{Sunday Social - More About Me!}

Link up with Neely & Ashley for this fun blog link up and maybe you'll find some new blogs you'll love :)

1. What is the name of your blog and how did you come up with it?
The name of my blog is Live, Laugh, Love. I probably was not super creative when I thought of it but honestly, it's my life motto. You gotta live, you gotta laugh, and show love so, Live Laugh Love was born! 

Almost 2 years later, it is still my life motto. And if I were to ever get a tattoo on me, this is what it would say. 

2. What do you love most about blogging?
Finding people you connect with. About anything! Whether you connect on a love of running, or can feel someone's pain through the same struggle, or you are friends...it makes you feel somewhat more complete. 

It's also a great way to "virtual" scrapbook. I discovered blogging through finding a blog of a family that adopted and it just exploded from there. Reading all their recaps/memories made me want to have a virtual scrapbook of things in my life. Something to look back upon!

3. What are two of your favorite posts you've written?

26 years ago - about my dad

Best four months of my life! (about studying abroad)

4. What is something you'd want to tell someone just starting out in the blog world?
Blog for yourself!! If you want to be the memory keeper, then do it! It's not a competition of how often you blog, if you blog 2 times a day, then that's great. If you blog once a week, then so be it!

Also, it's not about followers and seeing it go up. DO IT FOR YOURSELF! :)

5. Biggest blogging experience you've had?
It's all a learning experience! Eventually I would love to be able to design my own blog look like most people can (or those who make blog designs). 

6. Give us three blogs we NEED to be following that you love.

Sharon @ Everything Beautiful - I discovered this blog when I was recooperating from surgery almost 2 years ago and I have been the biggest fan ever since. She has three biological daughters, 2 daughters adopted from China, 1 little boy adopted from China. Her family is going back for another little girl AND little boy! The love she has for her family, adoption, etc has changed my outlook on some things. 

Christine @ These Happy Miles - LOVE THIS BLOG!! She has been my biggest inspiration for getting back into working out/trying to be more proactive about running/wanting to run a 5k! Plus, she does "Weekend playlists" and I have gotten a lot of my new music from her. 

Leslie @ Life In it's ordinary form


Happy sunday y'all! I am going to enjoy the rest of my day since my job told me not to come in since the fire alarms were going off and we closed! 

That's alright, that's okay...

You're gonna pump our gas some day! Bring It On, anyone?! No. What a shame!

Here I am linking up again with Neely & Amber for "It's Okay Thursday!" 

It's Okay....

....that I bought another new Essie nail polish at Target! I sincerely wish there were Essie (and OPI) coupons!

...that I shared two pitches of sangria with my friend Shannon tonight at dinner. :)

...that my room is already a mess again.

...that I don't want to go to work 

...that I cringed/cried/was sad when I paid bills tonight. I hate feeling broke!

...to be jealous of all the people I know in my major who got jobs for this year. When is it my turn?!

...that I have a post it note on my mirror to remind me to get gas before work. 

...that I want to buy "When God Writes Your Love Story" 

...to almost have cried when my mom told me my brother (the one with the three kids) said that I am an awesome godparent/aunt. That means the world.

...to be indecisive if I actually want a paid blog design or just stick with freebies....

...to be excited I got an unexpected phone call to come in for an interview next week!!

...to feel like nothing fits you. Why must I feel bloated?! 

...to not be able to function w/o caffeine! 

CampusBookRentals.com - A great resource for students!

I was recently contacted by CampusBookRentals.com and asked me if I would be interested in partnering with them. I thought that it was a great opportunity! They are generously offering $50 towards textbooks for a reader in return for my post on renting textbooks/saving money in college/etc. I know many of you are in college or may have friends in college, or might be in grad school. so I thought this would be a great opportunity!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remember when I went off to college, people told me to enjoy every minute of the four years. They claimed it to be "the best four years of your life" and said before you knew it, you would be graduating. Boy were they right!! The one thing they never mention is the PRICE of books! 

