My Zero-Waste Beauty Routine

A while back I wrote a post on how college can change you. One of the changes that I have seen in myself that I mentioned is that I am trying to go more zero waste. Since that post I have done more and more research. Watched tons of videos, read blog posts and have already decided that zero waste is not for me. Hear me out. The whole point of going zero waste is to reduce the amount of plastic you use. That’s basically it. yes, they will compost and different things to not have a trash can, but the goal is to not have any waste products. That’s impossible. Because even if you are buying your food in bulk, there was waste for it to get there. So every decision you make will cause waste. So it is absolutely impossible to make zero waste. But you can make a smaller impact. Choices you make can make a smaller to lower impact on the Earth and the environment and many zero waste “leaders” have realized this have started using the term low impact. ‘But Lacey,’ you say, ‘the title of this post is your zero waste beauty routine!’ Yes. Its called clicks people. Anyone researching this topic is going to know what zero waste is. They will be searching zero waste and the term low impact hasn’t grown as big yet so fewer people are searching it. so…… this is my zero waste/low impact beauty routine!

A Day in the Life: Lacey's Junior Fall Semester

We are about half-way through the semester here at William Woods and things are picking up. Midterms are next week and everywhere around me I see stressed out people. But this is a look into my Monday schedule!

Decorating a Dorm Room on a Budget

Hey guys! I'm going to give you a few tips on decorating a dorm room on a budget. We are all college students and we know how broke we are right? So does that mean our rooms should suffer? Of course not! Your room should still look bomb. So here are a few tips.

National Youth Rally in Colorado

NYR 2018 has come to a close and with that it has been fun! What is it? A week out in nature with no cell service and no internet prasing the Lord. I love this experience and I decided I would share it with you!

How to Land an Internship

Any decent job requires applicants to have some experience in the field before even considering filling out the application. For a college student this “experience requirement” falls into the same category as final projects, taxes, and cleaning out the fridge. The category titled, “That thing that I know I need to do but I’ll just do it eventually”, also known as, “Oh no I didn’t do it now I’m paying the consequences”. When entry level job positions want applicants to have 5 years of prior experience, it’s pretty frustrating for a college grad. So how is anyone supposed to get a job when they graduate? The answer: Internships.

Dating Game 2018

Hi guys! So we wanted to let you guys get to know us a little bit better. Megan had to do the Dating Game at her CA training so we thought we would do it as well, so here we go!!

Day in the Life: Megan's Summer

Hey everyone, Welcome to my life! I feel like I need to say what my life has been for the summer so you guys can kinda get an idea of what I did. This is a continuation of our “Day in the Life” Series.

Day in the Life: Jennah's Summer

Hey everyone!
So in continuation of our "Day in the Life" series, (Check out Lacey's day here) this is what a typical day would look like for me this summer.

6:15 Alarm goes off. Hit the snooze button.

6:25 Alarm goes off again. Actually get up this time.

6:25 - 7:50 Eat breakfast, read a Bible verse or two, catch up on emails/texts, pack my lunch and get dressed.

7:50 - 8:00 Drive to work

8:00 - 12:00 Do work stuff. As an accounting intern this summer, I have done things like scan tax returns, answer phones, enter in trial balances, balance financial statements and some auditing tasks like testing cash, payroll, investments and adjusting entries.

12:00 - 12:30 Lunch break. Sometimes I meet up with Aly and we eat lunch together.

12:30 - 4:30 More work stuff'

4:30 - 6:30 Go to the gym (so I can convince myself that I totally deserve that ice cream later)

6:30 - 7:30ish Eat dinner, take a shower, get on my comfy pajamas

7:30 - 10:00 Mess around, play my ukulele, watch youtube/netflix, call my parents, read a book

10:00 Bedtime!


And there you have it, proof that I am a normal "adult" and have a perfectly ordinary life. Every so often I go ride horses in the evening at school with friends, and on weekends I go volunteer at a therapeutic riding center. It's nice to have a consistent schedule, I know my sleep cycle thinks so. Although most of my day is spent at work, those 8 hours are filled with different activities, challenges and learning experience which is super cool and keeps things interesting! I am pretty blessed to have such amazing days this summer.

