For years that I lived in Bentonville and went to the Bentonville Farmers Market, I dreamed of the day I too could have a dog that would come with me faithfully to look at the rows of produce, homemade desserts and jams, and handcrafted household and jewelry items. I finally got my wish! Continue Reading →
Fruit and yogurt trifle a healthy dessert for all summer gatherings
This is a delectable, light, and less unhealthy dessert that tastes great all year but is especially yummy in the summer. We used to make it a lot for Fourth of July using blueberries and strawberries but it’s excellent for any gathering any time.
I grew up eating this dessert so I can tell you that kids will like it too! It’s a major hit at any potluck and in fact, it’s requested every time I’m invited to an event. 
Continue Reading →
Hair, nails and face…oh my! My journey to a grownup beauty makeover
When my hair parts down the middle, it makes my nose look bigger and my face out or proportion. This picture was taken before I had much makeup on, by the way.
Have you ever watched those makeover shows where the admittedly dated or even dowdy-looking woman gets criticized head to toe for how she dresses, how she does her makeup and how she wears her hair? The makeover’s end result is usually dramatic and does update the look, but I always wonder what it does the woman’s self-esteem.
Here are a bunch of strangers criticizing the way she’s presented herself to the world in a visual sense and telling her that this person that emerged that looks completely different is an improved version of who she is. Does the new look fit her personality? Maybe. I hope so. It just always makes me feel like they made her look how they wanted her to look instead of necessarily what fits her.
I wanted a makeover, not the meanness
I’ve wanted to update my look for a while now and wasn’t sure how to go about it. I knew I wanted something easy to manage with my hair, new make-up tips and more professional looking hands. As a 35-year-old business owner, I wanted something simple to do myself, not overdone but more age appropriate. I’d also like to broaden my fashion horizons but odd body type and low budget prevent that for now.
I also felt insecure about asking for help for the makeover because I felt like as an adult, I should know simple things like how to do my makeup and how to work a curling iron. Oh, and I should definitely stop biting my nails and learn to care for them. What I found was three separate experiences, with three separate experts, who made me feel confident, special and competent.
I know this will be long, so if you are interested in a specific story, you can click on one of the links below:
- Jump to Hair with Conair
- Jump to makeup with Kim Pease from Faces Inc. Agencies
- Jump to nails at Tramps Day Spa
#thisisme … the search for balanced authenticity
Whenever I hear a speaker at a conference, in church or … anywhere, I think through the message and search out what I already knew and what I needed to hear. I then evaluate what I am already applying, what I should apply differently, and how I should revolutionize my thought patterns by applying something completely new.
Whew! That’s a lot of brain power for one message, isn’t it? I think I never want to be one of those people who either dismisses an entire message because I already know pieces of it or, on the opposite end, be the type of person who is such as sponge that I take in and let the message turn my life in a direction it may or may not need to go. The search for balance in life is exhausting.
Image found on Pinterest. http://www.fromtracie.com/
Such was the case during the recent SoFabCon 2013, a blogger’s conference that Collective Bias sponsored to bring bloggers together with brands to help educate, inspire and grow. There was a weird travel snafu with the ending keynote speaker so they had to pinch hit so to speak. Although not by design, I don’t think the conference could have ended on a better note.
About #thisisme
Creative enough: Creativity is in the head and heart, not the hands
Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.
Edward de Bono
I used to tell people that I’m not really creative, that I’m not fun. I can write casually, but it’s still pretty fact-based. I have always seen creativity to mean those who write brilliant poetry or who can create crafts or beautiful art with ease. Continue Reading →
BBQ Tuna Pizza-a childhood recipe that I still love (updated)
This specific example is all I had left of tuna pizza I made with Sunkist’s sweet and spicy flavor creations
If you were brave enough to click on the link to this recipe, you were pretty smart. I’m sure the idea of tuna pizza sounds a little weird to some, but it’s quite good! BBQ Tuna Pizza is what I had as a child, but now I also really enjoy using Sunkist’s Tuna Creations so I’ll share that too. Continue Reading →
Easy peasy Pinterest-inspired door wreath for all seasons
For years, I had a door decoration for each season. I loved decorating with evergreen and ribbon for Christmas (snowman the rest of winter), a wreath with flowers for spring and a different flower wreath for summer. Fall was a cutie patootie scarecrow. About a year after we got married, I think I just got too busy and preoccupied to care about what was on our door. That, and where we lived in those first three years to capture the wind and whatever we had hanging on the door would bang incessantly with the slightest breeze.
