No Makeup. Whatsoever

Okay, by now most of you know of my involvement in QUITE magazine, so there should be no big surprise when I tell you how excited I am about the summer issue that we're currently putting together. (If you missed our introductory Spring Issue, you can still order it here).

For the Summer Issue, we're working on a slightly different project, headed up by Jessica, our fashion editor. The #QUITEbeautiful project is about encouraging women that they don't have to hide behind makeup or airbrushing. QUITE Magazine wants use photographs of women who aren't plastered with makeup and who aren't edited till they are nearly unrecognizable in real life. Because what matters infinitely more is that you live the way God created you to live--not that your skin isn't marred by a single freckle or acne scar.

Since I started attending beauty school, I've become much more aware of how women can be so attached to their makeup...or their hair extensions...or their acrylic nails...that they are afraid to let anyone see them without all of their additions. And I think that's a little sad. Make up can be fun, for sure. I'm the first person to swipe on some fuchsia lipstick because, guess what, I love fuchsia!

But makeup shouldn't be a form of slavery. Since starting beauty school, I've intentionally won less makeup than I have in years, because I want to be the one person who shows by their actions that, in spite of all the peer pressure otherwise, it's perfectly fine to not 'put your face on' everyday. There's nothing shameful in going out with a naked face. (Naked body...that's another story.)

Last week, Lizzy took my pictures for participating in the #QUITEbeautiful campaign. And honestly, it was a little scary. I don't wear makeup on a daily basis, but I'm typically more likely to wear it when I know I'm going to get my pictures taken. Wearing eyeliner to help my eyes not disappear in photographs is an old trick I learned from high school theater club. And a little powder to keep the camera flash from reflecting off my forehead often seems appropriate.

But this time there was no eyeliner, no powder. No convenient filter added by Picasa to make the colors a little prettier.

 Just me.

Of course, there was some editing involved when it came to choosing a photo where I was actually looking at the camera and the wind wasn't blowing my hair in my face. And then there was this photo, which records my response to Lizzy's direction, "Smile more naturally."

 Angel and I share the characteristic of having large mouths.

So, here's where you come in. If you're not too terrified by the idea of makeup-less pictures, you can join in the #QUITEbeautiful project. Share your makeup-less and filter-free photo on Instagram with the #QUITEbeautiful hashtag, or email your photo to info@quitemagazine.com, and your picture could appear in our Summer issue!

 

You'll Sleep When You're Dead

For the last two weeks I've been something of a distracted blogger, and for a very good reason. Usually, our home is pretty quiet, with only Angel and I around to fill it up, but until yesterday, we had three special houseguests. My sister Lizzy, Angel's brother Nestor, and Nestor's wife Brittany all decided to come for a visit at the same time, and Angel and I decided to show them how vacations are done. Hint: There is no sleeping, resting, or other forms of relaxation allowed on vacation.

Our plans were somewhat hindered by the fact that both Angel and I were working our normal schedules the whole time, but outside of work and school hours, we found plenty of opportunities to keep our guests busy.  During their stay, this is what we managed to accomplish:

We went to the beach.

On Cinco de Mayo, we took them to a Tulip Festival celebrating Dutch culture. I found the irony of this to be hilarious.

We attended a minor league baseball game. Our team lost, but I ate Dippin' Dots, so I was happy.

On Gerald R. Ford's birthday, we visited his museum for free. Highly educational. Did you know that Betty Ford worked as a department store model before her marriage to Ford?

We explored downtown.

We successfully executed a surprise birthday cake for Nestor's 23rd birthday.

We hung out at World Market and fell in love with some of the furniture.

Introduced Brittany and Nestor to the miracle of hobo pies.

Explored the woods.

 We went to another museum to see the Titanic exhibit (no pictures allowed) and we rode the carousel while we were there.

Other activities that were accomplished but unphotographed:
Watched all three Lord of the Rings movies, plus The Hobbit.
Went swing dancing. Twice.
Watched the second-to-the-last-ever episode of The Office. No one quite understood how emotional I was about it. 
Watched Iron Man 3 at the movie theater
Played Bop-it Extreme. No one can beat Angel's high score of 100.
Colored Brittany's hair brown and teal.
Destroyed a pinata.
Flew a kite.
Ate a great deal of latkes, gorditas, tandoori chicken, conchas, tortas, butter chicken masala, carne asada....and a few hamburgers, too.

Now everybody's gone, and we can all get some sleep.
 

Beware a Bear with a Weapon

  Bear Gothic
This has got to be one of the most parodied paintings in history. I figured we had to add a teddy bear version to the mix.   

Why is Spring Cleaning Important?

  You know the great thing about spring cleaning?   It's finding stuff that you forgot you had. Like my suspenders. Aren't they awesome?   Once upon a time, for my dad's 40th birthday, we decided that because he was old, he needed to have suspenders. He was not very amused. Sometime later, when it became apparent that Dad was never going to wear his very nice suspenders, I asked if I could have them. Since that time, I've worn them on numerous occasions when I felt suspenders were called for.   Except, I haven't worn them in probably a year, because I didn't know where they were. Now I do. I also found all of my multicolored strings of beads that I used to wear all the time, and I wore them as a necklace.   So, that's why spring cleaning is important. Finding fashion accessories you forgot you had.   The fact that your windows will look so much cleaner after you're done is just an added benefit.

Living in an Old House

...and why it's not as cool as you think it is.

 When people find out that my home is a farmhouse that was built around the year 1900, they say something about how awesome that must be. While I am very grateful for my home, I do not think that people who live in newer homes quite know what living in a century-old home might be like. So I'm here to tell you the truth. In reality, living in an old home, you might find that all of a sudden, your plaster walls start falling into pieces. (That poster has hung on that wall since my childhood, but I'm afraid to take it off, for fear of worsening the hole).

 Also, don't be alarmed by the knick-knacks on this furnace. Because the furnace doesn't work. Years ago, this is how the upstairs of our house was heated, then we took the pipe that fueled it off the house when we were putting vinyl siding on the house...so, the upstairs has no source of heat at all. For that reason, we seal the top floor off and don't use it from November-May every year, because it's too cold!

This is our upstairs bathroom--yep, that's how small it is. Don't worry, that door isn't even a normal sized door...it's like half of a normal sized door. My hips barely fit through it.

And our basement resembles a dungeon. This is as far as I dare go before turning back and returning to the world of daylight and joy. I'm not fond of dungeons.

 So, that's what living in an old house might look like. To be fair, the state of our house is infinitely better than when my family first moved in when I was a baby. I remember neon blue and puke green carpeting and tons of linoleum. Now, thanks to the investment of my parents, we have wood floors and normal carpeting....and plumbing and electricity that actually works. Stuff like that isn't to be taken for granted in an old house! The main floor of our house is really quite livable, and that's where we stay most of the time, so that works well for us!

I didn't mention all of the outbuildings that are in the process of falling down...but that's to be expected. Just don't enter said buildings if you care at all for your life, health, and bones. They really are quite picturesqe.