Hot Tamale

I have never seen the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. But I have seen clips here and there. It seems like it would be a funny movie to watch. Today I heard a 13 year old say that she wanted to be Jessica Rabbit and it kind of weirded me out. I don't think I wanted to be such a sensual woman type figure when I was 13 years old. I mean I did like boys at that age, and I wanted to be liked back. But I didn't want to look like Jessica Rabbit. Anyways, I thought about it and I have seen a lot of Jessica Rabbit impressions through my years and I have to say that I think for sure Heidi Klum takes the cake



And here is the "wow, you really should've stopped playing dress up a LONG time ago..." one...



The ugliest one (that I've ever seen so far... I'm sure there could be worse...)



And by far the one that makes it the most natural beautiful look to me is this girl



If I HAD to pick to look somewhat like Jessica Rabbit I would go for the photo of the last girl. But really, I don't want to look like Jessica Rabbit. Its just a little too over the top for me... But most men would disagree with that statement I suppose...

where have you been all my life?

this is such a lame pick up line to me. "well up until the later years of my life (beings that I'm not that old) I wasn't looking for some douche to go out with, but now that you came along, why not?!" J/K. Seriously sometimes it annoys me the things that men say to me at checkouts. But anyways. I heard a song on the radio yesterday that I really don't like, and now its stuck in my head. I cannot tell you guys what song it is because I hate it so much that I don't want it to spread anymore than it already has! Why didn't I just change the station? I had looked for a good 20min for a decent station and had finally settled on this one. I figured I would just wait through the song and move onto a better one. But its been stuck with me ever since. Lame. Today I have to go out and find a plug timer for my fish tank lights and hope that it works perfectly the first time, because we are leaving bright and early tomorrow! I have to pack and "clean" our room today as well. I don't have any idea where we are staying, hotel wise, we are just picking one out when we get there. Jake and I have also not contacted any (scratch that, I contacted 1!) of the people we are planning on visiting while we are down there as well. This is not how I would plan a trip. I would have everything PLANNED. But I am learning to sit back and go with the flow. So I am taking it one step at a time, but I really hate not knowing what we're doing or where we're staying. I don't like this feeling that we are going to get there and have to run around like chickens with our heads cut off to find a good cheap hotel, or pay an arm and a leg for a decent one. Or the same thing of running around to see if our friends are available to hang out, or just plain flat out miss them altogether because we didn't give them any notice. This is not how I function. I make lists, and I check them off. I make calendar markings and reminders, and I plan out our days and so forth. I want to know things before I do them. But like I said, I am trying to just go with it. Because this is EXACTLY how Jake likes to travel. He likes to make no plans at all and fly by the seat of his pants. We'll see how it goes!

you make me

Today I thought about my Great Grandmother Rosie. I was craving some carrot cake all day long. But I have no carrots! Then it hit me! I could make some Zucchini Bread Cupcakes! I pretty much always have zucchini in my fridge, so it worked out. Plus my GGR used to always make this. I am so excited to see how much I like this recipe. Unfortunately I don't have her recipe, so I got one online. (side note: listening to my cousin talk about how much she wants to EAT this american idol contestant is making me laugh so much. She is going on and on about how she wants to spread him on a bagel and eat him, and that she would eat him straight out of a package, and how she is undressing him in her mind, and ohhh that half smile kills her... oh so funny. None of the girls in my family talk about how cute tv boys were and such) I had some leftover cream cheese frosting so it totally makes sense to make it tonight. And I am not cooking dinner tonight! Win. But Jake is not here because he is out with some coworkers and ex-coworkers. I hate it when he is not here in the evening. We only get such a short period of time together in the evening. So when he is gone for that time, it makes me a little sad. Ok, I am going to wrap up this little blog with a photo of a guy that I always thought was cute. I have always had a thing for lip rings. I even had a boyfriend offer to get a lip ring because I liked them. And I have always wanted to get one myself. But Jake says "no". I wish he would let me try it out :) Anyways, onto my little man crush... He is the lead singer of my high school favorite band MxPx, Mike Herrera...

