Show Us Your Life: Beauty Secrets

Sharing my beauty "secrets" over at Kelly's Korner. Well, mine aren't really secrets, it's more like my daily routine... Exciting?... Eh, not really...

This is my everyday makeup bag. I don't use all of these products everyday, but they're in there because these are my most used products. I also have a make-up drawer at home, which has products (MAC eyeshadows mostly) that I love, but don't use everyday.

I swear by this Pur Minerals foundation, bronzer and blush. It's so light, but has amazing coverage.

I just use basic brushes. The first one here is a MAC eyebrow pencil. I have naturally thin eyebrows, so this helps define them and fill them in. The next is a simple eyeshadow brush, then a blending brush, and a fine flat brush that I use to put eyeshadow on as eyeliner. I also swear by MAC Paint Pot (not pictured). It's an eyeshadow primer and makes my eyeshadow stay on all day, no creasing or smudging.

These are my favorite eyeshadow palettes. The first one is Urban Decay Ammo Palette. It's pretty basic, but the colors are wonderful, and blend very nicely. The other one is a MAC palette with purple shades... I use this one quite often. I have green eyes, and purple compliments them.

I almost always use 2 different mascaras. Usually one that thickens, and one that lengthens. My current ones are Maybelline's Colossal and Stiletto. I was blessed with very short eyelashes... so I do whatever I can to make them longer and fuller, without going the false lashes route.

As for my hair...  I usually blow-dry and straighten my hair. I have an A-line bob hairstyle, and it looks best when it's straightened. My hair is naturally curly, which I liked when my hair was longer, but not too fond of my curly-ness now that it's short. The hubs loves my curly hair... He calls it my "bad girl hair" Ha! I had to go curly today because it's rainy and humid here, and if I straightened my hair, it would puff up the second I stepped outside and I would look like a frizzball. Not good.


- Jessica

A Weighty Issue and Tasty Thursday

I miss excercising. Before my husband and I started dating, and even in the beginning stages of our relationship, I was so dedicated to the gym. If I missed a day, my whole day was thrown off. Some days, I would drag myself out of bed at 4:45am to get to Spinning class at 5:30am.

I also was addicted to Kickboxing class and BodyPump. O.M.G. I miss BodyPump. It's a class where you lift weights.

Like that. I got such a rush lifting weights and sweating my ass off... sweat pouring off of me, dripping down my elbows when I did squats with the weights. Sounds gross, huh? I LOVED it. The music pumping in the background just made me push myself even harder.

Kickboxing just made me feel strong and powerful. Something about watching myself in those huge mirrors in the class, kicking and punching, with the bass-pumping music in the background, made me get a rush too.

I would love to get back into it again. I would have to do some serious planning with my schedule and family time in order to squeeze one of these classes in. I have lost all of my baby weight, plus more. I am in no way bragging about this... I'm just happy to be the size I am now. I went from a size 10 before I got pregnant with LittleMonster, to a size 4/6 (depending on what store) five months after I had him. Just last week I had to go buy new work pants because my pre-pregnancy size 10's were literally falling off of me. When I went on a hunt for new pants, I really had no idea what size I was. I came home with New York and Company size 4, and Express size 6. I gained 40 and some odd pounds with MonkeyGirl, and exactly 30 pounds with LittleMonster. When I came home from the hospital, I had 15 more to lose. That came off within 3 months. The next 2 months, I lost another 10 pounds. I'm pretty happy with my weight now... I would like to lose another 10. But, I know that won't happen without working out. Is it weird that I'm divulging all of this info about my size on the internet?! Ahh, well...

Now, on to a contradicting topic... FOOD!

Every Thursday, I would like to post a new recipe... preferably, a healthy one. Tasty Thursday!

This recipe is my go-to stir fry. I usually make this about once every 2 weeks, just because it's pretty healthy and VERY easy and quick, which is always a must for me during the week.

Stir Fry

1 pound of chicken (cubed), or pork or beef (both in strips)

1 package of SteamFresh veggies (I usually use the kind that has carrots, broccoli, edamame, etc.)