I always tried to find my books the cheapest way possible in college because it was coming out of MY bank account! I would "stalk" the school bookstore's website for when the books were posted and wrote down the title, author, ISBN and the edition. Then, I plugged it into Amazon, B&N, half.com, ebay.com, etc to find it cheaper. The only books I didn't mind buying brand new (even if I couldn't get super cheap) were my Spanish books because it was for my major and I liked marking them up. I couldn't stand that some books would cost $150 and when you tried to sell it back, they'd give you $10! SUCH A RIP OFF!!

In my last few classes in grad school, I rented books and it was a great decision! I figured I'd rent them because they were books I didn't plan on keeping for my career and it'd cost me a FRACTION of the price to buy them. I was diligent (or nerdy) in finding where i could rent them the cheapest. I was able to rent them for $30-$50 LESS than the price of the USED copy at the bookstore! 

Here's an example: Assessment of Child and Youth on the CampusBookRentals website is one of the books I needed for one of my special education classes. On my college website, it is listed available as a rental for $67.65, $103.10 used, $137.45 new. What is it as a rental on the CampusBookRentals.com website? $31.12 for the SEMESTER! It is half the price of the rental at my college's bookstore! You're saving half the price and can put the money you save towards something useful! 

Renting books in college is a great way to save money. One semester you could spend $400 or more on books and the following semester you could spend maybe $150 renting them. What would you do with the saved money? Put it towards maybe a trip home, spring break, the nights you want to go out to dinner with friends, etc. Renting books is a definite way to save money. Other ways you can save money: go "grocery shopping" when you're at home (I used to bring back bags of food like popcorn, granola bars, cereal, soups for when I didn't feel like eating the food in the dining hall), take advantage of student discounts (places like The Loft, J.Crew give student discounts), any free trips your college offers - participate!

SO! Since I know there are few of you ladies in college or grad school, I would love to give you $50 towards your books for next semester thanks to CampusBookRentals.com! How can you be entered in this giveaway? 


<a id="rc-4a0ad70" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4a0ad70/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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(If for some reason this won't work -- this is my first time using RaffleCopter....SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO FIX IT! Sometimes the blog doesn't like me using html)

I hope you lovely readers enter! 

{WILW - Happy September!}

Happy Wednesday! It is on-and-off down pouring here and it's so gross! I wish the sunshine would come back.

Link up with Jamie this week to show what you're loving! 

I'm loving that my nieces and nephew are now in school! Sara's in second grade (she texted me who her teacher was), Steven is in first and Emma started preschool. I can't wait to see their pictures that were taken on the first day.

I'm loving that we wear jeans now at work. They'll all probably smell like pizza after awhile but seriously, its comfortable! 

I'm loving that now that it is September, my TV shows start back up! #nerdalert

I'm loving that Cinderella comes out on DVD on October 2nd! Totally buying it!

I'm loving that I got 7 pairs of underwear from Victoria's Secret for $16!! They had a sale 7/$26 but I had a $10 off coupon from my Angels credit card so who could pass that up?! 

I'm loving that I have a giveaway coming for those college kids out there! (More on this later!!)

I'm loving how happy my BFF April is in her new relationship. I kept telling her good things come to those who wait...and this is proof!

I'm loving that Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back at Starbucks!! I had my first one yesterday and it is so yummy!!

I'm loving these pins from Pinterest:

Little things...

In the years since I have graduated college, I have gotten into reading more for pleasure. Ever since the summer after 5th grade going into 6th grade, we had required reading EVERY summer. Along with it was an assignment. What a drag. It made me hate reading but since then, I have fell back in love with it. I have read a lot of books this summer...still need to finish the Hunger Games series. I bought "Off Balance" by Dominique Moceanu who was a member of the 1996 Olympic Gymnastics team that won the first gold for the USA women's team ever. When I finished, I had tears because it was that good. You never realize how different/dark of a world it was until she unveiled it. I tweeted about it and she retweeted me! I got so excited I took a pic on my phone. 

Today was a rather slow day at work but the GM says tomorrow is suppose to be a busy day. Maybe it will be since it's Labor Day, the mall will probably have sales, etc. I hope it is busy to make money!! I had to listen to one server complain no joke for FOUR hours. Oh my word she complained about EVERYTHING! I was never so happy when my manager told me I could go home and I didnt have to listen to it anymore.

I have a desire to go to Victoria's Secret tomorrow on my break. They're having a panty raid, 7/$26 and I have a $10 off coupon...that's a steal if I go!!!

