Introducting Monat

I have naturally curly, frizzy, thick, and unmanageable hair.  I spend hours drying and straightening my hair and it's still coarse and not soft.  Then, a friend gave me a sample of Monat.  I didn't want to like it, for several reasons.  It was a little more pricey than my normal hair products and I was skeptical.  I'm a skeptic. But, after my first wash, condition, and leave-in condition, I kept feeling my hair not believing how soft it actually was.  I asked my husband, too. He said it was softer.  He could care less so I know he was being honest.  Then, I did some research and I liked what I saw - all the "NOs"

So, I not only decided to use it, but I decided to sell it.  I knew my mom would love it. Her hair came back much more coarse and different feeling after she lost it during chemo.  Her hair is softer and shinier.  My aunt also has our coarse hair and she loves it and has shared it with friends.  Everyone who has tried it have felt a huge difference in their hair. I'd love to share this with you too! Check out more here: www.HollyK.MyMonat.com

I'm going to be posting the before and after of my husband who has been using the Classic Confidence System for 2 weeks. I'm itching to post the pictures but I'm waiting the full 30 days! We can already tell a difference in the thickness of his hair. In the mean time - here are some before and afters from Monat!

 

Road Trip 2016

At the start of this post we have 7 days, 21 hours, 24 minutes, and 35 seconds until we leave on our Road Trip 2016! Blake and I are both so very excited to get away, just the two of us.  About a year ago when Blake nailed down his graduation date {finally! Yay!} his mom told us she wanted to send us to Italy. We wanted to go to Italy on our honeymoon but plans, time, and budget never worked out. We were both so excited and thankful for the opportunity.  A few months passed by and his mom asked us to make up a mock trip so she can plan funding and save the date to keep the girls.  During the week of planning, researching, fake booking flights, thinking about passports, etc... I grew less and less excited.  I shared this with Blake because any time I talked about it he seemed pretty uninterested and I thought it was simply because he had a TON on his plate and on his mind. But, we both felt like this just wasn't us. Sure, Italy is amazing and the opportunity was awesome but we shared our thoughts with Blake's mom and she was so supportive of us to do what we really wanted to do.  We wanted to road trip.  For our honeymoon we took a "Redneck Road Trip" to Tennessee and it was gorgeous! It was during November and the leaves were changing, the weather was crisp and perfect. It was so much fun!

SO, we thought we should do that again, but road trip the other way.  I've always loved the mountains, Blake too, we've always loved cabins and getting away from the big city or real touristy destinations so we chose Yellowstone {summer + Yellowstone = touristy. We know. But it's not the only place we are going. It's just a one day taste}. From there we planned a road trip back to Texas. Actually, because of the distance and all we wanted to see and do, we are going to be flying into Salt Lake City, UT. I have always wanted to drive through there and see the red rocks and desert. And, honestly, always go to the Mormon Church. :) I'm not Mormon but it's a beautiful site I am told. Anyway, we will day trip to Yellowstone, then head south to the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, then head east towards CO, then south through NM and east bound 10 back home. We will be gone for about 8 days. Lots to do in a little amount of time!! We are so thankful to family and friends who are caring for our house and kids while we are away! I'll be posting plenty throughout the tirp and when I get back I hope to blog some things to remember but here's some of the fun we will be getting into...

• Yellowstone National Park, WY - Old Faithful Inn {Built in the 1800s {I love history}, Old Faithful, Mud/Paint pots, falls, rivers, mountains, etc...}
• Jackson Hole, WY -   shopping, the elk horn arch to Town Square, Grand Tetons, Scenic River Float with a dinner on the banks of Snake River, Mangy Moose, Wild West Shootout
• Rawlins, WY - not too sure...will be a lay over on the way to CO
• Fort Collins, CO - a choice of two Diners Drive Ins and Dives spots to eat lunch
• Denver, CO - The Broker for dinner, downtown, nightlife, a "city stop," Pike's Peak {peek/drive-by}
• Colorado Springs, CO -  Garden of the Gods, mountains
• Canon City, CO - Royal Gorge Train Ride, Royal Gorge Helicopter Ride, World's largest suspension bridge, mountains, gorgeous views, etc.
• Santa Rosa, NM - Route 66, the Blue Hole
• Fort Davis, TX - McDonald Observatory, Balmorhea State Park, San Salomon Springs, desert, starry skies...

I can't wait...now it's only 7 days,  21 hours, 4 minutes and 25 seconds until we leave! ;)

God's Promises and Power

2 Peter 1:3 - 11

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of goodness and goodness with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

10 So, dear brothers and sisters,[c] work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. 11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I struggle with most of the fruits of the spirit.  I am not patient, I can be unkind when I become impatient, I can also be unloving when I am not being kind because of my impatience, this all steals my joy, it definitely takes away any peace I had, and so on and so forth.  It is all tied together and without one, it's difficult, if not impossible to have the others. 

I am a lot like my 5 year old daughter. Yes, I have about 29 years on her and saying I act a lot like a 5 year old is super embarrassing to admit.  So, when I came across this verse today I knew I had to share it with her.  She struggles with self-control. I struggle with self-control.  Any little kink in anything she has planned out in her precious head throws her for a loop and a tantrum immediately follows.  To be fair though, I do have a bit more self control - maybe 5 minutes pass and then I snap. Ha! But, I wanted to wait for the right time to share it with her.

The right time came this evening when she wanted me to play kid songs on Pandora but I told her as long as she continued to whine about it, I wouldn't play them.  She continued to she didn't get to hear her kid song channel.  Woe was Anna.  After I sent her to her room I went in, talked her down from her emotional ledge of not hearing her kid song channel, and I said I have something to share with you.  

I read the verses two times through.  I then went back and talked about the different meanings of the words and asked her questions to make sure she understood. So, we made a deal to help one another with our self-control and our love and goodness and Christ-likeness.  I know I'll have to work much harder on myself - especially not to snap when she throws a fit so I can be a good example to her.  She is growing day-by-day and I am too.  I have the greatest confidence that one day, Jesus will touch her heart, like He did mine and her father's, and change her little life.  I pray that she comes to know that God will provide all she needs - 3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.