Merry Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all. I know it has been a really long time since I have posted anything but I am going to put it in as my New Year's Resolution. Christmas is a time that you can really sit back and reflect on how your year has been. The things that we have accomplished and maybe the things that didn't go quite our ways. Time to spend with family and friends or time to spend curled up watching your favorite movies. However you are spending your Holidays I hope that it is wonderful. Merry Christmas again!!! 

Little Sis!

Having a little sister in the sorority is the best thing ever!! So before I have said that I am a Delta Gamma from the Epsilon Epsilon chapter and we just got our little sisters. SO what does that mean??? I have been crafting my little heart away. So this next week I will be I will be posting the things that I made for my amazing little (but after she knows who I am). So if you need some ideas for your amazing little check back when I post up what I did and how I did it. Have a wonderful week and for all of my sisters out there ITB. 

Loving who you are

So this is a tough one, loving and feeling confident in the body that you have right now. We all look at magazines and want to change something about ourselves, either you thighs are too large (not sure I think someone stuck extra ones on me), stomachs not flat, nose too big, the list goes on. Being though in a different country I have grown to be comfortable in my own skin because well no one that I know is watching or judging me. 

Yes I would love to loose some weight and yes I could be doing more to help that bit along, but really its not about looking into the future of how you "want" to look focusing on the now is really important. So enjoy your body find something that you love about yourself and focus on that. I love my calves (now again more because I have been able to tone them again) really it doesn't matter what it is just find SOMETHING. Love your body its does so many amazing things. And if you want to work on this together let me know! 

Amazing Grace

Hello All. 

This past week has been a whirlwind of a time with the sudden passing of my grandmother (oma in German) So I would like to dedicate this blog post to her. She was a very beautiful women but not in the typical way you think of grandmothers. She was a really good cook and I loved when she baked! I think one of her favorite pass times when she was older was listening to her grandchildren. My cousin and I spent a Saturday with her a couple of weeks back and mostly my cousin and I did a lot of talking a laughing and cutting up, and even though she kept telling us we were going into her nap time she sat there and smiled and laughed at the things we said. 

She was a very hard worker, raising 7 kids on a farm and always such a giving person. At the funeral you were able to see how many lives that she touched as the church where it was held was full. Even though it was sad to say a final goodbye to my oma, I know that she will live on in all of our hearts. I am very fortunate to have had so much time with her and know what a wonderful woman that she was. 

What you think!!

For the past couple of weeks I have been really searching how I want my blog to look and be. What is my audience of this blog and where I would like this blog to go. So my answer?? I want this blog to inspire other people, for it to be my crafty space, and a mini retreat from the daily life task that sometimes we all get caught up in doing. 


But I want to hear from you!! So my idea is that each day of the week I will have a different topic posted. Some of my ideas are.. 
Crafty Project (so either cards, scrapbook pages, things like that), 
a Bon Appetit day (where different foods and things will be posted),
a Fit day (where I will share how successful or unsuccessful my workout week has been), 
Philanthropic day (where I will share different things that Greek and Non-Greek organizations help out with)
Tip of the Day ( organizing, study skills, things like that) 


So there are five days for the week! Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas of your own. I would love to have some comments on my page to know what people reading my blog think!! 


Have a wonderful day! 


Christina  

Loving Blindely

Hello!! Love and falling in love bombards us daily, from music to TV to magazines. But do we ever know if we are really in love? I have talked about my boyfriend, Drew, a lot and the other day (well ok really it was last week but I wasn't in the mood to blog) I thought about all the things that we have done together and gotten through together. He truly is my biggest cheerleader and I am so blessed to have him part of my life and also as my boyfriend. But really makes a good boyfriend/girlfriend or Husband/Wife??? I think it's all about balance and communication and finding out what the other really likes and doesn't like. Also somewhat knowing what the other's love language is (you can take the online quiz just Google it). So for me I really like talking and I really hate and feel unloved when people don't want to talk with me, it's just how it is. I enjoy spending one on one time with people instead of going out to a party or with a large group. I am also perfectly content with on Friday nights plopping onto the couch and watching a movie with my roommate and boyfriend and her fiance instead of hitting up a bar, but I think that comes more from I deal with people all day long and at some point I need to have my quite time also. So a little bit back to the give and take, I super love Hobby Lobby, actually that might be just as much my hobby walking through the store and getting ideas in my head, I also like having someone that will walk around with me as I walk up and down each aisle and my awesome Drew will do that with me. Yes he let's meander and walks right besides me and even helps me pick out some things just as much as anything this gives us time together and usually we are able to talk about our day or things that are on our mind without the distraction of our books and studying. And at the same point I will watch football with him even though it's really not my thing but he likes it so I do it, again to be able to spend time with him. 


We have definitely had our ups and downs. We have been friends/ together for the past 5 years and I know that there is still so much to learn about each other, our loves and our hates. But this has been the first time that we have been apart for so long (almost 4 months) and even though sometimes it's really hard, I think it was probably the best thing for us. Weird thought right why would I think being away from him would be good?? Simple I know what I have, someone that is able to still cheer me up, make time for me, and encourage me just through and email is amazing and quite an accomplishment in my eye. It has also pushed me to think about the things that I want to have out of my relationship, things that I would like him to do and for him also to think about the things that he wants me to do. I am not talking about huge things, quite the opposite the small things that make being together special. The quick text in the morning to say good morning, the good luck before a test that you are way too nervous for, and the encouragement to keep going even if you have stumbled a couple of times. Love takes time to grow and mature, and there are always tons of rocks in the path but that is what makes life worth living. 


