Four or More Tag, Because Why Not?

I've been seeing this pop up on YouTube and thought it was such a neat tag. How often have we fallen in love with a beauty product and went to stock up when they were on sale? This tag was created by ItsKeersten (click the link to see the original four or more video) and I considered myself tagged by EmilyNoel83, whom I watch regularly.

I knew that I would for sure have four or more of some things, but I was actually surprised! I guess I didn't realize that I reach of the same products time and again. What can I say, when it works, it works.

I took these pictures at ten at night on my living room rug. Because I'm a professional.

I don't know why, but I was surprised by how many lip products I have. I shouldn't have been, considering this picture I posted on Instagram a while back:

I was carrying all of that.... in my purse. Every Day. 

Yeah I shouldn't have been surprised. 

Back to my four or more collection, if you look closely, you'll see that I have two sets of lip products that only have three. Yup, I'm breaking the rules. 

YOU DON'T OWN ME. 

I figure, I have three and I would have all of them if I could. So, I included them. I'm going to start with the products I have the most of and end with the least. 

Internet, meet Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter. I adore these. Seriously. They are just so comfortable on the lips, nice and sparkly but totally appropriate. I love them. 

060 Gum Drop

This is super neon purple and I like pairing it with NYX Castle (which you'll see later.)

027 Juicy Papaya

This is my most recent purchase and it is perfect for spring! I love it.

095 Creme Brulee

025 Peach Parfait 

This is the first one I purchased - a long, long time ago - and you can tell I love it. It's almost gone. I'll be definitely repurchasing.

045 Cotton Candy

050 Berry Smoothie

070 Cherry Tart

They have so many great colors, I love them. I didn't swatch all of these because I didn't think of it. Oh well. 

To be perfectly honest.... I didn't purchase these Shimmer Glosses from eyes.lips.face. I KNOW. My friend Denise did. While I was visiting her in LA, she gave them to me because she wasn't a fan of the consistency. I, however, love them! They are so light, only stick if you glob it on. I love the pigmentation and they just feel so....smooth. I would TOTALLY buy all of the colors. And it's e.l.f. Cheap and awesome. Boom. These colors are (from left to right) Love, Hope, Inspire and Dream. 

These are the Wet & Wild lipsticks. Super affordable, great pigmentation and a good range of colors. I really love 903C. So pretty. 

I'm sure everyone has heard of the NYX shadow sticks. These are great bases. I use Milk (the white) the most. It makes eyeshadow colors really pop. Next to that, I use Sparkle Nude. It's a great highlight color in the inner corner. I use the brown as a crease color and have only use the blue has a pop of color below the bottom lash line. 

I wrote about these shadows before and I like them. I use the white for the inner corner highlight or even for the brow bone.  The pink and the brown are so pretty all over the lid for one product eyeshadow looks. The blue I've used in the center of the eyelid for a pop of color or to lighten a darker, smokier look. I haven't tried these wet and I wonder if the blue would be cute used with an eyeliner brush? Hmm. Here are the previous photos I shared, they show the colors way better. 

Okay, time for the honorable mentions. I almost have four of each of these and that has to mean something right?! I picked up these three NYX lipsticks when I picked up the individual eyeshadows above. I wear them all the time - especially Castle.

I am straight up obsessed with purple lips. Seriously. I mix Castle with Revlon Gumdrop and it is bright and bold. I love it. On more neutral days I will gravitate towards Rose Bud and I just love the color and tone of Doll. So pretty.

These are the Covergirl LipPerfection Lipcolor's in Delicious, Eternal and Honeyed. I just noticed that the NYX lipsticks is a purple, a red and a neutrally pink. I'm sure a creature of habit. Insane. Anyways, I've been know to mix Honeyed with Castle and Gum Drop to tone down the purple. Makes it a bit more wearable. 

Anyways, that is all folks! My four or more. I'm glad this wasn't a collection post because my lip product collection is ridiculous. 

Elvis, Hot Rollers and Marriage

I'm working on a big post for next week and I realized after taking a bunch of pictures that I had nothing planned for this morning. Luckily, I've got things to tell ya! 

