Holiday Bucket List

I've been gone for a while, I know. Things have been hectic with school and family and all that stuff; but I've also been having motivational issues. As in I don’t ever want to do anything but sit and play Sims and read and I've been having a hard time getting myself to do anything unless I HAVE to do it. But we are working on that, hopefully I’ll get better as time goes on.

Enough of that though, I have a holiday bucket list! I’m sure you guys know how into the holiday season I am as I put my tree up like a week after Halloween, no shame. Many of my friends think I’m crazy and just aren't as into the season as I am; they say it’s too early and I need to appreciate Thanksgiving (but I did and do). But what do they know, the holiday season only happens once a year and it FLIES by so why not make it last as possible and enjoy every second? Or am I the only one that thinks that way? But here is my list of stuff that I want to do to celebrate the holidays and make memories J

1. Make Christmas cookies
2. Make Chirstmas Mugs
3. Go to the Galaxy of Lights
4. Go to the Christmas Tree Path
5. Ice-Skate in the park
6. Ice-Skate at the normal rink
7. Watch Christmas movies (I actually have a HUGE list of Christmas movies I want to watch and no time!)
8. Make hot chocolate
9. Build a gingerbread house
10. Make ornaments (Target and Michaels sell these make your own felt ornaments and my brother and I enjoy making them)
11. Read “The Night Before Christmas”
12. Go look at Christmas lights
13. Go to a Christmas play

I think that’s everything, or at least all of the major stuff. I've had Christmas music in my car for a while so that is long crossed of the list. Unfortunately where I live it doesn't snow so I can’t do anything like build a snowman or go sledding or do anything fun like that. It’s actually been 60 to 70 degrees for the past two weeks L I hate it so much. I miss having seasons, it’s something I don’t like about the south. We don’t have a fall and it’s December and it still feels like summer. Is it too much to ask to be able to wear boots and cute sweaters? Lol.

I hope you guys enjoyed this! What do you do for Christmas/the Holidays.

Thank you for reading!

Kylie 

Essay Writing Tips

Being an English and Journalism major I have a lot of writing to do; however, I would rather write an essay than do 80+ Spanish activities (I actually had to do that for every Spanish test…worst thing ever). I've also been writing research papers since middle school and perfected my technique in high school when I had to write 4,000 word research paper. Today I am going to share my tips which can be catered to people who work better with a pen and paper and those who prefer technology. I also figured that now would be a great time to tell you how I write essays since it is finals and I have an English essay due this week. Here is my writing process and tips that I've figured out along the way.

#1 Know your topic

Regardless of whether or not your teacher or professor assigns a specific topic, a list of topics or you have to create your own topic, you need to make sure that you know your topic. Make sure you pick something you are interested in or can argue for/against if you are able to choose your own topic. If it’s not something you enjoy learning about and writing about then the writing process is going to be tedious. However, sometimes you won’t be able to choose your topic and it sucks but it’s still do able.

#2 Research

This is, in my opinion, the most tedious part of writing. Even though research has gotten easier with technology, there is so much out there that it can often be overwhelming. Many teachers now require paper and electronic sources and require that those electronic sources are credible and aren’t just google searched. Most universities and a lot of high schools have subscriptions to databases like Academic Search Premier and EBSOHost that can provide credible articles and research. Also, your public library may be subscribed to some databases that one can use. Learning to use these can be difficult, but most librarians should be willing to help you learn how to use them to get the sources you need. Take advantage of the resources your school has. Finally, do more research than you think you will need. It’s better to have too many sources than too little.

Citations, I feel, would also fall under this category. Citing sources is terrible, but it’s something you have to do. If you do not do it correctly, then you may get expelled or kicked out of university forever. That’s a lot of pressure. However, Microsoft Word can take some of the stress off of you. My teacher in ninth grade told me that if have 2010 or above you can go to the References tab and then to the Citations & Bibliography section and choose your style and then click on insert citations; all you have to do after that if fill out the form for each source! Word will take care of all the pesky periods, commas, italicizing, and all the other things that come with citing a source. After you have everything cited, go to your citations page and then click on bibliography and it inserts all the citations almost formatted. All you have to do now is change the font and size, double space, and do a hanging indent and you’re done! Isn't that so much easier? The first picture is how I compile my research if I'm keeping it together in a Word document. The second two pictures are what I do if I'm doing index cards.For the index cards, I organize it to have the source card on top and the quote cards for that source behind it; then another source card, quote cards etc. 

