Makeup Is My Jam. Nuff Said.

For anyone who knows me at all, you will know I have always loved make up. Mainly, eye shadow, but I love the whole process. I love taking my face and being creative and painting it to make dramatic effect. I think it is amazing that I can take my face, a pretty plain jane kinda girl, and really emphasize my big round eyes or minimize my big butt nose. :) I digress...

I am not an artistic person, but a face is my canvas, shadow my pallet, and I love to use makeup to create! Is it makeup? Or make up? I don't know. But for the purposes of this blog it will be what I type in the moment.

I thought I would share with you some of my FAVORITE products and in turn I would love your comments and feedback. What products can you not live without? Do you know any alternatives that are just as good as the big names in make up?

Any fun tips and techniques?

Let's start with some pics:

 BEST eyeliner ever. It's Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliner. I LOVE it. It glides well, doesn't run on my contact lens. It lines. You sharpen it. It runs around $18 but it is well worth it. I haven't found a good drugstore alternative. If anyone knows of one, let me know. 

 My favorite liquid blush. A dab'll do ya. Dab two little circles on your cheeks and blend in to create a glowy, dewy, blushy look. This runs $30 but will last you for YEARS! Seriously, I got mine back 2005? I'm still using it. Haven't run out. 

 This is my favorite powder. I use light/medium but I also realize that it's pretty expensive. It runs around $30. For those of you that can't afford that, I really like L'oreal's Translucent Powder in Light or Translucent for all skin tones. I just use powder to SET my makeup. Not to give any additional color to my face. 

It's only $10 - 12 at your drugstore and I found it at Walgreen's BOGO half off! So, I bought two. I am using this instead of MAC these days to save money. There are certain makeup items I don't mind having the cheaper version of because they are just as good. This is one of those. 

These are my brushes from Sephora. For you critics out there, I'm not saying MAC brushes aren't better nor am I saying Mary Kay brushes are crap. I think if you find a brush that works for you and does the job, use it. Some of my favorite brushes came from CVS. But I will tell you, this set runs $40 - $50 I think and it is phenomenal! I love it. Gets the job done! 

YOU MUST, however, have one or two more brushes. 

 Any good makeup artist will you tell you that you need a creaser brush! Gotta blend, blend, blend! 

And an eyeliner brush. Now, I use this for lining with color or defining or for layering over my urban decay eyeliner. It's a fun brush. 

I have friends ask me all the time A.)How do I afford my makeup addiction? B.)How do I know what colors to pick? C.)What's the best eye shadow. Some of you may differ from me, but I think the cheapest way to go to get the bestest for your money is to buy a pallet. You get considerably more shadows than buying them individually and often while you may be drawn to the pallet because of all the tans and browns in it, there's often one or two colors that are part of the pallet that will get you out of your comfort zone. I'm all about trying those colors! Here are four pallets I HAVE and LOVE and USE on a weekly basis. 

 Often times, a pallet will come with a brush or a primer or something extra. I love that pallets are a way to try new colors you wouldn't normally try on your own. Also, it helps me to decide which colors I can't live without. I used up all of the "honey" in this pallet. So, I went back and bought an individual one. It cost $18 to buy an individual urban decay shadow, but for that color I KNEW already that it was worth it. This whole pallet cost me around $40 - $50 I think. 

 This one is my favorite right! It costs $40, but you get 9 huge round shadows. Individually, this would cost you at LEAST $90 if not more. 

 This pallet cost around $40. I like this for a nude eye or for a smoky eye. I put this one on there for you people who love tans and browns. :) 

Not a great picture of this one, but I LOVED this pallet. It was my first one. I loved the colors in it so much I bought several individually. 

 FAVORITE blush ever. It's a Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick and it's a whopping $50. I can't afford that. Alas, I bought one at The Cosmetic Company for around $30. I ran out and since Opry Mills flooded, I haven't been able to purchase another. But soon, baby, soon! :) If you are looking for some cheaper alternatives I love MAC blush in the color Dainty and I also really like blushes by Benefit. Both run around $30, but it's blush. I mean, spend a little more to get something you really like and you'll have it for YEARS. Blush lasts so long. 

 I LOVE this mascara. Sad to say, it is an alarming $25 and I can't bring myself to buy it. I have used two to tubes of it and that was most definitely pre-baby. I stick with my clinique mascara now for a mere $15 dollars. 

