Gulf War 2014

Last month a friend and I went to Gulf War. It is one of the major events of the year for the SCA. It was located in Lumberton, Mississippi. I have gone to Lillies War in Missouri and Pennsic War in Pennsylvania in the past but I had never made it to Gulf war. While it was nice to go south in early spring, it was too far to travel.

It wasn't the same with out the kids, but now that they are working too, I guess I need to get used to it. I am planning a few small events this summer and hope at least Danny will make it with me.

I met a few people while volunteering at Chiurgeon Point. The highlight of the week was the Calontir party. It was fun to watch the "Whack-a-fighter" it was a variation of whack-a-mole using fighters behind shields. I also enjoyed the singing around the fire.

I managed to get pictures of the Royal Procession.

Make-up Buddy

I have been planning on trying out my cheese making kits with Mom and went over yesterday. Since my nieces were going I grabbed my make-up at the last minute. Mom had sandwiches ready and a Frozen for my nephew to watch. I had not seen the movie and was looking forward to seeing it. I did get to see snippets between trying to get Cruz to sit down, eat, and visiting. The cheese did not get made either.

I did manage one very important thing. Maddy and I talked make-up and I tried some of my stuff on her. Look at that gorgeous heart shaped face, naturally wavy blond hair, and crystal blue eyes.

 I used my two tone cream foundation to contour her face. It was a little dark for her right now, but it wasn't bad. I gave her one of my black gel eyeliners and we tried that out. I hope she gets lots of fun with it. Then we used some products that came in our ipsy bags. We both had the Cailyn lipbalm in apple pink and the Dr Brandt's microderm abrasion. I used her lipbalm and my Dr Brandt Pores No More, I had the primer from a Birchbox. We used my Pops goes the eyeshadow in champagne as the base for both eyeshadow looks. I also cleaned up her eyebrows just a tiny bit.

I like how the contouring gives definition but still allows her skin to look like porcelain. With the neutral eyeshadow her eyes simply glow.

 For the first look I finished the eyes with my NYX eyeshadow from last months ipsy bag and the second  I used Beabombshell Bora Bora that was also in last months quad shadow. I also added a hint of her White gold eyeshadow and highlighting mousse on the top of her cheek bones. You can see this picture appears to have a more dewy look to it. The turquoise is a fun compliment to her blue eyes.

I can't wait to see how she looks for Prom in a few weeks. 

Rolling Along

I have been working on my budget, I paid ahead on my student loans, and I have money set aside for my vacation next week. Alex moved back in to work on getting her transportation and work issues sorted. The garb I ordered should be here in time for my trip and Diane and I went to our first Deodar meeting. We hope to get back into the SCA. It is great to have a friend with the same interests. Life is grand.

There is one little hitch. My car is finally about to kick the bucket. Luckily Charles has the van and is willing to help out when needed, but I need to start saving for another car. If only I had foresight I would have used my tax refund to buy a car. I canceled/ paused a couple more subscription boxes. Birchbox Man is going to be cut. It made me sad. The boys had not been thrilled with most of the items, but when the last box came today they were snatched up. I also paused the nibblr box until after my birthday. I can still cancel it at any time.

It is a busy time with planning and packing for my trip. We are also still trying to make room for Alex. I need to find out how much I can sell my car for and if it is worth more now before it actually dies. I give it a month max, likely much sooner.

New Budget for the New Year

Most people make New Years resolutions at the first of the year and then slowly forget them. I don't bother making new year resolutions. I do like to change things up every now and then though. As it is tax time I have been spending more time thinking about money. My income is fairly steady and I'm doing okay. I am however not saving as much or paying down as much debt as I would like. That means I need to start thinking about my spending. I have decided to down grade a few of my subscription boxes to start.

 Booty Bin made it easy for me. Last month was all cheap toys without a theme and I read that they are closing. The boys still have Loot Crate which was ten dollars less and had a better selection of items. Julep is so hard to quit. The boxes themselves are 19.99 with free shipping. However I had upgraded, added-on, bought mystery boxes and hit up the sales. They have quality products that I mostly love. I love them so much I have spent over $900.00 since July. I need to say good bye. I have already canceled Wantable after the first box. It was fun but $40.00 I would like to keep.

I have decided to keep Ipsy and Birchbox for myself. They are both $10.00 each and I enjoy them. I do need to be more careful not to let them lead me to spending more than I should. I have found some great items at Birchbox through both it original box and Birchbox Man. They also have great award points so you can earn free items over time. I need to be more selective. I'm less tempted by Ipsy to spend, but they did introduce me to Beabombshell.com and I love their products. They have high pigmentation and they gift free items with orders. Plus they keep coming out with new products that are so tempting. This is where self control and rewards will come in. I need to keep these extra purchases as something special.

My Graze, Nibblr, and Birchbox Man are still undecided. I like portioned snacks for work and the variety is both fun and tasty. If I had to get rid of either Nibblr or Graze I would have to choose Nibblr. Graze has a much larger selection and I have found some that I love. Birchbox Man has its benefits. The boys have enjoyed most of the lifestyle items and have been exposed to some hygiene items that they have used. Danny loved the socks from Novembers box so much that I bought him two more pair, he has also allowed me to show him how to shave. I use Harry's for a blade service and could use only their shaving cream though. I have also found some items that I have liked for myself.

Subscription boxes are not the only drain on our funds right now. We have also Kickstarted a few items. Most that I love, but some were impulses. I need to be more of my impulse buys in general. I have done somethings right. I have saved by not using cable, I canceled Hulu Plus as they lost my devices that used it and I am using my same old phone while others around me have the latest models. I found that Charles and I are both running out of minutes each month so I upgrade our minutes for $10.00 each, which is cheaper than paying for the minute. I still have a lot of work to do, but this is a start.

I have another goal that affects my budget. We have stopped buying as much food for the house with Charles bringing extra food home from work. I want to start buying healthy food for the house and having us cook more.