The Challenge :: Random Acts of Kindness

Last night, was just a normal night – I had a list longer than my arm, of things to do and I was wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of life. I decided to stop by Aldi and pick up some of my favorite produce to chop up for the week. Once I got to the checkout area up front, horror set in as a huge line with full carts were crammed into one lane, as the other two lanes were closed. After a long day and a long line, I let out a short sigh and was thankful. With a bag of produce hanging from one arm and a watermelon bigger than myself in the other, I was thankful that I lift weights – can you say first world problems? 

Finally, another lane opened up as customers politely fight for the shortest spot in line. I figure there's no need to rush as I wasn't quite done with my watermelon workout anyway. In front of me was a cute little old man, who kept to himself and in front of him was a women (aka Mystery Woman). After being rung through, Mystery Woman made her quick exit and the old man's box of goodies rung up. Cheerfully, the cashier asked him if he knew that the lady in front of him had pre-paid $8 towards his grocery bill. He was stunned and said "but I didn't even say a word to her." The cashier went on to explain that she will apply the amount to his bill, as he continued to say "I didn't know there was still good people in this world." The older lady behind me then chimed in and said "there are a lot of good people, we just hear about the bad ones!" 

11 Reasons :: Why You Should Study Abroad!

A few years ago, I had the dream of studying abroad on my bucket list, but I thought it was just that – a dream. I wanted to immerse myself in a different culture, but I knew that dreaming versus actually living it out is two totally different things. I knew that no one was going to help my dreams come true, unless I took the initial step towards them. This led me to the day I decided that I was not only going to study abroad, but I was also going to go on an international mission trip (more to come on this!) 

I had no plan, I had no budget and I barely had any savings as a poor, college kid. I ended up going to the study abroad office and grabbing some material on the upcoming trips and found out that they had more options than I ever knew about. I decided that a semester long trip was a bit too long for me so I settled on a 2 week excursion to Paris and London. While I am in love with different cultures and exotic places, I figured these two miraculous cities were a great start to international traveling, which I had never done before. Before even leaving the United States, my “class” met every week to complete coursework and to learn about the countries we would be visiting. Therefore, no coursework during the trip was involved!

Only a few months later, in the Spring of 2010, my small class and I were off on a plane to the UK for an experience of a lifetime. I was a mixed bag of emotions, I was excited and I knew a few other people going, but I was nervous as well. I didn’t own a smart phone with a SIM card, I didn’t have any clue how to speak French and all I had was American money, etc. Needless to say, it was a life-changing experience - and I learned a lot. I think I learned as much about myself as I did about the UK and France. I believe that it's extremely important to follow your dreams and I wanted to create this post to let you know why you should study abroad! 

Save Money :: Weekly Ad Coupon Match-Up

Today I unexpectedly came upon a handy page on the Hy-Vee website, called Helpful Ideas. I originally thought that perhaps it was something like a suggestion box or had meal plan ideas, but to my surprise it was something better. This "Helpful Ideas" page pairs their weekly deals with current coupons on the same product – how awesome! Who doesn't like double savings? 

70 Ways to Brighten Her Day!

Photo by Ag-argentum, Flickr

A few weeks ago, you may have caught my post 70 Ways to Brighten His Day. Today I'm giving you 70 Ways to Brighten Her Day! Now I know, you men who have actually clicked to read this post were probably A. Sent here by your wife, fiancé or girlfriend or B. feeling like you might lose a little bit of manhood by reading this. Well get over it and read the damn thing :)

7 Reasons Why You Should Love Shoveling!

Living in Iowa has its advantages and its disadvantages. I love the fact that living expenses are cheap, the air is clean and the fact that we get to enjoy 4 seasons! That also brings me to a disadvantage – SNOW! I think the only people in the world who love snow are children, teachers (snow days) and people from warm, southern states that get snow once every 5 years. Don't get me wrong, I love snowy days where you can look outside and see your beautiful snow covered neighborhood and frost on your windows. But…I mean BUT, with snow comes shoveling. Unless you're fancy smancy and have a blower or plow, but us newlyweds are definitely not keepin up with the Joneses. We do have a beautiful forest green, plastic shovel passed onto us by my old roommate. I think I took a few winters off of it's life last snow storm though by trying to push it with my foot and I broke off the top edge, poor shovel. It wasn't my fault that it "felt like –21 degrees" and my cheapo plastic had to bust! While I could go on and on, what I'm here to tell you is why you should love shoveling! Okay, maybe love is an overstatement and should only apply to spouses and desserts, but I am here to tell you why shoveling is beneficial to you! 

Super Bowl Party the EASY Way!

For about 95% of women in the US, the SuperBowl only means one thing – Party! Personally, I enjoy watching football, but considering my team didn't make the cut this year, my main priority for SuperBowl Sunday is good food! While Pinterest has a bazillion cute ideas for SuperBowl parties, that's not the route we're taking here folks. I'm talking bout plain, easy snacks that hack what Pinterest people take hours to make. We all know…"nobody ain't got time for that!" 

70 Ways to Brighten His Day!

© Sweet Light Studio

Most people have probably heard the saying "a happy wife is a happy life," but what about the husbands? Does this mean that the husbands are supposed to put forth all of the effort to make the woman happy??? Know what makes me happy? -- Making my husband happy! I know, I might be just plain weird, but I LOVE doing things to make my husband happy. Whether it's something small like leaving his slippers by the door for him to put on after work or planning a big surprise. I know that my friends also love doing special things for their husbands/fiancés/boyfriends as well, therefore I have complied a list of 70 thoughtful things to do for your man to brighten his day! And I promise, it'll brighten your day too!

10 Black Friday Shopping Tips

You know you're a grown adult when vacuum sales excite you. Why do I want a Dyson Vac sooo bad? Seriously you'd think that someone who is in the advertising industry, wouldn't be so taken by marketing techniques, on vacuums, of all things. I saw one in an ad and started to get giddy at the thought that I'll be Black Friday shopping in a week. It's not my fault I love it so much, it's practically in my family's genetic code. Every year, my mom, sister, aunt, cousin and I all make the trek to the "big city" to do some damage on the wallet. Oddly enough, we find it fun running through crowds, fighting for parking spots and waiting in line for 20 minutes to get a humungo slice of pizza – totally worth it. Like the Doomsday Preppers, you must prepare for this day and with my 15+ years of experience, I will lead you to the light at the end of the tunnel…aka the checkout line.

Thanksgiving :: Giving - Thanks!

Sweet Light Studio

It's November 7th and as I look at my calendar I'm shocked at how time flies. Summer pretty much breezed by and I feel like I still haven't gotten enough of fall yet! Even though, it's probably my fault winter is coming. I've been listening to Kenny G Holiday on Pandora for about a month now, practically serenading snow to fall.