Finish This! My First.

Before I unveil my new posts about Closet Purging and Organization, I decided to participate in a new link up that I found on Life the Way Amber Views it! (Which you should check out because she is awesome!)

Hosted By:

Nicole @ Three 31 http://nicoleandkevin.wordpress.com/

Lisa @ Coastlined http://lisadenoia.com/

Jen @ The Arizona Russums http://www.theazrussums.com/

Becky @ The Java Mama http://www.thejavamama.com/

This weeks prompts are:

1. I have a quarter to use a payphone, I call: This would depend on what I needed. If I was in trouble definitely my Mom or Dad. If I did something stupid I would call my best friend Tiffany.

2. I found $25 in my pocket, I buy: Most likely clothes or shoes. I would probably head to a local store, Goodys, because I always have coupons for there and they have super cute stuff.

3. I have 25 minutes to watch anything on TV, I turn on: Probably House Hunters or Chopped if it's on. I like to make fun of all the petty things people find wrong with houses on House Hunters, and watch Chopped to see all the good food they make while I'm eating a turkey sandwich!

4. A meal I can prepare from start to finish in 25 minutes or less is: Spaghetti. You boil the pasta, heat the sauce..easy!

5. At the age of 25, I wish I had known: Well, I'm not quite to 25 yet but my guess knowing me would be not to worry about stupid stuff so much. 

6. If I drove 25 miles south from my house, I'd be in: I would end up in Rushville. I think I will stay away from there!

A little late but I hope y'all had fun getting to know a little more about me! 

Moving Mayhem: Closet Purging and Organization

As most of you know I am getting ready to move from Indiana to Montana in about a month. It's also no secret that I have a bit of a shopping problem, i.e. I shop at least twice a week. For some people that might not seem like a lot but to me it's excessive because of this I have accumulated a lot of stuff. Clothes, shoes, purses, you name it! Normally I wouldn't even be bothered by it, my philosophy is the more the merrier when it comes to clothes. The kicker is that during my move the only things that will be coming with me is what I can pack into my Jeep Commander. I know I am at least hauling a TV and a couple of my organization pieces, along with books, decorations, etc. So now I am faced with the challenge of my closet and it's going to be a tough one!

I plan on turning this into a two part series. The first part will be about purging your closet. Do I really need four pairs of black heels? Are ten bathing suits practical when I'll be living in Eastern Montana? The answer to both of those questions is probably no.

The second part will be organization. Organizing my closet is something I've been working on for a while and it's been a long process. I've been finding cute organization labels, budget friendly containers, and trying to figure out how to maximize the use of my space.

Stay tuned!

Family reunion!

Sorry for the lack of updates this weekend everyone! We had a family reunion and then I went to start typing up a post for today and lost it. So I decided to share a photo from the reunion of my Dad's side of the family and work on my editorial calendar more this evening. I hope you all had a great weekend!

 My crazy family!

A Friday Find- Faded Glory Maxi Dress for $14.99!

Yay, it's finally Friday! I wanted to do a quick post on this cute dress I found, at Walmart of all places. I would like to turn this into a recurring series featuring something fabulous for under $25. 

 Faded Glory Dress- On Rollback for $14.99

I found this dress on a trip to Walmart to pick up some makeup and I wandered over to the women's clothing. This is such a cute dress for the price and it fits really well. I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of me wearing it yet but I will soon. The one I got is white and navy stripes. I love that you could dress it down with flip flops or dress it up with a platform sandal! Every once in a while Walmart surprises me with a nice piece like this dress.

(Photo courtesy of walmart.com)

Top 5 Summer Beauty Essentials

I'll come out and say it, summer is a rough time to try and look good. If you live pretty much anywhere in the United States with the exception of a few places it's a problem you deal with. Between the humidity, rain, and extreme heat getting anything to stay on can be a nightmare! I especially have a hard time in the summer because I always get such oily skin and on top of that my legs always seem to be extremely dry. I have compiled this little list of essentials that I use to combat these two problems and threw in a little extra something!

One: Clean and Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets $4.99

As I mentioned before I get really oily skin in the summer due to the heat and humidity. These little sheets are a lifesaver this time of year! They work so well and the best part is that you can use them after you put your makeup on and they won't mess it up.

