Farrah Blakely

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been off the radar for a little while, work's been a little crazy, and I've been traveling to see Ian, as well as making plans for our next big trip! I just got back from New York a week ago, where we were celebrating Ian's 100th night weekend at West Point. 100th night is such a huge deal because it signifies the (less than) 100 nights left until graduation and commissioning! I personally was a huge fan of Ring Weekend because of all of the excitement around getting class rings (and because it was warm, let's be honest), but 100th night was also really exciting! In addition to the normal dinner and speaker, this time it was the current Surgeon General of the Army, there's also a play written, directed, and performed by seniors that showcases all of the big events during their time at West Point.  It was also really neat that this event was semi-formal for both guests and cadets. Ian and I had a great time playing cadet o...

Hey y'all! So one of my resolutions for this new year was to take care of my skin more. I'm getting older, and I know, early 20's isn't that old, but I want to start a routine now that I will carry on with me as I get older! Growing up, I've never had anything close to perfect skin. In middle school, my skin was pretty oily and I struggled pretty badly with acne. I still get the occasional spot, but thank goodness my skin has gotten better as I've gotten older. In order to aid with this process, I've also tried and altered my skincare routine over the past few years in order to find what's best for me. One thing I've learned over the years is that just because a certain routine is popular, or there's a hot new product out that everyone's raving about, doesn't always mean it's right for you and your skin tone. I've finally gotten to the place where I have a pretty good skincare routine that doesn't take a lot of time an...

Hey y'all! So, going off my New Year's resolution, I wanted to share with you all some of my tips and tricks for healthy habits that I've tried to start now that will hopefully stick with me in the future! I'm constantly trying to better myself and put more effort into all the things I do, I just always feel like I can do more and be better at what I'm doing. With our wedding coming up pretty quickly, I also wanted to go ahead and get in the habit of good routines that I can take with me when we move! Drink More Water  Y'all. I cannot stress how important this one is. I know that everyone knows this, I mean, it's been stressed at us since we were in elementary school, but I feel like I've always struggled with drinking the right amount of water. I love my coffee and my sweet tea as much as the next person, but a habit I've been trying to develop is to drink as much water as I drink tea or coffee in a day. I normally stop on my way to work and ...

Hey y'all! Sorry I ended up taking a much longer than expected hiatus from posting (pretty much the entire month of December, oops!). Between getting engaged, wedding planning, traveling, and Ian being home, it's been a crazy end of the year. I know I can't be the only one who's ready for a little bit of downtime and some time to get started on my New Year's resolutions! I actually meant to put this post up yesterday, but like I said, it's been crazy. Can you all believe it's actually 2018? I know I can't! 2017 was a great year for me honestly. I got my first professional job, graduated from college, Ian began his firstie year at West Point, and we got engaged! Just to name a few. The end of the year was full of trips to Nashville and New York, and lots of wedding planning. By the way, let me know if you all want to see some posts on wedding planning in 2018, I've had an absolute blast planning everything so far. As great as 2017 turned out, I...

As I've mentioned in previous posts, one of my goals before turning 22 is to run a half marathon. In order to keep myself motivated until the end of April, I started signing up for 5k's to have goals to work towards. One of the 5K's I originally signed up for in August, and my second 5k of 2017 so far, was last night. Every year for the past few years, Dollywood, our local theme park, has held a race that goes through the park so you can look at all the Christmas lights while you run! Being the huge Christmas fan that I am, I of course signed up to do it. What I wasn't thinking about when I signed up in 90 degree weather in August was the time and the temperature. The race didn't start until 11:17pm, which, if you know me, is way past my bedtime. Also, it was a cool 30 degrees last night by the time the race kicked off. I'm going to be totally honest, when the race started I couldn't feel my hands, but about a mile in I started to warm up and get in the groo...

Veteran's Day is a holiday that is near and dear to my heart for many personal reasons. I'm currently wrapping up Service Academy nomination interviews at my job, and that resonated with me even more this year since it was right at Veteran's Day. I have a history of military service in my family, and have always loved this holiday. My grandfather was in the Army during the Vietnam war, my uncle was in the Air Force and still works at a local base, and Ian is in the military as well. Over the past few years, I've been preparing for life in the Army when Ian commissions, and it's just hit home more than normal this year that he'll be one of the people being honored on Veteran's day, along with my uncle and grandfather. As an elementary school kid, I used to get so excited to do our annual Veteran's Day presentation because I knew my grandfather and my uncle would be in the audience. I would literally beam with pride as a third grader knowing my grand...

So, I figured every so often I would try to do a what I'm loving now post, about what I just can't get enough of. Honestly, I'm a pretty simple person, give me hot tea and a good book, and I'm good to go, but every so often, I find something that I just cannot get over. Here are my current picks, links to each product are in the pictures: The Republic of Tea Hot Apple Cider Tea  Y'all, I love tea so much that it was my first word, seriously, ask my mom. Don't get me wrong, I love a good cup of coffee too, but there's just something about hot tea. My mom says pretty frequently that I have enough tea for tea time with the British Army, and I'm sure she'll be glad when I move out so she'll have a few shelves in her pantry back. With that being said, my aunt knows the way to my heart, and I came home from a stressful work day a few days ago to find a package from Republic of Tea waiting on me! My aunt had sent me this new fall flavor of tea t...

Hey y'all! So, someone (my sister) actually requested that I write my next post on stress management. Even though I'm done with undergrad, I still have a pretty high stress job that requires me to manage my stress levels pretty much daily. In addition to a high stress, emotionally draining job, I'm a type A personality, so I naturally stress about pretty much everything. I've always operated at a really high stress level, but one thing I've learned over time is that I absolutely cannot let stress overwhelm me. You have  to maintain a good balance between letting stress motivate you and taking time to relax and focus on yourself. Here are my top tips to managing your stress: 1. Know When to Walk Away This one is SO important. My biggest problem at times is not knowing when to just leave something alone and step back and get a different perspective. Being able to know when to walk away really helps my stress levels, because if I can just put something down an...