Five Must Haves

I love reading about beauty products on blogs. There's nothing I love more than trying a new product, but honestly I stick to drugstore brands/products, aka anything that I can get at Wal-Mart. 

I wanted to share my top five can't live without/cry if I run out beauty products. 

1) Neutrogena Makeup Wipes

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I stinking adore these wipes and cannot go one single day without them. I have the full size ones at home and the travel pack in my suitcase. They take makeup off SO easily, even mascara. 

2) Burt's Bees Lip Balm

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Nothing beats this chapstick. It stays on and makes my lips feel so smooth and refreshed. 

3) Pantene Detangler

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There are three versions (silkening, conditioning and anti-breakage) and I really love all three. They make it easy to brush out my thick hair and smell absolutely amazing. I think Pantene products have the best smell. 

4) Vaseline Lotion

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I have super dry skin. I blame it on a) my dad and b) being a nurse. I wash my hands way too much every day and use hand sanitizer like crazy. That being said, this is one of the only lotions that really keeps my skin moisturized. If I skip it one day (especially on my hands), I notice right away. 

5) Caress Body Wash

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This scent...oh my. It smells absolutely amazing. I've made it no secret on this here blog that showering is not my favorite thing (don't judge), but I really do sometimes just want to shower to use this. It's that good. 

Feel free to share some of your beauty product loves in the comments below!

This is One of Those Deep Posts

I've read a few posts lately from several different bloggers about their struggles with believing in God when there is so much wrong in the world and so many bad things happen. It breaks my heart to hear about people struggling and while it's certainly normal, I really feel compelled and convicted to share what I personally believe about it all.

Maybe it will help people. Maybe it will only help one person. Maybe no one. Either way, I'm feeling led to share it and I'm honored that y'all would take the time to read it. 

A lot of people don't understand why bad things have to happen if God is all-powerful. They feel like He would stop these horrible things from happening if He could and so they then feel that He must not be all-powerful. When God created the world, He allowed free will to exist. He didn't want a robotic/forced group of people that followed Him. He wanted people that had the choice to follow or not to follow and He hoped that we would choose to actively follow Him. Of course, sin entered the world right away and this is where bad things come in. This is where the devil lurks and works and spends his time, scheming and whispering and enjoying our fears and pain. 

While God IS certainly all-powerful enough to stop all these bad things from happening, He doesn't always chose to do so. This can be hard to understand and my best stab at it is that it is part of the trade off we have from having free will. Some people think that God should never let anything bad happen to Christians and are confused that He lets them experience loss and tragedy, but again, He wants people that choose to follow Him because of love and reverence, not because of fear. If we knew that being saved meant having the perfect life, we would chose it because of that, not because we loved God. 

God will one day come and defeat the devil and take all of His followers to heaven, where we will live forever free of any pain or sorrow. Until that time, we are here on Earth, living with the purpose of glorifying God. I certainly don't understand it all and I honestly think that's okay. God is so much bigger and larger and smarter and all that...that we can't even being to comprehend why. He doesn't ask us to understand why. He simply asks us to put our faith in Him. And one day, we will know all these answers. 

The best way that I can describe our inability to understand is like this: my puppies always want to go out in the front yard (which is not fenced in), but I won't let them. While they may see it as I don't love them enough to let them go or that I'm not capable (or powerful enough) of letting them out, it's really just that I know more than they do and I know that they will take off running down the street and get hit by a car. So I actually am loving and powerful, but I do it for their own good. 

Wow, I hope this post makes sense to someone. Again, I'm not claiming to be an expert or understand it all, this is just my personal take on some of the "tough stuff."

Sometimes and Always #34

Sometimes: I get obsessed with certain foods and want to eat them all the time. 

Always: I eventually get tired of them and then never want them again. 

Sometimes: Real clothes are just not going to happen some days. 

Always: I don't see anything wrong with a day spent in pajamas. 

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Sometimes: I cry way too much watching cheesy reality shows. 

Always: I'm such a softie when it comes to love and heartbreak.

Sometimes: Patients in the ER can really test my patience. 

Always: Y'all would just NEVER believe the reasons that some people come to the ER. 

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PS: I'm about...oh...three weeks behind on visiting Sometimes/Always links, so give me a few days. I'll get there...eventually. : )

Those Kind of Friends

There's one thing that I love about my friends...we have that perfect family type relationship where we are so comfortable together and there is no need to "entertain" each other. I love friends like that.

My two best friends came up to visit this past weekend and we ate at a delicious little sandwich shop, visited the library to get me a card (woohoo!) and spent the day sitting around my house catching up and just enjoying each other's company. It was so nice, like words can't even describe nice. There's something to be said for being comfortable with people. 

We also celebrated my sweet friend Shan's birthday by making her bake her own cake for us. : )

You made yourself a good cake, Shan. 

