Almost One Month with LimeLight by Alcone

I just wanted to give a quick LimeLight update...

I'm about a week away from my first full month as a LimeLight Beauty Guide. Mostly I have had lots and lots of fun! I'll be honest - I really just wanted to try lots of the products and maybe start a hobby. Instead I have had more fun than I thought starting my little business and helping friends and family I love find products that they are enjoying as much as I have!

I have made connections with lots of really nice people that are inspiring, funny, and just great to know. I have been pushed out of my comfort zone to connect with acquaintances around me and initiate conversations with them - and not even about LimeLight. It's just like having this little hobby has given me the confidence to talk to people that I didn't know I needed. I've been spending so many of these last 5 months waiting for people to talk to the "new girl" - because shouldn't they? Isn't it the established people's job to draw in the new person? I think that way...but not everybody else does. So instead I've decided I want to connect with people and take the risks myself. I don't have much to lose but I have a lot to gain.

Starting this has also helped me re-connect with friends that are far away. It starts a conversation because they have a question about a product, but more heart warming to me is that we can more easily share our day to day lives in the process. Sometimes you just need a reason to start having a conversation!

I've found products I love to use, seen improvements with my skin, gotten to work with a legitimately really nice company, and gotten a boost of energy with a new hobby to pursue!

I don't know how far my business will go - but what I do know is that it is entirely up to me. No one is pushing me to do anything I don't want to do, but I have all the support that I could ever need from the LimeLight community. I can be a hard boss on myself or I can enjoy the ride and just have fun with it. And I'm telling you, I am picking FUN.

Best of all I got my first pay check today. It wasn't a huge amount since I'm just starting out, but it's nice to bring in a little bit after an 18 month hiatus of bringing in zero income!

If any random soul out on the interwebs is reading this and is thinking about joining LimeLight - just go for it. I really don't think you have much to lose. And if you have any questions feel free to contact me or any Beauty Guide in your area. There are lots of people who would love to talk to you.

Click here if you want to become a Beauty Guide or just read a little more about it.

Trying Something New!

Hey buddies...

You may have seen that I decided to join LimeLight by Alcone as an Independent Beauty Guide (in training). So, I wanted to take a minute and use my lovely blog forum to explain a little about that.

I've always thought that direct sales seemed fun but terribly intimidating. It has crossed my mind several times (especially since I have been out of the normal 9-5 job world since kiddos) whenever I have come across products I have enjoyed. Since we moved to Georgia and the little nuggets are getting older (ever so quickly and yet slowly) I decided to give it a shot.

That led to LOTS of research to figure out what I might want to do. I am a researcher by nature. It can be a wonderful blessing and a terrible curse. My research led me down a path where I discovered this company called LimeLight by Alcone that I had never heard of! I don't know, I just feel like in this day and age it seems difficult to come across a company you have never ever heard of.

So to make a very long story short, I love make up and skin care and all things girly. I truly embraced this 'love' of my life after Noelle was born. I don't know, something about becoming a mom helps you find little joys in your life and embrace them like you didn't know how to before. Learning and researching about makeup as I did during that season had me trying so many different things and I started learning what I liked and what I didn't. Also since having Noelle, I learned alot about trying to use safe and natural products on ourselves and I try as much as I can to make smart decisions in that regard.

That's what really caught my attention with LimeLight. They have a natural and safe skin care line (that is actually awesome and I have found it to be VERY gentle on my sensitive skin). They also started out as a makeup company that sold makeup to only professionals. For over 60 years they have been a company that aimed to sell the best products to professionals to get the job done. Their whole company only started because they wanted to give commissions to makeup artists who were asking to sell the products to their clients (who liked them and wanted them for personal use). They have special relationships with the makers of their makeup (many of whom are small family businesses) and so have been able to tweak formulas to make them safer when able. For a video of the co-founder giving a history and details of the company go here!

I decided to take the leap and buy a beauty guide kit even though I had NEVER TRIED ANY OF IT. That's risky. But I guess I was in a risky mood. I've been reminding myself that sometimes I just need to put on my big girl pants and be a grown up.