 I know we aren't talking hair care here, but I have to mention it. I LOVE Moroccan Oil. I have super thick hard to blow dry hair. It takes 40% off of the drying time. That alone is worth it for me. This runs around $40. 

Favorite body butter ever. It's around $20 too. Pricery, but smells like HEAVEN and I love it. Not greasy either. 

I thought I couldn't live without this MAC paint pot in Bare Study. I've been using it for years as a PRIMER underneath my shadow. I prime my whole eye with it, use a light shadow to highlight my brow bone, and lid color and a crease color. This is an amazing product. However, I found a cheaper alternative I like. It's not quite as good, but for us moms on a budget, it'll do the job. It's Maybelline's Color Tattoo cream shadow in TOO COOL. That color is WHITE , not blue or brown as shown. But it works well! 

Lastly, if you have any questions just ask. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what products you love too! 

Journey to the Center of the...Scale? My weight loss Journey.

You wanna' talk about a journey? Here's one. A long one. A trek. And no one can take my journey for me. It's all me. I'm not done with my long trip. I can't compare my traveling with others. No one can make my decisions, or have my will power, or make it happen for me. You know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about weight loss.

My journey started shortly after I got married. I've never been a super skinny girl, but maintained a somewhat normal, curvy, healthy weight. I always told people I went straight from puberty to a "hearty" size six. I pretty much did. I would fluctuate and get up to an 8 but I always got myself back down. Six was my magic number.

After I got married, I quickly put on the "freshman 15"...I didn't go away to college so I always just say I put it on when I got my MRS. degree. Probably three or four months into marriage I decided it was time to do something about my lifestyle. Never having been an exerciser that was my first decision. I decided to learn how to exercise. For the next two years or so I became an avid walker. My decision to make exercise apart of my lifestyle was somewhat spiritual. I didn't WANT to do it. I had to surrender to it. I had to say to myself you know what? I give up. I can't lose weight just dieting, I've got to get off my tail and exercise. After I surrendered to that thought, I started walking every morning before work for an hour. Yes, I would have weeks of where I didn't exercise and weekends were sort of horrible, but making the effort to learn how to do it was the first step. I quickly became bored with walking. Not only that, but due to my zealous eating I never lost any weight walking. Exercise, however, did make me feel really good. I love endorphins! Over the course of the first three years of marriage I took up: Taebo, Workout DVDs, Running, Interval training, weight lifting, and Yoga. I became a person who truly enjoyed a variety of exercise.

Now as far as eating goes...I'm a food lover! I love to cook and I LOVE to eat. I tried weight watchers, but didn't wanna' pay ten dollars a month. I tried counting calories but I always went over. I don't really remember when I "got it" but at some point I just started eating all day every day and that's when I started losing weight. I ate the same thing for breakfast every day. Raisin bran or organic honey nut cheerios with one cup of skim milk. For lunch I would pack an orange or an apple or both, string cheese, some crackers, a cereal bar, and maybe some raisins or nuts and I wouldn't sit down and eat a whole lunch I would eat all of that throughout the day. For dinner I usually had some form of baked chicken and two veggies. It was boring, but it worked for me. After three years of off and on dieting and exercising, I had dropped 18 lbs and reached my goal weight.

I reached my goal weight in 2009 and maintained it for about 4 or 5 months. Then the holidays came and I gained 4 lbs (not bad I don't think) and had every intention of getting off that weight. I would've done it successfully too, but I got pregnant. :)

January 2010 I found out I was pregnant with my baby David. Over the course of the next 37 weeks, I pretty much gave up dieting all together. I ate what I wanted and I was pretty hedonistic about it. If I wanted it, I ate it. I gained 55 lbs. Not fun. I'm really gonna' try not to do that with my next pregnancy.

I had David in September of 2010 and when I came home from the hospital I had lost 20 lbs of that 55. So, really since I made no effort to lose that 20 lbs, it was just baby and fluid, etc...really I only gained 35, right? ha! Either way, my 6 lb 14 oz baby didn't quite weigh as much as we expected him to!

I prayed. I hoped. I wished. I WISHED I would be one of those moms who lost a ton of weight breastfeeding. ALAS, I was not that mom. I lost NOTHING breastfeeding. My body was having a hard enough time making milk, so needless to say, I couldn't diet while breastfeeding. I started to twice during the 11 months I breastfed and both times noticed a huge drop in my milk. So for the next 8 months, I kept the extra 35 lbs on. In May of 2011, I finally decided David was old enough that I could start dieting. At nine months, babies need more food than milk, so I decided my milk supply (which was already low) wouldn't be affected that much if I went ahead and started dieting.

