Just so you know what it's like to be me.

This is a true story.

Today, during naptime, Brandon and I were watching tv when we heard the door to the girls' room open and close. We figured that Portia had gotten up to use the restroom, and didn't think much of it. But a few minutes later, when we hadn't heard any noise from the bathroom, I decided to check on her. I thought that Portia had opened the door to see if we were still around, and gone back in. 

She does that. And if we aren't in the room, she comes out and cries until someone finds her.

Segway.

I opened the door a crack, and saw Portia's bed empty. So I walked into the room to look for her, and make her take a nap. At this moment, Margot woke up, looked at me, rolled her eyes and went back to sleep. She thinks she's 12. 

When I looked around for Portia, she was nowhere to be found. No joke. Not in her closet, not under the bed, nowhere. 

Weird.

Brandon said "She probably went downstairs." So I followed. I looked in the kitchen. I looked in the bedrooms. I looked in the backyard and garage. I called out for her. I was starting to worry a bit. I know I put her in her room for a nap. That was my child. 

I went back upstairs to enlist Brandon's searching skills, when I glanced in my closet. There Portia was, with her undies around her ankles, wad of toilet paper in her hand. It should go without saying that I jumped about 2 feet.

I said "Portia! What are you doing?" and she replied "I went poop and I need help wiping my bum." When asked why she had been standing in the closet for the last 10 minutes, she said she was "sneaking and hiding."

You can't make this stuff up, folks.

Thoughts on Today

Today was kinda hard.

Neither of my children took naps at all. Which means they were suuuuper cranky.

Fits were thrown, fights were started, and there was crying. A lot of crying.

By the time I put Portia and Margot to bed, I was exhausted. I had a bad headache, and I was pretty frustrated.

Then I sat down at the computer and saw some photos on the desktop. 

Portia and Margot have recently discovered Photobooth. You know, where people take crazy pictures with weird effects. 

They love it. They take pictures all the time. 

Here are the ones I saw tonight.

and my personal favorite:

When I saw these pictures on the desktop, I was reminded, in that moment, why I love being a mom so much. What funny sweet girls! 

I have a pretty awesome life!

Eating the Backyard

When I was in hair school, I was prego with Portia. Which means I was in a constant state of the hungries.

There were about 7 or 8 pregnant girls there while I was, and we basically spent all day every day, sitting in the kitchen munching (and by munching, I mean scarfing.) 

One of our favorite snacks was this:

One of our teachers had a garden, and brought tons of fresh cucumbers and cherry tomatoes every week. We would slice them up, add salt and pepper, and drizzle them with Italian dressing. Then we'd eat them till they ran out.

When I was younger, my mom had a garden, and we'd call this sort of snack "eating the backyard."

Like a rabbit. 

Being a Mom

Being a mom means people begging for muffins in the morning, then grinding them into the carpet.

Being a mom means finding the contents of your purse tossed around the room.

Being a mom means watching endless hours of Spongebob.

Being a mom means not even being alone in the bathroom.

Being a mom means people crying because they're hungry, then barely touching lunch.

Being a mom means having to hide your jewelry in ziplock baggies so little people don't steal them.

But, being a mom also means this:

What a perfect day.

New Lipstick!

I rarely wear lipstick. And when I do, it's usually never bright colors. I tend to stick to nude colored balms and glosses. I have fairly thin lips, and a very defined cupid's bow. Usually, when I wear bright lipstick, I feel like these two things get amplified.
But I bought a new lip stain a few days back. I was going to go for my usual, but a really pretty coral popped out at me, and in a moment of crazy spontaneity, I bought it.

Maybelline Super Stay 24 Color in Committed Coral

When I tried it on, I loved the color, but I didn't love how thin my lips looked in it. So I turned to my favorite makeup artist's youtube channel for help.
And I found it!



I love Sharon. She posts a new video every week, and her tutorials are fabulous! Plus, her accent is so fun!

After watching this video, I decided to give it a try.

I don't know if my lips really look noticeably bigger, but I am happy with the look! I don't feel like my lips are too thin, but they don't look painted on either. 

I think I will be wearing brighter lips a lot!

Passion for Fashion Friday- My Favorite Hair Products

Being a professional hairstylist has it's perks, ya know. My family never has to pay for haircuts, I get to play with all my friends' hair, and I get hair products for cheap. 

I have a lot of hair products. 

Here's my two favorites right now.

Redken Diamond Oil

I love this stuff. I have fairly fine hair, that I color a lot, so I have a bit of damage. I use this oil when my hair is damp, and when it dries, it's smoother and shinier than before. Also, I use it everyday, ad I've barely even made a dent in my bottle. It goes a long way!

Here's what the website says:

• Hair oil for medium hair types (there is also one for coarser hair)
• Silicone-free with natural hair oils that penetrate each level of the hair fiber to nourish strengthen and reinforce strands from the inside out
• Hair is 3X stronger with 2X more shine 
• Seals, coats and smoothes the cuticle to boost shine and protect hair from damage due to friction from brushing, styling, etc.
• Features a unique dropper for precise, no-waste dosage
• Hybrid Oil technology combines synthetic polymers with 99% natural hair oils, including olive, jojoba, coconut and sunflower seed oils

Pureology Split End Correcting Treatment

I use this every day too. It's another damaged hair product (can you tell what my problem areas are?) that I use when my hair is damp. It smooths down split ends, making them seem to disappear, at least until I wash my hair again. It also goes a long way, I have long hair and only use 3 little pumps.

Here's what the website says:

• Luxurious fragrance of Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, and Rosewood
• Relaxes and rejuvenates
• Helps seal split ends
• Helps rebuild lightened and chemically relaxed hair
• Reduces breakage

Both of these products are slightly pricey, but they're worth it! They will last you forever, and make your hair gorgeous!

