REALizing Joy: I'm having an affair.... with Target!

Yep! The cat is out of the bag! I'm cheating on my husband with Target! Ok Ok I wouldn't say cheating but Target is my vice. I love that place. I could spend hours in that store just browsing (although I don't think I've ever left without buying something which my husband hates). Anyway, I went to Target a few days ago to pick up some things we needed for the house and I also bought some little goodies for me and the house. I also love Cartwheel! If you don't know what it is you are about to love me! It's an app that allows you to pick certain Target deals to get an extra discount. If you don't have it, get it, not joking! Also, my family fills a lot of prescriptions every month so I signed up for the Target Pharmacy Rewards program and after ever 5 prescriptions I get a snazzy little card in the mail for 5% off an entire day at Target!!! Plus I have the Target Red Debit card. I was a little apprehensive about getting red card for a while because I just assumed that it was a credit card until a sweet little cashier explained that I could either get a Credit or Debit card and I save another 5% every time I pay with my red card!

Maybelline Hibiscus Haven gloss

I am loving lipstick lately especially pinks, purples, and reds. I came across this Hot Pink Cover Girl lip perfection jumbo gloss balm back in December and I love it! I'm almost out so I picked up a couple more colors the other day. I like them because they moisturize your lips and go on light so you can have just a bit of color or you can put more on to make it more dramatic. I also decided to try these Maybelline tinted lip gloss and they're also amazing. I got Hibiscus Haven and Caviar Couture. The reason I like these so much is that the color lasts for a long time even after the gloss wears off and the gloss isn't super sticky like some others I've tried in the past.

I also found some great pillows for my couch. I've been needing to get new ones for awhile now because the puppy we had to give away ruined all of our other ones but I hadn't found anything that I loved that went with my color scheme in my living room but wouldn't break the bank. These were on sale so I had to get them.... ok we I didn't have to but that's what I told myself.

Also, at the end of one of the isles I found these awesome rugs on clearance! The rugs in my kitchen were screaming to be retired. We've had them for 5 years and they're very blah! I used to just go with neutral colors when I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.

Last but not least by any means I found a great new trash can! About a year or so ago, my sweet father-in-law brought over a 30 gallon trash can to help us out.... not that I don't appreciate it but it was ugly, big, and always in the way. I found this automatic stainless steel one and I'm so excited lol. I don't know how Jake is going to feel about it but I'm thinking he'll like it a lot better.

Yesterday, I took Noah to get his hair cut which was long over due. When we went inside, I realized I forgot the money for his haircut in the car so I sent Noah out to get it. When he gave it to me, I placed the $20 in my phone case and I was trying to fix Kennady's hair because she had pulled it out of her pony tail. She was screaming her head off so I picked her up and took her to another seating area away from the people we were sitting next to and I must have picked up my phone weird and the money fell out. I didn't realize at the time but when the lady was done cutting Noah's hair I went to pay her and found out I had no money! I went over to where we were sitting earlier and of course it wasn't there and the people who were there before were gone. I was livid! I just kept thinking what kind of person does that?! Especially when they see that I'm there alone with my 3 kids and my baby is screaming and fighting me. Clearly even if they didn't see that I dropped it, it was money for a hair cut since we were in a barber shop that only accepts cash. I went to get more money and came back and paid the lady and on my way home in my complaining, I realized I wasn't being very Christ like and my kids were listening to my every word so, I apologized to them and told them that maybe the other people needed it more than we did and maybe that was an answer to their prayers. Then, when we got home Noah said the prayer before dinner and he asked Heavenly Father to bless the people that took the money to do something good with it. I was nearly in tears. He is so sweet. I'll never know exactly what happened and it was only $20 but it just reminded me how important honesty is with everything, even if it does seem small at the time, it may not be so small to the person it's effecting.

Whew, now that I got that off my chest, I want to share an amazing experience I was lucky enough to be apart of recently. A person very close to me chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints after investigating for 15ish years. I got a phone call at the beginning of April when I was in Mesquite, NV with Jake and was told that they had decided to get baptized and went into more detail and I just sat and cried on the phone. They were happy tears obviously but I was just so taken back with the news that I didn't know what else to do. I was asked to play the piano for a song that the nieces and nephews would be singing and I felt so honored. I practiced for like 4 hours a day to get ready for it but I just didn't feel all the way comfortable and I wanted it to be special and not terrible just because I couldn't get the song right. Anyway the meeting was so spiritual and I just felt so much love and joy for their family because I know that they truly believe this and that they are happy and that's all you really want for your loved ones isn't it? I felt so inspired to do better with my faith because of this experience and I'm excited for what is to come for this sweet family.

More exciting news! My baby brother, Jacob, (8 years younger than me) got his mission call this past week to serve in the Scottsdale, Arizona Spanish speaking mission and he reports to the MTC in August! I'm so excited for him and I thinks it's pretty amazing considering my other brother, Joshua, is serving in Mesa, Arizona waiting for his visa to Brazil (he's been out for 1 year) they'll be so close to each other. Who knows though Josh may get his visa before Jacob even gets out there. I'm so happy and proud of my brothers for choosing to serve the Lord and for being such great examples to me and my kids.