Another great thing is that I have taken the time to think about the things and gifts that I want to do/make for him this year between anniversary coming up along with birthdays and Christmas I have my work cut out for me but I finally have a plan. 


I hope you have a wonderful day and remember to love openly. 

Keep going

First off Happy 4th of July!!! This is one of my favorite Holidays because it's pretty chill the weather is nice and hot AND there are fireworks. I know I know it's crazy heat wave right now in the US but still its a great time to celebrate. 


So today's post is to encourage you to maybe think about those new years resolutions that you set for yourself earlier this year, you know when you said 2012 will be there year that I change?? Well how is that going for you, for me hasn't gone so well but you know what we still have half of 2012 to go so let's make another mid year resolution and keep going. So here are mine to lose about 20ish Kilos (remember I said I wasn't going to deal with pounds anymore) and before the end of the summer about 10 kilos. So I have been for about the past 3 weeks been able to relatively successfully stick with my running/walking schedule and going 3 times a week, that is until Mr. Weather thought it would be funny to pour during my rain time. 


So I am quite proud of myself because even though I was exhausted and it was crazy muggy outside I still went for my workout wasn't able to quite run as far but I think it was just heat and exhaustion and I have to get back up early for work in the morning so didn't want to push it too much. So even though I have been able to stick to a workout routine for the first time in my life and I have been trying to watch what I eat and drink more water, I feel like I keep getting fatter (gahhhhh) but the number on the scale hasn't changed which I guess is good but I wish the numbers would go down. Oh well just got to keep pushing on. I hope this encourages you to keep moving towards your fitness goals also! Comment and let me know what you do or want to do and let's encourage each other on as we all work towards being successful on a New Years Resolution. 

Being all that you can BE

Some people run a million miles a minute all the time. They seem to be like super heroes balancing millions of agendas and time commitments while keeping a smile on their face. This was something that I wanted to achieve but I was never really sure how to achieve this. Through high school I felt like I was doing a lot but when I look back on this I have realized that I have pushed and squeezed sooo many more things into my day. I am not trying to be all knowing, but I am very happy with how far I have come and how well I am able to time manage. So what do I do all? Now my day is nothing compared to moms that either work full time and take care of a family or those that stay at home and keep up with the household. 


But here are the things that I do each semester.this is mainly for college students. I am usually taking between 15-17 credit hours worth of engineering courses, actively involved with Society of Women Engineers (what I mean by actively I was the president for the past two years and am now a Regional representative for the southeast) and am involved with my sorority Delta Gamma. On top of that I work a couple of random campus jobs that include Math tutoring, peer mentor, and working with other professors. so how do I fit it all in? Well it's pretty simple really I know I have 168 hours in my week (that's it) and I start breaking down things and how much time it will take me to do them. with all of that I can make sure that I have time to do everything. with that you have to schedule in sleeping, eating, studying, and taking time for yourself. Another thing that I use is a planner and that is my life. I color code everything so that I know what I have going on and make sure that I don't miss anything important. I also use a combo of Excel and Google Calenders to keep up and look at my schedule visually. This helps me see where I can schedule different things and helps me plan out my day. Another thing that is really important is scheduling time for my homework From all of this I have learned that I can accomplish so many things.

Now some people call this crazy and micromanaging and I don't see it that way for me it is figuring out a system that works for me and allows me to do and accomplish everything that I want to do and want out of life. My belief is that we only have one life and we don't know when our Lord will call us home so we might as well make every minute count. Now that being said I think it is also just as important to take time for yourself, your boyfriend/girlfriend, friends and family because in the end these people will be there to catch you when you fall. There have been many times when I have come home from a super hard day or something just really bothers me where I have burst into tears and my roommie just hugs me and lets me tell her whats going on. These things are important and building these types of bonds take time, but is time well spent. 


This story that I am going to share will pull at your heart strings, and if you are a mother will make you want to go and hold your child. I graduated May of 2009 with a class of 300+ students, one girl in my class Kathleen stood two people in front of me. I didn't know her well but knew that she had over come a life threatening illness and was beloved by our school ( I had transferred to that school a year ago) She was kind and was someone that was going to go somewhere in life and becoming something and do great things. We graduated and like most of us she started college at The College of The South. On October 1, 2009 my best friend texted me and said that Kathleen had passed, she was in a car accident with a Semi. Shocked I sat there rereading that awful text message and hoping it wasn't true. I cried and I cried, it wasn't fair I thought she had over came so much and she was going to be someone. I called my mom and just cried, I was supposed to be going home that next day but I didn't want to drive anywhere it scared me. I sat outside my dorm thinking about everything that had just happened. I felt soo alone. My boyfriend and I had broken up but were still close friends, but that night I had also found out that he started dating someone else. My world felt like it had gotten so small. I think my roommate had ended up telling my ex how much I needed someone there for me even if I didn't know it and he sat with me for hours letting me talk about how I felt. Sometimes when I stumble across pictures of my graduation I see her, how happy she was and how full of life she was. My high school has a nasty history of every graduated class someone always passes during that first year. Life is too short to not live it to the fullest, and through Kathleen's death I realized that my Freshmen year. 


