New Beauty Favorites - Round 3

A new beauty product here and there helps keep me sane. I realized I haven't posted any beauty favorites since November, and I have a few to share with you. (see previous beauty-related posts HERE and HERE)

1. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle - Reviews of this product are floating around Pinterest, which is where I saw it first. It's raved about as a cheap deep conditioner that works great, and I have to agree. I've only used it once, because it's something I will probably use once a week or so when my hair feels really dry. You apply it after shampoo in the shower then leave it on for 3 minutes to do it's magic, then rinse. My hair felt SO soft afterwards and smelled amazing. A little like a tropical vacation (no complaints there)!  It weighed my hair down some the day of application, but was back to normal after another morning's shower, however its effects are long-lasting!

2.  Freeman Anti-Stress Face Mask - For a spa feeling at home use one of these Freeman masks (also very affordable). Many of them have great reviews. I chose the Anti-Stress Mask which is supposed to "balance moisture while purging clogged pores."  I'm not sure if it does all of that, but it feels refreshing as you apply it. You wait for it to dry, then wash it off with warm water. My skin felt smooth and refreshed afterwards. It was a little drying in places, so I followed with moisturizer.

3. Elf products - stay tuned! I'm going to write a whole post on this to share my thoughts on these super affordable products!

4.  Tanwise Dark Sunless Tanning Mousse - You can great an excellent review of this product HERE from a blogger who has tried ~40+ sunless tanning products.  As a very white girl who is not risking her fair skin to cancer, I appreciated her trial and error testing of sunless products and was happy to hear the results.  I quickly snagged this recently at Sally's (on sale!).  I am used to a tanning lotion, so applying this mousse was a little difficult just because I was working with a different product. I applied it with a tanning mitt (which I would say is a must with this mousse). I tested it first with just my legs and went a little light over the knee areas and wound up with paler knees (mistake).  The second time I put lotion on my knees and elbows, and it went on without any streaks or splotches. It's color is great - not orange at all, and it barely (barely) has a smell. Most sunless tanners do, but this was is ever so faint and I don't think anyone else would pick up on it as you wear it.

5. Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm - While shopping at Ulta there is always a coupon for $3.50 off of $10 worth of non-highend products, so I used this item as a filler and basically got it for free. My sister-in-law had told me good things about these tinted lip balms, and I've enjoyed having one on hand to put on a little color while moisturizing my lips at the same time. I will reach for this instead of regular chapstick because it moisturizes so well.

6. Laura Mercier Foundation Primer - I mentioned this primer HERE, but haven't gotten back to you on it. I replaced my Benefit stick primer (mentioned here) with this one. I really enjoyed the Benefit primer, but it didn't last very long for the price. I researched and price checked to get the most for my money and decided on the Laura Mercier Primer. I've used it for a couple of months now and have really enjoyed it. It helps my foundation last all day, is not heavy, and only takes a little to cover my whole face, so I expect this tube to last a long time (several months, maybe longer). There are oil-free and moisturizing versions as well, but since I consider my skin to be neither oily or dry (somewhere in between), I went with the basic primer.

When I lose my vision

I titled this post before I started typing because it's the root of how I feel. Then I realized it's irony to my career choice and had to laugh a little. I wrote this post a few weeks ago in the midst of studying for midterms and preparing for a practical, when my classmates and I were stressed to the max. I've been hesitant about sharing, because it's revealing. But let's be real here for a little bit.

Optometry school has to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.  You might think, it's just school. You just go, and study, and then your done...after a while.  Nope. Not really. It's the biggest challenge I've ever faced. Why? Because I lose sight of so many things while I try to keep my head above water.

On days like today, while I'm writing this, I've literally been doing school related things from 8am until right now (10:45pm).  I mean, I had lunch. And I did take the time to have dinner downstairs with our friends before Community Group. Which I arrived home just in time to throw some clothes in the laundry and walk downstairs to. Then I dipped out of the actual Bible study part of group to come back up to my desk and start my "homework."

