Life Outside Of Bloglandia

As I was trying to draft a blog post last night one little topic kept nagging at me. I have a running note on my phone that I add blog ideas onto anytime one pops into my head. I frequently check it out, occasionally actually write a post from the list and then get excited when I get to delete that idea from the list. Unfortunately I tend to add to the list more frequently than I write from the list. It is what it is. Last night when I was looking at the list I went all the way to the beginning, to my first idea. It said "the things we don't blog about".

I remember exactly why I wrote that down. At the time I was reading so many blog posts from other bloggers talking about the hate they were getting. I was thinking about those bloggers and how people hated them, actually hated them, because of the things they posted on their blog. I started thinking how little of our life is actually on our blog. I've used this topic to write a post once already. I never deleted it from my list, because I felt like it would always be a great topic.

Bloggers share exactly what they want to share of their life on their blog. No more and no less. That's just the way it is. So much happens outside of their blog life. It's a good thing to remember.

Today, let's talk about some life things that wouldn't normally make the blog.

//My aunt and uncle are trying to sell their house, so I spent all day Monday helping them clean and box a few things up. A Memorial Day spent working, because.. family.

//I watched another Harry Potter movie last night. Deathly Hallows Part 1. I'm just preparing myself for the awesomeness that will be my re-reading of the Harry Potter series this summer. Ps. When Hermione screams while she's being tortured by Bellatrix, I die. Pss. "Dobby has no master. DOBBY IS A FREE ELF!"

//IU Baseball is hosting the NCAA Regionals this weekend and so my mom and I will both be working and watching IU Baseball for 10+ hour days Friday-Sunday. In case any of you were going to ask me to hang out this weekend, sadly my answer will be a big "no".

//I'm flying to Florida in June and the rest of my family is driving and this will be the very first time I've ever flown alone. I'm actually really excited about it. Yay adventure.

//My dad worked the night shift for 18 years or something as equally ridiculous (it might've been 17, it might've been 19, the details are fuzzy and not relevant). But the last few years he's been on day shift. Well his company offered him a small raise to temporarily go back to night shift, he was like "sign me up". But I'm not sure who is having more trouble adjusting to his new schedule - him or me and my sister.

//Yesterday, on May 28th, it was exactly 6 years from my high school graduation. My sister so kindly reminded me of that.

//I went to Half Price Books yesterday. Have you ever been there? Holy shit. I'm beyond, beyond, beyond in love with this place. I have a Nook, so I don't really need to buy actual copies of books, but I can't help myself. I think most of my book lovers will understand that there's just something about holding an actual book. Anyway, I have an entire shelf of my bookcase of books that I haven't read yet and that need to be read this summer. I refuse to even tell you how many books I have on my Nook that haven't been read yet. So why I went into HPB and purchased 2 new books (hardback and brand new for $1 each!!!!) I have no idea.

//As I was getting ready and finishing this blog post this morning, I put HP Deathly Hallows Part 2 in and now I'm totally distracted. I'm only half dressed without any makeup on and my hair only half done. So on that note, I'll see you snicklefritzes tomorrow. Ps..

Look at Ron, HAHAHAH his face kills me. Happy Thursday!

Laugh It Off

Do you ever have a day where so many things go the opposite of the way you want them to, so you end up just laughing hysterically? No? Okay, well last night I ended up laying on my floor, laughing hysterically.

It started yesterday when I wrote that ridiculous post while I was still half asleep. Lord, someone make sure I never do that again. This is where the story starts though, because I had been coming off of a weekend when I got very little sleep and then Monday night I woke up every half hour because it was so stinkin' hot in my apartment.

See, I'm cheap, thrifty, poor, whatever you want to call it and I was determined not to turn on my air conditioner this year until absolutely necessary. Also, I just like having the windows open. So I've had my heat and my air conditioner off since early March. I've used a portable electric heater when I'm cold and a fan and open windows when I'm hot. When I woke up this morning and it was 75*-78* in my apartment at 8am, I knew it was time. So before I left for work I closed all of my windows and flipped on the air conditioner.

When I got home (with an arm full of groceries, of course) and opened my front door, I almost died from the heat wave. I could hear my air conditioner running, but it was 90* in my apartment. It was like a hot box. The humidity was unreal.

