Wrapping March

For the month of March, I placed all of my energy in my Academic Achievement. 

It went so well. I'm so glad that I was able to be extremely disciplined and actually make some changes in my habits when it comes to school.

 

These are a few things that really helped me out a lot this month in staying focused, on task, and productive.

 

1.I stayed away from watching Netflix and Hulu. For the entire month.  I did watch it a little bit, but mostly just at night after all of my day's tasks were complete.

 

2.  I worked on my study strategies.  It isn't enough to open a book and read it.  You have to actually LEARN.  I know. Shocking.

 

 

3.  I worked on prioritizing and timing my tasks.  It kept me from spending too much time on one task and allowed me to make time for everything that I had on the to-do list.

 

 

+Also this month, I made a move towards a more "college based" blog.  I'm writing more posts about my life here in Vegas surviving as a college student specifically.  I also shared a few ways you can conqure college

 

+In March I started into a brand new sponsorship program.  It's really awesome and I'm super excited to start sharing all the wonderful people who have invested in my future as a teacher and have trusted me to promote their blogs. If you're interested I higly reccomend you click on the 'Advertise' link above.

 

+I also joined a blogger network! I'm really excited to see what kinds of opportunities it has to offer and I am pumped about making my blog even more awesome.

 

+I got a new job, applied for 50 others, and got a new schedule at job#1. 

 

+And I found out I'm about to put in a packet for Promotion in the Army!

 

 

Lately, my mantra has beenAs long as you are getting better and progressing day by day, even if it's a tiny bit, you should smile. Every day is worth getting out of bed and pushing for something better than before. If you ask me, I have made a heck of a lot of progress in the past month and I'm really quite proud of it.  Spring has sprung, life is good, and there are even better days to come.

 

What has March been like for you?

 

Spread Thin

Today I feel the need to use the term "I'm spreading myself a little thin."  I had all kinds of plans for good posts and what I was going to do for this week and next, but the days really just got away from me and here it is, Friday afternoon and I'm like, "Wasn't it just Monday?"

I'm sitting here at my desk like...

After getting a schedule change job# 1 I think things will settle down a little bit. The semester is also winding down  (There are less than 6 weeks left), it is finally

S P R I N G  B R E A K

and life. is. good.

On that note, I think that it's finally time to gush about my new job!  The job I got is at a school! I'm basically a teachers aid, but I will also be teaching my own groups of reading and math.  Over the past week, I have been doing some scheduling gymnastics to get all trained, go to class, and also go to my other job! But now that I'm done training, it all feels worth it.

As I'm sure most of you know, I'm an educaiton major.  My end goal is to be an elementary school teacher with a fancy teaching license and all that.  I'm between a freshman and sophomore in college so I'm still a little ways from my degree, but I'll get there.  I promise. 

Being in the classroom just makes me feel like it is absolutely what I was meant to do.  It's so natural.  I love dealing with the students and seeing them all just...get it is probably one of the best feelings in the world.  I'm sure that it will come with its major challenges, but right now, I'm going to say...Bring it on. :)

 

What Up Week 8

Oh man...Hump day takes on a whole new meaning when it's Wednesday you feel like you've done more in the past 3 days than you have in the past month...I'm falling asleep as I type this, but I promise, I'm still so excited for you to hang out with Ashley, Shannon, our guest Chelsie, and I on this great What's Up Wednesday.  Remember you can answer all the questions or just a few of your faves, just remember to follow the prompt and visit the links of others! 

Chelsie has been a guest of ours before, but we just loved having her so much that we wanted to bring her back! Also...It's her gold birthday today! She's 25 on the 25th.  So be sure to stop by her blog, wish her a happy birthday, and link up for her present ;)

As for me? What's up? Well...A whole freaking lot is up.

What I loved about the past week//  I loved that I started my new job. I'll tell you more about it once I get settled into it and I feel like I can talk about it, but seriously, it's great. 

What I'm looking forward to// Not being spread so dang thin...I feel like there are not enough hours in a day and I'm just hitting a wall.

