Same Shirt + Maxi Skirt

Please forgive me for using the same shirt in two Fashion Friday posts only a few weeks apart. I said in the first post how much I love this shirt. I think this only proves this fact. I think I should be apologizing more to my mom that my shirt is slightly wrinkled. Mommy, I'm very sorry. I know I'm a slob sometimes. Please still love me.

The warmth is here!! Mostly. It's been rainy a lot, which I enjoy, but it keeps the weather a bit cooler. But I no longer need coats so that's a great start. I wish that I could tell you where this skirt is from but it was a gift from my mom. Down below though I'll have links to a bunch a great maxi skirts for cheap so you can check those out if you wish. 

I have nothing else to say. I hope you have a lovely day. I hope I can keep up Fashion Friday this way. (Yay rhymes!) 

L'OREAL Blow Dry It Quick Dry Primer Spray // Two Minute Review

There will always be products out there that we don't love. For me, this was one of those. If you have suggestions of products for me to review just leave a comment below. Also, if you want more details about why I did not like this product just ask and I'll give you more information.

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!! 

Business Casual

Today's look is one of my typical work outfits. I'm obsessed with this shirt right now. A few weeks ago I wore it, washed it that night, and wore it again the next day... making sure I didn't see all the same people. Still, totally obsessed.

Fun fact, these are actually maternity pants. My mom got them for me back in October (thanks again mom!) when I was pregnant. What's nice is that they aren't your typical maternity pants with the giant band that goes over your pregnant belly, these pants just have a thin elastic band. I love it because then I can wear them anytime, pregnant or not, and nobody knows that they're really maternity pants and they're nice so I can wear them to work, so people think I'm in those uncomfortable dress pants, but in reality I'm in comfy elastic waistband pants.

Holy giant sentence...

Anyways, I hope you enjoy today's Fashion Friday post. Don't forget to follow me on the social medias to always know when a new blog post is up. I love you all, I consider you some of my greatest friends, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Outfit Details:

Shirt: Down East

Pants: Ross

Shoes: Vans (Exact Match)

Do you need nice dress pants for work too? Here's some great ones under $50... that aren't maternity pants. Ha ha.

Self Realization

Hello friends, today I had a moment of shocking self-discovery and I had to document and rant about it somewhere, and what better place to do that than my blog.

I am not a naturally curious person.

Now I have moments of curiosity, we all do, but I'm not the type of person who has to know all the answers... like my sister, who I tease with all the time because in my personal opinion she's overly curious... though maybe my mind is distorted because I'm not curious and she's really just a natural level of curiosity. Mind blown.

But being curious just isn't my thing. I don't ask a lot of questions, unless I truly want to know an answer. I over think every question I ask as well. I only want the simplest of answers, because if it's not something I'm interested in, then I don't really care. I've always been they type of person who loves to be alone. I do the things I want to do and I'm happy with that.

But get this..

What if my lack of curiosity is the reason school was so difficult for me? That would make total sense! Because honestly I don't ask questions if I don't care, so in school when I didn't know what was going on I would keep quiet.

What if my lack of curiosity is the thing that has been holding me back my whole life? What does this mean? Does this mean anything? Can I fix this? Can you learn to become curious? Is me asking all these questions helping me to become more curious? Who knows, and my lack of curiosity leads me to end this post, because I just don't care enough.

Why People Need to Not Ask Me About Pregnancy

Hello friends! Today I am talking about a very serious topic... pregnancy. Now it has officially been over six months since my miscarriage and over this six months I've gotten a couple questions:

Are you and Chris going to start trying for a baby again?

Do you think you'll want to get pregnant again soon? 

How is trying to get pregnant again? 

And possibly a couple more. And while I realize a lot of the people asking these types of questions have the best of intentions, this needs to stop. Because my emotional, depressed, distorted mind takes these questions and warps them into guilt and personal self-loathing:

Are Chris and I just not trying hard enough? 

Do I really want to risk getting pregnant and going through another miscarriage? 

Are people seriously asking me about my sex life? That's so weird! 

I believe that even the people with the best of intentions will never fully understand my personal story. And while this post is meant to clear up a few of the questions and tell my story, it is in no way an invitation to ask me further questions. These questions are quite frankly offensive and often cause me to break out in tears. So please, read on, and keep your questions to yourself.

 (That sounds so mean. I really do love you, I just can't handle more crying. It's far too frequent.)

May Ipsy Unpackaging

You can sign up for your own Ipsy subscription by CLICKING HERE! 

Wedding Attire

Yesterday Chris and I spent the whole day with my family, hanging out around town and celebrating my cousin's wedding. It was such a beautiful day, so much fun, and so relaxing to get a day off of work during the week. I may write a whole post about our day (I have so many pictures and videos) but we'll see. I also have a post about the night before, as Wednesday was our anniversary and Chris surprised me with an incredible evening.

But for now, enjoy my quick pictures of what I wore all day to the many wedding events. And CONGRATULATIONS NICK AND CAMI!!!

Aww... It's my sister! I don't know where her outfit is from, but I can ask if you're truly interested. 

