Best Trail Mix EVER

I, Brenna, love trail mix. I can eat it at night or in the day, for lunch or breakfast or elevensies. 

But one of my least favorite things is when I buy a bag and only like the m&ms and peanuts! That is wrong! So below I have made a list of things that should be in a trail mix. 

• banana chips
• almonds
• large sunflower seeds
• m&ms 
• cashews
• dried coconut chunks
• peanut butter & dark chocolate chips
• dried mango
• yogurt chips
• cheerios
• peanuts
• dried pumpkin seeds
• dried cherries/craisins (NOT RAISINS)
• goldfish
• pretzels

Via bloganataveres.com

Being able to balance crunchy, chewy, salty, sweet, sugary and protein-packed is an ART! So mix these carefully and maybe one day you can become a master mixer like myself. Also, be reckless in combining these finger foods and discover strangely creative flavor combinations. 

Most importantly, enjoy the trail you are traveling that accompanies your snack.

What is the most important ingredient in your trail mix?

The Ichthus Experience

Wednesday morning I got up at 6:30, grabbed my bags and headed to church to have a short Bible study, then drove to Lexington, KY for the Creation Ichthus Music Festival. Little did I know how much fun I was going to have and how much I was going to grow.

Day 1

Day 4

On the first day, my group got there around 10, after talking to the most random people and getting lost several times. I didn't really know the people I was with because I only moved to the church a couple of months ago, so making new friends was really good for me.

If you've ever been to a camp of any sort, you know it's pretty common to connect with people extremely fast and be able to mess around and still get to know each other through deep conversations. I really enjoyed being able to do that.

Newsboys Concert

The concerts were crazy! I saw a whole range of artists from rap, to indy, from heavy metal to contemporary pop and hymns. I loved all of it, and got 2 albums. My favorites were a band called Author and a singer/songwriter named Abe Parker.

I also got a whole bunch of free stuff, but aside from that I bought 2 t-shirts that I love and really want to show you!

On the second and third days it rained really hard and since the festival was held in a horse park, everyone got muddy and gross and smelled of something quite similar to animal poo.
I had to give up my poor green flip flops which did me no good anyway, and battled the rain head on.
Everyone was stationed at a canopy pole in our camp ground during the storm so we wouldn't blow away. I secretly enjoyed the rain because it was cold like back home, instead of hot and disgusting.

God's promise after the storm :)

Saturday was a gorgeous last day. We played Frisbee with strangers and tied dental floss to the legs of one of thousands of June bugs. I couldn't believe that it was already over, and how much I had learned about God through talking to others and hearing music.

A henna tattoo I got for free (before it dried and peeled)

 :) I'm sorry to bore you all to death, so I'll wrap it up. Thank you for reading and hopefully you all have had a blast this week too!

Have you ever been to a music festival?

Top Summer Picks

In this warmer weather, everything is cuter. I don't know why, but the world looks a little more kawaii in the summer. Also, I have been spending quite a bit of time on Pinterest, and I wanted to share some of my favorite summery things with all of you!

Via marthastewart.com

Dessert: My favorite summer time treat is a delicious bowl of affogoto. It's a scoop of vanilla ice cream and two shots of espresso, perfect for a small after dinner dessert. Starbucks doesn't serve them, but you can make it at home with just coffee and ice cream, and some independent shops sell them too. THEY ARE HEAVENLY

Via goodhousekeeping.com

Nails: My family is taking in 2 interns this summer and one of them really enjoys painting nails, so she did these comic book nails for me last night, which I really love. We kind of modified them, by using red gel polish, then outlining the nails with a sharpie and adding the white streaks. These are super cute!

Via target.com

Accessory: A couple years ago my wonderful mommy bought me an owl watch for Christmas I believe, and it has come back into Brenna's wardrobe for the summer. The mint green watch goes with a lot more outfits than I expected, so this is my favorite accessory right now!

Via blog.justinablakely.com

Print: Right now I am obsessed with pineapples! I don't have a single piece of clothing with any pineapple on it at all which makes me very sad, so instead I adorn my Pinterest boards with them. Also I recently dyed my hair a little lighter and one of my friends told me I have pineapple hair :)

Via francinerivers.com

Book: My mom just introduced me to the Francine Rivers books. I unfortunately can't remember the name of the series, but these book are spectacularly written, based off women of the Bible who barely got a sentence about them. They are really interesting and if you are a Christian woman, or interested in different cultures, I definitely recommend these! It opened my eyes to the Old Testament. 

Do you think I missed something really important? What are you summer favorites, or your favorite out of these?

Let me know by commenting, tell me what you think!

Have fun this summer and be safe~

Bree♥

Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire

Hello readers, it's time for another book review!

I just picked up this book at the library because the picture was intriguing, and I think I quite correctly judged the book by it's cover!

Author: Gregory Maguire also wrote the Wicked series, that inspired the fantastic musical starring Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth, so going into it, I had big expectations. I was not disappointed at all!

