Necessities of de-stressing.

I have SO many exciting things coming up! And with exciting things comes stress. I am taking off to Hawaii today for some much needed relaxation! I'm the type of person that is always busy, always planning things and always saying yes. Sometimes it can become a bit daunting doing it all. Which lead me to decide I'm going to do my best to de-stress on my trip to Hawaii, so I came up with a couple of necessities in order to de-stress on vacation:

-Don't worry about what you have to do after your vacation, while you're on vacation-

There's nothing worse than coming home from a vacation feeling like you didn't get a vacation at all because you were too busy worrying about what you have to do when you get home. Be present, don't miss what's in front of you. It's okay to let your vacation take priority over thinking about 'real life' for a bit.

 -Take time to do something for yourself-

Along with a spa day in Hawaii, I have some shoots set up, for modeling & photography! Although these are both careers of mine I am going to be doing something creative that I am passionate about. I also picked up a GoPro so I'm excited to try out videography! I'm also planning on eating seafood & fruit, even if it means splurging on lobster everyday! Take the time to do something each day that you wouldn't have the luxury of doing for yourself at home!

-Unplug-

Look, if I were to completely unplug while on vacation it would make me have a full on panic attack. But even if you just unplug for a little bit each day while you are on vacation it'll help you to enjoy it that much more. My plan is to kind of get back in touch with bettering myself. I'm going to stay unplugged during my morning workouts (yes no music for me) & I'm also going to be reading some books! One is #GirlBoss & the other is More Than The Tattooed Mormon. Spiritually I feel like I've kind of been slacking or 'going with the motions' in certain areas, I've been wanting to read Al Fox/Carraway's book for awhile now so I figured why not start on my trip?! I feel like reading this book is going to be a starting point in reminding me to keep my habits within the gospel while the right intentions/motivations!

Finally, just some necessities for being in Hawaii. 

Floppy Hat: totally hoping I can pull it off! 

Swimsuits: This cute swimsuit is from Breeze Boutique (We may or may not have a giveaway coming up, hint hint)

Instax: Can't go anywhere without my Polaroid.

Dry Shampoo: Because you know, it's a must.

Books: Because it gives me something to do on the plane.

Snacks: I cannot go ANYWHERE without my Graze snacks! They're so yummy! Use code: LEXIC7Q4P to get your first box FREE!! 

XOXO

Lexi

Ps Follow me on snapchat to see my adventures! @lexilou15

The Unexpected.

Something happened last summer that was completely unexpected. I became obsessed with one pieces. Just a little backstory, I've always thought one pieces were hideous, I own about 32 bikinis and when I had to buy a one piece in order to hot tub at my apartment complex in Provo I was mad.

But then I found a retro one piece & fell in love. It made me look tall, it was modest & unexpectedly I felt confident & even sexy in it. That's the key, you've got to find a one piece that you feel good in, otherwise there is no point. Don't get me wrong I still wear bikinis but the fact that I have the option to choose a one piece that I look good in is awesome. A lot of people have opinions when it comes to swim suits & modesty. Heres my two cents....I've always believed that what I wear does not define how modest I am as a person. But I found that I was in a couple of situations where I was super glad that I was wearing a one piece. For example, when I was wake surfing in bear lake with a bunch of guys. I don't know about you but when I'm in a bikini sometimes the top or bottom have a mind of their own...and nobody wants to be searching for their bikini in a lake around a bunch of guys! haha

I got the chance to team up with RAD Swim & they have THE cutest one pieces & tankinis! Check them out! Trust me on this one, go out & find a single one piece that you feel confident in & buy it. You won't regret it!

If you have some swimmers you'd like photos of in Hawaii (modeled by me and photographed on another model by me) send an email to lexicollins55@gmail.com I'm looking to collaborate with some swim companies!

Photos taken by: Addison Jones

Swimsuit: Rad Swim

Last but not least the WINNER of the Kylie Lip Kit Giveaway is: Chloe Bennett

Email me to claim your kit!! 

