Life and College Update

     Today is the start of my study week for the last semester of my freshman year of college. I thought it would be fitting if I gave you guys a bit of a life and college update. Basically my life has been a little crazy in the last couple months but it has all worked out for the better and everything is okay for now.

     I ended up getting a new computer at the beginning of last month after my whole fiasco with my other computer breaking. I think that I might have actually made a post about that a little while ago, but this is a life update so oh well. lol. The new computer that I got isn't exactly my favorite thing but it works. It also wasn't the one I wanted thank you to the guy at best buy telling my that they could sell me a computer that folded into a tablet, which I had always wanted, and then telling me they were out of every computer in the store other than the computer I ended up with.

     I also got some more fish. I got two albino cory catfish as well as another betta. I know it is a little ridiculous but hey, a girl wants what a girl wants. Plus I love them all.

     These are Snow and Marshmallow. Snow is quite a bit smaller than Marshmallow so I can tell them apart pretty easily. They are the cutest things ever and they are really fun to watch. They live with Oliver, my male veiltail betta who is red, and they all get along really well.

     This is Nova. He is a twin tail halfmoon male betta. He is black and blue with spots on his top fin. I didn't plan on buying him the day we got him but I fell in love with him and I just had to get him. I haven't gotten to spend a lot of him because I had to come back to school and he stayed at my house, however I will be going back to see him this weekend so I am looking forward to that. He has probably gotten a bit bigger since I last saw him two weeks ago. So it is going to be like a lovely surprise when I get back.

     Other than the getting more fish everything has been going pretty well. I am enjoying these last few weeks of school and slowly packing everything up to leave. I also have been working on getting a summer job. I will be going back to Dairy Queen but I may be getting a second job at Jo Ann's Fabric depending on how everything works out with them. I just have to see if they will work around my Dairy Queen schedule. If they can't work with my Dairy Queen schedule then I am going to be staying at Dairy Queen do to making more money and the drive not being as far. Plus I know that job well and I know the people there too. 

     The other thing I have going on is that I just sat in my lobby today and listened to a girl on facetime say that she only wanted to make YouTube videos to become a partner and make money. Then went on to say that was the only reason she made the stupid videos she made. Now I am sorry, I know a lot of people do YouTube for that but it just irritates me when I actually hear people say it. I am a strong believer in not doing something you don't like just for the money. Like if you are gonna make videos at least make videos that you like to do.

     Other than that stuff college had been going good. We are in the last two weeks so the end is getting close. It was an interesting adventure if I do say so myself. It wasn't what I expected and it was a little reminiscent of high school, but I enjoyed it. To say I am sad it will be over soon would be a lie though. I am actually really happy to get out of here for the summer and get back home. I have a lot of things going on back at home that won't get fixed until I am physically back home for awhile. 

     I think that is all for this update. Let me know in the comments how school is going for you and what is going on in your life. Also what blog posts would you like to see next?

Name Changes

 

   So today should have been a Weight Loss Wednesday post, however I figured that I needed to talk more about the name changes that have been happening on my blog and on my YouTube. There will be a new Weight Loss Wednesday post next week, I promise.

     So anyway on to what this post is supposed to be about. As you guys can tell if you have ever read this blog before, the name has changed. I did this because to be honest I realized that my blog was no longer about what I thought it was going to be about in the beginning and I figured it would be better to change my name now, then to change it after I have a lot more readers. The blog is now Frivolous Elegance, which I thought was fitting because this blog has a lot of things going on sometimes and it isn't just about diy, printables, or life anymore.

frivolous

adjective

1.

characterized by lack of seriousness or sense:

frivolous conduct.

2.

self-indulgently carefree; unconcerned about or lacking any seriouspurpose.

3.

(of a person) given to trifling or undue levity:

a frivolous, empty-headed person.

4.

of little or no weight, worth, or importance; not worthy of seriousnotice:

a frivolous suggestion.

     If you have ever taken a look at my posts you will see that they really are kind of carefree at times and they are also not ever the same. Monday I just post about whatever I feel like that day, Wednesday is weight loss journey day, and Thursday's used to be free printables (I am working on bringing that back it is just not working out for me). So as you can see my blog as a multitude of things going on.

elegant

adjective

1.

tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc.:

elegant furnishings.

