Goals for 2010- Update

Now that we are six months into this year, I thought I would update you on my goals for 2010. Some I have been doing very well on and others....well, not so much.

1. Read 25 books for fun-Making progress
I have been doing pretty well with this goal. So far I have read 10 books for fun. I haven't been good about updating this as I read them but I'm pretty sure that is accurate. I do need to pick up the pace a little bit but in these past two weeks I have read two books so I think I will catch up soon. Now that it is summer (almost) and David is racing motocross, I have a great deal of time to read. I have been known to read an entire book on a race day.

2. Lose enough weight/inches to fit into my size 4 pants again-Achieved
A couple of simple changes in what I've been eating and walking Charlie a little more at night and I have achieved this goal.

3. Create and Start a 101 in 1001 list- No progress
I really like the idea of one of these lists but I have yet to sit down and really think of some things that I would like to do.

4. Do at least 30 minutes of housework each night after work- Some progress?
I have not been doing 30 minutes a night but our house has been much cleaner. I need to step up my game a little now that the weather is nice and we have stuff to do outside as well.

5. Reconnect with 2 old friends- 50% Achieved
I have been able to reconnect with one of the friends mentioned. Shortly after writing this goal, she contacted me on Facebook. We talked a couple times after that. Unfortunately, he mother passed away a couple of months ago. I felt very strongly that I needed to be there for her so Dave and I went to calling hours. I am so glad we did because I could tell that it meant a lot. About a month later, we met for drinks. It felt really good to hang out with her again. We need to do it again very soon.

As for the other friend, she also reached out to me on Facebook but we have yet to really talk. I am really going to make a point to reconnect with her this summer.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother. I appreciate everything you do for me. I'm not sure I would be sane without you.

And to my mother-in-law, Donna, thank you for raising a great son. I feel blessed to have you in my life. We may not be extremely close but I know I can always count on you.

For Mother's Day, we decided to get our mothers hydrangeas. My mom specifically mentioned last week that she wanted one. My mother-in-law is an avid gardener so flowers or plants are always a great gift. When I gave my mom her plant today she was so excited and said that she hoped I had been listening when she mentioned it last week.

The one on the left was for my mom. It is a bluish purple. I know she wanted a blue one so I got as close as I could. Here is a closer look at the color of that one:

My mother-in-law's is on the right. She almost did not get this plant. After driving around with it in my car today, I fell in love with the color of this one. I even went as far as going to the store to see if they had anymore that I could give her. Unfortunately for me, they were all gone by this afternoon. Oh well, I'll just have to enjoy it at her house. Here's a better look at the color:

We spent the afternoon at my grandparents' house. I made some awesome strawberry cupcakes to share. I will make sure the post the recipe this week as they were seriously amazing. My mouth is watering just writing about them.

I hope all you moms, moms-to-be, and future moms had a fantastic day!

Product Review: Neutrogena Healthy Skin® liquid makeup & SkinClearing Blemish Concealer

(image source: neutrogena.com)

Before my wedding I took a trip to Sephora for makeup. I chose to do my own makeup instead of paying for someone to do it. I walked out with $250 worth of makeup and perfume including Stila Illuminating Liquid Foundation. I love how that foundation makes my skin look until it's time to take it off. Then, I tend to break out. As a result, I went on the hunt for a new foundation. I was intrigued by Revlon Colorstay but I've heard it's thick which I didn't really want. I decided to try a Neutrogena foundation since I usually have pretty good luck with their products (see my review of the makeup removing cloths). After spending what had to be an hour staring at the different foundations, I decided to try the Healthy Skin foundation. I have trouble with little bumps on my face and was hoping that this would help. In general I like this foundation but it doesn't have a wow factor for me. So far I haven't seen a change in the texture of my skin. Also, I find that my T-zone feels a little oily as the day goes on. I have pretty dry skin so this is out of the ordinary for me. I plan on using up this bottle, but I'm not sure that I will be purchasing this one again.

The other product that I decided to try was the Neutrogena Skin Clearing Blemish Concealer.

I LOVE this product. At the time I had this annoying blemish forming under the surface of my skin. The stupid thing had been around for like a week. It couldn't make up its mind whether it should come out or just go away. I had putting my favorite acne spot treatment on with no luck. My usual concealer was not doing a good job of covering it up either. Finally, I decided to give this a try. I am so glad I did. Within a day, my blemish had shrunk to almost nothing. The best part is that it also concealed it while looking completely natural. This is think enough that it does not look cakey but thick enough to actually cover up the zit. This isn't a miracle product but I am sold.

