October Ipsy Bag

My October Ipsy bag came in the mail today. Got to admit I haven't been that happy with my bag the last few months and although I liked a few of the items in last months bag (see below) it didn't wow me. But this months bag is really promising. I especially love the nail polish from OPI. And it will go great with the Essie nail strips I recently snatched from the Dollar Tree a few weeks ago!

I've never used NYC mascara so I'm really looking forward to trying it out and will let you know what I think. The other three products are completely new to me and although they are small samples I am looking forward to using them in the future. I have an entire bag of samples that I'm hoarding to use when we travel (which hopefully next year will be just a bit more then we've been able to do this past year). 

September Ipsy bag. My favorite items were the lip gloss and eyeshadow brush. Still haven't tried the face cleanser (but its in my travel stash for later). 

Essie Nail strips. I keep telling you all not to sleep on the Dollar Tree!! lol 

And it doesn't hurt that this months bag is in one of my favorite colors! I know everyone doesn't count the bag as part of their Ipsy bag haul but I'm a bag addict (if you haven't noticed) and the bag is just as important to me as the products in them! lol 

Family

Hard to believe but in just a few weeks we will celebrate 6 years at WABC! I found this picture evoke searching through old albums for the upcoming celebration. What I love the most about this picture is that most of the people standing behind us are family! I love my family to life! I understand that not every family is as blessed as I am and it makes me even more grateful to God for placing me in the one he did! Whenever you call on them they will be there if at all possible. And it doesn't matter if its for me or Marc. From the moment we married he became a part if them and they love in him just as if we was one of their very own..which he is! That to me is what family is all about!

Making Strides Walk

This past weekend family and friends got together to support our sista Sonia at the Making Strides against breast cancer walk event at Mount Trashmore.

Some of the family and friends gathered before the walk!

 My Sister cousins who came to walk with me.

This is Sonia's youngest daughter and I. Not sure what I was talking about! lol

The start of the walk! 

We have had several family and friends effected by cancer so this cause is very dear to my heart.

Some of the WIT wives along with my cousins after the walk.

I love these ladies to life! They drove over and hour that morning just to support and walk  with me!  

The entire group of Sisters in The Fight!

Summer favorites

This little Dooney&Bourke bag was a life saver this summer. My arm still gives me trouble from time to time and there are some days I can't carry a large bag on my shoulder. This was a gift from a friend for my birthday and I love it! 

I'm still interested in trying the Clarisonic but my Mary Kay skinvigorate has been great to use!! 

This extra large hearing pad has been another life saver. I suffer from severe back pain at times and sometime this is the only thing that saves it and..... it covers my entire back!! 

I wore this JustFab bag to death over the summer. It's a nice size but its not so large that I can stuff it full of stuff! Which if you know me i could! lol 

Without a doubt my favorite book over the summer was the YaYa Prayer Group series by Neta Jackson. 

The Tone body wash and the Lubriderm lotion have been favorites all summer. I have been having issues with dry patchy skin and the Lubriderm lotion is the only thing that seems to help heal it. 

I picked up this set from Catos around Easter. I love that you can wear it dressed up or dressed down! I've worn it with dresses and jeans. 

Speaking of Dresses!!! I wore way more dresses this summer then I've worn in a while. I loved this one soo much I picked it up in two colors. lol 

My daughter said this looks like a kids changing pad. It's not! lol But if your a 50 year old women you will appreciate having a chill pad in your pillow. This thing doesn't have to be refrigerated either. It just rechills itself after about five hrs! So at night when I get hot I am resting my head on a cold pillow. It's like heaven!!! lol Nicki got it from a friend.

Lastly I really love the Coconut Lime Breeze bath and body set I got for my birthday and I love, love my spa robe from Target. I just wish I could get refills of the body wash. 

I can't believe summer is coming to end. Anyone else besides me feel like this year has flown by? I mean there are already Christmas stuff up!! At the moment I can't even think that far ahead!! 

Stepping out of our comfort zone!

