I'm with you on the hair, I absolutely hate having my hair done, I'm a ponytail/no maintenance sort of hair gal. I actually did my own last night and surprisingly, it turned out fine. I spent about 10 minutes on it. My military training helped me get pretty good at buns so I just fancied up an ordinary bun. :)

I went to a military black tie function last night and was struck by the difference between the active duty men and women there. I can only assume that since the active duty member has to be in their dress uniform, fewer women want to attend, while the men seem to show up because their spouses want to get fancied up (100% the reason we went). So, do you like getting dolled up for formal events? ETA: I love it and do it as often as possible within reason, it works out to once or twice a year, I think.

I haven't worn drugstore foundation in awhile but two options come to mind, L'Oreal used to have some really great foundations and if you are in a more urban area, I highly recommend looking for an Asian Beaty store like Nature Republic, Tony Moly, The Face Shop, Étude House, Holika Holika, Innisfree, and Missha. Having light skin will be a big plus if you go the Asian beauty route and their products are amazing. Check out a BB cream, they are different than American BB creams and are full coverage. The prices are very reasonable as well.

Dior has some amazing foundations.

I let myself go a little bit last year, when my clothes all got really tight or didn't fit at all, I knew I had to do something. I started by doing a Whole 30 (good for allergies, not good for vegetarians) which sort of jumpstarted and motivated me. A haircut, mani/pedi, some new makeup or a new outfit always help me feel more put together. Good luck!

Thanks for all the input! We've found a place in Mount Airy that is calling to me and hits ALL of my criteria, so it looks like a 40 mile commute is in our future. Time to buy a hybrid. :)

My top choices for towns that I've looked at are Mt. Airy and Sykesville, we are trying to avoid military areas, but he will be working at Fort Meade, we are willing to commute a little to be away from military areas. We've looked extensively in Catonsville and Baltimore, and one of the main reasons we are leaning that way are the home prices, my priority in life is travel, which will be much harder if we go to Carroll County, due to price. I also love the idea of being near a city with lots of homeschool resources. We've never purchased a home before so I've been researching like a mad woman and it's basically come down to less expensive with sketchy neighborhoods and terrible schools versus good schools/quaint town. I'm glad to hear that Catonsville is pretty good because the prices are really reasonable and the schools are good.

We are moving at the end of the year, my husband is military and from central Maryland, so we've decided to buy since we will probably retire there. I'm looking at houses north of Columbia. Can anyone give me tips? Great places, places to steer clear of, really anything? I've never lived in the northeast or any place where it gets very cold. I have found many houses I love in Baltimore but I'm worried that the neighborhoods aren't great, though schools are of minimal concern since we plan to homeschool through high school at this point. I only have 3.5 days at the end of Octiber for house hunting so I'm trying hard to narrow down areas so I don't waste my time. Thanks!

I'm moving that way later this year, hope this happens again!

Do you ever shop online? I have heard really great things about Betabrand and Margaret M pants. I often have my pants hemmed because I'm 5'4" with short legs. Good luck!

I haven't read all the responses, but I wanted to share my conclusion of this very question. The reason homosexuality is currently treated as the ULTIMATE sin is because most religious people will never have to fight that one personally. If they spoke out or lobbied against divorce and adultery then committed those acts, they'd have to admit they were an abomination too. By the time a person is an adult they pretty much know if they're gay or not, so these preachers and vocal advocates against SSM know they aren't gay and it's not a struggle they'll personally ever face, which makes it something they can around pointing their fingers at and waving their arms about. Christianity is the ultimate free ticket, which I believe is what makes it the most common faith. You can be Kim Davis and "repent" for her 12 marriages or whatever and still get to point at the other guy because he hasn't repented yet. Just in case that sounds really harsh, I know many, many amazing Christians who don't do that, they just don't happen to make the news for living their own lives and worrying about the logs in their own eyes.

Mine is obsessed with daddy's boxing gloves, dragons, and Curious George. He also likes his kitchen and play food, and he's just starting g to play with some of his little people more. For books, he likes ones with trucks in them and Pete the Cat.

Well, coming from a person who spent thousands of dollars to visit her mil just this last April only to have her children yelled at and told that I'm a horrible mother who doesn't buy anything for my kids and doesn't care about them, I say skip it. It was not a fun experience and I don't recommend it to anyone.

