Christmas Spirit in Kennewick, WA

 

This "tree" started off as a little weed growing in a crack in the sidewalk on Columbia Center Blvd. in Kennewick, WA. Someone put one lonely little ornament on there and after a few days more and more ornaments showed up. Then Santa came and decorated the little weed as well and turned it into a Christmas Tree. Gotta love the Christmas Spirit!

Writing it all out

So, some of you may know that for the past, oh I don't know 7 months, Colin and I have been trying to get pregnant, with no success. For those who didn't, now you do.  This has been one of the hardest trials for me thus far in my 20 years. Month after month of disappointment. The months that I get some symptoms that turn out to be nothing but hormonal/bodily changes are the worst. I've gotten to the point that I can't even read any posts, blogs, emails, etc from my friends about their baby luck without getting depressed and crying (so for those of you who are pregnant that's why you never hear from me, nothing personal). Now, I'm not writing this to get sympathy or to complain, it is just so much harder to deal with when close to no one knows the journey I am on right now. Mainly though I am doing this for myself. To get all of my feelings out in front of me so I can read them and let them go. Sometimes you just need to write it all out to get it off your mind and begin to relax. If this continues by the time we have some money together (very soon!) I will go to the doctor about it. Hopefully whoever I see can give me some answers. I have been mostly successful at realizing that this is all in the Lords hands and even though I feel like it is time, the Lord may have other things in mind. I've prayed, every day for this. 11:11 rolls around I wish for it. Most of my time in the Temple is spent praying for this. I know that  Colin and I are ready, or else we wouldn't have agreed to start trying in the first place. I know that going to school and being a mom will be hard, but I know I can do it. All that is left is to have faith that whatever the Lord knows is best for us will happen when it is the right time.

Pinterest DIY skin care trial :)

So, as you all well know, I am ADDICTED to Pinterest! I love that site! So here shortly (after Colin starts getting good paychecks) I will be starting to try out some DIY stuff for our home and I will be starting a new blog for that specifically. Today I tried out some of the homemade skin care products and found two that I am very fond of, especially when used together that I thought I'd share :)

1. Baking soda scrub: This is only to be used ONCE a week since it's used to exfoliate your skin. While on it has kind of a tingling sensation but once you wipe it off your skin looks and feels way better. The best part is it has only 2 ingredients that you use everyday.

3 Tbs Baking Soda
1 Tbs Water (may need more, I like my masks to be a little bit more runny, yet still able to stay on my face)

Mix them together to form a paste (again whatever consistency you prefer) and apply to clean, make-up-less face in a circular motion. Let sit 5 min and then rinse off. I tried doing that with a wash cloth and it didn't work as well as I wanted. I suggest getting most of it off with a wash cloth for the exfoliation and then rinse the rest off your face off with warm water.

After you have done that create a honey and milk mask it is very soothing and will help relieve some of the burn while moisturizing and cleaning your pores.

Honey and Milk Mask:

1 1/2 Tbs Milk
1 Tbs Honey
Make-up brush

I will give the directions for the microwave and the stove-top, but I prefer stove-top since I can control the mixture better.

Stove-top: In a small pot, mix together milk and honey, whisk until warm and the two ingredients are combined. Take a make-up brush and apply the mask to your face. It will be a little drippy at first, but keep a paper towel near and wipe off the drips (most likely from your nose and chin haha) once the honey has cooled and becomes sticky take a warm washcloth and wipe it off and dry your face

Last step is to apply a oil-free moisturizer to your face and enjoy how soft and pretty it is!

Blessings

Well after 2 days of traveling we made it to our destination, Henderson! We got into our apartment for... get this... $425!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Impossible you say, well my friends, it is not! It's a little thing called perfect credit and a 13 month lease! Our place is so cute too! I have a HUGE bathtub and tile floors! I have my own kitchen and we have colors picked out for our rooms! As I was trying on one of my new potholders Colin said "now you aren't just playing house, you are living house!" and it is so true, and so much fun! We also got our very first Christmas tree, he is so cute! Only a little bit taller than me :) We put lights and Colin's ornaments on him. It feels like home now! At first it kind of felt like just a hotel, but once we started putting all of our stuff in here it became home. Especially when we got the couch! I can't wait to be able to do more with it!

My other favorite thing about this place are the options of food places! So many things to choose from, it will take so long to get through them all! We went to this neat little English cafe type thing, our waiter even had an english accent! There are also malls all around me, the best one is this outlet mall we found! It has so many stores in there with really great prices, if you come visit me, we will go there, promise!

Church was AMAZING. Our ward is so awesome and so welcoming! The Bishop even plays in a rock band. Yeah that's right! I signed us up for Choir on the first Sunday, much to Colin's dismay but he will get over it :P The choir director called us "golden choir members" since we asked her and she didn't have to beg us to come. Apparently the choir has been praying for more voices to be added to it, and then we showed up. Just goes to show you how amazing prayer is, it has no limits, it reached us in Alaska and in Washington. It worked out really well though because it turns out the Choir director is a... Voice Teacher!!! Another answer to prayers! I wanted one of those and that is what I want to do for a living! We talked and she is very excited to get started with me! We will do the normal voice lesson stuff, but she will also teach me how to teach it so it's like an added bonus! I am so excited to get started on that!


We have been so blessed in so many ways this year. It hasn't always been easy, but we have been richly rewarded for the tough times. I look forward to building our life together here in Henderson. I know that this is where I am meant to be right now, and I hope Heavenly Father has a lot of work for us to do here so we can stay for a long long time!

"Everything will be ok in the end, if it's not ok, it's not the end" This quote has proved time and time again, and these blessings are proof.