Painting With No Purpose

There is never a moment in time where I, as a stay-at-home mom, don't have something to mark off my to-do list. Whether it's cleaning something (or someone), cooking something, making something, picking someone up, dropping someone off, getting someone dressed, etc, I always have something I am (or should be) doing.

That being said, sometimes I must shirk responsibility and do something just because I want to. So after working on a monster costume as seen here:

and realizing that I don't have the correct wire to make gigantic butterfly wings for my older child, I decided to do something I wanted to do. So...instead of cooking dinner like I needed to do (we had leftovers), I painted. I painted with no idea what to paint and no purpose and no idea of where I was going to put it. I grabbed 3 canvases that had already been painted on (unsuccessfully) and painted over them.

I love to paint. I'm not great at it, but I love to do it. So I started by painting over the existing paint. It was kind of hard to do because it was this horrible bright blue color. Well, first mistake, I used oil instead of just acrylic. I like oil paint, but it takes too long to dry and I have a 2-year-old that will have all of the walls drawn on if I don't pay attention to her. So, I got some paper towels, wiped it off, and started again. Well, after painting the background I couldn't decide on what to paint. So finally I decided on trees. A nice, neutral object that I can put wherever it fits. This is what I ended up with:

Not the greatest painting ever. It kind of seems like it needs something else. But I'm not adding to it...because if I add to it, I won't be able to stop and I will find a way to mess it up. So I will leave it like it is. I think it might work in my bedroom if I ever get the walls painted and my headboard redone. Two more things that need to be put on my to-do list!

Sometimes, you just have to do things because you want to do them. With all the things we HAVE to do, it's nice to get to do something for yourself every once in awhile!

To end this blog, I would like to say "cook this."

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sage-Pork-Chops/Detail.aspx?src=mer221
http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/view2/sweet_potato_bake

Make sure you replace the heavy whipping cream with Eagle Brand Cream. Very important.

An Educated Mother's Dilemma

These are my children.

They are cute. I know.

I recently had a mini-meltdown, though. I have a BBA in Supply Chain Management and an opportunity came up for me to take a job in that field with a GREAT company with excellent benefits and decent starting pay. I almost said yes. 

But I didn't. 

My question to myself was "Why am I wanting this job and at the same time, crying like a baby about going back to work?"

My answer was "Because I want both, and can't have both."

In a perfect world, we could separate work from family, but it just doesn't work that way. Especially when you have little kids. One always ends up winning over the other. One week, you may get a lot of family time in and feel great. The next week, work takes over your time and thoughts and the kids go to the back burner. It happens to everyone who juggles home and career. I just had to decide if that was something I was willing to do.

No money is worth my time with my kids, but I am nearly 27 years old and have zero experience in my field. I taught high school math for 2 years, so it's not exactly logistics. I feel like if I don't start now, I am going to be 30 years old with both kids in school and no one will want to hire me because I haven't worked in so long and never in my chosen field. In 2 years I could have moved up quite a bit. I many not get another chance with such a great company. So it's a lot to think about.

So I checked out a daycare. Seems pretty legit. I liked the people I spoke with and they had a good curriculum. It was also affordable. They also had before school care and after school care for my older child. If I had to leave my kids somewhere, it seemed like a good place. But even talking to the lady there, I was getting choked up. I got choked up in my interview when they asked about my kids. 

Obviously, that should be a sign that I am not ready to go back to work, but then again, I also have to take into account my future with a career. 

So I thought about it, talked about it, slept on it. Keep in mind I don't HAVE to work. My husband can support us, we just have to cut back on things so we can pay off our debt. My job would have been our debt removal. This means no fun vacations, not a lot of going out to eat (which is fine), and no more gym membership (also fine, we have neighborhood trails and Youtube videos). 

I had a talk with my dad about the job (he is in the same field) and although he was very supportive and thought it was a good opportunity, I was still having doubts. This was made obvious by me blubbering like a baby on the phone with him. My dad sent me an email about not worrying and praying about it, putting it in God's hands and he will put me on the right path. I am not very good at reading signs. But what I do know is that it makes me *literally* sick to think about leaving my children for 11 or 12 hours a day and only having enough time to feed them dinner before I put them in bed. And that is sign enough for me.