Old Navy and Target Haul

Dave races motocross every Sunday. Most of the time I will go with him unless the race is really far away. I really hate when they are far away because the races take up the whole day as it is. Today the race was about two hours away so I decided to stay home. I did a little cleaning this morning but decided to do a little shopping this afternoon.

I have been looking for a dark brown cardigan for a while now. I felt like I had looked everywhere with no luck. Last night when I browsing The Nest Fashion & Beauty board I saw rave reviews for Target cardigans so I decided to check them out. I checked the website to make sure they had a dark brown (which they did) then decided that I would go to the store today. I was happy to find that they had the dark brown in stock. While I was there, I also got this dress. I found the sizing a little bit questionable. I tried on a size 4 to start with. That was definitely too big but I loved the dress so I decided to try the size 2. The 2 fit much better but it is still a little big in the chest but that isn't out of the ordinary. I chose to buy it in the end because we have two weddings to go to this summer. I know that if I wait until the weddings, I won't find any dresses that I like. (Sorry about the lack of pictures. I couldn't get any of these two items.

After Target, we went to Old Navy since they were having 30% off of everything. My original plan was to get more of these t-shirts:

I have this shirt in four other colors (white, yellow, pink, and blue) and I love them. They are affordable and great for layering.

I couldn't resist getting these pj shorts:

I have another pair which I love. They are cute and comfortable.

Finally, my impulse buy:

I saw this and fell in love. I have two other bathing suits but only one that I really like. I've had the other one for at least five years so it was time to replace it. A few of our friends own boats and we spent a lot of time on the lake last year. I am looking forwad to sporting this on the lake this summer.

I hope you enjoyed my weekend haul. What did you get this weekend?

What's In My Purse

A while back (while I was being a crappy blogger), I kept seeing these posts pop up in my Google Reader. At the time, I thought it was such a great idea and ran out to take the picture. Then, the picture just sat on my camera. Now that I'm getting back on the blogger bandwagon, I decided to make this my first post.

So, what's in my purse? The top row features most of the medications that I carry. My favorite is the Claritin eye drops. My first sign of an allergy attack is itchy eyes and these work almost immediately. I also carry Ibuprofin (for the husband) and Tylenol (for me since we are TTC). One of my must-haves is New Skin. This is a life saver when breaking in new shoes or wearing shoes for the first time in a while. A little dap and the irritation is gone. The top row also contains some hand sanitizer, a travel size hairspray, mirror, and iPod earbuds.

In the middle we have some winning lottery tickets that I have yet to redeem (from Christmas), my wallet, Petco reward card, $5 (amazing since I don't usually carry cash), Smashbox O-Glow (for when I need a little color in a pinch), various lip glosses, nail clippers (another must have for hangnails), chapstick, lotion, and Metro Chic nail polish).

At the bottom we have an old grocery list, a card for the dog groomer, a bracelet, my thumb drive, an Easter pencil, my husband's coin for serving in Afghanistan, a Listerine whitening strip, a hair tie, a mini nail file, and my sunglasses.

As you can see, I have TONS of stuff in my purse. The really good thing that came of this was that I was able to reorganize when I put everything back in. I threw out the old grocery list and put all of those lip glosses and other makeup items in a pouch.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what's in my purse!

I suck

Apparently I lied when I said that you could expect some good posts from me. This past month totally got away from me. Right before spring break I was faced with some possible career changes and I have spent the time since then deciding my course of action. This week it became official that I will be leaving my current teaching job at the end of the school year. I will definitely miss my kids and colleagues but I think this was the best decision for me. I am not exactly sure where the road will lead from here. I currently teach special education but I would really like the opportunity to teach general education. Unfortunately, there are not any general ed. opportunities right now at my school. I have also been investigating some alternative career paths, some of which I am very interested in. Whatever happens, I know better opportunities are ahead of me.

I don't want to promise a bunch of great posts ahead and have it turn out like last time. So, I will just say, keep an eye out for some more frequent updates as I get my head back on straight. Thanks for sticking with me!

Happy Easter!

I have been a terrible blogger lately (no posts in over a month!). I'd like to say I have a good excuse but I don't really think I do. Anyway, there has been so much going on lately and this week is spring break so expect at least a few posts this week. What can you expect? A recipe for some awesome cupcakes that I made for Easter, some recent clothing purchases, book reviews, and maybe a product review. I hope some of you are still with me! I will leave you with some Charlie cuteness since this post doesn't warrant any other pictures. Happy Easter!