Author: emilylouisekeller

7 Things I Learned In My First 365 Days as Mrs. Keller

Marriage is an adventure. Apparently the saying that time flies when you’re having fun is true, because it definitely does not feel like a year. At this exact time last year, I was preparing to take a walk down a very wet, grassy aisle to marry the man of my dreams. By the grace of God, Hurricane Matthew managed to cease, what had been up until 10 minutes before I walked down the aisle, a torrential downpour. One of the ring bearers was MIA due to the fact that he was 2 and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was much more entertaining than watching his aunt get married. Also by the grace of God, I managed to squeak out my vows after having the worst cold of my life the entire week before the wedding. We took communion with a slice of Italian sandwich bread and a glass of sangria that was rushed up to the altar during a time of prayer by my aunt due to my mom forgetting about communion amidst her million other tasks for the week. There were several other issues that went unbeknownst to me until 3 months after the fact, but it was still the most amazing and magical night of my life. I still could never thank everyone enough for all they did- from flying in from all over the country, to setting up, to keeping my mom sane, to tearing down, none of it would have been possible without each and every one of you, and I am eternally grateful. Today, I want to take time to share with you the 7 most important things I learned in the past year. I hope this is something that won’t just resonate with newlyweds or engaged couples, but with everyone. Let’s get started!

1. Patience and grace. With myself, my husband, and with God. The term patience is a virtue never became more true to me than in the past year. Something I had to learn very early on is that marriage is never-ending learning process. Jon-Paul and I had never been married to each other, therefore we really had no clue what we were doing! And we still don’t! That was a very hard pill for me to swallow. I LOVE being good at things and mastering them. In marriage, we encounter new things every day. And we are not always going to respond to those situations in a perfect way. The most important thing is to have patience with yourself and your spouse. Jon-Paul has done some things in the past year that have genuinely pissed me off or hurt my feelings. I have done the same thing to him, probably 10 times as many times! But you have to be patient with one another, and offer grace to them and yourself when you mess up. And you are going to mess up. Neither of you are perfect! As for God, you must have patience and know that He knows what He’s doing. You can’t be in control all the time! 

2. You can never apologize too many times. I believe you are never more strong than when you can admit that you were wrong. I also did not mean for that to rhyme, but it did, so we will stick with it! You gotta lower your pride, babe. Hop off your high horse, admit you messed up and apologize! I remember one specific week about 6 or 7 months ago where I swear I apologized at least 8-10 times a day. I was dealing with some hormonal imbalances and was “snippy McGee” as my husband affectionately called me. It should be known that he has continued to have immense grace for me as this has persisted. I told him, “I feel like I’ve apologized so much more in the past week than I have in my entire life!” But through that process, I learned how important it is to apologize. At the end of the day, you have to go home with that person and crawl in the same bed. When you harbor resentment or refuse to admit you were wrong, the 6 inches of space between you and him in your queen sized bed can feel like a million miles. You have to communicate. You have to voice your feelings. You have to go through the hard things in order to get to the good things! It’s not always easy to talk about your weaknesses and screw-ups, but it is crucial for the survival of your marriage. 

3. God needs to be your number one. One of the main reasons I love my husband so much is because he loves God more than he loves me. When you put God first, not just in your relationships, but in life in general, you set yourself up for success. See, when you love someone, you automatically make decisions based on pleasing that person and protecting your relationship with them. With love comes respect. Ultimately, because God is before me for Jon-Paul, and because God is before Jon-Paul for me, we not only make decisions based on each other’s needs, but based on what we know God wants for us separately and as a couple. You cannot allow yourself to put any human being, not even your spouse, before God. In a healthy relationship, the closer you both move to God, the closer you get to each other. This is a true source of intimacy. Speaking of which, that’s a perfect segway into point number four.

