It's a Beautiful Day

Several things made me happy today!

• This was my Friday for the week... I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow!
• We celebrated a birthday at work, which means... CAKE. and Brownies. Yum!
• The Hallmark card contest judging crew "flurried" on Facebook (I will post my entries on here as soon as I get them all finished)
• I came home @2pm and got a healthy dose of vitamin D by the pool
• I received a special UPS package from a friend with lots of GREAT summer beauty goodies!

I have quite a bit of vacation time to use before I get a crap ton of additional time on my anniversary of hire in July, so I scheduled some random days off during the next two months. Tomorrow is my first random day off, and for some reason, I am so excited - I think it's because our landlord finally decided to open the pool this past week, and it's going to be a perfect day for relaxing beside it with Todd - we did that a little bit today, and I got a beautiful glow! I'm excited! I have been walking around, white as a milk jug, for too long. Of course, I'm sort of boycotting tanning beds - in a peaceful way. I'm not trying to talk others into joining my efforts, and I certainly do not "look down" on those who use tanning beds - it's just that after seeing so many people, a couple of which are personally close to me, go through cancer treatment this past year, I felt like I had to take a stand in some type of way. I know that laying out in the sun isn't exactly the smartest thing to do, but i always always ALWAYS use a high quality sunblock, and I've been using self-tanning lotion when i "need" a quick glow. I am fair-skinned, red headed, and freckled... there's a melanoma target on my back!

Speaking of sunblocks and self-tanning lotions, I have to share with you my two very favorite summer products, both of which i've been using for the past four years. Bath and Body Works' True Blue line is loaded with awesome, healthy skin-boosting products. I love all of the sunless tanners, so that counts as "one" product - seriously, try any of them. NO ORANGE. Just apply evenly and wash your hands - definitely the most natural glow i've ever found in a self tanning product. Number two is the "29 and holding" Sunblock, which

smells AH-MAAAAZING (kinda like a dreamsicle) and has tons of great moisturizers/vitamins for your skin. I love 29 and holding because it blocks out the sun effectively (SPF 29), but does not prevent the user from getting a great tan. It makes your skin look so soft and beautiful the very second you apply it. So, there's product #2. My story about these products is not finished:

I am nearly out of both the self-tanning lotion and the sunblock. The products are around $12 a piece, which I don't look forward to forking over each summer - I go through the sunblock really fast, because i love it sooo much. (did i mention, you can put it on your face and it will not cause breakouts?) I received a package today from my great friend, Cary - I was excited to get the package in the first place, but when I opened its contents, I was completely ECSTATIC!

(The sign says, "Steph, Hope you enjoy this!")

My *prezzie* consisted of a summery basket full of Bath and Body Works True Blue Spa "I Need a Margarita" Body Wash and Jar of Body Scrub, an eco-friendly water bottle, a cute little bag to tote my goods around in, and... AND.... My two very favorite products - the sunless tanner & my best friend, 29 and Holding! I am still super excited, and am so thankful - it was so thoughtful of my friend! Which makes me ponder this: why don't people perform more acts of kindness? It can truly make one's day - whether you are nice to a friend, a stranger, a co-worker... sometimes, even a smile can turn someone's upside-down day "sunny-side up". Even though I always try to be nice and polite to others, I'm really going to start making more special efforts to show those i love and care about how much I really appreciate them.

So to my followers, here is a challenge: do something unexpected and nice for someone before you go to sleep tonight! Make someone's day :)

I hope you all have had a great Thursday! I will be spending the remainder of my day with fat cat-bag Diego, and my super terrific husband. We're drained from the sun, so I think we're going to chill out, chit chat on the phone with our families, and maybe put on a good movie for background noise while we hang around.

Until next time...

Mountain Mama

It's time to recap my weekend (which was probably one of the best WV visits I've had in a long time!)

