We’re not Brittney Spears in Toxic so cleanse yourself of all that ick yeah?

Hello! Hi!

Been a minute I know for those of you who are subscribed, so sorry! But for any new visitors, hello again, much love, welcome to the insanity that is my life.

Since I last posted a TON has happened and I mean a ton!

  1. I got engaged to the love of my life! I know I haven’t mentioned him much but if you follow me on Instagram (@pipsqueak_lyss) you’ll know him well.
  2. School has started and it is not like my first semester where I was just taking generals. My butt is being kicked into gear and I am grateful for it.
  3. I’ve been planning a wedding…. yikes but love! hahaha

Anyway today’s post is all about something that has become very important to me and that is cleansing. We’re not talking make up, social media, social life, or mental. We’re talking ALL OF IT!

If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (typing that was a struggle but thanks President Nelson) then you know that during the women’s session it was suggested to the members to take a 10 day fast from social media. If you are anything like me that is a really hard feat and I’m not even that popular on social media. I don’t have to worry about a loss of followers or even money because I’m not advertising. Like some of you I simply enjoy looking at beautiful things. I love seeing people happy and living their best life even when I know that it is a front to what is going on behind the camera.

I STRUGGLED with this challenge. I have no hobbies and no books I’m reading (favorite book list to be posted a later time 😉 ), so social media has become my filler for free time.

Bored? Social media.

Walking to class? Social media.

On the bus to work? Social Media.

Laying in bed being the fabulous Mrs. Potato Head I am? Social media.

I did a week long cleanse over the summer when I did a month long minimalist challenge, which I highly recommend for anyone needing to cleanse a few areas of their life, and it was hard too. I thought this time around would be easier where I have already done it but honey was I wrong! But its cool, it takes some practice and effort when its usually apart of your daily life. Now to get into it here is some cleansing ideas for different parts of your life.

Make up

To start off I have one question for you.

When is the last time you washed your make up brushes you nasty?!

Honey…. if you aren’t washing your make up brushes once a week then you should know exactly why you have acne. It is necessary to the livelihood of your skin to take care of your make up applying tools. Now, if you do need to wash them you don’t need to go crazy looking for special product or boards to rub your brushes on/in. Get yourself some gentle hand soap and a towel or an exfoliating tool with short bristles. Now wash them girls cause they are as nasty as a girl who didn’t wash her make up off after a night out.

Next if you use a sponge of any sort to help apply your make up and it has a tear or any chunks missing, throw it out cause that now holds a bunch of bacteria that you are rubbing on your face babe.

To finish off, clean out your make up. If you are a girl that doesn’t use all that much, good on you boo, live your best life. But for the rest of us who range from having a decent selection of eyeshadow’s to pick from to “I got a whole make up station dedicated to my mounds of make up,” we gotta clean things up a bit. Go through your make up and find those old mascara’s and things that you’ve had for a little to long. Make up only lasts a certain amount of time. I don’t mind buying the somewhat smaller or medium sized bottles cause those larger ones aren’t going to be looking to fabulous by the time I’m trying to poor out those last drops of it. If you have had it to long or don’t use it once every few weeks (at the most) then it needs to go. Sorry boo but its true.

Health

If there is one thing that I recommend for everyone, and you will here this a thousand times, drink your water! It is a proven fact a majority of the times that you are craving something and can’t put your finger on what, your body is asking for water (not gonna cite it so look it up if you don’t believe me). Your body is smart. If it’s low in salt it’s gonna make you crave salt. But when you can’t decide what it is your hungry or thirsty for, drink some water and you’ll be glowing.

Next, get yourself a beauty routine. If you didn’t know, I didn’t till about 6 months ago, there are different skin types. Combination, oily, dry, and more. I knew people had more oily or dry skin but I didn’t realize there were certain routines and products for these skin types! FYI I’m combination and I feel like I got a pretty good thing going for myself. So look it up, find your type and do it. That’s the big thing, actually doing it.

Your Social Life

Now this is a bit of a touchy subject cause its totally up to you how you live your life but I don’t really know the age range of the viewers that I do have so maybe there are some out there who haven’t learned some of the things I have in my 20 years.

  1. Don’t stick with people who don’t reciprocate your efforts in a relationship. Friendly or romantically.
  2. Delete that old post if you feel like it but if you like the picture still, you can always just change the caption.
  3. Do you and don’t care what anyone else thinks. People who respect you and love you will come out of nowhere and change your life when you are being true to yourself and the best of relationships come out of it.
  4. If you want to text him/her, just do it. The whole tag game of waiting a certain amount of time or “I always text first” is stupid in my opinion. If you want to talk to someone just do it.
  5. Delete your social media accounts every so often. Start with a weekend a month or every Sunday. Social media as we all know can be damaging in different ways so give yourself a break.

This was a long af post my bad, sorry not sorry, but I hope there was something useful for you!

Thanks for tuning in!

Dorm Room Must Haves

Congrats your going to college! Or perhaps you are already there and you could use an update.

