The Humility of Spring

According to the calendar, Springtime has begun. Spring is a time of fresh starts, new beginnings, things being made new once again. The excitement of these things gives us hope towards the future and renews the feelings of being alive! I was born in the month of April and I feel the vigor of things changing in the course of my blood. To me, there is nothing better then to awake from a long winter of darkness into a world that is warming and life awakening before our very eyes!

In March we usually take a trip to South Beach for a small vacation. This year we kept it local due to many circumstances. So we opted for few days in Chicago, our home away from home. 

Chicago is known for being a beautiful city with world class shopping. I always allow some time for that whenever I visit. But my favorite thing to do is eat my way through the city. This particular trip, since we were chasing that 60º weather on Friday, I was compelled to visit the Garfield Park Nature Conservatory. 

The first thing I noticed as I walked in was the SMELL. Wow, did my senses feel robust from all the plant and flower aromas!! I honestly felt like life had been infused back into me. The warmth and humidity was also welcomed. 

John and I spent a long time sitting on a bench in the middle of the tropical foliage meditating and breathing in all the life around us. I felt euphoric, calm, satisfied and peaceful.

The last green house contains the flower exhibit and is a spectacular assault to your senses when you haven't seen large amounts of flowers for MONTHS. The colors are so vibrant, the smell is intoxicating and it is so hard to leave!! I heard a mother tell her daughter it was time to go, and the little girl begged her Mom to stay. I felt the same exact way.

As we were about to exit, I was drawn to a deep yellow colored flower. Its leaves were nearly perfect and unfurling, like nothing I had seen before. I snapped a picture hoping I could capture the magic I saw when I looked at it. To my surprise, the picture seized the gracefulness ....

 

The flower is called a Ranunculus asiasticus. I kept looking at it, stunned by how the  leaves were perfectly folded, layer by layer.  The flower had a deep rich pigment that reminded me of a summer night sky. Simple, delightful, and humble, these are the things that made it superb!

As I think more about the flower, or nature in general, I think there is a great lesson to be learned, and that is one about HUMILITY. This flower knows it is not a rose, that is does not have the alluring fragrance of a lilac or a lily. It will never be a cute little violet or seductive orchid. If all the plants and flowers wanted to be each other, then Springtime would lose it's brilliance and the magnificent show we see each year would cease to impress. Nature knows the true balance of existence. No single thing is boastful of its place, rank or importance in the grand scheme of things. Aristotle said "The whole is greater then the sum of its parts". This speaks to being humble. Together, they make something spectacular without even knowing.

The humility of the flower shows us that perfection can only come in the form of doing what we were made to be, what the divine wills us to be, and that is ourselves. He created each of us to be uniquely admirable. When we are humble we have no worries of being unnoticed, overlooked, and no need for praise. Humbleness is true greatness and nature shows that to us daily, all in the leaves of a modest yellow flower.

P.S. Thank you to my friend James for inspiring me to finish this post :)

In Remembrance of Mia

This morning I feel compelled to share the eulogy for my daughters Memorial service. These words have comforted me so much in the early days of her death. The first time I went into Mia's memory box and read this, my heart hurt so bad. But today, as I read the words my heart is filled with thankfulness and warm remembrance for a child that has forever changed my life. I share this not for sympathy, but for hope that this may also soothe the heart of another parent who has lost a child. 

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Life from the Camera Roll

Life has been busy, and very complicated lately. I have a few lengthy blog posts in the works, but for now, I will leave you with this past weekends images and inspirations.

Comfy PJ's from my sister in law

Cuddle time in the massage chair with the kids

My favorite quote of the week

My Granny, Mom and Aunt on her B-day, enjoying a Paczi!

The beautiful morning we left to go see Scott in G.R.

The view from the cross walk to the Meijer Heart Center

He's a fighter. Never seen so many cords and wires

Resting up in the hotel room, Mother and Daughter heating pads going!

