Vanilla Sugar Scrub

Vanilla Sugar Scrub

You will just need a few things from your kitchen that you probably already have!

Here is what you will need:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 a cup of olive oil (maybe a little more if too dry)
2 tsp of vanilla


How to:

1. Mix brown sugar & white sugar until completely combined.

2. Slowly add oil and Mix as you go. If you need to add more than what the recipe calls for, do this after you have mixed the 1/2 a cup in completely. I found I needed a little more than a 1/2 a cup.

3. Add in your vanilla and mix well.

4. I store mine in a mason jar, but you could use anything that seals like Tupperware.

5. & that's it! Incredibly easy! 


I use mine before I shave my legs to exfoliate really well which makes for a nice smooth shave. After my shower I moisturize with coconut oil and then put my regular daily moisturizer on top. Right now I am using Philosophy body lotion. 

I plan on making a few different scrubs next week! I am going to make a honey and lemon scrub as well as a cinnamon and coffee scrub. 

Happy exfoliating:)

Covered by His Grace

 This can be such a touchy subject because of everyone's different opinions on the matter, but it has been weighing heavy on my heart lately so I wanted to talk about it a little. Hard times in life have a funny way of bringing things to light that you normally wouldn't think much about.

Here is my question for you...

How many times have you said or heard someone else say "Oh yeah, and they claim to be a Christian" (insert eye roll and huge sigh)?

I am very guilty of this or to some degree of this.  I cannot count on all my fingers(& toes) how many times I have heard someone speak these words.  Where do we get off making such a statement?  Who do we think we are?  A Christian is not someone who claims to be perfect, but a person who is screaming "I am a sinner and I need God's unending love!"  A Christian is someone who honors the Lord and admits they need God's grace to save them from their sins.  A Christian is someone who sends their worries up to God and prays for peace in their journeys through hard times.

We as Christians tend to give ourselves a bad rap of pointing fingers at people for their sins and making them feel unworthy.  There is usually no issue calling out someone else of their sins, but we have a huge issue having our sins called out.  This of course does not go for all Christians, but Non-Christians seem to put all Christians in the same category.  Instead of reaching out to those who have yet to learn the beauty of a relationship with God, they are being ridiculed for all their wrong-doings and torn down because of their sin. As Christians we should be showing them how awesome our Savior is and how great it feels to be saved by His Grace and not counting how many mistakes they are making and not keeping a running count of their sins.  All this is going to accomplish is to push them further and further away from creating a relationship with Him.  I know that I personally do not want to be part of someone's decision to not know God the way I do.

Who are we to judge another sinner? While some sins are thought to be "worse" than others...a sin is a sin. Period.  We are all sinners living in this crazy world.  If only we could worry about our own sins more than everyone else's.  I have found myself looking back at people I met years ago, maybe in high school or before, who were lost and frankly not great people, but they completely turned their lives around and built a relationship with God.  I have caught myself thinking "Pshhh--Please, I know the real you".  <--That is the most absurd thought.  God loves us all unconditionally and accepts us entirely, even our rocky past and terrible sins. If God can accept me for who I am and for what I have done, then why for a second would I question that he wouldn't for someone else?

I know I am a sinner, but I also know that I am covered by God's grace.  This is not an easy out for me to sin and think it is fine because all my sins are forgiven anyways.  It is the reason why I should hold myself to a higher standard and try to be better than I was yesterday. 

I am going to hold myself accountable when I think or say something judgmental.  It is a hard thing to do because naturally we like to have all sorts of opinions of everyone else.  It will not be easy.  I will make mistakes and I will fail, but I know that if I can make a little difference in the lives around me it will be worth it. Just some food for thought and a look into what has been on my mind lately.

Update on life:

We have added a new member to our family this past week!  Meet our new little doodle, Charlie.  We love him so much already and so does his big brother and sister.  In fact, he is Teddy's real little brother. They have the same mama! We are so excited to have another pup to love.

& on the fertility front of things:

We just finished another failed cycle.  We had my monthly blood work done and again my progesterone was above average at 28.7.  My estrogen was again very low at 78. In fact it was even lower this cycle than last. Dr. Parker has decided to continue all of my other medications as usual, but we will be adding Estradiol(pill form of estrogen) and Mucinex at the beginning of my cycle. Hopefully these little things will make a huge difference.  We can only hope!  I have an appointment with Dr. Parker on Monday the 20th of this month to go over what we have learned thus far and I am very excited to see what He thinks! I will be sure to give an update if any new information comes to light.

