DIY Fall Baking

Hello bloggers,

Sorry it's been awhile I have been crazy busy with school! I wanted to share some fall treats that I baked in October and November for the holidays! 

Owl Cupcakes - Halloween

Ingredients:

- Frosted Cupcakes

- Oreos

- Reece's Pieces

First you take the Oreos and split them in half so the cream is all on one side. You take brown Reece's Pieces and put them onto the Oreos. Next you take the Oreos and put them on the top of the cupcake and squish the frosting towards the center. Take a orange Reece's Pieces and use that as the nose. Wallah! You have an adorable owl cupcake treat! These make for a great Halloween snack!

Mummy Cookies

Ingredients:

- Sugar Cookie Dough

- Gingerbread Cookie Cutter

- White Frosting

- Black Frosting or Edible Eyeballs

These are super simple. You take sugar cookie dough and cut out the gingerbread men before baking. After they come out you add the white frosting to look like the mummy garb. Next add two dots of frosting for the eyes, or you can buy edible eyeballs that look adorable!

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 Can of Pumpkin

1 Can Evaporated Milk

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ginger 

Whipped Cream

Pie Crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

First mix all ingredients into a bowl except whipped cream and the pie crust and pour into the ready to bake pie crust. Bake the pie for 50 minutes. Cool to serve.

                       

Of course Madi took a bite of the pie before I could get a picture hah :)

Thanks for reading,

-Olivia :)

Happy One Year to DHTBB!

So crazy how time flies right? It has officially been one year since I wrote my first post back on October 29, 2012. If you are a newer reader you probably haven't read it, but it was about our Susan G. Komen walk. Super inspiring if you want to go back and read it! If you have been with DHTBB since day one, thank you. I truly appreciate your support. 

Thinking back on my life a year ago, not a lot has changed, but change has definitely happened. Friendships I never pictured gone have diminished, while friendships I never pictured having are here. Jobs change. Family remains. Life moves on. Have you ever taken time to just reflect on how much can change in a year? And not on New Years or a birthday (because that's typically when everyone reflects including myself). Looking forward in a year I'll be graduated, hopefully working as a full time nurse, my brother will be in college, Madi will have applied to PT school. Just way too crazy. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me! So how crazy has this year been for you? Have you thought about next year? Think about it and set goals to make it happen! You can do anything you set your mind to!

On another note its been so cool to have this blog to look back. I love hearing people tell me that they read my blog and which posts they like! Thanks to everyone who read religiously and to those who just pop in to read every once in a while! I can't wait to continue this journey with you all!

Thanks for reading :),

-Olivia

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust: MNSSHP 2013

Hey readers!


My life has been super crazy lately! I am blessed to have so many awesome experiences and opportunities! This weekend I went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party with Madi. I had put a lot of time and effort into our costumes so I wanted everything to go smoothly. But until about thirty minutes before we left, I forgot that I had no idea how I was going to do my hair. I had planned to take time looking up videos and different ways to do a neat big bun but I didn't, and my go-to messy bun was not the look I wanted. I decided to quickly do some research and found some great YouTube
videos on how to do a sock bun, which I didn't know until watching some that you actually use a sock. Weird. Anyways that's what I did, so when I do it again for our halloween party I'll do a step by step demonstration of how to do one if you like my hairstyle that I had in my pictures! I also did some transformation shots while getting ready of my make up as you can see. I just thought it looked cool hah.

So anyways back to the trip. As soon as we arrived we saw about ten people actually in costumes out of about fifty, and eight of those ten were children. Didn't people get the memo you DRESS UP for this?! Not wear a Halloween t-shirt. Pet peeve. Anyways almost immediately we got comments on our costumes from laughter to "great costumes guys". The funny part about the way Disney does the party is that we get to get into the part at four when the event didn't start til seven, so when we arrived people who didn't know there was a Halloween party that night were SUPER confused, looking at us like we were grown ups who just dress up to go to Disney for fun. Which I totally would do, but Madi never would. It wasn't even ten minutes into the night when we had little kids saying "look there's Tinkerbell and Peter Pan mom!" So cool. Even cooler? A four year old little girl asking her mom to take a picture with me (well she thought I was actually Tinkerbell) while we were waiting in line for Buzz Lightyear. Of course I said yes :). She was adorable!

