What I Learned From Living With....

Did I leave you with a suspenseful feeling? What I learned from Living With... Really? Did I just do that. Yes. Yes, I did. Curious to see who I lived with?

Drumroll please... My Best Friend's Husband.

I think that would make a great movie title. What I learned from Living With My Best Friend's Husband. Call me someday Spielberg, we'll set it up ;)
 
 Alright, back to the whole point of this post. As you all know or don't know, Christine is my best friend. She is HAPPILY married to Rex, they are the epitome of a great couple. A few weeks ago, Rex came to stay with me for a week because he had classes. I was pumped to help out a friend, and have some company. It was a great visit, but I learned a few things and here they are (in no particular order).

1) Having someone to come home to and ask about your day is awesome.

2) Men really don't care about the details. I asked Rex what he wanted, made a couch 'bed', even lit candles so it smelled good. While I know Rex was appreciative, he could have slept on a sleeping bag and felt the same way.

3) He eats. A lot.

4) When I get married, my house will have to have 2 bathrooms. Or a place to do my hair & make-up.

5) I really enjoyed 'taking care of' someone. I.E cooking, cleaning, laundry.

6) My future husband will have to like How I Met Your Mother & Big Bang Theory (thanks for watching with me Rex).

8) Cooking for two and conversing with someone is more fun than eating alone.

9) Rex is great at staying calm, and even mannered. I knew this before, but spending a whole week with him really let it sink in.

10) I have the best friends in Christine & Rex. They are so supportive and loving to everyone in their lives. My future husband will have to love them, as much as he loves me, because I'm not giving them up for the world :)

So, kind of mushy, but I felt lucky to have this experience. Christine, thanks for letting me write this post!!

Always believe in Faith & Serendipity,

Beach Waves in 5 minutes!

Today I am trying something new. I'm attempting doing a "how-to" hair post! Please note, I am not a professional hair stylist, and I definitely would take pointers, but this is what works for me!

Being a teacher, I need to be out the door by 7 am. I also need to make sure my hair looks professional, and not just pulled back in a sloppy bun. Sloppy buns are great if you can pull it off, but I can't, mine look really sloppy!

Enter my quick and easy 'beach' hair. This seriously takes 5 minutes to do in the morning and you HAVE to shower the night before (win-win!).

My hair: My hair is longer, and my cut is long layers. My hair has a natural wave, but not super curly. If your hair doesn't have any wave, I recommend sleeping in the sea-salt spray and using it again in the morning.

Step 1: Take a shower the night before. When you get out of the shower, spray a leave-in conditioner or detangling spray. I really like Pureology Colour Fanatic. Brush out your hair with a comb (it helps prevent split-ends).

Step 2: Let your hair air-dry and sleep with it wet. DO NOT put it in a bun or ponytail because it will leave a crimp mark where your band was.

Step 3: When you wake up, finger comb through the waves. I then apply sea salt spray, staring half-way down my hair to the ends. This helps bring the wave "back to life". I recommend any sea salt spray, today I used Not Your Mother's Sea-Salt Spray

Step 4 (optional): I like to spray some dry shampoo on my roots. This gives me a bit more lift and it smells so good!

Step 5: You'll probably have some fly-away pieces of hair. I use Aveda Smoothing Serum. It only takes a little (dime size) and do not put on your roots! It will make your hair look greasy.

 Step 6 (optional): Bangs! I have long side bangs, that I hate being in my face so I french braid them back. Some like to twist, or you can do a poof on top.

Step 7 (optional): Hairspray! I don't like to use a ton, but it is your preference. This is the best hair spray because it has great hold but it doesn't make your hair 'crunchy'.

And you're done! It is so easy and quick! Here are a few pics of my hair after the process.

back

front

side

side

 

 I hope you enjoyed this post!

Always believe in Faith & Serendipity,

WIAW + Recipe (of sorts)

Who am I right now? This is my 3rd post this week! I hope I stick to this...