Plot: Egg and Spoon is the story of mainly two little Russian girls, Elena living as a starving peasant and the other, Ekaterina, being sent to the Tsar (ruler of Russia) to be presented to his godson as a possible bride.
Both change and they are removed from their previous track.

Ekaterina meets a witch in the middle of the forest and gives her the Faberge egg as a gift, though it was meant to go to the Tsar. Elena is left with a Firebird's egg to give to him. So much  happens and they meet many interesting new characters as well. I never thought a person could imagine up so many stories.

Opinion: Hopefully I didn't give too much away from the story, but I really think you guys should read it! Egg and Spoon is beautifully written and has layer upon layer of emotions and Russian folk tales, which was really why I loved it so much. I think people of any age would enjoy reading it, especially if you like experiencing different cultures. 5 Stars! 

Have you all read any good books lately? What is your favorite genre? Tell me in the comments!

-Bree ♥

How to Take a Compliment

I saw this teenager post on my Twitter feed the other day from @HuffPostTeen and I got really excited because this would make a great blog post! Obviously I googled 'how to respond to compliments' and I feel I have researched this subject thoroughly. Ok, not really, but I'm doing my best!

com·pli·ment

noun

ˈkämpləmənt/

1. 1.

   a polite expression of praise or admiration.

   "she paid me an enormous compliment"

   synonyms:

   flattering remark, tribute, accolade, commendation, bouquet, pat on the back; More

verb

ˈkämpləˌment/

1. 1.

   politely congratulate or praise (someone) for something.

   "he complimented Erica on her appearance"

Personally I get embarrassed when someone compliments me and I don't know what to say. I think a lot of kids these days have that problem too, and it all comes down to confidence. I have previously written a post called How to Be More Confident and you should probably read that too, if you are really serious about this.

Via happymonsters.tumbr.com

It really is pretty simple. You just have to have the courage/confidence to go through with these three "easy steps." 

1. SMILE
2. SAY THANK YOU
3. SINCERELY RETURN THE COMPLIMENT

Ok, the last one is really the hardest. But with a little practice, you'll be a pro! 

Here is my guide of how to return a compliment: If they compliment your appearance, make a nice comment about theirs! If they say something about your personality, say something about theirs! If they praise your actions, praise theirs right back!

But here is the important part. WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN SOMEONE COMMENDS YOU FOR SOMETHING.

Do not, I repeat, do not, deflect praise. It's not modest, it's a teensy bit rude, kind of like rejecting the person that gave it to you. For example, someone says to you "Wow, your writing piece was very impressive"

Yes: Thank you so much! I actually just finished reading your last post and it was amazing, especially the part blah blah blah 

No: Oh, no it was garbage, I suck at writing

A lot of people these days try to play down their work to be modest, but it makes the rest of us feel terrible. I know when I tell someone they did a good job, and they say they didn't even care about it, I feel like a talent-less wreck! Do you know what I mean? I tried really hard and they didn't, but they still did better!

This is especially a problem on social medias, because sometimes people post selfies to get praise, and then act like they are super ugly or something. It makes me a little upset! I just want to shake them by their shoulders and yell at them "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!!!!"

To fix my anger, I have decided to challenge myself by complimenting people way more than normal. Since I've been watching Parks and Recreation a lot, I have been catching on to Leslie Knope complimenting. 

If you want to do my challenge too, next time someone says something nice to you, be sincerely nice back to them. It shouldn't be that hard. You can do it!

Love, Bree♥

p.s. you are a wonderful tropical fish and thank you for looking at my blog

A Father's Day Home

Yesterday was a special day for me, because as well as celebrating my dad and grandpas, it was the one year anniversary of leaving Washington. 

One year ago yesterday, my mom, dad, two sisters and I said our final goodbyes to our close friends and family and drove to California. Of course we didn't get to Kentucky until 11 days later, but still, it was a big day XD

Anyway, yesterday felt like we went home a little bit because we went out for Japanese food. In the PNW we'd usually go to Koto's Teriyaki but they don't have that here so INSTEAD we went to this fancy-ish restaurant that I forgot the name of, but it was delicious! I had way too much fried rice and yakisoba, and I loved it. Interestingly enough, Kentucky doesn't have much teriyaki places. 

Afterwards we drove to a park with a nice river. We fell in a couple of times and pretty much basked in how much like home it was. Not too hot or humid, nice cold water, quite a bit of mud and lots of trees.

Plus, I collected shells! They are pretty small which is perfect for sneaking home in your pocket. Don't worry, no snails or oysters were harmed in the making of this post. 

You can see a much better picture of this on my Instagram, just click the button!

Speaking of the shells, I was wondering if anyone has any good craft ideas that I can use them for. I really like them but they can't just sit by the candle forever. Any spectacular ideas?

