Oz Naturals - Broad Spectrum Tinted Sunscreen

*This product was received complimentary from BrandBacker but all opinions are my own.*


I've told you before that protection from the sun's UV rays is an important step in having healthy, young-looking skin. There is no easier and better way to make sure that your skin has the protection it needs. It's a little thing called sunscreen.

Sunscreen helps to block out those bad UV rays. Of course, like anything else, there are many different kinds. The one I'll be talking about today is made by Oz Naturals.

Oz Naturals use only natural and organic active ingredients in their products. If you're worried about what weird/gross things go into your skin you can feel safe knowing that by buying Oz Naturals, you're not getting anything that will do damage to your body.

This particular sunscreen is tinted to a medium brown. I would never have thought to buy a tinted sunscreen. I mean, what's the point? But after using it, I realize it's totally awesome. It blends into your skin flawlessly. You can't even tell that it was there before. No more of those embarrassing white marks that you forget to rub in properly.

You can also wear this sunscreen everyday. Why? Because it has no smell! Well, at least very little. But it goes away after a while. I love sunscreen that I can use in the winter without thinking about coconuts and sand. There is nothing sadder than daydreaming about sunshine when it's freezing cold.

Anyway, back to the sunscreen: let me ask you, what's the most important thing you want from a sunscreen?

That's right. For it not to be oily.

Let me tell you, this sunscreen is perfect! It doesn't leave your skin oily or greasy at all. It's like a lotion. After you rub it in, you can't even tell you put it on.

This sunscreen is three for three. It's got all the things I look for in a good UV blocker: no/light smell, non-oily, and bonus! it rubs flawlessly into your medium brown skin.

Winner winner!

You can buy this product on Amazon via the link below. If you decide to give it a try - let me know what you think!

Buy the sunscreen here from Amazon!

Exciting News Revealed!

In my last post, I teased the exciting news John & I wanted to share. Well, here it is without further ado.

John & I adopted another puppy! Her name is Lana Lane and she is (now) 4 months old.

She is a lab/Yoda mix. Look at those ears!


If you're my mother, you might be wondering why we decided to adopt another dog. Well, here's the breakdown of our thought process.

First, we got Boyboy because we wanted a dog. Dogs are cute and they extend your life. Plus, we wanted an excuse to exercise daily. We found Boyboy who was old enough to be house trained and was chill enough to walk on a leash and not chase after cats. Perfect.

Second, we got Belle because we thought that Boyboy was lonely at home by himself when we were at work. Yeah, he was only alone for 4 hours but still. We didn't want him being depressed. So we got Belle who was 5 years younger and more active. Plus! She'd make him play and they would tire each other out.

Well, then we saw that Belle wasn't getting as much exercise as she needed because Boyboy is old and gets tired. We wanted a puppy for Belle. Someone who could match her energy level. Belle and the puppy could play and Boyboy could join them whenever he wasn't tired.

Well, we went to the Humane Society just looking at the dogs & puppies. We weren't even looking to bring one home. But then we went to the puppy house and we started playing with the puppies. We played with two other puppies before we chose Lana. She was actually outside by herself while they were cleaning her cage. We saw her running around the outside kennel and knew that she was perfect.

We played with her outside and we fell in love.


We brought her home.


I'd like to say that Boyboy & Belle fell instantly in love with her like we did...but that simply isn't the case. I've learned a lot from Lana that neither Boyboy or Belle had taught me. Puppies are a whole 'nother animal.


But we're three weeks in now and things are starting to go smoothly. Now there is love all around.

Past Present Future - Volume 4

So, it's been a while.

\\PAST\\
I mentioned I got a new job in the Going Through the Motions post. I am still there and I really like it. Each day is a bit different and I'm starting to learn the ins & outs of everything that happens at work. I really feel like I'm learning and I feel that it's a good place to be. So, I'm glad with my decision to leave TV. Sometimes I miss the times I'm not able to watch the newest Masterpiece Theater before everyone else but that's what Roku is for, right?

John's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. We decided to go to the Tower of the America's and eat at their fancy pants restaurant. It was a Friday so the wait to get a table was about an hour. We spent that time drinking at the bar, eating a delicious fried calamari appetizer, and talking the night away. When we finally got our table we were right along the edge - closest to the windows. The Tower restaurant rotates so every hour you've gone around once and are able to see all of San Antonio. This sounds totally fun and cool but towards the end of our meal we both started getting nauseous. It was almost the same feeling you get when you read in a car for too long. We both got salmon dishes but his was so much tastier than mine. It was a fun-fancy date night.

\\PRESENT\\
About four months ago, one of my grandma's became really sick. She was in the hospital for a bit and then eventually they decided to put her on hospice. We knew that she wasn't going to last much longer but we were fortunate enough to get to spend some extra time with her. This past week - she died. Yesterday was her funeral. Though it was such a sad time, it was great to see so many people who knew my granny. There were a lot of people at her wake and even at the funeral the day after. My grandma lived a long, happy life. She used to take care of me during the summer when I was out of school and both of my parents were working. We all used to call her Mommy Lola. When I was in elementary school she would walk to school to pick me up and I'd stay at her house until my dad came to get me. She was super cute and tough. She was still doing yardwork up until a few weeks before she got sick. She was strong and because she couldn't drive she walked everywhere which meant she had incredible stamina for someone her age. She was awesome.


\\FUTURE\\
John & I have some exciting news but that is going to get a post all its own. Stay tuned for some happy news!

My Love of Harry Potter

I once had an interviewer ask me what my favorite book was. I answered, Harry Potter.

