The Ameri Brit Mom

Make-up on the Go

Bare Minerals by theameribritmom featuring Bare Escentuals

Over the past couple of years I have converted my make up collection to include exclusively bareMinerals products. I love the long lasting color and coverage as well as the light-weight feel. I tend to go for a more natural look and I’ve found that these products make it effortless to get the look that I prefer. Pictured above are some of my favorites from bareMinerals.

Another thing I enjoy about bareMinerals is that they have created a Ready line. Their Ready eye shadows, blushes, and foundation come in compact containers with their own brushes. They are ideal for travel or for use on the go. I own a couple of different Ready eyeshadow palettes, but my favorite one is pictured above.

As I pack my suitcase today in anticipation for tomorrow’s flight home I am thankful for the bareMinerals products that I own that make it easy to travel without the worry of powder all over my belongings. The variety of colors and textures make the application process so much fun. I love pairing pieces of my collection and matching colors with my outfit for the day. Thank you, bareMinerals, for making it easy to travel and still look beautiful!

Bare Escentuals lip treatment
£10 – beauty.com

Bare Escentuals blush
£15 – macys.com

Bare Escentuals foundation
£18 – macys.com

Bare Escentuals mineral makeup
nelly.com

Bare Escentuals eyeliner
£10 – beauty.com

Hope Eastleigh

This past weekend my husband and I had the truly humbling experience of taking part in the Hope Eastleigh event in his hometown. Eastleigh is the town in England where my husband grew up. It is a burrough of Southampton near the south coast. For this event many of the churches within Eastleigh banded together to bring their town various opportunities to encounter the gospel over a two week time period. This event is known as Hope Eastleigh. During this time period several activities are established for various groups of people. Members of the churches get involved by volunteering their time to get out and evangelize to the community.

On Friday they provided a tea tent in the town square for the elderly to get a cup of tea and chat with the volunteers. This provided a means for presenting the gospel to that group of people.

The majority of those who were reached through Hope Eastleigh were met during their Saturday Family Day. In the town square there were dozens of free bouncy castles, children’s games and crafts run by volunteers from the churches. My husband shared his basketball ministry and testimony on stage during this time. The entire day was meant to draw people to conversation so that they might come to know Christ as a result. It was truly inspiring the way that the churches came together in order to see life change in their community.

Sunday there was one church service held in a tent on the town square. Over ten congregations met together to worship God in an open location. The tent was overflowing with people and some who were in town became curious about the service and wandered in as well.

This next week we will be returning to America and will be unable to take part in the second week of Hope Eastleigh, but it is the follow-up week where Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday there will be evening services housed in different churches. Each service will present a different part of the salvation story with opportunities to meet Christ for the very first time.

What I find most inspiring about the Hope Eastleigh event is that there is no competition between the churches. All work together to see authentic change in Eastleigh. So often when churches resolve to work together their plans are thwarted by their differences. It is truly special the way that these churches focus on their similarities and work toward a common goal. It was so humbling to be in a place where Christianity and faith are in such decline, but to see people living out the gospel the way that God intended: with unity.

1 Peter 3:8: Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

A Book Review: The Year of Fog

The following is a book review by The Ameri Brit Mom. This post expresses the genuine opinion and experiences of The Ameri Brit Mom and is in no way endorsed by authors, publishers, and outside influences.

Title: The Year of Fog

Author: Michelle Richmond

Publisher: A Bantam Discovery

Copyright Date: 2007

A few weeks ago my sister who is majoring in English and just as much of a bookworm as I am suggested that we attend the Half-Price Bookstore Warehouse Clearance sale in Columbus. The Ohio Expo Center was piled with books from every genre with no book costing above $2. I ended up walking out with 20 books totaling in just under $40. This really was an amazing experience and I look forward to attending it again in the future. That being said today’s book review is about a book I scored during this sale. I found quite a few copies of The Year of Fog, and although I had never heard of it or its author prior to the sale I was intrigued and threw it in my basket.

