Mental Post-Its

Thoughts, Notes, and General Mental Mayhem

Category Archives: Live


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D.I.Y.ed Beauty

I’m not what you’d call crafty. I mean arts and crafts, ribbon drawer, scrapbooking, just-whipped-it-up-with-a-button-gluestick-and-tulle kind of crafty. If you’re talking mischief, scheming, shenanigans, or pulling capers kind of crafty, I’ve got it all day long. But recently I got a little inspired after creating a banner of sorts for a friend’s wedding shower (big congrats, Jess!). So, while I was perusing Pinterest the other night, and that’s all I do usually is peruse, I came across a blog with all kinds of DIY beauty treatments. I sorely wish I could get a facial/mani/pedi on a regular basis, but it’s just not in the budget, so I decided to give this chick’s suggestions a whirl. Mostly, because I already had a lot of the stuff at home, which is one of the perks of DIY beauty treatments, cleaners, etc.

The site is Petit Elefant and it’s got all kinds of info on beauty and many other subjects. It would take months to try everything out! Well, first of all, I just wanted to try the “How To Pore Strips” because I had a couple of breakouts I was very unhappy with, and the process sounded really intriguing. I would say overall it was successful. It was also successful at ripping off the top layer of my skin, though. Here are a few tricks from me to you on this one. First of all, spot treat. Don’t get out of control and put it everywhere on your face unless you are really careful to avoid your eyebrows and hairline. (Yep, I did that all wrong and have thinner eyebrows and a receding hairline to prove it.) Second, do this right before you shower and instead of peeling it off as she suggests, wipe it off in the shower as the warm water will help dissolve it. Otherwise, I’ve never had my legs waxed, but that’s what I imagine it to feel like. I would definitely try again though, now that I’m wiser.

It was an interesting experiment, and I was on a roll (of one, but it felt good) so I kept going. Next I tried the “How to Make Lip Scrub at Home” and “A Little Suga for the Tootsies.” The lip scrub was delicious! I realize that’s not the point, but it’s a bonus. The foot scrub also made my hands and elbows feel nice, so also good there. I felt like I stepped out of the shower a new person!

I realize I’ve only tried each of these once, but I would do them all again to get better results. But I do feel like all of them were successful, at least a little. And I felt better about the way my skin looked after, which is half the battle of beauty anyway.

So give it a try or one of the others, and let me know what works for you. Or send me your own beauty tips. I’m up for new ideas! I gotta ride this crafty wave as long as I can – which will probably be just a few more days, so hurry!


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To Serve or Not to Serve: That was never the question…

As long as I’ve known my friend, Katie, she’s been serving others. It was never a question of if she was going to serve, only when and where.

For people like Katie, serving isn’t an obligation but a way of life. It hasn’t always easy, but I know if you asked her she would always say it has always been worth it. Some of the ways she’s served could be considered small, like helping friends move or offering advice. Others would be considered larger, like leading mission trips or mentoring teenage girls. But this time she’s really outdone herself–she’s decided to move to Bolivia for a year. I didn’t say Birmingham; I said Bo-liv-ia.

After a lot of prayer, counsel and consideration over the last few months, Katie’s decided to teach in a Christian school in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The decision didn’t come lightly, and it does come with a lot of cost to her. Not only does it mean leaving her friends, family and job in the US, but it means raising her own support. The price tag for one year comes in at around $27,000 to cover wages, insurance, living expenses, travel to/from the US and everything in between. Now before you balk at that figure, know that Katie is confident that God is bigger than that number, and more importantly, is calling her to this cause.

If you asked Katie’s friends, it would only take them a matter of seconds to tell you about a time she’s served them personally or served alongside them. It’s just who she is. And she’s asked for very little in return. Now it’s our turn to reciprocate. It’s our privilege. It’s our opportunity to join her in God’s bigger story for her life, and in that way, expand our own.

I hope you’ll join me in praying for Katie over this next year. She’ll need to know that the folks back home are thinking of her, missing her and sending good thoughts her way. And she needs to know people are rooting for her. The other obvious thing she needs are donations. When you hear $27,000 you may be tempted to sit back and do nothing because you can’t give very much. Don’t let that stop you. If everyone gives a little, it adds up to a lot. It will take all of us to get Katie to Bolivia. It’s a call to faith for us all in that way. And when she hits that mark and gets on that plane, don’t you want to smile knowing that you had a hand in getting her there?

You can give one-time or through a monthly withdrawal. Here are a few examples to make the number a little more bite-sized for the latter:

  • $5/month = one Grande Skinny Vanilla latte from Starbucks or a Moo Moo Mr. Cow from Moe’s (My favs.)
  • $10/month = one movie (There are really only a few good ones on deck right now anyway.)
  • $20/month = one sack of the groceries you don’t need but buy anyway (Stick to the list. Avoid impulse.)
  • $30/month = renegotiate a bill or other reoccurring charge (Moving the already budgeted money around won’t hurt.)
  • $40/month = one nice meal out with a friend (Note: start cooking more and invite friend over.)
  • $50/month = a combination of the above (Guilty as charged.)

See, that’s not so bad? Sure, it’s a sacrifice, but what great things aren’t? Just take a look to see what amount works for you, and make the decision to give. These aren’t the kind of financial decisions we regret, but the ones we can be most proud of. Please consider joining Katie in this new chapter of her life. Help her love on the people there as she’s loved on the people here. Give her the resources she needs to follow God down this unknown and exciting road. Allow a whole other country the opportunity to experience the amazing Katie J.

For Katie, serving was never an if, only a question of when and where. Well, the time is now and the place is Bolivia.

To read more about Katie’s adventure, check out her blog.


