Welcome Apothica and a GIVEAWAY!!!

The more that I learn about makeup and the way our skin reacts to it the more I am wanting to take the plunge into "all things good for me". I must admit though it is a LOT harder to commit when SO many great brands aren't the best for us. It's so hard not to choose the makeup that performs well over the mediocre makeup that is good for my skin. I am so glad that more companies are seeing the light an making more quality makeup that is better for us and our skin. I was so pleased when Apothica came and asked to be a sponsor of Classy.

 Apothica.com is an online beauty boutique, which carries the finest selection of skin care, body care, aromatherapy, and cosmetic products on the market today, including the most natural, organic products available. They are dedicated to providing high quality products formulated to promote and enhance your natural beauty.Who can ask for anything MORE??? Well, of course whenever a new sponsor is added we have a giveaway and I am SO excited to announce our latest giveaway sponsored by Apothica. EvErYoNe knows that I LOVE me a smokey eye and I am beyond pleased to announce that you can now enter to win THIS Two Faced Smokey Eye Palette!!!!!!!! These colors will ROCK your world. They are SO pigmented and have EVERY color you need for a perfect smoked out look. The brow bone colors are to die for and you have SO many different options and color combinations it's insane!!! Apothica let me choose what the giveaway would be and I KNEW you guys would love this =).

Are you SO stoked??? Well, who wants it???  To win you must be a follower of Classy and that is the only requirement. Here are more ways to get multiple entries:

• Like Apothica on Facebook
• Like Classy on Facebook
• Follow Classy on Twitter
• Follow me on YouTube
• Go to Apothica.com and tell me what product you like the most and why
• Refer a friend to Classy to become a follower (they must comment that you sent them)
• Blog about this post on your own blog
• Share this post on Facebook
• Tweet about this post 
• Share this on Pinterest
• Tell me why you want to win

For each of the things you do post a separate comment even for being a Classy follower. If you are already a follower then leave a comment saying so. That way you have more chances of winning!!! This contest begins today April 17th and will end this Sunday at 12 midnight MST. Good luck and may the odds be EVER in your favor ; D. This is open worldwide. You must be 18 years or older or have your parents permission to enter. Invalid entries will be deleted.

Whipper Snappers!!!

Thought I would share =D. Doing makeup for a production of Arsenic and Old Lace up in SLC. Dress rehearsal is tonight so decided to practice =). Whaddya think???

Sushi Anyone?

We were invited to some friends of ours for homemade sushi which I was REALLY excited about!!! She even said that she would have food for the kids so I didn't worry about feeding even my pickiest eater first. When we got there I was DYING of cuteness as I saw what was laid out for the kids!!! She made them PB&J, ham & cheese or turkey "rolls" and then rice krispy treats with faux seaweed (fruit rollups) complete with fish on top! Isn't that so inventive??? I loved it and so did the boys. There was also the MOST delicious drink ever that she served. I'll have to get the recipe and add it here soon but as a teaser it had mint leaves, cranberries, something carbonated, lemonade (pink or regular). MAN it was good and super refreshing. I probably got some of the ingredients wrong but as SOON as she tells me the recipe I'll get it on here =). P.S. I love creativity and attention to detail and Teagan, you didn't disappoint and were an AMAZING hostess!!!!

Giveaway {CLOSED}

Valentine Giveaway!!!

pic from the beauty dept.

Can you feel the love in the air??? I can hardly wait to spend a beautifully quiet evening with my hunny somewhere. Hopefully with yummy eats and delicious sweets! What will YOU do thisValentine's Day? At my other site I want to help you celebrate this day of love with some giveaway love! Would you like that? One lucky reader will win the makeup book I love above ALL!!!

 The Making Faces book was the first makeup book I ever purchased and one I still take with me to teach seminars. If you would like to be the recipient of this marvelous and lovely book here's what you do...

 - Be a follower of Classy Cosmetics
 - Like us on Facebook 
 - Send in a picture of you and your valentine to dollcosmetics@gmail.com
 - Leave a comment telling me why you want this book and that you sent me a pic
 - Sit back and wait to win!
February 14th will be the last day to enter and the winner announced on the 15th. Good luck and let's see some sweet valentines!!!