Shelly

So I want to do a little post about the samples that I got for my friend Shelly today so that she can know what will be coming her way sometime soon. She mentioned in her last vlog that she doesn't ever use a face cleanser because it makes her face feel dried out. Um me too! That is until I recently tried some lush face cleansers! So the first thing I wanted to her her was a sample of the two face washes that I alternate between right now. So that would be Angels On Bare Skin, the more moisturizing one in my opinion. It's made from a lot of almonds, lavender, and rose. It smells like sweet earth to me Next is the Aqua Marina face cleanser. This is their "sushi roll" face cleanser. It's called that because it is wrapped in Nori Seaweed! Its a less moisturizing cleanser with a lot of calamine in it (the pink stuff you put on chicken poxs!. It sounded weird to me at first, which is why I tried AOBS first. But I really like this one! I feel like it cleans a little more then the AOBS, but maybe that's partly because it isn't as moisturizing. But I don't feel like it dries out my skin at all Next I got a sample of the same face moisturizer that I have, Paradise Regained. The reason I picked out this one is because it has some sun protector agents in it and the sun is coming out more now days... And while I was over in the lotion area I asked the guy helping me (Derek!) to give me a sample of his favorite hand lotion for Shelly to try out. He picked out Handy Gurugu. I had never tried this one before so I sampled some on my skin. I really liked the smell of it, kind of light and fresh. However he put a TON on my hands and it took me a really long time to rub it in, and then about 5min later he says "oh! Wait! You're not allergic to peanuts are you?!?" Why yes I am thank you very much. Thankfully for me its not biggie I just washed my hands off and didn't even notice a thing. He felt really bad though. So Shelly, I hope you're not allergic to peanuts Then one thing I really wanted Shelly to get a sample of when we were at the store together was the Big shampoo, for more volume! So I got her a sample of that one... And she mentioned really liking the Jungle solid conditioner, so I asked for another sample of that one for her too Then I got a slice of the Rock Star soap for her. Everyone has to try this soap. It has such a yummy girly smell! And its bubble gum pink! Its a soft creamy soap too :) And then I asked the lady helping me (Derek went on his 10min break) to pick out another soap for a small sample, she picked out Figs And Leaves Soap. I've never tried this one. But I have heard some good things about it. So I hope that Shelly likes it as well And I am planning on including some slices of soaps that I have here already (not used of course! I never take a whole bar of soap into my shower, too much soap! I cut my bars down to smaller pieces and use those. It makes it easier for me, and I can switch soaps depending on my mood) So those ones are first and foremost, Honey I Washed The Kids. This is a really popular soap. And it smells so sweet! It's a really creamy soap, so it kind of melts faster. But I just love the smell, honey, caramel, and toffee (and hints of bergamot and orange!) I cannot put this soap down Then a piece of some Sea Vegetable! I love this soap :) It smells like the ocean to me. And its soooo pretty (mine is purple on the bottom, not yellow) And last but not least I plan on including a slice of some Chox Away Soap. I just got this one and it smells amazing! It doesn't smell like just chocolate! It has some white and dark chocolate in it, but there is also some orange, vanilla, and of all things, peppermint! It is a really good mix. I haven't tried it yet, but I think I will love it Wow, this ended up being more things then I thought! I hope it will be beneficial to you Shelly! I love trying out samples before committing to a purchase. So I thought (especially as a lush newbie) that you would like trying all these wonderful things!

you

You are one of the few people that can still make me feel like a helpless child. Like a sad little girl. Who can make me hope against all odds even when I get hurt each time. You are one of the few people that I think about every single day. Who I will love forever, no matter what. You make me curious about how you could've changed my life. You make me wish you would try harder. You make me cry. I really care about what you think. But I have no idea what you think. If I could take a vacation right now, it would be to see you. Even though I barely know you, we are strongly connected. And I cannot seem to let go, no matter how much I try to convince myself to...

pretty petals

I love new crafts :) I think you should try this one out! These crepe roses look so real. I want to make a lot of them :)



Materials:
Assorted colors of crepe paper
Florist wire and wire cutters
Floral Tape
Pattern- Inner Petals
Pattern 2- Outer Petals

Instructions:
Create a stamen (the center of the rose) by cutting fringe on a single strip of crepe paper. ( I used yellow.)



You can cut your petals free hand, or you can print the images above to use as templates. For each rose, you will need fourteen to sixteen outer petals, five to six inner petals and one stamen. Make sure the grain of the crepe paper is running vertically when you cut them so that you can shape them properly.



To shape, place your thumbs together in the center of the petal and gently press down and tug outward. This will make your petal rounded and more natural looking.



Using a bit of floral wire (or a toothpick if you prefer) roll the tip of the petal outward over the wire to create a lip and a natural looking inner petal.



