It can be so overwhelming when you first start to switch the products you use to products with cleaner ingredients; but I think it's such an important thing to focus on because it can have such an impact on your health!

The two ways that I go about checking to see how "clean" the ingredients are in products are by using the Think Dirty app (so easy to use!) or by looking up the product/individual ingredients on the EWG.org website.

1. Think Dirty app

Download it for free onto your phone. You can then go ahead and either scan the barcode on your products or look up the product in their search form. They will list each ingredient in the product and show the cleanliness rating for each (their scale is on a 0-10. 0 =very clean 10= very dirty).

You can save your products to your "bathroom shelf" in the app. If there's a product that has a high rating that you're wanting to see what you can switch it to, then after scanning, you can click on the tabs above the ingredients list to "Our Picks" and they will show you clean products to choose from! You can even shop for them through the app too. It's so easy to navigate & use!

I've been using this app for years now! Anytime I'm in the store looking for any products, I pull out my phone, open this app and scan away!

Here's an example of how to easily scan a product to see its' rating: 

2. EWG.org website

This website is great for looking up individual ingredients in products! They don't have a database of products as big as the Think Dirty app, so I mainly use this website to search individual ingredients in a product to see the ratings and they give information on the ingredients as well. Their rating is very similar to Think Dirty (0-10 scale).


I hope these two sources will help you on your journey of switching to cleaner products! If you have any questions, comment below or message me on instagram :) 

I've been trying to get my lashes to naturally grow longer and they needed a boost! Eyelash and brow serums can get so expensive! So this is a great alternative for those wanting to save the money - and this bottle lasts for SO LONG. All you need are two things!

DIY Natural Lash & Brow Serum

100% Pure & Natural Eyelash Serum - it comes with the little brushes and mascara wands!
Lavender Essential Oil  

Just add 10 drops of Lavendar Essential Oil to the bottle of lash serum and you're done! You can brush the serum on your eyelashes and brows every night or twice a day if you'd like.

If you'd like, you can find empty mascara bottles to put it in!

Over the past year and a half I have been switching to better skincare products and actually caring about a skincare routine. The results?! My skin has literally never been better!! Seriously my friends. I'm proud to say that I rarely breakout anymore. And when I do, it's because I'm slacking on these three things in my skincare routine: moisturizing creams & serum.

1. MILK CREME 

Your skin NEEDS moisture and those nutritious vitamins. For the past almost 2 years, I have used the Maskcara Beauty Milk Moisturizer  and ohhh myyy goodnessss, I wake up every morning with super soft even-toned skin. I've tried so many different moisturizers and haven't ever come across one that I love as much as this one. It has Vitamins A and E along with alpha-hydroxy lactic acid to help penetrate the skin's surface and release dead skin cells. It also is amazing for helping to reduce fine lines and wrinkles! (who doesn't want that?!) I also love that it is a thicker cream, but doesn't FEEL thick and greasy! It does such a good job of soaking into your skin quickly.

Tip with this moisturizer: it's perfect for dry skin conditions, sunburns or damaged skin as well as scar tissue and stretch marks.

2. Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil

Don't be scared away by oils, especially if you already have more oily skin! Pure oils are SO GOOD for your skin and can soak in really well when your face is primed for them (freshly clean!). I've been using this oil for a year now and have seen such a difference in my skin - not as red, youthful and I haven't been breaking out! 

If you don't want to splurge on it right away, I love that they have FREE SAMPLES on their website! They're cute little travel sizes and perfect for testing it out before buying. You only have to pay $5 shipping for TWO FREE SAMPLES! So cool that they do that and the Vitamin C Rose Oil sample lasted me for about 3 months, using a few drops every night.

3. Squalane + Omega Repair Cream

Since this is a lighter moisturizing cream, I love to use it every morning! Especially after I shower and my face feels dry. It soaks in quickly so I can even put my makeup on shortly after.



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I have a code for $15 off your first Biossance purchase for my readers!! 
CLICK HERE for the coupon!

This month I've been doing the Declutter Challenge - spending at least 30mins a day decluttering areas of my home! I've been posting on my instagram tips and before/after photos - so follow along there for reminders, motivation and to get yourself going! ;)

i drink smoothies every morning and this has become one of my favorites! it gets that chocolate craving satisfied without any chocolate in it (okay, besides the chocolate flavored protein powder) ;)

it has all you need to stay full for hours!

You probably won't believe this, but this was my FIRST time ever going to Hawaii! And it did NOT disappoint. We brought our two littles along and also kevin's parents (also their first time!). We rented an Airbnb which was perfect for us! It was in Hau'ula (near North Shore) which was a good spot for us as a home base.

