color run

How sweet does this run look?! I'm definitely all about this one!

Plus it's only a 5K - piece of cake.

Happy running :)

ten things on hump day

Wednesday = hump day!

And for all those that need clarification - it's the middle of the week

(it is all down hill from here).

My day was very - uhh - interesting. Wait til you read this list!

Here are 10 random things that made my day "what it was" - in no order:

1. Had a meeting to schedule my last semester of classes (reaction: when did I grow up?)

2. Filled out a graduation audit form (confession: this kinda freaked me out)

3. Realized I only have 8 more days until I see my best friend (totally freaking out)

4. Walked around target and bought - peanut butter, lip gloss and foundation (success)

5. Had dinner at Panera with a friend and ran into my awesome aunts (love love love)

6. Actually got to talk to Nick on the phone for a whole 5 minutes (say whhattt)

7. Finished a huge project for an educational assessment class (cheers)

8. Listened to Call Me Maybe and Domino on repeat (pre-teen/ghetto phase)

9. Start the final season of Sex and City (tears but excited)

And drum roll please....

10. Dissected and owl pellet in science class (confession: completely freaked me out)

When I dragged myself out of bed today, I totally didn't see #10 coming. I mean the rest were all pretty exciting no matter how sad or nervous I am for a few things. But don't worry, my group and I successfully dissected that owl pellet and put together one amazing "warrior king" skeleton! Elementary Education majors really can do it all friends :)

PS. Anyone else super excited to wake up at 4am on Saturday for opening day of fishing?! I am!!! I go to get my license tomorrow with my special trout sticker so I can hit the streams bright and early with Nick on Saturday. Anyone wanna join us?! I'm bringing the coffee and the donuts :)

the silent contest

Remember this picture:

Well here is the video that I was involved in for a contest at my school as part of my job!
Yeah that's right - I got paid to do this and all the crazy work to make this video happen.

But it was completely worth it :) Check it out friends!

PS. This is inspired by The Artist which is a fantastic film.

The Silent Contest from Michael Rothermel on Vimeo.

Check out my partner in crime - Michael here.

He's an amazing guy with awesome talents!

What do you think of our production??!

Love it right?! I knew you would :)

so sorry

So when spring semester rolls around everyone is looking forward to one thing... spring break. But then spring break comes and goes - all everyone is left with is one new thing.... stress. You only have eight more weeks until the end of the semester and there is so  much more to do. Not only do you have all the course work to finish up for the end of the semester but you're planning the up coming summer/semester/year. It is never ending friends.

For me, I'm looking into the next three months and realizing spring break was my only break until July, so I'm planning my summer trips, jobs and classes, the next semester because it will be my last one of classes, where I will be doing my student teaching in the US and overseas, and the beginnings of my future plans after I graduate in 14 months! It is insane around here I tell you. I get enough sleep to get by on a daily basis. I do my best to eat three meals a day. I run as often as I can. But what really keeps my going is my quiet time with God each day. No matter how stressed I am, He always knows just what I need.

So the lack of posts isn't because I don't want to be here. I honestly don't remember the last time I logged on to check everything :( I am truly sorry but I will be back later this week... I hope. Have a wonderful week friends!

Kiss Me I'm Irish

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone :)

Did you know that Saint Patrick is known

for explaining the Trinity using the shamrock?!

And he is known for bringing Christianity

to Ireland. So he received saint status and a feast.

March 17 is dedicated to Saint Patrick and the good he did.

I hope that you all embrace this holiday

because we Irish people just love it!

I am Irish and proud of it.

I mean check out these freckles and light skin.

sunglasses

I have sensitive eyes. 

But it works out perfectly because I'm obsessed with sunglasses! I have over 20 pairs spread throughout my rooms and various cars. Below are some throwbacks of me sporting all different kinds of my favorite sunglasses. Obviously I love the big "Jackie O" sunglasses! I visited her grave in DC when I was little and people left a bunch of sunglasses at her grave site. I thought people had just dropped them all there, but then my mom and aunts explained that she was known for her big sunglasses. And that is how, I believe, I became obsessed with big sunglasses. Plus Jackie is one of the most fashionable women in history! Anyways, sunglasses would definitely be my accessory of choice. Now you know something else random about me :)

My inspiration: Miss Jackie O Kennedy

Indiana

My weekend with my brother and friends was so fun!

We acted like siblings and college students and it was amazing.

We went to all the best places to eat in the area including

Steak and Shake for milkshakes and Buffalo Wild Wings for wings!

We played racket ball and went running in the gorgeous weather.

We met some friends at Ball State for a fun night of bowling and shakes.

We stayed up way to late catching up and watching Top Shot.

I slept on a good friend's couch and caught up with old friends, 

who I've missed dearly, on lives and all the recent gossip.

Basically, Indiana was amazingly fun and I can't wait to go back to visit.