Use the same technique on the rounded edges of the heart shaped outer petals.



Now coil your stamen around the floral wire.



Move the stamen a little down the wire.



Fold the wire over to secure the stamen in place. Tape the stamen down with your floral tape. (Remember, it gets sticky as you pull on it, so pull gently on the tape as you go.)



Begin adding the small inner petals, taping each one securely.




Gradually add the larger petals, working in a circular motion and overlapping each new petal over the preceding one.



Voila! You've made a lovely paper rose!

OCD

Sometimes I think I'm a little OCD. I have this thing about organizing everything except my clothes. I wish it would extend to my clothes, but it just hasn't seemed to yet. Although I suppose I do clean out my wardrobe once a year. Anyways, today I spent a few hours reorganizing my bathroom stuff. I got some new containers because I was getting tired of my soap falling out of the cupboard when I opened it I decided that the best way to store all my (mostly lush) bath and shower products is to make individual sized (snack size) ziplock baggies of each thing. So I separated all the bubble bars, the soaps, the bath bombs, and so on I even cut my shower jelly into small squares OCD much? Maybe. Organized and easier? YES. So now that I am done with that (and cleaning my fish tank) I am going to fold and put away my laundry and then see if I can fit in a nap before its time to make dinner. But I doubt that will happen beings that its already 4pm.... dangit!

do this

I have been adding a few things now and then to perfect a list that I have. It's a list that I will ask to have printed and passed out at my funeral. Um morbid much? I think not. Its a list of things that I want to encourage my friends and family to do. And a lot of it is general stuff, but its all very important to me. So here is the list of things that I want people to do when they remember me and want to do something that I want everyone to do in life...


In remembrance of me:

• Be joyous

• Clothe the needy

• Feed the hungry

• Listen to the elderly

• Love the young

• Be kind to your peers

• Protect the weak

• Be patient with all people and creatures

• Do good deeds daily

• Express yourself in art or words not fists and fights

• Honor you parents

• Love the Lord with everything in you

• Drive safely

• Be a servant to others before yourself

• Be thoughtful

• Be a peacemaker

• Keep your word (be loyal and faithful)

• Be healthy (eat well and exercise)

• Go out and have fun with the ones you love

• Cry

• Make memories that last a lifetime

• Take care


Every once in a while I add something, or change the way I said something on this list. I'm sure it will be different by the time I pass away :)

wr wr wrong

I feel like throwing up, I have awful cramps (thanks Mother Nature, I don't really like you *stink eye*), and I feel so stupid for last night (I will explain later...), I need to get dressed, do my hair, and start my day. Its too late for me to sit around and sulk. blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah... bye.

excuse me?!

So tonight I had the most random dinner. I ate over a period of 4-5 hours. I didn't have lunch because we went for a hike. So when I got home and was done showering I made myself a small batch of nachos with chicken. Delish. But like I said, a small batch. So then I had some Laughing Cow cheese and some sourdough bread (one slice of cheese and half a slice of toast), then I had some asparagus, and finally I had some homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. And let me tell you something, this is a carrot cake! It is quite possibly the best one that I have ever tasted. And carrot cake is one of my favorite desserts. I don't have a big sweet tooth, but I do love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I figured I would share the recipe with you! You will not regret making this!



Ingredients

4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup regular apple sauce
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 1/2 medium grated carrots

1/2 cup butter, softened
12 ounces (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese, softened
4 cups pureed sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.

Ok now let me tell you a little story. I put the cake in the oven and started on the frosting. This was when I realized that we didn't have cream cheese, ummmm hello!!! you need that. So I put on my shoes and headed out to Target. Once I arrived at Target I saw a homeless man in the parking lot asking for spare change. I have always had a big heart for homeless people. I think this became even more of an issue to me when it hit closer to home and my own brother was living on the streets. I know that some people (most) choose to be where they are in some way or another. There is help out there for them if they really want it. But I still feel compelled to give them some food. So as I was shopping for my cream cheese I picked up a banana and a big lunchable for him. When I get outside I am actually excited to give it to him. This is usually a very good moment for both me and the homeless person. UGH, not tonight. Right as I am approaching him he says "oh no I don't need food, do you have any cash??" I was so taken back! I said "ummm....excuse me?" Then he says "well you have to have money, you bought me food...?" Me = "ummm yeah I have money, and yeah I bought YOU food, and YOU REFUSED it?!?! ummm, no I'm not giving you any of my money, I tried to! I bought you food..." I didn't yell, that's not what the CAPS are for, I was just emphasizing those words. I couldn't believe he refused the food I bought for him, but not only that, he had the nerve to then ask me to just give him my cash! Ugh. So much for my good deed It really hurt my feelings and put a damper on my mood. But then I had some carrot cake and just felt sorry for him. Oh well...

