Tag Archives: Sharing

09.17.21
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Getting Personal #259: My Skin & Makeup Routines (Part 7)

From Summer’s Concoctions!

Welcome back! It’s been almost two years since I did one of these posts. I have some awesome new products to share and rave about!

Here are the links to my other posts:

Skin

Bath and Body Works – I love the Beautiful Day scent! I found this scent through a beautiful gift basket that was given to me for my wedding nearly six years ago (Where did the time go?!). I’ve bought it ever since.

Summer’s Concoctions! – This is the newest small business I learned about through social media. I love Summer and her determination to grow her business. She’s a former multi-level marketing consultant / independent contractor, but decided to get out and start her own business. I’m so proud of her! I joined her own new Facebook group after seeing her posts in a great group called your MLM is not a small business, Karen. I immediately placed an order with her. I cannot rave about her products enough. I’ve bought her Body Butter and Body Scrub so far, and I can’t wait to buy more. Her products are handmade, affordable, and really fast shipping! They smell amazing, too!! I’m borderline obsessed with the Orange Ginger! And she has a long, long list of scents to choose from – New colors, too. I paid $31 total for the six two-ounce (2 oz.) jars and shipping. It got to me in less than a week from Indiana to Virginia. She is super responsive to messages. She’s currently operating through Facebook only, but I’ll keep you posted if she has other business updates. She just posted a customer’s order of Christmas-scented hand sanitizers, so you better believe I’m jumping on that quick!

Clean & Clear – I’m using up my existing products now. I plan to switch to CeraVe soon.

This deodorant has changed my world. I think I found it at CVS or Walgreens a while ago.

Hair

Herbal Essences – I’m currently using Hello Hydration, the large bottles from BJs. Once that’s used up, I have new bottles of Moroccan My Shine ready. I found it through Harris Teeter.

Makeup

Eyeliner – Illamasqua felt tip liquid liner. I found this unopened sample from the eBay store Needle in a Haystack Treasures. Please check out Cynthia’s store! I’ve found a lot of great things from her in the last few years.

Great Lash Clear Mascara – This has been a great alternative to black/brown mascara.

What about you?

Do you have a certain skin routine? What about makeup?

Have you tried any homemade recipes related to skin or makeup?

Let me know about any awesome small businesses that you support, too!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.16.21
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Book Review #96: “Lea Dives In”

American Girl books are great pick-me-ups! Whenever I’m in a reading slump or struggling to pick the next book, an American Girl book usually sets me right. I found Lea Dives In at my local library.

Lea was the Girl of the Year for 2016. I remember falling in love with the doll and her collection. And the books sounded magical – Traveling and seeing a new country? Yes, please!

Lea’s brother, Zac, is studying abroad in Brazil. Lea and her parents are going to spend a week there! Lea is excited, but also nervous and a bit sad. She’s grieving the recent loss of a dear family member, and she knows she’s changed since Zac left for college a few years earlier. It’s great how this book addresses multiple real-world challenges in less than 100 pages.

I loved Lea as a character, she reminded me of me around her age. I love the richness of the culture, too, and how the author paid attention to detail with mixing English and Portuguese, one of the languages spoken in Brazil. I’ve always appreciated that about American Girl in general – Both the historical and modern stories try really hard to educate readers on different cultures and time periods. There’s even a glossary in the back of the book with pronunciations!

I’m excited to read book 2 – Lea Leads The Way. There’s also a third book, Lea and Camila.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.12.21
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Getting Personal #258: Nineteenth TBR Recap

Image Credit: hippoquotes.com

Welcome back!

Here’s what I’ve read since my last TBR post:

  1. Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice (DNF)
  2. Gladwell, Malcolm, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference — Review coming soon!
  3. Hakesley, Faith, Glimmers of Grace: Moments of Peace and Healing Following Sexual Abuse — Review coming soon!
  4. King, Stephen, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
  5. Rosen, L.C., Camp

Removing from Laura Beth’s TBR

  1. Thomas, Angie, The Hate U Give

Keep & Re-Classify – Laura Beth’s Updated TBR

  1. Cullen, Dave, Parkland: Birth of a Movement
  2. Elliott, T.E., Service and Slumber: A Historical Tale Inspired by Sleeping Beauty (The Beast’s Legacy Book 2)
  3. Mlynowski, Sarah, I See London, I See France
  4. Oviatt, Didi, Sketch
  5. Owens, Delia, Where The Crawdads Sing
  6. Yee, Lisa, Lea Dives In
09.11.21
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Getting Personal #256: September Goals

Image Credit: Entrepreneur Delights

Welcome back!

I cannot believe it’s already September 2021! Every year gets faster, I swear. The only exception was 2020, and I think a lot of us know why that is.

