Why I Don't Wear Make-Up

Six years ago I moved to Hawaii, found the lifestyle I wanted to live, and haven’t looked back. I want to share with you one change I made that was simple, saves me so much time, money and energy.

I battled acne for 14 years. I tried every product out there and medications. Nothing worked. Until I gave up make up.

Like most American women, I started wearing make up when I was in middle school. In high school I wouldn’t be caught without it, even while playing sports.

In college I started to sometimes not wear it. Then I went through basic training and you were not allowed to have make up, but once I went back to college I continued to wear it pretty regularly.

But when I moved to Hawaii, the island life encouraged me to be more natural in both my personal care and in my home. I cleared the house of everything we didn’t need, including chemical filled products. The hair straightener, curling iron, blow dryer, and make up all left the house and have never returned.

My skin cleared up for the first time in my life. I felt comfortable and confident in my skin.

I enjoy how weightless my face fills with nothing on it, not needing extra time to get ready, or needing to keep up with products. I save money, time, bad “make up” days, and truly live a natural life.

I work in the wellness industry and teach women everyday to love themselves and their bodies.

Society is full of you need this, this and this. You don’t need any of that. You need to be you. You are beautiful, and if you enjoy the make up, then enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, take a break from it and see what happens.

Review: Twinkle Cup

Imagine if you will that you have a child that is absolutely terrified of public toilets. Not just your average "I don't like to sit on the big potty. It's cold and loud." No, this child would rather hold her pee than use a public toilet. She'd rather deal with wet pants and tears than the fear of the public bathroom.

This wasn't something I had to imagine. This was 100% my life when my daughter transitioned out of diapers and into using the toilet. There was nothing we could do to make the process easy and more comfortable for her. I tried everything. I made a "magic toilet cover" to keep the photo eye from flushing the toilet unexpectedly.

Eventually we resorted to just keeping her portable training toilet in the trunk of our car and let her use it whenever we were away from home. I kept wishing there was something that would make it easier for us to use the bathroom in the actual bathroom rather than in the back of the car.

If I had heard of Twinkle Cup back then, I would have been so relieved (pun intended)!

What is Twinkle Cup? Twinkle Cup is a disposable cup that gives females the ability to use the bathroom without having to sit on the toilet. What?! For real? Yes! It's a neat little folded, easily portable cup that has a plastic liner. Its shaped to fit snugly up against the body to catch the urine stream. You then pour out the contents into the toilet and dispose of the cup. No mess, no fuss.

My daughter has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). More on that in another blog post at a later time.  Suffice it to say that if there is something she doesn't want to do, there is absolutely no way you will get her to do it. We would have done anything to make stressful situations easier on her and I am positive that Twinkle Cup would have been the perfect product for us. Through therapy and working through her discomfort and fears, we are able to use public restrooms now. I still have to stand in the stall with her and hold my hand over the photo eye for the auto-flush, just in case.

The folks at Twinkle Cup sent me a box with about 2 dozen disposable cups. I have kept them in my purse and in my glove box in the car.

We had cause to use them the other day when we were playing at a park with no restrooms. I found them to be very easy to use. It was a little awkward at first, getting my daughter to force her body to eliminate while standing but once the stream started there were no problems.

I can see us using these when we go camping or on road trips. I would whole-heartedly recommend them to any parent or guardian of a female child, especially one with Sensory issues!

You can learn more about Twinkle Cup by visiting them on their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and you can purchase them on Amazon. They sell for $13.50 for six cups. If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can get them for $12.15 and free Prime shipping!

The Best Taco Seasoning You'll Ever Eat

I love to cook. I love food and I try hard to make our dinners as delicious as possible...and, well, there's my husband. The man who loves Mexican food but ended up marrying a German girl (with a crazy attitude and temper) who had little exposure to Mexican or Tex-Mex cooking.

Our first few “Let's try Mexican food” nights ended usually with me not liking dinner, crying over Jalapenos or starving. I just simply didn't like it when we'd try it in restaurants.

So, what changed?

I learned how to cook it myself. I experimented with spices and recipe ideas, I had a Mexican neighbor who helped explain to me the basics and taught me a trick or two. Now I love it and Mexican dishes have become a regular part of our dinner plan that we all look forward to.

As I learned to prepare meals myself, I never learned to like the store bought Taco Seasoning packets. To me it just tastes super salty and is either flavorless or the flavor is unsatisfying.  The ingredients list doesn't exactly make it more appealing either.

One day I got so annoyed with it that I spent hours over hours researching the ultimate Taco Seasoning Recipe, I pinned a ton of pins on Pinterest and wasted a ton of spices by trying them all out.

The realization of the day was that taco seasoning is basically Chili powder, Cumin, Black Pepper, Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Oregano (optional) & Crushed Peppers (optional), and you somehow have to carefully balance them all to create a delicious seasoning.

What I also realized in my research was that the quality of your spices is something very, very essential for a good seasoning mix.

I need to admit that I am a real spice snoop and a lot of times I make my granny send me spices from my favorite spice store in Bamberg, Germany.  Oh the memories I have of going there and blasting all my money on pure, delicious, organic spices. (I know, I know, I am insane and should get help, working towards it lol)

But don't worry if you only have the regular McCormick seasonings or cheap store brand alternatives at home, it will still create something delicious and so much better than the seasoning pack blends.

After all that research and trial, I honestly just threw a whole bunch together and tried it. And liked it!
It just became a thing of feeling the amount of each that is needed, but for you guys I took the time and tried to measure it all out as accurately as I could :)

Here's the recipe that (hopefully) will change your life (because Tacos are Life - just ask my husband).

Taco Seasoning Mix

4 Tbsp Chili powder
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Onion powder
1 tsp dried Oregano
2 tsp paprika (used smoked paprika if you want a more rustic flavor)
6 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp sea salt, fine
4 tsp ground pepper (I prefer a mix of black, white and rose pepper but regular ground pepper will also do)
2 - 4 tsp crushed pepper flakes (optional, for a little spice kick)

Just mix them all up and put them in a mason jar or zip lock bag. This mix makes approximately ½ pint jar full of seasoning.

Use 2.5 Tablespoons for each packet you'd otherwise use - but one of the advantages of getting away from the packets is that you can decrease or increase the amount as you prefer.

Let me know in the comments below how you liked that recipe and if you ended up changing it a little bit to fit your taste buds!