~Jennah

Projects with Stuff from the Dollar Store

Hey guys! So this week I wanted to give you some ideas for fun projects you can do with anyone! I did all of these projects with my cousins who are 2 and 4 years old. So how about we just jump right into this funness of a post!

Celebrate the Holidays with us: Our 4th of July 2018

Hi guys! so we hope your 4th of July was Amazing!!! We all have different ways in how we celebrate the 4th of July and we wanted to share ours with you! So as told best from each of us here are our 4th of July story!

My Favorites: Lacey

My Favorites

Book: Is it really possible to decide? I mean really! Before college I read a lot more than I do now, and the summer gives me more time than the school year (thank goodness for nap time at work right!). Right now my brother and I are doing a The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings marathon and they are pretty good too. I like fiction more than non-fiction but I like when you learn things within the fiction or there is at least a point.

I Slept on the Floor for a Month and this is what I Learned

**NOTE: This does not replace the information provided to you by your doctor or healthcare professionals. This is just my experience and it will be different for each person. If you want to try sleeping on the floor consult your doctor**

YOU DID WHAT?

I first heard about floor sleeping in relation to minimalism and people finding their bed not necessary and getting rid of it. I thought they were crazy and dismissed it. Then i saw an episode of "Try Living with Lucie" where she slept on the floor for five days. Then one of the Youtubers i watch mentioned that she floor sleeps and i decided to watch the video she did on it. Then i watched her entire playlist. Within the playlist there was a video with her Chiropractor and they discussed floor sleeping, its benefits, and how to do it properly. He said not to sleep directly on the floor but to use a foam mattress topper as a layer between you and the floor and to have a tall pillow under your knees to elevate them and help align your back.

30 Lessons We Learned 2nd Year

During our second year at college we have learned both in and out of class. We wanted to share more with you from our second year of school. Last year we wrote about our Freshmen year of college and the lessons we learned then, so if you’re just starting out that post will also help you out! So again in no particular order, here are our list of things we learned our second year of college!

My Favorite Things: Megan

Welcome friends to the inner secrets of my life which are know as some of my favorite things in this life, so please do enjoy getting to know me a little bit better!

Living on My Own!

So this year, my summer job is about 700 miles away from my home in Texas. Which means unless I wanted to make the 12 hour drive everyday to the accounting office, I had to find a place to live for these 3 and a half months. The town is about 30 minutes away from school, but the dorms are closed for the summer. So guess what! I am now living on my own for the first time in a rental house. The cheapest and most reasonable option was to rent an Airbnb. I ended up booking two different places to get the best deal. I am currently living in a pretty nice, fully furnished house in a neighborhood about 10 minutes away from work.

A Day in the Life: Lacey's Summer

Before leaving school we thought it would be a fun idea to do day in the life posts. So this summer we will each take a turn telling you a little bit about what our day is like and today is my turn.

A random Tuesday in summer...

How to Handle Grief in College

Hi Guys! Well for this post, I didn’t know what to talk about, so I thought I would let you into my life a little bit. This post is about how to handle grief in college. In January of this year, my father died from cancer. This threw off my entire year, well and my life. I personally was a mess, on the three-hour car ride home I was playing the should of could of game, I felt dead. I didn’t want to talk to people, I could not remember one good thing I did for my father of what he did for me. All I could think of was what I didn’t do and what I did do that was awful. Don’t play that game, it’s the worst thing you could do to yourself.

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I personally don’t share my emotions very well, and I hate people seeing me cry it’s the worst feeling in the world. We didn’t have a funeral for him, my father was cremated and his memorial is May 5^th, 2018. It’s different for every family on how they deal with a death of a loved one. I went back to school after four or five days and tried to act like nothing happened. Also, not a good thing, but I did it anyway. I have random moments when I just have some much built up that it all gets let out, which is a good thing let it happen it will make you feel a lot better. I still struggle, when I go home and I’m by myself I can’t really function very well because I think of my dad, but it does get easier. I know it may not seem like it at the time, but it will get better, definitely not all the way better, but you will get there and that in itself is an accomplishment. Talk to your friends, talk to somebody even if it maybe yourself, but don’t degrade yourself to thinking you are nothing and that you can’t be the person you used to be. That will only make you feel worse, always have faith and don’t bottle thinks up. If you ever need anybody to talk to, I’m free to talk just shoot me a comment and I’ll get back to you!
Until the ‘morrow we will speak again

~Megan

Some Fun Things to do with your Friends

Hello one and all! Welcome back to the Blog! Now we are always looking for fun things to go do with friends, right? Welp, have no fear, Megan is here! Today, I wanted to help with the idea machine of things to do with your friends!

