^..^Pin-Up Kitten^..^

Betty Lou - the Pin-Up

I love genealogy, it's one of my favorite pass times. I am very much into my family history and I've done a lot of work on my ancestry tree. The members in my family know how much I love it and have kindly sent me boxes of photos, documents, newspaper articles, year books, locks of hair (!), etc. I've been able to get pretty far on my family tree with a lot of the information I've received.

Some of my favorite photos I've received are these pin-up pictures my grandma (my dad's mom) took for my grandpa who was in WWII. They were the cutest couple, married 64 years (would have been longer if he hadn't passed away in 2006). They were always so in love and very inspiring. Anyway, since I love all things pin-up I just had to share these pictures of my grandma, Betty Lou! The year was 1945, she had just had her first born Johnny, and her husband was in WWII. They were to have two more boys over the years. The youngest is my dad, James.

Betty Lou with her first born, Johnny.

Acting... My New Career?

Hi everyone!!

So, I'm really bad at blogging... I just don't keep up with it. But, I figure since I have some new things going on in my life I might as well talk about it. This is somewhat of a diary for me and a way to get out my thoughts!

As most of you know, I'm a stay-at-home mom to almost 4 year old twins. I LOVE my job! It's the best and I feel so lucky that I get to stay home with them. London is on the autism spectrum and goes to preschool, but Lyla won't be starting preschool until August. I had been going to school myself in my "free time" and I just recently graduated with my degree!!

Now that I'm done with school and have one child in preschool and soon to be my other child in preschool, I have been feeling like I have a little more time for ME. A few months back I came across a post on facebook from the Breaking Bad page that they were going to have a casting call to be an extra on the set of Breaking Bad (which films here in Albuquerque). I thought 'how fun would that be to just stand around on a cool set watching all the magic happen?'. Well, I kind of put it out of my mind for a little while. I caught an episode of BB a few weeks later and it reminded me about that post, so I decided on a whim to send an email asking what's involved in being an extra. I got a reply asking if I could send them my head shots. I was like a head what? lol... A little background on me: I've never really sought out the entertainment/hollywood business. I did a lot of plays and skits at church growing up. I was always an angel in the nativity or had some other small role. I did a video monologue for a friend of mine (who is now a big time, award winning director!), and in high school I did drama class and became a thespian. But it was never anything I really saw myself doing. The people in my drama class kind of turned me off about acting - they were very... well for lack of a better word, dramatic! I was always more interested in computers and administration/desk work. I'm also pretty sensitive and thin skinned and I know how hard those auditions probably are and all the rejection that comes with trying to make it as an actor. I also see the celebrities that are pounded down and criticized in the media and I'm just not cut out for that type of life in the limelight. I also have a bit of stage-fright and the thought of auditioning in front of people makes me a little sick!

Anyway, fast forward to today and I think about how fun just kind of being in the background on a TV show would be. They ask if I have head shots and I obviously don't. Well it just so happens I'm about to take a trip to AZ with a bunch of good mommy friends of mine. One of the mom's that is going is a photographer (amazeballs photog) that offered to take fun pics of us if we want them at a discounted price (boudoir style). So I signed up because I knew she's awesome and I really wanted to get some pics of me while I'm still young! The two things literally happened within days of each other, so I asked the photog if she knew anything about head shots. She offered to do those for me as well! So, I went ahead with it and got them done at an amazingly good deal.

I get home from my trip and get my head shots emailed to me and decide to go ahead and send them in to the casting people whose email I originally got asking to be an extra on BB. She tells me that they just wrapped BB (oops, too late!) but that she would love to have me come audition to be a stand in for the new movie Transcendence with Johnny Depp. I'm like, say what?! LOL. I have no knowledge of stand in's. But she tells me about it and I do some googling and figure I could at least try. I thought about not going and blowing the whole thing off but a big part of my curiosity told me to just go for fun and see what it's like. Well, I was so glad I did. Everyone was so nice and the energy was really positive. I got to see where they're filming the movie and all the cameras and lighting and all that fun stuff. It was exciting! I didn't get the stand-in role because the girl, Kate Mara, is 5'3 and I'm 5'6, a good 3 inch difference! Not sure why they even had me come in, but it was fun nonetheless.

Well, things just kept happening from there. I kept getting emails from casting directors to come in for parts. One guy asked if I would come do a part on the show Longmire on A&E which films in Santa Fe. I decided to go, and again had such a blast! I'm part of this debate team and I sit right next to the podium. I got to work with Robert Taylor and Lou Diamond Phillips and Katie Sackoff - all of whom are SO nice! My dad loves that show, so he was very excited. I have since started recording it, and I like it too! I'm excited to see my scenes!

