Skin Care Regimen

This post is mainly for myself as I find my blog a handy way of keeping track of random things that I would otherwise lose. I was watching Oprah the other day and while I realize that her show is not the pinnacle of all knowledge, she had a woman on who talked about skin care and what to look for in your skin care products. She said that many women spend a ton of money on products that don't work or products that you can get at your local Wallgreens/Walmart establishment at a fraction of the price. She then listed the cheapest products you can get that will give your skin what it needs as you age.

I figured, what the heck, my skin is mostly fine and it might be a good idea to start doing a little more for it before it becomes ugly. Then I won't be trying to spend hundreds of dollars trying to make it un-ugly. (You see, I squint a lot here in AZ because any type of glasses, sun or otherwise, give me a headache. So I am sure I am going to end up with ugly, grumpy granny wrinkles someday instead of the sweet, soft laugh lines that my grandmas have.)

So here is what the skin lady said:

1. You want a skin cleanser that is gentle. She recommended Olay Foaming Face Wash. It cost me 3 bucks. Not bad.

2. Then you want to put on an exfoliating cream and she suggested Alpha Hydrox Enhanced Lotion. That cost me about 10 bucks. Not bad either. Alpha Hydrox is a little harder to find. I got mine at Ulta.

3. Next you put on a moisturizer and she said to use Olay Regenerist Serum. That was a little more expensive at $19. Worth it though, right?

4. The last think you put on is an oil free sunscreen. I use Neutrogena's SPF 55 sunscreen. I think you can get the Olay serum with sunscreen, but I live in AZ and want to be sure I'm protected. SPF 15 ain't gunna cut it.

So there you go. Tips from an expert, I think....

Here are some other tips she suggested:

- Before bed put on Neutrogena Nutrition lip balm and you will have silky soft lip-er-roos in the morning.

- If you have problems with cracked heels, before bed rub on Stridex acne pads. Then glop on thick lotion or Vaseline. And finally, sleep with socks on. After a week, you are supposed to notice a big difference.

For your hair:

- Use at least a 1875 watt hair drier. It won't damage your hair as badly. She explained why, but I don't remember.

- Make sure your hair brush has soft, rubber bristle tips. This will decrease breakage.

- For wet hair use a wide-tooth comb.

- Got 2 B Crazy Sleek is a good serum to protect your hair.

- She suggested a thirty dollar flat iron called Remington's Wet 2 Straight. You use it while your hair is wet. Supposedly the steam stops the iron from frying your hair.

- Finally, Dr. Oz suggested that you put a charcoal filter on your shower head. It removes the chlorine from your water which can damage your hair.

So there you go- beauty for cheap.

Now THIS is a wedding!!

A New Section of the Blog

I've added a new section to the Santini Stew blog called The "And No More Happiness" Food Blog. I am putting recipes that fit my diet on the page. So far the two that I put on there were pretty good. I was surprised because they call for weird stuff. So check it out and if you have something, email or comment it to me and I will add it. Yummy diet food- what more could you want?

JD's Surgery

Luckily there hasn't been much to report on JD's health, but I wanted to let all of you know that JD's heart surgery FINALLY got scheduled for Sept. 15. We were hoping to get it done during the summer before school starts, but we are happy we've got such a great doctor. We decided to go with the PFO closure surgery which is much less invasive than open heart surgery.

So if you've got room in your prayers for him around Sept. 15, JD would appreciate the support.

BTW- the other day I was driving. It was drizzling and I noticed a beautiful rainbow filling the sky. I had the thought that the rainbow doesn't exist in spite of the rain but because of it. I've come to believe that there are blessings that come because of trials- not in spite of them. And I've seen many that the Lord has given us through this experience with JD's stroke. Not that I wanted it to occur, but I am so grateful to the Lord and His goodness.

When asked, JD describes his recovery as being about 90%. Most of what he lost came back quickly. The last 10% is taking its time, but we are sure it will eventually return. We are so grateful that he is doing so well. My heart overflows when I think of what these last couple of months has brought our way. We are so blessed and have seen many miracles on many levels. The Lord does not leave us comfortless.

A Post of Random Pictures

I decided to plop all of my random pictures in one place- not in order but here they are.

Here we are up at Mt. Lemon. Note my adorable picnic basket I got for a bridal shower gift and finally used for the first time. I thought the picnic was much more fun because of it. We are with our wonderful friends the Sorensons. Tennille is like a sister to me and her kids call us aunt and uncle. It's really fun. Mt. Lemon is a great way to get away from the heat. Once you get up top, it's about 25 degrees cooler.


4th of July- somehow we got super lucky and were able to get together with JD's close college buddies. When does that happen? Charlie, Rachel and their son McKay live in Phoenix and Dave was visiting his sister. It's so hard to get together with old friends so this was such a blessing.

A little Settlers game playing for ol' times sake. I hear that the old games used to get a little heated....

Here JD and I are at the Cave of the Bells. This is where JD's good friend tried to lead us to our death. It's true. He did. He got a key from the city of Tucson and wanted us to come with to explore. They call the Cave of the Bells undeveloped. As in there are no stairs or railings. Or lights. He was joking on the phone with JD about needing knee pads, head lamps, and string so we don't get lost. He wasn't joking. Well, we used reflective tape instead of string, but this was hard core.

