Back To School - College Style

I know school has already started for most everyone, but EVERY blog out there has done a back to school post geared for moms with kids so I thought we should have a post for college students. And since you can't have a back to school post without a first day of school picture, here ya go...!

It's technically the 3rd day of school and the hubster didn't want to cooperate and take a picture with his backpack on so this is as good as it gets.

This semester I'm on campus 3 days a week, 4 hours a day so I have to bring along snacks. Otherwise my lucky classmates would get to hear my tummy rumble all through class! Plus I'm one of those lucky ones that needs something in my system every few hours in order to function.

I've made things a little easier on myself this semester. To help save on time and not find myself running late for school in the morning (since I have to leave at 7:30am, yuck!), I've prepared a few snacks ahead of time that I can just grab and go. As soon as I got home from the grocery store I washed and bagged all of the grapes and carrots that I bought by putting them into little snack bags. Now I just grab one of each as I'm heading out the door and I'm good to go.

Grapes, String Cheese, and Carrots

I also took the time to bag up some different crackers and other snacks, because let's face it, although carrots and grapes are delicious and good for you, they're not always filling or quite what you're looking for. It was super easy to bag up everything all at once and now I don't have to worry about it for a while. It was certainly hard to wake up for school these last 2 days and I know as the semester goes on it will only get harder (when I find myself wanting to go less and less), but since I had these snacks already prepared I made it to school in plenty of time and I didn't have to go without eating due to running out of time to grab a snack. The other nice thing is since there are healthy choices prepared it allows me to grab things that are good for me instead of less healthy options that are prepackaged like a candy bar. Win/win!

To my college friends past and present:
What are some things you do to help get out the door on time?
What snacks do you like to take with you?

Yogurt Popsicles

What you need:

 

·         3 different flavors of yogurt (any flavor)

paper cups

popsicle sticks

tin foil

spoons

Directions:

Use one flavor of yogurt and fill the bottom of the cup 1/3^rd full. Repeat this step with the second and third flavors of yogurt until the cup is full. Place aluminum foil over the top of the cup and cut a slit in the center. Slide a Popsicle stick through the slit and half way down the cup of yogurt. Place in the freezer for at least 4 hours (overnight is best). Peel away paper cup and enjoy.

Skin Care

I was reading a friends blog the other day, she posted about skin care and the 8 steps to healthy skin. Yes, you read that right, there are 8 steps to healthy skin. I currently mainly do # 6, 8 and occasionally 1. I'm sure there are many of you out there like me who just thought as long as I wash my face and moisturize I should be good to go... apparently not.
 Here are the steps

1. Cleanse – clean your face with a cleanser. Pretty simple, right?
2. Exfoliate – yes, every day. A very gentle exfoliation though. Avoid it if you have some major pimples so you don’t spread the bacteria everywhere.
3. Tone – apply toner to your face to even your skin’s ph level. 
4. Treat – You can just do this step at night, which would be applying some sort of anti-acne or preventative aging serum.
5. SPF – gotta protect that skin!
6. Moisturize
7. Primer – I honestly didn’t even know about this. If I understand it right, it helps your make-up last all day and prevents it from smudging or coming off.
8. Foundation – putting on whatever make-up you want

I didn't even know half of these existed! I feel like  have been introduced to a whole new world. Now granted I have two children under the age of 2, so the likely hood of me doing all these steps are slim. However, im definitely going to invest in a primer. I didn't even know that existed! I hate that a few hours after I put my make up on its already worn off.

So now im curious, how many of you knew there were so many steps to skin care greatness? Do you follow all these steps? And if so what products do you recommend for those of us that are clueless?

Gone Fishin'

Here's a fun snack for small kids!
*Kids under 2 should be supervised with pretzels due to choking hazard*

What you need:

Pretzel Sticks

Cream Cheese

Goldfish Crackers

Blue Food Coloring

Directions:

In a small dish, mix a few drops of food coloring into some cream cheese. Then take a stick pretzel and dip the end into the blue cream cheese. Now using the cream cheese dipped pretzel, go fishin' for some goldfish. Once a fish is caught eat it!!! And eat the cream cheese and pretzel too. No double dipping!!!

Healthier Alternatives For Kids

Here are some healthy snack options for our growing kids.

Fig Newtons instead of Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fruit Leather instead of Fruit Roll-ups

Cheese and Fruit

Smoothies

Raisins

Dried Fruit instead of Fruit Snacks

Dried Veggies instead of Chips

Frozen Yogurt instead of Popsicles

Nutritious Cereals instead of Sugary ones

Graham crackers dipped in applesauce

Mini Rice Cakes

Ants on a log

What healthy snacks do you give your kids?