2.

gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style:

an elegant young gentleman; an elegant prosodist.

3.

graceful in form or movement:

an elegant wave of the hand.

4.

appropriate to refined taste:

a man devoted to elegant pursuits.

5.

excellent; fine; superior:

an absolutely elegant wine.

6.

(of scientific, technical, or mathematical theories, solutions, etc.)gracefully concise and simple; admirably succinct.

     Then we get the elegance part because even though my blog has a lot of content I myself strive to make sure that it is good content that is tasteful and attractive. The attractive part is being worked on because this is the first time I have ever actually run a blog and wanted it to look really nice and grab peoples attention.

     So as random as the name seems there was actually a very thought out reason behind the blogs name change. The other name change I want to talk about though is the name change with my YouTube channel. There will be a video going up about this next week so once it goes up I will link it in this post.  The decision to change my YouTube name was not an easy one seeing as I had been on YouTube for 5 years on and off using the same name most of the time. Now I had gone through phases where I would try to make new channels but I would always go back to MakeupPrincess813. After YouTube started allowing you to use your real name because they started to connect with Google+ (I don't like google+ for any reason other than that I could change my name. I hate it other than that) I started to toss around the idea of changing my name. However, I didn't want everyone on the internet to know my last name so I just stuck with MakeupPrincess813. Recently though I had realized that even though I am still making makeup videos it is not all about that anymore. I wanted my channel name to be a little more professional as well as reflect more of what I was doing on the channel, and so after messing around my new channel Kaylan ❣.

     So I have spent a lot of time trying to remake the blog layout and headers as well as some stuff for YouTube. It has been a bit crazy because of all the changes, but I am glad I made them.

     What do you guys think of the name changes? Do you think it was a good move, or a bad move? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Weight Loss Wednesday: Week Two

     Well today marks the end of week two of this weight loss challenge and I am sad to say I am not where I wanted to be. It is getting harder for me to control exactly what I eat on the weekends because of the fast food choices that we have here at my school that are our only options for dinner on the weekends. The problem is not that I don't know what I can't eat, but rather that I do know what I can eat and my eyes are bigger than my stomach and then I don't want to waste any of my food. I know it is silly but it is something that is ingrained in my head and I am having a harder time getting over that than I thought I would. Everyone has to start somewhere, my weight loss is just taking a lot longer to kick off than I would have liked. I am still working with some apps that I have on my phone and trying to use them enough to be able to review them in a Weight Loss Wednesday post here in the next week or two. I will give you a sneak peak though, they have to do with setting weight loss goals as well as tracking your food. I am using both of them a lot during the week and so far I like them. I just don't want to say too much before I know exactly how I feel about them.

     Last week I weighed in at 208.7. That was a gain for me and it was a downer because it meant that I didn't get to start the weight loss journey off with something positive for you guys, but I promised I was going to be real so I sucked it up and posted it anyway and knew that I wanted to jump back on the wagon this week. Wednesday to Friday went pretty well for me last week and even through between Thursday and Saturday morning I didn't lose any weight, I held the same so I had hoped that meant this weekend would go better than it did. Saturday and Sunday was a struggle as it usually is. Monday morning was actually an uplifting day because even though I had gained between then and when I weighted in before the weekend I did not gain as much as I thought I would. I was still under what I was last week and in my mind that in itself was a win. Monday my eating went a little haywire because I accidentally ate way under my calories for the day so when I went to eat a snack that night I ended up eating way to much. Luckily for me there was no weight gain after that and it reminded me that I needed to be a little more careful about what calories I am eating through the day to make sure I am not way under my calories and I am not eating some ridiculous amount of calories before bed. Tuesday went slightly better, however I ended up splurging on some ice cream at dinner because it was birthday cake, and I have a weakness for that. Other than that food went well and I did not gain any weight so I was okay with that small splurge I had. This week I weighed in at 208.2 and with all the downs I had this week I am okay with that. It was at least a loss, no matter how small it was. I promise next week I start having pictures, I just keep forgetting to take them when I go to weigh.

