Thank you Lord!

     Color me stoked!

     Today was a particularly fantastic Saturday! Today I learned something new about make-up artistry, went to a super hero party, a tea party bridal shower, did my first "model" in years without being nervous & received an opportunity to "shadow" a pro MUA [Make Up Artist] in exchange for professional pictures! Thank you God for your abundant blessings, You are too good to me!
     It's been difficult for me to look at my desire of being a MUA and be encouraged, for I see the top of the mountain and not the base where I need to begin. It seems so big, so intimidating and my lack of confidence doesn't help the matter, but God has really been working on me. I anticipated being incredibly nervous when doing my first model in years, but I was surprisingly calm and relaxed. It was a peace I didn't think I would have, and that is a huge answer to prayer. :)
     I'm really jazzed and excited, all of this is an opportunity I wouldn't have had if I hadn't stepped out of my comfort zone and put myself out there and I'm excited to see what I will learn from all this! :)

      Woohoo!!

Ponderings

     So I know a girl who perplexes me. Get her alone and she'll sing without fear, laugh from her heart and 100% who she is -- yet put in her in a situation in which people are around she shrinks back and has a hard time letting herself be confident because, according to her, for some reason she thinks if she's self-confident she'll be perceived as prideful; conceited.... how do you convince someone like that that confidence is an ok thing to have and not be so hard on herself?

Today is my birthday!

     Apparently, I'm now old. That's ok though, I'll take it :) God has blessed me abundantly this past year, at times it's uncomprehendable. I am so grateful for all that He has blessed me with and all that He has allowed me to do. There's definite possibilities of new adventures this year and I am so excited to be able to go on these adventures with my Hubster by my side. I can definitely feel more of a push from important people in my life to step up, step out and start pursuing my dream of being a make up artist - though I'm scared to jump in, I know I have support --- and maybe this is the year I start on that -just gotta start practicing =P . We'll see, but I can feel changes in the air and, again, I am so excited to see how God will use us this year!   Thank you everyone who has been so loving and encouraging to me, I cannot express how much it means to me and how much your words and actions come and just the right moment the majority of the time. You've all been such a huge blessing to me.

     So here's to my 22nd year - may God use me for His will!

                                     xoxo,

                                        Sara



Product Review Wednesday: Urban Decay Surreal Cream to Powder Foundation

     So it's my birthday AND....
     I found it!! I believe my search for a foundation that works for my skin is over and it's all thanks to a lovely fellow at Sephora named Dan. Woohoo! Apparently, this man not only works for the Sephora store, he has also work with the Sephora product line as well as presently works for Urban Decay. He just happened to be over by the Clinique section and so we struck up a conversation. We discussed my foundation finding frustrations along with the recommendations I've received from friends and what I was looking for in a foundation, and here it is:

     Here are some things I like about this product:

• Coverage, coverage, coverage! I have a particularly difficult spot to cover well without looking like my face is caked and this definitely does the trick. Smooths and evens out skin, while not looking like I have a lot of product on as well as not feeling like I have a lot of product on.
• It's so light feeling
• Doesn't contain any agents that clog pores
• It's a hydrating product, so it doesn't look like my skin is dry even when it is.
• It's not loose powder, so I don't feel like I'm wasting expensive product because it spills out everytime I open it, which is something I've discovered bothers me from past experiences
• It's compact, so it's easy to store and take on the go.

     http://www.urbandecay.com/ says the following about their product: 

"Want porcelain-perfect coverage AND a modern, natural finish? Surreal Skin Cream-to-Powder Foundation is your answer. This ultra-lightweight formula transforms from a decadent cream to a micro-fine powder upon contact with skin. You won't believe the instant transformation! The light-as-air texture glides on effortlessly and feels as natural as your own skin. (No heavy, greasy, or powdery makeup texture.)"

     

     I completely agree and have not found anything I don't like about this product.

Sanctus Real

     I absolutely love this song :)

“Lead Me”

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Let me out of the box!



