Excited About Makeup!

Growing up I was never much of a makeup lover.

As strange as it may seem, I just never put much thought

into the products that go on my face.

Don't get me wrong.

I like wearing makeup,

but I rarely (if ever) get very excited over it.

That all changed when I recently read about some NARS products on a makeup blog,

and it reminded me of how much I had been wanting to buy a NARS blush.

While my mom was here, we visited Sephora and I found the perfect NARS makeup set!

My mom bought me the limited edition NARS Wicked Attraction set

that I sort of fell in love with while at Sephora.

The set includes a couple of NARS products

I had been wanting for a while:

the Orgasm blush and the Laguna bronzer.

This might be one of the first times that

I've been truly excited about a beauty product.

1. { Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base }
I'll give it a try, but I do like the Shadow Insurance primer by Too Faced.
I guess a little comparison never hurt anybody. (:

2. { Larger Than Life Lipgloss in Spring Break }
The moment I put this shade on my lips I loved it! I've been wanting that perfect nude lip color
that looks like you're not wearing color but really are. This pretty golden beige is sheer and ah-mazing.

3. { Blush and Bronzer Duo in Orgasm and Laguna }
I am thrilled with these colors! I tried the Orgasm blush over a year ago and have wanted it ever since. The Laguna bronzer looks a bit dark and shimmery in the compact, but it's a nice natural color without shimmer on the skin. I'm super excited about these two together!

4. { Eyeshadow in Fathom }
I'm not a huge fan of shadows with glitter in them, but it is fun for a little pick me up once in a while.
I'll use this color but probably not very often.

Here I am wearing the Larger Than Life Lipgloss in Spring Break:

{ you can see my homemade jewelry organizers behind me }

Do you love makeup?
What are some of your favorite beauty products?

Awesome But Gross!

After the sad tone of yesterday's blog post,

today I have a little something to lighten the mood a bit.

Whataburger = awesome!

calories = gross.

But this blog post isn't about unnecessary calories.

It's about something quite possibly more scary than that!

Do creepy crawly things gross you out?

Well then you just might not want to view the images I'm about to share.

We recently visited the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, Florida.

We went there for something to do together in order to celebrate our recent anniversary.

You might find yourself asking why we would surround ourselves

with trees and wildlife and not go out to a fancy dinner.

One.

We went there on our honeymoon & thought it would be fun to return two years later.

Two.

We splurged at Bern's Steak House in Tampa for my husband's 30th birthday.

Three.

Did I mention that I love to birdwatch?

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Now are you ready for the creepy crawly

thing we discovered while we were there?

It was sort of mesmerizing watching this arachnid work.

Here is the spiny orb weaver we discovered hard at work

outside of the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary restrooms.

Below is a close up

of the spider in action!

It was pretty amazing watching this spider's little legs grab a thread of web

and attach it onto an existing thread. Pretty cool.

(Or maybe just something that an architecture major would love?)

After watching this spiny orb weaver work for a while,

I started to feel like my skin was crawling a bit. "Bleck!"

Have you ever seen a spider like this one before?

{ p.s. Don't even get me started on black widows! I'm really grossed out just thinking of them }

Things That Break My Heart

This blog post unfortunately isn't about 'bliss' or happy things.

Recently I've experienced some things that truly make my heart ache.

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Divorce

Obviously this word alone sounds sort of painful,

but when you see firsthand the effects it has on families and individuals,

it makes me want to cry.

It took everything in me to not 'turn on the waterworks' yesterday at work.

Let me explain.

There was an older woman shopping for new clothes, and I asked her what the occasion for all of the new clothes was. She responded, "I'm getting a divorce." First of all, her answer sort of caught me off guard. I started getting teary-eyed, and it took everything in me to stop the tears. You're never exactly sure what to say when a stranger telling you of their divorce. I said how sorry I was, and then she elaborated by telling me she wanted some nice new clothes for dating. I instantly felt a deep sadness for this woman. Clearly she didn't want this. She went on to tell me how scared she was to date again, and I think that dating in your 20s is scary enough. I could not even imagine entering the 'dating scene' after years of marriage! I attempted comforting her by telling her that she will meet the perfect man when the time is right, but my heart was aching for this stranger.

I could only imagine the pain of divorce and the effects it has on a person.

My heart breaks for those who deal with divorce.

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Miscarriage

Recently I've read a few blog posts of young couples dealing with a miscarriage. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain of losing an unborn child. Pregnancy is supposed to bring so much happiness and love into a life, and it just seems unfair when that's all taken away in an instant. My heart breaks for those who lose a child. Whether or not that child is unborn or not, miscarriage is such a sad and painful thing.

