I learned this lesson the hard way

I was over at Navel Gazing yesterday and she was lamenting a recent hair cut. Apparently she got some mixed reactions from the fam and she's feeling mighty poorly about it all.

You know that anticipation you feel about going to the salon? You're looking forward to it because you're sick and tired of the same old "do" and you just want a CHANGE. You want to be a BLOND or a RED head! Or you've been thinking about cutting the length or maybe going with something a little more EDGY. The possibilities are exciting enough and we can't wait to see the new us! And then... hmmmmmm not so good... Sometimes it's just that the color change wasn't as dramatic as we thought it would be. Other times it's too dramatic... to the point of being TRAUMATIC. It just doesn't turn out exactly the way we were hoping or expecting or wanting.

Anyway it got me thinking about some of my hair horror stories and well, there are just a few things that I won't do anymore when it comes to my hair.

1- No Drastic Color Changes

This is especially important not to do before any big event such as a wedding/sealing.

Not long ago I wanted to be a lovely strawberry blond and instead what I got was carrot-top ORANGE. No lie and I'm not exaggerating.


Here are the scary pictures to prove it.



Nope that's not just the camera folks. It really is that Orange


Pretty horrid huh?

You don't know desperation until you've met a woman who doesn't even recognize herself in the mirror and realizes that pictures WILL be taken of her at the wedding/sealing and these pictures will last almost as long as ETERNITY and that her children will wonder who that lady with the orange hair was and that ORANGE AND WHITE DO NOT LOOK GOOD TOGETHER and you can't wear a baseball hat forever and your family that's traveling to be there isn't going to recognize you and your husband is trying to convince you that it's not THAT ORANGE but you KNOW that he's lying to try and make you feel better AHHHRRGG!!!! What are you going to do?? How are you going to FIX THIS?!

Answer: Go directly to another salon and explain (in a very desperate manner) what has occurred and could they please, please, PLEASE DO SOMETHING to fix it?

"Anything is better than this." You say to them accompanied by a crazy-like giggle.

"My hair's not going to fall out after this... is it?" As they apply a heavy layer of bleach to cover the hideous color (this would be the 4th time now that your hair has been processed in the last 24 hours.)


Just to recap my first rule: NO DRASTIC COLOR CHANGES.


2- No Drastic Cuts Either Especially If It's Trendy Like the Jennifer Aniston Hair Era Or You Are Trying To Look Like A Certain Celebrity

I have naturally curly hair. After my first born came along it started falling out like crazy. So I thought, "Hey let's try a new look." (Famous last words.) It was around about the time the movie "Sabrina" was remade. Remember when she chops her long locks off in Europe and she comes home so super cute?? Well that's TOTALLY what I envisioned I would look like. Funny thing... it didn't turn out that way. My curls that looked so cute and all when my hair was long, weren't so cute and curly anymore. They were like gnarly twigs half straight/half not so straight but not really curly and there was no product on this EARTH that could get them to look decent. So I had to round-brush my spriglets out everyday. This took forever and made it look like I had helmet hair or just a really bad version of the trendy hair that a certain celebrity started. It was ugly and I've never cut my hair short again.

3- Don't Let The Stylist Style Your Hair When She's Done

I love having my hair washed, colored and cut. But I'll take it from there, thanks! Seriously. It just seems like stylists don't know what to do with my naturally curly hair. They put a little of this product on it and then a little of that. Then they diffuse it for a while and then spray some more of this and that and scrunch it a bit and diffuse some more and OH MY HOLY HECK. I end up looking like I stuck my hand in a light socket and my hair is all wirery and crunchy and I poke holes in my pillow case when I go to sleep that night.
*Edited to add: I do love my stylists though. I seriously couldn't live with out them and I LOVE it when they straighten my hair!
4- This is just a recommendation: Don't live vicariously through some friend, neighbor, sister and encourage them to GO FOR DRASTIC and then have no backup plan when it doesn't turn out so great.

Um yeah. Sorry Brenda for that one time. And sorry that the back up plan made it even worse. And sorry that you had family pictures right after that.

What I always wanted...

I've always wanted dimples.