Here are my goals for the month of September:

  1. Go through all of my American Girl items, and set aside those marked for future sale.
  2. Schedule donation pick-up for the large bags of clothing and household items that need to leave my office pronto.
  3. Schedule more time off from work.
  4. Successfully coordinate my work department move.
  5. Set additional screen time limits, both at work and at home.
  6. Make at least one significant editing pass through the printed version of book 2.
  7. Continue meal planning.
  8. Look into getting re-certified in adult and/or pediatric CPR.
  9. Begin planning for NaNoWriMo 2021.
  10. Start reviewing the current version of book 3.
  11. Look into a business course or something similar to prepare for my launch as an author.
  12. Keep up my library patronage.
  13. Prepare to donate blood again in October.
  14. Restart my regular TBR Recap posts.

What about you? Do you have any goals for the month of September?

Tell me about it in the comments – I’d love to cheer you on!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.10.21
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Getting Personal #255: August Goals Recap

Image Credit: pinterest.com

Welcome back!

Here were my goals for the month of August:

  1. Donate blood. — Accomplished!
  2. Celebrate my birthday! — Accomplished!
  3. Write and publish my annual Reflections on My Birthday post. — Accomplished!
  4. Make a dent in the mess in my office. — Did not accomplish yet.
  5. Continue meal planning. — Accomplished!
  6. Publish one Book Review. — Did not accomplish yet.
  7. Continue my reduced social media weekends. — Semi-Achieved.
  8. Make progress with editing book 2. — Semi-Achieved.
  9. Donate books to the library. — Accomplished!

August was really good. But, it also went by really quickly!

I had a wonderful birthday weekend! My birthday was on a Saturday this year, so I took off the day before from work. It was amazing. I’ve been hooked on Cold Case on HBO Max, so I blissfully lounged on the couch with Phineas and Ferb most of the day! The blood drive was on my birthday, so I was thrilled to give blood and celebrate with about 90 people throughout the day, My parents bought a variety of fun size Reese’s candies to hand out to everyone, and my mom decorated Fellowship Hall with birthday banners! Al treated me to sushi on Saturday night, yum! And then my mom had us over for an amazing dinner on Sunday!

I enjoyed writing my annual Reflections on My Birthday post. It’s a great tradition for me.

I discovered that the myLidl app has amazing recipes! I made amazing chicken shawarma for Al’s lunches one week, and he wants me to make it again soon! Al’s mom also sent us a great casserole recipe that we both loved: Chicken BBQ Ranch Casserole | Julia Pacheco

I’ve definitely been reading more recently, but Book Reviews are another story. I’m close to finishing up two books now, so I’m hoping to have more Book Reviews published soon!

I didn’t make as much progress with editing book 2 as I would have liked, but I chalk that up to things being really hectic at work for nearly a month, and things are just now calming down and settling back to normal.

I gathered up four big shopping bags full of books to donate, and I carted those to the Friends of the Library on August 21st. I also re-established my library patronage, and checked out three books! I may scale back to one book per checkout when I return those three tomorrow, but I’m happy that I’ve gotten back into borrowing from the library. Going to the library is an incredible, consistent memory of mine, and I’m excited to keep it going as an adult. Plus, it will save me money, too!

What about you? Did you have any goals for the month of August?

Come back soon to see my goals for September!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

08.01.21
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Getting Personal #253: August Goals

Image Credit: transforminglifenow

Welcome back!

Here are my goals for the month of August:

  1. Donate blood.
  2. Celebrate my birthday!
  3. Write and publish my annual Reflections on My Birthday post.
  4. Make a dent in the mess in my office.
  5. Continue meal planning.
  6. Publish one Book Review.
  7. Continue my reduced social media weekends.
  8. Make progress with editing book 2.
  9. Donate books to the library.

What about you? Do you have any goals for the month of August?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

07.31.21
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Getting Personal #252: July Goals Recap

Image Credit: Entrepreneur Delights

Welcome back!

Here were my goals for the month of July:

  1. Enjoy an extended Fourth of July weekend away at the farm. —- Accomplished!
  2. Continue editing the printed draft of book 2. —- Semi-Achieved!
  3. Send the draft of book 2 to my designated readers. —- Accomplished!
  4. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo July 2021. —- Did not accomplish this time.
  5. Make progress with reading at least one book. —- Accomplished!
  6. Send a consignment box to Darby’s Dresses. — Accomplished!
  7. Organize my American Girl items to post for sale. —- Did not accomplish yet.
  8. Begin adjusting to my new hybrid work schedule. —- Accomplished!

July flew by. We had a great extended weekend with Al’s parents, with the exception of me getting cellulitis! I went to urgent care the day after getting home, and I was on antibiotics for 10 days. 0/10 do not recommend. Infected bug bites are no fun!

