Blogging Goals - 2016

Another Christmas has come and gone... and now we have 2016 to focus on. It blows my mind that an entire year has passed so quickly. So much has happened in this year, but at the same time, I'm really excited for a new year and a fresh start. My blog has grown a ton in the six months since I created it, but there's a lot that I would like to accomplish in the next year and I really would like to put more focus on Live The Prep Life as it grows. I am a huge goal setter, and I have put together a few goals that I would love to accomplish by the end of the year.

Double the amount of my followers on each social media platform // Not only do I want to grow my blog, but I want to grow Live The Prep Life as a whole, too. As of right now, I'm so close to 1,000 Instagram followers, I have about 120 Twitter followers, and my Pinterest and Bloglovin' followers are each tied at 27. (yeah. Maybe I should try to triple these two.)

Re-design my blog // The design I have now isn't horrible, but it doesn't tell you anything about who I am or what my purpose is. It doesn't scream "Brooke." It doesn't scream "Live The Prep Life." Ideally, I would like to design my blog myself, but first I have to learn HTML and CSS, so I will probably end up buying a design. Down the road, though, DIYing a design for my blog will definitely happen. It might take a while, though.

Buy a custom domain name // This kind of goes along with redesigning my blog. I really want to re-do my entire blog, and have a fresh start for 2016. I will most likely be keeping my title as Live The Prep Life, but you never know - I might completely rebrand. Whatever I do, though, by the end of the year I definitely want to be a dot com.

Become more active on Snapchat // I started doing this somewhat after Christmas, when I was sharing the gifts I got, but I would like to get to the point where I am active on there every single day. The hard part is, I mainly use my personal Snapchat, and I don't have the motivation to switch between accounts, but I hope to change that! Be sure to add me at livethepreplife if you haven't already! I promise to share fun behind-the-scenes snaps!

Do more preppy posts // I mean, my blog is titled "Live The Prep Life" after all. Leave a comment below telling me what kinds of preppy posts you want to see, because I would love to do those! I haven't done outfit posts in forever, and I really want to start doing those again, too!

Create a constant theme // Again, this one goes along with redesigning my blog. If you look at my graphics that I use for each posts, they're all over the place in terms of colors and fonts. My profile poictures vary from account to account, and the pink color scheme that I have on Twitter doesn't match the white, gray, and blues of my blog. I want people to be able to look at a graphic, font, or color, and immediately associate it with Live The Prep Life.

I am so excited to see what is in store for Live The Prep Life in 2016 and I just want to thank each and every one of you for following along and supporting me! Y'all seriously mean the world to me.

What are your blogging goals for 2016?

Favorite Christmas Movies - #galpalholiday

If you know me, you'll know that there's no hiding the fact that I have an obsession with Christmas movies. I could honestly watch them all year round, but I save them for December because they're much more magical that way. I love discovering new Christmas movies to enjoy, but there's nothing better than watching my favorites. Since we still have tonight and tomorrow before it's actually Christmas, you can bet that on both nights I'll be snuggled up in a blanket by the fireplace, hot cocoa in hand, binge-watching any of these I haven't seen this year (if not all of them!)

Elf
There are some Christmas movies that set the bar pretty high, but I'd have to say that this one is my favorite Christmas movie of all time! I've seen this movie so many times that I can recite the majority of the quotes, but I never get tired of it. (P.S. Think you're an Elf expert? Take this quiz and comment below what your score was.)

Polar Express
This one brings back memories for sure. This was the first movie I saw in a theater, when I was two. All I remember was getting scared and wanting to leave about fifteen minutes in, but my mom says I liked it, so I obviously I had good taste in movies even back then. Flash forward to the first grade, when we had a field trip where we came to school in our pajamas, then took a ride on the "Polar Express." (Our local train.) We came back to school and watched the movie, and it was such a fun day. No homework, no finals, no stress. If only school was like this now!

Miracle on 34th Street
This one's such a classic. I've only seen it one or two times because my sisters don't have very good taste and refuse to watch black and white movies, but whatever. I like it, and I'll never get tired of watching it. It has such a good message and is so heart-warming.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
This one's tied with Elf for the funniest on this list and is also my favorite out of all the Vacation movies. I love seeing the shenanigans that Clark Griswold and his family get into, although I get really upset whenever I see the Christmas tree burning down or the cat being electrocuted. But it all has a happy ending, so it's okay, right?!

