book review-The Nativity Pageant

It's hard to believe it is already time to talk about the holidays. It seems like the year was just starting, and now we are almost to the end. I want time to slow down. They holidays are some of my favorite times of the year, and I want time to stand still while we enjoy it.
I'm a sucker for tradition-especially holiday tradition. Growing up we always read the Christmas story as part of our Christmas Eve traditions, but we never really acted it out. I am not sure why. We just never did. When Chelsea's kids got old enough, she started the tradition of acting it out rather than just reading the nativity story. Her older kids are reading well enough to start reading part of the story. This year will be the perfect year for the new book, The Nativity Pageant. It uses the exact words from the scriptures with easy to locate props and costumes to make the story of the nativity come to life. It is short enough to fit very nicely into our Christmas Eve traditions. Karlee will love being in charge. She can gather the costumes, and assign the props. It will be perfect. The Nativity Pageant can be purchased on amazon for anyone interested in including this as part of your family traditions this year. What other holiday traditions do you have?

*I received a copy of The Nativity Pageant for review. All opinions are my own.

Unblogged Bloggable-KMB Lakehouse Weekend Part 2

I tried to put the whole weekend in one post, but no one wants to read a novel. Part 1 went up a few days ago.

Most of us got up early Friday morning to work out at Danielle's gym. We did a circuit workout, took pictures with Bob (the mannequin head), and had a dance party to the hand clap song. Brad and Danielle workout together everyday, but for some reason he didn't want to come to the gym with a bunch of girls.

We went back to Danielle's house and met her chickens and Kali and did some tricks on the trampoline. Danielle made us eggs in a basket for breakfast and gave us pumpkin pretzels.

We all got ready and started the drive to the lake. We were in a few different cars and kept facetiming each other because we all wanted to be together. We had a discussion about how we say different words in different parts of the country and Canada.

We stopped at Buccees (a HUGE gas station, convenience store, etc). We looked for chapstick, took photos in the bathroom, bought fudge and matching fake yeti (feti) cups. Danielle P and Ana came and we got to meet them. We took some pictures with the beaver and got back in the car.

We got in the car, and I started getting the most random snapchats. I didn't think much of it until we checked the CSATT top ten. I never expected to make the top ten and almost didn't send in my pictures. Mandi and Danielle checked and started screaming. I made the top ten! I was in shock. We all freaked out. It was the most exciting surreal thing especially finding out with all of them. We called the other cars, freaked out some more, and drove the rest of the way.

While we were driving the Austin girls went to the house and got things a little bit settled. We met them for lunch at Cedar Creek Brewing. Mel and Mandi surprised them, and they were very surprised. It was so much fun being in on the surprise, and I loved seeing every person find out they came. We had fried pickles and lots of other good foods. Some girls bought plowboys hats and we had the best time.

We got the lakehouse and picked our rooms. Ana wanted us all to be in the same room even though that wasn't possible. I wanted a picture in our Brave lipstick before we all got distracted. We took some really cute pictures including the Brave, Texas and non Texas and others. Kate was missing for a few minutes. When she came back, we asked where she was. Her response made us laugh and laugh "I was wiping off my lipstick"-5 minutes after putting it on.

The rest of the evening was spent hanging out and having fun. Ana and Darcy made homemade mac n cheese. Candace doesn't like cheese and I don't love melted cheese. It was so good. Ashley made necklaces for us. Darcy gave us leather kiss my brave keychains. Candace gave us Roots socks and a hoodie to Darcy because she quit smoking. Hibiscus gave us face masks and bath bombs from Whole Foods. Mela bought post cards for us to sign for the girls that weren't there. We made a run into town, and Candace experienced WalMart. There was a fire in the parking lot so we couldn't get in for a while. Some of the girls tried on and purchased onesie pajamas. Mela was not feeling well and got teased about potentially being pregnant (she wasn't). We hung out all night on the patio. We laughed so hard about Mandi wanting to date a new guy everyday, Mandi twerking in a handstand, and Kate holding Mandi. Some girls played cards against humanity and there was plenty of laughter.

 

The first day was amazing. The rest of the weekend coming in a few days.

Unblogged Bloggable-KMB Lakehouse Weekend Part 1

I have been putting off writing this post for a long time-almost a year actually. I didn't intentionally put it off. It just happened. Over time it has become more purposeful. The memories are very bittersweet. The weekend was amazing! We had the best time, but at the time we had no idea Ana would pass away a few months later. We had so much fun, and I'm so happy we made it happen.