I encourage you to live your life to the fullest. Do what you want, take an adventure, love largely, forgive easily (yes this is easier said then done) and be happy. Life is too short to do otherwise. 


Have a wonderful and life filled day

Just a Number on the scale

Ok so this big it word "weight loss" and being obese is all in our news media all the time, I mean a mayor is trying to ban large drinks in that city. But what does that really mean because weight is really just a number. What if I started walking around and saying that my mass was bla bla bla, I mean besides that people would look at me a little funny no one would care right. What about if you said you weighed X kilos??? 


You are probably thinking where is she going with this and I will tell you... In Europe and yes Germany everything is done by the metric system (I know you knew that but just in case you didn't) so that means weight goes by Kilograms. (you are probably thinking ummm duhhhh) So do this really quick go change you scale into Kilograms and step on it (I'm serious go and do this) what's your weight? Probably some awesome number under 100 right? Def less then what you are in pounds right (ok yes this one has to be true) How does that make you feel? For me it's amazing because now for me it's no longer a real number it' just some figment number. Ok so 1 kilo is about 2.2 pounds so that means when you lose 1 kilo you have lost about 2ish pounds (haha awesome) and feeling like you can lose 10 kilos sounds sooooo much more doable then saying you want to lose like 25 pounds (yuk) 


Ok so my goal for this summer was to lose now 10 kilos (give or take) by the end of my summer break so we will say beginning of August. And I am right now down 2 (ha only 8 more to go) Life seems easier when we can break them up into tiny chunks and then squash them :) Whatever your weight lose goal is though PLEASE do it healthily no crazy crash diets or whatever because I am in this for the long haul (ok maybe I have two wedding I am supposed to go to and it would be nice if I could wear an awesome dress) but seriously let's be healthy. 


Leave me your comments and your thoughts. 


Wish you the very best if your also on a weight journey. 

Bucket List It!

So anyone that knows me knows that I love list they are probably the greatest thing ever!!! Another thing that I love is my boyfriend, Drew,  going to take a minute and tell you about him. Him and I actually met an engineering summer camp in High school (yea we are both nerds) and became friends and the next summer both of us were accepted into the same summer camp again and got closer. By the end we both admitted that we liked each other, actually it was more like me having this feeling that I would never see him again anyways so I would just tell him how I felt (so glad I did though) we ended up dating our Senior year of high school and doing it long distance (3 hours is a long way away) We ended up going to the same university and both studying Engineering ( I am doing Mechanical and he is doing Electrical) We have now completed our Junior year of college and are coming up on our 1 year here soon (we had a couple of break ups in there but not really important because we grew from them and the things we learned) So now I am following my dreams and was able to get a job working as an intern in Germany (huge thanks to my cousin that helped me out) for the summer so that means that I am gone for almost 4 months. Keeping a relationship going with this huge thing called an ocean in between you makes for some challenges, but has also given us a lot of opportunities. 


So these opportunities are where this blog comes into play. I was thinking about all the things that I wanted to do and came up with the great idea that it would be awesome to create a shared bucket list between me and Drew. He is pretty awesome with going along with my (somewhat) crazy ideas. He seemed to really like it and so we created a shared Google Doc (oh yes if you have never used Google Docs or products go check them out) I am very excited about this because we always talk about things that we want to do together but this makes it more permanent the things that we want to do. So you might be thinking what did she put on this list of things. WELL I LOVE!!! to travel and road trips. Road trips are just amazing (as long as you have the right people) because you find so many interesting things along the way and really the purpose is not the destination but truly the journey. So I would like to have a road trip and see all the 50 states. Yes I know you can't drive to Hawaii and the different countries that I would like to visit. Other things will also get on the list probably things like Visiting Harry Potter at Universal Studios or maybe something really different like taking a wine making class or something like that. Point is we only have one life and might as well fill it with things that are crazy, different, and makes life worth living. I am so excited to fill up a list of things that I want to do with my boyfriend (and have other friends come along on the journey too) 


Maybe this will inspire you to make a Bucket List for yourself, you and your loved one, or even one with friends for a little more inspiration I am putting here what I wrote for the top of our list. If you take it please give me credit for it. Oh and I love to scrapbook so that will be a side effect of us being able to take soooo many pictures!


To grow old with you is something I hope to do, to have adventures that last a lifetime and to have the ability to fill up an entire wall filled with photo albums and things that we have done would be a dream come true. I hope our ideas will fill page after page and that together we can work to check each one of them off of our Bucket List, no matter how big or small realistic or crazy the idea will be put it down and let the adventures begin between you and me!!!

What is Beauty?

What is Beauty? Is it looking like that model on the front of the magazine or the women we see in TV or maybe even like one of those Housewives with perfect everything? Today while I was reading a blog I realized how much we are bombarded with having to look great, or sexy, or whatever. But what does beauty really mean??? 


I am going to start with a little back story on me personally. I am NOT a size 0 or 4 or even an 8 but I am working on getting back down to between 6 or 8. Actually I haven't been a size 0 since like 7th grade and personally I really don't want to be anymore either but that's just me. Also I do wear makeup but not a lot, I am also a Mary Kay Consultant so wearing and understanding make up is now somewhat part of my job. But I do NOT believe that you have to wear make up to be beautiful or that you have to be ultra skinny, BUT on the same account I do not feel that people that wear make up (a little or a lot) or that are a size 0 are not beautiful either. 