So on Monday I mentioned how I wanted to be more honest on the blog but link-ups are still fun. This is one link-up I like doing. Why you may ask? It gives me a reason to photograph my food and not seem like an idiot. I can also use hashtags like #foodieprobz #WannabePhotographer #LameAsADuck

Yes. I'm that person. Go ahead and judge all you want.

 I've been really proud of myself because I've been getting up early enough to eat breakfast! A good one too, my favorite protein pancake.

 During my prep I had to have a team meeting, enter my favorite go-to snack. Quest bars. Now if you haven't tried a Quest Bar you must be living under a rock (unless you don't care about healthy eating, then I'm envious). These bars are gluten free, reasonably priced, and come in so many flavors!

Lunch was composed of a light but protein filled salad. On Sunday I meal prepped chicken, and then tossed in romain, spinach, and argula with some beets, goat cheese, and a veggie mix I got from Trader Joe's. It hit the spot.

After school I tutor until 4:30, thus my snacks have to be quick and easy. I really like my Perfect Fit Protein but I've become bored with just mixing it with milk. Plus I need something a little more filling. Enter my new favorite smoothie, the neopolitan.

 It's 1 cup Strawberry Kefir, 1 frozen banana, and 1 scoop of Chocolate Perfect fit Protein. If you want a more chocolate flavor, do 1/2 cup Chocolate Almond milk and 1/2 cup Strawberry Kefir.

I may have a bottle problem, and this is missing 3 bottles!

When I was meal prepping on Sunday, I decided to try potatoes in a new way. Well new to me. I boiled some baby Yukon Gold potatoes, drained them, placed them in a muffin tin and went SMASH, SMASH, SMASH! It worked! It made perfect, little, potato cups! Pair them with some chicken, and steamed veggies= AWESOME, EASY MEAL!

Always believing in Faith & Serendipity,

Remember That Time...

Have you seen this floating around? Both Erin & Karly sucked me in... Enjoy!

 Always believe in Faith & Serendipity,

Let's Play Catch Up

Yesterday I went a little deep and was completely honest about my feelings toward blogging. Today, I'm going to keep it a little lighter and fill you in on some random happenings!

One of the most exciting things that happened... my nephew Hudson Dean was born!! He is getting way too big already and I love him so much!

                                           

 In other exciting news, my youngest sister is pregnant. Baby Abel William Newcomb is arriving in July!

In addition to celebrating new babies, I've been working out a lot, enjoying time with my students, celebrating friend's weddings, and enjoying "me" time.

 It has been a great few months and I can't wait to see what's next!

Always believe in Faith & Serendipity,

Let's Be Honest

Hey You! Yes you, who is reading this. Thank you! I know I've been gone forever awhile, and  you had probably given up on me as a blogger. To be honest so did I.

Here's the thing, I've never been a writer. In grade school I didn't keep a journal, I didn't care for language arts class, and I've never felt inspired. If you want to read something inspiring, go to Christine's Blog or read her book Elsie Files. I really enjoyed reading blogs though, and blogging. First, it started out as a health blog to keep me on track, then I expanded to life in college. When I moved to Las Vegas, I changed the blog, and started talking about more "adult" topics.

Recently though, I've noticed I'm not really providing much content. I've become a 'fluff' blogger. A 'fluff' blogger is one who participates in link-ups to get followers, one who does not post that often, or posts everyday nonsense. I find them annoying to read, so I'm sure I've been annoying. I'm sorry. It is ending here.

I've made a decision. I want to blog, I want to try writing, I want to put myself out there and be completely honest. That is what I'm doing. I'll still participate in link-ups because lets be honest, who doesn't love a good Currently or Dear Letters post. Along with that though, I'll be talking about my life. What it is like to be working on my fitness (did Fergie pop into your head?), to be 25 and living in Las Vegas, and about the dreadful dating thing.

I hope you like the changes you'll be seeing. I hope you keep reading, and following. 


Always believe in Faith & Serendipity,