4. Sex is not everything. Growing up in the church, we are taught that sex is great under the covenant of marriage, but outside of that covenant, it is destructive, sinful, and should NEVER be done. Some are even scared straight with “the talk” including all of the negative consequences of pre-marital sex. I am all for sexual purity before marriage. I believe that is a Biblical principle and a standard that I held myself to,  but I believe the church, particularly the youth ministry, has focused far too much on the negative side of pre-marital sex. You are told your whole life “No sex until marriage” or “You can only give it once and that should be to your husband” etc. And we aren’t just told that, it’s literally drilled into our minds. Like most other things, too much of anything can be detrimental.  This either scares us to death of sex, or we rush into marriage with the wrong person just so it will be “under the covenant” So here’s sweet little Susie Q getting married as a virgin because she’s been told time after time to not have sex, and then suddenly she says the words “I Do” and signs a piece of paper and we’re all like “YEAH! Go be fruitful and multiply!” We have given the misconception that intimacy through sex is found in the physical side only. What I discovered in the first few months of marriage was that, yes, the physical aspect does bring you and your spouse closer, but the real intimacy through sex is found in the open line of communication before, during, and after intercourse. Yes, I said during. No it doesn’t “just happen” like in the movies. Sometimes it does, but more often than not, at least from my one year of experience, sex entails a lot of communication. You have to be able to communicate what you are comfortable with and what works for you. Sometimes you have to do a little give and take because what works for you, may not work for your spouse. This is all very personal, but it’s something that is never discussed! I say all of that to say, yes, sex is amazing, but it is not the only way of becoming intimate with your spouse. Talking about things like feelings and emotions, and perspectives, both negative and positive, are so so very important to achieve intimacy. Like the every youth pastor on the planet has ever said, “Intimacy equals into-me-you-see” 

*Moving Right Along*

5. Nothing is ever THAT bad. Fights suck. Jon-Paul and I didn’t have our first real fight until we were registering for our wedding. We had had disagreements and minor tifts here and there, but nothing like this blow out. To spare you a very long story, basically I had unintentionally set very high expectations for this trip to Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. This was going to be magical and we were going to run through the aisles scanning everything our hearts desired and we would both be so excited to choose what kind of dishes and pots and pans and bedding we would get to build our new love nest. The only problem with that, aside from the fact that I was living in fantasy land, was that I did not communicate these expectations to my very loving and patient husband. After an hour and a half of scanning JUST kitchen items in BB&B, he had reached his max for the day (side note: apparently they don’t let you run rampant with the scanner like in the movies at BB&B). This caused a huge blow up because in my mind, he didn’t care about our new life together. After he took an hour-long trip to the coffee shop in the parking lot of the store, we promptly  left. It was a YUGE fight for 30 minutes solid in the car on the way home. I was PISSED that he didn’t read my mind to find out my expectations. HOW DARE HE! Any way, during that giant fight all I could think about was, “Oh my gosh, this is it. We are going to break off the engagement and we’ll be done. We can never recover from this fight.”Boy, was I wrong (thank God). We sat in that car and talked for over an hour once we got to the apartment and worked it out. We realized I needed to share and make more realistic my expectations, and he needed to make a little bit more of an effort to participate. He had a very reasonable explanation for not being concerned with our pots and pans- he doesn’t cook much, therefore he wouldn’t be using them. As for the dishes, so long as he can drink the milk from it once done with his cereal, he’s good. All in all, I have learned that no fight is THAT bad. Sometimes it takes just talking it out, or taking time to think things through. Ultimately, you have to communicate* (See point 4 on intimacy)

6. Me time is crucial. Just because the two have become one, doesn’t mean that the one can’t still have time for him/her self. In fact, I’m pretty sure in order to resist the urge strangle your spouse from time to time, you need to take me time. Go get a mani/pedi, or hang out with a girlfriend, or, my personal favorite, go walk around Target and design six different versions of your living room, only to walk out with everything your didn’t need and nothing that you did! You cannot lose who you are. That’s not what marriage is about. Who you marry should amplify who you are, not diminish. And though your interests may change, the time you take for yourself should not. 