Wednesday was Administrative Assistant day and we attended a luncheon. Elvis was there. No big deal. 

It was a lot shorter of a luncheon that was expected so on the way back to the office my boss treated us to milkshakes. As we were waiting in the drive-through, I got a pretty important e-mail... I was accepted into the program I applied for! I'm waiting for the list of instructions on the next steps and I've got to figure out the financing, but I think this might actually be happening! I'm so excited. This is going to be a crazy year! 

I figured that since I had that luncheon and I needed to look nice for it, I would try out my hot rollers. This was my look of the day. I wasn't in love with it but I'm also not good at rolling my hair. Hopefully with practice things will get better. I see this pictures and I'm so conflicted about those baby hairs. So happy my hair is growing back, so sad that it sticks out all over the place - no matter what product I use. Is it just me or do I kind of have crazy eyes in this photo? Ugh.

OH! I mentioned that Bryan is close to finishing his album and we have been shooting some footage for a super secret project. I have to find the time to load that all onto my computer and see if I got anything good... If it's anything like my photography I'm in trouble!

Side note: Bryan and I have been married for four and a half years today!

I hope you guys have a fantastic weekend. 

xo.

April Brain Dump

I love this picture from Easter!

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I'm annoyed that people keep asking me about having more babies and laugh when I say I have a plan. My sister likes to give me a hard time about trying to "play God" by dictating when I'll get pregnant again. It assaults me left and right,  from women who were due when I was and now they're already pregnant with their second kid, people saying Shepherd needs a sibling. You know the drill. It is nothing new. Usually I don't care. All the time I hear women say the typical things women say, about strangers touching their bellies or touching their babies or whatever. None of that bothered me. This does though. I guess because we, meaning Bryan and I, are so, so incredibly far away from having our second baby. I honestly couldn't feel farther away from the idea. We have so much to get in order, so much on the horizon that it wouldn't be fair to us, to Shepherd and even to the baby to try to wrestle that in there.

Mostly, with each question and comment about the next baby, I feel it. The disappointment in my last pregnancy, the weight of failed breastfeeding. The huge crap pile that was my life in 2012 and 2013. I can't go back there. I can't revisit that. I can't have pre-eclampsia again and the longer I wait, the healthier I get, the better I learn to deal with stress and anxiety, the better of a chance I have at carrying the baby to full term. To experience birth and motherhood the way it should be. But we aren't ready yet, I'm not ready yet. I can't do it and I don't like the comments. I don't like the feels that come along with them.

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We went to a local Mexican restaurant on Shepherd's birthday and he loved playing in the fountain!

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I'm in the beginning stages of applying for a program that will enrich my knowledge of school business and help to push my career forward. For the past few years I've been in a holding pattern because I always thought this was a bridge job. I would use this job to bridge the gap until I became a stay at home mom. Since that isn't happening, I feel like I owe it to myself to dive deeper in my career so that I can move up as much as possible.

I definitely cannot say that my brain and heart have completely surrendered the idea of being a SAHM. It's been hard to adjust my thinking to this is what I'm doing for the long haul. With this program, there is no going back. Personally, I'm devastated. Giving up a dream is hard. Especially when that dream is so rooted to the core of you. At the same time, I'm not just giving up a deal. I'm pursuing a new one which is really scary. Hustling to meet goals and realize your dreams is not easy. It's not supposed to be or the payoff wouldn't be as sweet. I'm starting to get into deeper waters and I feel so out of my element. I'm ready for the challenge though. I think it's right.

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I am obsessed with the app Perfect365. I told my friend Denise about it and we constantly send each other selfies. I definitely think I should die my hair blue. Also.... I need lavender contacts STAT. How cool are they?!

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Bryan is so, so close to finishing his album. I can almost feel the energy in the air. The next few months are going to be a whirlwind and I could not explain why, but I feel like this moment in our lives is huge. It's going to propel us somewhere. I don't know where, I don't have any idea if it'll be a good place or bad one, but this step is going to take us somewhere unfamiliar. It's exciting, exhilarating and terrifying at once. I've convinced Bryan do to a little side project with it and I'm super stoked that he is on board. More on that soon!