So my decision has been made. We will be cutting back. I will be working on a new budget. And actually following it this time. I will go back to school on my husband's GI Bill and get my master's degree. And I will be spending a lot of time with my girls. :)

I will just be an old lady when I start my career. And I feel okay with that.

Skin79 BB Cream Reviews

So the other day I mentioned I would be reviewing 4 different BB creams made by Skin79. It took me a little bit to try them all out, but I am happy to report that I have finally finished using them. I am going to make this short and sweet. Below I have the reviews and pictures to show you just how well (or not so well) they worked.

Day 1: Super BB Cream from the VIP Gold Collection

As you can see from the photo, this particular cream comes out tan. That was reassuring after hearing people say they looked very gray. It still isn't quite my skin tone, but I trusted that it would work it's magic like it was supposed to and blend to the correct tone. Here are my before and after photos. Keep in mind that I do not have good skin. It is blotchy, red, and I do have blemishes and scars. I am feeling super brave putting this in the interwebs!

Even though I didn't think about taking the photos from the same angle both times, you can still tell that there is medium coverage with this foundation. I wasn't super excited about it, though. It evened out my skin tone somewhat, making the blotchiness a little less noticeable, but my forehead got sunburned about 2 weeks before this and it was still kind of red looking on top. That didn't really get covered. It did feel good, almost as if I had no makeup on at all once it dried. It didn't feel greasy or heavy at all, which is a great thing in the hot, humid weather here in Houston. Overall, I would give this a 3/5. I will warn you, if you are in pictures with flash wearing this makeup, you will have ghost-face. The flash makes your face SUPER white. I think it's from the sunscreen in it.



Day 2: Super Triple Function BB Cream - Pink Label

This BB cream came out a little less tan. It was a little more gray-toned than the first one I tried, which was worrisome. This is actually the one I was going to buy outright before I saw the sample box. I love that they all have SPF 25!

Please excuse my crazy hair. I had JUST woken up!

So, as you can see, I have red spots, blotchiness (especially on the right side of my chin), and uneven skin tone. You don't have to use much of these creams. A little goes a long way unless you have an especially hard to cover spot. This one was a little greasier feeling. Not even what I would call greasy, but compared to the first one it was more so. This one had a lot less coverage than I expected after reading reviews online, but all disappointment aside, it did have medium coverage. If you already have good skin that isn't oily at all, this would be a good cream for you. It seems to be a favorite from the reviews I've read on Amazon. All in all, I would give it 3/5. This one makes you even MORE white in flash photography, though.


Day 3: BB Diamond Collection - The Prestige Cream

Just the name "Diamond Collection" threw me off. It sounded...glittery. Seeing as I am not Ke$ha, a stripper, or a 15-year-old cheerleader, I wasn't very excited. On this day, I forgot to take a before picture. I am sure you will get the gist of it by now, though...considering I have humiliated myself twice already. :)

I cannot tell you how much I love this one!!! I put it on and I didn't even need anything else over it. It wasn't greasy, gave me great coverage, and I seriously didn't need ANYTHING else on my face. It stayed on all day, too. I even forgot to wash it off before I went to the gym and it stayed on at the gym. I leave the gym looking like I jumped in a pool. Seriously, this one was amazing. This cream gets 5/5 from me!!!

Day 4: BB Diamond Collection - Pearl - Luminous

I was in a hurry when I used this one, so I didn't get many pictures. Seriously, it doesn't even matter because it sucked. It was *literally* WHITE coming out of the bottle, which was a big red flag for me. I put it on. Oh my goodness...horrible. IT HAS VISIBLE GLITTER. No ma'am. No thank you. My husband walked in when I was putting it on and I was like, "Ewwwww!!! Glitter! It's awful!" You can FEEL it rubbing around on your face. It feels like sand. Seriously, I don't know why anyone would do this. It was SO white and I didn't even bother to see what the flash photography looked like because I knew it would be awful. I do give in to the fact that it dries super fast and doesn't feel greasy. That's why I give it a 1/5. I do not recommend putting this on your face. I can't even imagine what kind of damage those little pieces of glitter did to my skin when I rubbed it in. I was able to save the day with my CoverGirl (I know...it's cheap...but effective)  TRUblend minerals loose powder in translucent light (410). Seriously, that stuff is the best. It covers anything. So here is what happened after I fixed my makeup from the terrible glitter incident.