What my latest obsession is// Is it band that I currently don't have an obsession because I'm drowning in so many necessary things that I don't have time for extra things. 

What I've been daydreaming about// 

S P R I N G  B R E A K 

What I'm watching// The insides of my eye lids because sleep is just so precious right now...

What I'm listening to// Bluegrass! 

What I'm craving// chocolate cake.  Like a huge amazing, delicious, moist, chocolate cake. 

What I'm doing this weekend// I'm planning a really exciting weekend of getting ahead in my school work so that I can actually relax during spring break.  That is probably a pipe dream, but we'll see. 

What else is new// Basically...I don't even know where to start.  See me in a week and I'll let you know. 

 

When You Miss Your Family

This past weekend I was lucky enough to get to spend it with my Family.  On Saturday we all got together and had a potato bar pot luck.  Usually when we all get together we like to play games.  It can get a little competitive, but we still always have a good time.  I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard.  It felt really good.  One of my favorite things about going to Salt Lake is seeing my niece.  She was born while I was away and she's growing up while I'm away too, so I try to spend as much time with the little monster as I can.  She is growing up way to dang fast...

My reason for going to Salt Lake this weekend was for my monthly Drill stuff for the Army.  It's usually pretty fun for me to get to see my Army friends and remember how to be a Soldier for reals deals.  But the best part, by far, is getting to spend a little bit of time with my family.  Choosing to go to school out of state was really big decision and being away from them is probably the hardest part of college.  In the past few weeks I have called my mom nearly every day.  You may think that's a little excessive, but when you're entire support system is 400 miles away, sometimes you just need to talk to your mom... How do you deal with being away from home?

Don't forget about What's Up Wednesday! Goes live at Midnight! 

Study Strategies that Actually Work

As I'm sure you know by now, I'm an education major.  I think since I've started classes in my major I've learned more about how to be a student than anything else.  So far, I've learned so much valuable information about studying that I feel like I have a responsibility to share it.

1. DO read carefully and make notes when you feel necessary.

2. DON'T highlight and underline mindlessly.  If you're going to use this technique, use it in conjunction with notes or a set of questions that you're studying with.  Just highlighting arbitrarily as you read is essentially useless.

3. DO take practice tests.  This is one of the most effective techniques.  Even if you make up your own questions from the study guide it will make a huge difference.

4.  DON'T test yourself too often.  Give your brain time to breathe and process.  Testing yourself too often can cause information crossing and confusion.  You have to let it settle.

5.  DO use mnemonics devices, keywords, and acronyms to remember a series of facts or list.

6. DON'T mindlessly memorize those things.  Try to attach meaning to those facts and lists so that they store in your long term memory and stay there!

7. DO use flash cards.  For me, the very best way to study and remember information is to make up a bunch of my own questions on the lecture and reading material and I use those.  Using that technique I've been able to achieve nothing lower than a B on any exam in college...So I say that's a pretty good method.

8. DON'T only focus on one half of the chapter or one chunk of info.  This can happen very easily! Make sure you spread things out and make questions about a variety of information to study and test yourself on all topics covered.

Do these things and you will be amazed at how easy it is to get the grade you want.  Trust me, I've been there and it is a damn good feeling. 

 

 

What's Up Wednesday~Week 7

Well, we have arrived at my favorite day of the week.  What's Up Wednesday!  Join Ashley, Shannon and I for our weekly Wednesday fun!

Remember to follow the guidelines and don't link and run! Check out the other posts and let them know where you found them.  I've really been loving reading all these posts.  It's awesome to see what everyone is up to every week in such a fun way.  

This week we have Shannon from Much. Most. Darling. joining us as a guest host! She is one of the most stylish mamma's I have ever come across in the blog world.  She's linked up with us quite a few times and I love reading her posts in general. Be sure to stop by her blog and see what she's all about!

So...What's up with me?  

What I loved about the past week//  I loved that got to see Travis TWO, count them TWO times.  I'm not sure that I've seen him twice in a week in about a month so that was pretty great. 