They did not seem impressed.

Maybe they thought that Harry Potter was too childish an answer for someone who would be scanning and filing official documents.

But Harry Potter is, to this day, one of my favorite book series ever.

I think a lot of older people find it hard to understand the fandom of Potterheads. So many semi-adults claiming their love for a children's book.

Firstly, it's not a children's book. At least, not only a children's book. It is an everyone book.

Harry Potter transcends the typical Juvenile genre. It deals with right and wrong, good and evil, choices and abilities, love and loss, friendship and family. Harry, Ron, and Hermione deal with adult themes in each book. They are thrust into situations that mature them and force them to think critically and emotionally beyond their years.

Secondly, when you grew up with them, they take on a whole new level of personal.

I remember waiting for the books to hit the shelves. My mom would go out and buy the book for me in the morning before I woke up and she'd bring it to me in bed, where I stayed until I finished reading the whole thing. They were so engrossing that I could not leave my room until I was done reading.

Not many people spend their whole lives growing up and aging right along with their favorite fictional characters. My generation had that very special, very rare experience. Every year that Harry grew up and matured, so did we. It was hard not to compare and put myself into his place. Sure there are kids who read the books now and love them and there are adults who love them. But us? We lived with them. We went to the midnight releases, saw the merchandise hit the stores, the fandom grow, and eventually the movies that did the books justice.

It may be hard for adults who never got to live that experience see Harry Potter as anything more than a children's book. But it's not. And I'm not ashamed to say that the words of J. K. Rowling have shaped me as a person. I'm grateful I got to live through that experience and I know that I'll be a Potterhead until I die.

Always.

10 Things I Love About You

I love the way you talk with me

and the jokes that make you laugh

I love the way you draw on things

Are you my better half?

I love your sexy boat shoes

and the way your jeans fit low

I love how every shirt is plaid.

And all the buttons I have to sew.

I love the way you sing out loud

I love when you let me win

I love that you're okay with dogs

and the ink that's on your skin.

I love it when you dance with me

and the way you say my name

I love every little thing about you 

But mostly I love that you don't think I'm lame. 

Happy Birthday! 

Firsts Friday - First Boyfriend/Girlfriend

For this month's link-up, we're going to talk about First Boyfriend/Girlfriend. Yup, it's time to get personal. If you're looking for last month's link-up - First Memory just click!

So, when I was in 8th grade I had this super girlie crush on this guy a year younger. He was super cute, cool, and totally goofy. We were friends who'd hang out before school and occasionally after school. We were both in choir (I know how that sounds but it was the only extra-curricular activity that had a pizza party at the end of year. Also, you didn't need to try out.) which meant we spent a lot of time together during the Christmas play.

Anyway, this guy was cool and I was diggin' him. I would talk to my best friend about him on the phone, imaging how awesome it would be to date.

Never mind the fact that I was all of 13 years old. Never mind the fact that I couldn't drive or that my mother would forbid such things. Never mind the fact that we couldn't really "date" anyway. It was just one of those things I'd read so much about in my YA books and saw on TV all the time. I wanted a boyfriend.

I never though it would happen. I was too scared to ever broach such a subject with him and I was totally fine just hanging out as friends albeit with my stomach flipping every other sentence or so. I thought that was all that was going to happen...


Untilllllll one of his friends comes over to me and says "Hey, *Bob likes you. Do you wanna go out with him?"

Which like completely threw me off guard. I'm not fast on my best days, but add in some awkward teenager-iness and the fact that I'm supposed to tell his friend - and some other guy too - that I've been crushing on their friend forever made me just completely lose words.

"Umm. Ok. Yeah." I stutteringly told the messengers while nodding my head.

They went back to tell him. I can't remember but I think he looked over and smiled. Maybe we talked alone later that day?

So, that was it. I was in a relationship. I had my first boyfriend. And I hated it.

Not because he was horrible or because he changed when we got together. He was still really sweet.

But I hated that everyone knew. I went to a small school. Like...super tiny so of course everyone was going to know eventually. But...everyone knew right off the bat. His friends, my friends they would try to get us to talk more, hold hands, sit together whenever possible. It was like being an ant in one of those see-through ant farms. I felt like everything I did was being judged and discussed. Not just the good things either like when I'd laugh at his jokes but all the ways I was clueless as to how to be girlfriendly.

Am I supposed to want to hold his hand all the time? Is it okay if I don't call him tonight? 

Then one of our teachers, one of my favorite teachers, made a comment about it in class and I felt like everyone and their mother knew.

Believe it or not, this girl who blogs about her life is pretty private. I hate when people know things that I haven't expressly told them. I don't like people knowing my business so I decided the whole relationship thing was more trouble than it was worth and I had to put a stop to it.

I ended up breaking up with him.


A whole 3 days after we first got together.


Yup, I'm that girl. I think I went up to him before school or at recess and did the whole - it's not me it's you, can we still be friends thing.

I think you can imagine how that turned out.


We're Facebook friends now but we never got over that whole dating ordeal. Occasionally I think about him and the decision I made so quickly and I regret it because I've learned to say fuckit when people judge. Also, I learned that if anyone was talking about us it was probably for a whole two seconds. Apparently my mother was right and the Earth does not revolve around me.

Science.

So that's my embarrassing (does anyone else notice a trend?) first boyfriend story. I'd love to hear about yours. Did you fall madly in love in the produce section? Did you meet on a blind date? Tell us all about it! We'd love to hear it. Just grab the button and link up.

An InLinkz Link-up