XOXO-

Lexi 

The Perfect Red Lip!

In light of my revamp I've decided to do a giveaway! Normally I'd have better photos of this product being styled but I got so excited that I just couldn't wait! I was able to get an extra & thought why not?! I'm giving away a KYLIE LIP KIT to one lucky winner in the Mary Jo shade.

I'm not kidding you when I say that I am obsessed with her lip kits! I've been trying to get them for months but they sell out like crazy so I can't begin to tell you how excited I am! The liner and matte lipstick are the perfect combination & the shade Mary Jo is a bright & fun red! Red is my favorite lip color to wear! If you want to go bold this is the way to do it! Makeup wise I always love doing a super simple eye when I have a bold lip, but it's also gorgeous paired with a brown smokey eye for a more sexy look!

To Enter Do The Following:

1. Follow @lexxicollins on instagram

2. Subscribe to my blog. (Make sure you verify your email, otherwise it doesn't count!)

3. For an EXTRA entry, on instagram like & comment the name of two friends on the photo below!

That's it!!! Winner will be announced via my blog on Saturday the 16th!

XOXO,

Miss LC

Because who doesn't need a little revamping?

I've decided to revamp my blog. Not only because it's been forever since I've blogged, but because it is an escape for me. I love sharing and I love writing so why not get more serious about my blog right?! I started this blog a couple of years ago and wanted it to be strictly inspirational and spiritual. But after some thinking, various input over the years and some curiosity I've decided to make my blog be lifestyle, fashion and inspirational based.

Photocred: @littlebrades {bradenyoungphoto.com}

The reason behind the lifestyle aspect: Some might know this, some might not. My life is not normal, nor will it ever be. I was born premature. As in born long before my due date, with little to no chance of survival. But against all odds,  13 surgeries and counting, multiple health issues I am alive. There is no feeling 'normal' on a day to day basis for me, my 'normal' would probably seem pretty odd to a lot of people.

I am not telling you this because I am looking for sympathy, I am laying it all out there because I know that I am not the only one who is living life this way and I want to raise awareness about it. My lifestyle is just different and I want to share that! From stories, to recipes, to health trials and successes.

The reason behind the fashion aspect: I have always been passionate about fashion, even before I became a model. But lets be real, the world doesn't need another fashion blogger. There are so many whom I absolutely love and follow on a daily basis but sometimes its hard to keep up with them all! I just want to share my cute outfits every so often, what girl doesn't?!

The reason behind the inspirational/spiritual aspect: This is where my love for blogging began. My faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is what my life is based off of. It ties everything together. So of course I'm going to keep this aspect as a part of my blog because it's a lot of who I am!

If I'm being honest I have no clue how many people will be reading my blog or if it will even matter, sharing a lot of what I have and will share leaves me vulnerable and a little nervous. What I am sure about is this: If my blog inspires even one person, it will be worth it. Wether it be via my lifestyle, via my fashion or via something spiritual, it will be worth it to me!

So if you'd like to know more subscribe or simply follow along! My next post will be giving an insight to my lifestyle & how being premature contributes to that!

Trials Lead Us To Happiness.

Wow, I've been completely slacking in the blogging department. But lately I've been itching to write and I figured what better time would there be to start up again than on my year anniversary of becoming endowed.  A week from today exactly a year ago (12-13-14) I became an endowed member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

It was the absolute hardest decision I have made in my life thus far, but it was also the very best decision I could have made for myself. This last year a lot has happened and a lot has changed.

The best part of the last year is the fact that I am happy. Happiness is something I had previously struggled with, due to people constantly walking out of my life. In all honesty I thought I was happy, I thought that I was good. When I actually had no clue what it felt like to really be happy.

