When I Should Be Studying

My Reasons For Reading This Book As I explained in my last book review, August Book Review: Sharp Objects ( August Book Review: Sharp Objects ), I loved Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl ( March Book Review: Gone Girl  )and had heard in a podcast that Gillian Flynn wrote two books before Gone Girl. Since I loved Gone Girl I thought that I why not read the two books she wrote prior to it. That is why I chose to read Gillian Flynn's second novel  Dark Places . Content of the Book This book did not disappoint when it comes to the similarities that are found in Gillian Flynn's other books. There is always a murder that is somehow linked back to the main female character. I can't forget that part of the story has to take place in Missouri. Libby Day and her older brother Ben were the sole survivors of the Kinnakee, Kansa murders. Ben was found guilty for the murders as a result of seven year old Libby's testimony. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Libby is i...

As someone who is an environmental studies major I am very passionate about sharing and educating on anything and everything to do with how people can work towards protecting and bettering the world we live in. Over the past year I have been implementing zero waste practices into my life. Currently I am not living 100% zero waste. With that being said I have complied a list of four of my favorite zero waste products for those who are just starting to work towards zero waste and for those who are just looking for products that are overall better for the environment. All of the products listed below can be found on Amazon. Bamboo Utensils Bamboo utensils are a great alternative to using plastic silverware. By eliminating the use of plastic silverware you are lessening the amount of waste that is being sent to the landfill or recycling center. Aside from the fact that bamboo utensils are beautiful, they are also reusable and biodegradable. I make sure to always carry a set around wi...

Since going low fodmap I have experimented with a number of different snacks. I eat a snack about two to three hours before dinner and have found that this list of snacks keeps me from being hungry until then. I proportions I used for these snack ideas came from the application Low FODMAP diet A to Z . Its a great resource and I highly recommend checking it out. Rice Cake BLT Ingredients Quaker Lightly Salted Rice Cake spinach or your favorite type of lettuce tomato bacon (1 piece of bacon cooked in the microwave for 1 minute on half power) Almond Butter and Chocolate Chip Rice Cake Ingredients Quaker Lightly Salted Rice Cake 1 tbsp of almond butter 3 tbsp chocolate chips (Enjoy Life or Lily's Sugar Free Chocolate Chips) Almond Butter and Pumpkin Seed Rice Cake Ingredients Quaker Lightly Salted Rice Cake 1 tbsp of almond butter low fodmap allows for up to 2 tbsp of pumpkin seeds  Almond Butter and Strawberry Rice Cake Ingr...

These simple black and white weekly bullet journal spreads are perfect for when you are lacking the time to create a elaborate spread or if simple spreads are just more of your style.  I have created all of these spreads with enough space from daily tasks, daily food logs and even enough space at the bottom to add other trackers, a notes section or somewhere to track your weekly goals or to dos. The rectangle in the top left hand corner is meant to write when the week started and ended.  How You Can Change Up These Spreads From Week to Week I love that I can take these spread and use them as templates for other weekly spreads. These spreads also allow you to easily add color to them to change up the spread from week to week. If you find that one of these spreads works the best for you, you can always change up the look from week to week by experimenting with different fonts, color combinations, doodles, banners, and digital stickers or pictures.  What...

My Reasons For Reading This Book While scouring the Internet in search of an online book club, I discovered the YouTube channel Candiland  and I saw that she had a video titled March and April Book Reviews and June Book Selection . Without watching the video I looked at the description of the video and found a list of the books she was reviewing. I used her links to read the descriptions of the books and chose Allegedly due to the wide range of excitement and high praised reviews that the book had. I had also never read a crime mystery that was centered around a child and was intrigued to read the perceptive of a child who lived through and survived the prison system. The raving reviews surrounding this book made me place high expectations on it.  Content of the Book Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson's tells the story of Mary Addison an 'alleged' baby killer. Mary was 9-years-old when she was convicted for the murder of 3-month old Alyssa Richardson. The book pick...

May Book Review: Wonder My Reasons For Reading This Book After reading Columbine last month, I was looking for a more lighthearted and fun read. I also wanted to read Wonder by R.J. Palacio before I watched the movie since the movie is based off of the book. I had seen the trailer for the movie and found the story to be very interesting and knew that the book had to one of the books I read this year. Wonder is a lot more lighthearted compared to the books I have been reading the past few months. I felt as though I chose to read this book at just the right time in my life. Content of the Book August Pullman is a extraordinary boy who was born with a facial difference. The books begins with him starting middle school at a private preparatory school after being homeschooled since kindergarten. The book tells the story of Auggie's adjustment to school life and the lessons and experiences he had during 5th grade. The other parts of the book are told from the perspective of A...