How To Feel More Attractive

For those of us that can't run out and buy a new outfit to feel more attractive, here are a few ideas to help spice up your look.

• Start by getting dressed each day to the shoe. It's easy to stay in pj's all day when you're a stay at home mom or wear cumfy clothes, but if you dress to the shoe you're more likely to dress nicer. And I've heard you're more productive when you're fully dressed. (Think about the days you stay in pj's vs. the days you're fully dressed....)

• Mix and match your clothes.Wear things together that you wouldn't normally. Skirt and t-shirt, blouse and jeans, dress and sneakers, tank top as the over-shirt instead of the undershirt, etc.

• Costume jewelry. Dress up an outfit with a necklace, bracelet, earrings, anklet, or toe ring.

• Trim and file your nails, then give them a nice coat of polish.

• Try something new with your hair. Wear it curly, straighten it, curl it under, flip it out, part it down the middle or to the side, whatever is a new do for you, do it!

• Add a headband or a ribbon to an up do.

• Change your makeup. Try a new color of eyeshadow, blush, eyeliner, mascara, or what have you. Go lighter or darker on the eyeliner or mascara and try a whole new color of blush or eyeshadow. If you don't wear some of those things, try them out.

• Put on lip gloss or lipstick.

• Wear a hat with hoop earrings.

• Try a new shampoo or body wash. Catching the scent throughout the day can make you feel more attractive!

• Put on some perfume.

•  Brush your teeth more often than usual.

Any other suggestions to add to the list?

Compliments

My husband gave me a compliment the other day that has made a huge impact on how I view myself now.

First, a little back story...

My whole life I've felt like I'm surrounded by people who do things just a little bit better than I do. In elementary school my handwriting was good, but my friends were better. In Junior High I was in choir and felt like a pretty good singer, but my peers were better. In high school I played softball my freshman year and was pretty good, but my teammates were better. Then when I got married I felt like a pretty good housewife, but listening to comments in church, my ward friends were better. I've always felt like a good writer, but my husband is better. Now I feel like a pretty good mom, but my Facebook and Pinterest friends are better.

Then one day my husband told me he thinks I'm a good singer. I laughed it off and told him he was crazy and he continued to say he thought I was better than certain people (which I won't name, but people I view as good singers). It's hard for me to take a compliment so I just moved onto a new topic, but what he said has really impacted my day to day operations.

First of all, I've always loved to sing, but I've been surrounded by people who are good singers so I've developed some insecurities in my own talents. In church I started singing soft enough that nobody around me could really hear me, but by doing so it made it hard to hit any high notes so I would "mess up" and feel even less capable in my abilities. But, hearing my husband tell me I'm a good singer has given me confidence. Now I project when I sing and I don't care who hears me or who's better than me!

But it's more than that. His simple compliment has changed how I look at myself. I feel more confident about a lot of things because I've realized that it doesn't matter who's better. What matters is who tries. I may not be the best singer, but I try. I may not be the best wife, but I try. I may not be the best mom, but I try. I do what I'm capable of doing to the best of my abilities and at the end of the day that's all that matters. It's not about who packs their husband a lunch everyday for work or who puts together elaborate activities for their kids that they found on Pinterest. It's not about who sings better or who's more athletic...

...It's about how you approach your talents and how they make YOU feel. Nobody else matters when it comes to your own abilities and personal strengths.

So I'm proposing a challenge.

Give someone a compliment, but make it worth while.

I'm not talking, "cute shoes, great haircut, good lesson". Those are nice things to hear, but sometimes they seem meaningless. They're conversation starters or silence fillers.

Instead, compliment someone on their talents. If you liked their cooking, tell them why it was good. If they taught a good lesson in church, tell them what hit home for you. Tell your husband what he's good at and why. My husband could have said he thinks I'm a good singer and left it at that, but he kept going. He gave me a reason to believe what he was saying was true.

Give someone a self-esteem boost because at the end of the day we all have our own insecurities and compliments can go a long way in helping us feel more confident. Even the people who we think are so confident on the outside, have insecurities on the inside. So compliment away. You never know what impact you can have on somebody's life!

Weekly Health Challenge #1

October3-9, 2011
 
Thin-spiration.

Hang a picture where you'll see it often of someone that inspires you to be the body shape that you want.

Here's my thin-spiration!

This is my sister. She's had 2 children and still looks amazing. She's my reminder that it's possible to still look good after having a baby!