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Tribe Tuesday: All about Easter

I don't know about you but this weekend was pretty great on our end! On Friday, Shepherd and I went to Bryan's moms house to spend time with the family. We ate tacos and watched as everyone dyed their eggs. After everything was cleaned up, we sat around in the garage talking and Shepherd danced his little heart out and we sang to some classic rock. I was too busy being in the moment to take any pictures. It was lovely. I always have a great time when I hang out with them!

Saturday was an extremely busy day. Bryan's paternal side of the family have been doing the 'Easter Campout' for years now. I know it's been happening over thirty years, but I'm not sure if it's gotten to thirty-five yet... Anyways, everyone shows up right after lunch time (or nap time if they have kids) they set up awnings to chill under and the whole day is filled with different activities! A lot of family members pitch tents in the area surrounding our cousins house and spend the night. We haven't done that in a long time, mostly because Sunday is always so crazy with travelling to events on my side of the family.

We got there right around three and my father-in-law had already set up an area for us to hang out in. We all hung out and chatted for a while and then the annual wiffle ball game started! I haven't played since the first like... three years I attended. Usually, I will sit and read a book, cheering in between pages. This year I was on Shepherd duty! So we played, watched and I chased him around. When the sun started setting, the shuffleboard tournament started and the fire pit is lit up. We roast hot dogs and s'mores. It's a fun family day!

This is Bryan's cousin Kaci and her sweet baby girl, Spencer.

Shepherd's first Easter Campout!!!

We got home right around ten, so I immediately dyed the eggs we had boiled earlier. To save time and energy, I "decorated" them with leftover tattoos from Shepherd's carnival! I ended up putting a mustache one on my finger and I made Bryan let me put one on him. It was fun. Also, we were so exhausted and delirious at this point! 

The next day all three of us slept in until 10am! Totally crazy. We were so tired but I did not expect us to sleep in so late, so of course we were rushing all morning. I forgot to get a picture of our Easter basket. I asked Bryan if we were going to do the Easter Bunny, since we really don't put an emphasis on Santa. He didn't think we should either so then we had to decide if we were going to do Easter baskets. Bryan didn't think it was necessary but I want our kids to have the experience, so I made the executive decision and planned for a Family Easter Basket. Every year there will be one basket of goodies for the whole family to enjoy and maybe a small individual present for each kid we have. 

This year I did three items, since there are three of us. I purchased a book, a movie and a water bottle for Shepherd. The book I picked up was Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney. I purchased it from Target for $9.99 and now wish I would have checked Amazon. Way cheaper. Dang it. 

The movie I picked up was Frozen. I really wanted The Lion King since Bryan loves that movie, but it wasn't there. I didn't know what else to pick and the basic DVD version of Frozen was on sale so I was like, okay. We watched it Sunday morning and can I just say how much I love Kristen Bell? The only reason I watch that movie is for Anna's character. Anyways, then we took the long drive (a whole five houses!) to my Moms house to eat Easter lunch, hunt eggs and hang out. It was so fun. 

I have been working with Shepherd to pick things up and put them "away". Most of the time he picks something up and throws it, but he's been consistently handing me items and putting them in the toy box when I ask him to help clean up. I figured he wouldn't have the attention span to hunt eggs but figured we'd at least get a photo of him putting an egg in a basket. To my surprise, he loved it! He found some eggs on his own, would pick them up and put them right in the basket. It was just the cutest thing. 

I didn't really think through the fact that I would be in pictures and I had slipped on my brother in laws flip flops to go outside. I look ridiculous with those huge shoes on, but they are the rainbow brand and they are SO COMFORTABLE. I need some. Preferably ones that fit my feet.

Anyways, it was a great day! Shepherd was so well behaved, even though the weekend was full of long days. He is such a happy little guy. The only way this holiday could have been better is if my sister Alison and her kiddos had been there to hunt eggs with us!