7. As is accountability. This is so so important. Surround yourself with successful, Godly married couples to look up to. We have several couples that have sort of taken us under their wings and taught us so many valuable lessons. We also have a few couples our age to glean from as well. They are our peers and we can talk to them about newlywed things that no one else would understand. Some of our best friends in the whole world were married just a few months after us, so being able to partner with them and walk through this together has been an integral part of our lives. Both of these types of couples have permission to ask us the hard questions. They can ask us about our financial state, our communication, our sex life, and so many other things because we trust them to help keep us on the right path. Most of them have been there, done that, made the mistakes, had great triumphs etc., so they can speak from experience. 

This past year has been so beyond amazing. I have learned so much about Jon-Paul and myself, and who we are as a couple. We are a team. We fight for each other and for our marriage. Marriage is not work. I personally don’t like when people say that. Theres a saying that goes, “When you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.” If you love playing the guitar, sure, you take lessons and train yourself to get better. You sometimes play until your fingers bleed. It hurts your hands and wrists some times, but at the end of the day, it’s your passion and you love it. Marriage is the same way. You have to walk through some hard times, you have to practice to get better, and you have to learn some hard lessons. But at the end of the day, you love that person more than anything else in the whole world, and you are passionate about your marriage. So babe, thanks for making this the best year of my life. It has had its ups and downs, we have laughed and cried, but we have been together through it all, and that’s all I could ever ask for. You are my best friend and I love you so much. Here’s to 100 years more of the best sleep over ever. Happy Anniversary, honey bunches. 

Monday Funday

Happy Monday, y’all! Yes, I did just use “happy” and “Monday” in the same sentence. If you are anything like 99.9% of the rest of the entire world, you dread Mondays. You probably saw several “Monday’s suck” type posts on social media, or made one yourself. I get it. Your two sacred days of rest, relaxation, cleaning, organizing, or whatever you consider to be “me time” have blown right by, and it’s time to get back to the grind again. It can be a daunting task to look at. Mondays generally start the 5 day countdown to the weekend, and it’s a never-ending cycle.

If you haven’t learned yet, I love a good paradigm shift! That being said, let’s shift some paradigms and dive into some ideas on how to make Mondays a little more enjoyable. The following seven tips are things that I do my darnedest to accomplish in order to set my week up for success. I would say I hit at least 5 of these on an average week, and I’ve seen a noticeable shift in my stress levels since applying them. Let’s get started!

1) Mind Control

We live in a super negative world. We also live in a very lazy world. I’m convinced these two things are the reasons we have this hatred for Mondays in our current culture. We will find anything and everything to be negative about, and we want to live in a never-ending weekend state. I hate to break it to ya, sweetheart, but that’s a super unrealistic expectation of life. We look at the beginning of the week as a bad thing when in fact it presents a whole new host of opportunities. This a chance for you to wipe your slate clean from all of last week’s blunders, set new goals, and achieve new feats. Every Monday is the start of something new! Look at it as a new adventure- what will you see, do, think, dream, and create this week. Who will you meet and where will you go? Don’t take for granted this opportunity to change the world. Not everyone will get another Monday. Don’t look at Mondays as a start to a mundane week- they deserve more credit than that. Take some time to pray over your week ahead. Make declarations that this will be the best week yet, that God is for you, that you have the mind of Christ, that you have a spirit of peace… the list goes on and on!

2) Proper Preparation

Here come my favorite “5 P’s” again- Proper Planning (Preparation) Prevents Poor Performance. Monday morning is not the time to scramble at the last-minute and run around like a chicken with you head cut off. For your sake, and for the sake of those around you, take some time on Sunday afternoon/ evening to prep for your week ahead. Don’t stay out too late, do some meal prep, double and triple check your 15 alarms set in 5 minute increments (I’m not the only one, right?), make sure your home is tidy, and pick out a cute outfit you will look forward to wearing. This will all eliminate potential stress factors from your Monday, and in turn, your week as a whole.

3) Start Off On the Right Foot

It’s everyone’s famous saying, “I’ll start that on Monday”. Well, honey, Monday is HERE! If you said your diet starts today, do whatever you need to do to make sure that happens. If you said you’d exercise on Monday, do it. If you said you would start getting more organized on Monday, just do it! There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment you get when you do what you said you would do, when you said you’d do it. Imagine starting off your week with that feeling- you’ll be unstoppable! Do whatever it takes to get there. Even if it’s just a small step, it’s a step nevertheless.