Again, there never seems to be the 'right' words for those who suffer a miscarriage. One of my husband's co-worker's wives experienced multiple miscarriages (we're talking more than 5 or 6) before finally giving birth to a healthy baby. Talk about faith! They never gave up trying, even through all the pain of loss. It makes me incredibly sad hearing about miscarriage, but it seems to be a part of life. As much as we may hate it, loss is part of life. That doesn't mean we won't weep for those we lose.

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Death

Life is something to celebrate, but of course that idea doesn't make the death of a loved one any easier at the moment. My heart breaks for those who have lost someone dear to them.

Lately I've been having more thoughts about my grandparents who I never had the pleasure of meeting. My mom's parents died, twenty days apart, when her and my aunt were just entering their teenage years. For whatever reason, recently I've been really wondering who they were. What kind of people were they? From the little I have heard, they were very kind and loving souls. I grieve for them, even though I never had the chance to meet them. How do you grieve the loss of someone you've never met? It's a strange thought, but it's possible I suppose.

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Sorry for all of the doom and gloom.

My heart may be a bit heavy as of lately.

All of these painful things break my heart.

If you've experienced some of these things recently, or are still dealing with the effects of them,

know that you are not alone.

Happy Valentine's Day { and a DIY project }

Happy Valentine's Day!

We just celebrated our 2nd Anniversary,

so I wanted to share a little DIY anniversary gift

that I made for my husband.

I found an inspiration photo of a framed anniversary print on etsy,

and that was all I needed to spark my imagination.

* my architecture school supplies continue proving useful time and time again when it comes to DIY crafts at home (:

I used my cutting mat and xacto knife to hand cut all of the letters from colored cardstock.

My plan was to glue down the letters and then use Mod Podge to seal them,

but they didn't really need to be sealed after gluing in place with my Scotch scrapbook stick.

So I skipped the Mod Podge!

After getting everything glued in place,

I placed our personalized anniversary plaque in a frame from Ikea.

(We bought the Ribba frame for only $4.99!)

This personalized gift found a perfect home

on top of the shelving unit in our office!

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Again Happy Valentine's Day....

share some love today. <3

Never Say Never

As a young girl, I grew up with a very wonderful friend. Being an only child, she was the one I told my secrets to when I needed to share my fears or my sadness. She just so happened to be of the canine species. Dogs make incredible listeners. I loved her dearly. It just doesn't seem fair that age creeps up much more quickly for dogs, and they're taken from our lives too soon. Maybe their life span is more proportionate to the amount of happiness they bring into our world in such a short time. Their lives rush by in the blink of an eye.

I still remember very vividly the time when our golden retriever's decline seemed to come in like the wind. All along though, it was an inevitable part of her life. She was losing hair all over her body, and she had a very difficult, and obviously painful, time sitting and standing. It was so sad watching such a beloved creature go through pain. She seemed to know it was her time. My mom ended up having her put down on my 10th birthday. I'll never forget her untimely death, but most importantly I still have the most happy memories of her life. She lived.

There was a time when I probably could have been considered a golden retriever purist. All I ever wanted was a purebred golden retriever and nothing else. I would never have thought of having any other breed of dog as my friend. Maybe I thought that would have been "cheating" on Gnomie. I'm pretty sure she would have wanted us to get another puppy, because she wouldn't have wanted us to grieve her forever. I could not imagine anyone grieving someone or some thing's death forever. You should live for them. We cannot truly live if we are hanging on to the past.

{ how can you not love all of these faces? }

all photos via The Daily Puppy

I never thought I would want any other breed of dog but a golden, but I'm open to ideas. I'm sure my husband and I will probably have a golden retriever some day, but until then we just might find ourselves crossing paths with another breed of dog. You never know who, or what, you might love if you open yourself up to it. Never say never.

Thursday Tunes

I should do music posts more often, because....
well, because I love music.

Here are some tunes I am listening to as of recently:

1. Nunovo Tango by Dva. This song was on a cd my cousin sent me for my birthday. She always has pretty darn good taste in music, and she hit the nail on the head with this one. It's fun, plus I love the saxophone in it. Sort of reminds me of the days when I played the sax.

2. Who Knows Who Cares by Local Natives. This one was also on the cd my cousin sent to me, but I've been listening to a couple songs by them for a while now. Soothing and beautiful vocals/harmonies and instruments in this song. It doesn't hurt that they mention Colorado in this song either. ;)

3. Look After You by The Fray. We love these guys! I have seen them in concert 4 times now, and we had our first dance at our wedding to this very song. It usually makes me a bit teary-eyed. This is a beautiful song. The Fray just released their new album Scars & Stories this week. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

4. Everlasting Light by The Black Keys. Awesome. This song is just awesome. Admit it; you're snapping your fingers to this one aren't you? I am.

5. Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift feat The Civil Wars. This song has a very haunting sound. Not to mention this is from The Hunger Games soundtrack. Only 42 days until the movie hits theaters. Who's excited? Have you read the books, and do you like this song? I've been listening to The Civil Wars music since I came across this song, and many of their songs have a rather haunting sound. I can't stop listening!


What's your favorite song from my playlist?

Something Pink for my Birthday

One of my very favorite blogger's, Courtney @ from here to eternity, wrote a blog post about how she wanted a pink handgun after getting her concealed carry weapon permit. If I ever get a handgun, it's obviously going to be a pink one. Naturally I told my husband that I wanted a pink gun, and he suggested that I take a gun safety class and get more practice shooting before getting my own gun. The guy does talk some sense once in a while. {Just kidding honey!}

Instead of a pink hand gun, my husband gave me a pink can of pepper spray for my birthday!

It's pretty cute. As cute as a can of pepper spray can be. Maybe the pink container will distract would be muggers long enough that I could actually shoot them in the eye with it. Obviously a hand gun would be much more effective, but until then I have this girly can of pepper spray. (aka my pink 'gun')

I also got a really sweet pair of binoculars!

{ In case you didn't read about my new hobby, you can read more about that here. }

They work like a charm. I can see really far now, and they sort of make me feel like a superhero.

You know, one that has superhuman eyesight. Good thing they don't give me x-ray power.

I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility yet.

I also got some delicious smelling perfume and a home decorating book.

{  perfume : Miss Dior (similar)  |  book : Domino: the book of decorating  }

BOOM!

Here is a picture of me shooting a .45 handgun for the first time way back in 2006.

I need to work on my form a bit, but I was actually a surprisingly good shot.

Boo-yah! Now can I have that pink handgun? (:

{ Camp Pendleton Marine Base 2006 }

Another Birthday & Finding the Humor

Turning another year older just isn't the same as it was when you were 5 years old. For starters, I didn't have a rocking horse cake this year. I'm now into ice cream cakes, and my husband knows how much I love ice cream. If there's one thing I know one thing for sure after all these years, I will never be too old for ice cream cakes. It can also never be too cold for ice cream.

Obviously gifts are nice, but all I wanted to do for my birthday (besides eat ice cream cake) was spend the day at Fort Desoto Beach. We enjoyed balmy 80 degree weather on my birthday, so it was perfect for a day at the beach. The day consisted of reading under our umbrella and scouring the beach for seashells and sand dollars. We surprisingly found a handful of whole sand dollars. That was a lovely birthday gift from mother nature.

{ you can read this previous blog post about why Fort Desoto is my favorite beach } 

It's funny thinking back to when I was 5 years old. All I wanted to do was play dress up with my friends for my birthday, and now now I'm content reading books on a beach with my husband. I also used to think it was fun having restaurant waitstaff at La Senorita sing to me while I blew out the candle on my free dessert, but now it sort of makes me cringe to think of having restaurant waitstaff sing to me in public. One thing is for sure, adding another year to your age was much more exciting back then.

Since I just seem to keep getting older, I'm trying to see the humor in finding white hairs on my head before the age of thirty. Yes I just said that. This girl is already getting white hair. My husband so very optimistically calls them: very blond hairs. I'll go with that. (Who knows. Maybe they're just caused by stress? Maybe?) Nothing like premature aging. Apparently someone thought it would be funny to give me white hair for my birthday. Thanks for that God. ;)

{ I am a water girl at heart }

Our Anniversary and This Busy Life

Over a week has gone by since I last posted a blog, and a lot has happened since then.
Sorry for not responding to your comments! I'll try getting back to you eventually.

This month has already been pretty great!

{ I may be a bit biased, but I just love February because it is the month

that holds my birthday and our wedding anniversary }

Two years ago I married my best friend....

photography by Alison Rose Photography in Denver, Colorado

I don't think I can cover everything in one blog post,

but I figured the best way to catch you up is to start somewhere.

So here are a few things that we have been
up to over the past few weeks:

* someone {that would be me} had a birthday

come back tomorrow for some birthday humor

* we attended ICE in Orlando

more on this later... with videos of ice slides

I promise it's cool {pun intended}

* I found a fun new nail polish idea

you can find a tutorial for this here

I know there has been lots more in between,
but I might have to tell you all about it at a later date!

Happy Monday!