Beautiful Breeds

My favorite cat breeds (and the ones I think are the most beautiful) in order are:

1. Ragdoll

2. Ocicat

3. Somali

4. Turkish Van

5. Norwegian Forest

6. Chartreux

7. Abyssinian

My favorite dog breeds:

1. Pit Bull

2. Miniature Dachshund

3. Shibu Inu

4. Samoyed

5. Greyhound

6. Border Collie

7. American Eskimo

Favorite horse breeds:

1. Andalusian/Lusitano

2. Friesian

3. Quarter

4. Arabian

5. Oldenburg

6. American Warmblood

7. Shagya

As far as dogs and horses are concerned, mixed-breeds can actually be better than a pure-blood.

My Beauty Profile Starting Quiz Results

When You're GETTING BY or LOST with Shopping, your shopping experiences feel long and unsuccessful. You spend time trying on lots of clothes, but only a few items seem to work. You often bring home items you end up disliking. You leave a store or dressing room feeling bad about yourself or discouraged about your body. You might get to the point of avoiding shopping altogether until you absolutely have to to. When You’re LOST or GETTING BY with your hairstyle, you tend to feel frustrated with your hair. You either spend lots of time styling and drastically changing your hair every season. Or you opt for a practical, no-nonsense solution (ponytail, anyone?) that hasn’t changed for years. Either way, you don’t feel satisfied or enthused about your hairstyle. You may feel you can’t speak up when you’re not getting what you want from your stylist. You have bad hair days and you feel like your current hairstyle is just a transition to a future hairstyle that’s really you. When You're LOST or GETTING BY with your personal style, you tend to feel frustrated by or fed up with the constant change in trends. You might feel like you've figured otut what's in style when the rules change again. You might copy some trends, but they never look as good or feel as comfortable on you as you would like them to. You feel like you can't or don't want to keep up with the constant change in styles. When You're GETTING BY or LOST with your weight and body, you tend to believe you are too fat, and that you'd be more beautiful if you could just lose weight. You don't feel completely comfortable in your body. You may feel guilty about eating certain foods or feel like you need to limit your food choices. When you look in the mirror, you notice flaws first, or focus your attention on features you wish you could change. When you're LOST or GETTING BY with self acceptance, you tend to dwell on what you believe are your flaws—both outer and inner. You don't always like what you see in the mirror. You sometimes feel jealous or intimidated by other women's talents and beauty. You tend to compare your perceived flaws to other people's strengths and judge yourself as inadequate. You wish you were different from who you are. When you're LOST or GETTING BY in the experience of fashion vanity, you tend to feel guilty for spending money on your appearance. You think that taking care of your appearance is too expensive, and other needs always seem to come up that require the money you would spend on yourself. If you do spend money or energy on your beauty, you worry about appearing vain to other women or making someone else feel jealous. When You're LOST or GETTING BY with your wardrobe, you tend to experience that nothing-to-wear feeling often. Your closet is full of clothes you rarely wear or items that don't always go together easily. You hang on to clothes that don't fit anymore because you want to fit into them again someday—and you feel like you can't buy new items until you lose weight. It takes too much time to put together a great outfit. And even then, you feel like you're usually missing an essential wardrobe item that would really bring things together.

Favorite Books (not childrens' illustrated)

I am sure I am forgetting some but these are the ones I remember.
The Shell Seekers
The Drama of the Gifted Child
Black Unicorn Series
The Little White Horse
Gone with the Wind
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Hobbit
The Bipolar Child
Anne of Green Gables Series
Black Beauty
National Velvet
The Island of the Blue Dolphins
Agatha Christie (all)
The Little Mermaid
Briar Rose
Charlotte's Web
The Wind in the Willows
The Moonstone
The Westing Game
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Fear Street Series
Little House on the Prairie Series
Redwall Series
Conan the Barbarian Series
Beloved

AWESOME!