     Ignoring the fact that I just got an old Disney channel show song stuck in my head (10 points to whoever gets it!), I've been learning a lot about myself as a woman over the past few months of being married. I know more about the things I desire, the things that make me happy, the things that make me sad, those that excite and those that make me mad. I'm learning more of who God is molding me to be, and even more about the box I'm trying to break out of and the box I keep getting put back into--sometimes by my own doing and some times by others. It hurts my heart; the center of my being the more I learn about this issue.
     As a married woman, I have grown in different ways than I did as a single woman and rightfully so. I have a support system at home unlike anything I could have imagined and I thank God for blessing me with such an amazing, loving man. He pushes me to be more who God wants me to be, less who others want me to be and less of who I think I have to be because of what others want me to be (wordy I know). There is no stronger pull of my heart right now than to just let me be who God wants me to be - but at the same time, there is a pull that brings me back to not rock the boat.
     I can recall countless scenarios over the past 6 months in which I finally refused to listen to what others wanted of me, whether verbally or by their actions, and I clung to God and where He was leading me. Unfortunately, with the exception of things that occurred where I broke out of this stupid little box in the presence of my husband and he encouraged me -- I keep getting put back in the box by others. And in the situations in which I didn't break out of the box, I was keeping myself in the box. I hate that stupid box.
     In that box are the limitations people have put on me through their comments and actions and in that box are the limitations that I have put on myself because of the reactions of others to my attempt to break free. In that box is no growth. In that box is not the person God wants me to be. In that box I'm timid, among other things. I hate that box. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have daydreamed about up and leaving and going somewhere where people don't have any presuppositions of who I am so I could finally be me without feeling limited or insecure. But let's be honest, my insecurities are my own issues to deal with through full dependence on God. My limits and inhibitions I feel from people questioning my motives on something genuinely from my heart are my own issues to deal with through full dependance on God.
     And all of this has got me thinking and analyzing myself and my actions towards others when they tried to break out of their little box. To anyone and everyone I have put into a box, from the core of my soul I am truly sorry for inhibiting you from anything that I have. I have realized through the past 6 months of marriage that I am so much more than what I believe I am to be, and I am so much more than what you probably believe me to be.  I do believe that God and my husband know exactly who I am, what I'm about, and are my true encouragers to be who God wants me to be; to be who I truly am through Him.  This sounds so dramatic - but in all seriousness, people have questioned my motives to pray for others in situations I normally don't speak up, saying that it's only because I'm anxious to get out of something or I don't want to be in that situation anymore or something else that questions my motivation when in reality, my motivation is coming from God. It's not enough that my own insecurities play into why I don't volunteer to pray aloud in certain situations - after all, my head tells me lies I won't get into but still I fight against this more frequently than I would like. The most discouraging thing I think I've ever felt is the discouragement over my prayers for others. There is only so much I can say, but please trust me - my motivation for my life, not only prayer, is to glorify God and grow closer to Him - let's stop the boxes. Allow people to change and improve their character for the betterment of God.
     Starting now I am embarking on a new adventure. I'm fighting more to be who God wants me to be and thinking less of who people are comfortable with me being. I pray that through this process I not only grow more to be who God desires me to be, but that He would use me to help others break out of that confining box as well.
     Good night and God bless you my friends,
              SC

I'm not dead.

     I feel like it's been forever since I've blogged. It's been awhile I'm sure, so I thought I'd update you a bit. I probably won't be back writing consistently until after this bout of whatever is gone. I've been sick and in some degree of pain daily for the past like 5 weeks now, but it's getting better - I hope. I just haven't had the energy to write or think- a couple hours of being awake and I'm exhausted and ready for bed again which comes with being sick.
     On the positive side, I'm going to the doctor again on Wednesday and hopefully I will receive something that will cure this. But let's be serious, the One who is in control of this is God, and He has a reason for this and He will cure it when it's the right time. So prayers are appreciated and encouraged. I hope you don't read this as be complaining, it was just simply an update to my friends who read this who I have just forgotten to mention what's been going on. I could have just said that I'm sick - but people are curious, so I gave you a little more.


     On the cute side, I found the perfect recipe cards at Michael's today. They have polkadots, are our kitchen colors (red and yellow), and are lined front and back. :D I love them. It's the little things in life :).


     Also, Easter is next Sunday - I encourage you to find a biblical church that will teach the gospel and explain exactly why Christians believe what they do. This is the most important day in Christian history, without the Resurection, our faith would be invalid. SO please, I urge you, find a church devoted to teaching God's word biblically and learn why we believe what we do and why this is so important. I hope and pray that it God will draw you into a relationship with Him and that I will see you in the Kingdom one day. :)

Q & A: What’s the most embarassing thing that happened to you?

