Northern Adventure: Part 3

Has anyone ever seen the movie The Money Pit with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long? It’s about a couple who purchase what looks like a beautiful mansion, but they soon find out it’s in horrible shape and is falling apart all around them. They struggle to fix it up, but end up finding more and more problems. At one point Tom Hanks’s character gets out of his car, gazes upon his money-sucking abode, and shouts “Ah! Home, crap home!”

That’s how I feel about Rockford, Illinois, which happened to be our last stop on this trip. Home. Crap. Home. Now, please don’t get offended if you’re reading this and are from the area. I’m sure your experiences are much different than my own. Sure, I had some good times here. But when I think back on the 20 years I spent in Illinois, I get such a negative feeling. The nostalgia I feel just turns into melancholy. When you live in an area, your surroundings just become part of your every day life. But when you visit a place from your past, all you’ve got left is your former experiences. And trust me, those memories come out of nowhere. Memories that seemed to be long forgotten hit you like a mack truck. It’s a strange and sad feeling when the only home you used to know doesn’t feel like home anymore. Here, I struggled with anxiety, depression, negative relationships, mediocre jobs, and the loss of a child. If you haven’t caught on yet, this post has a far different tone than the last two. Let’s just jump right into the last few days when I was able to spend time with some much loved and missed people.

On the way down from Northern Wisconsin, the cousins were able to spend some last-minute time together. They decided party hats were necessary, and how can you argue with that? Jackson continued to wear his as the week went on.

No trip to Illinois is complete without a meal or two at Beef-A-Roo. So yummy!

We got to spend time with my other sister-in-law and niece as well. She is seriously the cutest little girl ever.

Whenever we visit, I have a teenager-like sleepover with my best friend, Bridget. We’ve been friends for 19 years now. Holy cow! Nineteen years! Wow, I’m so old. Anyway, we had dinner and drinks, shopped, and just goofed around for 24 wonderful hours. There’s nothing quite like having a friend who’s known you for the majority of your life.

We visited with our good friends Kyle and Erin as well. Here’s a picture of my husband and Kyle. They’re in love. (Sorry, Erin. My face looks weird in the picture we took..)

We made a few necessary stops on our last day in town. First, we showed Jackson all of the places Ryan (my husband) and I lived together. We started at our first crappy apartment and ended at our cute little duplex. I just realized these pictures are out of order. Oh well!

He wanted to see where mommy and daddy got married, so we showed him! The church is fittingly called The Church by the Side of the Road. Isn’t that adorable?

The last place we showed Jackson was the house that I grew up in. I spent the first 19 years of my life here. I honestly do miss it. It was a good little home!

And finally, the hardest part of our trip. When I was 20 weeks pregnant, I lost a son. We visit his gravesite whenever we are in town. Jackson has been there before, but he is now finally old enough to begin to understand the importance of this place. I debated on sharing this bit, but I realized there was no reason to hide it.

Alright, there we have it! Our Northern Adventure has finally come to a close, and I can’t wait to get back home. I hope you enjoyed coming on vacation with me, but you’ll be back to your regularly scheduled programming soon.

Peace OUT, Rockford!

Stay weird!

-Rachel

Remember the 90’s song, “Sunscreen?” This post is kind of like that…ish.

I’m feeling some guilt tonight. I’ve kind of been hoarding some life tips I’ve gathered throughout my 29 years. I feel I’ve done the world a disservice, and I want to remedy that. I’ll even illustrate them with photos. Do you have your notes ready? Fantastic!

1. Hobbies are important.

Make sure you choose activities that help you feel fulfilled and enlightened. I recommend “Hoppy Frog.”

2. If you’re in a relationship, be sure to spice things up every now and again.

Unfortunately, my husband does not agree that communicating through a Hulk finger puppet qualifies as spicing things up. How sad for me.

3. There’s nothing quite like spending time with close friends.

Meet Sadie. She is one of my personal bffs. She is loyal and kind, but has an off-putting smell and can be rather annoying. It’s essential to take both the good as well as the bad in relationships.

4. Look for the positive in life.

You know…keep a “glass half full” perspective.

5. Try new things.

New looks included. It’s never too late to create a whole new you. You go girl!

Well, I don’t want to overwhelm you with too much wisdom all at once. I know it’s a lot to take in. I hope you enjoyed these little nuggets, even though it’s a far cry from my usual content. Have a good evening, lovelies!

Stay weird!

-Rachel

Mega Lashes and Marital Clashes

While growing up, I always had this strange habit of making weird faces at people.  In fact, I still do.  I like to see just how ugly I can get my face to look.  My mom used to try and scare me by using the old cliche, “If you keep making that face, it’ll get stuck that way!”  I didn’t care.  I lived on the edge.  The wild side, if you will.  I’m honestly not sure why I do it, other than the fact that I find it hilarious.  But I was thinking today…what if my face actually got stuck in one of my grotesque expressions?  Like THIS:

Or THIS:

I’m just saying, that would be pretty intense.  Do you want to know an evil little secret?  I get extreme satisfaction out of terrorizing my poor, sweet husband.  Sometimes, if I’m the first one awake, I like to throw one one of these contorted looks and wait for my husband to wake.  That way, THAT’S the first thing he sees.  MUAHAHAHAHAHA!  Living with me is a complete nightmare joy, I’m sure.  I’m lucky he loves me as much as he does.

Ok, enough dilly-dallying.  On to the point of this post!  I have found my holy grail when it comes to my eyelashes.  I bought this combination a few weeks ago, and I honestly don’t know where it’s been all my life.  Well, it’s been at the store..but I just didn’t know about it.  It’s Tarte’s Picture Perfect Eyelash Curler ($19 at Tartecosmetics.com) and accompanying mascara, Lights, Camera, Flashes ($23 for full-size at Tartecosmetics.com).

They. Are. AMAZING!  I wasn’t sure how I felt about the mascara at first, but I’ve grown to love it!  It plumps up my lashes in one coat, and definitely adds a good amount of length.  The best part about it is how it applies-smoothly and evenly and without clumping.  I feel it’s quite hard to find a decent volumizing mascara that doesn’t get “blobby.”  That’s not a word.

Now, on to the lash curler.  I always figured that every eyelash curler basically did the same thing.  I never thought that one could outperform the other.  I was wrong.  Tarte’s Picture Perfect Eyelash Curler evenly curls every single lash.  It doesn’t tug at my lash line, and it doesn’t take much pressure on the handle to achieve a decent curl.  My old lash curler seemed to unevenly “kink” my lashes instead of curling them.  I also had to go over each eye repeatedly with the tool to get the look I desired.  I’m honestly so thrilled.

Here are some before and after pictures:

No mascara.

No mascara.

After curling/Lights, Camera, Flashes.

After curling/Lights, Camera, Flashes.

After curling/Lights, Camera, Flashes.

Mind you, this is with one coat of mascara.  Good job, Tarte!  I’m impressed!  Also, I think it’s ironic that I’m wearing a Benefit “They’re Real” shirt in these pictures.  Oh, the irony!  Anyway, give this combo a try the next time you’re at Ulta or Sephora.  Or skip the wait and go to tartecosmetics.com!  You won’t be disappointed.

Stay weird!

-Rachel