A Day Without Makeup (Like Every Other Day)

By now I'm sure all of you have heard Colbie Caillat's song or seen the video for the song Try. If by chance you haven't, I've done you a favor and posted it here:

I was really surprised and pleased when I watched that video for the first time (never having heard the song before). 

I was raised to think that make-up is completely 100% unnecessary. While I know my mom used make up when she was in her 20's I don't remember her ever wearing make up with me around (I was born when she was 40). This meant that she never taught me how to apply make up. So I never wore it and I still don't.

No make-up and no hair done. I was walking down the staircase to go on a walk with my mom and brother early Sunday morning. 

I went through periods of times where I would wear mascara or sometimes lipstick, but thinking back the reason I did wear those things wasn't because I thought it made me look prettier but because that's what other people did, not because it actually made me prettier. 

The only time I have actually worn a full face of make up was when I got married. I won't deny that I felt beautiful that day. But I also have to say that the reason for that may have been the dress and hair and that it was my wedding day, not just because I wore make up. 

This is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding:

My mom didn't like my make-up. She thought I would've been more beautiful without any make-up. 

When I was getting my make up done in the morning, my niece took a picture of me and posted it to Instagram...

Notice what she wrote underneath? I think she's being raised correctly!

With this thought in mind I gave her a call last week and asked her to watch the video and that I would call her back later and ask her what she thought about it. The video isn't aimed at just teenagers since women of all ages need that reminder, but I thought that it would be very meaningful to a 12 year old girl who is in middle school and will be (if she isn't yet) feeling the pressures of fitting in an being considered beautiful. 

I'll mention that my sister (her mom) only wears make-up on special occasions so it is not something that my niece sees on a regular basis.  

At first it was difficult to get something out of Mika, but once she found out that I was asking for the blog she said:

I'm proud of my niece!! 

I'm joining up with Nicole from Treasure Tromp for today's post. One of the requests for linking up was to mention at least one thing that I find beautiful about myself. 

I really like my eyes and my smile I suppose that it helps that these are things that I've been complimented on. I've also been told that I have good skin, but since I doubt I'd be able to recognize whether I have good skin or not, I don't find it particularly out of this world. However I can't say that there really is much I don't like about myself (other than my eternal struggle with weight). 

Honeymoon: Trip To Argentina (Part 2)

Our second day in Iguazu was spent doing a bit of walking around in the morning to el Hito. This is the corner of Argentina where it meets the river and you can see Paraguay and Brazil. 

Hito: Three Borders

Thomas is standing in Argentina, to the right where you see the roof is Brazil and behind him is Paraguay.

The following pictures are of the Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side. 

These are Coati's. They sort of look like ant eaters. They are all over these areas of Argentina and Brazil. While they are wild, they come up to you looking for food. This one was climbing up to look in my bag (no food). Thomas got scared and so he scared the animal away. I think they are cute!

As you can see by the water on the camera it was very wet! It was also very humid there - at least for us who come from a very low humidity area (SoCal).

This is Devil's Throat. 

After we got back from Brazil we did some touristy shopping in town. On the way back to the hotel Thomas was followed by some dogs. 

The hotel we stayed in.

We were in Iguazu from Monday night until Thursday morning. This is leaving EARLY on Thursday morning.

Currently I am....

Currently…

READING: When I was in Argentina I found an author that I really liked so I bought several of her books. I just finished one and will be starting another. 

WRITING: This blog entry. I’m also writing a couple of letters. One for my cousin in Argentina and the other to the lovely Amanda Nicole from Knock on Wood.

LISTENING: I am not a big music fan, however I LOVE the Backstreet Boys – so I’m either listening to their latest album or to talk radio during my very short drives to and from work. 

THINKING: I’m thinking that my first week of meal planning was derailed by being invited to my in-law’s for dinner on Monday and a free movie screening on Tuesday. 

SMELLING: My hubby’s cologne. I love it! 

WISHING & HOPING: I’m wishing and hoping that I find some relief to my rib pain. I get so sad and depressed when I think this is the rest of my life. 

WEARING: A maxi dress from Kohl’s. I love these! I have it in 2 colors and hope that I can buy another (black and white) before they stop carrying them. 

WANTING: I want an iMac. I have a MacBook Pro but I would love to have a desktop with a nice sized screen. This may or may not come true for my birthday. 

LOVING: I am really loving my new Galaxy S5. I’m still learning to use it. Setting up ring tones/vibrations for different events has been more complicated than I expected. 

NEEDING: I need that my husbands’ employer not send him away so much. Of the 12 weeks we’ve been in the condo and got married he has been out of town 5 weeks (okay, 2 of them was with me on our honeymoon). 3 work weeks away and he’ll be gone another 3 weeks soon. 

Don't forget to check out an awesome giveaway I am participating int! 

Favorite Things Giveaway! Happy Birthday Rachel!

