pinterest projects {a gift for teachers}

 My mom also graduated from school this year with her degree in Education (woo, go Mom!), so of course I turned to Pinterest to find something creative to make her for graduation. This was my inspiration:

I wasn't sure how the cutting of the crayons would go, so I did a test one on an old crayon:

Note: I used a really sharp knife to do this, and I think that made it way easier to cut the crayon cleanly.

I then printed out the outline of the letter I wanted to use. "D" is a really awkward letter, by the way. I'm not sure how to edit my last name out of that picture so you don't get to see it :).

I then lined up my crayons in chromatic order...mostly for the photo-op.

I started out with the straight line going down because that was the easiest part and I wanted to get the hang of the hot glue and what-not.

And here is the finished product! 

I popped it in an old frame I had lying around so that she can stand it up on her desk at school, if she wants.

I think it's pretty cute! Now she just needs a desk to put it on!

life through instagram: 5/10/12.

 Did ya'll hear that Facebook bought Instagram for One. Billion. Dollars? Apparently I'm not the only one that loves it.

Bella woke up right when I snapped this pic. She's a weirdo and sleeps with her tongue out.

NCLEX is coming...yikes.

What a little munchkin.

All of his favorite chew toys within paws reach...flip flops, computer cords, and my mizzou hat.

Flip flop #2 destroyed. "Who, me?"

Hanging with my cousins.

Albert likes to run around in freshly mowed grass.

If only I was this good all of the time.

What are you Instagramming lately?

pinterest projects {stain remover}

Did I scare you off from my blog after that last post? Probably :).


I have been working on some Pinterest projects in my spare time lately (which hasn't been plentiful). Some of them have turned out way-y-y-y-y better than others, but that's okay!


First up was this fancy-schmancy (and by fancy-schmancy I mean super cheap and unsophisticated) stain remover. If you're on Pinterest, you've probably seen this floating around.

link

Hydrogen peroxide + Dawn dish soap + a smidge of baking soda is supposed to take the stain out of everything, according to One Good Thing by Jillee. She had excellent photographic evidence so I was super pumped to try this, and I knew the perfect tester! She used this on her boys' t-shirts to get out those stubborn underarm stains, but I tried it on these:

These were the stains I was working with. I had to wear white scrubs for my nursing program (sick) and I would always forget to push my pen closed so I wound up with these lovely black dots all over my lovely white scrubs.

 I prepared all of my supplies (the directions didn't say to add baking soda, but I did to help me scrub it in a little better).

 I mixed everything up (2 parts hydrogen peroxide, 1 part dish soap, and a sprinkle of baking soda).

 I scrubbed it on the stain...

And this is the after. NO. DIFFERENT. Ugh. I was so frustrated! I guess this recipe isn't great for ink stains. I'm going to steal some of my brothers' shirts and try the underarm stain thing and I'll let you know if it's worth your time!

Does anyone know something good for ink stains? Or why mine didn't work??

Melanoma Awareness Month

Did you know that May is Melanoma Awareness Month? Probably not. It's hard to keep track of all the "awareness" that goes on month to month. Anyway, this is obviously a topic that is near and dear to my heart, because my mother was diagnosed with melanoma when I was a freshman in college.

Sparing the gory details, because most of the people that read this blog know them anyway, melanoma isn't always a funny mole that has changed a bit over the years. My mom's was a weird brown streak underneath one of her fingernails. Say what? That being said, the majority of melanomas ARE moles that have changed a bit over the years, and often, a combination of things (denial, ignorance, etc) can lead to people ignoring these moles until it's too late.

Some stats about tanning beds*: 

1.  Your risk of melanoma increases by 75% when you use tanning beds before the age of 35.
2. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified tanning beds as the highest cancer risk category "carcinogenic to humans." Also classified in this category? Cigarettes, radiation, asbestos. Gross. 
3. Tanning can be addictive. 
4. Tanning bed users are also 2.5 times more likely to be diagnoses with squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more susceptible to basal cell carcinoma.

Remember those weird moles I was talking about? 

• You can use this easy diagram from skincancer.org if you aren't sure if one of your moles looks funny. It shows how even if you have bigger moles/darker moles, it's okay, it's when there is one that is an 'outlier' it gets worrisome. 