Until next time...

It all starts with being hurt...

Hurt: Mental or emotional suffering or torment

Anger: An emotion characterized by antagonism toward someone or something you feel has deliberately done you wrong.


Jealously/envy: A feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another.


Bitterness: Anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly; resentment.

These are just a few common emotions of infertility (& life really), but absolutely not all of them.

  When we are hurt we allow anger to bloom in our hearts. Whether we realize it or not everyone does it. God warns us to guard ourselves when anger is present because a sin is near waiting to take over our thoughts and emotions. If I think back to what began my anger..the start is really just a wound that has become infected with bitterness, envy and hate.


  We shouldn't allow our anger to turn into hate and bitterness that we push into others lives. The only way to conquer sin is to overcome the anger that will linger. The only way to overcome anger is to turn it over to God. Easier said than done most of the time, but I hope that if I say it enough times I can actually follow through at least some of the time.

  Allowing anger to stay in my heart will never help me. It takes over your every thought and action, makes you physically sick from the stress and worry, and causes you to make spur of the moment comments that you can never take back. It's much better to forgive people and/or move past situations than to be angry and hateful, not only for yourself but for others too.

  This not only goes for anger, but jealously and pain that no one has intentionally caused you to feel can turn to anger as well . Sometimes it is not a person that hurt you, but a situation you are in that damages you. When you see others happy or getting what you feel is yours, it hurts and that jealously turns to anger and bitterness.

  People say well just control it and stop getting so worked up. This insanity of infertility is not something you control. Are you aware of the definition of insanity? It is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Isn't that what I do every cycle? It's craziness. It consumes everything you are and every thought deep down in your bones. The yearning to have a family of your own does not fade or get easier, you just get better with hiding it. It's easy to say I won't get my hopes up and I won't get upset when my friends share their amazing news of child with me, but it never ever fails...I die a little more inside every single time. It literally feels like someone is sucking the breath right from my lungs when I see another negative test or hear of another friend being pregnant.

  This is not to make people feel guilty for living their lives or to say I am not happy for my friends and family. It is just to somehow try and remotely explain the ache I have in my heart. There is no good way to go about explaining it. I know things could be much worse, but for me this is terrible, miserable, torturous pain I go through every single day. I wish I could say it's gotten easier, but that would be a lie.

  This disease I have not only effects me. It effects my family and friends. Those closest to my heart live a lot of the pain I go through and I feel guilty because of that. I should be able to go to my best friends baby showers without feelings of jealousy and bitterness. It's not fair to me and it's not fair to them. I question every day how in the world I am going to ever get past this.  There is a great chance we may never have a child of our own and I need to find a way to accept that somehow. 

  I know God has a master plan for my life and what I feel I need may not be what God KNOWS I need. Learning to accept the life I have and accept his plan without knowing why is the hardest battle I have to handle. We are curious creatures of habit. We know we will never know why God does what he does, but we still beg for the why and the how and the when. Luckily, he never gets tired of hearing our questions. I was reminded of this at service yesterday morning at church. It could not have come at a more perfect timing for me.

  If you are interested in watching my church's sermon from this week I am adding the link here for you.  Hang in there because like with all good things, it takes time to get to the good stuff:)

http://www.gracefellowship.cc/my-bad-church-experience-2014


For now I am hurting, but I hope that with prayer and perseverance I can push myself to have just enough strength to get me through.

I thought I would do a fun post instead of all the serious ones I tend make.

So here are 30 lovely facts about me!:

1.)  Yellow is my favorite color, almost to a fault. Mustard yellow is the best. So, if you want to buy me something yellow i will love you forever and ever.

2.)  I went to school for dental assisting & I loved it, but somehow I ended up as a tanning salon manager & I love this even more.

3.) My life long dream is to have a huge family and a yellow ranch(I told you yellow is amaze balls--you are welcome Jen & Walter) with a big wrap around porch on a huge amount of land with all my little Smathers kiddies running around. Oh and a few animals like another doodle, a couple horses, a piggy, & some chickies.

