I like it, I love it, I want some more of it

Back to my Blog Every Day in May swag for today.

Jenni's prompt today is ten things that make you really happy. I am excluding my husband, Piper, family, and friends. We all know they are my ultimate happy, happy, happy (name that show).

I swear my list on this is to about 5, 123, 238 but here are the top ten things I could think of in regards to happiness.

10 // New school supplies

9 // Saturday mornings when I get to sleep in and drink my weight in coffee, take pictures, and blog

8 // Opening up the mail box to a letter that says my name in real ink, with a letter, or card inside

7 // Listening to country music on our deck while grilling with a nice cold beer

6 // Getting lost in a book

5 // Tailgating at the first KU football game of the season

4 // Sitting out on/near/around a lake

3 // Camping (camper style)

2 // Laying on the beach under an umbrella just listening to the waves // Traveling in general

1 // A nice warm bath after a long day of work with a wine in hand. Mostly praying my phone doesn't curplunk into the water.

I'm sure I could make a list until the end of time, but that is my list for now.

Now I'm feeling all sorts of pumped up.

costa rica stole my heart

Hellllllo internet connection. Welcome back to my life.

Over the past six days I have been in one of the most magical places I have ever been to. Hawaii is of course magical in my mind, but this was just....something else.

My husband has been really kicking major booty at work and managed to win us a trip to Costa Rica. We were there with fourteen other couples and did some major damage in that country.

The pictures I am about to show you were taken over the course of six days and two resorts. We stayed at The Springs in the rainforest for two nights and Four Seasons on the beach for the rest of the trip. I will rock the rainforest today, just so I can hold on to it just a wee bit longer.

 At least until next week when I then have being out of school to celebrate.

When we arrived in Costa Rica, I knew from the beginning it would be a trip unlike any I had been on. From the moment we walked off of the plane, it went to a whole other level of hospitality.

The plane you see above was our transportation after a short bus ride to an airport. An airport that was in the middle of a sugar cane field, with a little restaurant, bar, and one plane. Our plane.

This plane, was the craziest fake rollers coaster I'd ever been on. And boy do I love roller coasters.

Word on the street this is the "Brad Pitt" of volcanoes. 

After we landed, we were picked up by a travel bus. As we were walking to get on the bus there was a tour guide waiting with a silver (no shitting you here) platter of cold towels, a cooler of waters, and snacks of all kinds.

It was just beyond me. I am pretty sure I thanked God about 500 million times a second that this one.

When we arrived at the actual resort, instead of being surrounded by beached which you would instantly think of in Costa Rica....we were surrounded by the rainforest. Monkey's and all.

When we were going to check in we got handed those little pineapples with straws and I'm pretty sure I fainted right then. Pineapple mojito. Never head of such a thing and I think I love it.

Check out this little piece of heaven.

Not that you can see our faces at all, but I couldn't stop looking at the volcano. Maybe it's the weird teacher in me. Who knows.

And then came the rooms. Complete with my little volcano view, hammocks, heated floors, and surround sound. Party hoppin' in the hoooouse tonight.

Double sinks? They know me too well. 

I've never been too good at making these vacation posts short and sweet. For some reason I just have to include every stinking picture, good or not, so I can remember every little tiny second of awesomeness that we experienced. Call me crazy, but I just can't help it.

  

Straight from the hot springs, folks.

So I don't go on and on and on and on, I will just finish with some pictures of us zip-lining. One of my all time favorite things to do when we travel to places like this. Okay, I've only done it twice but still.

Heeeey, there's my volcano again. Annoyed yet?

Wait, now?

Okay so I guess there aren 't many pictures of the zip-lining.  I was terrified I would drop my camera to a long, awful death. Thankfully I didn't, and thankfully other people have pictures that I hope I get to see in this lifetime.

After a night of drinks and mahi-mahi, we ventured off to the beach, airplane style....this time the two pilots were sober and ready to rock and roll.

What I Am Afraid Of

The moment I see the word "afraid" a flood of thoughts and experiences take over.

There are only a small amount of things that come to mind when I think of what I am afraid of.  Not failure. Not death. Not spiders or snakes.

There are four things I can think of that I am afraid of.

