Amanda Alvarado

Ready to be a DIY-er like Chip and Joana Gaines?

Ever since the famous couple, Chip and Joana Gaines came on HGTV, everyone is loving the shiplap tradition. What is shiplap exactly? It’s a kind of wooden board that’s often used for constructing barns, sheds or other rustic buildings. Traditional shiplap has a rabbet or a groove that is cut into the top and bottom which allows the pieces to fit together snugly and forms a tight seal. The early shipbuilding methods may have used a form of shiplap to construct the hull of a ship. The boards overlapped one another to form a watertight surface which would make the vessel seaworthy.

There are actually several ways to use shiplap within your home such as an accent wall or in your powder room, but there is also a way to incorporate in a different way that’s fun and unique way. Creating a shiplap placemat is such a different way to bring a beginner woodcarver to try something new ( and get used to their new tools ) because this doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s a great start and also a simple way to dress up your ordinary dining experience for friends and family this summer.

You’ll first need to grab all the materials which is a wooden square ( usually 12 ⅝ by 11 13/16 ) , 1 - 1x3 ( make sure to cut this down to 5 - 11 13/16” ) 2 quaters, gorilla wood glue, a sander and a nail gun, and a plastic wood filler.

The first thing you’ll want to do is nail the 1 x 3 blocks to the wood squares. You can use quarters to evenly space the blocks apart from one another.

After you nail down the boards, you can fill in all the nail holes.

Once the holes are filled, let the filler dry for about 5 - 10 minutes and then send it down.

After sanding, you can spray the shiplap place mat any color you like, let it dry and then you’re finished. Personally, I paint white because then you can dress it up with a fancy table cloth depending on the season.

Now, as a beginner woodworker, my advice would be to find the proper tools to help you cut the wood to the desired length. One such company is located in the Atlanta area called Saw Trax. They offer the most accurate and easy to use a vertical panel using real steel sealed bearings and a patented Accu-Square alignment System. Saw Trax is known for their panel saws, including their basic panel saw which is a universal saw insert that is mounted by a 7 ¼ inch circular saw. This plate can be inserted vertically for cross cuts or horizontally for rip cuts depending on what you need down.

Image: Saw Trax

Saw Trax also has dolly and cart solutions to help move these materials. Get help moving big screen TV’s, furniture, countertops and more! See what truly innovative about their dollies and why it’ll help save you plenty of man hours moving your project when it comes to these various sizes, and ability to make your job moving your item as easy as possible! For instance, their Rack and Roll dolly are like no other! It’s built to perform an all caster zero turn radius meaning that the casters are mounted to the corners of the dolly which gives it a more ground clearance and it allows you to go outside on uneven surfaces without worrying that your project will fall over. It’s portable and small and offers excellent maneuverability plus it can carry 3 to 4 times the load of traditional flat carts or hand trucks while being easier, safer and faster to load.

Lastly, they also provide various accessories for you to purchase such as a dust containment brush. This dust brush is under the saw plate and can channel saw dust up into the dust hose which helps keep debris getting knocked down when you are rip cutting. It’s highly helpful! They have a dust brush that surrounds a saw blade under the saw insert so the vacuum can draw out suspended dust.

Now that you’ve learned a bit about how to create this easy piece, I know there are lots of other beginner woodworking projects you can learn too. Some of these don’t even include power tools that I shared above but even just a hammer and nails. Of course, if you ever need help, talk to the professionals to help you perfect your technique and ask questions or concerns you have on what to use for cutting what types of wood. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

If you need me, I'll be watching HGTV and pinning all kinds of home inspiration.

xx,

Amanda

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If you need me, I'll be at the lake.

Well... you know, whenever I get a chance to make the little trip. Ha.

Currently chilling out, watching Gilmore Girls in a xxl sweatshirt and leggings, covered in a warm, knit blanket because it is freezing in my house. I would love to be soaking up the sun right now on the lake.

There are a ton of lakes around me. My favorite lake is just about an hour away and we have some family friends who have a lake house there, so we go down a couple times over the summer and hang out for the weekend. Honestly, there is nothing quite like chilling out on the lake with a drink in hand!

I have a cute little bag that I got years ago that has become my bag when I go to the lake. It pretty much stays packed so all I have to do is throw a couple things in and hop in the car. If you're heading off to spend a day at the lake, I hope that sharing what I take to the lake will help you pack the perfect little bag for a day at the lake!