Outfit Details:

Cardigan: Target

Shirt: H&M

Skirt: Ross

Shoes: Kohls

Similar Items $50 or Less:

3rd Year Anniversary Thoughts

Written 5/8/16

I knew today would be difficult. Mother's Day. I was supposed to be a mom by this point, but instead I had to go to church and listen to adorable kids sing about their mother's, listen to talks about mothers, and cry over the fact that I'm not a mom.

But being able to spend my day taking care of my injured husband and practicing my motherly skills was good enough for me.

 I love the relationship that I have with Chris. We are always able to laugh and joke. When we fight, we are too busy making jokes and quoting our favorite movies and TV shows to truly be mad at each other.

I love Chris so much. I love being married to him. I love having him as my best friend. I love that he's my partner in everything. I love the life that we've created together. I love that he takes care of me. I love being in love with him.

Today was hard. I want us to be a family. Not just with each other and our puppy, but with children of our own. There's no one else I would want to start a family with. There's no one who could be a better dad to our future children. And there's no one who I'd rather go through this heartbreak of not being a mom yet with.

I'm so happy we're at three years of marriage, because I've come to find that the longer we're together, the more I love him. Eternity with Chris is the happiest and greatest thing to ever happen to me.

________________________________________________________________________

Go back in time to my one year anniversary post, it's one of my favorites and you can find it by

  CLICKING HERE! 

I Need My Mom

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I hope your day is bright and wonderful, whether or not you're a mother.

This is a weird day for me. It's difficult to be sitting here on a day all about mothers and not think about how I was supposed to be one too at this point. And it's even harder not know when I will become a mother. Will I be one next Mother's Day? I'm sick of waiting and wondering!

Anyways, I'm not here to talk about my personal issues today (okay maybe a little). I'm here to talk about my mom.

I'm currently in the worst period of my life. Sad, but true. But you know what makes it better? Besides Chris, the one person able to help me through all of this is my mom.

My miscarriage messed me up. I was absolutely devastated when I learned I had lost my child. But you know what happened, my mom immediately drove up to see me and tell me everything would be alright. She had been through this too, and her words and love were the most comforting of anyone.

My mom is like my teammate and my biggest fan rolled in one. Whatever I set my mind to, my mom is there to help and support me through it. She's always cheering me on and believes in me. As someone who's confidence and self-image has been massively shaken recently, I keep realizing how much I need that support.

I need my mom.

I may be 25, married, parent to a crazy puppy, living two hours from my parents, and working nearly full-time, but I still need my mom.

And I probably always will.

It doesn't matter what happens in my life, I know I can always count on her. I know that she will always love me, unconditionally, even when I make mistakes... and I have made a lot of mistakes in my lifetime. She's never given up on me once and always believes I can achieve my dream.

There's a beautiful Taylor Swift song that always reminds me of my mom (listen to it HERE) but specifically these lyrics:

My mom has been my biggest fan through dance, school, writing, and anything I've set my mind to. She's let me live, doing what I want, and believes in me through it all. She wants me to succeed, do wonderful things, and shine.

I love my mom and I need her more and more as I get older. I don't know where I'd be without her. She gave me life, saved my life, and I need her in my life more than she'll ever know.

________________________________________________________________

I promise this isn't an afterthought, but I also owe a lot to my mother-in-law Michelle. It's such a wonderful thing to get a second mom who will love and care for you no matter what. I love her so much and am so grateful that I was able to get her in my life! 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! 

Charity Miles Team!

Hey friends! So as you know I'm always looking for ways to give back. I've recently discovered an awesome app that allows you to help out a charity simply by walking. I've only used it once so far, so I'm not an expert but in this post I'll tell you all I know and how I've formed a team for us to work together.

So you can download Charity Miles on either your Apple or Android phone for free. When you open up the app it immediately opens up a list of organizations that you can choose to run or walk for. There are 37 to choose from and they are all wonderful!

As I mentioned before I have only used the app once and it was to go on a walk with Chris and Zoram. I let Chris choose and his pick was the American Diabetes Association, but you are able to pick a new charity every time you use the app. A lot of the charities are ones that I have previously or have planned to use for Charity of the Month. I'm thinking that if we can build up our team then we can just follow my pick for Charity of the Month and make a bigger dent in helping out an awesome organization. 

I'm getting ahead of myself, let's do a little more explaining.

The app uses the GPS in your phone to measure your distance. It can also use motion sensors if running indoors, but most likely it'll be less accurate. Personally I wish it could connect to my Fitbit and get my miles from there because I've been doing a lot of treadmill workouts. Maybe someday it'll happen. 

However, like with my Fitbit, there are always inconsistencies and room for error. So I wouldn't recommend using this solely to track distance for a workout. For me personally, I just let it do its thing and whether or not the numbers are completely accurate, I'm not going to worry about it. 

Walkers and runners can earn up to 25¢ and cyclists can earn 10¢ per mile. I realize this is not a lot, but as a team we can make a difference. (I promise I'll get to the team in a minute.)

The app is super easy to use. You just open it up, choose your charity, then start your walk. That's it. Insanely easy! When you're done you have the option to share your miles and progress on social media, if you want. This app is fantastic at not taking over any of your social media and posting things that you don't want to. 