While on Splash Mountain a little boy around the age of five saw Madi and freaked out that he was standing in line by the real Peter Pan. Madi turned around and fist pounded him and that made the kid go crazy saying "MOM! I CAN TELL EVERYONE AT SCHOOL I MET THE REAL PETER PAN!"
The mom sort of laughed and said that yeah they are at Disney so that is true. Then Madi did the most adorable thing ever. He turned around and handed the little boy his whole bag of candy he had been collecting all night. The kid melted my heart saying "Thanks Peter Pan, Mom I told you Peter Pan was nice!" So. Dang. Cute. Moments like this show how much Madi has matured over the years (I mean yeah we are still standing there at Disney in Halloween costumes at the age of 20 but still), and how he is going to be a great dad one day.
I wish I could have captured that one on camera.

Anyways the Boo to You Halloween Parade and the Happy Hallowishes fireworks were awesome. Fireworks are one of my favorite things, so beautiful. We also definitely got some good ideas for next year while at the park! I love Halloween. Not the creepy stuff or demonic whatever, but being a kid again, carving pumpkins, watching the leaves change when we went up North, candy corn, fun movies, the whole thing is just so much fun. Luckily, I get to celebrate two more times! Once on actual Halloween at work, which I will be wearing a different costume, and at our party! I can't wait to see everyone else's costumes!

Thanks for reading,

Olivia :)

You Wanna Big Kitty? You Better Work, Work: Chattanooga, TN and Pet Peeves 3

Hello everyone!

You're probably wondering about the title of this blog, and if you weren't now you probably looked at it and are wondering. Well here we go! This weekend I spent my time with my favorite little sister and future mother-in-law in one of my favorite places: Chattanooga, TN. This trip was a little different than our other trips, and by a little I mean a lot! We did some of our typical things like go shopping at my favorite place McKay's and eat Lupi's pizza, but we also did A LOT of new things. The first day we left super early and arrived in TN around 3pm. Pretty soon after we headed out to Lookout Mountain and went to Rock City and did some exploring on the trails up there including Lover's Leap and the swinging bridge: freaky! At the top of Lover's Leap you can see seven different states which was so cool! It was a place I had never gone to before, so it was a nice change. While taking our typical five million pictures, Sondra and I were approached by and Asian man who said "you are so beautiful girls, how you say beautiful? yes beautiful can I have a picture with you?" and called over who I thought was his wife to take a picture with him. Unfortunately, we were too stunned to whip out our cameras and film this occurrence, but we did find the guy later and asked for a picture with him again for our blog site and vlog series. He said yes of course! Sexy American Girlfriend! Anyone? Anyone? Long duck dong, Sixteen Candles? Anyways whether or not you get the reference it was a hilarious experience.

That night we headed to Ruby Falls to partake in the Haunted Cavern which they have every year. I am not big on scary Halloween things, hence why we go to Disney and not Howl-O-Scream or Halloween Horror Nights, but I was up for trying new things. Little did I know that this little cute haunted cavern was actually ranked top ten scariest in the nation. Awesome. You literally travel down into the cavern as if you would on a normal day visiting the cave and there is no other way out except to go through the haunted cavern. Trust me I checked. After making it through round one, we got taken by a van to another section outside that you had to walk through creepy houses, mirrored halls, and a disheveled school bus. Let's say I was happy I faced my fear, but I will not be visiting those caves again, even outside of Halloween time.