The Journey Begins

Kevin and I have moved a lot....more then some, less than others but for my liking a LOT. We've never been in one place longer than a year hence apartments and rented town homes you know, for a fast move, no need to sell. Since moving here to Utah EvErYtHiNg has changed. Kevin adores his job and is valued in return. He wants to stay here. I want to stay here. The boys love it here and we have made so many dear friends in this specific area...we don't want to leave. The plan was to stay in this town home for a few years and just save. That was the plan. I am always the one looking out the window longingly at houses. Whatever wrapping they came in, big, small, ornate, simple, interesting, ALL appealed to me. I think for me, buying a house meant NOT moving, stability. I feel like I have met so many people through the years that no matter how close we were, the faces are getting all smooshed together till I find, when texting for a girl's night, I accidentally invite someone from our "Virginia Days". I've often gone into a store and gone right to the aisle I know something should be, just to realize that the layout of the Oregon store (blush). Since moving here I still like to look at houses but I've been so happy knowing we are going to be in this home for such a long while I didn't look as much. Little did I know that Kevin was pulling a "Jen" and looking like CRAZY!!! When he brought it up, I was shocked. I didn't think it was real, possible, or even legal for the Springer Family to consider such a thing! Looking turned into liking, into considering, into praying hard to know, then a promotion, interest rates being what they were, all we had saved and BAM! It turned into calling a realtor and seriously looking. After looking at quite a few we decide to build exactly what we wanted since we would be living in this home for 104 years...(Kev promised me).

I don't want to forget this process so this will be something ongoing that I will update here on the blog. Plus my conversations will be easier with my mom now that she can see what I'm talking about and give me more ideas =). It all came together really nicely and, oddly, very quickly. We were kind of picky and couldn't believe ended up finding a lake view lot opposite the golf course, still here in Saratoga Springs (yay!) and a great custom home builder. Here it is:

The fence behind us lines the quiet main road, behind that the golf course then Utah Lake. The picture was taken by me on the road that our front door will face and the back windows will face the lake and mountains. LOVE seeing that reflection! Since we aren't from here, it's still pretty majestic to just sit and stare at those mountains. I'm already having vision of me curled up on the couch with hot cocoa watching it snow...heaven. Here's an early rendition of the house. There have been a few changes but not many. It consists of the two floors show then a basement below.

 Naive me, though, thought how fun it would be to pick everything out and have no limits like, these are your four choices for carpet, you may have this or this for your appliances and so on. I soon realized what a daunting task it was to look at a tiny square of stucco and know if that was to be "the one". How the JUNK was I supposed to know what that would look like on a whole house? Kev and I decided the best way to choose would be to go to existing homes and choose their same color of rock and stucco knowing it would already go well together. Here is the one we chose.

I love the warm brown and the rock color but we've chosen a different cut. We are also not doing brick in addition to stone. Our shutters will also be that same brown color and we will have Tuscan looking flower boxes on a few windows with greenery. Below are the plans. First one is the main floor, second is the second story and the third is the basement plans roughly sketched out. My silly little doodles of course only make sense to me and my crazy mind at this point. For instance, Kevin's office (the one with the big #5 written on it) has "pretty" on it to remind me that's where the more ornate light goes. Kevin saw that written there and got a little afraid of what I may have been planning behind his back ; ). Also, the numbers are there so that I can number the boxes of things that I pack and people will know where to put them. On the second floor you'll see there is a wide open space and that's because it is open to the living room below so that whole wall can be windows looking out the back. I know I'm going to make mistakes here and there but on our somewhat hectic journey I have found some really great people that have given me their time, thoughts and advice on what they wished they would have done or what they have done and think we should consider. Among some of the greats? Putting a hot/cold spout in the back so that when I hose off the boys it doesn't have to be with freezing water, put a motion light in our master closet, lots of storage and a counter top in the laundry room, outlets above the cabinetry and a switch below to control them, auto light in the pantry and lighting in the eves outside. Keep em coming guys!!! =) One of you leave a comment that says Jen MUST have a secret bookshelf hidden door thing so Kev knows it's NOT just me that thinks so ; D.

Until the next update...hopefully the one to say they have actually broken ground now that they are going on three weeks late, goodnight!