I miss my wingman already and can't wait for him to come home soon!

please ignore the horrible lighting and wind hair.

motorcycles, fast cars, and freedom

I feel like I need to let everyone into who I really am a little more. I've never been fake or anything on here but this is my blog and I think that since you're here reading all of this because of me - you should know me more. I've decided that each week I'll do one or maybe two posts dedicated to some random facts about me. I hope you enjoy learning more about me and maybe we can make a connection on something that we have in common! Up first - 

I'm obsessed with motorcycles.

Me and some friends riding around Haiti!

My dream - crotch rocket.

I love speed and adventure.

Hard to see but this is my bungee jumping in Zambia, Africa.

My dream - skydiving

I am addicted to country music.

The name of this post - inspired by Rascal Flatts.

My dream - Eric Church. Brantley Gilbert.

And this amazing duo is in concert near by
and I'm going to see them this weekend!!!

I noticed I tend to do crazy things in other countries.
Motorcycles in Haiti and bungee jumping in Zambia!
Oh and my addiction to country music started overseas too.
I love to travel - but that is for another day :)

it's that "spring is in the air" inspiration

All of these make me crave spring more and more

because of the colors and lightness.

And it's coming friends :)

I'm pumped!

Spring break.

Full of inspiration.

spring break

So this week is SPRING BREAK!!! YAYYY :) I made it. Here is my to do list over break:

100th post

This whole blog experience has been a journey.

One I am incredibly thankful for because

I have learned so much about who I am

and what I have to offer the world.

Some facts about this blog

Total number of views:

10,398

Top three countries of viewers:

1. USA

2. United Kingdom

3. Canada

Most random country of viewers:

Isle of Man

Best month for viewers:

February - March 2012.

Top five posts of all time:

1. Dash of Spring

2. The Grammy Awards 2012

3. Gold, Glitter, and Chevron

4. Like a child

5. My valentine

Biggest traffic source:

Bloglovin'

A lesson I've learned:

This is a lot harder than I thought

but I'm loving every minute of it.

Something I'm excited for:

Inspiring people to be who God

has created them to be.

invisible children

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT POSTS YOU'LL EVER READ.
And this is the 99th post and I wouldn't want any other topic for it either!

I want you to picture yourself sleeping at age 8.

But this time you are sleeping in a public street or area.

Every night you walk with your siblings to the biggest city,

and you sleeping in big groups of children from villages any and every where.

In the morning, you wake up and walk back home to do chores and school.

You repeat this every single night for a decade so you won't be abducted.

So every day you leave your village to be safe, but one day your village is burned.

Everyone in the village is dead or gone. You and your siblings are alone.

So you sleep in your bed that night because everyone else is gone.

All of the sudden you hear screams and gun shots and loud voices.

And then you are taken from your home and forced into an army.

An army that is made up completely of children who are forced to kill.

You are now given a gun and sent into your best friend's village, and

you are given orders to kill all the people in that village and burn it.

Every night there are children who experience what I described.

The man behind all of this is named Joseph Kony and he heads the L.R.A.

30,000+ children have been taken from their homes and thousands killed.

There is no cause or reason for this war except for Kony's own power.

Meet Josephy Kony:

There are many criminals out there in our world, but Kony is #1

on the International Criminal Court list and has been for 7 years.

He is being charged with murder, sexual slavery, rapes and abductions.

A couple years ago I found out about an organization focused on stopping

Joseph Kony and saving the children from being abducted and killed in Africa.
(I grew to love their cause and have support them as much as I can.
I even considered uprooting my life this summer to be an intern for them!)

Anyways, Invisible Children is focused on ending this war and making the world aware.

This war could have been stopped years ago, but 99% of the world doesn't know.

For almost a decade Invisible children has been putting out information

to politicians and to young people. Anyone who can make a difference.

And finally in October of 2011, the U.S. sent over a small number of forces into

central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are 

working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield.

However, this support could be removed at any time and Kony is still out there.

He knows of the plan to remove him from his power so his tactics have changed.

Think back throughout the world's history.

There are horrible events that we all wish had been stopped.

Thousands of people were killed because people didn't step up.

That can't happen again. 

We need to shape human history.

"We need to fight back and show the people that we see them

and that we care enough to fight for them."

The Ugandan military needs to find Kony this year.

We need to inform people about this so that the

government knows we care and keeps the military

over in central Africa to train the Ugandan man

so they can capture Kony in 2012!!!

However, I know that 

capturing Kony is not enough.

It won't matter what the civilized people want to do,

Kony and his army will keep doing what they want to do.

And that will happen with or without Kony as their leader.

There needs to be a breakdown of the army and culture

that is allowing this to continue to happen.

But we need to work on what to do afterwards.

Americans need to get together to work on

counseling and educating the people of Africa.

But this cannot be done in an American way.

The people of Africa need us to meet their needs their way.

The only way to really end this war - 

educate the people in Uganda so it doesn't happen again.

Look at Rwanda. Rwandans have been working on

pulling their country together after the genocide.

That starts with the children of their country by

educating them to love others and think differently.

