Taking Stock {1}

{My favorite picture lately}

A list of the happenings in this moment.

Making : Plans to get Ashton in Soccer...or something! He has got so much energy, I can't wait to waste it somehow once he's old enough!

Cooking : Coconut Rice Pudding with Mangos. The mangos were just so perfect looking at Sprout Market last week, I couldn't resist buying a few so I've been making coconut rice pudding to go with them all week. I may be obsessed.

Drinking : Coke Zero in one hand, water in the other, and Peppermint Tea in my third hand... I've got myself a little cold, so water and tea have made there way to my cup this week.

Reading: Blogs, blogs, blogs. I'm still not sure where to start my Summer Reading {recommendations welcome!} So lately I've been reading This cute blog which happens to be where I got the idea for a post like this. I'm also loving Gaby at This Little Port and Along Abbey Road  

Wanting : My DoTerra kit to get here faster so I can get over this cold!

Looking : forward to our next family splash pad day! We found the best, huge splash pad close to our house and I have a feeling we will be there a lot this summer!

Playing : Trains and Jenga. Ashton's favorites.

Wasting : Time until I can go home {currently at work}

Sewing : Chair covers for Primary. Intially when we thought up this idea to make cute chair covers, I thought it would be a sinch and take me no time at all! The covers themselves only take a few minutes to sew together but the lettering is another story. So I've been trying to get these done for about a month now.

Wishing : The time would both speed up and slow down simultaneously. Anyone in our walk of life can probably relate. I love this simple life, just our small family making it by day-by-day. Watching my sweet yet defiant toddler learn and grow. And yet wishing for a time when our paychecks don't come in and go out all within hours. We are both ready to not be starving students anymore.

Enjoying : Simple things. Like a full refridgerator. And clean laundry. {al beit unfolded and stroon about the couch}

Waiting : For the next big adventure! {Can Fall come faster?}

Liking : My freshly organized make-up box. It's beautiful thing.

Wondering : When I can see my sister and nieces again. I miss them.

Loving : Finding a team work rhythm of parenting with Kellen. I think we do quite well most of the time.

Hoping : Ashton will either grow out of this removing-his-diaper-every-chance-he-gets phase or potty train soon! Or both would be ideal. Too much to ask???

Marveling : At the will of an almost 3 year old. He often out-wills me. And I've always thought I was pretty strong. I guess he took some of mine with him on the way out!

Needing : More sleep.

Smelling : Nothing. Just sniffeling and running.

Wearing : A sweatshirt. {In the Vegas June} because the AC runs non-stop at work!

Following : I can watch videos at work between calls to pass the time, and lately I've started following some cute "vlogger" girls who do make-up tutorials. Passes the time and we all know I love make-up!

Noticing : How dirty my desk at work is...I need one of those little air blowing bottles or something...

Knowing : Someday, this time in my life will have felt so short. Even though I frequently wish for "better times" I'm trying to get over that state of mind, that the next year will be better than this year. I recently read a quote which paraphrased was: If you're always thinking happiness will be found somewhere else, it will never be where you are. Profound and striking.

Thinking : About lunch time. I'm hungry! And I brought leftover pulled chicken sandwich! Yum!

Feeling : Better than yesterday.

Opening : a new box of DayQuil...please go away cold.

Giggling : About the funny things Ashton says. I should be writing more of this down!

Feeling : Complicated. Tired and stressed yet happy and blessed. I often feel stretched in 20 different directions. Yet, I have so many good things going on and good people in my life, I can't feel ungrateful for that.

Sharing the Esthetician in Me

Most know that I am a cosmetologist. I love beauty everything! Hair, make-up {I have an obscene amount of make-up...boxes and bags and an entire vanity full!} skin care and treatments. I love it all!
Skin care has been one the most frustrating things in my life. I want to share a little bit of what I have learned, from experience, cosmo school and jobs in spas.

I had hormonal acne since I was 12. You know, nothing too scarring or crazy but nothing to sneeze at either. I struggled with wearing make up because I always felt like everythng I tried just made it look worse, you still saw the breakout plus there was a gob of goop on top of it. I never felt like my skin looked nice. The breakouts let up a little as I got into my twenties but I still got pretty hefty zits fairly often. It wasn't until after Ashton was born that I felt like I got the normal, average skin I always dreamed of. I'm a new woman! And for the first time in my life I bought liquid foundation and I am never going back! {I could do a whole separate post about make up alone, the policy on that is not the same as my skincare- less is more. You definitely get what you pay for with make-up!}

Now that I finally don't have to be fighting slick, oily breakout skin I'm stepping into the next phase of skin management, anti-aging. "What? You're 26!" Yeah, just like we work out now so we will still be able to walk later...I anti-age treat now so I can reap the benefits later. Now is when we need to be preserving our collagen and elasticity so the deep wrinkles of our 40's don't set in for good.

This is how I take care of my skin:

 Washing: I have a few different washing mechanisms. I like using a cleansing cloth to rub away my make up. I use Burt's Bees Sensitive cloths. After I do this I usually feel like I could use a little deeper cleanse so I either, wash again simply with a face wash, exfoliate {I will get into next} or wipe with a cotton pad soaked in Witch Hazel.