     This weeks plan is pretty much the same as last weeks. Eating less calories and making sure the calories I do eat are good for me are the main things I am focusing on. As well as getting out and walking more to do some exercise. My exercise plan did get nipped in the butt last week since it stormed every day of the week pretty much so I didn't really get to walk like I had wanted to. I also didn't go to the rec center that we have on campus and use the track because I knew people would look at me weird for walking around the track and not running. If the weather is as terrible this week I will probably try to go see if there is a treadmill open at the rec and see if I can use it. This is another simple week to try to help get me started. I am also going home this week so I am going to try to cut back my fast food choices since I will be at home and able to have my mom cook for me. So hopefully this weekend will be a little better and be able to put me back on track.

     This weeks motivation does not come in the form of a picture or a quote as last weeks did, though that picture is still the lock screen for my phone. This week my motivation was that I got the text from my manager telling me that I was allowed to come back to work at Dairy Queen over the summer since I agreed to drop my title of Shift Leader and go back to just crew since I would be seasonal. The reason this is motivation for me is because I know that I have a little under a month to kick my fast food and ice cream habits if I don't want to go back to work there and ruin everything I have worked for. Plus I want to look a little thinner in the shirts that we wear, not that I look bad, but I work with people who are mostly tiny so it is a little motivation to make the shirt fit better and show them all that I didn't gain the freshman 15 while I was away. Which I in no way did to start with, but I want that to show outwardly.

I hope that your weight loss journey is going well for all of you. Let me know what your motivation for this week is in the comments and I will see you all next week.

Preparing For Finals| Tips and Tricks

    Today I thought that we could talk about something related to school since the last few posts have been life updates. Today I want to talk to you about preparing for finals and give you guys a few tips and tricks that I have gathered for getting ready since taking my first college finals last semester. Now these can apply to high school students as well, but they are more tailored for college.

1. Don't wait until study week to start studying.
     This is a big one. I waited until study week last semester and it was not something that was good. I was so stressed out and over thinking everything. The best thing to do is start studying the week before study week to start preparing. If you do it that way you will be able to spread studying out more and not feel like you are cramming information into your head all at the same time.

2. Make flash cards.
     If you are someone that has a lot of vocab involved with a class you are going to want to make flash cards. Now I recommend doing this with every test that way you can just build on your flash card collection for finals and not have to make them all at the same time. The good thing about this is you are studying while you make them, and then you can carry them around and study on the go.

3. Read through your notes.
     If you take notes you will find this pretty helpful. Just read through your notes 2-3 times while you are having a bit of quiet time. It may seem dumb but it is helpful. I promise.

4. Study with a friend.
     If you have a friend in your class you could get together with them and help each other study. Everyone is working towards the same goal of passing the final. Most people will get together and study with you and it can make it more fun. You could also just grab a friend and ask them to ask you questions so you can answer them without looking at the answer.

5. Study tests and quizzes.
     This is a good idea if you have access to the tests and quizzes you have taken throughout the semester because in my experience a lot of the questions on finals come from tests and quizzes you have already taken. Remember teachers hate making tests as much as we hate taking them.

     There are 5 tips and tricks for preparing for finals. I hope that these helped you out and if you have any of your own tips and tricks please leave them in the comments.

Free Printable Thursday: Workout Stickers

     So this week I thought I would make some stickers for you guys. I created three workout stickers that are all in a pdf together so that you guys could have all of them. They are for cardio, weight training, and abs. If you would like any other type of workout stickers let me know in the comments.

You can get them here,

      As always I hope you guys enjoy this weeks free printable.