So I am German American, and growing up I saw both completely different beauty worlds. And now as I sit in Germany I realize how different the two worlds really are. My friends, aunts, or just women on the street are not nearly as done up as the American women that I am used to seeing. Is this a good or bad thing? I think it's neither just different. It has been sometimes a real struggle for me to look in the mirror and go OK you are beautiful and keep walking and going on with my day because honestly sometimes I just don't feel it but then there are other days (actually the tend to be at night when I am getting ready for bed) that I look in the mirror and go WOW I am beautiful. Something that I have been really blessed with is that I am ok with how my face looks, I like my nose the way it is I don't feel my eyes are too far apart of that I have a big forehead or something like that, AND I am soooo glad.  Now this does not mean that I feel like I have this crazy gorgeous face but I have come to just accept that this is the face I have been given and I will only use make up to maybe smooth over and make my skin tone look even or use mascara to brighten up my eyes. And actually that is all that I use, a foundation ( I use the Mary Kay cream to powder) and then Mascara (Again Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara in black) and that is all, and I feel absolutely beautiful with that ( and I have not spent a small fortune doing it) 


Something else that I feel is really overlooked with beauty because we are too worried about finding that perfect beauty product or make up is we don't take care of our face by cleansing it properly. So again I use the Miracle Set by Mary Kay to take care of my face, ok I am not trying to be a huge sales person here but I really do enjoy their products even before I started selling them. And I will be honest I am not always the best with keeping up with the entire system but it gives my face such a nice silky texture that a lot of times I can walk out without make up and still feel gorgeous. Also I am a BIG believer that it depends on where you live depends on what products work well for you. For example right now in Germany I use the Nivea cream for my face because I just need the added moisture but in TN (yes I am southern belle) the Nivea cream is just a little too thick. My point is that find what works for you and sometimes the less expensive products work just as well. 


Lets talk about bodies, because like I said we are bombarded with this image of having to have a size 0 body (and if you have that and you are happy that is fantastic really) As for me again I sometimes have days that I am like ugggg why do I look like this and then others that I am like hmm not too shabby. But overall I want to trim down some and become healthier. Yea easier said then done I know. But sometimes it just really takes one step in the right direction AND ( I strongly believe this) finding a diet plan that works for you and can be something that you commit to life. So for example I love Coke (used to actually hate the stuff) so I am not going to take a diet plan that says I can't drink it anymore just not going to happen BUT what I can do is say I am going to limit it to maybe two a week or something like that. I am going to try and cut down some on my portions and eat healthier things and less processed which this is the hard one because like I said I am a college student and you know McDonalds is soooo easy when you are starving and have this huge project that you are working on.. just saying. So how do you change that? Well something that I am trying to do is create a recipe book of quick and healthier foods that I can make during the week when I don't have that much time and just scheduling the time to eat. I am a huge planner and organizer it is crazy actually. 


So what is Beauty?? Maybe for me at least it is accepting that you are beautiful how you are right now in this moment and if you want to change your looks that's ok to but don't forget who you are in the process. 


Have a beautiful day

One Step at a Time

Let's face it saying that you want to lose weight and picking a workout routine is easy anyone can do it BUT sticking to it is the hard part. Between crazy schedule, great food that is surrounding you and plain laziness its hard finding the motivation to get up and go and do something. This is something that I have struggled with for years and this summer I wanted to change it because I have a set time that I was going to be in Germany. Well I am almost half way through my time here and haven't made much head way on my weight loss goals, but haven't gained anything either so that is a plus.

My cousin is super supportive and her and I have started running together and as I have said in my other post I am NOT a runner, but it is something that would push me and that I CAN do. So the other day we went and ran and I said let's try and start over again and try to just run for 1 minute, start small again. Well we did but we kept going and I was able to hold out for 3 min. Well I was very proud of myself for holding out that long because like I said I am not a runner but 3 minutes was longer then my goal and in my book was a success and as long as I keep slowly improving I am happy. Also I am NOT going to do some crazy fab diet or something drastic because personally that is just stupid. You stop eating something then go back then gain the weight. So instead what I am trying to do is just watch my portions, cut out some of the sugar intake, drink more water and use common sense. Let's see where this goes but what I am not going to do is give up and if you are struggling like I am I hope we can together encourage each other. Let me know your weight goals.

Christina

Christmas in June

Ok so you are probably thinking I am crazy right?? Christmas in June, we are still 7 months out until we get into Christmas. So hear me out all the way before you jump to conclusions because I am not one to start celebrating Christmas super early (actually I usually don't completely get into Christmas spirit until like Dec. 20 because I have millions of other things on my plate) And I really love crafting and making things for my friends for a couple of reasons:

1) The can tend to be cheaper (broke college student here)

2) They are unique and take some thought

3) I am not spending hours in a crowded department store trying to find gifts.