Mandi originally wasn't going to be able to make the trip. We found a crazy good deal that required us to fly in and out of Las Vegas. It made for crazy travel plans, but it was totally worth it. She didn't tell anyone she was coming which made for a really fun surprise. 

We met at my house on Wednesday after work. We had dinner and drove to Vegas. We spent the night at Eleisha and Matt's house. I hadn't seen Eleisha for quite a while so we stayed up late chatting. I was happy our crazy travel plans gave us a chance to catch up.

I got up and did a quick workout outside. It was nice to be outside. We got ready and went to the strip. We went to the M&M factory where it was World M&M day and the Coke factory. We did a taste test of Coke products around the world and laughed and laughed. We were pretty done with Vegas and ready to get on with the rest of the trip.

Everyone else was there when we got there. The Texas Welcoming Committe was there to greet me. They had emoji faces and posters and sang a Texas song as I came down the escalator. Mandi snuck up on Ana and surprised her first and then everyone else. It was the most fun surprise and everyone was so excited. 

We went to Fuzzy's for dinner where there was a big deal about it not being Mexican. I was happy to eat, and they had the best queso. Ana left to pick up Danielle P, and the rest of us went to Krum for a sleepover. We missed meeting Danielle by about 20 minutes, but we were pretty ready to get to bed. We met Babs and got settled in our rooms. Mandi and I had a spider in our room. We threw it in Jenn and Candace's room and laughed with them before actually going to bed.

The lakehouse part of the trip hadn't even started, but we were already having so much fun. Part 2 coming soon.

Beauty Time Tuesday-October empties

I can’t believe how much stuff I used up last month. 

Edit

Bath and Body Works lotionx2 and foaming hand soap-all my faves

Charcoal facial detox face wash-I liked it but I’m ready for something new. 

Toms deodorant-For a quick minute I felt like I wanted something natural. I quickly changed my mind. 

L’Oréal revitalift-Love

Cinema Secrets makeup brush cleaner-Love. Must have!

Benefit brow gel-usually forgot to use

Probiotic-I don’t normally post about vitamins, but I really feel like probiotics are so important. 

Buxom gloss-Nicole-Love. It doesn’t stay on very well, but it’s nice for something light. 

Lancôme  24 hour foundation-Love

PMD cleanser-didn’t love

IT cosmetics mascara-love 

OPI miami beet-love the color

Intuition razor-must have 

Bare minerals mineral veil powder-loved forever but now I like the Laura Mercier much better

Victoria’s Secret summer bombshell roller ball perfume-love-obsessed 

Mary Kay lash love lengthening mascara-love

Glide floss-my teeth are so close together. I have to use glide or something similar to floss. 

one little word-November

we're getting so close to the end of the year. it's kind of time to start thinking about a word for 2018.

via she's just smitten

my overall goal and theme for the year is EMBRACE even though my monthly goals don't always match that theme.

YEARLY GOALS

*nightly gratitude journal-better-i'm still using my commit 30 planner. i am either really good or really not good. i want to be really good especially in this month of gratitude.

*do something that scares me/pushes me out of my comfort zone-✓

*attend temple 12 times-i need to go a couple of more times this year to meet this goal

*monthly journal-pretty well caught up

*csatt/fitness goals-i did not participate in the csatt challenge but instead started the fall challenge from last year. i did about 80 percent of it.

OCTOBER GOALS
*Pure Barre 20 in 31 challenge (20 classes in 31 days)-with weekend obligations and travel i started the challenge knowing i likely would not be able to get 20 classes. i did 17, and i was happy with that.
*SLEEP-11:00 or earlier bedtime-very hit and miss
*schedule one free night each week-I honestly kind of forgot about this goal. I had some very busy weeks.

I have gotten in the habit of overscheduling myself. I want to focus on slowing down a little this month and getting a grip on life again.-I didn't focus on this as well as I wanted to.

NOVEMBER GOALS
I am keeping things pretty simple this month.
*NO SUGAR NOVEMBER-no treats/avoid added sugar. Thanksgiving is an exception
*50 burpees daily (except Sunday)

How are your goals going? 

Throwback Thursday-Halloween through the years

I love Halloween! It is so fun to dress up...with a group, for very little money. This year was no exception. My team dressed up as dominoes for work. It was super easy and a total hit. I also pulled out my zebra onesie from 2 years ago for a few events. 

The Bodily circus was one of my favorites this year especially Mattis the tiger. 

We had some cute work costumes. Joe the boss from the airport, hungry caterpillar and James the hunter. 

Some but not all of my past costumes-Costco sample ladies, Snow White and the seven dwarfs,  Noah’s ark, squeeze it drinks, and iPhone apps.