GRADUATION!!!!

It has been a long time but Grad School became REAL!!!! I finished my last semester with all As and Graduated with my Masters in Science with a concentration on Criminal Justice! YAY!!!

I completed my Capstone on the Naloxone Policy and how it is viewed in Law Enforcement.

Graduation we experienced one of the Samsung Galaxy’s catching on fire and a lovely speaker, Mrs. Valeisha Butterfield Jones! I was chosen to give the Graduate Statement at the Criminal Justice Department Graduation (which was a complete shock) and the day was filled with so much love and happiness.

As reality has finally hit me after Graduation, I decided to not only start looking for a job but to also knock a few things off of my 30 before 30 list!

Please bare with me as I catch up on my blog after a long hiatus!

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Crayon Picture

One day, I was browsing through Facebook and saw this picture. I decided to recreate it with a bit of a twist. I have included pictures with for more assistance.

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Materials:

• 48 crayons
• Canvas (I used a 16 x 24 but you can do it what ever size you would like) and an Easel
• Hot Glue Gun with Extra Glue Sticks
• Hair Dryer and an Extension Cord
• Image that you want for the picture
• Scissors or Craft Knife
• Bowl
• Painter’s Tape/ Frog Tape
• Newspaper or Plastic Bags

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Directions:

1. First, organize your crayons by the way in which you want them to melt. I did mine by the colors of the rainbow (ROY G BIV)
2. Place the crayons against the canvas in order to make sure that it matched up. This step is really important if you choose a different size canvas!
3. Hot Glue each crayon in the exact spot that you want it on the canvas and ONLY glue the paper of the crayon. Be mindful, if you mess up, you can peel the glue off of the canvas but it will take some of the canvas off and you will see thread. Only do this once.
4. Print out the image that you want on the canvas. You can also draw the image on the canvas or paper and paint it black.
5. Cut the image out carefully using scissors or a knife
6. Hot Glue the image on the canva
7. Once the image is glued, tape the bowl over the picture and secure it with painter’s tape.
8. Cut the Plastic Bag in half and place it around the canvas. The melted Crayons will Splatter
9. Time Consuming Step: Use the hair dryer and put it on the highest setting and melt the crayons. Keep it approximately 2 inches from the crayons. Since I used a lot of crayons, it took me almost 40 minutes to get it exactly how I wanted it.

   

10. Wait 5-10 minutes for the crayons to be completely dry and remove the bowl from the canvas.

 

VOILA! You know have a beautiful eye attracting art that you hang in your home!

New York Trip

On my Bucket List my number 1 thing was to go to New York. Well in June 2016, I found the Ultimate Reason Why…. Beyonce! The Formation World Tour came to New York and I simply was estatic because I simply LOVE Queen Bey (which is different from Queen Bee, who is Lil’ Kim, which I LOVE as well)! I am #BeyHive and an Ultimate Fan. We decided to see Bey and sightsee as much as possible. We drove from NC to NY which was a 9 hour drive but worth it… in the beginning.

DAY 1:  Any who, my two younger cousins had just finished their first year as college students and my boyfriend refused to go see her; so I thought, what better way to celebrate their first year. We decided to go see Beyonce! They are college students and I have been undergrad before so we got tickets that we could all afford and a very nice hotel. However, it was nose bleed seats and we were literally 3 rows from the very top! (I will literally never do that again).The trip was only for 3 days 2 nights. I packed four outfits (shorts, romper, a dress, and a shirt/skirt outfit) and you always pack pants and a jacket, that is what my Grandma has always taught me. Being late spring, early summer, I suppose I was assuming New York was going to feel like North Carolina but I was totally wrong. My youngest cousin, clearly the smart one, wore pants and a long cute shirt to the concert but me and my younger cousin were absolutely adores in our rompers! Long story short, we froze in our nosebleed seats watching Bey! She was shaking so bad that an older couple had an extra jacket and gave it to her so that she could enjoy the concert. The freezing was worth it because the concert was amazing! #Day1Complete

DAY 2: We woke up around mid morning and decided we were going to go shopping in Times Square. We stayed in Corona, NY and our hotel was only 2 minutes from the train station. The train wasn’t as bad as I anticipated from the stories I had heard and I really liked it. We get to Times Square and as soon as we got off the train, I was told that I was too nice and people asked where I was from -___- . Not even off the train 5 minutes before that speech came. So we went shopping in Times Sqare and I probably bought too much crap! We went to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum (I loved the one in Vegas better) and ate at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp. We were planning on going to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero but then I got the call! 0___o  The  hotel we were staying at called me to tell me that my car had been hit and I was parked in the hotel parking lot! So we had to rush back on the train and get to the hotel. My entire bumper was gone! It took the police (the department was 5 minutes down the street) 3 hours to get to the hotel to do the police report. It was so draining and I wasn’t finished with my car situation until 10pm. We decided to just go to bed since we had to leave in the morning. #Day2Disaster

