me play again. i wish i would have kept playing. i think i would like it now, but i feel way too old to start.

i keep asking "who is that blonde?"---turns out it's christy.

love andi's black with a little sparkle dress. still love andi.

juan p kisses lots of girls. they seem to forget they are on the bachelor. he's kissing everyone ok.

most awkward kiss of the night goes to sharleen. it only gets worse when she says it feels so organic. you know he has no idea what that means. i'm not even sure i know what that means.

during the game i thought for sure sharleen was getting the rose. it went to nikki, and i agree.

daye #3...chelsie

elise is really starting to bug me.

favorite line of the nights it's a "high dive on crack."

chelsie needs to take a tip from selma from sean's season...jump or you're going home. even though juan p gives her the choice, there really is no choice.

they jump and proceed to make some really cliche/bachelor analogies about jumping and life, etc.

she gets the rose, but i think she will leave soon...until the concert, and now I'm not so sure.

breakfast/pool party

no girls want to be seen without makeup. it's just embarrassing. BUT it probably is a good idea to catch the girls off guard just a little.

the girls seem to forget that it's the bachelor, and he likely is kissing all of them. i get it. that would be crappy, but it's what they signed up for.

a few random thoughts...

1. what is chris h wearing at the very beginning? if that's from his line of clothes, i'm worried.

2. why does juan p like sharleen so much?

3. i'm getting more worried about renee. she's totally in the mom zone. does he even look at her as a possible interest or just as the mom?

4. have these girls ever seen this show before? he kisses lots of girls. the end

best dressed at the rose ceremony goes to...tie between renee and andi

not my fave...elise

and the word tally

journey...0

amazing...7 but i'm pretty sure i missed some

love...10

connection...6

fairytale...0

sexy...3

what did you think of this week? who is your favorite? 

5 little confessions

a couple of years ago i did a monthly collaboration with some of my blogger friends-5 little confessions. i'm a pretty open book, but i always seemed to have something to say. imagine that:) i like to bring it back every once in a while.

1. i LOVE this blog so much, but things have been coasting around here lately. i LOVE to post and stick to a schedule, but sometimes i just need to sleep.

2. i only wash my hair once a week, but i shave my legs every day.

3. i keep my nails painted basically all the time. i don't like naked nails at all. my nails were so bad last week. i took the polish off but ran out of time to paint them before i went to take pictures with bonnie. luckily there weren't many hand shots, but i definitely had naked nails. i did however have time for false eyelashes and hair extensions.

4. i'm supposed to review a book in less than a week. i'm pretty sure i downloaded it on my phone, but i haven't even looked at it yet. looks like i know what i'll be doing this weekend.

5. i met some people for a super early breakfast and workout this morning. i usually go to the gym with no makeup straight out of bed. i knew we would be taking a ton of pictures so i got up in the early 4s this morning to put on a little makeup. i expect a lot of teasing about it, but i feel better about myself.

let's hear it. what do you have to confess?

Blog Design and Other Blog Biz

i have no idea how this happened, but this post never went up. i scheduled this to post in the middle of my move, but something bad happened in computer space. although it isn't all as current, i still want this post to go up.

things are straight up CRAZY around here. moving has completely taken over my life this week. i made myself keep my schedule open after work to pack and pack and pack, and pack i have done. there are boxes everywhere. speaking of everywhere...i'm here, there, and everywhere right now. head over to a complete waste of makeup to read my tricks for infrequent hair washing. (this guest post was several weeks ago, but it's still a good one.)

I love comments, and I try to respond. I prefer to respond with an email, but if your email address isn't connected to your account, the response gets lost in computer space. Check out my so-called chaos for a great post on adding your email. Scroll down to "enable your email" and voila you are no longer a no-reply blogger. If you commented on my blog and didn't get a response, it is probably because you are a no-reply blogger.

a post about my blog design is long overdue. i worked with the fabulous kate on my blog design. she was so easy to work with, and i love everything she designs. she was seriously so sweet. i can't say enough good things. if you need some blog design, go check out her design site white rabbit designs. you won't be sorry.