SOOO if you want to make your friends something then you have to figure out what you are going to make them. This caused me a problem last year because I had no idea what to make for people and by the time that I figured it out I was gearing up for finals and then had no time ( I am a mechanical engineering student). Ha well now I had a brilliant idea that I will start brainstorming and writing my ideas down now when I have the time to think about this and have ample time to shop and browse to find all the supplies that I need and can nicely spread out what and when I am going to buy things. Also I am a HUGE Hobby Lobby person ( I think it is the greatest store and can spend hours in there) and am fortunate enough that I have a supportive boyfriend that happily (and yes I actually do mean happily) walks and browses with me and even helps me decide on what looks good together. And they have a different type of sale each week which if you have the time and know what you can or want to make then you can wait and watch for all the sales and get everything for at least 40% off!!! And they start bringing all the Christmas stuff out in July so you can start making your Christmas crafts then. Which when I first started visiting Hobby Lobby I was so confused with the idea that they brought Christmas stuff out so far in advance but now I understand.

So for my craft ideas that I have thought up. I will hopefully put some pics up once I actually get to making things. For my sorority sisters I want to make them an anchor Christmas ornament in our Pink and Blue (I am a Delta Gamma), then for some of my other friends I want to create a a personalized cork board out of wine bottle corks. Then lastly a combination of pearl and ribbon bracelets.

I am super excited to start making these crafts and slowly start collecting all my supplies and just knowing that I have right now a plan on what and how I am going to make everything is just fantastic.

Have a great day!

CONFidence

This is probably one of the craziest and most complicated words out there. Everywhere you turn something is telling you should show confidence, be confident with your work, be confident with your body, bla bla bla. Well today as I was sitting trying to figure out my work and not really knowing what my next move should be I thought about the confidence word. It is sometimes so hard trying to keep your head held high and think that you can do anything when there are these flashing red lights telling you you can't. Yes I know you have to just keep going and think that you are fantastic and at some point maybe you will believe yourself. But then if you are too confident then people perceive you to be a snob and stuck up and that isn't the goal either. SO where is the fair balance when it comes to personality? Is there really one?

Let's move on to weight. We (especially girls) are bombarded that they have to be this size now like negative 10 to be attractive but really that's not pretty. Then we have things telling us that you have to have great looking legs (really I mean who has ever seen someone with pretty knees), arms shouldn't be flabby, no stomach ( so don't eat all that yummy food) and the list goes on. Now if you have been following me you know that I am on this long (and I mean long) journey to becoming healthier and yes ultimately skinner. And maybe I am not the most dedicated person to a new fitness routine ( I will admit it) but I have been consistently trying to do some type of more physical activity each night. Tonight I ran for 2 minutes which you are probably thinking that is nothing but for me this was a great achievement because I am in no way shape or form a runner, but I have decided that I want to run a 5k in the fall to help me get into shape. So that is what I am doing. I am also watching again what I am eating (yes ok sometimes I watch it go straight into my mouth) but the point is that I am working towards a goal and I am to the best of my ability not trying to do any fab diets that I will gain twice as much weight back once I get off. And even though I look in the mirror and can find each and every flaw in me, I have to remember to think about all the things that I am proud of or have accomplished. For example my legs are getting stronger again and more muscular and I am so excited and maybe you can't really see it but I can feel it and really that's all that matters. So I encourage you to find the one part of you that you can be confident and let that help you get through all the other flaws you find in yourself. Also I hope I can encourage you on this healthy journey with me also, because it is so annoying to just see before and after pictures and then you wonder why it's not going so fast with you.

Have a great day.

So Goodnight Moon

This is actually the song title of a song, I had never heard it before my boyfriend played it for me. At the time I only half way listened to it (I have a tad bit of a problem of sometimes not completely paying attention but I am working on it) but he put the song on my ipod playlist for me to listen to while I was in Germany. On the plane over here I listened to the song (actually listened) and it made me realize maybe how crazy the idea that I was going away for 3 months and I wouldn't see him the entire time was. The first week I listened to that song over and over again before I went to bed since it was hard not being able to call him to say goodnight. Now you might be thinking that I should get over myself and enjoy the time and opportunities that I am given, and I am but it more just hit me again as I was letting my Ipod shuffle and the song came on. I feel I am a fairly independent person going out on limbs and taking chances but I have realized just how much stronger I am when I have my boyfriend there cheering me on, just like he did when this opportunity came up with me going to Germany.

We are both at crossroads currently trying to decide what our next more will be if he gets accepted into the Air Force Officer School and what I want to do with my life. There has been a lot of thinking about what the right choice will be when the time comes to make it. (Side note I have to spend a long time thinking about my decisions so I start way in advance) No matter what happens though I know that I will always have my best friend and as I go to bed I say goodnight moon and know that you are thinking it too.

Have a wonderful day

Sugar War

Obesity is a word that we are all familiar with in the US, how more and more people are becoming obese and how do we stop this crisis. Well if you keep up with USA Today like I do you will have seen the the New York City Mayor has decided to place a law on how large of a sugary drink that you can buy to help stop obesity. Does anyone see a flaw in this plan? What is stopping a person from then buying two drinks? Also if you have been keeping up with this blog you will know that I am working on losing weight myself, but I do not feel it is the governments place to tell me what I can drink or how much sugary drink I can have, I can decided for myself thank you for your concern. Now that being said I think there is a problem and I wouldn't be against if the soda companies worked to have less sugar within their drinks. But let's think about something different, how can we maybe fix child obesity, well we have already made all the cafeteria food "healthy" gag I wish people making the decisions about school lunch would actually have to eat the stuff. Also super unhealthy children usually don't end up eating salad so you taking the salad dressing and making it fat free isn't really helping. Something though that is really missing is physical activity!!! Would it really hurt our education if all through school (yes even high school) we could have 15 or 20 minutes to walk, run, or do something instead of sitting for 7 hours a day? No wonder we are fat.. I feel that sometimes the best solutions are the simplest. And like I said I am on a journey also to becoming healthier but I am aware of that and am taking on my own responsibility to becoming healthier (only with my coke to drink)

Have a great rest of the day.

