There were too many names to read off individually, but I did get my name on a slide during the virtual training!
My virtual training shout out!
Category Archives: Raves & Praise
My very first official certificate of recognition!!
Just got this via email! The virtual award ceremony is tomorrow night! ❤️
And I’ve been in this recognition publication before…just not at this level!!
TJ Maxx strikes again!
I’m super excited about my new $2 Mexican glass glasses to match our Ikea plates but OMG I hate the stickers—they make me murderous. (Yes I know all the tricks to remove them. I just hate that they’re there in the first place.)
Reach out to your friends.
People. Reach out to your friends. You might just have a great time!
I just had the best video call with a college roommate who I literally haven’t heard her voice in 20 or so years. We see each other on Facebook but that’s it.
So tonight we were chatting on messenger and she was like hey we should video chat why have we never done that?! Due to the time difference (she’s in New Zealand) our schedules don’t always mesh, but tonight it worked. So we chatted FOR AN HOUR and it was soooooo great. And we’re going to do it again soon—probably with margaritas if we’re being honest.
So just some advice to reach out to those old friends. You might just have a great time. And we all need more of that these days.
WOW. WHAT A PARTY!
I decided to throw a customer appreciation event on January 1 to thank everyone for my best year yet and to start 2021 with a bang!
Day one, I literally didn’t stop moving all day! I started working at 7:30am, took quick breaks to eat—didn’t even shower!—and was busy all day answering questions and helping people pick colors and decide on skincare solutions! The day flew by so fast I didn’t get nearly any of the extra things done that I wanted to…so I extended a day.
But y’all won’t believe this. My awesome clients helped me blow my first goal almost totally out of the water the first day. THE FIRST DAY.
So I upped my goal (and I eventually got well beyond that, too)!
Day two was a bit of a whirlwind as well. Extended again. Day three calmed down a bit. In the end, I did about 2.5 average months worth of business/sales in three days! (Now you understand why I was sooo busy all day long!)
If you want to join my group to be around for events like this, come on over!
Anyone else do this with lip balm?
I typically use a mini binder clip but it’s gone missing in the move. You might think I’m being cheap but really I just don’t want to waste a single bit of this “liquid gold”—it’s legit the best balm I’ve ever used. I will even cut it open once I can’t squeeze any more out! No shame in my game, y’all! (Grab yourself some here from my site, or just hit me up! You won’t be sorry!)
My small win for the day!
I love it when a random clothing purchase (the gorgeous tank top I got in my favorite online boutique) just happens to match one of my favorite Lularoe cardigans. ❤️ I’m also legit stuffed into a pair of jeans today for the first time in two or so weeks just to see if I could. They’re not super comfy but I can still button and zip them so I’m calling it a win.
We got my bucket list tree!
I have always wanted a huge Christmas tree! My dad used to get a 2-story tree and I loved it. My cousin gets a 2-story tree and I love it. But we’ve just never had the room for one—and even if we did at one point…the next house we moved to might not fit it. So when we found our forever house and it has super tall ceilings, I knew what was going to happen. But of course I didn’t want to spend the $900 Costco was asking for their 14′ tree, so I figured I would wait until the clearance sales after the holidays and see what deals I could get.
Well…Costco was out of trees by mid-November so there would be no discount Costco tree. Sam’s Club was even out of them! So I resigned myself to probably paying full price next year.
And then Tom and I ran into Sam’s this morning and while we were browsing…I saw my 12′ slim tree on clearance for $259! WHAAAAAT?!?! Yes, please!
And the best part? Dad and Linda had wanted to get us a housewarming present and we hadn’t really been able to think of anything perfect…so the tree was our gift! It’s soooo perfect!!!
I don’t have any decorations for it but those will come with further clearance sales!!
ADDENDUM: Two days later Anna was at Sam’s Club and told me it was reduced even more so I went back and got $100 credited!
I made Ruby SeneSales!
This means I’ve sold $12,000+ in the current quarter (October-December)! I still can’t believe it! Of course I don’t anticipate this being a regular thing, but it is a great accomplishment and I’m super proud!
Woodland Book with an Educator
Tonight was a fundraiser for the food bank—Woodland teachers and administrators read their favorite books on Google meets! Every 15 minutes you’d switch to someone new! We listened to Katie’s current teacher and her second grade teacher, Owen’s third grade teacher, the Elementary Principal, and a friend who is a teacher! We loved it, and the past teachers remembered them and loved seeing them, too!
