Influenster Venus® Snap with Embrace Review {And how-to shave with your 45 pound dog}

I got a new Influenster VoxBox this week! I'm super excited about it!

Inside my complimentary VoxBox was this little beauty:

Just in case you don't know what that is, it's a Gillette Venus Snap with Embrace, and I LOVE IT! HOLY GOODNESS WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE! Sorry about my shouting, but man oh man, I really like this thing. You can see in the picture there is a little handle (That round thing under the word "Venus") the pink part is a soft, easy to grab rubber that helps you keep a good grip on your razor without that TERRIBLE, AWFUL, OH-LORD-PLEASE-DON'T-LET-MY-WRIST-SLIP-OH-MAN-I'M-GOING-TO-BLEED-OUT moment.

After living for a year in a house that legitimately only had about 10-12 minutes of hot water, I'm a speed shaver by default, and I didn't cut myself once on my legs or underarms. Let me tell you, friends, that is a feat in and of itself. I hate using regular razors because it seems like I ALWAYS shave the side of my knee. or the dreaded ankle area and my hand slips ever so slightly, and then I have a 4" gash on my leg and I'm bleeding so bad I consider using a tourniquet. This flat handle makes it so incredibly easy to get a good grip and be able to shave my whole leg #inasnap! The embrace razor heads are awesome too, because ALL YOU NEED IS WATER! SENSITIVE SKIN LADIES UNITE! I absolutely detest shaving cream because I'm either allergic to it, it stinks, or it is completely useless and gives me razor burn anyway. With the Embrace heads, you don't even need it. Don't like the Embrace razor refills? Well, you're in luck because this little beauty can fit ALL Gillette Venus razor cartridges, just like their regular razors.

Just to put this into perspective, I gave a dog a bath the same day I got my VoxBox. I ended up inside the bathtub with her and was able to hold the dog with one arm and shave with the other while both of us were covered in shampoo and shed dog hair, AND I DIDN'T CUT  MYSELF! This thing is a godsend. Also, growing up, I promised myself I was not an animal person, and that I would leave all the animal care to Madi, my younger sister, but that seems to have been in vain, because I am seriously a bleeding-heart animal lover now. I may not ever have children and just dress up all the neighborhood animals instead.


***I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. All opinions, shaving stories, and dog washing opinions are from my own brain, and I am not compensated to give a good review.***

Strength

What gives you strength? Is it a song? Or a phrase? God? How do you get through your day?

I love stories of strength. I love hearing how people live their lives. Is that nosy? Probably. We live in tough times, and giving each other strength makes a collective whole that is stronger and more ready to face this world we live in.

I've been obsessed with this song:

I love the idea of stepping out of your comfort zone and being ok with it. Whether you use God for that strength and comfort or not, the most exciting things in life don't come from within the confines of the box we keep ourselves comfortable in. The most exciting things in life come from knowing we are going outside the "norm" and making the most of this life that we have.

Top font Middle font Bottom font Ocean photo

 

Use this as your desktop, phone background, anywhere you need a reminder of strength.

Love your strength.

Gifting as an Act of Love

Hey guys! I just wanted to pop in and talk a little bit about my significant other's birthday, and how I'm showing him I love him! Jacob is turning 23 on the 23rd of May, and I've got some BIG plans. I am so incredibly excited to be able to share life with this big lug, and I cannot wait to start his 23 days of gifting!

So, 23 days of gifting, much like advent, is going to take place from the beginning of May all the way up to his birthday, with a gift on each day. Some of the gifts will be cheap small, and some of them will be bigger, with the biggest gift on his actual birthday.

Gift giving is my love language, no doubt about it. A lot of people don't understand that, and feel like that means I try to buy affection, but that really isn't true. Chances are, if I'm buying something I already have a relationship with that person. I'm in no way buying their love, I'm showing mine. I LOVE being able to purchase a gift that I've put a lot of thought into and give it to someone to show how much I care about them. The five love languages are: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. I don't feel like any one is better than the other.

