5 Things YOU can do to THANK A BLOGGER!

Sometimes, even if people are reading your blog, and you have page views on them, It can still feel like you are talking to a wall. If no one is mentioning your blog or sharing it with their friends, it can start to feel pretty lonely.
   Even if you aren't talking to a wall, it can the the idea that it isn't very interesting, or no one found your tips that you were offering helpful.

There is a lot of up and coming with blog writing being more popular, but a lot people don't seem to understand exactly how to appreciate the blog! I read another blog post similar to this one and it inspired me to get it out to my audience as well. I thought the way the other blogger wrote it was very insitful and I had never thought about it as people not really knowing what goes into putting together a blog.
     This is probably the think I spend a bigger chunk of my time doing. I spend a good amount of time thinking of ideas for blog posts. If I am not writing it, I am trying to get the perfect pictures for my blog. Or creating cool logos in Photoshop or other such things. There is a lot of little things that go into a well put together blog.

#1500in31

I have done so many of these posts about how I am sick of weighing what I do, but I am struggling to get where I want to be. I am not unhealthy, but I am not as healthy as I could be. To be at my ideal, military weight I need to lose 15 pounds.

    Every time I get frustrated about it at drill, all of the people that I talked to ensure me that the way that military does height and weight is screwed up. They also tell me that the standard isn't really all that healthy.

I know I could stand to lose some weight, but I don't know if I could ever get down 15 pounds. My goal is to get down 10 by October drill. (middle of October.)



So here is my fitness challenge:

All Credits for this image go to
pinkheelspinktruck.com and hairsprayandhighheels.net

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

I have touched on this on a couple other posts, but I LOVE to cook. I just hate spending a ton of time in the kitchen for one meal. Not ideal for me, even if I am home most of the time.
    My boyfriend is a huge fan on traditional meals and isn't a very adventurous eater. I typically stick within the boundaries somewhere between meat and potatoes and pasta when I am cooking supper. Sometimes I have to remember that every family has their favorites, and apparently not everyone eats the same things as we do. This being said, I have been trying to copy a lot of his mom's recipes to keep him in his dietary comfort zone. This is one that she has made in the past and I have copied. Thanks Robin!

5 More Money Saving Tips

     Hey Readers! I am so glad to finally be back and writing! The last 2 weeks I was at some military training and I just didn't get all of my blogs written that I had wanted to, but now I am going to be back to writing a post every day, Monday- Friday! At least until I get a job or start college back up! I am back now and ready to share some more great things with you!
   
I have done a couple other money saving posts like these two:
                     Money Saving Tips #1
                     Money Saving Tips #2

But here are just a few more tips that I have found really helpful!

5 Steps to Easy Meal Planning

    Meal planning is a great way to save some money, feed the family, and stay organized in the house. I have worked hard on mastering this skill and overtime I have gotten a lot better at it. It doesn't have to be as complicated as I make it. It can honestly be as simple as writing down ideas for food. Or writing out 6 meals and going to get them from the store. 

    The way I meal plan has cut my grocery spending tremendously. I have gone from spending about $150 per grocery trip (2 weeks) to spending between $60-90. This includes a ton of fresh produce and fresh cuts of meat. I don't buy a lot of frozen/canned fruits and vegetables and I hardly every buy frozen meat (except chicken nuggets, which will always be my fav!)

     I have done a couple posts about this already but I wanted to let everyone know how I actually do it in 5 super easy steps. It takes a little printing for me, but you could easily do everything from your computer screen as well.

I personally have a notebook dedicated to meal planning. I make the meal plans in it. I keep lists of meals that I want to try. This also helps me look back and see the meals that we had last week and the meals that I have groceries for in the house.

Why a Liberal Arts Degree is for Me!

Lately, I have heard a lot of people talking about Universities and how Technical programs are becoming way more efficient. "Liberal Arts is a thing of the past" Lots of people have said that they don't see why people would spend so much money on a degree that doesn't really teach you how to "do" anything.

I know the economy hasn't been great and people don't always find jobs with liberal arts degree, but people don't always find a great job with any degree and you are more likely to find a job that pays more than minimum wage with either a degree, or experience.

I am going to University of Nebraska for a Bachelor's of Arts Degree. My major is Psychology and I have a quadruple minor. My minors are Child, Youth, and Family Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Conflict and Conflict Resolution (Similar to military history), and LGBTQ Studies (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual and Queer/Questioning). I have a VERY liberal arts degree.


5 reasons why a Liberal Arts Degree is for me!

1. Liberal Arts broadens your mind.
     I have met a lot of close minded, stuck in their ways people in the past. With more education, comes more open views about the world unless you decide to shut out any existence of truth in the knowledge that you are receiving. There is a lot of information in the world and people tend to only go with what they know. Liberal arts can help you learn more and be more educated about hot button topics. Liberal arts majors are more likely to not be racist, sexist, or judgmental compared to people with little to no education.