My high school geometry teacher always said KISS. Keep it simple, stupid. So I follow that rule with my makeup, as well. Too much is too much. Just like using too much Tylenol, you can overdose on makeup and look like a fool. So here is what happened after the stupid glitter cream.

I left it on. I didn't feel like washing my face because it dries out really easily. So I just got out my handy-dandy CoverGirl mineral powder and put that all over my face and neck. You don't need much, even if you have problem-skin!

Then I used a little bit of CoverGirl Instant Cheekbones in Peach Perfection (210). I put my blush directly on my cheekbones, not under. I also put a *little* bit down the line of my nose, straight down my chin, and brush a little left and right down the center of my forehead. Why? I don't know, I just have always done that.

Here are the brushes I use. The E.L.F. brush is for blush and the other one is for full-coverage with loose powder.

For my eyes I used Estee Lauder Pure Color Eyeshadow. I used Cinnamon (35) and Ivory Box (10). Cinnamon for the lid and outer eye up to my brow bone and Ivory Box for highlighting my eye right above my lash line. 

Then after that I just used a lash curler and CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Waterproof Mascara in Brown. I prefer waterproof mascara because it seems to keep the lashes curled and doesn't weigh them down as much.

That's it! 

There is one thing I want to clear up before I finish this post. Do not be confused by the American big brands of BB Creams. They are tinted moisturizers. That is all. Garnier, Maybelline, CoverGirl, etc. They are all just tinted moisturizers. With some of the brands you will even see that they replaced their tinted moisturizer line with a "BB cream." Don't waste your money. Unless you just like tinted moisturizer and don't have problem skin, you will be wasting your money. They are SO different from real BB creams.

Making yourself beautiful on the outside is always fun, but remember --

"Beauty is a short-lived tyranny." - Socrates

BB Cream Trial Run

I have been scoping out the interwebs, trying to find a suitable replacement for using base. I am sick of using heavy, yucky stuff on my skin, so I needed to find something light, with good coverage, and obviously, affordable. I am a huge Amazon fan, so that was the first place I checked.

There were so many options and most of them way overpriced. Drugstore brand makeup costs  about one and a half times as much on Amazon as it does in the store. Ridiculous!

After reading the reviews of about 300 (not kidding) different kinds of makeup, I kept coming back to the BB cream made by Skin79 as being my best bet. I like the fact that it starts out a grey-ish tone and ends up matching your skin tone. How cool is that?!? I know that this is possible because I used an Almay base that did a skin tone match and it started out a weird creamy grey color and matched my skin pretty well.

I almost bought the Skin79 BB Cream - Pink Edition. Almost. But then I started seeing all these things about the BB creams on Amazon being fake and I got really weary. I went to the Skin79 website and the cream is $28. Now, $28 really isn't too bad for a high quality product that you are PUTTING ON YOUR FACE. I don't mind paying that for something that I love. But I didn't know if I would love it. So I kept looking.

After awhile I read some more reviews and found a trusted seller on Amazon; PinkGelee. This seller just so happened to have a sample kit that I could get for $10. Not only is that less than half the price of the one I was going to buy, but I was getting to try 4 different versions of Skin79's BB creams. Good deal.

So I just got the cream in the mail. The plan is to use one at a time and do a review.

As I try these out, I will update the blog. Tomorrow is Day 1!

One Man's Trash...

I was inspired by my Mom and Dad's remodel. No, I am not remodeling. I just took their trash.

So...you know those ugly, old, brown panel walls from the 1970's?