#3 Outline

A lot of people skip this step and admittedly, for small essays, I don’t make a detailed one. But I do find that having some kind of outline or plan before you start writing so that way you have a little bit of an idea of what you’re going to talk about and you don’t repeat and write in circles. For long essays I do like to do a detailed outline because…all you have to do is add fluff and the essay is done! When I wrote my extended essay for high school, I did a detailed outline and the paper pretty much wrote itself because all I had to do was add fluff to the quotes and it was done. I still do that now even though it seems pointless while I’m doing it but when it comes to writing it actually does help.

#4 Let’s get writing

I don’t have any tips for the actual writing of the paper except just write and don’t worry about how it looks or sounds. Get all of your ideas and explanations and fluff out onto paper/screen. Starting is the hardest part so maybe don’t start with the introduction and start with the body paragraph. Also, depending on your teacher, you may not have to write a full paragraph for the introduction. Often I just have a sentence or two in order to introduce the reader and then go straight into the thesis; although none of my teachers mind that make sure that it is okay with your teacher.

#5 Finishing up

Edit, edit, edit. Send it to your friends, sometimes if you get the essay done early enough your teacher might be willing to read it and edit it for you. If your university has a writing center where they edit essays for you, then make an appointment and take your essay there. Sometimes in the act of writing one might make a lot of silly mistakes that could be marked off, so it’s important that you or someone else reads the essay for those mistakes. Finally, make sure you turn it in as soon as you are finished! Don’t wait. I waited once and was like I’ll turn it in later tonight (it was due online) and totally forgot! I e-mailed my teacher and luckily she was really cool about it, but it was terrifying! Take my word for it, turn it in as soon as you finish completely.

I hope that these tips help you out during this stressful time of finals. Good luck!

Thank you for reading!

Kylie

Dorm Room Christmas Decorations

I know we just had Halloween and it’s not even thanksgiving yet, but I’m already super into the Holiday spirit. I’m one of those crazy Christmas people, am I the only one? I love the Holiday season, it makes me so happy and it’s amazing. I already have Christmas music in my car (Michael Buble anyone?) and it’s beginning to look like Christmas threw up all over my room. I have a baby Christmas tree all decorated, skirt and all and garland on my window. Part of the reason I have already decorated my room is because I will only be in my dorm for two weeks after thanksgiving so I won’t have enough time to enjoy a Christmas-y room. The other reason is just because I’m a super holiday freak and I love Christmas. It makes me so happy :).

As for what this actual post is about: I’m going to be talking about the decorations in my room and different idea that I may or may not be doing in my own room but would love to do. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of all the garland, but I will still tell the price and what not. Just so I don’t have to say it for everything, all of the stuff shown in the pictures is from Target. I don’t know about you guys, but Target is my favorite place ever. I can spend so much time in there and they always have so much for the holidays.

MY TREE

Before my most recent payday, I went to Target just to kill time and because I was bored just sitting in my dorm and I saw that they had small trees! I wanted one last year but couldn’t find a really nice one for cheap. So I got one from Old Time Pottery and I loved it but I was small, almost like a Charlie Brown tree so my ornaments looked huge on. I also left it at home so it wasn’t doing me any Christmas goodness at the dorm so I got a new one. So when I go home my room will have two trees :). You should be able to find it in the Christmas section in the back of Target. They also have Silver, Gold and maybe pink? Or Blue? I don’t remember but they have a variety of colors. It’s $8 and is a garland material instead of pine-y.

Near the tree at all targets near me they have garland and baby ornaments that you can use to decorate your tree. I got silver garland (I’m sorry I forgot pictures) for $3 and one was enough to wrap the tree. I got Gold, Green, and Red mini bulbs and some blue, pink, and green stars both sets were $3 and came with plenty bulbs; 1 pack should be enough but if you want variety like me then 2 packs is plenty. I also found a tiny tree topper in the same area, I got the Gold one but they have a bunch of other colors and it was only $1! Finally, they had mini tree-skirts hanging up which I also thought was just adorable. Like everything else, they had a variety of colors and patterns. I got a simple, kind of traditional green one that says Merry Christmas and Let it Snow on it with little Christmas designs. Here are pictures of the set up and the final tree <3.

EVERYTHING ELSE

Right now, the only other Christmas decoration I have in my room is garland lining my window. I found some garland in the dollar spot at Target. I got two of them, a green and red and a silver. I originally planned of having one around my window and one around my door. But then I got back and unraveled it and it was really, really short. It could be used on the tree honestly. So instead of having both my window and door lined. I have my window lined with half of it being green and red and half being silver. It’s still really pretty though. I want some decorative Santa Clauses, snowflakes, penguins, snowman, etc. to hang on my wall but I don’t have the money for that right now. But over the years I’ll build up my collection of holiday decorations so it’s okay :)

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. What is your favorite season and are you as into the holiday season as I am?

