R+F: A Quick Overview

Rodan and Fields: Quick Overview

     After Kathy Fields and Katie Rodan founded Proactive, they wanted to make professional, dermatology-based skincare available to everyone without a prescription.

What are the products?

REDEFINE is a comprehensive solution that utilizes antioxidants, a high concentration of peptides, and a few other anti-aging ingredients to reduce signs of aging. REDEFINE also slows the development of future aging woes like wrinkles.

REVERSE regimen is aimed towards men and women who want to decrease premature signs of aging caused by the environment. REVERSE helps fade dark spots, overcome dullness by brightening complexion, and minimize the appearance of wrinkles. Active ingredients include retinol and hydroquinone, a known skin-lightener. REVERSE also exfoliates and includes a product with SPF.

UNBLEMISH, helps get rid of current acne and prevents future breakouts by fighting the “acne cycle.” UNBLEMISH unclogs pores and clears the face of blemishes. It comes with two different options of toners. Spot Fading and Clarifying. I personally have been using UNBLEMISH and you can read more about my story - HERE.

SOOTHE reduces irritation and redness in just minutes and is great for those suffering from rosacea. In addition, SOOTHE shields the skin against environmental factors that cause irritation, gives your moisture barrier a boost, and improves complexion.

R+F also sells ESSENTIAL products like moisturizers, sunscreens, tanning lotion, and vitamins along with microdermabrasion products and patent-pending MACRO Exfoliator and AMP MD System to make real results possible at home without injections or other invasive procedures.

 

You can find more information on my website: feel free to browse our solution tool to see what skin care line is the best fit for you!  https://jessicaengel.myrandf.com/

5 weeks and 2 days...

Whoa. Where did the time go? 

I can remember vividly when I went in for my first appointment for Baby Engel. I had told Richard a week and a half before that I took a test and it was positive. They request you come between week 8-10 to confirm a positive pregnancy. The doctor predicted our baby to be 8 weeks at my appointment due to my cycles. Sitting in the waiting room we felt all kinds of emotions; excitement, joy, fear, anxiety, you name it. During the ultrasound, I remember the tech repeating over and over "very low heartbeat, looks very low". What the heck, lady? Way to ruin the moment. We left the appointment being so overwhelmed with joy, seeing our itty bitty tiny dot on the screen along with a lump in our throat as we were put on miscarriage precautions because of the baby's measurement and heartbeat of only 97 bpm. The baby was so small they didn't even print us a picture! It was like we walked out of the office not knowing what to think. Should we be happy, should we be sad? All we could feel was fear. Fear of the unknown. The heartbeat should have been higher. I knew this. 

Side note: Now, our road leading up to this moment is something I keep between me and my husband. However, people will say anything to pregnant women. I remember someone saying to me, "I wish I had your uterus!"  What?! Ha. If you only knew my dear, but thank you for that oddball compliment!  :) Everyone has their own story of fertility or infertility. And as I've matured, I lack tolerance for those who aren't supportive for each individual in their journey. Never assume where someone is, where they have been or where they are going. For some women/couples pregnancy is easy, for some, it is not. 'Nuff said about that. 

I remember singing at church and being overwhelmed with sorrow and hope at the same time. It was the weirdest thing. Tears began to stream. It ended up being the convulsive ugly cry where I almost I had to remove myself. Luckily, I recovered, thanks to my adorable husband who just held me and rubbed my back as he solemnly cried too. There we were, transparent before our King. What could we do but hope, pray and wait. So we waited. Two excruciating long weeks. (Oh, did I mention I had a stomach bug during this time where I had to be taken to patient first and was given an IV? Yeah, a very long 2 weeks) 

Through it all, our little tot pushed through. The doctor told us at the follow up that things looked positive and that we (and the target brand pregnancy test) detected our baby super early and now I was measuring on track, 7w5d with a 167 heartbeat! Whew. When I went the first time, the little tater was only 5w2d. No wonder the heartbeat was slow.. it had barely started! It's crazy to think that I only have 5 weeks and 2 days left till my due date. My pregnancy hasn't been smooth sailing but Richard and I have rode out the unpredictable waves and here we are again anticipating the unknown of bringing our baby into this world. Excitement, joy, fear, anxiety. I can't imagine doing this alone. Thankfully, I've had my Saviour and my amazing husband to hold my hand every step of the way. In the coming weeks, I'll need them more than ever to lean on. 

