Do You Love Yourself ?

Hello friends!

Aren't you guys glad its finally September, I know I am!

Its finally the beginning of fall! Here in Arizona we just go from summer to winter but I love this season because it means comfy sweaters and dark lipsticks! Even though its still 100 Degrees here I still like to get into that fall mood.

This month I hope to Finish a new book I just started called When God Winks At You by Squire Rushnell. The book is designed to help you recognize when God is giving you signs and it helps you understand that certain things aren't a coincidence and that they happen for a reason. Im super excited to read it because I think it will help me realize when God is talking to me.

During September I will be working towards improving my grades, I started School in July and so far I have three A's and one B but I want all A's. Im very competitive when it comes to grades and I'm always striving to be better. Idk why because I'm not that type of person in any other area of life but for some reason school always has me so pumped to be the best. I started going to Gateway community college, I'm currently in a pathway program to become a nurse and after I graduate from this program in December I will be starting block one of nursing school.

I am SOOOOO excited I've been working towards starting nursing school for what seems like forever. Its defiantly been hard, not the school part but trying to fill the title of being a college student at my age. The society we live in today pushes high school graduates to jump into college right away, choose your major (without any life experiences), and taking out a bunch of loans, only to realize that  what you poured your blood sweat and tears into for the past four years of your life wasn't exactly what you wanted. I use to feel so pressured to finish school I felt like I was running a race with time. I would put myself down and I truly felt like I wasn't good enough to live. I felt that because it didn't take me two years to graduate community college that I was failing at life. My parents would constantly ask me when I was going to graduate and sometimes I would even lie about it because I felt like they were disappointed in me. One day I finally broke down and just cried, I remember I was crying so much I had boogers running down my nose and mascara all over my face. I told my husband (boyfriend at the time) that I felt like I wasn't good enough and that I had not accomplished anything good. I told him how I felt pressure from all directions. He sat me down and helped me calm down and re-assured me that I was worthy. 

I have always struggled with feeling like I was less than I actually am, now that I have a relationship with God I'm learning to love myself as he made me. A young independent woman that is working towards her dream job. A young woman who doesn't have it all together but is striving to improve herself. I still struggle and there are times when I still feel like I'm not good enough but I'm getting better and thats what counts.

If there is anyone that is struggling with loving themselves I encourage you to seek God because he has filled a void in my heart that I could never fill in the past no matter what I did. Trying to conform to society is like putting a bandaid on, its going to cover your wounds for a little and make it seem like everything is better but eventually that bandaid will come off and all that pain and self doubt will be exposed once again. 

Im going to keep working towards my goals here on earth but I no longer put those on my list as my No.1 priority. My life now revolves around God because I have realized that life here on earth is so short and to me loosing my soul trying to gain the world is not worth it, after all I am just a visitor waiting for my ride to come take me to my real home. 

Vision Juvenil 2016

As most of you may know by now I am  a follower of Christ and I actively pursue to develop a stronger relationship with him while I am here on earth. On July 7-10 my churchs young adults took a road trip to El Paso, Texas. We decided to attend an annual Christian convention called Vision Juvenil. At this convention young adults from pretty much anywhere, but mostly its surrounding states (and Mexico) gather to learn about God, to worship him, or to restore their relationships with him. They have various activities through out the three day event and many speakers who come from within the church or different countries. I was extremely excited to go this year because I was looking to strengthen my relationship with Jesus and to ignite a fire in my heart that was slowly going dim. I recently got married and my husband and I decided before our wedding that we wanted to live differently than the rest of the world. Its definitely been hard and there are times when your tempted to fall back into your old ways but we have become stronger at remaining obedient as each day passes. We went to this convention with open hearts. I'm pretty convinced that all of us were there because we were hungry for God. We wanted to feel restored again and wanted to break chains that were holding us back. God did amazing things through all of us, he answered prayers, he mended our broken hearts and he brought us closer together. It feels amazing to be around like-minded people. As a Christian I often feel like an outsider, especially when I am around people that don't really understand my relationship with God. I am blessed to say that if I ever fall down I know I have many people willing to help me up.