The BFFs are Coming

Dear best friends, thank y'all for coming to spend the day with me today!! I needed it. Dear blogger's block, this is my second link up in a row this week. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but still, where has all my inspiration gone? Dear Sonic, you probably already know this, but I seriously adore you. You have delicious drinks and do them half price every single day. You are awesome. Dear Michaela, let's actually for real Skype tonight, instead of like all the other nights where we failed. Dear fresh fruit, thank you for being so delicious and healthy. If I close my eyes, you almost taste like chocolate. But not really. Maybe I should start dipping y'all in chocolate? Dear husband, sometimes I don't know how you put up with me. But just remember that I'm not THE craziest woman in the world. Really. I'm so blessed to have you. And you have a cute butt, too. I win. 

And lastly, Dear bloggers, sorry I have been a little behind lately. I owe a lot of y'all emails, which I plan to get around to this weekend.

I get to see these two cuties today!

Yes, It is Okay

It's okay............

- To be on a little vacation from your blog. 

- To be SO STINKING EXCITED for Meg and Stephen!!!!!!!!!!!!

- To eat chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk for breakfast...at noon. 

- To get tired of people posting outfits every single day on Instagram.

- To hate that they are building a house right behind ours and they start at 6 am. 

- To not shower every day. : )

- To get emotional with a good book.

- To get a drink from Sonic daily. 

- To wish we were at the beach right now, even though I'm not a beach person.

Hope y'all all had a great 4th!

Sometimes and Always #33

Sometimes: I drink more Sprite than water in a day.

Always: That first bubbly sip of the day is just divine. 

Sometimes: I miss having itty bitty puppies. 

Always: I can't believe that they were ever this little!

Sometimes: I forget that I have Twitter since I deleted it from my phone. 

Always: I really don't miss it...or Facebook!

Sometimes: I get so stinking excited when our flowers/trees bloom. 

Always: It's so neat planting something and seeing it grow.

Sometimes: I feel like our marriage is too good to be true. 

Always: I feel so blessed to be so happily married.

Sometimes: My husband is the sweetest thing in the whole world. 

Always: He's a little cutie, too. I just love being married to a manly man. 

Grab the button from my sidebar and link up with us today!

A Few of the Good Things in Life

- Weekends where we are both off. 

- A good book. I'm reading Pride & Prejudice right now. 

- Cute little puppies that will do anything for a toy. 

- Being able to freely worship the Lord. 

- Sonic drinks. 

- Husband making dinner (steaks, green beans, mashed potatoes, garlic bread).

- Blog friends turned real friends. 

- Late night dessert. 

- Cheese stuffed crust pizza. 

Sometimes just the little things make life so perfect. 

Two Little Things

I wrote a few marriage advice tips over here on Amy's blog

and

I wrote about how God is working in my life over here on Debbie's blog. 

I'm turning off comments here, so y'all can go and visit me there. 

Pwetty pwease. 

Husband Funnies

So unfortunately for my poor husband, he is having to suffer through watching The Bachelorette with me each week. Normally I would probably get annoyed at his constant talking/making fun, but even I have to admit that this season has been a little bit...boring. So he makes it pretty fun.

I started taking notes of some of his comments during the show and I decided to share with y'all. If you don't watch the show, sorry, you won't get them. If you do, I hope you enjoy. I was crying I was laughing so hard. 

"Way to make us all feel totally uncomfortable with that terrible kiss. Get out." - about Doug

"Are these guys really serious when they cry as they're leaving? They barely know her."

"Does he have on skinny jeans and pawpaw slip on shoes?" - about Jef

Emily: "Jef has fun with anything." Hubs: "Yeah, because he's twelve."

"What is so fascinating about walking into some dadgum library?"

"This is creeping me out. They aren't even looking at each other. They are talking with puppets."

"Oh look, there just happened to be a blanket in the library they stumbled upon."

"The things these guys say better be scripted. Or they are pathetic."

"Oh my gosh, you woman. Quit crying. He's got a quivering lip and everything." - about Chris at the rose ceremony

"Where are the men who don't cry?"

"Wow, that's a hideous dress." - about Emily's rose ceremony dress

"I'd punch him in the mouth right then for doing that." - about Chris asking to talk to Emily during the middle of the rose ceremony and then getting a rose

And that's just the ones that I remembered to take note of. The hubs is a hoot. 

Sometimes and Always #32

Sometimes: I get so excited when people link up with me each week.

Always: It takes me awhile to get around to reading them all, but I really do try to!

Sometimes: I wonder what happened to my late night loving ways. 

Always: I am in the bed before 11 each night these days, whereas it used to be 1 or 2. 

Sometimes: I just don't have much to say. Working a 12 hour shift will do that to ya. 

