Currently

This is my 400th blog post!

Working on - Getting ready to paint my bedroom. I am doing the trim first then I'll be painting the walls. You can see a little bit of what we've done here.

Needing - To do clean up my room a bit so I can start painting. I am going to have to move my furniture and stuff away from the walls so I can start taping. I am really not looking forward to that!

Watching - Lots of shows! Madam Secretary, Shark Tank, Dateline, and The Voice. My sister and I started Doctor Who again and so far so good! We also have been watching that new show Manifest and so far it's interesting. It just seemed like a show that would either be really interesting or really lame. I also am thinking about trying The Rookie.

Reading - I'm reading Royally in Trouble by Jenny B Jones and so far I'm enjoying it!

Looking forward to - Cooler temperatures! The weather is finally cooling down here and I'm hoping to start seeing some fall colors. Apparently fall doesn't really start until the end of October, so it's about time!

Trying - To finish up some blog posts. I always have blog posts I'm working on! I am good at getting them started and almost done, but then I seem to put off actually finishing them!

What have you been up to lately?

Five for Friday

Hello and welcome to my Five for Friday! I am linking up with Cup of Tea , Bright on a Budget, Della Devoted, and BYBMG!

1. I was finally able to get a book shelf a couple of weeks ago and it was really nice to be able to put all my books and stuff up on it! I got the Billy bookcase from Ikea.

(Yes, it does annoy me I can't center the bookcase between the doors. The lightswitch is in the way.)

2. This week has been filled with so. Much. Painting! We worked in my sister's bedroom because her room was wallpapered with this ugly 90's striped wallpaper. I mentioned a few weeks ago about when we tried to remove it, but that didn't work so we had to just paint some Kilz on the walls and then paint over that. We also had to paint the doors as well as the trim all around the room. The trim is all a really dark wood, and considering how dark the house is already, it really needed to be brightened up.

I was going to color correct and brighten the first photo more, but I decided to just leave it so you can really see what a difference the painting made! The after picture is just with one coat of Kilz on the wallpaper and before the actual paint color is put on. I'll share more later!

I also painted almost all of the doors on the second level. That is quite a chore! Anyways, here is the bathroom door:

The previous owners were...I don't even know but they had something wrong with them. They painted the ENTIRE bathroom that awful teal color (it's so much worse in person!) I mean, who paints the door the same color as the walls? And not just that but they painted the CEILING that color too!!! The rest of the bathroom will be painted eventually, but just painting the door sure made a difference!

3. My sister and I tried a small group on Wednesday. I'm hoping it will be okay. It's always awkward going to those things at first when you're new to an area and don't know anyone.

So here's to being cautiously optimistic!

(source)

4. And here is the current state of our backyard after hurricane Michael came through. This is after my mom and I spent a good portion of the last Saturday cleaning up every single leaf in the backyard:

We are in Virginia so we just had lots of rain yesterday. This wasn't even from wind but just from how hard it was pouring down rain! I mean, we're from Washington state. We know rain! But I've never seen it pour like it does here. We were under tornado watch most of yesterday afternoon, and then flash flood warning yesterday evening.

(I know so many people have it SO much worse and some leaves all over is just more of a minor annoyance compared to what most people are dealing with.)

5. In case you missed it, on Monday I shared a review of my September Ipsy glam bag!

Hope you have a great weekend!

September Ipsy Glam Bag

MPRINCESS Loose Eyeshadow in Pretty Petal: The color is pretty but I don't really care for loose powder. Fortunately though, this does have a sifter thing on top so you can have some control over how much you use.

LUXIE BEAUTY Harley Quinn Detail Flat Definer 110: I didn't like this brush. It's not my style at all and I really don't have a use for a brush like this.

SMASHBOX COSMETICS Photo Finish Primerizer: Overall I liked this primer. It left my makeup looking good all day long. I just prefer something that is pore minimizing, so that would be my only complaint I guess (which is just as well as it's a bit pricey!). Overall it's a great primer.

