Mia Mariu Mineral Makeup Review and Giveaway

It's kind of ironic that when I was younger and had that youthful complexion I spent more time thinking about high quality makeup, and since I worked full time, it was rare that I left the house without it.  Now, with three boys and living on such a small budget, makeup has kind of been on the back burner for me, but I definitely need it more now than I ever did when I wore it daily. 

I was so excited when I was approved to do a review and giveaway of the Mia Mariu products.  They have so many beautiful choices in makeup and skincare that I had a very difficult time in choosing.  Because of sun spots on my face, I felt like I needed a concealer most of all, and I decided to try the Mineral Cream Concealer in Miel.  I love how lightweight and long-lasting it is, and it doesn't take much to even out the tone of my skin. 

I also ordered the hydrating stick gloss in Caricia.  I was pleasantly surprised by how silky and smooth it feels upon application - and it doesn't dry out my lips like other products often do.  This color is more pink than I expected, but I love soft look it creates.  The final product I chose is the Mineral Eye Shadow in Rosa Marquesa.  I like that the shadow doesn't seem to fade throughout the day - it stays put.  The color seems very natural to me, and the best part?  It doesn't irritate my sensitive eyes or bother my contact lenses. 

Below you can see the before and after pictures.  The only product I used besides the Mia Mariu products pictured above was a little mascara.  The look itself came together so quickly - it only took me about 3 minutes! I did use my own eye shadow brushes instead of the ones provided.  Mia Mariu offers a wide assortment of makeup brushes as well.

Can you believe the difference in my skin?  I don't look all washed out anymore - and I love how it doesn't feel like I'm even wearing makeup.  These products are truly high performance, and I felt fantastic wearing them.  Not only that, but they are so easy to use (and haven't broken out my skin like some products do) that I can certainly see myself using these on a daily basis, especially since the colors I chose create such a natural look. 

Now the best news?  One lucky winner will win one of each of the products above!  Not only that - but the winner gets her choice of colors as well!  If you'd like a chance to win, just enter through the Rafflecopter below.  Good luck!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Antietam National Cemetery - Rural Thursday

Before we drove home from Harpers Ferry, we knew we wanted to go visit Antietam.  We decided to walk through the cemetery first.

It's really very impressive.

By this sign, there is a registry, in case you are trying to locate a relative.

One of my great great great grandfathers fought in the Civil War.

According to records, he survived the war, although my Mom says he was wounded at one point.

 4,776 Union soldiers are resting at this cemetery.

The Private Soldier Monument really towers over the cemetery, standing watch, day after day.
The inscription reads "NOT FOR THEMSELVES BUT FOR THEIR COUNTRY"

Several of the grave stones in the Michigan section bore flags.

And a great number of the stones were marked unknown.

The view, over the battlefield, from the back of the cemetery.

Our walk back towards the car.

A solemn experience.  

We were fortunate enough to have the cemetery entirely to ourselves this day, but even the boys seemed a bit awestruck by the visit.

It's Rural Thursday!  Time to link up with Nancy from A Rural Journal and  myself with your stories and pictures from the rural life.  Just grab the code beneath the button, and paste it into your blog.  Then come back and add your website to the linky.  Please be sure to visit and comment on the blogs of at least 5 other participants.  Have a great Thursday!

Operation Christmas Child #OCCGiving

I try to teach my boys that every day is a day to give back. We often talk about ways to help in small kind acts when someone is struggling or having a hard day. But the holiday season is a time to step up in giving efforts to help those in need. This year, our family packed a shoebox to send off to a child in a third world country. Perhaps you've heard of the Operation Christmas Child program, through Samaritin's Purse?

We had our first family discussion about the program one night at dinner. We decided to pick a 10-14 year old little girl for our project, partly because I never get to shop for girls (ha ha) and partly because I think most people might choose a younger age range. I told the boys about the mission trip I took when I was 16 years old to Costa Rica - a trip that changed my heart and outlook permanently. I told them about the families that had nothing in their houses - how the children would play with the wrapper of a butterscotch candy for a toy.  Many families I met didn't have so much as a picture on the wall or a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom (if they were lucky enough to have a bathroom - most did not). I told them that even today, over 20 years after my trip, I still remember those beautiful children who lit up my life with their smiles and their sweet hugs. With that in mind, the boys and I picked out some items for our shoebox.

Our shoebox includes:
A magnetic notepad, zoo animal shaped paperclips, a manicure/pedicure kit, sparkling American Girl markers, a gingerbread ornament kit, fun pens, a Nativity 500 piece puzzle, Judy Moody's Girl's book of fun, a book of horse postcards (I thought she could hang them on her wall as decoration), frog clips, Trident peach gum, a set of 3 ice cream flavored lip glosses, a Hello Kitty toothbrush and holder, a blowpop, a handbraided keychain I made, a mint hot cocoa package, Pop Rocks, a pink ribbon hairbow hair tie, and three pairs of pink and white socks. I wanted to focus on simple items that could get a lot of use and wouldn't need replacement batteries, which is why I made some of the choices I did.  Plus, it was important that we stay within our tight family budget! 