Cute bathing suit

Obviously if you're at the lake, you need a cute bathing suit! I personally love Target, Old Navy, and American Eagle for cute bathing suits and there are often good sales to take advantage of!

Dry change of clothes

You might not want to be in your bathing suit all day, so having a dry change of clothes is always a good idea. A sundress or t-shirt and shorts is always really easy just to throw on.

Toiletries

Usually when I go to the lake, we're at a friend's lake house so they have a bathroom I can hop in to shower when the day is done. I always have shampoo, conditioner, body wash, a razor, lotion, deodorant, toothbrush, and toothpaste with me. Even if you aren't able to shower after, it is always a good idea to at least keep dome deodorant and lotion with you. My skin is really dry and I need lotion after being in a lake.

Sunscreen

Protect your skin! I love a good natural, mineral-based sunscreen. Also, keep some lip balm with you. Don't forget to protect your lips!

Towel

You'll probably get wet and you'll want this, right?

Waterproof speaker

I can't be around water without some music! I bought this speaker from Amazon a couple years ago and it is amazing and wasn't expensive at all. It is waterproof and Bluetooth which I just love. What was life like before Bluetooth?

Water bottle

Yes, you'll probably have a drink in hand, but don't forget to drink your water. Seriously! I am crazy about hydration and you need to make sure you're drinking water when you're out in the heat, especially if you're also drinking alcohol.

Waterproof phone protection

I have this little waterproof pouch, but you can also put your phone in a Ziploc bag. I refuse to bring my phone in the water with me even if it is in a waterproof case, but if I'm having it around or taking it on the boat with me, my phone is in the pouch or a Ziploc bag! I don't play.

What else do you have in your lake or beach bag???

xx,
Amanda

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If you are thinking about trying to change tracks in your career, you will need to know that you are doing all you can to make it much more likely to be successful. There are many ways in which you can approach this, and as long as you are happy to work on different elements of yourself you should find that you can easily improve your chances of getting any job that you might have your eye on. In this article, we are going to try and make this a little easier by looking at three simple things you can do to boost your career prospects. If you consider any of these, you will find it makes a huge difference to your chances of improving your career.

Get Further Education

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your career prospects is to go back to school for a while. This can be especially helpful in a number of circumstances, such as when you are thinking of trying to get a job in a specific area which you know requires a particular degree or other qualification. Then it’s a matter of finding an institution which you feel you can trust to provide you with good learning, whether that is Norwich University, a local university of your choice or an online institution. Finally, make sure that you put your all into it, so that you are actually much more likely to make it a real success. You might find that this is all you need to do to land your ideal job.

Build Your Confidence

Most of us could always do with improving our personal confidence levels to some degree or another. If you are keen to try and do this, then you might want to think about what you are specifically going to do to make it happen. It might be that you need to merely find a way to step outside of your comfort zone, or that you need to do something frightening which is directly related to your career. Whatever it is, boosting your confidence will give you more of a chance to perform well in interviews, to put yourself forward for promotions, and much else besides which you should find useful to further your career.

Be Clear On What You Want

Sometimes, the reason that you are not progressing in your career as you would like to is because you are not actually sure of what it is you want to do. If that is true for you, you might want to think about what you can do to become more clear about what you want from your career. It might be a certain role or to help a certain group of people, or you might be excited about the prospects in a certain business. Whatever it is, make your vision as specific as you possibly can, and then work towards it. You will find that this really does make a huge difference.

xx,

Amanda

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So, you're thinking of running a business?

They say that everyone has at least one novel in them waiting to be written. The same could certainly be said for running a business. Most people have an idea for one business which they feel they might end up running one day. If you have got a business idea in mind and you’re curious as to whether you would be able to run such an enterprise successfully, it’s always worth keeping that option open. You never know if you might be able to make it a reality and you should certainly not assume that you can’t. However, it does take a certain set of skills and a way of approaching things to be able to successfully run your own business, and that is something that you should bear in mind. Let's take a look at some important skills you want in your toolbox before you start your business.

A Strong Idea

Arguably, the most important thing of all is the idea, and the strength of it. As long as you have an idea for your business which you are happy with and which you feel will work out, you should find that you are much more likely to be able to make your business a success. You should be driven by your idea; if it is not something that inspires you to move and get up every day, then it is unlikely that you will be able to keep the stamina up for that long. As such, it’s important to make sure that you spend a long time on your idea first, so that you can know that it will sustain you and the business.