Whole wheat thin spaghetti (I use about 1/2 a box to feed 3)

3/4 cup of Light Asian Toasted Sesame salad dressing (Kraft brand)

3 Tablespoons teriyaki sauce, divided

Start by boiling the water for your pasta. Depending on what meat you chose, cut the chicken into cubes, or cut the beef or pork into strips. Coat a pan with cooking spray (I use Crisco Canola Oil Spray). Place meat into pan and cook on medium-high heat. While the meat is cooking, add the spaghetti to the boiling water, and cook according to the package directions. Also, place the bag of SteamFresh veggies in the microwave and cook according to the package directions. Once the veggies are done steaming in the microwave, add them to the meat in the pan, and reduce heat to low. Add 2 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce to meat and veggies in pan and mix throroughly. In a mixing bowl, mix the Light Asian Toasted Sesame dressing with 1 tablespoon of teriyaki sauce (add less or more depending on your preference). Drain the spaghetti. Add spaghetti to the Sesame dressing and teriyaki sauce mixture, and coat the pasta with the sauce (I use tongs to mix). Add meat and veggie mixture to pasta, and mix. Serve hot!

I need to add pictures to go along with my Tasty Thursday recipes! Pictures always make a recipe look more yummy.

- Jessica

Brudder and Stister

In MonkeyGirl talk, that's Brother and Sister... They Lub each other. From the moment she layed eyes on him, it was pure love. She's like a little mommy... always wanting to take care of him, making sure he doesn't cry, and she takes care of her "babies" like I take care of LittleMonster. "Mommy, I wanna take care of my babies like you do."

After she fed her "baby", she changed his diaper, and apparently it was a stinky one.

MonkeyGirl and LittleMonster are seriously best friends and I hope more than anything that lasts forever. Whenever he's upset and crying, just the sight of her makes him stop. He is in complete awe of her. Can you blame him?! When he cries, she says "Ohhhh, my poor Boogie Bear". That's another one his MANY nicknames.



When I was pregnant with LittleMonster, I always wondered how their relationship would be, and I told my Hubs several times I can't wait to see their relationship grow. And wow, it sure has grown! One of her favorite things to do is to "read" to him... And he just eats it up!

The other day, my Mother-In-Law took the kids for a walk around our neighborhood. I guess on their way back MonkeyGirl got tired and wanted in the stroller... So, this is what happened...

How freakin' adorable is that?!? She didn't want to let go of him, so they stayed in the stroller like that for a good 20 minutes in the house, and he was as happy as could be with her.

- Jessica

Call of Duty Widow

This, my friends, is HockeyStud's crack. Call. Of. Freakin. Duty. My husband will play til 2 or 3am when he doesn't have to work the next day. He plays online with a bunch of guys that he works with, along with some high school aged kids he's never met. When this new Call of Duty (Black Ops) came out in November, he went to the mall around 11pm, and waited til the game officially "came out" at midnight, came home and had a COD marathon with his new game. Thank goodness he wears headphones, or else our living room would sound like a war zone... My poor kids would be falling asleep to the sound of machine guns. When he plays online he can talk to the other guys he plays with... Man, the things they say to each other... Eff that you Effing Eff Eff. And I hear terms like "Camper", "Noob", "Pawn", "Team Deathmatch", "Ghosting", "Flank"... WTF?! No clue what those words mean, but I hear them a lot. I have to admit though, I was a supporter of his habit for Christmas. I got him some fancy schmancy expensive headphones. Unfortunately, after he wore them for a couple games, they were too tight on his noggin. Oh well... I was a "cool wife" in his eyes for getting him COD equipment.


I'm really not complaining about his video game habit... I actually don't mind that he plays. He's home, he's not out partying or drinking or doing things he shouldn't be doing. COD is his "out", his stress reliever, his way of having some me time.


This is HockeyStud's thing...

And this is MY thing...

Ahhh, love me some MAC makeup!


- Jessica

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Whole wheat spaghetti with hearty meat sauce and salad

Tuesday: Lemon caper chicken with whole wheat angel hair pasta

Wednesday: Creamy chicken veggie orzo

Thursday: Crockpot sweet and sour meatballs over brown rice and green beans

Friday: Shrimp with chili glaze over whole wheat pasta

Speaking of food... My handsome LittleMonster loves to EAT!

He FREAKS when he sees us eating or when he sees a bottle. I feel horrible to eat in front of him because it's just a tease. He has loved everything that we have fed him. Last night he ate Sweet Potatoes with White Beans... Mmmm... I mostly only feed him organic baby food. The other night he had Spinach, Apples and Rutabagas... Barf... But he loved it and was pissed off when it was gone.