DAY 3: I woke up earlier than the girls and called the PD to get the report to take home but they continued to give me the run around and finally said that I couldn’t come get it ut they could mail it (this was actually a lie). So we left NY around 9am and ran into traffic in VA not even Maryland or DC. We didn’t get home until 7pm and I drove the whole way back. #Day3Tired

Moral of this trip: 1. Dress like it is winter time at all times in NY and 2. Never drive your car to NY because people do not now how to avoid parked cars behind buildings! #BestWorstTripEver

 

 

Chevron Wood Letters

Chevron print is the most beautiful and popular print these days. My younger cousin, DeeDee, went away to college for her second year and wanted to decorate her room with some pizzazz. She asked me if I could do her chevron letters. Without thinking, I agreed. Honestly, I have never done chevron letters before but in her eyes I could do any DIY project; so in short, I was not about to disappoint her. This was by far the most difficult project I have taken on. For Chevron print in the future, I recommend a stencil for anyone who wants to perfect it or a sturdy ruler. Luckily, I had a good ruler. Also, her mom has this tape called Frog’s Tape that does the same exact thing as Painter’s tape but better! I am adding Frog Tape to my Craft Box. I used spray paint on her letters because she bought pre painted black letters opposed to regular wood letters and I knew spray paint would hold better. Thankfully, these letters came out so pretty and perfect! They matched her school’s colors and her room decor. I was honestly impressed at myself! I have decided to paint a chevron canvas for my home and I plan on doing a step by step for that. Since I was unsure about this one, I unfortunately did not take that many pictures or really remember my measurements. 😦

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30 Before 30 List

I began planning my 30 Before 30 List earlier this year! I am going to catalogue my journey here as well as a scrapbook kit my aunt has given me. Here goes nothing! Wish me luck friends 🙂

1. Go to New York
2. Go to Las Vegas
3. Learn how to Speak Spanish fluently (again)
4. Get in Shape and Become Healthy
5. Learn how to Swim Better (Treading Water)
6. Travel Overseas
7. Start a New Tradition
8. Get a Tattoo
9. Take a Calligraphy Class
10. Go to an NFL Game/Super bowl
11. Learn to Play an Instrument
12. Start on a Vegan Diet for at a minimum of 2 weeks
13. Repurpose Old Furniture
14. Start a Bullet Journal
15. Read at least 3 Classic Novels
16. Run a 5K (No Walking)
17. Make a Quilt
18. Start on my Doctorate Degree
19. Cross Country Road Trip
20. Go Snorkeling
21. Take a Martial Art/ Boxing Class
22. Go to Coachella
23. Complete Acts of Kindness for a week
24. Attend a Carnival in the Caribbean
25. Go to a Broadway Show
26. Go on a Mission Trip
27. Reconnect with my Father
28. Get Engaged
29. Do 30 Days of Something
30. Have a Huge 30^th Birthday Celebration

 

 

**This will be color coordinated as I complete each task**

 

Graduate School Has Been Kicking My BUTT!

SO I have not contributed to my blog in forever! I feel so bad but I am so happy for Summer Vacation because Graduate School is killing! Over the next few days, weeks, months….. (okay maybe not months!) I will be catching up on all of the blogs I have wanted to write and have put in my thought notebook. Please bare with me as I complete everything.

Chicken Fajitas

I know that this is a little off of what I usually do but I had some one ask me to send them the recipe so I though, “Hmmm. Maybe I should place it on my blog.” I made homemade Chicken Fajitas, even as far to making my own spice for it. It was incredibly delicious and I made it pretty healthy.

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Ingredients:

• Ziploc Bag
• Chili Powder (2 Tablespoons)
• Sea salt (1 ¼ Tablespoons)
• Ground Cumin (1 ¼ Tablespoons)
• Garlic Powder (1 ¼ Tablespoons)
• Red Bell Pepper
• Small Onion
• Raw Boneless Chicken Tenderloins (6 pieces)
• Large Romaine Lettuce Leaves
• Salsa
• Optional: Lime Juice and Cheese 

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Directions:

1. Cut out Chicken Tenderloins, red bell pepper, and the onion into thin slices.
2. Mix Chili Powder, Sea Salt, Ground Cumin, Garlic Powder and approximately 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil into a Big Ziploc Bag.
3. Add Chicken, bell pepper, and onion into the Ziploc Bag and mix/shake well. You want to make sure all of the ingredients in the bag look coated in the mixture.
4. Refrigerate the ingredients in the Ziploc Bag for 30 minutes.
5. Coat a large Skillet with Olive Oil on medium heat.
6. Remove the Ingredients onto the Skillet and Cook until Chicken is Completely done.
7. Take out Romaine Lettuce Leaves and break the ends.
8. Apply Fajitas on Leaves evenly. Add salsa and cheese to liking

ENJOY!!!! 🙂

 

Birchbox vs ipsy: February Review

SO I know you all have been waiting for the first month review comparing both subscriptions this month: Birchbox vs ipsy! Of course, February is the month of LOVE and everything PINK or RED! I received my ipsy Glam Bag around the middle of the month and my Birchbox towards the end. However, I subscribed to ipsy at the end of January and had to wait a whole month to receive it. I subscribed to Birchbox around the 20th of February and received it by February 29th. So shipping is a little different and quicker on Birchbox’s end for this month.

