The Month of November

This have been a great month so far and to come. I graduated from school!!!!! I'm done with that place! No more school for me unless I decide later down the road to go get my massage therapy license or go back into nursing (which is very unlikely). For now I'm just enjoying the holidays and then hopefully get a job by January or February. I had a bad experience interviewing for an job not too long ago. It was at Enlighten Laser and I got the worst feeling there. It must have been because of the interviewer. She had way too much done to her face and she was then trying to sell me on Botox (I'M 19 PSYCHO! DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON BOTOX!). But I asked for it coming into this industry. I will have to deal with the superficial people all the time; especially the ones with body dysmorphic disorders (Michael Jackson disorder, love HIM though!). From the interview I got the sense that this particular interviewer, not necessarily people who worked there, thought of clients as big dollar signs and weren't interested in helping clients with their skin. Ultimately, I've decided a Laser Center is just not for me. I am looking into medical spas, day spas, and dermatologist/plastic surgeons offices but we shall see. I know Heavenly Father will help me find a suitable job for my beliefs and liking.
 
Also this month my brother Bret had a baby boy named Mark. That's my 3rd nephew, and most definitely not my last. He was born on the last day of making up my school hours November 16th. How appropriate; a new beginning for both me and Mark. My dads birthday was also this month, so I got to catch up with extended family at his birthday party which is always good and fun
.(yes, this is my good looking nephew sucking his thumb!)
I've still been obsessed with making and experimenting with new foods. I've made homemade tomato soup(almost perfected), homemade crepes with homemade cinnamon apple filling and whipped heavy whipping cream, homemade roasted chex mix, maple and balsamic sweet potatoes, Parmesan spread for rolls or biscuits, and probably some more but I just can't remember. I just love trying new recipes and finding that one that everyone loves.
 
I've also been working on crocheting a blanket that I started over a year ago but stop when it started to warm up this year. It's white, gray, and pink and is turning out to be super cute! I was going to make it a big blanket for my self but it's going to be a baby blanket for when I have a little girl in the future or for a niece. (this isn't my blanket but it's got my colors with more pink and white of course!)

November couldn't be November with out talking about Thanksgiving! I just want to say how thankful I am for student loans; without them, I couldn't have gone to school for what turns out to be my passion! I'm so thankful for: The Savior, military, missionaries(miss my friends so much!), the gospel, family, friends, indoor plumbing, my bed (and my parents bed which I like to take naps in sometimes! Why is it that parents beds are always so much more comfortable than your own?), Midol, my parents jobs, my body, hair spray, my knowledge of skin care, doctors, nails and toenails, my OB(she is amazing!!!!!!!), music, boys...wait I mean MEN!, my hair, hoodies, carpet, tomato soup, medicine, movies, books, the holidays, and lots of other stuff I can't think of right now.

Here's my beauty tip: the cold, dry weather this holiday season can leave your lips dry and cracked. Put on a thin layer of Vaseline(petroleum jelly) every time your lips hurt. If that doesn't help or needs some extra help, look for a lip balm with hyaluronic acid (it holds a 1000x its weight in moisture), aloe, cetyl alcohol, silicone derived ingredients such as cyclomethicone and dimithicone, or grape seed oil. Hope that is useful and helps! Happy Holidays!

Pinterest!!!

I suggest everyone take a look at pinterest.com. It is so amazing! I have gotten so many food ideas and lots of other ideas! Also, if you want to check mine out go to http://pinterest.com/mjdancing.
So, I PASSED BOTH of my State Boards! Woot! Now all I need to do it get the rest of my hours. I graduate in 4 weeks but will be done completely in about 5-6 weeks because I have a lot of hours to make up after graduation. Stupid Mono!!!
Ever feel that your face looks like the photo below!?
  
Beauty Tip: DON'T OVER WASH your face, or anything quite frankly! 1-2 times a day (for the face only so morning and night) is all you need. Over washing the face will strip the skin of oils, thus making the skin produce MORE oils. If you get a shine through out the day use some toner as it balances out oil production. Use rice paper (which you can get at Sallys or where ever) which will only take off the excess oil on top of the skin and not the oil down in the pores; so it won't strip your skin.  Or look for a moisturizer with microsponges in it which absorb oil throughout the day.  I love toners if you couldn't tell from my previous posts. Put your best face forward!

I have a new obsession with cooking good food!! And Conference was AMAZING!

