Don't Let This Happen To You...

Every 15 Minutes... Someone dies or is seriously injured in an alcohol related crash. That's 4 people an hour, 96 people a day, and 35040 a year, 35040 to many. Car accidents are the leading cause of death among teens. The worst part is that this is all preventable, and happens all because of someone making one stupid decision, to drive under the influence or drugs or alcohol, or to drive while distracted. All it would have took to prevent all it, was the decision to not drive drunk, or not to pick up the cellphone while driving. 

You may think you are okay to drive after just a couple drinks, or that you are paying enough attention to the road because you look up every few characters from your text message. Most likely, you are more messed up than you think, and are way over the legal limit without even knowing it. And it takes one second for a car traveling at just 30 mph to travel 44 feet, and you never know what might come up in that 44 foot distance. You might reach at intersection and not see another car coming, someone might try to cross the street, or another car might stop. One second everyone seems to be having a good time, and in less than the time it takes to blink, lives are be changed forever.

Is getting home after a party so your parents don't find out, or one text message worth someone's life, and your own life? We all have dreams of some kind, and I know for a fact that none of your dreams are to die at such a young age, spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair, or to spend it in prison. Everyone involved will be affected by that one bad decision everyday. Families and friends will have to live without their loved ones. Those surviving through the crash will have to live with the memory for the rest of their lives, and live with new everyday challenges, even if they weren't severely injured. And as for the person who made the decision to drive drunk or text and drive.... they could spend anywhere from 15 years to life in prison, depending on what the court decides. Even if they are on the lower end with their sentencing, they will need to live with what they've done to their victims for the rest of their lives. 

This video shows what happens when someone makes one bad decision to drive while under the influence. The same thing can happen if someone drives while texting. And they will find out if you'd been texting while driving if you are involved in an accident. Phone records can easily be obtained for your cellphone provider when needed. This is truly a sad video to watch, and while this video is only a reenactment, this happens everyday in real life. Warning: While this is a fake video, it depicts real life situations. Many will find this video to be disturbing. This video is very graphic, so if you are extremely squeamish I wouldn't recommend watching this video. Viewer discretion is advised.

Don't let this happen to you... Just don't drive while under the influence of alcohol, even if you think you are okay to drive, and don't text and drive. That text message or phone call can wait until you get where you're going. And while it's not the best choice to start with to go to a party, or anywhere else, and get drunk to start with, nobody is perfect, everyone wants to have a good time once in awhile. But please, if you do choose to drink don't drive anywhere, and don't get into the car with someone who's been drinking. Don't even let them drive drunk. Stay at the person's house if you can (you'll still need to explain it to your parents, but what they'll do is better than the consequences of this...), or call a friend or even a parent to come pick you up if you get into that situation.

Of course your parents will be mad that you went to a party and drank, and you more than likely will get in big trouble at home. You might lose your phone, computer, and your car. You might not be allowed to go anywhere for a really long time, and you're parents will be disappointed, but while they might not show it right away, they'd be happy you told them instead of trying to take matters into your own hands and drive home yourself, or with someone else who'd been drinking. And surely losing your computer for a while is much better than spending time in jail, or getting killed in a car wreck. Your parents' disappointment will fade over time, they'll be able to see you graduate, go to college, get married, and follow your dreams. Any parent would rather have their kids tell them they went against their rules rather than having than to go through this.

We all make mistakes, and bad choices. But a bad choice should never lead to tragedy. Simply choosing to call your parents, or another friend, or not even going to the party to start with can prevent this all from happening. Ignore that text message while you're driving, they'll understand. It's not worth the consequences. Even if you've done this before, if you're reading this, it's not too late to stop, and start making better choices. You never know when that split second will come when something goes terribly wrong. Keep yourself, your friends, and everyone else safe. Make good choices, and always pay full attention to what's going on on the road. Stay safe out there... Don't let a preventable tragedy ruin your dreams. 

Disclaimer: I do not endorse, recommend, or support underage drinking or drug use. This post is not meant to say it's okay to go to drink when you are under the age of 21, but to make the right choice if you drank regardless of your age. Good people make bad decisions that lead to a lifetime of consequences. 

Prom Series: Hair and Make-Up: Professionally Done or DIY?