Yep. Beautiful, I know. My Mom was so sad about losing it, I'm sure. Anyway, as I was leaving her house a few weeks ago (in the middle of the remodel) I noticed a nice big piece of this stuff. I am not even sure what part of the house it came from. Anyway, I asked her if I could take it. She was like, "Ummm..yeah?" So I did. I have seen so many pins on Pinterest of people doing artwork on wood, so I decided I would try my hand at it. Since I have sort of a blue, tan, brown, green, beachy vibe I am trying to start up in the house, I decided to go with something along those lines.

First I took the board out to the garage and painted it completely white with some flat wall paint I bought at Walmart in a 5-gallon bucket about...3 years ago. I randomly use it for stuff. I got it out of the clearance paint for like $15. My camera wasn't working at the time, so the first couple of pictures are from my phone. Forgive!

Here is the board. I forgot to take a before photo, so most of it is already painted.

Like I said, I used paint that I already had. I also used a rather wide brush. I tried to do mostly "dry brushing" because I wanted it to dry quickly and have a weathered, rustic look.

In some spots I layed it on a little thick, so I went and rinsed out my brush and went over the paint with a tiny bit of water still on the brush. After each stroke I wiped my brush with a paper towel. This is what it looked like after I had finished with the white paint.

I let that dry for...a week? It definitely could have been dry after 20 minutes or less, but I ran out of time to work on it, so it had to wait awhile. A couple of days ago I remembered that I had a blog and something to do for it. This blogging business is going to take some getting used to! I decided to give the next step a go and get some lines drawn on this thing!

I started out by using painter's tape to try and tape of the edges so I could just paint over it and not worry about anything bleeding over the lines. This did not bode well with my personality, as I could never get the tape quite right and I didn't feel like looking for a compass to make sure my angles were correct. So I went the old fashioned route...and used a ruler.

Basically, I just went across the board and decided how many chevrons I wanted. Then I measured equal distance to ensure that all of my chevrons would be the same size. Once I knew the distances, I started in on the chevrons. I didn't want all of mine to be the same with or the same distance apart, so it made me have to measure a lot more.  At each point where the chevron was going to peak, I measure the same distance and marked that on the board. Then I decided how wide I wanted that particular section to be and marked small lines all the way across. There are many ways to do this, and the way you choose really depends upon your personality!

I basically just kept choosing random widths of the chevrons and the distances between each chevron set. This really took me about 3 days because I kept stopping and starting. Between housework, doctor appointments, kids, cooking, and other random activities, it's hard to get a minute to sit down and do this!

Anyway, here is the board after I finished drawing in all of the chevrons.

It only took me...a week to remember that I had to paint it. So about a week later, I headed up to the craft room to see what I could whip up in the paint department. I decided on a blue-ish green. I didn't really want to mix the colors together, only to highlight a blue color with a green. Here are the colors I chose to use.

Three Apple Barrel acrylic colors: White, Leaf Green, and Caribbean. First, I just used the Caribbean to fill in the Chevrons. I put a tiny 'x' in each section that I wanted to paint, to make sure I didn't mess up.

As you can see, I didn't try to get too serious with making sure the paint was thick or anything. I wanted it to have a sort of "washed out" look. Once I got all of my chevrons painted in blue, I decided to do some dry brush painting with the green. This means I took my brush, dipped it in the green paint, and wiped it off until there was very little left on the brush and roughly painted over the blue.

As you can see, I used very little green. Just enough to highlight it. If I got any clumps of green, I just dipped my brush in a little bit of water and evened it out. Once I was done with the green highlighting, I watered down some white paint and did the same thing. The almost finished product:

Now, the reason I say "almost finished product" is because I ordered some brass seagulls to mount to the board. I ordered these off Ebay a couple of weeks ago and still haven't received them, so I will update when I get them done. Nonetheless, I am pleased with the results even if it was something really simple and not that involved!

My, Oh My! Cheeseburger Pie!

So I really didn't want my first blog post to be a recipe, but it is all I have had time to do here recently.  Not that I have anything against recipe blogs...they are my favorite! You should check out my friend Lauren's blog over at Ommy Noms if you are looking for some delectable delights! I plan on trying out her Watermelon Frozen Yogurt as soon as possible!


