Imerge Magazine Nov 2013

ulous; and when you know you look great, you will feel great too. Give it a try; find a sister or a friend and spend an afternoon trying on hats. You will love the way you look; Judi and I did!

I’ve always been a big woman, but I’ve always had a big personality. Always wanting to help people, al- ways wanting to see the best in them and help them be the best they can be. I have always been a good writer and wanted to write about people’s stories. This mag- azine gives me the opportunity to do that and is my biggest thank you of all because now I get to find cooks, fitness experts, dieti- tians, people who are doing ex- traordinary things and brag about them and I get to do it in the pages of this magazine every month with some fantastic people. I’m pretty thankful. God has been good to me.

Music, writing, designing cloth, photography,, graphics and management are all skills I’m blessed with being able to use them in an atmos- phere where everyone gets along and works together to make something positive happen is pretty amazing. This time of the year makes me think of candy and presents and traditions by family long gone to me now, but with every day new and wonderful things are hap- pening to fill my life with exciting challenges I have to smile about and be thankful for.

Its that time of the year, Fall is In this first pic I have featured here. The temperature is cool- two leather jackets that I pur- ing and the leaves of the trees chased from Target. Leather have changed colors. Fall is jackets look great with almost one of my favorite times of the everything. They can add year. Why? you may ask. I love edge, class, and boldness to a wearing earth tones, layering look. I myself have quite a few clothes and rocking fashiona- different shades of leather ble boots. Feeling the cool coats but just covering the ba- breeze and watching leaves sics you should have a least rain from the trees like brightly one black and one brown or colored snowflakes. tan leather jacket. With that being said I want to In this next pic I have featured show you some important Fall two sweaters I purchased at essentials that you will need to my local thrift store. Vintage show to transition your ward- sweaters are in style and ra- robe from Summer to Fall. You ther than going to a store and don't have to buy a whole new paying $30 for a sweater I wardrobe but you want to get a found these two classics for few pieces that you can layer less then $10 combined! with other pieces.

Its that time of the year, Fall is clothes and rocking fashionable here. The temperature is cool- boots. Feeling the cool breeze ing and the leaves of the trees and watching leaves rain from have changed colors. Fall is the trees like brightly colored one of my favorite times of the snowflakes. year. Why? you may ask. I love With that being said I want to wearing earth tones, layering show you some important Fall

essentials that you will need to jackets look great with almost show to transition your ward- everything. They can add edge, robe from Summer to Fall. You class, and boldness to a look. I don't have to buy a whole new myself have quite a few different wardrobe but you want to get a shades of leather coats but just few pieces that you can layer covering the basics you should with other pieces. have a least one black and one brown or tan leather jacket. In this first pic I have featured two leather jackets that I pur- In this next pic I have featured chased from Target. Leather two sweaters I purchased at my

local thrift store. Vintage sweaters are in style and rather than goin to a store and paying $30 for a sweat- er I found these two classics for less then $10 combined! Next we have hats. In the fall I love to wear berets and beanies. Not on- ly do these hats keep you warm but they also make your outfit look trendy. A great time to purchase these hats for super cheap is right when the seasons are about to change. Scarves are a great tool for layering your look for Fall. Scarves can transform a basic outfit into some- thing fun! There are a wide variety of scarves from colors to styles. Be- low I have featured some infinity (Debs) and pashmina scarves (Ny street vendor & thrift store). Now we are moving on to Jewelry!! I love to wear natural, tribal inspired jewelry in Summer and Fall. In the following picture I have featured some of my favorite pieces. Wood

and beads look so great in the Fall. The natural materials, and warm tones fit right in with the season. Most of these pieces were found at Target and the thrift store. No need to find unique high priced stores to pur- chase these pieces anymore. In the Fall I love wearing Jeg- gings and denim. Right now dis- tressed jeans and boyfriend jeans are a great Fall essential. They look great with boots, and flats. I also like to make a state- ment by wearing printed jeans! The distressed and leopard