Prom is approaching fast! It's a little over 3 weeks away for me. Over the past couple months I've made a few posts on my Prom dos and don'ts, dress shopping, and looking for accessories. As prom approaches it's time to start thinking of the last major details, hair and make-up! There are endless possibilities on how you can style your hair and make-up, and it can be hard to choose what to do. Do you want to do an updo or leave your hair down? Or maybe have your hair half-up half down? Do you want go with neutral make-up, or bright colorful make-up? Then there's the option to get it done professionally or to do it yourself. So many things to think about! 

The first decision is to decide whether you're going to get your hair and make-up done professionally or do it on your own. Choosing to have it done professionally almost ensures that it'll be done perfectly, and takes the stress off of trying to do it yourself, but it can be costly. If you don't want to spend the money, you can always do it yourself and still get a very nice look. However, if you do choose to do your own hair and make-up like I am, you'll need to know what you're doing sooner so you have more time to practice. The worst thing you can do is wait until prom night to try doing your hairstyle, just to find its more difficult than you thought it would be. I would at least practice the look at least two times, or until you get confident with it. You can also opt to get together with your friends and do each others hair, but you'll want to practice on each other as well. Remember, you want your friends to look just as great as you do! Never try doing a hairstyle for the first time when you need it to be perfect... or more importantly, don't try to figure out what to do hours before prom!

Get some kind of idea of what you want to do with your hair and make-up at least two weeks before the big day. Go ahead and google prom hair and make-up ideas and get some inspiration. Keep your hair type in mind when looking for a hairstyle. Some hairstyles may not work as well on shorter hair, and some might not work on longer hair, and some might work no matter the length of your hair. When you find something you like save the picture so you can refer back to it later, or print it off to show your stylist.  If you are doing your own hair and make-up for prom, you may want to use YouTube to find prom make-up looks and hairstyles so that you can get a how-to on the look. If you can, practice along with the video, then try it a few times on your own until you get confident with it. Never try to do a style for the first time on the big night! Two of my favorite YouTubers to look to for hairstyles are Lilith Moon and CuteGirlsHairStyles. Check them out, they have some amazing tutorials!

How you decide to go about your hair and make-up is completely up to you, and what you prefer. For make-up I personally would like to go for eyeshadow colors that match up with my dress, and a half updo. You may decide to go for a more natural or more colorful make-up look, and a full updo, or even leave your hair down and give it some nice curl. Whatever you decide on, pick something you love. It's all up to you. make it a look you'll be proud of!

As I start to wind down on my prom series, I would like to wish everyone a fun and safe prom. Make it one of the best nights of your high school life. :) 

Spring Into A Healthier Lifestyle

As the weather starts to warm up (well, hopefully anyways, it's still cold here) and we move into spring, I feel it's time to start setting a few new goals for myself, and also revisit some of the ones I've made before but have never really worked much towards. Perhaps even revisit some of the New Year's Resolutions that I pushed to the wayside. Spring is a time for new beginnings and fresh starts, and a perfect time to start working towards your goals. One of my biggest goals this spring is to start living a healthier lifestyle and get fit for summer. Not only to look better, but to feel better and live a healthier life as well. I admittedly eat primarily junk food, and a lot of it, on top of not getting much exercise. I'll eat because I'm bored or upset, and for other reasons other then actual hunger. I go for the packaged snacks and sweet treats because they are the most convenient, just because I'm to lazy to actually cook something. This is certainly not at all a healthy way of eating, and it needs to change. But I know that I need to have a good plan and motivation if I plan on going about this and actually sticking to it.

The first step is to think of your motivation. Why do you want to start eating healthier and exercise more? If you are only doing it to lose weight, you are much more likely to slip back into your old habits. When all you want is to look better, it can be very discouraging when the weight doesn't come off the way you thought it would... Or if you gain a  few pounds. Trust me, I've been there before, and I went right back into my old habits because I didn't even think of doing it for anything other then weight loss. Certainly losing some weight can be a part of or your motivation, but it shouldn't be your only motivation. Improving and preserving your health, living longer, and feeling better should be the real motivation to changing your eating and exercise habits. It's a known fact that better nutrition can help to reduce your risk of developing serious health problems down the road, it can even help to improve some existing medical conditions.