Ombre Nails The second trendy Pinterest DIY that I tested was ombre nails. As someone who enjoys painting and having her nails painted, I thought I would experiment and try my hand at nail art. DIY ombre nails have always been popular on Pinterest and are projected to be an easy nail design. This is the link to the Ombre Nails Pin I used as my reference for this DIY. Here is my experience with trying to recreate ombre nails. Supplies neutral nail polish color for base two complementary nail polish colors nail polish remover make up sponge(s) paint brush orange stick plastic or surface to mix colors top coat What I Used Sally Hansen Triple Shine Nail Polish Lemon Shark Sally Hansen Sunksed Sun Kissed Xtreme Wear Nail Polish Sally Hansen Big Kwik Dry Top Nail Coat Instructions For the surface that I used to mix the nail polish on I cut a piece of plastic from packaging. Okay, now onto the nails. I started by preparing my nails as I always do. For m...

The Perfect At Home Manicure Growing up I always wanted to be one of those girls who could give themselves a manicure that was just as good as a salon manicure. When I got to college I was looking for something to do that would get me off of social media, so I started painting my nails. I find painting my nails to be very therapeutic and look forward to doing it. Over the months I have experimented with different products and came up with my favorites. In this post I share some tips on how to give yourself the perfect at home manicure and recommend the products that I love. If you you are not currently good at painting your nails keep practicing at it. I was not very good when I first started, but I as I continued to do it I slowly became better and picked up on tips for how to paint perfectly. What you need: cotton rounds Nail Polish Remvoer Dispenser Pump Sally Hansen big Kwik Dry Top Coat Revlon by Leah Goren Manicure Kit orange stick Nail...

March Book Review: Gone Girl I am well aware of the fact that I am about four years late on reading this book. In my defense when this book was released I was too young to read it. I feel as if this was the right time and age for me to read this book. So, no regrets on not reading it sooner.  My Reasons For Reading This Book My mother is aware of the type of books that I enjoy reading and suggested I read  Gone Girl . She read the book around the time it was released and knew that the book fit the genre and books I prefer to read. My roommate also encouraged me to read it as well since she has also read it and knew I would not be able to put it down. Content of the Book  On Nick and Amy's five year wedding anniversary Amy goes missing from their Missouri home. The questions begin. Is she dead? Was she kidnapped? Who could do this? Was her husband involved? Amy was born and raised in New York and ended up reluctantly moving to Nick's Missouri hometown afte...

February Book Review: The Woman in the Window   As mentioned in my  January Book Review: The Worst Hard Time  one of my resolutions for 2018 is to read more personal reads. Even though it is only the second month of 2018, I am changing that resolution to read a new book every month of 2018. Since I have this goal in place I have started to develop a reading wish list. My Reason For Selecting the Book I chose to read A.J. Finn's The Woman in the Window ;due to the fact that it was on iBooks Top Chart and honestly because the About the Book interested me right away. Content of the Book The main character of this book is Anna Fox. She spends her days alone in her New York City home drinking wine, playing online chess, giving advice on an online chat room, and loves and I mean loves watching old black and white movies. Agoraphoia keeps Anna from leaving the house, trying to entertain herself causes Anna to see something that she wasn't meant to see. She al...

Dorm Room Organization Organizing your dorm room as you unpack on 'Move In Day' is essential because it will kickstart your habit of staying organized throughout the course of the school year. In an upcoming blog post I will be sharing various ways to organize your dorm room closet, so be on the look out! Dresser Most dorms come with a built in dresser. The only problem is that the number of drawers in that dresser will vary depending on the school. My pro-tip when it comes to dressers is: Organize the content in the drawers the same way you had it at home . What I mean by this is if you have your pants in the bottom drawer of your dresser at home also have your pants in the bottom drawer in your dorm. By doing this you are tricking your body to preform habits that you have already developed. This also helps with making less noice well your roommate is sleeping because you don't have to open every drawer searching for where you put your pants. Another tip is the ca...