Shortly after I became endowed I began experiencing true happiness. I have no idea why I had never lived life this way before, excited for the day, ready to take on whatever life has to throw at me, smiling more, being more positive. It's literally like a blindfold was lifted off of my eyes.

Don't get me wrong, there are still moments when I feel as I am completely and utterly alone, moments when I get down. Dating is chaos, even when I think it's going well, something ends up going wrong, work is never ending and my social life is almost non existent at times. Regardless of all of that I can always find a reason to be happy. Normally I'd let these things tear me down and dwell within it. But now when I'm frustrated or upset I know that I can be happy, I know that I will be okay. I had never really known that before, I had hoped for it, but didn't know that it was for sure a possibility. It's still kind of a new feeling for me, I'm getting used to it, sort of waiting for the pin to drop. But that's just it, it isn't going to, I will never let go of the new version of happiness I have stumbled upon.

I had a lot more I wanted to say within this post, but I think for now I'm going to leave it at this:

Heavenly Father has blessed me so much. Breakdowns are going to happen, yelling with anger in prayer is going to happen occasionally as well but he wants our trials to lead us to happiness. For each and every single one of us he is on our team, he is rooting for us, willing to hold us up, willing to push us until we can all find happiness. All it takes is trying, the effort we make when deciding to live this gospel lead us to happiness. Happiness that I am eternally grateful for.


XOXO
Lex

The secrets out!!

So I am literally the worst at keeping secrets, & I must say that I’ve done pretty good at keeping this one on the down low, I’ve only told a total of 5 people. Not even my family members know that I have this secret. 

But I CANNOT keep it a secret any longer. The excitement has been driving me crazy. So here goes nothing……

On December 13th, 2014 I will become endowed. 

Before you get ahead of yourself with curiosity, no I am not serving a mission and no I am not engaged to be married. I am simply becoming endowed because I am ready. I have learned, pondered and studied about it for almost a year now. 

At first I felt the need to rush into getting endowed. See this is due to the fact that within my journey of becoming an active member again, there has always been some sort of progression. Changing my entire lifestyle was a process, receiving my temple recommend was a process, receiving my patriarchal blessing was a process, reading and understanding the Book of Mormon was a process. I was always striving for that next step. 

But this step took a lot of long hard thinking. It’s different. I finally realized that it was a decision that I wanted to take my time in making. Not only that but I wanted to be as prepared as possible, which required studying diligently, expanding my knowledge and growing more in tune with the spirit, twelve weeks of temple prep classes, and a lot of prayer. It for sure wasn’t something that I decided to do overnight.  It hasn’t been the easiest decision to make but it’s the right decision for me. Yes, as a girl it will require me to make a lot of sacrifices clothing wise, and as I’ve been preparing I’ve been more tempted than ever to back out. Constant reminders that not everyone around me is going to understand and approve of my decision made choosing to do so regardless of support even harder.  But if any of you know me, you know that when I set my mind to something I don’t stop until I accomplish it. My main hesitation was the thought of, ‘I want to be able to share this experience with a significant other.’ ‘What if my future husband was looking forward to taking me through the temple to receive my endowments.’ 

But here’s my conclusion regarding that: My decision to receive my endowments and make sacred covenants does not involve my future eternal companion. It involves me and my loving Heavenly Father. It’s as simple as that. Someday I’ll be able to share and experience being sealed to the love of my life. But until then, there is no reason why I shouldn’t be strengthening my faith and covenants within the gospel that I love so very much. 

I could go on and on about how excited I am to be able to take this step within the gospel. I am literally ecstatic about it. Temples are literally my safe haven, I am so blessed to have the opportunity to go inside. If any of you are considering it, the thoughts and promptings are there for a reason. I am an open book as far as my process  in deciding to go through the temple. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, because I would love to share. For now, I’ll leave you with the amazing photos taken by Rachel Mariesa Photography, she did an amazing job capturing this special occasion for me. 

 

XOXO-Miss LC

Trials into Triumphs.