jeans are from Target, the red leggings are from Wet Seal, the grey and denim jeggings are from Forever 21. Lastly Fall is all about the boots! From ankle booties to riding boots. You will see them on almost everyone. Some many different styles its hard to choose. But since we are covering essentials its always important to have a good pair of leather boots. I would rec- ommend a pair in black or brown because they match with almost everything. Also I recommend a good leather purse. Fringe is in so grab a bag that has some good fringe, it takes the purse to another level of hotness and it completes your outfit! So now that we have covered your Fall essentials I tell you Divas to hit your nearest mall with your checklist and have a blast falling into fashion.

When Fall hits its like a natu- ral instinct to start packing away the Summer clothes. But I'm here to tell you to stop doing that! Just be- cause its getting chilly doesn't mean those Summer clothes can't serve a pur- pose. Its just all about repur- posing the clothing. The key to getting the most out of your clothes is know- ing how to layer. Layering you clothes allows you to have control on how much

skin is exposed and it allows you to get a completely different from a garment that you didn't know held so much potential. In this first picture I'm wearing my Summer screen print T-Shirt and Bodycon skirt. To layer them I paired a leather jacket and a pair of thick tights. Outfit details; Jacket: thrifted Skirt: Forever 21 Shirt: Walmart Shoes: Target Clutch: Top-shop

Another key point is knowing how to transform your Summer pieces into an- other article of clothing. In the next pic- tures I will show you what I mean. In the below pic I show how I trans- formed the Summer skirt into a Fall dress just by pulling the dress up over my chest and belting it. I also paired a cardigan, a pair of tights and knee high boots to layer for warmth. Outfit details; Skirt: Thrifted Cardigan: Target Boots: Debs Crop Top: Charlotte Russe Purse: Ebay

In this next picture I took my black tank top and wore it as a skirt. Since they tank top is very stretchy it was easy for me to wear it as a skirt. I paired it with a leopard print sweater, tights and knee boots Outfit details; Shirt: Forever 21 Tube top/skirt: Walmart Boots: Debs Purse: Ebay

In this last outfit I paired this dress with a black leather jacket, leggings, and a pair of leather boots. Outfit details: Jacket: Thrifted Leggings: Just my size Dress: Dots Shoes: Justfab.com I hope you dolls got some ideals from this article. Warm up those creative juices with a nice hot cup of chai tea and a fresh new outlook on those summer clothes! If you try any of the looks I would love to see them! Just get in contact with me by tagging me in your photos @blackchinabear.

Look created using coastal scents palette. Just used a pink and brown to fill in the eye lid all the way u to the eyebrow. Lined eyes with black liner and applied eyelashes. Wet and Wild \"Don't blink Pink\" on my lips.

Making Those Rac- coon Eyes Vanish By Mimi Wright under your eyes. Dark circles A problem that affects many can happen to all skin types of us is dark circles under the and colors but are most preva- eyes, especially as the busy lent in darker skin types such holiday season approaches. as the deeper Mediterranean Getting 8 hours sleep is not al- skin types, African-American ways the answer to prevent and Southeast Asians. The them or to help them. Most darker skin types have to be people think dark circles are a especially careful not to exac- sign of tiredness, or one too erbate the dark circles with many glasses of wine. While sun exposure. this can be true in some cases Aging, heredity and allergies as fatigue makes your skin also play a part in the dark cir- dull, and drinking alcohol thins cles. As we age, the fragile and dehydrates your skin. skin under our eyes becomes The biggest culprit of dark thinner. This allows the blood circles is excess pigmentation vessels underneath to become

more visible. These blood is the darker the circles ap- vessels are so narrow that pear. red blood cells have to line Genetics plays a major role. up in order to pass through. Like other features that we When blood rushes in, it inherit from our parents, causes some red blood cells dark circles can be passed to leak out of the blood down from generation to vessels causing bruise-like generation. color to appear in our skin. Allergies and nasal conges- We also lose collagen and fat in our under eye area tion causes the veins that drain from the eyes to the leading to a hollowing ef- nose to dilate and darken fect as we age. The deeper the hollow of the under eye causing an appearance of