life

I have been such a bad blogger lately. Here is my lame excuse... I have been having sharp stomach pains for 10 days straight now. And added to that I (this past week) have been waking up with migraines. And in the past few days also been terribly nauseated. My sleeping has been all wonky too. I keep NOT sleeping! Arrrggghhhh. And in the past two days I have cried twice for no real reason. Gee whiz I'm a mess! Anyways, I will try to be better about blogging. But just so you all know, that's why I've been absent (or just writing short lame blogs!). Today I went on a REALLY LONG walk down to my nearest Starbucks and back home. While walking I listened to my iPod on "shuffle" and to my surprise I heard at least 3 songs I don't think I've ever heard before! How does that happen?!? Its on my iPod so I have to have heard it at least ONCE before, right? Well what I resolved was that I have listened to certain songs by the same artists and must have their whole cd on my iPod and just never heard these particular songs. I liked them all, it was just weird. But I have to say, my iPod did the perfect selection of songs today. I didn't have to hit "skip" a single time. And thats pretty good for me. I get into music moods and when I play on shuffle most of the time I am skipping a ton of songs. At Starbucks I got an iced venti passion tea lemonade. And it would've been perfect if it wasn't so sweet! I was about half a block away when I decided I would rather turn around and ask the barista to add some water into it to make it less sweet then I would be if I didn't and just walked back home. So I did, and it made a smaller difference then I wanted it to, but oh well, it was slightly better. I just hate spending over $3 bucks on a drink that doesn't satisfy me. What I really wanted was a green tea, but I opted for herbal so as to not intake caffeine before my much needed (I didn't sleep after 2am last night!) afternoon nap today. For some reason whilst walking I got some hives on my legs. So random, and so itchy! Ok well, I need to get that afternoon nap I mentioned ;P

wonderful Mondays...

here is a vlog posting of me talking about my last Monday out and about!

owl love you forever

Is this not one of the cutest necklaces you've ever laid your eyes upon?



Check out this shop for more adorableness!

don't say "baby"

Today we threw the baby shower for my cousin Kat. It was a lot of fun. We played this game where we couldn't say the word "baby". It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. My little (12yr old SUPER COMPETITIVE) sister-in-law won the game. It was NO surprise to all of us. We called it from the beginning. Oh! And I got to hold a baby! I love babies, but I cannot remember the last time I got to hold one. Oh man... makes me want to start having them. Almost. I am sure that once my cousin has her baby and then leaves a week later I will be super sad! I will miss that adorable little bundle of girl! And now we are watching an A's game in our room with our two little sister (in laws for me). We are having them over for a night or two. And for some reason, whenever they are here I HAVE to give them a mini Lush haul! I let them both pick out a bath bomb or bubble bath, two slices of soap, and some sugar scrub! It makes me so happy that they love Lush as much as I do! Ok well, I am going to get going. I'm still having really bad tummy pains :(

weirdo

I noticed that I like to start my blogs or sentences in general with "ok so...". I am trying to break that. Today when I went to the gym all the women in the locker room were getting dolled up for work. Putting on dress clothes and makeup. It kind of cracked me up. I'm so used to seeing women in there in gym clothes or bathing suits. I was in fact the only women in the locker room in gym clothes. I felt like I walked into the wrong room! I need new tennis shoes so bad! I felt skinnier today, but I have gained another pound. So I think I must be developing bigger muscles :) So I guess thats good. I wanted to tell you guys that today I saw a guy with a leopard print tie. It was really awesome. How stylin' is that?!? Freaking amazing. I also found this gem of a shirt and it reminded me of Heaven :) And today I started wearing house slippers so that my white socks will stop turning brown on the bottoms!

