Beauty Stuff I love!

Hey Y'all,

I have been over in Kelly's Korner and today she is asking for us to show her our beauty hints. Lord knows I should look 8 months old with all the creams and potions I have slathered on my face. Here goes:

First Kelly, you really must have a cleansing regimen. Not only does this help in keeping your skin supple, smooth and just plain pretty. Even without any make up at all I think women's skin should be pretty. It does take work and commitment but after a couple of weeks it is pure habit and you will wonder how you ever went to bed with makeup on or without washing your face. I slept with makeup in for probably 20 years...big mistake. These are the products I use;

1. I like Mac Cleansing Oil to remove makeup
2. I use Neutrogena Sensitive Cleansing Lotion for after removing my makeup
3. For moisturizer I use Roc night time at night and Rare Minerals Night treatment
4. For daytime I use Rare Minerals moisture lotion (so light!)
5. For make up I use Bare Escentuals....period. I really love their stuff. So clean,light and super easy and workable.
6. I love Manipulator hair wax for a cute spiky look and to seperate layers.
7. Freeze it hairspray is great but my hair is short so lots of sprays work.
8. I have discovered Nubian Heritage soaps and they are terrific. So good on my dry sensitive skin. Very healing if you have any irritations.

You are a beautiful lady Kelly. Mostly because the Holy Spirit shines through. God makes us all beautiful because He can strip away the ugliest of stuff that covers the beauty He designed for each one of us girls. But remember, any old barn looks better with a fresh coat of paint!

Bless Y'all,

Cindy

Jellybean update and other stuff

Hey Y'all,

Erica had her second official doctor appointment this morning. She is doing really good and according to thebump.com jellybean is officially a "Plum". This is a site that stems (no pun intended) from theknot.com and thenest.com They are all really cute and very helpful. You can post updates, registries, pictures, stories etc... Go to them and check them out...so fun. They compare your baby to a piece of fruit to let you in on the size. Erica and Blake's' baby is now plum-size. The doctor told her she had to chase the little plum around to listen to the heartbeat. Plummy will be a.d.d. like its' sweet daddy! This is day 5 of being snowed in and I am ready for spring!!! I love snow and it's quiet, serene beauty but it is raining today and that makes ugly snow. Very ugly. All this time indoors has made me go from working like a madwoman to eating like I am preparing for hibernation. I am in the process of redecorating Erica's old room to move Megan into and like a goofball I forgot to post any before pictures. So I will post some mid-work pics and some after pics. I really want to get her a new comforter set but Megan loves the one she has on her bed. It will so not match!! I am turning her old room into a nursery for little Plummy so I will be sure to take before and after shots. Being cooped in has caused me to catch up on my devotional emails and my Breaking Free homework. One devotional particularly struck a chord. It was all about being still before God and truly allowing the Holy Spirit to interceed for you when you truly cannot express your prayers. It asked you to just say, "Lord, this is a mess." over and over. God doesn't need or require my help, advice or my manipulation. He knows I have a mess in my home right now. He knows I am in a mess. He is the Messiah. He alone can smooth out this mess. I just need to back off, be quiet and be still and allow Him to work. His time is surely not my time. I do not have a clue what the future holds for my dysfunctional family but God does and He is totally functional.

Bless Y'all

Cindy

When you're in a scary movie.....