Once you have the proper motivation in place, it's time to start thinking of the actual plan. This is another area that you need to be careful with, as it's very easy to set something really unrealistic and hard to stick to. It's always best to start small and take baby steps. Certainly there should be a little bit of a challenge to it, but it shouldn't be nearly impossible to stick to. Take baby steps to the lifestyle you want, and once you get there, don't forget to keep at it, no matter what, keep the healthy lifestyle going. But if you are anything like me, it would be highly unrealistic to say that you're going to get an hour of vigorous exercises a day and cut out all junk food right away. I know I wouldn't be able to stick to this and I would slip out of it rather quickly. I will share with you my own plan to start living healthier to give you a few ideas. But remember, everyone is different and has different habits, so you should adjust based on whats best for you. 

My Plan To Start A Healthier Lifestyle

-Watch when and why I'm eating. I tend to eat when I'm bored, when I'm in a bad mood, or because someone mentions food to me. Not always just because I'm hungry. I often find myself venturing into the kitchen late into the night to grab a snack simply because I'm just bored or maybe feel a little hungry... even if I should be going to bed soon. I need to pay more attention to whether I'm actually hungry or if I'm just bored before I go get something to eat.

-Drink more water rather then eating. Often times when we confuse hunger with thirst. So if I start to feel a bit hungry (or bored), I'm going to go for a glass of water rather then going for a snack. Not only will water often settle the hungry feeling, but there are also many health and beauty benefits to drinking water as well. Drinking water helps to flush toxins out of your body and keeps you from getting dehydrated. Drinking water can even help your skin! 

-Watch what I eat and how much I eat. Because there is generally nobody home to cook dinner after school, I'll eat anything, primarily sweets and snacks for dinner. I know I could never cut out these yummy treats completely, but I need to eat less of them. For now I plan to cut down my sweets intake to one or two things a day. I also plan on actually cooking something for dinner at least twice a week, and watching my portion sizes when I cook. I need to pay attention to serving sizes rather then eating until I'm full. 

-Go for healthier options at school. My school serves some pretty awesome tasting lunches sometimes. And while they aren't the worst thing for you, they aren't the best either. A school lunch can have over 1000 calories in it, that's half a day's calories in one meal. My school does however, have healthier options rather then the regular lunch. I tend to go for their salad tray when I don't like the lunch they are serving. Which is rarely... Even though some lunches aren't my favorite, I still kind of like them so I get them anyways. I now plan on getting the salad tray a lot more often, almost daily. I know there's some lunches I can't give up, and I will still buy the regular lunch on those days, and on days when salad trays aren't available. 

-Start doing some short, moderate workouts. I am not very active at all, and I know I can't jump right into doing daily long, vigorous workouts. While I do plan on eventually getting to the point where I'm doing longer and harder workouts, for now I'm going to start small. To start off I'm going to try to get in a 10 minute workout everyday, and just do some things to get moving such as dancing like a weirdo to my favorite songs, or going for a walk or maybe even a jog when then weather gets a little nicer. Even simply walking the dog a bit is a great work out. I want to make my workouts fun and enjoyable. Play music while you get active, it makes it a lot more fun! Play songs that make you happy, or pump you up and get you moving. When I feel that I'm ready for it, I'll increase my exercise time in 5 minute increments.

What are some of the ways you stay healthy and stay in shape?

*Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a dietitian. This will not replace any professional or medical advice. This is only my plan to work towards a healthier lifestyle, and may not work for everyone. My ideas have come from prior knowledge as well as things I have learned in a class or have researched. 

*WARNING: If you have or suspect you may have any current medical conditions, see a doctor before starting any exercise or dieting regimen. If you start to feel sick or start feeling pain stop what you are doing. If it persists seek medical attention. 

Yummy Treats: Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

I've heard of no bake pies, but not no bake cookies. I kind of thought all cookies had to be baked, LOL. So I was amazed today when we made chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies in Food and Nutrition. The recipe we were given made a lot of cookies, and it came out tasting so yummy! And best of all we didn't need to use the oven, LOL!

Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

What you will need:

-2 cups sugar

-4 tablespoons cocoa

-1 stick butter

-1/2 cup milk

-1 cup peanut butter

-1 tablespoon vanilla

-3 cups oatmeal

-Wax paper

Directions:

In a heavy saucepan bring sugar, cocoa, butter, and milk to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla, and oatmeal. (Remove from heat so you don't burn the oatmeal.) Drop mixture onto wax paper into even amounts. Let cool until hardened.

