Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Top 10 Style Tips

 
I've been told quite often that I have a fun style and people often say they wish they could "pull off" something similar themselves, or they want me to go shopping with them and pick out their wardrobe for them. To be totally honest, I'm not really sure why people think they can't wear what I'm wearing. I just wear what I like and what makes me feel good. That's really the secret: Confidence. 

Here's the thing. It all boils down to "owning" your look. Act confident and you'll look confident. If you like something, wear it. I don't care if NO ONE ELSE is wearing it, it's "outdated", it breaks a cardinal "fashion rule", or whatever. If I like it, I wear it (and I apply the same theory to my hairstyle, fyi). 

However, with that being said, I do have a few guidelines for myself that I always keep in mind when putting outfits together. These are highly specific to me in particular (my body-type, shape, size, style or color preferences) and may not necessarily work for you. But maybe they'll help you fine tune your own style. 

1. Black and white are ALWAYS good colors. ALWAYS. A plain black or white tee can balance bright pants or accessories, or vice-versa. White gives the illusion of tan skin. Black is slimming and forgiving (just make sure your blacks or whites match each other if you go monochromatic!) And of course, black and white go stellar together - in fact it's my favorite combo, like EVER. (seriously, did you see my wedding? Haha)

2. Another way I balance my outfits is by wearing only one tight or form-fitting piece, and the other less so. Examples: Skinny jeans with a billowy blouse, or a fitted tee with flare leg pants or a full skirt. If top and bottom are both loose-fitting, you'll look sloppy and big. If top and bottom are both tight-fitting, you'll look (and feel) like a stuffed sausage. 

3. WEAR YOUR TRUE SIZE. Don't squeeze into pants that cut into you and cause muffin top just because you can't bear the thought of wearing one or two sizes bigger than you used to wear. Don't continue wearing large pieces that hang off of you after you've lost weight. I aim for my silhouette to look smooth regardless of what the tag says, not lumpy or lost in a circus tent.
 
4. Don't be afraid of thrift stores. Just plan to search a little harder and longer, and always wash your finds before wearing them. 

5. Always cover your underwear. Sometimes when you bend over or twist, a bra strap, panty, or garment briefly becomes visible and that's just life. But your underwear (no matter what kind! I'm looking at you thong-wearers...) should NEVER show when doing normal things like standing, walking, sitting, etc. It's trashy. 

6. When wearing (non-gym) leggings, I always cover my hips/bum with either a long tunic-style shirt, dress/skirt, or a long sweater. 

7. NEVER WEAR TALL SOCKS WITH CAPRI PANTS. Personally, I only wear shoes that do not require socks with capris as I believe capris are meant for summer, and therefore, summer shoes, but if you must wear shoes that require socks with your capris, then for the love of all that is holy, wear ankle socks that cannot be seen above your shoe. I cannot think of a single thing uglier, more stupid, or more tacky that tall socks with capri pants. 

8. It's ok to sacrifice comfort for style sometimes. Do you want to be fabulous or sloppy? If you wanted to be sloppy, you wouldn't be reading this blog post. THROW OUT those heinous crocs and get some platform stilettos already! 

9. If you wear any type of sandal whatsoever, lotion your feet and trim your toe nails at the very least. Better yet: heal cracked heels, file callouses, and paint nails. Take care of your feet, don't be gross. People see them, TRUST ME. 

10. Always dress according to the weather and the activity. If you're not sure, or you think it could change, bring a jacket or sweater and maybe even a change of shoes. Nothing worse that being stuck in a snow storm wearing sandals, or walking around the zoo for 3 hours in high heels. 

Bonus tip: NEVER wear flip flops, athletic shoes, or dirty work boots (unless you're in the military) to church, weddings, funerals, or any other formal occasion. Grow up. 

