Hi friends! I wanted to be quick and share this new hair product I picked up last week. I had seen it floating around the blog world & it definitely doesn't disappoint & it doesn't break the bank. Oh, and did I mention it can be found at Target?! Winning!
I apply this directly to my roots (wet, obvi) and then put the remaining throughout my hair. I will blow dry my roots back and forth with a round brush (being sure to blow the heat in the direction the hair is being brushed...with the grain of the hair if you will). It gives such great lift and doesn't leave your roots feeling like you have a lot of product on them. That's one thing I love, if you can achieve volume, texture, etc etc, and it doesn't feel heavy in your hair, then it gets an A+ in my book. When your hair is thin, the weight of a product can really affect the style you are trying to achieve.
She also has a lot to her line that I definitely want to take a look at. Have any of you used this brand?
I always love to pass on hair products because I have always struggled with thin, not voluminous, couldn't hold a curl, hair. I just have to share with y'all. That's only right. That's what good friends do!!
It is a super busy week getting prepared to fly out on Friday for Alison's wedding. We are so excited to see all our friends together in ONE place & celebrate our girl & new addition (Kris) to the group officially.
I can't even begin to explain how excited I am going to be to get to Charleston this weekend.
I have been running in a million directions lately and I'm ready to see my favorite hot mamas and hang out. I'm ready to celebrate our sweet girl Alison's wedding day!!! Two days with them to have fun....YES PLEASE!!! All the girls on this blog are who I am referring to right now!
We are dead in the middle of our local Come See Me Festival which is basically 10 days of endless family fun. This year, my friend Laura and I are chairing an event that lasts four days and is basically all day long, back and forth. It will be fun and we are excited to help in the best way we can and also dress up as HUGE Frogs (the mascots Glen and Glenda!). Laura and I have fun no matter what we are doing so I'm also excited to just be with her but I need to also be able to keep my house super perfect for showings (still on the market! Somebody buy it!) and to figure out where my 3 little ones will be while I'm volunteering. (Grandparents are gifts from God!!)
Here is a glimpse at this past weeks festivities!
Tadpole Club (I mean! Those faces!)
#1 Female in my Age Division 10K
5th Overall Female in 10K
Mrs. Rock Hill's Final Appearance! Pretty glad but I LOVE my kids at The Boys & Girl's Club! This was fun and I WANT that car!!!!!
MASCOTS EVERYWHERE
Local Sponsors/Volunteers (I get the question a lot, are they all your children or are those two twins (Brandon and Cecilia))
Endless Kid Fun
Hope everyone has a blessed week! I will leave you with this quote I saw and I just LOVED it!!
Happy Wednesday y'all! I recently have been cleaning like a fool. I don't know what it is, but I have dusted, vacuumed, made trips to Goodwill, and just all around have been CRACKED OUT on cleaning.
One thing that always got me, and I could NEVER get clean were my stove grates/cover things. I cook A LOT in my house, and the build up was just bad. I would soak them, spray on all kinds of grease remover, and nothing ever came close! Well, I stumbled upon a trick on Pinterest. Maybe I'm late to the party...please excuse me if I am, but I've just got to tell y'all how EFFORTLESS it is to clean the dirtiest of stoves.
All you need is:
Ammonia
Gallon size Ziplocs
Take out your grates if you have a gas stove or the covers if electric. Place each one into its own Ziploc bag and add about 1-3 tablespoons of ammonia. Seal those bags up and let them sit. I did this right before we went to bed and let them sit for about 12-13 hours. The ammonia fumes inside the bag help to break down all the GUNK that's been cooked on there for who knows how long?!
This morning, once I removed them from the bags and put them in hot soapy water to soak for about an extra 30 minutes or so. I wiped them down with a sponge, rinsed with hot water and BOOM! Clean stove covers!!
I don't have a before picture of the dirty ones, but I do have the after picture above and then a picture of one of the bags. YUCK!
Work smarter, not harder!
I am going to try this also on some of my cookie sheets. Let me know if it works for you!
**NOTE**
Do NOT mix ammonia with bleach. Or really any other kitchen cleaning supplies. I would try to do this in a well ventilated area.
Challenge accepted :) Alright ya'll...check out my 5 minute make up video below. I have been blessed with pretty good skin so I keep my makeup simple and light.