Today is Rachel from Can't Google Everything's Birthday!! In order to celebrate she is hosting a raffle! Along with myself and a few other awesome ladies she is giving away some of her favorite things and was awesome enough to take a picture of all the awesome prizes! 

 Ellie of Creative Geekery // Jacquelyn of justjacq // Stephanie of Life According to Steph // Rachel (aka the birthday girl) of Can't Google Everything // Reesa of Mama Lew // Katherine of Him & Me // Krystal of Krystals Kitsch

Here's what we are giving away!

A prize pack containing some of my favorite things and stores!  Cup from Vera Bradley, Essie nail polish in "cute as a button," a $25 Starbucks gift card AND a $25 Target giftcard!  That's over $75 worth of prizes!  Woo-hoo!

Enter to win via rafflecopter below and good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The fine print: Giveaway open to U.S. residents only (sorry).  Giveaway runs from 7/21 - 7/28 midnight EST.  Winning entry will be verified.  Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond to claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Tired Monday Tales

I am tired. Maybe I'm getting sick? I spent most of Saturday organizing our office. I also unpacked some more boxes/bins that I had just brought over from my mom's house. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it took most of the day. I hate that the things that used to be so easy to do and that wouldn't leave me in pain, now do. 

On Sunday I knew I had to do some grocery shopping for the week. I received my amazing meal planner book on Friday (post AND GIVEAWAY coming soon! You can win your own meal planner!) and so I had to start using it right away. 

My mom and I left to go do grocery shopping at 9:45am and got back at about 12:45pm. My body couldn't take it any more. We had also done a walk in the morning (about 1.7 miles). Normally this isn't a problem for me... so that's why I'm wondering if I'm getting sick. But I'm so grateful that I was able to spend hours with my mommy doing things we both love to do - shopping!

The other reason it could be is that I've been in a lot of pain this weekend. I've been taking a medicine that might be causing hot flashes, so my doctor told me to be off of it this weekend to see if I kept having hot flashes - which I didn't. BUT not taking the medicine did leave me in excruciating pain and with all the lifting and working I did... it didn't help. But I'm grateful that I can move around and that I can be back on my medication plus some new lidocaine patches in the morning! 

Saturday was my parent's 46th Wedding Anniversary! We weren't able to be available on Saturday we (my parents, brother and his family, Thomas and I) went to the Olive Garden on Sunday (and of course no pictures were taken ;( - but I was very much not feeling well at that point and I just wanted to go home). As we were heading to the restaurant I had to make a left onto a busy street. There was a car that needed to make a left onto the street I was on. The nice lady waved me through so I could turn ahead of her. 

Which made me think of all the things we can be doing to PAY I FORWARD. I don't mean financially, although that would work as well. We live our daily lives, most of the time worrying about ourselves. Will I get to work on time? What will I have for lunch? Why is that car going so slow? Did I do the laundry? On and on. 

If we can stop once a day and do something nice for someone else... how great would that be? A smile for someone having a bad day or letting someone get in front of you in traffic because they have to make that turn. 

I found this link today off my Facebook which I thought was appropriate to my feelings this weekend. Check it out!

Let's be grateful for the things we can do for others to make them happy even if it just means saying good morning! Try that today!

In the meantime I'm linking up with...

This Or That - Or What?

Today's prompt was way too much fun to miss out on! 

1. Be blind or be deaf

I think I would rather be deaf than blind. While I would prefer to have all my senses, not being able to see would leave me much more impaired than what I would ever want. With sight I'd still be able to see my children play and grow up with my own eyes.

2. Be taller than you are or shorter than you are

Taller for sure! I'm only 5'2" (with my shoes on). My husband is 6'3". I would love to be able to reach up and kiss him without straining my neck or him having to bend down too far. 

3. Be a teenager or a senior citizen for the rest of your life

A senior citizen. I've never been a fan of teenagers, not even when I was one. I have always gravitated toward people who were older than me. I think it's because my siblings are (were) 12, 14, and 15 years old than me so I was always around older people. Interestingly enough my husband is 6 months younger than me.

4. Have no hands or no legs

Wow, they really went all out on these questions! I think that while not being able to move around on my own two feet would make life a lot more difficult than it is now, I would rather that than miss my hands (or arms). I'll go back to the idea of not being able to hold onto my own children. 

5. Lose your front teeth or both eyebrows

Haha! This one made me laugh. Are we assuming that I can't get replacement teeth? If not, I'd choose to lose my front teeth because that can be fixed by a dentist! The remedies for replacing eyebrows does not seem as good result wise.

6. Eat a worm or a cockroach

Now you're just getting gross. I think I have to go with worm. I'll pretend it's a gummy one. There is nothing here that says I can't make it into a meal, right?

7. Spend a day in the Sahara or North Pole

North Pole! I would get to meet Santa! What could be more fun than that?

8. Have a personal chef or a personal driver

Personal chef! While I like cooking sometimes when I get home I just want to chill not worry about making dinner for my hubby. My commute is only a few minutes so I don't mind driving myself. It would also be awesome to have home made meals for lunch every day!

