Feeling a bit patriotic...

Need I say more?
These people blow my mind. They have so much spirit and so much talent and just blow it all out of the water.
I love Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May Treanor. Not only are they undefeated and stick together through everything, they are both married and make family a huge priority. Kerri brings her kids and husband with her every single time. Misty supports her husband in his football career and she is a great mom to her baby. Blows my mind.
It ALL blows my mind.
In short, I LOVE THE OLYMPICS.

I am not a blogger, but I do have a blog.

If I was being perfectly honest with all you lovely people I would tell you I really have no business being a blogger. I don't a cute husband, a fabulous camera, mad Photoshop skills, an ideal love life, or my pinterest board closet.

My life is in no way extraordinary, my thoughts aren't always willing to be herded into eloquent articulations, my creativity comes and goes, and I Really like wearing T-shirts.

so..

I blog because everyone has a story to tell.

 I blog to stay in touch with my two best friends on a more creative level than the usual "hi, how are you" texts.

 I blog for the inspiring people I meet through the blogging world.
& naturally

I blog for myself; to attempt capture the wisps of thoughts, and ideas floating in this head of mine.

I am not a blogger
but,

I do have a blog.






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In other news: A layout overhaul is in the works. Be excited!!

Instead

Change yourself, they said.

People will like you better.

But I liked myself

So I dyed my hair red.

Promises of jobs and men,

A life of ordinary days.

But I have my own ordinary

So I dyed my hair crimson.

You and I may not have met,

Just glances across the room

But I have my own eyes

So I dyed my hair scarlet.

Move

When I was pretty little, maybe five or six, my mother signed me and my best friend/cousin up for a tap and ballet class.

 I remember loving it. Racing to be the first one to switch shoes, galloping around the room like ponies to warm up, and perfecting my plie. 

My mom remembers I begged her every day to quit. I don't quite recall that part.

I kinda regret not continuing dance, although when I think about it.. I don't know what I would have done with it. join my highschool dance team? no thanks.

I might take a dance class one of these semesters though. just for fun.

The only claim to fame I have left over from my dancing days is I do get asked fairly often if I am a dancer, (I think it's because I subconsciously point my toes all the time), and I love a good dance routine. here are a few favorites

and this isn't really a routine, but it is gorgeous. if you haven't seen it you need to!

The Hopeless Romantic

Confession: My name is Jane and I am a hopeless romantic.
Which is why I have another obsession: romance novels.
Really truly. It's how I maintain my love life...through the experiences of others. When I say romance novel, I don't mean the harlequin paper backs in the grocery store that have "ripped bodices and heaving bosoms" (anyone guess that movie quote? hint. the book it's based off of is mentioned in this post.) and men with more muscles than is necessary. No. I mean Regency England, with all it's propriety and fabulous dresses and men that look like this:

THANK you Jane Austen for men like Colonel Wentworth.

I mean, really. The high collar, the perfectly messy hair and side burns. The cravat (how awesome is that word?!) and the perfectly fitting jacket and breeches (yet again. another fantastic word.) And the men in and of themselves?! Yes. Yes please. I will take a Mr. Tilney or Colonel Wentworth or Colonel Brandon ANY DAY.

Mr. Darcy saving Lydia's reputation for the love of Elizabeth? Yes.

Why can't life be like these?

If you haven't read this, do. Right. Now.

Especially this one (which has brought on this post). I just finished it. So. Freaking. Good. I just want to know, are there men like Philip Wyndham in this world and where can I get one? Also, I feel like Marianne Daventry SO MANY TIMES in my life. The way she looks at life is pretty similar to myself. So I feel like I need my Philip now.

My ALL TIME favorite Austen.

Win.

The two Jane Austen heroines that I identify most with are Catherine Morland and Elinor Dashwood. Catherine because of her love of novels (and I do have to admit, I have read some gothic novels and they are HILARIOUS.) and propensity to image life at it's best and the complete and utter hopeless romantic that lives inside her. And Elinor because of her strong sense of responsibility and how to respond to a situation...being the "good daughter" to Marianne's flighty-ness.
Anyways, I thought I'd share with you another one of my obsessions. I just feel as if something splendid will happen soon and here's hoping it's an Austen worthy romance.

PS, I saw this. And it reminded me of this post. It's a t-shirt and I want it. Badly.

Nails! take two!

Last night I redid my nails, as well as my sisters, with the same method i talked about here now that I have the method down, this go round was much much cuter.

things i learned.

-let the nail polish dry completely on the plastic before you try to peel it off

- it works best if you pain the nail the base color you want and let that dry, and then paint a coat of clear to put the decals on.

- dont thy to trim your decals once they are on. nail polish remover the excess. its magic.