This has been the busiest 2 weeks of my whole summer! Therefore, starting a blog right now may have been a less than stellar idea, but when the mood strikes you, you just have to go for it. I figure since I have to cook for the husband and kids anyway, I can use recipes as my fillers for when I am super busy and don't have "project time."


Anyhow, I got the recipe idea for Cheeseburger Pie from Anne Coleman's recipe found at Disney Family and just tweaked it a bit for things I already had here at the house. If I had to go grocery shopping in this heat, humidity, and rain with my children...well, let's just say I wouldn't want to!


So Anne's recipe calls for several things I did not have. I didn't feel like cutting up pickles, so I substituted pickle relish into the meat mix, I used dried onion because I didn't have time to chop any, and I didn't have crescent rolls, but I did have my new favorite thing...frozen bread dough. I don't know if any of you have used frozen bread dough before, but I think it's amazing. Believe it or not, I did not even know you could buy frozen bread dough. I mean, I guess I just never thought about it before! I also used shredded cheddar instead of American because, well, that's just how I roll.


So, here goes the recipe!






Cheeseburger Pie


1 lb super lean ground beef
1 loaf of frozen bread dough
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped dried onions
1 Tbsp hamburger seasoning
3 to 4 Tbsp pickle relish 
2 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp mustard
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp dill pickle juice
2 Tbsp milk (I used whole, lactose free because that's what we keep in the house for the Taco Bird)
3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese


Thaw out frozen bread dough by following directions on the back of the package.*
Preheat the oven to 360. In a 10-inch glass baking pan, spray cooking spray to keep the bread dough from sticking. Roll or pound out dough to shape into the pan, pushing up the sides as if you were making pie crust. I used the end of a large plastic spatula to get the sides up the way I wanted. Once you get the dough pushed out far enough, place into the preheated over for 20 minutes. While the dough is cooking, you can prepare the meat mixture.


In a medium sized skillet, brown the ground beef. Mix in dried onions and hamburger seasoning. Keep an eye on the meat and make sure to keep the temperature on a low/medium setting. If you cook your beef too quickly, it will be tough. Once the meat has browned, mix in pickle relish, ketchup, and mustard. Cook for about 30 seconds to a minute and then mix in flour, pickle juice, and milk. Remove from heat and mix in 2 cups of the shredded cheddar. 


Check on your bread dough after 20 minutes is up and make sure it looks cooked. If your bread dough is not cooked, your pie will be soggy and that's gross. For real, it will be so nasty. I have made that mistake before! So if your dough is not cooked, cook it for 5 more minutes and that should do the trick. If you aren't sure if it's done, go ahead and do the 5 minutes anyway. It should not take more than 25 minutes to cook the dough if your oven is heating correctly.

Once your dough is cooked and you've gotten it out of the oven, pour your meat mixture into the "pie crust" and sprinkle the last cup of cheese on top. Stick it back in the oven (still at 360) for 10 more minutes. After 10 minutes your dough should be golden and your cheese should be bubbly!

*I didn't know I was going to cook this so my bread dough was still frozen. I put it on a plate and put it in the microwave, pushed the 1 Pound Defroster button, and hoped for the best. It worked!

To serve, I put a little bit of ketchup and mustard on top and sliced a dill pickle.

Not the greatest quality photos, I know. But I have lost my camera charger and only have my phone to work with for now!


I served this delicious, Garner-approved meal (she hardly eats anything and hates foods that are "mixed together") with fried corn. It's basically the same recipe my Nanny uses and I LOVE my Nanny's fried corn! (Hers is much better than mine.) It's basically just canned, fresh, or frozen sweet corn. Put it in a skillet with a ton of butter on medium/high heat, add in some salt, plenty of pepper, and about a tablespoon (or two) of sugar and fry it! It's so yummy. Not very healthy, but whatever, dude. 


So there it is! My first real blog post! I hope you all enjoyed!

In the beginning...

...there was my first blog post. And it was good.

I have created a space to share my projects, goals, recipes, and general fanciness with the world.

Stay tuned!