darkness under the eyes. Al- You only need a small amount lergies can cause nasal con- and pat it into your delicate gestion and puffiness. The eye area skin. shadows that puffy eyes can When eliminating dark circles cast on the under eye area entirely just isn't possible gives the appearance of dark you can also conceal the dark circles. circles. The points to remem- Can we help our dark raccoon ber about concealer are: like rings? Absolutely! Some- Hydrate the area first with a times a simple antihistamine lightweight eye cream and let can do wonders. For those it sit for a moment before ap- who are not sure why they plying concealer. A good rule have the circles there are of thumb is to brush your multiple ways you can help teeth after applying the them. Thickening the under cream. This is the perfect eye skin with products con- amount of time to let it work taining vitamin C or vitamin K it’s wonders on your skin. If can help. B. Kamins Replenish- the eye cream is too heavy ing Eye Cream is one product the concealer can crease. that contains both vitamins. Use a more emollient eye Remember when it comes to cream at night. eye cream – less is more.

Use a creamy formula. Re- The last and best way to member “delicate” is the op- brighten up your face is too timum word when describing SMILE. A brilliant smile your eye area skin. makes any face look rested The color of the concealer and beautiful! must be light enough to cover the dark circles, but not so light that it gives the appear- ance of a white mask around the eyes. Use your ring finger to pat and blend the concealer. Never drag the finger across your skin. Apply concealer in an upside down triangle, the base of the triangle under your lower lashes. This will keep you from having the raccoon ef- fect.

Thanksgiving is a holiday for giv- make your skin look greasy or ing thanks, family, good food and oily in photos. If possible your photographs. Lots of people are foundation should be matte. naturals in front of a camera, re- Touche’ Eclat by YSL is amazing laxed and at ease but for those for under eye shadows, but make who need a little help here are a sure you choose the right shade few tips. for your skin tone as going too Let's start with make-up. I think light can give white rings under the most important thing you can your eyes in photos. Remember do is apply your make-up in natu- to always blend and blend again. ral light if possible as flash pho- In contrast white eye shadow in tography can reveal every little the very inner corners of the flaw you could miss in bad light- eyes will really brighten your ing. eyes. Foundations that can look fabu- Use a yellow tinted powder to set lous for everyday such as those your foundation as shimmering that give your skin a dewy look or translucent powder will also should be avoided, also avoid reflect the light and cause shine. any with shimmer, glitter or SPF. These will reflect the light and

great definition. Even if you normally use brown mascara try black as Finally some tips for posing. A this will make your eyes camera is using reflected light pop in photos. Also consid- to convert a 3D image into a er a very natural strip of 2D image, so things are flat- false lashes; they can really tened and compressed making open the eyes in photos. them look bigger than what they are. Not what we want! Don't skip on blush or lip- So what do we do? First, stick you need contrast but don’t look straight at the cam- not too much. Also contour- era lens. Looking straight will ing under your cheekbones show the fullness of your face, with a matte bronzer gives instead turn your face slightly to the side (as demonstrated in photo above) this creates natural highlights and shad- ows slimming the shape of your face. Photographs also look best when you look slight- ly above or under the camera lens which stops the red eyed look. Facing the camera straight on does the same to your body as it does to your face. Your body

If sitting for the photo turn so that the camera is at the side ra- ther than right in front of you. The light should always be in front and not behind which would cause the photo to be very dark. With all this in mind the best tip is just to relax and enjoy your day and that genuine happiness will become flattened in the will come across in photos you photo so a shot from the front will treasure will show you from the widest angle and make you look extra round. Turn 3/4 to show your Happy Thanksgiving body from an angle and create love, shadows and depth in your pose. In order to create the il- Lola lusion of a smaller sleeker body, lean into photos slightly with your head slightly more forward. Also avoid standing under an overhead light, which can create shadows under your eyes and be very unflat- tering.