I hope this helps inspire you to create a unique style of your own. Questions? Comment below! 💃💅👠💄💭

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Living A Life Of Intent: The Freedom Gained By Taking Your Power Back

I'd like to share something precious and important that I've learned over the past few months. You could call this a testimony or a life philosophy, but to me, they are one and the same.

I want to start by saying that 2013 was a really hard year for me. I could go into all the dozens of reasons why, but honestly, they don't even matter. At all. The only thing that matters about 2013 is that I was stuck in a victim mentality, and I was in denial about that victim mentality. I thought of myself as a well-adjusted, optimistic individual and I really believed I was giving my life an honest effort. I was a fool. But only because I didn't yet know any better. 

We, all of us, live our lives as victims at some time or another, some more than others, some a little less. We all think of this concept of "life" as though it is something that "happens to us" rather than as something WE MAKE. The truth is that regardless of "what happens to you", you brought that into being with your thoughts and actions. That is a heavy concept to grasp and you will automatically go on the defense - I guarantee it. If you didn't, you're lying. Haha I caught you! 

Here's an example: I have pretty severe endometriosis and as a result of that disease, infertility. While I do believe that I have come a long way in my emotional healing and have indeed made good progress, nothing changes the fact that I was still acting like a victim. Endometriosis is what's so. It's just a fact of my life. There's nothing to "get", there's nothing "good" or "bad", there's no interpretation, it doesn't mean anything. Its just what's so. Me acting like a victim of it, was a complete and total invention by who? ME. I made myself the victim.Therefore, that attitude and mentality was always in my head, and those are the thoughts that drove my actions day in and day out. Victim: "Endometriosis happened to me, and that means that I'll never have children of my own." This statement is not fact. It is an opinion. A figment of my own imagination.

Alright let's get down to the good part. (If you've stuck with this post this long, I'm flattered you like me that much to be reading my obscure blog at all - seriously.)

The power of intent. What does that even mean? Everything in your life is a result of choices you've made, whether you think so or not. Sure, there are things out of your control, like endometriosis. I did not conjur that into being. But here's the secret: I don't have any control over having this disease, and that's okay. I don't have to have control over it. What I do have control over are my thoughts and actions. How I feel, think, and what I do about it. Sounds simple. But the magic is this: living intentfully, you will bring into being everything you create as a possibility for yourself. Its more than thinking positively. It's more than being optimistic. It's about changing your self-talk language from restrictive and limiting to what's possible and freeing. Its about taking your power back and stopping giving it away. Its about realizing that you are not, in fact, a victim and never were. By acting like a victim, I was bringing into being everything I was afraid of. I believed I would never have children. And guess what: I don't! I brought that into being by telling myself that all this time. "I don't have the money for treatments, I don't have insurance, I don't have this or that, that I need in order to start a family..." It was all a tragic story I was telling myself and by carrying these thoughts around all the time, they directed my action / inaction, which brought about the outcome of me not having children. Are you following?

Story Time.

I had a conversation with my mom toward the end of last year or the beginning of this one (can't exactly remember). We were both sort of having a little pity party, each for our own reasons, and trying to console each other and be a sympathetic ear. Finally after a long pause in which we each contemplated what to say next, I said something like, "No. This is unacceptable. Mom, I am tired of feeling like a victim. I'm done with that; I'm going to make 2014 different for myself. I am going to MAKE 2014 different for myself." And she replied that she loved the idea and she wanted to take control of her outcomes too. So we agreed that we would put that intent into the universe and before God, and make it so. I decided to begin by praying for guidance... And the answer came to my remembrance so clearly. The power of intent and creating possibility. A concept I had learned last year and at the time, I thought it sounded good in theory but I was a victim and it definitely couldn't work for me. Ha.

Example # 1: A few weeks later, I decided to take action for myself. I felt incredibly silly doing this at first, but I forced myself to do it anyway. On my commute home from work one day, by myself in the car, sitting in traffic, I said out loud, "Money comes to me SO easily!" because I had decided that the answer to all my problems was obviously money (haha I'm such an ass). I figured, this is silly and I kind of feel dumb talking to myself out loud, but.... what can it hurt to give it a try? A few positive vibes never hurt anyone. So I said it again and again all the way home, trying really hard to convince myself that I was being sincere.

