Pamper Yourself with Tom's of Maine!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NaturalGoodness #CollectiveBias

A lot has been going on in our lives. A lot. 

I don't know about you guys, but when I am stressed, I like to pamper myself. I love to take baths, do my makeup, and really take care of myself, ya know? 

I am grateful that I found Tom's of Maine to help with clean teeth. I'm a little OCD about my teeth. I tend to go to the dentist's office and I am cursed with cavities! Stupid genes. Tom's of Maine products will help with the cavity problem though. 

I bought the children's silly strawberry to get my little sister in law to use it. She loves it! The other night, she asked if she could brush her teeth. I'm not sure what else makes an adult happier, am I right?




This may sound odd, but one of my favorite things to do in the morning is brush my teeth. I love the feeling of having fresh breath and Tom's definitely does that. I feel more awake and alive in the morning (especially because I am not a morning person! Haha!).




Tanner looooves when his teeth are clean after using Tom's. When Tanner is happy, I am happy! 

What do you do to "pamper yourself" when you are stressed? 

You can find these products under the "Anti Per-spirants and Toothpaste" aisle in your local Walmart. 

Also, if you click here, you can get one dollar off any Tom's of Maine product purchase at Walmart. 

Hakuna Matata // Maui

I can't stop thinking about Maui.
It was such an amazing vacation. I have been to Hawaii a few times before, but I have never been as completely relaxed then I was this particular time. I think it has something to do with the fact that I was in dire need of Spring Break. I was tired, grumpy and needed a break. And that is exactly what I got.
It was Tanner's first time to Hawaii and I was so excited to be there with him and show him Maui. I will tell you some of my favorite places to eat and fun things to do in later posts. I have 350 photos from our trip to Maui. This may seem like an excessive amount, except that I originally had 700. So, really, you should be proud. I will do a few posts to update you all on my travels to the finest degree :) We stayed in Kihei, Maui where my parents have a beautiful condo. It was the first time my entire family had been together since last summer. I was a little anxious that it was going to be a disaster, but it honestly was so relaxing and everyone had quite a great trip.

Being home, however, has been hard. I have had a hard time diving back into teaching. I am exhausted and just want to play. I am stuck in the Hawaiian mentality, a Hakuna Matata state of mind, if you will. I don't have the next day of school planned? Oh well. It'll be fine. Oh, I need to go to the grocery store? Eh, we can just have pizza tonight. I like to think I'm a pretty "on top" of it kind of person. But, since I have been home, it has been a "whatever" mode.

And although I know that I cannot stay in this type of mode forever, it has been a little bit of a "lightbulb experience" for me. Sometimes (a lot of the time), I feel like I have to be perfect. I have to have the perfect classroom, I need to be the perfect teacher, and I need to look perfect. I need to have the cutest clothes, I need to be the nicest person, and I have to be the perfect Mormon. It's amazing to me the constant struggle I am internally feeling; it seems as though its a constant inner battle. And one of the hardest parts about that is the fact that I don't vocalize it a lot. I don't like to talk about how I am feeling to people. It takes a lot for me to be completely open with people; so I think a lot of people assume that life is fine and dandy. And do not get me wrong, my life really is SO fine and dandy. I am convinced I am one of the luckiest people on the planet. Tanner and I just bought our first home (yeee! More on the later, too!), I am happily married, I love my job, I get to go on all of these fabulous trips (local and otherwise). I am so happy. But, the more I talk to people, the more I realize: You truly do not know what people are going through. Their outside is so different than what they are feeling on the inside. 


And yet, it's amazing what a vacation to my favorite place in the world (Second favorite is my family's cabin on Crescent Lake, Oregon) can do. Something about Hawaii made me slow down, be grateful for what I have, and to not stress about the silly things regarding life. Recently, I have been totally fine with who I am. I am fine with not wearing makeup. I am fine if I choose to wear makeup. I am fine with it all. I am HAPPY with it all. I am so content. What is the point of doing things all in a  hurry? Things WILL get done, so what is the point of being anxious about it? I have taken my time. I have slowed down. I have rolled down my windows and let the wind blow in my hair. The next few weeks of my life with the end of school, moving, etc. are going to be very hectic. But that's okay. Because they are all GOOD things. It will be busy, yes, but I also know that it will all work out.

 Because, people, it's all going to be all right. I promise. It always is going to be okay eventually. Hakuna Matata. It means no worries. I think we all need to remember to take a deep breath, take a walk, and take in the beauty that our life consists of.   

Plus, it helps that I'm really tan. :)

Yet, something else happened in Hawaii. It  sort of  made me want to say Hakuna Matata to ALL parts of my life…including teaching. Is it the end of the year yet? :) 

With that, today, I want to show you some of the amazing sights I saw while on this trip. One of these days I will make a video and I cannot wait to show you. Until then, enjoy these photos from my camera and instagram.  

Don't these pictures just make you want to go RIGHT NOW? Ugh, take me back. 

