February 28, 2011

Ancient Chinese Wisdom

Confucius 

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
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Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.
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It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
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Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.
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I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.
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In nature we are together, in practice we are apart.
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When we see someone of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.
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The superior man is modest in his speech but exceeds in his actions.
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Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
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- Confucius

February 27, 2011

Update of a lifetime!

Since my birthday, I have started 3 blog posts and ended up getting bored half way through writing them and didn't post them, one of those being a review of my 19th year and my 20 before 20 challenge (don't worry, I'll post everything once the craziness dies down). The past couple of weeks have been insane-in-the-membrane for some strange reason, but I have fabulous news that I just couldn't hold in!.....

I'm going to EUROPE!!

I won't be leaving until June 2012, but hopefully the long wait will make it even more worth while! I'll be heading abroad for a month in a place I have ALWAYS wanted to go with a college tour group and my bestie RayCray! Words can't even describe how excited I am! 
Here are some of the places I'll be going...

London, UK

Paris, France

Amsterdam, Holland

Heidelberg, Germany

Lucerne, Switzerland

Verona, Italy

Venice, Italy

Rome, Italy

Florence, Italy

The French Riviera

Barcelona, Spain

Madrid, Spain


AHHH SO EXCITED!!
Have you ever been to any of these places? What do I need to see, eat, do and buy while there? Any tips or advice? THANKS!

February 13, 2011

Giveaway Winner!!


True Random Number Generator4
Congrats to Catherine!!! You won the giveaway! I'll get your prize to you as soon as I can! 

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! I wish I could give a prize to all of you, but I'm sadly lacking a bit in the wallet department. But there will be another giveaway soon so keep posted! Love you all!

February 9, 2011

Growing is Forever

If you are as stressed and emotional as I was today, than watch this amazing video and feel all the negativity just melt away. 
It's also something I like to listen to while falling asleep at night because it calms all my thoughts and gives me peaceful dreams. 
I hope you get as much out of this as I have.



February 8, 2011

JayMay's favorite 2011 Super Bowl commercials

The best thing about Super Bowl Sunday is, let's all be honest here... the commercials. Last year was very disappointing, so this year I was a little apprehensive about the whole operation. To my delight, the commercials this year were AMAZING! Here are a few of my favorites starting with my favorite out of all of them... so adorable.

Darth Vader Kid

What? Tommy Fell Down a Well?

Doritos Healing Grandpa

Pepsi Can Thrower

Detriot: Eminem


To see all of this year's Super Bowl commercials, click through to this website.

And it wouldn't be the Super Bowl without this special moment... I've always wanted a reason to say this.

PS- Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! You have until February 12th to enter and I will announce the winner on the 13th! Good luck!

February 6, 2011

Febuary '11 Obsessions & GiVeAWaY!!

For those of us located on the Northern Hemisphere, February can be quite possibly one of the most dreary and depressing months of the year. I know it can sometimes be that way for me because I tend to catch Spring Fever the day after Christmas. But alas, February is here to stay for a while, so finding things that make you happy is a great way to beat the February Blues. Here are some things I love right now.

1. Bath and Body Works' Fiji Passionfruit Body Lotion
I like to call this "Summer Candy in a Lime Green Bottle" and all I can say is YUM! Seriously, you want a break from the cold and snow? Just take a whiff of this stuff and you'll practically transport yourself to a picture perfect beach in Fiji. According to the people at B&BW, Fiji Passionfruit is a "tropical escape of passionfruit, mandarin orange, apricot nectar and lime zest." And it honestly smells just like you'd imagine. 
But wait! There's more! All Signature B&BW Body Care products are buy 2 get 1 free, or buy 3 get 2 free right now, online and in-store! So just take my word for it and buy some of this stuff! You won't regret it.