Hey Y'all,

I think all of us have either been to a theater or seen a scary movie on TV. You know the kind where you are screaming at the dumb (almost always blonde) girl to not go into the room, woods, closet, basement, warehouse..whatever. What does she always do??? She goes right on in like she owns the place. She then usually proceeds to fall and break her ankle and then crawl while a combo of tears and snot course down her face only to be hacked, shot or stabbed to death. I am one of those people who yells at the screen, "Don't go in...RUN! RUN!!!!!" She never listens.
Yesterday I was that girl. Yes, I am blonde. I went to this hardwood flooring discount place that a friend told me about. She said, "They have real cheap wood and laminate flooring. They are real nice guys. They are Mexican but speak great English, she says". When I get there a Chinese guy is in the store. I explain to him that this store was reccommended to me because they sold discontinued or salvaged flooring. He stared at me for a full minute. This is a long time when you are looking at a stranger. So I inch towards the door and say, "Maybe I have the wrong place." "You meet me in back! Drive through gate! Go in warehouse! I show you floor!" he shouts at me. So what do I do? Of course, I get in my SUV and drive through the gate go around back and low and behold I get out of my car and stand in a deserted parking lot in the back of a warehouse. At this point I am sure people are screaming, "Don't go in. RUN!". Do I listen?...oh no, I walk right on in. Once inside the Chinese guy is speaking to a Mexican guy. The Mexican guy has his hands in his pockets. I am thinking in my head, "Didn't I just see this on a Law & Order episode last week?" Strangely, The Chinese guy is speaking Chinese to the Mexican guy who answers in Spanish. They seem to understand each other. All I know is my time is short and I better start backing up. Then they turn and say, "Which floor do you like?" I look around and point one out. At this point I would have taken plywood. The Mexican guy shows me a redwood flooring sample. I respond with...now get this. "I don't really like that one how about something in oak?" Am I crazy!!!? The Chinese guy says, "Here, how about this one?" I looked at it. It was nice. So I said, "Sold." They loaded my SUV, I paid the men and off I drove. Afterwards, I realized they were really some pretty nice guys especially dealing with a ditzy blonde like me. Next time though, I am taking a friend. When I break my ankle I'll need her to drag me out. Any takers?

Bless Y'all,

Cindy

People Watching....Is HILARIOUS!!!

Hey Y'all,

As I have mentioned in a previous post that money is tight for me right now so I have taken a second job. A dad at my school comes to eat lunch with his son 2 or 3 times a week owns a local restaurant. I asked him if he needed any help and low and behold I now work 2 nights a week at a barbecue joint! I just run the register and sometimes the drive-thru which is a lot like a concession stand which I truly loved doing when my girls were playing softball. Anyway, working at this place has opened my eyes to a different world of people. This is a very homey, local place so nothing "R" rated is happening and I do live (Praise the Lord) in a "dry" county. I just never realized how bizare some people go out of their houses. Do they not have mirrors?? A lady came in on Saturday night with the bushiest coal black eyebrow I have ever seen. Yes, I did say eyebrow not eyebrows there was only one and it needed a ponytail holder. Once I recovered from this sight a lady walked in with her husband and another couple to eat dinner. I have never seen a hairdo like this in my life. It was a big poofy bun literally on top of her head like a hairy round pillow. She even had 2 curlycues for long drippy sideburns. Now before you even think or say how mean I am and I should be ashamed for even putting this on my blog lets get real. How many times have I went out of my house looking what I thought was pretty good to have someone give me that look and even a big grin? A couple, that is for sure. All of us have looked at pictures of us in the past and thought, "What was I thinking???" Ambush makeover would be real busy around my community let's just say. Real busy!

Bless Y'all,

Cindy

I've Been Shopping!!!!!!

Hey Y'all,

This past Saturday morning my mother and I went to Belks to do a little looking. Like most of the time our "looking" turns into "buying"! Money is tight for me right now but this Grandmother to be could NOT resist the steals I got. Take a look at these cute outfits! I tried to but equal boy/girl stuff but girl stuff is cuter and I did get more for a granddaughter than a grandson. Belks has a fabulous return policy and whatever it is I can take back whichever I don't need. I bought things that jellybean can wear for Halloween and Christmas. Baby clothes are just sooo cute!!!




How cute are these Christmas Sleepers!! One for a girl and one for a boy. The cute booties will go for either and they rattle!!!




Every little girl needs a fur coat!!! A pink one at that!




Are these not the sweetest little First Halloween outfits!! I love the little girl one that says "So Cute It's Scary". These were $2.00 each!! In the basket!




Jellybean will look darling in these little outfits. I am sure she and I will have a wonderful time together.




