What's Up Wednesday #6

Happy Wednesday Friends! Today I am linking up with Mix and Match Family, Pinterest Told Me To and The Larson Lingo for the What's Up Wednesday Post.  What's Up Wednesday occurs on the last Wednesday of every month and it is a fun list of questions getting ready for the upcoming month!

1. What We're Eating this Week: 

Last night we had our favorite Shepherd's Pie.  I really love making this recipe and it is perfect for the cooler weather we have had.  I honestly think this is my favorite meal to make // eat at home.

2. What I'm Reminiscing About

This time of year, I am usually coordinating a pumpkin carving // haunted house party but it looks like this year it will not be happening.  I am a bit sad, but also know that with the trip to Uruguay, I will likely not have time to do this before we go.  Carving pumpkins is one of my absolute favorite things, so I may just plan a mini carving session with Justin and myself. 

  

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3. What I'm Loving

All of the planning for this trip.  I love planning things so this trip is right up my alley.  I also have been planning a ton of coffee dates with family // friends to catch up.  I've been needing one-on-one time with people and decided September was a great month to do so.

4. What We've Been Up To

To be honest, we have been spending a ton of time playing video games.  Destiny came out with an expansion for their game and we have been playing it together.   

5. What I'm Dreading

There are a few conversations that I really need to have with people in my life and I honestly do not have any desire to do so.  As outspoken of a person as I am, I usually have no problem opening my big mouth and saying what I think, but these topics are a bit more delicate and can affect my relationship with the people.  Right now, I am praying that everything goes smoothly. 

6. What I'm Working On

I have been focusing mostly on getting my miles in for the #100forCharity challenge with Tone It Up.  This has been great because I have been averaging between 12,000 - 15,000 steps per day.  

7. What I'm Looking Forward To

This weekend I am going to be attending two exciting and fun events - A Bachelorette Party and Apple Picking.  I love Apple Picking and have already started pinning recipes for apples.  

Mix and Match Mama nailed it on the head for me, so I snagged this picture from her blog.

8. What I'm Watching/Reading

With Fall Television starting back up, I have been watching quite a few shows.  However, with as busy as I have been, I have not had time to watch much television over the past few weeks.  Right now I am watching: Once Upon a Time, Dancing with the Stars, Americas Next Top Model and My Big Fat Fabulous life.  

What television shows are on your watch list this fall?

9. What I'm Listening To

Ironically, I am still obsessed with Pumpin Blood by NONONO.  I guess this song will be sticking in my head for a while. 

10. What I'm Wearing

With the temperatures being in the mid-sixties, I have been wearing cardigans like crazy.  Last weekend, I bought three of them at Target for $7.50 a piece (hello coupon!) and I am in love.  I purchased the cardigan in blue, mustard yellow and the below color.  Check out these cardigans and other items at Target! 

11. What I'm Doing this Weekend

As I mentioned above, I will be going to a Bachelorette Party and Apple Picking and I cannot wait! I'm planning to try and make a few apple centered recipes 

12. What is my favorite Halloween tradition

As I mentioned earlier, I love to carve pumpkins and I am trying to make time to carve one before I go to Uruguay.

Question of the Day: What is your favorite Halloween tradition?

Previous What's Up Wednesday Posts:

What's Up Wednesday #1

What's Up Wednesday #2

What's Up Wednesday #3

What's Up Wednesday #4

What's Up Wednesday #5

I'd love to hear from you!

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The Last 5 Things I Purchased

Happy Tuesday Friends! I hope you had a great start to your week and have many fun things planned before the weekend comes. 

Today I am doing another survey from The College Prepster.  I am really enjoying using the list for ideas and hope you are as well! 

Today I wanted to share the last 5 Things I Purchased with you!

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1. My Hope Water Project jersey! I have been putting it off and to be honest, I do not know why.  The shirts tend to run small, so I had to order way larger than I am comfortable with.  However, I know I will be glad that I had a looser fitting shirt when I am running the 1/2 Marathon in January.  If you have no idea what Hope Water Project is, make sure to check out my page to get more information! 

2.  A TON of clothing at Target.  With the Uruguay trip quickly approaching (just over 3 weeks!) I figured now would be a good time to get some clothing for the trip.  According to the weather people, Uruguay sits between 70-80 degrees this time of year, so I purchased some tank tops and shorts to wear while I am down there.

I have to admit, shopping at Target is not always a great experience because their clothing is not necessarily meant for curvy ladies like myself, but I swallowed my pride and ordered the correct sizing in their shorts.  

All together I purchased: 3 cardigans, a maxi dress, 3 pairs of shorts, 5 tank tops and another dress for just under $70.  You really cannot beat those prices!

To shop this look and other great deals, go to this link!

