The importance of Modern Modesty

I was simply washing my hands in the bathroom of Cracker Barrel before we ate dinner. Looking down at the water, I suddenly heard the words, "Oh my word, you're drop dead gorgeous!" I looked up, wondering who the voice was talking about, when I was startled to realize that the 12 year old young girl with her friend behind her was gaping at me! I said, "Uh, thank you." And continued washing my hands, probably blushing from the still gaping girl. Her friend called her weird for saying that to a complete stranger, while she continued to say, "But it's true! She is!" 

At first I took it as an amusing, random happening that I shared and joked with my family about. But then, as I thought about it more, I realized something. The Lord has helped me accomplish a goal I had set in my life.

I was wearing this outfit with my hair straightened and pulled half way back, with my only makeup being eye shadow and mascara. I was just going out with my family for a post Valentine dinner, doing my best to look modest and feminine while still feeling comfortable. 

The goal I have is to prove to ladies that modesty doesn't equal frumpy. You can be cute, and even trendy if you want within the guidelines of staying modest. Also, that modesty isn't the only important thing. God made you female, so you should dress feminine as well as modest. Before I realized that I dressed modest, but quite a few of my shirts could've been worn by a man. I didn't understand the importance of being feminine, being undeniably my gender, as God had made me. Femininity is too often considered a weakness in today's day and age, when honestly, it is a strength. That's why I have this blog. Not only to journal happenings in my life, but to hopefully be a help and encouragement to other young ladies around the world. 

So back to my story. It was an encouragement to me that this impressionable, young girl could look at me, a skirt wearing, high neckline, with minimal makeup, teeter-totterer between misses and plus size in a world that frowns on anyone that's not stick thin woman and think I was beautiful. My prayer is that both of these young ladies grow up to realize that beauty is not defined by Hollywood, and that God has made us each and everyone uniquely beautiful. I also pray that someone would give them the gospel, and that maybe the Lord used me to plant the seed for them to listen to another Christian later on. I wanted to give them both a tract, but something happened immediately after that prevented me from doing that. And once I left the bathroom, neither girl was in sight. 

I hope that with the Lord's help, that He will use me to make an impression in other women and girl's lives throughout my life. 

outfits and DIYS

My sincerest apologies for my lack of posting lately! I feel like I've been going nonstop since the last week of May when I went to Florida. Then, once I got back, I went to camp liberty, then our church had revival. I'd like to do a couple of catching up posts to show ya'll some of my Florida pictures and Camp Liberty pictures. But for now, I have a couple of outfits to show ya'll. Sadly, I didn't get a pic of my patriotic outfit for Sunday. It was really cute too. :( 

But now, on to today's subject. 

You know, while we often like to dress up, some days you just don't want to. And you know what? That's ok. In my opinion, you don't have to wear makeup every day, have perfect nails all the time, and wear your nice clothes just to go to the store. You don't even have to fix your hair every day. Now, I don't mean don't brush it every day. I just mean that you don't have to straighten or curl your hair every day. Ponytails are ok. Messy, cute buns are ok. And even, on those REALLY bad hair days, hats are ok. 

So here, I have a few examples between a VERY casual outfit, and a nicer casual outfit. The first outfit I wore last Thursday, and the second one was from Friday. 

Here in these pictures, I'm wearing a tye dye shirt that I made with friends for Florida, a $3 jean skirt, comfy tennis shoes, and a bad hair day cap. I braided my hair on the side, and am wearing my purple spiral earrings that were given to me. I'm also not wearing any makeup. This is me on a regular day. Comfort first, in older clothes and minimum done to my hair. But always a pair of earrings. ;) 

Now in these next photos, this is how I look when I'm going a lot of places during the day. 

I'm wearing my new camp liberty shirt, a nicer skirt, more jewelry, and a little makeup. I also straightened my hair. For me, this is my going-nicer-places-than-the-country-grocery-store-in-town look. I'm only wearing mascara and eyeshadow, which is my usual go-to makeup.