Thanks for reading!

Kylie

October Favorites

October is already over, it went by so fast! I feel like not only is 2014 flying by but college is going by in the blink of an eye and before I know it I’m going to be in the real world doing grown-up stuff. October is one of my favorite months and even though it flew by, I had a great month. Anyway, let’s get started on the favorites.

#1 theSkimm

I am not someone who enjoys watching the news. It’s so depressing, after my dad went to war I hate hearing anything about the war. It’s upsetting and brings back a lot of memories. Because of that, I tend to not stay up-to-date with current events, then I found theSkimm. theSkimm is an e-mail subscription service that sends short, interesting, summaries of the most pressing events that are in the news currently. I like that they don’t give any gruesome details but give the need-to-know information. It’s become part of my morning routine, I wake up and immediately read the daily skiimm. If you want to sign up as well, then click here.

#2 Milani’s lipstick in Sangria

I've talked about this before, but I love this lipstick so much. I love berry colors on me, but tend to stray away from dark, vampy lip colors because let’s face it…they’re intimidating. This lipstick can be used lightly to give a medium berry color to the lips or put on more heavy to give a deep berry color and I love it. I think it is so pretty on and it’s definitely going to get a lot of wear this season.

#3 Wet and Wild Nail Polish in So Berry on Trend

I’m obsessed with maroon/wine/burgundy colors this year and I want more! This nail polish is definitely in that color zone and I’m in love! It’s a matte nail color so it can be used as a matte (a matte top coat would help it last longer) or a normal top coat can be applied to make it shiny (as I like to do). It only takes two coats to get an opaque color (I used three just because) and it dries super quickly. I’m really bad about waiting for my nail polish to dry and the fact that this is fast drying is amazing. Just another reason to love it. I think I’m going to try more from Wet and Wild.

#4 Favorite Music: LIGHTS Little Machines

At the end of September LIGHTS came out with a new album! I had her other two albums and loooovvvveeee them. LIGHTS is my favorite female artist and the only female artist that I can listen to all the time and not get tired of her. I knew her album was going to be amazing but like with all new albums, especially from people I love, I’m always worried that their new album won’t be as good as their previous albums. Like with Chevelle, I love all of LIGHTS albums and loved this album right away. My favorite songs on the album are probably “Oil and Water” “Meterorite” and “How we do it”. I also pre-ordered so I got three bonus songs (unfortunately they aren’t on the actual CD :( ) I would put links to videos of the songs, but YouTube has removed the song all the videos I could find.

#5 Favorite TV-Show: Dexter

Have any of you watched Dexter? I’m on season 4 and I’ve been binge-watching every time I can. I love it. I got so mad a Dexter season 2 and then at Deborah season 3. I won’t say anything for those who have not watched it. But if you haven’t watched it, you need to. Like now. It’s amazing.

#Favorite Book: Vampire Academy or Harry Potter

I haven’t read any books that aren’t a part of a series this month, but I did finish the Vampire Academy series (gasp) and read Harry Potter Year 5. I never finish series so finishing the Vampire Academy series was a shocker to everyone who knows me. I’ve been reading that series for years, like since middle school so this series has been with me for a while and finishing it was kind of sad for me. The world has ended, but I loved the series. I enjoyed the ending and thought it ended well and I hope they continue making movies with these books. I quite enjoyed the first one. As for Harry Potter, I love Harry Potter but then who doesn’t. I haven’t read the books until now, but reading the books has made me love it more and my obsession has skyrocketed. I’m actually taking a Harry Potter class in the spring and I’m super excited for it. I’m going to read books 6 and 7 before I take the class.  

                               

And that’s everything for October! What were your favorites for this month? Tell me in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Kylie

The Halloween Tag

It’s Halloween, it’s Halloween! Whenever Halloween comes around I think about my favorite Halloween book as a child It’s Halloween by Jack Prelutsky. I think my parents still have it at home and it’s definitely been read and re-read and loved; have you ever read it? What’s your favorite Halloween book (can I add that to this tag lol)? Anyway, Happy Halloween! I hope everyone has a great Halloween and stay’s safe with whatever they are doing tonight. I can’t say that Halloween is my favorite holiday, but I do love it since it is in the best season ever! I just watch beautycrush on YouTube do this tag which inspired me to do it and post it on Halloween. So here we go, I hope you enjoy!

#1 What is your favorite Halloween Movie?