4) Create Weekday “Me Time”

It can be really difficult to find quiet time during the week. My favorite way to do this is my morning routine. I am usually up an hour or two before my husband , so this time is pretty much guaranteed to be by myself (not that i don’t love time with Jon-Paul, but alone time is vital for a successful marriage- more on that next Sunday) A good, solid morning routine is a huge key to success. It is another way to eliminate stress from your week, especially if you are making it enjoyable! Get up, wash your face, do your skincare routine, work out, drink your tea or coffee, do your devotions, listen to some praise and worship, etc. I always feel SO much more fulfilled and accomplished when I do the things I set out to do. You will actually have MORE energy by doing these things. Make this your “me” time during the week!

5) Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

If you let every little thing get to you during your week, you might spontaneously combust. Is it just me, or does it seem like 70% of things that go wrong during the week happen on Mondays. Someone cuts you off, you spill your coffee down the front of you, you get a flat, or worse, you get pulled over. Yes, these things SUCK, but no, it is not the spirit of Monday out to get you. It’s life and once it happens, there is nothing you can do to change the fact that these sucky things took place . The only thing you have control of is your attitude in response to these events, and how you choose to learn from your crappy event. Spilled coffee? Chances are you were rushing. Someone cuts you off, don’t flip them the bird. Chill out. Get pulled over, leave on time and don’t speed! Hit traffic? Take some time to pray. There is a positive perspective and solution for every problem, but your attitude and response to these situations will determine the outcome and success.  

6) Take 30 Minutes to an Hour at Work to Plan Out the Rest of Your Work Week.

If you’re anything like me, you have a legal pad for every topic. My favorite one is my to-do list legal pad. Every Monday when I get into work, I get a couple of quick things done, then create a list of things I have to get done that week, including the 2 or three things I already did. I automatically get to cross those off with an amazing feeling of satisfaction. It helps motivate me to get everything on that list crossed out. If I have time, I even write out a personal version of that list. I live by lists. They keep me accountable and organized, and keep me from forgetting to do things in a job where there are always things to do!

7) Plan Something Enjoyable When You Get Home from Work

What makes a day more exciting than having something to anticipate when you get home! Save a show on DVR to watch. Try out a new recipe for dinner (or throw something in the crock pot in the morning! You’ll be excited to get home and see how it turned out). Plan a family game or movie night. Have yourself a bubble bath for some quiet time to wind down from the day. Any time you start to catch a case of the Mondays, just remember what you have waiting at home for you. I try to keep the exciting event at the end of the day at home rather than going out. If you start your week out exhausted, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Mondays do not have to suck. The last half of your Sunday should not be filled with stress for the week to come and your week as a whole should not be a countdown to the weekend- savor every bit of your week- even Mondays!

Hold On

First of all, if you haven’t already started singing “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips, I don’t know that we can be friends. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move on, shall we?

I love reading. I can really read anything, but nothing gets me like a good love story, particularly forbidden love. I read Romeo and Juliet in 7th grade, and from there, I was hooked. In fact, I faked being sick one day so I could stay home from school and read Twilight. Needless to say, I was “miraculously” healed when my mom got home, and I didn’t miss another day for the rest of the year. There is just something so magical about books. I love being given creative license to envision the characters however I want. I love picturing how they interact in their conversations and picking up on tones in the dialogue that help you capture the true meaning of the story. Dialogue is my favorite to read. It’s so much fun to try to envision the conversation taking place. This is why reading whole chapters made up of only narrative,  with absolutely no dialogue,  is almost enough for me to put the book down for a bit, if not altogether. But, it’s what happens in between the dialogue, the narrative,  that’s so important! That’s where you really learn who the characters are and where the story is going. There is so much vital information in the action and the narrative.

