YSL Mascara

As many of you know, I LOVE makeup. So, when @Influenster picked me to try out a complimentary YSL Mascara to try out, I was a bit skeptical. Why? Simply because I can't live without mascara and although I have tried different brands for my friends sake, I just can't seem leave Lancôme.

Perfecting my eyelashes has taken some time. Some mascaras promise a LOT  and they also leave a LOT to be desired. I'm still not quite sure why so many people like Maybelline mascara, I've tried it and could not get what everyone was raving out. Frankly, I don't know why it's so popular, to each its own. 

Here's my regular routine for the past six, that's right SIX years!! Eyelash primer first then mascara = perfect eyelashes every time. 

Now, I've tried different eyelash primers and I just don't like the finished look. What can I say, I'm a creature of habit.

I stared at the beautiful gold colored YSL Mascara wand for three days. I finally decided to test it out on a Saturday so that I wouldn't have to deal with red eyes in case it irritates my eyes.

I took a deep breath, pulled the wand and examined the brush. The brush seemed good, lots of bristles and an even coating of mascara. Then, I took the first swipe. To my surprise it didn't feel sticky right away. I swiped the brush a couple more times over and was very surprised to notice that my eyelashes looked as if I had put primer on and then Mascara.

Day 1 was good, but could YSL hold up a whole week? It sure did! Not only that but it saved me a whole step in my makeup process!! I'm not sure about you, but I am NOT a morning person. However, I refuse to go anywhere without mascara. The extra minutes I've been saving each morning have been quite noticeable. Like I said not a morning person. The best part? No one can tell that I'm not wearing eyelash primer! And, my eyelashes don't look clumpy. Instead I have beautifully separated eyelashes with the right amount of mascara. 

I'm not sure I can go back to using a primer now!! Crazy, I know. Try it! I'm glad that I was able to try out a complimentary YSL mascara to test because I had no I sea what I was missing out on!

 

Summer 2014

It's hard to believe that it's already August and that summer is almost over. Where does time go? I was lucky enough this summer to go fruit picking, visit the local farmers market, visit Denver (even if it was a short trip), had some friends visit, and worked on my jam making skills! 

How was your summer?

Lemon Raspberry Tarts

With the 4th of July just around the corner, I decided to try out a couple of recipes to use up some of the ingredients that I already have at home.
Yesterday, we took a trip to the Vista House here in the Portland area. On the way back we encountered a small farm selling fresh raspberries. I bought a pint. They're really sweet which is not the norm. I have some lemons which I really need to use up. When I came accross this recipe I waas really excited to try it primarily because I have some graham craker pie crusts which meant less work! Yay me!

While working on the recipe Little E. and I ate half of the raspberries so we had to supplement with blueberries :)

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Lemon-Raspberry-Bars-474286

Oatmeal Cookies

I love a good cookie. And so far the Quaker Oatmeal Recipe has never failed me. Although, I did learn to not try to make three batches of these cookies at the same time. My super duty Kitchenaid Mixer did not like it. Here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.quakeroats.com/mobile/recipes/vanishing-oatmeal-raisin-cookies.aspx

I did substitute Chocolate Chip Cookies instead of raisins and I think it's just perfect. Enjoy!

Changes 2014

"The ability to honestly and quietly reflect on one's life is one of the most powerful tools for personal growth." - Richard Carlson

This quote recently made me look inward and realize that there was a lot that I needed to change. I love Social Media don't get me wrong but we often get too caught up in it that we forget to self-analyze without sharing. Not everything needs to be shared, sometimes some piece and quiet allows us to grow :) 

I know that I'll be making a lot of changes and there's no better time than the present right?

Mi Querido Viejo - Piero

Tax Day is always a hard day for me. One of those "holidays" that regardless of everything that is going on reminds you of the truth. My grandpa passed away 19 yrs ago today. And mi uncle Coqui pass away on 04/15/09. Mi great-Grandma Paqui passed away 04/13/95.

I can't think of a more fitting video that reminds me of my grandpa.

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/x36zzkUB2tc

HeartBleed OpenSSL Check

If you're running Ubuntu 12.04, 12.10 and 13.10 chances are that you're affected by the current Heartbleed SSL issue. To check run the following command: sudo openssl version -a

If the version you're running is dated before April 7th, then you have to update your Open SSL by running the following command: sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

to run the latest security update.

I checked mine just to be safe and I'm the clear.

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-update-ubuntu-plug-heartbleed-openssl-flaw/#!D8sP3

Ubuntu Linux 12.04 “Host SMBU controller not enabled!

Since I seem to be doing a lot of research these days, I have decided to compile all of my thoughts and findings here.

Today, I increased the memory on my virtual machine to 2 G up from 1 G. Which in turn created the "Host SMBU controller not enabled.

I found the following website http://whitehatty.com/2012/09/30/vmware-fusion-5-fix-ubuntu-linux-12-04-host-smbus-controller-not-enabled/

which allowed me to fix it. I have hereby fixed the error message when I start my VM. I honestly don't know what it did, but it got rid of the annoying error message.  :)

Ubuntu VM in Windows 8.1

This post is about how much fun it has been installing and figuring out how to install my Ubuntu 12.04 image on my Windows 8.1 machine.