My cold hubby and the dogs relaxing

Letting go of the wheel and driving by faith

Essential hospital nutrition also my favorite snack

The evening Gizmo choked on a bone and gave us a scare

A view from the waiting room of the ICU Heart Unit

My daily lesson from my Transform Your Life app

My Oracle reading this morning confirming what I believe to be true

I hope your Monday was great and you woke up realizing all your blessings and were thankful for them. Peace and love.

My five minute makeup

There are many perks about working from home. My top 3 are not having to drive into the job, not having to get out of pajamas the entire day and not having to wear makeup! I really enjoy not having these things on my mind and agenda first thing when I wake up, it's such a luxury!

 

My New Makeup Bag all organized and clean!

I've never been a person that wears makeup everyday, and in the summer, I pretty much only wear lip gloss and mascara. With that being said, I still LOVE playing with makeup and experimenting with looks. I am a big fan of the 5 minute makeup routine. I like a natural and effortless look for days that I'm not going to some kind of event. Here are products I use for that fast non-fussy look. 

My makeup staples

FACE: For the skin, I'm an avid MAC cosmetics user. I've tried other products over the past 10 years, but nothing covers and last like theirs do, so I've always stuck with it. I can always find a shade that matches my skin tone. I use MAC Select Cover Up under my eyes in shade NW35. It's a light weight concealer that blends invisibly and helps lighten up my dark circles and it lasts all day without creasing. For the rest of my face, I use MAC Studio Fix which is a powder and foundation all in one. It has a smooth powder consistency, goes on matte and your skin can breath! It's not heavy at all, and it gives awesome coverage in one step! In the winter I'm an NC43. Lastly, I usually use a bronzer to give a little contour to my nose and cheek bones. The one pictured above is from Ada Cosmetics and the color is Golden Bronzer which I received in a Birchbox package a while back. It's a mineral product and I really like it so far, the color is a peachy bronze. For my checks I use Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in color Adventurous. 

Tarte Blush in Adventurous

Eyes: I keep it very simple when it comes to my eyes. I think the #1 thing that people forget about when it comes to enhancing your eyes is all the HAIR that is around them. I'm talking about eyebrows and eyelashes. To me, these are the most important part of your eye. If they are not well manicured, it doesn't matter what kind of eyeliner or eyeshadow you have on, it just doesn't look well groomed. Define your eye by shaping your eyebrow. I use Too Faced Brow Envy shaping and defining kit. It has a brow wax, highlighter, two different powder colors, tweezers, brow brush tools, pencil and even 3 different stencils to help you achieve your desired shape if you need assistance. The next step is curling your lashes. For mine I use the Tarte Picture Perfect eyelash curler. And to length my eye lashes I use Tarte Light Camera Flashes mascara. I actually like Tarte Light Camera Lashes a little better then the this one, because I like the brush that comes with it and that formula actually lengths my lashes, but I'm overall happy with the quality of the product.

Lips: I'm mostly a gloss kind of girl, but lately I'm so into a pop of color on my lips. I'm not a fan of anything sticky, cakey, drying or lip products full of chemicals and fillers. I'm totally in love with Tarte's lip products! The quality of the ingredients and the fact that they actually condition my lips have me sold! Tarte Lip Surgence Matte Lip Tint is my new favorite! I've been wearing it a lot in the color Fiery. Since it's a tint, it stays put, but it's so hydrating and has a touch of mint. I also love Tarte's lip glosses which are also the bomb and come in a variety of colors, plus they have maracuja oil! 

And that's it! So here's my after pictures. The left side of my face is with makeup, the right side is without. Please keep in mind that I put makeup on at 10:00 p.m. tonight to demonstrate this look and the lightening is not the best, these pictures are all unedited. The night before I was out all night dancing. I'm a little dehydrated, and very sleep deprived, lol! There is not a terribly huge difference but that is the look I like to go with for day to day. I like to enhance what I have and go bold for special occasions. 

What are your daily products? I'd love to hear your feed back! Does anyone know of a good eye makeup remover that is naturally derived and approved by ophthalmologist? Please leave your comments below!