Eyelash Extensions!

Last week I went and got eyelash extensions for the first time. And I am just loving them!!!

I don't love the time it takes to do it, but I loved the idea of not having to worry about mascara on our cruise. So I took the plunge and now I think I'm hooked!!!

It takes about 2 to 2 1/2  hours (depending on your lashes) to get them on because they glue the lash extensions onto each individual existing lash. It's very tedious work thats for sure.

My friend recently had hers done and referred me to the lady who did them for her.
Her name is Michelle Simon and she works out of her home in Sandy.  She charges $100 for a full set (which I think is a great price since I almost went to someone who is charging $200).

They last up to 2-3 weeks, longer if you are careful and avoid using products containing any oil.

To get a fill it's only $40, and usually only takes an hour.  So I'm thinking this may be something I can keep up for a while. I sure feel pretty with longer lashes :)

If you'd like to contact Michelle for an appointment you can call her at 801-654-2261



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Making Our Homes Safer


Oliver is a little maniac and has already figured out how to open these safety locks.  I'm gonna have to watch him extra careful.


After reading about the Staker family last year, I've been extremely paranoid with bath tubs. 



I've had a hard time with this one. I just love to actually BURN candles, something so soothing about the little flame flickering. Sean hates it when I burn them, so I TRY to use the warmers.


Recently Oliver has figured out how to climb out of his crib. He actually only did it once because he fell so hard while attempting it. So thankfully he learned his lesson (for now).  A few days after this happened I had a dream that he climbed over the banister and fell. I woke up in tears and my heart beating so fast I felt like it really happened.


We recently had an alarmed installed, and boy do I feel much safer at night. I sleep way better knowing my family is safe inside our home.



Sean gets after me about this because I always forget to do it when I open the blinds. I've been better about it though.



This is such a high drawer and it's PERFECT for all sharp items. I'm proud to say that none of my kids have given themselves a hair cut thanks to this drawer.



I just think it's a good idea to always keep your doors locked even when you're home. Things have changed dramatically since we were younger. I grew up NEVER locking doors, roaming the neighborhood with my friends, and even walking to the store on my own. It's just not safe anymore, sad to say, but it is what it is and we need to protect our kids.


Ever since the Elizabeth Smart incident I've been a lot more cautious about keeping windows locked at night. You never know.


Now what are some things YOU do to keep your home and kids safe?

For more safety tips go to www.thesafestline.com

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Juicing

How many of you eat much raw fruits and veggies on a daily basis?

The average American does NOT consume the daily recommended amount of fruits and veggies (including myself).

Until now!


Sean and I have been juicing every day now for 6 weeks, and I feel great!!! I start out my day with a big class of juice, then a few hours later I have my Isagenix meal replacement shake. A few hours later I'll have a snack, then it's dinner time. This is the best way to keep your calories down, seriously, it has been so nice.
Here are a few benefits of juicing.

  1. The juice requires hardly any digestion, so all its nutritional goodness gets rapidly into your system.
  2. When you juice, you use more fruits and vegetables than you could actually eat. As a result, you are drinking a densely packed amount of vitamins, minerals and other plant-based nutrients.
  3. Juicing allows you to consume an optimal amount of vegetables in an efficient manner, and you can add a wider variety to your diet. 
We found a wide variety of juicers on Amazon, but this is the one that we bought. 














But you can get a lower Watt one for cheaper.


I'm not going to lie, it does require a little time, probably about 25 min. from
start to finish (clean up and all). Not really that bad, but if you're in a hurry then it might not be that convenient.
One thing I've liked most about juicing is the fact that I can feel good about
getting all my fruits and veggies in each day. Antioxydants are so important,
especially for Cancer prevention.


Next Week on Wanna Be Balanced Mom:

* Eyelash Extensions. I'm getting eyelash extensions for the first time. Can't
wait to try them out and show you pics. I'll share more info about it in this post.

* Ways to Keep Your Home Safe.  I'll be sharing photos of all the safety precautions we take in our home.

* What's in YOUR Bag?  I'll be taking you inside my purse, showcasing the chaos within and items I have with me at all times. I also want to share whats in YOUR purse. So if you'd like to submit a picture or video of yours then email it to me at crystal@wannabebalanced.com. This will be fun to see :)

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For Whom Do You Feel Most Compassion?