The story begins with a fateful morning on the coast of San Francisco. Abby Mason is walking along the shore with her soon-to-be stepdaughter, Emma, when she diverts her attention to a dead baby seal for only a minute. Emma’s father was out of town on business and this was Abby’s first time being the sole carer for Emma. This was to be her trial run for motherhood. During the leisurely walk Abby looks away from Emma and in the short time that she was focused elsewhere Emma goes missing. By the time she notices that Emma has disappeared into the fog surrounding them the girl is long gone. Abby spends the next year of her life trying to recover clues and memories from that morning to help locate Emma.

From the plot line it is easy to see that a major conflict in this missing girl’s case is Abby having to prove her innocence. She spends many months under the suspicion of the media. During this time Abby conducts her own research and consults several sources to help her in her quest to find the truth. Each passing hour and day reduces the likelihood of finding the missing child, but Abby continues to have faith despite the odds.

As a mother of a young child this story was frightening at times as it required me to acknowledge the real dangers of this world. To be honest I finished this book pretty quickly because I could not handle not knowing what had happened to Emma. It was a very fast paced novel which mirrored closely the constant search and activities Abby was involved in looking for her beloved stepdaughter. This was a very thrilling read and I would recommend it to those who prefer the mystery and thriller genres.

A British Wedding Scrapbook

Last Friday I had the honor of attending the wedding of Phil and Rosie Lane. Phil is one of my husband’s closest friends and even though they’ve lived apart for six years they continue to have a strong friendship. So strong in fact that my husband was the best man in the wedding. Arianna was also one of the flower girls for the wedding. She really enjoyed the day and looked adorable. She was joined in her duties as flower girl by her friend, Summer, the niece of the groom. It was such a lovely wedding. Phil is such a great guy who deserved to have a beautiful wedding. Back in 2009, Phil spent a year in America at the college where my husband and I met. During that time I got to know Phil well. We also were able to be in NYC with Phil and Rosie the day after their boat cruise proposal. They are a great couple and we wish them the best in their next phase.

Below is a sneak peek at some of the memorable moments of the day.

Five Minute Friday: Hope

Once again I am late posting in the UK for the Five Minute Friday. Last night my husband and I had a date night to The Harvester and we watched our first movie in the cinema this year that was not made by Disney or Pixar. We’ve really enjoyed our trip this year. It is beginning to wrap up and it is sad really. Our family in England is so nice and helpful. It’s always a great time.

The topic this week is hope. Check out the rest of the link up here to see other posts on this topic.

Hope is a feeling one cannot shake,

If you live in hope you’re not easy to break.

Hope is remembering through all the pain,

That there is always sunshine after the rain.

If your life is hopeful and your eyes on the goal,

There is really no limit to where you can go.

Keep on hoping when things seem rough,

And you’ll come to learn that hope is enough.

Hope to defeat whatever lies in your way,

Hope to accomplish your desires one day.

Hope to surrender to whatever looks like defeat,

When you lay it all down at your Saviors’ feet.

-The Ameri Brit Mom

This is a short little poem about what I’ve been learning about hope in my own life. Last week I had the privilege to speak with one of my husband’s friends who was paralyzed from the neck down in a sudden and tragic accident. He spoke about the necessity of hope to make it each day. Through everything he has remained hopeful that his life has purpose and that one day doctors may find a way to make him walk again. When I think of hope today I am brought back to that conversation and I realize that if he can have hope in his situation then I have no excuse for not having hope in my life and my circumstances. God has given us eternal hope through the gospel. That truth gives me hope that I can overcome everything in my life that may seem insurmountable at the time. We can rise above with hope on our side.

British Summer Style

Experiencing summer in Ohio and summer in England are two completely different things. I’ve come from 80-90 degree temperatures to ones closer to the mid sixties. A typical British summer is often similar to early spring in Ohio. With this massive change in temperatures I’ve been on the lookout for a fashionable pair of pants, or trousers as the British would call them. I’ve brought quite a bit of spending money this year because one of my favorite activities is shopping in England. I don’t often splurge on myself, but while in England I enjoy a couple successful shopping ventures. This week I visited the West Quay in Southampton and scored this outfit. I love the pastel colors and I’m very fond of the mint/pink combination.