The next day we woke up and headed back to the mountain, this time to go to the park at the top and walk around the trails. When we arrived, there was a nice sign saying due to the government shut down the park is not in operation blah blah blah. Dumb. Not to mention we saw a lot of people climbing over the stone wall to get in anyways (check out our video) So since we had already paid the metered parking, we decided to walk around and look at the houses on the mountain: can I say GORGEOUS?! It was so beautiful up there, and turned out to be a great morning! Next we headed to the farm at the bottom of the mountain and did the corn maize: clever pun. It was so much fun and a new experience. They also had a petting zoo for kids, but we had fun with that too! After being in the hot sun all afternoon we were tuckered out for the day and decided to go ahead and go back to the hotel and do McKay's that night. Overall the trip was so much fun as usual! Of course we caught our memories on tape and made a new Pet Peeves video! This will reveal the blog title! Please take a minute and watch it, let us know what you think as you all always do! And subscribe to us :)

Here's the link: http://youtu.be/FfHe2elUjno

Thanks for reading :),
Olivia

DIY: Halloween Costume Accesories

Hello everyone!

I am super excited to reveal my Halloween costume to you all next week after we go to Disney World :). This year Madi and I decided to be Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, and the costumes turned out so great! I bought my dress and wings, but I couldn't find a wand and shoes cheap enough to make me buy them. The cheapest shoes I found for adults were at least $25 (which is more than I paid for my dress and wings together). I found $7 children's patent leather flats on clearance that fit me at Target. I bought glitter, modge podge, a foam brush, and cotton poms on sale, both 40% off, for a total of $7. So total the project costed less than $15. That's a win in my opinion! Plus I only used like 1/6 of the glitter and 1/4 of the modge podge so I can totally use them again!

I started off cutting the bows that came on the shoes off. I kept the bows since they were in tact and who knows what I could use them for :). Next I combined the modge podge with a heaping amount of glitter and using that as my first layer. I tried not to make it too thick and got most of the area. Since my shoes were pink, I didn't want any of the pink showing through!

After that I let them dry, but there were still spots showing through. Many of the blogs I read stopped there, just adding a coat of the same glitter/modge podge combination to cover the spots, but I wanted these shoes to be SUPER sparkly, so I added a complete coat of just modge podge and dumped glitter on the shoes then shook off the excess glitter. Surprisingly, it worked super well! Even if some of the top glitter gets knocked off, the bottom and first layer will still be in tact, and I can always add another layer before my party if necessary. I also need to add the pom to the top of them still! But I couldn't resist posting :).

I had one last problem, I couldn't find a wand in a store that I liked enough, and I didn't want to pay for shipping or spend $25 online to get free shipping to order something off Amazon like I usually do. So this time I went over to the dollar store. All of their wands were more "fairy godmother" or "princessy" and I really wanted it to go with my costume. I found this baton toy for kids in the toy aisle, and realized I could take off the tinsel and cut it shorter with a knife or scissors to make it a better size and look more like a wand Tinkerbell would use. I think it will work well!


So I look forward to letting you see the whole outfit! Total I spend $30 for me and $20 for Madi! Not bad! Has anyone else ever made shoes like this? They really could be any color for any costume, and would make great ruby slippers if you used red glitter for Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz! Anyways, hope you have all have a great week!

Thanks for reading :),
- Olivia

My Random Addictions: TV Shows

Hey everyone!

I figured it was about time for a "My Random Addictions" blog post and this is the perfect topic! Everyone has a guilty pleasure when it comes to TV whether it's a comedy show you like, an oldies series, or in my case reality TV. I have no idea why I love to watch other people's lives unfold, but it is definitely a random addiction. There is something about watching people on TV that you have no connection to, yet once you get hooked and watch more episodes you feel like you know them. Currently, my favorite reality TV show is The Challenge: Rivals 2, but this is only because I am heavily addicted to The Real World. I have no idea why, especially since their party lifestyle is something I would never partake in. I love to get to know the people in the house, predict what will happen, who will hook up with who, and typically find a favorite who I will then proceed to twitter stalk. I know, super weird. But don't you all have weird TV addictions too? Maybe it is just me, but I'm not ashamed!(Clearly since I'm writing about it in a post to the world) It all started not super far back in the past my freshman year in college with The Real World: Las Vegas where I became obsessed with Heather Marter and Dustin Zito. I still to this day love to read their tweets about what is going on in their lives, although unfortunately they broke up a few months ago which made me SUPER sad. Pathetic right? Now I look forward to when they are contestants on The Challenge series. Through the challenge, I have come to love old Real World or Road Rules cast members such as CT and Diem. I have to admit, once I find a new "old" cast member that I love I will Google about them to see what they started off as and where they're at now. It's a problem. A random addiction. What is it about these shows that hook you in when you have no real connection to these people and more than likely never will? I have no idea, but I love it! These are just shows that I am currently addicted to. Other obsessions of mine are mostly TV shows that have ended and I wind up watching over and over again on DVD (Gilmore Girls, The O.C., One Tree Hill, Dawson's Creek, Boy Meets World). Anyway, so what are your TV guilty pleasures? I'd love to read about them!