Putting on the Brakes

So a month has now passed of my time spent in Germany, and it has been awesome. I am so lazy over here and it is great, giving me time to think about things and where I want my life to head to, how I am going to tackle the upcoming school year, and just life in general. Also I am supposed to be working on a college success book for the couple Intro to University classes that I am TA for, but that hasn't been going to plan either. So a little bit about me I am a super planner (like super super) To give you a little glimpse on how it is for me, when I have my school schedule all planned out and finalized I use a combination of Excel and Google Calender (oh and I am a avid Google fan and user which caused some heartache when I switched my smartphone to an Iphone) I put in my class schedule, then all my TA positions, then all my other social obligations like my sorority Delta Gamma and then SWE (society of women engineers), and then everything else like eating. You are probably thinking how does this girl ever sleep, well simple I plan for it. I have never did an all nighter in college and I am not planning to start this year either, I just don't function without sleep. I know that I only have 168 hours in the week so I plan my week accordingly which means that about 50 of those are automatically gone because I am sleep :) then I fill in other pesky things like eating and hygiene (because even though I am a girl in Engineering you can't go to class stinking) then I fill in school, then social obligations. This semester I have decided that I also want to start making hand made cards and selling them and the profits would go to a different charity each month (yes more to come on this later) This also in part forces me to be craft which is a good thing because I truely enjoy it and I think I am good at it so this will be give me an outlet from all my school work AND help some of my favorite charities out So you are probably wondering now why I put the title of this as Putting on the Breaks well really it's simple while I am spending time over here I am remembering to do things like that to take time out for just me, or to take the time to spend with my boyfriend Drew because sometimes we get into this life rut or school rut and we just go go go and don't take the time to smell the roses.

This summer is giving me that breathing room that I have needed where my problems and things that I have to do I threw out the window to sink into the ocean on my way over here, and maybe I will decided to bring them back but I will probably just leave them. Life is really too short to be constantly running with no real definite time of when you can start walking again. I am really remembering how much family time means to me and how much having their support with me makes me achieve such greater things. Yes I will continue to organize my time into nice little time slots but I am also now making time slots where I can have time for me, go on a date night, and enjoy my friends because at some point even if I have a great degree or whatever if there are no people standing next to you and no fun memories to look back on then you have wasted 4 or 5 years of your life. I hope that you have a great day and that you also think about where you stand and can continue to remember to walk to or even sit and smell the roses.

The push to workout Day 2

So I am by no means a fit person, but I am working on changing that one step at a time. I have decided that I want to change how I look but I want to do so the healthy way, no fad diets no craziness just something that I can make part of my routine. Well simple right.. ummmm no not quite that simple. For one I am not a runner but I have decided I want to run a 5k in the fall because that will give me a definite goal to work towards with a timeline. So with that I started mulling around the idea on how I was going to do this, I knew I had to start out slow so that I wouldn't lose confidence but how do you go about training for a 5k when your not a running type of person?? As I was searching through pintrest ( I absolutely love this website) I found a Couch to 5K workout plan! I was so excited and decided this is what I was going to do (the link is this http://pins.dealovy.com/fitness/couch-to-5k) So I am at day 2 pretty much of the running and my little cousin has decided she is going to train with me which helps to have a workout buddy. I have also now recruited one of my sisters to also do it with me because I found out she wanted to try and do it also. Anyways so now I have found a workout to do, workout buddies to keep me moving towards my goal, the last thing is always taking (and finding) the time to do it. I think I am going to continue doing it in the evening and then I have added on a couple of lower body exercises because I want a complete body workout. So now for a jump start for my mornings and days I am going to work on a quick workout with jumping jacks and such before my morning showers to get my body in gear and going. It always seems like the hardest part is getting started and now I have so the next hurdle is to keep moving forward with this. wish me luck!!

