Playing Outside with Milo!

Today while Milo and I played outside, my sister Ellie took some pictures. She got some really great ones so I thought I would put them up! :)

Soaking up the sunshine! 

I love what his coat does in the sun! 

This is my favorite. How ridiculously cute?! 

The Grammar Guide: Affect and Effect.

Welcome to another Grammar Guide! Today I'll be explaining the difference between affect and effect. This is something that is misunderstood by most people and is a very easy mistake to make.









Affect is usually used as a verb. Basically, it's used when you are talking about influencing something.
eg:
Meg's family was greatly affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The medicine had a positive affect on Jenna.

Effect is usually used as a noun and when you are talking about a result.
eg:
The special effects were amazing.
The rain had no effect on Abby's vegetable garden.

As usual, please comment any questions or specific examples!

Product Review- Sally Hansen Gel Nail Kits!

Today I am going to review a beauty product! When I started my blog I thought I'd be doing much more of this sort of thing, but this is the first product that I'm reviewing! I bought this about a month ago and have been using it over and over again ever since. I absolutely love these gel nail kits from Sally Hansen!

They sell two types. One is gel nail strips and the other is gel nail polish. I purchased the strips at first because the starter kit is $30 cheaper than the gel polish. Both products are fairly expensive (at $30 for the gel and $60 for the polish), but if you do your nails two times instead of going to the salon it pays for itself. The kit that I bought includes the strips, a nail file, the gel top coat, cuticle stick, cleanser pads, and a mini LED lamp. The instructions are clear and the gel strips work fairly well, but I really started loving it when I experimented with my own polish. According to the directions, you have to buy the special polish or gel strips in order to achieve the gel nail look. While I liked the strips from my kit, I wanted to be able to use all my nice polish along with it! So I decided to try it and see what happened. Guess what?! It worked wonderfully! I filed them up all pretty, used the cuticle stick, painted my polish on, painted the gel top coat on, put them under the LED lamp, and wiped them down with the cleanser pads. They looked awesome and I've been doing it ever since!! Below are some photos! 

Portraits- Nicole, Nicole, and Jack.

Nicole and Nicole

Jack

The Grammar Guide: To, Too, and Two.

In this Grammar Guide we'll be going over something VERY simple! The proper way to use to, too, and two! For the most part any mistakes made in this area are strictly between to and too. Almost everyone knows that two is the number, although, I've seen people use that wrong as well. So here we go!







To is used when talking about an action.
eg:
We are going to the park tomorrow.
I want to swim.
Did you give the necklace to Caitlin?

Too is used when talking about quantity...
eg:
There are too many roses at each table.
OR when meaning also.
eg:
Lucy wanted a bagel too.

Two is simply the number!
eg:
Logan has two dogs.
We own two vehicles.

Comment any questions!

Boston Marathon Bombing...

Today two bombs went off at the Boston Marathon finish line. I'm sure that by now everyone reading this will have heard all about it (if you haven't click here). I felt the need to vent a little, so naturally, here I am! 

When I heard about the movie theater shooting in Colorado I was heartbroken. When I heard about the shooting at Sandy Hook I could hardly stop crying. Today, when I heard about the bombings, I was angry. I was furious. Enough is enough. Why is everyone so violent? What is the problem here? I've heard all about gun control, mental health programs, etc., but none of that seems like the definite answer. Why do these random acts of violence keep happening? I decided to look back at America in years past. We've fought wars and dealt with individual crimes, but I couldn't remember a time in American history when we had this much violence in the form of mass murders. That's when it hit me...the media. Maybe this isn't the whole answer, but it makes a ton of sense to me. We've always had mentally ill and violent people. The difference is that now, if they do something horrible on a large scale, they become infamous. Sure, everyone hates them and they will (hopefully) end up dead, but they're also never forgotten. To a mental ill person who has nothing to live for anyway, being remembered forever seems like a great way to die. 