Well General Conference ROCKED! My favorite talks were by President Uchtdorf and Sister Dalton. Uchtdorfs gave me chills with his quote "The most powerful being in the universe, is the father of your spirit" CHILLS! What a comforting thought! And Sister Dalton talked about the relationship between a father and his daughter. So CUTE! I am so grateful for my relationship between my Dad and my Father in heaven. Anyways, it was really good!
K, So like I said in my title, I have a new obsession with cooking really good food. I made some really good chocolate chip cookies the other day and the secret was one egg and one egg yolk. I then used the Egg whites on my little brother (Beauty tip coming up!) My next projects are homemade Tomato and basil soup, Cake Bites, Bianca Pizza, Chicken salad sandwich, Eggplant ricotta bites (I'm perfecting them), and what ever else I can find. Once I make them I will let you all know! If you have any amazing recipes, let me know!

K, beauty tip....I used the left over egg whites from the chocolate chip cookie recipe and I whipped it up with a electric mixer until it was foamy. I put it on my brothers face for about 5 minutes and his face was so smooth and not oily! Eggs whites are good for oily acneic skin and egg yolks are good for dry and dehydrated skin. Now for Cucumbers! They are a great anti-inflammatory, so good for inflamed acne, sun burns, and for inflammation around the eyes (hence the picture)! Plus is a great antioxidant! For those who are worried about fine lines and wrinkles, look for professional products with peptides. Peptides are smart, they trick the skin into thinking there has been a significant loss of collagen in the skin so it starts producing more collagen to make up for the "loss", but really your skin hasn't lots a significant amount of collagen so your really just producing more collagen on top of what you already had. Good luck Ladies and Gents with your skin!

Nothin Special But Something Delicious!

So I made this amazing new recipe Saturday night! I had been sitting all day at school Saturday reading some magazines and found this recipe. I've found this new obsession with trying out new ideas in cooking. I am going to (hopefully!) become a wife and mother someday and I would like to cook good healthy meals that also taste GOOD for my family! It's called Eggplant Riccota Bites and you kind of have to have a mature taste and like authentic Italian. It reminded me of my days working at Settebello so that's good to think my food was restaurant quality or somewhere near it!! I used fresh garden tomatoes instead of plum tomatoes and Balsamic Vinegar instead of the Red Wine just because of preference. And by the way, red wine vinegar doesn't have an alcohol percentage so no worries if you want to us it! If you don't like eggplant, that's okay because you can hardly taste it. I have never had eggplant before this recipe and it reminded me of zucchini so maybe try zucchini instead...
***Oh! I almost forgot! My beauty tip! hmmm lets see... ever have problems with makeup not lasting all day and don't want to spend all that money on a primer? Well then, use a TONER! You can get them anywhere! They help with balancing the pH of your skin by balancing the oil production which is good if you don't want acneic skin! But! Toners have a secret benefit, they help set your makeup! I suggest the Hydrating Toner by Murad. It is very gentle and can even be put on your eye lids without stinging! (Please don't put toners with a high percentages of alcohol on your eyelid to set eye makeup... it WILL burn!!! Try using the one I reccomended or something you know for sure won't burn!) Hope that beautiful tip helps! Enjoy the recipe!***
 

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant
• Kosher salt
• All-purpose flour, for dredging
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra- virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
• 2 large plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• Shredded fresh basil, for topping

Directions

Thinly slice the eggplant into rounds and season with salt. Pour some flour into a shallow dish. Beat the eggs in another dish. In a third dish, mix the breadcrumbs and parmesan. Dredge the eggplant in the flour, then dip in the eggs and coat with the breadcrumb mixture.(make sure it's in that order)

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, cook the eggplant until golden, about 2 minutes per side, adding more oil between batches, if necessary. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.

Toss the tomatoes with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil and the vinegar in a bowl. Spoon some ricotta onto each eggplant slice. Top with the tomato mixture and basil.

Oh how life likes to throw fast balls my way!