After I did that first job (and got paid! I didn't even know you get paid for these things!), the offers just kept coming. I got another job and another and now I think I've done about 4 scenes on Longmire. It's been SO fun!!! Some of the days are really, really long and tiring with a ton of standing around or walking the same path 100 times in a row. But overall, I have really enjoyed this. I'll be working on it again this Thursday. I've also been getting offers for print ads for casinos or things like that, but I haven't responded to those. I even got an email asking if I'd do a tourism commercial for Ruidoso. I'm just not really looking to be a star or anything, so nothing of that has really caught my fancy... *yet*. And I don't want this to become work. As soon as it stops being fun, I'll be done. But I'm not going to be closed minded about any new opportunities that may come my way, who knows I may end up doing something I'd really enjoy!

I don't really see this being my new career; mostly for the reasons stated above, but I'm really loving the experience in the meantime. I enjoy getting out and working with adults and just doing something fun that is for me. The atmosphere is great and I find the whole process of making a TV show really interesting.

Anyway, so look for me on the show Longmire! I have long bright blonde hair, so I should be somewhat easy to spot! :)

XOXO - Tara

Hi Everyone!!

Hi friends!

I have not written on this blog for over a year!! Oops!

I've been very busy with school and raising my two very active preschoolers! They keep me busy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Just wondering, does anyone have any ideas for a topic? Would people like to see a makeup post or recent purchases? I could share some more homemade body scrub recipes? I guess I'm just plum out of things to talk about right now!

Just for fun, I will post a dress that I am DYING TO OWN!!! It's ModCloth (of course!) and I absolutely adore it! Now, if I could only magically have an extra $138 lying around! lol

I'm excited to start the new year. Upon the new year comes reflections of the year past.
Life should slow down a bit now and it's a good time to reflect on the person I am, the person I WANT to be, and the goals I have set for myself. I refuse to call them "resolutions", because that seems to make them so fleeting, but I think it's a good time to reflect and renew my goals.
I reviewed my goals for this past year, and I actually held up pretty well on them. The eating less sweets thing was a struggle, and towards the end of the year it went out the window. :/
I added a goal for myself last March that I wanted to go back to school and finish getting my degree. I think I talked about it in another post. Anyway, I went back and I just got my final grades for the fall semester... I got 3 A's! I'm really happy about that! It was not easy to balance being a stay-at-home mom of two toddlers with going to school, but I worked hard at it and it paid off! My mom and my mother-in-law took turns watching the kids while I was in class, and I couldn't have done it without their support. So, that leads me to my first goal:

1) Get my Associate's Degree

I never cared about school in the past, never tried, never worked hard at it. I didn't see the benefits, I was young and just didn't care. And if it was hard I just gave up. In fact I think it's safe to say I hated school. Well, time goes by and you change and grow up and learn what you really want in life. Well at least that's what happened for me. Now, I actually really enjoy school. I'm in a whole new mindset about learning and working towards a goal, so school is easier for me than it ever was before. I completely determined and that really helps. I registered for Spring classes, and I'll be taking 4 classes this time, so I really hope it all goes well. I should have about two more semesters and then I'll have my degree!

As for my second goal... For Christmas, I gave out a lot of sugar scrubs that I made (I did a post about one) and they were a HUGE hit, so I'm thinking of selling them on Etsy! A new venture for a new year? Possibly. I really love making hair flowers and hair bows, but it's really hard to sell them and get them out there with SO many being sold on Etsy. I'm just one in hundreds of thousands that sell hair bows on Etsy. I'll probably still make them for facebook and for friends and family though, since they seem to be selling well that way. So my next goal is:

2) Broaden my hobbies

Things like selling sugar scrubs and hair bows gives me something to do in my free time (which isn't much, but still) and like I said, it's fun for me.
I'd also like to possibly learn how to knit or crochet, but I'm not sure if I'll ever get the time to actually sit and learn.
I've gotten back into reading. I'm reading the Hunger Games right now and it's awesome! I'd like to read at least 10 books this year. Which may not be much to most people, but for me it's a lot!
(Geek alert!!!) My recent Astronomy class has reignited my love flame for Astronomy. I have always loved all things space for as long as I can remember. When I was like 6 I put stars and planets all over my ceiling in my bedroom which I kept up until I moved out at 18, lol. Anytime anything about space or the universe comes on TV I'm glued. So, I'd like to get further into it just by learning more about it. I just got a telescope so I'd like to learn more about the constellations and where things are just by naked eye observation.

My third goal is basically ALWAYS a goal of mine...

3) Be Healthy!

I was doing SO well for so long and then come October I got really, really lax on exercising and eating healthy. It caught up to me, I think I gained about 6 lbs. Which isn't much really, but I hate it. I hate feeling tired and worn down from not eating right. And when I don't exercise I feel the effects. My jeans are too tight, which is completely unacceptable for me. I refuse to buy clothes in bigger sizes. Someone said it so well once, I can't remember who, but she said "I don't alter clothes to fit my body. I alter my body to fit the clothes I want." That's so how I feel, lol. So, I really have to get back into the swing of things. I need to get back on my treadmill and start doing runs again everyday. And I have to watch the sweets. I get carried away snacking on candy and cookies.

My fourth goal is a new one for me, lol...