2011, Our Story

What a year to look back on. I have never experienced such a drastic change as I was able to see for me and my family in the year 2011. Did you know we are coming up on a pretty important date to me? Come Jan. 15th this will be the first location that we have stayed at longer than a year in our almost 8 years of being married. When we move next it will be our 12th move. Before moving to Utah to accept Kevin's new job life was very different for us. Idaho was our first home. Our boys were both born there and we built our first home there. Even though we have many friends that we love and happy memories it was the darkest time of my life. We left the only job Kevin has ever known to try our hand at a new job all the way over in Virginia to be transferred only three short months later to Denver. After 4 months there we packed up and moved to Oregon. Kevin and I both felt strongly that he would not go any further in his career if he didn't finish the 6 short months of schooling he had left. The thought of going back to Idaho terrified me. Knowing it would only be for 6 months I felt it could be done and we packed up yet again. After 6 months there and graduating (YAY!) we moved back to Oregon and this time tried to do it the right way. Meaning Kev would focus solely on his finding a job in his field. So it was off to work for me to help support our family. I was able to go fulltime in my passion of makeup artistry working on photo shoots, wedding, fashion shows, designer shows, and fashion week. For almost 8 months Kevin was unemployed and it felt like an eternity! Our living situation was a difficult one and tested us almost to the breaking point. Still we felt blessed to know we were on the right path and that the Lord had not forgotten us. It may not matter to some but during this time I was so unhappy that somehow 45 extra pounds had creeped in and I wouldn't let anyone take my picture. For so long we hadn't heard anything then within two weeks Kevin got FOUR offers from various companies. WHAT?!? Was this really happening? We prayed and prayed to make the right choice and eventually (and reluctantly on my part) decided to favor the offer that came from Utah. Because of my time spent in Idaho I had SO many reservations of moving to another place that had such a high concentration of members of our church. I cried and cried thinking I would sink back into depression, that I would be a bad mother and wife but I trusted that all would be well. We had gotten our answer and we had to have faith in it. We had a month to pack our things (we are experts at this point) and headed off in the first few weeks of January.....not an unscary time to drive eh? We hadn't ever lived in Utah and were only familiar with one area (where Kev's sister lives) so we decided to look there for a place to live until we found a more permanent residence. I have to say, I have loved it here since day ONE! It feels like forever since we have lived alone, just our family. It's something I had definitely taken for granted. I am also pleased that I have been running for over a year, lost all the weight I gained and then some and completed a half marathon in October and my next one is coming up in May. Also since moving here Kayson has made great friends at school which made for a wonderful summer full of activities. Swimming lessons with friends, soccer games, parties, enjoying our pool every day of summer, making best friends in our new ward, Branson started school for the first time, a new school for Kayson, me expanding my makeup business and best of all a huge promotion for Kevin at work. He is now Creative Director and our dream home will start being built in one week! We felt so blessed this year and, remembering our situation last Christmas, were able to provide for three other families to have a great Christmas. It feels humbling to be able to finally be in a position to truly help others. I am so grateful for all of those people that helped us in our journey and in such hard times. I am excited for this year, for 2012. I hope that I can make a difference this year. I hope to be a good friend, wife, mother and daughter of God. I read Jeffrey R. Holland's talk today "The Best Is Yet To Be" (2009 conf talk) and feel so inspired. The future is truly bright, full of possibilities, trials to overcome, and memories to make. I love you all and hope that you are well, that you are happy and that you feel you can turn to me if you aren't. Here's to making 2012 your favorite year!

How Cool Is This???