I don’t think I have a specific Halloween Movie that’s specifically about Halloween that I love, but here’s a couple movies/shows that I enjoy year round but particularly on Halloween. (1) The Lost Boys, my mom and I love this movie. It is an older movie about a family that movies to California and the sons run into a group of vampires. I love it. (2) The Addams Family, This is a classic movie. I haven’t watched it in years but it always makes me think of Halloween. I want to be Morticia for Halloween one year. I actually saw a Broadway version of this my senior year of high school and loved it! (3) The Nightmare Before Christmas, I see this movie as a Halloween and Christmas movie. I enjoy it nonetheless and find it a cute movie. (4) Finally, the classic It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It’s tradition for me now to watch it every year before Halloween :) I love any Charlie Brown holiday special.

#2 If you were in a horror movie how far would you get?

I would like to say that I would live through the horror movie just because I’ve seen so many that I know that to do and not to do. Let’s just admit, people in horror movies are stupid and a lot of times if they did the smart thing then they wouldn't die in the movie. However, I don’t know what happens to myself when something terrifying like that happens. So I don’t know. My mom also has a book called How to Survive a Horror Movie and is hilarious. I feel like maybe if I read that I might survive.  

#3 What is your favorite memory of Halloween?

Trick-or-treating! I used to love walking around and getting free candy and seeing all the Halloween decorations. As I got older I started loving going to the scary houses. I wish more people did crazy decorated houses, they don’t even have to be scary (for the little ones sake) but seeing the houses that went all out was fun. I miss it now that I’m older. I wish I could go trick-or-treating with my brother and see him enjoy the holiday but unfortunately I can’t :(

#4 Best/Worse Halloween Costume?

I don’t know, I've gone as a witch or vampire for many years lol. I also went as Harry Potter one year when Harry Potter first came out. I was going to go as a student of Hogwarts this year, but I don’t have the money to spend on expensive Halloween Costumes.

#5 How do you get into the Halloween spirit?

I watch scary movies and Halloween movies, I’m automatically in the Halloween/Fall spirit when October first hits so it doesn't take that much for me.

#6 Favorite Halloween decoration?

I don’t think I have one, but like I said earlier I like seeing people who go all out on the Halloween decorations. Right now in my room I have a lot of cute ghost decorations from Target.

#7 Name one unusual thing you’re afraid of?

This is embarrassing, but bathrooms. I don’t know why but I've had issues with public bathrooms my whole life. It’s not as bad now that I’m older but I still get scared every now and again. It’s gotten so bad sometimes that I will not go into bathrooms and wait till whenever I get to one I feel comfortable in. I will also only go into bathrooms in stores that I know. Let’s also add that if there is a fan, I won’t go in and will just turn and walk out. Also, those exhilarator hand-dryers that are super powerful scare the crap out of me. I’m weird. Don’t judge me.

#8 Vampires or zombies?

For a while after Twilight, I was obsessed with vampires. But now, I love zombies. I think they’re funny and cute in a weird way.

#9 Werewolves or Ghosts?

Ghosts. Again, after Twilight I liked werewolves but that phase is gone and I like ghosts now. I do like the Twilight werewolves that look that gigantic wolves, but I don’t much care for the upright walking werewolves.

#10 Creepy dolls or creepy clowns?

I am actually not afraid of clowns. The movie It never scared me, and when I see clowns they don’t immediately freak me out. Dolls, however, freak me out really bad; especially porcelain dolls…eek. Let me tell you this story, I was about 8 years old and my parents had given me a porcelain doll for Easter and she was really pretty. One day, I was tying my shoes to go outside and play when I looked up at my doll and I swear I saw her head turn from look at the wall across from her to looking at me beside her and then she blinked. I know it was probably a trick of my mind, but it terrified me and I grabbed my shoes and ran out. I later put the doll in my mom’s room and never liked dolls after that. This was also in the house where I had terrible night terrors for the only time in my life so I’m not taking any chances.

#11 Do you believe in ghosts?

I don’t know if I believe in ghosts per say, but I do believe in energy. Remember how in science we were taught that energy cannot be created nor destroyed? Well I believe that that whatever energies, good or bad, stay where they are. If bad stuff happened in a house and there was a lot of sadness or anger then I believe that stays and affects whoever else is there. If there was happiness in the place then I believe that stays as well. Ghosts may or may not exists, but you never know. A restless soul may linger.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you do it as well then please comment and tell me so I can read it :).

Happy Halloween and Thank you for reading!