I kid you not, 3 weeks later I got a huge raise at work. A month after that, Nate got a huge raise. Not only that, but we both received mountains of praise and gratitude in our reviews for our hard work from our employers. Not just from our direct managers either - from the owners of the companies. The OWNERS.

My thoughts directed my actions. My thoughts DIRECTED my actions. This is the power of intent.

Example # 2: Some of you are aware of what has been going on with our house. For those of you who are not, here's the shortest possible gist: When we bought our house, the title company didn't bother to transfer the deed to our names and submit it for state recording. However, we were still issued a deed with our names on it. So there were two trust deeds out there listing us and the someone else as owners. This person, the investment partner of the seller, decided he'd been cheated out of some money, discovered that he still had a deed to our property and decided to foreclose on it for some quick cash. As a result, our property has been the subject of 5 years of litigation regarding the rightful owner. In a meeting with our lawyers in April, I had a meltdown about the whole thing because it just wasn't fair! I was playing the victim again. A few days later, after I realized that I was following the same old pattern, I made the intention that "Things with our house WILL go the way I want them to." Nate and I became very intentful with our actions from that point on, calling, emailing, and basically harrassing the lawyers day in and day out. Lo and behold, a week after that, 5 dragging years of fighting for our house ended. OUR names were put back onto OUR deed, case closed, done and over. And this guy is being barred from continuing to appeal. 

My thoughts directed my actions.

Here, I want to point out that a huge portion of my action plans for these examples was to pour out my soul to The Lord and truly exercise my faith and put my complete trust in him. After all, I know He knows me, and He will bless me with the righteous desires of my heart. I know that once I've given all that I can possibly give, He will make up the difference and that he has my best interest in mind. 

Maybe it all sounds like coincidence to you. Maybe you're thinking "Well that's easy for you to say. I'm different. You don't know what I've been through." You're wrong. I do know, because I've been through the ringer too. Our trials may be different in type, but we've all gone through heartache and feelings of hopelessness. Your life is within your power. Take action. Be the cause. Stop giving it away. Maybe you're comfortable being a victim. The victim is blameless. But the victim never goes anywhere or does anything and their life goes by without them. Can't you see how absolutely ridiculous it is to act that way?? As Elder Uchdorf famously said, "Stop it." 

I, for one, am looking at an empty, blank future and in which I've created so many possibilities that WILL come to pass. With The Lord's guidance and love, I will call them into being. Not "someday", not "perhaps if I have or do this or that first", not "eventually", not "it would be nice if". No. I do not have time for that. 

And neither do you.


And this picture seems powerful. So... Yeah. :-p

Friday, May 2, 2014

Peace

I had a small breakthrough today. Well, actually, it's huge. But it came in a small, simple realization. I bought some new jeans. They are 2 sizes bigger than I usually feel comfortable with - that is - I formerly thought of this size as my "fat size". 

Allow me to get to the point. I am loving my body. It's weird, and it sounds weird to say. I'm healed! Haha

I have not gone into a lot of detail about my body issues... Or anything related to that time in my life. And I won't right now (maybe I will sometime in the future), that's not the point of this post. The point of this post is this: I don't hate my size 9 booty. I honestly don't. At all. I actually love it. That doesn't mean I suddenly think its perfect now or that I will no longer be working toward improvement, it just means that I finally feel at peace with my imperfection.

Which leads me to the epiphany - what is perfection, anyway?

I will leave you with that. 

Peace. 




And just to keep it real -
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 150 lb
Age: 30
Body fat: 19%

But more importantly -
Leg press: 410 lb
Dead lift: 180 lb
Plank row: 35 lb



Thursday, January 30, 2014

A Day In The Life Of The Meathead Girly Girl

Once, when I asked for ideas on blog posts, someone suggested this, so... Here it is. 

