Salvation mountain

I went and visited my sister in la this past weekend and we finally got to visit salvation mountain! We have been wanting to visit this place for years and finally had an entire day to drive the 3 1/2 hours there and back.

 

For those of you who dont know what salvation mountain is this is how the website describes it:

" Salvation Mountain is Leonard Knights tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: "God Is Love." Leonard's passion has lovingly created this brilliant "outsider art " masterpiece resplendent with not only biblical and religious scripture such as the Lord's Prayer, John 3:16, and the Sinner's Prayer, but also including flowers, trees, waterfalls, suns, bluebirds, and many other fascinating and colorful objects. Salvation Mountain must be seen to be fully appreciated as those who have made the journey will attest. Its 50 foot height and 150 foot breadth is made totally of local adobe clay and donated paint and is truly unique in the United States and probably the world. From its Sea of Galilee at the bottom, to the big red heart in the middle, to the cross at the very top, the reoccurring theme of "Love" is everywhere at Salvation Mountain." learn more at http://www.salvationmountain.us/

 Just like the website says it truly must be seen to be fully appreciated. We drove a total of about 7 hours that day to see this place and it was totally worth it. It's definitely not somewhere you might just pass by on your way to somewhere else, its way out in the middle of the desert.

We actually had to drive through a border patrol checkpoint on the way back to la because I guess we were pretty close to the Mexico border, who knew?!?

The whole place was a weird mix of dirt, clay and trees. It really looks like a Dr.Suess version the bible that came to life in the middle of the desert.

There were also all these random cars that were completely decked out with the theme of love all around the mountain.

We had a great time climbing and exploring the mountain, my only regret is that I wish I would have worn cooler clothes, Even though it was the end of November it was so hot in that desert. There is also this tiny little town that leads to salvation mountain, actually I don't know if it would even be considered a town it was so small. There was only one street called 'main street' go figure. It held a very interesting looking trailer park. Every business except for a liquor store was abandoned and partly destroyed. It was literally a one horse town. There was a guy who wore very little clothing and hung out doing push ups next to his horse, yep that's right, the one horse in the entire town.

If you have been thinking about visiting Salvation Mountain then I highly suggest you do, its one of those places you have to see to believe!
-Jamie

A name I never learned and a face I'll never forget.

I figured it was about time I started telling some stories about my trip to Ecuador. I thought I would start out sharing about when we went to an aids orphanage and spent the afternoon playing with the children there. When we first arrived I was handed a little girl who had been sleeping so I was able to just hold her and love on her while she slept.

You could tell from her physical appearance that she was much more sick then the other children. Once she finally woke up she wouldn't speak and showed absolutely no emotion. It wasn't until about 15 minutes before we left that she finally opened up to me and started laughing and playing with me, she still wouldn't speak and I never did learn her name.

 When it was finally time to go and my entire team had already left and got on the bus I had someone tell her that I had to leave now and tried saying goodbye, she instantly latched herself to me and wouldn't let go. My heart broke into a million pieces as I tried to sit her down and she started screaming and holding onto me tighter. I felt physically incapable of letting her go; I just couldn't do it by myself. Another girl had to help me put her down, the whole time she is still screaming and crying. I would have just taken her with me if I could have but I had to walk away with her crying and reaching for me, my heart hurt so bad as I walked back to the bus no longer being able to hold back my emotions. As I said before I never did learn her name and I may never know what happens to her but I'm so happy I was able to hold her and allow her to feel safe and love on her even if it was just for a little bit. She will now forever be my motivation and reminder about my dream to give a home to orphans one day.

I just spent 10 days in another country with a bunch of strangers.

The title of this post is sort of a lie. Yes, I did just go to another country for 10 days but the people I went with are no longer strangers to me. 

The picture above is just one day after this crazy group of people met each other and were already becoming fast friends.

So as some of you may or may not know when I signed up for this missions trip to Ecuador I did not know a single person going. It was so not like me to travel with such a large group of people who at the time were strangers, I sometimes still can't believe I went through with it but am SO glad that I did. I plan on writing more about my trip in future posts but I wanted to write just a little something before I go home to California (I'm still in Florida) about the people I went with. 