It all started the day that I decided to learn JavaScript, and the fact that I decided to do it using Ubuntu because we all know that Linux is that much better for programming right? My problem? The fact that I own a Windows 8.1 machine. Don't get me wrong, I love Windows, I know there's very few people out there these days that are willing to admit that.

Piece of cake right? I mean, I've installed a dual boot before so I'll just do the same thing and I'll be on my way.

Ha!

Joke's on me. Turn's out that Ubuntu is currently not compatible to do a dual boot with Windows 8? What?! Yeah, that was my reaction too.

But if you would like to try a dual boot, here's the Windows Installer Link. http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/install-ubuntu-with-windows

I decided to download the image anyways, because I was frustrated and really thought about just completely re-imaging my machine.

Day 2

The next day, I went over the many reasons why I should and shouldn't re-image my Windows 8 machine. I ended up not going with that idea for various personal reasons. Then I decided to use Amazon Web Services, because running a Linux image in AWS should be easy right?!

Not so much. I got the instance running, but I never actually got to see the instance. So yeah, I think at some point I will revisit that subject and actually get something up and running because that's just what I do for fun. Clearly, I need more interesting hobbies.

Day 3

I went back to Virtual Machine idea, and decided to start googling my options. Most posts out there were not beneficial because I have a Windows 8 machine, and did not have a Mac. Ahhhhh! Who knew this would be such a problem?

Then I decided to take a look at the VMWare Player, I've used it before and decided it to give it a try. Turns out that VMWare Player allows users to download the software for personal use so that people can learn to use their software. How cool is that!! I was so happy! Yay me!

If you want to test drive VMWare Player feel free to check it out here: https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads

I followed their instructions to download and install the software. Thank goodness I had previously decided to download the Ubuntu 12.04 image, otherwise it would have taken a lot longer.

Once everything was downloaded and installed, I decided to run my VM.

Unfortunately,  I kept getting an error message stating that long strings were not allowed and that the Intel VT-x was disabled.

So, I googled some more. And learned that this can be fixed in the Security settings under the Bios. So to get this done, restart your machine, hit F10 and if you have a Windows 8.1 go to the tab next to Security (Sorry I can't remember the name right now, but I'm pretty sure it was under Configurations ans Settings.) and enable Intel VT-x.

Then I restarted my VM and my machine for good measure because you can never restart too many times :) and voila! I have an Ubuntu 12.04 image running using VMWare Player in my Windows 8.1 machine! Happy Day!

Anything is possible.

"Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." - St. Francis of Assisi

This is a great quote that I found today, not only because it's Lent, but because it's important to remember that anything is possible.

2014

2014 where have you gone? It's hard to believe that it's already April. This year has been full of fun and exciting adventures. I can't wait for what is yet to come. I will fill you in with some posts of our adventures. 

December 2013

December. This will be my first December in 14 years away from Montana. Montana spoiled me. A white Christmas almost every year. That beautiful winter glow that most people only read about in books. This year will be Little E's second Christmas but technically the first one that she might count because she's able to get real big girl toys.

It's interesting to see how a child can really change everything. Portland, you're not too bad. However, nothing can ever replace home (Montana).

Sick

Recently Evalyn and I came down with the flu. Which really made me wonder how any parent ever survives it. How does anyone still want to have children after having to deal with a sick child, it truly is heartbreaking. There is nothing more frustrating than having a sick child while you're also sick. How do you manage? Any tips for handling sick toddlers?

Portland, OR

Hi friends! I've fallen behind on my posts. On a good note, we're finally fully relocated to Portland, OR. 

I must admit that I was a bit worried about getting lost. My worries were not unwarranted since Siri is constantly getting me lost. The good thing about getting lost is that you get acquainted with the city much faster than if Siri gave me the right directions.

For some odd reason the worst traffic day is Wednesday. Isn't that weird? not Monday but Wednesday. Portlanders are an interesting breed.

New Adventures

"The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams."   - Oprah Winfrey

Today I start a new adventure, a new chapter in my life. I moved to Missoula, MT - 14 years ago with my family. This time I'm moving to Portland, OR with a family of my own. It's such an exciting time in our lives! 

Let's face it though, it was time to move on and I couldn't imagine a more perfect time than now. I've met some wonderful people and made some long lasting friendships.  I won't lie and tell you that I'm not sad to leave. I just never thought I would become so attached to Missoula, it must be the fact that this is where Little E. was born. I'll take all of wonderful memories and keep them close to my heart as we embark on our new journey. 

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful moms! Being a Mom is a 24/7/365 type of job that never ends.  Today, I am thankful that I got to spend the day with my mom and my daughter. 

Stuff

How much is too much? Let's analyze this in terms of "stuff" and I say stuff because it can be related to almost everything.