Kylie

Empties #2

First, can we talk about how cute that ghost is? I have ghosts in my dorm right now and I think they are adorable. I thought since it's almost Halloween that I would have a Halloween style title picture. But anyway, I’m back with another empties! This came sooner than I expected since it takes me forever to use anything up, but it came; mainly because I cleaned out my make-up and nail polish collections. I hope you guys enjoy seeing what I've used up since the last empties!

#1 Simple Oil-Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes

I love most of the Simple Products; I use their face wash, their make-up wipes, and their toner. Their products don’t break me out and are gentle and don’t contain many terrible ingredients (always a plus). I enjoyed these make-up wipes, they took off my face make-up very easily, are very soft, and don’t break me out. They don’t take off eye make-up well, but I haven’t found any brand of make-up wipes that actually take off waterproof eyeliner and mascara without scrubbing your eyes out of your head.

#2 Gillette Satin Care Sensitive Skin Shaving Cream

For me shaving cream is shaving cream. I always go for the sensitive skin types because my legs are waaayyy to sensitive. I don’t know if this does anything special because shaving always irritates me, but this may help a little. It smells good though, so that’s a plus! I do recommend this as I have repurchased this at least 10 times.

#3 Pantene Curl Perfection Conditioner

I think I had a conditioner in my last empties :P oh well. I love Pantene, my hair is always super soft and healthy looking after using it. I don’t have a favorite version of the Pantene, I just grab which ever one looks like it’s what my hair needs.

#4 Ponds Cold Cream

I tried this because I've heard a lot of good things about this but I HATED it! I loved how it melted my eye makeup off like butter but it broke me out super bad. At least it wasn’t super expensive so it’s not a huge waste but it sucked for me.

#5 Secret Deodorant in So Very Summerberry

I've used secret deodorant for many, many years and it’s the only deodorant that actually works for me. Plus they have some really great smelling scents which is wonderful. I feel like deodorant is pretty self-explanatory lol.

#6 Maybelline Dream Matte powder in Honey

I think this is my second (?) Dream Matte Powder. I do like this powder, it’s small and compact which I like because it fits in my purse nicely without taking up too much space. It also does a nice job containing oil and as a touch up powder. I also like that it doesn’t look cakey. I will probably re-purchase soon as a purse powder.

#7 Rimmel Clean Finish Matte Foundation in True Ivory

I like Rimmel London products; however, I don’t like this foundation. I got it because it was cheap and I needed a new foundation. I like the spatula just because I think it’s fun. I don’t like the actual foundation because it doesn’t blend well. Even when I use a primer, I find that it doesn’t blend very well and is very patchy. I don’t recommend this.

#8 Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Plus Nourishing Nail Color in #37 Tangerine

I've had this for years and I love this kind of color for summer. The only reason I’m throwing this out is because it’s old and goey and I haven’t used it in years. I found a new tangerine-y color that I love also from Sally Hansen and it’s the Xtreme Nail Color in #405 Coral Reef or Essie’s Peach Daiquiri. Both of those are similar orange-y pinkish colors that I LOVE.

#9 Sally Hansen Age Correcting Growth Treatment

I think this was my moms and it’s been in my collection for many years and I don’t use it and I never have so I don’t have an opinion on it. I think my mom likes it though, but I’m not sure.

#10 Sally Hansen Color Wear Maximum Adhesion Base Coat

I never not use a base coat, I have found that it does help my nail polish last longer and it keeps the nail polish from staining my nails! I had when my nails have a tinge of the nail color I last used or turn yellow and I’ve found that a base coat really helps. Again, I think this was my moms and it just made its way into my collection. I have used it a few times and it was pretty good; however I don’t know if Sally Hansen still sells this. I use Revlon’s base coat and really enjoy it if you want a base coat but can’t find the Sally Hansen one.

#11 Loreal Paris Limited Edition nail color in #913 Patent Black Gold

I've had this for years, it’s a pretty black with gold shimmer. I don’t wear black Nail Polish often, but this was a really pretty one; it just turned goey and I don’t use it enough to thin it out.

That’s it for this empties post! I hope you enjoyed seeing what I’ve used up since the last one!

Thanks for reading!

Kylie

I Love Fall Tag

Fall is absolutely my favorite season, ever. I love the feeling that comes with fall, the crisp fall air, the changing color of the leaves, and the change in wardrobe. I wish I lived in a place where it felt like fall and not summer, but maybe one day I will be in a place where when October hits it starts to feel and look like fall. In honor of my favorite season, I am going to do the I love Fall Tag.

#1 Favorite Lip Product?