Called my landlord, who said he obviously couldn't get anyone there until first thing this morning, so I was going to have to suffer through the night. Yea, easy for him to say. I was also ticked because my air conditioner had probably been running all day long trying to cool my apartment. Which means I'm going to pay an electric bill for an air conditioner running for an entire damn day.

I flipped open my windows, put my groceries away, and changed into shorts and a tank top. I decided that I was only going to concentrate on cooling one room, so I grabbed both of my rotating fans and took them to my bedroom. Kept the lights off, so there was no unnecessary heat and laid on my floor and laughed hysterically for a good 10 minutes. Because.. of course this happened.

Then I put Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix in my dvd player, got my laptop out, and worked on bloggy things.

Crappy and annoying things happen, sometimes you've just got to lay on the floor of your wood paneled hot box and laugh them off.

Tough It Out Tuesday - The Perspective Edition

I know it's Tuesday and I know that means I really need to have my life together and have a TIOT post ready for you guys today. but man, I'm barely functioning this morning. My 4 day weekend killed me. Dead. Done. Gone.

I'm also not feeling very healthy at the moment because I'm pretty sure the only green thing I ate all week was guacamole. I'm exaggerating a little, but it was still pretty bad. Brownies, pizza, Tace Bell, smores, mac-n-cheese, and oh, the list could go on and on.

The only healthy thing I accomplished was giving myself a nice big healthy dose of perspective.

Sometimes it's hard to really see a situation when you're in the middle of it. Sometimes taking a nice big step back and looking at a situation from a new view can give you a whole new perspective. And sometimes you need to see things from a different perspective to be able to make necessary adjustments.

I know that's total shit and not what you guys want to hear today.
Go see Allie because she's talking about her 5k and has her life together more than I do.
I'll try to have my ducks in a row tomorrow.
P.S. I'm detoxing and taking #100ouncesAday very seriously today, do it with me!

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Top 5 Indy 500 Party Essentials

If you live in Indiana, you know this is a big, big weekend for our state. Because every year on Memorial Weekend we celebrate a little harder than most.

It's Indy 500 weekend, kids. 

Last year I wrote a little informational post about the Indy 500 for all of my non-Indiana resident blog friends. Feel free to catch yourself up on the ins and outs of this major event. I covered a lot of info, so seriously, I recommend checking it out.

Now, I've known for probably 2 weeks that I was going to be writing about the Indy 500 on May 23rd. There are just so many topics I could cover and I was really struggling choosing one single topic. Then I was on the phone with my dad earlier this week and we started joking around and making fun of ourselves and this idea was born.

p.s. that's my best frand, she's a hottie

1. Checkered Flags.

Everywhere and on everything. Cakes, cookies, table cloths, tshirts, bandanas, shoes, your face. Black and white squares, everywhere.

2. American Flags.

Everywhere and on everything. Because what is more American than race cars on Memorial Weekend? Nothing. Wherever you don't have a checkered flag, you better have an American Flag.

3. Jorts.

Essential.

4. Sunglasses.

This makes the list for 2 reasons. First, it's going to be a bright and sunshiny weekend and if you're going to the 500, you'll be outside, all day. Second, you'll be drunk. The sunglasses will hide your drunk eyes a little and that is essential for a full day of day drinking.

5. Alcohol.

Other than the actual race, everything about the Indy 500 is about having fun. Beer is an absolute must, with a Jello Shot chaser.

Yes, sometimes things will get a little.. rednecky. But embrace it and you'll have 500% more fun than you anticipated. Above all, be safe and make sure you're drinking some water and eating some good tailgate food. Day drinking + outside in the 80* heat can get out of hand quickly.

Be safe.
Be redneck.
Be American.
Have fun.

Lady and Gentlemen... Start your engines.

I Just Want To Be Tan

What's on my mind? Tanning, so let's talk tanning for a quick second.

I'm pale. I have dark hair and green eyes and pale skin. That's me.

I just don't like being pale though. It's not my favorite thing in the world and I try to fight it. I tanned in a tanning bed a little bit in high school and college, especially after I turned 21 and started going to the bars, but I kicked that habit pretty quickly. I like being tan, but I like not having skin cancer more.