Two: Neutrogena Oil-Free Cleansing Wipes $5.99

These are actually something that I use year round but continuing with the oily skin problem, these are a great buy. They really do get your skin clean and also double to remove makeup. I use them every night and when I skip a night I really notice a difference in how my skin feels the next morning. 

Three: Almay Truly Lasting Color Foundation $10.79

Foundation is the only kind of makeup that I use everyday and I have used this one for probably seven years now. I love that it has SPF and is also hypo-allergenic. It doesn't clog my pores or make me break out and it stays on even in water or extreme heat. It's very beach friendly which is great for me because I am a freak who wears makeup everywhere. I always get compliments when I wear this too, it covers up a multitude of sins! If you are looking for a lightweight foundation, this probably isn't for you though. 

Four: Victoria's Secret Body Butter $5 (On sale!)

Back to the dry legs problem, I swear by VS Body Butter. It makes your skin so soft and smooth. I have extremely dry legs and the fact that anything makes them smooth amazes me. The awesome scents they come in are an added bonus too. I found this Endless Sunset at the Semi-Annual sale for only $5!

Five: A bright, fun nail polish! $1.99 to $9.00

Pedicures are usually the very first thing on my list for summer. You don't want to be wearing cute sandals and not have cute toes too! I love any bright orangey-red nail polishes for this season. I typically get OPI Cajun Shrimp but for this post the picture is Sinful Colors Big Daddy. This shade is very similar to the one I usually use and I would say it is actually more of an orange than it appears in the picture! This Sinful Colors polish is only $1.99. 

I love these items because they work and also don't break the bank! I hope this list is helpful and maybe you've found some new products to try. What are you summer beauty problems and fixes? What would you add to the list? I would love to know!

(All pictures in the post are mine.)

Blog Overhaul

After asking some of the ladies in my blog tribe to give me feedback on my blog design and layout, the main thing I heard was that it was busy. I agreed and needed to simplify. I ditched the loud background and the hard to read font, and decided to go for something very simple. I am trying to make An American Girl more reader friendly and easy to navigate. I also went through and deleted most posts that were older than 2012, considering they were almost all from 2011 or 2010 that means 99% are gone. I wasn't sure I wanted to go that far but I felt it was necessary. I really want this blog to grow up and be more professional, so that's what happened. I hope all of my readers will stick around to see what changes come in the future! 

I also hope everyone likes the new header, I actually made it myself! 

Easy Chicken Fajita Nachos

I don't think I have ever posted a recipe on this blog before but since I am trying to document my journey into being a domestic lady, I thought I would give it a shot. Beware that there are no set ingredient limits to this because it's really all about your personal preference and how many you are feeding. This is pretty much a dinner portion for one or possibly a small appetizer. I was just trying to make a quick meal for myself, which was intended to be chicken fajitas in the tortillas as usual but I forgot to buy them and ended up coming up with this. I am sure there are other more sophisticated versions of this but these are 100% mine and so are the pictures!

There are just a few ingredients for this and they can be altered to your tastes. I used Tyson Grilled and Ready Fajita Chicken Breast Strips (pictured above), green pepper, and red pepper for the main part. For toppings just shredded Monterrey Jack cheese and sour cream. I also just used what tortilla chips we had on hand. 

I started out sauteing the vegetables in a skillet with a little olive oil over a medium high heat. I still like my vegetables to be a little crunchy, so I didn't wait too long until I added the chicken. 

The chicken strips that I used are already fully cooked so it's really just about heating them up. I also didn't add any spices to my vegetables or chicken besides pepper. I cooked this mixture over high heat for about eight minutes and then it was all done! After the veggies and chicken were done I chopped them up pretty finely to make it more of a nacho dish. To plate I just used a medium bowl and lined the bottom with the tortilla chips, put the mixture on top, and then added the sour cream and shredded cheese. It was quick, easy, and it tasted good! 

I know this is a rough post, but I'm new to this kind of blogging! If you do happen to try it out and it goes well or you have any suggestions, I always welcome comments. :)