Whatever your reason is, making your dorm or room in your apartment is essential to the college experience. You got to have a space that is dedicated to you while you are putting everything into your schooling and work.

Bedroom

  • Sheets
  • Cover or quilt
  • Sleeping pillow
  • Decorative pillows – pointless but cute nonetheless
  • Small & Large blanket
  • Bed risers – gives you more space for under-bed storage
  • A desk – if not provided or if you only have one for a shared room like my apartment is
  • Shelves – it’s nice to have an extra space to put your things if there isn’t a lot of storage
  • Calendar
  • LOTS OF PICTURES
  • Long body mirror – some dorm’s already have one so make sure you look into whether yours does or doesn’t
  • String of lights – I have a cute one from Rue 21 that I can hang my polaroid’s from

Bathroom

  • Shower bag/basket – handy for keeping all of your stuff in order if you don’t keep it in the shower
  • All of your usual bathroom supplies for doing hair and make up
  • A cup – to hold tooth brush and toothpaste
  • Small bags or baskets – to help you sort all of your supplies

Miscellaneous

  • Plug in heater/fan – my apartment has one attached to our wall so I didn’t need one. If you don’t have one like me though you’ll love it on cold nights or for background noise while studying or if roommates are being a little noisy at night.
  • Basic tools – trust me, when you first move in and are building shelves or if something breaks it’s nice to have a screwdriver laying around. Or if your picky like me it was handy to have a measuring tape for planning out spacing between the picture frames I hung up 😉 Thanks Dad!
  • Plug extender

Kitchen

If you are moving in with a friend(s) you may share supplies from the kitchen a lot but if not it’s nice to have things of your own for all of your needs.

  • 4-6 sets of dishes (plates, bowls, cups, and silverware)
  • Steak knives
  • Butter knives
  • Spatula
  • Serving spoon
  • Strainer
  • Large & small pan (lids)
  • Large & small pot lids)
  • Cheese grader
  • Strainer
  • Tupperware
  • Large bowl for mixing ingredients
  • Cutting board

School Supplies

  • Comfortable backpack with plenty of pockets for everything and pockets for your water bottle
  • Water bottle – a ton of people have those hydro flasks and they are nice don’t get me wrong but whatever you get make sure it fits into that side pocket on your backpack
  • Thermos – walking to school with a hot chocolate when its below freezing is AMAZING
  • Highlighters
  • Colored pens
  • iClicker or the app for it – this may be unique to Utah State University, I honestly don’t know but if your going there you will most definitely need one for at least one class because they will do polls and you will answer using this.
  • Lap top/charger – the schools have great computers as well if this isn’t an option. I had to use them for almost 2 weeks when I lost my charger for my laptop and did just fine
  • Snacks – go go squeeze is my go to
  • Calculator
  • Lots of pens and pencils
  • TIP: Wait to buy most school supplies till you have been to the class at least once and know the policies for it. Most classes will let you type your notes (which is usually faster so you can keep up with teachers who go through slides fast). But you may have the one teacher who doesn’t like technology use so you may need a notebook for that one.

For desk

  • Pencil holder – I have a ton of cute mugs that my friends have given as gifts so that is what I use
  • Phone stand – for facetiming while getting your study on
  • Fun decorations or tiny plants

You do you baby doll

This time of year is always a weird one.

My life has played out a lot different then most do at this age. This time two years ago I had graduated from Layton High School and had no idea what I was doing next. I didn’t make the dance team I had tried out for, so my plan to go to that school died.

I eventually reached a point where I knew I wasn’t going to school this year so I went to work and did what I wanted for a time.

A year ago I was still at home, working a job I loved but partially knew that as much as I would like to make a career of it, that it wasn’t what I really wanted to do for the next 20 years of my life. I looked into school or even moving into an apartment with friends but it fell through so I stayed where I was.

Now here I am, done with my first semester of college after taking the best year and a half off. I may have discovered what I want to do with my life and I’m okay if it turns out not to be the one for me.

Taking the time off definitely came with hardships and plenty of trials but it was the probably the best thing I did for myself. I recommend to everyone, young enough, to look into taking a year off and fitting in some volunteer trips or something for themselves if the don’t know what they want to do.

Your not always going to have a life plan, dream job or even a dream school. And no matter what anyone says, that is totally okay.

It’s okay not to know.

Not to know what you want. Where you want to be 5, 10, 20 years down the road.

Don’t spend to long sitting around trying to figure it out, but it is okay to put some of those “responsibilities” aside and figure yourself out. Now I’m an indecisive child so even after a year and a half off I still had no idea what I wanted so I put myself in gear and went back to school to give that a go.

Moral of the story is focus on yourself and your desires before listening to what the world around you wants of you.

You are the most important in your universe so do what you need to do for yourself!

love lyss

Twenty Before Twenty

I turn 20 in 100 days so I wanted to put together a list of things I want to do before then!