This is so similar to the not so fun parts of life. Life can suck. And it usually starts to suck right after an amazing event or season. So you’re coming out of this amazing season and you’re pumped and ready for what’s next, and then BAM! Life’s like, “Oh! You’re really happy? Let’s fix that- you’re laid off!” Or you go through a bad breakup or divorce. Or your car breaks down. Or you have a loss in your family. You should get it now- there’s a lot of storms that can come and rain on your parade, and these storms tend to not be very fun. However, what they lack in fun, they make up for in experience. There is something important waiting for you in that stormy season, or God wouldn’t allow you to go through it. He may not cause the storm, but He can absolutely use it to better you. Often times, the information and experience gained in the season of storms is necessary for the following season of sunshine- just like the narrative of a book. If you were to only read the dialogue of the book, you would be extremely lost. That’s the same with seasons of life! If you were to just jump from good season to good season, you would miss out on so much knowledge!

One of mine and my husband’s favorite TV shows is The Office. He has seen it about 9 time through, and I’m working on number 4. It’s one of the funniest, wittiest, most stupid and awkward tv shows you will ever watch, except for season 1. Season one is mostly just awkward and kind of horrible. Honestly, how it got renewed after season 1, I’m not quite sure, but thank God it did! I mean, it’s not that is completely horrible, it’s just boring. In fact, 4 years before my husband and I got together, another friend of mine tried to get me to watch it and I only watched 3 episodes and was done. So for four years, FOUR YEARS, I was missing out on one of the greatest comedies ever all because of ONE SEASON! I was so caught up on how bad and boring that season was, that I refused to keep pushing through it to witness the comedic genius that is The Office. We do this all too often in life. We approach a hard season, dip our big toe in the water, and immediately back off because it’s not what we expected. We get so caught up in the stormy season and how uncomfortable it is, that we retreat rather than pushing forward to see what God has for us on the other side! Even more so, we miss out on the vital information that awaits us in the storm! While season one of The Office may not be the most exciting or funny season, there is important information in it that you need to get in order to understand the other 8 seasons.

We see something similar to this in the Bible in Matthew 14:22-33. You are probably very familiar with this story- It’s the one where Jesus walks on water. I guess you could say it’s pretty popular. A little background on this story- Jesus and his disciples have just finished feeding the 5,000. They are pumped. They are like, “Heck yeah, I’m totally with Jesus. This dude just took a few fish and loaves of bread and fed 5,000 people- not including women and children, He’s the bomb.” The Bible says in verse 22, “As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people.” So, as soon as this amazing event was done, Jesus told the disciples that they needed to go ahead because he needed to rest and pray. It goes on to say in verse 24, “Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves.” We can kind of parallel this to our lives. As we move from one season to the next, a storm arises and we freak. We’re like “Oh my gosh, God, where are you?! You sent me into this next season and now it’s storming??? How could you?!” But, what’s so cool about this story is Jesus was with them in their darkest hour, and Peter stepped out in faith and walked on water. We have all been taught the lesson of “not taking your eyes of Jesus or you’ll drown”, but I think there is an even better lesson in this verse. The response the disciples give in verse 32 and 33 after seeing Jesus and Peter walk on water makes me giggle a bit. 32-33 The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!” They said, “You’re the Son of God for sure”, like they hadn’t had enough proof before that! As if they hadn’t seen him cleanse the leper, heal the centurion leader, heal Peter’s own mother, cast out demons, and for goodness sake, they just saw Him feed 5,000+ people!

We do this so very often in our own lives. We have seen God do amazing things in our lives, but when times get tough, we doubt that He will show up. It’s like we forget all of the other things Has done because our focus in on the severity of the storm. But, if we would just shift our focus back to God, we would see that He is so much bigger than any storm we face! My pastor always says It’s not over until God says it’s good. So if the situation you are in isn’t good, then your story isn’t over! Don’t give the enemy permission to end your story on a bad note. You cannot give up just because this chapter isn’t as good as the others. You have to give God the chance to make it good! Like the song says:

Some day somebody’s gonna make you want to

Turn around and say goodbye

Until then baby are you going to let them

Hold you down and make you cry

Don’t you know?

