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.