We go to the store and buy things, we shop online and we acquire things through our friends and family. What a lot of us don't realize is that we really don't need everything we think we do. I've talked about Spring Cleaning and de-cluttering your electronic equipment and files. But today, I want to talk about the material things.

There's nothing like cleaning or even better yet moving to realize how much stuff you don't use. Yet, these possessions take up a lot of room. There's a rule about getting rid of anything you haven't used in a year. That's when the emotions start setting in. We become attached to things we no longer use because it was either worn or received for a special occasion.

That's when we need to gather the courage to separate our needs from wants and give these items a new life. Instead of accumulating dust, said items will receive the love and appreciation they deserve. So take sometime and clear out the stuff that you've been meaning to get rid of for years but haven't been able to. Think of it this way. Get rid of it in your own terms, otherwise you'll have great items tucked away in a box.

Government Alerts

May 1st, 2013

I woke up to my phone beeping at me, and for the second time in a week it wasn't my alarm, or my child (which should technically count as an alarm!). Nope, it was a Weather channel Freeze warning. Having lived in Montana for a longtime I'm used to such warnings. Except that instead of having to get up and watch he morning news, these alerts are conveniently delivered to my phone. I did mention that this was not the first alert of the week.

The first alert was an Amber Alert on Monday morning. A little boy had been kidnapped by his parents in Kalispell. The fact that the Amber Alert when out to everyone with a smart phone at 7:00 am as soon as it was reported by the police department. I was surprised that it took the media 30 min's to report the Amber Alert, by then all of my friends on Twitter and Fb had posted and "re-tweeded" or "shared" the car and suspects information. When the suspects changed cars once again Twitter and Facebook were the first to report it. Thankfully it only took a couple of hours to track down the suspects and quickly get the little boy to safety.

Thanks to technology the Amber Alert received enough attention to make a difference in a little boy's life. Shortly after, everyone wanted to know how they had received such information since they had not signed up for any alerts. Turns out that most people are not aware of this feature in your phone. They're under Government Alerts and you should have two options Amber and Emergency. These are set to on by default and can be manually turned off at anytime.

Personally, I wouldn't turn these settings off for many reasons.
1. I am a mom, and I just couldn't imagine not being able to help bring a child back to safety.
2. It's simple. Can you imagine how much faster it would've probably been to issue an Emergency alert for the Boston bombing suspects in Watertown when the mad search started?

I am glad that these safety features are incorporated into our phones. I know that in the future they'll probably be more useful than they currently are. It's good to see first hand the difference that these alerts can make in someone's life. I just hope that everyone checks their phone and doesn't turn these alerts off.

What do you think about these alerts? Would you change anything about them?

Coworkers

When we go to college we dream about having that perfect job. For some people the perfect job for some means that everyone gets along and is also treated fairly, you move ahead ad you never worry about anything else. Then there are the nightmare jobs. Those are the ones where very unprofessional, backstabbing, people work and you have to deal with them or do you?

The following article provides tips on how to deal with these situations. I found it quite interesting because it's a topic that a lot of people are not willing to talk about but it impacts the entire company.

http://www.divinecaroline.com/life-etc/career-money/ten-tips-dealing-backstabbing-coworkers

Not all jobs make you miserable, because if they do, you should reconsider your employer. At the end of the day you'll always find nice people and mean people. Just follow the guidelines in the article and you're bound to find success!

Information

How much reading material is considered normal? I recently (2 months ago) discovered an app called Pocket. Pocket is so wonderful, that I wonder why I had not discovered it earlier. Pocket allows you to safely send an article to the Application, and read it later. What? Are you so lazy that you can't just look it up later?

This is not about laziness, it's the fact that there are only so many articles that a person can read in one day. I bet that if I stop Facebooking so much I could get more accomplished. But, let's be honest if I don't read something the minute that it comes out, I will probably forget about it. Unfortunately That leaves me with two options. Option 1: Save the article as a tab in my browser. Option 2: Email myself with the article url to read later.

Here's why both options failed:

Option 1: Failed when I realized that Safari on my iPhone will only allow me to keep 8 tabs open. Who on earth made that decision? Why 8? Ten would have been nice if you ask me. So what do you do when you run out of browser tabs? If you're me you install a second browser! Ah ha! I was so proud of myself for solving my dilemma. I'm sure that this is something that most people will never encounter. This was all fine until one day Peter asked me to look something up while we were driving and I couldn't. What? That's right. I had maxed out Safari and Chrome doesn't work without Wifi. Ugh! Back to square one.

Option 2: The old, I will e-mail myself so that I don't forget. Except this doesn't really work when I have to dig through my 5 email accounts to find out where it went. See how inefficient that is? I'm sure that most people don't need FIVE e-mail accounts, but that'll have to be another post.

In comes Pocket to save the day. If I'm on Twitter I can save it as Read Later and the article will be safely stored. it's way that Pocket displays the articles I send is by showing them like Google Reader would. A nice organized manner, I can read offline without any hassles.

There is so much information that comes out on a daily basis that this is the only way that I have found to stay afloat. This is the risk of being connected and staying up-to-date.

How much reading do you do online? What do you like to read?