OK readers, I have found a gold mine and I want to share it with you. Carol Tuttle's Dressing Your Truth beauty profiling series/kit sounds amazing! This Utah based life coach breaks each woman up into one of four different "types" and gives each type advice about identity and how to express it. She says that women are lost to themselves and dress confusedly. She says if we can know our type we can know ourselves. I want to try it but don't have the money. If any of you tries this please let me know how it goes. It seems VERY exciting!
She breaks through skin-type problems and hair woes, showing women with "type" makeovers. Of course there are testimonials.
I have always felt like I was every type. She says that it is true, every woman has parts of other types but a dominate one will stand out as your own. I took her beauty confidence quiz and received a "lost" prognoses on each of the seven points. I know this is so true for me. I really wish I could take the quiz. I only know two people who dress themselves as themselves. They are Jenny and Megan. It is exciting to see their ensembles because they look good on them and make THEM look good, not just the clothes. Hopefully I will be able to find out my type and get a clue into my own fashion identity. Because of all of my weight and body esteem issues I cannot connect with how I look. I wish I could be creative and expressive with my clothes, I have it in me somewhere, but for whatever reasons I just can't pull it together psychologically.
Come to me Carol Tuttle! Give me your knowledge!

The Beauty of Nature

Nature is the most beautiful thing we know. Much more majestic and noble than we are; more lasting. It awakens our waiting heart. It clears our mind. Moss and dried leaves can bring peace. There is so much nature, so much beauty to behold. Cultural living amongst our fellow man has a redeeming quality all its own-but there is something more to be said about standing silent and alone, looking out over a shadowy barren landscape in Arizona. Alone can be lonely, but in a redwood forest, one can be alone and also feel cared for and awed at the same time. Maybe it brings home the good character of God to our cluttered minds. Truth is clear and heals, so being in nature can do that also. The white silent snows of a Maine farm-scape. The autumn leaves of a Vermont forest. The eternal redwoods. The everglades by the sea. Numerous coastal tides. New Mexico desert. Idaho's plateaus and prairies. Southern California's mesas and palm trees. The creeks and rivers of Ohio and Kentucky. The orchards and gardens of Georgia. The moss of Mississippi. Orange, Peach, and Walnut groves. Springtime in Michigan. Summer sun in Arkansas. Utah's great lake-shore. Yosemite's sulfur springs. The endless grasslands of Montana. A friendly cowboy's ride into the sunset. How can we go wrong if we retreat to this paradise right outside our door? Watch your cares melt away beneath the open expanse of the sky, the night stars.

What Beauty Is

It is hard to define beauty. I know that when one sees it, a certain awe-inspired impression is made upon the beholder. You cannot predict its coming, it must be experienced. Some things are known generally as beautiful, and other beauties are a very personal, individual thing. Beauty must come from God and so he must himself possess some beauty. Created beauty is the only beauty. Spontaneous beautiful acts are still creations. A beautiful thing, belief, action, state of being, or feeling can make one happy or sad. Beauty can cause tears of joy or pain. Beauty is not all good, as nothing in this world is. The beauty we see here cannot be as good as the beauty we will encounter in the presence of God's beauty. Our world is corrupt, and so is our beauty. It never lasts long. Either the beautiful person gets old and dies or the beautiful feelings of love fade. A beautiful world cannot always be so. And so, beauty is not lasting, and so, less important than one might believe. For some reason, it is one of our favorite things, if not THE favorite of humans.

What do YOU find beautiful? It is hard to admit sometimes because it leaves us open for judgement. For whatever reason, beauty is personal because it is felt so deeply when encountered. I find the following things to be beautiful, maybe they show what I value, or perhaps it is all ingrained: Nature, animals (especially horses and cats), natural hair color, wood, thinness, thick hair, stylish interiors, large eyes on women, equestrianism, stories, gossip, history, genealogy, the Holy Spirit, love, peace, some music, perfectly manicured nails (painted, acrylic, or natural), colors, best friends, inspiration, hard work and the rest that follows, my husband, my family, my friends, Catholic churches/mass, blessings, seasonal activities, names, well-made clothing, fantasy, perfect health, disposable income, and youth.

There is also the type of beauty that has to do with how people look. Experts on the subject suggest that body symmetry and certain gendered ratios that designate good health are what causes widely recognized beauty. The problem is, someone can be perfectly symmetrical and still not be beautiful. And why would the female models of today be seen as beautiful when their lack of substantial fat causes menstrual omission? Androgyny is becoming more and more beautiful to our culture and yet this combined gendering must lead to procreative confusion in some way.

