today has been such a good day and it is only 5:43.

hi!  sounds like you all have some super fun holiday traditions!! i loved hearing about them.  thanks for sharing those with me and a special thanks to those of you who de-lurked and decided to comment! that is always so rad. keep it up. i love hearing from you all.

so i am just sipping on some coffee and sitting by the fire.. still in my first layer and too lazy to move.  showering would probably be a good idea as would the gym.. but i decided to blog instead :D

so! today i woke up bright and early (at 7:45 AM on my day off~yes that is bright and early for me!).. drove to my house to change into my snowboard gear and managed to inhale some breakfast before my family picked me up to head to brighton.

blueberry chobs+faux honey bunches of oats

 

and then it was up to the resort!  it was really warm at first, even though it was lightly snowing.  my nieces (they are 8 and 6) had never been skiing in their lives and i was a little nervous about how they would do!  we suited up at the car~

and the it was time to head to the lift!

 

we ended up taking about 4 or 5 runs on the bunny hill and they were doing awesome!  i was really surprised how quick they picked up on how to ski.  i guess it is true that the younger you are, the easier it is to learn. 

it was fun to see them learn but it was a pretty…slow…lift…  i kept myself entertained by taking photos.

that ninja on the left would be momma b.  lucy in the middle and you all know me.

after awhile i ended up leaving them on the bunny hill so i could take some runs with my friends, jaime and ceza.  it was such a good day! soft snow and new tricks in the park.  i am bound and determined to learn some new stuff this season.  after i broke my humerus i kinda got worse at snowboarding because i was scared~but i think i am finally ready to step it up again.

around 1 PM i headed to the car to eat some foooood.  i had a nice, juicy pear~

and a turkey sandwich made lovingly by my mom :)

yum.

then it was back onto the mountain! my nieces decided they were ready to brave the bigger hill so we hit that lift up.  i was so proud!

the “bigger hill” was a little scary for them at first but they ended up loving it and wanting to go again and again and again!  here are a few more photos~

marisa (my sister) and momma b goofing off with their poles :)

 

by the way, i am not in this photo. i took it.

janetha b & momma b! 

she is considering taking up a part time job as a ninja.

oh~there’s her face. kaylee is in the middle.

BURR. cold janetha b.

 

you know what i love about snow?  the intricateness of snowflakes.  they are so beautiful and not a one is the same as the next!

the snowflakes were extra incredible today.

on the way home i ate some fritos.. i was actually shocked to see that they only have 3 ingredients.  who knew?

 

and i did grab some coffee on the way home.  and am sipping it now, as i mentioned.

when i got home i had all sorts of fun mail!  i can’t show you all of it because some of the parcels are christmas related.. but i can show you a couple thangs!

first up~ an amazing gift from april!

she sent a cute card, some homemade banana bread and a mix to make her infamous dark chocolate muffins~such a cute idea!!

the irony of it all is that i have been wanting to make her muffins.  i can prove it to you.  check out my “food to try” list in my blackberry:

haha. yeah the list is not very long right now but whenever i see a recipe i want to make i add it to the list :) gotta love averie’s balls! THANK YOU april, you’re the sweetest! i just love you! and your abs. everyone should go check out this post of april’s :)

other fun mail? i won danica’s knock knock giveaway!

yay! as you all know i am an avid list maker so this giveaway was so perfect for me :) cannot wait to start using these list pads! thanks danica, i love you!

other fun mail over the past couple days has been LOTS of awesome christmas cards~

including ones from miss gliding calm, michelle, averie, holly, hayley, tiffany, one of my bestie’s in oregon (hi katie!) and a few from family.  there are some missing that i took to work and set out on my desk :) i just LOVE getting mail.  there is something so fun about getting snail mail~way cooler than email. thanks ladies! xoxo.

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i decided now would be a good time for some product reviews!

cat at skin MD natural contacted me and asked if i would be willing to try their all natural shielding lotion.

you guys.  i live in the desert and have super dry skin.  i was stoked to accept cat’s offer and try this stuff out!

here is a little something i read about the shielding lotion:

“Conventional lotions only add artificial moisture to the skin temporarily alleviating the dryness or itching, but these moisturizers don’t actually solve the problem, they only treat symptoms without eliminating the cause. Dry skin is unable to absorb the newly added moisture to allow repair – it does not get "locked" into the skin. It gets lost easily. That’s why we keep applying more and more of the conventional lotions. Even so, skin easily gets addicted and may even suspend production of it’s own moisture, relying on added moisturizer.”

ah! i love that!  they actually solve the problem of dry skin? sign me up.

the only thing i didn’t love was the watery feel i got upon rubbing the lotion in.  i guess that it takes a bit longer to absorb than other lotions since it is a shielding lotion and not just a moisturizer.

once my skin absorbed the shielding lotion it was smooth sailing.  that was a few hours ago and my hands are still silky smooth.  i also love the fact that this is all natural.. i usually go for natural foods and so why not a natural lotion? it just makes sense.

i think i just may go bathe myself in this lotion.  sure hope there is enough! ;)

thank you skin MD natural!  love your shielding lotion.

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up next? hall’s refresh mouth moistening drops

mike from halls contacted me and asked if i would be interested in trying this new halls product.  i agreed and he sent me some samples.

no, these are not cough drops.  they are sugar free drops to moisten your mouth.  at first i was like.. hmmm.. i never have a dry mouth.  but then as i was snowboarding last sunday, i found myself with an extremely dry mouth.  and i was like shooooot! sure wish i had those dang mouth drops!

anyway, i tried them out today because i wanted to see just how well they worked.

strawberry was the flavor.  they also come in refreshing mint and tropical wave. each drop is sugar free and has 6 calories a pop.

i am not gonna lie.  as i was taking this photo, my tongue hit the mouth drop a bit and i actually started salivating and yep. a big line of drool came falling out of my mouth.  attractive, right?

the drops had a slight menthol flavor to them which i hated.  i am not a fan of that whole menthol taste.  but they really did their job!  my mouth is still watering actually.

i kind of agree with rose (check her review out here) when she mentioned that it may give kids the idea that popping a candy-like drop every time you had a dry mouth may confuse little kids.  but as far as adults go, i am sure we understand the concept and they definitely do their job!

for more on halls refresh you can check out their facebook page.

thanks for the opportunity to try these out, mike!  i will be stashing them in my snowboard pants this season, they will definitely come in handy.

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and i think this post is plenty long, seeing as how it is now 7:12 so it took me an hour and a half to write this!  in my defense, my laptop decided to act up on me which wasted a good 20 minutes. sigh.. it is a P.O.S.!

well i am going to do something with myself now!  toying with the idea of hitting up the gym but i am pretty beat from today.  i will be up early tomorrow to do some more snowboarding. maybe i will just head up to my mom’s house and enjoy the company of my fam :)

hope you are all having a great week and get some time to relax tomorrow since it is christmas eve!!  fun.  i have a mega menu of appetizers planned~it’s going to be delicious!

Qs~

1. do you use natural skin/beauty products? thoughts on natural vs. conventional skin/beauty products? discuss. i have never looked into natural beauty products but i have started to look into the matter more.  i like to put natural products INTO my body~so why not ON my body as well? makes sense.

2. is there anything on your “food to try” list? you don’t necessarily have to have a list.. but is there anything you have been meaning to try as of late?  in addition to my list up there, i have been wanting to try okra but cannot find it in stores around here! random, i know.

xo. janetha b.