Home Alone
The other day, I was in Target, and I got really sad when I saw a DVD that was titled Home Alone: 25th Anniversary Edition. How is this movie already 25 years old?! It's one of my all time favorites. The first time I saw this movie was actually in the summertime, but it's so much better as a Christmas movie. As much as I love this movie, I'm so glad I'm not Kevin and I'm so thankful for my family after seeing this.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas
I know many people like the cartoon, but I'm actually not a huge fan of it. I prefer the actual movie, because it has more details and expands more on the story. If you haven't seen this, but you've seen the cartoon, I highly recommend this.

What are your favorite Christmas movies?

Christmas Playlist 2015

I'm still in shock.... y'all, there's four days until Christmas. FOUR. DAYS. December went by so fast this year and it's been crazy (but fun.) Today, I thought it would be fun to share my favorite songs that I've been listening to on repeat all this month while I do Christmas activities, so I hope you enjoy!

The songs that I decided to put on here are not the only songs I listen to; if I did that my playlist would be about five pages long! I have separate playlists with all of the classics on them, but this one has more unique songs and is the one I personally listen to. If my family and I are wrapping presents or baking cookies, I will usually put on my playlist of classics or we will listen to our Michael Buble CD (I know, so old fashioned). That's the only reason I don't have any songs by him on here. If I didn't have the CD, he would dominate this playlist, because let's be real. He's the best thing to happen to Christmas music since Bing Crosby.

What are your favorite Christmas songs?

Friday Picks

If you're reading this it means you're alive... and if you're alive it means you made it through finals. I've had a lot of fun and met a lot of new friends this semester, but honestly I'm so ready for it to be over. Maybe part of that has to do with the fact that Christmas is exactly one week from today... which I'm kind of sad about. I felt like the season went by so fast this year, and although I baked at least a dozen cookies, went to quite a few parties, participated in a parade, and had breakfast with Santa, just to name a few, the fact that it's almost Christmas still hasn't hit me. In fact, I still have gifts that I have yet to buy. (Well, almost. I bought a ton this week, so at least I was somewhat productive, right?) I'm still super pumped for Christmas, though, and I can't wait for y'all to see the fun posts I have coming up next week!

For your Christmas gallery walls...

When a 2-year-old is a better Adele than you'll ever be

Gracie and her sister are always outfit goals

TSwift knows how we feel about finals... if only the teachers did.

I spent a lot of time watching Christmas movies this week (AKA procrastinating on studying for finals) and I've almost completed this list

Y'all I'm so excited for Fuller House and this trailer did not disappoint!

How to style Bean Boots

Here's what happens when you measure your life in events instead of days

What do you believe in?

How cute is Mikayla's Christmas sweater?!

In love with Natalie's ornaments... especially the monogram and the red cup.

As I mentioned earlier, Christmas still hasn't fully hit me yet, but maybe these tips from Maxie will help.

Your ultimate guide to stocking stuffers, courtesy of yours truly

One last thing - I know I'm such a great blogger for putting this out at nearly midnight, (so technically these are more like Saturday picks) but it's been a heck of a day and I actually didn't get home until ten. Thanks for bearing with me and I hope you have a great weekend!

4 Simple Tips to Help You Survive Midterms

The week we've all been dreading is here... finals week. (Or midterms, or semester exams... whatever you call it, it's here.) I'm taking my finals on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and I know a lot of y'all are too, so I thought this would be the perfect time to write a sequel to my #BloggersBTS post on study tips! When I have a big test or project, I find watching videos and reading posts on study tips and hacks extremely helpful, and I hope you do too!

O N E // Take Care of Yourself
During finals week, it's so easy to forget to take care of yourself. You find yourself desperately needing to pull all-nighters while chugging a can of Red Bull to stay awake. Yeah, no. Don't do that. As much studyin you may need to do, it's so critical to go to bed at a reasonable hour so your brain can function the next morning. And while drinks loaded with caffine may keep you awake, they're definitely not the best fuel to put in your body. Stick to healthier foods that have vidamins and antioxidants so you don't feel sick and your brain is focused. (Bonus tip: studies have shown that students who drink water while taking a test have a 5% higher score than students who don't.) Also, make sure you wear comfortable clothes while taking your final. Messy bun, leggings, and UGGS all the way.