For context I will tell you that moving to Georgia has been wonderful and challenging. We have grown and strengthened as a family, and we don't have a huge circle of community yet (aside from our amazing family). We are still searching for a church and know that at the right time we will know where to settle...but in the mean time I wanted a hobby that would get me out talking to people face to face. So that's another reason I decided to go for it. It's a random way to meet some nice ladies and I am willing to give it a try!

Anyway, back to the LimeLight info...I got the products and I really really like them. I am picky and I have sensitive skin and I am just thrilled with the results I have seen. I have such a long list of more things I want to try!

If you know me you will know that if I really love something I want people to know about it, I want them to try it, and I want them to love it. It's weird. It's just something that makes me happy. So I'm not here to sell you skin care and makeup. I'm here to tell you I found something I love and that works for me, and maybe you will give it a shot too!

If you are interested in learning more about the products, the company or want to purchase something feel free to check it out here: https://www.limelightbyalcone.com/abbywatkins

I could post their points here, but if you really want to know you should do your own research. So that's why I'll just point you there!

Thanks for reading and not just passing this off as another sales pitch ;-)

The Next Generation

We have been attempting to get some new photos of Milo but also of Louie and Noelle so that my parents can have "matching/coordinating" photos of all three grand kids.

My cousin Michele's birthday party became a great opportunity to try and get those shots, as well as all of the "great grand-kids" of Lou and Flo D'Ambrosio. Flo (Grammy) was the only one who got to meet a great grandchild, which was Will back in 2008.

Getting all of the kids to be happy and looking in relatively the same direction was pretty much impossible, but we are really pleased with the results! Enjoy some Fall cuteness!!

Louie thought Francis of Assisi needed a hug. 

This took so much effort and was the best we could do. Someone wouldn't stay put...

We gave up on Louie and took a few with the cooperative ones.

We tried again and gave Louie the prop. Worked for him, but then the other two were distracted!

Happy Mr. Milo!! Too easy :)

The photo veteran of the crowd.

I had to hold him still but we'll crop me out later.

Milo and Mariano, the 2016 crew representing well!

This is where we tried to get all of them, you can see how poorly we started...

We resorted to singing to get them all to look and be happy. Will was mortified, Milo was beginning to dislike it, Louie thought it was the greatest concert of all time, Noelle was slightly amused, and Mariano was horrified.

We tried re-adjusting the positions and hoped that everyone would be happy. Louie was wondering what on earth was wrong with Milo.

The best we could do!
Milo Tripp ~ Noelle Watkins ~ Louie Watkins ~ Will Perrino ~ Mariano Perrino
Lou and Flo would have been immensely proud and entirely smitten with all of them!

October in Georgia

It's been hot. Once we moved to Georgia I don't think I was cold from May until recently. If you know me, you will know that's a long time for me to be hot. I am pretty much always cold, except for summer in Georgia.

But good news everyone - the heat is retreating. And October in Georgia is gorgeous!! I haven't been in Georgia for an october since 2000. And even then I was in high school which means the only days you are outside for the entire day is pretty much weekends. But let's face it, how many high schoolers truly truly appreciate beautiful days?? Well I can tell you that I didn't!

The mornings are a little chilly but the afternoons are awesome. Nice and warm but with a cool breeze. I am not sure how many clouds I have even seen this month, it's just been perfection. Louie and Noelle just LOVE to be outside. So I am out there all. the. time.  A beautiful day outside with the kids is just a mood booster for the average mom.

It's not exactly what I would call traditional "fall" that I am used to (think light weight scarves, breaking out the boots...) but I am thoroughly enjoying the slightly cooled temperatures and the sunny skies. I'm not even dreading it becoming winter as I have in previous years...I know there will be days ahead that I don't want to venture outside with the kids - but they will start later and end sooner.