Don’t you know things can change

Things’ll go your way

If you hold on for one more day

Can you hold on for one more day

Things’ll go your way

Hold on for one more day

You just have to hold on and keep fighting and pushing! Take advantage of this storm. Learn all you can from it, and watch God show off in your life by turning it all around for you.

 

XOXO

ELK

September Five Faves

Welcome to this month’s Five Faves! This will be a monthly article on five products I can’t live without. Each month’s topic will vary, and for this month, its beauty. Let’s get started!

 

First up is Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm. I am pretty sure it is impossible to live in the desert and not use chapstick! There are a few things that I love about this lip balm that I have not yet found in any others. First of all, it’s all natural. I am in the process of switching my skincare items to all natural products, and this was one of the firsts! I mean, this is something I am literally slathering on my lips, which means it inevitably ends up in my mouth if I lick my lips or if I accidentally apply some of it on the inner part of my lip. Why on earth would I want a whole bunch of nasty chemicals being ingested into my body?! Some of my favorite ingredients are, of course, beeswax, vitamin E, and coconut oil, as well as rosemary extract and peppermint oil. Those last two lead me to my next reason for loving this lip balm- the scent/taste! I love the natural scent. Don’t get me wrong, when I was little, I rocked my Dr. Pepper scented lip balm, but now that’s not so cute! Because of the peppermint oil, it almost aids in having fresh breath. I go back and forth between the original and the pomegranate, which gives the most subtle tint.  Lastly, I love the moisture it brings. It is so nourishing! Like I said before, I live in a very dry climate, which means it’s very easy for my lips to get dry. I literally only have to apply this once during my morning makeup routine and once before bed, and I am set! This lip balm is amazing for wearing on it’s own or under a matte lipstick. You can get it from any drugstore, supermarket, or online at www.burtsbees.com for $3.30.  

 

Next is my favorite mascara! There are so many on the market now, and I’m not saying this is the absolute best one out there, but it is perfect for day-to-day using just 2 coats, or 3 if you are wanting something a little more dramatic. I use Wet n’ Wild MegaVolume in “very black”. Y’ALL- this mascara is $2.99 and works wonders! A couple of things I love about it- for one, it is a cruelty free brand. This is huge for me because I am an avid animal lover. The last thing I want to think about when applying my makeup is, “Oh, I’m so glad some little bunnies got to try this out before me to see if it would cause a reaction!” Second, the formula is amazing. It goes on very smooth and doesn’t flake one bit. Again, being in a dry climate, this is super important! Because it’s so dry, a lot of very nice mascaras end up flaking because they dry out during the day. And third, the brush! I may be weird for this, but I cannot stand plastic or rubber brushes. I love a full bristle brush, and this baby has it! Another bonus with this brush is that it never feels stiff and new. Most bristle brushes take a few uses to break in, and can be difficult to control the first few uses. This one is great right from the start. Again, this can be purchased at any drugstore, supermarket, or www.wetnwildbeauty.com.

 

Third on the list is probably the most versatile thing I will ever post about- COCONUT OIL! I use coconut oil for like a million things, so I will just list a couple.

 

  1. Shaving oil: I use coconut oil as a shaving oil or cream because a little goes a long way, and it acts as a natural moisturizer. Simply scoop approximately one tablespoon into the palm of your hand use to coat one leg. This usually coats my entire leg. Then just shave like normal!
  2. Makeup Remover: This can be a bit messy, and I wouldn’t recommend using it for a full face of heavy makeup, but for your everyday look, it’s perfect. I scoop little bit into the palm of my hand and rub my hands together to melt the oil (coconut oil is solid until 76℉), and then spread across my face. Your best bet is to apply small amounts over time so you don’t waste any. Then, take a rag or cotton pad and wipe off. I wipe as much of my makeup off as possible and then let the oil sit for a bit to moisturize my face before washing.
  3. Moisturizer: You can pretty much slather this stuff anywhere and get insane moisture. I love using it on chronically dry places like cuticles, elbows, knees, and feet. For my feet, I usually coat them up and massage them a bit and then put some socks on to trap the moisture.
  4. Hair growth and health: One of my favorite hair masks is coconut oil, 1 egg, tea tree oil, and vitamin e oil. Whip that all up and let it set overnight. It works best to apply the mix to the ends of your hair and then comb through the rest to spread. Give it a little massage on your scalp to stimulate blood flow, then wrap your hair up in a bun on top of your head and wrap it in saran wrap or a plastic bag. Wash it the next morning twice with shampoo and only condition the ends. You can also apply just plain coconut oil to your eyelashes and eyebrows to help in their growth as well.