What I'm looking forward to//  I'm looking forward to starting my new job! In case you didn't hear, I just got a new job as a teacher's aid at a school near by.  I'm really excited and so nervous it's not even funny!  But nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? 

What my latest obsession is// Believe it or not, I'm still obsessing over my mandolin! I play in a band here in Vegas and I've been working really hard at it.  I've learned some new songs, I'm working on a few to sing, and I feel like I'm really making strides and becoming a better musician.  I'm even branching out and playing other instruments...

What I've been daydreaming about//  Having a million dollars and being able to just pay for school like it was a drop it the bucket (see 'Advertise')

What I'm watching// I've actually been bouncing around with a few different things.  I don't usually do that.  But I've been watching Mad Men, 30 Rock, Better Call Saul (if you haven't seen it, you must...) and of course...Teen Witch made my whole Saturday worthwhile.  Start at 1:40 for the good stuff. You can thank me later for this. 

What I'm listening to//  It's still bluegrass.  All I have been listening to is bluegrass.  I listen to it on Pandora and on Spotify and on Youtube.  I can't get enough. 

What I'm craving// Everything that isn't the Dining commons...However, as I'm really pinching pennies, that's all I get. :/

What I'm doing this weekend// This weekend I get to spend it up in Salt Lake playing warrior for the weekend and hanging out with my family.  It's a long drive for one weekend, but I always look forward to spending some good quality time with the fam. It's always a little too short though. 

What else is new//  Well, what with the job, new blog fun, spring break coming, school winding down (Just because it's past midterm I feel like school is pretty much over...why?) I'll hopefully be moving into a new place here soon and making some huge changes...so I guess a lot isn't new today, but there will be a whole lot of new challenges and adventures in the near future. 

Bring it on. 

Don't forget to add your link and join in on the fun! 

The Good Stuff

For the past few weeks things around here have been really negative.  I really try to keep things pretty upbeat and complain as little as possible on my blog and I am sorry that I've been such a Negative Nancy. So to thwart those negative feels, I'm going to share some of the really great things going on in my life right now.  My big sister (in her mid 20s) just bought her first car with air conditioning I interviewed for a new job on Saturday and I got it! (I start next week!) I got a 92% on my math test. (unheard of freaking miracle status, people!) I have a wonderfully loving, supportive boyfriend who puts up with my crap.  I get to go home and see my family this weekend!  The engagement on my Blog Facebook Page is way up! I get to eat homemade corned beef and hash tonight!  My niece can say my name (and she just turned 2) Midterms have past, I understand some philosophy, and spring break is only a few weeks away.  I think that's all some pretty good stuff.  What's good in your life right now? 

From Critical Thinking to Critical Injury

Hello world.  Happy Monday.  You know how the past couple of weeks I've been in a complete funk? Well I think I'm out of it.  At least for now, I'm feeling much better  I had a great weekend and I'm feeling a little less overwhelmed by my circumstance and life is good.  
I do however want to remind you about my new sponsorship program.  It's a "pay as you like" system where all you have to do is contribute to my college fund to get an awesome sponsorship package. Click on "Advertise" to learn more. 
As you most likely know, for the past few weeks I have been focusing on academic achievement.  As it's about half way through the month I figured it's time to check in. 

It's going great.  Seriously.  It's a miracle...I have basically spent every minute of the past two weeks working on homework, studying, and being completely immersed in school and it is paying off like you would not believe.  I wrote a six page paper like it was nothing.  It was like I couldn't stop the my brain from creating sentences.  I had done that much research on the topic and I was so ready. 
Here is a little PSA for everyone out there who is struggling like I was:   Take a deep breath and get to work.  It's gonna be okay. 
-I got a 26/30 on my Philosophy test...If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I have a serious dislike for philosophy. It's a critical thinking course and I want to critically injure my professor every week.  So getting a 26/30 is, again, a miracle.  -I'm two chapters ahead in one of my books -I finished this coming Thursday's homework last Tuesday.  -I'm on top of all my assignments for all my classes and I officially do not feel overwhelmed by the amount of work and reading I have. 
I hoping that my midterm grades look amazing and I will tear up with joy when I look at them.  I have never worked so hard for my grades in my life and I'm so happy that I did. When I started working on these monthly goals I didn't know it would work so well but  it's really working.  It has shown me exactly what I'm capable of in a lot of different areas.  It has shown me that I can be a great blogger, I can be frugal (okay so I sort of have to be frugal...) and that I can really do well in school and work hard.  It has been a tough month so far if I'm being completely honest but it's worth it and I know that. :) 
How are your new years resolutions going?  Did you make goals for this month?  Are you sticking to em? 


