Show and Tell Tuesdays

hi marvelous friends!

While I am ready for a lot of changes this new year, one thing that won't change is my love for link ups! So today I am linking up with momfessionals for Show & Tell Tuesday - Reintroduction and Resolutions.

I'm sure you guys all know me byyyyy now but I'm Lindsay [also known as: Lindsay Grace, LG, LO, Graceface, Baby G...basically I answer to anything] and I was born in Birmingham, Alabama in the year 1990 [way back when]. I was the youngest of two with an older brother, Micah. We were both home-schooled, me for the full 12 years and most people are surprised because yes y'all, I am still social! In school, I was constantly doing things with 4-H [public speaking contests], karate, baton classes, horse back riding, cheernastics [which I was horrible at] and scuba diving to name a few. I am forever thankful for my mom for making sure I was busy because it made my teen years some of the best!

After high-school I attended Wallace State where I was on the Wallace State News for 2 years before I transferred to the ole University of Alabama at Birmingham [UAB] where I graduated with my degree in Communications/Journalism. During my time at Wallace State, I met a fella named Tripp Otis from my boyfriend at the time....yes, you read that right. Don't worry, Tripp and I were strictly friends until my boyfriend and I broke up.

 

During my senior year at UAB, Tripp and I had been dating for 3 years when he proposed and a year later we got married! I feel like most of you know by now so I'll make this short and sweet, but a few weeks after our engagement we decided on the date of 07/19/14 to get married. During the year that we were engaged: we had to figure out to pay for a decent sized wedding, my brother passed away unexpectedly, we lost friends, family got mad at us, Tripp lost his job and that was in the matter of like the 15 weeks before the wedding. We were so fortunate to find out that Tripp got a job on our honeymoon which is where is still at and absolutely loves it! During this WHOLE time [since elementary school] I have been helping my mom at her job which became my full time job when I graduated college. It's not my dream job [she knows this] but it's where I am for now [stay tuned]. Okay so Hi, that's me and that's a summary of who I am! I started my first blog which was called Always A Sister to express my feelings of my brother's death, I discovered I love to write and express myself through a blog which made me create this little space, Not A Mom. You may be wondering about the name of blog and I talked about that here so check it out. 

Now on to my current favorite subject: 2016! 

1. Dig Deeper Into My Faith- 

I've really accepted that as much as I've been fighting faith since my brother died, my faith is the reason I am still here. I will pray more, dig deeper into God's word, meditate on it and we are really hoping to gain fellowship at home church. 

2. Improve My Health-

Working out makes me happier than anything else. It's almost like pure ecstasy for me after a work out. I've accepted that I get bored too easily to join just one type of class so this year I will be taking all sorts of class to keep my work outs interesting. Also, stop eating JUNK. I have the worst diet, y'all.

3. Morning Routine-

I am on day 2 of waking up at 4:30am and it's hard. #21daystomakeahabit

4. Speak Less-

I am a big talker [communications major, y'all] and it normally gets me in trouble so I will not talk as much, which also means speaking up to take up for people which is my kryptonite.  

5. Be Less Idle-

Normally if I'm off, I am a BIG homebody [my christmas break for example] but I really want to get out there and do this year. I've been searching for a word that will suit my year and I just decided that my word for the year is DO. 

These are just a few intentions that I am going into my new year with, what do you guys have on your list?! Any that match with mine? How are you reaching your goals?! I always need ideas! 

Show & Tell Tuesday: Halloween Costumes

hi gorgeous people!  

Ahhh I'm slightly later than normal this week on posting and it's driving me nutttts! Anyways ha....so I am bummed that I don't have more actual pictures to share with y'all but I think all those pictures are at my grandmother's house. Growing up, halloween was a huge deal for my family because our neighborhood went ALL out for it. It was so exciting and we always had the best night! In our neighborhood we had a haunted house, a doctor that would dress up like a crazy doctor with candy syringes, people hiding under porches to grab your legs at different houses and if you thought you'd get away with not handing out candy....well you got rolled.