Shoe wearer...

so I did a lot of running around with my cousins today. And you know those stores... no shoes no business! So I wore shoes out. But I made sure to take them off when I could. I suppose the most important thing was that my heart was in the right place. I think a lot of people heard about this event, and I hope it touched some hearts. I really hope that more people buy TOMS and that more people sponsor children. It also encouraged me to write to the kid that we're sponsoring. I am so bad about not writing to him. So tomorrow I am going to sit down and write him a letter :) I hope you all had a good day. I've been sick, and I still went to cycling class. I'm crazy. I only did half the class and then spent the remaining 30min power walking on the treadmill at a very high increase. Intense! Ok bed time!

tummy aches

For some reason for a while now my stomach has been hurting after I eat. And it does this no matter what I eat. But starting yesterday around 4:30pm it got worse. I didn't eat dinner last night because of it. And I made a fantastic meal! Jamaican Jerk Chicken, with Jamaican rice. It was so yummy (I at least tried a bite of both). But as soon as everything was ready I laid down in bed for the rest of the night. So sad. Something happened the other night that bothered me. My husband came home and was getting ready to go to the gym. I had done some laundry the day before and not taken it from in front of the laundry room to our room. Anyways he asked me where his shorts were and I told him that they were in the basket in front of the laundry room. Well what I didn't realize was that both of our baskets were in front of the laundry room and he only saw the one that was empty. When he asked me again where they were I got annoyed and I said "it's right there in front of the laundry room like I said!" I didn't yell, but there was annoyance in my voice. When we came into our room to change he asked me why I was talking to him like that. And I knew it wasn't because of anything that he had done. I was just in an annoyed mood and was irritated that he didn't just look harder for the basket in front of the laundry room. But knowing this made me embarrassed. I didn't want to admit that I was just being rude. I just wanted to drop it all together. I was being retarded. Eventually I did tell him that it wasn't because of anything he had done, and that I was tired and just in an annoyed mood. But that it was no excuse to take it out on him like that. This happening made me decide to start working on my behavior towards him. I am not always very patient, not only with him, but lots of people. I spend a lot of my time alone and sometimes I think I just get annoyed with being around other people. I don't know why. Because really, I love being around others. Anyways, I decided to start The Love Dare again. And this time I'm going to try to finish it. So I wrote a little post on my Love blog And I'm going to try to keep it updated as I go through this book. I just wanted to let you know about it. I've been having a little heartache over the way I treat people sometimes. And if not outwardly always, definitely inwardly. I want to have a kinder heart :)

pretty hair

One of my biggest annoyances with washing my hair and wearing it down is that the first day after I wash it it looks dry and frizzy to me. I have tried leave in conditioners before, but they just weighed down my hair too much and made it greasy too fast. When I cleaned out under my sink yesterday I found a leave in conditioner that I got a while ago, but forgot about and never tried! So last night after then gym I took my shower and put the leave in conditioner in my damp hair. Then this morning I woke up to..... pretty hair! I love it! It looks so much better. Way better. I hope I have this experience every single time I use it. My hair has been dry for the past week (more dry then normal) because for the week before that I was trying out different sample shampoos that I had. One was from Lush, the I Love Juicy shampoo (which I gave to my oily haired sister in law (she loved it to pieces)). And the other was the shampoo that my cousin and I made. Neither were for my hair type and added no moisture like I need. So that week and the week after my hair was so dry and tangly. I feel like it's finally getting back to how it was after I discovered Curly Wurly. This shampoo is the only one (plus a little Kirkland to add lather) I use now. No more trying other ones. And I use Matrix condition at first and then add my coconut pineapple conditioner on top of that. And now I added a Matrix leave in conditioner I am in love. Its hard to keep my hair nice when it gets long. And I feel like its really getting long. I am sure I am going to feel like its too long once the weather heats up! Especially since my hair is crazy thick! Anyways, I just wanted to encourage you to try out some Matrix products, I got mine at Target :) But I've seen them at other drug stores too!

One Day Without Shoes

I know some of you have probably already been invited to this "event", but I just felt the urge to spread the word. I plan on going barefoot this day. I feel so strongly about helping the children in this world who need help. I have been sponsoring children in third world countries for years now. It makes me feel better knowing that because of giving people these children can get clothes, school, and medical care. But not only that, there are workers from America that go over and teach whole groups of poor people how to farm, and how to start small businesses, such as weaving and basketmaking. And because of the extra donations you can make the children of the villages get birthday gifts and a community party. I think it's so important to take a part of what you receive, even when its not a lot, or when it feels like its not enough, and give it to someone who has less than you. It breaks my heart the way that some people have to live, I am taken care of so well! Anyways, I know that this "event" may seem silly. We know its not going to help the shoeless children by us not wearing shoes for a day. So please don't say that to me. The point is to raise awareness. People will notice, and sometimes ask what's going on. And that's where we can make a difference. We can educate people on the need for shoes for children and ask for their help. I don't want to be one of those preachy annoying people, I just want to share this with you, and ask for you to consider sponsoring a child with your favorite organization (I give through World Vision, and I have been very happy with them).



