30 and Flirty and Thriving!

You guys, I am turning 30!  I remember when I first watched 13 Going On 30 and thought that 30 sounded so far off and yet here I am.  That is life, huh?  I have to say that I am actually excited to be turning 30.  I really am looking forward to my 30's and can't wait to see where this adventure takes me.
I looked at Peter the other day and said "You know what?  Only half of my 20's were great."  Let me explain.  For the first half of my 20's I was:
-Working a job (that I did love but knew that I ultimately wanted to be a wife and mom)
-Single and/or dating Peter (there is nothing wrong with being single but it wasn't my preferred status ;)).
-Insecure about who I was and the decisions I was faced with and therefore much like the ship that James describes in the Bible as being tossed about on the sea.  I wish I could go back and re-live those decisions as the person I am now because I am much more confident.
-Unsure about my future - wanting to meet someone and marry but at the same time, not wanting to wait to live my life until I did....it was hard to balance that or know how to navigate it.

Early 20's

I did have a lot of fun in my early 20's, don't get me wrong.  I just prefer where I am now.  =)

2 weeks after I turned 25, we got married.  In a lot of ways, it feels like that's when my life really started because I moved to Boise and started a whole new life with Peter.  Not that there was anything wrong with my life before, but I was a girl living in a smaller town (with hardly any singles) and in close proximity to the life and family that I had always known.  When I married Peter, I essentially started over somewhere completely new and as a wife - a whole new identity.

It's hard to believe that I've only had 5 years of marriage with him.  In some ways, it feels like so much longer.  Things have changed so much.  I have changed so much! Going on this journey with Peter and experiencing Jesus's amazing redemption in our lives and marriage has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.  The grace that I have been shown by Jesus and Peter has transformed the person that I am and made me much more confident and secure (and therefore content/ joy-filled).

Becoming a mama (twice) gave me an anchor and a new role which adds a huge element of purpose, joy, fulfillment, reward etc to my life.  These two are the biggest blessings that have ever come to me.

We have been able to experience living in 3 different states as a married couple (although not very long yet in this 3rd one!) and we have made so many good friends and memories along the way.  It is amazing to see God's faithful hand in our lives through it all and to watch Him carefully navigating each move at a specific time/season in our lives. 

 Life has not ever been dull or boring to say the least.  =)

God has been very, very, abundantly good to me and I am humbled as I reflect on it.  My 20's were about experiencing singleness, marriage, moves, God's redemption in my life and marriage, and becoming a mama and a family.  It was a great decade.  

Come on 30's, show me what you got!  

-Joy

Introducing: Scarlett Lola Harrington

She is here and we can't believe she is all ours!   Anyone who knows me knows that I was shocked to have a girl - I have only ever pictured myself with all boys.  Wow, what a surprise we were in for. =) I am already noticing differences in having a girl versus a boy and I have to say, I am really enjoying it.  She is definitely more attached to me already than Simon ever was and it actually feels kind of nice. I can't wait to see the journey that our relationship takes.

  Once again, the amazingly talented Christa Taylor did these photos - we did a package with her where we got maternity and newborn shots.  It was so nice having her come to us so that we didn't have to travel out for these.  She came when Scarlett was 6 days old.  I probably would have waited a little longer had we not been moving right away but I'm so glad that we got them!

Love,

JOY

Beauty Tip: Ditch the Dirty Look

Have you tried to get the perfect, contoured, flawless look only to have it end up looking dirty or caked on?  I definitely have.
My intentions are good and the goal is usually something like this:

And instead ends up looking like this:

I mean, let's be honest.  No one wants to get caught in makeup like this!  I will be the first to admit that I have and it's not fun.

In the past I have assumed it was because I was using the wrong products.  But I have good products and they should be able to produce the correct look so then I assumed it was because I was needing too much product to fake a more tan look on the cheeks.  So the solution for that is a more tan face right?  But a tan still left me wanting because it's the contrast that is the goal, not the overall color.

I began to try other things in my quest to figure out how others could achieve this look when I struggled so.  In digging around my makeup box, I pulled out my tried and true Beauty Blender Original Blender Sponge - 0.15 oz.  I know, I know, I have already done a post on this tool and how much I love it.  For some reason, I had stopped using it and gone back to using mostly brushes.  I gave it a whirl and instantly remembered why I love it so much.  The flawlessness it gives your face is incomparable to other tools.

The best part?  When it comes to blending a contoured look, you can definitely achieve the first picture without it looking caked on or dirty.  I found that this formula of brushes plus the beauty blender seems to produce the best look:

-Begin with a clean, moisturized face and applied primer

-Apply your foundation with a moist beauty blender (go light on coverage)
-Apply powder to your eyes and eyebrows with a quick sweep of a brush so that you can apply your eye makeup while letting your foundation set.
-Apply eyebrow and eye makeup
-Using a brush, apply your contour color to your cheeks and follow up by blending with the moist beauty blender
-Give cheeks a minute to dry (you want to make sure there is no moistness left) and then do a quick sweep of bronzer over them again followed by blending with the beauty blender.
-Apply your concealer and blend with beauty blender
-Finish the whole look with a light sweep of powder to set everything (you can also add a touch of blush if you prefer).  You can also do a once over with the beauty blender just to make sure it's all even and the excess is gone.

This seems to be the perfect formula (that I've found) for achieving the best contoured look.  The beauty blender will remove any excess while giving the best overall blended look.  I really can't praise it enough.  I promise you won't be disappointed!

Happy Contouring!

-Joy