January 24, 2016

How to Deal with a Long Distance Relationship

I’m so, so excited to have one of my best blogging buds, Amanda from Blissful Gal, guest posting today. Amanda and I team up every month for our Blog Boss series, and her blog is full of amazing posts about college, relationships, and health. Amanda is a part of my closest blogging tribe and it’s an honor to have her guest posting today about long distance relationships! Dustin and I were in a long distance relationship for 1 month before his mission and then 2 years while he was on his mission and recently did the whole married long distance last summer for 5 weeks! Make sure you read about the cool site she mentions in her post about watching tv shows together online!

Imagine this: You have been dating your boyfriend for some time now and all of a sudden one of you has to make a geographic change that the other can’t work out.

Relationships can be challenging at times, but adding distance between two people seems to make things ten times harder. I wouldn’t change my boyfriend, Cory, for anything nor will I take back the time that we had to do the whole “long distance” thing. It truly brought us closer together and made us a stronger couple.

As an engineering student, I have to complete several co-op/internship rotations throughout my time at school. Depending where the jobs are, you might be required to live in another city or state (like me) for a semester. Last semester, I had the opportunity to work at a company that is top in my industry and I knew I had to take the opportunity. Although I would be living about four hours away from home for over three months, Cory encouraged me to take the co-op position because it would be a great experience.

Although it was challenging at times, here are some things that made my long distance relationship easier:

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September 14, 2015

Cancer through the Eyes of my Sister

We made it to Arizona in one piece and with only a few minor setbacks on Thursday and have been unpacking and settling in since. We’ll be getting internet installed tomorrow and I’m so excited to be able to get back to blogging. Today, my youngest sister, Katie, who has guest posted here before, is taking over again. A couple weeks ago, when I wrote this post about survivor’s guilt, Katie and I got to talking about how my cancer had affected her (she was 10 when I was diagnosed). We had a very long and beautiful heart-to-heart and I felt like the things she had to say were so important that I asked her to share them here. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month and while it is important to raise awareness about pediatric cancer, it is also important to understand and raise awareness on how cancer affects siblings.

I know Chelsie has shared her cancer story, and I hope it has inspired and touched the hearts of many people as it has mine. But I am going to tell my side of the story, and the lessons I learned from my sister having cancer.

An average 10 year old usually has to worry about getting through the 4th grade, learning cursive, and memorizing their times table. But when I was 10, I ended up worrying about a lot more. I worried about having macaroni and cheese for the 7th night in a row, asking my parents for money for field trips or school lunches, trying to keep my family happy, and my sister dying.

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September 10, 2015

12 Essential Beauty Products You Aren’t Using…But Should

It’s been a crazy week of traveling and moving and I’m so relieved that it’s almost over! I’ll be returning to my regularly scheduled programing next week, but to tie you over, Chelsea from Chelsea Shoots People is guest posting today and sharing some great tips on beauty products

Meet Chelsea Hutson

Chelsea is a blogger and shutterbug with a passion for all things beauty. She shares easy-to-follow tips on makeup and believes anyone can take a beautiful picture with the right help. You can find her most days blogging over at Chelsea Shoot People as well as connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

One of the biggest questions I am asked as a (self-proclaimed) beauty guru is “Which essential products should I be using? It seems like you have every product ever made!” I have to admit I am a makeup junkie, but you do not have to amass a huge collection to benefit from these 12 crucial beauty essentials that you aren’t using, but should. (psst, you may have over half of them in your kitchen!)

This list will have you looking beautiful without breaking the bank. As a bonus, I am sprinkling in a recipe or two so that you can make your OWN beauty products because looking good and feeling good go hand-in-hand. Keep score of how many you are already using a brag about it in the comments below!

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July 28, 2015

Inside My Blogging Binder

So excited to have one of my all time favorite blog friends guest posting today. Courtney has been one of my constant sponsors since I started blogging; her ad is always parked on my blog. I love her fashion style, her writing style, and the fact that her cat is named Queen Bee. Today, she is taking us inside her blogging binder to share some tips and tricks to keep you organized.

I celebrated a blogiversary this past April. Usually when a blogger reaches that milestone, they do a post celebrating their hard work, their readers and reflect on the happier moments of the year. I didn’t do that. As I sat down to reflect on my year, all I could see were disorganized posts and my inconsistency. Now, I know there were some great moments as well, but I was convicted that because I was disorganized and my readers were paying the price. Back in April, I decided to get better.

