Posted in Personal

Today, I turn 24. Wow… It’s even hard to type it. 23 was such an amazing year, full of new chapters and trusting God’s plan for our lives. He has blessed me with so much more than I ever deserve – a husband who loves me faithfully, a family who is so supportive and always a little crazy, friends who I can laugh til I cry with but who also sharpen my faith, a church that has become like our family in Arkansas, a youth ministry where Aaron and I can serve alongside each other, a sweet/infuriating dog who has become an amazing companion, an apartment I love, more food than I’ll ever need to eat, and a wardrobe of clothes I couldn’t come close to wearing. Yes, God has certainly lavished His riches upon my life, but the greatest of all of these gifts is the promise I am given in Ephesians 2:1-10. This passage is my favorite in all of Scripture, and it always leaves me in awe of what my Savior did for me.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians 2:1-10

I was dead, but now I am alive and have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places… All because of the great love and mercy of my God.
And THAT is the greatest gift.

Happy Tuesday!

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  • April 23, 2013 - 1:33 pm

    Erin Fetterhoff - HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELSEY! :)
    Thanks so much for sharing that portion of scripture! Such a good reminder that I definitely needed today!
    Your handwriting is so precious!
    Hope your day is filled with blessings and all things “24” (whatever that means!) :)ReplyCancel

Posted in How Pinteresting!

Two weeks ago, I posted a picture to my Instagram account of my nails after trying DIY gel manicure that I had found on Pinterest. I received A LOT of feedback, asking for me thoughts on the manicure and to share the process on the blog, so here we are! I can’t take credit for this because I found it via Pinterest on The Sweetest Thing blog, but I’ll share the process with you from my perspective!

Now, I am not the type of girl that normally has her fingernails painted. I WISH I was fancy like that, but because paint chips SO quickly, I can’t ever keep up with it. For our wedding, I got my first shellac manicure because I found a Groupon for like $15 or something ridiculous like that. And I LOVED it. I couldn’t believe how long it lasted without a single chip and how shiny it still looked at the end of 3 weeks. However, I just cannot bring myself to spend $35+ on my fingernails every 3 weeks, so this DIY gel manicure was so perfect for me. If you’re used to getting the salon-quality shellac, this probably won’t satisfy your beauty needs, but if you’re like me, this would be perfect to fit into your weekly routine.

Here’s what you’ll need:

-Gelous, Advanced Nail Gel Coat.
-Your favorite nail polish in any color.
-A top coat. I have two pictured because the blog I followed recommended Out the Door, but it wasn’t my fav. Next time, I’ll try Essie’s 3-way glaze.
-A nail file & cuticle pusher (not pictured).

Gelous and Out the Door can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supplies.

Instructions:

1. Remove any nail polish from your nails, and use the file to go ALL over your nails. (I did not do this step, and that was a BAD idea.)
2. Push back your cuticles. (I also did not do this, and it was another bad idea. More on that in a minute.)
3. Wash your hands to remove any oil, dirt, etc.
4.  Apply a thin layer of Gelous, Advanced Nail Gel Coat.
5. Allow a few minutes for that coat to dry, and then add another layer of Gelous.
6. Allow those 2 coats to set (about 7-8 minutes).
7. Apply a layer of your choice of nail polish. I used China Glaze’s “Dance Baby”. Allow it to set.
8. Apply another layer of Gelous, and allow it to semi-set.
9. Apply one more layer of your colored nail polish.
10. Apply your top coat.

VOILA! You have yourself a DIY gel manicure! Now, the instructions I followed assured me that it would take 20 minutes tops, and everything would be fully dry. This is definitely not true! With allowing the multiple layers to set, it ended up taking about 35 minutes from start to finish, and this did not include drying time. If you use Out the Door as your top coat, the top coat may feel dry, but the layers underneath will still be gummy. Because of this, I do not recommend doing this before bed because you will probably wake up with sheet marks on your nails. I did it before heading to church, and everything was completely dry by the time we were home about 2 hours later.

This manicure lasted about 5 days for me, which is about 4 days longer than a normal at-home manicure would have made it. I definitely wasn’t doing myself any favors by skipping the first few steps and not cleaning, filing, and pushing back the cuticles of my nails. If I had done those steps, I would bet that the manicure would have lasted at least a week, making the $6 bottle of Gelous TOTALLY worth it. I love how shiny this manicure turned out, but it didn’t stay very shiny past the day 2 mark. I supposed I could have added another top coat, but I didn’t think about it at the time. When it started coming off, each finger’s polish peeled off almost like a sticker, which made for very easy clean-up. (I’m not a fan of having to soak my fingers in acetone.) What I DIDN’T like was that it made my nails very thin and brittle, but I guess that’s normal with any type of gel/shellac manicure.

I definitely recommend giving this a try if you are a paint your nails at home kind of girl. $6 for the bottle of Gelous, using any color of polish that your heart desires, and a little bit of patience will make for a BIG payoff! Let me know if you give it a try and have any other tips for making work beautifully!

Happy Monday!

Posted in Personal

Better late than never, right? :)

Highlights of March include:

-Seeing Ben Rector in concert as part of our belated anniversary celebration. Holy awesome, Batman.
-Enduring what seemed like the longest winter of all time… It really made those midnight trips to take Noley outside even worse than normal.
-Speaking of Noley, she did not have a great month. Some of her issues included destroying one of my most expensive memory cards and spreading the stuffing from one of her toys all over the apartment.
-Getting spoiled by the Husbie with a fancy manicure & pedicure for our anniversary.
-Enjoying my very first coffee-art latte! It was almost too pretty to drink, but I eventually gave in. :)
-Doing the little DIY project that I shared on the blog yesterday.
-Buying the world’s largest supply of creamer. By the way, it’s almost gone. Whoopsies.
-Sharing our second married Easter together and with some sweet friends who take us in as family on holidays. :)
-Celebrating Aaron’s 26th birthday, even though we were separated for it.
-And the best thing… Hitting ONE YEAR of marital bliss. Still can’t believe that one!

Happy Thursday! :)

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