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It hardly seems possible that kids are going back to school already, but a quick glance at my Instagram this morning confirmed it to be true. We are going to be homeschooling my daughter for her senior year, so we have a little time before we start. We are using this season as summer winds down to get back into a cleaning routine, float in the pool, and read and relax as much as possible! Since this is a season of transition I thought it would be a good time to share some of the stuff I’m loving lately!
Inspired By Rachel Held Evans
I have an interesting history with the church and religion. I was raised in a religious/abusive home where the Bible was used as a weapon to cut you down to size. As an adult I wanted nothing to do with religion, until about 10 years ago when I had a major transformation and started going to church. Unfortunately there was a lot of drama, hypocrisy and corruption in the church. I gave it two tries and was seriously hurt both times. Now, I believe in the Bible but it has taken me years to sift through the indoctrination of my childhood to discover what I really believe.
I recently picked up Inspired by Rachel Held Evans and my main reaction is FINALLY! Some honesty! She tackles questions like what does it mean that the Bible is inspired? Why did a loving, merciful God instruct the Israelites to murder women and children? Are we supposed to take the Bible literally? I have a laughable amount of page flags in this book because I highlighted so many amazing quotes and passages.
There are parts of the Bible that inspire, parts that perplex, and parts that leave you with an open wound. I’m still wrestling, and like Jacob, I will wrestle until I am blessed. God hasn’t let go of me yet.
If you’re familiar with Rachel Held Evans you know she is progressive, so the book is definitely written through that lens. She also includes several short screenplays that modernize and deconstruct Bible stories and concepts that portray God as a cafeteria lady, etc. and I’ve read several reviews where people were highly offended. I’m not one to clutch my pearls so I found it an enjoyable, intelligent read that put a lot of things into perspective for me. If you have ever struggled to reconcile certain things in the Bible, I would definitely suggest reading this book.
Pacifica Rose Gold Nail Polish
I’ve been a licensed cosmetologist for 20 years, so I buy nail polish wholesale at the supply store. I was recently stunned to learn that virtually none of the top salon brands are cruelty-free. Any brand that sells their products in China is required by law to test on animals. I think it is absolutely senseless for animals to be tortured just so I can have some color on my nails, so I started looking into some cruelty-free brands.
Pacifica is a fairly popular makeup line that is vegan and cruelty-free, but I didn’t realize until I started looking that they also have nail polish. I ordered 3 colors to test them out. I liked them all, but my hands-down favorite was Rose Gold. Usually opaque polishes with no shimmer can be streaky and uneven, but this gives great coverage with a coat or two and is a perfect soft neutral. I love how it wears, plus it seems to be kinder to my nails as they are longer than they have been in years!
You can use my referral code to get 10% off your first Pacifica order of $5 or more. If you want to do some more reading on cruelty-free polish and other products, Cruelty-Free Kitty is my fave resource!
Quakehold Clear Gel
If you follow me on Instagram you know I have been doing my quarterly organize and declutter of the house. Since I do this quarterly it’s not a big job, but this time around I changed up some organizing systems that weren’t working for me. The drawers in my kitchen always drive me nuts because stuff slides around, jams up the drawers, etc. I got some dividers and containers from the Dollar Tree, but the real game changer was securing them in the drawer with Quakehold Clear Gel. You just make a ball of the product and stick the divider in the drawer and IT DOESN’T SLIDE AROUND! I can’t tell you how much easier this has made my life, and how much neater it has kept my drawers! It isn’t a permanent fixative so you can move things around as needed without any damage to surfaces.
Anker PowerCore Charger
I picked this Anker PowerCore Charger up after I bought my daughter and I tickets to a Panic! At The Disco concert. Granted the concert isn’t until February, but what would be worse than a dead phone when you are trying to Instagram your favorite song, lol. I have used this a LOT more than I thought I would! It takes about 10 hours to fully charge, but then it will charge your phone 4 times and you can plug two devices in at once. We recently spent a weekend out of town and this was a life-saver! We could easily charge our phones whether we were in the car, visiting family, or even hiking some bluffs.
So there is some of the stuff I am loving lately! Head on over to Instagram and let me know some of your favorites!