Review: Tricky Twenty-Two

Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't want to rate this a 4, but it's not a 3, but I wish I could rate it as a 1. I don't know. I've always been confused when rating any book in the Plum Series of Unfortunate Events. I enjoy listening Lorelei King tell me the lastest disasters in Stephanie's world. That's just it though, there is always such a disaster. Like how many cars? How many injuries? How is she still alive? Yet, she is and for some reason I cannot stop reading about her, and following her into her next tragedy. I laugh. I roll my eyes. I keep reading. I want to stop reading this series because it never really goes anywhere - yet, I must keep reading. I wish Moreli (or Ranger) would get a job with the CIA or FBI or MI6 whisk Ms. Plum away (taking grandma of course, one of the best characters in my opinion) and start anew. Leave the love triangle and ridiculous disasters, her insane family behind and move on. She does need to take Lula with her though, personal assistant maybe? This installment gets a 4 because I felt, I may be reaching for this, that is actually made some progress? Maybe not. I liked it though.

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My Skin Care Routine

i have been blessed with, generally, pretty well behaved skin. i’m not going to lie sometimes it’s picky about make-up and cleansers, it doesn’t like the sun (can you tell from my ghostly whiteness?), it has a couple of dry patches, and the occasional blemish/pimple and full on breakouts at times. other than that I consider myself pretty lucky in the skin department. when i was younger i would wear make-up and promptly go to bed at the end of the day without washing it off. in the morning i’d take a shower rinse my face and then put more make-up on. i never really took care of my skin. never ‘washed’ my face like i was supposed to. (gross, i know). as i’ve gotten older and started to really fall in love with make-up all over again i’ve realized i need to take better care of my skin. so after a lot of trial and error this is the system i have found that works for me.

first is cleanse – i use The Body Shop’s Camomile Eye Makeup Remover. it’s cooling to the eye, which is great for redness and puffiness yet, it removes the eye makeup. i really enjoy it. after removing my eye makeup i breakdown and remove my face paint & wash my face with the Boscia MakeUp – Break Up Cool Cleansing Oil. it’s a fascinating item as you put it on your face before you wet it. using your hands rub it all over to wash of the grime and war paint of the day.

second, toning – i think this has helped me out greatly. i have been through so many different toners – so many and could never find one that wasn’t too drying, too stringent, too harsh, too gentle – then i found out about this magical concoction that has become my Goldilocks facial toner. i mix 1 part raw apple cider vinegar with 1 part rosewater & glycerin, which i order from amazon. after i wash my face i soak a cotton round with the magical concoction. i let it dry on my face. this has helped breakouts go away soon, balance out my skin tone, and just generally helped the overall quality of my skin.

third – eyes – i always put my eye serum/cream on before my face lotion this way i’m not contaminating my sensitive eye skin with thick face lotion. i first apply my Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Eye. if you have not used this, you are missing out. it does amazing things for my dark circles and extreme puffiness (we’ve all had those hard weeks or weeks of excessive crying). also helps to soften and tighten up the under eye area while you sleep. it’s worth every penny. after i give that a little while to sink in i use the Nourish Organic Avocado & Argan Eye Cream. this gives my eyes a softer and more youthful skin texture as well. plus, it just feels great on the skin. the serum i use only under the eye to top of orbital bone and up to the outer corners. the cream i put on all of my eye – lid and all. remember to tap not rub eye product in while using your ring finger for a lighter pressure.

fourth – moisture – love the Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate Serum. love. serious love. it’s amazing. i put this on at night before my moisturizer and my skin feels like new fresh baby skin in the morning. so healing and nourishing to the skin. a little goes a long way. i use it on my neck up to my hairline. after i use the serum i apply my favorite moisturizer. it’s drug store. it’s the best for my skin by far. i have tried high end, highly reviewed, highly praised night creams and the Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Night Moisturizer is by far the most amazing. i’m only 31 but started to get little crows feet, deeper forehead wrinkles, etc and this has completely made them invisible. no lie. completely. it’s very hydrating and corrective.

start/finish – water spray. i know this seems silly. after i wash my face before i tone, and after i moisturize before i shut my eyes i spray my face with ‘fancy’ water. i don’t know what’s in this water or why but i do know when i don’t use it my face moisture changes drastically – i’ll get more dry patches, more oily patches, and more redness. it is so healing. i love this stuff. Eau Thermale Avene Water Spray. seriously, use it – you won’t be disappointed.