Troubles surround me, chaos abounding My soul will rest in You I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm My help is on the way, my help is on the way Oh, my God, He will not delay My refuge and strength always I will not fear, His promise is true My God will come through always

Always, by Kristian Stanfill

the color red

I realized that I haven't posted a single thing since my trip to Haiti. It's time that I blogged about it to rekindle the fire. If you've never been on an international missions trip then I highly suggest you go. Don't even think about "praying about it", just go. Because what are you really waiting for? For an audible "Yes" from God and for your timeline to line up together? Read your Bible. I'm pretty sure God will say something like "Go" but you look and let me know where it is. 

What has happened since my trip: ahh yaaah yahh. I can't even seem to formulate the words. When I came back I was literally sick at all the pride, judgement, and comparison that we as Americans have. It was a struggle to find compassion for the people in my life who complained about not having enough money, how big or small their house is, how better of a parent they were to their children verses others parents, what car they had, how much they served in church, all these day to day things. It took me a couple of weeks to realize that I was becoming intolerant of the ignorance that people had for the world. For the needs of this world. I didn't have this ah ha moment on my trip. It came way later. I waited and I watched.

I watched my husband. Anyone who knows my husband, knows that Haiti changed him. I think God wanted me to be present during the trip for his change. The Haiti trip wasn't for me. It was others, even my husband. He came back with a fire in his heart for people, people in Haiti and people that we incounter every single day. I am so lucky. He has always put the needs of me before his but the spark was different. And it wasn't just my needs I noticed. It was everyone else's needs before his. When he talked about living, it was with a passion, not with a harden heart. Watching him changed what I was feeling inside of me. 

One of the monumental moments I had in Haiti was when I was making a Sunday School type craft with one of the girls from an orphanage on the compound where we were staying. I was helping her pick out some stickers and I suggested we use her favorite color. She asked what mine was and I told her purple. She asked me why? Kind of an odd question and I didn't really have an answer. I just told her it was my favorite and I liked everything from light purple to dark purple. She smile and told me her favorite was red. Even though I didn't have an answer for her I figured she must have a reason she liked the color red. So I asked her why? You know what she told me? She grabbed my hand, smiled and looked right into me and said "Oh, I just love red! Red is the color of my blood and it's the color of Jesus' blood and it runs right through my veins". It felt like time stood still as she traced her finger along my forearm.

She is right too. For all of us. God came and lived as a man. No matter what you believe. Jesus was and is a real person. Most of us are okay with trusting God with our eternity because eternity isn't something we know anything about. But what about the day to day things. Our marriage, our finances, our parenting, our future here on earth. We have such a hard time trusting what Jesus came to say. When most people think of Christianity they think of a bunch of laid out rules but if you read the Bible.. Jesus preached the very opposite. The majority of the time he was angered with the "religious" people. He told us, he was the way and the way was simple. Love God. And Love People. Forget the rest. 

I had to learn that. Haiti helped me come to terms with that. It's a daily struggle because there isn't a thank you or a pat on the back to greet you at the end of the day. At times it's the opposite. But loving God and loving people is what I am called to do.... It is red and it is what runs through my veins. 

 

Life Begins at the End of your Comfort Zone.

For those of you who know or for those of you who don't know....

Richard and I are going to

Haiti

April 1st - 8th

We can't even begin to describe how excited we are to go on our 1st international mission trip. We will be staying at a missionary compound in Gressier, Haiti and working in the surrounding areas doing whatever tasks need to be done along with about 20 or so people from Journey Christian Church.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere so traveling there with people we don't know to well, being asked to do whatever at any given moment, and not knowing the language is definitely out of our comfort zone.

Whether you came across this blog post by accident or you are a friend, we ask you to pray for us. We are praying that God stretches us. We are praying that we can be the hands and feet of Jesus with the little time we have there. We are asking Him to open our eyes and ears to allow us to come back and share things with others to give Him the glory. We are also praying for the safety of our group as we travel. Interesting fact is that our compound is only 18 miles from the airport but due to poor road conditions it will take around 2 hours! That van ride should be fun!

We've already seen God work around us as we are preparing for our trip.

My anticipation is rising and I can not wait for my world to be shaken.

A country who needs our love

Dance Party coming to Haiti !!!!

Lucky Day

We had such a great day yesterday!

First we headed to the Lucky Clover Hill Elementary 5k race that our teacher friend Kristen invited us to. The weather was awesome and running around Woodlake was gorgeous. I do not consider myself a runner because I can not get my body and mind to like it and enjoy it. However, for some reason, my mind knows the difference when there is a finish line to cross at the end of a race. I was very proud of my time yesterday 29:42 :). My husband on the other hand is a natural athlete. He ended up winning the entire 5k with a time of 19:45! (Of course he said he wished he would have done better.) 1st Place with over 400 registered is very impressive. After the run our friends Shawn, Sarah, and their little girl Mady came out to post activities. Clover Hill had face painting, tattoos, a magician, chick fila, flying squirrel mascot, and much more!

