TRY HARDER!!!

That's the message I've been sent.

The mirror started to convey it to me a few years ago with a friendly little wink and a nod. Gradually it grew less coaxing and more insistent. Well, these past few months, my ears have been ringing with it every time I walk away from anything with a reflective surface.

So, I have heeded the call. Now, on an almost daily basis, I am...

wearing makeup.

Up until this point, I've been a mascara and lip gloss kind of a gal. I don't like wearing more than that for two specific reasons:

1. The stuff is messy--I prefer to rub my itchy eyeballs without fear of smudges. Also, I like to drink from glasses without leaving proof of my lips' lack of natural beauty all over the rim.

2. The disappointment factor--You see, when I come to bed at night and my husband beholds my newly cleansed face, I don't want him to wonder, "Where's that more attractive woman I've been looking at all day?" (However, I've realized that I'd rather he was a little disappointed at night than all day long!)

Alas, my sense of vanity has overridden both of the above.

I invested in some eyeshadows and have been dutifully applying them each morning. I bought a couple of lipsticks but am not very happy with them. (They always appear brighter on my face than they do in the tube.)

Do I dare admit that I purchased a set of fake eye-lashes? I know that some of you use those and you look quite nice with them on, but I couldn't get them to blend in naturally with the rest of my face. I looked like a wannabe-floozy. That's right, I said "wannabe-floozy" as in I looked so ridiculous that I couldn't even achieve floozy status.

So, there you have it...my tongue-in-cheek confession of what I'm doing about feeling 25 but looking 34.

I'm just beginning to get comfortable with this...

Adriana and Mandy!!!

Our friends, Adriana and Mandy are at school in Spain right now. They are missing certain things about American life, so we grabbed the little photo cutout that Mandy's mom gave us and took them on an adventure.

After church, we went to lunch. Tobias tried to share his fish taco with the girls. They declined, smiling broadly.



The girls were frightened by the sight of the massive burrito I purchased at Chipotle. Delaney tried to comfort them.



Having finished our lunch, we ventured over to the local family rip-off, uh...I mean family "fun" place and had ourselves a good time.

Unfortunately, A&M didn't meet the height requirement to ride any of the rides.


We settled on miniature golf. The girls were just happy to be there (even if "there" meant being posted on Jeff's rear end.)


Hey wait...I thought they were in Spain...so how is it that we got a glimpse of them in Holland in this shot?


And here they are in a place that looks suspiciously like Kentucky...



The girls weren't even embarrassed to join me in a goofy little victory dance to celebrate a hole in one! (Well, maybe they were embarrassed, but they didn't complain or run away.)



Uh, girls...I know that looks like a festive place to hang out, but you might want to move.


In More News As We Are Wending Our Way...

Jeff delighted me with a sweet pucker up when he came home after his lip and gum numbing dental appointment. (Yes, I did kiss him once I stopped laughing.)


Here's a close-up:



Delaney has now joined the contact lens wearing members of society. Although she had a rough start (touching one's eyeballs is not natural), she is now excelling in the application and removal of her new vision aids.


I successfully removed and refitted a tire that had picked up a nail somewhere, all under the watchful eye and helpful guidance of my husband. It was the first time I had ever undertaken this "manly" task and I was pleased that the car drove normally afterward. (Regardless of how the picture looks, my knees are not suffering from Elephantitis.)




And as for Tobias...well, he's just creeping around...

So Sorry...

I seem to have unintentionally misled some of you with my last post.

I did not compose that poem in one sleepless night. I simply posted it. It took me several hours over several days to compose it last June.

Now I'll go back and rewrite the post to make that more clear.

Sorry!