  1. Write something for myself everyday. I have always enjoyed writing, and I write in many different forms. Poetry being a big one, and writing in my journal. Sometimes i’ll even type passing thoughts in my notes on my iPhone before I forget them. I haven’t been as active about some of those as I would like to be so I want to have developed a habit to do so.
  2. Learn something new.
  3. Discover more about my origins.
  4. Think before speaking. I have a terrible habit, or quirk, that I think faster then I am speaking so my words get mixed up or jumbled and it is super embarrassing. I sound like I have a speech impediment, when in reality I don’t so I want to try slowing down before speaking.
  5. Sign up for a class for fun.
  6. Start working out/stretching daily. Vshred guys. It’s a magical thing!
  7. Unplug for a weekend.
  8. Learn a song on the ukulele.
  9. Go on one more trip. I was super lucky and got to go on a trip to San Diego for my Spring break back in March, and Las Vegas for my siblings Spring Break, but I love to travel and I want to try and go on one more! (Call me spoiled) Even if it’s as simple as a weekend away in Idaho or southern Utah!
  10. Sleep in my hammock.
  11. Get a massage.
  12. Create a vision board to hang in my dorm next semester.
  13. Find a hobby I enjoy. Any suggestions would be cool!
  14. Try ribbons. Ever seen those girls wrapping themselves up in those ribbons hanging from the ceiling then suddenly falling looking like they are about to die? Yeah I wanna do that!
  15. Do a 30-day minimalist challenge.
  16. Come up with a 5 year plan. This one should be interesting for me haha
  17. Get a pen pal. I honestly think that becoming friends with someone that lives across the country or even another country would be way cool! Then we could be like the people in movies traveling to visit one another!
  18.  Earn enough that I can save up for my future plans.
  19.  Finish filling out my “All About Me” book so I can look at where 20 year old me was at with life.
  20. Go skydiving for my birthday!

Wish me luck cause this summer is gonna be jammed packed and it’s going to be great!

Packing

I mentioned briefly in a previous post, San Diego Surprise, that I have been very lucky to go on a lot of trips and consider myself a “professional packer” (though I think my dad would disagree haha).

I have been home from my own college spring break trip to San Diego for about a month and my mom has invited me to go to Vegas with my family for a long weekend! I’m usually not quite this spoiled but I’m not going to complain either!

For this post I have created a basic packing list that you can use that is like the one I use for all of my trips! It’s great because I keep a plain version saved on my lap top and I just have to go and edit a few things depending on where the trip is and what the weather is going to be like while I am there.

Clothing

  • Tops -days there
  • Pants -one or two depending on whether its going to be chilly the whole trip
  • Shorts
  • Tennis shoes -for hiking or days with a lot of walking. I recommend a couple if it is a Disney trip or camping
  • Socks
  • Sandals
  • Skirt or dress -it’s always a good idea to bring one to use as a cover up and another if you plan on eating out at a nice place. Add some cute heels if that is the case.
  • Swimsuits
  • Jacket
  • Activewear
  • Pajamas
  • Underwear/bras

Accessories

  • Jewelry
  • Watch
  • Belt
  • Hat -whether its a floppy sun hat or a baseball cap, having one handy in case of a bad hair day
  • Sunglasses

Toiletries

  • Toothbrush
  • Toothpaste
  • Deodarent
  • Hair brush
  • Hair accessories -bobby pins, pony tails
  • Razor
  • Body wash
  • Shampoo/Conditioner
  • Keratin Hair Treatment – dying my hair from dark to light did some damage so I have this to treat it
  • Face wash/Scrub
  • Perfume
  • Sunscreen
  • Curling iron
  • Flat iron
  • Hair ties
  • Pain killers
  • Vitamins
  • Perscription
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Q-tips
  • Lotion
  • Nail clippers
  • Tweezers
  • Small scissors
  • Feminine products

Growing up I have yet to go somewhere that is pretty cold because my family usually travels during the winter because we cannot stand the cold weather (Mom and me especially). This resulted in places that were hot and humid which I hate wearing a lot of make up in, plus who wears a lot to the beach or pool any way. So hears what make up I usually bring on trips.

  • Moisturizer/Primer with SPF
  • Foundation -for fancy dinners out or if my blemishes need a little coverage
  • Water proof mascara
  • Neutral eye shadows
  • Water proof eyeliner
  • Setting powder
  • Eyebrow pencil -my eyebrows are one of my things that even on a “no make up kind of day I have to do to fill in the lighter areas
  • Some kind of lip
  • Concealer kit -this includes my yellow, and green concealer to cancel out my blemishes or dark under eye.
  • Make up remover

Technology

  • Phone/charger
  • Portable charger
  • Laptop/charger (cause even on vacation you have homework in college!)
  • Headphones
  • Camera (polaroid camera)

Miscellaneous

  • A book (or two) to read
  • Notebook/pen
  • Keys
  • Wallet (cash/card)
  • ID
  • Passport
  • Boarding passes

Now i’m off to Vegas for the weekend!

love, lyss