I've been reading this new book called Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make A Difference. It has really opened up my eyes and gave me a new outlook on how I'm living my life. I love the spoken truth right there in the title, "you were made to make a difference".   Each and every one of us are here for a special purpose, and we CAN make a difference.  So many people succumb to the idea that we are the way we are and there's nothing we can do about it.
Life is about becoming the best WE can be, and hopefully lifting others in the process. There was a part in this book that really stood out to me.

"If you are in Christ, God's Spirit will speak through you.
Let God unshell you.  And when he does, "make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that"(Gal. 6:4).  Don't miss the opportunity to discover your language.
With whom do you feel most fluent? Teenagers? Drug addicts? The elderly? You may be tongue-tied around children but eloquent with executives. This is how God designed you. "God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well" (Rom. 12:6).
For whom do you feel most compassion?"


This part spoke to me in such a way, I immediately felt inspired to DO something about it.  An idea just came out of nowhere, but it was loud and clear. I thought to myself, I should speak at high schools about my life as a teen.  I've never thought to do this before, but I feel like this is something I should do in the near future. So many thoughts an idea's I could expand on, and boy do I have some stories to share. It would be all about self worth of course, because those were the years I felt I had none. I always think, if only I could go back as the person I am now. It would have been a much better experience. I would have studied more, worried about boys less, and focused on reaching out to those who were in need of a friend.

I'll never forget this boy in one of my classes. He kept to himself most of the time. Nobody ever even noticed him, including myself. He actually sat right in front of me and I never said a single word to him.

Later that year he committed suicide.

I can't help but think, WHAT IF...

What if I had reached out to him. What if I took interest in him, talked to him, cared about him.

Could I have made a difference?

I love how the author in this book talks about figuring out what our language is. That's what it's all about. We need to be actively using those gifts God has given us. They are meant to be used to MAKE A DIFFERENCE, in our lives and the lives of others.



Here's one of my favorite stories, and one I frequently read while I was on my mission.


There was a young man walking down a deserted beach just before dawn in the distance he saw a frail old man. As he approached the old man, he saw him picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea. The young man gazed in wonder as the old man again and again threw the small starfish from the sand to the water. He asked "Old man, why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?" The old man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish! "How can you make a difference?" The old man looked down at the small starfish in his hand and as he threw it to the safety of the sea, he said "I MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THIS ONE." - unknown


What is your language? And what can YOU do to make a difference?


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Things We Do

Oh the things we do to entertain ourselves during church.

Notice how we're sitting on the metal seats in the very back.

Yes, we're late pretty much EVERY Sunday.




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Be My Valentine

So what are your Valentines day plans? Sean and I usually go out a couple days early because getting reservations at a restaurant is pretty much ridiculous! My sweet sexy husband planned for us to get massages over the weekend!!!
I so needed it too.
I've been letting stress get the best of me these days. It's funny too because I stress about stupid things like dealing with bad drivers, waiting in long lines, or when I can't figure out this da** website stuff.
I've started a new goal for this month (each month I'm focusing on something new to learn).  My goal is to move my blog over to Wordpress and I'm literally going NUTS over it. Seriously, I thought I was pretty tech savvy, but apparently I've got a long ways to go. And I'm not the type of person that can just walk away and try again later. I will try until I've got steam coming out my nose and ears.

I've finally given in and decided to pay someone to do it.  So stay tuned for more info on that as well as the reveal of a new blog layout here on this site. I'll be sure to share what I'm learning in Wordpress for those of you who may be thinking about starting up a blog or migrating over from blogger.
Oh and just a heads up, if you are subscribed to my blog you MAY get lost in the transition. My URL will still be the same, so you'll always be able to find me at www.wannabebalanced.com. Just know that you might need to resubscribe, we'll see how it all comes together. I'm a little nervous about it, but I think in the end it will be a much better website and even easier to navigate.

I would love a little feedback too. What are your favorite topics on my blog? What would you like to  more of?
Trying to decide what should be the 4 main topics in my navigation bar.