The main reason why I wanted to write about Vision Juvenil, besides the fact that I like sharing my life with you guys was because I wanted to share what prayer God specifically answered for me. Through out the entire convention the leaders were promoting every one to visit the prayer room, it was located at the vary back of the building. We decided to go and visit it at the end of the second day which was on Friday, July the 8th. The room had dim lighting and chairs in different rows so that you could either stand or sit. They had a musician playing the piano at the front of the room and a vocalist singing different slow, but touching worship songs. As soon as you walked into this room you felt Gods presence, the room was not very full only about ten other people besides our own group of 15. Going to this convention we all expected to be touched through the main events and we were impacted there too but this room was different. It didn't need all the crazy lights, it didn't need all the artwork and all the instruments. God proved to us once again that prayer and especially when many are doing it together is most powerful. We were each filled with his presence we cried tears of joy and some tears of sadness. Many of us let go of those chains that we were holding on to so tightly. As I was sitting down praying I Began to talk to God about my love for him and how I wanted to follow him forever, I was declaring to him that I wanted to be different and I wanted him to break me down, I then began praying about my parents and I specifically told him that I wanted to pray for my parents love I was praying for restoration but not like before, this time with him in the center, then I moved on to my dad....Here is a quick back story first. My dad has struggled with alcoholism ever since I was a baby my dad is an extremely hard working person, he loves his family, he doesn't give up on his goals, and he is pretty funny too, but like everyone with flaws his flaw is alcohol. This is something that has gone on for many generations and its very hard for him to give it up. He has suffered through depression because of it and it has ruined many things he loves. My biggest prayer is always my Dad, I love him so much and I want him be able to have that void he has filled with Gods Love.....when I moved on to my dad I began to ask God once again to please help him, to show him the way, to touch his heart..but before I could finish a young lady about my age came up to me and told me that God wanted to tell me that there will be peace in my home. She kept repeating the word peace over and over again. She told me that I need to stop micromanaging everything, stop stressing about it because God is going to work his magic. When I heard those words I felt a sense of relief I began to cry and for the first time I truly was not worried about my dad. It was amazing how God spoke to me he finally answered my biggest prayer and made it so clear to me that he was looking out for my family. I no longer feel stressed out, its weird but I feel like I can see the future. God made me aware that he understood me and heard me crying out to him, its incredible if you think about it someone so perfect and so big hears little old me.

I am extremely happy that I am able to share my Love for God to the world through this platform, I always ask myself what can I do to make a difference in someones life and I have learned that the biggest influence you can have on someone is found in the way you live.
Our Young Adults have been meeting every week to keep the fire burning, so if your an Arizona peep who is in the chandler area leave me a comment and ill give you more info.

Here is the official Vision Juvenil Recap Video.

Im feelin' 22

Hello people of the internet, I think its been about two weeks since my last post and I can honestly say I have gotten attached to my blog, it feels like second nature to sit here and write down what I'm feeling. This past weekend was a busy one and I wanted to share it with you guys, my sister and I threw one of our best friends a mini girls getaway, I turned 22, and it was Americas birthday! I don't have many pictures because I'm still not getting the hang of capturing everything in order to show you guys but I promise I will get better. 

We flew Nancy out here on Saturday night and greeted her with a warm welcome, since it was pretty late when she got here we just went back to our hotel relaxed and caught up about whats been going on in each of our lives. We stayed at the JW Marriot Tempe at the Buttes and were very impressed with the look and feel of this hotel it was kind of like a mini resort, they had two pools, a giant water slide, and a DJ the whole fourth of July weekend they also had a spa and a restaurant called Top of the Rock. Since we did book it for the entire day on Saturday and Sunday I didn't want to let Saturday go to waste so before Nancy got there my husband and I had some fun at the pool. The next day once Nancy had arrived we woke up bright and early and hit up Matts big breakfast in down town Phoenix when we first arrived the place was kind of packed and loud, at first I was a little uneasy because I didn't know if I made the right choice but we only waited a couple of minutes and the vibe was energetic. This place was one of the best breakfast spots I've been too they open at 6 am and close at 2:30 and serve breakfast and lunch. I ordered the fresh squeezed blueberry lemonade which was the perfect combo, for my meal I had the belgian waffle with a side of thick cut bacon, the waffle was the best one I have ever had it was perfectly fluffy and had the right amount of butter and syrup and the bacon was also delicious. I also ordered a side of hash browns.  We all left that place feeling extra full because we didn't want to leave anything uneaten. After we were done with breakfast we headed back to the hotel and got ready for the pool. The pool area had a fun atmosphere, there were lots of different families celebrating the holiday and the staff made sure you had everything you needed. We had a fun time swimming and cooling off because it was extremely hot that day. We took advantage of the heat and tanned until we could not take the suns rays anymore. When we were done hanging out by the pool we went back to our room to rest. My sister and nancy took a long nap and I couldn't really sleep so I showered and watched tv for a little. When they woke up it was time for dinner so we got all dolled up and went to Postinos in down town as well. My husband and I are big fans of this restaurant because they not only serve really good food but they had affordable prices and the look of the restaurant is contemporary and fresh, I always leave feeling a little Boojie. I thought it would be perfect to show my sister and our friend how awesome this place was. 

