As most of you know I am a Mary Kay Independent Beauty consultant. This has been a blessing to my family. I don’t have to babysit kids at home anymore and it seems like whenever our family is in need of extra money I make a total unexpected sell. I am thankful for this opportunity.

This summer I was able to attend the annual Mary Kay Seminar in Dallas. I was excited because my sister was going too so that meant a long weekend with her and no kids!! This is us all dolled up for awards nite: : I earned that pink ring from Mary Kay.

The whole weekend was inspiring whether you are a MK lady or not. I wrote down tons of “build me up” quotes and left just feeling like I want to be a better person. They had amazing entertainment as well. I was impressed and surprised. I had no idea what to expect when I arrived. I just had an awesome time the entire weekend even though I was tired and I had blisters because my feet couldn’t understand why I was torturing them with heels. I had to go to 1st Aid the 2nd day to get 5 bandaids!! Thankfully I had thrown a pair of flip flops in my bag and had those to wear in between classes and shows.

The nite of awards was so neat. We got to dress up all fancy and walk down a red carpet. I felt special.

I made new goals for myself both in my home business and my spiritual life. I learned to not worry about what others think- although I’m pretty good about not doing that. But I thought this quote was good: “I carry the vision. God put the vision in MY heart, not others.” Sometimes things we do may not make sense to people looking in, but they aren’t the ones with the vision or inspiration. Another quote I loved  “Falling to the ground is often the 1st step in flying.”  We can’t be afraid to try new things because we might fail at first. Practice makes perfect, right? And for those times when we feel lame or unimportant: “God didn’t have time to create a nobody.”  I especially could relate to “Managing my emotions means continuing to do what is required regardless of how I feel.“  I hate managing my emotions because sometimes I just wanna scream!! Thankfully I have a private blog and great friends who let me scream to them. And one day I will be able to look back at my tests and see how they made me stronger. “Nobody ever has a testimony who hasn’t had a test.”

And I particularly liked this quote attributed to Audrey Hepburn: “You don’t drown from falling in the water. You drown from staying there. GET UP!”

I believe Mary Kay was truly an inspired woman. I doubt she had any idea how big this business would be and how many lives she would touch. There were some ridiculously rich National Sales Directors. They have worked hard to grow their business. They were rich, but so genuine. But there were so so so many women there, just like me, hoping to earn money to help their family and continue being a SAHM with my own business. We all may have different goals. Some were hoping to earn enough for a family vacation. Some want to earn that pink Cadillac. Some just want the consultant discount.  Everyone was inspired and uplifted in all different ways and walked away touched and wanting to change in some way. I love having my own business, the flexibility and the extra money. I also truly believe in the products. I also love being part of a great company that puts God 1st, Family 2nd and Career 3rd. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Oh- I almost forgot!! I earned “Rookie of the Year” in my unit and received this necklace: 

Yay me!!

• Seiuli, Tristan,  Alec and my dad are going to the Mavs/Laker game tonite. Tdog and my dad will be wearing Dirk jerseys while Alec and  Sei will have on their (*gag*) Kobe jerseys. I really hope the Mavs win!!!! This pic was taken at the American Airlines center after we went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert – which was rad!
• For Christmas I finally got what I have asked for since the 8th grade- Black Doc Marten boots. I originally asked for the 8-eye, but decided on getting the 6-eye. Sei (and by Sei I mean “I”) found them on eBay for $35. Can’t beat that!
• Tristan is ginormous.  That’s all there is to it. I mean, he ’s actually an average height- like 5′9″, but he is a SOLID kid. And considering he was shorter than me just 18 months ago… weird. His scout leaders told him he needed to wear his scout shirt. So, he tried it on… It’s a little small.
• Mary Kay is going well and I really enjoy it.  I never thought I’d do something with direct sales. But it’s been the coolest experience. Mary Kay is a company like no other. They are completely debt free and truly put God 1st, Family 2nd and career 3rd. It’s slowly helped pull me out of my “I am so depressed…” slump.
• We gave the kids a choice for family vacation this year: Sunny, Southern California or Utah. They all, in a matter of .00323184 seconds,  unanimously voted for Utah. They miss Utah a lot. I have to remember that they lived there more than 1/2 their lives. Texas isn’t “home” to them. Surprisingly I miss Utah a lot. I hate the weather and I never hiked or anything because I’m scared of mountain lions, but I miss my friends. I miss our awesome little neighborhood. I miss being 1400 miles away from certain people… Slowly but surely our home here is becoming the home to hang out at- like in Utah- with kids hanging out to play pool or air hockey or Playstation or football in the yard. Hopefully one day this will feel like home. I am thankful that Sei loves his job and that the kids have made good friends.
• It’s basketball season and I LOVE it!!! I love going to my kid’s games. My dad is coaching Isabel’s team this year- he coached Alec last year. Isabel is so much more confident this year and spunky. I knew it was in her!! No more pencil in the butt… Taj is signed up to play soccer which Sei is stoked about and Isabel wants to start gymnastics again. She was so rad, but got burnt out, not to mention we couldn’t afford it. But now she wants to try just tumbling- because that’s her fave event. There’s a tumbling/trampoline class/team here that I think she’d rock at!!
• I’ve lost 5 pounds in 9 days by cutting out sugar. It hasn’t really been that hard. Now if I can continue to lose 4-5 pounds every week that’d be awesome. I am an admitted carb-addict. I have horrible eating habits, so a very low carb diet is best for me because it helps me get my eating under control.

What’s been goin’ on with y’all???

Idk if I can say I’m a quitter, but I worked so hard on my medical transcriptionist course until the summer. Then I had 11 kids here on a daily basis and it made it impossible for my brain to do. And ever since then I have had the hardest time getting motivated. I have until Feb. 15 to finish before I have to pay for an extension. I just feel like I have sooo much going on and my brain is having a hard time concentrating on any one thing. I’m an independent distributor for Advocare. I’m an independent beauty consultant for Mary Kay- which I’m really enjoying. I babysit. I email lawyers back and forth everyday. And I never miss a kiddo’s game! So…  yeah, for right now I don’t see any type of healthcare jobs, including transcribing, in my future. I feel lame for quitting, but I’m spreading  myself too thin. I just wish there was a way to get the money I paid for the course back. That’d be nice to have that money to put towards the stack of lawyer bills we’ve collected…. But anyway… I just made this decision. I mean, I can always pay to extend it, but right time, THIS time in my life, it’s just not gonna work- which sucks because I was excited.  But, I’ve gotta do what I feel is right, right?

I babysit kids as most of you know. And you know what???  It’s not cute or funny when kids that aren’t yours are sticking their fingers under the bathroom door when you’re trying to pee. It’s just not. It annoys me. It’s not cute when they discover they can push the kitchen chair across the floor and climb up on the counter. It’s not cute when they find the ice maker on the fridge and push it 13 times a day spilling ice all over the kitchen. It’s not cute when they figure out how to crawl out of the porta-crib. It’s not cute when they learn to crawl up the stairs or turn the tv on and off.  It’s not cute when they pull their diaper off when you think they are taking a nap. There’s so many things when YOUR kid does it you think it’s funny or cute or “Wow! Look what they learned.” You don’t think that way (or atleast I don’t) when it’s not your kid.

And another thing- all MY kids are potty trained, so why am I still changing 3-4 poopy diapers a day?

May 2010 = no more watching babies for me. That is the goal. Pray that I can make my Advocare and Mary Kay businesses successful. I believe in both of them… now if I can believe in myself enough.