First of all God had is hand all up in this trip if you know what I mean, starting with the group of people he sent there. I didn't think it was possible for such a large group of people who had never met to mesh and get along so well. I'm the type of person who kind of sits back and observes things a lot and I would find myself just kind of watching everyone mingling, chatting, laughing and just thoroughly enjoying each other's company and think "Wow God, you are so good."  I've been on missions trips before but always with people I knew already and it never failed that people fought, feelings got hurt, and there was always drama. So people getting along for 10 days together kind of blew my mind. Personally I have a hard time making new friends, well that's what I thought before this trip. I don't know if it's because of all the awesome people that it made it easy for me to make friends or the fact the the Holy Spirit was sort of nudging me along the whole time to step out of my comfort zone a little bit but making friends on this trip was almost effortless. I've never gotten so close to people in such a short time before, after like day 3 we were all comfortable talking about our bowel movements with each other, I mean you can't get much closer then that lol. I believe I made a lot of forever friends on this trip. I can't wait to continue our friendships from here, hopefully getting to visit some people soon :) 

I will definitely be writing more posts about all the amazing things I experienced on this trip but I just kind of wanted to preface it with a little bit about all the people who I went on this trip with because honestly it wouldn't have been the same without them. I already feel like I'm having withdrawals from hanging out with them everyday. If you went on this trip with me and are reading this then let me tell you that I miss you already! 

Btw, #wheresmario 

-Jamie 

Lipstick Review!

I was sent the new Moisture Renew lipstick from Rimmel London last week from influenster to review.

I really love this lipstick! It is super moisturizing just like it says. I typically put chapstick on before I apply lipstick because my lips get chapped pretty easily but this time I decided not to to really test just how moisturizing this lipstick was. It totally surprised me and kept my lips nice and smooth all day! The color was really pigmented and it lasted all day, which is kinda crazy because it kept rubbing off on my drinks all day but the color still never seemed to fade from my lips.

So I totally recommend this lipstick! I will definitely be purchasing it in more colors myself!

*I received this product complimentary from influenster for testing purposes.

"Sorry I can't stay longer but I have to get home to my netflix"

My silence is finally over.

I am back to fill your news feed with nothing of real importance but I just became inspired to pick up my hypothetical pen and paper and write again.

You're welcome :)

But for reals, I came across Frans blog through Danielle at take heart who was featuring love stories on her blog leading up to valentines day and reading her love story inspired me to take another whack at this whole blog thing. 

Oh and no I'm not writing my love story, sorry if I misled you but I do not have a love story to write yet, unless you want to hear my fictional one I've concocted in my head where my future husband walks up to me while I am sitting and reading a book alone in a coffee shop and makes some kind of lame joke to make me laugh and then we immediately fall in love over our mutual obsession with books, coffee and zombies and ends with a theatrical proposal where he performs lets get married (the remix) by jagged edge in front of all my family and friends. 

Not that I've given it any thought. 

I also never daydream about him not caring what we name our kids and I get to name them all the crazy, off the wall names I want, all 10 of them.

Anyways....

Without further adu I give you :

The pros and cons of being single at almost 27 yrs old.

(Because this is a subject in which I am most knowledgeable)

Pros:

- Shaving my legs. Ain't gotta do it.

- I don't have to worry about anyone else's schedule, I have a hard enough time keeping up with my own.

-I can decide to randomly sign up for a missions trip to another country without having to consider anyone else. 

- when you split costs of things with a group of friends and you are the only single one in the group they feel bad and sometimes don't make you pay your part. True story. 

- I don't have to share a bed with someone who farts. 

- I don't have to buy any valentines day or anniversary gifts, and for someone who is the worst gift giver ever, this is one of my favorite pros of being single.

- I don't have to know how to cook. 

- by the time I do get married I have enough friends who owe me for helping them with their weddings that I will basically have to do zero of the wedding planning myself. #winning

Cons:

- when you are at a party or gathering you can't use your husband who is waiting at home as an excuse to leave early and apparently "Sorry I can't stay longer I have to get home to my netflix"  isn't a valid reason.

- sometimes being the 3rd, 5th,7th, or even the 9th wheel gets old. 

-you're grandma looks at you with her face as serious as a heart attack and says "do you just not want to be married?? Is that what's wrong?" And also expresses her sadness at the fact that she will be dead before she gets to meet her  great grandchildren. 

- your Facebook news feed basically only consists of engagements, weddings and babies now. 

-sometimes you have to sit by yourself at church and actually become grateful when the ushers make strangers scoot all the way down and sit next to you so you don't look super lame sitting in an entire row by yourself and making people around you wonder if you smell or something.

