Craftyness For The Glam Girls

 It is time...time for the first beauty blog post for all my thrifty and crafty female friends out there! Here's a little background information regarding the volume of makeup I contain.... I own a ton of makeup!!! (pictures of the bounty will not be featured) Along with the makeup comes all the tools for applying it and getting it do to it's thing which ends up using twice the space of the one product you originally bought. The good thing here people is that I use it ALL. I will not purchase something if it's not in my rotation for the week. I promise you I'm not an addict. I just so happen to have a passion for makeup and creating cool visual effects with them so I try a lot of well researched brands and drug store dupes! All right then lets get to it!

 Here is an after shot of my bathroom because featuring the before shot would be too horrifying for my mother ;) To paint you a visual picture the brushes you see and everything in those makeup caddies were all over the counter, in the sinks, and on the floor. I kid thee not! So, I needed to find a solution that would first give me more counter space for some of my larger products.

 This lovely beauty is attached to my wall and is the pricier solution to your organizational issues. What we have here is a dry erase board (Staples/Office Depot:$20.00/Target/etc) that was already pre-framed. I loved the look of the framed boards so much that I decided to splurge on that style instead of buying just a plain magnetic board (Leftover Discounted Lace Trim From JOAN'S: $2.00). Now of course knowing me I had to embellish it with just a hint of lace and a lavender marble bow. (Marble: FREE found it on the ground woop woop!) Girls, hot glue guns are our friends. I used my hot pink glue gun for all the crafting you see here. (If you don't already have one you can find them very cheap at the dollar store and JOAN'S.) To attach my sample products for this photo I used several 1 inch wide half inch thick circular magnets (Staples/Office Depot/Target/Dollar Tree). Feel free to experiment with the number of magnets based on how heavy the product is. You'll be using your hot glue gun to attach the magnets to your products and as far as I know once your product runs out the magnet can be reused. Just tear it off and move it to its next host! There you go! A Magnetic Makeup Storage Board! Next we have small product and brush caddies!

 These were probably the easiest craft and best buy I have done. The caddies I purchased came in two sizes small and large [Office Depot: $5.00 (small) $10.00 (large) ]. I bought one of each based off of my volume of brushes and smaller products that could fill either. Of course it wasn't pretty or glam enough so I had to add a few embellishments with my trusty glue gun again! I used my discounted lace trim for the lower half of both caddies to give them a skirted look and because they both revolve it was incredibly fast and easy to get a straight line. Next, I adhered a gold beaded necklace I had laying around the house that I never wore! How perfect for the lace right!? Lastly, I adhered two peach flowers. One to the back and one to the front (JOAN'S: $2.50 a pack)

 Tips for organization when it comes to these caddies: * If you need to store your makeup brushes and tools I would recommend the large one *If you are looking to store lip liners, eye pencils, mascara and smaller products, buy the small. Both can be utilized greatly. Lastly we have our three door storage counter-top dresser.

I bought this on sale at target for $3.00 a year ago. Not sure what the pricing is now but its comes in many colors. I chose classic black and embellished mine with buttons I found around the house, leftover lace trim, and a twine bow. (Twine: $2.00 at Michaels)
Hope you all enjoyed this blogpost! I'll keep you up to date on new crafts and projects I come up with during the next few months. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to ask!
In Him,
Kelly (Set Sail Author)

"S" If For Sick and Sobbing

These past two weeks have been the most tiring and emotional weeks of this month! I'm not even sure where to begin updating you all. Well, I've been horribly sick and have not felt this terrible in quite a long time. It all started with a sore throat and lead to swollen glands, sinus congestion, fever, and a deep abrasive cough. It's been lingering around and I can't seem to get enough traction to heal. Despite the pain in my throat and whole body, I needed to visit my soul sister Amanda in Clearwater! I was all alone over the weekend since my family was up in Orlando and wanted to be in good company seeing as I don't do "alone" very well.