4.) I love root beer.

5.) Jesus is AWESOME, but seriously though, I love my life because of him.

6.)I love chick flicks, even the cheesy lifetime movies. And I would choose comfy pjs, my couch, and a movie over going out on the town any day of the week.

7.) I love country music entirely too much. I never listen to pop, rap or the biggest hits...I kinda don't even know half of the top 40, sorry Seacrest i still love you.

8.)  I am crazy about junk food. I literally could live off of chips and cookies and soda. It's a terrible habit that I am sure will catch up with me.

9.) I already have my future kids names picked out and if someone close to me uses my names, ill cut them. Totally kidding, but I will still use the names and I do not care how many of my little E's & S's there are in their kindergarten class.

10.) My husband is my best friend, hands down. He rocks my socks!

11.) I'm a little overly obsessed with my doggies and PROUD of it! Dude, my dogs are the best dogs ever and no one can try and tell me their dogs are cooler than mine, I ain't havin' it!

12.) I've been called a girly-girl and materialistic a time or two, but I disagree...I like nice things and I take care of myself there is a difference.

13.) I love love love vintage anything & thrifting. My whole house is made up of my family heirlooms and antique & thrift store finds. Take me to a antique store and ill stay for hours.

14.) Speaking of, my Todd always, always asks me if I could own my own business like he does, what would it be? Ummmm can I please own my own antique shop/Boutique...a girl can dream!

15.) I am constantly told I have an old soul and I take that as a compliment.

16.) I am absolutely not shy and I have no problem carrying on conversation with a complete stranger, but don't you dare make me speak or do anything in front of a group of people because I will undoubtedly flake on you or vomit. Trust me, just don't do it. I was the kid in class who came down with the flu on presentation day and on my presentation make up day, or the kid who all the sudden had a coughing spell on my turn to read out loud. Yep, that's me.

17.) I don't like showing off my goods, which is obviously a good thing, but try shopping in the juniors section and find something that doesn't show Boobs, butt, or belly. GOOD LUCK TO YA!

18.) I am extremely small(5'7 and 110 lbs. to be exact), you don't have to tell me how skinny I am---I totally own a mirror. Just how you don't like to be called chunky or fat, I don't want to be told i am too skinny or I look sick because I'm so thin. I eat, A LOT. So please spare me the "eat a cheeseburger jokes"---I eat them quite often. I just have a fast metabolism, thanks Daddio.

19.) I love a good book. Really inappropriate chick books are my favorites. I'm so lame. I will read just about anything if it is recommended by someone I trust though, so please recommend peeps.

20.) I have major anxiety when people drink alcohol.. I full out panic. No idea why because i used to hang with the best of them. In high school I was terrible and partied way too much for a high school student, let alone an adult. I am not proud of it at all so this is the last time you'll hear me bring that up. Blah.

21.) I've been through a lot more than people even know because I'm very secretive in certain aspects of my life. There are certain things I haven't even shared with Todd because I am just not ready to. One day I would like to think i'll get the courage up to talk it out.

22.) I am a shopping freak, but Todd is worse...He will say I am though.

23.) I get stressed and worry easily. Todd is the complete opposite and is very "chill" about everything, which is one of my favorite qualities of his. He levels me out, thank goodness for that!

24.) Dirty dancing & Pretty woman are my all time favorite movies thanks to my Mama! Julia Roberts is drop dead gorgeous!

25.) I have never been out of the country before, but I want to travel so badly!

26.) I love spaghetti. Only if my Mama or I make it though.

27.) Crafting can be fun & I am pretty good at it for the most part, but usually I get about half way in to a project and get bored or tired and I have to push to make it to the finish line.

28.) Speaking of finish lines, I'm extremely out of shape. I can't tell you the last time I worked out. I always say I am going to start and it never ever happens. I would like to try yoga this year though so I guess we can add that one to my bucket list.

29.) 99.9% of my friends have a couple kids already or are working on their seconds. Slow down people i'm trying to catch up!

30.) Fall is my favorite time of the year without a doubt! 

Now you know some of my deepest darkest secrets and some random & strange things about me.  I am sure it will change your life forever. 

THE END.