Be careful little mind what you think...

I've been reading Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer, and I have learned a LOT! If you haven't read it, give it a go! The devil works in your mind and corrupts your thoughts... so what is the answer? CHOOSE to think good thoughts!

"Therefore brothers -- whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is honorable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about those things" Philippians 4:8

I miss him

Well, the husband has been in S Korea for about 3 months now.... and man, it never gets easy. I miss him so much it's unbelievable. I keep feeling like my life is a hodgepodge of John Mayer songs -- half of my heart's got a grip on the situation, half of my heart takes time.

On top of that, I have been trying VERY hard to not talk about people.. Living at Fort Sill, I got myself into some uneasy situations because I didn't keep the reigns pulled tight on my tongue. I feel really bad for talking about some of the wives like I did, but I learned my lesson and I will never be that person again. I pray for those gals every night but I bet they have no idea. I just hope that some people out there are praying for me too. My facebook friends admire my strength and positivity throughout this short tour, but I feel like they see something in me that I don't see in myself. I have never thought of myself as particularly strong. I hope that some of them realize that I still need prayer and kind words to make it though.

On a good note, I am almost done with my last english class at Ashford University! I just love taking online classes, they are so simple. This last class has been horrible though on account of my professor -- he picks on me. In all of our discussion posts I have to do twice the amount of work for the same exact grade. This is the story of my life: work twice as hard for what others are handed. BUT, it makes me a stronger, better person.

I was thinking yesterday how it is so amazing how God works in our lives. Everyone always tells me that "it's in God's plan" and "everything happens for a reason," but until you find out those reasons you never really believe it. Well, I have moved more times than years I am old, mostly due to my mom and my completely split up family. I never understood why all my friends only had two houses in their entire lives and I had to constantly fit my whole life into boxes. WELL, I figured it out. God was preparing me for the Army life with my sweet hubby. He knew I would need the moving skills and BOY have they come in handy! All we do is move. And.... drum role, please! I am moving to S Korea soon! As soon as our Command Sponsorship gets approved I will be headed 7,000 mi West to be with my solder!

I am so blessed for what I have and what I don't have, I pray that you are feeling blessed today too!

-Britt

"clean" living (ish)

Well, I read the book NO MORE DIRTY LOOKS: The Truth About Your Beauty Products and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetic, an exciting new book from journalists Siobhan O’Connor and Alexandra Spunt, which has basically possessed me to throw out ALL of my makeup that isn't clean and ALL of my products that aren't clean... 

which is basically everything.

So last week I was down to nothing – I had, in a mad rage at what the cosmetic industry is doing to us, tossed everything with phalates, parabens, sulfates, and cones (sp?) into two large American Eagle bags and toted them down to my neighbor who appreciated it – I know, I know, that junk isn’t good for me, why would it be good for her? Well, she doesn’t care if it’s good for her and I don’t want all that junk to end up in a landfill because of me.

so here I am… with a physician’s formula shimmer strip eye shadow in hazel, and some left over bare minerals powder…

Because that’s all that I own that’s “clean”. No shampoo. No soap. No… nothing. Freaked out, I decided to make a trip to the Natural Foods store near post (we have no Whole Foods here boo!). I picked up some Dr. Bronners Magic Soap (bar form) in Almond for my body and hair, an Alba conditioner, Jason deodorant in Lavender, and a tea tree face wash from Desert Essence. I checked out, came home, bathed… and felt, hmm… better. Except my hair (long, brown, wavy) didn’t like the soap too much. I didn’t care – I stay at home all day and do online schooling through Ashford U so I didn’t need to impress anyone. I decided to go makeup-free until payday (our military should really REALLY get paid more for what they do..) A week passed

then something amazing happened – my skin, and mostly my hair became…. Beautiful!

It was like all the dimethicones from those nasty conditioners I had been using had finally been stripped away after about four washes (I wash my hair every other day, lady!) and my natural shiny hair was beautiful underneath! My hubby even noticed! He was floored – so he jumped on the bandwagon too! We went back to the natural foods store after church that Sunday and got some more lovely stuff. He picked up a Green Apple and Ginger shampoo from Organics, Jason Tea Tree Pure Natural Body Wash (which was $12 there, but found out later it is $7 at the Commissary), and Jason deodorant in Tea Tree. I got Now Solutions Comforting Massage Oil (blend of Grapeseed, Sweet Almond, Apricot Kernel, Vitamin E oil, and others), a Pacifia perfume in French Lilac, and a Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Pink Blossom. 

Can I tell you.. I LOVE all of these products!!

I have since moved into my hubby’s shower and abandoned mine just so I can use his Jason body wash and Green Apple and Ginger Shampoo. The combo of the two makes you smell like a waterfall full of flowers in an enchanted forest or something.. add the French Lilac perfume and I’m smelling DIVINE. I love it. And my hair, which looked better after using harsh Dr. Bronner’s soap on it, looks like SILK now after using the Organics shampoo for almost a week. I’m seriously loving it. Oh! And I use the massage oil as a body moisturizer, it is seriously the BEST thing ever. Lotions are so last year, seriously. Plus their chocked full of nastiness.

Moral of the story: Read the book, switch your products, smell wonderful, support awesome companies, be beautiful.

-Brittany