                

After the race we rode up to Magnolia Green with the Rupperts to check out their new house! Well, they are building it so we got a tour of the same model house. We are so happy for them and can't wait to see them in their new home this year!

Richard won some Lucky Foot money so we decided to head to their store and pick out some running shoes. I guess you could say I felt inspired after the 5k. Since I have a small foot the store had to order my size 6.

After some R&R, lunch and showers we met up with some friends at Hardywood Brewery. The weather was great in the sun so we grabbed a pitcher and sat on a blanket listening to the tunes of 1. the pimp van and 2. the Atkinson Band. It's crazy how Richmond seems so big to me but all day long we ran into people we knew! What started off as hanging out with 2 couples ended up hanging out with 4!

Quickly, the sun was set and the temperature dropped! The Reynolds tagged along with us and we had dinner at Thai Diner Too. Ok, so God wasn't done with us yet. During dinner we ran into Phil's boss. Richmond.. getting smaller and smaller. Dinner was so yummy but my mouth was burning even from the medium heat! Anyone who knows my hunny, knows he got his dinner 'Thai hot', crazy boo. When it came time to pay, we were consumed by generosity when we found out that Phil's boss paid for the whole table. How nice is that!? This man didn't even know us! Small acts of kindness seem so big to the receivers.

Since we didn't have to fit the bill for dinner we all took a vote and Cold Stone Creamery won. We all splurged and got the Love it size. I recommend the Peanut Butter Perfection :). As we were sitting there a group of 3 guys came in, gathered our attention and told us they were about to try out for the XFactor. They simply said, if you like us clap, if not just go back to eating your delicious ice cream. Man, they were really good. I tried to whip out my handy dandy iPhone but only caught a little bit of the serenade. You can find them through Facebook or YouTube: vathegroup.

Overall, it was a fabulous day. Filled with memories that I will never forget. My heart was happy by the end of the day. I credit that to the abundant blessings from God.

Super Bowl Spice

What do I love most about the Super Bowl?

          The Food. Imagine that?!

Oh, wait... and the company, commercials, and then the football. If you know my husband he likes spice. His favorite condiment is Tabasco. We buy it by the gallon at our house. I've come to"respect" his tastes buds but I occasionally make him taste one bite of my homemade meals before covering it with the heat. One of our favorite appetizers is Buffalo Chicken Dip and we always follow the Franks Recipe . As the Super Bowl was approaching he begged me to make the dip Tabasco Style, substituting the Franks for Tabasco! Who out there knows the difference in the heat? Whew. So, since we were in mixed company I decided to bring both. Franks Buffalo Chx Dip and Tabasco Buffalo Chx Dip.

I also wanted to bring something else to the party so I decided to keep with the spicy theme and make Jalapeño Popper Pull Bread. Oh, so good!

We had a really good time eating, drinking, and watching the good sport with some of our closest friends.

Strawberry Lemonade Cake

I wanted to do something special for the ladies I work with for Valentines this year, so I decided to bake. Bake a cake!! One of my coworkers is gluten-intolerant so I made it my mission to find a cake that was gluten-free. Low and behold, Pinterest was to my rescue ta-da. And let me tell you, it was a hit. Half of the cake was gone before lunchtime.

Here is the recipe: ((and just FYI, I used all off-brand items))

Strawberry Cake with Lemonade
for the cake:
· 1 1/2 - 2 cups fresh strawberries
· 1 package (15 ounces) yellow gluten-free cake mix (conventional cake mix would work too! I just used Betty Crocker — inexpensive for a GF mix and it was delicious)
· 3 tablespoons strawberry Jell-O (half of a 3-ounce package)
· 1/2 cup vegetable oil
· 3 large eggs
· 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350. Oil two 9" pans. Mix cake mix and strawberry jello in a bowl. Rinse and cut off green tips of strawberries and use food processor to pulse to a purée (need about 3/4 cup). In another bowl mix purée, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Slowly add wet mix with dry using an electric mixer. Pour evenly into pans and cook 18-22 mins. When done, let cakes completely cool on wire racks before icing.

for the lemonade frosting (the best part, if you ask me!)
· 2- 8oz. packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened to room temp.)
· 1 packet (0.23oz.) of Kool-Aid Lemonade
· 1- 7oz. container Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
· 1/3 c. powdered sugar
· 8 oz. Cool Whip Topping (thawed)

Mix cream cheese and lemonade with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add marshmallow creme and sugar and mix until smooth. With a spatula add cool whip to cream cheese mixture until well combined. Ice cake when they are completely cooled.