Shoot for the Stars, and fall on the Moon

As children we are encouraged to dream big, that we are capable of accomplishing anything that we set our mind to. I can remember when I was younger that I bounced around from wanting to be an astronaut (I super loved space oh and Pluto was and still is my favorite planet I don't care what NASA says its still a planet in my eyes) to wanting to be a doctor and working at St. Judes Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN because I wanted to help sick children and find the cure for cancer. I always knew I wanted to go to college but I had plenty of time until that time actually came up. Fast forwarded to high school, hmm now I have to actually start thinking about this figment thing called college and figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. We supposedly being an astronaut takes years of school and work and that didn't seem quite appealing to me at the time, the same goes with being a doctor, and I thought I had maybe found my true passion: teaching. Yes so all was planned I would help lead the next generation of students to do and accomplish great things within our world. Hmm well that plan took another turn when I was accepted into this summer program for Emerging Technologies and Engineering, whatever that meant. I'll back track a tad bit, I guess I was good at math or something I think what happened is I was just better than everyone in my class and I paid attention when my teacher spoke (my high school at that time was an inner city school where they were sometimes just glad to get people to pass and to stay quite through class) anyways I had never really thought of someone really great at math or science I was just good at school. So my math teacher gave me this application and said I should do it and my parents greatly nudged me to do so also so I applied, and received that nice single piece of paper in the mail saying that " We greatly appreciate your application but we are sorry to inform you that we don't think you are great enough for such a program so you haven't been accepted" Yes they say it nicer then that but that's always how I feel. Anyways no hard feelings I really didn't want to go, oh yea and I kinda forget to inform my parents of this little fact thought it would just go away. Anyways a few days later my mom got a phone call saying I was accepted (go figure) and so then I went, (really against my will) I got there and there were all these really nerdy and smart kids there I felt like a fish out of water, remember I never had viewed myself as someone good at this stuff. But hey it was only going to be two weeks I had accomplished harder things right. Our director of this program was amazing (and to this day is someone that I greatly respect) and I had told him that he had these two weeks to convince me to be an Engineer otherwise I was continue on what I wanted to do which was be a teacher. Well I guess it worked because after that two weeks I decided I wanted to be an Engineer (still whatever that was) and I wanted to attend Tennessee Tech and two years later I was accepted and started my Freshmen year. Man was this engineering thing hard, and still is (currently I am entering my 4th year but won't be finished for another 4 semester) I still wonder what I actually want to do when I grow up. Currently I am still bouncing between three different ideas of what I want to actually do with my engineering degree. So I could be an engineer (shocker), I could go to graduate school for education in the STEM (science technologies engineering and math) disciplines since you have to have gotten a degree from one of those disciplines to go on and teach them, or go on to Law school. Ok so for law school you are probably thinking what is she thinking law school, well I really enjoy helping and working to make things better but working with others to improve things. Well some ways to sometimes make really huge impacts is through politics and the law, well then you kinda need to know what you are talking about to do make the greatest impact.

One of my favorite quotes is from Ghandi and it's be the change you wish to see in the world we can sit around talking about what people should do to change or we can be part of the solution and work together to help be apart of that. So I encourage you to continue always shooting for the stars but being ok to land on the moon. You can always shoot again and if you have already landed on the moon you are a little bit further along then you were when you started. I am not sure where my life will lead me but as long as I am working towards becoming something greater and positively impacting the people around me then I will have been successful at something.

I hope that you have wonderful rest of the day

And so we say goodbye

Today was filled with tears as we said our final goodbyes to my great aunt Lina. I tried to take it all in, take a step back for a moment of everything that was happening around me. We all gathered, dressed in black to show our morning, friends and family gathered around to say our final goodbyes. We stood in a line waiting for the clock bells to ring and signify that it was time to start. The bells rang and you could feel as everyone tensed up, since the time finally came to start. The pastor walked out and then it started to lightly rain, it seemed so fitting, I had to hide my smile it was like Tante Lina wanting to remind us that she was still there. The pastor stood in front of a simple light colored wood casket where atop sat a huge amount of white roses. We sang and the pastor said a couple of words. Then we proceeded to the grave where they lowered her casket into the ground. It then started to rain harder as we stood there, but this didn't seem to bother me or the surrounding people. I stood there behind my grandfather or opa, praying that he would be able to make it through this as he watched his sister be laid to rest, now leaving him the only survivor of his family, the youngest and the little brother. After the pastor spoke his words about laying her to rest we were able to approach the grave and give our own final words. Flowers were on either side for people to take and throw into grave as they spoke their final words. Again white roses were among the ones to choose from. On a side note why this is so special for me that there are white roses: for my sorority Delta Gamma our flower is the Delta Gamma Cream Rose, or white roses. I took a single rose stood there and look at the beautiful casket below me and as I tossed that single rose to accompany Tante Lina I thought of how fitting it was for me to take a flower that is so close to my heart and be able to give it to a great aunt that will always be in my heart.

We proceed into the church where the ceremony continued. Somber and quite as the pastor spoke of her life, things that I really didn't know and gave pieces of her to carry on. She lived through World War II, lived through Nazis Germany lived through a time in the world where life was uncertain but nevertheless lived. She married and had three children, and raised a farm. She left behind her now 8 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren among other family and friends. She left behind a legacy and her mark on the world. The choir sang, and as they sang it sounded like angels because they were high above us and their voices filled the small church. As the service ended we proceed to the local pub to enjoy coffee and sandwiches together. And even though we shared the "I am sorry for your loss" somehow the room was again full of life, people talking family and friends gathered. Something that was so peaceful and homey about being surround by family and people that loved and cared about a woman so greatly. The sun is now shinning again and really shinning where the clouds have parted to make way to warm our earth again, the first day since Tante Lina's passing. Her soul have finding it's final resting ground.

Tante Lina might have left her earthly body today in the grave, but she is alive and well taking her place in Heaven with our Heavenly Father. Also her body might no longer be with us but her spirit will live on, as I had said before she was known for giving the kids money and chocolate and then always telling us not to tell anyone about it, something that always brings a heartfelt smile to my face because we all knew she did it for all of us. May we celebrate her long lived 92 years of life and remember and extraordinary woman that has left on this earth so many people that she loved and who in return loved her also dearly.

Have an amazing rest of the day.