I still tan outside and such, but I always wear sunscreen. Yes, sometimes I only wear SPF 15, but SPF 15 is better than SPF 0.

In my older and wiser years, I've turned to sunless tanning lotions.

Ugh. It's a love/hate thing. I love being tan without going to a cancer box, but I hate so many things about sunless tanning lotions.
Streaks.
Spots.
Orange.
Smell.
Uneven bullshit all the freaking time.

You could say that I'm a little frustrated with the whole situation right now. Here are a few I've tried and one I'm going to try..

1. Nivea Sun-kissed Radiant Skin Sunless Tanner. I used this one last Spring and just felt that it was very splotchy. I also wasn't a huge fan of the smell. When it wasn't splotchy though, I enjoyed it quite a bit. But it was kind of a dangerous game of "Will I be covered in leopard spots today.. or nah?"
2. Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer. I actually haven't used this kind in years and I've heard they've recently made huge improvements, which would be good, because it was streaky and spotty and I used to hate it. Like I said though, it's been years and I've heard they've made huge adjustments. I almost want to try it again.
3. Mary Kay Subtle Tanning Lotion. I actually really liked this. It is exactly what it says it is though, subtle. In the winter it was pretty great because it was just a nice little touch of color so I wasn't transparent, but now that it's spring, I want a little more color. I do still use this on my face though, because if there is one thing I trust Mary Kay with, it's my face. 
4. L'Oreal Sublime Bronze Self Tanning Lotion. This is the one I'm going to try next. A lot of people have recommended it, so I'm going to give it a shot. I'll let you know.

I took to Twitter last night to voice my sunless tanning frustrations. People came to my rescue, specifically Kallie. So turns out, exfoliating is the key to a good sunless tan. Oh, well.. That's probably part of my problem. So now I'm asking Bloglandia - Exfoliating? Uh.. Any info you've got, I want it. Thanks, party people!

Tough It Out Tuesday - #100ouncesAday Edition

Hey, welcome to Tuesday on The Best of Intentions.
Tough It Out Tuesday with Allie and I to be exact.
Shout out to Allie for reminding me which day of the week it was so that I could this post together. Because I had totally forgotten. Hands in too many pots at the moment.

Last week on TIOT we had honesty hour and I told you guys I didn't love working out. It's a whole week later and guess what? I still don't. Thank you guys for understanding and being fabulous though. Seriously, the fabulousness of bloggers will never get old for me. Last week in the comments a lot of people were saying that the more I worked out the easier it would get at the more I'd like it. Well, I'm inclined to believe that because of something else I realized last week.

It started in the Fall when I decided I was going to drink 64oz of water a day. It took a few months, but without realizing it I was able to drink 64oz of water a day without putting too much thought into it. In March I really started noticing how quickly I drank the 64oz and how many ounces I was drinking above that every day without thinking about it. Pretty soon I outgrew my 64oz of water a day goal. This past month I gave myself the new goal of 100oz of water a day.

Harder. Much harder.

I have to be very purposeful about my drinking habits and I really try to drink my original 64oz a day before noon. I find it is much easier to get all 100oz of water into my day by drinking the majority in the morning. It helps that I don't drink soda. I hate Diet Coke and honestly the only kinds of soda I like are Sprite and Root Beer. I only drink those if I'm mixing it with alcohol. I've always been like that, so it definitely helped that I didn't have a soda addiction I had to kick in order to up my water intake. I like water and I always have. I also really like milk and juice (cranberry juice is a mouth full of joy), but I try to drink those very sparingly. Basically I'm a toddler.

As far as how often I have to use the restroom.. Yea, it's a lot. However, I primarily work in an office, so I kind of welcome the excuse to get up and move around and go to the restroom. It isn't good for me to sit down for such long periods of time anyway, so using the restroom is the perfect excuse to get up and get moving. It honestly doesn't bother me anymore.

I've read and I'm sure you've read a hundred different articles on the benefits of drinking X amount of ounces of water a day. There are several and if you type it into Pinterest you'll find even more articles. Today I just want to touch on a few that I've personally noticed.

