Saturday, April 6, 2013

Pinterest Finds, Vol. 2

Hello again, everyone! I'm back again for round two of things I've pinned in the last week. I must say that this feature has added a whole new dimension to my pinning sprees. I'm more excited, if that's even possible, to pin things because I know that later in the week I might be sharing that very pin with all of you! It's really lots of fun, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

1. I love roses. They are, without a doubt, my favorite flower. Roses I can wear, now that's impossible to resist. These rose bud studs are to die for.

2. I also really love cats. And I love tattoos. And then I saw this pin, and was like, "Why not?" Maybe someday, ha.
*broken link*

3. I'm not much of a cook, but that doesn't stop me from pinning delicious looking food, and these wraps look like they are to die for. Maybe I'll have to train myself to be a better cook...

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend! Love ya!

My Pinterest page/username: mtolsma


Saturday, March 30, 2013

Pinterest Finds, Vol. 1

It's not an understatement when I say that I've been neglecting my blog recently. In order to remedy that situation, I'm going starting this feature where I share things that I've pinned on Pinterest. Like I mentioned in this post, I enjoy exercising my creativity visually. I'm not an artist by any means, nor does my imagination spark a lot of original work. Pinterest has helped me express my creative side by allowing me to collect images I find beautiful, funny, or interesting. My pins range from fashion to hair and beauty to quotes, pictures of famous people, and random things I find funny. Each week, I'm going to share three of my pins from the week, with the website they originally came from. I'll link to my Pinterest page at the bottom of each post. If you like what you see, feel free to pin from my blog or follow one or all of my boards on Pinterest. If you would like to join me and create your own Pinterest post, link up in the comments! I love seeing what other people pin and what speaks to them. Now, on to my pins!

1. I love the idea of coordinating, but not matching bridesmaid dresses for a wedding. Every girl is made differently, and should be able to wear something that flatters their figure and shows off their personality. If I ever get married, I will be doing this for my maids.

2. So I'm guessing most of you are familiar with the grumpy cat meme? This picture I pinned the other day combines three of my favorite things: cats, Disney and sarcasm. 

3. I love up-do's, and my inability to do anything with my hair but straighten it or put it in a pony tail makes me love them any more. This style is so sweet and simple and would be pretty if used for a wedding hair-style. 
*broken link*

So there you have it, my top three pins from the week. Hopefully having a weekly feature will motivate me to not only stay caught up with blogging week to week, but inspire me to blog more often about other things as well. Love you all!

My Pinterest page/username: mtolsma





Friday, March 1, 2013

Little Update

(Some instagram pictures I've posted recently. The one on the left is my sad attempt to do a winged eyeliner, and the one on the right is a picture of me at work. I'm a floor manager at Popejoy Hall, the theater on campus that has wonderful plays and musical events.)

Hi all! It's been a little while since I've updated my poor, little, neglected blog, and I really don't want to start my homework right now, so I'm here instead! Not much is new in my life at the moment. School and work take up most of my time, which is a little crazy. My classes are all going well though, so I really can't complain...well...I shouldn't be able to complain, but somehow I still do. Thankfully, there is only one week between me and Spring Break! Next Friday, I get to go home and relax for a week. I will have homework to do, but the time with my family will be nice. I will also be getting my passport over the break, or starting the process at least, because I am going to IRELAND in July! I was accepted for a summer study abroad program based in Cork, Ireland, and I am so excited. I cannot wait to go. It's still far enough away that I haven't started stressing or panicking about traveling overseas by myself, but as it gets closer, I will be freaking out. I've never been outside the country before, so this should be interesting. Other than that though, not much is new in my life. This post started as a 'Currently' post, but I had nothing to write about! So, rambling, free range posting it is. Have a good weekend!
Loves

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Liebster Award


In the midst of working on the mountains of homework I've accumulated in the two weeks I've been back at school, I was given a Liebster Award by my dear friend Jacqueline at A Clever Atrocity. It's a neat way to bring attention to smaller blogs with not a lot of followers. Totally cool, right? So, here are the rules:
1. List 11 facts about yourself
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger who nominated you left
3. Ask 11 questions for those you nominate
4. Choose 11(I'll probably cheat here...) bloggers with less than 200 followers to nominate
5. Go to each blogger's page and let them know about the award
6. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog
And here we go...
Facts
1. I love to read. It's my stress reliever and the absolute best way I know to relax after a crazy day/week.
2. I barely know how to cook. When I'm at school, I live off of granola bars, cereal and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. My mom did give me her old crock pot, however, so *fingers crossed* for this semester.
3. If I don't get a cup of coffee in the morning, I probably won't be much good for anything the entire day. 
4. I really want to start getting tattoos. I think they're beautiful and unique and just perfect.
5. I have a lot of ear piercings. I have my lobes pierced three times on each side, a  piercing on my left ear and a tragus piercing on my right ear. I also have my nose pierced.
6. I have to have nail polish on my nails at all times. It really annoys me when they're unpolished, and I often repaint them at the first signs of chipping or wear.
7. I want to be creative and fun with my make-up, but my attempts to follow tutorials on Pinterest or YouTube are epic and total failures, so my make-up routine hasn't changed in ages.
8. If I don't go to bed at a decent hour (a.k.a before 10:30), I'm absolutely exhausted the next day, and it will take a couple nights of good sleep to get me back on track.
9. When I clean, it's all or nothing. I can live with clutter up to a certain point, but when I reach the breaking point, I go all out and deep clean everything, and will most likely reorganize my things in the process.
10. While I communicate with most people in my life through technology, my best friend from high school and I write letters to each other instead. Letters from her always put a smile on my face and make my whole day brighter.
11. I miss my cat a ton. I cannot wait until I can bring her to New Mexico to live with me and keep me company and snuggle with me and all the great cat things that cats do to make life better.