I wore this new ensemble to our first date since arriving last week. My husband and I woke up this morning and walked in to town for a coffee and lunch date. As always I’m having my fair share of coffee in England. Eastleigh, where I am staying, literally is lined with coffee houses I could go to a different coffee shop everyday for the entire stay and never repeat a visit. I quite fancy Costa coffee, but there are other enjoyable places as well. This outfit was fun and comfortable for the date. It was light and airy during the ten minute walk to the town center.

3 Quote Challenge: Diana

What is it about us Americans and our obsession with the royal family? So many of us have fallen in love with the royals and keep up with their lives and happenings. Most recently, this past weekend baby Charlotte was christened and as I am in England I was contacted by several family members and friends about watching the christening on television (and no, I did not attend the ceremony.) There’s just something romantic and exciting about modern day royalty and since America lacks its own royal family we turn to the next best country: England.

As a child I remember following the story of Princess Diana. From a young age I knew about Prince Charles and Diana and the scandal involving Camilla. I crushed over Prince William (sorry, Harry). I even was a bit sad when Kate Middleton married into the family crushing any hope for me. However, my husband has me feeling like British royalty often enough.

I recall watching Princess Diana on the television and in interviews quite regularly as a child. She was so beautiful and always dressed so well. She seemed very down to earth and she was such a kind and philanthropic woman. When I was seven years old I was at a wedding on August 31, 1997 (also my younger sister’s 6th birthday) when I received the horrific news of Diana’s death. Although I was young I understood what a terrible loss this was for England. She had done so much good and was a great role model for women everywhere.

Today I wrap up my 3 Quote Challenge with a quote by Princess Diana. For those of you just starting to read through my challenge I am in England visiting with family so I chose three British figures for my 3 quotes. So here is the quote of the day:

I have chosen this quote of Diana’s because it relates so well to what I have been writing about over the past couple days. It does well to summarize the kindness I discussed on day 1 and the impact of action on day 2. This quote discusses the fact that our motivation to do good should not be selfish. Kindness should not be done in order to receive anything in return. We should be moved to act kindly by the mere fact that if we were in someone else’s position we would appreciate the kindness of another.

Diana led a life that was a great example of selfless kindness. I strive to achieve this kind of attitude for myself.

As my 3 Quote Challenge comes to a close I would like to nominate three new blogs to carry on the challenge. If you should accept the nomination you are challenged to examine a quote a day for three days and post about each of them. You must share the quote and then allow that to prompt your post for that day. My nominees for the 3 Quote Challenge are:

1. Between Blue Rocks

2. Book Club Mom

3. Way Off Script

I hope you have find my quotes and thoughts insightful.

I’ve really been enjoying my time in England. I’ve been blessed with an awesome family of in-laws. The Sisleys are a great clan and we always make so many memories during our stay.

3 Quote Challenge: Austen

The second of my British quotes comes from author, Jane Austen. Without meaning to I sort of selected quotes all relating to kindness and action. One thing I like about this quote is that it calls to action. It challenges me to reflect on what I profess and think and causes me to think about ways in which I can live them out.

One thing I profess is my faith. I talk about it. I blog about it. However, I am convicted about how often I live out my faith through my actions. Faith should speak for itself through my actions without the need to be spoken. People should be able to tell that I am a Christian based on my actions and I wonder just how often that is the case. I’m not perfect and luckily the Bible doesn’t tell me that I have to be, but today I’ve reflected on how well my faith speaks through my actions.

Matthew 7:16a says, “You will recognize them by their fruit…”

This means that my life should speak for me. When Jesus said this he was warning about false teachers. He warned his listeners to take a look at the actions or proofs in someone’s life before accepting their teaching.

My prayer today is that my life and actions would show that I am a Christian and love Jesus. I know that Jane Austen was not a particularly religious person, but this quote is speaking to me on a faith-based level and this post is all about what this quote means to me. My questions for my readers today are:

1.What are your actions proving?