Always: I've really changed my way of thinking about my blog, making it more of a hobby instead of a requirement...really just enjoying it and not feeling guilty if I don't post for a day or two.

Sometimes: I wonder if I will have a favorite child, because I kinda sorta maybe have a favorite dog. 

Always: I feel like that's pretty awful to admit!!

Shhhhh...don't tell the other two!

Now say hello to my adorable sponsor, Meghan. She's really one of the sweetest people that I've met through the blog world and she just radiates this great happy, positive attitude that I love. The world (blog and real life) needs more people like her, I think. See for yourself as she shares a few sometimes/always of her own with us today.

Hi! I'm Meghan and I'm the newly 20 something behind the blog, They Call Her Meghan. My blog is my showcase for my love of Jesus, my family and friends, and all the little things in life that make it so rich! Come by sometime and say hi! I love meeting new people!

Sometimes: I wish I lived on my own in my own apartment. 

Always: I am so grateful to my parents for letting me stay with them while I'm in school!

Sometimes: I take my family for granted. 

Always: God reminds me how much I should cherish them!

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Feed Me and I'm Happy

Picture this: It's Saturday night, the hubs and I are snuggled up on the couch and the tv is on. 

(Yes, we are party people)

Me: "S'mores sound delicious right now. I would love one."

Hubs: "Want me to get the stuff?"

Me: "Would you?? YESSS! Do I have to go, too?"

Hubs: "No, you just stay here and I'll be right back."

Ten minutes later and he returned with all the yummies needed to make s'mores and I was the happiest little wifey on the planet. I mean, I'm always pretty happy, but when he does things like that (involving food!) I just get even happier. He knows the way to my heart.

Did y'all do (or eat) anything sweet this weekend?

Hi, This is Me...Now Let's Talk About You

If there's one thing I love, it's food. 

Wait, that wasn't supposed to go like that. Let's try that again. 

If there's one thing I love, it's forming relationships with y'all and really getting to know each other. I love that "internet friends" can really become real life friends. It can happen, trust me. 

So with that being said, let's get to know each other a little bit better today. I'm going to share a few things about me, and then in return I want y'all to answer the same questions in the comments. Deal? (Hey silent readers, y'all can comment, too! Yep, I just called y'all out.)

1) Where the heck are you located?

- I'm in good ole hot and humid Louisiana. 

2) How old are you?

- I'm 26, feeling more like 80 some days. 

3) What is something that you are passionate about?

- I'd say food, my husband/family and the Lord. 

4) Favorite book?

- Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, hands down. 

5) Morning or night person?

- I'm such a night person. The earliest part of the morning that I want to see is noon. 

6) What is one fun/unique thing about you?

- I rock back and forth ALL the time, whether I'm sitting or standing. I have to constantly be in motion. My mom says it's because I was the only baby in the nursery when I was born, so I got all the attention. 

Thanks for playing along. I'm excited to get to learn a little bit more about y'all today. 

I Think I'm Rambling

I'm sitting with my computer open right now (it's Tuesday night at 10 pm) and there are several topics that I want to write about. I want to pour my heart out onto the screen and just write one of "those posts" where you sit back and sigh and just say, "wow, that felt really good." 

But I keep getting distracted by my cute hubby and our crazy fur-dogs and how cute they look playing and snuggling and just being all around silly. They are dancing for treats and trying to squish onto the couch/chair with us and it's just a sweet little sight for my eyes.

Even though they really aren't supposed to be on the couch, I just had to take a few pictures. But sometimes looking cute gets you privileges, am I right?

Great pictures, yes? Or not. Because great pictures would require light and there was no way I was getting up to cut the light on. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. 

So yeah, that amazing knock your socks off deep blog post that I was going to write just got shot down by a pretty sappy post about my sweet family. But that's okay, because I'm just feeling happy and blessed and all kinds of content and it's nice to treasure that feeling. 

Quick, what are three things that you are feeling blessed by today?

Sometimes and Always #31

Sometimes: It's nice to take a little break from the old blog. 

Always: I miss keeping up with what everyone has been up to. 

Sometimes: There is nothing better than snuggling on the couch and watching tv. 

Always: Husbands were just made to snuggle. Thank you, Lord. 

Sometimes: Watching "my shows" with my husband can be quite hilarious. 

Always: He loves to make fun, especially of shows like The Bachelorette. 

Sometimes: We need to learn that good things can take time. 

Always: Flowers remind me of that...something so small can turn into something amazing. 

Sometimes: I hate that blogging/social media can make people feel so insecure. 

Always: I hope that we remember that everyone is facing problems in life, even those bloggers who chose not to ever show it. Let's build each other up, not make each other feel less than perfect.

Sometimes: I've heard that you are supposed to eat "breakfast like a king."

Always: I hope that includes huge cinnamon rolls that are bigger than my face. 

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