4) Less "party-time" girl.

With all the holiday and birthday parties, I tend to get into party mode. Times have slowed down and I'd like to spend less time in party (drinking) mode and more time in quiet/spiritual reflection mode. We had been consistently going to church every week, and then the colds started, and then the parties started, and one thing led to the next and we missed like 5 or 6 weeks in a row. I start to lose focus and tend to forget who I am and who I want to be. I do not want to be the girl that parties too hard or drinks too much and tries to act 21 when I'm not. Cleary I'm not. I'm thrity freaking three now!! I can't hang with the big dogs like I used to be able to still function well the next day. Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT above a glass of wine every now and then. Mama's got to have her Moscato!! :)

And finally...

5) Spend more time teaching and doing activities with London and Lyla.

When LL were babies I spent a lot of time on flash cards, books, and other teaching tools because they would just kind of sit there fully attentive so I felt like it was a good time to do so. Along with playing with them of course. Now that they're toddlers, they are totally their own little people with their own little schedules and agendas. They are so good at playing independently that I have to wiggle my way in sometimes to be included. Since they're not going to preschool this year (maybe next year? I'm not sure yet), I'd like to get in more activities and teaching tools. Thanks to pinterest, and various other toddler activity websites, I've found a lot of fun, creative activities to do with them and I'd like to put those to action. Lyla is SO smart and longs for challenges and learning new things. London is SO active and practically a music genius that I know he'd benefit from a lot of new activities also, especially involving music or lights.

Well, that's about it for now. It's nice to have my goals written out so that I will see them and hopefully stick to them! I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC 2012!! May all your wishes and dreams come true this year!! XOXO

I have always been a huge fan of body scrubs, whether they be sugar or salt. I always love a good exfoliant!! I've been a fan of LUSH body scrubs and I've used many different other types over the years as well.

Well, with the help of Pinterest, I found a peppermint sugar body scrub recipe of which I tweaked and made my own. I didn't want to write about it until I had perfected it, and used it and got the results I wanted. I've been playing with the recipe for about 2 weeks now and I have to say that it's AMAZE-BALLS. I love it soooo much! I will never spend $$$ on high priced body scrubs ever again.

Being the generous person I am ;), I decided to share my recipe. I have bottled it up and am going to give it out to some friends for Christmas! I know that I would LOVE to receive a peppermint sugar body scrub during the holidays!! And the whole process is actually really easy!

Using this recipe, I was able to scoop all of it into about 4, 4-5oz jars. So it makes about 16-20 oz worth of scrub. :)

What you need:

Medium sized mixing bowl and spoon

3 cups of white granulated sugar

1 cup of *Sunflower Oil

15 drops of peppermint **essential oil. You can substitute the peppermint for lavender, eucalyptus, mandarin, vanilla, etc. I used peppermint because I feel it ties in well with the holidays.

Optional: Vitamin e squeezed from capsules. I took about 5 vitamin e capsules and pierced the end with a safety pin and squeezed the oil into the bowl. Just to give it that extra bit of nourishment for your skin.

Get started!

Combine your sugar and oil in a bowl and stir it up well, until there are no clumps. Then add your essential oil, stir again. Scoop into jars! For myself, I put some in a tupperware bowl. Voila!! Easy peasy!

*Using sunflower oil is an important step. I tried this recipe with olive oil and it did not come out as well. Plus the smell of the olive oil overtakes the peppermint, and not in a good way. I get the sunflower oil at a health food store. It runs about $13 for a 32 fl oz jar. I also love that it's organic! **I also get the essential oils at the health food store too. They run about $6-8 for a little jar, but they last a long time.

I have used this in the shower a few times now and it's amazing. The peppermint smells soooo good and it's the perfect amount of sugar/oil ratio. Your skin feels amazing and soft afterwards. I don't even need to use lotion when I get out of the shower like I usually do, and that says a lot coming from a girl that lives in the hot, dry desert! I have also used this on my face and have not had any breakouts. I can't say that will be the same for everyone, but for me it was no problem and my face is soft and smooth and refreshed!

To give as gifts:

The jars were purchased at Ikea, but you can get jars anywhere these days. Just the other day I got some bigger ones at The Dollar Tree. The little spatulas I got at Sally's Beauty Supply (I'm sure most beauty stores have them), and I made the tags on my computer. I tied the tag and spatula on the jar with a peppermint candy striped ribbon.

Sorry I have a crummy camera... I need to invest in a nice one soon. :)

Cupcake Post

I made these turkey themed cupcakes last Thanksgiving and they were such a big hit, so I'm going to make them again this Thanksgiving! :)

They are VERY easy to make. I use milk chocolate icing and chocolate cake. For the face and wings I use the small Sandies that come in the 100 calorie packs, candy corn for the feathers, white icing with a black dot of icing for the eye, a small piece of rolled up fruit roll up for the waddle, and the white part of the candy corn for the nose. Just a note, don't stick the Sandies on until you're close to ready to serving them, otherwise they get really soggy. :)