I've been a tiger {I carried around a tiger beanie baby as my cub}, Pocahontas {my least favorite because I was 6 and hated wearing a wig}, Kelly Clarkson {which everyone mistaken for Avril Lavigne} and my favorite, daffy duck {which I won best costume for in 1995 and my mom takes full credit}.

my brother got to be the cool power ranger and the comedian I am is of course, daffy duck. 

I couldn't find a picture of me as Pocahontas but Micah was my indian friend that year {look how presh he was!}

This was 2006, I was 16 and Micah was 19. How legit did he look?! I was the generic angel...#waytobecreativelinds

The only time I've dressed up as an adult! In college we all went as vikings ha. 

Tripp and I are attempting to dress up this year and I'm making this costume this week for our party Friday. We've never dressed up for Halloween since we've been together so I feel pressure y'all. hah - Mucho Prayers Needed! #isuckatdiy

Previous Show & Tell Tuesdays:

A Look @ Our Yard

My Beauty Routine

5 People I'd Like To Have Dinner With

 See y'all back for hump day! 

Show and Tell Tuesday

hello loves! 


Today is a fun day here at Not A Mom, this Show & Tell is one that is easy for me. We are doing the 5 people I'd like to have dinner with, I pretty much had these 5 immediately and they all have one thing in common...they are HILARIOUS which must be a key quality for me. So here I am linking up with Momfessionals today!

So I have to explain that every time I've answered this question it's been a dead or alive type of thing so I am sticking to that answer. I think it's more fun when the options are wide open! So I am starting out with someone that has actually passed but she is my ALL TIME favorite......

LUCILLE BALL! If you know me then this isn't a surprise. I was sick as a child with asthma so I spent a lot of time inside or at home with a parent watching one thing and one thing only, I Love Lucy! I think that's where so much of my personality comes from and as a child I would always ask if Lucy went to heaven so I could meet her one day ha. I've actually had doctors tell me to watch 30 minutes of ILL a day to help combat my depression, so why not just have her over for dinner! So the next funny lady is....

KELLY CLARKSON! Again, if you know me then this is NO surprise, I have been loving this girl since 2001 when she won and she hasn't changed which has made me love her even more as the years go on. I was able to attend one of her concerts in high school and it was everything I dreamed it would be so I'm sure she could sing to us after dinner while we drink coffee and eat dessert because we'll be such good friends. Okay, enough of day dreaming about my best friend Kelly.......next we have ANOTHER funny lady.......

ELLEN DEGENERES! Another easy one! She's hilarious and she's already in my living room every afternoon [obsessed with her talk show] so it's not that much of a stretch to have her for dinner. I love her kindness and humor, which I think is the perfect mix. I never like humor at another person's expense, I try to never make humor of someone else either..I usually make myself the butt of my own jokes! Anyways, I know she's friends with KC and I'm sure her and Lucy would be tight after our din din...then we have ANOTHER funny lady {notice a trend}

KELLY RIPA! This funny gal came into my life over 15 years ago, I used to watch her show every morning before I started school and I now record it to watch every evening. I loved her and Reeg together and I have accepted her and Michael {let's be honest she'd be funny with anybody!]. She's my fitness icon, she's hilarious and down to earth which is a perfect combo for my dinner! I love how she balances a strong work life and mom life...If I'm gonna do mom life, I wanna do it like her one day. Okay, so last but CERTAINLY not least....we finally have a funny gentleman

MATTHEW PERRY! So he is already friends with Ellen, I'm sure he knows KR and I know he'd be a little shocked to see Lucy back from the dead but ultimately I think he'd love all these ladies and not mind being the only guy {my husband can be there too, right?!}. He's hilarious and passionate about drug addiction which means we could have endless conversations. I know my group doesn't have a lot of variety but let's be honest it would be non stop LAUGHS and I know all y'all would want to attend! {you can, I'm a nice host!}

This was such a blast to write, I loved this topic! Excited to be back tomorrow with y'all wonderful people! 


