Happy Three Years...

My wonderful husband delivered these to me last night at 2am after a long night at his work. There are two white roses, lots of cranberry red roses, and one special purple rose spread out amongst a beautiful batch of holiday colored wildflowers. We are happily celebrating our third anniversary. Marriage is a lot of hard work and "not for sissies" as a very wise man once told me. In my opinion all the hard work pays off in the end. You grow together and learn to appreciate the other in ways you never thought you were capable of before.

  I have been very busy with life lately and therefore missed posting to my blog. I am still constantly trying all sorts of new beauty products and trying new looks on myself and others. Recently I did a zombie make-up run-through on one of my husbands friends. It turned out pretty well I will post photos of it soon I hope.

The holidays are around the corner, this year I am ditching all the stress of the hussle and bussle, shopping nightmares, and therefore piles of bills. I have with the help of my sister-n-laws been scheduling the beach trip of all beach trips. A Christmas extravaganza with tons of cooking, crafting, exercise, games and fun galore. We are even scheming a pie eating contest, mini health pies of course. This will be so fun and I am very excited. I am sure there will be more to come in posts as we get closer to this treasured time of season! How corny!!

Independence Day Garden!

Happy Fourth of July Everybody! Lately I have been working in my humble little garden... I wanted to share the spoils of that work, that I have selfishly been keeping to myself. Right now its just a jungle of different random-ness, but when I get a somewhat finished product I will share the whole picture with you. I'm just not ready yet! 

These beautiful white cotton-ball like flowers are hollyhock that I accuired at a local feed and seed store. They grow awesomely in semi-moist soil with lots of sunshine.

This is canna (one of my favs). I have this closest to my patio area because it puts on a beautiful show all summer long, all the way into the fall. I soon will purchase more to fill out some areas where some of my other plantings failed. Just behind you can see my provadence lavender, which smells amazing! 

Remember the baby-birds from before, they are huge and have actually grown all the way up and left the nest. :sad:  Hey there will always be next year! 

Amanda's Summer Must-Have's...

I was out at a friends pool today and was very flattered when my friends want to use all the products I had brought along in my bag. I decided when I came home it might be a good idea to post the items on my blog so that other's could enjoy what has worked for me.

This Obagi Healthy Skin Protection SPF 35 is great for protecting the delicate skin on your face. It runs about $44.00, which is a bit pricey for sunscreen but worth every penny, no clogging and no smell or white residue. 

Warren-Tricomi Organic Hair Shield - for those of us with any type of color in out hair this is a must, it is chalked full of vitamins and has a color-safe sunscreen to block harmful UV rays that will fade out color. It cost about $30.00 from Neiman-Marcus and Sephora. Just a little spritz of this before you go out in the sun will save you hundreds during your next color.

These Nozema Mini Shavers are AMAZING! Rush right out and get these for your bikini line and other small hard to shave areas, these mini razors have a shea butter strip to hydrate the area your shaving, they come in a three pack for under $10.00. You cannot make it through this summer without these.

 

Jane Iredale Mineral Make-up Dream Tint Mousse this cost $36.00, it comes in 5 colors, 2 corrective colors, and 2 bronzers.  It's a wonderful summer addition because of it's SPF 15. It's so light and airy, its goes on beautifully and moisturizies just perfectly. There is a blending brush for application that is just magical as well.

OPI Nail Laquer - My Private Jet this is a dark steel grey with multicolor glitter flecks I know it is a little dark for the spring/summer season, but its an amzing color for a pedicure. It goes with everything! Try it out. $6.50 Retail.

Slacker!

Okay, so I have been a terrible disgrace to blogging. Now I am back and hope to continue my reign of terror on the Internet, as we know it. Wow that sounded insane!
*  *  *
It would be a long boring story to go into what I have been doing for the last three weeks so here is the reader's digest version: new job training, sick with strep throat mess, more job training, lots of yard work, sick more, house cleaning, sick more, more working at new job. Okay see? Nothing juicy there. Onward then like nothing ever happened!
Spring has sprung right before my eyes! I am bursting with pride due to the fact my yard has turned into an actual backyard habitat. My hard work has paid off I have three bird's nests (that I can find right now) throughout my yard. One already has babies in it, which I am happy about. One has beautiful blue and gray speckled eggs, and the third is just starting to be built. Last year I put out feeders and did my plantings based on trying to get birds and animals to come, it did okay but I was not sure I had done everything I could do to make a happy home for animals. I live close to a downtown area, so I feel it is important to make sure I have an oasis for birds to stop by and have a safe place to grab a snack. Little did I know this year would be so eventful! I will keep you updated on what type of birds the empty nest, and eggs produce.