My Favorites: Jennah

Hi everyone! Jennah here. Here is a random list of my favorite things!

Color: Turquoise (also purple and green tie for second)

Animal: I bet you can guess! The horse of course. I am at college for horses after all. Specifically, these two, Mae and Chaplin. I don't have them anymore, but I still love and miss them! I do also love dogs and tigers!

Food: I will do anything for chocolate. Anything.

Music: Any random song that catches my attention. My playlists usually include a whole bunch of different genres

Books: So many great ones to choose from! Used to read a LOT before college. I loved the Percy Jackson, Narnia and Hardy Boys series when I was younger, and nowadays would love to curl up with a good fantasy or mystery novel.

Movies: I LOVE movies that blow your mind or make you think, such as Arrival, The Prestige and Inception. I am also a huge fan of Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Don’t get me started on the new Infinity War! I am still lowkey (ha) freaking out.

Stuff to do: Riding horses, geocaching, reading, hiking, roller skating, hanging out with friends, swimming, bowling, anything adventurous and spontaneous (preferably outside!)

Classes at WWU: Stable Management, the riding classes, Keeper (yes, I enjoy it!), Auditing

Really Specific And Maybe Strange Stuff that I like: The smell of rain. Accounting. That moment

when your Trial Balance finally balances when you’ve been working on it for 2 hours. When you and a friend look at each other and instantly crack up. Jason's smile. The feeling of dirt and sweat on your skin after a day of hard work. When your horse follows your around (even when you are actually just holding treats). The smell of home. Singing at the top of your lungs in your car where you think no one can hear you. Hugs from kids. Licks from puppies. High fives from strangers. When you find the last piece of the puzzle you’ve worked on for the last week (it was under the rug). That feeling when you and your horse soar over a jump after making the perfect stride. When your younger brother asks when you will be back home because he misses you. Realizing you have no more homework. Bubbles (obviously).

People: Jesus. My family. My dear friends. My mentors. My teachers. All those who have taken me into their own families and made me feel loved and wanted. You know who you are 😉

Anyway, those are some of my favorites! Leave a comment with your own favorites!

My First Year as a CA

Hi Guys! We just ended our second year at William Woods University, which also means I finished up my first year as a Community Advisor in the SAS Complex. I have to say, I’m really happy my second year is over and that I get to continue my journey at William Woods and I have the great opportunity to be the Head CA in SAS Complex in Swearingen.

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As for my first year here, I was stressed and relaxed. It is a great job to have on campus, because you are learning different skills that will help you in the workplace. Some of the skills include: Teamwork/Collaboration, Leadership, Global Issues/Cultural Competence, Organization, Problem Solving, Technical Knowledge, and Innovation. Any of these skills listed on a resume, Purple Briefcase, or LinkedIn look good when employers are looking for somebody to hire for their job position.

I lived on the third floor in Allen, which also meant the laundry room was in the basement, all in all laundry day was hard. The good part though was when I worked weekends nobody would be doing laundry at midnight when I would be doing laundry. I had my stressful days when my residents would not listen or when they would be screaming in the hallway. I did have to crash some parties, but I never wrote them up as long as they didn’t argue with me and they left within the 15 minutes I gave them to leave. My residents, they were great! Super kind, they were video gamers which made the floor full of noise while playing the game, but that was still nice. I lived in the spring sports floor, so some nights it was quite because everyone was gone, or they were tired from their day.

I’ve had a roller coaster of a year with being a CA. My eating, sleeping, and my social habits have changed. Not all for the good though. Yet, I would not change it, some days yes, I would love to run away screaming and hide from my responsibilities. Then I start to think, they have someone they can always come to and talk, because we are always there and available to talk. I thank William Woods for giving me this opportunity for this position and that they have allowed me to continue my journey. If you are every thinking of becoming a Community Advisor, I definitely think you should talk to a current CA and get their opinion on it and apply, it can never hurt to go through the interview!