From SkinCancer.org

• If you're not necessarily a visual learner and need something more concrete, use the ABCDEs of melanoma/skin cancer
• A: asymmetry
• B: border irregularity
• C: color variability
• D: diameter greater than 6 mm
• E: evolution (change)

So how do you prevent melanoma?

The research says cover up and avoid the sun between 10 am and 4pm. Well, that's easy if you're a hermit who doesn't like to swim/play sports/enjoy life. I mean honestly, it's unrealistic. That being said, if you're lounging by the pool this summer, WEAR SUNSCREEN. SPF 30 or higher is recommended for prolonged sun exposure. Our family rocks the SPF 70, just sayin'.


Basically, after all of this rambling, this is what I want you to take away from this post: 

1) Do not go to tanning beds. I don't care if you're getting married, in a wedding, have graduation/prom/a fancy dinner coming up, just don't do it. Get a spray tan. Or embrace the skin that you were blessed to have and ignore society's standards. I can't do the second one very well either, so I'm opting for a spray tan for an upcoming wedding.

2) Check your moles frequently. Go have a dermatologist check them once a year. I have moles that I can't really see because they're on my back, and I'll have someone else check them for me to see if they look different or strange to them.

3) Wear sunscreen. SPF 4 in tanning oil does not count. Wear at LEAST SPF 30 and reapply every 2 hours.


This is so relevant to our age group it's not even funny. I'm guilty of tanning in high school and that fact scares me. I know too many people who still go, despite knowing the risks. Please, don't take melanoma lightly. Most of you know the things my mom's gone through in the last 5 1/2 years and trust me when I say, it's not something we'd wish on our worst enemies. And I have some really bad enemies.

Back to regularly scheduled happy posts soon. That's right--I graduate on FRIDAY so you'll be seeing a lot more of me!


*From a Redbook feature on WebMD
**Disclaimer: I'm not a physician, nor should you take this as the end-all, be-all of melanoma facts/advice. I'm just a daughter and citizen that knows how important this stuff really is.

april showers bring...

Some of you may be bummed that the local forecast looks more like this:

The Weather Channel forecast for my zip this week.

than like this:

The Weather Channel forecast for Phoenix.

But I'm pretty happy that they are calling for some rain!

Wanna know why??


Because I don't get to wear these beauties nearly enough!

Let's face it. If you got to wear shiny pink rain boots every time it rained, you'd want it to rain all the time, too!

That being said, be safe in the inclement weather, don't go storm chasing, and pray that the sun comes out for a certain someone's big day on Saturday!

motivation, or lack thereof.

The thing I don't like about being in school (or should I say, ONE of the things), is that when you think in terms of "semesters", it's easy to get in a slump. I feel like there is a point in every semester where I hit a wall, and it seems like every time I find that wall, it's harder and harder to get over.

I have two weeks until I finish nursing school. TWO WEEKS, people. A year ago today I was still living in Columbia, packing up my life and saying goodbye to my fabulous coworkers from the past three years. Now I'm getting ready to graduate with my second degree (in as many years). I find that to be insane. Most days I'm not sure how I survived.

Now I just need to get through the next two weeks of school and then a few more preparing for and taking boards and THEN I will hopefully:

*Get to start a job
*Actually see my family & friends for more than 30 minutes at a time
*Take Bella & Albert for daily walks
*See Sam for more than a weekend at a time (stay tuned on this one!)

Lots of exciting things are happening, and I just have to take a lot of some deep breaths and know that everything happens for a reason.


In the mean time, I'm going to leave you with this little gem:

...something to think about, isn't it?...

things I'm loving

1. These brightly colored sports bras from Target. I want all of them.

via Target

2. Slouchy tees

via Bloomingdales

3. Flip flop season!

via Old Navy

4. J.Crew's cute retro looking swimsuits

via J. Crew

5. These Ray-Bans that I still want after a year.

via Ray-Ban

 

Basically I'm loving that summer is coming, even though I love winter just as much as summer. In fact, I love all of the seasons. That's the best part about living in Missouri!

What sort of fashions are you loving these days?