Benefit Roller Lash mascara

My birthday was a few weeks ago and I recently became a member of Ulta's Ultamate Rewards program. I received an email on my birthday informing me that I had a free gift waiting for me, did I want to redeem.. Of course I want to redeem, who wouldn't want their free gift? Lol.. Anywho, I clicked redeem and I was taken to another page with a coupon for a free deluxe sample of Benefit's new Roller Lash mascara, no purchase necessary, I only had to take my phone with the coupon on it to an Ulta location and have them scan it or I could print the coupon (using my phone was simple).

Here is Benefit's details on this product..

It's a roller for lashes! The eye-opening Hook 'n' Roll brush grabs, separates, lifts and curls?while the instant curve-setting formula holds for 12 hours. Contains provitamin B5 and serin, ingredients known for their lash-conditioning benefits.

Let me tell you, this is my new all time favorite mascara! It curled and lifted exactly as it is suppose to. I was a little hesitant to believe it would work because I believed the applicator was way too tiny to do anything like what they were stating, but it worked!

This stuff really kicks all the other mascara I've ever tried out of the ring.. I'm super happy I wasn't too lazy on my birthday to run and grab it, though I'm honestly not to sure if the coupon was only usable on my birthday or if it had a certain expiration date (I was too excited to read that far).

If you haven't already, you should really give this mascara a try. Let me know how it works for you, I'd love to know!

I'm going to try and start blogging more, possibly a couple times a week. We shall see :)

Caress "Love Forever" review!

I was recently given the opportunity by Influenster to test out a new product from Caress.

As some of you may already know, Caress came out with a new touch-activated technology that, after use, releases a fragrance every time your skin is touched for up to 12 hours.
I received a full size bottle so I can test it out more than once to be able to share my very honest opinion.

The fragrance I received is "Love Forever". The fragrance is not too overpowering. Its very soft and subtle. A very pretty feminine fragrance. It has a rose smell with hints of berries. I honestly love this fragrance!

Using it for the first time was such a delight. It smelled and felt so amazing! I could've stayed in that shower forever, lol!
After my shower, my skin felt super silky and I smelled beautiful! I promise you, I am not over exaggerating! This stuff is some of the best body wash I have ever used! 
As for lasting 12 hours, I only noticed the smell when I touched my skin for near 8 hours. In my book, that is still incredibly awesome! 

I would definitely give this body wash an A+ and 2 thumbs up! I highly recommend everyone who loves silky skin and soft beautiful fragrances to try this!

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Selfish me!

This past weekend, my husband and I had the weekend to ourselves, or so I thought.

On Saturday morning after we woke up, my husband went outside to work on a car for a friend. That was fine with me, I was happy that I would get to go out there with him and help (as best I could), but then my father in law showed up. That was also fine, until he was helping him and I was pushed to the side. I got upset and went inside to calm down because I really wanted to be the one helping and I really wanted the weekend to be just us. My father in law also doesn't like my outside kitty cat and chases her away when she is near, that really upsets me, but this day it got to me a lot. After calming down some, I walked outside and I told my husband I was really hoping it would be a weekend for just us and I also told my father in law that I would appreciate him not being so mean to my cat. My father in law told me my cat is just a cat, I shouldn't worry about her, then they both laughed at me, like I was being crazy (maybe I was, idk). That upset me even worse, so I went back inside and cried, yes, I cried! I cried so much, I was so sad that my husband didn't stick up for me and tell his dad he needed to be nicer to my cat.. I cried to the point I started praying! I asked God to please help me with the sadness/anger I was feeling, I don't like feeling that way at all. After some time, my husband came inside and I told him how I felt. He apologized and hugged and kissed me. He really felt bad. I felt bad that I made him feel so bad. It was really all nonsense!

My whole reason for getting upset was because I wanted time with my husband. I could've had more time with him if I would've been outside with him instead of being so upset that I couldn't have him to myself! The entire weekend was spent with his dad and other people, but it turned out to be a pretty good weekend, still!

I don't like it when my selfish behavior gets in the way of my happiness! Its a habit that I really need God's help with. I'm super glad that I had God with me during that time, if I hadn't, I probably would have spent the entire weekend being upset.. whew!!

Thank you for never leaving my side, Lord!

Set the example!

