Mystery Date

Hello everyone! It's getting close to one of my favorite holidays of the year! You guessed it! It's Valentine's Day! Now, I know some of you may be groaning or rolling your eyes, but really, it doesn't have to be all about the mushy-gushy stuff. Instead it can be seen as an opportunity to do something nice for someone special or to a random person!

Anyway, no matter who you're showing your affection to, there are so many fun and creative ways to do it, and today I'm going to share a few of them with you! :)

First of all, if your name happens to be Tyler Bouma, you better stop reading now, because some of these ideas are for you ;) hehe

Anyway, our family recently purchased the 1965 classic edition of 'Mystery Date', and as you can see from the picture, it is a very girly game, which calls for each girl player to get three pieces to from an outfit before she can go on a date.  Then, once she lands on an "Open the door" space, she then spins the knob of the mystery door to see who her true love is.  If it is Dud, then she loses everything and has to start all over on her quest, but if she opens to find her matching man, then she has won the game!  Not only is the game gobs of fun to play (especially with three little sisters), but it totally inspired me to think of some fun and creative dates for anyone!

Before I begin, you must know that I am a person who likes to do small, creative things for the people that I love! I like to make coupons that allow a person to turn them in for a special gift or treat, such as a back massage or for a coffee drink from McDonalds. They are simple and fun to make, and easy to give to just about anyone.  For a friend, you could even make a booklet of inspirational quotes too (which is almost completely free - minus cost of paper and labor).

Another fun and simple idea is to take a standard die from like a board game and roll to see what kind of activity you are going to do.  I am definitely planning on doing this with Tyler!! You just assign a different activity or even a gift item to each number rolled, and then whatever number you get, that's what you do/give!  Not only is this incredibly easy, but it also keeps your date nights from getting too 'predictable'.

Another fun idea is to have a scavenger hunt!  I am actually organizing one for Tyler for our one-year anniversary which is coming up on Saturday!  (Yes, I will post about it!!!)  But anyway, a scavenger hunt is always fun, and can definitely lend itself to either romantic, or friendly intentions! :)

Now, for an idea that I was inspired by via Pinterest!  Yes, I am a pin-addict ;) hahah Anyway, one idea that particularly struck me was to take a simple, weekly pill holder and use it to stick small love notes into each day (or you could put homemade coupons in them too) and then put a small piece of candy into them, such as tic tacs, or m&m's.  I'm actually going to put conversation hearts into the pill case that I'm making for Tyler, since I'll be giving that to him on Valentine's Day!  This is a particularly nice gift for V-Day just because it can remind your special someone that you not only think about them on that day, but every single day!  It's also a nice, random gift to give too!  Such as for a friend or a hubby who's going on a business trip, or just for a small way to say, "I love you", or "I care about you".  :)

From these ideas, I hope that you can see that Valentine's Day does not always have to be a big, elaborate shin-dig, instead, it can be a day where you actually take the time to make something special for the ones you love. Sure, it might be nice to receive a dozen roses, and there's surely nothing wrong with it, but it really is fun to go out of your way to actually 'hand-make' something!  Not only will the person appreciate it more, but I really do think that *you* will get more joy out of giving it too! :)   

Love stories

I tend to think of my love story as a story about serendipity. Not only is serendipity a beautiful concept on its own, but it has graced my life in many different ways this year. I plan to live each day to the fullest, and continue being the best girlfriend I can. For all of my fellow romantics out there, I have so many good ideas for you to do for your loved ones on Valentines day (or any other day that you want to spread a little extra love). I have several DIY projects (both ones I've come up with and others that I've stolen via pinterest) hahah! Anyway, I'll be posting some projects here over the next few weeks, and I'll be sure to share with you some tidbits from my life before I had been graced with serendipity. After all, we all have our own love stories--each beautiful in their own way--our personal ones just happen to be our favorites simply because they are ours! <3

For anyone who is really excited about love~

This song has completely inspired me!

And, if you're in a particularly romantic mood, watch this video!

The Count Down!