A shout-out from my leader!
Stuff The Turkey | Black Friday | Small Business Saturday | Cyber Monday
I just want to thank everyone who shopped with me this month. I am so very thankful for each and every one of you! When you make a purchase with my SMALL business, it means a lot for my family! And I love spoiling all of my customers, too…giving gifts is my love language.
Kim Kruse, Michelle Galvez, Cheryl Malato, Brianna Powvens, Jannie Louise Sandifer, Kristin Huff, Heidi Leafblad-Habel, Lindsey Mares, Britt Nickelsen, Rebecca Whitley, Ashley Bouchard, Pam Kozu, Stacy Bishop Stark, Anna Bennett Chang-Yen, Ann Balat Gasperini, Rachel Young Wehrle, Jackie Moens, Amber Bookhout Dennis, Leah Waters Cossarek, Suzie Girard Teal, Jami Wallis, Clarencene VanVuuren, and Monique Morrison-Meyer!
It’s a holiday miracle!
Just kidding—but to be able to park in the garage by the time it starts snowing was one of my few requests when we bought this house. And Tom came through today.
Over the last 20 years the only times my car (either car, frankly) was garaged was when a hurricane was coming through and we moved enough crap to get one car protected…or for a 2-minute photo opportunity when the garage was briefly empty.
I wish I would have been recording the kids when they saw it because it was hilarious—both of their eyes got really wide in disbelief. Because they’ve literally never experienced it.
We updated the half bath!
So we did a few minor updates to the half bath—mostly courtesy of Amazon Vine—new mirror, lights, and shelves plus we bought a toilet paper holder and towel rack (pipes to match the shelves). I absolutely love it.
#agechallenge #47yearsyoung
Another baseball championship!
First games of the season were so hot you couldn’t stand it. Today? We’re in winter coats, gloves, and blankets!
They won 13-3 in six innings!
Owen getting his trophy!
We didn’t get any great team pics this season due to social distancing and temperature.
It was the last game together for these boys. Aden is transferring to a different city team and Jackson is moving to travel ball. Jackson’s dad is the head coach which means he’s moving to be with his son…so that means Tom has decided to be the head coach next season!!
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
I’m sure you’ve all heard the quote “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Two years ago I would have cringed at posting a non-makeup photo. But after 2+ solid years of 24/7 SeneGence skincare and makeup (the makeup has anti-aging skincare in it, hence 24/7 use), I’m proud and excited to post a makeup-free face!!
You guys. YOU GUYS. JUST. LOOK. AT. MY. SKIN! I am flabbergasted.
And the bonus? Look at how goooood my face looks with JUST tinted moisturizer?!
You know it’s a good night with the neighbors when…
this is the amount of limes in the sink.
The night started innocent enough. Lindsay said she was out relaxing in her back yard while the kids played and whoever wanted to come down was welcome. Tom was napping and the kids were out and about so I left a note and drove down. Shortly after u arrived, Angela and Ryan showed up (with their two littles) as they were out on a walk.
The margaritas were flowing and I texted Tom that he needed to come with the kids. It took some convincing because he was tired. But I assured him he really did need to show up because the dads were there and this was going to be a good opportunity to meet them all and just hang out and get to know them. So he came. Other neighbors and kids showed up and we ended up ordering pizza!
We even sent Owen home on his Segway to get some fruit from our fridge. He got to feel responsible and we got the fruit so it was win-win.
The littles even did sparklers before we left!
Yeah. We’re gonna have fun in this neighborhood.
When you’re making dinner with hubby…
…and a new friend texts they’re making margaritas and says “be ready…” and then your doorbell rings 10 minutes later!
I then sent Lindsay home with some of Tom’s Hopsy beer.
Katie’s keeping my makeup safe!
During one of our endless trips to empty all the small leftover bits out of the rental, I handed Katie part of my makeup organizers to put in the car. This is what she did with it.
The movers are amazing.
Aside from the fact that they bust their asses all day every day, they can do magical things like make this huge cabinet …
Fit into spaces you wouldn’t imagine.
Needless to say we tipped them well after this.
I’m exhausted and I haven’t even really done that much today.
