My Top Beauty Picks

Since "This is Me, Stephanie",  is mostly, about me, I decided I would share with you some of my favorite tried & true beauty  products. *Note, This has no connection to any company, this is not a advertisement, or any of that.
Now for years I used beauty products that just served their purpose, for example, my shampoo cleaned my hair, nothing else. But then one day I asked myself, what if my shampoo did more than just got my hair clean. I began to explore the world of products, each with a different promise to beautiful hair. I tried many products, and finally found my absolute favorites. First up is shampoo and conditioner.                                               Dove Damage Therapy Daily Moisture Shampoo & Conditioner work wonders on my hair. Not only does it clean my hair (the obvious) but it also makes it smooth, soft, and makes split ends less noticeable.

Next is lotion, Curel Daily Moisture (I really like this "Daily Moisture" stuff!) Not only does work for 24 hours, but it also feels SO good when you put it on. It's thick creamy formula has little, (if any!), fragrance, which is another thing I love about it. I have been using it for years.

Now I may not be such a good judge of makeup, since I haven't used a ton of brands, but of the ones I have tried, Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Makeup is my favorite. I love that it is oil free, and actually helps clear your skin, while you are wearing it!

Oo la la nail polish! Its a very rare day when I don't have my nails coated with some shade of pink nail polish. How do I love thee Revlon Nail Polish? Let me count the ways: 1. It comes in tons of great colors. 

2. It goes on smoothly & beautifully. 3. It is durable and stays on longer than any other nail polish I have used.

And last, but CERTAINLY not least,  Garnier Fructis Style Pure Clean Smoothing Cream. Thats a mouthful! This is the newest addition to my beauty hall of fame, and I LOVE it!!!! I have naturally straight hair, but sometimes in the humid weather my hair starts to frizz a little, especially when I have split ends. My old smoothing cream worked temporarily, but as soon as I was out in the heat & humidity, my hair would frizz. This one is true to its promise of 24 hours of no frizz, and it works amazingly! Another plus is that you don't have to use gobs of it. In fact, the very first time I used it, I put as much I usually did with my old products, and it was way to much! So not only is this made with earth-friendly products, but you also use less, which is also earth-friendly!

Just had to show you my results with the Smoothing Cream! :)

I hope you find these products as amazing as I do!  What is your favorite beauty product, and why? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Minivan Makeover!

For the past day & a half, I have been giving our minivan a makeover. Here is a brief history on our minivan whom we call "Sienna". She (yes its a she) has been the family car for the past 9 years hauling everything from newborn babies, to potting soil. There aren't any rules or restrictions when it come to the van, so she has a few scratches, and was a mess. The last time she was really cleaned, like take the seats out and wash the rugs clean, was probably back in '08, so she was a sight. My original inspiration with cleaning her out was to make her more organized. I saw a great blog post from The Castro Happynings blog about how one woman organized her minivan so that she would have everything she needed. You can read her post here. http://emcx3.blogspot.com/2012/06/junk-in-trunk-per-request.html Now, I didn't go quite to as extreme as that woman did. I also modified what went into our van to fit our needs. But before all that could happen, Sienna needed a good cleaning. I started by taking all the seat out of the back, and washing all the rugs in our  washing machine. Then I cleaned all the chairs with Pledge leather cleaner. The next step was to vacuum the carpet which was filthy.  After that I did all the detail work on the interior from cleaning the inside of the windows (which were covered with hand & footprints), to scrubbing who knows what off of cupholders and walls. Now came the hard part, steam cleaning the interior carpets by hand, not my favorite part, I must admit. After that I had to let them dry overnight before I could put anything back in.  Okay, so here are 2 shots of the work in progress.

So the next morning I was able to put the rugs and seat back in, and then came the fun part, the organization!

I started with somethings we already had in the van, but I put them in more accessible places, then I added things we didn't have.  I bought this car organizer a few years back, but haven't really used it, until now.  So here is a list of things in our van.

Cleaning: Paper towels, wipes, hand sanitizer, 

Toys & Entertainment: Magnetic toys, Walkman & tapes (Yes we still have one of those!), headphones, magazines,  CDs, crayons, & paper.

Beauty Emergency: tissues, deodorant, chapstick, lotion, perfume, nail clipper, nail file, hairbrush , hair things (Wheres my scrunchie for gymnastics?),  & hairspray

Snacks: Granola bars, fruit bites,  peanut butter crackers, pistachios, water bottles, juice boxes, and candied ginger, (ginger helps with motion sickness)

Food related: Forks, spoons, knives, sporks, ketchup (a necessity for Kristen), hot sauce, Polynesian sauce, soy sauce, chopsticks (our family loves Chinese food!), salt & pepper.