*Video blogs
*Video tutorials
*Beauty tips
*Fashion
*Home and Garden
*Organizational tips
*Weight loss
*Health
*Meals
*Parenting
*Budgeting
*Inspirational
*Success tips for your home based business
*My life lessons and stories


On another note, here's a fun idea I got from the Family Fun Magazine.




What you'll need:


*Rice crispies, butter, and marshmellows.
*Food coloring
*Decorating icing
*Heart shaped cookie cutters



I couldn't help but let Oliver lick the frosting off. It was too cute!


All Kinds of Weird

Okay don't get too grossed out, this is all part of nature.
So we have a dog, her name is Dresden (named after my mission in Germany), and she is the cutest darn Shih Tzu ever. We really want her to have a litter of puppies so we decided to hold off on getting her spayed...

And you know what that means_______

That's right, she has her period about every 6 months, YUCK!!!  We bought her these little dog diapers in hopes to lighten this horrific experience a tad. But really, they don't help much. They just come right off. We even tried duck taping it on.
No luck.



Oliver's not quite sure what to think of it.


She looks a little PMSy here, but don't worry I gave her some Diet Coke, Lindor Truffles, and a few pieces of Twizzlers liquorice.

You know, all the things that are pretty much a necessity during that time of month... meaning it's absolutely imperative for Sean to treat my "hormonal" time with the utmost respect... meaning these items must be readily available at any given time.

If he wants to survive that is.

Wait, who were we talking about again?
Oh, yah.
So back to the subject of animals. Have you ever seen a hairless cat?  Austin Powers and Friends doesn't count. I mean in REAL LIFE?

Well I have, and it's quite the experience. My friend Andrea has one and brings her over to visit from time to time. My kids love her and call her "Hairless Cat" instead of Char, which is her real name.


Isn't she beautiful!!!


Now for the REAL question.




Have you ever seen a hairless cat on her period?

Well here ya go.



Now you can say you've seen it all.

Have a great weekend!

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Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Here's a fun and delicious activity you can do with your kids for Valentines Day. I found this idea in the Family Fun magazine and really enjoyed doing it!



What you'll need:


*Strawberries
*Wooden skewers (get green ones, or you can use food coloring to dye them green)
*Pink Chocolate Melts Wilton Pink Candy Melts, 14-Ounce
*Fresh Mint


First melt the chocolate (follow directions on the package).

Put the strawberries on the skewer and dip them in the chocolate.
Spray your pan with a nonstick spray and let the strawberries set until chocolate is hardened.
And walah!!!You've got yourself a beautiful edible flower arrangement. Yum!


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Sweetest Thingz Giveaway!!!

I did some more shopping over at the Sweetest Thingz Boutique and I wanted to show you all the fun things I got. Also, my friend Ali, the owner of The Sweetest Thingz offered to do another giveaway for us here on my blog.  First let me show you what I got, then I'll give you the details on the giveaway.


Don't ya just love these gloves!!! They are 40% off right now!








Lots of fun stuff over there right now, most everything is priced at $40 or less. You've got to check it out! They are located on 416 East 12300 South. A lot of their winter apparel is on sale now, 40% off! And they just got these cute rain boots in.




Okay, now for the giveaway details.  The giveaway prize is a cute tunic sweater and a blingy heart necklace, PERFECT for Valentines Day!



 It comes in grey, black and plum and looks cute with leggings or skinny jeans.
The winner must go in the store to try on and pick up; looks darling with the heart necklace. The sweater retails 39.99 and the necklace for $15. 



How it Works: If you’re interested in these items, just say so in the Comments section of this post (Utah residents only). I’ll randomly select a commenter (using random.org), then contact the winner via email so be sure to leave your email address if it's not already public in a profile. You can leave additional comments for more chances to win by doing the following.  Leave a separate comment for each thing you do. We appreciate your help in spreading the word for us. Giveaway ends Feb. 12th!


*Share this giveaway on your facebook. Just copy and paste the link below.
http://www.wannabbalancedmom.com/2011/02/sweetest-thingz-giveaway.html


* "Like" The Sweetest Thingz on facebook.


* "Like" Balanced Moms on Facebook.


*  Suggest to 3 of your friends to "Like" The Sweetest Thingz on Facebook


*  Suggest to 3 of your friends to "Like" Balanced Moms on Facebook.

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