PS--Don't forget about my weekly link up "What's Up Wednesday"  This weeks questions are the same as last weeks.  You can start adding your links at midnight every Wednesday! Check out the guidelines here!

Help me...

Oh hey, Midterm.  What's up?  I can't believe that it's midterm.  Or March.  Or 2015.  Where did the time go?  It feels like every day is moving a little bit faster.  Are they taking hours out of the day or is it just me.  There might literally be less and less time to complete my work for each day.  I think I'm having what you might call a Quarter Life Crisis.  In fact, I think I might have a few of these before I even get to 25...This isn't the first time I've experienced this, but man this one is rough. 
In 2013 when I left school, it was because I couldn't pay for it.  The semester was ending and it was time to sign up for the spring classes but I couldn't because I still had a balance on my account.  I had just bought a car and I was about to be living in it if I had decided to stay in Las Vegas. So instead, I packed up my dorm room and I went home.  I lived with my parents, I worked like a dog at a new job, I played some serious Army and I was able to return to college in the fall of 2014.  I paid for most of it out of my pocket with all of the money I had saved from working day in and day out for months.  Now, here I am again at that same juncture.  I have this balance on my account, my savings is depleted, I can't work enough hours to support myself. It doesn't matter how many applications I submit, no one will hire me.  I can't even get a job folding clothes at a teeny-bopper store.  What is that all about?!  I play in a band on the weekends that helps me pay for my gas money and incidentals but some how it's just not quite enough to make the ends meet.    I have deicded to start a sponsor ship program here on my blog where I have a new policy:

Visit my Advertising page to learn more.

 

You are also welcome to donate to my GoFundme account without sponsorship, however you will still recieve a personal thank you note from me.

What's Up Wednesday Week 6

Welcome to What's Up Wednesday.  I'm so glad that you stopped by and I hope that you'll join is in sharing what we're all up to.  

This week we want to know...

What I loved about the past week//
What I'm looking forward to//

What my latest obsession is//

What I've been daydreaming about//

What I'm watching//

What I'm listening to//

What I'm craving//

What I'm doing this weekend//

What else is new//

This week we have a wonderful Guest Host! Elizabeth from Epise of Cake.  She is awesome and so is her blog.  She has linked up with a few times and I have really enjoyed getting to know her and I'm sure you will too! 

Just as a refresher here are the guidelines: They can also be found by clicking "link up" at the top of my page.

1. We would love it if you would follow your hosts:

Ashley ♦ Shannon 

2.  Please use the prompt and the graphic above in your post.  You don't have to answer all of the questions if you aren't feeling one of them, feel free to move onto the next! 

3.  Link up the actual post and not your blogs homepage

4.  Share the link up on Twitter, IG, and Facebook using #Whatsuplinkup 

What I loved about the past week//  I loved that I've been so motivated academically.  I have been able to get so much done.  I am excited to share more of my methods and I hope that they can help others in the future! 

What I'm looking forward to//  Did I ever tell you guys that I'm looking forward to spring break?! haha well I think we made this plan to go out to the Grand Canyon for a day or two, so now I'm looking forward to that specifically. 

What my latest obsession is// My mandolin.  If you follow me on Instagram you'll see I've posted a few videos of my playing recently and I just can't get enough of it. 

What I've been daydreaming about// I'm daydreaming about getting one of the jobs that I applied for a few weeks ago.  I haven't heard back from either one and I'm starting to get nervous...I want them so badly!