Exfoliation: One of the most forgotten yet vital steps of healthy skincare. I have used a wide, and I do mean WIDE variety of exfoliators. From that awful apricot one...you know the one...to super high end, $60/bottle ones. I have settled on Coconut oil mixed with baking soda. Yup. That's it. And it's divine. Since my skin has switched from oily and acne to more mature and dry, I get dry patches that are flakey on my forehead and chin. This exfoliation has by far taken care of it the best, second only to microdermabrasion.This also keeps my clogged pores at bay. Though, I still search high and low for a way to eradicate them completely, when I figure out that secret, I will let you know!

Moisture: a good moisturizer now will be the differnce between fine lines and wrinkles later or "You're how old? You don't look a day over___!" I use Hylunia's Healing and Restoring cream. It's a little on the thicker side but it works for my dry, flakey skin. For oilier skin, I'd recommend simply oil. Coconut, olive, almond, try a few and see what works best for you. I realize this may sound backwards. Oil for oily skin. But you read that right. Do a little googling and you'll see, I'm not off my rocker. Treating overly oily skin with oil will actually calm your overactive sebacious glands down. You may feel like a slip-n-slide at first, but please! Don't give up! You won't regret it.

Special treatments: For masks, my favorite is a honey, oat, and Bentonite clay concoction. Honey is wonderful for oily or dry skin {it even has anti-bacterial properties!}, oatmeal is calming and healing, and Bentonite clay is great for detoxifying.

Mix those things together first, I usually throw in about a teaspoon of coconut oil also, it will be thick and chunky. Add dashes of warm water and mix until it's creamy and emulsified. Leave it on for 15 minutes and you'll feel like a million bucks! For sensitive, irratated or sunburned skin, pure aloe vera. I order mine {actually all the pure things, witch hazel, oils, clay, etc} from Rose Mountain Herbs. They have a great variety of pure ingredients as well as their own line of skincare products.

I hope my experience and these ideas are helpful. The truth is, there is not one right way to care for skin. Every person is different. You need to do some experimenting to find the best regime for your skin needs. But a general philosphy of "less is more" has helped me. No need to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy name brand washes and balms. I've found that pure, natural basics have done much more for my skin than even the $80 creams from a Dermatologist ever did... Just saying.

Summer Dreamin'

We are on the cusp of Summer. I usually really love summer. But...we are currently living in hell...I mean Las Vegas! We moved here last July so we got a pretty good idea of what to expect for the next 3-4 months. Home-bound, air conditioning, pools, indoor play areas...basically booking it between air conditioned houses, cars, stores, etc. And A LOT  of laundry...I found that when it's 115 outside I tend to change all of my clothes everytime I get home from being out and about, which could very well be 2-3 times a day!

I always have high hopes for fun summer times. But the reality is, we are still in a stage of our lives where June, July and August are not different than any other months of the year as far as school and work schedules go. Kellen has already started his summer semester and we will both still be working our part time schedules the same as always.

I hope in spite of this to be able to fit in a few adventures. Everytime summer rolls around I feel a little tug in my heart. The beach calls to me! It's been a long time since I've been back. 3...4 years? And poor Ashton has never seen the ocean. We'll get there buddy! Someday. But for now, here's my feasable list of Summer Dreams.

1. Swim Lessons! Ashton has only had one official swim lesson ever and I'm so excited to do that with him this summer. Whether it's me teaching him, or if I can find a resonably priced mommy and me class...either way I'm excited!
2. Books. I'm thinking up a summer reading list for myself. I have never been a big reader. I'm slow at it and usually I have 18 unfinished projects on my to-do list and curling up with a book isn't on there. But it's thereaputic. And I'm making an effort.
3. Family Trip. This is a big wish. I don't know when or how we would make this work but getting it on the list is step 1! The past....5 trips anywhere taken by our family have not actually included the whole family. Ashton and I went to Fresno, while Kellen was in Pheonix. Then Ashton and I went to Utah, and then to Fresno again. And Kellen went to St.George. So I have a goal to go somewhere (anywhere!) together.

Another thing I'll be looking forward to all summer is Ashton's 3rd birthday! I'll be thinking up ideas! I'm so excited, this will be the first time we have friends of his to invite! He will be so thrilled! He loves the idea of birthdays and occationally we have to sing him happy birthday just for kicks.
And with that I feel a memoir of birthday's past coming on...

 First Birthday: Splash table and smash cake memories! I slllaaaved trying to make this party super cute and fun, lets face it, the first birthday is about mom showing off more than the kid who doesn't know what's going on. Ha! It turned out super cute and I was so glad a lot of our family was able to make it. But I was disappointed, more so than I thought I would be, that not one of my mom-friends from our community came with their kids. We had an awesome time anyway!...but it stung a little. 

Ashton's second birthday was a month after we moved to Nevada. We hadn't really made friends yet so we had a fun, small pizza party at his Papa and Avó's house.

I can't wait to start cooking up some juicy-fun ideas for birthday number 3!