A Little Weekend Reading

I love to read.  It's probably the one thing that I crave everyday. I do not discriminate when it comes to what I read!  I love reading magazines (actually quite obsessed with them) and books alike.  When I go to my Barnes & Noble and go to the magazine section and see new magazines, I get so excited that you would think I won the lottery...weird huh?  Anyway, I wanted to let you guys in on what magazines I LOVE reading and the book I'm currently devouring:

I love this magazine!  It is very inspirational and you get to go inside the studios of incredible business women.  You can take a peek inside the latest issue here.

Another fave from Stampington & Company publishing is Artful Blogging.  You get to meet new bloggers and find out what their passions are and what drives their blogs.  It's a great read and the photography is amazing! Check it out for yourselves here.

 

 Mollie Makes is such a great magazine.  It is published in the UK and most of their articles and shop info is located in the UK but the magazine is beautiful.  Check it out here

 

Last but certainly not least is this fabulous book that I happened upon while at Barnes and Noble a few days ago.  Something about it struck me and I thought to myself "I need to read this book".  I started reading it last night and made it half-way through.  I LOVE it.  I would definitely check it out.  The words inside the covers speak to most of us and in my opinion is a must read.  Check out the reviews here 

 

Well my friends, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  And to all you mother's out there, have a fantastic Mother's Day...you absolutely deserve it.  

Always,

Christine

Project Reconnection

Hi Everyone!  So last night I was presented with a question that made me really think...hard.  The question was, "if you had 48 hours to do whatever you wanted, what would you do?"  Now you would think this would be an easy question to answer right?  Well for me it wasn't.  This question was presented by my professor to the whole class.  He asked us to close our eyes for two minutes and really think about it.  Here is what surprised me: when he asked for volunteers to share their answers 19 people out of 21 said:  "I would reconnect with myself." 

We dove deeper into the whole reconnecting with myself thing and it was absolutely fascinating.  I never realized how many of us do not know anything about ourselves or have lost ourselves completely.  It was mind blowing.  Many of us relate who we are to what we do, have, or the people we take care of.  Some individuals said that they can only identify themselves through their children or their jobs.  It mad me so sad because I really do not know what I enjoy myself anymore.  If someone were to ask who I am the first thing I would say is that I am a mother.  I have identified myself that way for over 15 years now!  The burning questions is...is that wrong?  The problem for me and so many individuals is that we do not know how to identify ourselves because we've lost ourselves along the way. 

My goal this summer is to reconnect with myself, however, do it with the people I love.  I could never define myself and leave out the most important part of my life, my family.  My question to you my friends is do you feel you need to reconnect with yourself?  If not, how do you find time to be you among the everyday grind?  I would love for you to share.  In fact, I beg you to share!!  This is something that has truly touched me and any advice would be appreciated.  Until next time friends, I wish your days to be filled with joy and peace.

Always,
Christine

As the Whirlwind Dies Down

Hi Everyone!  Sorry for the long absence.  I have been so focused on school (trying to finish!) that I have hardly had time for much else.  I kinda feel like I've been in a whirlwind that was never going to stop.  Have you ever had those moments in your life?  The moments when you go to bed at night and honestly cannot figure out how you made it through the day; or better yet, not remembering much about your day because it was so frantic?  Yup, that's been me.  But now I have more time on my hands to devote to things that do not consist of writing papers, exams, and the like.

One thing I have taken a little time on is finding a blog designer and getting a new design for the blog.  I'm really excited to add some extras and make some esthetic changes to the blog.  So be on the look out for some changes in the very near future.  Well I just wanted to pop in real quick and say Hi to all of you and to give you a brief update of what has been going on.  Look forward to more frequent posts and giveaways.  Yes I said giveaways! Many blessings to all of you!

Always,
Christine

Happy Easter

Hi everyone!  Sorry I've been MIA the last week or so.  My allergies have been seriously kicking my butt!  It worse than being sick!  I've also been trying to wrap up the school semester by jumping on final papers and presentations...not so much fun there! 

Anyway, I wanted to pop in and wish all of you a Happy Easter.  I hope your day is full of family, friends, food, and many, many blessings.

 

Always,

Christine

A Struggle

Hi Everyone!  I hope your week is going well for you.  Today, I wanted to share a little of my heart.  I have felt kind of isolated and honestly a little sad about the way my life is going.  You see, about 3 years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.  I was still in college and had a difficult time finishing, but I did.  I have been to numerous doctor's, been on tons of different medications, and yet it seems that my symptoms have just increasingy gotten worse.  Worse to the point that I find it difficult to do daily tasks like laundry, clean house, cook, etc.  And it makes me so angry!  I'm not gonna lie, I feel like this fibro has taken over my life. 