blogging the bach 19.4

who's watching...the usual crew was busy so it was just celsey and me until husband shawn came home and asked what was going on (pretending like he doesn't care) date #1...let's do what feels natural/girls at the mansion megan, kaitlyn, ashley s/i, juelia, samantha, mackenzie, kelsey what i saw jillian's blocked out everything-enough with it several girls i swear i have never seen carly with a yucky sand dollar necklace what i heard/said if you show up to a date with no makeup, you're a moron this is a date made for bimbos--kelsey (has she ever seen this show?) where is ashley s? nevermind she and her crazy just showed up i don't think ashley s is here for the right reasons because i don't even think she knows where here is--kaitlyn i wonder if she's going to rape him in the woods--cel about ashley i so the muslim is like a freaking ----- apparently--shawn what i thought ashley i needs to GO kelsey was a total grouch kaitlyn is starting to grow on me we still have no idea who samantha is date #2...something about princess jade what i saw bling. lots and lots of bling she tried on some pretty dresses and ended up dressing like a bird what i heard/said did she like that dress because it has a train--cel like disney paid them to get the inspiration--shawn about cinderella inspiration why was he practicing the waltz? he's just doing the deacon shuffle now he's not dancing. he's not a good multi-tasker, he's a farmer--cel about chris when the movie came on and he couldn't keep dancing what i thought they both seem a little too reserved to make this work/it's maybe too late in the season for her date #3...let's get dirty nikki, jillian, whitney, carly, britt, becca what i saw jillian looks so awkward in a wedding dress+she's wearing the worst shoes what i heard/said how can he even lift her?--cel about chris picking up jillian cody junior--cel what i thought why is jillian even on this date? she's obviously going to win jillian should look up cody code. they seem like a good fit i don't drink, but if i did i wouldn't get drunk on a one on one date on national television rose ceremony/cocktail party what i saw ashley i is in the her same cinderella dress what i heard/said if we don't know who it is, and she has brown hair it's nikki--cel after i said who's that for the 10th time i am continually so embarrassed for ashley i--me her poor family--cel what i thought talking about other girls is a huge waste of time. we all know that. have these girls ever seen this show? we like britt a lot, but she was dumb word tally (i did even worse this week or maybe they just weren't said) farm...2 journey...0(is this for real?) love...7 amazing...3 future wife...2 who's still here...kaitlyn, jade, whitney, carly, megan, samantha, mackenzie, kelsey, becca, ashley i, britt what i predict.. final four-kaitlyn, becca, britt, whitney ashley i will continue to be psycho until she gets sent home which hopefully is soon. ps it's not because she's a virgin, it's because she's a freak. girls keep acting like they've never seen this show what did you think of this week?

An InLinkz Link-up

blogging the bach 10.3 (amazing) and 10.4 (sad)

chris harrison threw us a little curve ball this week with a bach double header. rather than 2 separate posts for the 2 episodes, i'm writing 1, most likely marathon, post.

i'm so happy to have ashley and kimberly back  co-hosting with me this week. last week i decided this season's posts will features lessons of some kind so this week i bring you
LIFE LESSONS from the bachelorette 1. be active-biking, hiking whatever. (side note...one summer i turned into outdoor girl. i even went camping for 3 days straight. pretty sure i never need to sleep in a tent again after that) ***are the suave commercials killing anyone else?*** 2. if you're still single, figure out the answer to one of the world's most annoying questions.."why are you still single?" if you're not single, don't ask anyone that question.ever. 3. try not to ramble. nick, i have no idea what you're saying about love and romance. spit it out and move on/kiss her already. 4. do things that make you uncomfortable and sometimes don't (like singing in front of an audience when you can't sing) 5. be a good sport at least. i was impressed with the guys. they were terrible singers, but they didn't care. 6. be willing to make a fool of yourself. singing-ok stripping-not ok ***the evening featured kissing.lots of kissing*** 7. be who you are. jj is unique and quirky, but he doesn't try to be someone else. i like that. 8. make it real. props to nick for sending flowers. no props to andi for reading the card in front of eric. 9. play nice. what the heck is going on with andrew?
week 3 word tally journey...0 amazing...12 (word of the week) love...12 fairytale...0 right reasons...2 (what do we think about josh? is he there for the right reasons?) husband/wife...1 (i may have missed a few with the jj date) lucky...0 connection...8
and more LIFE LESSONS 1.tight or white pants but not both. i usually love andi's fashion, but ... 2. avoid awkward-poor dylan. poor andi 3. open up. dylan obvi wanted to talk, but andi basically had to drag it out of him. 4. don't do drugs. the story is super sad, but the point is still the same. 5. play the game. whatever it is, play it. 6. hope you're on the coach's team. 7. lose with grace. it could have been worse, but those boys weren't happy. 8. family is everything. more on eric later. 9. talk about religion. being mormon/lds is so important to me. i try to talk about religion, but it's not always easy. i haven't seen that conversation happen before on the bach. 10. if you're a dude, don't wear tank tops. 11. don't be a dufus. brian-i'm looking at you. he was smart later on, but in the first moment he was a total dufus. 12. conquer your fears. cue the cheesy bachelor analogies. 13. don't be a creeper-boys looking out the window at the one on one 14. trust people and be trustworthy 15. makeup matters. andi's makeup for the rose ceremony was killer. speaking of killer, so was her gold dress ***come back next week for WHAT WOULD YOU DO...with gold? andi's dress is a good option*** 16. don't talk about kissing. just do it. 17. don't be a noisy kisser
week 4 tally journey...2 amazing...5 love...11 fairytale...0 again right reasons...0 husband/wife...1 lucky...1 connection...3
and the final lesson life is short. live every single day like it might be your last. the situation with eric 100% breaks my heart. initially he seemed to be suffering from the first date curse. they talked a little and things seemed ok until they were totally not. i was so sad watching the final conversation with eric and andi. i felt so sad and even uncomfortable. i watched with kimberly this week (yay), and i totally started crying watching it. having friends who knew eric makes me think i knew him. i kind of hated the way he left. i'm glad they chose to talk about it a little more with andi, but i really am so sad. i'm sad for his family and friends. i'm sad for a life cut way too short. i'm sad that it feels so real to me because his accident happened somewhere i drive by almost every single day. mostly i'm just sad about the whole thing.
as promised here's my prediction for the final 4 1. nick 2. josh 3. marcus 4. brian
i want to hear your thoughts, and make sure to link up if you wrote a post.
week 2 week 1