2. Is your action defining you in the way you would like it to?

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Just a quick note about our trip in England. Today we visited with my husband’s nan and family in Dover on the coast. It’s turned a bit rainy, but we managed to still have a great time in Dover visiting. We were also able to arrange a play date for Arianna and her cousin, Lexie, which went extremely well. I hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July. It’s not quite the same without the fireworks, but I suppose the English choose not to celebrate the day America gained independence.

Thanks for stopping by. Check back tomorrow for my third and final quote challenge post.

3 Quote Challenge: Churchill

Over the past several days I have had the privilege of being nominated to complete the 3 Quote Challenge. I was nominated by Autumn at Welcome to My World and Liv at The Inspirational Dreamer to post a quote a day for the next three days and write about that quote and what it means to me. As I am in England vacationing and visiting with my husband’s family I found it to be only fitting that I should focus my three quotes around a British theme. I have chosen my three quotes from three of my favorite famous British figures: Winston Churchill, Jane Austen, and Princess Diana. I look forward to sharing these quotes and some of my own thoughts with you over the next three days.

So I will begin today with a little wisdom from good ole Winston Churchill. He was a brilliant man. My students sometimes refer to him as my “boyfriend” because I teach World History (a great deal of which is British history) and I have several quotes and photos of Churchill up around my classroom. Today, while milling around Eastleigh, the town where my husband was born and raised in England, I came across this quote and decided it was fate and I had to write about it today.

This quote was given shortly after Churchill became Prime Minister in England in May 1940 and was the official call to arms against Germany. With this statement England found itself at war with Hitler’s Nazi Germany. This heroic statement meant that England was joining the fight against fascism and Churchill was beginning to prove that he was a leader that would stand in defense of others in order to aid in the fight against dictatorship.

To me, this statement can be profound in its application to our lives. In our society it is so easy to become an individual bare of any community involvement. However, it is when we band together with others like us that we are able to best move forward. We should come to the aid of those in need or oppressed the way Churchill called England to do. In living life in a community of helping one another we can accomplish vastly more than mere individuals.

Today I’d like to leave you with a thought. I am no Churchill, but I’d like for you to think of a way that you might be able to come to the aid of someone else. How might you help those in need or those oppressed? I won’t call you to arms or battle, but I do call you to action. Think of a person or a group today and find a way to help them out. It could be as easy as visiting a lonely relative or as trivial as giving spare change to a beggar on the street. Whatever it may be that comes to mind I call you to kindness and generosity today.

As always thanks for reading and I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Five Minute Friday: Favorite

My Five Minute Friday post is a little late I know. I am posting all the way over in England and my internal clock is a little out of whack. I’ve been up late and sleeping in to ridiculous times getting used to the change in time over here. Yesterday I went to a wedding for a friend of my husband’s and that was a great time. I will post more on that in the next couple of days. This week the topic for the Five Minute Friday post is favorite. You can head over to Kate Motaung’s page to check out other entries. Here’s my five minutes of uninterrupted, unedited writing on this week’s topic:

My family is my favorite thing. From the time I wake up every morning to the time I fall asleep I spend nearly every moment thinking about the people that I love. I ask myself, “Am I doing my best as a mother?”, “How can I make my husband happy today?” and I live my life to please the people I love. I can’t imagine life without my family.

I love my husband dearly. He makes me so very happy and treats me so well. He is a stand-up guy who puts friends and family first and does all he can to take care of those who mean the most to him. He is funny and intelligent, and had it not been for him in my life I don’t know where I’d be.

My daughter is such a fun-loving and affectionate girl. Last night at the wedding a good friend of my husband’s stood talking to me about Arianna and said of her, “You can’t train a child to be as gorgeous and confident as her. You’ve all been blessed.” I pray that she never loses her confidence. It’s so awesome how she can strike up a conversation with someone she just met or drag a 6’8″ giant to the dance floor during a wedding reception in another country.

In closing, if I had to pick two things to be stranded on an island with I would choose my husband and my daughter. These two are my favorites. I love them more than coffee, chocolate, and fruit combined. Sure, we might not survive long on an island without food, but we’d make memories and that’s what matters most to me.