-you have to limit the amount of romantic movies you watch because they all make you cry. Even the crazy, never really gonna happen, un-realistic, outlandish ones.

-people assume since you are single that you have all the time in the world to do anything you want. Sorry but Angela and Hodgens are announcing that they are having a baby on the next episode of bones, so no I will not be able to attend your party.

Holler at me if you have more pros and cons, I'd love to hear them! (By hear I mean read, please don't call me, I hate talking on the phone) oooo another pro! I don't have to talk to someone on the phone everyday! Whoop, whoop!!

-Jamie 

* Meant to post this before valentines day but forgot to publish it. Whoops. 

Beauty on a budget: Eyes and Lips!!

I'm back with part 2 of some of my favorite drugstore beauty products! Hopefully you read my last post with all my favorite face products and found some of my tips useful :)
The products I am talking about today are all for your eyes and lips!
Enjoy!

Wet n Wild color Icon single eye shadows in nutty and creme brulee: $1.99

These are my go to eye shadows for an everyday neutral eye look. They have great pigmentation, and you seriously can't beat the price.

Maybelline color tattoo cream eye shadow: around $6

I can't remember what shade this is in and I don't have it with me to check but its just a basic champagne/neutral color. These color tattoo eye colors are really great! They are so creamy and blendable. You can use them by themselves or under your other eye shadows as an eye primer and it prevents creasing. I will just swipe this on when I don't have time to do a full eye shadow look and it adds a lil color and shimmer to my lids. I just bought a couple more colors today and one of them was gold rush and its a super shimmery gold color, it is gorgeous! I can't wait to try some new looks with it. I plan on eventually buying all the colors.

Jordana Fabu liner in black: around $3

This has become my favorite liquid eye liner. It has a felt tip that makes it easy to apply and isn't to wet, which is nice when you don't have a super steady hand like I do. And if you are thinking that you can't use liquid eyeliner because its to hard and messy then I say just try. Seriously, I couldn't do liquid eyeliner to save my life when I first tried, but I just kept practicing and I'm not gonna lie, I sometimes still mess up because I am so clumsy but for the most part I can swipe it on pretty fast and neatly now after so much practice. Plus this eyeliner is great for if you just want to try liquid eyeliner because its so cheap, so you aren't throwing away a lot of money if you decide later on that liquid eyeliner isn't for you.

Maybelline eye studio Gel Liner: around $8

If you are looking for a good Gel liner, then this is it. I like to go back and forth between gel and liquid, it just depends on how I'm feeling that day. (I never ever use a crayon or pencil anymore) Gel is great  because you can do the smudgy look really easily with it or use a good eyeliner brush to get a more precise line. I also just recently watched a you tube video with a beauty guru who is a professional make up artist and she recommended this liner. She liked it better then the MAC fluid line which is a super popular gel liner, and its wayyyy cheaper then MAC.

Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara: around $6

First of all I can't even tell you how many times I have repurchased this product, at least a dozen times because that's how much I like it. I buy other mascaras here and there to try but I always, always end up going back to this one. I use the mascara I am about to show you down below first to just separate and kind of lengthen my lashes a little bit and then throw this on top for some really good thickness. I just had my make up done by a professional at a wedding recently and this was the mascara she used, she said it was her favorite also. She even told me she recently took a make up class by someone who represented a very high end company and the instructor said even though she worked for that company she still used this mascara because it was the best. So there you have it, even the professionals use it and love it!

Maybelline Great Lash Lots of lashes: around $5

Now don't get this one confused with the original great lash mascara that looks almost exactly the same. The brush on this mascara is completely different, it tapers and gets smaller at the end of the brush so its good for getting those small bottom lashes. I love using it for my top lashes too though before I apply my Voluminous Mascara. I also just use this alone when I am not wearing a lot of make up and don't want to wear thick lashes.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain in Honey: around $8

 

I love these Lip colors! I only own 2 but this one is my favorite, its kind of a mauve-y color and it gets a tad bit darker when it sits on the lips but I love the color. It is really moisturizing and last a very long time. I eventually plan on buying more colors. 

Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick: around $4

This is my favorite red lipstick. Although its not really a true red, but I don't think the true red's look that great on me so I lean more towards the darker more berry looking reds. I love this one because it's matte, which I didn't think I would like because I thought it would be really drying on my lips but its not. Now don't get me wrong its not really moisturizing either, but its not gonna dry your lips out. I just make sure my lips aren't cracked or chapped when I wear this lipstick. It also smells really yummy which always sells me on lipsticks because most lipsticks smell gross and chalky to me.

