Cup of Thoughts

Here is a list of books I believe every girl should read or have on her bookshelf at some point in her life.  A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett Brief Summary: Sara Crewe, an exceptionally intelligent and imaginative student at Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, is devastated when her adored, indulgent father dies. Now penniless and banished to a room in the attic, Sara is demeaned, abused, and forced to work as a servant. →  My Review “Whatever comes," she said, "cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.” The Giver, Lois Lowry Brief Summary:   Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dar

Do you ever wonder why the shampoo you are using just isn't working for you? Or maybe you liked it at first, but after a couple of weeks, you start to notice your hair is reacting to it differently. Why it is important to listen to your hair! Your hair goes into different phases that are caused by seasonal changes, dietary changes, maturing, over-processing, chemical services, and medical reasons. Which makes it SO IMPORTANT to listen to your hair!  What kind of shampoos are there? Here are some types of shampoos that I will explain further in detail.  pH-Balanced Shampoo - for color treated or lightened hair Conditioning Shampoo - for dry hair Medicated Shampoo - for dandruff or other scalp conditions (not recommended for color  treated hair) Clarifying Shampoo - for excessive buildup or before a chemical service ( not recommended for  color treated hair) Balancing Shampoo - for oily hair Dry Shampoo - (used without water) Color-Enha

Oftentimes we look for beauty in all the wrong places. What defines beauty? This might become a deep topic but bear with me. I googled ' beautiful people ' because I was simply curious about what the world defines as beautiful. Here is a collage I made with the images I found. I'm sure you may have found beauty in the pictures above. And yes, they are all beautiful. But what makes them all beautiful? Is it their eyes? The way they are staring into the camera lens? The way they are photographed? Is it merely their looks? Recently, I've been chasing after beauty like it's a cure for the way I look. Beauty is not a cure. We all want to be  that girl . The girl who doesn't have to wear makeup to look beautiful. The girl who laughs as if there is no worry in the world. We want to be the girl who has a witty sense of humor to impress other people. We want to be as skinny as the girl beside us. We want to have a better physic. We want to be in a r

I got to travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana again for a mission trip! This year 2 new guys came along with us. There were a total of 18 people (adults + kiddos) . We packed everything into our new little trailer Saturday, June 23rd. Came to church Sunday morning and then after my Pastor got finished preaching, we went to eat the meal some of our sweet church family made us. Once we ate, we piled up in the church van and headed north. My youth pastor, LD (Larry David), appointed us to be more accountable on this trip. Which meant that we each had an important role to play. Some of us got bathroom duty, and sous chef, and then some of the veterans in the group were responsible for giving away Bibles and motivating the rest of the group to hand them out (that was me!). That plan turned out really good. Everyone knew what their job was, and whoever was finished with theirs helped the person that wasn't done. We stopped right before Cincinnati for a bathroom break. I handed everyo

I found this cute little cosmetic bag at an outlet store. I really needed a Bible case to hold and organize all of my Bible study tools and journals. I bought it intentionally for that specific purpose, but if my Bible didn't fit I would just use it for makeup or beauty accessories. I am thrilled to show you that my Bible indeed fit, along with all of my other tools and journals! And look, there's room for more! Vera Bradley/ / Tropical Paradise  design is only available in factory outlet stores. Here are some makeup/skin care products I purchased at a couple of the outlets. A girl's gotta shop during vacation, right? Sometimes I find the best products on trips! Clinique Pep-Start HydroRush Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 20 / / $29.50 Gives skin a healthy-looking glow and UV protection against the sun’s aging rays. Wear it alone, or under foundation as a prep for makeup. Fortunately, I purchased this the day after we arrived at our

I know we've all had that lecture before.  "You need to wear longer shorts." "Put some leggings on!" "Go change that outfit." "You're not going out of the house like that." Most of the time our answer is, " but everyone else is wearing it ," or " it's in style. " It's so hard shopping for modest clothing as a girl, I know. I've wandered around Forever 21 trying to find something that will at least cover my belly button. Even though it's hard to find, it's worth it. Trust me, do not conform to the world's average. Because the world's average is wearing party clothes and attracting sin wherever you go. The world says, " wear what you want to wear, nobody cares ," " if you have the body, show it off ," and "the more skin you show, the tighter your clothes are, the more guys will chase after you ." Don't believe those lies. People do car