An InLinkz Link-up

Spending Freeze

google image via pinterest

Almost a year ago, friend Aubry decided to tackle The Project (basically stop shopping and a few other rules). She was inspired by another fellow blogger Elizabeth . I've been thinking about it ever since. A single working girl really has no accountability for her money. My money is my money, and I can do whatever I want with it. Problem is I kind of have no idea (other than transfers to savings and paying bills) what I do with it. One of my new year's resolutions is to spend less money. What better way to spend less, than do a spending freeze. Luckily I have a few other girls joining me on the January spending freeze. We're following the same rules as Aubry (straight from her blog) and Elizabeth's The Project.

things i can't buy:

clothing

accessories

jewelry

shoes

purses

magazines

cds

dvds

craft supplies

fast food

home furnishings

"non-essential" fun beauty expenses

frou frou coffee shop coffee, which i'll equate to diet coke.

what i can buy:

a good haircut

makeup

a meal at a lovely restaurant with family and friends

frou frou coffee shop coffee with friends {meaning, no solo drink runs} which, still.... i'll equate to diet coke.

classes {enrichment classes offered at local craft emporiums or community colleges}

gym

gifts for family and friends

charitable contributions to organizations we {i} currently support

For now the spending freeze goes until January 31. We'll get together at the end of the month and discuss. Feel free to check in on me.

blogger no sleepover...what we did

it's been almost a month since the blogger no sleepover. i've talked about what we ate and what i wore, and now it's time to talk about what we did.

we started with a delicious meal. everyone brought food and it was perfect.

 bonnie cutting bread for dinner

 our lovely hostess jen-i can't thank her enough for opening her home to us

 fun, casual chit chat during dinner

agnes and dora leggings in our swag bags

sponsor list-i couldn't have done it without the help of these sponsors

 swag

after dinner we started more organized discussion. we went around the room and each shared something we think we are doing well with our blogs/businesses. it was interesting how difficult it was to come up with positive things. it showed me how important it is to recognize your successes and celebrate them. we then discussed challenges we face. i love blogging, and i have no intention of stopping-ever, but there are many challenges, and it's easy to be really hard on yourself. the discussions were amazing and what we all needed.

kaylynn and sarah mid discussion

 tayler and bonnie mid blog talk

 jen's house was completely decked out for halloween

 jen and jordan

 after a break for dessert and another discussion session, we took some quick photos

jordan, jen, me, sarah, tayler, bonnie, kaylynn

 pretending to laugh

 funny faces-i missed the memo

 i completely missed the photo booth. i think i was getting dressed.

 we all changed into our matching leggings/pajamas

 love the bump

 leggings shoot on jen's bed

photos jordan bree photography

after the pictures, we had a little more organized discussion followed by hours and hours of chitter chatter. we literally talked the night away. we talked a lot about blogging but also a lot about other personal things. i think it was very therapeutic for all of us.

saturday morning we got up, jen made the most delicious oatmeal i have ever tasted, we chatted and chatted some more, jen gave us a few makeup tips/washed my brushes. we ended talking about our take home goals. everyone left with something to work on.

things turned out a little more informal than i originally planned, but it was absolutely perfect. i love these girls, and we had the best time. i left completely exhausted and also completely inspired.