HAYADI Weightless Smoothing Cream: This was fine. Nothing too spectacular. I used it on my hair after I showered and it left my hair feeling soft. I haven't tried it on dry hair yet, but I'm interested in seeing if it will do anything for frizz. Overall it's just okay.

TRÈSTIQUE Mini Lip Glaze in English Rose: I really liked this lip glaze. I was a little worried the color was going to be really bold because I thought it was more like a lipstick, but it's actually more like a lip balm. It's just a really pretty color and one I can actually see myself getting some use out of! 

Overall this was just an okay bag. There weren't really any standout products. The lip glaze was probably my favorite item, with the primer being a second. Everything else I didn't really care for. 

Anyways, my October bag looks to be much better!

I'm curious though, do you subscribe to any beauty boxes/bags? What are your thoughts on them?

Five for Friday

Hello and welcome to my Five for Friday! I am linking up with Cup of Tea , Bright on a Budget, Della Devoted, and BYBMG!

1. If you aren't up on the latest Nintendo/Mario news, the newest Mario Party releases today and my sister is pretty darn excited about it! My mom and I are going to be out today, so I volunteered to pick it up for her so she could just come straight home and play it.

We're also picking up pizza from Papa Murphy's, so it will be a fun night eating pizza and playing some Mario Party!

2. I'm also looking forward to tonight's Dateline. I was a big fan of the Up & Vanished podcast, so it will be interesting to see Dateline cover the case and talk to the host of the podcast. 

So if you don't normally watch Dateline, you might want to watch this one. The case is interesting, but as with all of the cases, the story is really sad.

3. My brother came home the weekend before last so we went to the Christopher Robin movie for something to do. I didn't really want to go to the movie, but it ended up being really cute! I wasn't expecting to like it but it was good. The Winnie the Pooh characters could have done with a bit more work to make them look more cute, but overall it was a fun movie.

4. After the movie my brother wanted to go by Old Navy, so as we were driving there we got stopped at a stoplight. We looked over and saw this sign! We were all laughing at it and my sister was able to get a picture.

5. In case you missed it, on Monday I shared a book review!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Delayed Justice by Cara C. Putman Book Review

Delayed Justice by Cara C. Putman
Publisher description:
She had long given up the desire to be loved. Now she only needed to be heard.

Jamie Nichols went to law school to find the voice she never had as a child, and her determination to protect girls and women in the path of harm drives her in ways both spoken and unspoken. As Jamie, now a criminal defense attorney, prepares to press charges against someone who wronged her long ago, she must face not only her demons but also the unimaginable forces that protect the powerful man who tore her childhood apart. 

Chandler Bolton, a retired veteran, is tasked with helping a young victim who must testify in court-and along with his therapy dog, Aslan, he's up for the task. When he first meets Jamie, all brains, beauty, and brashness, he can't help but be intrigued. As Chandler works to break through the wall Jamie has built around herself, the two of them discover they may have more to offer one another than they ever could have guessed-and that together, they may be able to help this endangered child. 

And as Jamie pursues delayed justice of her own, she unearths eternal truths that will change the course of her life.

I really enjoyed this book. I've liked all the books in the series and this was a great next installment. (check the other books out here!)

I thought the author did a good job at tackling the extremely difficult subject of abuse without overwhelming the reader with details. The characters (main and secondary) were all believable and authentic. Especially Jamie's emotional struggle with her past as well as her future. 

From being forced to open up herself and her home, Jamie is tasked with reexamining her relationships with her friends and family, as well as with Chandler. Jamie really goes on a journey throughout this book and it's so interesting to see her grow and change throughout the story.

I liked Jamie and Chandler's relationship. For one thing, it wasn't cheesy! He was the perfect person for her and their relationship was really well done. He wasn't pushy but he also knew when he needed to step in and help. 

The faith aspect was also well done. I find that a lot of Christian books can really beat you over the head with religion and just be way over the top, but the faith angle in this book was subtle yet resolute.

While there wasn't as much suspense as maybe the other books in the series, I was still left wanting to know what was going to happen next. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Delayed Justice releases October 16, 2018

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.