It has only been a week since I last blogged and this just confirms that a lot happens in my life in a week. Maybe that is why I never seem to run out of things to write about on this blog. That song is foreshadowing!!!
We just listed our house so I will get to that but on top of that, the kids are all out of school for Spring Break and as much as we would have loved to travel to the beach, it just wasn't in the cards this year. We will be there in a few weeks and we have stayed BUSY. This week has made me very excited and exhausted thinking about the summer. These babies are so much fun. And THANK YOU JESUS, that I get to enjoy it all EVERY day and I will never look back and say I wish I would have spent more time with them doing all the regular things.
So the move...we just listed our house while everyone is out of town for vacation and the Easter holiday. So hopefully once everyone is back in town we can get this house sold. We almost listed a year ago but we just weren't certain about all the logistics and the home we wanted to build.
Patrick and I did a lot of soul searching. We only want to move ONE more time because moving, especially with small children, is HARD. I know my heart is in the country and not in a neighborhood.
I grew up in the country. My parents have 30 acres and all the land in front of them is in a land trust so no one builds on it (TOTAL privacy). Patrick grew up in town but his family has a farm on 400 acres. No one in his family lives on that farm but it is a great getaway because it has a lodge to stay in and it is a slice of country heaven. We both LOVE being outdoors and we LOVE our privacy. It is freeing being out in the country, wide open spaces, trees and room for your children to run and explore. It is definitely the life I want my children to have and where I want them to call home. My parents have always told me that I can have however much land I want of theirs but once I build, I have to stay forever because they don't want neighbors. We had to be sure we would be okay being further from things and to know what house we would be happy with FOREVER. I'm thrilled for the endless opportunities that we have out there for 4-wheeler trails, my boys hunting, building anything we want out there and room to plant large gardens.
So, our plan for now is to build a home and pool on the other side of my parent's land and walking trail to my parents house with lights (you know so we can send the 3 lil hams over when we want to have some quiet time!! (I can already picture those little feet running over to Nene & PauPau's house). It is interesting that Patrick and I are on the same page about everything. I'm pretty good about finding floor plans and photos of what we want and he has good ideas of ways to tweak them to our liking before we sit down with an architect.
I'm a visual person. It is INSANE. My mind works as a slideshow for people, words, everything. So if I don't have a photo in my phone or list of something then it does not exist, basically.
This will be a long process. We will be renting for probably a year. We also have to make big decisions about schools, church, and don't forget my gym!!! HA!
Speaking of which, we are heading to a fitness competition tonight. If I'm ever going to be a bikini competitor (oh man I set some crazy goals) then I need to at least watch the pros and see all the work I have to put into this dream.
Hope everyone has a fantastic Easter. I told Whit, "Lets say a prayer someone wants to buy our house!" He said "Mommy I think God will put who is supposed to live here and we just have to let it happen when it's supposed to." MY MOUTH DROPPED!!! Who are you? Why are you so wise??? I think God was speaking through my child like "listen woman I've gotten you this far...be patient and have faith in my timing!" God's timing isn't always with our timing. We literally listed our house a few days ago but even if it takes awhile, it is all up to God. I'm excited for the journey. I'm excited to embrace the process of moving, renting, building and maybe having to do Christmas a little different than we are used to but we will make fun, simple memories. These are the times you always remember. But, wow, Patrick and I both said we already can't stop thinking about sitting outback with our outdoor kitchen, fireplace, swimming pool, and that pretty country sunset!!! Yes! Goals!
So lets go celebrate our loving, forgiving Savior all weekend and be thankful for all the blessings we have and that he continues to bestow upon us!
Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Since I double posted twice last week, I figured I'd keep it short and sweet this week. It is a special week in lives of Christians.Yesterday was Palm Sunday and now we lead up to the Resurrection. I always love reading about the Resurrection because it gives me chills. Can you imagine being Mary Magdalene & Mary and going to the tomb and he isn't there? I am sure that their reactions then would be the same as ours today. Not only did he raise from the dead...but he did EXACTLY what he said he was going to do.
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"Mark 16:5-7
Some nights when I'm eating solo and the kids usually don't like what I eat, I will just toss a chicken breast in the crockpot and throw something on it and add in some rice or a salad. My husband will have presentations or County Council meetings a few times a month. I'm very blessed that on the average day he is home to us by 5 or 5:30.