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Mono y Mono

I use the title not only as an homage to the similar sounding Spanish phrase, but because this stupid virus lasts FOREVER! I’m currently ending week three of dealing with this virus. It’s brutal.

First of all, I feel like I should’ve showed more sympathy to my friend, Joel, in college when he had mono and missed several weeks of classes. (He’s the only friend I can remember ever having mono.) I was supportive in takeout and helping him watch movies, though, so that’s something.

Second, I’ve learned a lot about mono, and don’t like what I’ve learned. It will be in my system forever, and could occasionally flair up. Luckily, these weeks should be the worst of it. Mostly it’s felt like the flu without the congestion. Feeling exhausted, achy, headaches, fever…blah. It’s a good thing I can still work from home, when I’ve felt up to it, because I haven’t been able to go into work very much at all.

However, there has been a bit of an upside. One is that it’s post-Orange Conference. I’d be freaking out if that hadn’t been the case. This time is actually one of the best for me to be sick, if that’s possible. I’m not too behind. Also I have a tendency to be a workaholic, so this time has enabled me to slow down. Well, I’ve been forced to slow down–to a halt. That’s good for me, though. I need to do more slowing down. It’s like a mini Sabbatical…where I feel terrible and don’t get to do anything fun. Thank goodness for Netflix and Hulu. And I’m very thankful for my friends that have been been really sweet about wanting to help in any way possible.

So, I guess there are couple tiny silver linings to it. Now, I just need to be well by the 31st for my vacay with Heather in NYC! Goal: set.

Still got some healing to do, but I’m on the mend.

If you ever have mono, let me know. I’ll be there to sympathize with you. You’ll need it.


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King David was Bipolar

180471960Anyone else ever have that thought?

It wasn’t until I was diagnosed as depressed/borderline bipolar about 10 years ago that the thought occurred to me. Shortly after, I was reading a Psalm and it struck me. Black and white, literally. This guy’s emotions are all over the place. Verse to verse—it changes constantly, many times within the same Psalm.

I’m not trying to be silly or anything. I actually took, and still take, great comfort in that idea. I’ve heard so many sermons in my life about David’s sins, and how God still considered him a man after His own heart, but I’ve never heard one about David’s mental stability. I rather like my perspective. It makes the Bible even more relateable to me. We just don’t hear enough about mental issues in the church. It’s a shame. A lot of us deal with those issues. And frankly, a lot more need to. Three cheers for counseling, and sometimes medication. 😉

King David was bipolar.

And he was still a great king, and

…a man after God’s own heart

…a giant slayer

…a warrior

…a son

…a father

…a husband

…a brother

…a poet

…a friend

…and so much more.

He’s one of my heroes.

He’s messed up, just like me. He needed God, just like me. He’s loved by God, just like me.

By the way, if Psalms were meant to be sung, has anyone ever considered how horrible they would sound? Many of them are so harsh it would be just scary to hear them set to a melody. Kinda like a slasher film set to an opera.

Just one girl’s opinion.

 

Check out my new favorite version of the Bible to read.

(Note: Amazon links are affiliate links.)


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Book Review: The Five Love Languages

screen-shot-2016-12-10-at-2-13-43-pmI know a lot of people don’t like personality profiles and similar tests than analyze the psyche, but I love them. I don’t know exactly why, but I think it’s fascinating that a few questions can shed such detailed insight onto my thoughts, habits and character. I read through my results each time and think, “Yes! That’s me!” Over the last couple of months, I’ve been re-reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It’s been years since I’ve read it and taken the quiz, and when my friend, Fabi, suggested reading it together, I was interested to see how/if I’ve changed since the last time. I always find it intriguing that results on any profile tend to reflect our circumstances and periodically change over the years. It’s a marvel to see how we as humans can adapt. God is pretty incredible in His design that way.

If you aren’t familiar with the book, love languages are how you primarily receive and express love. There are five categories that Dr. Chapman has outlined: Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Acts of Service, Quality Time and Physical Touch. A brief synopsis for them is given on the website. Of course, most everyone utilizes more than one of these languages to indicate and/or feel love at any time, but each person has a primary one to which they default. I’ve been racking my brain, trying to remember what my test showed the first time, but this go ’round, my results showed as Receiving Gifts, Words of Affirmation and Quality Time. Actually, each of those three was only one apart (10, 9, 8) which I thought was interesting. The other two were much lower. I remember Quality Time and Receiving Gifts as high before, but not sure I scored the same or not. Guess right now I’m just not one for Acts of Service or Physical Touch. Maybe it’s because I’m single. Dunno. No real answers there.

One of the most interesting facets of human beings is our limited perspective, despite our best efforts. I strive to be pretty aware in life but I find myself drifting back here, too. And I thought about this subject again as I read through the book. Despite deeply knowing those closest to us, unless we go to great lengths to remind ourselves, we will always tend to give love how we choose to receive it. We typically assume everyone likes getting gifts because we do. I don’t know why, but I think that’s kind of funny. We are most often self-centered, even with the best intentions. I have been trying to identify the primary love language of those closest to me in order to communicate better that I love them. I’ve got a long way to go, but hey, at least I’m thinking about it!

Maybe it’s something to work on more in 2012. Maybe it’s my latest fad. Maybe it’s just a really good book. Maybe it was a way to connect to my friend. Maybe I created this blog unknowingly as a gift to you. Ha–pretty self-centered, huh!  😉

Always questions and rarely answers. Ain’t life grand!

Regardless, enjoy and comment. Let me know your love language and help me remember it when I’m with you next. Don’t know yours? Take the quiz online and get back to me.

 

(Note: Amazon links are affiliate links.)