I let each child make a special individual choice for the box.  Reid's favorite item was the Hello Kitty toothbrush set (found at Dollar Tree):

Cort's special item was the American Girl Sparkly Markers (found on the clearance table at Barnes and Noble):

And Pierce's favorite item was the Trident peach gum (he actually used some of his birthday money to purchase this for the little girl):

The boys had so much fun helping to pick out items for the shoebox, and I could tell it really helped them to feel good about making someone else happy. Once we had the shoebox all packed, we printed a label off the Operation Christmas Child website, and then we tucked in a $7 donation to cover the cost of shipping. We also tucked in a letter to the child, telling her a little about us.  On November 12-19th, we'll drop off our box at a convenient drop off location, to be sorted and shipped.
I hope that one day I have the opportunity to give back to children in a third world country in person again, but for now, I am pleased to be able to help from afar, and to include my boys in realizing how important it is for us to focus on others, instead of on ourselves, during the holidays and throughout the year. I hope that you, readers, will consider also participating in this wonderful program! It is such an easy way to brighten the life of an underprivileged child this holiday season.

This holiday season build a box with your family to teach kindness, compassion, and generosity.

Operation Christmas Child and influencer marketing platform BlogFrog have teamed up with 200 bloggers like me to spread the word about this great cause.

BlogFrog will match the first 200 boxes that are built. Pledge your commitment below to build a box today on Facebook or Twitter!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Operation Christmas Child. The opinions and text are all mine.

Election Day

Don't forget to do your duty and vote today.  After all, even if you don't like any of the candidates, you can always did what Pierce did, and write in your grandmother for President.

 

And that, my readers, is all the political talk you'll be getting from me!  Anyone else eagerly waiting for it to be November 7th?!

A SuperHeroes Barnstorming

Taken at the Jeter Farm Pumpkin Patch and linked with Barn Charm.

 



Roanoke Go Outside Festival

Roanoke Go Outside Festival is a new name for the outdoor festival that we went to last year, and we returned again because it's great (free!) fun for the boys.

 My favorite thing was the pool jumping dogs.  I think our border collie would've enjoyed this.  He likes water.  We watched the pool jumping dogs for quite a while.  Next time we'll have to take Scooter, so he can have a chance.  GoFest is very dog-friendly.

The boys did the slacklines again this year.  It's still pretty tricky for them to stay up for more than 1 second without holding someone's hand.

Pierce made a first aid kit.  Then the rest of the day he asked if anyone was bleeding or hurt.  He really wanted the opportunity to bandage us up. 

The boys went downriver....in their minds, anyhow.

Perhaps one day they'll go downriver on water.

These are sumo wrestling tubes.  Like a redneck version of sumo wrestling - you each wear these tubes and then tackle each other.  As much as Paul and I wanted to sumo tube wrestle each other, the line was sadly too long.

Pierce rode the bull.  He did great - he hung on for quite a long while!  He was nervous about trying it, but I think he had fun.

Well, you know if big brother does it, littlest brother has to give bull riding a shot too.

And you know if littlest brother rides a bull, you can be sure that the middle brother is going to get up there too. 

After that, Pierce rode through the bike maze.  He was a little top heavy.  When you're a little top heavy, it makes negotiating corners kind of tricky.

But he sure had a good time.  As we all did!

I can't wait to see what they come up with for next year!

The Pumpkin Patch - Jeter Farm - Rural Thursday

Cort and Reid took a field trip with their school to the Jeter Farm Pumpkin Patch this year.  That morning, Pierce had a party at school, and got to wear his Halloween costume.  Cort and Reid wanted to wear their costumes too, but their costumes weren't so great for a day at the pumpkin patch.  So we settled on superhero capes and masks instead.

All Reid ever wants to do is drive the tractor.  His teachers said he talks about our blue tractor all the time at preschool. 

Petting Zoo

Thank goodness we didn't get extremely lost in the corn maze this year.  The corn maze at Jeter is much easier than the one we usually do.

Hay bale picture opp:

More races through the corn maze:

 

Children of the corn:

Reid found an ear of corn, that he carried all through the corn maze, and then promptly fed to a cow, which caused Cort to jump in surprise.  Somehow, I caught this cute moment with my camera.

Finding the perfect pumpkins:

And a dunk in the corn crib finishes out our fun day.

It's Rural Thursday!  Link up with Nancy from A Rural Journal and myself with your fun tales of the rural life.  Just grab the code below the button and paste it into your blog post.  Then come back and add your url to the linky.  Be sure to visit at least 5 other participants and leave them some comment love!