Then there are the "cute" animals, such as Scottish Fold kittens and hedgehogs. Why are they cute? Does being cute designate being round, suggesting a baby? Nature's way of causing us to be attracted to our babies and other dependent things? Beautiful people seem to be preferred over ugly people BECAUSE they are beautiful. Beauty evokes powerful reactions. Natural instincts or learned behavior?

A few studies I heard of really make a case for cultural cause. You have probably heard of the stories of island people's preferring a certain look as beautiful, and when introduced to our culture's television shows, promptly changes their bias. What do you think?

Beauty Routine

Everyone has their very own way of taking care of themselves. It is fun to know that everyone does it different, no matter what their mother taught them. For example, my mom always had us use Noxema face cream to wash up with. When I went to college I wanted to try some new things and haven't used Noxema since. Just last week though, I bought some again and it makes me happy. I never know which face wash works the best, but this one is nostalgic. I remember growing up with Prell and Herbal Essences shampoos. Dove soap. Nivea body wash. Vaseline for chap stick. Just odd things that every family has.

This is my routine now. It changes every now and again but this is mostly what I do.

When I take a shower I use Head and Shoulders for Men shampoo. It is the only one that works for both Drew and I with getting rid of dandruff. We don't have it anymore because we use this. It actually smells really good. I just lather once. If my hair is tangled I use Pantene Bounce conditioner on the ends. I use Dove original soap. I use Dial body wash, all different smells. For makeup remover I use Mary Kay, Almay for Contact Wearers, or Estee Lauder. For face washing clothes on the go I use Oil of Olay for Normal skin. Once a week I put Mary Kay's day solution on my face. I might also put it on if I am going out in the sun all day because it has 25 spf. I don't like to wear it everyday because I break out. I wear makeup about once or twice a month. I never do my hair, I don't even blow dry it, unless I am going somewhere very important. I don't like doing it and I don't want my hair to get even more damaged than it already is. When I do fix my hair I prep it with Silk Essences detangler and Paul Mirchell's Super Skinny Serum on the ends. Then I blow dry my hair in sections on a round brush until it is mostly dry. Then I comb it all, add mouse to the roots, and blow dry it upside down. Then I comb it again and go. Sometimes I will add hairspray. I do not pluck my eyebrows even though I think it can look good. I used to Biore my nose every month but I haven't bought them in awhile because they are very expensive. I combine a bunch of lotions into a container and use that as body lotion when I feel really dry, otherwise I don't really use it. I keep hand lotion in the bathroom in case I feel dry and I notice it by the sink. I brush and floss my teeth everyday. We use Total Whitening toothpaste. I think it is Colgate. I paint my nails about once a month and I usually keep my toenails painted. I wear perfume about four or five times a month. I use Love and Glamour by J.Lo and this cotton candy stuff. I also have vials of Flora by Gucci and Euphoria by CK. I hardly wear those. Maybe once every six months. I DO NOT clean my ears with cotton swabs because I used to get infections from doing that. I also try not to let too much water go in my ear in the shower. About every two months I'll take a bath. I use bath oil that smells like the Whole Foods toiletries section (ha ha). If I want to scrub my feet I use this peppermint paste and ice gel with old toothbrushes. I do not shave very often (don't freak out). I just don't think we should have to. Men don't, why should we? But because I don't want to scare everyone I shave about once every three weeks. My hair doesn't grow that fast anyway. I use the Intuition all-in-one shaver with the sensitive skin blades. I combine three face washes-Noxema, Biore Pore stuff, and Clean & Clear Pore stuff. I use Nivea chap stick. It is really smooth.

As you can see, I am very low maintenance and like it that way. I still enjoy being creative and feminine though. I keep my nails short for the most part. I am contemplating cutting my hair up to my shoulders just for convenience (my hair is really tangly) and also because it is really damaged on the bottom. Drew likes me to have long hair and I am in a wedding in September so I will wait until then to decide.