9. Always have to whisper or always have to shout

This is hard. Loud noises around me (most of the time my husband) generally hurt my ears. But then again I have a really hard time hearing whispers. I suppose that since I'm used to loudness - something my family taught me to be - will be easier than to only hear whispers.

10. Can't taste or can't smell

Ohhh I think I would rather not be able to smell. Food is too good to not taste it!

11. Wipe with sandpaper or saran wrap

Where did you guys get these from??? Definitely saran wrap. I might get my hafnds a little dirty but at least my body won't be scratched up! 

12. Have Twitter shut down for a day or your blog disappear for a day

I'd rather twitter shut down. That would make it onto the news and would be entertaining to watch how the world goes crazy without Twitter for the day. No one will notice if my blog goes down and it would be too complicated to get it back up.

13. Text of your blog is screwed up or all the pictures you post on your blog are blurry

I'd rather the pictures be blurry. It drives me insane to read a blog when the font isn't attractive and everything is all over the place. I like things organized. 

14. Never be able to post another GIF or never be able to receive comments on your posts

Although I do post GIFs sometimes, I'd be good to stick to pictures. Not having comments would make me sad!  

15. Have a permanent wedgie or have the tag on your shirt constantly scratch your neck

This is a really difficult one. Both of these are super annoying! BUT most shirts don't have regular tags anymore so I'm going to pick that one, they are way less annoying than wedgies at this point. 

A Day in the Shoes Of...My Husband!

I almost skipped today’s prompt. It seemed too hard to write for a Friday afternoon. But then I started to think about it. If I could change places with anyone, who would it be? What would my day be like? Would I want to change back?

My first thoughts were yes! Yes! I want to change places with someone who isn’t constantly in pain. Who worries about what the day will bring when it comes to the amount of suffering they have to go through in their body. I would love to go through a day like that. It’s been a long time, years and years, since I’ve had a day where nothing hurt even a little bit. 

But then I got to thinking that then I wouldn’t be me. Could I possibly do the change of body but not of mind, soul, spirit, or life? Is that too much to ask for?

That wasn’t the question that was asked though. So then I kept thinking of who I would want to trade places with. My co-worker? My boss? My parents? Siblings? 

Then I thought of my husband! I want to walk a day in his shoes! 

A Day In the Shoes Of Thomas

I would start the day at 7am, roll over and see if my wife was still in bed. Many times this determines what will occur over the next 30 minutes. 

Since my wife refuses to make me the eggs and bacon I so incredibly deserve to have made for me every day of the week (not just the weekends) I might put a pop tart in the toaster while I check e-mail or possibly look at gaming websites. 

Although I have to be at work at 8am, I’ll finally get into the shower at 7:45am. I might drop a towel in the toilet in the process, but hey! It’s not my fault the toilet lid is up! 

My wife might not be home by the time I make it out of the bathroom. She just has to go to her mom’s house every morning for breakfast. I’ll head on out to work around 8am or a couple of minutes past the hour. Luckily it’s a short 5 minute drive. Maybe I’ll ask Kathy if she wants to go to lunch today! Working a couple of blocks away from each other is pretty great! Darn! She says she doesn’t want to. Next time! 

For the next 8 hours I will be on a computer and working on slot machines. I’m the master in the office and can fix anything faster than anyone else! I might take a break here and there to play on my phone, but I’ll be busy working alllll day. So much so that I’ll have to ignore those texts that Kathy sent me. Oh well, I’ll see her tonight. I wonder what she’ll make me for dinner. 

I am supposed to get off at 5pm, but I’ve been working longer and sometimes don’t get out until after 5:30pm. Kathy should be home by then. I love my wife but she’s still has a lot to learn about making meals the way I like them. She should go watch my mom make some chicken teriyaki and make it the same way! 

Once I’m home I’m grateful for the cool house. The AC in my Jeep is broken (not to mention the window won’t roll up anymore!) and it is hot here! After a hug and kiss to Kathy and inquiring what’s for dinner (an A1 burger tonight!) I will head to the office so that I can start playing video games. If Kathy didn’t call me half an hour later I would probably continue playing video games all night. 

Instead I head to the dining room to eat and watch some TV. While I start watching TV Kathy will do the dishes and make herself some dinner. Our latest obsession has been the Netflix original show Hemlock Grove. I didn’t want to watch it at first but now I’m hooked (even if it’s getting boring). After a couple of episodes Kathy is ready to go to bed so I go to the office to play some more video games. 

If it gets too late I end up falling asleep on the couch, tonight I’ll head over to the bedroom and crawl in. I like just dropping into bed, but Kathy has made me strip to my boxers before getting in between the sheets. 

End Of My Day in Thomas’ Shoes

So while it does seem nice that I make Thomas dinner (and I do make him breakfast –eggs and bacon- on the weekends)… I think that I’m happy in my own life. I enjoy taking care of my man; I love my job and most of my coworkers… I have a pretty good life I think.