Now that we live in our own home, I’ve wanted to get some of my seasonal mojo back so where better to look than Pinterest? I saw a pretty popular type of DIY wreath that involved flowers, burlap and a letter (first initial of family’s surname) or a word in cutout letters. I decided I wanted to make something similar but most of the examples had stuff I just didn’t jive with, especially the burlap. I liked the rustic concept, but it seemed like brown fluffy ribbon to me. I didn’t want fluffy.
Considering I had made several of the wreaths I used before getting married, I thought “I so got this.” That’s pretty funny coming from me, though because I’m not what one would consider crafty. I set out to the craft store thinking it has to be easy. Just buy burlap, a grapevine wreath, some fake flowers, a letter, paint (I didn’t want white), and lots of glue. Right? Wrong. It was easy, but it didn’t even take all that. I love what I ended up with because it will be easy to convert for each season, meaning I don’t have to make a whole new wreath each time!
Let’s see how I made this wreath but first let me share what I ended up with:
This wreath was inexpensive to make and can be easily converted for each season.
It’s SIMPLE to be a Champion for Kids (otherwise known as Jamie went to RazorFest!)
One of the best aspects of my job as an education beat reporter was the ability to interview kids of all ages and backgrounds about subjects ranging from gummy bears to how what they were learning in the classroom could be applied to everyday life.
In the eight years of that job, I would guess I interviewed hundreds if not thousands of students. I also wrote about services and programs designed to help kids live healthy, safe, happy and complete lives. I loved being able to write about events and programs happening in my community that were making a true difference in the lives of people who have so much hope and potential.
It was with this mindset that I went to my very first Abbott Nutrition RazorFest (put on by Champions for Kids), which was at the University of Arkansas’ Reynolds Razorback Stadium. I wasn’t sure what to expect entirely even though I had been told it would be filled with booths and activities geared towards helping kids lead healthy, happy lives (I will share more about ways you can get involved at the end…keep reading!) Continue Reading →
Enough is enough (otherwise known as sane enough)
A few months ago, I announced that I would be focusing on a single word for an entire year and how that word plays a role in my life. I’ve been kind of (read: really) slack in blogging and doing the projects for my word. It’s not because I haven’t thought about it, it’s just the outer processing that has taken a back seat.
As a recap, my word is “Enough” and I chose this word because one of the many lies that we as women are led to and choose to believe is that we aren’t “enough.” The simple word enough seems to indicate meeting the bare minimum and I wanted to fight that as well. In reality, being enough means that you meet the need. That you fulfill your role. Doing anything more or less than that is not good.
Today I wanted to return to some of those thoughts about Enough and catch readers up on what I’ve been thinking about in the last few months. This will be a two-blog section because I never blogged about enough in March and now April is almost done.
Choosing sanity when it doesn’t choose me
When considering the idea of “enough,” I’ve found that sometimes it means saying “enough is enough.” My focus for this topic is learning to realize that you’ve had enough and that it’s OK to step back and even quit. It’s about setting boundaries and recognizing when those boundaries are threatened. It’s about setting boundaries for how others are allowed to treat you but also in how you treat yourself. Trust me, that last one can be harder than the first. Continue Reading →
CAMP: a story of lives changed
Is CAMP playing near you? It’s worth a little bit of traveling.
I’ll be the first to admit that my initial interest in seeing CAMP when I first heard it would be coming out was because it came from friends from college and it also features a couple of people I know in the film either in front of the camera or behind the scenes. Roebuck Media had produced a charming romantic comedy a couple of years ago called Coyote County Loser and I wanted to support their second venture as well.
This new movie was going to be much more serious as it dealt with child abuse, kids in the foster care system and even adults living unhealed lives. (by the way, it is about kids at camp but it does have a PG-13 rating for violence, language and really grown up situations that might be …should be…scary for little ones).
CAMP is a movie that has elements of several true stories woven throughout the plot that centers around a camp that welcomes kids from the foster care system for a week of fun, positive adult attention and just… heart healing. (Stay through the credits to hear the real stories. You won’t regret it.)
The CAMP plot
Meet Jamie
Jamie was born a Kansas girl but now loves to call Northwest Arkansas home. She writes about life, love, faith, food, family life...and so much more. Click on the photo to learn more about Jamie.
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