I'm not currently working due to fibro and I miss being able to interact with other people.  I do have daily interaction via social media with friends however, it really just isn't the same.  I sometimes feel like I am in a different world, like I'm looking at life from a locked room.  Over the past couple of months I traveled with my daughter to her competitions and honestly, it nearly killed me.  The pain was overwhelming however, I never let my daughter know how bad it was because I wanted her to have a good time...and she did.  However, what made me sad was that had I not had fibro I would have had a different experience, a better experience.

I often find myself looking at the world I'm surrounded by and thinking to myself "will I ever get to live the life I've always dreamed of"?  I've always wanted to travel abroad and see what the world has to offer.  To see how people live and gain understanding of our different ways.  I've always had the notion that traveling would allow me to take a deeper look into my soul and then share what I had learned with others.  However, the question in the back of my mind?  "Will I ever have the opportunity"?

I know that life will always have obstacles whatever your circumstances are.  But I just feel like the current obstacle (fibro) has really built a very tall wall that I'm having an incredibly hard time climbing.  With that, I wish you all well and God bless.

Always,
Christine

The Fab Few

Hi Everyone and happy weekend!  I hope you are all enjoying some spring weather like we are.  It seems like spring has definitely sprung in a lot of areas around the US and I know many of you have been waiting for it!  Although I like spring, I kinda love the fall/winter seasons the best.  Anyway, I wanted to share with you a few things that I am  loving this week.  I don't know about you but when I go through my week it seems that there are things that make it better like a good book, new clothes, makeup, pictures, quotes, etc.  So I've decided to share my top few things with you every week!  Here's a rundown of what is at the top of my list this week.

1.  The beauty blender!  Have you all heard of it?  It's a cosmetic sponge that is shaped somewhat like an egg but is supposed to deliver flawless coverage and blend your makeup smoothly and evenly.  I was on the fence about it because it runs $20 dollars but I broke down and bought it.  And let me say, it was worth every penny!  You can check it out here.

2.  For the first time in months I sat down and enjoyed ice cream!  Yes that's right, ice cream.  As simple as it sounds I've missed ice cream!  I do not eat it in the winter because it is just too cold.  My fave this week?

Ben and Jerry's peanut butter cup.  If you like peanut butter you must try this!



3.  I have rediscovered my Cricut.  An let me tell you, I've missed it.  This is the first electronic die-cutting machine I purchased when I started crafting obssessively!  I really wanted to make some fun spring cards to keep on hand and not only did I totally miss paper crafting, it absolutely without a doubt put me in a peaceful, happy place for a few hours! And for that I am grateful.



I would love to know what everyone else is loving this week!  Please leave me a comment here on the blog or the facebook page here and let me know.  I hope you all have a fun-filled blessed weekend!

Always,

Christine 

For the Love of Natural Nails

Hi Everyone...I hope you all had a great weekend!  We took an extremely fast trip to Phoenix for my daughter's last cheer competition for the season.  It was a great competition and they won first place in their division...yay!  Although I am a little drained from traveling for competitions over the last two months, I have to say that I'm not quite sure what to do with the down time!  We have two weeks off and then it all starts back up again! 

Anyway, I want to talk nails today.  I had been having my nails done for years and about two years ago, I just got tired of taking time out to visit the nail salon and tired of paying.  It seemed like the prices kept going up and I said to myself, enough! No more paying for nails.  So I decided to have them removed and have been doing them by myself ever since.  I actually enjoy doing them; it kind of relaxes me and I LOVE being able to choose different nail polish colors to go with my mood.  However, as you can imagine, my nails were in terrible shape...and I mean terrible.  But I didn't cave in and get them back on.  Instead I searched for products to use that would help my nails get back into shape.  So I thought I would share some of my favorite nail products with you today. 

I always start with OPI's Nail Envy...it is the only thing that has made my nails stronger and healthier.  There are several variations of Nail Envy, however, I choose the original.  It runs around $16.95 and I usually pick it up at ULTA when they have either a $3.50 off or 20% of coupon! You can purchase it here.

I also love using cuticle creams or serums.  I have really bad cuticles so I need to put something on them daily.  There are two products I use that I am in love with.  First is the Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle Serum.  This serum helps strenghen my nails and keeps my cuticles under control. You can purchase it just about anywhere (Walgreens, WalMart, CVS, ULTA).  It runs around $9.00 and is totally worth it.  Check it out here.



Last but not least, my absolute favorite nail product is LUSH's Lemony Flutter cuticle butter.  This stuff feels and smells amazing.  I use it several times throughout the day because it feels and smells so good.  You get a ton of product and it lasts a long, long time.  It sells for $16.95 and is worth it.  Check out the reviews on this product here...it is definitely a winner!



I hope these products work as well for you as they do for me.  I also have a ton of favorite nail polish colors and brands I love as well.  I'll be doing a seperate post on that soon.  I hope you all have a fantastic, blessed week.  Talk to ya soon!

Always,

Christine