Actually Dave took really good care of us. He went first to be sure the paths weren't too difficult. We easily slid, scooted, and crawled down the cave. The way up took a little more effort- at least for JD and Dave. They had to climb up the slippery cave with very few foot and hand holds AND they had to chuck me through everything. I was too short to reach much so I stepped on Dave, reached through to JD, and with a push and a pull I shot through the tunnels. Then came the climax. We were leaving the cave hole (see the picture) when I peered my flashlight into the corner to find a rattlesnake. Yes, we were in a hole with a snake and I was NOT happy. Dave gave JD a boost to climb out and I shoved on his bum only to slip and fall spread-eagle on my face, the snake INCHES away. OK maybe not inches, and the snake was half coherent, but I was scared. Needless to say, we were fine and the snake rolled over and went back to sleep. What an adventure!

Our first monsoon


How can you resist such a storm? It was coming down so hard I could hardly open my eyes. There were rivers in the streets. It was so awesome.

This weekend I convinced JD to go camping. We went with the Sorensons. It looks like JD's having a good time, don't you think? Could this city boy actually admit that camping is fun?

These are all of the kids playing in the bear box. Shut the door, lock it up, and we've got ourselves a babysitter!

This great camping experience that I thought would convert JD into a casual camper (cuz let's be honest- I don't like camping beyond a night or two every once and a while) ended in a hail storm. A big one. Here we are hiding in the tent.

Yeah- he's not converted yet.

Birthday Surprise of a Lifetime

Pardon me whilst I gush. That husband of mine is a true keeper- even though he STILL teases me about 'BC'.......

So my birthday rolled around and the morning of, JD told me to pack. He didn't tell me what for or how long but just to pack. He was so cute- every question I asked got met with a 'I dunno.' No hints, this guy!


FOUR HOURS LATER we rolled in to Sedona, AZ. First of all- that's a long time to be in a car not knowing what's going on or where I'm going. And second of all, holy red rock! It was incredibly beautiful! I was amazed at all of the rock formations. And I am not usually all that interested in rock. This was breathtaking. We both decided you have to be there to truly soak in the beauty. Even professional photographs don't capture the Sedona formations in all its glory.






This is a picture of the adorable bed and breakfast we stayed at. I love bed and breakfasts. I've been wanting to go to another one since our first- our honeymoon. It was so charming.


As you can see I was not dressed for travel. I'm usually a ball cap and sweats kinda gal when we travel. I don't like fashion getting in the way of the fun- wastes too much time to do my hair!

Another shot of the beautiful desert landscaping.

This is one of those labyrinth things. JD and I walked through it and then halfway there we got bored so we stepped over the rocks and took off. I kind of felt bad because I know these things are almost a religious experience for some people. Did we ruin the mojo by not following the labyrinth? Who knows.

JD ringing the bell. Why is it there? No idea. But if there is a bell, we must ring it. Sedona is a total hippie kinda place.

They had the most wonderful treats and appetizers. So gourmet that I can't even tell you what half of it was. In fact, we had to look up the name of one of the ingredients on the internet because we had never heard of it and wanted to be sure it wasn't some kind of alcohol. The best was the Rosemary Lemon Squares. Oh.....boy........

Our camera busted while there, so we had to get one of those disposable film numbers at Walgreens. We kept feeling like we had to explain ourselves amongst the digital-minded tourists. But anyway, you can see that this pic is from the disposable camera. It's JD eating breakfast at the Lodge. Such good food!

This is my birthday dinner at an amazing sushi place. Didn't know fried cream cheese sushi existed and my life will never be the same. What a meal! (Note the adorable husband dressed up to take me out. I loved it! Felt like when we were dating.)

The red rock- can't even capture how amazing this view is. You are just going to have to go and see for yourself!

Looks like JD is doing bunny ears on me, but no, it was windy and that's my do flying around.

This is in Flagstaff. I heard such good things about Flag that I wanted to go visit and see if it would be a good place to live if we end up settling in AZ. I felt right at home in hippie-ville. It's been so long since I've seen dreadlocks- just like downtown Missoula.

JD and the red rock

Kicking back at the Lodge

Downtown Sedona is a tourist trap. Lots of cool stuff to look at and people trying to sell jeep tours. If we would have gone on one, I would want to go on the Pink Jeep tour. Or maybe I'll just buy a pink jeep.

There is a lot of cool art in Sedona.

"Hmmm.... you're red is off. It's that pinky-red that makes you go, oh yuck." (What blog is that taken from, hmm? Hmm?)

Then JD surprised me even more! He had gotten in contact with his dad who used his connections to get us a free trip to the Grand Canyon! Everything was comped. The helicopter place even called us VIPs. JD's dad has done a lot of lobbying on behalf of tourism and we reaped the benefits.

"Breaker 9-40. The lady's got a question." (Name that TV show.)

The Grand Canyon from the view of the helicopter.

Amazing

More of Grand Canyon

Thanks for the great birthday trip Sweetie! You swept me off my feet.