Love and be loved

Family. Something that everyone has a picture of how it should be, wish it would be, or have created for themselves. Family isn't always just the people that you are biologically related to, but people that warm your soul and that you love and will always be there for them. Through my many years and summers in Germany I am always reminded of how it feels to have family surrounding you, well extended family at least. Cousins to hang out with or mainly more to cause trouble with and aunts that would do anything for you and treat you as if they are your own child. This week my family will come together again but not for a joyous occasion. no this time to remember and reflect on a sweet lady that has now passed and has taken her spot with the Lord. My Aunt Lina was 92 years old, she actually just turned 92 and passed away peacefully in her sleep. She had lived a good life surrounded by family and friends. Maybe a funeral is a celebration of life and maybe should be sometimes viewed as a joyous occasion, even though we want to shed the tears because our loved ones are no longer on this earth to hold and to touch, living on their legacy and embodying all the qualities that you admired about them their spirit will live on. Your probably reading this and going yea that's all hunky dorry unless it's a kid, a baby, your mom, your sister, or whatever else. I am not saying it's easy, I have shed my tears over the passing of my aunt and other friend and family that I have lost, but I work to celebrate their life by continuing on what made them so great. For example my great aunt always gave the kids chocolate and money and I hope that I can carry that on one day too.

I hope this blog finds you well and if you have also lost someone recently or maybe not recently but still miss them deeply and that you find peace with things. I wish you love today and to hold on to your family or your loved ones.

Blazing a trail

I hope this blog finds you well. Today was a wonderful day that really got me thinking about where my life was headed. Hopefully in two years I will be graduating with my Mechanical Engineering degree, but before that I need to make some decisions on where I want to go with my life. I am torn in three (well now four) different directions. One of them is potentially going to law school and then after completion of that doing patent law, another option is going to grad school to learn to teach STEM education to high schools, being an actual engineer ( I know crazy idea right), or know just being a military wife since my boyfriend is looking at joining the armed forces. Today though seems just seemed to fall into place for both of us, I ended up receiving an email from a company to do an interview with them, even though that won't work out because I have already accepted my job for this summer. And my boyfriend received high scores on his admissions test for officer school. This was such a relief to me, sometimes even if you believe in someone and know what they are capable of it is still nice for them to see it also in some physical form. Things sometimes just work out, and whether you believe in God, Allah, or some other mystical being (this blog is not to push any type of belief) you realize there are things to be thankful for. Personally I am very thankful for what I have been given and the opportunities that I have been able to peruse.

If grease is the soul of the kitchen...

Sometimes we get so caught up in our own world that we really forget the important things. Life in the US was kinda suffocating me, and no I am not one to run away from my problems and that is not what I did, I was given a job opportunity in Germany so I took it. That being said I didn't realize how much I needed to just get away from everything or at least put an ocean in between us. Anyways it is the most enjoyable thing now to come home from work and to be truly greeted by family, I hadn't realized how much I missed this while I was at school. My little cousin who is really like my little sister is one of the greatest parts of it. I guess through all this rambling I am trying to say that family is so important and even though we feel like you have so many other things that we should be doing we should really remember to take the couple minutes to hug each other, ask each other (and listen) how their day was, and enjoy the company of our family. And family can be anyone you think of as family. For example while at school me, my roommate, and my boyfriend are my family unit. I enjoy those evenings where we could sit down to an actual meal and rant about the day and what happened. The laughter that came from the table and the avoiding of homework is something that everyone needs, not just wants. I encourage you to take the time to hug your loved ones and ask them how they are. It's like the Lady Antebellum song Love is the Heart of the World and if you have never heard it I would recommend you go and you tube and close your eyes and listen to the words. Have a wonderful rest of the day.

Day 1 of Running

Well we will call this day 1 of the running training. So I didn't run far but it was a start. Maybe a little less than a quarter of a mile but I did run up a hill so that counts for like twice right? Anyways I am not a runner but most of my friends are so I have decided I would give it a (real) try and since I am doing this I have had tons of support from my running friends, which is good because they will keep me motivated to keep going. Anyways as I was running well I guess by this point I was walking again I ran into my Uncle and he gave me this great tasting citrus drink and supposedly it helps build up your muscles. Oh and I am doing this first couple of months training in Germany so any drinks or things that I put up you probably can't find in the US. Then I made my way back home. Like I said nothing earth shattering but it was a start and I am proud of that. I have decided that through this process my main goal is to get healthy, not really to keep up with how many pounds I am losing and to just look fit. And as much as those models on magazines look great and oh how I wish I could look like them, I probably won't and that is ok too!

Welcome! I have never really ever been a blogger, except for the couple that I have had to do in school but I thought I would give this a try. This has mainly been designed with friends and family in mind, so they can keep up with a little bit better what I am always up to. If I can get things to work I would like to have different tabs for different aspects: some consisting of my adventure in Germany, my goal towards a healthier life, my hopefully new undertaking of making homemade cards, cooking and baking, and then life in general. I am not an expert writer so please bare with me if I mess a couple of things up, and I have been told that I am one to write whatever pops into my mind, what can I say I am what I am. I hope that you will enjoy this blog and this new adventure that I am about to embark on. OH and for the first couple of months it might seem like I am writing blogs at really odd times but currently I am in Germany but left my time zone for the US. SO no I am not a night owl on the computer at 3 am.