This look was created using the BH cosmetics 2nd edition 120 col- or palette. Brow bone highlight is gold I used a brown that is one shade darker than my skin tone as my transition color Applied gold from inner tear duct to the middle of my eyelid. I covered the other half of my eyelid in green. Smoked out the out- er corner with black using a fluffy blending brush. Repeated these steps on my lower lid. Lined eyes with black eyeliner and applied false lashes.

Stationary Nails ble from stores such as This time we are looking at Staples or a drugstore. the use of a few different stationery items, which you Halfmoon Manicure (or Re- verse French manicure) Tu- probably have in your house to torial. create lovely effects on your nails. You'll need: Base coat, 2 different colors of polish- We will start with punch rein- forcements. These are availa- es, round reinforcements, top coat (or you can use the same product you used for your base coat), nail polish remover, nail art polish cleaner & corrector pen (or you can just use Q-tips) to clean up your cuticles. Step 1 - Apply your base coat and let it dry. Then

Stationary Nails paint 1-2 layers of the light polish and let it dry. If you wish, you could inverse one of rest of my nails. your nails for an accent nail – but in this manicure example, I am going to do a French manicure on my accent nail and the half moon manicure on the

Step 2 - When all nails are Step 5 - Apply top coat once properly dry, apply the rein- dry and clean up the cuticles forcements. Press firmly with some nail polish remover down on the sides too. You and the corrector pen/Q-tip. can cut it to make them stick Notice the ‘ACCENT’ nail on better on the sides. the ring finger where I Step 3 - Next paint the nail placed the round reinforce- with the darker color. Step ments close to my nail tip 4 - Remove the reinforce- where the color has been re- ment immediately after versed. you’ve done one hand; do not This is the half moon mani- wait for the nail polish to dry cure and the French manicure first. on my accent finger.

Using the Naked eye shadow palette by Urban Decay Brow bone highlight: Virgi Transition Color: Buck Inner tear duct: a mix of Sin and Sidecar Outer corner: Hustle and on top of Hustle I added Gunmetal to smoke out the eye shadow. Lined top lid with L'Oreal Liner intense liquid eyeliner in black.

Bling-Bling Earrings and Necklaces Jewelry is – next to clothes – a woman’s way to make a statement! We love the Bling Bling, don’t we? It not only enhances our best features and brightens up our faces and bust, but can also bring to life any outfit. I want to show you a small part of my collection and introduce you to some jewelry “wisdom”: Less is more It only takes one piece of jewelry to make your whole outfit stand out! The key here is to keep it simple, less is more. My favorite earrings are the Chandelier type ones – the longer the better! That is quite a bold move, don’t you think? Well yes, I do agree. The main rule to go with here is to NOT overdo it. If you are wearing long earrings, don’t wear a necklace, it will just be too much and look over-crowded. You can still play with length, color, pattern, etc. Big jewelry is always best worn with simple clothes – no busy, too color- ful patterns. You want your piece to stand out, so you need to match items wisely. One of the rules is that with big earrings you usually wear just a bold ring or bracelet, same goes with wearing a bold necklace.



It’s all about the overall bal- ance! If you are really bold or want to bring a clear statement across, you can add some- thing to the earrings to make it POP, but I wouldn’t recom- mend this for everyday er- rands. It’s more of an evening thing or something for private parties, Halloween, etc. I can give you an example of my “Flower Power” outfit: Let’s mix it up If you are not a fan of big ear- rings, you can always go small- er and add necklaces. The first and main problem with them is the neckline. You have to wear the right necklace shape to the appro- priate neckline of the clothes you are wearing. Also you don’t want to wear statement earrings with necklaces, but smaller or even tiny

ones. Be aware to always match the fabrics, metals and colors though! Necklaces are wonderful to show off our necks. Be aware thought that you might want to go for bolder pants or skirts while wearing neck- laces like these. But don’t be afraid to go full out in colors and patterns, as long as your outfit is allowing it. In the end… Nobody can tell you what the BEST jewelry is. It is your own prefer- ence. But as long as you follow the couple of rules mentioned here you are good to go. Enjoy the Bling’s ladies!