For all of these, I use Simply Balanced Raw Unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil from Target. It can be purchased in stores or online at www.target.com for $6.99 for a 14oz jar.

 

Next up is my favorite razor. I use Harry’s Men’s Razors exclusively from Target. I have used men’s razors for as long as I can remember because I feel they get a closer shave, but this is by far the best! It’s a 5 blade razor with a precision blade on the reverse side. The blades are amazing and don’t rust very easily, a problem I’ve had with most other razors. The starter kit comes with 2 additional blades in a case, as well as a travel razor cover for protection. Being 100% honest, what first attracted me to this product was the packaging. I love design, and this box was so clean and professional looking. There wasn’t a whole bunch of colors and loud phrases, and I loved that. They let the product speak for itself. It also has a great flexible hinge that helps get hard to reach places, as well as a textured handle to avoid any slips, even if your hands are covered in coconut oil or shaving cream. Lastly, the replacement blades are the least expensive I think I’ve seen yet, which is great considering most other brands the replacements are more expensive than the razor itself! The starter pack is $9.99 and a pack of four replacement blades is $7.99, and can be purchased at Target stores or online at www.target.com.

 

The last favorite I’ll share with you this month is my foundation. I use Wet n’ Wild PhotoFocus foundation. I already know what you’re thinking- “Wet n’ Wild foundation?!”- but just wait! Just like their mascara, this is a cruelty free product. It also does not have any parabens in it, which is huge for me. In case you weren’t aware, parabens turn into estrogen when absorbed. For us ladies, excess estrogen can wreak havoc on our bodies. For me, it causes migraines. I had cut our every bit of soy (which also has estrogen) out of my diet and was still getting migraines. I finally discovered almost every makeup product I was using had parabens in it! Since switching to this product, my migraines has significantly dropped in frequency, praise the Lord! Now that you’ve had your science lesson for the day, let’s move on! This foundation comes in a whopping 20 shades! I have always struggled with finding a shade light enough for my fair skin, and I have finally found it! The coverage is great too. It is very flexible. If you want a lighter coverage, a light coat of this will be great. If you are wanting to cover up acne scars or blemishes or redness (like me) a heavier coat applied with a makeup sponge works amazing. The absolute best thing about this product though is the little spatula attached to the top. Why no other company has done this yet, I am not quite sure. This allows you to get the very last drop of foundation and it’s amazing! Each vial lasts me about 3 weeks and is only $5.99. It doesn’t get much better than that! You can pick this up at any drugstore, supermarket, or online at www.wetnwildbeauty.com.

 

If you have any questions regarding any of these products or any products you would like me to try and review, feel free to leave a comment below! Thanks for reading!

 

