Hello friends! I can't believe today is the last day of May. We are already nearing the halfway mark of 2016. HOW?! Brett and I have been enjoying the slow down in our schedules lately - spending more time with family and we were even able to venture up to New Hampshire over Memorial Day weekend and spend time with my parents and pups! We were lucky enough for it to be nice and hot enough for a MAY SWIM (always a big deal when that's able to happen!) and, of course, we made our usual pilgrimage to La Festa!
I have a handful of amazing links to share with you all today, and each one reflects a different interest of mine or part of my life! I hope you all find something in this post that you're able to enjoy, and don't forget to share your favorite links of the moment in the comments so I can check out some more internet awesomeness! <3
This is a cute little Zine created by a fellow member of the Student Affairs community! It's a student development theory for Student Affairs grad students that include vectors like "You've eaten cold, old, leftovers over your kitchen sink at midnight AND you didn't cry this time." Super adorable and painfully true!
Kittens vs. Thugs
This is a hilarious video where a adorable puffball of a kitten has a staring contest with some tough looking dudes. I was giggling the whole way through this video and needed to share!
I always have an eye out for new races to add to my race wishlist. I have a life goal of running a marathon in all 50 states, and so when different marathons get featured on race websites it always grabs my eye. This race - the Utah Valley Marathon - seems like the perfect 26.2 for my Utah stop. Beautiful scenery, fast, and downhill- it seems like the perfect formula for a PR and, more importantly, a wonderful experience!
I know we're a bit past the perfect time of year for a Mint Julep, but this article was posted right around the time of the Kentucky Derby and I think this would be the *perfect* summertime treat. Take a refreshing drink, freeze it, and put it on a stick - who wouldn't love to enjoy something like that on the beach?!
Doug the Pug TV Show Compilation
It wouldn't be a Favorite Links post if I didn't include SOMETHING that has a dog in it, right? This video made me laugh so much I needed to share it with my friend Erin who loves pugs. Have a favorite show? It's likely that Doug the Pug parodies the intro to it in this video. If you need a smile or some sort of pick me up then press play on this amazing video and get ready to be cheered up! :)
For those of you that might not know, August is Elephant Awareness Month! (Don't feel too bad if you didn't know. My elephant-loving self only just found this out this year. There seems to be an awareness month for everything, so it's hard to keep up!) We all know by now that I LOVE elephants, so I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to talk about a few of my favorite organizations whose aim it is to help save elephants from poaching, abuse, and captivity. I highly encourage you to check these organizations out - all of them are fairly active on social media and all do very cool things!
I found out about this organization earlier in the year and instantly fell in love. This wonderful organization takes in orphaned animals - primarily elephants and rhinos - and raises them to the point where the animal can live in the wild once again. Coincidentally, I am right in the middle of reading Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story - perfect timing for this month! - and am learning all about the story of how this organization came to be (look out for the book review next week). They also offer a program where you can donate to foster an elephant, which I think is the coolest thing EVER. I definitely plan to participate in the foster program sometime in the near future, and would LOVE to visit the trust in Nairobi one day. They're doing such wonderful things! Elephant Parade
Elephant Parade is a really cool art project that raises awareness of elephant endangerment and donates 20% of their proceeds to various organizations that work to prevent the poaching of elephants and improve the welfare of the species. The organization has artists from around the world paint large elephant statues in their own unique way and displays them in cities around the globe to raise awareness. You can even buy smaller statues on their online store - each one unique so you just have to collect them all!
This style is so in right now, so why not buy a pair that supports a wonderful cause? The Elephant Pants donates $1-$2 dollars per item to various elephant conservation organizations, and during the month of August, a few select items will donate $5! I love how each print tells a story about a famous elephant in history. I could click through each item just to rad the story that goes along with it. It really reminds you why these causes are so important. They sell pants (my favorite designs are above!), shorts, bags, tapestries, and even a cute little charm bracelet. I can't wait to get my hands on my next paycheck so I can buy a handful of these beauties! :)
Do you have any favorite wildlife conservation organizations?
Let me know in the comments because I would love to check each and every one of them out!
