Birchbox

I know I am not the only person that loves Birchbox but for those out there that do not know about it, let me share this awesome discovery :) You sign up for a box of goodies that includes samples of beauty and lifestyle products. You can subscribe once a month for $10 or sign up for a whole year. I have been receiving them for about four months now and it really helps to test out products before you purchase them. Someone described it as getting a birthday present every month and I totally agree! Let me share the goodies I got this month.

It was Gossip Girl Themed and I honestly have never watched the show but I sure enjoyed what was inside the box! 

The Goodies!!

 A Twistband- It gives your ponytail a makeover :)

 Volume Advance Volumizing Conditioner

 BVLGARI Perfume- I have had this before and loved it!!

 Dr. Jart+  Waterfuse BB Cream- this is a four-in-one moisturizer, serum, sunscreen and skin-perfecting tint. Cannot wait to try this!

 Stila sparkle waterproof liquid eye liner- I am not sure how I feel about this but I will let you know after I try it 

Cute Modern Stationery

So there is the joy of Birchbox, I skip out on some Starbucks every month so that I can purchase this other awesome treat ;) If you are interested in trying it out you can click here  to subscribe to it :) 

Have a great weekend!!

I am Back!!

It has been too long!! When I started this blog my goal was not to let it die!! Lately, I have failed miserable! I have my excuses of how busy I have been and I kept telling myself I would write tomorrow or the next day. I kept pondering up ideas of what to write about but time seemed to escape me. Life has finally slowed down and I really want to take the time to keep this little ol blog alive. I am not sure if anyone even reads my little blog but I did not create the blog to see how popular it would get. I created it to expand my comfort zone, to practice the art of writing even though I am terrible at it. (You only get better with practice, right?) And maybe along the way encourage a person or two, share some awesome finds, and meet some new friends!

I hope whomever you are, and wherever you are that you are having a wonderful Friday!! And thank you for reading my blog :)

Words from the Heart

It is very easy in life to look at our situations and circumstances and let them get us down. It is easy to become sad, angry, discouraged etc... It is so easy to feel weak and incapable of overcoming the situations. Questioning, wondering, thinking... It is so easy to get in a pit of emotions and very easy to stay there.

So many times, we think it is so easy just to handle it on our own. When the easiest thing to do is turn to God! When we turn to God, we do not have to worry; we do not have to be discouraged! We can have joy and peace even during challenging circumstances! We do not have to go through it by ourselves; we have a loving Father just waiting for us to turn to Him!

Every day I understand that I have my weaknesses but I also know that when I turn to my God, He will make me strong! I can lean on Him and not have to struggle to stay up on my own.

I smile because I know whom I serve and that I do not have to worry or fear!

 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 Corinthians 12:9-10

An Adventure of a Lifetime

Late Post

Sometimes in life God will blow your mind and give you the desires of your heart!

The Husband and I had the honor of going to New York City for Valentine's Day!!!

 

Here a few pictures from our trip that I took with my phone. I still have tons to go through on my camera and share :)

Have a Blessed Day!!!

New Look!!!

Lately I have been doing plenty of research of how to update the look of my blog. There is so much information out there, that I came to the conclusion that I needed more time to practice. So I decided to seek outside help. I turned to Melisa from Pie n' the Sky! She was the first individual that got me interested in blogging! Her blog is amazing, you should check it out here !!

Hope you like the new look! I love it!! It is so fresh and clean! I can blog in peace knowing it looks great!!

Happy Friday All!!

Not Giving Up

As I have stated before I am not one just to throw my goals out there for the whole world to see, unless I know that I can accomplish them. Well one of my goals for this year was to run a half marathon. I have been blessed to be training with some awesome ladies from the University that I work at! We had discussed training for a specific marathon since December and my eager self was ready and willing to sign up for it. Again not knowing what the future would hold, when the actually training began I was in New Mexico, not a big deal just one week behind, then I got my ulcer which then put me about 2-3 weeks behind! Yet I was still determined not to quit and keep on trucking. However, let me tell you, this has to be one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life! Every thing that could go wrong has, back pains, to shin splits, to blisters...

I really have not told many people that I have been training for a half marathon. I used the excuse I want to be humble about it and not make a big deal about it. But truth be told I was more afraid to tell people and then not be able to complete the task. Fear of Failure.

Last week it took everything within me not to quit! Since I was behind and sick for a while it has taken me a little bit to get my strength back and catch up with the other ladies. Then living a busy life with work, ministry and grad work I felt so overwhelmed. I would have great reasons why to quit, but something inside me (probably the voice of Kelli and my friend Brandy) would not let me give up. I then had a "biggest loser moment" as I like to call it and seriously wanted to just walk out of the gym and not go back, but with the encouragement from our trainer Kelli I did not give up!

Saturday was the first time in my life that I ever had completed a 7 mile run! For some that might not be a big deal, but for me that was a huge accomplishment! That 7 miles gave me hope that I can do this, that I can work my way to 6 more miles and complete this half marathon! We are about half way through the training process and will be running our race in March!!

This was my first 6 miles a couple of weeks ago. I ran my 7 miles outside so I have no proof but my just ask my joints I really did it ;)

The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running. ~Author unknown, in reference to Ecclesiastes 9:11, "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

If I can do it anybody can!!

Have a blessed day!


Melody

Organization

It is the beginning of a new year and I feel that it is very important to organize every area in my life. There are plenty of areas that I need to organize but today I wanted to focus on the organization of my home, it is not very big so I felt that it was a task that could be accomplished by the end of January. Well January will be over in about a week, and I haven't even started, eekk!! So today I made a list of things I need to organize in my home and then looked up ideas of how to organize specific areas.

My List 

Ideas

For the Kitchen

 For the closet

 For my Jewelry

                                 For the office/guestroom/craft room                                 

 For the Bathroom

 Under the sink

Believe me, these are only a few of the many pictures I have found. FYI most of all these pictures came from Better Homes & Garden weekly newsletter, in which I love!!

I hope to get all this organization done asap!

Have a happy Thursday!

Melody