Well there are most of my favorite drugstore products. There are more products I love but these are just the ones I use pretty regularly. Have you tried any of these? What do you think?
-Jamie

Beauty on a Budget!

In case you weren't aware I am obsessed with anything hair or make up related.
But like many people I can't afford to spend a ton of money on high end make up. Don't get me wrong I love high end brands and I even used to only use MAC face products (back when my parents still paid for my make up) and urban decay is my fave for eye shadows but for your basics you can find products that work just as good in the drugstore that are A LOT more affordable.
Over $20 for a tube of mascara??? Ain't gonna happen, you know how fast I go through that stuff??
I am always trying out the newest beauty products at the drugstore to see if its really gonna do what it says. So over time I've collected some favorites that I thought I would share with you!
I think I am going to break up the posts because I have quite a few products to show you :)
Here we go!

Covergirl Outlast 3 in 1 foundation: around $9

 

I recently started using this foundation and I LOVE IT!! I've already used an entire bottle and repurchased it. I do my make up at 5:30 am so I need it to last a really long time for it to look even decent at the end of the day. This does just that. My face doesn't get greasy or oily throughout the day like it usually does and it covers really well. I would say this is a full coverage foundation so if you like more of a light or medium coverage then You may not like it. Although I just don't understand the point of foundation if it isn't full coverage but that's just my opinion. It says it has primer and concealer in it and although I still do use concealer I noticed that I don't need to use it as often as I used to with other foundations, this one covers so well.

Flower BB Cream: $12.98

If you haven't heard of the new brand Flower its a cosmetics line that is only sold at wal mart created by Drew Barrymoore. This is the only product I have tried from this line but I really, really like it. For those days when you don't want to wear a ton of make up you could just use this and with some powder and blush and be done. It really does a great job of evening out your skin tone . Like I said though when I wear face make up I like to wear it to completely cover my face, so I use this under my foundation on days when I know I am going to be busy all day long and need my makeup to last extra, extra long that day. When I do use this I don't need to use concealer at all, it covers everything! It creates a very nice palette on your face to apply the rest of your make up. It is very matte though, so if you like more of a dewy finish with your make up you aren't going to get it with this. Also maybe not the best product for people with super dry skin. This has become one of my favorite face products recently though, I am really impressed with it.

Hard Candy Tattoo Concealer:$6.00

First of all can we talk about how much product you get for the price of this stuff?? Such a good deal.
So this is supposedly supposed to be able to cover tattoos (haven't tried covering mine with it, so I can't vouch for that) so it is obviously a thicker consistency. A little goes a long, long way. I can't even remember when I purchased this but my tube isn't even close to being empty and I wear make up every day. This brand is also only sold at wal mart. (sorry, I hate wal mart too )

Maybelline Mineral powder: around $8.99

I use this powder to set my foundation. There isn't much to say about this product except that it gets the job done. I also sometimes use this for concealer too because  I have combination skin so some days my skin is a little more oily then others and using this powder with a concealer brush directly on my really oily blemishes works extremely well. So its kind of like having 2 products in 1!

NYC Bronzer in Sunny: around $2.79

 

This is a basic matte bronzer that I have repurchased many times. I have tried other bronzers but I always go back to this one. If you like to dust a little bronzer all over your face after your foundation to give you a little color I would suggest this one because it has no shimmer or glitter in it. Especially if you have oily skin you don't want to use a bronzer with any shimmer in it or it will just make your skin look even more oily. I think the color of this bronzer will look good on most skin tones too, plus you can't beat the price!

Wet n Wild Blush in Heather Silk: $2.99

I have a few different blushes that I use but this is the blush I grab for when I I'm not really thinking about it, I know I can trust it to give me a good color every time. You only have to use a little bit and it will give you a lot of color, so you do have to be careful not to use to heavy of a hand when running your brush through it or you may end up looking like a clown. There are other great blush colors in this line that I would have pictured but I broke them :/ oops. Although since they are so inexpensive it wasn't to devastating.

I am not a professional make up artist or anything so if you dis agree with me about any of these that's fine, these are just my opinions that I have formed over time of trying so many different products.

So what are your favorite Beauty products?? I love to hear what everyone else is using!

I will be doing a post highlighting my favorite eye and lip products next so stay tuned!