T W O // Figure Out How You Learn
Do you learn best when you see it on paper? Or does it work better for you to hear it? Or do you just need to do it yourself? After you've figured out how you learn best, check out these tips (here and here) that specifically address each learning style. Spoiler alert: I'm a visual learner. I live by highlighters and flash cards, so if you're visual too I definitely recommend using both of those.

T H R E E // Break it Down
You're not Superman. You can't do it all at once. Make a plan as to how you're going to divide your studying - work for a certain amount of time on one subject, then take a short break and move onto the next one. For a great method for making a schedule, check out this post Sara did earlier this year. Speaking of breaks - make sure you take them. You deserve it, and you don't want your brain to get too wired. In between subjects, take about ten minutes to reward yourself. Get up and walk around to get your blood flowing, check Instagram, whatever you have to do to alert your brain again.


F O U R // Know Your Exam
Well, obviously you can't know what the exact exam looks like (I wish!) but you can have a general idea. A lot of teachers will give you a study guide that has the information you need to know, as well as the exam format. And if you don't have a study guide? Just ask! Your teacher will probably be willing to explain a little bit, like if it's multiple choice, sort-answer, essay, etc. If you do have a study guide, use it! If it's full of questions, answer them, and if it just tells you the information the exam will cover, make sure you know it all. Your teacher gave you the review for a reason - don't let it go to waste.

I hope you found these tips helpful, and I wish you good luck on all of your exams this week!

What are your most helpful exam tips?

Friday Picks

Even though I'm writing this right now, I really should be working on the exam reviews that are piling up in my bedroom (but I might not get to those until Sunday night... such a procrastinator whoops.) This week has been filled with exam reviews, study guides and finishing up school projects - but it's also been filled with the Christmas spirit too! As horrible as finals are, the fact that they're surrounded by Christmas makes them almost bearable. (well, not quite, but if you say it enough it might come true!) If you had finals this week, I hope you did well and survived, and if you're taking them next week, good luck, and look out for some study tips on Monday!

1// You can never have enough activities to fill your December.

2// Frannie and Caroline have the perfect holiday traditions

3// I saw this top at LOFT and I love the combination of gold and navy!

4// Need stocking stuffer ideas? I've got you covered.

5// The finals week struggle is too real...

6// Rebecca's Christmas decorations are too perfect

7// 18 things Stephanie's learned at 18

8// Winter in SoCal and winter in Texas are basically the same thing... hot, miserable, and not like Christmas at all

9// In December I do this thing where I listen to Christmas music nonstop, and I can't get enough of holiday playlists!

10// Those tags for likes really do work - and here are seven great ones to use!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great weekend filled with a minimal amount of studying! As you go through finals next week, keep in mind that Christmas is right around the corner, and good luck!

When are your finals?

Stocking Stuffers Under $15!

Here we are, another week into December. I like to think I put a good amount of thought into my gifts. I try to really think about what the person I am buying for would like, and not what's popular or what I might like. On the other hand, when it comes to stocking stuffers, I feel like those are more of little trifles that require less thought and are more generic based. (Does any of this make any sense to you? I really apologize if it doesn't.) Since stocking stuffers are smaller, and not the main event, people don't usually want to spend that much on the stocking stuffers. Because of that, I have kept every one of these under $15, and I think that they are all perfect picks that any girl would love to have in her stocking!

Stocking Stuffers Under $15 by livethepreplife

Mug (original sold out, similar $17) | Mascara | Hair Ties (similar) | Nail Polish | Emoji Magnets | Socks (similar) | Candle | Mittens | Bracelet

Personally, I'd be happy to get any of these, but my favorites are the magnets (you can also find stickers, which I LOVE), the mug, and the candle (I have this obsession which can only be judged by the size of last weekend's Bath & Body Works bag. Who else shopped the sale?!). These could work for any age, too - my younger sisters would love the nail polish and magnets, and some gifts like candles and mascara work for girls pretty much anywhere from 10 to 100.