The drive was long but so worth it! I coughed all  the way there and all the way back. As soon as I arrived in Clearwater, Amanda and I were sharpening one another in the faith, praising the Lord's attributes and basically gabbing nonstop about how far He's brought the both of us and how we see each others growth. It was the encouragement I needed at the right time I needed it. After we actually took a minute to breathe from talking our heads off, we decided to venture out to Safety Harbor for the Italian festival which Amanda so graciously paid for. What did we do there you ask? We listened to Italian opera singers, ate gelato, and of course talked on a bench for another three hours as gads of loud and vibrant Italian people passed us by. After we had our fill of the Italian culture we drove off to find a place to eat. Unfortunately, that's when the brunt of my sickness hit and I was in extreme aches and pains all over my body. We had to make a pit stop at Walgreens where I stocked up on pain killers, cough medication, tissues, and liquids. From there we decided to go to a cute local Italian Pizzeria and Restaurant called Mario's. The food and company were wonderful and yet again Amanda was so sweet to pay for my dinner! It was such a blessing to be cared for by my best friend the whole day when I would have otherwise been sitting in my house alone and ill. In other news, my baby is doing such a wonderful job with his NOLS courses! He scored a 85% on his written test and a 100% in his practical exam! Therefore, he passed his first responder course! He attributes it to studying almost 24/7 for ten days straight. He said he gets to learn how to telemark ski next. I most definetely affirmed him to keep up the excellent work and assured him of how proud I am of him. 

 Here's a picture he sent me two nights ago after a long hike in the wilderness. I love getting picture updates from him. I've been having a hard time lately in terms of missing him though. Yesterday I was a complete wreck and I have no idea why my sobbing cries decided to show up now and not the day he left. It was the day after I visited Amanda that I woke up that morning, thought about him, and started sobbing. Of course, the sobbing made all my sick symptoms incredibly worse and my fever continued steady. It was then I decided to stay home from church to not spread my germs amongst the congregation, but that meant I didn't get to see my Downin family and being the encouragement that they are to me, I was sad that I felt too weak to spend time with them. I was scheduled to sing for The House that night along with cafe duty and felt like I should at least try to do cafe since I already committed....WORSE DECISION EVER. When I arrived I entered the land of light-headed and nausea. I ran into my friend Austin who blessed me so so so so so so much! He helped me with the water cooler and personally found two replacements for the cafe so I could go home early and rest! I so greatly appreciate you three! Austin, Kelley, and Trish, may you be blessed immensely for your servant hearts! God Bless You!! As far as other news and updates go, I've lost two pounds and now weigh 130 lbs and am sticking to healthy eating. For now, I'm just resting, praying, and studying like crazy for school and teacher certification exams; Soaking in the peace that God allows me to have in these times. I'll leave you with some simple food for thought tonight via Bing Crosby; "Count your blessings instead of sheep."

In Him,
Kelly (Set Sail Author)

Freaky Weeky ...

If I were you, I wouldn't let me blow you kisses in real life, so I'll just stick to giving my readers a blogerific smooch because I am sick and not just the common cold sick. My glands have swollen up badly. The last time it was this bad I was in Africa with The House and the Lord touched me and took it away instantly after I was prayed over. I'm almost glad it resides in me now just to rekindle that memory alone. It was incredibly special and humbling. God made himself known to our group through his thick presence and blessed us with such miracles along our journey. However, the only sad thing about this is that I physically cannot sing on key. It is the most frustrating thing not to be able to hit the note your mind so clearly has set . I sound like a little boy squeaking his way through puberty meanwhile a cat gargling gravel appears to be the overall tone. So till I can properly sing again it's green tea every morning and every night along with minimal talking. This blog will be my voice- box. In other news,somehow I've come into work at the wrong time three days in a row and my boss and I have been going completely bonkers with trying to figure out whats going on, I got a postal service slip saying I have to pick up a mystery package since I wasn't at home to sign for it, when I was walking the dog a bunny came up to us and darted sideways making me hang on for dear life as Maddy dragged me down the street, and I finally got some contact from baby! (Warning: The photo you're about to see contains mushy couple lingo. Avert your eyes and read on if that bothers you ;p )

 

He's so sweet and makes me blush in an instant. After two days of phone tag it was nice to wake up to this and thank God that I have a devoted significant other. It has almost been a year dating each other and I'm still learning new things about him every day. The update from Wyoming was through a 15 minute phone call. Thomas is in good spirits and has been out in the wilderness doing "rescue scenarios" with his team. He says the guys on his team are nice and interesting people who have been abroad. I was bummed to hear that most of them held the Buddhist religion close to them and do the whole meditation bit. Hopefully Thomas is being the light out there! The one piece of information that worried me was that the instructor said that in every expedition there will always be one person that has to be evacuated from the mountain because they can't make it due to either loss of physical strength or mental strength and willpower. It was a shocking and intimidating thing to hear just on my end alone. I can't even imagine what thoughts must be racing through the teams head. On a lighter note, he and a few of the guys are planning on doing "No Shave NOLS". They already took they're before pictures and after three months they'll take their after pictures. He's coming back a mountain man skills and all! Well, I'm texting with the man as we speak. Today was his free day which equals more communication and I'm going to focus on that and reading up on some Scripture. See ya on the next update!