1. Losing someone I love.

2. Going Blind

3. Not being able to have kids

4. Being home alone in the dark

The feeling that fears give you in the pit of your stomach is the worst feeling I have ever felt. I wish that I could say I wasn't fearful. That I was strong. That I had so much faith that I didn't have to worry. That is sadly not the case, as much as I wish it were.

Fear consumes my life almost on a daily basis. Lately I have had a constant fear that I going blind. It may sound silly to a lot of people, but it is real and it terrifies me. You see, I have these things in my eyes called floaters. There are constantly in my vision and look like little cells you see in a microscope all over. They drive my absolutely bonkers. I am constantly thinking this is the start of my eye sight going away and that I won't be able to see all the beautiful things around me forever. Like I said, it's silly but I can't help it. I am trusting that the eye doctor knows what he's talking about and just thanking the Lord that I can still see. I seriously cannot even imagine life without being able to see.

How do you get over things you are afraid of? How do I have the faith to not worry?

What I Do

I have already missed two days and it's only May 6th. Oh boy. I told you if I dedicated myself to something it just wouldn't work out like I thought.

Today I am supposed to answer the question: "If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?"

Wow, how in the world are you thinking of these hard questions Jenni? 

On a daily basis after you are out of high school or college people are always asking "what are you doing now?". The typical question is more of a conversation filler than an actual question. My answer is always "I live in ______. I am a 3rd grade teacher." 

But to answer it without saying my job is something I seriously had to think about. Heck, what DO I do? 

Here is what I do....

"I do a lot of things, in fact. I live on my deck watching my husband grill, while sitting in a lawn chair listening to country music and sipping an iced raspberry lemonade. I shoot a little pink duck across the house and yard more times than I can count in a day. I blog. I am outside every chance I get. I love, alot. I pray, a lot. I am thankful, a lot. I try to see the best in people and do my best to make them feel special and appreciated. I do life, and I try to do it well."

My Favorite Quote

Today's topic in the May Challenge is to talk about my favorite quote.

I have always been a quote person. I have made numerous notebooks with doodles of quotes I have heard or seem that put a little pep in my step. Not that I actually ever went back often to look at what I had found, but occasionally I did and got re-inspired again. The problem is, I like too darn many. I like some that make me get my lazy bum off the couch. Some that make me want to change the world. And some that just make me smile. Since I had to choose one, I did what any person in 2013 would do.....look on my pinterest. I found about five bazillion, of course. A few stuck out, but nothing total life changing. Man I never knew this would be so hard. So I went back to my phone and checked out pictures I had saved. Then I saw one that gave me an "ah-ha". 

If you have never heard of Peter Reynolds, I hope you get acquainted real soon. He is the author of one of my favorite children books of all time, The Dot. And let me tell you, I've sure read my fair share of kid books. The reason I love this quote is because of how simple, yet powerful it is. Especially right now. There is so much negative media, so many crazy flipping people, and so much awful stories we heard about...daily. We find ourselves so use to these awful things that we start wondering when the next tragedy will be.There is so much crap that it's hard to see to see the good sometimes. It's hard to look past the shootings, child abuse, and evil going on around us. Unless you stop looking at the bad, and starting looking at the good. Start looking at who helped in the tragedies. Who started a program to help children in poverty. Who is giving the little they have, to help someone who needs it more. There is light in this dark world. A whole lot of it. And I love this quote because it's true and it is a nice breath of fresh air to see. Now go make some light, baby!

Beauty Steals

I had no idea day number two would throw me for such a loop.

Today's topic was to educate you all on something I know a lot about or am good at. Cue the crickets.

I sat there forever thinking and pondering about what in the world I was that good at to actually educate someone else. Heck, I even had to ask. I could seriously not think of anything. I am just one of those people who is pretty good at a lot of things, but not amazingly talented at any of them. So therefore, I had nothing.

So then I thought. Hey, I'm really good at bsing. So I thought I'd half go with the topic and just write about a few products I've been wanting to talk about that are keeping me so fresh and so clean, clean. That is technically educating, right?

One // St. Ives Timeless Skin Collagen Elastin Moisturizer.  How's that for a name?

I bought this moisturizer on a whim. I really wanted to try some out because my face was really dry this winter. I was tired of it looks like I was shedding or something. Okay it wasn't that bad, but it did need some love.

