venturing out

Today I will be elsewhere. 

But I'd love if you would stop by!

The wonderful Kenzie over at cameras and cupcakes has let me guest post 

oh her fabulous blog!

So come say hello to me over there today!

Now go have an awesome weekend guys. :)

But first come say hi to me {here}. 

Cause you know you want to. 

guest post with Andrea from pics-o-andrea

How's everyone doing? Miss me? Well I am having a fabulous time (and a fabulously busy time) at home right now. I can't wait to tell you all about it.  But for today, I have an awesome post for you by the lovely Andrea over at pics-o-andrea. Enjoy! And don't forget to head on over to her blog and say hello! :)

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Hello there, my name is Andrea and I blog over at pics-o-andrea. 

I am so excited to be able to help out Candace while she is having a blast visiting family back East.

Yes, it is basically summer [insert high-pitched squeel and happy Carlton dance here], 

but I know Candace is taking classes right now, as well as a lot of other bloggers. Also, there are many who are planning for college in the near future. What I’m getting at is,basically, the other night I was talking with a friend about when we were in college and our most favorite semesters and why we loved them so much and how we wished everyone could have those amazing experiences. College can either be really rough or an amazing and memorable experience.

Just because you (yes, you) are so awesome, I’ve decided to share some tips that I used to helped me in college to not be a major bum with no friends or life ...and still get excellent grades:)

1. Get involved. Don’t worry about who else is going, or if your hair looks perfect or not; If someone invites you to an activity, date, dance, BBQ, movie, party, bike ride, team cooking competition, laser light show, Super Smash Brothers showdown, breakdance competition, rock climbing, slip-n-slide, jam session, bridge-jumping, or  a picnic (and they are not a crazy/scary person and there won’t be crazy/scary things involved) GO! -Even if you don’t know the people very well -that’s how you make friends. Also, colleges want you to be social and, typically, they provide students with plenty of ongoing activities, so find what you like and get involved. This advice is especially important at the very beginning of a new semester.
*I may or may not have personal experience being invited by to all of the aforementioned activities in my college career.
**Even if you’re not single, stay involved and go out and have fun:)

2. Get To Know Your Roommates. Roommates are huge! (not literally ...usually) These are the people you live with. Of course they’ll seem kind of weird at first (they’re thinking the same thing about you). You’re living together, so you’re going to discover habits about each other that  may be difficult to handle at first (snoring, stealing food, getting home late, waking up early, smelly, messy, loud...) but you’ll make it much easier on yourself if you really get to know them and spend time together. That’s when you’ll really discover their amazing traits. It’s true, roommates can become some of your best friends. -either that or they just make for really funny stories:) (win win?)

3. Prioritize. Make sure you don’t make college into just a big party fest and forget all about your classes and homework. You’re paying for the classes, so make the most of it! Sure, a social life is important, but stay organized with your schoolwork so you can keep on track.

Some kind of planner is essential.

And you may need to make some sacrifices. Ex: If you have a huge test on Monday, wake up extra early on Saturday to study and prepare instead of going to the river for the day. Then, if you feel confident in your studying, maybe reward yourself by catching a late movie with your roomies. See? Not so bad.

To make college memorable, you need to put in the effort and have the right attitude:) Studying is important and has it’s place, but don’t hide in your room or a corner in the library all day. Make every semester an amazing one!

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Thanks Andrea!

guest post with Leah from An Ordinary Fairytale

Happy June 1st you guys! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far.  Today, I have a wonderful guest post for you to read from Leah over at An Ordinary Fairytale.  She has definitely been a great blogging buddy and I wish I knew her in real life.  So today, while the hubby and I venture off to visit a grad school, sit back and enjoy this lovely post! And when you're done, head on over to Leah's darling blog! :)

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Hey Together for the Better Readers! It's Leah from An Ordinary Fairytale and I'm excited to be guest posting for Candace as she is off traveling!

I've got a question for you today- What would you do with an extra hour in your day? I feel like I'm not alone in saying that another hour or two in my day would be nice! When you break down a 24 hour day, you're supposed to sleep for a third of it (if you're lucky, right?!), be at work or school for about another third of it, and the last third is usually spent running errands, doing homework, washing clothes, making dinner and other tasks like that.  Hopefully you enjoy your job or classes, and we all know what a good night's sleep does for us, but where are the hours to enjoy doing things you love? (Except of course if you like doing laundry... ;]) Because those hours seem to be few and far between, that's how I'd spend an extra hour in my day. 

If my day had 25 hours, I would spend time ...

crafting.

personal photo

I love to make cards from scrapbook materials, and I have an entire list of other crafts I'd like to try, but I am always running out of time to get anything made. With an extra hour, I'd get my fingers nice and sticky from glue while going crazy creating!

reading.

via

I've loved to read since I was a little girl, but as a college kid, it seems like all I read are textbooks now. With an extra hour, I'd have time to read a book for fun without the risk of being too tired to read  for enjoyment before bed!

baking.

via

Someday I want to decorate all sorts of desserts- cakes, cookies, cupcakes, you name it! But I rarely have time to experiment or try, and so with an extra hour I'd be able to learn to create all sorts of yummy treats!


Now it's your turn- what would you do with an extra hour in your day? Unless you really like to do laundry or finish your homework, I don't want to hear it! What are the things you enjoy doing that you'd like more time to do? Leave a comment and tell us what you'd do with an extra hour in your day! :)
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Thanks so much Leah!

guest post with Brooke from Bright Wishes!