Enjoy :)

Super Quick Update: Follow My Blog With Bloglovin

If you haven't already heard, Google will be shutting down Google Reader on July 1, 2013. This means if you wish to follow this, or any other blog, you will need to do so using Bloglovin. I have already added a button to my blog so that you can follow me using Bloglovin if you wish. When you create a Bloglovin account you can import all of the blogs you follow in one click. You can also add a Bloglovin button to your browser so you can easily access your subscriptions. You can also keep track of your own blog using Bloglovin. Thank you and have a FANTASTIC day! :)

No Plans For Spring Break?

Over the last couple weeks, it seems like all I've heard people talking about were their big plans for spring break. So many people are going on a big vacation, going out of state, and doing awesome fun thing. But me? I'm stuck in my tiny home town for spring break, as I have always been. Surely it's not the most exciting thing in the world, but then again it doesn't have to be the worst thing in the world either. I mean it is a full week without the stresses of school! Surely a week of doing nothing is better than waking up early and sitting in class, LOL! I'll most likely use my spring break to catch up on my blog posts, and play The Sims 3: University Life, and maybe go for a walk, weather permitting. And of course there's always going to be something within a couple of miles to do outside the house. 

If you don't want to spend your whole spring break cooped up in your room behind your computer, and you should try to get outside at least once or twice during spring break if the weather stays nice, you can always go for a little walk or jog around the neighborhood. Perhaps you can even walk to a local park, bring some friends and chat and have a picnic, or maybe even get active and shoot some hoops or play some soccer. If your friends are away on vacation, you can always go alone and bring a good book to read while getting some fresh air. If you aren't up for going for a walk, or don't live in an area with many sidewalks, you can enjoy the fresh air by simply stepping into the backyard. Get a nice cold drink, yummy snack, a good book, and get out a lawn chair. You can even sit outside and browse the web from your phone, or laptop if your WiFi reaches outside. Just get outside, don't stay indoors the whole time. :)

If you have a little cash, and a way to get there, go do something fun in the nearby area. Even if it's an everyday typical kind of activity, it's always more fun then sitting at home. Grab a bite to eat, or even go to the mall and look around. Maybe even check out a local shop you never thought to check go to, you never know what you might find! Grab some friends and go see that movie you've been wanting to see. Go to your favorite restaurant   or even try out a new one. If you have any beaches nearby, go spend some time there, or you could spend time at your local recreation center. Many recreation centers have many swimming pools, gyms, and workout equipment to keep you entertained and active for a while for a low price. It may not be a trip to Disney World or to the Bahamas, but it's still something fun to do.

Here's My Spring Break Right  Here :P

If you don't really have any money, or a car to get to the mall or anywhere else, or if you aren't much of an outdoors person... or if the weather stinks (and judging by this week, I'm a bit nervous for next week, as I was writing this my school called a two-hour delay, LOL!), there's always some things you can do indoors. I'm personally a gamer, and I love to spend my days off playing The Sims 3, with all of my expansion packs. If you have a Wii or Xbox, there are a ton of games you can play to get active as well. Just Dance is a fun and amazing way to get some exercise. It's fun to play alone or with friends! I also like to spend my breaks browsing the web and reading blog posts... Stuff I typically would do everyday, but I love it so much! :) You could also find a couple movies and spend a whole day watching movies. Mix in some childhood favorites with movies you enjoy now. If you feel the need to be productive you can also do a little bit of spring cleaning. 

Whether you are going on vacation, or staying home, spring break is always great. Perhaps you have a job and this a great time to get in some extra hours and make a little more money. Or it's just a great time to unwind and relax without worrying about school. It's a week to stay up late and sleep in. Just be careful not to mess up your sleep schedule to much, it's only one week. And it's easier to get out of good sleeping habits then it is to get back into them, and you only have a week. Plus you don't wanna sleep away your whole spring break! Do some thing you wouldn't normally have the time for, or spend more time doing them. Whatever you choose to do, enjoy your spring break. It's the last big break until summer vacation. For me, it's the last break at all until graduation. But after spring break, there's only 1 more quarter left and we're done. :)

What are you doing for spring break this year? :)

Get Organized For Spring

Let's face it, we could all do something to get a little, or a lot more organized. Whether it be for school, or cleaning up your room. I'm someone that could use a lot of reorganization in both, LOL. It's a proven fact that more organization makes your like easier and more efficient as you don't need to scramble to find things when everything has a place, and everything is in it's place. However, it can be really easy to get unorganized, even to the point where everything becomes a mixed up, jumbled up mess, and mess often equals stress. And with spring break coming up shortly, I wanna try my best to eliminate this stress now rather then dealing with it over spring break. 

