Lessons Learned From...Ruth.

Now that it's almost not Monday anymore...here is my Monday post.

To be fair, I had a busy week and was unable to write this post until today. And then I had a crazy day that involved being late to work thanks to a dog running under my car, a bug flying INSIDE of my keyboard at work (for all I know it's still in there), writing an article that I've known about for like a month but decided to wait until today (the day it's due) to start, and watching reality TV.

Oh, and did I mention that the keyboard on my Mac isn't working right? It's useable for the most part, but the delete key (which functions like the backspace for all you PC users) doesn't work AT ALL. Which is reeeeeeeaaaalllyyy inconvenient for someone who makes a lot of mistakes...

So, yeah. Anyway. Monday's post.

Via.

High Five for Friday: Easter Edition.

Every Sunday I sit down and plan out how the rest of my week will go. I have a dry-erase weekly calendar hanging on my wall on which I plan out events, blog posts, school work and other various tasks I need to get done each day and I make it a goal to stick with that schedule.

That being said, the latter half of this week did not go even remotely as planned.

With a million and one things to do this week, the last thing I needed was another thing on my plate. Until I got a phone call Wednesday night asking me to sub for a third grade class the next day, and without thinking I said yes. There went all my Thursday plans.

But despite the fact that my week didn't necessarily go as planned, it was still a pretty good one. Here are some of my favorite moments from the week.

Lessons Learned From...Daisies.

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm introducing a new series I'll be doing every Monday called "Lessons Learned From..."

The purpose of this series is to find beauty and meaning in the simple things -- something I enjoy and often do. It can be anything from a tangible object to a recent opportunity. Whenever I take the time to appreciate the things around me, it shifts my perspective and puts me into a positive mindset. I'm excited to be starting each week off this way, and I hope that you are encouraged by it, too.

Today's lesson comes from my favorite flower: a daisy.

High Five for Friday: Sparkles and Cupcakes.

It's been a really busy week for me, and it's only going to get crazier. 

In addition to finishing up the online courses for my teacher's certification -- I'm almost done! -- I'm doing a lot of baking for various events, helping out with a magazine my church is doing (and writing an article for it), and of course, trying to keep this blog up and running. Not to mention I'm still in the job application process. I still have to finish my resume. Put together a portfolio. Prepare a lesson for a Sunday school class I'm teaching next weekend. The list goes on.

But Friday is for focusing on the good things that happened this week, so let's do that, shall we? Here are my five favorite moments from the week. :)

Birchbox vs. Ipsy: April.

Today I'm jumping on the Birchbox vs. Ipsy bandwagon and comparing my April box against my April Glam Bag!

For those of you who don't know about Birchbox and/or Ipsy, here's a quick overview.

Both Birchbox and Ipsy are subscription services (both are $10/month) that send you 4-5 beauty products each month. While the two are similar, there are some differences between the two:

• Birchbox sends products in a nice box, while Ipsy sends their items in a custom designed makeup bag (called a Glam Bag)
• Birchbox typically sends more hair care/skin care products with the occasional makeup item, while Ipsy errs on the side of makeup
• Birchbox's products tend to be higher-end and more expensive, while Ipsy's can often be found at drugstores or Ulta for a reasonable price
• Birchbox sends smaller sample sizes, while Ipsy will often send full sized products

I tend to prefer Ipsy just because I'm more into makeup and I'm cheap. I think as a general rule, younger generations will prefer Ipsy and the older ones will be more interested in Birchbox. This month is the third Ipsy bag I've received, and my sixth Birchbox. Here's what I thought of this month's products.

Liebster Award: Get to Know Your Fellow Bloggers.

Marci over at If These Walls Could Speak nominated me for the Liebster Award, and since I'm new around here, I thought I'd participate so you all can get to know me better. Here's how it works:

1. List 11 facts about yourself.

2. Answer the questions of the person who nominated you.

3. Create 11 new questions.

4. Nominate 11 new bloggers.

Here we go!

High Five for Friday: Cookies, Rainbows, and Friends.

It's been a SUPER busy week for me. Besides having a ton of stuff going on at work (including working 5 hours on my day off due to a problem), I've been working hard on finishing up my teacher's certification, as well as a few other projects I'm working on.

Here are some of the highlights from my crazy week! Oddly they all took place at the beginning of the week...after Monday it was pretty much just work around here. But hey, being productive is a good thing!

Kayla's Creations: S'mores Cookies.

Ever since I got into baking years ago, it has been a dream of mine to create my very own original recipe. I even put it on my bucket list.

Yesterday at work, I randomly had an idea for a cookie recipe. Take a peanut butter cookie recipe, replace the peanut butter with Biscoff spread, throw in some chocolate chunks and stuff them with marshmallows, and bam! S'mores cookies.

When I get excited about something, I get really impatient. So as soon as I got off work, I ran to the store to get the ingredients. Actually, I ran to two stores, because the first one didn't have Biscoff spread. (Most people would give up there, but I'm dedicated.)

High Five for Friday: Love and Spring Are in the Air.

It's Friday!

Another week has come and gone, and it was a wonderful one that kept me busy, hence no new posts on the blog (hopefully I'll be back in action next week!). Here are my top five moments from the week.

1. Saturday evening, I went to the wedding of two of my coworkers. This particular event was so awesome, I'm giving you three pictures instead of just one.

 Me with the bestie; photobooth fun; me and the beautiful bride.