My Life As Madalyn

Who is excited for the first episode from the Meet The Blogger series? I certainly am! Today the blogger that we will be meeting is Scarlett from The Trendy Chick. I was so happy that I got the opportunity to interview Scarlett and get to know her a little better and I am so thankful that she agreed to participate! Thanks again girl!

During the interview I asked Scarlett some questions about her blog and her blogging journey and she replied with some great answers. Below are her responses to the interview questions but before we begin, I also wanted to say don't forget to show her some love by checking out her awesome blog and social media accounts which will be listed at the bottom after the interview.

Now let's get into it...

• Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your blog?
I'm Scarlett and I am going to be a junior in college. I am studying to become a speech pathologist, but I absolutely love blogging during my spare time. I began my blog, The Trendy Chick, 5 1/2 years ago when I was just a freshman in high school. It began solely as a fashion blog, but over time I realized fashion is just one of the things I love. Currently my focuses are fashion, college, and travel, but I also take inspiration from what is happening in my own life.

• How did you first get into blogging? Who/what inspired you to do so?
I was obsessed with Youtubers at the time, like Lindsey Hughes and Aspyn Ovard, but I didn't have the equipment to make good quality videos. Since I loved writing, I decided to start a blog instead to share my passions. It was a spontaneous decision, but one of the best decisions I have made! I didn't even read any other blogs at the time, but I quickly found the blogging community and fell in love with blogging even more.

• How would you describe your blogging style?
My blogging style is always evolving depending on what stage of life I am in. As I mentioned, my main focuses are fashion, college, and travel, but I also have become a firm believer of quality over quantity. There have been times in the past where I posted 5 times a week, but generally those posts were not as great of quality as if I had only posted 2-3 times a week. Currently my goal is to post 1-2 quality posts every week, and it seems to be going over well with my readers!

• How long have you been blogging? What was the most challenging moment in your blogging journey so far?
As I mentioned earlier, I have been blogging for 5 1/2 years. I began my blog just after my 15th birthday in December 2011, and let me tell you those posts from the first year or two are rough. I would say the most challenging moment of this journey was when I went to college. I moved to a new state where I didn't know anyone, so I spent all my time focusing on making great friends and doing well in classes. It was a big adjustment, and I wasn't sure if blogging fit into my life anymore. My freshman year I barely posted at all because I didn't have time or inspiration, and I almost stopped completely. But I still found myself turning back to my blog every month or two, and I am glad that I continued with blogging. My posts are still sporadic sometimes during the school year because I want to be present in my real life before my online life, but I still love blogging!

• How do you continue to motivate yourself to blog even through the rough times (Loss of creativity, writer's block, etc)?
Reading other blogs really inspires me to keep making my own content. I have always been a competitive person, so I think this works in my advantage when it comes to blogging. I don't mean that in a negative way either, some competition can definitely be a healthy thing. If I see other bloggers continuing to publish great content, it makes me want to put out great content as well. I don't want to copy them or envy them, but instead their posts inspire me to put my best foot forward too.

• What do you think is the best strategy that worked well for you to get more traffic to your blog? What is your advice to other bloggers who are not seeing the statistics that they want?
Hands down Pinterest brings the most traffic to my site. I recommend updating your Pinterest and focus on it more if you want to see more traffic. Make sure you are pinning quality images every day, including your own. Pinning often helps on Pinterest, just like posting often will help your blog.

• How do you manage time between your life and blogging life?
As I mentioned, this can be extremely hard. I am a big list maker though, so if I write down that I want to write two blog posts today on my to-do list, 99% of the time it gets done. I also am all about finding ways to save time on blogging. For example, taking all your blog pictures for the week in one day, scheduling all your tweets for the week/month at one time, etc. Those really save time in the long run so I can focus on other tasks or going out with friends!

• What has been the biggest difference in your life post-blogging?

My blog has definitely made me a more confident person. It has shown me that my opinion does matter and is worth sharing with others. I also have gotten really into photography in the past few years, and I can thank blogging for that!

• When you are not blogging, what would you most likely be doing?

Reading! I am constantly reading whenever I have a few minutes to spare, and often when my blog is suffering, it is because I have been devouring books in my spare time instead of blogging!

• Overall, are you happy with your decision to begin blogging? Where do you see yourself in the years to come?

I am definitely happy with my decision! Like I said, when I began I had no idea that I would still be blogging a year later, let alone 5. I have been blogging for over 1/4 of my life now, so it is really hard to imagine not having a blog! I see myself blogging for years to come, but honestly I am not sure what I will be blogging about in 5-10 years. My blog changes as my life changes, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out on my blog, especially in a few years once I am out of college. Maybe I will be blogging about my travels around the world. Or my job as a speech pathologist. Or I might even be a mommy blogger, which is really weird to think about!

Check out Scarlett's links:

Blog: http://thetrendychick.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheTrendyChick
Instagram: http://instagram.com/thetrendychickblog
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/thetrendychick

The future of design. A broad concept that will certainly make you think. Wait, can you think? Do you have an imagination? Are you able to put things together within your head that 'look good' or 'go together'? If so, then you have the power to design.