The 2 brands that I feed him the most are:

Ella's Kitchen Organic baby food

Ella's has foods like... Strawberries & Apples, Pumpkin & Sweet Potatoes & Apples & Blueberries, Peaches & Bananas... I've tried all of them, and they're quite yummy.

Sprout Organic baby food

Sprout has foods like...Roasted Bananas & Brown Rice, Pasta with Lentil Bolognese, Sweet Peas & Garden Green Beans... These sound quite sophisticated for such a little person. They're all delicious as well and taste very fresh.

- Jessica

Picture Updates!





He is one silly little man!

 



Halloween! MonkeyGirl was Jessie from Toy Story

and LittleMonster was a piece of sushi! 





November, MonkeyGirl turned 4! My parents took

her to Disney and she was in awe the whole time. 

 

My sweet little boy got pretty sick and was put on breathing treatments.



 



And then he got better :-)

 



Peek-a-boo







My girl with all her hair!

 



See these 3 people?... They're my whole world.

I'm SUCH a slacker!!

So...


I've been bizzy, which is why I haven't posted. Ugh, I hate that.


Been busy at work, at home, and everywhere else. We just moved last week. Man, that was quite a project. The house we moved into was gross... It smelled and was dirty. It hadn't been taken care of in 5 years, and the elderly lady that did live in it, hasn't lived in it for a year now. It just needed a coat of paint, some major cleaning and to be aired out. We did all of the above, and it's now our home! We love it. It's big. The two-story townhouse we lived in previously was a 3/2/2 car garage with 1700 square feet and a VERY small living room/dining room combination. I loved the kitchen and master bedroom/bathroom though. The kitchen was brand new... granite countertops and all stainless steel appliances. Our bedroom was very spacious, with french doors and a little balcony. Our bathroom had double sinks, granite, garden tub, and a huge walk in glass shower.

This was my husband and I's first home together. This is where our daughter lived for 2 years, and this is the house where we brought our newborn son home too. We had great memories in that house. It was bittersweet when we left. We were sad because we had such wonderful times, but happy we were moving on to create new memories. Even my in-laws were sad to see that house empty.
Our new house is a 3/2/2 car garage with 2700 square feet and one floor. BIG difference. We are actually going to be saving roughly $300 a month in this new house... BIG difference there as well. We are renting for now, but would eventually love to buy this house. There's a large living room, separate dining room, family room (which we have converted into a playroom), which is right off the small-ish kitchen. The laundry room/mud room is big. There's tons of storage throughout the house. Built-in bookshelves in the master bedroom and in the playroom. The screened-in patio is ginormous. There's 3 sets of sliding glass doors that go out to the patio. One set in the master bedroom, dining room, and playroom. It's right on the water with a dock... Only downfall... we have alligators. BIG alligators... 10-12 feet long alligators. I loved that we were moving into a house because that means we have a backyard. So, in order for us to be able to use the backyard, we have to be sans alligators. So, we're solving this issue by putting a fence up. I will defintely post pictures of the new house! We love our paint colors and it's starting to feel more "us" and like our home.


Now... lemme tell you all a story about what happened last night in this new house. My daughter kicked my husband out of the bed last night. Whenever she comes in to sleep with us, she knees him in the back, kicks him in certain spots, and just makes him miserable... So, my poor husband slept on the couch because she refused to go back to her bed. I hate when this happens. At about 2:30am LittleMonster woke up to eat. We fed him and he went back to sleep, but in the swing, which is right next to the couch in the living room. We have a pretty large playmat on the rug in the living room with a bunch of toys on the playmat, and one of the toys is a plushy sun that has that crinkly stuff in it. At about 3:00am my husband was woken up by the sound of that crinkly stuff... Like someone was playing with that toy... He sat up, and didn't see anyone playing with it, but still heard it. This kind of freaked him out a bit, which it would have me too, and he said out loud "Please stop that"... and it stopped. The elderly woman who used to live in that house, her husband passed away in that house. I'm thinking it was him... Just playing with the Baby's toys. I don't know if I believe in "ghosts" or spirits being present because I've never had an encounter. But, I don't doubt that it was him. I hope he is happy that our happy family is living in his house. I hope he sees how happy our kids are, and how full of love his house is, and is happy that we are taking care of his beautiful house.

- Jessica