Questions
1. If you could look different in any way, even if impossible, what would you look like?
I would definitely have longer, thicker hair, clear, healthy skin, and probably a nicer smile with better, whiter teeth. Also if my problem areas were to disappear, I wouldn't complain, but I'm trying to have a healthier body image, so I don't want to make that a priority.
2. How do you express your creativity?
Um...I think visually. I don't create much on my own, but I love collecting things that others have created that I find beautiful. This is one of the reasons I really like Pinterest and Instagram. It lets me keep things I find pretty or interesting or visually pleasing in one place for me to look at and share with others. (Another reason I want tattoos. What better way to share the artwork of others than by providing your own body as a canvas?)
3. What makes you uncomfortable?
New situations and experiences for sure. I also struggle with self-confidence, so any situation where eyes are on me, I tend to experience a fair amount of anxiety.
4. What is your passion?
It sounds incredibly corny, but I'm finding that working with kids is something I really love. I worked at a summer camp last summer, and it was a fantastic experience. I also work with middle schoolers and high schoolers in a school setting, and I find that I find more and more to be passionate about every day.
5. Any hidden talents?
I've been told that my sarcasm is rich, haha.
6. If money was no issue, what would you do with your life?
Travel. Be a wife and mom. 
7. What outfit makes you feel best about yourself?
A great pair of jeans, a colorful top, maybe a cute cardigan or sweater (preferably with lace detail somewhere) and my most recent shoe splurge, the charcoal gray wedge booties from TOMS.
8. Who are you closest to?
I'd have to say my mom. She knows when to let me vent and be upset about something and when to tell me to cut the crap and be a grown up. She's the best.
9. To procreate or not to procreate?
Yes. Procreate.
10. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
As much as I would miss everything else, pizza with pepperoni and mushroom is probably the one food I could never get sick of.
11. Who do you miss most in the world?
Again, I'd have to say it's my mom. I miss a lot of other people, but I honestly don't know what I would do without my mom and living so far away from her is hard.

And finally, my questions for my nominee:
1. If you have a smart phone, what is your favorite thing about it and why? And if you don't have a smart phone, do you want one? Why or why not?
2. What was/is your favorite thing about school?
3. If your life had a sound track, what would be your theme song?
4. Favorite TV show and why.
5. Pet peeves?
6. What was your favorite memory of 2012?
7. Anything exciting coming in 2013?
8. If you randomly got the afternoon off, what would you do with the free time?
9. Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
10. The reader in me has to ask: What's your favorite book/author/series?
11. How do you find contentment in your day to day life?

My nominee is:

Thanks for providing me with such a fun diversion, Jaco! Love you!
Loves

Monday, December 31, 2012

2012

What a crazy year it's been! This year I...
-completed two semesters of college
-had a summer job
-found two jobs to have during the school year
-read the entire Bible cover to cover (I'm not going to be blogging the last couple of books, I slacked off a bit on the blogging of it, but I did finish, I promise)
-had a relationship that lasted about four months and then had a weird, awkward break up
-and left my teenage years behind and entered my twenties.
All in all, not a bad year, really. A lot more happened, of course, but I won't bore you with the details. 2012 treated me well, and I'm very much looking forward to what 2013 has in store for me. I think 2013 is going to be the year I finally get a tattoo, haha. Happy New Year everyone!
Loves

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

44, 45, 46/66

Yesterday, I finished 1 Corinthians, which brings my total to 46, with Acts and Romans having been finished a couple of weeks ago. Acts is, as the name suggests, a little bit about the acts of the apostles and how the church grew and thrived after the ascension of Christ. Romans is a letter to the church in Rome from the apostle Paul. It is a wonderful book to read and study, and will probably be coming back to it in the New Year to study it further. 1 Corinthians is another letter from Paul, this time to the church in Corinth. This letter is a letter of correction. Paul addresses some of the practices of the Corinthian church that are not Biblical, and he gives reasons from Old Testament scripture and the words of Christ to validate the correction that he is giving. In the next month, I will be finishing the rest of the Bible, which is crazy to think. It's definitely crunch time though. I have 28 days to read 20 books. Definitely going to be difficult, but well worth it.
Loves

Monday, November 12, 2012

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Reading through the Gospels is always such a blessing. It was also very convicting this time around. The Gospels are very familiar territory for me, and so I had to make sure that I didn't just skim through stories I had heard before and read before and really take my time to see what God had to show me this time through. Most of my time in the Gospels is spent studying the birth of Christ, the parables He told during His ministry, and, of course, His crucifixion. These things are always enlightening and great places to learn and grow, but I was especially struck by the life of Christ during His time on Earth. He pursued His Father's will and often took time to be by Himself to pray. This struck me because my prayer life has been lacking lately. Prayer isn't about long, elaborate sentiments; it's honest communication with God about your thoughts, feelings, fears, triumphs, failures, about your life. God promises rest and peace to those who seek it. I am constantly trying to be as self-reliant as possible. I need to learn to take a step back and let go of the tight control I think I have over my life and turn to God when I need help.
"Come to me, all you who are wearied and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28