4:00 AM
Wake up, get dressed, supplement, hug the kitty, and pack for the day.


4:30 AM
Start warming up the car and load up all the stuff. 


4:50 AM
Pre-Workout be kickin' in! I usually alternate between Cellucor C4 (http://cellucor.com/products/9-c4-extreme) and Charge, a fat-burner by Limitless Worldwide (http://nettrax.myvoffice.com/limitless/ShoppingCart/Shop.cfm?CurrPage=FrontPage&NextPage=CategoryDetail&CategoryID=24&pid=45010646338913842). BOTH are awesome, in my opinion. No nausea, no headaches, no caffeine dependency. 


5:00 AM
Good morning, Gorgeous.


5:10 AM - 6:50 AM
EFF SH*T UP (I'm usually all by myself so I don't have a way to get pics of actual lifts - sorry. BUT my workout is posted after this so keep scrolling!)

The workout:
Part One 


Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Examples of leg press stance that I used:


6:50 - 7:30 AM
Stretch and get cleaned up!


7:30 AM 
Get yo' protein, feed those torn muscles. 


8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Avoid temptations at work LIKE A BOSS. Six-packs are importanter. 


4:15 - 6:50 PM
Pick up Nate and carpool to school. Learn stuff. 


7:00 - 9:00 PM
Go home. Cook dinner, eat. I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture of the food so... Here's a nice, cute shot of Hans.


9:00 PM
Goodnight!






Friday, November 8, 2013

30 by 30 Photo Album

30
Three decades.
The big THREE-ZERO.

As this milestone birthday has drawn ever nearer, I've found myself increasingly reflecting on my last ten years... pondering regrets, counting blessings, and wondering how things might have turned out differently had I made different choices. 

There are a host of things I always thought I'd do by age thirty that I haven't. At first I felt disappointed in myself... but then I realized that I was looking at it all wrong. You may or may not be familiar with the "30 by 30" trend that my generation has been passing around. I wasn't until I was already 28 and it was sort of too late... But it's a list of life goals that you make when you turn 20; things you hope to accomplish in the next ten years. The point is to give yourself motivation to always be working toward something worthwhile and encourage yourself to live meaningfully. 

I never made a 30 by 30 list. I wished I'd thought of it when I was 20. But I decided that writing one backward was just as good... Maybe better. Instead of focusing on the things I failed to accomplish, I was able to zero in on all the things that made me a better, stronger person. 

30 by 30 Photo Album

1. I married my best friend.


2. I bought a house and made it a home.


3. I owned a camaro and took it over 100mph at 2 AM.


4. I rode a motorcycle.


5. I learned to snowboard.


6. I learned to golf.


7. I became an NFL and NBA fan.


8. I understand fantasy football.


9. I have been blessed to have Nate all to myself for nearly a decade.


10. I drove across the country.


11. I learned who I am and developed the courage to be unapologetically myself.


12. I became an athlete.


13. I overcame personal heartbreak and tragedy.


14. I went on a cruise.


15. I learned to finally love myself.


16. I found a passion and shared it. 


17. I ran 5ks for fun.


18. I made new friends.


19. I changed my hair. A lot.


20. I changed my attitude.


21. I paid off debt.



22. I developed a real testimony and relationship with my Heavenly Father- one that is all my own and no longer reliant upon the testimonies of others.


23. I became self-reliant and self-sufficient.


24. I learned how to budget. 


25. I learned how to let go of control.


26. I learned how to heal a broken heart.


27. I did one frivolous, costly thing, all for myself, and I have zero regrets.


28. I learned how to get a job.


29. I learned how to love, forgive, and support another person unconditionally.


30. I learned how to humble myself and accept help.


I grew up, gained wisdom, and now I know what I want and how to get it. So here's to year thirty. It's gonna be legen - wait for it - dary.