The World's Greatest Foundation- Tarte Amazonian Clay Powder

You can thank me later for this post because if you go buy this powder, you will be forever changed and I promise you won't use another foundation again. It's seriously that good.

I heard about this product through the blogging community. I saw about 4,000 posts about how amazing this stuff was. They claimed it was 3x better than Bare Mineral's face powder. I'm super picky about my foundation and that's one thing I'm okay with spending my money on. Previously, you could find me wearing Bare Mineral's, MAC, or Arbonne foundations. I still think all three of those make great products, but this one trumps them all.

The price is a little more than I typically pay, but it is worth every bit of $36 dollars.

Here's why I love the product so much:
1. It's light-weight, but provides full coverage. You don't feel like you have anything on and it goes on super smoothly, almost like an airbrushed finish....and if you have any blemishes it covers very good!
2. It looks super natural and matches my skin tone perfectly.
3. It does not make my face oily, but it doesn't dry out my skin either. It has the perfect amount of sheen.
4. It stays on all day, even if you sweat (like me!). If you wipe your face with a towel, it doesn't even budge.
5. It doesn't make my face breakout, it actually has helped it stay clearer.
6. I can tell it will last forever. A little bit goes a long way and they give you a good amount of powder in the container.
7. It's not messy like other powder foundations. The packaging is great because it has a mesh net that you dip your brush into, instead of having to tip the container into your lid and use it that way. It's also in the shape of a bowl so it helps keep the powder from spilling over the sides.

picture source

 There is also a special kabuki brush that is supposed to really help work the powder in and make it appear more like an airbrushed finish. I didn't buy the brush because it was too high and I already had something similar, but I've read the brush really does make a difference. I'm satisfied with my results without their brush.

 

picture source

You can buy it at Ulta, Sephora, Amazon, Tarte's website, and I've also heard QVC had a really good deal where you could get the brush and foundation for the price of one...too bad I didn't call my Me-ma about that one. She is the QVC queen!

I hope you guys try this stuff and like it as much as I do. I promise you won't be disappointed. It is worth every penny! 

What I've Learned in Our 1st Year of Marriage...

I am not a relationship or marriage expert, but here is what I've learned after being married to

Aaron for 1 year.

#1. Once you become married, no matter how long, you will be asked eleventy billion times when you're going to have a baby. Just be prepared, it will happen over and over again. 

#2. Laundry folding parties are fun. Aaron and I pile the clean laundry on the guest bed and then when it gets unbearable, we have a laundry folding party together. It's amazing how a big stack of clothes can disappear so quickly when there's two working on it. Samson gets on the bed and joins in on the fun and it's actually a time I have grown to cherish. Lots of great laughs and conversations have taken place during said parties.

#3. When one person cooks, the other person cleans the kitchen. This is a rule we have established. It works great for us. I especially like the rule because 9 times out of 10 Aaron will volunteer to cook just so he doesn't have to do the dishes. 

#4. Going to bed together at the same time is a huge priority and can make all the difference in the world. Even if we're both not tired, or we still have things to get done, we ALWAYS go to bed together. I believe it is a good habit to get in to. 

#5. Making a pallet on the floor, snuggling up with Aaron & Samson, eating popcorn & watching a movie is probably my idea of a perfect night. I can't count how many times we've done this in the past year, and it is definitely one of my favorite things. 

#6. Long walks with Samson are good for our souls. That sounds super cheesy, but I really do believe it. I love them. We are outside in nature, getting exercise, there are no distractions, no electronic devices, and there are always good long talks. It's where we get on the same page....do our future planning, talk about important things, talk about how our day went, etc. Some of my favorite memories during our first year of marriage occurred on walks. 

#7. There are four things you can never over use in a marriage. Those four things are compliments, saying sorry, thank you, & i love you. It never gets old to me when Aaron looks at me during the most random time, when I feel like I'm looking rough, and tells me I'm beautiful. It also never gets old to me when I do something for him and he lets me know how much he appreciates it. For me, appreciation can make all the difference. Nothing makes me more mad than when I've done so much for someone and they don't even acknowledge it or say thank you. Don't forget to tell your spouse these things, and say them often.

#8. Dancing together in the kitchen or in the car will always lighten the mood and make you laugh. Aaron is not a dancer. I on the other hand, love to dance. For some reason, when I'm cooking, Aaron loves to come in the kitchen and either two step with me or booty bump. It will always put a smile on my face and make me laugh.

#9. Big burly manly men require a lot of food. A month of groceries for me is equal to a week of groceries for Aaron. I don't know how his mom kept up with feeding her 3 boys.