This post is going to be a bit personal but I thought it was worth a share. So during my senior year of a high school I went through some pretty hard things. It threw me into a depression which ultimately lead to me making a lot of mistakes. I was living life, going through the motions, and yes there were lots times that I was happy but I never realized until recently I wasn't genuinely happy. My happiness depended on other things, my grades in school, who I was currently dating, how much money I had, peoples approval on my choices, etc. All things that would eventually work out on their own. I have to admit there were times that I would just fall into this mode where nothing mattered and I didn't want to bother putting effort into 'being happy'. I would be so frustrated and upset with others as well as myself because for some reason, no matter how hard I'd try I wasn't truly happy. Other times my life was fun and seemed to be going great. I had great relationships, school was effortless, etc. Looking back on the past four years of my life I think a lot about the trials that I faced during those years. Ultimately these trials lead me to turning to the gospel. Around April of 2011 I realized that even though I wasn't active in the church I always prayed, in most cases pleaded and cried with God that things would work out in certain aspects of my life. I made the decision that I wanted to start going back to church, even though I had made the decision I didn't act upon it until October 2012. During the time between my decision and actually acting upon it I had begun making better choices slowly but surely, I hadn't gone to church but I had stopped hanging out at parties as much, I was living my life and thought it was good. Eventually I started going to a singles ward in October and knew I wanted to obtain a temple recommend. So I did just that. It wasn't easy but I accomplished it. I had completely changed my life in order to do so. During the process of receiving my temple recommend I was in a relationship that meant a lot to me. I was happy. But when that relationship ended I was more broken than I had ever been before. Again, my happiness depended so much upon something that left me hanging. Being completely shattered, I literally had nowhere to turn to besides the gospel. I had already changed my life so much, but I knew that there is always time for self-improvement. The ending of this relationship (I'll spare you all the sappy/hardship details) inspired me to form a closer relationship with Heavenly Father. This gospel was and literally is my strength. I focused on myself, I began focusing on learning the gospel and allowed it to become my distraction from the sadness of the world.

I've learned to realize that as we put our trust in Heavenly Fathers plan and strive to better ourselves within the gospel true happiness can be found. I know that Heavenly Father has a hand in even the smallest aspects of our lives. Literally he knows exactly when and where things need to be placed. I know that I went through these four years, to get me to where I am now. I know that even on the bad days there are tender mercies to be found. I was writing one of my close friends who is currently serving an LDS Mission and I wrote the following: 

I keep thinking to myself, 'wow this is a feeling I've been missing out on for so long, I feel like it's too good to be true, I never want it to end.' Seriously I am genuinely happy and so immensely blessed because of this gospel. Don't get me wrong, I still go through trials every single day. Life isn't easy. And sometimes living by the standards of the gospel can be an tiring process, but this happiness is so worth it. For example I wrote this about two weeks ago: 

"You know those times when you feel as though, 'I want one thing to turn out, just for once I want things to work.' As I was thinking those exact same things this morning I came to the realization that the one thing in my life that has consistently worked out is putting faith into this gospel and receiving the strength to push past whatever difficult moment I am facing, regardless of if it's big or small. Within this faith I know that things WILL eventually work, with school, with my career, with family, with financial situations, with dating, etc. Lately there have been random unexplained moments of difficulty in my life, but I know as I keep trying and keep putting my best effort in, things will work out." 

And it's true. Depending upon this gospel has brought so many blessings and so much happiness into my life. It doesn't depend on the guy I am dating, the fact that I am in need of a better paying job, or that I am unsure weather I'll be able to pursue my dream career. Although yes all of these things working out would be great, they are simply bonuses that ADD to my happiness, NOT make or break my happiness. 

Depression is real, but so is this happiness. I am thankful for both because they have allowed me to grow. Your trials have the possibility to shape you and lead you to this happiness. Take your trials and turn them into triumphs.

XOXO-Miss LC