One of my very fit friends told me about this recipe. I've enjoyed it many times now. I will grab a sweet potato (usually the prepackaged and washed ones) and put a breast in the crockpot with buffalo sauce for a few hours so I can shred it. I put the shredded chicken inside the potato (no butter or brown sugar allowed!) and I cover it with Greek yogurt dressing. It is very healthy, high in protein! Try it sometime! I have in the past also put buffalo sauce and greek yogurt on my chicken and let it cook and it is YUMMY too!!! (Are you sensing a trend? I like buffalo sauce!)
I try to eat healthy but it can be hard with 3 little ones who eat a lot of...well junk!
I love making them cute fun foods! It is a fun little hobby and I hope these are the things they remember from their childhood.
The kids made some fun memories this past weekend at my in-laws. I'm so glad they have grandparents close by so that they grow with a great relationship to them all.
Patrick and I went to an event and OF COURSE, I had an off the shoulder dress. My mom and I have a Gala coming up so I vow it will NOT be an off the shoulder look, haha. Although, I LIKE it. lol
Cecilia and I hit up South Park Mall in Charlotte last night. We had a BALL. Besides that awkward moment when she went to pay for her shoes and said "Mommy she is WEIRD," right in front of the sales associate. (Of course I explained that was rude and we are all different!). But, she always has lots of questions. Mom, why does this dress have a rip in it? It is messed up! I had to explain what a slit in a dress was and that it was part of the way it was designed and it helps when you walk and dance. She helped pick out many dresses for me to try on and gave her advice on. Below you will see the final options. I won't reveal which one I chose but I'd love to hear which was your favorite! I loved them all for different reasons!
I literally could get dressed up ALL the time! Ah, maybe in my next life!
Hope everyone enjoys their weekend! Whit is heading to a sleepover at a friend's house tonight. It is only his second sleepover but I'm confident it will go well. He is a good kid.
Dana led us off first with her 5 minutes, and I'm here to do mine. It was hard y'all!! Below is my video. My hair was wet. I always do it last so pardon it's messiness. I hope y'all enjoy it. I will link all the products I used below in case y'all are interested!
Haley has challenged each of us girls on the blog to share our 5 minute make-up. I got almost finished within 5 minutes. 5 minutes for me is plenty of time for day make-up but my night time glam would definitely take longer. I did not get to blush but I finished the rest.
So you get the pleasure of seeing me with ZERO make-up (so humbling) to finally feeling more cute.
I hope you enjoy it and PLEASE share and tell me any advice you have, anything I said that was a new trick for you, and you DO ONE. I'm telling you. It takes guts to do a video like this so no judgement from me.
I will be back later this week with my usual weekly post and it WON'T be about make-up
Hey y'all! Sorry I have been gone my past two scheduled Mondays. It's been a bit crazy in my life with trips and then many obligations I had come up, plus keeping up with my own personal blog. Life is just BUSYYYY!
We all love Chick Fil A right? I went there today, so yes obviously. I kept recently seeing from other bloggers & people on social media...."Order your fries extra crispy." I'm sorry what?! So today, I ordered them extra crispy. And they were BOMB. It's no extra charge and it will change your life. Promise. So try them out today.
I am putting out a challenge to the other girls here who are authors....I think we need some good beauty content that is FUN. Sooooo without further adieu, I am challenging Dana, Rachel, Lauren, Katherine, & Alison to a 5 minute make up challenge. This means, you have 5 minutes on the stop watch. You are bare faced, and lets see how much and how quick you can get it done in 5 minutes. Don't worry about your hair.
And ladies, don't tell me you don't have time. You put make up on every day so let's see what magic we can do. I know these mommas have tricks up their sleeves into getting out of the house and looking somewhat presentable. So girls, let's get it. I myself will be doing this too. :) I have seen many other bloggers do this and it's really funny to see when you are pressed for time just what you can do or where you end up. You can aim for next week if you want. ;) Don't be scared!
Lastly, readers!! I will personally give out a $10 Chick Fil A gift card for those that either leave a comment on the blog itself or the Facebook post letting us know your holy grail, can't live without, one item you'd take if you were stranded on a deserted island beauty product. Be specific because maybe one of us wants to try. :) The giveaway is only open for our readers.
I mean $10 to Chick Fil A... that's a free meal for yourself or maybe just $10 worth of extra crispy fries. I'll let it be your choice. I will randomly draw one person's name on Sunday night at 9pm EST. And I'll announce it on Monday, here.
