I've Got My Home Office Back

Hello.

Of course I only blog sporadically these days, but I had to drop a quick line to say I've got a home office again!

It's 95% complete and when I have it fully, I will post another blog. Pics and all!

And do an update on life and what not :-)

See you soon <3

Guess what I found today!

Hello all!

It's been awhile. As usual been busy with Té Russ Novels! The Russ home stays busy. Lots of things going on...

So I woke up this morning, looked in the mirror and saw some gray in my hair! On closer perusal, I discovered it was merely a loose dog hair from Brutus (who recently had surgery for cancer, but he is doing fine now. He's like a puppy all over again!). I brushed it off, joked with the hubs about how for a split second I thought I'd found my first gray hair.

Fast forward a few hours later, and I'm in the dressing room of a Kohl's store and I look in the mirror again. And see another....gray...hair.

Nearly pressing my face to the mirror, I check again, and see this is longer than my dog's hair. I reach up, give it a small tug, and sure enough....it's an ACTUAL gray hair.

Connected to my head!

I never knew how my reaction would be when I got my first gray hair. I'm not surprised that I got it. I have a friend who has gray already and she's the same age as me.

I wondered how I would feel about it. Would I cry? Would I run out and buy hair dye? Would I feel like I'm now getting old, even though I'm not despite my milestone birthday later this year?

I didn't feel any of that. In fact, I felt...kinda excited to be quite honest. Although, I did joke that my kids are giving me gray hairs lol!

I've been looking at it in the mirror and smiling. Gingerly touching my hair like it's some kind of fragile newborn or something like that. I even rearranged my wild looking hair, so that one strand is prominently standing out.

So, yeah...I got my first gray hair today...and it's just another day...

Now I'm off to go be Mom...

Be Blessed.

Back-to-School and my Pinterest Inspired Projects!

Hey there peeps!

It's been awhile. As usual, I'd been a busy girl over the summer with the family as well as writing (hop over to Té Russ Novels and check out what I've been up to!).

This week the kids went back to school! I now have a senior in high school, a fourth grader (her last year in elementary) and a kindergartner. It's interesting having to adjust to spending the entire day at home with just me and the dog. The silence is...crazy. Lol...appreciated, mind you. But it's still taking some getting used to.

Anywhoo...As you saw from my closet makeover, I've been on a Pinterest kick. This time I was looking for things to help the kids get more organized. In my search I stumbled across many different pins that included a family command central station. This is basically where all things like homework, important papers and schedules go. So I created my own Russ Command Central Station!

I didn't take any up close photos, but I have some wall art above the calendar, which is filled with the little ones soccer practices (yes, they are in soccer. I'm officially a soccer mom!). The small dry erase board next to the the calendar has a scripture of the day on it. The file bin has folders for each kids important papers, or homework through the week. I also put hooks at the bottom for each of them. I plan on going back and painting the R at some point. 

Another little project I did which was inspired by Pinterest was a homework station. 

This is just a little something for the kids when they get home from school so they won't have to look all over the place for items they need! I also went and bought some pens and added them. 

But that's about it! I'm sure I will be finding some new project to do. I have some lunch ideas that I haven't tried yet. I will probably do those next week and post them :-)

Until next time though....

Later Gators!

Walk-in Closet Overhaul

Hey loves!

So I've been taking a bit of a writing hiatus and I've used that time to do some  spring cleaning I should have done...

Like last year...

Ok, like two or three years ago. 

Don't judge me. 

I'm not a fan of cleaning. Unless I'm supposed to be writing lol! And I'm terrible at organizing things. 

But I was determined to get my closet and bathroom in order. So last week I started working on my walk in closet. I have a habit of washing every item of clothing in my closet before folding it or having it up, even if they are clean. 

I got everything all folded and hung up then I went and got a bunch of things to get my closet looking super awesome. 

So here we go!

I got a shoe rack for the hubby's chucks. And also a hanging tie rack. I also bought a new iron (first one in like ten years). 

Mostly everything else is hanging and folded clothes, but my favorite part of the transformation is this little nook area.

Here's the before (cringe)...

I know. A mess. But in my defense I was already working on getting the closet in order. 

But here is the after!

I created my own little vanity! (I know the mirror is smudgy, I had to hold it down with the command strip wall mounts). 