     This question has made me smile every time it's been brought up since December 2009.
     My most embarrassing "thing" happened a few months before my husband and I got engaged. We were on our way to the mall (his idea, not mine -so therefore I knew something was up). I already had it in my mind that he was going to go get my ring - the ring he had asked me to try on and I had finally given into after being asked a little more than twice (it came down to, "try it on for me"). It was perfect. Anyways, we were on our way and I only suspected, yet there was really no indication that that was in fact why we were going. It soon crossed my mind that he was probably going Christmas shopping, after all it was December, and not getting my ring. And then it happened. He asked me what size I was - as simple as that, "what size are you". And, without asking what size in what I quickly responded with my ring size.  Hubster then pointed out that I responded with my ring size when he hadn't specified a size in anything in particular.
     It's probably not something majorly embarrassing to anyone who is reading this, but it is by far the most embarrassing situation I've ever experienced or put myself in.

still...

I still feel like I'm missing something. It's kind of a difficult thing to deal with on a daily basis, but I suppose one day that feeling will go away, until then I must be still - knowing God has it all! :) Praise Him for that!

Random Thing About Me

I don't eat red meat (for the most part), but I'll eat Beef Jerky any day.

And so the plague continues - but this time I'm hopeful

     So I have this on going root canal issue - which tends to be complicated to explain - so here's the short version. I had a root canal. Verified 3 times thru various methods that it was in fact done properly and there is in fact no root/nerve in the tooth. It still feels temperature sensitivity and pain. Go figure.  Today was appt # 6 or 7  I believe. And though we didn't really do anything except consult, it went well and I feel more hopeful today than I have in the past - Thank you LORD! I'm going to make an appt with another type of specialist to see if it may be something else that's the root of the problem (hehe that's funny-its ok to laugh). I opted not to change out the medicine today as it's not consistent pain yet and who would volunteer to go through essentially another root canal procedure if they didn't really have to? I certainly wouldn't!

     And now on to more fun things! Cleaning ("For every job that must be done there is an element of fun!"), reading again, baking cuppiecakes, decorating cuppiecakes, and hopefully scrapbooking and/or cardmaking! I'll try to post pictures of the craftiness :)  It's a new cupcake decorating endeavor today!

PRW: Answer Time - Top 5 Beauty Must Haves

This was supposed to be last week's PRW - but I fail.

The answer was posed recently as to what my top 5 beauty must haves are and since this involves products - I figured it would be a good one to post for this weeks Product Review Wednesday. More products, shorter reviews...

SmashBox or Bare Minerals Face Primer.

- It makes my skin feel smooth and moisturized before I apply any kind of foundation or loose powder without it causing my face to become super red and splotchy which my moisturizer tends to do. And it has a really neat texture to it, talc I believe - and I say that purely based off the fact that it reminds me of a lotion my mom used to get at VS that had talc in it.

Unite Eurotherapy Boosta Spray.

- Love love love it! My hair likes to be flat a lot- or maybe it's that I prefer big hair (I do like Texas hair)- , so a few sprays of this and a blow dry and I'm good to go :)

Eyeliner -

 So far my favorite is QuickEyeliner by Clinique, but I'm looking forward to trying MAC's gel liner.

 I have this "issue" where I feel like I look tired or old or not put together - something along those lines, if I haven't applied eyeliner. Luckily, the Make-Up book I'm presently going through doesn't use a lot of (or any) eyeliner on a bunch of the looks, so it's kind of forcing me to get over that.

Hello Kitty Lip Conditioner

- I love the way it smells and feels and that it comes in a different colors, so it's not just a chapstick and it's not just like a lip gloss/lip stain/lipstick. It gives you color while moisturizing! And sadly, mine has gone missing - not OK. Luckily, there's a MAC across the street!

Sephora's Atomic Mascara -

My favorite part about this mascara is that it does a great job and keeping your eyelashes separated, even after multiple applications, which I find all of my other mascaras (I have at least 5 different brands) start clumping after the first application.

Glee

     I don't understand why people like Glee, especially my Christian friends. It's been on for 3 minutes and I'm already sick. It's probably because it's completely disrepectful to Christ - as He just happened to be the topic of the first couple of minutes. Except for a cute little girl who said that she would like to give thanks to Him, the rest of it wsa entirely disrespectful. It rubbed me the wrong way.
     Notice how media gives such frequent negative attention to Christ, but not other religious figures--at least not on the same level?

Planning?

     I have misplaced my planner. Therefore, whatever was planned for this weekend, no longer exists because, apparently, my brain is attached to the planner. Lose the planner, lose the brain. Awesome! :D