Okie’s homemade jewelry It was just an old bag of beads at a yard sale, someone had thrown it out as useless and my grandmother gave it to me with the hope that I might do some- thing with it. I did not disap- point her. It has become a loved hobby that I truly enjoy doing. At one time I sold my jewelry in NC, but the shop is now out of business but now I selling through my Facebook page and upcoming website. Please follow the link to my Facebook page so you can check out my posting of day to day ‘proud mom’ moments and links to my website where you can buy and find order in- formation. https://www.facebook.com/ http:// okiearthandmadejewel- ry.weebly.com/



I suppose I would have to say that my talent is an ability to connect with people. Except for a few agoniz- ing years as a teenager, I have always been an outgoing person who rarely meets a stranger. I can generally find something to like about almost anyone and I am always willing to give a friend or a new acquaintance the benefit of the doubt. It is my goal in life to leave every person that I meet, whether it is through my writing, my art, my job or just by chance, feeling better about their day and themselves.

It took a while for me to develope or should I say understand my gifts. I always thought that I didn't have any. I never felt special because of that. It wasn't until I was in high school that I started to discover my gifts. I tell you teenage angst brings out the best in you. Through my pain I discovered my ability to write and draw. I found such an amazing release through these gifts. As a adult I discovered other gifts. Now in joy I dance every week at my church. I have also discov- ered my talents as a makeup artist and hair stylist. Also in fashion lol. It goes to show you, never think less of yourself because of your current situation. You never know what the future holds! I'm grateful for my talents and the doors that they have opened. Thank you God for blessing me!

Welcome to All, I'd like to re- introduce you to your car tires. Why “re-introduce?” Simply put, anyone who has a car knows about tires... but how much do you really know? Many people have experienced a flat tire blowout rendering you vulnerable at the side of some ran- dom freeway/highway, but don't know how to locate the spare, or how to get the tire off. Maybe you don't know where the car jack is located (wait, there's a jack in this car?!), how much air should be in your tires, the list goes on. Don't worry, I can help!

Did you know that air pressure in your tires can affect your gas mileage? Yes, it's that important. The first and best thing you can do is look at your vehicle's Owner Manual. This will tell you all the basics of your vehicle, including some things I will mention here. To find what amount of air you should have is almost always on a sticker inside the driver-side door (yes, that's why there's a sticker there!). The measurement of air is in PSI (Pounds per Square Inch). The pressure can be checked by a Tire Pressure Gauge, very cheap to buy and is available at many stores, in- cluding gas stations. Also, most gas stations have one of these gauges built into the air nozzle you fill the tires from. I'm using my van in this example, which [Dodge] recom- mends is filled to 36 PSI per tire. In my experience, I know I only need to have it filled to around 32-34 on

regular in-town driving when size with a penny so you know I'm by myself. Oh, and don't how worn your tires are. If the forget to check the air in tread disappears to become a your spare! Pressure too low, “bald” tire, there's a good chance less MPG (miles per gallon) that tire is going to fall apart. you get. Pressure too high, it will wear out the tread faster. Now that I've given you all the basic information for your tires, Speaking of the tread: Penny there's an important trick you will for your thoughts! No, seri- need to know when removing and ously, you can test your tread installing your tires during chang- es and rotations: Your lug nuts. Al- ways use a lug wrench (I prefer a Star Lug Wrench as shown in the starting photo) that is the perfect size for your car's lugs. If it's even a little bit loose on that bolt, it can strip the sides, and you will never get the lug nut out! Also, do not remove the lugs one next to the other. Instead, loosen/tighten one, then go the one across from that, nd then the one across from the 2 one, and so on. That's all the basics I have for you this time. I hope you learned something new, and please let me know if any of you have questions about anything I mentioned here. Thanks for reading, and drive safe!