#10. There will always be some kind of season. When I was little and would ask where my dad was, my mom's response was always "what season is it?" My answer was either track or football season (my dad coached both). I totally get it now. Aaron has way too many seasons, I can't even keep up....turkey, deer, duck, fishing, hay, etc. Will they ever end?

#11. Creating and agreeing on a budget and a financial plan is a ALWAYS a good decision. It might possibly save you from wasting a bunch of time fighting over money. 

#12. Marriage is more FUN than it is hard. Everyone always says the first year of marriage is the hardest. I would have to say I disagree. Yes, it does take some adjusting and getting used to. You have to learn to be selfless and you have to put time and effort into it, but it is very rewarding and fun. I truly believe that my relationship with Aaron has blossomed and thrived so much more living here, away from all our friends and family. We were forced to rely on each other alone and when all you have is your spouse, you don't take that for granted. When we fight, we learn to get over it a whole lot quicker, because we have no where to run to. Marriage is a wonderful thing and I'm so lucky to do life with Aaron everyday. His sweet spirit and his kind, giving heart make it easy to be married to him. I thank God everyday for making him my husband. 

We spent our anniversary week in Red River, New Mexico at my family's reunion. It was an absolute blast and we enjoyed hanging out and spending time with my family. We got some quality alone time on our drive and we went out to dinner and a movie alone in Bricktown last night. We went to Kevin Durant's new restaurant. It was amazing and we will definitely be back. 

Our Wedding Day 2013 vs. Our First Anniversary 2014

There are a few traditions that we have started surrounding our anniversary. You probably will think it is cheesy and corny, but I love traditions and I think they're really fun and special. I once read a blog about a girl who's parents put their wedding dress and tux on every year on their anniversary (regardless if it fit or not) and danced in the living room to their first dance song. She said it is one of her most favorite family traditions and it is something she cherishes most about her parents relationship. After they danced, then they took a picture and put it in an album so each year you can see how they've changed and grown. I thought that was the neatest thing so Aaron and I have decided to do a few traditions of our own. 

Here are the traditions we've implemented:

1. Go on a trip somewhere different every year for our anniversary.

2. Dance to our first dance song.

3. Watch our wedding video.

4. Take a picture resembling our wedding picture and put it in a photo album.

Happy 1st Anniversary Honkie!! Here's to many, many more. Love you!

Busy Bee!

Same story, different day....super busy and trying to keep my head above water...that's my excuse again for my lack of blogging. So far it's been a fun and busy summer. We are constantly going and doing. Our to-do list seems never ending. I'm thankful for that though.

I got to take a fun little weekend getaway last weekend to the Fayetteville area. I was photographing my college friend's wedding. It was a beautiful and sweet wedding. It was super fun for me because I stayed one night with one of my best friend's and her family. We got to do some shopping together before I headed to the wedding. My mom was a savior and drove almost 4 hours to be my "photography assistant". She never actually took a picture, but she seriously saved my life. She kept me on schedule, carried all my equipment, let me boss her around like crazy, handed me things when I needed them, and kept me sane. I couldn't have done it without her. We got to catch up while working at the reception and I would totally hire her again to be my assistant. After the wedding, we headed to my aunt and uncle's house and stayed with them for the next two nights. My cousin, Blondell met us there. We went shopping at the cutest antique/flea market store, had lunch with my college friend and her boys, sat on the patio at Jose's and listened to a live band and sipped on swirls, and had lunch on the lake the following day before heading home. It was the perfect weekend...so relaxing and fun to catch up with everyone. I loved every minute of it!

A few pics from the wedding. 

 Daisies & Olives....the cutest store ever. If you're ever in the Prairie Grove, AR area, you must go.

 Dinner at Jose's.

Lunch with these cuties.

The only negative thing about the weekend was I dropped my favorite lens at the wedding and it fell pretty hard on solid ground and broke. Thankfully, I had a back up camera so it didn't mess anything up. I had to buy a new lens this week because I had upcoming photo sessions. I'm so excited though because I bought an upgraded lens and it's amazing how much better it is. I'm so excited about it. I was playing with it the night I got it and took this picture of our sweet pup.

He always lays just like this with his paw bent back and his favorite "ducky" never leaves his sight. It is so funny because he will not get in his bed until he finds his ducky and brings it to bed with him. It is too cute. 

This weekend we just hung out at home and played outside in the water. Saturday I floated the river for the first time with my friend, Jana. We rented kayaks and it was so much fun. I can't believe I've lived here an entire year and have never floated the river. I see many more float trips in my near future. It was so relaxing and we even got caught in a storm. We had to dock our kayaks and get off the river twice, but we did enjoying a little kayaking in the rain which felt wonderful. Today I went to the lake with my friend, her mom, and her little boy. We just laid out on rafts and soaked up the sun. My idea of a perfect weekend. Aaron has been working hard helping his friend out in the hay field while I stay busy with editing. He has got quite the farmer's tan going on. I'm pretty jealous about it. 