Last Friday, I was heading to school on south bound I 15. I had a not wanted to go to school that morning, because I was tired and didn't feel like doing the things we had going on that day, but I went anyways. So I'm heading down the free way and all of a sudden I feel like I've hit a bumpy patch of road, but it didn't stop. Then, I started to smell rubber... Yeah my back right tire blew!!! My dad had seen a screw in it earlier and said he would get it fixed soon. Well apparently my tire had lost so much air in it that it began to scrape against something (I don't know car lingo) and my tire was ripped apart where the screw had been (He felt bad and said he would pay to get it fixed). So I'm on the side of the free way calling my mom. She said to call 911 and ask for highway patrol or emergency management. I didn't think it was such a big deal because moms freak out about their children all the time but apparently it was. I waited for nearly 45 minutes for the high way patrol to come to my rescue because my mom, dad, and brother were all at work. While sitting in the car, with the cars rushing past me and my car jerking back and forth, my mom texted me to say a prayer(cute, right?). Well I'm alive and my car is fixed so I would say that's a prayer well answered. Anyways, once the officer came he asked me if I'd ever changed a tire before. ummmm no.... hahaha Well he taught me and had me change the tire. He escorted me from behind (with his lights on!) to the next exit  and I then took the back roads to beck street, back to North Salt Lake and, then back to Woods Cross because I couldn't go over 45 mph on my spare tire. I was all tuckered out from that experience so I didn't go to school that day, I went home and SLEPT!! I was stranded on the free way for about 45 minutes and the whole ordeal took about 2 hours driving to, then the blown tire, and THEN driving home. I'd say I deserved a day to myself ^_^

(This isn't really my picture, it only illustrates my situation!)

Mono, UGH!

Well I kind of forgot something important, in my last blog, that has been affecting me greatly these past few weeks. MONO! And no I didn't get it from kissing anyone as you could tell from my previous blog that was mostly about my love life dream hahaha. I have to be at school 40 hours a week and it is so hard! I am tired ALL the time, or I'm achy and don't feel good. So I have been missing a lot of school which means I have a lot of hours to make up. From my research about mono, 90% of the population has it! Some people have no symptoms of it at all or got it when they were babies and was passed off as the common flu. You also have it the rest of your life but I'm not sure how long I'm contagious because I've heard from multiple people that it might be a few weeks it or for the rest of your life. But I don't know, if anyone does know, let ME know!!

On the 28th of July, I noticed a large white canker sore looking thing on my soft palate near my throat. It hurt really bad but other than that I felt fine. I went to Dr.Copes office to see Dr.Christian and he said it was a virus or some kind, not strep. So I went home but then two days later I started feeling worse. I had body aches, fatigue, stomach aches, nausea, head aches, the mysterious canker sore the size of a pea, hot rashes on my body that would turn to welts, small little bruises called petechiae, and HUGE swollen lymph nodes. I went back to the Dr and he said it might be mono. Mono? Mono!?! No I don't get mono, everyone else in junior high got mono but not me and not now. Not while I'm going to school 40 hours a week! Well I got the blood test results and SURPRISE, it's mono....  I didn't want to take a steroid and so I took some herbal supplements that did help for a week but then I stopped using them and since I was feeling better I wasn't really taking it easy and now I've kind of relapsed and I'm taking those herbal supplements...again.

Long time since last post....sorry...

Well I had no idea that anyone really was reading my blog so I haven't been writing. Recently a good friend of mine Ashley Easton asked me "Megan! Why aren't you keeping up on your blog?". So I guess I'll just kind of sum up what has happened since my last post on my birthday, almost 5 months ago!!!!

So, as I have said before, I am going to school to become an aesthetician and it's been a bumpy road. I LOVE what I do, and learning about the skin and how I can help others with their skin care needs, but it is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard going to school with a ton of girls from all back grounds and ages. It has been an eye opener of the real world, and how unethical this world really is. Details are a little too personal and not for this kind of setting to explain into detail but I can tell you that it leaves me dumb founded... other than that, I am loving the industry and am surprised by how many people want my "professional opinion" regarding their skin or skin in general. So I will leave you with a little tip each blog of what you can do for your skin.
**Benzoyl Peroxide, Salicylic Acid, and Sulfur are good ingredients for acne. There are others but those seem to work the best for people.

Back to life out side of school.....ummmm.......I have no life out of school!!! No boys, no dating, no hanging out a lot, no nothing just enjoying my weekends off from school, watching movies and reading Lord of the Ring; The Fellowship. Pretty pathetic I know, but it's okay. I'm only 19 and everyone seems to be getting married these days anyways, so I can wait; as long as all the good guys aren't taken!!!! hahaha jk, but it sure does feel that way sometimes.