Now I know the idea of design can mean different things for different people but I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I think universally we can agree that yes design changes but it doesn't. Maybe that wasn't the right way to say it. A better way would be by saying yes design changes but the concept of design does not.

Over time people change, a lot. New things happen, new people come around, and new innovations and ideas are born. Design changes as well. Remember how I asked you if you had an imagination? Well, to be honest, most people do. Since most people do, in fact, have an imagination then well most people have the power to design. If you were to ask someone to imagine something and then do the same to another person than I doubt that those two people would have come up with similar things. That's just how it is. We are all different. We all imagine things differently and we all design things differently.

That is how I see the future of design. Frankly, just the way it is. A concept that does not conform to conformity. As things change, so will design. It always will. But, as I was saying, I do think that it heavily relies on what is happening at the time. As new experiences, events, innovations, and ideas form, design will reflect that by proving that new times and events do change people and that changed people have changed imaginations which leads to changed design.

In other words new influences change people which changes their imagination which changes design. Make sense? I also think that what you import is what you will export. What you are around and what you are allowing to influence you will influence what you do or think. Considering we all are around different things and see different things everyday, none of us will have the same ideas. We will never see design the same.

To summarize, a good rule of thumb to predict the future of design is this question "What is changing around us?" That, my friends, is what the future of design looks like and will always look like. Change. ♥

"This blog post is a part of Design Blogger Competition organized by CGTrader."

During the summer a lot of people move and, as you know, I am moving as well. Since moving can be a stressful task, I wanted to share some moving hacks that I have found helpful during this process. Whether you are moving with your family, moving into a dorm room, or maybe planning for a future move, I think that these hacks can be beneficial to you.

Put hanging clothes in trash bags

This has been so helpful. Hanging them back up in the new place is so much easier.

Color-code boxes

Very good idea especially if you have OCD like me. It makes things a lot easier and can help the movers as well.

Make a map of the new place

Another thing that would help the movers is printing off a map of the new place and color-coding each room to coincide with the color-coded boxes. Then they will be able to see where each box goes that will make the process go a lot smoother.

Put together a 'moving day' box

This has to be probably the best idea for moving day that no one necessarily thinks of. After a long and tiring day of moving boxes here and there, I doubt you will want to be digging through every box to find things that everyone needs. Having a box of food, water, toiletries, next days clothing, towels, even scissors, etc. will make the first night a whole lot easier.

Plastic wrap bottles/drawers

Finding that your stuff has spilled or fell out of where it is supposed to be is not fun. Placing plastic wrap around bottles with liquids and drawers with things that can be lost, will keep everything where it is supposed to be.

Re-use boxes

In our case, we are not moving too far away so we can go to and from the new place whenever we please. This way we can re-use boxes to pack up other things without having to get more. If you can do this, it would be a great idea to try it out.

Throw out/donate/sell things that you really don't need

This is best done before you start packing but it can be done after the move as well. Going through things and deciding whether or not you really need everything, will save space, time, and money.

Do you have any other moving hacks that have helped you out? If so, leave a comment and I will be happy to read them. Thanks for reading! ♥

Some of you may not know this but I do online school. I started out in public school but then, once I got to high school, I began online schooling. I think it was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. Today I wanted to do a post over my experience with attending an online school which I hope will help others to decide if they think it is a good decision for them as well.

So I started attending an online school the second semester of freshman year. I wasn't necessarily planning on leaving public school but it kind of just happened. I am glad that I went all the way through to high school, though.

As far back as I can remember I had always wanted to be home schooled (granted you call online public school homeschooling or not). I had always seen homeschooling as a great alternative to the traditional public school for many reasons. A couple being freedom of my schedule and the relaxed requirements for when and where I do my work.

The reason that I started when I did was this: we had moved to a new city and I simply did not like having to go. Plus, the high school that I was having to go to was way bigger than the high school from my previous town where I'm sure I would have done just fine at. The schoolwork was never an issue for me it was just the other things that go along with it. I did not like being told when to attend a certain class, when to start/end school, what I could wear/do, when I could take breaks, when I could talk, where I could sit, and the list could go on further. Now, you might be thinking "Why couldn't you just get over it and deal with it like the rest of us?" and yes, that is a valid question but, since I had the opportunity to start online school, why not do it?

After telling my parents about how much I dreaded going to school I started doing some research. I wanted to see if I could actually start online school how I had always dreamt of doing. I came across multiple different programs and, after thoroughly reading about them, I finally chose the school that I am now with. I would share with you what the name is but, since it is still a real school and for privacy reasons I won't but, if you are serious about looking into it yourself, do some research and I'm sure you will find one that works best for you.

I came back to my parents and told them about the new school that I had found. They did their own research, thought about it a lot, and finally gave the go ahead and said that they think it would work well for me. After signing me up and going through the registering process, I started the next semester.

Now that you know the how and why of the process of me starting online school, hopefully now I can answer some of your questions. I know that before I started online school I didn't completely understand how it all worked but now that I do, maybe I could help with the answers.