Happy New Year, Everyone! I hope you all had a splendid 2011, and I wish you all of the best for the year to come. A new year is always an excellent opportunity to reflect on our pasts, and then to look towards our futures. It is definitely important to do some self-evaluating, but just make sure not to be too hard on yourself about your mistakes--after all, your past is just practice! :) Plus, you don't want to resolve to do *too* many changes because you'll only end up disappointing yourself. 

For my resolutions this year, I thought I would do a count down style for you all to see the top 10 moments of my life from 2011 (with #1 being the best!!), and also create a top 10 list for my goals for 2012! So start your clocks! ;) haha just kidding ;) Here it goes!

Top 10 Moments from 2011

1) January 21st-- When Tyler and I started dating <3

2) February 10th-- Celebrating my 21st birthday! :D 

3) December 21st--Celebrating Christmas with Tyler! <3

4) Getting a 4.0 after Spring and Fall semester (let's cross our fingers I can do it again this semester ;) )

5) July 4th-- Caught my first fishes! (Yes, I caught multiple!!) 

6) August 19th-- Last day of my internship! 

7) Taking Step Aerobics for the 5th time ;)

8) Loosing 35 pounds!!

9) Removing or significantly reducing stress by learning to recognize what bothers me, and then making changes accordingly (or at least attempting to!) 

10) Becoming re-united with my blogging and creative writing! :) 

Top 10 Goals for 2012

1) Keep being the best girlfriend that I can possibly be <3 

2) Become a certified step aerobics instructor

3) Run my first half marathon

4) Finding a full-time job that will satisfy all of my financial needs, (and that will at least be somewhat fun ;) )

5) Become less anxious!!! Write down my feelings ASAP, and get all negativity out of my system!! (I did improve with doing this this year, but it still needs work!) 

6) Be able to purchase my first Coach purse (yes, I know this sounds silly, but it is something that I really want, and it will be a good motivator for me too!) 

7) Continue blogging, and creating poetic pieces

8) Purchase my own car! (Probably a used one, but hopefully one with less miles and better gas mileage than my current soccer mom 'tank' ;) )

9) Graduate with Magna Cum Laude honors 

10) GET MORE SLEEP! 

So as you can see, I do have quite the list of goals, and I can almost guarantee that I won't be able to get them all accomplished (especially number 10), but I do feel fairly confident that I *can* make changes. It might not all happen tomorrow, but eventually it is my goal to at least partially cross off each thing--by making small improvements.  

Oh, by the way, did you see my fortune in the picture above? I obtained this fortune from Hy-Vee on Wednesday when I ate Chinese with my sister Carolyn and her husband Wes, as well as Tyler, and I thought it was the loveliest fortune that I could receive! I'm praying that it will come true--even if it does unexpectedly (as things usually do) :) But, even if it doesn't, it still makes me feel happy to look at it, because it reminds me to believe in myself which is something I really need to do more of. Heck, maybe since I shared this fortune, you all can exceed your expectations too! So, Happy New Year, and best of luck! 2012, bring it on! :D 

Happiness, Christmas Gifts, & Resolutions

Happiness is living life to its fullest~ a cheesy but true statement! I've been appreciating this simple thought more than ever lately! I've been relaxing, pampering, and even sleeping a few extra hours to make up for all of the sleep lost over the semester! It's truly been great! Although I know I've neglected my blog a little, I think I'm ready to be back in full force! :D Yay! It's really such a good outlet for me! :) So I hope you don't mind if I take a little time to get caught up with you! I'll be back to my more "creative" posts here soon too! :) I was really having fun with those! :D