Time of Rest

 Life can get so crazy this time of year. We have parties, school presentations, gift buying, Christmas cards to send, family to spend time with, church functions and then on top of everything else...everyday life needs to take place. I have to admit I love the feel of being busy. Having something going on everyday and getting TONS done, but that can only last for so long, even for me. Some days I feel I take on way too much and all the other things, little and big get put aside. My house for example was a MESS just last night and a touch of this morning. I hadn't run in almost five days, I was sleeping in (for me that means till 7:30/8) and I could feel myself getting worn down. This week was one of those weeks where I truly felt it couldn't have been more busy. We signed on Monday to start building our dream house right across from the lake and with that came SO many decisions. A lot of decisions we have been making ever since we were married since home design, in all aspects, is a huge passion of both Kev and myself. It's fun but stressful. Add to that the before mentioned list of parties and various functions and by Saturday night I was DoNe!!! As we got ready for 9am church I was thinking about a comment a friend of mine made once in regard to the Sabbath. It is a day of rest, we know this, but he said let us be super productive during the week so that we crave that Sunday rest. Not to skip church and be home or sleep all day but to really need our batteries charged spiritually to face another week. I kept thinking this as I sat there through wonderful meeting of great talks and lessons. I thought about how missing today I would have ReAlLy put myself behind spiritually and how I would have to play catch up through out the week and never be able to do it. Kind of like when the Holidays come and I vow not to gain weight but maybe lose it to be ahead of the game come the new year. Or spend less than I did last year, again, ahead of the game for the new year. By going to church this Sunday when I was really tired and somewhat broken I feel I really put myself and my family "ahead of the game" spiritually. I heard things I needed to hear. I saw friends I needed strength from and I felt my Father in Heaven's love for me. We came home to a still dirty house, ate a really good lunch and took naps. Blankets never felt so warm, our bed never felt so comfortable and I don't think I tossed once =). We woke up feeling great but I still wasn't ready to clean ;). I decided to make as few plans as I could this week and that no matter what I was going to get my butt up at 5 and RUN!!! 

The alarm sounded at 4:30 and after one snooze I was up. After running I came home and did two loads of laundry, two loads of dishes (yes, there were that many), made Kayson's lunch for school, Kevin a lunch for work, swept a VERY embarrassing floor, vacuumed, cleaned my room, gathered toys, and turned to see Kevin pale as a ghost. 

He has the flu.

I sent him upstairs with soda crackers and Sprite and told him to stay up there. I then disinfected all door knobs, handles and pulls in the kitchen, light switches and anything else he may have touched. I downed some Airborne and got some mixed for the kids, along with their morning pro-biotic and promptly took the small candy OUT of Kayson's lunch. I really think today would have gone much differently had I slept in and not had that boost from my run this morning. Being someone that's not always on top of things, it feels good today. I feel ahead of the game. In other news I'll probably have the flu tomorrow.

 

B's First Day (catch up series)

Boy do I have some updating to do. I realized that I hadn't yet shared so many great family experiences here. For instance, Branson has been DYING to go to school ever since Kayson started a kindergarten.We felt that Mr. B would not be able to wait until he could go to KG so we decided to give preschool a try. We met with his teacher at the school (where Kayson went to KG) and could tell that Branson would LOVE it. A brand new school was built closer to us so Kayson switched to that one and they made Kayson's old classroom (where B would come in to volunteer with me a bunch) into the preschool room. Branson could NOT believe that he would be in Kayson's old room and felt very at ease very fast since he had been there a bunch already. We love his teachers and can't believe all that he is learning! We love you B-Boy!!!!!

He picked out his own binder, which was almost bigger than he was.

Yeah, I'm four =)

Ready to go!

Bye Mom and Dad!!!

Dropping off his backpack.

Running to the shiny new playground.

(giggle)

Bell has rung, time to get in line.

I can't believe I'm in school!

All done for the day and I did GREAT!!!!!

Jumping up into Daddy's arms =).

He couldn't stop telling us all of the fun things he did!

Running

 I have been running for only a year now. I can't believe it. I used to HaTe running! I only joined cross country in high school for two reasons, one because I really wanted to be apart of something. Two, because as much as I didn't want to admit it (for still wanting to be "cool") I really did like my brothers and wanted to be around them. They were in it so I signed up to. I wasn't bad but I lacked conviction, embarrassed that I turned all red/purple when I ran, and I really hated it. Soon I came up with any excuse I could not to run and the whole team dubbed me "B.E." (bad excuse). I was ashamed and swore I wouldn't go back! When I went to Time Out For Women in Oregon last year a few of us talked about running together. I was already disgusted with how I had let myself go and was willing to try AnYtHiNg...even running. We walked everyday for about a month since we were all so new to the idea. Then jogging came then some running......THEN.......we moved. I was so sure that I would quit without my girls. I wasn't enough in the habit of getting up to go out that I KNEW there was no way I would without my support group. I didn't know anyone where we were moving aside from my sister-in-law and she is hard CORE! I couldn't ask out of sheer embarrassment. I went from running everyday to nothing for three weeks. I was surprised at how sad that made me. I would look at all of these runners, bikers, skiers...anythingers that were here in Utah. I saw what an active state it is and I really wanted to be a part of it. I was even more surprised when I put out feelers in the ward for a running buddy. Enter my cute running buddy =), Miss Stephanie G!!! We decided to start running in the evenings everyday, signed up for a 5K and got bit by the running bug. Her more than me but still we were willing to go even further and started to do a specific training and mornings at 5am became our time. We signed up for a half marathon in October and began to hit the pavement. Our everyday runs grew to 5 or 6 miles and Saturdays were our longer runs. The longest being 12.5 miles. We were feeling good and I felt so much happier. I have shed a little over 20 lbs and have never felt stronger! I know I'll look back on this entry and laugh because I hope to have grown even more but I wanted to record my feelings. I love where we are living (never thought I would feel that way about Utah), I love my family, I love Kev's job, I love my career and how it's finally growing after starting over here. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father for never giving up on me and my family. For guiding our steps even though it may have seemed to us that we had no path at all. For teaching me humility, patience, understanding, the true meaning of friendship and conviction. The thing I sorely lacked so many years ago. My one wish now would be to have my family come to a race. Where I could see Kev, the boys, my brothers, my sister, my mom and dad there at the finish line. That would really be cool. Pretty symbolic of the eternal finish line I guess. In both cases, I want to finish strong. The end.