We've got lots of exciting vacations and weekend trips coming up in the near future. One is with my immediate family and my dad's side of the family, one with my in-laws, and one with my high school best friends and their husbands. Stay tuned for pictures and posts about those trips. I can't wait. 

We will also be celebrating one whole year of marriage this time next week. So crazy how fast time flies. 

Hope you are all having a fun summer so far!

Productivity Makes Me Happy!!

I had a very productive weekend. Although, I would have rather been outside doing something fun all weekend, I got a lot accomplished and that always makes me happy. I've been working full time so I don't have all my weekly spare time to get chores, errands, editing, and other projects done. It's been a while since I've worked 5 days a week and I just now realized how spoiled I've been for the last few months. Although, I'm not complaining because I'm thankful for a full time job.

This weekend I...
-Went grocery shopping. I decided I'm going to test out the whole meal planning on the weekend and having a menu for Mon-Sun. We'll see how it goes. I'm not a cook and I don't enjoy being in the kitchen so we'll see if I can muster up the energy to cook every night. Wish me luck.

I went ahead and decided to reward myself while grocery shopping. I was in the mood for some gelato and I discovered these guys. I thought the packaging was enticing and the flavors were making my mouth water so I bought them. It is probably the most expensive little pint of ice cream I've ever bought, but totally worth every penny. You have to try them...they are absolutely amazing. Your mouth will thank me later, or it might curse me because you will never want your freezer to be without these again.  They are vegetarian, gluten free, HFCS free, and hormone free. You can find them at Wal-Mart.

-Closed up shop and moved out of my craft booth. I just don't have time for it anymore and I haven't added anything new to it since Christmas so I decided it was time to be done with it. I am having a garage sale this Saturday (I promise this weekend I really am having one) and I'm selling everything that was in my booth for cheap so please come buy it all. I WILL NOT take it back into my house if it doesn't sell.

-Did a photo shoot for this cutie and I edited a newborn session that I've been needing to edit forever ago. I feel so much better now that it's finally done.

How great is his "duck face"? I love it! His dad was tickling his nose with a leaf and he made this face over and over again. So stinkin' cute. 

I really despise editing pictures...it is the absolute last thing I want to do everyday when I get home from work and it takes me a long time to convince myself to sit in front of a computer all evening and edit, but then I start editing pictures like the ones I'm currently working on below and I remember why I love doing what I do. Because these precious moments are what life is all about and I'm so glad I get to capture those moments for people that I love oh so dearly.

-I cleaned the house, washed and folded every last piece of laundry, washed the outside and inside of my car, took Samson on multiple walks, and met with a friend to plan her daughter's 1st birthday pictures.

Can't clean house without lighting a candle. This is my current favorite from Bath & Body Works....Provence Garden. It smells amazing.

-We also managed to squeeze in a fun date night to dinner & a movie. We don't go to the movies very often, but I love it when we do. We saw the movie Neighbors. It was sooo bad, but a little funny. One of those where you feel terrible for laughing at it. Or one of the ones you don't go see with your parents.

Love him! It's June and that means we will be celebrating our 1st anniversary this month in New Mexico. So excited....I am in desperate need for a vacation.

Hope you all had a great weekend. Sorry for a totally random blog post, but I thought I'd write a post while I was on a productive kick. Tomorrow I will be back under my rock editing away. I've got three more sessions to edit, a wedding to take this month, and two more 1st birthday pictures to take all before our trip. If I don't update my blog for a while, you'll know why ;)

Memorial Weekend!

I hope you all had a safe and fun Memorial Day and weekend. I know we did. My goal was to relax and enjoy the outdoors.

Friday night, Aaron's brother came into town to spend the weekend.

Saturday, we went to Greer Spring for the first time. We hiked to the spring and took in all the pretty scenery. That night we hosted a cookout at our house with a group of our friends.

Sunday, we went to the creek. I swam and soaked up some sun while the boy's fished. Then, I attempted to fish and I actually caught one! He was little and cute. 

 Aaron caught these 3 small mouth bass.

My little perch friend.

Monday, we headed to the lake with some of our friends and spent the day boating and enjoying the water. It was the perfect weekend and exactly what I needed. 

FYI- this Sat I'm having a garage sale so if you live in the local area, please come buy some stuff. I'll be selling two headboards, all the stuff in my booth, tons of clothes, bridesmaid dresses, purses, shoes, etc. Come check it out!

