Hello Again

It's been a while. Life is a whirlwind and sometimes its sweeps me up in it. 

What an interesting year 2014 was.
After spending 2013 barely at home, it has been an adjustment to spend 2014 primarily at home.
Suddenly, I am home 6 days a week, barely leaving my home for more than weekly church!

It has been sort of like a much needed hibernation. We are finding our own home-school rhythm, bonding to our beautiful new baby Joshua, and really maximizing our time together as a family after a long period of time spent either insanely busy or apart. So much good has come from our year of "hibernation."
But I wouldn't be completely honest if I didn't admit that I miss traveling. And going. And seeing new things. And breathing fresh air.
At times I get a bit stir crazy.
I don't even do the shopping right now, as Joshua doesn't prefer nursing in public and DOES prefer nursing pretty frequently. He has just started being easier to go places with, but for ALL of last year, it was easier to just send the hubby with my shopping requests while I stayed home ( as usual) and maintained the house and our FOUR kids.
Listen, when you start MISSING GROCERY SHOPPING, Its time to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.

Well during my year of house confinement, (I'm sorry - I mean my year hibernating with my bear cubs..., Freudian slip) I discovered something pretty dang cool.
Influenster.

Here's what I love; Free products are shipped to my door. Just for me <3 In a world where I exist to serve my family and home, a box of goodies with my name on it is pretty exciting! And my FrostyVoxBox even came at Christmas! Double score!
So what is the exchange? They want me to TRY the products (ummmm no brainer, I definitely want to use the goodies given to me!) and then they want me to TALK about the products. Well, we all know I enjoy giving my opinion! That's why I HAVE a blog.

Ps. YOU can join influenster too! (Here's the link if you want. www.influenster.com/r/909701 I hate to share because you might get goodies INSTEAD of me but I'm trying to be a good person)

Alright, here is where I tell you the assortment of goodies I got in my FROSTYVOXBOX

An unexpected champion was the NYC Expert Last Lip Color in Sugar Plum. I am not typically a lipstick user because my lips are dry and the color will cake in my cracks {YUCK!} But this product is soft and velvety even while lasting all day. And you can get your own for only $1.99! At that price, I will definitely buy more in various shades. I find this shade to be the perfect balance of deceptively coy color (almost nude but still popping) but this girl loves change. So I might just try every shade. The only downside to this product was the little sugar plum kiss marks all over my babies head (I can't help but kiss him) In this picture to the left, I am also wearing the Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner. It created a more intense, smoky eye than I typically go for. I first tried it for a day look and felt a bit over done for  a mom of four running errands. However, I used it again on a kid free dinner date and hubby thought it was an exciting change from the neutral browns I've been choosing. So I will use it again! It also came with a Rimmel Gentle Eye Makeup Remover. This was a nice change to the greasy make up removers I have used in the past and it is gentle on the eyes. However, I still had to scrub a bit to remove the waterproof eyeliner. So it's not a miracle worker BUT it gets the job done without any adverse effects.

I was most excited to see a hair brush. Why do I like Hair brushes so much? I'm not sure. But it is so fun to have a new hair brush! And this one did not let me down. First of all, it is pretty. Hello, my name is Megan and I shamelessly like pretty things. Secondly, it feels nice in your hand AND on your head! My kids HATE hair do time but they prefer this new brush over the old, scratchy one that we THREW AWAY. Plus, it has a bamboo handle, hence the smooth feeling, and the hippie chick side of me thinks that's pretty cool. The downside, this is a smoother and styler brush, not a volume brush. I'm getting older and my hair is getting limper. This brush did not magically solve those problems like I had hoped. But it does get the tangles out nicely and looks pretty doing it, so I'm still sold.  

The No7 Perfect & Protect Intense Advanced Serum was a wonderful addition to the VOXBOX. It was light, smooth, non greasy and easy to apply. However, I have a love/hate relationship with age defying serums. On the positive side, I enjoy taking care of my skin. I love dewy fresh skin. On the negative, we are all getting older no matter what we do. So is it really worth $29.99? I'm not convinced yet. I wish the sample was a full two week amount so I could see if I would really get younger looking skin. But I did feel pretty prettier when I used it. Placebo effect?

I got Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Decaf Green TEA in my VOXBOX and a TEA POT for Christmas and a TEA SET for my January birthday {I am officially in my 30s / guys, I'm a grownup} So, yeah, this was a good fit for me. I love tea! Hubby and I watch Mrs Marple on netflix and all their creme teas and sophisticated accents get me craving tea! Plus, I typically get an afternoon slump and tea gets me out of it! Even decaf. Now this Candy Cane Lane Green Tea was a fun change but I am more of a black tea with milk kinda gal. The flavor was nice but I would like it more if it was a black tea. I love Celestial Seasoning Decaf Sweet Coconut Thai Chai Tea  {FAVORITE, Never gets old} and I also use their Raspberry Zinger in the summer as a soda craving substitute.

My kids were super excited to find Fruit Vine bites in the box. We don't keep much sweets in the house because of 1.) 4 boys and ADHD and 2.) I confess, I have 0 willpower against sugar.
But these are made with no preservatives and they had no effect on the kids behavior! Although they were equally hard not to devour. Luckily, my kids devoured them for me. So I stuck to coffee and tea for my sad and neglected sweet tooth monster.

We also received McCormick Gourmet Thyme in the box. I'm not going to lie and pretend like I cook. (I breastfed, does that count? Just kidding) But seriously, usually the baby starts his cling fest as the sun goes down, so my talented and creative hubby does the cooking. (He's handsome AND a good cook. Double Yum.)  If i could, I would grow all my own herbs but I don't at this point. So I appreciate the freshness of McCormick Gourmet.

All in all, I really enjoyed receiving a VOXBOX. I needed a little reminder that there is more to life than babies and home-school. And I love getting random things in the mail. It's a wonderful surprise.
Meanwhile, I realized two things. 1.) I still like getting dressed and made up. So I should do it more often than on Sundays. 2.) I like experiencing new things! Spring is coming and my hibernation is over! This year we hope to Discover Florida! I want to find more local nature trails.I love seeing new things and Nature never disappoints me. We also plan to take weekend trips, starting next month for a combined celebration of our baby's FIRST BIRTHDAY and our toddler's THIRD. So keep your eyes peeled for more from me. And let me know if there are any great places I should visit or awesome products I should try.

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." Eleanor Roosevelt