I began with weight watchers, borrowing the kit from a friend. I quickly shed 10 lbs. That was nice!!! Then I went around 3 months with no weight loss. I quite weight watchers. ha! During this time, I had to learn how to exercise again. Once you stop, it's SOOO hard to get back into it. I began taking Zumba with friends, running and walking. I even ran two 5k's in the last year! What an accomplishment! I never thought I'd do that. Hilariously enough, this past summer the harder I worked out the more it seemed I didn't lose any weight. At some point, I lost 5 more lbs bringing my total to 15 lbs off by the end of September. Having started in May, I thought this was ridiculous! In October, my friend Windee gave me this revolutionary book named Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salads. It was really helpful in figuring out how to eat and stay full and balance your blood sugar and diet without starving. I did the week long detox the book required and lost 5 more lbs bringing my total to 20 lbs lost of the 35 I needed to lose post baby.

In November I joined the gym. I began training with weights again and  taking classes. I also got an iphone and began using the weight loss app. Since November, I've lost 5 more lbs. This has been a grueling process, but I am only 6 lbs away from my prepreggo weight and only 10 lbs away from my goal weight. I'm ready to celebrate because I'm only INCHES away from my goal. I SEE it, I'm visualizing it. I WILL make it! I won't stop! It's mine already.

Throughout this time, I've had friends who surpassed me. Friends who've lost WAY more or started after me and lost all their weight faster than me. While I celebrate their successes, I've learned through my continuing journey that my weight loss journey is just that. It's MINE! Not anyone else's.

Every pound has been a long spiritual process. I've prayed and asked for help and supernatural self-control. I've noticed that when I deny the flesh when it comes to food, it's easier to deny the flesh in other areas of my life too.

Don't skip this part: My goal is not to be skinny. Ok, I lied. That's some of my goal. My MAIN goal is to be healthy. God requires us to be holy in all areas of our lives, including managing our weight and health. He wants us to be good stewards of our bodies.

I want to honor Him. I want to trust that I can do ALL things through Him.

And it's MY journey... no one else's.

Thanksgiving and Christmas - The Holidays - a.k.a. CHRISTmas Time! ;)

Oh no! Am I becoming a once a month blogger? I certainly hope not. But it seems I have only blogged once in November and then before that it was October. Sad day. This time of year we stay busy though. Lots of people to see, places to go, church events to attend. So I'll do another recap.

Thanksgiving. I love this holiday. It is so nice because it's the kickoff to the Christmas season. And really? The Christmas season is WAY better than actual Christmas itself. I've always found Christmas day to be, well, anticlimactic. The buildup is so big and then Christmas comes and it's just another day. You happen to get and give presents on this day and eat a lot. Those things are nice, but the season is so much better!!! Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Christmas time. I get really into it. I light candles, listen to Christmas music, hand wrap all my presents and tie homemade bows and all that lovely stuff. Not to mention the cooking and baking... :) It's definitely my cup of tea. But I digress...

Thanksgiving is my favorite. The food is always SO good and there's always way too much of it.

We spent Thanksgiving pretty much the same way we always do. Calvin's parents for lunch and my family's Thanksgiving for dinner. It's always really hard because it seems like we are rushing from one house to the next and there's entirely too much food to enjoy in one day, but nonetheless, we go.

It was fun this year, however, because David could really eat Thanksgiving food. He ate some Turkey and sweet potatoes and dressing. And we got some good family pictures to put on our Christmas card too! The day before Thanksgiving I spent baking apple pies and green bean casseroles with my granny! We also made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and she taught me how to make her homemade dressing.

 And I did her hair and make up and we took some pretty pictures! 

 Here is David eating his first plate of Thanksgiving food! 

 My handsome hubby!

These are what I baked with my granny the day before Thanksgiving! 

I also finished another piece of furniture in November, but I'm not sure if I blogged about it. So here's a quick pic.

Now, for those of you who know me, I don't really like doing Black Friday shopping. I love tradition and traditionally I've always put up my Christmas stuff the day after Thanksgiving. So that's what I did. BUT I did make a quick Target/World Market run. Found a few things on super sale.

Here's a few pics of Christmas decor:

Alright, I'm done for today! I'll blog about our Christmas later! We did lots of fun stuff during the month of December!