XOXO

ELK

Quit Hating the Waiting

We have all been there- sitting in line in the drive through for what seems like an eternity, or sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, where said doctor is running half an hour or more behind, or waiting for that package of new somethings to show up, or waiting for God to bring the right man or woman into our lives or to take us to the next step in our journey. Let’s be honest, often times the perspective that today’s world has is that waiting SUCKS. I find myself in the place pretty much every day, waiting on someone to answer my email so I can move forward with my work, or waiting at a stoplight for fifty-thousand minutes when I’m running late. It never stops. It is so easy to hate your state of waiting. I love to look at things I ‘hate’ or struggle with in my life and evaluate them from different perspectives. There is one thing in my life that I have been waiting on for a very long time. I have prayed and fasted and done everything I know how to do, all to what seems to be no avail. A few weeks ago I was thinking about this particular thing, and I began to feel genuine hatred for it. Not the person involved or the choices made, but the situation in general. I was getting angry with God for not fixing this situation after my many desperate cries and many tears shed. Then my BFF, Holy Spirit, put me in check real quick. For you to get this statement, you have to get an idea of how I hear the good ol’ HS. God knows what we respond to in our minds. He DID create us after all. So in my mind, my “conscience” or the Holy Spirit speaks to me like an old Southern Belle. Judge away, but God knows this is what I respond to, because, in my mind, what’s more stern yet loving than a Southern Grandma?! ANYWAY, the Holy Spirit said “Honey, you have got to stop hating your waiting.” 
HELLO!!!!!
Now, for those who know me, you know that I am not one to just back down and say “Okay, you’re right! I’ll just let this go and life will be lemon drops and lollipops!” I sometimes wish this were my attitude, but it’s not. I immediately went into my stubborn arguments of “Yeah, that’s easy for you to say! You aren’t the one waiting!” To which Holy Spirit replied, “Umm, yes I am! I am waiting on you!” 
HELLO!!!!! (again) 
At this point I decided it was best to listen, and I started digging in the Word. The Bible has no shortage of truths about patience. It’s a freaking Fruit of the Spirit, for Heaven’s sake! There is POWER in your PATIENCE (Proverbs 16:23). Anyone can get angry or fly off the handle, or even throw in the towel and call it quits. But it takes true strength to preserver in the face of what can seem to be defeat. So with this new revelation, I asked God to speak to me some more. I felt Him say “I need you to stop seeing this as a ‘waiting season’ where you can’t do anything, and to start seeing it as a preparation season. And not just for you, but for everyone involved.” That was it- the change of perspective I need! Our culture has but such a negative stigma on the word “waiting”. Everything has to be fast and quick. Fast food, quick internet, quick service, fast speeds, everything has to be now, now, now. We live in a fast-paced life style. And if it’s not fast enough for us, you better believe someone, or everyone, is going to hear about it. There is a military saying that my dad used to tell me all the time. its called “The 5 P’s”,- Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance (try saying that 10 times fast). I now like to sub Preparation for Planning. Your preparation season is crucial to preventing poor performance when you do finally step into the season you’ve been waiting for! You can’t just take a toddler and throw them into the deep end of the pool and expect them to automatically know how to keep themselves afloat. You take them to swimming lessons and teach them the proper technique and how to distribute their weight to float. Then you teach them how to move their arms and legs to propel themselves forward. It doesn’t happen overnight. And some kids learn faster than others. Some kids have to conquer their fear of water from a past traumatic experience. Some kids have to develop their trust in the instructor who is holding them afloat until they learn to do it themselves. Some kids have to learn to let go of the side of the pool and get out of their comfort zone. Some kids have to get over how cold the water is and move past to discomfort. THIS is what your preparation season is for. It’s to help you get over past hurts and burns. It’s to teach you that you can’t do this all by yourself- You have to trust God and learn that He knows what He’s doing. You have to get out of your comfort zone and do things that aren’t comfortable for you. 
Patience is not always a fun task, but there is so much to be learned in your season of preparation. You learn how strong you are and how mighty our God is. You learn to be patient. And through your patience you learn one of the greatest truths of love. Love is patient (I Corinthians 13:1). It is in your season of preparation that you learn to be patient and love yourself and those around you. You learn to truly love the people or the place, or thing you are believing for, because let’s be honest- if you don’t love something, is it really worth the preparation and waiting? 
With all of that being said, It’s time for you to stop hating your waiting! Use this time to grow in you spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health. Strengthen your relationships. Love people. Your are in this season for a purpose (I purposefully didn’t use the word “reason” here to avoid the cheesy rhyme. I was tempted though!) That purpose is so much greater that just you! It impacts every person you come in contact with and you have complete control and responsibility for the impact you leave. Never be in such a rush that you forget to love.
XOXO 

ELK