.#5 - makeup-less.

i'm going to be brutally honest with you today, i knew this would be one of the harder ones for me, but i also knew it would be a good challenge. you see, when you live in orange county where everyone gives the appearance of being "put together" 90% of the time, you fall into the trap of thinking you also can't leave the house with 48029385045 layers of mascara and every flaw covered up with concealer. and i realized that the last couple months i have fallen prey to that mentality - that what God made my face to look like isn't enough. interesting how quickly our mind tries to convince us.

*now before i continue, i must put this disclaimer out there that lipgloss (or at least the one i use) doesn't count as makeup, so when i say no makeup, i am very likely still wearing lip gloss. don't judge me or try to convince me otherwise, this is just the way i roll. i'm rarely lipgloss-less, but have decided it's better than being addicted to something more harmful. :)*

so i have been doing this makeup-less-ness once a week for the last few weeks and it has been really good for me. the thing is when you leave the house you're TOTALLY aware that you have no makeup on so sunglasses are appropriate, even inside a building ;) for the first hour or so. but then you forget and you are just you - make up or no make up, you are still you.. the one day i chose last week, i happened to run into approximately 6 people from church i haven't seen in a long time. initially i was totally aware of it, but after about 10 minutes, i was just me. and i'm pretty certain that even if they noticed, they weren't thinking, "what's her problem? why would she go out without makeup on?"

so here's the deal...

with no make up on (and a darling girl to hang out with)


or with loads of make up on (and bridesmaid duties to perform)



i. am. still. me.

now i may look 12 without it, i may feel not as pretty without it, but that doesn't change how God sees me, how i should see myself or even necessarily how others see me. i have a feeling that as i continue to do this, i will be writing another post about it, but it's in full effect and there are days when it's hard for me. i said it. there are days when i literally have to force myself not to wear makeup because i genuinely feel like people will look at me differently if i don't. i'm working on not believing this lie and believing that who my God created me to be is just plain good enough. a work in progress for sure.

and speaking of progress...5/30 - 1/6 of the way there. movin' right along...

.#4 - cowboy boots.

so i'm a girl that delivers on my promises and follows through with my commitments probably about 96% of the time, especially when i'm determined. so i will conquer this list...

on my birthday, i went to nordstrom because it just seemed like the right thing to do on your birthday, ya know? it's one of those "make you feel good" kinda things to do on a day when you're supposed to feel good about your life. and then i thought, "i have some birthday money, maybe i'll go check out the cowboy boots." so i mosey on over there and lo and behold - i find some boots that i really really liked. sad part is, the size they had available was 1/2 size smaller than mine. bust!

so i settled for a "charge send" which for those of you who have worked retail, that's all-too-familiar and for those of you who haven't, it's just what it sounds like - you charge them to send the item. so unnecessary to explain that, but it just brought me back to my days in college at GAP Kids which may actually be getting a phone call from me if i don't get a job soon :)

anyhow, boots have arrived.

i wore them today for the first time and they are GLORIOUS! they make me wanna zip back to texas and do a little two-steppin.'

they're real comfy and real nice and i'm dang glad that i had birthday money to spend on one of the greatest investments of all time.

in this segment, i'd like to take the time to thank nordstrom for excellent customer service and charge-sending skills, my grandma for giving me the birthday money with which to buy my ever-so-coveted boots, texas for raisin' me up to love me some cowboy boots and jessica simpson (don't judge me, i didn't know they were hers until i saw the box, swear) for making boots that i deemed worth buying. and my parents, of course, my parents for bringing me into this world so that i'd have a reason to buy birthday boots.

whew... i need a tissue.

4 down, 26 to go. i...will...not...give...up.

. #3 - photography - SOLD.

mission 3/30 completed. 1/10th of the way done - yay for me! this weekend i was entered into 2 art shows in lubbock, texas and had to bring some of my photography printed on canvas. the first one was at J&B coffee shop where my work gets to hang out this whole month and grace studying college students with its presence :) i also was part of a "visions of art" show at ransom canyon - the lake community where my parents and grandparents live (as well as a large handful of geriatrics).

*disclaimer: my parents are NOT geriatric. in fact, they are only in their early 50's, but they just like to live on a nice peaceful lake and enjoy a quieter life, i guess years of raising us wore them out!*

but all this to say - mission 3 has been accomplished - i sold, not 1, not 2, but 7 pieces of photography this weekend - fair and square art fair sold them... and there's a few more that are going to my family and close friends but they don't count.

so here's what sold.

THE FIRST PIECE SOLD - "December's Reflection" to a quirky German anesthesiologist named Bettina. She was awesome!



MOST POPULAR PIECE - "Faithful" - I'm ordering 4 of these babies this week, it's my favorite photo from Africa


needless to say, photography - SOLD! good news. 3 down, 27 to go.

if you haven't seen enough, go to breestyle.smugmug.com for more.

p.s. - i have a rockstar friend, john who went out of his way this morning to purchase us U2 tickets while i was on an airplane so that i could get another one off the list - THANKS JOHN - look forward to that post June 6, 2010!!!!!

.#2 - horseback riding.

team, mission 2/30 has been accomplished today. here's the story: i have this sweet part quasi-cousin/part friend/part pure amazingess person who goes to college at texas tech and is on the rodeo team. her name's olivia and she's rad. now i'm here in texas for a few days, visiting the fam and some dear friends and doing 2 art shows this weekend, which is actually amazing and will be another post for another day, but back to olivia.

olivia rides horses, well one horse more frequently than others... his name's LT (which i find awfully appropriate considering i went to college with the guy!).

so yesterday we're talking about hanging out and i say,

"wait, i should come to the barn with you tomorrow and see where your horse lives and hang out with you. better yet, i should RIDE YOUR HORSE because that's on my 30 before 30 list."

so what did we do? we pulled out the old jeans that have some cow $*#@)$*( on them from a former texas adventure and we pulled out the old tennis shoes and we made it happen.

this picture below is a bit deceiving because if we're honest, LT did not enjoy the ride much and neither did liv or i. clearly he doesn't look happy... i had a runaway horse who was acting like a teenager when his parents go out of town for the weekend. man alive, that guy tried everything he could because he knew i wasn't the boss of him. so... a couple times around the arena, a run away horse and a raw, swollen bruised hand (from pulling on the reigns so hard), i smiled for a photo to prove i was there and called it a day on the horseback riding.

whew. liv then took him for a bit of a non-joy ride and reminded him of who's boss. good thing because not only did he run for the hills, but he also tried to drink my starbucks. this guy gave me a run for my money, but as is the theme of the list - it made for a good story.

onward soldier... 2 down, 28 to go!!!

.#1 - vino.

2 days down - one mission completed (well at least begun because this one's a work in progress). so this may be news to some of you young ones after you turn 25, no one throws you birthday parties anymore. so that leaves it up to who to throw birthday parties? you of course. so this year, my homegirls and i went wine tasting on halloween because 1) we're amazing like that and 2) why the heck not and 3) i can get a check mark (i have this obsession with completing check lists!).

so here are a few pics of our adventure...

me and my homegirls - this is our album cover, no big deal...






and here is the final product and mission #1 - VINO



the collection has begun and i will not, i repeat will NOT open this wine until after my 30th birthday. i am up to 8 bottles, thanks to the parents of my friend who gave me a "wine of the month club" membership for graduation! whew, this one might be easier than i thought. thanks to all you peeps who wanna play, i guarantee that it'll be a great year and we'll have some stories to tell :)

(secret - i also have another one done but no photo to prove it, so you'll have to wait a few for that post, stay tuned)

fighting on to victory... one mission at a time.