I worked a lot, recovered from a summer cold, started wearing my mask again, ate good food, and took every single weekend to rest and recharge. We had a great movie night with our neighbors late last week!

I’m hoping to publish at least one Book Review on the blog in August!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

07.24.21
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Getting Personal #251: July Goals

Image Credit: Rebel Thriver

Here we go! The month of July!

Does it matter that I’m finally posting this when July is almost over? NOPE!

Here are my goals for the month of July:

  1. Enjoy an extended Fourth of July weekend away at the farm.
  2. Continue editing the printed draft of book 2.
  3. Send the draft of book 2 to my designated readers.
  4. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo July 2021.
  5. Make progress with reading at least one book.
  6. Send a consignment box to Darby’s Dresses.
  7. Organize my American Girl items to post for sale.
  8. Begin adjusting to my new hybrid work schedule.

What about you? Do you have any goals for the month of July? I’d love to hear about it!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

07.23.21
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Getting Personal #250: June Goals Recap

Image Credit: Success Magazine

Welcome back!

Here were my goals for the month of June:

  1. Donate blood. — Accomplished!
  2. Begin the first edit of book 2. — Semi-Achieved.
  3. Clean off the couch in my office, and keep it clean. — Did not accomplish yet.
  4. Celebrate Father’s Day with Dad and Grandpa. — Accomplished!
  5. Attend 2021 P.E.O. Virginia State Convention virtually. — Accomplished!
  6. Prepare for my adjusted hybrid work schedule. — Accomplished!
  7. Finish re-organizing my bookshelf. — Did not accomplish yet.
  8. Fill at least one donation bag, if not more. — Accomplished!
  9. Find more recipes for meal prep. — Accomplished!
  10. Reduce the number of American Girl items in my office. — Did not accomplish yet.
  11. Finish building the LEGO Ideas set, and write a blog post about it. — Accomplished!

June was a really busy month! I was really happy to donate blood. We also celebrated our 7,500th unit collected!

I really enjoyed building the Sesame Street LEGO Ideas set! You can read about it here: Getting Personal #249: Sesame Street LEGO Ideas

We enjoyed Father’s Day with my dad and Grandpa! I asked Al to take an updated photo of the three of us, and he was so nice to do that.

The 2021 P.E.O. Virginia State Convention was really awesome. It was the first-ever virtual convention. I participated on Friday night by talking about the International Peace Scholarship (IPS), the project that I learned about over the last two years by being on the state committee. My co-chair and I had a great time telling the project room visitors about IPS and the recent recipients!

I was also very happy to learn that I passed 50,000 all-time views on the blog! Thank you, readers!

What about you? Did you have any goals for the month of June?

Come back tomorrow to see my goals for the month of July!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

06.19.21
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Getting Personal #249: Sesame Street LEGO Ideas

The front of the box.

I knew I wanted this LEGO set when it was first announced. At the time, however, it was a lot of money, and I felt I didn’t absolutely need to have it.

However, I made a decision a few months ago to reward myself with it at the end of May. I’m so glad I did! I was pleasantly surprised that it shipped so quickly from the LEGO website. I bought it on in the middle of a week, and it arrived that weekend.

I documented the journey in stages. There were six sets of numbered bags in the box, and I figured I would stretch it out as long as I could. The entire set is 1,367 pieces.

The back of the box.

Part 1

The beginning was building the street and the base of 123 Sesame Street. Each part had a new Muppet mini-figure to build. Big Bird was first, my favorite.

I love the attention to detail. See the spiderweb?

Part 2

The second part was building Elmo and the first floor of 123 Sesame Street.

Do you see the back wall of Big Bird’s nest?

The bottom floor is Elmo’s room. I love how the windows look real and open!

Part 3

The third part was the second floor of 123 Sesame Street, and Ernie.

This part added the bathroom, with Rubber Duckie, and more to Big Bird’s nest.

Part 4

The fourth part included the roof of 123 Sesame Street, and Bert.

Bert and Ernie’s bedroom is done, too.

Part 5

The fifth part included Cookie Monster, Hooper’s Store, and the apartment above.

I love the details. The stickers really help illustrate the set!

Part 6

The final part was Oscar in his trash can, the garden, the fire escape, Big Bird’s nest, outside Hooper’s, and the Sesame Street signpost.

I can’t get over how much research was put into this LEGO Ideas set! It was well worth the money – About $130 total. The instruction book had fun photos and backstory on the designers and creators.

This will be proudly displayed in my office. It’s currently on the living room coffee table. I smile every time I walk in the room!

I really loved this set. Many of you know how much Sesame Street means to me!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