One Day Without Shoes, on April 8, 2010, is an effort to bring attention to the impact a simple pair of shoes can bring to a child’s life. We ask people to go the day, part of the day, or even just a few minutes, barefoot, to experience a life without shoes first-hand, and to help spread awareness.

It’s Hard Without Shoes

Through everyday encounters with domestic poverty, we are reminded to appreciate having food and shelter, but most of us all but forget about our feet. Food, shelter, AND shoes facilitate life’s fundamentals. Imagine a life without shoes; constantly aware of the ground in front of you, suffering regular cuts and scrapes, tending to infection after each walk, and enduring not only terrain, but heat and cold.

The problem is large, but the solution is simple. Wearing shoes and practicing basic hygiene can prevent both infection and disease due to unsafe roads and contaminated soil. By imagining a life barefoot, we can all contribute to the awareness of these conditions. On April 8th, communities, campuses, organizations, and individuals are banding together to walk barefoot for One Day Without Shoes.


FACTS:
* In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to school, clean water and to seek medical help.
* Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
* Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
* In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
* Podoconiosis is 100% preventable with basic foot hygiene and wearing shoes.

So that's my little rant...

Three - Six - Three - Six

I just wanted to say that Jake and I have been married for 3 years, 6 months, 3 weeks, and 6 days. Interesting. It feels like it hasn't been that long at times, and other times it feels like it has been that long
This is part of our first dance at our wedding (Our first dance song was Is This Love by Bob Marley. The Summer after Jake and I became friends he listened to that song over and over again thinking about me apparently :))
Jake is my best friend. I can talk to him about anything. Even when I think I can't, I do, and he always surprises me. He is so loving to me. He is always taking care of me and looking out for me. And I know this would drive some women nuts, and sometimes it does drive me crazy, but most of the time it melts my heart. He is good at that, melting my heart that is. A lot of people don't understand our relationship, but it makes sense to us. And that's what matters. There is no one else involved in our marriage but us two. So as long as we get it we will grow old together ;)

Stacy's mom has got it going on...

man there are some really funny songs that I just love listening to but I always forget about . Seriously I just enter the name of an artist or a song and it matches me to relative songs. Its good for when I am in a certain mood and just want to listen to a mix of music in that genre. Love. Anyways, I am not really sure how this song got into the mix I am listening to, but I am glad it did. I can even remember the silly music video that goes along with it! How awesome. My mood just got a lot happier :) So I just finished spending about an hour cleaning out my fish tank. So its all clean and doing well. I am super proud of that little thing! Seriously the smaller the tank for salt water tanks the harder it is to maintain. Because the different levels in the water can change much faster in a small body of water then compared to a large body of water. For example, if one of my hermit crabs were to die for some reason, I have to remove the body right away. If it starts to decompose the chemical levels in the water go haywire and causes a lot of issues really fast. However when a small hermit crab dies in a 600gal tank it pretty much passes unnoticed. For years I thought my tank was 8gal, but it's actually 5-5 1/2 gal. Much smaller! When I got started with my aquarium I had no idea that I was getting a hard to maintain size for salt water. I don't know (I read reef blogs) of any reefer that has bought such a small tank for salt water. When I tell owners of stores what size I have they always ask me how many times its crashed (when the levels in the water goes haywire and you have to start over basically). And I am proud to say that it hasn't crashed once! I still have the original sand and some original live rocks (I've added some and switched some out), but of course not the same water (because I do a weekly 10% water change). And the levels in my water are expert level. Seriously. I check the water every once and a while (something new to me) and the swatch of water levels always impresses me. Here is an example of how well my tank is doing right now. I just bought Lucy, my sebae anemone, as I mentioned before. She was bleached when I got her, VERY bad. Almost all anemones that are bleached will die. There isn't really anything you can do at that point. You see anemones have this thing on their "arms" called zooxanthellae which helps them to light into nutrition just like plants do! So when you get a sebae that is stark white (even though its really pretty like that) its really really bad. Also when I purchased the sebae its tentacles were nto sticky at all. Food would just float right off of the arms and away into another part of the tank. This is also a really bad sign. It means that it cannot feed itself at all. Even if I put food right in the middle where the mouth is, it cannot hold it there, so therefore it will eventually die. Anemones are all really hard to keep alive in captivity. Probably around 75% of them die within a month of purchasing them. Sad. And it feels like such a waste of money. You have to be brave when you buy these creatures. And don't get too hard on yourself when they die. Because most of the time they will. I have tried to keep anemones before and failed. But I have a clown fish and I really wanted to get an anemone for him. If I would've researched it first I would've realized that a bubble tip anemone is the easiest to keep since its the most hardy out of the bunch of them