I believe that this is the future of the African people.

I am personally trying to go over to do my part

in educating the Rwandans this summer for a month!

My goal: inform, inspire, change.

"Be informed so you can inform.
Be inspired so you can inspire.
Be changed so you can ignite change."

-me

I'm getting involved in this organization

and I encourage you to do the same.
Or find some other way to be involved.

Any little bit can help.
Be the change you want to see.

Want more information?! Watch this video!

It's only 29 minutes but watch as much as possible.

I promise your life will be different.

We've seen these kids.

We've heard their cries.

This war must end.

We will not stop.

We will not fear.

We will fight war.

social media

When I was six people could barely use their email addresses.
Fast-forward fifteen years.... we got the email thing down pat.
We even experimented with myspace and some other types of media.
Now, I have 3 email accounts, facebook, twitter, intagram, pinterest, and a blog.
I am a single person and am connected that the internet through all these ways.

It is insane.

Why do we have social media?
Do we tweet because of ourselves?
Mostly like the answer is no.
We tweet for others to read what we have to say.
So we keep social media alive by engaging in it.
We are thriving off of each other in bizarre ways.
Why do we pin things on pinterest?
So other people can see our cool stuff or things we want.
Why do we have to be connected to everything?
Is all of this social media necessary?

Myself and others have been discussing this topic.
And just when I'm ready to throw in the towel,
something hits me that I realize I need to share.
Tomorrow I have something that needs media attention!
Come back and see something that needs our help
and our attention - and social media is the best option.

spring training

It's that time of year again.

Rita's. Sunshine. Baseball.

That is what spring is all about.

Sitting in the stadium with Nick

on a cool spring night watching the sunset

in the outfield while eating water ice

(not Rita's but still pretty good).

Nick is a die hard Phillies fan

and I've always loved them,

but I've taken my dedication

to all new levels since dating him.

We are phillies and baseball hungry!

Get back up here boys and let's gooo :)

Heads up - big weekend on this little blog!

Stick around and stay awhile those days

because you'll be glad you did :)

some old hollywood style

I work in Admissions at my school and we do awesome projects!

So myself, a coworker and my two bosses came up with our latest one.

Yesterday we shot our video for a contest inspired by The Artist.

It was so great and incredibly fun to do :) I'll sneak you all a peak when it's done!

Anyways, my coworker and I dressed up like we were from the 1920s.

People stared. We laughed. It was all around an amazing time!

Oh and our coworkers took great pictures of us because we cute :)

It's midterm week hence my lame posts. Sorry :/

And friends - we reached over 10,000 views!!!!!!

I can't believe how much traffic this little blog

has gotten in the past month - pretty crazy.

We have a huge mile marker coming up this week too!

Stay tuned for all the excitement to come :)

The Oscars

Best Picture

The Artist

Best Actor

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Best Actress

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Best Animated Feature Film

Rango 

Best Art Direction

Hugo

Best Cinematography

Hugo

Costume Design

The Artist

Best Documentary (Feature)

Undefeated

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

Saving Face

Best Film Editing

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Foreign Language Film

A Separation -- Iran

Best Makeup

The Iron Lady

Best Music (Original Score)

The Artist -- Ludovic Bource

Best Music (Original Song)

"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets, Music and Lyrics by Bret McKenzie

Short Film (Animated)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris

Best Short Film (Live Action)

The Shore 

Best Sound Editing

Hugo 

Best Sound Mixing

Hugo

Best Visual Effects

Hugo

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

The Descendants -- Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Midnight in Paris -- Written by Woody Allen

Emma Stone, Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer, Michelle Williams, 

Gwyneth  Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Viola Davis

Chic Star of The Artist - Berenice Bejo

Best Couple - George Clooney and Stacy Keibler

Stunning and sophisticated - Penelope Cruz

Awkward Moments:

The leg.

The ashes dump.

Amazing Moments:

J Lo and Cameron Diaz strike a pose!

Octavia Spencer's oscar win!

The after part with Kim, Kourtney and Heidi looking gorgeous!

new hair

So this past weekend was the big day... NEW HAIR!

I went and got it dyed golden strawberry blonde

and had lots of high lights put it with side bangs and layers :)

Whatcha think?! And please forgive the horrible gym lighting.

one more week

The title of this post is what I keep saying to myself this weekend and will continue to say until Friday afternoon comes. In one more week I go on Spring Break! I have some pretty exciting plans for break but nothing that involves the Caribbean or tons of sun. Want a hint?!

Hint: Mulitiple car rides that result in seeing amazing people.

My goal this week: Make it through alive by running a lot because 21 credits is an insane amount of work for anyone. But then it is SPRINGBREAK2012!

Here is something that makes me happy no matter how many times I've seen it:

curly hair problems

So I have curly hair some days and wavy hair others but these definitely apply to me!

I'm babysitting 5 kids for the weekend :)

My hair isn't the only think going insane!

Have a great weekend loves <3