Buying shoes at Portland Running Co. with Laurel and Branson. It was such an exciting day. I had saved and worked hard to earn them on my own. Before then I had been running with Payless Shoes I had for the gym. Sad, I know!

 I bought Saucony Guides and LoVeD them until I realized they didn't give me a large enough size. Insert toenail falling off every two weeks = (. Plus...I could stand to lose quite a few lbs!

Loved these bags eh Laur? =)

Moving to Utah was hard but finding Steph was a miracle!!! Here we are at our first 5K. I hadn't run in a race since like Sophmore year in high school!!!

Excited to start!!!

 

The boys practicing for their own future races =)

Before the 10K

 

Some girls from our ward ran the 5K at the same race. It was awesome to hang out with them and their families.

Primary buddies =)

Amy, Jen, Steph and April. Snowing outside, under 40 degrees but still excited to start!!!

I was so glad that Kev was there at the end of my first half. He popped out of bushes along the way to snap pics of us and I couldn't have been more excited to see him each time. It made me feel special and that I was doing something worth documenting.

My First Interview...Eek!

I was asked to interview Senior Vice President Beverly Hollister of Xango a few weekends ago. Xango was having their global convention in Salt Lake City and were making some pretty big announcements in their beauty division. I was so humbled by the task and scared out of my mind! Only to get there, meet her and have a New York editor want to sit in on the interview!!! I forgot to even ask her to brag about the new products I was so nervous! That put aside I think I did okay and I'm surprised at how changed I have become since then. First I am reading the labels of ALL beauty products I go to buy beFORE the purchase. It seems these days that you can't get anything without parabyns and PEGs in your skin care. I was so happy that Xango gave me a slew of prodocts to giveaway on my cosmetics blog! Go become a follower leave a comment saying that you are and you can be entered in to win! These products are 100% safe and really effective! Here is a pic of all the products I am giving away!

I was able to meet darling Misha, who formulates most of the makeup at Xango.

Xango is also sponsor of the Real Soccer Team, so I got to meet a few of the players. That was fun to tell Kev =D.

All in all it was such a wonderful experience and I learned SO much!Soon I will be having another giveaway for a wonderful book by Stacy Malkan "Not Just A Pretty Face, the Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry". She was the editor that wanted to sit in on our interview and boy was she incredible. I hope to speak with her again soon after I have read more of her book and give you some more insight into her motivations. Here is the interview and the giveaway =).

Another Project DONE!

Here's a pic that the old hubs took of Branson's animals on his new bed =). Kevin has worked so hard on these beds and has endured me nagging when he hasn't (you know how it goes). He'll be the first to tell you that making something from scratch is NO JOKE! Once the first one was finished and he could see that all of his hard work had paid off the second only took ONE DAY to finish. I had already prepped the head and foot boards and painted the side rails for him. It was just a matter of putting everything together and cutting a few more pieces of wood. I LOVE how they turned out!!! I also kinda love that the boys aren't on their mattresses on the floor anymore =). Since our bedroom is basically done (pictures to come in the next post) I figured we needed to get going on the boys' rooms. I am still needing to out their decor up but the beds ReAlLy made the room look more finished. What do you think?