Thanks for reading,
- Olivia :)

Disney World '13 and Pet Peeves: Theme Park Edition

Hello everyone :),

Last weekend my "little sister" and I went to Walt Disney World to celebrate her birthday. We had such a great time! We started off the trip at Downtown Disney where we purchased our outfits for the weekend and looked around. After heading to our hotel, we decided to test out our LifeProof iPhone 5 cases and take a dip in the pool and try out some underwater pictures and videos. Needless to say: it was super successful and so many great pictures came out of it! We had a delicious dinner at Outback Steakhouse that night before watching Monk and heading to sleep. The next morning we got up early for extra magic hours at Hollywood Studios and spent the morning riding the best rides Disney has to offer: Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, and Rock N Roll Rollercoaster. Of course we did almost all of the other rides and shows at the park, but those were definitely the top. In the afternoon we headed over to Animal Kingdom and got very lucky with no lines! We rode almost everything except the water ride in that park before going back over to Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, my favorite night time show at Disney! What are your favorite things about Disney World? Do you have a favorite show, ride, or something you just always look forward to? Let me know! I'd love to hear :)

I had such an amazing weekend with the best little sis a girl could ask for, and look forward to more adventures with her since all of our adventures are such a good time full of laughter, cotton candy, and 3oh!3 jam sessions. I am super excited about what October has to hold since I will be attending my first USF football game of the year, taking a road trip with the Franeks to Chattanooga, TN, going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Can't wait to fill you in on my adventures!

Oh by the way, check out our new Pet Peeves video: Theme Park Edition! Of course we had to make another ;). After watching that, check out our short video of our vacation and the peeves we spotted while at the parks! Also subscribe to our channel as we plan on vlogging more frequently!

Pet Peeves: Theme Park Edition:  http://youtu.be/k6UtegKTMy8

Disney '13: http://youtu.be/WY2GiEIR52Y

Thanks for reading :)
- Olivia

Big Lights Will Inspire You: NYC '13

Hello bloggers!

This year for labor day weekend I got to go to NYC for a girls weekend with my mom, cousin, and Aunt for my Aunt Ruth's birthday! It was so much fun! This was my first time staying in the city since I had been before in 2011 with Madi and his family for Uncle Scott's wedding. This time we saw so many things: Ground Zero, Times Square, Chinatown, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Upper Manhattan, and we got to see The Lion King on Broadway which is one of my favorite Broadway plays! Here is a video I put together for our trip that's like five minutes long of the sights of NYC and some strange people that we saw. Hope you enjoy it!

http://youtu.be/Nhhx5oQ_5NA

I will be blogging again soon since Sondra and I are going to Disney this weekend and will be making a new Pet Peeves video Theme Park Edition ;). Thanks everyone for watching our first video and giving us feedback about the best parts, we appreciate it! If you haven't watched our first video on Pet Peeves, here is the link: http://youtu.be/HvzLN6-u66w

Have a great week and thanks for reading!
-Olivia

My Random Addictions: Pet Peeves Part One

Hello everyone!

Have you ever sat down with a group of people or one person and just talked about things that bother you? Well, here's another one of my random addictions: hearing about people's pet peeves! I think they are hilarious and when you talk about them with other people it makes you feel better about getting peeved by those things! So today I am sharing part one of a series with my little sister Sondra where we made a video about our favorite pet peeves! I know it is kind of lengthy but I guarantee you will laugh.


http://youtu.be/HvzLN6-u66w



P.S. This video was made over Christmas break and I finally just got to editing it which is why we talk about Christmas :P.

Thanks for watching :)

-Olivia

Michigan '13: Northern Love

Hello all!