The ipsy Glam Bag itself was gorgeous this month. It looked like a envelope with a heart on it. The theme for this month was PRETTY IN#IPSYPINK . I think this is perhaps the cutest slogan ever. My bag was everything pink. I received Argan Oil Hair Serum, Baby Blush Stick (which was coral in color), Mr. Write Now eye pencil (it appears deep purple from the pink but goes on pink), Sparkling lipgloss (in Pink Sequin), and Ciate London Paint Pot (in Bush pink). When I looked on there website, they showed other possible samples that could have been given but based on my quiz answers, I received this. I would have preferred most of the other samples if I were to be honest. I tried each one of these products but honestly I only preferred the lipgloss and I used the eye liner as a lip liner. I was not particularly fond of the hair serum because it was too thick for my hair and the baby blush stick just does not suite my skin complexion, in my opinion. Although, I do like the feel of the Baby Blush Stick. The nail polish was a bit too watery and required 3 coats to become that perfected color that I desired. I was not too fond of this subscription this month.

 

 

My Birchbox came in the cute blush coral box. It is adorable. It also came with this product description inside of the box. The description also detailed how much the full-size of the product would cost if I was interested in purchasing it. I do not think that there was necessarily a theme for the box other than the February box. I received in this box Pop Beauty lipstick (red),Benefit Cosmetics: They’re Real Mascara, (Malin + Goetz) clarifying clay mask, Juara Body Creme, and Neuma Beauty (scalp therapy). I already knew hoe the Benefit Mascara was because currently it is my favorite mascara. I was really happy to receive a travel size one. I loved the lipstick. Matte lipstick is my favorite but I do not particularly care for how it dries so I use a primer on my lips. However, this matte lipstick did not feel as dry as others that I have used. It felt great and my lips still felt soft. The clarifying mask definitely made my skin feel so smooth after I finished using it. I was pretty impressed. It reminded me a lot of GlamGlow (which I absolutely love) just without the tea leaves in the clay. The Juara Body Creme was really great and it kept my hands smooth no matter how many times I tried it. I was not too fond of the Neuma Scalp treatment. It felt kind of gritty in my hair and just plain weird. Honestly that is the only issue I had with this box. I loved this box so much.

The winner of the month of February review: Birchbox

I really hope Birchbox can top the next month and I hope ipsy can step it up next time. Next Month I will review the March subscriptions which I have already received but I have not used it yet. #EXCITING 

 

LOVOPOLY GAME

On Valentine’s Day this year, I decided to give my boyfriend an actual gift that we could use together. So I went on Pinterest and tah-dahhhh! I found the most perfect game ever, LOVOPOLY! I decided to spell it like LOVEPOLY but honestly I spelled it wrong so I just left it 😀 . It is like Monopoly but you personalize to fit you and your partner. It was a website where you could go to in order to order it and get them to make it. I decided to make it handmade because my boyfriend loves when I make handmade gifts.

**This project was fairly easy to do, however, it requires lots of planning and has time consuming steps, such as cutting!**

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Board Information: I tried to make the board using 4 pieces of white card stock paper and gluing it together but it looked so tacky! SO I used Microsoft Publisher and created a 24 x 24 monopoly board. I made my 4 corner pieces 3 x 3. On each row, I made 9 smaller boxes for the properties to go and this measured at about 3 x 2. It took only 10 minutes at most to do. I sent it to FedEx for printing and it only cost me $7. I included the board as a PDF.

Kendalyn Board

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Materials Needed:

Card Stock Paper

Computer, Printer, & Ink (This is a bundle deal haha)

8 different Marker Colors

Black Sharpie Marker

Elmer’s Glue Stick

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Directions:

***Make sure you pull up a Monopoly Board on the computer for referencing***

Step 1: Print out Board from Fedex

Step 2: Property Cards.This is probably the hardest and most time consuming step. The is also where the personalization comes in. You need 8 different sets of topics in order to match the properties. Or you can pick 22 different important things or places that pertain to you and your partner. I found topics to be easier because it kept a theme going. For example, we love eating at our top 3 restaurants all the time Buffalo Wild Wings, Olive Garden and Razzoo’s Cajun Cafe. Another example is that for Boardwalk and Park Place, I used 2 expensive trips that we would like to go in the Future, Dubai and Tokyo. Make Sure that you color code the properties to match the board.