2. OPI Nail Polish
Before I found OPI, I hated painting my nails. Every time I did I felt like I couldn't do anything with them because I was afraid they would chip prematurely and then I'd have to either fix them, or just take it off. What's so amazing about this brand is that it lasts FOREVER. I have a job that demands a lot out of my hands, so I bet they would last even longer if I didn't abuse them so much. 
I've been obsessed with this stuff for a few months now, I honestly can't get enough. Every time I'm near a salon or at the mall I always stop to buy a new color. They have every color you could ever imagine, all sorts of sparkles, mattes and suede's. 
I use Chip Skip (which dries your nail and gets rid of any oils or lotions hiding in the creases around your nail so that your polish doesn't chip for a long while), then the base coat, 2 coats of color, and then a top coat. 
Right now I am wearing 'Ate Berries in the Canneries' and I'm loving it.


3. Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil

I'm just loving beauty products lately I suppose, but this stuff is really great. 
My lips are very temperamental, and before I found this lip balm I could only use Carmex because it was the only product that kept my lips from getting dry! Carmex is great, but to be completely honest, it stinks and doesn't taste too good. I had used Burt's Bees regular peppermint lip balm before, but I felt like it kind of just sat on top of my lips and didn't do any good. One day, during my pomegranate obsession last winter, I was at the grocery store and I stumbled upon this kind and thought I'd give it a try. It's all I've been using ever since. It tastes really yummy and has a light... the only word coming to mind is "comfy"... scent. 


4. 'TRON Legacy', 'The King's Speech' and 'Beauty and the Beast'
If you haven't seen this movie yet, please do. It will change your life. Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but it definitely gets your mind going! I would highly recommend seeing it in IMAX 3D. 
If you can't do that, then try seeing it in just regular 3D. The soundtrack to TRON is also amazing. Try listening to it while doing homework, exercising, or driving and you will feel like a machine. 

I saw 'The King's Speech' tonight with RayCray and I now know why it is nominated for the Academy Awards Best Motion Picture of the year. Who ever knew a movie revolving around someone with a stutter could be so completely captivating and intense. I'd dare to say it was more intense than the majority of action movies out there. Now I just need to figure out why 'The Fighter' would even be considered to be in the same category as 'The King's Speech'. That movie was dreadful, please don't go see it. 

Oh dear, I became a little teary eyed while watching that. 
As all of you know, I love Disney. Love love love love love love love!!!! And I own nearly every Disney animated movie ever made because I'm a nerd like that. The only problem is that the only VCR in the house broke a couple of months ago, and all my Disney movies are on VHS :'[ I was actually watching 'Aladdin' when it broke and it ate my tape :[ But I suppose this is not a bad thing, because I need to buy them all on DVD/BluRay to keep up with the times. 'Beauty and the Beast' (my second favorite right behind 'Aladdin') came out in the DVD/BluRay combo pack a few months ago so I decided it would be a good start to my new DVD/BluRay collection. Now I just have to wait for the next movie to be released from the Disney Vault... which might take a while, but I'll just keep watching 'Beauty and the Beast' in the meantime. I've already gotten quite a bit of use out of it already.


5. Paper Beads
I had to go to a "Staff Development Day" this past week and in one of the classes I took, I learned how to make paper beads! It was taught by refugees who fled from some pretty scary situations in their homeland's and are now living here in Utah for a fresh start on life. The woman who taught me was a very sweet lady from Iraq who came to the US about two years ago. 
Making paper beads is very relaxing and a lot of fun. I love using paper from magazines or newsprint because you never know what the bead will end up looking like! For instructions, go here.

*GiVeAWaY!*
In honor of my turning 20 in a few days, I am giving away a few of my favorite things from this month to give to one of my readers! This month's prize will include Burt's Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm, a bottle of OPI nail lacquer, and a paper bead bracelet made by yours truly! 
* The only requirement is that you must be a follower of my blog to win. *
* To enter, leave me a comment on this post telling me what your favorite color is, something you are really loving this month, and your email address (if I don't know you in person) so that I can let you know you've won! *

The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on 
February 13th.

GOOD LUCK!! 

February 2, 2011

Happy Groundhog Day!


Us Americans love our quirky holidays, and Groundhog Day is probably the strangest out of them all. Whether or not a groundhog can predict when Spring will arrive by seeing his shadow or not seeing his shadow, this morning Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow so it looks like Spring is coming early this year! And that is good news to my ears because it hasn't even broken into the 20's this week here in Utah. On a downside, Phil did not predict who will win the Super Bowl this weekend. So we'll just have to make those predictions ourselves.