So here folks, is how I look most days. I don't wear my dressy church clothes every day. :)

Now, on to a few DIYs I've done recently.

First, I suddenly had a desire for an anklet. Weird I know, but it's almost like I had forgotten that they existed, and now I had to have one. I priced a few online, but none of them seemed much better than something I could make, and they were a little on the pricey side. So, I decided to take some advice I learned at camp, and try to make what I need or want out of materials I already have rather than going buy it.

Here, is my new anklet. I was able to make it the exact size I wanted with chains that I had bought for another project, and the little white circle bead with a jump ring on either side that I could never figure out what to do with. It's so simple, I can wear it with almost any outfit. 

My second project has to do with my Miche bag. 

Do you see those little silver chains? Well, Miche charges $25 for them, and when I looked them up on eBay, they were $40. I couldn't see spending that kind of money on something so small. I looked and looked for other solutions, finally deciding to look online for thick chain. I saw some that reminded me of a chain necklace I had made. 

^So out of this.......^

^I made this^. And then, I revamped it again, and.....

^made this^ 

The chain was $2 when I bought it to make the necklace, and that was the only material I needed for this project. I like my new chain handles even better than the official Miche handles. 

Well, tomorrow we're going fishing with my Pawpaw and Mawmaw for the Fourth of July. We're leaving early, so I have to wrap up this post. Today I went shopping and found some great deals, so hopefully in the next post I'll be able to share those with ya'll. 

Until then, have a safe and happy Fourth of July! 

Family pics and Mary Kay

On Monday evening as I was finishing up the gumbo for dinner, I decided to see what the weather felt like. I opened the door, and gasped. It felt so much cooler than it has been that it seemed nearly impossible that such a drastic change could happen so fast. So we pulled out our lawn chairs on the porch, and enjoyed it. When my mom got home from picking up my dad, he took Matthew walking in the grass. It was so cute I had to take pics. So I did. :) 

Matthew is the only other kid in the family, besides me, that loves to walk in the grass barefoot. As you can see in the second to last picture, my dad and I are both big time readers. It's funny how, even though we're not blood related, we have so much in common. Our likes, our way of thinking, I even have a lot of the same allergies as him! Speaking of which, Monday was my dad and my anniversary. 15 years ago, my dad adopted me, and neither of us have ever been sorry for that. I'm so thankful for a dad who works hard, honors God, and still finds time to spend with his family. Like here, walking with Matthew when I know it hurt his back. Being an auto mechanic for 30 years comes with lots of aches and pains. 

So how did we spend our anniversary? 

We ate gumbo, played Monopoly, and watched Courageous. 

Then yesterday a friend of our's came over to show us her Mary Kay products. She recently became a Mary Kay consultant, and asked if she could practice on us. ;) I thought it would just be face masks and stuff, so I wasn't interested. But I had a lot more fun than I thought I would. They weren't as pricey as I thought it would be. So now I have a list of products I want to get. 

I've never liked the feel of powder on my skin, or the orangy color it turns if I sweat. So I've been either going without powder, or using the liquid foundation from Mary Kay that my Mawmaw gave me. I didn't think I'd ever find a powder I liked. But when I tried this on, I couldn't believe I had powder on! It felt great!  It blended really well into my skin, and was light enough not to feel cakey. So this was most definitely on my list.

The next thing was the makeup remover. I've always just used a wet rag to scrub off my makeup, but this stuff takes makeup off so much easier! It's not that expensive, and I quickly fell in love with this product.

The eyeliner is the next thing on my list. I like the cat eye look, but every eye liner I get smears even if I don't touch it. I want a solid, thin line for my eyeliner that doesn't look to thick and stays well. Our friend said that the only thing she found that would take this stuff off was the makeup remover. That works for me. :) 

I was looking at their hand scrub, but I think I'll just get mine at Walmart. I'm satisfied with my mascara, and I don't care about blush. I may also get some lip gloss, they did have some pretty colors. But for now, those are the main three things on my list.

So have you been having fun with your family in the cool weather?

What do you think of Mary Kay?