One year older and wiser, too.

It's that time of year again, the time where my mind wanders back six years now and reminisces on the fact that six whole years ago today my life changed more than I could have ever imagined. My Emma Lou came into the world like a hurricane. If I would have known then what I know now, I would have known that her personality wouldn't allow for her to come into this world any other way but loud, dramatic, and something I could never forget.

Today is a day where six years ago seems like it was literally yesterday. All the same feelings and emotions surface. My heart is full today. I am so grateful, grateful for the priesthood, because I know if it weren't for the power of the priesthood my Emma wouldn't be here today, playing hide-and-seek with her sister while Taylor Swift is blasting in the background. I'm also indescribably grateful for modern medicine, she wouldn't have made it any other way. I'm grateful that these two things came together to save my baby girl's life. For without her in it, I couldn't imagine a life worth living.

Emma has grown up and changed so much in the past year. She is an amazing reader, and loves to read scriptures every night. She still loves to play the violin and is absolutely amazing at it. She is the most loving, tenderhearted little girl I know. She is always looking out for her sister and brother and making sure they are taken care of.

Emma is my firstborn, and as such we have gone through many firsts together over the last six years. But she has been patient with me, she has forgiven my shortcomings and allowed for me to learn and grow with her. There are so many more scary firsts that I see in the coming years, and I hope she can remain patient while we navigate the unknown together.

Thank you, Emma. Thank you for making me a mom. Thank you for giving me the best six years I could ask for. Thank you for choosing me to spend eternity with. Happy Birthday baby girl.

So what about my face?

Ah....acne....such a fun subject to converse about. And you get to hear about my trials with my face! Aren't you so excited? No really, though...hear me out.

Puberty is supposed to be the time in you life when acne hits the hardest, so when I went through puberty and beyond and had a relatively easy time with my break-outs I thought I was in the clear. I very rarely had what one would call a "massive" break-out of more than 5 or so zits. Oh, and I had a bad habit of only washing my face once a day (GASP).

BUT, after I had Emma I noticed that my face was getting worse, the zits seemed to be more plentiful, but I figured my hormones were readjusting and soon I would be back to normal. Then Claire came and what would you know? My face seemed to get even worse! How was this even possible? I told myself to give it time, and now I started demonstrating with different face washes, my go-to wasn't even coming close to cutting it anymore.

And now, after Clark, even WORSE! This sucks, yo. I'm way past puberty, this shouldn't be happening. And none of the different face washes were working. I tried them all, expensive, cheap, name-brand, knock-off....EVERYTHING and nothing was changing. I was desperate, or so desperate. So I started looking online for remedies. And I can across something that seemed to be totally different than what I've been taught about cleaning my face...are you ready? Use oil to clean it. I know, right? Oil to clean oil....but like I said, I was desperate.

The ingredients were simple, castor oil and olive oil (or grapeseed, almond, avocado, etc.). I could do that. So I took the plunge and gave it a try, I could try anything for a week or two. I just started doing it a couple weeks ago, and honestly, it's not that bad. My skin definitely is not any more greasy than it was before, I think I may like it. Do I see a remarkable difference in acne...I'm not sure quite yet. But I'm still willing to give it a little while longer.

You want to know the simple recipe for your own face wash? Here it is, easy peasy:

*for acne ridden skin: 2 part castor oil and 1 parts olive oil (or whatever oil you decide on).
*for normal or combination skin (what I use): 1 part castor and 1 part olive.
*for dry skin: 1 part castor and 2 parts olive.

Mix it together and then massage it into your DRY face. When applied, get a washcloth wet with as hot of water as you can stand and lay it on your face until the washcloth cools to room temperature (about 30-60 sec.) and gently wipe off oil with washcloth.

There you have it. Give it a try. What do you think? Is it working for you? How does your skin feel after? I want to know if it is working for others.