My New Kitchen Table

I was not in the market for a new kitchen table. I had a big wooden table with six chairs and it worked great for us and fit all our guests, but I had dreams of a table with antique white distressed legs and a barn wood top. My plan was to re-do our table by myself. It was a project that intimidated me and I kept putting it off. Then, one day I was antique/flea market shopping in the area and I laid eyes upon the most gorgeous table that was exactly what I was looking for. I thought it was a reasonable price and I ended up buying it that day. The only problem was that it didn't have chairs. At first I thought I would keep my chairs and just paint them to match, but I really didn't like the way they went with the table. I had trouble selling my old table without the chairs so I finally decided to start looking for some new chairs. I knew I wanted parson chairs, but I didn't want to pay the price (I'm a super tight wad).

I got online to browse Facebook and a set of parson chairs on an online yard sale page popped up on my news feed. I knew it was meant to be. I messaged the girl and scored these two parson chairs for $25. I was pumped. They needed some TLC...the springs were broken, I wanted to stain the legs, and recover them.

The chairs before

I researched fabric for hours trying to find exactly what I wanted. Finally, I stumbled upon a website called Warehouse Fabrics. They had tons of fabric to choose from and they are super cheap. I got my fabric for less than $9 a yard. Shipping was free on orders over $35, and it shipped to me in less than a week (and that was with it being back ordered). Needless to say, I was super impressed and I will for sure be using them again.

I found the sweetest lady locally that is a saint and a pro at reupholstering. I'm so glad a friend referred me to her and if you need her name and info, please let me know. I'd be glad to give her more business and I know  you will be happy with her work. She fixed the springs, recovered the chairs, and stained the legs all for $66. In my opinion, after getting quotes from many other places back home, that price is unheard of. I picked up the chairs tonight and I was so pleased. They are exactly what I wanted.

The chairs after

I wanted 3 parson chairs and a bench, so if anyone finds a good deal on a parson chair, please let me know. I'm on the lookout. I found a little bench at a local antique store a few weeks ago. It was cheap and had a rustic, shabby chic look. I'm not quite sure if I'll stain the wood like the top of the table, or if I'll just leave it be. I'm kind of liking it as is. It has white chipped paint on the legs, but I think I'm okay with that. What do you think?

I guess I'll stop boring you with all my explanations, and just show you the finished product. Just imagine it with one more matching parson chair. 

I'm super happy with the end result and I'm so glad I found the table, chairs and an awesome new upholstery friend. I will be using her again! Oh and I'm happy to announce that my old table sold this weekend...YAY!!!

It's Mother's Day, I'm Not a Mom, but I'm a Mess!

Church today was good for my soul. Not that it always isn't, but it really was today. You see, the older I get, the more sentimental and emotional I am about certain things. Motherhood is something that has always been emotional and amazing to me. I love nothing more than watching the bond between a mother and child. Hence the reason why I love doing newborn photography.


I am not a mother. I am not ready to be a mother yet, but I constantly dream of that day and wonder what it would feel like.


It all started at church today when the preacher asked everyone to raise their hand if they were sitting in church today with their mother. It seemed like almost every hand in the sanctuary went up.....except for mine and Aaron's. And then, I cried. I looked over at Aaron and I could tell he was feeling the same way as me. We missed our moms (and of course our dad's too).


Then, the preacher asked for all mother's to raise their hands. Next, he gave flowers to the oldest and youngest mother's in the room. The oldest was 80 and the youngest was 21. Then, he gave flowers to the mother with the most children with her at church....she had all 4 grown children with her. And I cried.


All of that got me thinking. I began thinking about everyone in that room and in my life who has lost their mother this last year, or in year's past and how hard this day must be for them. And I cried.


Then, I noticed the mother sitting in front of me with her baby who was of a different ethnicity than her....assuming he was adopted, I began to think of all my friends and family members who would make the most amazing mothers, but are struggling to conceive and those who have chosen to adopt...and I cried.


Then, a group of women and their children went to the front of the church to take the offering and a woman standing next to her mother and daughter was asked to pray and she couldn't get through the prayer without crying. It took me back to Easter Sunday when my mom prayed over our lunch and she boo-hoed during her prayer thanking God for having both her children home. Her tears were contagious...and again, I cried.


Then, I thought about all my friends who were given the gift of motherhood this year and year's past and all their precious babies whom I love dearly...and I cried.


I don't know what got into me, but once I started, I just couldn't stop. When we got into the car after church, Aaron asked what was wrong with me and I explained it to him just as I have on this blog and I was bawling.


All this to say, I am thankful for my mother and all other mother's out there. The way you sacrifice and provide for your children is a beautiful thing to me.


Who can find a virtuous woman? She is far more precious than jewels...
Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle.
Her sons rise up and call her blessed.
He husband also praises her:
Many women are capable, but you surpass them all!
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.
~Proverbs 31:10, 25-30

I love you mamma!!