Weight Loss Wednesday: Week 1

     So week one of my weight loss journey is over, and let me tell you it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I started out the week strong. I was eating less and eating healthier, then Friday April 3rd hit and it all went down hill. It is hard to eat healthy on the weekends at my college, mostly because they close everything down except the fast food places that are in our common area. To people that arn't dieting being able to buy Pizza Hut, Burger King, Taco Bell, and so many other places on credits is like a dream come true. For me however that is not the case. I absolutely despise going down there because the only healthy place we have is a knock off of Subway and let me tell you it is not very goo din my opinion and you can only get sandwiches, you can't even get a salad like you can at Subway. So this weekend was hard. I ate as decent as I could on Friday and Saturday but then Sunday rolled around and my mom came down for Easter and took me to lunch. We went to Chedders and it was amazing, the portions were just huge. I even brought food back to my dorm, but I still knew that I had over eaten. I let that continue the rest of the day with Pizza Hut for dinner and then a bag of chips and a pink lemonade at about 9:30 or so.

     To day I was disappointed Monday morning when I stepped on the scale would be an understatement. I was devastated. Everything that I had worked so hard for in the last couple days was gone from a few bad food choices do to not really having any other options. However, I picked right back up on Monday making sure to eat healthy and watch my calories. To my sadness when I checked my weight a few hours after dinner I was still at over what I was when I started on Wednesday. That was when I realized weighing myself multiple times throughout the day was not a good idea. Tuesday morning was good because I weighed and it had gone down just a little. However, then I had a really bad day with eating. Bad enough that I went back to my dorm and started crying. So today starts a new day of me trying to get back on the wagon of this weight loss thing, which was harder than I thought it was going to be at first.

      As of this morning April 8, 2015 I weighed in at 208.7 I am proud of myself for this because I had a struggle and fell off the wagon over the first weekend I had to eat at school, and I had prepared myself for that. I did not lose any weight and instead actually gained a little, but even though I am kind of sad about that, at least my falling off the wagon didn't cost me a pound or two like it could have.

     The plan for this week is to continue to keep my daily calories around 1430. I do a pretty good job at doing this, I just have a hard time always making the best choices on what to eat while I am getting to this. I am planning on also adding in at least one extra hour of walking this week. Sine I am in college I do probably about 30-45 minutes of walking a day depending on the day and where my classes are at. That gives me a solid 2.5-3.75 hours of walking in 5 days. Which doesn't seem like a lot but walking any amount help when it comes to exercise. I also had feet problems up until a few years ago and because of that I was never able to do more than walk, and even that hurt. I don't want to throw myself into intensive exercise knowing that my body has never been able to do that, so I want to work my way into it by adding an extra hour of walking each week until I finally reach to where I am adding an extra hour of walking every day. Also the 2.5-3.75 hours does not include what I walk on the weekends or any walking I do outside of going to class. 

     This weeks motivation is something I found on google and set as my phone background because I wanted to see it every day. It says "eat less sugar {you are sweet enough already}". I really liked this quote as something to put on my phone to see every time I was on it because I sometimes have a hard time saying no to sweets when they are offered to me. I feel like I am being rude if I say no, even though I know that is not the case. 

How did your first week of Weight Loss Wednesday go? Let me know in the comments. Also feel free to talk about any struggles you have had or any questions you may have. I will be talking in a week or so about some weight loss apps that are really helping me through this process, I just want to make sure that I am giving accurate information about them before recommending them. Good luck on your weight loss journey and I will see you all next week.

New Addition to My Betta Family

     A few weeks ago I introduced you guys to my betta Oliver while I was writing about treating his fin rot with triple-sulfa. Since then I have added another betta to my little betta family. Her name is Cinderella and I couldn't leave the pet store that day without saving her from the cup. I want to tell you all her story as well as just introduce her since she is my baby.

     The story of finding Cinderella begins with me going over to Petsmart with one of my friends to return an air stone that he had bought for his betta tank that had exploded before it even made it into the water to turn it on. I had tossed around the idea while I was in there of buying another betta because I had really wanted one but I knew that I would feel bad putting it into a one gallon bowl when Oliver gets a 5 gallon tank. So rather than pick out everything for a new bowl I decided to see if I could find a fish first. In my mind I was thinking that if I would't find a betta that I couldn't live without that was withing the price range I wanted to spend. As much as I love bettas I was not going to spend almost $20 on one like my friend did for his dumbo betta. There was a pink dumbo betta though for $10 and I almost bought it and it's name would have been pinky. Then the friend I was with picked up a female crown tail betta from the back of a display and goes "You have to look at this. It is Cinderella colors." Now I wasn't planning on getting a female because they are not usually as pretty as the males and I love the personalities that my Oliver has. I walked around the corner anyway to look at it and I instantly fell in love. Se was so tiny and just so pretty. She was irridesent in color with a pinkish red color koi pattern on her head and the pinkish red colored fins. I knew I had to get her. I couldn't just leave her there.