If you are struggling to come up with a strong idea to get your business started, try to think about what kind of problem you would like to solve for people. If there is some way that you know you want to help people improve their lives, or offer them something which can help them with some kind of aspect of their lives, then that is a great place to start. From that, you can generally then discover what it is that you are really hoping to do with your business, and that should spur you on enough to be able to run your business in no time at all.

Remember: the best litmus test here is the degree to which you get excited about your idea. If it doesn’t excite you, then it’s probably not the thing you should be doing. And if you can’t think of any ideas that really excite you at the moment, then it might just not be the time to run a business yet. Wait until you have something in mind that you really want to do, and then you can get into the world of running a business.

That leads us on nicely to one of the most important qualities that you will need to have as a business owner: passion. This word is thrown around a lot, and when people do so they don’t always necessarily know what they mean by it. But in simple terms, passion is merely the feeling that you are strongly identified with the cause that you are running, and that you feel you really need to be doing that at this time in your life. When you have a real passion for your business, it means that you can’t see yourself doing anything else, and you are automatically, totally committed to that one idea. This quality is important primarily because of the stamina it gives you. If you are this excited about something for real then it generally means that you are going to put your all into it, which is obviously important if you are hoping to make your business a true success. So you’ll need the necessary passion to make sure that you get this right.

If you don’t feel a real passion for what you are doing, you are unlikely to succeed, so it is vital that you make sure you have this. It might mean that you need to change the idea to something that you care about more, or that you just need to change how you are approaching the whole thing. However you do it, developing some real passion is absolutely going to make a huge difference, so that is something that you need to consider as best as you can.

Management Skills

Of course, a business owner is first and foremost a leader, and you are going to have to make sure that you have what it takes to really lead a group of people to the kind of success you are dreaming of for your business. Management is not something that comes naturally to everyone, but anyone can learn the necessary skills involved in being a better business manager. Even if you can’t really see yourself as that, you will be surprised at how easily you can learn to be a manager for your business - especially if it is for a cause that you really care about and feeling passionate for.

So how can you actually go about developing those management skills that are going to prove so important? One of the best ways is to just go out and get some formal training in the related skills of management and being a leader. You might choose to take a course in management at an institution like the New England College, for instance, or to take an online course in business management from your own home. Either way, going to an official institution is always a good way to really cement the kind of ideas that you are going to need to take on board. Alternatively, you can simply try to learn the necessary skills as you go, on the job. However, this is much less likely to be successful, and you will find that you are going to struggle to make it work in a way which you won’t if you have the official training.

However you do it, developing the necessary skills of a manager and leader is going to be something you want to do if you are to lead your business to success, so make sure that you don’t overlook this vital element.

Confidence

Just as it takes confidence to do anything that is new or frightening, so it will take a lot of confidence to be able to set up and run your own business, and that is something that you should absolutely make sure that you are aware of if you want to be a success. If you feel that you could probably do with working on your confidence levels, then there are many things you can do to make that much easier. For instance, generally you can boost your confidence by doing anything that is considered outside of your comfort zone. So if you start small and build your way up doing uncomfortable things, you will slowly discover that you are capable of more than you thought, and that will in essence help you to build your confidence much more successfully. Bear this in mind if you want to make sure that you are going to bring confidence to your business - doing so will definitely make a huge difference, and it will mean that you enjoy being in charge a lot more too.

Ready to start your business?

xx,

Amanda

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We're talking about relationships, that cool?

David and I have been dating for over seven years. We celebrate eight years together in December. That's sounds so crazy to me that is has been that long... in the best way possible. I truly believe that love is work. A relationships takes work... you should be actively pursuing each other, growing together, spending time with one another, leaning in to each other's love languages. When you vibe with someone so well, the love is worth the work to make the relationship work.

Everyone who has been in a serious relationship knows that even the most rewarding relationship will present challenges. Tough periods come with the territory. And while there is no perfect partner out there, the ideal partner is someone you know is worth putting in the work for. If you’ve found that person, these tips will help you make your relationship flourish.