When I was a kid I used to stand in front of the mirror for hours scrunching up my face, twisting it this way and that searching for that cute little indentation that signified sweetness. I never found one. (At least not on my face.)

And how I wished for long hair. Long, flowing, beautiful hair that I could put into piggy-tails or a sweet side-pony or just leave it down and flip it over my shoulder.

To me, long hair said, "You're pretty and beautiful and gorgeous because your hair is long and flowy!"

One summer when I was at the commodity center (a small town thrift store that my grandma used to take us to when we were little) I spotted a WIG. It was divine. It was long, straight, brown and luscious and I wanted it more than anything. I imagined going back to school that fall wearing that wig and EVERYONE would say, "Oh my heck! Your hair is soooooo long!!! We didn't realize how beautiful you were until just now! Will you be my best friend because you have such awesome hair??"

But I didn't buy the wig.

It was a combination of only having a dollar to spend (and it was more) and the fear of revealing my secret wish to my sisters who would never understand my secret wish and would tease me RELENTLESSLY.

I was also cursed with straight teeth, so my hope of having cute braces or even an awesome retainer was snuffed out.

I just KNEW I could be cute with braces though.

I discovered that tinfoil was a nice substitute. I would fold it around my teeth to make it look like I had braces. (I probably looked like "JAWS" on that one James Bond movie.)

Sometimes I would forgo the tinfoil and take a paper clip and shape it into a "retainer". This was more convincing I believe. Except that the only way I could keep the "retainer" in my mouth was to hold the ends down between my back teeth which probably made it look like my jaw was wired shut. I didn't think of that at the time. I just thought that when I smiled I was cuter than anything with my "retainer" in my mouth.

Another thing that I always wanted was GLASSES.

Again, I just knew that I would look beautiful WITH glasses. At school I would ask to try on my friends glasses and they would say, "Oh, you look so cute with glasses!" Or, "They make you look really smart." Curse these 20/20 eyes of mine!!!

In high school I actually borrowed a friends glasses for the day. No matter that I couldn't really see through the prescription. I felt like I had a spotlight following me around. Everyone noticed me and it was AMAZING.

In my junior year I convinced my mom that things were getting a little "fuzzy". She took me to the eye doctor and low and behold.... I NEEDED GLASSES. You don't know how my heart fluttered at this wonderful news! My life was FINALLY going to have MEANING.

The first day I wore my glasses to school I felt the spotlight again. It was everything I had hoped! I did look smart. I WAS cute! Who would have guessed that a pair of glasses had such POWER to transform?? I now had friends (glasses-less friends) asking ME if they could try on MY glasses. I loved, loved, LOVED my glasses. They opened doors for me. Not just because I could see. No, it was much more than that. I could now be SEEN. And life was good.

Fast forward 15 years....

"Oh Lasik why do you cost so much!!!!"

It really sucks that my eyes are so bad. With out glasses or contacts I can't tell if that's one of my kids or a chair... wait, nope it's a plant.

Husband fixing the drain in the shower (again) pulls out a gross-out mess of slimy, icky-looking-and-smelling wad of... long hair. I know it's mine yet I'm still repulsed.

I hate, hate, HATE going to the dentist. He always says the same thing, "We're going to have to do a root canal on that one and crown it."

I have more stinkin crowns than Queen Elizabeth. I just want to have nice teeth that don't get cavities, that don't have to have fillings and root canals and crowns.


I still want dimples though.


But only on my face.

And please not in my chin either because that's not cute. How about just on my left cheek and ONLY when I smile and not too deep a crevice and...

For a Limited Time Only!

Today's post is a B-Fomercial (B=Blog) for SALT CITY CANDLES.

As I mentioned in my last post, my friend Michelle is having a super-duper give-away over at her blog. She is also hosting a SSC Open House on Sept. 30th. Guys. Don't miss this awesome opportunity to see what's new and stock up for the holidays!! Michelley is a certified Rep. She knows what she's doing and can get it ALL. She is an EXPERT at smells (good ones) and has something (candles, warmers, accessories, etc) for everyone. I posted on her blog the other day 8 things that I LOVE about Salt City Candles. It made me so excited about them that I decided to spread the love to all of you. So here is some of what I wrote on her blog:


1- I Love the smell of SSC. They are strong enough to carry through the whole house with out being overwhelming. Plus you can do smell combinations: Cedarwood Vanilla in one room and Baked Apple in another.