From the time fall hits in October till when winter ends in April, I love wearing deep berry colors on my lips. I have many favorites, but right now is one that I recently purchased: Milani’s Sangria. The lipstick is a dupe for MAC’s Rebel and I love that I can apply it lightly and get a light berry color or add layers and make it darker. It’s so versatile and definitely the perfect fall color for me :)

Some runners-up would be Revlon’s Raspberry Pie Lip Butter, Revlon Berry Smoothie Lip Butter, Covergirl Berry Twist Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss (BTW, all three of those look wonderful layered over MAC’s Amorous), and finally another new lip product: Maybelline Mesmerizing Magenta.

#2 Favorite Nail Polish?

Much like with my lip products, I love my nails to be dark purples, maroons, blues, and browns; however my go to nail polish color this season is Wet and wild’s Limited Edition Matte in So Berry on Trend. I am obsessed with these berry/maroon colors right now and I can’t way to find more items in this color. In regards to the nail polish, it has a decent staying power, but I always use a base coat and a top coat (especially if I don’t want it to be matte).

Runner-Up: Revlon Roasted Chestnut, a very pretty reddish brown color with gold shimmer.

#3 Favorite Starbucks Drink?

I never had a Starbucks addiction before I came to college because Starbucks is expensive; but after coming to college and having $225 Dining Dollars to spend, I tend to spend them on the Starbucks here. I’m not usually someone who likes hot coffee, but right now I love a white chocolate mocha extra hot and then I add a dash of cinnamon and/or nutmeg depending on what they have and then it tastes like Christmas in a cup. :) I also love adding a pumpkin bread to my order, it’s my favorite pastry from Starbucks. The pumpkin bread is so fall flavored to me, I love having pumpkin flavored stuff.

#4 Favorite Fall Candle?

Unfortunately living in a dorm I’m not allowed to have candles, but if I could, there are a few from Bath and Body Works that I would love to have. Since I don’t own any, I can’t pick just one so here are three: Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, Leaves, and Sweater Weather. I love my candles to be warm and spiced; I don’t much care for sweet scents when it comes to candles or anything really.

#5 Favorite Fall Scarf/Accessory?

I love scarves and boots! They’re so warm and cozy and comfortable, ah, I can’t wait until its cold enough here for me to start wearing this stuff again. I have two scarves that I feel like I can wear with anything, and happen to be the first two scarves I've ever got (fashion scarves wise). A purple and gray cheetah print and brown and gold and dark teal colored scarf.

#6 Which is your favorite: Haunted House, Haunted Hay Ride or Haunted Corn Maze?

Haunted House for sure! My first haunted house was sophomore year and my friends and I went to the scariest haunted house in Colorado Springs: Mind Seizure! I had a blast even though I think I closed my eyes and screamed the whole through the house, but I loved it! I am a total adrenaline junkie and I love being scared. For the past three years since moving from Colorado, I've been trying to find people who would be willing to go to a haunted house with me but to no avail. I’m hoping this year I’ll be able to go to one :)

#7 Favorite Halloween Movie?

It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! :) I've watched this movie every year since I was little and it screams Halloween for me and I love it. I watch all the Charlie Brown specials for every holiday and I try to never miss a year. Since I don’t have a television, I am going to find another way to watch it this year.

#8 Favorite Halloween Candy?

Anything chocolate! I am such a chocoholic, so basically any chocolate based candy bar. I don’t have much to say on this one, haha.

#9 What are you dressing up as?

Honestly, I don’t know yet. I don’t have a lot of money to spend on one. But since I am loving and absolutely obsessed with Harry Potter right now, I kind of want to go as Hermione Granger. I went as Harry Potter when I was like 6 or 7 for two years because I was totally in love with him lol.

#10 Favorite thing about fall?

I basically said this in the beginning but the feeling that comes with fall, the crisp air, the colors and wardrobe. Sure fall hasn't hit in the south yet, but it will!

You guys should also do this tag and send me a link so I can see your favorite things :)

Thanks for reading!

Kylie

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Long time no talk! Life is so crazy right now. I did not expect joining a sorority would require so much time, but it’s so fun! The last two weeks were test and essay week and it was so stressful, but guess what! I got an A on all of my exams, I’m starting this year off right :) If you’re in school, do you guys have weeks where you won’t have any tests or essays due and then all of a sudden in the same week you’ll have a bunch of tests and essays due? That’s what happens here. I need to get better at time management, maybe I’ll make a post about it so I can get myself in check. Well, anyway, let’s not babble on for forever. I am back today with a review of Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

Summary: Cinder by Marissa Meyer, is a book based on the Disney fairy-tale Cinderella set in a future, New China. The main character, Cinder, is a cyborg, a race that is discriminated against who works as a mechanic to help make money to support her step mother and two step sisters. Like Cinderella, the step father takes in an adoptive daughter and dies leaving the step mother to take care of this unwanted child. There are many similarities to the Disney Cinderella fairytale, but there are differences that I think will come into play when the author ties all of the stories together to help fight the Lunars. This is also a utopian/dystopian style novel, where we are in a future that’s supposed to be grand after a war but there are still kinks that need to be worked out.  