In Him,

Kelly (Set Sail Author)

  

Phone Tag And All That Jazz...

Hi There! Wow, this week has been just incredibly chalked full of blessings and awesomeness mixed with a bit of bitter sweet, seeing as how Thomas and I are having trouble catching each other at a convenient time :( , but such is life. The one little nugget of information I bring to you my readers is that Thomas has mentioned that his classes are increasing in difficulty, but he is studying fervently to make promising progress. So far this week I would ask of you to pray for his mental focus and capability to apply the knowledge he learns. He's doing very well so far and day by day I grow prouder of him for the consistent drive he has. I've always admired that about him and now even more so. I do miss him terribly and I do wish we had more communication but I'd rather him be focused and reach his goals than try to juggle our communication around with studies, resting, and the expedition. In other news:

Chapter three in math class is going splendidly if I do say so myself! It's a chapter I was really able to grasp onto. The Chapter is Logic which is, go figure, very rare in using any numbers. Math without numbers is a walk on the beach during a sunset for my brain. I don't know why, but it is. I have a test over this material coming this Thursday. I'm not a very good test taker but I'm drilling this chapter into my head so when I see the problems on the test I'll embrace them instead of walk into a fog of confusion. As I see the assignments on my syllabus winding down I get invigorated with a surge of childlike joy. Why? Because after this class I will finally attain my AA degree and be entering my BA degree classes. The summer will be spent in school, but attending the classes that are important to me and imperative to my degree. Never again will I be force fed a humanities class or a math class. Another great highlight of my day was spending it with my niece and my sister.

Emma is getting so animated and vocal now of days. I always find it easy to make this girl laugh! Today for instance I discovered that when I exaggerated my air kisses she couldn't contain her precious giggles. I do have major competition though and shes not even human! Maddy sometimes gets the more sincere smile or a bigger laugh when it comes to entertainment of this 5 month old. They are as thick as thieves. Emma will grab Maddy by her flub and pull herself up and repeat the motion several times while Maddy just keeps laying there or brings her head up with a "Are you done yet?" expression on her face. Best Friends in the making! When this day finally came to a close, I was able to execute a Pinterest recipe with two Weight Watchers points per cup.

 To the hallelujah chorus of our taste buds, my mom and I devoured our cups of Broccoli Cheddar Soup. I was so surprised at the harmony of flavor for being more of a brothy soup. This is not for the person who is expecting rich, creamy, still sticks to your spoon type of soup. It's a healthy alternative that both refrigerates and freezes well. The recipe for this is posted on my Pinterest page under the board named "CRAVE" . There's a lot of goodies in there for you. All in all it was a lovely day. I'll keep you posted!
In Him,
Kelly (Set Sail Author)

  

Day Five : Still Alive

Greetings from sunny Fort Myers! Don't be deceived people! It was VERY chilly this morning and I had to break out the winter fashion boots for church this morning. It was our first Sunday without Thomas and from what Momma Downin tells me, Jade wasn't quite understanding why he wasn't there. She was still bouncy beautiful Jade nonetheless. The message was invigorating this morning! Pastor Art taught us out of the book of Genesis referring to the story of the extremely intimate bond Abraham had with the Lord . He would not withhold even his flesh and blood from the call and command of Christ. It was so powerful and the sermon could relate to so many people. I was so impressed that even in the absence of our Senior Pastor we have such strong clergymen to fill in the shoes till his return. I was blessed to know my dad was present in the service which seems like a huge step and we are praying for God to burst through and uplift him and our family.

Apart from Sunday, leading up to this weekend was Valentines day and to my surprise and sincere delight I received a beautiful bouquet from my sweetheart! The lilies in the bunch have finally bloomed and I love to gaze at them as I right my letters to him. There wasn't much communication today but that just gives me more time to pray for him ;) Still alive and kicking! I do keep receiving the most beautiful pictures from where he currently stops from here to there. Just those simple pictures make me feel connected to the journey in some small way. I appreciate them greatly. Speaking of, here is two he texted me last night! Beautiful isn't it!?