You can tell a child the things that they should and shouldn't do in life as much as you want to. You can read the bible to them, take them to church and so on. You can tell them anything you want to, but if you show a child the things they should and shouldn't do, if you practice what you read in the bible, if you practice what you learn from church, if you do all this good in front of your child, they will have a better chance in this world as opposed to if you showed them all the wrong ways to live.

Children learn by example. Not just from mom and dad either. They learn from everyone around them, including television and radio. We have to be very careful, as parents, what we introduce our children to. It is much easier said than done, though. Sometimes family can be such a negative influence and that can be a very difficult decision to make, deciding wether to allow your child to be around this person or not.

My outlook is this.. My children did not ask to be brought into this world. While they are young, they are not wise enough to make decisions on their own. This is where we (the parents) step in. We need to take responsibility for these little blessings we have received from God. They can't manage life on their own and if we throw them out there, they will fall! We need to guide them. We need to lead them the way they should go. If our children see our happiness in life, when they are adults they may stumble but they will never fall. They will remember us and they will remember God. They may stray at times, but as long as we set a good example, they will never stray too far and they will return to what they know is good!

Lord, thank you for blessing me with such precious gifts, and Lord, help me to lead them the way they should go.

My angels!

Do you have children? If so, do they drive you crazy at times?

If you read my previous posts, you would know that I have a 6 year old son and a 4 year old daughter. They are so sweet at times, my little angels and I love them to death.. but sometimes, they become little monsters! They tear things up, they destroy anything I clean, they fight, they argue, they hit and kick and scream and act like they should be behind glass at the zoo! I honestly have to completely ignore them sometimes when they act this way! Its very hard to keep my patience with them.. they act like they want me to go completely insane, lol!

I have prayed for patience and guidance with them.. but in all honesty, I probably should pray more about it than I do! They need a patient mother who won't holler at them when they are doing wrong and they need a strong mother who won't give in at times just to get some rest! I need help with these things more than I like to admit!

One thing is for certain, though. I will never give up on trying my hardest to be a great mother to them! God has brought me this far in life, I know he can help me with this! I love my angels and they deserve the best! I will try forever to give them just that!

Thank you, God, for blessing me with tiny angels!

God and me! My story!

Since I can remember, I have been a Christian. My mom is, my stepfather is, my maternal grandparents, etc... It was placed in front of me at an early age and I loved God! We went to church, VBS, church camp, etc... Life was good as a child of God, I was happy!

As I grew older, I grew apart from my God. My family had quit going to church due to personal troubles. I was becoming a teenager and discovering new things and I just wasn't interested in God anymore. It was a sad place!

At 15 I lost my virginity to a boy I barely knew and he ofcourse didn't really care about me. Not too long after that, I started a relationship with a boy I had just met. It became sexual pretty quick. I "loved" him. After a couple months, he showed me who he really was. He had such anger and hatred towards people. He was a habitual liar and I fell for it! I stayed with him for 2 years because I wanted what my grandparents had, they got married when my grandma was 14 and stayed together until my papa died 43 years later. They went through so much together and they never gave up on one another! But this boy I was with caused me so much pain, I couldn't bare it any longer. At 17, we broke up and he moved away.

Through all that pain, I could've turned to God and he would've helped me through and I would've been a happier person. I would've understood and handled things a lot better! I was just too into my self and what I wanted to turn to him. What a sad girl I was!

After my first relationship, I had a rebound. He didn't care about me, I didn't care about him and I thought that was good! I found out he was selling drugs for sex, and I had been so naive.. I ended it without a second thought!

Then, still 17, I started dating a boy I had been crushing on for some time. He was sweet and I fell in love so fast! We got married as soon as I turned 18, then I became pregnant. Life was good! But, I was not on good terms with the Lord, still. My husband and I allowed people to come between us and lots of terrible things happened.. I filed for a divorce after 1 year of marriage!

After filing for divorce, my son and I were living with my mom. I met a man online, we talked, we met, I was just going along with the flow! After only 2 months, I was ready to end it.. but I found out I was pregnant! Yes, my second child! I decided to stay with this man, he was responsible and took care of me and my son, but he didn't love me, and after our daughter was born, he barely spent any time with us. He also had an addiction to something (not drug related) and it had already caused me so much misery! We seperated when our daughter was 6 months. That's 2 babies living without their dad's now! What had I done?!!

I was miserable.. everything in my life was always falling apart! I still had no idea what to do!