The other day a friend of mine on Facebook said she was really upset about how out of proportion gift giving has gotten in relation to children. She said she thought it was awful to spend so much money on showering your children with gifts, and that it would just spoil them, and that that was the major problem with children today. Let me preface this with, I don't care about your opinions and you are welcome to have them, but when you start telling other people how to raise their child/ren, that is where I start to get frustrated. Sure, greed has become a major issue in the general population, but only buying your child "one thing you want, one thing you need, one thing you wear, and one thing you read" isn't going to cut back on how greedy your child is. It's the way we give and receive gifts that affect the way children will think of gifts.

If we as a collective whole show gratitude in all things, so will the children. Actions are learned. Showering your child with gifts will not make them greedy, not teaching them gratitude will. Let me tell you, right now if anyone wanted to shower me with gifts, I'd cry from thankfulness. It's ok for children to be disappointed with a particular gift. What is not ok, is a child throwing a tantrum because they got a pink shirt instead of a salmon shirt. Making children feel like they have to love everything they are given does not lead to grateful children. Teaching a child that someone loves them very much, and that is why they got them a gift, leads to gratitude. I remember as a kid feeling like I couldn't tell someone I didn't like the color of a toy or fit of a shirt because I didn't want it to hurt their feelings, and because of that they essentially wasted their money, because I didn't play with the toy or wear the clothes I didn't like as much.

If your love language is giving and receiving gifts, Give. Them. Don't let people make you feel like your love is less because it isn't "real".  Your love is just as real as you are. If I want to give my boyfriend 23 gifts for his birthday, or a new mom a necklace with her daughters name and a crystal of her namesake (Ruby, how cute is that?) or a grieving coworker a mug that says You Are Loved, or Refuse to Sink I'm going to do it, because that is how I show my love the best. The absolute best way for me to show my love is with something tangible they can see and touch that will always remind them they are thought of and loved on.

Show your love the best way you know how, and never let anyone tell you it is not enough.

A reminder to love...

As cheesy and hipster and whatever else it sounds, remember to love. Remember to embrace those you care the most about, and don't be afraid to let them know you love them. Don't waste a precious moment on this forsaken planet hiding how much you love someone. Because, let's be really free and honest here, you have no idea how much longer you see them. Maybe you get offered a job and move three states away. Maybe you get fired from your job, or leave, or anything thing else and you can't find a good time to love on a coworker and their family anymore. Remember that even when you try your hardest, sometimes things can't work out the way you want them too. Hard things shape you, impossible things change you, and it is up to you to decide how much you react.

Sometimes your birthday party is going to suck. Sometimes you are going to burn dinner. Sometimes your pants will rip or you'll spill marinara sauce down your white blouse. Sometimes people will forget to call. Your life is shaped and changed by people and things you have no control over, but isn't that what makes it the most beautiful? Isn't it beautiful to see the way things are shaped and reborn into something that, although imperfect, is perfect in those imperfections?

Embrace your friends. Make more.You are weaving your own life tapestry, pull the strings, change colors, add more depth than you think you need. Wrap yourself in the tapestry that is your life story and grow.

Grow into the person you want to be, because this life is yours. It belongs to you, and only you. Own it. Be happy, because you deserve it.

HEY! I'm back! For a test run!

Hey you few people that actually care if I blog or not!

I received a complimentary VoxBox from Influenster for reviewing purposes. It had some coupons for Sargento Cheese and a neat little pouch to carry a cheese stick in, so it will stay cool while I run errands or head to work.

I had never tried Sargento before, and I can honestly say, dude I was missing out. Like, a lot. It has a creamy taste, and isn't at all plastic-like which I find in most cheese sticks.

If you haven't heard of Influenster, you should check them out. It sends products to review and gives you several different platforms to choose from to tall people how you feel about the product. I posted a picture/review of my cheese pouch on instagram here.

I've been adding these cheese sticks to my everyday snack routine at breakfast time or before bed. As of late I've been waking up hungry, and this goes great with a handful of dry banana cereal. I work night shifts at Pizza Hut in addition to working at a Real Estate Agency so, sometimes this cheese stick and a couple slices of lunch meat make up my "dinner" before I go to bed. Its filling and it tastes great. I'm seriously so in love with these cheese sticks.