2- Options, options, options! So many scents to choose from you gotta smell coffee beans in between. So many different colors, shapes and sizes too~

3- Burn baby, burn. I'm not a pyro, I just love the soft flicker of the flame. And they burn for hours!!

4- They burn evenly too. (As long as you don't let them freeze before you burn them. That happens if you leave it in your car during the winter. Never do that.)

5- More options: Don't want to have an open flame?? Get a warmer! And it's not just candles anymore!! But you gotta go to the OPEN HOUSE ON SEPT 30th to see for yourself!

6- Accessories!!!! Not only can you have a sweet smelling candle but you can decorate with them too!

7- There's a candle for every occasion! Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day... Want your house to smell like a spa? SSC has just the thing!

8- It's your "Get out of ___________ (insert appropriate word here) free" card.

For example:

Your house is old. It smells like mothballs all the time no matter that you've cleaned and disinfected and gutted everything out. What to do?! Grab your self a Mountain Vineyard and in about 20 minutes all will be right again.

You've got company coming over and you want your house to smell like you've been baking all day?? Try burning one of these babies: Golden Apple, Frosted Cinnamon Roll, Gingerbread, or Pumpkin Spice. YUMMY.

It's Christmas and you have just put up your fake tree(s). You long for that wonderful "just-chopped-down-my-evergreen-Christmas-tree" scent. Try one of these: Christmas Tree, Christmas Eve, Christmas Trimmings, Pepperberry Wreath (one of my FAVS!), or Victorian Christmas (NOT even Christmas with out this one burning). Better yet. Put a different one in every room and burn them all at the same time. People will think they are in Christmas Heaven.


That was the original 8 reasons, but I totally forgot one of the BEST!

9- They are AFFORDABLE. Please don't buy your candles at the grocery store. What a waste!!! Even if you are buying SSC you are spending too, too much. Buy them straight from Michelle and you will get SUCH a DEAL. You'll even get a better deal if you have your own party (which let's face it - THIS is the best time of the year for candle parties!!) But you gotta go to the OPEN HOUSE on Sept. 30th. If you can't make it to the open house, you can contact Mishee by leaving a comment and she will make sure you get a chance to order.

Thanks for tuning in to my first ever B-Fomercial!!

Links make the world go round

This post is dedicated to a couple of fellow blogger friends that need a shout out today!

First of all my wonderful friend, Michelle is having an awesome give-away! For any of you that love Salt City Candles (only the BEST there is) you won't want to miss it. Check out her blog for details and on how to be included. But hurry, you only have until Sept. 30th!!!

Another shout out goes to Sue over at Navel Gazing. Okay guys, if you aren't familiar with this blog you are missing out!! You will be rolling on the floor, gasping for air and losing control of some bodily functions because you are laughing so hard. Don't believe me? Read this. Laughing yet?? Recognizing yourself a little bit in that post? Now go and read this. Heehee heee Haaahaa haa HOO HOOO OHHHHH!!! Just a minute......

Gasp - whew!! That was funny! Okay, sorry I'm back now. What was I talking about? Oh yeah my shout out!

Sue is putting together a blog book and needs your help. The proceeds go towards the NieNie fund. This is such a worthy cause! Check out the link to see how you can support/submit to the Blog Book. Again the deadline is SEPTEMBER 30th!! So get your post submitted ASAP!

Now, because I haven't reached my minimum link quota in this post here is one more. Go read this and have a great Saturday!

Can I blame it on the weather?

I know, I know, I KNOW.

It's been like 3 weeks since my last post and I'm sure that you are all wondering, "What the heck happened to the Lovell's?"

Well we're still here. I just haven't been blogging too much lately. (Well, that's not true. I've been blogging, just not on our blog.) I feel bad that I've been such a slacker (OK, that's not exactly true either).

Anywho, I am finally ready to post about LAST WEEKS activities...