As promised I am doing a whole post on my trip to Michigan! We had an amazing time as usual, and it flew by so quickly! Some of you may not know that Michigan was where I was born, and it is in my top places in the world. I love how peaceful Lake Huron is in the summer, and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks at my grandparents house outside my bedroom window is the most relaxing sound ever. 

We started off our road trip from Bradenton at 6:30AM where my mom lives, and drove the 24 hours straight to Alpena, Michigan. Our stops typically include Chattanooga, TN where we go to Lupi's Pizza Pies (the best pizza ever) and McKays. This time we stopped at a park near Mckays to let the dogs run around and get some energy out. We usually stop at the Chick-fil-a in Lexington for dinner, but we skipped on that one because it was only about 6PM when we passed there so we decided to wait! Instead, we decided to stop at a subway in northern KY, but it turned out to not be in our favor. 45 minutes was the time it took to get our four subs because management had left the place Joey staffed with only one employee. Crazy. 

We finally made it to Alpena around 8AM, which isn't bad since we stopped for an hour and a half in TN and almost another hour in KY. Our first day was spent going to church (and almost falling asleep from exhaustion) and just relaxing. One of my favorite things I love about MI is that you can do nothing but read a book and its still a good day! 

To highlight some other points in our trip, we went to my other grandparents house, who live on the beach side of the lake, and let Nike dig in the sand and played some beach croquet. Their side of Lake Huron is super private, and Madi and I usually aren't beach people, but we love this beach. The sand is perfect and the water is salt less, which in my opinion is the best kind :). 

We also got to go to Lee's mini golf which is so much cheaper than FL mini golf! Another favorite is Mandarin Garden, a Chinese restaurant, which has amazing food. Of course we went downtown and saw a movie at the State Theatre, Grown Ups 2 (which I do not recommend, it was not the best). I checked up on my books at Blue Phoenix which is always so cool to me. Madi and I joined our 989 bestows Kelsey and Aniket at John Laos Saloon which is a cute steakhouse in Mi! It was delish!

This year instead of going to Chicago like we typically do, we decided to take two day trips to Mackinaw and Traverse City  (I wrote about Mackinaw below). Traverse City was fun! We went for shopping, which wasn't a lot compared to Florida shopping, but we got to go to Target and a real mall since Alpena is lacking in those areas. Downtown TC was very cute and had lots of Michigan themed shops which I loved! I got the cutest t-shirt at one! 

Overall the trip flew by, but we were so happy just to get away from school and the Florida heat and just relax for a little while! I'm working on another Random Addictions post as well as DIY because I started to look at Halloween costumes! This year we decided I'm going to try and use pieces from different places to make my own for when we go to Disney!

Thanks for reading :)

Olivia 

DIY Baked Ziti

Hello everyone,

Today I arrived home from our MI roadtrip and finally remembered to take pictures while making my baked ziti for dinner tonight! I LOVE this meal because it tastes so good heated up the next day as well which is perfect for college students! 

Items you need:

8x8 pan

Frying pan

Tin foil

Pot

Strainer

1/2 onion

2 garlic cloves

1/2 box of penne or ziti noodles

1 24 oz. jar of marinara sauce

1 bag of mozzarella cheese

1/2 bag of turkey meatballs (about 10 meatballs)

Serving size: 3-4

First you start off preheating the oven to 350 degrees. You then begin to boil water for noodles and a vegetable if you'd like. Next start chopping the onion and garlic on a cutting board.

After chopping the onion, add the onion and meatballs into a frying pan and stir continuously until onions become brown and meatball is able to be cut in half. This should take about 7 minutes.

Next pour marinara sauce to cover the bottom of a 8x8 pan and add about 6 spoonfuls of ricotta cheese. 

TIP: This makes enough for about two people with two lunch leftovers the next day (or four people). If you want to make it for 6 or more people, use a 9x13 pan and double the sauce, noodles, and meatballs.

After the noodles finish boiling, which takes about 10 minutes, drain them and add them on top of the marinara sauce. 