My thoughts: It was good but not amazing. I didn’t have that high of expectations so I wasn’t that disappointed in the novel. I am excited to see how the author ties all the books together but I’m not in a hurry to read the next ones. (I don’t binge read series. I’ll read a book in a series, buy the next one if it’s in paperback and then wait to read it until the next book is out in paperback. Does anyone else do something similar?) I did like how the book was loosely based on Cinderella, it wasn’t an exact replica but you could pick out themes from Cinderella. I wonder if the other books in the series will be in the same city or if they will be different…hmm.

Recommend: Yes, although I didn't think it was amazing, I do think it was a good, easy read. Being so busy with school, reading something that is quick and easy is nice to have sometimes. I also think that if you like futuristic novels, this might also be a good read for you; as well as if you like to read different versions of fairytales. Utopian/dystopian books are really popular these days and this novel would also go into that genre, so if you like those style books you may also like this book.

Have you guy’s read this book? What are your thoughts?

Thanks for reading!

Kylie

What's on my phone?

Am I the only person who is super curious and love looking and seeing what people have in their purses, their drawers, and even their phones? I don’t know, but I know I love watching the what’s in my bag videos on YouTube as well as the what’s on my phone videos. I’m not an iPhone person (no offense to those who love iPhone) but I have IOS and just prefer Android over Apple. I have a Samsung Galaxy S4; this is not my first Android nor will it be my last. I’ve had an Android for a good 6 years now so I know the operating system and know the apps that I love. If you’re looking for a new phone and don’t want an iPhone, I recommend a Samsung, HTC or LG G3 phone depending on what’s important to you. Can we stop and talk about the new Galaxy Note 4? The advertisement for it is hilarious and it looks like an awesome phone.

So anyway, enough babbling, I’m going to show and talk about what’s on my phone. I won’t go through all the apps, but I will talk about my favorites. I will have pictures at the very end that show my menu so that you can see all of my apps.

Lock Screen

My Home Screen is Barcelona, Spain because I really want to go to Spain. I found the background on a travel backgrounds application (I don't remember which one, sorry)! The applications on the bottom are the most important Applications and ones that I tend to like to reach easily. So I have my phone (which also leads to contacts and what not), Snapchat, Go SMS Pro, Camera, and the App Drawer or menu. Go SMS Pro is my all-time favorite messaging application. I have been using this app the whole time I’ve had an Android and has followed me to all my phones at some point in the phone’s life. I highly recommend it, I also use the Emoji plug-in for the application as well as different themes.

Home Screen

This is the screen with my most used applications and it is not set up like a typical galaxy. At the top I have my clock, set to military time because it’s what I’m used to. The first application is Instagram which I used to use all the time but lately I haven’t been as into it. But it’s still on my home screen. My second application is Pinterest. My. Addiction. I love Pinterest, I am always killing time on it. It’s been acting up for the past two months, none of the updates have fixed the issues :( I’m hoping that soon they’ll fix the issues because this is my favorite application. The next two I have are Tumblr (another longtime favorite) and Facebook because who doesn’t have these on their phone? I love music so I have Pandora and Spotify on quick reach so I can quickly get music going if I don’t want to listen to my own. I also have my banking app (USAA), Gmail, Chrome and Gallery so I can find those easier.

Left Home Screen

These are apps I use, but not as often. The top widget it my Google Play Music for my personal music which I keep on the Google Play cloud because I only have 6 gigabytes of free memory on my phone so I need to make sure that’s saved for applications and photos. I don’t like how the stock alarm clock won’t make noise if I have my phone on vibrate or silent -__- so I downloaded the Alarm Clock Xtreme free and it works well, but I mean it’s just an alarm clock. Also, if we want to order food from on campus dining areas, we can use our phones so that is what Tapingo is for. Flixster is my favorite movie application for finding show times and I’ve tried many. I also like cheap gas so I got GasBuddy to help me find the cheapest gas in my area. I also have the Bible application which is, in my opinion, the best Bible application. The rest of the Applications are productivity applications that I don’t like going into the App Drawer to find, so things like calculator, calendar, and Google Drive.