This is Cinderella after I got her home from the store and put her in her bowl.

     As you guys can see she is tiny. I mean a one gallon bowl is big enough for her at this moment. I am only keeping her in the gallon bowl until I get home from school at the end of the semester though. Then she is going to go into a divided 10-gallon with Oliver on one side and her on the other. Until then I think she is just enjoying being out of the cup.

     Some of you may be wondering why I got another betta and how I could possibly be obsessed with a fish that pretty much as to live by itself. The answer to that is rather simple, they have so much personality that it is hard not to love them and want as many of them as you can afford to buy. Oliver started an obsession with me, and it can be pretty expensive. The thing is though that you connect with one of these fish and they connect with you. Oliver knows when I come back from class or come back from going out. He sops tormenting and chasing around the ghost shrimp in the tank and always comes to the top and swims around waiting for my to come and say hello. He swims upside down sometimes too, which freaked me out at first because I thought something was wrong but it is him just doing little tricks to catch peoples attention. He also knows which people to show off for when they come into the room. He almost always shows off for the girls when they come in, but when the friend that bought him with me comes in he always swims to the side of the tank to say high and then torments the ghost shrimp more than normal, as if to try to show how big and bad he is.

     On the other hand Cinderellas is still pretty shy around most people. She stops and sticks all of her fins up whenever she hears a loud noise but she is always active when it is just me around. She knows who feeds her and who she needs to be nice too, lol. The one thing I have noticed is that if I come up to the tank she will come say high then go to the top like she thinks she is going to get food, and then when she doesn't she goes and hides behind the leaves of the plant in her tank and tried to play hide and seek. At first I thought she just did that because she was upset with me, but then I realized it was a game to her. She hides in the leaves, waits for me to look around for her, then moves again. I think at first it was here being scared, but now if she is scared of something or someone she just goes and hides in her little pineapple house that I got her. 

     If you are thinking about getting a fish I would recommend getting a betta, because they do have personalities and they are really fun to watch and play with once they get to know you. Yes they do play with you, its just not like a dog or cat would. The only thing I caution against is getting them if you do not have time for them. Bettas can live in bowls without filtration or air stones because they are labyrinth fish, but that doesn't mean they enjoy small spaces. The smaller the space you put them in, the faster the ammonia in the tank builds up and the faster you can kill your fish. That is why I keep Oliver in a 5 gallon tank, because he loves having all the space to show off, but he generally only stays in one corner because the tank is a hexagon and he thinks there is a fish there all the time because he can always see himself. Oliver also has ghost shrimp and a snail to help me out with eating things that are at the bottom of the tank. If you do not have the time to clean a gallon betta bowl everyday or every other day then please do not get one. You may feel you are doing it a favor but bettas need attention and need someone that will spend the time to give them that attention. If you do have the time though then I think a betta would be great, they always need saving from the cups at the pet stores and sometimes you can find some real jewels when you go in to get them. 

If you have bettas at home let me know in the comments. I would love to hear all about their personalities, what they are living in, and their favorite food.

Free Printable: Weekly Weight Tracker

     Today I wanted to share a printable weight tracker with you guys. If you don't know I myself have been trying to get healthier and lose weight and I know there are tracking apps on your iphone or android that you can use, and I do use them. Sometimes thought writing it down and keeping track of it helps you have more of a sense of accomplishment than if you don't.

Download the weight tracker.

     This is an extremely simple design that allows you guys to add as many dates as you can fit without being stuck to only having a line or two to write on. I added the thoughts column so that if you wanted to write how you felt about the loss or gain that you could. This was designed to be an 8x10. However as always you can size it to be whatever size you need.

     I want to apologize for slacking on printables. I have had some computer issues in the past month as well as just been busy with school to getting printables up has been a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Please enjoy!