I got the small mirror from lowes and the lights from Home Depot. They are battery powered (I actually remember to buy batteries!) and they come on with a swipe of your finger. 

The wall art is from Big Lots and the little  platter my perfume is on is just a little cheap plate from Dollar General. 

I also put up a little curtain to close off the area. 

Side note lol...I put the shoe rack together with my new tool kit! 

I also found these really cute boxes at Dollar General. 

I use them for my make up and nail stuff. 

So that's about it! I also did some organizing in my bathroom and got an over the toilet shelf system and a wall shelf with towel bar. 

Overall, I'm very happy with the way things turned out! :-) 

Hot Oil Treatment Hack!

Hey all!

I'm back! I know, shame on me, where've you been? Writing, writing, writing!

In fact I've got a new book out today, AND it's my birthday! Yay!

With today being my birthday, I've decided to straighten my hair out. I did it about a month ago, I should have done a length check post then, but like I said, writing...

It's grown a little. I got a little lazy with my last set of braids.

But now I'm back on track.

Of course, it's summertime, so the kids are home. We went to the waterpark yesterday and it was a lot of fun. But now, I've got to take care of this hair.

I decided to do a pre-poo hot oil treatment this morning. I don't do them often because I didn't have an applicator, and I never remember to buy one. 

BUT...if figured out a little something I can use instead. I've never seen anyone suggest this before, so here it goes...

Yes, what you see before you is one of those little baby nose sucker thingies. Lol...I remembered that I had an old one I never used. Because you end up with like a bajillion of 'em. I never threw it away, cause I never throw anything away (I'm working on that), so I figured, why not. 

It. Was. Perfect. It holds the oil in and you can control how much you put in your hair! 

With that being said, I will *try* to get better at incorporating the weekly hot oil treatments into my hair care regimen!

I will be back later to talk more about my birthday. I've got to go and get started on this hair!

Until then, check out my Writer's Site, and my New Book!

Southwestern Egg Rolls

Update!

The southwestern egg rolls were a hit! Hubby loved them! I made the tortillas from scratch as well!

The only thing missing was cayenne pepper, but they were still very good!

I baked them instead of frying them and I also added some chia gel.

I can't wait for make more of these!

Baking Frenzy/Hair Check Up

Hey guys!

It's been a couple of months! I've been busy writing and promoting my books and family time. You know, the usual. So I decided to combine my posts!

First! The domestic diva has had a busy weekend! I've gotten into making well....everything homemade! I started with breads! The first one I made was a french bread. Mostly because I didn't have a loaf pan. It came out really good!

Later that night I made the kids some homemade mini corn dogs. Which were also very yummy!

The next day I made bread for sandwiches! I made a honey oat whole wheat bread. I added chia seeds to it. I borrowed a loaf pan from my neighbor and had another glass pan. The one in the glass pan came out just ok, I think if I'd shaped it better before letting it rise the second time it would have looked better. The one in the loaf pan was perfect! And it taste so yummy!

I cut it pretty thickly so I've only needed one slice to make sandwiches. And with the chia seeds that's all you need. Lol. I kept one loaf of each out and froze the others. 

This morning I made homemade tortillas. Later on I'm going to make some Southwestern egg rolls like they have at Chili's hubby loves those! I'll make a new post for that later!

Now on to my hair update! It's been rough with this winter weather but I'm holding on. I try to keep it in some protective style. Last weekend I flat ironed it again.

This was about a week after. 

A few days ago I rolled it with perm rods. I used olive oil, Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Ecostyler Argan Oil gel. I set it on dry hair. It came out pretty good!

I made my own leave in conditioner spray. I've been trying to save money when and where I can. So I combined olive, coconut and grapeseed oil in an old spray bottle and topped it off with water. I like it so far. This is the first time I've used grapeseed oil, but I hear it's very good on the hair so we'll see!

I also stocked up on Shea Moisture products again! This time CVS was having a buy one get one free sale! Can't pass up free! 

I got two of the deep treatment masques because I love it. The other two products are new for me.i haven't used the restorative conditioner yet, but I like that you can use it as a leave in or rinse out. I did use the JBCO though last night after washing and conditioning my hair and it's amazing! My hair still feels all nice and soft! I'll probably throw my hair back up in some protective style soon! 

Anyway that's everything. Lol! 

I hope you all are having a blessed holiday! 

Until next time....