Here is a list of what I have planted to attract wildlife:
Providence Lavender
Elephant ears
Moses in a Boat
Daylilies
Snapdragons
Strawberry plants (they actually produce strawberries) I haven't gotten adventurous enough to eat them
Carolina Jasmine
Hollyhock
Canna Lilly
Hanging ferns
I believe South Carolina is a zone 7, so of course it will be different depending on your locale. I encourage everyone to get out and plant something, even if you are just container gardening.

And they're off...

I ventured off to Camden, South Carolina to the Carolina Cup steeplechase races to be a spectator with some 70,000 other people. I will try to make this as quick and as easy to read as possible. Well first off it was FREEZING. So it was pretty insane to be running around in halter-top dresses, bare legged, with big hats on. Melissa and I had chicken skin legs anytime we were outside. We spent most the time in the truck because of my profound lack of weather planning.

8am - March 29th, 2008: There we were outside my lovely cousins residence some 30 miles from the race course, where the sun was shinning through the patches of gray clouds, it was a temperate 65 degrees. Who needs a jacket this is great weather? I asked myself. This weather kept up until we arrived or so it seemed. It turned dark and cold. To top it all off the wind was ripping around taking with it hats, tents, and all sorts of trash. Most of the morning was spent inside a vehicle taking refuge from the horrible weather only interrupted by occasional bathroom visits. (porta-johns yuck) By noon we had discovered a souvenir stand where of course they had sold out of everything long sleeve, but conveniently had polar fleece vests left. As soon as a wrapped something around my bare back I felt like a new person! We had a great spread of food: three pepper hummus, pasta salad, and sandwich makings. All of which I devoured, the adverse weather had taken a lot out of me. After that we started to wander around seeing the sights, and looking for friends. About 3pm I felt one little cold, wet rain drop so that meant in heels we had to book it to the car again. I felt like I spent all day on a trip/ stuck in a car!! It poured for about 45 minutes; at this point we had, had enough. We packed it all up and headed home.

There was magnificent people watching though: girls chasing hats and trying hard not to have their dresses fly up, intoxicated people, a tent that titled themselves "the frilly tent" complete with pink flamingos and all, dresses covered in mud, people falling off vehicles. All in all it wasn't my best cup year yet, but still fun. I will be back next year!! (I might even re-use my dress and hat, I didn't get it show it off hardly at all!)
Melissa, and Dirty Bird which happens that he matches her dress, convenient!

Me :polar vest and all:, Melissa :smart enough to lose her's for pics:, and Shelly :drunk:

Easter, not just about bunnies

For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.

Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837–1909

Isn't this just beautiful. First off Happy Easter! How magnificent, that some two thousand years ago, Jesus died and was resurrected for our sins. We should all be so thankful how full our lives are. Take this time when nature comes out of the cold of winter and reflect on all our blessings. I know we should be grateful all year round, but it is something about holidays that makes everyone more reflective on our lives. It's times like these where in the face of change all around us, and the great un-known that issues that seemed un-manageable can just disperse almost with a few kind words or a smile. When there is a trauma with-in a close-knit group of people its just like a lot of things don't seem so important as they once were. They have to come together and support one another with love and forbearance. A lot of people now days only want to depend on themselves, but I have come to learn that is a terrible way to live. : lonely, fruitless, downcast: We've got to support and love one another, these are the fruits that God has given us and I believe far too many times we turn our backs on one another and de-humanize our love ones. Let's get back to a straightforward way of living or at least try. I have good feelings about all the changes upon us. I think with lots of prayer, hopes and lenience we accomplish almost anything. A new prosperous year is upon us and I am feeling more alive as each day gets warmer and warmer. I know that everything happens for a reason and it is all bigger than we can even begin to comprehend. So let's all be positive and celebrate the small things.

Virgin Blogger

Please bear with me, this is my first time blogging. I took the idea from my sister-in-law and ran with it. It just seems like a fabulous way to vent, and at the same time share my life and experiences with everyone in the WORLD! Now if anyone wants to hear about it, it may be another story all together. I was sorting through my photos looking for a picture for my profile when I found some beautiful shots that reminded me of the upcoming spring season and Easter weekend. I really needed a boost. This weekend was tough for me due to some laser treatments I had on my face. When I heal I want to make a post ALL about it. It is very interesting and painful.
I love taking photos and these are some shots that I did last spring. I have a Canon digital rebel, which I think is a great camera for an amateur such as myself. It definitely gets the job done especially since I was gifted with the zoom lens. I have lots of subject matter since my husband's grandmother is an amazing gardener. Every year about this time she has a plethora of flowers springing forth to display their full glory for all to enjoy. Each one is so different and beautiful in its own way. I know that sounds ridiculous but each one seems to have its own story.