Then add the meatballs and onion on top of the noodles and pour over the remaining pasta sauce. Last add the bag of mozzarella cheese so that it covers the sauce completely. Bake this for about 25-30 minutes or until the edges of the cheese is golden brown. Make sure all the cheese looks melted! Be sure to add tin foil so it does not drip into the oven!

 

And wallah! Here is the ziti! 

I hope you try the recipe and let me know how you bake yours! 

Looking forward to next time :)

-Olivia 

Mackinaw Island, MI

Hello all,

Yesterday my mom, Madi, and I traveled north to Mackinaw Island while on our vacation in Michigan. I will be doing a whole post on our entire trip, but this deserved its own post for sure! We left at about 8AM and drove the two hours to the Shepler's ferry dock. Because of the wind, the ride was rough and I actually felt a little nauseous. Once we got to the island we browsed a few shops on the main street and bought our tickets to the butterfly garden. On our walk to the garden, we went into a couple of churches and took some pictures by the harbor.

I remembered the butterfly garden from when I was little, and honestly the garden, Kilwins, and bike riding were my main memories from going to Mackinaw. The butterfly garden was beautiful. We got a lot of cool pictures and learned about how to distinguish male monarch butterflies from females.

Afterwards we headed onto the trail. Since my mom recently had surgery, we couldn't bike around the island, so we decided to walk. My mom had us convinced that the whole trail around the island was only 5 miles. Well, we realized at mile 3 that it was way more than 5 miles. Madi decided to google it, and figured out that it was actually 8 miles. Needless to say, we decided to cut back through the woods, which meant going uphill. On the way through we got to see the airport, the cemetery, and the infamous fort. The fort had the most incredible views! It was gorgeous, and after walking close to seven miles we were happy to sit for a little while and take in the scenery. Unfortunately, this point was when I felt like I was going to pass out or throw up (which is typically how I feel before I do pass out) so we skipped Kilwins and the Grand Hotel and headed back to Shepler's dock. Overall we had a great day and got to see some beautiful sights that I hadn't seen since I was about six years old. I am looking forward to going back one day and having some Superman at Kilwin's and seeing the Grand Hotel again. Hopefully taking a bike ride around the whole island as well!

Thanks for keeping up with me :)
-Olivia

My Random Addictions: Summertime Michigan Sweets

Hey readers,

This week while on vacation I went to the grocery store with my Grandma. I re-discovered that this time of year while I am in Michigan is when I want to many different sweet things! It's a problem. There are so many great things about Michigan, but high on the list is that they sell two of the best foods in grocery stores here that they don't in Florida, or at least no where near where I live. I decided to see if anyone else has discovered the two delicious northern treats or the others and love them as much as I do!

1. Superman Ice Cream
Of course you CAN find this in Florida, but for about $3-4 for a scoop. Ridiculous. Kilwin's  has the BEST (the closest to me is in SRQ on St. Armand's Circle), but you pay for it. In Michigan they sell it at the store! Not only in a quart size, but in a TUB. My mouth is watering just thinking about it lol. I'm not sure if they do in other northern states, but when I discovered about three years ago that they sell it here I was so happy. It's my favorite ice cream of all time. People tell me "it's nothing but food colored vanilla" but I swear there's a difference. If you haven't tried Superman ice cream, TRY IT. But make sure you aren't going anywhere important afterwards because it does turn your mouth and teeth completely blue :P

2. Rock and Rye Soda Pop by Faygo
Nothing beats when you are working hard in the yard or garden underneath the hot sun and come inside to an ice cold Rock and Rye. This soda is the BOMB. It's bright red and has way too much sugar, but it tastes heavenly. They used to sell it at Albertson's in Florida, but I haven't been able to find it in the past two years there (not to mention most of the Albertson's closed). Has anyone else ever heard of it? I know most people have had orange, lemon lime, or grape flavored Faygo but this is by far the top. Another treat that I get to enjoy while I am here in Michigan, and usually I buy I twelve pack to bring back with me :)


3. Ice Pops
I know they sell these sugar colored water sticks everywhere. You know that you put into the freezer and cut off the top? The plastic typically rips open your mouth while you eat it? Well they're delish. I have no idea why I find them so enticing, but I do. I always find the need to buy a bag while I'm here, yet no one else eats them and I can end up not eating half of them. These are everywhere, and if you've never had one, you need to.