For as long as I can remember I have had a desire to take care of and help other people. It's hard to think of a child wanting to take care of someone ,but I did. It wasn't just helping other people, it was being able to feel like I was needed as well. I have a real pas- sion for wanting to support and make people feel good about them- selves, especially women of size. Thankfully while my siblings are artists, and musicians ,I am a writer. With my words i can do what i love, and as a college student majoring in Psychology, i can expand the degree of help and encouragement i can offer. This is my time to reach out to my family ,and as many people as possible, and i could not be more grateful for that opportunity. No matter how hard life may get, it is always good to be living.

Simply put, push ups are a great benefit to your muscle well-being. The best part is, you can modify them in many ways to fit your needs! Here are the traditional steps: Starting position here, referred to as push up position, plank, and front -lean rest (for you military folks). You want to keep your back and legs as straight as possible. Hint: It helps if you tighten your gluts and abs. Keeping your body straight, drop your body down until parallel to the ground (basically, as close to the ground you can get without touch- ing). Again, you will want to keep your gluts and abs tight so your body stays straight. This is important so you prevent bad form, which can cause injury. Lastly, push your body back up to the start, and your done! Now just repeat as many times as you can! You remember I mentioned modification? No problem. So a common modification is to do them on your knees instead of your feet, espe- cially if you haven't done them before or are recovering from an injury. If that's still too hard, you can use the same form and steps, but use a door or wall instead of the floor. As you get better at this and can do more, you can even make it fun by say, challenging your spouse, or even your kids! Remember, the more often you practice these, the more you will be able to do, and the stronger you will make your abs, chest, upper back, shoulders, biceps and triceps. It strengthens the chest and arms more than anything, but yes, it affects all of those areas in a good way.

Thanks for reading, see you next month!

There are so many “new “ways of eating how do we know where to even start? Let’s see there is fat free, sugar free, gluten free, low carb, no carb, carb cycling, Paleo, clean eating whew is your head spinning because mine is. Let’s take a brief look at some of these so you can make the best choice for you. Fat Free: Fat free means that there is less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving. You need to remember what they take out in fat they usually make up for in sugar. Sugar Free: Sugar free means no re- fined sugars have been added; again you need to be careful because they have to make up the flavor somehow so that is either with added fat or sweeten- ers which can be both natural and artifi- cial. Gluten Free: A gluten free diet is a diet that contains no gluten, gluten is a pro- tein complex that is found in things like wheat, barley and rye.

Low Carb: This one can be a little tricky since people forget all carbs are not the same limiting yourself to only a certain number of carbs per day could mean that you are not eating the fruits and veggies you should. Limiting com- plex carbs like bread is a smart idea but don’t just look at a label see the carbs and think “YIKES too many carbs for me!” Carb Cycling: This one is a cycle as the name states so it is low/ no carb mixed with high carb. So for example you do 4 days low/no carbs then 2 days of high carbs then 3 days low/no carbs 1 day of high and so on. The idea behind this is to keep your metabolism working hard to drop weight and build mus- cle.

which is right for you? Talk to your doctor, do your own re- search and try different things until you find what works for you. I have chosen to go clean eating so my rule of thumb when grocery shopping is to stick to the outsides of the Paleo: Also called “The Cave- man Diet”, going back to the ways of eating like our ances- tors did. They eat mainly fish, grass fed pasture raised beef, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots and nuts and exclude grains, dairy, potatoes, refined salts and sugars and pro- cessed oils Clean Eating: This is eating foods as close to their natural state as you can get them. Eat- ing fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. So now that you have a very brief idea of some of the ways of eating how do you pick