• Clearer skin. I never had a bad acne problem before, but I did get frequent breakouts around my chin. I wouldn't say the problem is gone, but it's definitely been improved. A lot.
• Brighter skin. This is something I notice most on days I don't drink enough water. I can always tell a difference, especially if I have a couple days in a row of bad water drinking. This is one of my favorite perks.
• Lack of over-eating. I'm usually full on water, so I don't have problems over-eating. 
• Knowing the difference between thirst and hunger. This one took me a little while to develop, but now I'm really good about knowing when I'm actually hungry and when I'm just thirsty. Sometimes my body sends out mixed signals and I'm really glad I figured this one out.
• Skinny fingers. Okay, so I don't have actual skinny fingers, however they are thinner when I'm drinking a lot of water. Sodium is bad, my friends.

Most of the other benefits you read about are hard to detect. I can't tell if it's lessening the burden on my kidneys and liver. I can't tell if it's carrying more oxygen to my blood cells. Etc. Etc. But I'm sure it is.

All of this is just to say - Drink Water.
Start small and start with #64ouncesAday.
Once that becomes your normal, move on up to #100ouncesAday with me.
I can promise you that this is one Healthy Lifestyle "trick" that will not disappoint you. That is absolutely a promise I can keep. Need encouragement? #100ouncesAday (or #64ouncesAday if you're just starting) to me and I'll be right there with you. I also have Jessi who keeps me on track for my own #100ouncesAday and I recommend getting on her bandwagon ASAP.

Happy Tuesday and please drink some water!

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Rule Breaker - A List Of Sorts

Last night when I started drafting this post I had this idea that I was going to make a list post. I'm a huge fan of lists and I figured a list post would be a good way to sort of talk about current happenings in my life without being a recap post and actually talk about current happenings in my life. It was going to be a win-win for everyone. However I spent SO LONG agonizing over the number situation. Do I write Top 5's? Top 3's? Go low and only do Top 2's? Go high and do Top 8's?

Blogging is stressful.
And I break rules.

Seven Photos From My Weekend

Three Things I'm Saving My Money For

1. Macbook Pro. Ugh, want it so bad.
2. DSLR. Ugh, also want so bad.
3. GPS watch that shows heart rate and calorie burn. Diggin this one.

Two Songs I'm Obsessing Over Right Now
 1.

Miranda and Carrie - Somethin' Bad
OBESSED.

2.

Sam Smith - Stay With Me
Sophia Bush Instagrammed a photo of this song and I looked it up and fell in LOVE.

Four Places I'm Saving My Money For

1. New Smyrna Beach, Florida. My happy, happy, happy place.
2. Vegas. Vegas. Vegas.
3. Possible girls trip to Chicago.
4. Possible trip to Omaha for a possible College World Series game. If Indiana makes it that far again, then this is definitely moving to the top of my list. So expensive.. But I want it so bad.

Two Movies I'll Be Watching On Netflix This Week

1. Drinking Buddies - First of all, Anna Kendrick is everything. Pretty sure her and I should be besties. But Anna plus Olivia Wilde? Holy hells bells, I need to see this.
2. She's All That - I've seen this a hundred times, but I love it and found it on Netflix and now it needs to be watched again.

Two Things That Made Me Mad Yesterday
1. I made homemade biscuits and gravy the way my mom does. They were edible, good even.. But not the same as when mom makes it. WHY?!
2. I can't seem to find a few of my picture files on my laptop. I can't even go into detail on this yet because there's a possibility that I will explode in anger. I didn't investigate it too much last night because of the potential anger I was talking about, but I'm probably going to have to figure out why they're missing and hopefully where they are today.

This is Kay, signing off.
Over and out.
Happy Monday.

15 Words To Use More Often

I'm told quite often by a coworker and friend that I "use weird words". Last night we were texting and I used the word "malarkey" and she again said "you use the weirdest words!" and so today's post was born! I made a short list of words I use occasionally or want to use more often and then asked my parents and a few other friends for some input.

For the record, I don't think I "use weird words". I do think that because I read a lot and even because I watch TV and movies a lot and because my parents are the same way, I have an expanded vocabulary. My mom especially uses words that in high school I would pretend I knew and then look up later, which means now I know those words. My mom reads a lot too. I come by it naturally. 






Here are 15 words that you need to be using more often.

And I'll leave you with one of my favorites clips from my favorite movie.