On Monday I woke up feeling 22, I've always liked having my birthday on fourth of July because everyone is always in such a festive mood, plus I love having fireworks on my birthday. When I was little my dad used to tell me that the fireworks were because of my birthday so I always felt extra special, of course now I know they aren't but hey it doesn't hurt to pretend. This year my mom informed me that I was  rainbow baby. I had never heard of the term before so ill just tell you guys what it means. A rainbow baby is the baby that come after a miscarriage or still born pregnancy. It brings hope and they often refer to those babies as rainbow babies because they offer a sense of happiness after the storm has passed.

My friend was still in town so she showed me haw to make posole it came out delicious and surprisingly it was very easy to make.  My husband invited my sister in law over to eat and she brought me a two tiered cake in my favorite colors black and white, she knows me so well! We had planned to go watch the fire works after we dropped Nancy off at the airport but we missed her flight and it took too long trying to find another flight that we just went straight home and went to sleep. This birthday I was showered with gifts, I told my husband he was spoiling me rotten. I received a macbook pro and beats from him and he also paid for half of our girls getaway. My friend got me a laptop case and a Daniel Wellington watch, I was so surprised and felt so thankful with everyone. I felt blessed to have all my close family and friends surrounding me for another birthday celebration. I hope that this year is full of laughter and unforgettable memories with all of my loved ones, because lets face it no body likes you when your 23.... hahah 

That wraps up my weekend, what fun things did you and your family do this holiday? Leave me a comment below and don't forget to subscribe to find out when my next post is. 

Matts Big Breakfast 

My chilling' at the pool face 

Postinos Dinner 

My birthday cake was delicious

My Skin Care Routine

Today I wanted to share with you guys my current skin care routine. Before we get into the products let me first give you a little history on my skin type. My skin tends to have a mind of its own and although I tend to look like my mother I didn't get her flawless canvas, I was blessed with my fathers genes yay! When I was in my teens my skin was normal to oily, I have suffered with acne all my adolescent years and although I don't have an extreme amount of acne I have never not had one pimple on my face no matter what I do so I have just learned to cope with it over the years and just love my skin for what it is. My skin has always been extremely sensitive I have to be very careful with what I put on it. I remember maybe like a year or two ago I broke out with a disgusting rash on my cheeks, it literally looked like i had sand on my face. I ordered a completely organic skin regimen from melaleuca, an organic plant type based company that sells you anything from make up to cleaning products. Any ways I ordered it and I tried it out, the first day it broke me out with little white dots, at first I didn't think anything of it I figured my skin was just getting used to it. When I woke up the next day I tried it again and by the end of the day I looked like a sand scraper... not really that bad but that's how I felt. Turns out I'm allergic to tea tree oil which is the main ingredient in their products, hence melaleuca which stands for tea tree oil. At first I didn't want it to be true because I have read up on tea tree oil and its suppose to be really good with getting rid of excess oil on the face and other fungal type infections on the skin, also good for keeping lice away... don't ask how I know that.  I wanted to test tea tree oil on my face again to see if it was really just that main ingredient or if  I was just being a baby. I borrowed my sisters Tea tree water toner from lush and doused my self in it, the next day I woke up with a lot small white bumps all over my face. So now I tend to stay away from anything tea tree unless its extremely mild. Another problem my skin has most recently developed is that I have become very dry so I am constantly putting lotion on my face or spraying  my rose water to give my skin some much needed moisture. I have learned the hard way that I am not the type of girl that can sleep with her make up on because I have giant pores so everything will just start to clog up. Its been hard to love my skin but I'm happy with what God blessed me its manageable and its kind of fun trying out new products every once in a while. 

Okay so enough rambling...

Clarissa's Current skin care Routine.

1. The first step in my skin care routine is removing all of my make up at the end of the day, I don't wear make up for most of the week but on the weekends when I do I use the Garnier Skin Active Micellar Cleansing Water. I love this product because it is super gentle on my sensitive skin and it takes off all of your make up! It's pretty inexpensive as well it only retails for 6.99$ at walmart and it has a decent amount of product in it. Ive had it for about 4 months now. It depends on how much  make up you wear but I think it is worth the buy.
Garnier Skin Active Micellar Cleansing Water- 6.96$ at Walmart.