3. My face serum.  A while back, Justin's aunt gave me some of this product to try, and so far this is my absolute favorite cream for my face.  I tend to find that some creams make my face feel oily or too dry, but when I put this cream on my face feels smooth and refreshed.  I loved it so much, I went and purchased a big bottle so it will last a while!

4. Bubble Wrap.  This one is a bit random, but I needed some bubble wrap to ship a painting that my aunt ordered from me.  Plus, bubble wrap is happiness therapy.  I made sure to pop a few bubbles when I wrapped up the painting to mail.  Instant happiness! I never realized how cheap bubble wrap is to buy - especially if you have Amazon Prime.  

5. More clothes - apparently I have been on a clothing kick.  I realized a few weeks ago that I did not have any skinny jeans that fit me comfortably (thanks to my body changing from working out) so I headed out to Kohls with my mom to find some jeans.  I ended up with two pairs of skinny jeans from Levi's and I am in love.  They're stretchy so they do not squeeze me in the wrong places so I am comfortable throughout the day. 

Find these jeans here

Find this shirt here 

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So that is the last five things I have purchased! A bit random, but exactly what I needed.

Question of the Day: What purchase have you made recently? 

I'd love to hear from you!

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 This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Weekend Highs and Lows #7

Hello everyone!I hope you had a wonderful weekend filled with fun and exciting adventures  If you want more information about the party, please check out this post. 

Highs

This weekend was a fun one! On Saturday I went and helped Janelle and Marcy at a craft show for Infantly Cute Boutique, then Saturday night I went over to Sarah's house to catch up with her.  We ended up walking for a few hours just catching up and I really enjoyed it.  I forgot how great one-on-one time is with friends and need to make sure to plan it more often.

Sunday was filled with Renaissance Festival Festivities! We got up in the morning and made our way out to hang out with all of the other Festival goers.  Such a fun time seeing everything!

Lows

There is a bit of drama floating around me.  I am trying very hard to keep my distance because I really do not need to be a part of it.  Let's just hope I can keep it at bay! 

Previous Weekend Highs & Lows

Weekend Highs & Lows #1

Weekend Highs & Lows #2

Weekend Highs & Lows #3

Weekend Highs & Lows #4

Weekend Highs & Lows #5 

Weekend Highs & Lows #6 

I'd love to hear from you!

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Join the party here!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Fit for Fall 2015

Happy Friday Friends! I hope you had a great week and you have fun plans for this weekend! Right now we are planning to go to the Renaissance Festival on Sunday with some friends.  I am super excited because I finished my costume and get to wear a new one this year.

Today I wanted to share with you about the Fit for Fall #charitychallenge in which I am participating.  My friend told me about this cool fitness challenge where you can earn money for your favorite charity just by completing miles and exercises.  Of course I had to jump on that bandwagon - PLUS I am leaving for Uruguay in less than a month and need to whip my rear end into shape.

One of the goals of this challenge is to complete 100 miles for charity by the end of eight weeks through this app called Charity Miles.  If you have not heard about Charity Miles, make sure to check it out on iTunes! For every mile you run/walk/bike/etc. they donate money to one of the charities from which you can choose.  ToneItUp is also randomly selecting one participant a week to donate to a charity of their choosing.  I chose Hope Water Project as my charity as it is one I have been raising money for since early summer.

On top of the #100forcharity challenge, they also provide you with daily workout challenges and {from what I can tell} meal suggestions.  I am excited to do this because a few of my other girlfriends are going to participate as well.

If you want to sign up for the challenge go here: Tone It Up.

I have also created a Pinterest Board with pins of all the exercises for the Week//Day of the challenge.  I created this board because it will help me keep my days in order.

Follow Jackie Vore 's board Fit for Fall 2015 on Pinterest.

Throughout the challenge, I will keep the board in my side bar as well -------> 

Be looking for updates on my progress as I go!

Question of the Day: What charity would you choose to donate to if you had the chance? 

I'd love to hear from you!

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6 Things I Learned from College

Happy Thursday Friends! Last week I came across this list of fun blog topic ideas and thought it would be fun to try and do most {if not all} of the items on the list.  For today, I am going to share 6 things I learned in college.

1. It's good to make new friends 
If you had told me when I started college that I would be making some lifetime friends, I may have doubted you.  One of the biggest and best parts of college for me having my friends close by.  These are the people that you will spend time with, complain about classes with and really grow up with.  

2. However, it is also important to maintain your old friends
Making new friends is one of the best parts of going to college, but it is also important to work and maintain your old ones.  Today my friends are a mix of old and "new", but I find myself spending most of my time with my friends from High School.  There is something so comforting to know that these people know who you were before college, who you were during college and who you are now.