First and foremost, like mentioned before I go to an online public school. The reason it is defined as public is because, the program that I use, also offers a private school. The private school is paid with fewer students and the public school is free with more students (just like brick-and-mortar schools). Now that you know that, I'll move onto if it is a privately owned company. Well, in my case, the school is considered a part of another school district in my state. So, even though it is online, if someone asks what district I go to it would be the school district that my school is with. Whatever requirements and rules they have in their district, also applies to me. Even when they have events at their schools I am also invited. Basically, my school is in that district which means I have to abide by that district. So, yes it is legal and legit and yes it is recognized by the state just like any other school.

The program that I am with offers the same thing with many other states as well. The online schools are partnerships with school districts within the state which means that they are legitimate alternatives offered within the district.

Because the schools have the same laws that any other school does, there are still certain requirements such as attendance. I have to have a certain amount of hours just like everyone else. One reason that I really enjoy online school is that I get to start whenever I want, take breaks whenever I want, and can end whenever I want (of course still putting in enough time to get my work done). For example, if I have somewhere to be in the morning then I can hop on and do my work later in the day or get ahead altogether. The teachers are available at normal office hours (8am-4pm Monday-Friday) but the students can get there work done at any time since there is 24hr access including weekends.

Throughout the week there are lessons with the teacher that are live. The students can go into the online room and watch their teacher give a lesson on whatever lesson is scheduled for that day. There are chat pods and you can even talk or use your camera to interact with the other students or teacher. It is cool because it acts just like a classroom but you can attend them no matter where you are.

To contact your teachers you can call them, send them an e-mail, or attend a lesson. Pertaining to the schedule, all of your classes have assigned days in which to do specific lessons so whenever you log on you can see the list (and check off) lessons that need to be completed that day. It is really nice to have it all laid out. If you get behind it is not a problem as long as you work to catch up and get what you need to get done. My school also offers school events (field trips) for certain areas of my state where I can go and meet my teachers and fellow students.

Overall, like I said, I am so happy that I decided to start online school and I am so thankful that God gave me the opportunity to do so. If you are interested in online school I highly recommend it but I would have to say that it works best with motivated people. You have to be able to motivate yourself since there is no one looking over your shoulder at all times making sure you are getting your lessons done.

I hope that you liked this post! Maybe it answered some of your questions? If you have any more questions that I did not answer then make sure to leave them below and I will be glad to answer them. ♥

OK, I have never written a book review on my blog. I have never really thought to write a book review before but oh my, guys I am so excited to be doing one today. The book that I am reviewing, in my opinion, is so good that I feel I should share it and allow others to learn about it as well.

The book that I am talking about is Girl Defined: God's Radical Design for Beauty, Femininity, and Identity by Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird. As you can probably tell by the title, the book is about God's design for women and how that fits into our culture today. The summary on the back explains it a lot better than I can:

"In a culture where airbrushed models and ultra-driven career women define beauty and success, it's no wonder we have a distorted view of femininity. Girl Defined offers a distinctly God-centered view of beauty, femininity, and self-worth. Based firmly in God's design for our lives, this book invites us on a liberating journey toward a radically better vision for femininity-one that ends with the kind of hope, purpose, and fulfillment we've been yearning for."

If that entices you then just wait until you actually get into the book. Kristen and Bethany do a great job of explaining God's design for women and how it does (or doesn't) align with today's culture. They get their points across in a really relatable and understandable way so that women in today's society can truly relate. The fact that it was such an understandable and relatable book is what I really enjoyed about it. I understood it well and felt that it really resonated with me.

Within the book the girls included many personal stories about themselves and others which I felt made the book come across on a more personal level. They also had many reviews from other authors and Christian women that explained their thoughts on the book.

One of the most important parts of the book was the fact that they included many Bible verses and stories that truly shows the comparison between what they are saying and what God says about the subject. It opens your eyes to see that "Hey! God did say this, this is His plan, and I can totally see it in today's society!".

Something that I really like is how, after each chapter, there is a study guide. They have some great questions that can really show you how it all relates to your life. They also have challenges explaining how you can put God's design into action in your life, right now.

Overall, Girl Defined is one of my favorite books and I am so happy that I read it. I got so much out of it and I feel like I truly do have a whole new outlook on the true design for womanhood and the lies that society is feeding us about it. I can say that I took a lot of things away from reading this book and can totally see how the three pillars of counterfeit femininity (liberation, independence, and sexual freedom) have blinded and distracted us from the three pillars of biblical womanhood (helping others, producing life, and nurturing relationships).

Do I recommend this book? Absolutely. I think that this is a book that is well worth the read and totally worth the truths that you get out of it. It would be a great book for anyone at any age, for a personal read or group Bible study. If you do decide to read it I would love to have a discussion with you about it. Leave your comments down below and we can share our thoughts over it.

Also, Kristen and Bethany run an awesome women's ministry call Girl Defined that you can check out here. I love their ministry and what they do so I wanted to let you all know about it if you didn't already. ♥