What I'm watching//  Don't laugh.  I'm watching The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix.  It's low budget and totally lame but I love it...

What I'm listening to// I've been listening to pretty much all bluegrass all the time.  I'm trying to hone my craft and listening to bluegrass is really helpful. 

What I'm doing this weekend// I dunno.  Trav and I talked about going to the shooting range.  That's always fun! 

What else is new//  Honestly, not a whole lot.  I'm working hard to keep my life from falling apart academically and monetarily.  So far the former is going better than the latter, but at least one things is good! 

Well, Until next time! Don't forget to add your link! 

Keys to Conquring College

A little while back, I started writing a lot about college. I wrote about things I wish I'd known before I started college a few years ago. I've also shared a few things like time management and how to survive the first day.  I've decided it's about time I continued on with the College Chronicles.

 

 

Today I want to talk strategy.  A lot of people think that college is going to be the hardest time of their life.  You're broke, up to your eyeballs in student loans, and trying not to fail out so you don't lose that financial aid.  When I started school, I was honestly kind of worried about how successful I would be.  High school was hard for me.  I had a hard time focusing, I constantly procrastinated, and I blew off a ton of my work.  Honestly, looking back, I don't even know why. It wasn't hard.  I was just a lazy bum.

 

So I was afriad I'd fall into the same patterns and fail when it came to college, but I was able to learn a few lessons and figure out how to succeed in college.

 

1)  Take notes in your lectures.  I know it's hard, but it is so important.  When it comes time to study for tests and midterms, you will be so happy that you took notes.  One of the best ways I learned to take notes was to follow along with the lecture in my book and makes notes in the margin as the teacher talks. I usually keep some paer near by or sticky notes incase I write too much, but it helps connect your notes to the reading and the lectures

 

2) Go to class. Some days you will just think "Well I don't really feel like it today" and you'll want to skip class. By missing class you could not only be missing some important information, but you could be losing participation points I missed two classes of one of my classes and I got behind really fast! Don't skip...

 

3) Try your best not to procrastinate. This might be the hardest one. When you have a syllabus, you can see your assignments weeks in advance.  It's tempting to think "That's not due for weeks!" But before you know it, the due date is tomorrow and you're preparing to pull an all nighter with some Red Bull and text books. If you do a little bit of the work at a time it feels less overwhelming and it's easier to complete. Even if you wait to write the paper the night before, at least to the work leading up to it earlier!

 

4) Understand what your teachers want from you. Some of your teachers want you to participate more and don't care as much about assignments. Other teachers won't bother to learn  your name and will only judge you on the quality of your papers.  Understand which classes need attention in different areas.

 

5) Do the required reading.  For one, text books are expensive.  If you don't use them, you're wasting your money.  And two, when you do the reading and then go to class, it's amazing how much more you'll remember after class.  It will make it so you have to study for tests less because you read on your own then you get a supplemental explanation from your professor. It is so worth the time to read.

 

6) Pace yourself.  This one might be the most important.  I learned the hard way that you can't sit down and barrel through 100 pages of reading in one sitting.  Designate times to do different class work/reading and don't overwhelm youself.  This will keep you from procrastinating and give you a little free time to enjoy the un-school parts of college.

 

So far, I've been able to acheive all As and Bs in college.  It isn't always easy, but if you pay attention to these tips and really apply them it will be difficult to fail.  College is an investiment in your future. It's worth it to apply yourself and really do well.  I just remind myself that I've paid a lot of money for my education, so I better make the most of it!

What is up Week 5

Whoa...did we seriously make it a whole month doing this weekly link up?!  I'm super proud of that.  It's hard, but so rewarding.  I'm loving getting to know new bloggers and reading all these posts with all sorts of different stuff that's well...up.  

Before adding your link, please visit this page for the guidelines!  Today we have a new awesome guest host with us! Meet Elizabeth!

She blogs over at The Blooming Air Force Bride. Head over and see what's up with her!  

What I loved about the past week// I loved that I finally got to eat Cafe Rio...For the first time in a few weeks I allowed myself to indulge.