Anyway! Obviously one of the major topics of the season is showing off what you got for Christmas! haha (Okay, so I know that this is kind of the commercial aspects of the season, but heck, we all enjoy it!) So, I wanted to take a moment to tell you some of my favorite gifts! Although, I will warn you, none of these gifts are ones that I can carry around or display! They are *much* better! Anyway, I had wished for my boyfriend Tyler to take me out to a nice dinner, and well he did! He took me out for a lovely evening at Johnny Carinos, and before that he had treated me to a 3D experience at the Carmike Theater! We watched the Adventures of Tin Tin, and I must say it was super cool! Although, I'm kind of hooked on 3D movies now ;) I saw that there was going to be a 3D version of the Titanic coming out too, and I about hyperventilated! LOL! After our supper he took me on a lovely drive through the Falls Park Winter Wonderland! It was beautiful! And so romantic! I even braved my atrocious fear of heights and ascended to the top of the tower to overlook the falls! (At least it was dark out so I couldn't see how high I was exactly ;) ) So, those are just a few of the gifts I received, and honestly it was the best Christmas ever! I remember last year at this time I was just getting to know him, and it's so amazing to see how far we've come! Our one year anniversary is coming up too, and I'll be sure to do another post about that too! (Only if you're interested of course!)

So, obviously after this wonderful Christmas experience, I had to think about some of the things to come! And this is where the resolution part comes in ;) First and foremost, I want to graduate--which will happen on May 6th, I believe. Second, I want to continue my health and fitness journey! I would love to become a certified step aerobics instructor, and I would like to accomplish that by this summer! Third, I want to continue being the best girlfriend that I can be. All that old time romance is not over-rated, people. Fourth, I want to keep being positive. I found this quote that says 'my mantra of the year' quite perfectly, and I'm going to leave you with this today.... Of course, I'm going to be creating more inspirational pieces for myself too (In much shorter postings) from now until the end of the year! :) So without further ado....

"This is the day you stare down every naysayer in your life who doesn't get it yet. Because you do. Finally. And now you know that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." ~Sarah Ban Breathnach

(PS I selected today's picture in accordance with the message of this quote. Are you afraid to be an individual? Are you afraid of letting your whole self out into the world? Free yourself. Let yourself go. Let the Light illuminate you--your beauty, your talents, and everything 'you'. :) )

By the Moonlight

The nights are getting dark, and foggy. 

Full of mystery, and expectancy.

I know something's coming.

Sparkling diamonds of hope shining

Hanging over the world, like a blanket

Cozily cuddling every tree in the thicket 

The birds huddle down in knowing supposition

The remaining leaves rattle away as Mother Nature, magician

Raises her wand and lays on the earth a deep slumber

While white crystals of light disperse and soon outnumber

The blades of grass, and burrow into the breaches of pavement

Soon the world is quiet, waiting with breath baited, and wonderment

Flake constellations keep forming in the sky and are illuminated

By the Moonlight, they fall through the air. Oh Winter, we are well-acquainted. 

Cinderella's Slippers

There's something in a pair of shoes that can feel so magical, so metamorphic. I think Cinderella's fairy godmother knew exactly what she was doing as soon as she magically crafted the one-of-a-kind pair of glass slippers. She wanted Cinderella to have the most stunning kicks in the whole room! Now, I'm not trying to say that this pair of shoes are the most-stunning, but they are fun to wear, and they are manageable to walk in! ;) They are definitely my special occasion shoes too, as I have only worn them for one other occasion, and that was my sister's wedding. I plan on keeping these shoes for that tradition too--special occasion only.  And, yes, I would also love to wear them for my wedding someday too :) No, they are not Christian Louboutin's or even Manolo Blahnik's, but they are definitely very valuable to me because of all the wonderful memories that will someday be associated with them. I can't wait to take them out of the box again!  Who knows? The next time could very well be on the day I say my vows, to my wonderful Prince. But, for now, I'll just dance away the night, at the black and white ball, with my Prince Charming, and know that happily-ever-after will be coming soon enough <3 

Breaking Through

Such delicate fragments of ice that have been cracked apart and swept ashore by the blustery, unforgiving winds. The winds wrecked their formations and blew them so hard that they collided with the rocks. However, they seem to have adapted to live together quite nicely. They are now snuggling among the rocks, and bracing them from the harsh winds, and freezing waters. The stories of Nature are endless, and even the smallest stories are worth telling. Yes, I find the simple things of Nature to be the most beautiful.