Friday afternoon, Todd & I made the 3-hour trip to Webster County, WV. Nas & Damian Marley's album, "Distant Relatives" entertained us the whole way (I truly love all types of music!)
We celebrated my father-in-law's 51st birthday with Pizza, Cake, and Ice Cream - which I was pretty sure would cause my stomach to burst, after being on a whole grain low-fat diet for months (great news - my stomach is still in tact.) We bought Mike the new Jerry West biography, which should be a pretty amazing book - I want to borrow it after he is finished reading it! After some visiting with the in-laws, I headed to Webster Springs. It was pretty much the fastest 20 minute drive from Cowen to Webster Springs that I've ever made; I was trying to beat the start of the Woodchopping Festival Fireman's parade (which I successfully did) - it's no fun sitting in a car headed down the mountain with the emergency brake set for 30+ minutes (been there, done that, sucks big time!)

I spent the evening hanging out w/Mom and my step-dad, Dannie, who were preparing for Saturday's annual cook-out. I never really help mom in the kitchen - she mans the battle station, and I just sit and sample everything she pushes toward me. I offer to help, but an extra pair of hands usually messes up her flow of things. We had a late, chit-chatty evening, and I winded down by watching Twilight on Encore after they went to bed. Wonderful Friday!

Saturday was fantastic food & fun with fam & friends. Around 60 people stopped by the cook-out in the afternoon, and it was great catching up with everyone. Mom drove people crazy with her digital camera (which is a whole other blog topic i may get to eventually - those crabby people who hate getting their photo taken! WTF? Just be a good sport, ok? At least, decline the photo op in a respectful manner... Or, I know, try this... SMILE and look at the camera - you'll look just fine. Just like you do in real life. Ugh. I've taken some unflattering photos in my lifetime, but it always ends up being ok in the end, doesn't it?) My brother brought the Rhino, which he planned to use for an 8 hour trek the next day. It ended up being super entertainment... I rode around in it, took Todd for a ride (if only our Athens friends could've seen us!), and later in the evening, went on a 2.5 hour mountain adventure with my brother. We ran into some fun folks who were also ATV-ing it up, and I took a ton of photos (which ended up being a ton of tree leaves, mudholes, and blur.) I hadn't been on an ATV in like 10 or more years, so it was pretty crazy and exciting. I also realized that I am a big wimp, and as i posted on FB during the weekend, "you can take the country outta the girl!" I still have the accent, but almost everything else country about me is rapidly disappearing... scary how much one can change in just a few years!

Sunday was really nice, because Todd & I both got to hang out w/our families all day before heading back to Athens. We usually head back first thing on Sunday morning when we go in for a weekend visit, so this was a pleasant change in plans for everyone. Mom and I drove to Holly River State Park for my friend's bridal shower (Congratulations, Kacie!) I caught up with a lot of my high school girlfriends who I haven't seen in a long time. They are always a good time! Cary provided lots of laughter - I almost peed my pants on three separate occasions. Love her sense of humor :) Crystal (a fellow Marshall grad!) brought her youngest baby boy along for the fun, and I have to say - I enjoyed watching her "be a mom". She is so good at it - so patient, loving, and a bunch of other personality traits that I lack. It's truly heartwarming! If Todd and I ever have a boy, I'm turning straight to her for advice - she's raising two!

Kacie received tons of great gifts - It was a sea of Crate & Barrel boxes, and I drooled over every item. I'm wondering if I can create a registry for housewarming gifts when Todd and I move next year - is that acceptable, four years after the wedding? haha...

The shower itself was super cute and classy - the cake was beautiful! Kind of made me want to learn how to do cakes for special occasions... except, I suck horribly at baking. My favorite touch was the Buckeye Candy favors - perfect for the Bride and Groom, who are just finishing up Optometry school @ OSU :) Ahhh... the little things. To Kacie, Crystal, Cary, Sue, Cindy, and all the rest - it was great seeing you for a little while!

Vampire Weekend was the music of choice as Todd & I headed back to Athens Sunday evening. Both of us had a great time visiting w/our loved ones - we needed it badly. It's so easy to feel disconnected from "home" when you have a completely different life that you really enjoy living somewhere else, too. We love our families and wish we could take them with us wherever we go, but we hope to move to a terrific college town where they will have lots of fun when they visit us. Only time will tell... job openings will be posted beginning in late August/early September, and that's when we'll start seeing the real possibilities of where we might end up. I may have to start a whole other blog for that part of our lives!

I hope everyone else had a great weekend as well! Happy June, and as always, thanks for taking the time to catch up w/me!