Last Friday there was a Family and Children's Festival up on campus for all the university families. Each college department put together a booth with activities and "SWAG" (a term Matt used to describe the cool stuff they hand out) for the kids. It was REALLY cool! The engineering department had these awesome robotic arms that the kids could manipulate using syringes. The Chemistry department did some cool experiments using liquid nitrogen and also set a gummy bear on fire. (You had to be there, but it was DANG awesome.)

The girls are being "Archeologist's" and searching for... buried stuff.

Ellie was the lucky one and found a button. She won a really cool magnet with a hieroglyphic on it.

Christopher eating the cookie he frosted ALL BY HIMSELF


Shannon and Ellie making popcorn balls. They weren't too sure about eating green popcorn though.


I can't remember what department this was, but they had the kids make super hero masks and capes.
Who is this masked man?


Ellie making a collage (sorry about the shadow-girl)


Matt and Shelby just watched and kept track of the slow-pokes (Ellie)


The Blue Aggie Cow.


We also took a trip up to Cub River last weekend. Fall is fast approaching and we wanted to fit in another camping trip before it was too late.

Collecting firewood







Shelby was too tired to help



Matt - studying by the campfire


The kids rode the 4-wheelers around camp while Matt studied and I... where was I? Oh yeah. I got an attack of allergies about 20 minutes after we got there. It was bad enough that I had to take an allergy pill which knocked me out for most of the trip.

Fire-watching


Who needs xbox when you've got MANCALA?

Labor Day Weekend

We spent the weekend with my family down in Payson for the Labor Day celebration. Friday night we all went to see "Beauty and the Beast" put on by Payson Community Theater. It was fantastic! I got to see a lot of my theater friends from previous shows that I have been in and it was so much fun! I have met some of the most wonderful people through PCT!

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to help my parents do some MAJOR yard work (a chainsaw was involved). There were some trees that needed to go, some bushes that were out of control and other things that just didn't look too good anymore. In a short period of time (with the many hands that were helping!) we had it all done!

Dad cutting down one of the apple trees


These kids know how to work!


It took 3 trips to the dump to clear everything out


Look at this beautiful picture! It's of my mom's grape arbor in her backyard.


That afternoon we went over to my friend, Carey's house to visit. She made one of my favorites - Thai Food!! Ooh, ah, yumm!! She is an excellent cook and how awesome is it that she made it all from SCRATCH!? Thanks so much Carey! We also played around on the piano and sang together - one of my favorite pastimes. Thanks to both of our husbands who wrestled with the kids so that she and I could visit and play!

Saturday evening (yes, we were just running from one thing to the next - but how else can you fit everything in?) we had a friend reunion out at the Trout Farm in Spring Lake. This is a group of friends I've been close to since high school. Somehow we've managed to stay in touch and actually get together 2-3 times a year. It was fun to see everyone again. (And no, I didn't eat any fish. Blech!)

Me, Matt and Shelby out at the Trout Farm


My friend Kate. It's been years since I've seen her and we had a great visit!


Brenda and I


Madi gets her pole ready!


Derek and his catch. I think he let this one go...


Monday we braved the weather to go to the big parade. We wore our jackets and packed our umbrellas. We thought that it would be enough.


But when we took a good long look at what was coming...


Shelby wasn't too sure that she wanted to see a wet parade


We made a dash for the car and just barely made it!


I can't remember the last time it rained on Labor Day. By the time the parade reached us, people were running for cover. Too bad. I was really hoping to get some candy...

We really had a great visit with my family. And as always, it was hard to leave.

Here are a couple of other fun pics from our trip.

Mom and Dad swinging in the backyard


Grandpa was playing with Shelby and she was pulling the funniest faces!


Grandpa and Shelby - they hung out a lot!

Ellie's first day of Kindergarten

Ellie had her first day of school last Thursday!



We live across a very busy 4 lane highway, but not quite 1 1/2 miles away from Ellie's school. The district has a courtesy bus to "pick-up/drop-off all of the kids that live on the west side of the highway. Unfortunately they haven't put Ellie on their route yet. So she only got to ride the bus home on the first day of school. I was out on the corner waiting for her for 45 minutes before the bus finally dropped her off. (Whew, I was starting to freak out because it was 20 minutes late!)



She had a great day and when I asked her what her favorite part about kindergarten?? "The Bus Ride!" Of course.