.anti-aging creams.

The time has come for me to realize that I'm aging. Wrinkles are beginning to appear. We won't even get into the UV-induced spots on my face from the years I used to tan in a salon. In an attempt to try to cover up my imperfections, I used to purchase my make-up shades darker than what I really needed. Yeah, more color is always great for this naturally pale girl, but orange hairlines and splotchy streaks are not so great. Recently, I purchased make-up more true to my natural skin-tone. I'm still getting used to flaunting my pale skin; however, I need some help covering up my un-even skin tone, under-eye darkness, UV damage, etc. Actually, instead of just "covering it up," I'd like to reverse some of these problems if at all possible. I'm sure there are some pricey products out there that would surely get the trick done; problem is, I can't afford them.

I'm on a drugstore budget but am resolved to the daily application of daily moisturizer with spf along with a nightly anti-aging cream. Here is what I've purchased for my days:

Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30.

Claims to even skin tone and texture with the help of a soy complex...

I'm going to wear this every day under my make-up.

My nighttime anti-aging cream:

Burt's Bees Naturally Ageless Skin Firming Night Creme

It's all-natural and claims to fight damage caused from free radicals.

Retails for around $25 but scored a bigtime deal by purchasing off ebay.

My price: $7.75 (including s/h)

I'm no skincare expert by any means. I did some online research before purchasing anything, and both of these products have good reviews as far as the affordable stuff goes.

I will be putting these products to the test and hoping for miraculous results. I would take a "before" shot of my face sans make-up, but no one wants to see that.

If anyone out there has ANY advice at all about anti-aging creams, blemish removing techniques, etc, please share the love right here!

.day four.

I haven't left the house in 4 days.

"Oh, looky there, Simon. It's snowing...again."

On the bright side:

• I've gotten lots of new things sewed the past few days
• I haven't worn a pair of jeans since Monday
• I've gotten to sleep in as late as I want to
• I get to eat whatever/whenever I want to with no witnesses

However there have been some negativianos:

• Minimal human contact. I might be forgetting essential social skills.
• I might forget how to drive my car
• My feet stay cold, even with socks on
• I eat whatever/whenever I want...
• Ran out of soda yesterday
  

Oh, and there's a photo contest going on at Angel Perry today. The theme is "Yellow." Here is my submission. I call it "Pug Mug."

.bedroom entrance alcove.

Today I want to share pictures of a small portion of our house that I actually feel is "complete." Sadly, after living in our house for a year now, this one tiny area is the only one I feel satisfied with (despite the crooked silhouette pictures).

This is the "alcove" or semi-hallway that welcomes you into our master bedroom:

I love to mix vintage with contemporary, and I love bright colors. The black table was given to me by my mother-in-law (a very exciting day that was!). The orange vase was a Christmas gift from my sister this year. It was a flea market find. The yellow picture frame was bought on clearance at Target and it holds a picture from my wedding day. The greenery was a thrift store find; the white ceramic bird was a flea market find, as well as the Readers Digest book. I made our silhouette pictures using black construction paper glued onto Hobby Lobby scrapbooking paper, and the black oval frames were also purchased at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.

A very inexpensively decorated portion of our home that I love and I feel suits the future vision I have for our home's style just fine.

As finances allow, each other room in our home will be "spiffed up," and I promise to share pictures as it comes along.

P.S. I apologize for the blurry pictures. :-)

Linked to: Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

.the great blizzard.

Yes, today in Arkansas we had a full-pledge BLIZZARD. I can now honestly say I've not only lived through one but now understand what constitutes a blizzard as opposed to just a really honkin' amount of snow. (Wind speed and amount of snowfall, etc.)

I didn't go outdoors once today. Sent Simon out only three times throughout the whole day. The poor thing was buried from belly down out there. The weatherman said we got 6-7" of snow accumulation, but we had drifts of over a foot.

I got a snow day off work (one of the MANY perks of being a teacher) and get another one tomorrow! Hubs came home from work early, about 11:30 am and took a nap before doing some work from home on his laptop. He's getting over a stomach bug, which speaking of that - I have to give the man major props for being one tough sucker. He literally threw up mid-shave, shaving cream all over his face, then immediately went right back to shaving as soon as he was done. That's a man right there, people. ;-)

I took pictures of some of the snowfall outside. These were taken about 1:30 pm, and the snow kept falling the rest of the day. Oh, and yeah the first two were taken while looking out a window.

Whilst stuck inside, I finally found the motivation to attempt my first homemade apple pie. My mother-in-law has the best recipe, and, even though I've surrendered to the truth that no matter how closely I follow her recipes, my results will never be as picture-perfect as hers always are, I can't help but try my hand at them and make sure the hubs gets some good eats from me every once in a while. ;-)

A few hours, a very messy kitchen, and a sore hand later (I hate peeling anything, period), the masterpiece was completed. Not to toot my own horn, but I nailed it. I mean, it doesn't photograph worthy of a Southern Living mag, and the crust was a little doughy as a result of being a tad too thick, but I'm still saying I nailed it. The flavor was right, and that (I've decided) is really the most important thing anyway! Here is my pie:

{a feat worth documenting every step of}

I am a fan of snow. Getting a day off from school/work because of snow never gets old.

Thank you, Lord, for the beautiful snowfall today and for keeping my family safe.

Here's to another Winter full of fun memories!

.resolutions check-in.

It's January 31st. A great time to keep each other accountable on our New Year's resolutions.

Normally, by this point I've already ditched all half-hearted attempts at sticking to all the things I resolved to do starting January 1st. This year, I resolve to not let that happen. The things I committed to do are just too important to ditch.

One of my resolutions was to read at least a chapter of the Bible every day. I am happy to say I have done this! It has made a huge difference in how each day played out, too. Better attitude, more reflective on God's blessings, even growing excitement for what comes next. All good things. :-)

My second resolution was to intentionally make it a point to be a blessing to someone every day. Being that I know I haven't purposefully sought out some way to do this every single day this past month, I guess you could say I've fallen short on this one. I can say that each time I intentionally sent a text of encouragement or gave a compliment without a second thought, it has inevitably been a blessing to me in return. I do intend to keep this going throughout the year, anytime the thought to do so crosses my mind. I'm not going to let the fact that I have fallen short on this one deter me from continuing on with it.

How are you holding up your end of the bargain with this New Year?

.bedroom inspiration.

So I'm planning a little (actually, quite large) master bedroom re-do! Here are a few pics from my inspiration file. With any luck, I'll be posting "before" and "after" pics soon!

It's going to be fun to put this all together on a budget!

.serenity.

What am I doing today?