This little sweater set is just precious. I can just imagine nestling her little body close to my heart. I can almost feel her warmth right now. Do I sound excited to meet this precious child!! I am sure I will drive my friends nuts over this baby. God is just so GOOD to bring this into my life at this season. Joy just overflows my soul over this new life. I am still aching over many other things but I am daily leaving those things at the foot of the cross. Daily. Dear, sweet friends lay your burdens, aches, desires at the foot of that cross too. The ground is level and there is plenty of room. Jesus grants us each new mercies each day.

Bless Y'all,

Cindy

Captive

Hey Y'all,

Last night at church we started a new Bible study. Our Church typically does 2 big ones a year and sometimes a shorter one in the in between seasons. This time we began "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore. This is the revised one not the one from ten years back. I did that one too and it was unbelievably good. I now have a whole new slew of stuff to break free from. The opening video was so good. At one point I cried because there are so many strongholds that people just cling and cling to for dear life. Beth said, "Strongholds always put us in isolated captivity...always." So true. I do find myself alone quite a bit and it tends to make me dwell in the pit I just seem to adore. I even hang pretend pictures in my pit just to pretty it up. Like Beth, I too, thought the Bible referred to captives as people lost in their sinfilled lives. Not so. The Biblical captives are God's People. His own. We allow Satan to keep us trapped in out captivity. It is harder than hard to let go of our strongholds. That is why they are called STRONG..HOLDS. Two words that both tell of their strength and power. I recommend this study to every woman out there in the blogging world. The anxiety I feel at laying all my new strongholds down at the foot of the cross is tremendous. So scary. That right there is a stronghold. Fear. I didn't used to be such a scaredy cat. The first day of homework deals with pride. How God hates pride. It is the ultimate disrespect. We place our selves, our thoughts, our whole beings above God. No wonder we fall hard! While I have been watching the news on the horrible earthquake in Haiti I cannot help but think of how God can use us to minister to these poor people. If we will swallow our pride and pour out ourselves, our money, our resources to these pitiful people God will be so glorified and this nation that has long turned it's back to God and His ways may turn from their wicked idolatry and worship the one true God who sets His captives free.

Bless Y'all,

Cindy

Changes.....

Hey Y'all,

Tomorrow school starts back and it will be like the first day all over again. I didn't get as much accomplished over the break as I had planned but I did make a dent. I ripped up the old carpet in Erica's former room and my daddy and me are going to put down a hardwood floor. I am moving Megan into that room and turning her old room into a "nursery" for all my future grandbabies. By the way, I got a precious picture sent to me on my cell phone of a precious little sonogram picture. He/she looks just like a jellybean!! Blake is sure it is a boy and Erica is just as sure it is a girl. As soon as I know I will post it right away. But in the sonogram picture "jellybean" sure looked like she was looking at her nails!! Back to the room exchange. Megan picked out a new paint color for her new room. I still had the wallpaper and border I had hung when Erica was in the third grade. She loved it and never wanted to change her walls. It was yellow and ivory stripes with a Laura Ashley border of pink and yellow peonies. Remember Laura Ashley stuff? So romantic and flowery. So Erica! So not Megan!! She chose a very, very bright purple for the walls. At first I thought, "YUCK!" But, I have to say it is looking pretty good. I think when it is finished both of us will be pleased. It is taking me a little longer than usual to do this project but my plate has been a little full lately. Megan goes back to school this weekend so i hope to have her room all done by the first weekend that she comes back home. She comes home every weekend. Her boyfriend lives here and goes to school close, so he lives at home. Megan is burning interstate 40 up coming and going. I have been struggling with filling up time lately. My marriage falling apart has left me with lots of idle time I have been trying to fill with projects, a second job and other things. I really don't like to sit and think. I tend to over think, over analyze. I struggle with turning things over to God. I am prone to run right back to that altar and pick that burden right back up. I know that God specializes in raising the dead. I had said in my previous post that I have watched my marriage die. I have prayed and wished and prayed some more for God to resurrect this marriage. Only His time will reveal. I don't know what I am to learn from this pit that I am mired down in, but I am waiting. I am praying that God reveals to me the way to pray and the way to grow through this trial. I am holding onto His promises and the hope God has to offer and the joy He has brought back to me through my little jellybean.

Bless Y'all,

Cindy