Step 3: Utility Cards, Community Chest and Chance Cards. These were also very personalized for us.I used Hulu and Crunchyroll for our Utility Cards because we love those 2 TV streaming  services. For Chance, I used Get Lucky (four leaf clover symbol) and for community chest, Family Jewels (chest for of jewels symbol). These cards were personalized with our lives, such as Gym membership pay $20.

Step 4: What about the Railroads? Since no one uses railroads anymore I decided to switch it up. My boyfriend has never flown and he is a little worried about doing so, therefore, I used airlines opposed to railroads. This is a fear I want to help him break 🙂

**I made my cards via Microsoft Word and mimicking Monopoly cards as best as I could.I know its easier said than done, so I included my word document.** 

Monopoly Cards For Blog

Step 5: Print everything out on your card stock paper. So much thick Yardstick!

Step 6: Monopoly Money. I googled searched Monopoly Money and printed out a template on plain white copy paper. I printed 40-$1 bills,40-$5 bills, 40-$10 bills, 50-$20 bills, 30-$50 bills, 30-$200 bills, and 30-$500 bills.

Step 7: So much cutting and paper. Phone a friend for help as I did 🙂 My Grandmother Loves helping with my crafts

Step 8: Color the board and make sure that you color coordinate with the properties.

Step 9: Label the board with the properties and print out symbols for the airline and utility cards for the board. Glue them on with regular Elmer’s glue stick. 

Step 10: Corner Pieces. For the GO Corner, I named it home but kept it as the same properties. For the JAIL CELL/JUST VISITING, I made it Stuck in Traffic/All Clear. This was a homage to my boyfriend because every time he is late to something, he claims that he was stuck in some kind of traffic! For the GO TO JAIL Corner, I made it a Road Block Orange Cone just for the traffic. Hahaha 😀 For the Free Parking, I made it a Palm Tree on an island and labeled it Vacation. I did this because we desperately NEED A VACATION. So this was a reminder for him. 😀

Step 11: Buy 2 board pieces that represent you and your partner. I love makeup so I bought a Vanity set. My boyfriend wants to learn how to ride a motorcycle, so that is what I got him; his Very Own Motorcycle. Also I just bought houses and hotels from Ebay for only $3!

Step 12: (optional) I bought a shadow box from Michael’s Arts and Supplies. I had a 40% off  coupon and they were doing a sell on the shadow boxes. I only paid $8!!!

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This was the best gift that I have ever done! It was so time consuming and included so much planning and personalization. It was so fun! It is a lot of fun but my boyfriend really enjoyed it!

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Fragrant Jewels Review

I love candles! I am always buying candles and I have knack of burning them within days of  the purchase. I can never keep anything new 😀

One day I read about Candles that had rings in them that were actually worth money. 😮 That was my face haha. So quickly, I googled ‘candles that have rings in them’ (I am a very literal person). First thing that popped up on my Macbook, Fragrant Jewels. Fragrant Jewels places a ring worth from $10 to $10,000 within their products. You will receive a code with the ring and you can go to the website and appraise the value of the ring. I clicked on their website and saw that there were all these beautiful candles, fragrant beads, and bath bombs. The candles range from $25-$60, the beads are $16, and the bath bombs are $15. Being Kendy, I bought one of each so that I could see how each one worked.

 

I NEED A FILLIN 😮

In order to get the ring for the candle, you had to burn in. I burned mine for about 3-5 hours in order to get the ring. You will see a gold foil paper on the side. I suggest waiting until it melts at least half way down from the foil because if not, you will be scooping out some wax out. I used a spoon to get my foil out. As I unwrapped my foil I saw this beautiful ring with a silver paper with a code on it. You will go to the Appraisal/Vault portion of the website where you can check how much each ring is worth. All of my rings were only $10 😦 But each of my rings are so gorgeous! In order to get the ring out of the beads, you literally just open the bead bag and pull the gold foil out. For the bath bomb, the ring is in the center of the bath bomb in a plastic sphere. You just put the bath bomb in your bath water and let it fizz. The bath bomb feels extremely nice on your skin.

I would definitely recommend this product to everyone. The scents I purchased smelled so good! I bought Tranquility- Lavender Fragrance Candle ($24.95), Tahitian Dream- Fragrance Beads ($15.95), and Tranquility-Lavender Bath Bomb ($14.95). If you purchase $50 worth of products from them, you get FREE SHIPPING! I found a promo code MISSU and it took $11 off of my order  so my order came up to $44.68 and I had to pay $12.95 for shipping. My total came up to $57.63. In hindsight I would have purchased another Bath Bomb for a better deal but I do not regret it at all. The customer service is really great and they keep in great contact with you. I think it is well worth it for the price, The candles are a nice size and smell amazing!