lips – lips are tricky little things. too much and they wrinkle too little and they wrinkle – they are very sensitive but require the same amount of care as the rest of your face. don’t forget about them. in the winter i’ll polish them at a maximum of 3x a week with the Fresh Sugar Lip Polish. everynight after i’m done with my skincare i’ll put the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask on the top before I go to sleep. This combination helps keep them healthy without chapping or adding more wrinkles. I really like the Fresh Polish because it isn’t as harsh and is finer than most other lip scrubs that are out there. The Bite Beauty lip mask? Have you used anything by Bite Beauty? Hands down the best lip products (in my opinion). It keeps them soft and nourishes the lips while you sleep. it’s thick but leaves my lips like new in the morning. i use the C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve in the morning to give my lips a little more protection before putting on my daily war paint.

 

when i get up i rinse my face off with the Neutrogena Make Up Removing Wipes – just to wipe off the night sleepy face. in the winter i use the Ultra Hydrating ones just for a little bit more moisture – especially where i live because it’s such a dry climate in the winter. then i apply the Tarte Maracuja Bronzing Serum – did i mention i was pale? i like to give my face some nutrients underneath before i put on my make-up and this gives a little natural bronzing to your skin – a little glow. not to mention it helps even out skin tone & texture and it feels good and looks good too!

i like using the First Aid Beauty Face Moisturizer (all i have right now are the little packets that i use for travel until i get back to sephora). so hydrating for the winter and gives a great base for makeup to lay on top of as well. 

morning eye cream – Origins GinZing . it tingles, it cools, it feels amazing. this is fantastic for dark circles and eye puffiness. i think there are magical particles in this cream. tightens & brightens.
 

about once a week or sometimes twice depending on the shifting of skin i’ll do a pretty strong exfoliation. my favorite is the Green Apple Peel by Juice Beauty. the smell is, interesting but it leaves you pores clean and skin like glass!

take care of your skin – you only get one! products and makeup will go on smoother and look better when your skin is healthy and hydrated. i’d love to hear what you use and why you love it so much! it’s good to change things up from time to time so share with me what are you using and loving?

Enjoying the Little Things

When I first started this blog eight years ago it was a place to capture the little unknown blessings of the day to day. I believe in God – in fact I know He lives and loves me and blesses me constantly. Sometimes we loose focus on those little blessings and forget to look for them especially with all the nonsense that faces us on a daily basis. How many hours do I spend mindlessly watching the television? How many hours of my day am I clicking refresh on facebook only to see that nothing has changed or it’s just more of the depressing political arguments clogging my feed? How many times a day do I open instagram to see things that really don’t matter to me from people I don’t even know but I follow them anyway because their life seems so much more glamorous and better than mine? By spending all those hours looking through my life, around my life, and at anything but my life I miss out on so much. Too much.

I’ve been thinking this week what can I do to more fully see my life? What can I do to notice more of the little blessings I sat out eight years ago to find? I think the answer only comes in removing some of these items from my day to day habits. Not completely but I don’t need them staring at me in my face all day long – all the time. Other peoples lives shouldn’t be the first thing I think about when I wake up nor the last thing I think about before I go to bed at night. It’s hard to count your blessings or thank your Father in Heaven for the things He has given you throughout the day if you don’t notice them. One of my friends posted this quote yesterday:

Then she said, “Take action! Are you doing what you know is right? Is there something small and simple you can add or change to enrich your life?” This really hit me – especially the small & simple. There are so many small and simple things I could remove from my life! So many. Like I said before this year, for me, is just trying to live the best I can each day. Some days I struggle. Some days I have to fight. Some days are wonderful. I know I would see more wonderful days if I focused more on what should be the focus in my life. Me and my family. This month I really want to try – less social media, less television, more reading, more scripture study, more life (whatever that means), and more living while doing less mindless actions for the day.

Facebook only at certain times of the day not every time I see a computer in my view or have my phone in my hand. Instagram lunch break or if I want to post something. I also will be removing all the people I don’t get anything of value from following. Television I’ve actually done really good in this area – especially after getting my grandmothers piano – I’d rather play than watch TV – so really I usually watch Jeopardy every day along with one other show and that’s about it. Which for me is a HUGE change.