I need to get back into the groove of going to the gym. Seriously, I can do it. I have the time this week on Tuesday and Wednesday and Sunday so it's my goal. I think a few mornings I may try Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. I just think the scale is lying somewhat (ha!). Except maybe my pants are just too big! I'll eventually figure it out.

I can't believe these three peas go back to school on Tuesday! Sara's going into 2nd grade, Steven is going into 1st and Emma starts preschool! 

I am also looking forward to having breakfast tomorrow with Amanda and April, who I haven't seen in a few weeks. I of course wish I didn't have to go work a double afterwards but hey, such is life! 

{Sunday Social - Summer Wrap up!}

Link up with Ashley & Neely for Sunday Social! This has become one of my favorite link ups. :)

This week's theme for the questions is all about a summer wrap up. WHO can believe summer is practically gone?! Where did it go? Infact, where did 2012 go?!

What was your favorite trip/vacation/activity this summer?
I think it is a tie between my cruise in May because it was my first one and I fell in love with the Caribbean. And the girls trip to Atlantic City in June/July! I had a blast with three of my girlfriends! 

Atlantic City

Margaritaville in Grand Turk on the cruise! 

Favorite outfit/look of summer clothing?

I think the mint green and coral colors! I really liked the look of them and love the mint green shorts I wore this summer. They're by Lauren Conrad.

What is one thing you wish you had gotten to do this summer?

There are actually a few things....visit my godmother in Massachusetts, go to the beach more often, go to a concert (but I will in November to see Carrie Underwood), go on another vacation.

Favorite song of the summer?

It is definitely "Call Me Maybe." I know so many people are probably sick of it at this point or after a few listens but it is so freaking catchy!! And probably my favorite video version of it is from the USA Olympic Swimming Team. 

Favorite movie/tv show of the summer?

Oh man, that's another difficult one! I would say for movies: Dark Knight Rises, Ted (so freaking funny!), Magic Mike.

As for TV Shows, I would probably say Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. I know that is quality "trash" tv but I just can't stop watching!! And Snooki & JWoww's show! 

It's the weekend, baby!

...And I'll be living at work. HA! I pretty much feel that way. Might as well get me a cot to just stay there. But it's okay...I will be having more money. Although they took out a TON in taxes in my last paycheck...Yikes! 

I am so glad our computers are working again at work. On Tuesday, they crashed so the servers had to handwrite all the checks and the kitchen manager had to tell the kitchen what food to cook/any modifications/let's just say it took awhile. They were back up working on Wednesday but then the call center must have not been working because my butt was kicked on takeout. No one working Tuesday was a happy camper! I'm pretty glad I wasn't working. But it took forever to get our schedules this week and I finally have it...and will be pretty much living there too. I'm working all day Monday (boo on Labor Day!), Thursday AM Host, Friday dbl, Sat dbl and Sunday night on takeout. Oh well. At least I have two days off this week as opposed to only one!

I just wish I could see April since she'll be home this weekend. Maybe we can meet for breakfast one day! I get to start my tutoring job again this week on Tuesday. Back in Fall 2010, one of my grad classes for literacy required us as a "fieldwork" assignment to tutor a LD kid that is an undergrad at my grad school and we got $1500 off our tuition! Every semester since, I have been asked back to work it and get paid to, which is pretty awesome. They asked me to do two this semester but only gave me one because I think the program is somewhat small this year. But hey, it's okay! I'm looking forward to it. It also allows me to still be able to be involved in the field of education, even though I don't have a teaching job yet. I think I'm being hard on myself in that regard since my certification is effective 9/1/12 even though I finished all my tests back in March. Stupid New York State only issuing it in february and september! 

I have begun to look into certification in other states. States I am considering: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Florida. From what I can gather, some states require you to take the Praxis for certification. Anyone who teaches in any of these states wanna help me out?! I can't wait to actually get in a classroom and teach!! It'll happen soon!

I am spending my day tomorrow cleaning before work. My carpet in my room desperately needs to be cleaned. And I did laundry on a Friday night. Not thrilling but it was actually relaxing. I needed a night at home to do some "chores." 

Maybe it'll be nice on one of my days off next week so i can go to the beach one last time in 2012. Summer just flew on by!