I've also been able to connect this app to my Walgreens Balance Rewards account. Walgreens is amazing at helping out organizations in need and I'm able to get rewarded for my efforts using this app and taking care of my body through exercise. You can earn 20 points for every mile. Since I live in walking distance to Walgreens and it's my go-to drop in place, I love that I can get rewards in the store simply by walking, while also helping out charitable organizations. Seriously, how could it get any better than that? 

You can set reminders on the app as well so you don't forget to take your daily walk, run, or bike ride. 

If you have any further questions on this app you can check out their FAQ page HERE. 

Finally, let's get into teams. Because of my desire for Charity of the Month, I've decided to create a team for all of us to work together towards the same goal. Simply go to the menu bar, click teams then type in DancingCowHerd to find our team. I'm currently the only member (big shocker there) and the team page looks like this:

As I said, I've only used this app once while walking my dog, so our team mile total is very low, but I'm planning on doing a 5k soon and if I can find a good way to keep my phone on my person while I run on the treadmill at the gym every day (because I've been doing awesome at it), then my personal miles will go up. Also, hopefully, more people join our team and our team total will grow. 

Now I will continue to do Charity of the Month each month and if the charity I choose is one of the options on this app then I will be using it for the month. I would love if you joined me in choosing the Charity of the Month so we could make a bigger impact for the month, but you are always welcome to choose your own. I would never force you to ignore a charity you are truly passionate about. 

If you decide to download the app, please join our team and don't forget to track your miles. I would love to have you join my team and together we can make a difference. 

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I am not affiliated with Charity Miles or Walgreen Balance Rewards programs in any way. I was not compensated and any views or opinions were my own.

Feeding America [May 2016 COTM]

Hey friends! I wasn't planning on doing a Charity of the Month this month (I've been having a few issues so it hasn't been around for a while), however it didn't feel right to not highlight anything. So today I wanted to help you find your local food bank.

If you go to the Feeding America website, on the front page you'll find an orange line which reads "Find Your Local Food Bank" and you can just insert your zip code in there and see what's around you.

One of the saddest things in the world, in my opinion, is that there are people out there who can't always eat food. I feel heartbroken every time I see food go to waste. And just ask my husband, I clean my plate every time I eat in an unconscious effort to never waste food.

So when you find your local food bank, I encourage you to follow their donations rules and help out any way you can. I know it's hard to think you can make a difference, but if we all pitch in we can make a dent in the problem and bring someone happiness.

April Is Over!!

Hello friends! Are you as happy as I am that April is over? It's been a weird and difficult month for me. I can only hope yours went smoother. But I'm excited for May. I love this month, my anniversary is this month, I'm starting a work weight loss challenge this month and hopefully can get happy about my body again, and have some other exciting events to go to. It'll be good.

Anyways, let's get into a rather brief review of the month of April, in no particular order.

April had some really great events, between seeing my favorite singer Jon McLaughlin and having him Tweet me saying this blog is nice... well that was basically the highlight of my year. You can read all about my concert experience HERE.

Chris and I also had the amazing opportunity to see Kyle Beckerman, captain and midfielder of the Real Salt Lake team, when he came to speak at USU. He talked a lot about how he was able to reach his goals and his dream of playing in the World Cup. I was inspired by a few of the things he said and have tried to add his wisdom into my own life.

I've gotten really into podcasts this month and have been inspired by those as well. I listen to funny podcasts, podcasts about writing, podcasts for bloggers, podcasts for YouTube, and podcasts about being happy. I have a rather brain-dead job and I can sit at work all day and listen to podcasts while still getting all my work done. It's been a rather exciting experience and I hope the lessons and inspiration I've received from listening to these podcasts will carry over to this blog.

I've also gone into major writing and planning mode. This September I will be releasing a series of short stories onto this blog, and I want them to be good. I still have a lot of writing and editing to do, but everything seems to be on track for the release date of September 17th. I really want to hype this up and get more followers to my blog beforehand so when it comes out there will be a larger response. Me releasing my stories is a big deal. I normally don't let anyone read my writing, so I'm hoping this all goes well.

*On that note, I am in need of illustrators who would be fine working for free. Any art style is welcome and you'll have a lot of personal input on how it's done. I also want a few readers to read my first drafts and fill out a form with their input. If you are interested in either of these things email me at thedancingcowblogger@gmail.com.*

Continuing on, my April started with me being sick for a week. It was a terrible week and it was the same week my baby was due. I honestly didn't even think about my baby on the due date because I was so sick. But I want to thank everyone for the response to "A Letter to My Miscarried Child".  That post was written about a month before the due date during a particularly bad moment. I have not been able to go back and read that post again since I wrote it. I have loved hearing your responses to that letter though. A lot of my pain stems from feeling so alone, like no one understands, but so many of you have addressed me personally with your own stories and it's been incredible to listen to your stories and to help give me hope for the future. So thank you, I love each and every one of my readers, and I am always looking out for you.

I believe that's it for my April review, not too much went on, and it wasn't too exciting, but I'm excited for May and everything it brings. I love you all!!