 



 

Show and Tell Tuesdays: BEAUTY

This non-mom is linking up with some mommy's and showing our beauty routine.
Mine has been slimmed down dramatically in the past 2 or 3 years honestly, I think it has partly to do with depression and no energy [can you say buzzkill?!]. Now when we are going out for something my beauty routine goes back to what it used to be but day-to-day it is reallllly short. Like 30 minutes maybe.

1. Shower- I have the hardest time with finding a shampoo/conditioner I like [I welcome any suggestions], I'm currently using Everstraight Brazilian Keratin Therapy shampoo & conditioner. I don't love it or hate it so I'll use it till empty and probably try something else!

2. After Shower Hair- If I'm going straight which is easiest for me because my hair is stick straight to begin with I ALWAYS spray John Frieda Daily Nourshing Spray, I told y'all in one of my first posts that it is one of my CAN'T live without items. It makes your hair so soft and healthy looking without making it oily [another problem I have]. I have to blow dry it and currently I don't have a volumizer but I need one. I've used L'oreal Paris Volume Filler and I do think it actually works.


3. Face- I've been washing my face with all Simple products because of how easy it is on my skin, I've put my skin through heck and back this past year with harsh chemicals and since I'm only using what the Derm suggested I've decided to take it easy with my washes. I'm using the scrub, the wash and the miceller water cleanser. I'm not happy with the moisturizer I use so when I find one I like I'll post it, the Derm recommend CeraVe.
I normally put a primer on that I've been using to get rid of redness but I don't really think it even works [ha! story of my life with products] and facial concealer which I do love because it is supposed to treat bumps while you wear it and it covers well. My under eyes are really dark too so I use Too Faced for under my eyes and during this summer I am wearing Marcelle BB Cream [its lighter weight for the hot months] and Too Faced Powder to get rid of shine. I top it off with mascara, I LOVEEE mascara so I have several favorites I use, my top two are Arbonne and Maybelline.
Okay, this is where things get real...I have a problem guys..my whole life I have HATED red lips or any color on my lips [it's just me, I think it looks great on everyone else] so I will admit it, I put concealer on my lips. Yikes! Do I think it's the most attractive thing ever? I don't know. I'm most comfortable with nude lips and I haven't been able to find a lipstick or gloss that does the same thing for me. So there, I do it everyday...color me ashamed. Honestly, if y'all have any tips or recommendations please holler at your girl.





So that's it y'all! It sounds way more complicated than it is for real! I have a new Wedding Wednesday coming tomorrow and boy, will I spit some truth on you! 

Show and Tell Tuesdays.

So I am taking a break from pinning on Tuesdays to link up with some of my favorite bloggers and bring you a non-mom version of Show and Tell Tuesday..

My hibiscus trees are blooming beautifully! 

 

 It looks like once upon a time the homeowners had a small garden, I hope to bring that back maybe in the fall. 

My baby, Tracy Chapman {Fast Car, get it?!}. She's everything! 

This is on the opposite side of the flower bed that Tripp ripped out a few weeks ago. I'm thinking of getting rid of everything but the full green shrubs. What do y'all think?!

 

 Our back yard will definitely be missed whenever we decide to move one day, it is huge. The dream is to fence it all in eventually. I had just cut the grass, see the lawn mower?! 

^^^^ Our patio needs some work. It normally stays messy until we have guests over or we decide to grill out. I have ideas but the outdoor is Tripp's area so I shall let the inner decor OCD diva go.

Tripp didn't want me to include this flower bed but it can really be beautiful when it flourishes, right now it has some grass and weeds. It's also a butterfly haven which is really sweet!

^^^ This is a tulip tree that blooms for like 4 weeks in the whole year but when it does...it is BEAUTIFUL!

 

I think the plan is to get rid of most of the back yard shrubs because they have just taken over. We think our porch got hit by the tornadoes that hit Birmingham in 2011 so it needs some handyman work to it too.

That's all folks! If y'all have any ideas or suggestions for our landscaping tasks please comment with them {we're self-admittedly young and dumb}.. check back tomorrow for a twist to the normal Wednesday.