As always, thanks for reading! If you liked this, and are searching for some inspiration on what to ask for or what to give when it comes to bigger gifts, go give my Christmas wish list a read!

What are some of your favorite stocking stuffers?

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Friday Picks

3 weeks y'all... 3 weeks from today it will officially be the 25th. We just have to get through finals (study tips here) and then we can turn all attention to Christmas (as if it didn't have our full attention already!) I've already gotten into the Christmas spirit like crazy... so far this week I've seen a Christmas tree lighting, marched in a Christmas parade, baked cookies at least three times, and seen two Christmas movies (stay tuned for a post on that, too) so I guess you could say I have an obsession. (And I'm not denying it!) Anyway, I hope you enjoy these links, and you have a joy-filled weekend complete with red, white, and green!

How Mandy turned her failed blog into a learning experience

Would you wear the same dress every day for a month?

All I want for Christmas is you... actually I just want these things

Fixer Upper's season 3 premiered this Tuesday and I have to admit, I thought almost all of these!

The end of the semester is almost here.... c'mon c'mon y'all we can do this!

Reasons why Amie loves Christmas

25 things to do before December 25th

Sometimes things won't go as planned. That's okay.

Emma shares her Christmas PJ picks

Now that it's December, everything needs to be Christmasified - including your wallpapers.

As if I wasn't already obsessed with Hunter boots... these sets just made me love them more!

Font pairings are SO SO critical, thanks to Alyssa for helping everyone out!

I'm with Helene on this: I just don't get overpriced stuff sometimes.

How to know when to splurge and what to splurge on

What are your plans for the first December weekend?

Wishlisted: Chirstmas 2015

It's that time of year again... our Christmas tree is up, I've got Michael Buble on repeat 24/7, and ABC Family is airing its 25 Days of Christmas. Even though I got pretty much everything I've been wanting for my birthday, there are still a few items that I've been eyeing and would be thrilled to see appear under the tree come Christmas morning! I'm not asking for much because I honestly couldn't think of that much that I wanted. Yeah, sure, I could come up with a million things that I would love to have (like this 9 foot tall teddy bear. Who wouldn't want this? I've been obsessing over it lately and every time I go to Costco I'm convinced I need it. Sadly, my wallet disagrees.) but I'm not one to ask for things just for the sake of asking. Plus, I like to be surprised. To me, it's no fun if you know exactly what you're getting.

Disclaimer: Even though I didn't ask for much, I do not expect to get everything on my list AT ALL. However fun getting gifts may be, that's not what Christmas is about whatsoever and I feel very fortunate to be be blessed with such an amazing group of family and friends. They are the best gift I could ever ask for, and I love them more than anything money could ever buy.

Christmas Wish List 2015 by livethepreplife

Hunter Rain Boots in Rhodonite Pink - I'm in love with the color of these Hunter boots. Although they're a more colorful color than your traditional shoe color (black, gray, brown) I feel like I have a lot of things in my closet that would match them perfectly! (And as soon as the rainstorms started hitting Dallas about a month ago, I've come to the realization that the only winter shoes I have that can get semi-wet are my Converse - not ideal.)

Speck CandyShell Grip Phone Case - I'm really cautious and concerned when it comes to dropping or breaking my phone, and I've wanted a good quality case for a while now. The one I have right now is in the process of falling apart, and it was never that cute or sturdy to begin with. I've heard from some of my friends that this case holds up really nicely, and the colors go together nicely too!

James Avery Starry Night Ear Posts - I'm getting my ears pierced soon (I've wanted to for a long time but I never got around to it) and when I saw these earrings at the store I fell in love with them. I think it's really unique how one ear is a moon and the other is a star. I've never seen anything like them before and they would go so well with the silver jewelry I already own.

Tarte Greatest Glitz Collecter's Set - Tarte is, by far, my favorite makeup brand. When they came out with this gift set at Ulta, I knew I would have to have it. It has 3 blushes, 24 eye shadows, a mascara, and a lipstick, all for under $50! I'm amazed at the value and I know this set will last me a long time.

I hope this post gave you a few ideas as to what to ask for Christmas, or gave you some gift ideas for someone else. As always, I hope you have a very merry December!

What's at the top of your Christmas list?