What I'm looking forward to// I am looking forward to the end of the semester.  Are we there yet?

What I'm nervous about// I'm nervous about everything.  I seriously get nervous about nothing and everything all the time...I should probably look into that.

What I've been daydreaming about// I am still dreaming about the beach.  All I want to do is slather on some sun screen, lay in the sand and forget about school for fifteen minutes.  Is is Spring Break yet? Photo taken in 2009, Don't freak about the hair...I'm also day dreaming about those shades...Where did they ever get off to?

What I ate for dinner last night// I had some taco bell...Bad idea. 

What I'm doing this weekend// All I know for certain about my weekend is that I have to work just like all the other weekends.

What else is new?  Not a whole lot is new for me this week! I'm working hard on lot of my school stuff and staying focused So I guess that's good!  What are you up to?

*Next week we will be adding some new questions! Here they are for your convenience! Hope you'll join us!*

What I loved about the past week//
What I'm looking forward to//

What my latest obsession is//

What I've been daydreaming about//

What I'm watching//

What I'm listening to//

What I'm craving//

What I'm doing this weekend//

What else is new//

Because I Suck at Staying on Task

Because my goal for this month is to focus on academics, I've figured out a few ways to increase my productivity to make staying on task a little bit easier
1. Task timers I have heard a lot about people using apps that kick them off of Facebook if they use it for too long, so I looked into those types of apps and I found a task timer.  It's amazing. *All I did to find this was search the Google Chrome Apps for time management*

You choose how long you want to spend on each thing and it will start a timer for you.  When I started editing that screen cap, I started the timer.  I'm now on the clock! I have to finish all my blog work with in the designated amount of time now which leaves time for other things.  Like many other things though, you have to allow it to work.  Once the time is up, it's up!  I'm also looking into apps on my phone that will do the same thing. 
2.  No Netflix

Like none.  Seriously. Netflix eats up all of my productivity.  If i just don't open it up, I'm fine! I get lots of stuff done, but the second that Netflix window pops up I may as well throw in the towel.  My work for the day is over... I've put up reminders to keep me from even going there! 

3.  Minimal Travis Time...

This is the saddest part.  We are both so busy with school, it's important for both of us to be really focused.  It is really not fun to be so close and have to spend so much time apart, but we have responsibilities that we can't just forget. So I just look at that picture a lot instead of being sad about it. 

How do you keep yourself from getting distracted? Is it hard to stay productive? It can be quite a challenge for me, but I'm sure that these things will help. 

P.S- Don't forget about What's Up Wednesday! It's tomorrow. All you have to do is follow the prompt and add your link. We would loove to have you! This week we have a few new questions and a new guest host, so be sure to stop by and check it out. 

Academic Achievement

 

For the month of February, my focus was "Better Blogging" I was a little bit skeptical when I started out on it, but I'm really happy with how things went.  I wasn't able to do exactly what I set out to do, but regardless of that, I made some real progress.

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't spend any money on sponsoring other blogs, but I was able to use Facebook Groups a little more, I worked on using the scheduling features on social media, and the link up is a success.  I made a few new blog friends and I've honestly been pretty happy about the way things are going.  That means we can call this months goals a success.  I'm going to continue working on all those goals and I'm working on growth and progress.

This month, I'm working on...

 

 

My goals associated with this are as follows:

 

1// Procrastinate less! February was pretty stressful becuase I accidentally put off some stuff I should have done a while ago...If I work harder not to procrastinate, maybe my life will be better.

 

2// Focus on quality. Anyone can write a crappy paper and turn it in. I need to work hard to produce quality assignments that I can put in my portfolio and be proud of.

 

3// Manage time better! So I'm already pretty good at time management, but I end up spending hours and hours on one thing and then I have spent my entire day on one assignment and I haven't worked on anything else.  I need to change that.

 

4// Keep my eye on the prize. I have been struggling with the fact that my teaching license is so far away...I just need to remember that these are all steps to getting there and I'll be there before I know it!

What are your goals for March?