I can’t imagine how tired our movers are because they’ve been busting their asses since 8am. (Normally they load in one day and then unload the next day but the boss wanted it all done today!)
A huge thank you to Anna—my saving grace—taking the dog AND kids out of my hair ALL DAY. We’re also sleeping there tonight since the plans have changed about right times today and it will just be easier to stay there.
There is a tiny bit left for tomorrow so I’ll be back at it at 8am…and Tom will be back at work after his half day today (which was soooo nice).
We are officially homeowners again!!
After some last-minute drama (with getting the funds wired the morning of)…it’s a done deal. We are now the proud owners of a 30-year mortgage! But it’s seriously our dream house and we couldn’t be happier. Tom and I just keep saying What did we do?! Oh yeah, we bought a house THAT WE LOVE.
I mean, we have purchased two houses in the past and they were both great for us at the time but we never loved them. We. LOVE this. house. (Is it perfect? Of course not. But does it check all of our boxes? Minus a lazy river and a four car garage… Yes.)
And then Anna brought the kids over…and was our family photographer!!
Physically-distanced margaritas with my new friend!
So if you recall, the seller of our new house invited us over for drinks and a casual walk through. That was today. And it was epic.
Long story short, she’s amazing, the house is amazing, and we love it even more now!! We got along really well, we have a lot in common (to start, a love of margaritas and makeup!), and we are definitely going to be friends! How cool is that? The kids even wanted to stay the night!
Just 13 days until closing!!
Still loving our local fruit and veggie basket!
Loving my perfect new tee.
Amazon Vine must have sensed my lament about being on a financial and sugar lockdown…because this was made available to me this week.
Look at me looking like a rock star!!
Soooo I kinda felt like a rock star today—I actually pulled off a Neon Green Shimmer look with fake lashes!!
I never in a million years would have paired neon green and smoked topaz so I’m glad my friend Joyanne was leading me because holy shitballs it turned out good.
But if I’m being honest…I’m torn between thinking it looks awesome…and then catching a glimpse in the mirror and doing a double-take and thinking I look like a clown. (I have been branching out but am mostly still into earth-tones!)
But bottom line… I’m thrilled with the look and I couldn’t be happier! And because I looked so dang good, here are the rest of the photos!!
Tom is now officially in charge of making pizza.
He tried our first ever deep dish tonight and holy hell it was good. Pepperoni for the kids—and onion, homemade sweet pepperocini, and leftover chicken apple sausage for us!
Here’s the pan we used if you’re interested. We had been looking at recommended deep dish pizza pans and they were like $40! This one worked fine!
Of course we had drama over it, too. Katie—who loves pizza—picked at it and then refused to eat it. She’s a pain in the butt when it comes to food and frankly we weren’t surprised but we’re so exhausted with her over it… So we asked what she didn’t like about it. Silence. Asked again. Silence. Asked again, saying we want to make something she’d like the next time so she needs to tell us what she doesn’t like about it. She doesn’t like deep dish pizza. BZZT. We call bullshit. She likes it just fine—it’s got to bed SOMETHING ELSE. Silence. This went on for a good five minutes. I finally told her to to get ready for bed then (it was almost 7). Of course she didn’t want that. After more discussion and prodding, do you know what it was? The freaking parmesan cheese Tom sprinkled on top after it came out of the oven. We gave her a new piece and she gobbled it up and asked for another. Ugh. Frankly we call BS on that, too, since she has sprinkled it on her pizzas before… We just can’t ever win and it’s exhausting.
Covid fireworks!
This is what happens when you combine your stock with your neighbors. You get a mini firework show!
We will be homeowners again!
It’s really happening, y’all. We will be homeowners again on July 8 barring any unforeseen circumstances! That’s two months from now!
From seeing the house listed Tuesday to getting pre-approved Wednesday morning to walking through the house Wednesday to making and signing an offer and getting the offer accepted was less than 48 hours!! We were only the second people to view the house!
This wasn’t something we were going to do until spring but we’ve been looking at houses for a few months and we know what’s out there and what we want…and this house had 95% of our wish list!!
And look at my side of the master bath!
As soon as this Covid debacle allows, we will be having a MEGA housewarming/retirement party. Oh, yeah – Tom turned in his retirement papers last week so that’s official now, too (his official date is July 1, 2021).
We are still stunned. And excited. And exhausted.