So let's start with what I see as the big thing, cleaning up your room. The room where, if you are anything like me, we spend most of our time. Our room should be a serene little get away from stress, a place to relax. It should also be a place where you can find everything you need, and run through things smoothly. These things are nearly impossible when you need to dig through jumbled up piles of stuff and mixed up bins to find something, just to find it isn't where you thought it was. And it's certainly not relaxing to look at piles of clothes on the floor, and a mixed up pile of jewelry and make-up, and in extreme cases not even being able to walk. Surely it's not always that extreme, and maybe you just have a couple of things out of order. Or maybe your current system of organization isn't doing you as well as it could. There's always at least a little something you could do. 

The most important thing to remember when it comes to cleaning your room is to take baby steps, especially if your room is a total disaster, and only work on one area at a time. What I like to do is to have a large area (such as my bed) to organize everything into categories on. Whatever you choose to organize with is up to you. I'll clear all of the pillows and blankets off my bed so I have a nice surface to work with, then I'll start working on my room one area at a time. If you have a messy floor, I'd suggest cleaning this up first so that you have more room to walk around as you work on everything else. Start in a corner and work your way across the room, putting things into their category as you go.

After you have your floor cleaned up you can then begin working on clearing up and organizing the things on the shelves into categories. I would clear everything off completely, so that you can dust the surface off. Dust can make it really hard to feel comfortable in a room, especially if you have any allergies or other breathing problems such a asthma. I like to dust each surface off as I work, and then take the items that I want from each catagory and place it back on that surface so I can get it where I want it quicker, you can place them and organize them further later on after you have all of your shelves cleaned off. As I work I like to place items I had misplaced in other parts on the room in the area where they belong, rather than in a pile. Once you have everything cleaned off and categorised into the right part of the room, you can start setting things up and "fine tuning" a bit. And don't forget to do any laundry you may have and wash your bedding just to freshen things up a bit. :)

I actually find the fine tuning and organizing part of cleaning to be rather enjoyable. I love to arrange things in an appealing way on my shelves. Arrange things in a way that looks good, and works best for you. Keep things that you use often within easy reach. It wouldn't make sense to put your favorite mascara at the bottom of your make-up drawer, or to put your daily essentials on a hard to reach shelf. I personally like to keep all of these things up front or in an easy to reach basket. I like to keep all of the beauty products and make-up brushes I use often in a little basket so that I can easily bring them to the bathroom with me in the morning, and not have to pull the products out of my drawers and put them back everyday. As for the rest of my make-up I like to organize it by type, and by area of the face it goes. I also kind of organize by packaging. There are so many ways to organize make-up whether it be by type, packaging, brand, color, or even frequency of use. Whatever helps you out and keeps you organize, or whatever you want to try, go for it.

As you work through reorganizing your room, you may want to grab your school things and straighten them up a bit as well. You can also do this in a study hall when you have nothing else to do. Reorganize things to the way you had them at the beginning of the year. I recently got a bit careless and started cramming papers wherever i could. My pshycology book has become my folder for every class, and it's really hard to find the papers I need. Surely I may not need to look over any old papers for final exams (seniors in my school don't take finals), but it's always good to stay in practice for college, and to just be able to find the right papers to study for a chapter test, or the homework I need to turn in. You may also want to use some pretty colored duck tape to tape up any damaged folders or binders to help them last until the end of the year without getting shabbier. Remember, there is still at least a quarter left of school, and you still want to get the best grades possible.

After you are all organized and you have everything how you want it, think of how nice it feels to be organized. Knowing you can find everything you need when you need it. Sitting in a fresh clean, organized room feels so much better then sitting in an unorganized mess. And always keep at your organization methods. It doesn't take much time to place things where they belong. Avoid throwing something something in the wrong spot and saying you'll take care of it later. One careless throwing of something in the wrong spot can lead to another careless placement, gradually building back into a mess. And if you start getting frustrated or stressed out when your cleaning, remember, it's okay to take breaks. Get some fresh air, grab a quick snack, or even watch a little TV. Just get back to work as soon as you clear your mind a little bit. Don't feel like you need to rush, take your time and take baby steps.

Are you always organized, or do you tend to get a huge mess sometimes? How do you like to stay organized? How do you like going about your spring cleaning?