>Also after the park, we watched Back to the Future and I love Michael J Fox so that was a fantastic ending to a fantastic day<

I'm considering yesterday a success. How did you spend Father's Day?

Much love, Brenna :)

How To Clean Your Bedroom

Since school is over for me, I've been spending way too much time in my room, and in order to get anything done, I need my space to be clutter-free and organized. Cleaning your room could take 30 minutes to a few weeks, depending on how messy your room is, so be prepared to do some work!

• Get ready! I like to put on some music that I can sing along to, that will distract my mind from straying too far into cleaning. Let your family know that today is official cleaning day! When they know you are already doing something productive, they will be less likely to add random chores to your to-do list.

• The first step is to make your bed. That is usually the main part of a bedroom, so wash your bedding, including pillow-cases, and make up your bed again!

• While your bedding is in the wash, perhaps move onto a smaller project, like removing trash, getting rid of useless papers, organizing your makeup, nail polish or something like that. Organizing the little things makes your bedroom look much more efficient!

• Get as much as you can off the floor. If you don't have a lot of shelf space, place items into specific stack-able boxes. When less is on the floor, it's easier to vacuum/sweep and your room looks bigger.

• Laundry is always on the floor in my room, and it is my #1 problem. (I might be writing this post to avoid putting it away) My dresser is rather small, so fitting everything in is always a struggle. If you have the afternoon off, put on some music or a movie, and get rid of all the clothes you don't wear. You can give your old clothes away, donate them, and I usually give them to my younger sisters as hand-me-downs. My shirts are about 50% camp shirts, 20% School shirts, 10% ugly and 20% wearable, so I try to give away my old school tees and the ones I don't like. DON'T GET TOO ATTACHED TO CLOTHES

• Re-organize decorations. I have a cork board in my room and every couple of months I like to replace the items on it with newer things. I have post cards, drawings, quotes, pictures and a ton of other stuff that I can rotate through, to leave my room looking just a little bit newer and more exciting.

Those are just a few ways to start de-cluttering your room!  Remember to work on one project at a time until it is finished, so that you don't have several different messes in your room and no work done at all. 

Did I miss something important, or do you have a great way to clean? Let me know in the comments!

Have fun cleaning and don't procrastinate too much! -Bree

6 Hilarious (Not Quite New) TV Shows

I've become quite a teenager this summer, and one of my "hobbies" are TV shows that aren't very new. I never liked Gossip Girl and didn't get wrapped into Switched at Birth. But I do very much enjoy some older ones, that I would love to share with you! Just a warning, most of these are PG-13 so for the younger readers, check with your parents before watching all of them. Also, these are in no particular order

Gilmore Girls

Scrubs

Parks and Recreation

Friends

The IT Crowd

Family Ties

Some of these are a LOT older than others, but I love all of them. I know, I know, I need to stop watching so much TV, which is why I'm asking you guys for writing prompts. I really want to write a story, but I can't think of any genius story ideas, so if you have one and are kind enough to share it, please PLEASE drop it in the comments (or email me if it is super secret and amazing). Hopefully you all enjoyed this post and I didn't accidentally hook you on one of these shows. Have a great day!

Travel-Photo Journal

Before I show you some of my pictures from last week, I want to say happy birthday to two old friends of mine, Maiya and Kasumi and one of my favorite aunts ;) I love you guys, hopefully we can visit soon
Anyway, here are the rest of my pictures from New Jersey last week. Enjoy

Cape May NJ

Benjamin Franklin House, Philedelphia

Menagerie Coffee, Philedelphia

Street corner in Philly

Really cute/historic room

Room where Decleration of Independance was signed

5 Books I've Never Read

Earlier today I was thinking about how I enjoy writing lists. That's great for getting things done, but not so much for creative writing. If I could write a story in just a list, I would, but I fear not many people would like to read it.
Any how, with school out of the way, I become a book worm, and there are lots of things I'd like to read. So here's to adding a list to my list of lists.

 1. The Maze Runner//James Dashner 

My good friend Rowan has suggested this to me so many times, I should probably read it. I saw the movie and I feel that if I had read it before hand it would make much more sense. Spider robots?

2. Don't Even Think About It//Sarah Mlynowski

I read a positive review about it on a cute little blog I found today, and I really want to read it! It's about mind-reading little children.

3. Looking For Alaska//John Green

Honestly, who doesn't like John Green? I loved TFIOS and Papertowns so I can't wait for this one!

4. Lost on Planet China//J. Maarten Troost

I got this one from the library last week and have yet to read it. It's autobiographic, and looked interesting.

5. Dune//Frank Herbert

As a sci-fi classic and dad's favorite, I really should read it. It's 800 pages of new worlds and customs. I started it and haven't picked it up in a while, but the beginning was rather intriging. Don't be frightened by size

So this summer when I am hiding in my room, these books may or may not be read. Hopefully they will. 

Are there any books you really want to read?

Love, Bree :)