As for me, I'm keeping myself busy and productive as possible. I am registered to take my General knowledge test for education March 9th! So please lift me up into your prayers seeing as how I retain test anxiety. I'm incredibly honored and excited to be a bridesmaid in Heidi's wedding! (Thomas' sister). Momma Downin and I are planning to visit Davids Bridal next Sunday to get all the details sorted out. Being able to spend time with the Downins is uplifting. Especially in the moments where I miss Thomas the most like today. With some of the extra free time I have, I've become incredibly more active therefore resulting in a ton more energy. I've been lap swimming, rollerblading, running, biking, and weight lifting all this week. My motivation is to look good for Thomas when he gets back. After all, if he's coming back extremely fit from trekking the Wyoming mountainsides I at least want to look decent standing next to my man ;p Tomorrow I'm attending a Zumba class at my gym (Golds Gym) and after thinking things through I've decided to join weight watchers and see how far eating right and all this activity will take my body. I'm currently 132 pounds which by weight watchers standards is in a healthy zone but healthy zone doesn't mean chiseled body. My ultimate goal is 120 which is average for my height of 5'2. It's 12 pounds away! I'm registering tomorrow for my first meeting. I'm also excited to do this because I'll be getting to do this alongside Thomas' mom! Can we say accountability? YES! If anymore updates come from the Lander mountainsides I will report it timely to you all. I'll also be tracking my progress with weight watchers. In the meantime chew on these words: "Withholding nothing is true freedom" - Pastor Art

In Him, 

Kelly (Set Sail Author)

On The Third Day

  Today is day three of Thomas' three month expedition into wilderness training. He has arrived safe and sound and is settling into his resting place before the long haul. I asked how cold it was in Lander, Wyoming and he replied that it's currently in the 30's and he's greatly enjoying the brisk weather. He even sent me a couple pictures from when he had free time to explore the little town and found an Amish store. The Pennsylvanian in me shouted "My people!". 

As far as training goes and settling into his temporary stay, Thomas said he's in an all guy group of about ten and that they've all had either previous experience at NOLS or were in the marines or army. Needless to say he felt like the most inexperienced one out of his group but said, "It will be good for me to rely on my team in the weak moments". For now he continues to have his phone on him through his "first response" (paramedic) side of training. All blog knowledge comes from brief texts and so far a ten minute phone call. He is already exhausted from the travel and slightly anxiousness of not knowing whats next but ever so up for the challenge. He can feel your prayers and it means the world to him. Besides that, he got to spend about 1k on equipment and pack gear for the journey and that hasn't even included the river course materials. Adventure seems expensive! Later on through the course we wont be able to have any contact due to training with no technological equipment. Therefore, I already started writing letters. My plan is to write one for every day until he leaves Lander. So far three are on their way already. That's about all the updates I have for now. Stay tuned!

In Him,

Kelly Thomas (Set Sail Author)

                ( I received this sweet picture yesterday night. It brings me joy to see him smile.)

Meet The Author...

 

     Greetings friends and random followers to come! I'm Kelly; The author of this here blog paired also with the input of my trusty significant other. I was born in Flint, MI and was raised in the valleys of Pennsylvania till I was a young whipper snapper of twelve. I eventually moved to Florida with my family where I attended Evangelical Christian School all four years of highschool and where I have worked for 5 years as a Childcare Provider and Preschool Floater. I attend First Assembly of Fort Myers and am happily in the service of the Lord within the college and young adult Worship ministry and Cafe (The House 7pm).

      I have an amazing prayer warrior mother, a very opinionated father, a musical sister, a theatrical brother, the worlds cutest niece, a lunatic dog, and the most devoted man I have ever had the pleasure of loving and growing in God with day by day. Children are my calling. My purpose is to minister to children wherever the Lord may take me. I'm currently studying Elementary Education in hopes of someday teaching in my own classroom to eventually (God willing) opening up an orphanage alongside the leadership and vision where it was birthed; My boyfriend.

                                  

The most monumental day in my life was when I came to know and understand the power of the Gospel and excepted Jesus into my heart to radically transform my life into whom I'm meant to be for His glory. My absolute joy-filled activity to take place in is Photography. I love a good picture and I love traveling!!! Traveling to take photos!! I've been out of the country four times thus far (Zurich Switzerland, Cullinan South Africa, and Ixtapa Mexico twice)

 

Where do I see myself in five years? I see myself married to my best friend, living in Iowa, having a family, teaching my students, owning a daschund named Abigail, and ultimately getting funds for the vision to take place, but I guess that's all up to the Lord now isnt it?! ;)

What is this blog for? This blog is to document all the events to take place in the near to not so near future and to keep those who wish to be in the loop fully updated on my day to day without flooding facebook with short unelaborated posts. I hope you enjoy the journey! I'm looking forward to what our God has in store!

In Him,

Kelly (Set Sail Author)