I'm excited that I'm not drenched after 5 minutes outside and that my makeup isn't melting off my face (which let's face it, most days I didn't even bother because it was so hot). Hopefully by next summer I can manage regular pool trips with both kids so that we can survive the scorching heat a little better - maybe Louie will be more cooperative in the pool in 2017!! A mom can dream, right?

I will always miss fall in Kentucky, but I am enjoying the beauty of fall in Georgia.

My new favorite time of year - BACK TO SCHOOL!

Noelle needs school.

It is so good for her. She is nicer to her parents when she is in school. She has more fun when she is in school. Life is calmer when she is in school.

Don't get me wrong, she's an amazing kid...but the structure, learning, friends...she just THRIVES in it. Last week was the first week of school and by gosh were we ready!

A bonus to being in Georgia for Pre-k was that it started nearly a month earlier than Noelle's preschool in Kentucky. On top of that, it was impossible to find a 3 day program...pretty much everything is 4 days or more. It was a bit more than we would have paid in Kentucky, but hey - we're getting another day of her at school!

She has adjusted beautifully to her new school. She has two sweet teachers that are both grandma's and have been teaching for years. Her school has an abundance of little girls so I am hopeful that Noelle will make a few more friends in her class that we could have a play date with here and there.

We had fun taking her first day of Pre-K pictures and before I know it she will be off to Kindergarden and beyond!!!

She came up with this pose herself!

sassy!

Her faces crack us up!

This was our attempt to get a pic of both of them. Louie is wary.

Now Louie is just bored, lol.

Louie - 1 Year

This post is embarrassingly late. But guys, moving is really really hard with little nuggets running around!

Louie spent his 12th month entertaining himself while we packed and said goodbyes. His birthday party was a small family get together just days after we arrived in Georgia. For his first birthday he was a squatter in his grandparents home!

He didn't have any major milestones in his 12th month...but he certainly got into anything and everything he could. We call him "destructor" or "one man wrecking crew" - he is just a little tornado/bulldozer everywhere he goes. It's a bit exhausting but thankfully he is so very cute. That really helps.

He is turning into such a little boy so quickly...and also turning into quite the toddler, complete with toddler fits when he doesn't get his way.

Louis is now 14.5 months and won't sit still for much of anything. We did our very best to get a one year photo like all his others but he was NOT having it. We decided it was better to be honest about trying to get it and that way we would remember just how impossible it was to get him to sit still at a year old.

Louie is also starting to communicate more and more with us. He's got Mama, Dada, and Pop Pop as the people he will name. Sometimes we think he tries to say Noelle as "O-elle" but it isn't very often. He likes to point out people, and he also likes to point at ceiling fans. His favorite animals are cats and he loves to eat cookies.

It's hard to believe how quickly a year has flown by and I know the 2nd year will go even faster. We love you little Louie and we are so very honored to have you be a part of our family.

Adjusting to New Normal

Moving to different states is a big transition. It's even more challenging when you have a "hiatus" month in between leaving your old home and actually moving into your new home.

We officially started living in our home in Acworth the day after my birthday. It was so interesting to go back to our family dynamic of just the four of us. The kids were so happy to have all of their own things unboxed and slowly we started to find our own rhythms again.

We still have a few things to "check off the list" in terms of all you have to switch over and change when you move. But that list is quickly getting checked off as we have started August.

But there is so much more to "new normal" that we are still adjusting to. It's exciting and tiring all at the same time. We are getting more familiar with the area, and our house is feeling more and more like home.

We've met some great neighbors who have made us feel like we actually know people here beyond just family.

We are still searching for a church home, and we feel once we have found that it will really start to feel like we are settled fully. It has been 11 years since we looked for a new church, and it is no easy feat. It has brought back memories of where we were back then and we try to remember what made us plant our family at Quest. We are eager to start this next chapter, but we need lots of patience as the search continues.

In the mean time we are so grateful to have family nearby and we've even gotten visits from a couple Lexington friends that have been passing through. We're learning what it means to invest in long distance friendships while still keeping our eyes open for new friends here.