Earlier this year while looking through movie options on Hulu, I thought this movie looked interesting. It had several familiar faces: George Lopez, Marisa Tomei, Carlos PenaVega, and Alexa PenaVega. It was a heart-warming story of underdogs achieving greatness despite all odds. In a high school on the West Coast, undocumented students come together to form a robotics club with George Lopez's character as their advisor. They work together to compete in a robotics competition against reigning champions, MIT. I loved their determination and resourcefulness, as they obviously had a much smaller budget than teams like MIT.
I found out that Spare Parts is actually a book and I plan to read it this summer. Kansas State University has a book of the year for students to read and this fall's book is Spare Parts.
I really enjoyed the movie and I think you will too.
Friday, April 29, 2016
Monday, April 25, 2016
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Ruelle-I Get To Love You
I'm again addicted to Dancing with the Stars. I watched one of this year's contestants, Nyle win America's Next Top Model and was excited to watch him again. He has the best attitude ever and happens to be deaf. His dances blow me away every week. This week's dance was especially moving and I fell in love with the song; in particular the beautiful lyrics! I hope you love it too!
I would've included the music video, but I didn't like it that much.
I would've included the music video, but I didn't like it that much.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Fitbit Flex
I'm Addicted!
I was using a pedometer, but it was a pain as it easily re-set itself and was impossible to wear with dresses. I knew, I essentially just wanted something to track steps and stairs. I have a watch and also didn't care about it relaying calls and texts. Thankfully, I friend had a Fitbit Flex that she wasn't using.
How it Works
It wasn't hard to figure out the Flex; each dot represents 2,000 steps. The blinking dots mean you're on your way to earning that next 2,000 steps.
Charge
While I heard that it has to be charged a lot, I haven't found that to be the case. I charge it twice a week. The phone app tells you how much battery you have left and I haven't found that to be accurate. Also, once it emailed me that it was dying, but hasn't since.
Features
It tracks my sleep which is really cool to see, including how many times I woke up during the night, as well as times of restlessness.
I can track my calories. It has a nice list of product's calories, so for my fig bars, I just found the brand and listed how many I ate.
It tracks roughly how many calories you've burned as well.
You can track how much water you drink.
You can add friends and see how your steps compare towards theirs. This has been really helpful as I'm very competitive. "What do you mean I'm 150 steps behind so-and-so? Not anymore, I'm taking out the trash!" I've even asked a high-stepping friend how he gets in so many steps. I've incorporated some of his feedback into what I do daily.
You also earn badges for your first 10,000 steps, etc. These are neat and motivating.
You can also start competitions. A friend of mine added me and a bunch of other people to a weekend challenge. During the weekend, I generally don't walk a lot, so the added motivation was great!
Statistics
I love stats and there are a ton on the app. It compares my steps to last week. My total steps this week compared to my friends. You get the idea.
App
The app is really intuitive and easy-to-use. My only issue with it is when I'm adding in food I've eaten and it freezes and kicks me out before I can add the other items I've eaten.
Overall
I love my Fitbit Flex and can't imagine life without it. I will note that it doesn't track stairs.
I was using a pedometer, but it was a pain as it easily re-set itself and was impossible to wear with dresses. I knew, I essentially just wanted something to track steps and stairs. I have a watch and also didn't care about it relaying calls and texts. Thankfully, I friend had a Fitbit Flex that she wasn't using.
How it Works
It wasn't hard to figure out the Flex; each dot represents 2,000 steps. The blinking dots mean you're on your way to earning that next 2,000 steps.
Charge
While I heard that it has to be charged a lot, I haven't found that to be the case. I charge it twice a week. The phone app tells you how much battery you have left and I haven't found that to be accurate. Also, once it emailed me that it was dying, but hasn't since.
Features
It tracks my sleep which is really cool to see, including how many times I woke up during the night, as well as times of restlessness.
I can track my calories. It has a nice list of product's calories, so for my fig bars, I just found the brand and listed how many I ate.
It tracks roughly how many calories you've burned as well.
You can track how much water you drink.
You can add friends and see how your steps compare towards theirs. This has been really helpful as I'm very competitive. "What do you mean I'm 150 steps behind so-and-so? Not anymore, I'm taking out the trash!" I've even asked a high-stepping friend how he gets in so many steps. I've incorporated some of his feedback into what I do daily.
You can also start competitions. A friend of mine added me and a bunch of other people to a weekend challenge. During the weekend, I generally don't walk a lot, so the added motivation was great!
Statistics
I love stats and there are a ton on the app. It compares my steps to last week. My total steps this week compared to my friends. You get the idea.
App
The app is really intuitive and easy-to-use. My only issue with it is when I'm adding in food I've eaten and it freezes and kicks me out before I can add the other items I've eaten.
Overall
I love my Fitbit Flex and can't imagine life without it. I will note that it doesn't track stairs.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Throwing a Baby Shower on a Budget
I wanted to throw a surprise baby shower for a friend, but it HAD to be on a shoestring budget.
I started with a secret Pinterest board; gathering game, food, and decoration ideas.
My Inspiration
(You may remember that I made this for my parent's 25th Anniversary party. Anyway, my friends LOVED it!) Click here for the recipe.
Making it Work
Thankfully, my cousin had just hosted a baby shower so I borrowed glass plates with cup holders (which were a lifesaver for my small apartment, streamers, napkins, balloons, stencils, and fabric pens with which to decorate bibs. My parent's have a lifetime supply of streamers from my parties, so that helped.
I was shocked by how much everyone enjoyed decorating bibs! They turned out so well!
I found this website and printed out the month for guests to guess the due date.
I also made sugar cookie sandwiches with frosting on the outside rolled in blue, green, and yellow sprinkles. I also made my own version of cheesecake dip which is terrific (cream cheese, sugar, whip cream, sour cream, and a little vanilla. Served my favorite store bought hummus with carrots and pita chips.
Costs
Frame for birthday date guess; $1 (Dollar Tree)
Baby boy-colored sprinkles: $1.83ish (Walmart)
Bibs: $10ish (Target)
Food: $15
Total (minus gift): under $30!!!
Best Part
My friend was surprised, everyone had fun, and she received much-needed items for baby!
I started with a secret Pinterest board; gathering game, food, and decoration ideas.
My Inspiration
Making it Work
Thankfully, my cousin had just hosted a baby shower so I borrowed glass plates with cup holders (which were a lifesaver for my small apartment, streamers, napkins, balloons, stencils, and fabric pens with which to decorate bibs. My parent's have a lifetime supply of streamers from my parties, so that helped.
I was shocked by how much everyone enjoyed decorating bibs! They turned out so well!
I found this website and printed out the month for guests to guess the due date.
I also made sugar cookie sandwiches with frosting on the outside rolled in blue, green, and yellow sprinkles. I also made my own version of cheesecake dip which is terrific (cream cheese, sugar, whip cream, sour cream, and a little vanilla. Served my favorite store bought hummus with carrots and pita chips.
Costs
Frame for birthday date guess; $1 (Dollar Tree)
Baby boy-colored sprinkles: $1.83ish (Walmart)
Bibs: $10ish (Target)
Food: $15
Total (minus gift): under $30!!!
Best Part
My friend was surprised, everyone had fun, and she received much-needed items for baby!
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