This incident really got me. All of the other tragedies that have happened lately have been extremely upsetting. Still, this one hit home and scared me way more than any of the others. I guess this is mostly because I've run a marathon myself. Who's to say the next race I run won't be bombed as I'm crossing the finish line? It also just breaks my heart. I can tell you from personal experience that there is almost no greater feeling than crossing that finish line. Today, not only were people robbed of that moment, that they worked so hard for, but a few lost their lives. 

I guess that for now all we can do is pray. Pray for this nation, this world, and everyone in Boston. 

The Grammar Guide: Ending a Sentence with a Preposition.

Today, I'm going to go over whether or not you should end a sentence with a preposition. There are many different opinions on this topic. Technically, you should never end a sentence with a preposition. This is the grammar rule. However, many people agree that there are some cases in which an exception can be made. These people are of the opinion that it is okay as long as it isn't an "unnecessary preposition". So, here's your explanation!

A preposition is generally defined as a word that pertains to time or space.

They create relationships between other words. 

eg of temporal prepositions: before, since, after, following

eg of spatial prepositions: under, over, beside, by 

Now, an unnecessary preposition is one that does not change the meaning of the sentence. 

eg: I will go later on.

The "on" in "I will go later on." is completely useless, therefore, it should not be used. 

However, in some cases it makes more sense to use the preposition. 

eg: What was the book under?

In this case, most people would say that it is okay to end with the preposition. The alternative would be to write "Under what was the book?". While this is grammatically correct, no one speaks that way. 

For the most part, as long as you can justify your reasoning, any professor is going to be lenient on this sort of thing. Still, it may not hurt to ask what their standpoint is on the subject before turning in a big paper. Like I've said, TECHNICALLY you are never supposed to end with a preposition. However, most people (including those in the English community) agree that there can be an exception. 

Comment any questions! 

The Grammar Guide: Their, They're, and There.

The difference between their, they're, and there is very simple. Still, you wouldn't believe how often people mess this up! So I hope that this helps everyone understand how to use the three forms the way they're supposed to be used! Comment any questions!  

Their is used when you're talking about possession. 

eg:

I went to their house for a pool party. 

I love to play with their dog.

They're is the easiest. Just think of it as "they are". 

eg:

They're going to the beach tomorrow. 

They're going to have the report done by Wednesday. 

There is used when you're talking about a location... 

eg:

Shelly's glasses are over there. 

Dan likes to go there. 

OR when their and they're can't work.

eg:

There isn't any more sugar. 

Went in the Pool Today...

Today I went in the pool for the first time in ages! The weather and water were beautiful. I even took Milo in with me and he LOVED it! This made me happy because he never liked the water before. We made use of my lifeproof case while we were at it and got these cool pictures!

The Grammar Guide!

I'm an English major and I love proper grammar. So whenever I see people using it incorrectly, it sort of makes me cringe. The other day, one of my Professors put a paper up on the screen. It was turned in by a student in another class and he was using it as an example of what not to do. The grammar (among other things) was TERRIBLE! It was then that I had an idea! I'm going to start a series of posts entitled "The Grammar Guide". They will (obviously) be lessons that focus on different grammar rules that I see people break everyday! That's not to say that I don't sometimes break the very rules I'm going to be posting about. Nobody is perfect and in some situations it's even okay to break certain grammar rules. I just love it and think that it could be beneficial for people to have an online resource that makes grammar easy to understand and has many of the rules all in the same place! So enjoy! I hope that it will end up being very helpful!

Keys Trip!

This weekend I went on a trip to the keys with my cousin Summer and a bunch of friends to celebrate her 18th birthday! We stayed in this big house right on the ocean. We went snorkeling and collected beautiful shells and sea glass. We saw dolphins, sea lions, turtles, parrots, crabs, and all kinds of fish! Not to mention the gorgeous sunrise we watched! It was such a wonderful and memorable weekend that I didn't want to leave! So here are all of the awesome pictures I got!