I still love my clinique moisturizer, but I have not stopped using this since the day I bought it. I put it on in the morning and afternoon and have had NO problem with dryness since. It makes me face feel so soft and smooth. It is not too thick or too thin, which makes it actually stay on but not feel like you have layers on your face. So pretty much we have a relationship going on and it's a good thing. Try it out, you will not be disappointed. And it's only $4.67....no, this is not a joke. And did I mention it lasts for.ev.er?!

(I think St.Ives needs to send me some products to review...wink, wink)

Two // Aveeno Ultra-Calming Make-Up Wipes

These are no joke. My all time favorite make-up remover thus far. When it said ultra-calming I kind of blew it off because, well, marketers like to do funny things like that and then it be total bs. For once, the label doesn't lie.

 I don't know how. I don't know why. Maybe it's in my head, but it IS soothing. It's so soft and removes all of my make-up. Mascara included. A task a lot of my make-up removers stunk at. I wipe my day off, wash my face, and put on the above moisturizer and call it a night. I always, always, always wake up feeling refreshed and totally clean. It really does make a difference. These are $6.95

Last but definitely not least.

Three // Chaffing Relief Powder-Gel

If you are a creeper like me, you've seen this all over blog land. The first time I saw it I was intrigued but didn't really believe it. Kind of like infomercials. Total lies.

Then I saw one review and I got a little more convinced. I knew if I was going to walk into the store and pick up chaffing gel and embarrass myself at the register, it better dang well be worth it. Ya know?

So I picked it up, with my poor husband and family thinking I was from the loony bin, and awkwardly walked out of the store.

Come to find out it was the most amazing primer I've ever used. I'd only used a few in my lifetime, but this was amazing. Still is. I use it everyday and my make-up does not come off. It's kind of magical. It's so soft and light and I don't even think for a second about it being chaffing gel.  Word on the street it is identical to Smashbox primer, which is 36 bucks....compared to $6.49. I don't have that much pride to pass up a steal of a deal.

So there is my information. Now I am going to go try to get really good at something. :)

Story of My Life

It’s really hard to sum up your life story in 250 words, you know. Actually, it’s downright hard to tell your life story at all. Lessons you’ve learned. How you got to where you are. Who changed you along the way. There are so many stories, so many inspirations, so many mistakes, and so many moments that I could talk about to share my life story. None seem to really fit how I feel about my life, my journey, and my story. 

Thinking back to my childhood, mostly everything I think of brings back floods of memories. I think back to riding bikes to Sonic, getting Mister Misty’s at DQ, sitting on my grandma’s front porch, and eating her world famous salads. Playing basketball in the driveway, sitting in front of our bird dogs pin telling her how much I loved her and how sorry I was she had to sleep outside. Playing hide-in-seek with our neighbors and staying the night with friends making crazy videos and rap songs to "Oops I Did It Again". Those were the days I hold on to. The ones that seem to stick out the most to me. 

I grew up in a small town, with a family I could never thank God enough for. I lived a simple life that made me appreciate and be grateful for the small things. That is one of my favorite things about growing up in a small town, with the family that I did.

I went through my fair share of ups and downs in high school and college. Those were the times I learned life lessons the hard way. There are many days of high school I wish I could do over. There were many days I was a really shitty friend and put some things first that should have never been any number in the first place. Even though there were lessons learned, I still wish I wouldn't have hurt people I cared so deeply about.

Then there was college. I was lost in a sea of wanting to fit in and missing everything I felt comfortable with. I wanted to move back home my first year of college. I didn't think I could handle such a big school, not being the "cool kid" in a place where nobody knew my name, and living completely outside of my comfort zone. Thankfully it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. Now I am missing that college, that town, and part of that life.....so very, very badly.

Now here I am, standing on my own two feet starting a little family of my own. I have a husband, half child (aka Piper the Mini Schnauzer), and a "grown up" job as a teacher.  I still have the best family known to man, and the same friends from growing up. Throughout the years I realized what was important, what was not, and am still learning on the daily many life lessons. I still make plenty of mistakes and have some really rough days, but I love where I am, who I'm with, and thank the Lord for the beautiful guardian angel I have on my side.

And that folks...is my life story the best I can tell it. Which obviously is WAY over 250 words. I've never been a rule follower. Sorry.