As you can see there are lots of different types of bubble tip anemones. But I didn't get any of these ones. I got a sebae. One of the hardest anemones to keep in an aquarium. And they would be hard to keep in a large tank, practically impossible to keep in a small one. When I told an aquarium owner what anemone I got he just told me that it was going to die within two weeks. That I wouldn't be able to keep it. Watch me! Anyways, let me tell you... Lucy is doing so well! She has not only picked a spot from day one and stayed there (important for survival), she is bigger then when I got her, much bigger. And she is able to "grab" food with her tentacles and bring them to her mouth! She closes up at night and "sleeps". And she has regrown a bit of her zooxanthellae!!! I am so happy. I was so convinced she was going to die. I was ready for it. And now I am hopeful. I hope I can keep her for awhile. Like I said, most anemones die within a month of buying them. They really don't last in tanks long. So even if I don't keep her too long, I guess I should be proud of the progress we made so far :) I am so excited to get more corals for the tank now that I know that its ready. I should've started with corals and then moved onto anemones. But I wanted one so bad for Hubert! He is so cute with his anemone :) He cuddles with her and lays on the arms. He almost looks dead sometimes because of how still he is when he lays on her. So precious. Anyways... The real reason I wanted to write this post today was to talk a little bit about some foundations. I have a ton of unopened face foundations under my sink. I took them out today and I am going to try them all out and decide which one I like the best. I have four to review. The first one is by Neutrogena. Its their Healthy Skin Glow Sheers with SPF 30 (SPF in foundations makes me so happy!)

Then the second one is also a Neutrogena one. Its the Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup, antioxidant blend (SPF 20)

Then the third one is by Maybelline. Its the Pure Makeup one. Supposedly its 50% water and its oil free, so its supposed to be better for your pores

And last but not least I have a foundation by Almay. Its the Pure Blends one (SPF 20)

So I will let you guys know in a few days what I think of these different ones :) Only one of them doesn't have SPF, the Maybelline one. So its already behind in my mind. We'll see. I hate wearing sunscreen, but I want to take care of my skin, no skin cancer please! So I like finding foundations with SPF in them. Win win.

Oh, and I just wanted to say that my lotion is my favorite lotion that I have ever used in my whole life. So I am incredibly happy with it. I plan on it being the only hand lotion I ever use :) I put the rest of my Aveno lotion in the larger bottle in the kitchen (we keep one in there because all of the girls in the house like to put lotion on all the time, soft hands live here!) and filled it up with my lotion so I can keep it in my purse. It was a pain in the butt to fill though! I had to get a straw and suck the lotion up through the straw and then insert it into the bottle and squeeze the lotion out into the little opening. At least its just a little bottle (one of those $1 bottles in the travel sized things in Target). The only reason I am not using it on my face is because there are small specks of vanilla bean in it that kind of stick to your skin for a little while. And I don't want to have a black spotted face! Plus I have some Bert's Bee's day and night face lotion right now. So its all good. My face has been so dry this weekend and today! I've already put lotion on twice today! But, my face is clearing up. I am so happy about that. It was breaking out like crazy for two weeks. I think its because I started going to the gym and sweating a lot and not getting to shower right away. And even though I would dry my face with the towel it was still really dirty and clogged my pores. So I bought one of those small packs of face wash cloths and put it in my gym bag. It seems to be doing the trick :) Unless that's not what made me break out. Because over the weekend I didn't use any of my new face lotion because we were out of town. And it was over the weekend that my face cleared up... so now that I am using the wipes and the lotion if the acne comes back I will try going off of this new lotion again. I'm just happy its clearing up right now:) Ok this is a long post.... Much longer then I anticipated... So I am going to get going!