Misc: Superglue (you never know when you might need it!), bug spray, Ivarest (for poison ivy), sunscreen, tape, scissors, pencils, pens, safety pins, sewing kit, GPS (although, it doesn't work, so I don't know why it's in there!), maps (because the GPS doesn't work!), umbrellas, jumper cables (which have come in handy countless times!), sunglasses, & a abundance of gum. I just have to say I found about a dozen packets & containers of gum in that car.

Now I think we are prepared for just about anything!

Summer Peach Breakfast Bake

What is the first fruit you think of when you think of summer? Okay, the second, watermelon is probably the first. But for many people peaches are the ultimate summer fruit. These sweet, juicy, beauties can be eaten straight off the tree, or turned into about a million other things. Unfortunately, many peach recipes contain loads of sugar, which takes away from the natural sweetness of this delicious fruit. I found this recipe from a great blog called Chocolate-Covered Katie. She puts a healthy spin on many sugary desserts. This Peach Breakfast Bake recipe is a spinoff on peach crisp, and in my opinion, just as good-if not better than the sugar filled one. The best part of this recipe is that you can eat it for breakfast! One tradition I have started in my house is Sunday morning breakfast. There are many weeks when certain people in our household are too busy getting ready for church, to eat, much less make breakfast. The experts always tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I agree with them. So I have taken it upon myself to make breakfast for my family on Sundays. The problem comes that many breakfast foods are filled with sugar and fat, and are very time consuming. This Breakfast Bake was perfect because I was able to make it when I got up, then shower and get ready while it baked!  After it finished baking I mixed it with some vanilla yogurt for a delicious, and healthy breakfast that everyone loved! You can find the recipe here:  http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/06/26/peach-breakfast-bake/

Summer Plans

Okay, so I haven't kept up with this blog as much as I thought I would. Whoops. I have had every good intention, but then technology fails on me. It's great when it works, and a headache when it doesn't. I have also had several spontaneous trips out of town which didn't help any. With summer just two days away, I can barely contain my excitement! I have TONS of summer plans. Okay, so not your usual summer plans, I am taking one trip to visit my grandparents, but other than that I'll be home much of the summer. But don't worry, I have plenty of plans to keep myself occupied.One big problem I face every summer is the "What to do Blues". All year long I say "Oh, I'll do that over the summer," then summer rolls around and I cannot remember a single thing I wanted to do, so I succumb to boredom, or hours of TV watching. But not this year!   As a avid Pinterest user, its only natural that I create a real life Pinterest board, to organize all my summer plans.  I painted a piece of poster board, then made pockets and list to go on it. So far I have 5 categories: To Read, To Cook, To Plan, To Do, & To Make.  Here is a breakdown of each category. To Read: During the summer I read nonstop, so I need a very extensive reading list. I have compiled a list of books that I haven't had a chance to read yet. One of my favorite sources to find new books in a blog called Gobs and Gobs of Books.  It is written by a friend of mine who does Young Adult book reviews from a Christian perspective. I love reading her reviews, and then reading books for myself! You can check out her wonderful blog at http://gobsandgobsofbooks.blogspot.com/ So the next category is 
To Cook: This folder is full of recipes! Most of them are new recipes that I want to try, but I threw in a few family favorites as well. The "To Plan" category is mostly just a reminder of things "to plan" before summer is over, such as get-togethers with friends, family vacations, and birthdays. "To Do" is appropriately named, because all of the the things on that list, need to be done. This summers "to do" focuses mainly on a bedroom facelift. The list includes painting picture frames, recovering my window seat cushions, and getting a new bedspread. Last but certainly not least, it To Make. By the time I have finished all the projects in my "To Make" file, I will be Michaels best customer. I have crafts from scrapbooking to coffee mugs, and I want to complete every one of them by the time schools starts again. I think I have enough to keep me busy and out of trouble. ;) Summer goes by way to quickly, so I want to make ever minute of it count! I'll keep you posted on how things turn out!

Do not be afraid

Wonderfully Windy Day!

Today is such a wonderfully windy day! As I walked out to the mailbox today, a cold breeze made me wish I had worn a sweater. The air smells of the sweet flowers on the bushes next to my driveway, and everything around me is spring green. Isn't it amazing that we have such a wonderful Creator that could orchestrate all that to happen, on a normal Monday?  Amos 4:13 says, He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth-the LORD God Almighty is his name. I love thinking on how creative our God is when He made the earth. He made the powerful winds, and the peaceful breezes, the bright sunshine, and the darkness during rain. Each new and beautiful thing in nature is from him.

The Lucky Patch

Today, during a stroll around the yard, I discovered that a rather large area of our lawn, is invested with clover. The problem with clover is that once you have some, you end up with a lot more. On the positive, at least it's green, so it sort of blend in with our lawn. I have now taken to calling this particular spot "The Lucky Patch". I have never found a four leaf clover, as I am not the most observant person you'll meet, but once many years ago I attempted to make my own four leaf clovers by gluing a extra leaf on some three leaf clovers. They didn't turn out quite like I was hoping. :)


Here is a picture of the lucky patch.