I can't believe it's been almost a year since we traveled to France! It was a 14 day trip (sans kids!!) with my brother and sister in law. We had such a fun time! I think France in May was perfect weather and good timing for avoiding the high tourist season. We scored an amazing deal on our roundtrip tickets (only $408 each!) We decided that we wanted to take the 14 days to fully experience all parts of France, with one exception of visiting Geneva, Switzerland for a day - which I wish we had planned one extra day for that but oh well, we'll just have to travel back there ;)

I was on a journey last year for finding a good makeup routine and products that i loved and felt beautiful with! i went from deciding to not wear make up at all, or at least very minimal amounts and i did the false lashes... but i just never totally felt like myself and my confidence wasn't the best. i wasn't excited about getting ready for the day and i didn't feel very beautiful (which i'll tell you, that's NOT a good way to start every day!)
Come the summer time, i started seeing more and more people i knew become artists for Maskcara Beauty and they all radiated! i was drawn to the simplicity of the makeup, how customizable and compact it was and that someone would actually find the time to come and color match me (i was SO tired of wasting money on makeup and trying different brands).

last month i traveled with some girl friends to Bali for a girls trip! our husbands get to go on a guys trip at the end of the summers for work. the past several years they've gone to hawaii and this year was to the dominican republic, so we figured us ladies deserved our own girls trip! ;) we ended up finding an awesome groupon deal to BALI and figured, why not go?! go big or stay home, am i right?!

While visiting our friends in baltimore, we decided to take a little drive to Annapolis one evening. i wish we had more time to spend there, but with the time we had, it was enjoyable.

 no one warned me about how quickly time flies with the second kid! i seriously cannot believe my little baby jace is just a few days shy of 6 months!

we thought colsen was a pretty easy baby, but jace is literally the easiest kiddo ever. we are so blessed! he brings such a light and joy into our home and we all love him so much.
Here's some pictures of Jace over the last 6 months :)

With this pregnancy, I found out that I had gestational diabetes. I didn't have it with my first pregnancy, so that was quite a set back for me this time around. In the end, it wasn't that bad; if anything, it helped me to eat healthier and not give in to my sweet tooth :) I felt healthier this pregnancy because of it and i didn't gain as much weight as i did with colsen. With gestational diabetes, the baby tends to be bigger and gain more weight. I made sure to keep my blood sugar regulated, but throughout the pregnancy, he was measuring 2 weeks ahead. It really had me worried that I wouldn't be able to do a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and throughout my pregnancy i was very nervous about how the birth would go and i REALLY didn't want another c-section.

The last couple weeks before he was born, he wasn't measuring bigger than the weeks I was at, so that gave me hope. This pregnancy, I was having braxton hicks contractions a TON which I didn't experience with my first. At my 36 week appointment, I had my cervix checked and I was already dilated 1cm and effaced more than 50%. That really motivated me to do all I could to get the ball rolling for an early delivery (since i was scared if i went to 40 weeks, he would be a big baby, most likely bigger than colsen was and he was 8lbs 4oz). I went on long walks and was on my feet most of the day. I used clary sage essential oil on my belly to hopefully help my braxton hicks to kick into gear ;) My OB said that the two most effective ways to get labor going is sex and getting your membranes stripped; so of course i/we checked those off the list!

I went to my 37 week appointment praying that i had made some progress and sure enough, i was almost all effaced and 2 cm dilated!! So the doctor stripped my membranes again and that night we got to it haha! Later that night, my contractions started to become more and more painful, waking me up a few times. I got up around 4:30 and went to the bathroom, then went back in bed. Then about an hour later I woke up because my contractions were getting more painful and I was feeling it more in my back and lower part of my belly. Kevin woke up to use the restroom and i told him that I kept having consistent and painful contractions. He said that he had woken up because of a bad dream about a dam breaking and he was trying to save us, etc. Then he said, wouldn't that be funny if it was a foreshadow of your water breaking? We laughed about it and laid back down to go to sleep. I started wondering if I should be timing my contractions. At that moment, my water broke! I told kevin and we laughed thinking about his dream. My sister Elise was in town staying with us, so we woke her up to tell her that we were heading to the hospital. I called my other sister, Stephanie, to tell her my water broke and she excitedly headed to the hospital to take photos/video of the birth.

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images taken by Camilia Lund Photography
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one of my good friends asked me to design a printable of this scripture to hang in her house. i loved it so much that i printed it off my computer and framed it for myself! i thought i'd share the love so that anyone can do the same. it's such a great reminder that our hearts and doings should always be in the right place - full of charity, which is the pure love of Christ.

download the free printable here

a couple weeks ago we went on vacation to Destin, FL and my goodness, I don't think beaches can be any better than there! the sand felt like you were walking on flour and it looked like sugar. seriously, the prettiest sand i've ever seen! we stayed in a house right on the beach with kevin's brother's family and his parents. colsen LOVED being around his cousins and enjoyed playing in the sand and the water. we pretty much lived on the beach for the 5 days since it was just right out the back door. i loved visiting destin. i definitely would want to go back!

on june 23rd, my baby turned ONE! we had a small birthday party to celebrate - mainly family with some friends there. we made a little cake for colsen to smash in to... which was hilarious because he didn't want to get his hands dirty! he liked the frosting and licked them off a little, but other than that, he kept trying to fling the frosting off his hands. which ended up on the kitchen floor and walls...