I second the Whole 30, every time I feel myself slipping I go that route and it helps so much, it's naturally low-carb, it's not particularly easy but it's very worth it. Good luck!

I much prefer driving a manual. My current vehicle is automatic but I don't love it, it just happens to be the only way they make Honda Odysseys. My last car was a zippy little manual Mazda 3 that I loved so much. Someday when I have fewer kids to haul around. :)

Siem Reap - I can't even explain it, it's ridiculously hot but the people are amazing, the feel is just unreal. I desperately want to move there. Portland, OR - love the hippy feel and the weather San Francisco - just fun, pretty, temperate, lots to do Savannah, GA - I love the feel of this place, it's pretty I also loved Bangkok, it's exciting and busy, and Seoul has great shopping. Venice is incredibly beautiful and the knowledge that it may not exist much longer makes it really special.

Calculate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and pick a calorie point a few hundred below that. Use my fitness pal or something similar to track your calories. I can lose weight like a pro but tracking calories is the only way to keep it up or maintain it for me. You can add in exercise at some point but it's not all that necessary, you can't outrun your fork. I exercise just because I enjoy it for the most part. If you have a smartphone tracking calories is much easier than it used to be, and there are hundreds of websites with healthy, lower calorie meals to try, two of my favorites are Skinny Taste and Emily Bites. Good luck! I know it seems daunting but you can do this. Doing it this way means there is no real deprivation happening and you can make choices based on the calories you have available and not what you "can" or "can't" have.

I would just like to point out that being tolerant of intolerance isn't really part of the liberal creed. You think homosexuality is a sin? Great, just don't try to legislate against it. I will vehemently disagree and and be intolerant of viewpoints and/or legislation that aims to oppress or harm other people, period. Even if one wants to call it "intolerant". On the flip side, I will also vehemently fight for your right to believe it's a sin and I would never support legislation that aims to force you to do things that go against your religion (just going to throw out that baking cakes isn't mentioned in any holy book that I'm aware of). Your right to your religion and/or conservative beliefs ends at the rights of others, and vice versa.

Yes to all of this!

Oh, here's one more that has been coming into my rotation a lot lately, dh loves it. http://m.twohealthykitchens.com/nzv2ebr/articles/35750/3-Ingredient-Crock-Pot-Chicken-Tacos

http://www.emilybites.com/2013/02/spicy-sausage-pasta.html http://thehealthyfoodie.com/west-african-chicken-stew-well-fed-2/ Both of these take me about 30 minutes to make and are delicious. They appear in our meal plans 1-3 times a month usually. I always have the ingredients in hand so if I don't have sow thing planned, this is what we we will have.

I probably would not, not necessarily because of the mobile homes around it, but because of the junky neighbor clan. Your dh may be right about people buying and building but if you aren't sure you'll own it that long, you could run the risk of losing money on it.

I homeschool for freedom, like our month long vacation to Southeast Asia and multiple visits to family throughout the year, as well as for continuity of education. We move frequently and I like being able to keep them going. Our current area has pretty awful schools but our next one has some great schools. We will still homeschool. I've been taking it year by year since we started and will continue doing so. I love homeschooling, but if that changes, or the kids want to go to school, or our financial position requires more of me, then we will address that as needed. I'm not anti-public school at all. My two oldest were in public school until 2nd and 4th grades, and our experience was just fine, they had some really great teachers and some that weren't as great but never any big issues.

I am a political liberal, meaning I generally have many of the same stances as Democrats, or in reality, I align more closely with the Green Party. I strongly believe in progressivism. I believe in protecting our planet, our people, equality, helping those in need, family values (even if your family looks different than my own), and trying to be a good, honest person. As an individual I'm sometimes on the conservative side, I don't like over-sexualization in our society, I hate that my kids can see nearly pornographic magazines at their eye level at the checkout, I'm pro-life in reality, for myself, but not for many (or any) laws against abortion. So I think liberal as an identification system, often looks like a person like myself, but the term seems to mean anything opposite of conservatism. I don't think it's quite that black and white though, every issue has a huge range, and then the two terms have a lot in between them as well.

I sub breasts or do half breast/half thigh sometimes, it's good all ways! Hope you enjoy!