Not everyday is like this. And there is plenty of my time I don't spend wisely.  But school seems to engulf me- some weeks with crashing waves. And many times I have reached the point where I just go to bed and start to cry because so many things seem out of whack in my life:
- not enough time spent with my husband
- not enough time spent reading my Bible
- not enough time to volunteer at church
- not enough time spent with my friends
- lack of sleep in general
- I'm behind. I'm always behind.
- I could go on, and on

And to be quite honest, I've wondered if I could quit. Could I just call this off? Walk away and pretend it never happened. That I never got this far. And then I think of all the other things I could do with my time. (This usually involves cooking and baking, and all the things I've saved on Pinterest; heck, maybe even taking up embroidery! Oh the things I could do!) Then Jesse reminds me that I have to tough it out for this part, this short little part of my career, to reach my real goal. A goal I've been hunting down for so many years. (He always seems to also mention the growing amount of loans... I don't blame him.)

But then I snap out of it (for a while) and remind myself that he is right. And I try to remember that all of this is part of my purpose. My God-given drive and passion. Because if it wasn't God behind all of this, I would drop it and walk away.  I love optometry and people, and want to love people through optometry.  I've learned through this journey the past couple of years that for me, it is definitely not about selfish ambitions, a title before my name, or the money I may make one day (which, by the way, insurance policies are slowly washing down the drain).  When I lose sight of this vision God has given me, I'm not trusting Him. I feel so alone in this because it feels like such a struggle, but really He has placed me here and knows my outcome. This is His plan for me, and this is how I can serve Him. If I could just remember that these long days and nights of studying are really worshiping and glorifying Him, maybe they would be more enjoyable.

Tim Timmons, a singer/songwriter that has been to our church in the past, sings beautiful reminders in this song.  If you watch the video, you'll see that Tim's struggle is much greater than my own, but this song is an inspiration to me, and I keep it on repeat in my car for my morning drive.

"Remind my soul that Your in control. Praise to the Father, with every breath I take. In joy and sorry, all for Your Kingdom's sake. Be thou my vision. Be thou my hope restored. Now and forever, you are my great reward."

I'm not looking for sympathetic words or for you to feel bad that I get discouraged.  I just wanted to point out that we lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing sometimes- the purpose behind it, and if it's the right thing or not. We get bogged down in what feels like a burden sometimes, but really it's just the path we are to follow, which is not always easy.
Spring break is next week and I'm planning to make the most of it, relaxing and renewing my mind for the end of this semester!

Birmingham Adventure - Rock Climbing

Friday night we went out to First Avenue Rocks here in Birmingham.  I got Jesse a Groupon certificate for this back in October for his birthday, and we never got around to going.  It was about to expire, so we used it this weekend. We needed a night out together after I had a very stressful week of midterms.

We had a good time challenging ourselves.  You can choose courses to do from "very" easy to much more difficult by choosing a certain color tape to follow.  I mostly just tried to make it up the wall any way I could.

Jesse immediately scaled up the beginner wall, and we had to move on to harder territory.

It was a really neat experience. There were numerous courses to try (many of which were way too difficult for us). Watching other people that obviously come there often was fun too. It's a great way to work your upper body, and since I don't do that often my arms felt like Jello before we left.

Afterwards, we drove around downtown and enjoyed the night time view of our city.

I found this Buzzfeed article recently of 50 things to do in Birmingham. We have done quite a few of them, but have plenty more to do!  This adventure was another check off the list!

High Five for Friday

HAPPY FRIDAY Y'ALL!

1.  We went home last weekend to take a look at a table that we are re-finishing and had a lunch fish-fry with both of our parents.  This is a very dear table, and I will be telling you more about in the future. We're not quite finished with it, and I'm saving the photos for before and after. I can't wait to have it here in Birmingham with us! We did use some of Gene's leftover wood to make a little shelf for our bathroom, and I got in on the power tool action.  Maggie also had a good time, can you tell?

(guilty)

2. Jesse had to go to Dothan again this week for work. After having him home from Pennsylvania, I didn't think he was going anywhere for a while. I was wrong. Thankfully it was only a 3 day trip this time, and he's back now. :)

3. One midterm down this week, 3 more to go next week. I'll let you know next Friday if I'm still alive or not.  Probably pumped full of caffeine and with a large deficit of sleep.

4.  Wednesday night we helped our friend Mike get settled back into his condo after having an upstairs neighbor caused a great deal of flooding.  He's so happy to be back at his home instead of a hotel room, but that meant he took his kitty back from us. I got a little sad having to give up the fluff-ball.

5.  My friend Heather and I went to a local high school today to give a presentation required by one of our classes.  We spoke to 10th and 11th grade students that are in advanced placement courses and interested in medical-related careers.  We presented them with a little ocular anatomy and information on admission into optometry school.  It was so much fun to pour into their young minds, and we hope we inspired some of them today!