My 5 favorite satisfying snacks (in no particular order) are probably:
1. A Sargento cheese stick and a handful of almonds
2. A banana with peanut butter spread on it and a 3/4 glass of milk
3. A Sargento cheese stick, a few frozen blueberries and a hard-boiled egg
4. A Sargento cheese stick and a handful of frozen sweet corn (have you ever tried frozen sweet corn? It is seriously  SO good. It almost tastes like candy)
5. Hummus with carrot sticks and bell pepper slices (maybe a few Stacey's pita chips if I have left-over hummus)

And, because I am incredibly nosey, what do you enjoy snacking on?

I'm probably done writing for quite some time.

I'm having an incredibly hard time writing. 
I feel  like everything I write turns into some sort of rant, or makes me look like a know-it-all. 
I can very honestly say I do not know it all. 

I wrote a post that was featured on another blog about my brother. My brother has autism. I love my brother fiercely, and have ALWAYS been protectively  trying to shield him from the bad in the world. From the mean and ignorant people that know nothing about his heart, nothing about his love for people, nothing about his passion to be a good friend. He is the best and brightest young man I have ever had the pleasure to be around. He has always been, and will always be the best guy in my life. He makes me see the good in the world. He makes me want to be a better  person, sister, and friend. Because of the life I have lived with both him and my sister, I can very honestly say I have learned to look at the beauty in life and not dwell on the fact that there will always be mean people. There will always be someone who tries as hard as they can to tear you to pieces, but when you have a love in your life like the one I share with those two, it doesn't even matter because they're more important than any mean comment or hateful glance.

I wrote very honestly and openly about my struggles with both the social stigma, and the "fad" of describing everything as "retarded." I wrote about how I used to abhor that word, but then fell into the peer pressure of using it like my friends. I wrote about how I tried so hard to break the habit, and about how much it killed me to be a hypocrite. It really isn't as simple as "just quit using that word." You hear it daily. You are exposed to the idea that it is ok, and it really is hard to stand up to something so many people view as a little thing. It is very hard to be that person that says "don't say that, it offends me" to someone that thinks the word means nothing. People use it more around you after that, because they know it hurts you. Not very many people understand. Not very many people care.

After I wrote about how I have struggled with using "that's retarded" more than I care to admit and how it affected the way I viewed myself, and even the relationship I have with my brother, I was bombarded in the comment section about why I was such an awful person, and how I should be ashamed of myself, and why my brother shouldn't love me, and my mom should wash my mouth out with soap and then forget she gave birth to me. I heard it all. In all honesty, I had never associated my brother with being "retarded," because he is not. I never once called a person retarded. I never once insulted someone who made a poor choice. If I did use it, it was referring to situations and choices, but never ever a person. Never ever a person.

I don't think I want to blog anymore. I don't think I can ever put myself out there in writing and get my writing and feelings shattered like that again. I was being vulnerable and honest in a space I was told would be no judgement. A space I was told to freely write and connect with people that had looked at my story and could relate to me. Instead of connecting with people and growing from my experience I was ostracized and condemned. I don't think I can do it anymore.

Excitement and wishful thinking :)

This is a post about things I am truly excited for.

1. Moving out of my family’s house. I love love love my family. They mean so much to me, and they have worked so hard to help me be where I am today, and for that I am very grateful. That being said, I am excited to have a place that is mine (and whoever I choose to share it with).
2. Getting married. Lame, I know. Every girl in high school blogs about how much she wants to get married, but it isn’t just the marriage and the intimacy that goes along with that, it’s the:
1. Learning to cook for my husband, and forcing him to eat burnt food so I’ll stop crying
2. Doing combined laundry
3. Waking up to the same face every morning
4. Learning how to budget as newlyweds
5. Kissing good morning and sending him off to work with a mug of coffee
6. Sharing a closet
7. Sharing a dresser
8. Leaving little notes around the house
9. Reminding him that my bathroom stuff is sprawled out on the counter because I need it that way or I’ll look like an absolute train wreck
10. Being held after a long day
11. Surprising him
12. Maybe, someday, having a beautiful, little baby with him
13. Picking out things to make our house a home

…and so so so much more…

3. Paying my car off in however many years that is…
4. Getting my tax refund
5. Learning how to ride a long board
6. SPRING
7. Summer tans
8. Going swimming
9. Finishing this semester of college
10. Spending time with Darling this evening. :) since we’re fairly serious now, I have no problem saying Darling’s real name is Jacob, and I thank God he brought him back into my life, hopefully this time for a long, long time.

So now, let me know what you're excited for :)