Speaking of good guys, I had an AMAZING dream last night. It was the man of my dreams and he was seriously like MY Edward Cullen. I know, kind of a little nerdy girl fantasy but it was so romantic! It was on the beach, and he sped to me on a white horse so eager to get to me at last (I guess we hadn't seen each other for a while) We got married, but I don't remember that part (funny how dreams skip around), and then it was just the two of us (don't worry it was PG-13 people!). We gave each other the biggest hugs we had ever given someone and I started crying because I had finally found him. Someone to spend the rest of my life and all of eternity with, my other half, my soul mate...(tear). I felt like he was too good for me, and asked why had he chosen to marry me with so many other beautiful eligible girls out there but he then reassured me, with a tease and a smirk on his face for thinking such things, that I was the only girl for him and to not think such ridiculous thoughts. **(I know that there are no such things as soul mates and that we become our spouses soul mates over time but it felt like we were soul mates before we were even married!)**
             
(ANYWAYS,Back to the dream) He was all mine and I truly felt that I LOVED this guy and he completely and irrevocably loved me! It wasn't like a silly high school crush/boyfriend that I was in "like" with, it really felt like love... something that I have never really felt before and the excitement of just being with him was nothing I have felt before! And I'm not sure who the guy was either, his face was kind of blurred out like the people on cops hahahaha anyways, it SUCKED waking up that's for sure. Pretty pathetic I know, it's like my love life is in my dreams! So sad, but I hope one day I can feel like that for someone in REAL LIFE! I guess dreams like this are just motivation to keep my hope alive that there are still some good guys left out there who will make me feel the way I felt in this dream....It was so amazing, have you ever had a dream like this that you were so sad to wake up from? I'd love to hear that I'm not the only pathetic, hopeless romantic out there....

19th Birthday...

So today was my 19th birthday...on general conference...raining and no one to dance in the rain with...so it was kind of boring... But don't get me wrong, I loved the talks today and it all seemed to be stuff I had been thinking about lately, weird I know! And the rain actually reminded me of Washington state where I was born so I guess it was appropriate for my birthday. I can't believe this is my last year as a teenager!!! What am I going to do with my self next going into my 20th year, get married or something?...JK! No boyfriend people, don't worry! Although I would like one (I'm getting tired of my mom scoping out boys for me to date) I don't need one, which I feel blessed to have such feelings. I never felt like I needed a boyfriend during my school years. I have always been told that a girl who feels loved by her father, does not feel a need to find that "love" from another boy. I had also seen the ups my friends would have seriously dating in high school but I also saw the downs and that was something I didn't find so appealing when I was supposed to be a kid and having fun. Growing up is scary and comes at you fast, why would I want to be a grown up when I didn't have to!?

Since we're on the topic of growing up, yesterday I saw my cousin for the first time off his mission. It was so crazy seeing him all grown up! But what's even crazier is that he left the same day, for the same mission and were companions twice(in the MTC and on the field) with my good friend Hailey's older brother. Also, my other cousin is serving in Ogden Utah(don't worry, he's from Washington state) and will drop by randomly to say hi!! Small world, very VERY small world....Then I saw some of my girl friends from high school and it's so crazy seeing them majoring in different degrees, and thinking about their futures! So proud of them all!

School is going great! I have been there for 2 weeks and just enjoyed spring break this past week. It's tough going to school 40 hours a week M-F, so it's kind of hard to have a life outside of school!!! It's okay though because I should be graduating with my masters Esthetician license this November!!!! There are two different levels of licensing for Estheticians in the state of Utah. Estheticians have to do 600 hours for a basics (which most people can get in cosmetology school) and another 600 hours to get the masters(we can do chemical peels, lasers and other treatments that a basics license doesn't not permit). I am LOVING learning about the skin and how it works. It's really more complex than people give it credit, and it's what everyone sees!! I am looking forward to helping friends and family with their skin issues(I'm not a dermatologist though or a magician!) along with anyone I come to help in my future career. I have a lot of options of where I can work like at a spa, medical spa, dermatologist, plastic-surgeon, or on a cruise line(which sounds horrible having to work while everyone is relaxing!) but other than the cruise line, they all sound so interesting to me because I love the medical aspect of it but I also love the beauty aspect and helping other people relax or feel better about themselves!!