3. It is a time to try new things
One of the biggest things I did in college was make sure I tried new things.  At one point, I joined a fraternity, worked part-time and was on student government.  Turned out that the only thing I really wanted to do was work, so I did not do all of them for very long.  However, it was a good learning experience for me since I would have not known what I thought about the fraternity and student government had I not given it a try.

4. Travel is very important
While in college, I traveled to Italy and France with my best friend Sarah and it was honestly one of the best trips of my life.  Going to another country exposes you to so many exciting adventures and teaches you to be more open and accepting of other people.  Plus, the memories you make on trips like that are ones that will last a lifetime.

5. Do not be afraid to walk away from friendships/relationships that are toxic for you

One of the harder lessons I learned in college was knowing when it was time to walk away from a relationship that had turned sour.  I tend to hang onto relationships out of fear of change, but I realized in college that it was not healthy for me (or the other person) to keep trying to force a relationship that just was not working.  It is much healthier to walk away and remember the good parts of the relationship.

6. Pay of your debt as you go (or at least your interest)

Okay this one really happened more at the end of college and right afterward.  If I could go back and make any changes, I would make it a point to try and pay down my loans as I go.  Unfortunately, I really did not have a ton of extra money so I would not have made too much of an indent on the loans.  

  

Question of the Day: 

What advice would you give a person just starting college? 

I'd love to hear from you!

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Weekend Highs and Lows #6

Hello everyone!I hope you had a wonderful weekend filled with fun and exciting adventures  If you want more information about the party, please check out this post. 

Highs

This weekend was so busy, but also so incredibly fun! Friday I had a planning session with my travel buddies to get ready for Uruguay.  I cannot believe that we are leaving in just about one month! Saturday morning I got up "early" (like 8:30) to go for a walk with my cousin.  Because it was rainy, we went to the local mall and walked laps.  After walking, I had a coffee date and mini birthday celebration with my girlfriends.  We decided it would be fun to take some pictures with my camera and it was a blast!

After the fun in the park, Christina and I made our way to a 5k Glow Run to support our friend as she rain her first 5k.  The run was so fun! We covered ourselves with glow stick bracelets, necklaces and anything else we could find that glowed.  We did the 3.1 miles and afterward went out to dinner. 

Lows

I have been dealing with an infection the last few weeks and it has been dragging me down.  Unfortunately I am on my third antibiotic and I am not feeling much better.  Hopefully I will start feeling better in a few days and will start getting back to normal shortly.  

Well that was my weekend! What did yours look like? Link up to the party below! 

Previous Weekend Highs & Lows

Weekend Highs & Lows #1

Weekend Highs & Lows #2

Weekend Highs & Lows #3

Weekend Highs & Lows #4

Weekend Highs & Lows #5 

An InLinkz Link-up

I'd love to hear from you!

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Thinking Out Loud Thursday #4

Happy Thursday Friends! 

I am super excited because I am linking up with Running with Spoons and some other fellow bloggers for the Thinking Out Thursdays Linky Party.

What it is…

A weekly celebration of quirks and randomness! An opportunity to take the pressure and stress out of writing by sharing whatever it is that happens to pop into your mind when you begin to type — all worries about sense and structure pushed aside. A collection of random and disjointed thoughts, just because.

1.  One of my addictions is Essie nail polish...  Like whenever a new collection comes out, I am doing anything I can to get myself the whole set.  So of course, when Essie released their Fall 2015 Collection, I was all over that.  I am pretty excited about some of these colors and have already tried one!

2. This article from Buzzfeed totally blew my mind the other day.  Here's a few that made me laugh and some that were very thought provoking.

25 Random Thoughts That Will Make You Question Everything

We put on special clothes when jogging so people do not think we are running from someone or something.  The image they picked made me giggle. 

And the other one that got me was this:

Someone in the future will say your name for the last time.

Make sure to check out the rest of the items they listed, I guarantee it will make you ponder some things.  #mindblown

3.  I have a serious issue with picking at my nail polish.  If even one nail starts to chip, I stand it and have to pick the rest of the polish off.  I guess you could say it is a form of OCD - either way, it drives me bonkers. #Ihaveproblems #Atleasttheyreuniform 

4.  Antibiotics are so weird to me.  You take a medication that kills all of the bad bacteria in your body - but the weird part to me is that they also destroy some of the good bacteria in your stomach.  I am so grateful we have medicines like this available to us, they are just so strange to me.  #canyoutellIhavebeensick

5.  Lately I have been feeling like there are not enough hours in the day for me to accomplish everything that I would like to get done.  I know that part of the issue is my inability to effectively manage my time, but I also know that sometimes there is just not enough time for me to do everything that I would like to do. #needmorehours

Past Thinking Out Loud Thursdays

Thinking Out Loud Thursday #1
Thinking Out Loud Thursday #2

Thinking Out Loud Thursday #3

Question of the Day: 

What fun musings do you have floating around in your head?