~Megan

A College Sized Faith: Why so many Students lose their Faith in College

“And we pray that these young people don't lose their faith when they go out into the world and to college.” this line was used during the closing prayer of Senior Sunday (AKA graduate Sunday) the year I graduated from  high school. Growing up in church you hear about the kids who used to go to church but they lost their faith in college. As a senior, you hear the advice to find a church and bible study, so you don't lose your faith, again and again. There are statistics you can look up showing the drastic rate of college students who stop going to church and lose their faith, But I don't believe that's true.

My Criminal Justice Internship

With being a CJ Major, I decided to do an Internship with the Callaway County Sheriff’s Department this semester. Most of the things I do, I can not talk about because of confidentiality and some of it is just too hard to explain in writing, so this post may seem like it doesn’t have all the information needed, but I wanted to let you know what was going on at my internship.

Summer Plans

Hi guys,

This will be my formal farewell to the Friend’s at the Woods Blog because I am transferring to a school closer to home. 15 hours is a long way from home! 

Meet the Hunter/Jumper Horses!

There are all sorts of wonderful horses in the Hunter/Jumper barn! They are all donated by amazing people and are teaching students how to ride hunt seat. We have a herd of 38 horses, made of of mares, geldings and all sorts of breeds, sizes and colors. Here are a few that you might find if you visit the hunter/jumper barn!

A College Sized Faith: Lent

Hi friends, I’m here writing my lent post and I wanted to give you guy more of an understanding on what it is. Lent is apart of the Catholic faith. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, which is 40 days before Easter and lines up with the Passover Feast of the Jewish Faith. Lent entails giving up meat every Friday and also you have to give up one thing for the entire 40 days, which is not nom, nom.

What's in my Backpack?

Here at William Woods we have 2 weeks until finals and the stress is building! We are almost done with our Sophomore year; half way finished with college! Wow! While I know it is close to the end of the year I thought it would be fun to have a post showing you guys what I carry in my backpack on a regular basis. So without further ado, what’s in Lacey’s backpack?

Steps to Hosting an Unofficial Tournament

Hey guys!! Welcome to another fun filled post about Quidditch!!! This is about how to plan a Quidditch Tournament. It was hard work to put together but with these few steps I believe you will get some great information from this!!

Major Highlight: ASL Studies

I came to William Woods University because I wanted to be an interpreter. WWU has one of the top programs for interpreters in the country and it was close to home (around an hour) both plus’. What I did not realize was the interpreting major was separate from the ASL major, so now I am a double major in ASL studies and ASL-English Interpreting. I just started classes for my interpreting major last fall and will talk about that major when I have more experience than just the intro classes. Today I will be talking about the ASL studies major and what you need to know. 

Adventures at the State DECA Competition

A few weeks ago, I travelled with the WWU DECA club to compete in the annual DECA State Competition. DECA is a club on campus that focuses on improving an individual’s knowledge of business, leadership and finance. For more information on the organization, check out our WWU Clubs post here. DECA used to stand for “Distributive Education Clubs of America”, but the people in charge realized that the phrase didn’t really describe the club very well. So now the letters don’t really stand for anything *shrug*. During state competitions, students compete in various events such as marketing, retail management, business ethics and accounting. In each event, an individual or a team analyses various case studies or simulations and are judged on the most correct or creative response. A multiple-choice quiz for each category is also involved in the judging. Other judged events include prepared business plans, chapter and member of the year, and a trivia bowl. All of this takes place over two days in a resort located about an hour away from the school by the Lake of the Ozarks. 

College can Change You

All throughout High School I had a fairly sheltered life. I was raised with a set of beliefs and anything counter or different than that was seen as bad. Church = good, tattoos = bad. Throwing things away = normal, composting = strange. Adoption = good, abortion = bad. Meat = life, vegetarian = weird, and we didn’t even speak of vegans. You get the picture. While we weren’t poor we didn’t buy new but we also had a lot of things, stuff, junk.

Since going to college, I have realized that while I had a very narrow mindset, simply because I was raised that way. So I decided to have an open mind and learn as much as possible from as many people as possible and just see what happened. Well, a lot happened, and it didn’t happen all at once. Slowly, over the past year or so I’ve started to see the world differently. My fundamental beliefs are still the same, and I they will never change. I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and that it is truth. Because of this I also believe that abortion is wrong and so is the LGBTQ+ movement. However, I also know that speaking in hate or in a holier than thou attitude will do absolutely nothing except bring more hate. And there are only two things in the world I hate, 1) the devil and all sin, and 2) hate (which I suppose is counterintuitive, but I can’t love it…maybe I extremely dislike it, idk, hate=bad).