2. A Wealth of Knowledge
 In my one year at college, I have learned about women in history, benefits  biking to work, the Trans-Canadian Pipeline, transgender surgery, how plants make food, how to write a poem, statistics, how to code for computers (kind of), Pavlov's Theory, what parts of the body actually cause tolerance with alcohol, the history of South Africa, things that threaten babies lives during pregnancy,   and that is simply one thing per class that I have taken.  You can't say that technical school taught you all of that in great depth.

Name Canvas: For a Rainy Day

I have spent many hours searching for ideas to decorate the apartment walls. I have done some pretty cool stuff this week and I am super excited to share them all with my readers! 

Sometime in April, I did this craft with my TeamMate mentee, but I did my name. Ours turned out super cool and we had so much fun with them! She finger painted hers, but I chose to use a brush on mine so I could hang it in my apartment once I finally moved in. 

Everyday Workout Plan!

I have been going and going for the two months it feels like. Where did June go? It seems like May just started.
This being said, my workout plan has been less than fantastic. I have been watching what I eat pretty well, but I have been craving a super great workout for a while. During drill weekends, we get some pretty good ones and I really do enjoy those.

I always have such great motivation until I get busy and then it seems to all go out the window. I need something that isn't going to take a lot of time out of my day, but that is going to target my trouble spots.

This workout is slightly tailored for me because I put push-ups and sit-ups on every day regardless of the target zone so I could really focus on the PT test aspect!

Finger- Licking Crock-pot Chicken Wings

My very first Tasty Tuesday! I am so excited to have finally started a daily blog plan! I hope this starts to bring more readers to the page! Please, share your favorite posts with your families and friends!

This week we have had a lot of cooking in days! I have been so excited to finally have a kitchen again that I never want to go out for supper anymore. I have started making some more recipes and enjoying the cooking again!

I couldn't really find a recipe that fit how I wanted to make them. I didn't want a bunch of extra ingredients and I really didn't want to have to turn the oven on, but I couldn't find a recipe for wings that you just put in the crock-pot without baking them first. It gets so hot in our apartment during the day anyway because we are on the 3rd floor and we have a huge glass sliding door that makes up most of our light in the living room. I decided that I would experiment with the wings, and if the didn't turn out then we could always order Chinese.

Why I Meal Plan!

I know there is a lot out there on the benefits to planning out meals at least a week in advance, so I thought I would add my two cents into it. I love meal planning, but I don't necessarily do it the way that everyone else does. When I meal plan, I just list enough meals for 2 weeks and then we kinda go by week. I normally figure out what we are having the for supper the night before so I know if I need to prep anything or make sure something is ready to go.

My meal plan for two weeks consists of:
  A few new recipes
  A few "convenience meals" (Hamburger helper, frozen pizzas)
  A few traditional favorites (Spaghetti, burgers)
  Two leftovers nights
  One night out


1. Organization
I will be the first to admit that I go a little crazy when there isn't a definite plan. I like order. I like knowing what time I have to be ready and where I need to be. Also, in the sense of going out, I like to know what I should be wearing for said event.
It isn't surprising that I meal plan. I like to know if I need to start supper earlier, or if I need to run to the store to get one item for the meal. If it is a crock-pot recipe I like knowing that I will be around to check on it if needed or at least there to start it at some point in the afterno
on.

My New Blogging Plan

I have struggled with what this blog is about most of the time that I have had the blog. I have spent hours searching other blog sites and reading all about what they do for their blog to make it work.

I am going to try something new and I hope to keep with it throughout the school year. I may have a few weeks were I struggle to keep up, but I will make sure to at least post every once in a while. I am really excited to start this!

My plan is to have a different theme for every day Monday-Friday. Each day will have a theme but it will be broad enough that I can write about a lot of things that are under that category. Every week will have a different blog post for that day of the week.

All About Me

     Hey everyone! I know most of you are regular readers, and most of you are probably family and friends, but for those of you who happened to stumble upon my blog, I thought I would give you a nice, warm welcoming!

   Many bloggers out there are stay at home mothers who have a couple of kids and have been married for a good amount of time, but I am actually quite the opposite.

I am in a relationship with my best friend, Matthew.
Not married.
No kids.
I am also a college student.
 Looking for a full time 8-5 job.
Always searching for a volunteer position.
 I love writing.
On top of that. I am a soldier in the Nebraska National Guard and I love every second of it.

Off the Desk Paper Organization!

Since I've been at home since the move, I have taken it into my hands to do the house cleaning (for the most part), meal planning, and organizing (again, what I can do.)

I am constantly finding that I don't have a place to put the bills other than under a magnet on the fridge because 1. there are two drawers in our kitchen and they are both taken. and 2. There isn't a whole lot of table and counter space as you walk in the door. (Bonus because our tables don't become a catch all). Anyway, I am always afraid I am going to lose an important piece of paper and not be able to find it when it comes time to pay that bill. Our office desk is less than functional because we have a TV sitting on it to be used as a monitor for my broken laptop.