Happy Tuesday everyone! Several snow days and impromptu days off the past couple of weeks have allowed me to roam around the interwebs and accumulate quite the list of links to share with you all today. From the Patriots to puppies to adopting elephants (you read that right), I'm really excited to show you all my favorite things on the net as of late! Patriots Win Super Bowl XLIX!
THEY FREAKING PULLED IT OFF! The Patriots won their fourth Super Bowl Sunday night and what a game it was! I don't think I ever went through so many emotions while watching a football game in my entire life. I was happy, I was sad, I was angry, I wanted to hide and turn off the game all together. Seriously, you should have seen the room I was in on that final Seattle drive. We were all SO depressed! I did not think we were going to be able to pull off a win. I thought for sure that we had lost a third Super Bowl in a row. Then BOOM, our undrafted rookie makes the play of the freaking century. WOW. What an ending. We are the champions once again!
It seemed like this year's Super Bowl commercials erred on the depressing side (check out my thoughts on that here... #COMmajorprobz), but Budweiser stole my heart once again by continuing their #BestBuds legacy and claiming my #1 pick for Best Commercial of Super Bowl XLIX. Their 2014 commercial was also my favorite of last year's Super Bowl, so if you missed and are a puppy lover like myself, I definitely recommend checking it out here!
I'm definitely a snacker. I prefer eating many smaller meals throughout the day instead of sticking to the big three (though I'm a huge fan of breakfast), and I'm always at a loss for what to grab when my tummy is rumbling. I know I should snag an apple or banana, but when I'm hungry, having just a piece of fruit or a salad does not fill me up and leaves me a little frustrated. This list gives you extremely healthy options for snacks which also keep you satisfied for a few hours! (I especially love mashed avocado on wheat toast! YUM)
How to Be Productive Every Day
This is a cute little post from one of my favorite blogs, Lemon Freckles, that gives you a few handy tips on how to stay productive. Even though this post is aimed at students or those who are self-employed and tend to work without someone peering over their shoulder, I think these tips can really apply to anyone. Being productive can seem elusive on some days, and we all know what happens when we're not productive - we get stressed. Try out a couple of these tips to help stay on top of your mountains of to-dos!
#CowArt
A friend of mine posted this on her wall and I couldn't stop watching/laughing. A couple of farmers in the Mid-West decided to get a bit creative when feeding their cows and tried to see if they could get the herd to create some aerial designs! Click play to see what they create - so funny! :)
30 Day Push-Up Calendar
I just completed this 30 Day Push-Up Challenge that I found on Pinterest! My upper body strength is pretty low, so I knew that I wanted to challenge myself to do more with it. I decided to kick off the year with this challenge and I actually got all the way through! The thing I liked most about doing a challenge is that I had an opportunity to exercise each day, even if my day was busy. I also really enjoyed that with this challenge, you're given rest days every 2 days so your muscles can grow and adjust. I really felt a difference in my upper body strength and will very likely be doing this challenge over again!
In searching for a February fitness challenge to attempt, I stumbled across DoYouYoga.com. (True Life: I just typed "DoYouToga" and almost didn't catch it...) This website is an awesome community of individuals learning and practicing yoga and features blog posts, a message board, and even video courses! I'm currently participating in a 30 Day Yoga Challenge video course which has been awesome so far! (I will be posting a full review when I am done!) If you're interested in trying out yoga for the first time or learning more about this form of exercise, I highly recommend joining! (You should also add me as a friend here!)
WHY AM I JUST FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS FOUNDATION?! I heard about this organization through a monthly favorites video on YouTube. It is a wonderful organization committed to the rescue and preservation of Wildlife in Africa, especially orphaned elephants and rhinos. The best part? You can donate and foster an elephant or rhino! The program works by receiving donations from foster "parents" or families, and you can then receive updates and photos on how your fostered animal is progressing! SO AMAZING! I know for a fact that when I am more financially stable I am 1,000,000% going to participate. Take a look at their website and read up on the organization. It is wonderful! (P.S. Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story by Daphne Sheldrick has shot right to the top of my to-read list upon discovery of this organization! #newrolemodel)