- I put a ton of polish on the ziplocks. and didn't use it all. once its dry you can store it for the next manicure.

The possibilities with this are endless with this. I am looking forward to lots of manicures. 

I vote the piano be played like this from now on.

Dollar Store Spoils

I took a trip to my local dollar store today, this one in particular is my favorite, its kinda more like a surplus store type deal rather than a cheap toy place. 

 Overly large lacy Hair bow. Love.

New eye shadow pallets

Fun new nail polish colors

Those sunglasses that clip on glasses

My last pair got lost.. and I spent ten bucks on them. these are the exact same ones.. a dollar. happy girl

and..a fanny pack. Hey now. They are very functional don't mock. I have been wishing for one for my walks etc.

Yay for Thrifty new stuff!

Nails!

My poor nails have been rather uncute as of late, so it was past time for a manicure. I used the technique where you paint a plastic bag and then peel the dried polish off. I don't love how it turned out. the colors don't really sing for me, but the technique is AMAZING, which is what I wanted to try. my nails will definitely be getting lots of love. It is super easy and almost eliminates my least favorite part of manicures. dry time! I can never be patient enough to not mess it up. go here for a detailed tutorial. so cute.

DIY Maxi Dress/Skirt

I've been seeing lots of maxi dress how-to's on pinterest lately, so I decided to be crafty and make one of my own. I was talking to my dear friend Jen and she went with me to the store and helped me pick out and find the right fabric. She's just fabulous.

Belt: Forever 21. Cardigan: Deb

I decided to just make it up as I go, because I didn't like a lot of the patterns that I had found. I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Disregard the wind.

First, I bought a yard and a half of jersey knit at Joann's (such a glorious store).
Second, fold the fabric in half hot dog style and pin down the open side at a diagonal, so the top fits snugly around your upper bust area (what is that even called?) or around your waist if you are making a skirt.
Third, sew down the line of pins, taking them out as you move down. You could cut away the fabric first (I didn't), just make sure to leave a seem allowance of at least a 1/4 inch.
Fourth, check it out. Try it on. Make sure it fits how you want it to.
Fifth, Cut off excess material. I didn't do this earlier because I am prone to making mistakes and wanted leeway just in case. Turns out I didn't need to unpick or anything this time, so I could have just cut off the fabric earlier.
Sixth, make a hem at the top, just to make it look nicer. You really don't need on at the bottom, especially as it is a jersey knit and won't fray.

And that's it my friends. I added a belt and a cardigan to make it more flattering and modest. Also, I can fold mine down and it looks fabulous as a skirt as well.

Ups and Downs- Work

Reasons I Like My Job:

• I get paid= money for school! 
• Gives me something productive to do.
• Some people I work with.
• Sometimes they play Ingrid Michelson :) 

Reasons I Just Wanna Quit:

• People throwing things on the ground over and over again. Is it really that hard to put it at a hand or eye level shelf? 
• Some of the people I work with. 
• You have to schedule time off at least 3 weeks in advance. So if someone wants to come see you for the weekend it's impossible to get off. 

Off to work for the next 8 hours. I will just focus on the positives and then I can come back and do whatever I want. This poster will be in my head during work. Just keep calm. :)

We can do it!

I change my backgrounds on all my devices constantly. I like change, it makes my eyes happy. Which is why I was surprised when I realized I have had the same background on my laptop for almost a year now. I guess when I think about it, it makes a lot of sense.

 This is my screensaver.

This last year has been a beast. The climax of several major trials in my life, and for whatever reason this poster makes me feel all girl power-y and kick butt awesome. Silly right? I know, but Rosie makes me feel stronger, and everyone can use a dose of that. 

hang in there. we can do it.

Holy Cow.

These girls are 12, and 8.

First of all they are adorable.

Then their vocals are so spot on and effortless.

 beautiful. 

Maisy's harmonies are incredible

check it out

The Bachelorette

The Bachelorette is what I spend my Monday nights doing. Here is my chart of the guys and my ideas of them for weeks 1-5, and then I lost interest in keeping track.

Here is the key to what my symbols mean:
F= Father
Check mark= I like them
Heart= LOVE them!
X= Do not like get them- get them out of there!


As the weeks went on and on I really started to like Jef and he eventually got a heart. And after this weeks episode- oh my gosh- I hope he wins because he was such a gentleman and geez- I want him. It was sad to see Sean go, my vote would have been Arie, but Emily still has good guys to choose from. That was the best top 3 I have ever seen. I would just want to marry all of them!


I hope I'm not the only one here who watches this strange but very addictive show. 

Oh internet. you are so funny.

My find on Amazon today.

What We Find at Stores

I realized that I have not posted for a little over a week until yesterday and now I have all these things to say- so here is another post by me. Sorry to keep popping up in your face.