What are your favorites?

Mischief Managed

I haven't smacked you in the face with my nerdiness much lately.

My beloved books, a poster hanging in the girls' room, a snitch.

My Pinterest feed yesterday morning, some Harry Potter music.

If loving Harry Potter is dorky, then I don't wanna be cool.

Musica

Remember when I did that May blogging challenge? Well, I ended it early, but said that I may just pull one of the prompts out whenever I feel like it. So here you go:

Day 29: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. 

Turn your volume up.

(In no particular order.)

Kandi by One eskimO
I first heard this sing as background music on an episode of Bones, i think. I fell in love with it. It's one of my favorite songs ever.
My girls love it as well, they think the video is a cartoon. 



Barcelona by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe
If this song doesn't give you goosebumps, you're not human. You all know my love for Freddie Mercury. The man was a genius. And Montserrat Caballe, one of the greatest opera singers ever, in a duet with Freddie? Glorious. They actually remained good friends until his death.
This video isn't the best quality, but it's a live performance of the song. That's right. This perfection is live.



Lay Lady Lay by Bob Dylan
I love this version of this song. It sounds so genuine when Bob sings it.
Don't worry, the video isn't broken; there is no picture, just sound.



Quiet by Rachel Yamagata
In my opinion, her best song. Everyone loves Be Your Love, but this one is so much better. I tend to gravitate towards sad songs, and this one is so heartbreaking.



Halls of Shambala by Three Dog Night
Oh yeah. Got to love me some Three Dog Night! This song takes me back to groovin' through town with Carrie in our 1986 Grand Marquis, the Oldies station turned all the way up. 
We were trendsetters.

You know you're lame when...

The biggest excitement of your day is shaving your legs with the new razor you just bought.

Dudes, this thing has 5 blades!

21 Day Drop It Low Fitness Challenge

One of my Facebook friends started a fitness challenge, and I've decided to try it! It's a 21 day challenge designed to help you lose weight.

I'm actually pretty happy with my weight right now, but I would love to get back into eating healthy and working out regularly. And this challenge will hopefully give me a 21 day jump-start. 

Wanna know what I have to do?

Its on a point system, and a the end of each day, you post how many you earned on facebook.

Challenge Points earned:

1. Exercise every 30 min =1 point.
2. Drink 80 oz. of water daily=1 point. No points for 70 oz. I have to get all 80. (This one is tough for me)
3. Make 16 oz. of my daily water intake first thing in the morning = 1point per day.
4. Track my calories=1 point per day
5. IF I  track my calories and stay within my calorie limit = 2 points per day.
6. Complete the push up challenge or nutrition challenge for the day=1 point. (Possibly more if it is a long one.)
Post on facebook every day. Weigh in weekly.

I like how there's accountability. If I don't post on Facebook for a few days, I'm out of the group. 

Yesterday was the first day, and I got 8 points!! Pretty impressive huh? I'm so awesome.

So who wants to do it with me? You can get added to the group if you want, or just do it on your own.

Heather's video

Some of you may remember Heather, who did a guest post on my blog a few months back. Well, she recently sent me a link to her video, which details her story and the importance of hope.
She has such a wonderful attitude!

Check it out here:

http://www.mesothelioma.com/heather/

Things I never thought I'd say to my kids

"Please stop making it rain."

These words just came out if my mouth.

things i'm lovin today- 4th of July edition

Tomorrow is one of my favorite holidays! 4th of July!!!

I'm so excited! Let me tell you why.

1. My grandparents and Aunt are driving in from Indiana to visit for the 4th. We don't get to see them very often, so we are all super thrilled!


2. We are spending the holiday out at the lake house, and I've heard that the fireworks display out there is spectacular. And I've also heard that it goes on all night, for about 3 nights straight. Ha ha!!




3. Mmmmm the food we are planning sounds amazing. Barbecue and watermelon and corn chowder and stuffed mushrooms, and I'm drooling.


4. The weather! Dude, as I'm typing this, it's only 79 degrees outside! That's unheard of for an Oklahoma July! Last summer, it was over 100 at this time.


5. This isn't really something related to the 4th, but it is something that I'm lovin' right now. Portia just looked up at me and said "Mama, I like you." Yes!

of lakes, burns, and eyebrows

My parents have a lake house now. It's awesome. They live out on Grand Lake, literally right on the water.

This is the view from the back porch. Amazing right?

We love it. We love tubing on the boat, we look cooking out on the back porch, we love relaxing in the hammock.

We've been going up to the lake house pretty regularly, almost every weekend. It's heavenly.

The only problem with this situation is the  perpetual sunburn I have. I slather the sunscreen on all weekend long, but I still get burned. And just as my last sunburn is starting to go away, it's the weekend again, and the cycle starts all over again. Curse you, fair-skinned Irish ancestors!!

Wanna hear something embarrassing? What am I saying, of course you do!

Today I reached up and scratched my eyebrow, and saw a flake. That's right, my eyebrows are peeling. My first though was "Oh my gosh, do I have eyebrow dandruff?!?" I panicked a bit.

Is that even a real thing? Eyebrow dandruff? I don't know.

Yum

Last night, we had the missionaries over for dinner. I decided to make one of my favorite dishes, Cajun Pasta. Mmmmmmmm!

I stumbled across the recipe a few years ago, it's by the Pioneer Woman (so you know it's good).

I thought I'd share it with you today. 

You're welcome.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/cajun-chicken-pasta/

The only difference is that I used shrimp instead of chicken. And it was amazing.

Go cook this for dinner.