Your Partner is Not a Fixer-Upper

That old adage that people don’t change is completely false. People can change. We all change and grow throughout our lives. What matters is how you apply this. While it can be tempting to think that your relationship would be better if your partner would change, the truth is that the only way to change a relationship for the better is to accept your partner as they are and work on changing yourself. It’s time to quit seeing your partner as a DIY project and invest your effort in improving yourself. Rachel Hollis and Dave Hollis have spoken about how when Rachel started her personal development journey, he wasn't happy. It took a tough conversation and her continuing to better herself for Dave to jump on board. If you don't listen to their Rise Together podcast, please do! It is so good for all couples.

Fix Weaknesses by Focusing on Strengths

Nobody’s perfect. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Make a conscious decision to spend most of your time thinking about the things you love and respect about your partner. Even if this is a private resolution for yourself, you will give off an aura of support and positivity that will make your partner feel appreciated. In this supportive space, your partner will feel safe enough to be honest about their weaknesses, or things they are struggling with. Maybe commitment is a tough thing for them or something more serious is the issue, but having a supportive, appreciative ethos within your relationship will empower you both to have open and honest conversations about each other’s weaknesses, which will help you move forward as individuals and as a couple.

Check Your Blame at The Door

Many couples struggling with relationship issues make the mistake of getting fixated on which of them is ultimately to blame for the mess they are in. Playing the blame game is one of the most destructive forces in a relationship. Once you’re done with all the arguing and fighting required to agree about who is more to blame, you’ve probably said a lot of things you regret, and exhausted your inner strength, without addressing the actual issues that have caused the hurt in the first place. Trying to put blame on each other really helps no one. You’ll both just end up feeling worse. Rather, put blame aside and start taking responsibility. And if you’re worried that if you take responsibility, your partner will be let off the hook, just give it a try. By stepping up and being an adult, you will model adaptive, mature behavior to your partner, who may follow suit. The sooner you can both look at the ways each of you has behaved and understand how that has made the other feel, the sooner you can leave the past behind.

Whether you’re in your first year together or you’re coming up to your golden anniversary, chances are you’ll have your fair share of challenges to get over. If you’re working hard to reconnect with your significant other, these tips will help you see challenges as an opportunity to get to know each other more intimately and move your relationship forward.

xx,

Amanda

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Inner beauty is so important, but you also need to love the way you look.

Let this sweatshirt be a reminder that you are so, so loved. Yes, we're talking about ways to feel more beautiful, but no matter what, you are already beautiful and so loved.

*affiliate links used

Feeling beautiful and confident is about your looks, too. Inner beauty is so important when it comes to improving your beauty confidence, but you also want to love the way you look. This is a two-way process: you can make yourself feel better by working on your looks, and you can use your confidence to make yourself look better. If you are keen to work on both of these ends, then that is a great way to go about trying to look your absolute best, and there are plenty of things you might consider. In this article, we are going to look at some of the things you can think about doing if you hope to make yourself more confident with regard to your looks. As long as you try these things, you should find that that is much easier than you might have thought.

Work on your smile.

One thing that is always going to make a person feel more confident is if their smile looks its absolute best. If you are not entirely happy with your smile, then you will probably find it hard to be as confident as you would like to be regarding your attractiveness. Of course, there is always something you can do to make sure that you can fix your smile. It might be a simple case of going to the orthodontist. I mean, I had braces for year! Or you might just need to think about focusing on and improving your oral hygiene a little. Maybe pick up an all natural toothpaste, floss daily, and oil pull. Maybe use some whitening strips (I need this!!). When you love your smile, it can totally change your confidence.

Build inner confidence.

The thing about confidence is that it makes you look better even without you having to change anything physically. Because of that, you will absolutely want to make sure that you are working on your inner confidence as much as you can, so that the rest is likely to simply fall into place. There are a lot of things you can do to develop your own confidence. You might want to try striking power poses when you have a quiet moment alone, or even considering working on your flaws as a means of appreciating your good points more. However you work on your confidence, it’s something that will really make a difference to how you feel about your looks, so it’s worth doing.

Find your style.

Everyone has their own style, and it is important to make sure that you are working on finding yours if you want to be confident in your looks on the whole. The only way to really do this is through trial and error, so start as soon as you can if you want to make it easier on yourself. By trying out different looks and outfits, you will soon come to appreciate what your own style is, and that will boost your confidence in no time.

Here's to ultimate confidence!!

xx,

Amanda

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