Saturday night Jane and I decided that we were long overdue on a play date. After I got off work Jane came over and picked me up and we went on a little late night adventure. We went to Walmart and Macy's Grocery store and we found some interesting things.  I love that woman and an evening with her is just what I needed! 

Here are some pictures from our evening:

We thought that poster board was interesting, that pinata scared me, crystal light has weird drink flavors, the cards- we practically read every single one, and I think Jane is adorable on that horse! 

Childhood Dreams.

You know. I have always wanted stop sign red hair. Based off this lady:

I may have been a little obsessed. I still am. Really truly. That hair is superb.
Anyways. Now that I am a big girl I have the opportunity to do an Ariel.
Red goes the hair.

This face is extremely awkward. Excuse it.

Yay for childhood dreams coming true. If only I can figure out a way to pause time, become a mermaid and ice skate, then my childhood will be complete.

Instagram?

why yes. I do live under a rock thanks for asking. it's quite cozy. 

I don't really know what instagram is... and twitter kinda blows my mind. #idontunderstand #whattheheck #thesesymbolsmean.

Basically when people try to explain instagram to me all I get out of it is you take lots of pictures and post them on the internet. 

So here is your very own version of what I think it is. In other words here are a bunch of my favorite really random pics from this last week. enjoy.

Ps. Our blog is at a kinda awkward stage of life. Sorry, The posts will be random and the layout strange for a bit. No worries it will get over itself soon.

Life and Loss

I consider myself to be young- no matter how much my brother's friends tease me being old. Young people have a whole bunch of life ahead of them; going to college, being with friends, travel, pursuing a career, marriage, starting a family, buying a house, family moments, becoming grandparents, you name it and it can be added to the list.

But then when you hear about death, it makes you put your life on pause and reflection. Am I living a life that if I died today, people would pause and have good things to remember me by? I have been seeing the words "happy," "pretty," "kindest person," "always smiling," "good memories," and other positive words all over my Facebook today and I agree. This girl was such a positive person and even though I was not close with her I saw the light she brought into others lives. She just graduated high school- she just closed a chapter and she was about to start a whole new one with plenty more to come. Her life was not going to end- it was unexpected.

Then I started thinking about Penelope and Jane- what if I lost one of them? I would be in shock, denial, and then devastated. Just picking up my phone to send them a text- and they would never receive it. Just all the simple things. I am so grateful for them and they are alive and well. Prayers go out for those who lost loved ones today. God be with you.

HP Nerd - Please still accept me.

I admit it, I'm a complete Harry Potter nerd and I saw this and it made me laugh. And it's Albus Dumbeldore's birthday today (nerdy much?- but I had to look that up). Please still accept me and don't disown me for this little quirk of mine. Happy Sunday! :)

I rather enjoy this.

and this..

Song Win

Really. I'm a little bit obsessed with this man. Fine By Me is frankly adorable.

Because, you know, sometimes it's difficult to remember the sunny side of life. Despite the difficulty now, the sun will come out in the morning. *Also note the appearance of Rainn Wilson in the second video. AKA Dwight K. Schrute.

Happy Independence Day!

I love this picture.

May your day be filled with family, good food, and love for this blessed country.

God Bless America.

Image via pinterest

Comfort Food

Call me crazy, but this is one of the things that brings me comfort in this world:
Bread and Milk.
First, make homemade bread and then cut it into slices, ripping it into a bowl.

Second, pour milk over the top as if it were cereal.

Third, sprinkle sugar on top.

Fourth, ENJOY :)

Happy happy Jane indeed!

 

Creamed Corn

Creamed corn is probably one of the most evil things you will ever find packaged in a can.. besides spam and spinach. It's all just so wrong.

In my quest tonight to put together some semblance of an eatable meal in a small amount of time, I grabbed a can of innocent looking corn off the shelf. all was well until I opened it up and it started oozing..evil. the can oozed evil. and gloopy white stuff. That's what evil looks like in it's raw form.

Cream. should be creamy. corn should be corny. corn should not be creamy, nor cream corny.

Its just how the world works ok?

It reminds me of that one time when my tupperware of canned corn got moved to another roomates shelf and lost for a few weeks, until it was discovered.

it was creamy. 

and the cream was moving...

yum.

So basically, I am convinced it is really just corn that didn't get canned soon enough.

as soon as it starts becoming a microbial hangout, they swap out the label and add a tiny "creamed style" to the top, that will surely be looked over twice. once at the grocery store, and once at home.

 I am to busy to read stuff you know?!

Sneaky sneaky...

Ps. I found seven four leaf clovers tonight in the space of about two minutes. I think that makes me double lucky. Just not lucky enough to grab the nice corn.