Right Home Screen

This is the Home Screen that I keep a lot more widgets on. My google search bar is at the top of the screen. I use The Weather Channel app for my weather needs and have this widget so that I can easily find the temperature. Remember how I said I love music? I use the Shazaam app to identify music on the radio; I used to use the Verizon application for it, but they removed it so I began using Shazaam and to be honest…I like it more. I like that it comes with this widget button that I can just press and hold to find the song and I don’t have to wait to long for the app to load and possibly miss the song. I also have the assistive light widget, it’s just an off/on button for my flashlight on the phone. Other notable apps include YouTube, Plume for Twitter, and Google+ Hangouts. Kitty Play is the app I use to get themes for my messaging app. I am also currently trying out inhabit (habit tracker) and Viggle (a music application) so I don’t have opinions on that yet.

Menu
The rest of the pictures are of my application menu, this shows all the applications on my phone: all the Samsung and Verizon Bloatware and other applications that I have downloaded that I don’t feel are important enough to be on the Home Screen.

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Tell me, what are your favorite applications and what kind of phone do you have?

Thanks for reading!

Kylie

Empties #1

I love watching these videos and reading empties posts. I think it’s so interesting to see what people have used up and what they loved and what they just used because they spent money on them. Now I don’t buy a lot of new stuff, but I do have empties every now and again (it takes me FOREVER) to go through stuff and when I do, everything runs out at the same time. So here is empties number one!

#1 Remove Make-Up Wipes from Kroger

I’m not particular about make-up wipes, I just want ones that don’t break me out, remove my make-up, and don’t burn. At first I really liked these. The wipes themselves are really soft and have a pleasant scent, and the first maybe ten wipes didn't burn my eyes but then towards the end of the package, it started burning! It wasn't so bad that I couldn't use them, but it did get uncomfortable at times. But they didn't break me out, so that’s a plus!

#2 Not-your-mothers Sea Salt Spray

I love this stuff! I haven’t used any other sea salt spray so I can’t compare, sorry guys. But I’ve used a good 3 or 4 bottles of it now, basically since it started being sold in my Walmart. I have a weird curly hair (when it’s longer) and when it just dries naturally it has some wavy pieces, some straight pieces, some super curly pieces and it just looks weird. This gives a nice a beach-y wavy look, and defines and separates curls and adds a really nice texture. I love that messy, crazy curly look, and this basically gives me that.

#3 Organix Renewing Moroccan Argon Oil

I use a lot of Moroccan Argon oil since I do have curly hair, it gets really frizzy and really, really big. So this kind of tames it and adds a nice bit of shine. I do feel like my hair is a lot healthier when I am using an oil, and it is definitely a lot softer. As for the frizz, well it works for a while but you can really only tame frizzy hair for bit…especially if you live in a really humid place.

#4 Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Shampoo

I know the label has been peeled off, sorry I got bored in the shower one day. But trust me, this is Herbal Essences. Like my make-up wipes I’m not too particular about my shampoo. I mean really, all I need it to do is clean my head. I don’t have blond hair so I don’t need a purple shampoo to keep it blond and I don’t have dyed hair. So all I need is a good smelling shampoo that cleans my hair. This did the trick. I want to use sulfate free shampoos, but they’re so expensive and I don’t have money to spend on expensive products.

#5 Pantene Pro-V Repair & Protect hair Conditioner

I love Pantene. It is by far my favorite conditioner ever. My mom’s used this for as long as I could remember so when we still used the same bathroom, it’s what I also used. But when I got my own bathroom, I wanted to try other stuff and have my own shampoo and conditioner that wasn’t what mom used since I had the freedom too. But freshman year of college, my hair was really dry and it was always frizzy. I would brush it out and five minutes later it would be a big ball of frizz and knots. It was miserable. Eventually, I tried using Pantene again (this one to be specific) and instantly, after the first use my hair felt softer and looked a lot healthier. Now that I cut about 6 inches off my hair and got an angled-bob, my hair is at its healthiest and is always soft and shiny. Even when it’s curly, and I owe it all to Pantene.

#6 EOS in summer fruit.

EOS has a lot of debate behind it. A lot of people love it and a lot of people hate it. I love it. I think the egg shape is so adorable, they have some pretty nice scents and my favorite thing of all…they don’t get ruined after being in a hot car. I have one in my purse, one on my dresser next to my bed, and one in my car (that stayed perfect even on those days when it was above 100 degrees out. I’d say they moisturize decently well. Probably not the best but I don’t care. They work well enough for me.

Leave your thoughts down below!

Thanks for reading! 

Kylie