Look for next Hawaii post coming soon!
Have you ever been to Maui? What island? 

Do you ever find that you need to stop and slow down? What do you do to "chill out?" 

Saylor Sue, The Things We Do For You.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #nudgethemback #collectivebias 

Saylor Sue (that's her middle name) is our (just barely one year old) mini aussie-doodle puppy.  We love her. A lot. Weird? I totally know. And totally don't even care.

T Money and I will be married two years in July (where does the time go?).
Sidenote: I have been begging for a puppy since I was a child and my parents never got me one because they are mean (just kidding, mom…kinda…still a little bit mad about it). I asked for two things growing up: a hot tub and a dog. Did I get either of those? Never. I had such a ruff life (get it? That was sarcasm by the way). 
Anyway, I digress.
After a year of being around T Money and convincing him that I'm NOT crazy, that it was, in fact, just the birth control, and I felt like I had a hold on my life and marriage (well, as much as you can "get a hold of life and marriage" Ha! I laugh just thinking about it), we decided to take the next step in our lives together.

A Dog.

We started researching different dog breeds and a mini aussiedoodle wasn't even on our radar. But, one afternoon, after stopping by a Veterinary Office in Orem, we knew we had to get this little fluff ball. She was feisty, but sweet, smart and freaking cute and I knew she had to be ours.

I mean, come on…look at her! Who wouldn't want to take her home?! 

In June, we will have had Saylor for a year. And my Instagram will show you just how much we love her. She's our little child. We have officially become those "crazy dog people."

Yea, we can make fun of ourselves for loving our puppy maybe a little too much, but if you've met Saylor, you can't help but love her. Yes, she tries to make out with you no matter your gender (and we are talking INSIDE the mouth--we've tried to train her out of this, but she's a stubborn cuss. Just like her momma.) and sure she will jump on you when she's excited, but she's just so hard to hate. Even though many of my in laws have tried, they just can't. She's a part of our family. And we love her.

Because we love her so much, we have to give her the best. And, well, that includes NEW delicious dog treats that are natural and don't have any artificial preservatives. Saylor Sue is kind of a diva (she's allergic to a lot of foods), we have to give her special treats that don't hurt her tummy. So we give her the Nudges Grillers Chicken and Steak dog treats at Walmart. She also likes the new Jerky Cuts at Walmart but the Grillers are her favorite. Because Saylor is so young, we use these treats to help with her training. They are the perfect incentive for her potty training and other tricks. 

Ignore the creepy red eyes. Stupid flash. 

Mmmmmm they smell so good.

One thing that I love about The Nudges® brand is that they are all about rewarding the unconditional love your dog gives you with treats you can trust. It's about celebrating the love you share, love that deserves to be rewarded. Also, because we love to keep Saylor happy, these treats help with the physical, emotional and social needs of our girl. 

She begs for these things all of the time. It is the perfect training tool! 

via instagram.
Even though T Money says he can't stand her…look at him hold her. He loves her. 

We found these in the Pet Care section under "dog treats" at our local Walmart. 

Check out all the flavors at nudgesdogtreats.com and let me know which one you think your dog would love the most!

How to Help the Grumpy.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #WhenImHungry #CollectiveBias

I am a pretty happy person. Usually. I love nature and smiles and polka dots and all that fun stuff. But, those of you who know me, and know me well, understand that I am, quite literally, not myself when I am hungry. Essentially, this is what happens to me: when I don't eat, I don't function. Anyone else have this problem? 

I am always on the go. I am either in my classroom, or running errands, or in my case at the moment, in Hawaii (I KNOW, RIGHT?), I usually keep a snack in my bag at all times. 

Some of my favorite snacks to keep in my purse are SNICKERS® Almond, SNICKERS® Extreme, apples, carrots, and granola bars. I find that this food is what helps me 

Because who doesn't love snickers WITH daisies, am I right? 

As I mentioned above, I am currently in Hawaii. We had a long adventure on the way here. I won't go into detail, but we left our house in Utah at 10 am and didn't arrive in Maui until 3 am the next day, Utah time. We had a lot of waiting and exhaustion. Those of you who travel know how exhausting it is. I needed a snack and I needed one bad. I grabbed a Snickers, and let me tell you, people….totally different person.

Before:

After:

I found the Snickers Almond and Snickers Extreme in the Candy Aisle of my local 7Eleven.


As I sit here on the beach, I have to remember to bring a snack and water with me at all times. It is a huge life saver for me (and my husband!). It's such a rough life that I am living right now!

via Instagram.

Just for fun, I entered the SNICKERS® "Who are you when you're hungry?" contest. You should too! You can do this by uploading a personal photo or video from your Computer, Facebook, Instagram or use the SNICKERS® Meme Generator to create something new! Voting begins at Noon on 5/11/15 and ends at 11:59:59AM ET on 7/15/15.

**You can also See more great SNICKERS® recipes and fun stories on the SNICKERS® social hub for when you are feeling hungry!