So these are my favorite summertime treats when I'm on vacation! I always find a way to have at least one each day (which is bad but hey everyone needs a break). Now I'm going to go decide which one I'd like for dessert tonight!

Thanks for reading.
-Olivia :)

Manatee Excursion

Hello bloggers :)

This weekend our friends from TN are down to visit us in Tampa! While they were here Madi's mom decided to treat us to a visit with the Manatees up in Crystal River. It was such a fun an memorable experience! We set sail with the American Pro Diving shop, and our tour guide Zach was great! We headed out around 8:30AM, which meant that we left Tampa at 6:30AM. Not the most enjoyable time, but it was worth it! It took us a little while to find a social manatee to play with, around 45 minutes, but of course I used this time to take 45774377328 pictures ;). 

Once we did find a social guy, our tour guide dived in and made sure he was a social guy before letting all of us jump in and join. He led us up to the manatee in pairs, and the water was sort of murky, so we couldn't really tell how close we were to the bottom or to the manatee. Once in the water we realized it was only about 3 feet deep, and the highest was around 6 feet, which made us feel way more comfortable! The manatee was super social and had some scarring on his body, which is unfortunate, but with the murky water it made it easier to see him.

 I bought a lifeproof case for my iPhone to take pictures in the water. I was SUPER nervous about this, because I don't have great luck with phones, but it worked wonders and I got so many good clear pictures that I wouldn't have been able to get with a disposable camera! The experience was awesome, and it made me want to do this again with more animals! 

Well that's it for now! I am starting up a new blog series called My Random Addictions that I'll start posting soon! 

Thanks for reading!

- Olivia :)

Pantene's Beautiful Lengths

Hey everyone!

I know in the past I have been a HUGE advocate for donating hair, and I have talked about it many times and how meaningful it really is to people who aren't able to have hair because of chemotherapy. Working with Moffitt and watching my mom go through chemotherapy has made me want to do it again. I want people to see how much it means. I want people to understand how amazing it makes those patients feel when they get to have some type of normalcy back through wearing a wig made out of REAL hair. Not fake noticeable animal hair. Fighting cancer is obviously something that I am so passionate about, and this is an easy way to help! This was my second time donating, and before I gave my 11" of hair to Locks of Love. This time I decided to give it to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths, because I'd heard more positive things about it and they accept 8" instead of 10". I ended up giving right around 10" anyways, and after the trim I lost a whopping 12" off my head today.

Let me just say that I was super hesitant about doing this a second time. The first time, I was ready. I had finished cheer, which had required a bow and pony tail for most of my life, and I was about to head off to college so I thought why not? Problem: it was NOT what I expected. While the first hair cut didn't look bad, it honestly was a HUGE shock watching that fall off of your head. Especially since I hadn't had hair shorter than my chest since I was in elementary school. After watching patients receive wigs, their faces lighting up like I have never seen. After watching my mom lose all of her hair in a matter of days, her demeanor changing forever. How could I have been so selfish? It's hair. It WILL grow back. You won't die, your world won't end. You will be fine. And you will be making a huge impact on other people! These experiences made me want to do it again. So I planned to during spring break this year. But after literally having nightmares from the last time I chopped off my locks, I decided to post pone til April, then May, then June. At my birthday I decided I needed to grow a pair and just do it already. I was being ridiculous. ITS JUST HAIR. Let me just remind you that the last time I got my hair cut was literally three years ago. THREE years. I have a small case of tonsurephobia, fear of getting your hair cut (yes that is a real thing lol), I sucked it up and went in. I'm not going to lie, afterwards I was impressed. Not as bad as I thought! I did end up with a total of 12" off when I had assumed I'd have around 9" off, but hey I was happy with the end result. And it will grow back.

Some of you may have read this post and thought, sheesh drama over a hair cut you are ridiculous Olivia, but maybe some of you have had this same fear when considering donating your hair. I'm telling you: its worth it. 100%. So hopefully I persuaded some of you who have been on the fence about doing it. Set yourself a timeline and stick to it.