store only and don’t be afraid of herbs and spices. If I said to you “Hay so you are going to be eating chicken/fish and salad or vegetables every night “ that would not sound like too much fun , but if I told you tonight was habanera and peach marinated chicken on a bed of baby spinach with zucchini chips it sounds exciting . Make your food exciting just because it is clean eating doesn’t mean it has to be boring and bland. I challenge you to make a menu for the week, have fun with it! Planning your meals is half the battle so let’s go into next week armed! This is a simple brown rice cooked in turmeric tur- key meat balls ( filled with herbs) and a sauce made with fresh tomatoes , onion and herbs . Quick , simple , clean and yum- my!! This one is a no bake cookie , natural peanut butter , pro- tein powder , honey and oats again simple , clean and hits the spot!

I can see you now your head is stay active etc. Next you ask swimming you want to work out yourself how much time do you at home but which workout is have to dedicate to working out good for you. There are so (there is no point buying a 60 min many choices it can get over- program if you only have 30 whelming very fast. minutes a day to use it). Next are you looking to target one specific area of your body? What equip- Here are some questions you ment do you have or are comfort- need to ask yourself. What are able using? How long do you you looking for? Are you look- want to dedicate to one pro- ing to lose weight, tone up, gram? Lastly what do you like to do? Are you a dancer or like box- ing or lifting weights etc.? So now you have your check list you have decided (for example) you want to lose weight and tone up in fewer than 30 minutes a day using little to no equipment and you like fast paced high energy. Fantastic that was the hard part! Now we have to find the perfect

program for you , you have had your list, talk to your friends, friends at work tell you about do your research. Working Shaun T ( maker of Hip Hop out should not be a chore it Abs , Rocking Body and Insani- should be fun something you ty to name a few) you have look forward to doing daily. seen him on You Tube and like I challenge you to make your his energy, a quick search later list to find your perfect pro- you find he has Focus T25 , that’s it 25 minutes a day 5 gram and tell me what you days a week , high energy , fast picked! I want to hear from paced , little to no equipment you, we are all on this journey BOOM everything from your list to get healthy looks like you just found the perfect program for you! Why is it important to find the perfect program? You have a greater chance of sticking to it and being successful if you find the perfect program. Get out your pen and paper and make What are you waiting for? TAKE THE CHALLENGE



None of us want to put on those holiday pounds so let’s work together not to! Here goes everyday this month let us all make an effort to do something , 10 squats for every potato you cook , 30 second wall sit for every tablespoon of butter you add to your menu , 15 pushups for every spoonful of sugar , 15 jumping jacks for using a creamy dressing. Are you getting where I am going here? We all know getting healthy is 80% in the kitchen but during the holidays a lot of us slip into old habits and family favorites that carry over usually until New Years eek! This year let’s “pay” for our little indulgences and not with added weight but with added movements! Another good way is to join a 30 day challenge , I am doing the squat challenge this month here is a basic break down day one we started with 20 , 5 are added each day do today I was up to 80 they do not have to be done at once but they have to be done in one day. It is a great way to keep you ac- countable! Get your family involved to we have compe- titions and the kids know if they want a treat they need to earn it, we all have fun and stay active. I want to hear from you, are you going to take the challenge?

I thank God that I found my gift early in life! Playing with makeup is fun for most little girls but for me it was a passion. I loved the way you could transform your face into someone you don’t rec- ognize in the mirror. As I got older I realized that I wanted professional training and went to Esthetics School to learn about skin and makeup. I had found my calling! Making women and men feel better about their skin and helping them to look their best satisfies my soul. We are all beautiful works of art by God, but some need some help to see them- selves in the best light! I like to help people and have always been very good with children and young people. I was once told that I had the gift of helps, wasn’t really sure what that meant, but I was told it was a good thing/ I do know that I usually am in the beginning of something helping to get it started helping to get the ball rolling and making sure everything goes the way it’s supposed to go I love planning parties and making incredible events happen and enjoy knowing that I was a part of a surprise. I am thankful for the leadership abilities and musical tal- ent I’ve been given and enjoy using them when I can.