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!!

Update: Brandy was admitted to a different hospital this week and had the tumor removed. It ended up being the size of a BASKETBALL. She’s now calling herself “Franken-Belly.”  She will know the results of what the heck “Spike” the tumor is by the end of this week. She is home now with her family. Thanks so much to everyone who has ordered Mary Kay from me to help or sent money in for Brandy. Please continue to pass on the link this post. Also, an online auction to benefit Brandy is being organized and I will link to that when it’s up and ready. If you’d like to donate something for the auction let me know or contact Shan at Last Shreds of Sanity.

I am trying to help a friend in need. Brandy is her name- aka “Not So Average Mama”- and I know her personally. She has been having some major health issues this past year. This weekend she found out that she may have ovarian cancer. She has a mass the size of a VOLLEYBALL attached to her ovary.

You can read about it here: http://notsoaveragemama.com/2010/05/15/a-quick-update-and-an-answer/
and here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/notsoaveragemama/4613737941/

Brandy’s husband owns his own business and they don’t have health insurance. So far they have done fine paying out of pocket for all the tests and dr. appt. But now it will be too much. I want to help her. She is a mom of 3 little girls, super talented graphic design artist as well as tattoo artist. She actually designed my blog. You can check out her work at Stitchblade Designs.  Anyway, to help I am hosting an online Mary Kay party. Any proceeds– 100% — from orders placed thru me via email or website (put BRANDY in the comments) from now thru the end of May will go directly to Brandy. All I ask is that you either take a look at my website or at least share this post with friends. The more we get the word out the better chance we have of helping. Interestingly enough, you can help doubly if you purchase one of the limited edition lipsticks they have. $1 per tube will be donated to the Mary Kay Ash foundation which helps fight domestic violence as well as fund research on cancers that affect women.

Please take a moment to see if you can help whether financially or just by getting the word out. This is not a customer phishing scam. I will not use your information to contact you again unless you opt in for contact. Again: Any proceeds– 100% — from orders placed thru me via email or website (put BRANDY in the comments) from now thru the end of May will go directly to Brandy. All I ask is that you either take a look at my website or at least share this post with friends.

Thank you so much.

You know when you have a realization, out of the blue, and it’s like a litebulb has turned on? I had one of those this weekend. I was at a training conference for Mary Kay all weekend. I love my Mary Kay meetings because it’s ME time, I always leave uplifted and motivated. This weekend was no different- only better. But the litebulb moment was close to the end of the conference. I was quickly taking notes while a National Sales Director spoke. I had a special notebook with a cute pen and it hit me, “Do I ever take notes at church?” I am at church every week, studying the life of my Savior, and I rarely take notes. What the heck am I thinking? Usually I am just happy to make it to church on time with all my kids in tow and I often say, “I didn’t get anything out of church today!” But you know why? I don’t think I’m really listening. I’m just there, going thru the motions, taking up space, and usually a bit frazzled. So, this Sunday I made sure I was more prepared so I could get to church on time without a mad rush. I brought a notebook and took notes. Nothing in particular, just anything that jumped out to ME. And it made such a difference. I left feeling like I had learned something. I left feeling like I had done more than just take up space. Wow. Duh!! And wow- the choir’s number was A.MA.ZING. I had chills all over. It was beautiful. It touched me.

So, I am excited to take notes in the future. To find things in the talks I hear that speak to me. I am excited to “get” something out of church. I am excited to prepare myself more so I am ready to receive those things. I am happy to actually care. The past year or so I haven’t cared. I have been so unhappy and lost. More lost and out of hope than I think I’ve ever felt.  More than during my divorce. More than when my sister died- which is hard for me to comprehend- but I was so out of hope. I am happy to be out of that place. There’s still crap going on, but it will be easier to get thru and accept now that I see a lite again.

I’ve still been pluggin’ along, trying to figure out the whole coupon thing. I think I do ok, although I know the hardcore couponers save a lot more than me. I try to plan out my visits to CVS and Walgreens because those are the easiest to me. Like yesterday I went to CVS and got 1 Crest pro health toothpaste, 1 Colgate Total toothpaste, 2 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats, 6 bags of Easter Candy (the good stuff like Hersheys and Reeses!) and a gallon of milk for about $5 out of pocket. I also left with $4 in Extra Care Bucks, so really I only spent about $1. YAY! I was stoked to pay $0 for the cereal and only 24 cents for a big tube of Colgate toothpaste. How cool is that to bust out with a quarter to pay for a transaction?  I’m still learning how to work it at the grocery store. Some times it’s a no brainer, deals just fall into my lap. Other times I have to work harder for it. Yesterday I got a bag of rice for $.09 and a men’s Gillette deodorant and Gillette body wash for $.34. I was stoked about that. BTW, if you need any men’s deodorant my house is the place to come. I have about 15 sticks under my bathroom sink…

Anyway… on one of my shopping trips to Walgreens I ended up with two boxes 3-in-1 Purex detergent for like $2. I wasn’t sure what I’d think about it. I mean, I’m not real picky about my detergent because basically I do a ton of laundry for our big family and I do it on a small budget. Usually, however, Purex was the best deal anyway. Although the 3-in-1 is a little more expensive. That makes sense though since it’s detergent, softener and anti-static all in one. Sorry, I’m rambling… My point was that I now have tried the Purex 3-in-1 and I LOVE IT. LOVE it.  It smells good, it washes great and then I get to just throw the sheet in with the wet clothes into the dryer. It’s awesome. And it’s safe for all types of machines- including front loaders.  Anyway… I think I love it and will be getting it more often. I love how I don’t have to worry about dryer sheets or anything. If you want to try it out you can go HERE and get a free sample.

This weekend is Career Conference for Mary Kay. I am excited to learn more, grow, become closer to the girls in my area, etc…  I am really enjoying being a MK Lady. I’m not all hardcore, Caddy driving… yet. But I am making money and having fun while doing it. YAY! If you’d like to learn more about what I do let me know!

• 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???

Our Yukon was finished last week and what a thrill that was! It’s hard to be a family of 7 with only a 5 seater car to use. It took a little longer to fix because they were having trouble finding a new running board. They ended up changing both sides to make them match. They used parts when possible to lower the cost. (I’m sooo glad we were needing Ferrari parts or something like that!!) We also got a discount on our deductible, which was super nice. Thankfully I was able to pay for the rest of it with money I had earned at a Mary Kay party the week before, yo!

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.