Thus, my blogging binder was born. It keeps track of EVERYTHING. Posts, contacts, giveaways…Pretty much everything a blogger should be keeping track of. And I needed it, bad. You can read more about what made me decide to start a blog binder on my blog, The Everyday Elegance.

At first, I started researching different printables thinking I needed to buy a blog planner. While there are some great options, I’m a college student. I can’t afford to drop a lot money on little things like organization, especially when there are a number of free resources that can customize your own binder to what you blog about and what you need!

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July 26, 2015

The Last 5 Things I Purchased & Giveaway

I’m currently on an airplane heading back East! I’m so excited let Taylor from Dear Friends take over Life with Rosie today to keep you all entertained while I’m thousands of feet in the air!

Hey friends!

My name is Taylor Lanier and I am taking over Life with Rosie for Chelsie today! I blog over on Dear Friends, so come and check me out after you’re done hanging out Chelsie for the day! If you’ve been around this blog for a while, you may remember that I posted my Easy 20 Minute Cinnamon Rolls a while back! If you missed that, you should definitely go check it out because they are so divine.

Anyways, on to the reason that I am here today.

Today, I want to share with you all The Last 5 Things I Purchased. I thought this would be something interesting and different and I encourage you all to think back on the last 5 things you have purchased and let us know in the comments section below because we’re all super curious and nosy people, right? That’s why we read blogs for that particular reason. No? Just me? Okay.

I purchased a dolly at Harbor Freight on my lunch break because I am super tired of bringing in all of the groceries from my car to my apartment. I park very close to the front door of my apartment, but it’s still a hassle to bring them all in because my boyfriend, Kaleb, likes to make only one trip of the event. Do any of you guys make one-stop-grocery-bag-bring-in-trips?

Image pulled from YouTube video “Groceries Only Take One Trip”

The second thing on this list that I purchased is the Urban Decay Naked Smokey palette! I have been using this ever since I got it this past Saturday and I think it is my favorite one of the bunch so far! The Naked palette series are one of my favorite palettes to get because you get such a diverse shade range, although they can definitely be somewhat expensive.

Not considering the necessary lunch stops that I have purchased, the next thing would be an order from ScribblePrintsCo on Etsy! I just recently got a paper planner after using a digital one for the past year. It’s been nice not having to worry about paying the $20/month every month, but I do miss how neat and clean it looked as compared to my paper planner. I ordered a few stickers from ScribblePrintsCo in hopes that I can possibly make my planner a little bit more neat and tidy.

I went to CVS Friday night before I had a friend over and got some milk, orange juice, and a case of water for $4. Okay, technically, I got three things in that trip…but it was one trip as a whole so I will count them together! I had a bit of a couponing adventure on this trip. I have a thing for couponing. If you’d like to see more of my couponing adventures, you can check them out over on my blog. I once paid only $1.26 in sales tax for two mascaras at CVS! You can check it out by clicking here.

I also purchased this absolutely stunning painting from
Kelly Eddington
Kelly Eddington on Friday.

She was having a 45% off sale and I knew the moment I heard about the sale that I needed to pick it up. I have been following Kelly’s work for years (I watch her sister,Emily, on YouTube!) and so I am so excited to be getting this beautiful painting in the mail and hanging it up on my wall very soon. Which, by the way, is done fully in watercolors. Who knew the childhood activity could turn into such a fantastic hobby and line of work? I’m so impressed. Also, I’ll let you in on a little secret. If you look really closely on the cap of the bottle on the right, you can see Kelly’s reflection from when she first took the picture!

That’s it today, dear friends. I hope you enjoyed my super random guest post! Let us know in the comments section below, what are the last 5 things that you have purchased? I can’t wait to read your answers! And be sure to come and hangout out with my for a little while over in my corner, www.dearfriendsblog.com. I can’t wait to see y’all there!

Taylor

p.s. I’m (Chelsie) joining a bunch of bloggers to bring you this super awesome summer essentials giveaway! Be sure to join!

Summer//Chelsie//Erin//Emily//Katherine//Emma//Allison//Amanda//Alanna// Mistle//Ariel//Catherine//

a Rafflecopter giveaway