Today you guys get to hear from the lovely Brooke over at Bright Wishes.  I fell in love with her blog a couple months ago and if you haven't seen it yet, go over and check it out! 

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Hey everyone, its Brooke from Bright Wishes! It's so great to be here at Together for the Better blog! Candace asked me to write about anything I'd like, so I chose to share with you some wedding colors that have been in style lately. I'm a bride to be and basically planning a wedding while my fiancée is in another state, so I'm so absorbed into the wedding world although I think any bride is :)

LAVENDER 

click to view more of this wedding.


GREEN

click to view more of this wedding.


GRAY + YELLOW

click to view more of this wedding.

BLUSH PINK

click to view more of this wedding.

I hope you enjoyed going through the colors! My personal favorite is the blush pink. I think it's such a romantic color. What's your favorite?


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Thanks so much Brooke!

guest post with Christal from Mustard Me Yellow

Hey everyone! I am back in good ol' Virginia these days! I'm sorry I wasn't able to put up the wonderful guest posts I have sooner, but unfortunately I had some unexpected internet problems.  I do believe they're all resolved now though, so for the next few days, sit back and enjoy listening to some fabulous posts.

Today you get to hear from my lovely friend Christal.  She lives in Hawaii as well.  Remember when Beau and I had those awesome pictures taken? Well, that was Christal.  Now, enjoy her awesome post and then head over to her blog and say hi!

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Hello. I'm Candace's friend, Christal!  I am so glad that she has asked me to be one of her guest bloggers!  I am a lifestyle blogger and I love photography.  I love taking pictures and I can't get enough of it. I also love thrifting and doing little DIY projects whenever I get the chance. Feel free to follow me HERE.
Here's a little DIY tutorial on a ruffled wreath that I've been wanting to make.  Enjoy!

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Thanks again Christal!

whack-a-mole

Remember that lovely game called Whack-A-Mole.

via

Well, my husband and I had our own rendition of it the night. 

But instead of a mallet, we used shoes. 

And instead of moles, we wacked cockroaches.
......

All over our kitchen floor.  

Because even though  my house appears calm and relatively clean during the daytime, as soon as the clock hits midnight, the roaches come out.  The majority of them are fairly small (about the size of my fingernails) thank goodness.  But still...why are there SO MANY??
I love Hawaii so much, but I would love a good bug bomb about now.

The good news?
I just found out last week that the hubby and I got our housing transfer approved.
Which means we will be moving to a one-bedroom apartment next month!
You hear that? A BEDROOM!
If you didn't already know, my husband and I currently live in a teeny tiny studio.
We like to call it "cozy."
But next month, we will be saying "so long!" to the studio and "hello!" to the one-bedroom.
I am soooo excited about this you guys. Plus, I will have some free time on my hands this summer, which means I'll have time for new decorating projects!
And since we will now be on the second floor, I'm crossing my fingers we won't have as many little critters.

This summer is going to be fan-TASTIC! I am actually leaving on a plane today and flying home!
This will be the first time Beau and I have been home since we got married.
We'll be traveling around the east coast for about three weeks and then back to Hawaii mid June.
We're gonna be busy but doing a lot of exciting stuff, so be looking forward to some fun stories!
In the meantime, I will be having some guest bloggers posting in the next few days and next week.  If anyone is still interested in guest posting for me, I'd love to chat about it! My e-mail is up top under the "Contact" tab.  Shoot me an email if you're interested.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous week! I know I've been absent from blogging for awhile, but this last week has been crazy trying to prepare for our trip.  So you may hear from me once more, but if not, enjoy all the guest bloggers you'll hear from.  I promise they're all wonderful!  

new classes and exciting news

I started my first day of classes for Spring Term on Monday.  Let's just say that this is going to be a very very busy term.  I've got 8 hours of classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays! I've also got class Mondays and Wednesdays. Thankfully not near as long however.  Every Tuesday I'm required to turn in 15 single-space pages worth of papers.  15 EVERY week! SINGLE space! Here are 5 of the 7 books that I will be reading every word of in the next 6 weeks.  Quite a bit huh? Yeah, my thoughts as well.

BUT, after this term is over, the hubby and I are flying home for about 3 weeks! 

And the best part? We don't have to pay a dime for it! How you ask? Well let me tell you.

Both of us are actually traveling to Washington D.C. to present at a national conference (APS-Association for Psychological Sciences) at the end of May. There's about 10 of us going from the school.  Annnnnd, since my family just so happens to live 10 or so miles from the conference, Beau and I decided to extend our stay by a few weeks.  I met with the school's travel office to discuss the ticket change. Well, it just so happened that our new tickets cost LESS than the original tickets would have been, meaning we didn't have to pay any differences and we get a lovely vacation out of it. I am beyond excited! 

After the conference we will spend some time in Northern Virginia with my family.  We will then head to Virginia Beach for a weekend with my grandparents.  From there we will be heading to North Carolina for an extended-family vacation with Beau's family.  They are actually from Georgia, but their big family vacation in North Carolina happened to line up perfectly with our own travels. We haven't been home since the very beginning of July, shortly after our wedding, so it will be especially nice to have this little time at home.

Also, I'm thinking about having some guest posts while I'm gone. I'm not completely sure what the topics will be yet, but if you're interested (which I hope you are!), shoot me an email and let me know!

Candaceshep22@gmail.com

Sorry for the word overload guys.  

Happy Wednesday!