* Here is a definition for all you who have no idea what an Esthetician does(don't worry, nobody has any idea what it is when I tell them. They smile with questioning eyes and say "oh...that's great?" hahaha) Esthetician - A qualified skin care specialist trained to administer beauty treatments for the skin. A trained skin specialist who works to enhance the skin by using certain products and special massage techniques. An individual that is licensed by the state in the application of esthetic techniques. This may also include instructing the client in skin care maintenance and application of makeup. esthetic - Pertaining to beauty (also spelled aesthetic) 
Reference for definition: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:esthetics&sa=X&ei=FfOXTeXvHKXiiALqxoCdCQ&ved=0CCAQkAE
Website of my school the Skin Science Institute of Laser and Esthetics:
 http://skinscienceinstitute.com/
and the Student Spa: http://skinscienceinstitute.com/pdf/ssi-new-clinic-menu-rev4.pdf

First day of school

Today was my first day of school at The Skin Science Institute. I was so nervous and excited this morning that I made my self sick and felt nauseas; it was horrible!! I've had acid reflux since I was a little girl and it recently got worse but it was especially horrible this morning. (I recently had a Endoscopy in January, where the doctor found inflammation of the stomach, and stomach acid leaking into the duodenum or the first part of the small intestine. They don't know why but that's the explanation of all my pain along with the acid reflux) K now back to school...

 It didn't help that I lost an hour of sleep from day light savings the day before. I could hardly eat my breakfast but luckily they had a light breakfast there. Most of the people in my class are part time, and most of them are a lot older than me with families of their own. Hopefully there will be some girls more my age in other classes. In my class there is only four other full time girls like myself so it's really nice that it's such a small intimate class. The downside? There is one bigger lady who smells of bad BO, which is no fun to smell, especially since I will have to practice on her at least once during my school experience!! This industry is all about being presentable to all the senses, even smell... Hopefully someone will say something to her in private not to embarrass her but ultimately help her in the end.

I go to school from 8:30-5:00 Monday through Friday for about 8 months to get my master aesthetician license.Today we just went over the basics of how the school works and what we will learn. We had an hour and a half to eat lunch and do whatever we want. I forgot my laptop so I was pretty bored during that time. After that time we had class about on how to wax and all types of hair removals. It was really interesting and cannot wait to start. All the girl swear by waxing because if done right hair will not show for about 4 to 6 weeks and it ex foliates your skin. Tomorrow we are learning about nails and how to do manicures and pedicures. I'm so excited for the paraffin which is like dipping your hands or feet in a type of wax and they wrap a warm towel around it and let it sit for a while. I don't know why it's good for the skin but I remember years ago when I came to get a pedicure it felt soooooo good! I'm so excited to become an aesthetician!

Drastic changes

I have finally given in and got my own blog! I recently had some drastic changes in my life (hence, the title) and decided to document it for everyone and for myself as a sort of journal. 
About a month ago I had some drastic changes in my life. I started my second semester at SLCC, was working as a C.N.A. at Salt Lake Regional in the ICU, and was on my way towards becoming a nurse. Becoming a nurse has been something that I’ve wanted to do for my whole life but I have had a cruel reality working at a hospital and losing all motivation at SLCC. I got a 47% on a biology test, and had to take care of a person who had been raped and a rapist on separate occasions!  I did not want to be in that kind of environment and the 12 hour shifts took its toll on me. All I wanted to do is work with babies and mothers, but I decided that I could just have my own kids one day. I also want to be around for my future family and not have to work nights, holidays, and 12 hour shifts.

            I had been praying about what I should do and I had this feeling to call a previous young woman advisor who is an aesthetician and now the president of the Skin Science Institute. She got me really interested in aesthetics and I started to consider a career in this field.  I went up to the temple and sat outside in my car while praying and reading my patriarchal blessing. It said in my blessing that I would be successful in anything I chose to do, so that’s when I knew I needed to quit school and become an aesthetician!

 I feel like I’m going forward a little blindly but I have put my trust in the lord and I know that by doing so everything will be alright. I think I’ll love to find out the science behind skin and doing facials, micro-dermabrasion, laser treatments, nails, spray on tans, waxing, and lymph node drainage or in other words massages! It will be like a slumber party everyday at school so it can’t be so bad! I start school on Monday full time and will be going to school 40 hours a week and about 7-8 months. It might seem like a lot but it's going to be like being at a spa with a little theory to learn and I’m sooo excited to start!