First cut, 2010:

Today. 2013:

So that's all for today! I hope you like my new do ;)

-Olivia <3

My Random Addictions: YouTube Videos

Hello fellow bloggers,

I am going to be starting a new section of my blog called My Random Addictions and writing about whatever I feel is a random addiction hah! This post is all about YouTube videos. Who goes onto YouTube and looks up random videos? I know I do. Who sits there for a good hour watching pointless videos when I should be doing other things? Guilty! I've wasted so many hours watching hilarious, yet pointless videos. Here are some of my favorite channels and my favorite videos they have made!

1. Fred

This guy's old videos are freaking HILARIOUS. If you don't think they're funny, you need to relax. My best friend Gretchen and I used to watch these NON-STOP. Die laughing every time. My favorite videos by him are:

Fred Gets Babysat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=443Ii2oDO-4
Fred Goes to the Park:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrL-gMFoOrc

2. Jenna Marbles

So incredibly vulgar and inappropriate but she's straight up and totally honest. And its hilarious. If you have never seen any of her videos: watch them. How Guys Watch TV is literally so true.

How Guys Watch TV:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Xc0eECmL0
How Girls Pack a Suitcase:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3qiXZRFmRY

3. PAINT

This dude is talented. For real. He can sing like an angel and is so witty. I wish he had more videos, but instead I just watch all of his old videos over and over and over and over. Seriously Madi got so frustrated with me when I discovered Harry Potter in 99 Seconds because I would watch it like five times in a row lol.

Harry Potter in 99 Seconds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y57sYHIDP_Y
Ever After Disney Parody:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diU70KshcjA

4. Kingsley

Oh my word. Kingsley. So the first video I ever saw by him was Things I Hate About Driving because my co-worker Shane showed it to me last year. I died laughing so I watched more. They are all hilarious. I try to watch the new ones every couple of weeks. Totally vulgar once again, but so dang true. He's like a ghetto-fab guy version of Jenna Marbles. It's great. He has two main sections of his channel: overexposed, which he makes videos about things that are overexposed, and ask Kingsley, where he answers random questions.

Things I Hate About Driving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DlBDwSOJn0

Overexposed: Call Me Maybe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYUOpfdVlvs

5. Vevo Lyric Lines

These videos are hilarious because my cousin Latoya and I have done lyric dares before, and they are literally just like this. It is great. All of them are funny, but the best part of these videos are the bloopers and outtakes at the end. The kid is super awkward which makes it even better. Especially since I am pretty sure he is actually like that...

Ed Sheeran Lyrics Pick Up Girls?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytCwHwTNalI

Justin Bieber Lyrics Pick Up Girls?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMzrxzC7-V4

That's all for now! Hope you like my new series :) Sorry for the long delay in posts. I've been pulling 40+ hour work weeks and finishing up school. We also moved into our new apartmnt (pics will be uploaded once its all together). Now I am currently on the 24 hour journey to Michigan to spend some time with my family and friends, but I plan on doing some DIY cooking projects and other blogposts while I'm there. 

Also check out my brothers gaming marathon which is Monday July 22-Monday, July 29. They are raising money for the Make A Wish foundation and they'll do almost anything to get donations! Go to www.twitch.tv/GameForAReason on Monday for more info!

Thanks for keeping up with me :)

Olivia Aili

DIY Travel Themed Wooden Letters

Hello fellow bloggers!

So today I worked on another project for the room! This one was super easy and only took about half an hour. I bought the letters TRAVEL and some paper that had maps, a compass, and a passport on it. Each letter costed $4 at Michaels, but with a $5 off $25 and 40% off, they all together costed about $18 ($3 per letter). The paper was on sale 6 for $1, so this project costed less than $20.

First I took the letters and traced them on the paper and cut them out.

Next I glued the paper to the wooden letters.
TIP: Use stick glue instead of paste. Paste makes paper get bubbly underneath and the paper won't lay flat on the wooden letter.

And that was it! Seriously super easy. I think they will add a lot to the room. It is all starting to come together nicely!

 Thanks for reading!
-Olivia :)