I know changing habits won’t be easy – in fact it will probably be quite difficult to do – but I’m willing to try it. I want to reprioritize my life to the things that matter – because really finding what matters to you in your life relieves so much un-needed and un-wanted pressure and stress or at least I’m hoping that will be what occurs! So like the gold inkling that came with my planner for this year…

growth for twenty fifteen

“each moment in life is unique. though you may have experienced a thousand sunsets, you have not experienced this particular sunset. the same is true of a lifetime or in breaths, or in the hundredth time you taste your favorite desert. this particular breath and this particular taste have never happened before and will never happen again.”

in 2015 there are many changes i want/need to make. i’m changing as a person into the person i want to be and the person that i am. my blog should reflect those changes as well – there will be more photos, more books, more recipes, and more life. in twenty fifteen i want to focus on becoming me, finding the daily joy, and growing stronger in my relationship with my Father in Heaven. i’ve seen a lot of people over the past few years pick a word of the year – and i thought i would jump on the wagon this year and select my word.
 
there is so much growth i want to make this year. i want to grow as a person, in my talents, and my relationships. i want to grow in my habits, my hobbies, and my life. there are up’s and down’s to growing – some pain & some joy. i saw this quote tonight that really ‘hit the nail on the head’ with what my word for the year would be.

“some periods of our growth are so confusing that we don’t even recognize that growth is happening. we may feel hostile or angry or weepy and hysterical. we may even feel depressed. it would never occur to us, unless we stumbled on a book or a person who explained to us, that we were in fact in the process of change, of actually becoming larger, spiritually, than we were before. whenever we grow, we tend to feel it, as a young seed must feel the weight and inertia of the earth as it seeks to break out of its shell on its way to becoming a plant. often the feeling is anything but pleasant. but what is most unpleasant is the not knowing what is happening. those long periods when something inside ourselves seems to be waiting, holding its breath, unsure about what the next step should be, eventually become the periods we wait for, for it is in those periods that we realize that we are being prepared for the next phase of our life.”

i know this year won’t be easy but i also know it will have it’s good moments and i’ll be able to see them and enjoy them more fully than i have in the past. growing scares me but i am looking forward to it at the same time.

i promise to enjoy each moment & each day in 2015. focus on me. focus on growth. focus on the joys.

dear two-thousand fourteen,

you were a rough year – i won’t lie or try to deny it. i don’t even know where to start 2014.

you were quite the stagnant year, or at least in my mind. i went to work, i went home, i did nothing. i grew increasingly irritable & sad. bored & impatient. i didn’t find excitement in the things i had in the past. you were a very emotional year – full of losses & some gains. i didn’t notice the gains i could only focus on the losses. you were a life changing year. i learned lessons. i learned a lot about myself. i learned i didn’t like who i had become – you made sure to throw it in my face so that i saw and got up the nerve to do something about it. you were a hard & difficult year, quite the roller coaster in every sense of the word. there were ups & downs. through your ups & downs you helped me start to learn what i needed to do to become a better me & put me on the process to living a happier & fuller life. i shed more tears than i think i had before – both happy & sad. the mister & i grew closer together and started creating a ‘newness’ in our marriage. i lost some relationships & gained some amazing ones that i wouldn’t trade for anything. i didn’t travel nearly as much this year as i had hoped nor did i go see the beauty of this great state we now live in. you reminded me that i needed to journal more than i had been. you reminded me that people can care. you reminded me that it’s okay to be who i am right now. you reminded me of my love for makeup. i’m learning to love me because of what you taught me last year. you sent my beautiful sister out to learn & grow in the world where she is thriving & teaching me with every letter i receive from her. you took me to visit with my grandma which was such an incredible & fun time. we adopted a beautiful & loving maltese/poodle mix who brings joy into my day everyday. yet you threw trials at more of my loved ones & expected us to grow. you were the year i decided i needed to take care of me & it was okay to ask for help and do what i needed to do to become the me i had lost. you were the year that let me know it’s okay to take back hope & grow.  what you taught me 2014 is that i need to put my attention on God, on myself, and on my little family. i put too much attention on you last year, on life & struggles. in the end what i have taken from your crazy ride is that i need to take my happiness into my own hands – thank you for the trials & awakenings 2014, because of what you taught me last year – i know i can continue to grow and make 2015 better than most of the years in the past have been by focusing on enjoying the moments as they come & not on counting down til that present moment is over & the next one begins.

thank you for the memories but goodbye two thousand and fourteen – you will not be missed.