This week has been a week of change and stepping out of our comfort zone for both Marc and I! For the first time ever Marc dressed down for our first official dress down Sunday which will take place on 5th Sundays at WABC, and I led worship during the start of our evening bible study! We both had to step out of our comfort zone but knowing its where God has been leading us seemed to make it a bit easier. I am the first to admit I don't do well with change. I'm a planner by nature..it's just in my DNA. But my plans don't always (more often then not don't) coincide with Gods plan for me! Lets face facts. There are many places and things I would not have gone or done on my own! But God has led me to places and caused me to do many things I never imagined. Sometime we expect things to be a certain way when in fact God is telling us to find a new way! Even in his word he makes it clear that new is sometimes better! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says...Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We tend to cling to the old when God is asking us to embrace a new thing! If we really have confidence in God then ask yourself why are you afraid? Why do you keep looking backward rather then forward? 

Proverbs 3:5-6 says Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path! 

If we really believe in the scriptures why do we have such a hard time applying them to our daily life?? At the end of the day Marc survived not wearing his suit one Sunday and even though my voice cracked during worship I made it through the set without passing out! 

What fear do you have that's keeping you from doing and being all that God has called you to be? Often we are distracted by things that mean very little to God and it keeps us from fulfilling our bigger purpose!

^{6 in all your ways acknow}

Bookshelf!!

I'm a bookworm and I don't apologize at all for my addiction! Other then the purchases I made at Ikea and the Container Store books were the only other thing I picked up while on vacation! Notice a pattern?? I mean why wouldn't a wedding planner want to read about weddings??  lol The larger book on the left had a whole series of books and I plan to go back and get the rest if I like this one! I don't know if you have an Ollie's in your area but if you do next to the thrift shop this is one if the best places to pick up books for cheap. None if these books cost more then $4.00 each! They also have a slew of cookbooks, coffee table books, travel books, fiction as well as autobiographical books and tons of children's books. They are usually discontinued books but you can't beat the prices. And it has one of the largest fictional Christian book collections I've ever come across.  

Ikea and Container Store Haul

Its almost fall and around that time I start getting the organizational itch again so being at the container store this weekend gave me an opportunity to pick up some shoe boxes so I can finish organizing my bedroom closets! I also so this little cord wrap thingy and took the plunge (a whopping $3.00...lol) and added it to my cart !

A few years ago I picked up a bunch of these packing bags for Marc and I but I was still short a few after using them a couple of times so I picked up an additional set this weekend. The ones I originally brought were navy blue to match my luggage but they didn't have those this time so I grabbed the pink ones. 

I've been really into fresh herbs this year but I suck at keeping plants alive. I thought maybe if I brought this cute green watering can that I might be more motivated to stay on top of the job!! 

If you haven't figured out by now I'm a bag and box person. I've been known to get more excited about what the gift is on rather then the gift! So when I saw this cutie for $1.00 I couldn't pass it up! I can carry it around in my bag for emergency shopping trips!! 

My last purchase of the day was this rod and hooks. I'm going to use it on an upcoming kitchen project!! 

I hemmed and hawed about purchasing this large wooden cutting board but for $10 Marc said I would be crazy to leave it behind (I was considering purchasing a much much smaller one for $6.00). I'm so glad I listened to him. It's huge and it fits perfectly over my counter (it has a lip at the end). I've been wanting a large wooden board for a while but the prices for them were outrageous! But this one...well you couldn't beat that price with a stick!! lol 

I usually love shopping but this trip I was more excited about exploring then buying a bunch a stuff. The purchases I did make were well thought out and were things I thought would add to my life rather then just add more clutter! 

Stayvavation: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday!

Wednesday Marc and I went back over to Yorktown to walk at the waterside.

We met my mom, cousin and my godmother for lunch and then headed to Colonial Williamsburg to walk around.

Originally we had hoped to vacation in North Carolina and tour the Biltmore Estate and other local landmarks but that just wasn't in the budget this year.

Thankfully my mom allows us to come and stay at her country estate whenever we would like. LOL On Thursday morning we packed up and headed up to Northern VA to visit a family friend in the hospital. The traffic was crazy coming back (as usual) so we stopped at The Container Store and Ikea before heading back home. As of right now we don't have any further vacation plans as Marc is about to head back to school next month to finish up his final year before graduating in May with a Masters Degree in Theology. After that we "plan" to take a family cruise (hopefully with Disney for the first time)!!!! 

Now though its back to the daily grime, which meant grocery shopping on yesterday and hopefully back to eating some healthier meals.