Beauty School...define beauty

Last night my wonderful mother was energetically describing her weekend, and mentioned a conversation with my Aunt Josanne (known to all as Aunt Sissy, pronounced CHO-SAN by my southern accented mother).  She makes me laugh. Anyways, my aunt heard I was planning to attend cosmetology school soon and she said, "Oh but Heather could be anything...why not be a doctor?!" I'm poorly quoting and I mean no offense by the quote. Little do people know my shins ache when medical procedures are spoken of in length. But my mom explained to her it was something I would be good at it and it is something I want to do.

But why is it something I want to do?

I contemplated such as I was putting rollers in my hair and thinking "I hate periods, I hate being female, I hate feeling bloated/fat"...then the thoughts progressed to completely pathetic and full of self pity. So to adjust my train of thought I started to think of things I liked about my body. I thought, well at least I'm not ugly. To make myself feel better, petty I know, I tried to think of traits that are ugly or that I would be ungrateful to have. I couldn't think of any. I thought big nose, then said oh well sewinsew looks pretty foxy and his/her nose is kinda big...then I thought of a few other things people might hate about themselves and couldn't think of ANYONE and put them in the "ugly" category. Decision? There is no such thing as ugly. Heavenly Father knows it, your mom knows it, and I'm pretty certain of it. Then I started thinking of EVERYONE I've ever known and the only people I think are ugly were mean jerks. And even they have physical attractiveness that is noticeable.

Blessing in disguise. You're sexy, and I know it. Maybe not sexy, but you sure are pretty.

So how does this lead to beauty school? I want to make everyone feel beautiful because they are. After doing someone's hair and makeup, they might see the same things I do. Maybe, they'll appreciate the natural beauty they have.

Is it just me or...

do manatees look like the farthest thing from the attractive female mermaid we've grown to know? I don't know about you, I like hips...but I would have to be slobbering drunk to think a gray thing the size of a boat is in ANY way feminine.

Some nights I do my own thing and sleep when I'm tired. And in doing so, I actually convince myself I may not have some weird sleep disorder. Then, my husband gets on a regular sleeping schedule for his new job and he's stumbling. I'm at my prime of the night, and he looks like he's drunk because he's seriously exhausted. Not to mention the fact that after a few minutes in bed I hear snoring. I have to lay in bed at least an hour before I can get to sleep. I'd have to have woken up really early, like sunrise, and had a full day, think: theme park, AND...no that would put me to sleep. But how often does the average person have such a busy day? It's been a while.

I digress, because President Uchtdorf counseled not to compare your weaknesses to others' strengths. A fact my darling, extremely HOT (temperature wise...like a furnace) husband enjoys reminding me. So I'll point out a few things I think I'm pretty good at.

Acquiring new skills. I'm constantly trying new things, and I consider a new craft a type of adventure that normally lasts a few hours. I'm always pleased when I succeed, because it's practically instant! For example, today I trimmed Julia's hair. It was even too! Pat on back check.

I love being able to appreciate you. Yes, you. I've discovered that religion, gender, interests, and hobbies are things I don't have to have in common to love people for. The only reason I may not like someone, is if they are rude to me first and always. Even then, I'll most likely forgive you if you take me out to lunch (your tab of course). I learned this wonderful trait from my one and only mother. There was a kid in school I didn't talk to much, and he was well....not my crowd. Black clothing head to toe, wallet chain, and he had a tongue ring he told me was for dirty things. That really grossed me out, but he respected that I didn't want to hear about it and never brought up subjects to me again. One day he was after school and he obviously didn't have a ride home. I was staying after for something, and I remembered him mentioning once that he lived near me. Needless to say when he got out of the truck and waved bye my mom turned to me and said, "I love how diverse all your friends are." What kind of mother would condone THAT friendship. Apparently one who knew I wasn't going to follow blindly into a festival of weed, or a drinking party. But she supported that I was nice to everyone who was willing to give me a chance.

Honestly, at the moment those are my only two notable gifts/talents that I'm proud of. That last one, obviously, being my favorite. But I'd also like to point out to my friends that I am truly blessed to have each and every one of you . You all provide something unique and all of you uplift and support me. Whether it's the never ending text chat, swooning over Channing Tatum and wishing we could dance, listening to your baby bump and telling you your shirt squeaks, or responding to random facebook messages, you are all loved and appreciated greatly. I'm 100% sure I'd be depressed if I didn't have all you guys. That was dramatic...but possibly (slightly) true. 

And Katherine, we'll keep ya'll in our prayers until you, Josh, and Lucas are home safe and sound. I won't even visit until he is old enough to get vaccines because I would be devastated if I got Lucas sick. And...you'll still probably get flowers....forget I said that (Jedi mind hand movement)

I think getting up at 8am, while being wide awake at 2am...is a problem. Well...back to the drawing board.

-Heather Rand.

Buttons, Blue, Beads, oh my

Italian-english accents in the background (cake boss) along with bird squealing for attention in my ear. If I sit on the floor to do crafts the poor, suddenly, "pitiful" bird begins to whine. I don't know why, but I guess it's because she can't have a nibble of whatever I'm playing with. I've been sleeping iffy lately. I'm pretty sure I have insomnia triggered by stress. I'm not gonna get personal, but it's a little difficult being not-pregnant while my facebook news feed is covered with bouncing babies. On the optimistic side, I have a bird...which is a pet that you can devote an endless amount of hours to and get such few results from your time you feel it's worth it. And you don't get so productive with your training that you ever feel you need to stop. Sounds like quite the rewarding creature....but it's cute when she makes tiny squeaks for attention.

I recently did a button masterpiece, in my opinion, and used a thrift store frame to put it up on my wall. Pinterest has inspired me to make our apartment look more like a home than a place we're just renting. Sure we may not be here for too long, but who wouldn't want to personalize a place and make it cozy. It also helped inspire me to see my friend Amanda's apartment, it's all cutesy and "home sweet home-esque".

And then the button masterpiece inspired my elephant silhouette. It's made of blue beads in a frame I had lying around hidden because I hated it. BUT! That's the glory of paint and sealant. Both of which, I have. So I repainted the frame black and voila, I have the opportunity for another project. I'm thinking if I get any birthday cash I'm going to the thrift store to buy picture frames for more of my artsy moments. I need a stapler....

Any who, you readers you, this is what insomniacs do.

-Heather Rand.