I was single for 8 months and then I started dating an old friend. I had always been attracted to him. He was always so funny and very straight forward! I fell for him really fast! After a few months, we had some troubles, we almost broke up, but somehow we didn't. Bad things happened in this relationship, sometimes worse than the others, but for some reason I stayed! After 1 year, my 2 children and I moved in with my boyfriend. Things were constantly up and down. I wanted to leave so many times, but I never did! Something was holding me there!

The beginning of 2014, I began my journey back to the arms of God. I knew that the reason everything in my life always felt wrong was because I never put the one thing first that should've always been put first, and that is God! I asked my boyfriend to join me on this journey, he agreed, but never really tried.

In April of 2014, I found out that my blood father was in the hospital, we never had a great relationship. My mom and him divorced when I was 5. My dad was a paranoid schizophrenic who always thought he was dying. He lived on beer alone for the last few years of his life. He thought that is what kept him alive. He did so many bad things to my mom and to me and my sisters.. it wasn't until seeing him in the hospital and having God speak to me that I realized that it was never truly his fault! He had problems and I wish I would've tried harder to get him help while he was alive! I forgave him just a few days before he finally passed. It was at this point in my life that I decided to turn everything over to God!

After the death of my dad, I had a new outlook on life. I became closer to God than I had ever been! I felt love like never before! It was amazing!

Though things had gotten better for me, they still got very bad with my relationship with my boyfriend. Around July of 2014, we broke up but stayed living together. It was hard! I turned to God and asked him to lead the way. I needed him and he came! He made me fall in love with my boyfriend again! He made my boyfriend fall in love with me again! He brought us back together! I couldn't believe it! My God is so amazing!

On October 17th 2014, my boyfriend and I were married!

Things are still tough today, nothing will ever be perfect, but I'm ok with that! God showed me how much he loves me. He showed me what love really is. How can I say I love my husband and hold so much against him? How can I say I love him and not forgive him when he does wrong? How can I say I love him and not try every day to lift him up? I can't! We love because God first loved us!

My husband is a great blessing in my life! Without the love of God, I would have never realized that! I would be going through the same troubles if I hadn't surrendered to his will! I will forever praise him and thank him for all he has done in my life! Without my faults, I would've never had my 2 beautiful children! I am so blessed!

Thank you, Lord, for all you have done in my life! Thank you for making me new!

My children's stepfather!

I'll start off by saying I am madly in love with my husband, he is a true blessing to my children and I.

Now, to get to the reason for writing this.

I have a 6 year old boy and a 4 year old girl. They mean so much to me, it is almost unbelievable! I have been with my husband for a little over 3 years and we have been married for 4 months. While I love him with all my heart and I know he is a wonderful man of God, I can't help but to pull my hair out (figuratively) at times because of how my 2 children and him act towards eachother.

My son has some anger problems and is going to see a therapist in another couple of weeks. He literally has a hard time controlling his temper and himself, it's really heartbreaking. My husband understands something is wrong and that he needs help, but when my son is having one of his fits, my husband starts yelling and gets really upset and it leads to a big argument between him and my son. It is so frustrating.

My daughter has not been diagnosed, but I'm almost positive she suffers from OCD. She has to do things certain ways, some things she absolutely refuses to do because it "isn't right". If certain things don't go her way, she acts likes she's dying! Her blood father has OCD, so I feel she probably got it from his genes. She is, in the nicest words, very complicated! My husband also understands her problems and he tries to be nice, but that doesn't stop him from losing his temper and yelling. 

Now, my husband is 27 and he is a BIG kid! He loves driving fast, video games, playing around in stores... I'm fine with all that, no complaints, besides the fast driving, lol! He just doesn't understand children (or maybe it's just my children). He loves them, I know he does, but his arguments with them are so silly!

I love my husband and I love my children. They are all such huge blessings! God has been doing great things in my life! 

All of this frustration of having to deal with my husband and my children arguing constantly, has me going crazy! The one thing that keeps me going is GOD! He has made me see all the good things in my relationship with my husband. I use to dwell on these bad times and I wanted out before we were married! But God spoke to my heart and I knew this was the man I was meant to be with for the rest of my life!

It isn't easy at all, it is one of the hardest things to deal with (in my opinion). 

Things like this tear marriages apart, but when I said "for better or worse" I meant it! And when God told me to marry this man, I knew there had to be a good reason! Every day these problems are getting better and everyday I am thanking God for leading me in this direction.. there is no place else my children and I should be!

If you are going through anything like this, just let go and pray.. God will lead the way!