           Through mainly Pinterest I have run across many different movements/lifestyles in the past year. Three of which I researched and have decided to implement into my life to some degree. I do find it funny that some aspects of these three lifestyles conflict and are the opposite of one another and yet I still like elements of each. Those three are Minimalism, Hygge, and Zero waste.

Meet Morgan

Hi Friends!

Here is a little bit more about me and where I came from. I came to William woods from a small town of Monmouth Beach in the state of New Jersey. Our small town has a few cute shops and restaurants, a yoga place, an elementary school and a church in the middle. Our town is right off the ocean and Is very tiny, around 2 miles wide. In the summer time it is so much fun to be able to ride bikes to the beach and to go to dinner. I have not always lived here as I moved to this town when I was going into the 4^th grade. I love how tight knit the community is and how everyone knows everyone. I love my neighborhood, as we have the parties together.

Valentine's Day 2018

Hey Guys! How was your Valentine’s Day? Did you go out with that special person in your life? Did you rock the single life on that oh so happy day? Or did you do something different? If so you should definitely leave something in the comments!

Room Tour (2018)

Last year I gave ya’ll a tour of the room Aly and I shared. We are roommates again this year but it isn’t just us. Here at William Woods one of the buildings has four quad rooms. These rooms have a living room, 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms all attached. Jennah and Victoria live in the other bedroom so the four of us have a sort of mini apartment. We decorated the front door with Washi Tape and the decorations our CA’s made for us, these cute little dinosaurs!

Life as a WWU Keeper

Keeper [key-purr] noun

                1. A student who is enrolled in ­­­­­­­­­­­­­Horse Management Practicum I or II, whose main duties involve taking care of the horses at WWU along with other students in the class.

                2. An absent roommate who smells like horse all the time.

Also see: #keeperlife

Major Highlight: Accounting

Although I mostly talk about horses and my Equestrian Science classes, I am also majoring in Accounting. When most people hear the word “accounting”, they think of math equations, lots of numbers, men in fancy suits and dollar bills. In reality, accounting is simply the method for keeping track of what happens in a business. Yes, there is math and a lot of numbers involved, but the math portion is just addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Personally, I am not a fan of math or numbers, but I took an accounting class at a community college and fell in love. There is just something satisfying about the way everything has its own place and making sure everything is organized.

Sample Income Statement

Celebrate the Holidays with us...Winter Break 2017-2018

Hi Friends!  I have returned “To the Woods” from Winter Break.  Over the holiday, I spent time with family, shopped for a vehicle, and had several interviews for summer intern graphic design positions.  The Weber Family is a LARGE group; 40 of us gathered at my aunt and uncle’s house to celebrate Christmas.  The ages range from one to 85.  I am blessed to have both my grandparents living.  After the holiday, my parents and I shopped for vehicle.  I am looking at a silver jeep, but that hasn’t come through yet.  I also had the opportunity to interview for several summer intern positions.  My hope is that one of them come through and I’ll be set for the summer.
~Aly

My Winter Break Trip, Belize

Hey everyone! I hope your winter has been going fine. During break I had the chance to go to Belize with Woods Around the World again, let me tell you it was a lot warmer there then it is here right now. Like my last post when I went to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, I will be sharing my travels with you. Also, if you've never flown international, go and check out my post about international travel. 

I Volunteer with Horses (but it's not what you think)

Growing up, I have not always been into horses, as I had just interacted with them at the occasional pony rides at the race track we would go and visit during the summer with my family. It was when I was 14 and in the 8^th grade that one of my close friends asked me if I liked horses, and as an animal lover I answered, “YES!” My friend introduced me to the place where my passion for working with and along side horses came true. The barn is called Sunnyside Equestrian Center and it houses a program known as SPUR which is an acronym for Special People United to Ride.

Sunnyside Equestrian Center

A look into 2018

As we come to the beginning of spring semester sophomore year and 2018 I figured I should update you on the blog and just life in general.