2. The second step Has two products in it, I use my Neutrogena cleanser with my Tjmaxx cleansing brush, I got the brush for 8 bucks and it has been a life saver, I'm not ready to drop 100+ on a clarisonic just yet so this is the next best thing for me and I honestly have had no complaints.  I really gets in all the areas of my face and clears out all the days dirt and oil from my pores. The cleanser is a new one that I have recently bought it has so far done its job I've had it for about three weeks so i give it a dumbs up, but if anything changes ill keep you posted.
Neutrogena Cleanser-  9.99$ at Target
Cleansing Brush- May vary but I got mine from tjmaxx for 8.00$

3. The next step in my routine is moisturizing, this step is my most important because like I said I've been a dry potato lately so I can never skip this step. I use two different moisturizers depending on what time of day it is, In the mornings I like to use my ponds Dark spot correcting cream, I started off with a small bottle and have recently upgraded to the giant tub because I love it so much. Its extremely moisturizing I'm not sure how you would feel about it if you have oily skin but I personally love it, I not only love it because I feel nice and dewy all day, but because it really does remove unwanted dark spots. Like I mentioned before I did have acne in the past and probably will continue to have it, and like most of us I can't just let that sucker live I have to constantly pick at it so I get ugly dark spots from it and this lotion has helped in removing them slowly but surely, its all about that patience girl. The second moisturizer that I use at night is the Image ageless total repair cream, this baby is a pricey one but worth it. You can feel it getting rid of those wrinkles. When I first started using it, it burned my skin a little but I got used to it now and its one of my favorites, I haven't developed any wrinkles yet so it seems to be doing its job ;)
Ponds dark spot correcting cream-  8.97$ at walmart
Image ageless total repair creme- 46.34$ ( you have to get this from a licensed physician or aesthetician) 



4. The Last step involves my favorite part! This trick I learned form my good friend Nancy Ayala, I saw her spray it on herself and decided to give it a try. FYI I'm just literally inserting the product description straight from the website because it was described perfectly: Mario Badescu Rose Water ..." A refreshing, hydrating mist to use anywhere anytime. Simply formulated with fragrant herbal extracts and rosewater for a pleasant, pick me up for dehydrated, tight and uncomfortable skin. Spray your day and night creams for a boost of hydration or use it to set make-up or spray on dry hair throughout the day. Safe for all skin types. Gentle, non-irritating." I love this product so much I'm about to spray some on myself it smells so good and keeps me hydrated and smelling good at all times. Thank you Mario for such a simple yet effective product.
Mario Badescu Rose Water- 7.00$ at Ulta




Bonus Step:

The next steps aren't in my daily routine these are just preventive maintenance products that I also love. The first one is my Mario Badescu Drying lotion.. ( this man is a genius )... all you need is a small amount of product on your unwanted friends visiting you on your face and bam drys them right up, at first I was a bit skeptical I thought this product was all hype but I was wrong and I'm glad I was it really does dry them up and make the appearance look smaller. The second one is any type of facial mask, I'm currently going to try the Farmacy hydrating coconut gel mask that my sister gave me from her boxy charm. I like to try these out at least once a month, I tend to forget this so I just use them whenever I get my hands on one. One other thing I also like to do is black head remover I use one from Avon that i got for like three bucks you can use any brand they all do the same thing but I do think its important because it takes off all the black spots on your nose.
Mario Badescu Drying Lotion- 17.00$ at Ulta
Farmacy Coconut Gel Mask- 3 for 24.00$ at Sephora 
Any Black Head Remover- Price may vary 

So far those are the steps I take to Keep my face looking fresh and healthy. Its not perfect and may not be for everyone but it works for my skin type. Thank you so much for reading if you have any suggestions don't forget to leave a comment down below!

Song of solomon 4:7 You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. 

A Sunny Getaway

This weekend was my best friends bridal shower so we decided to make a family vacation out of it since it was also my little sisters birthday, and fathers day. Unfortunately my dad wasn't able to make it but he was there in spirit.

Our weekend started with a relaxing time at the pool at the hotel we were staying at. We were all pretty tired from the drive there so we decided on burgers and ice-cream and swimming under the stars for the night. My friend was kind enough to book us a room for the weekend at the Holiday in Anaheim resort. It was perfect because it was only ten minutes from her house and about 10 minutes from Disney land. On Saturday my family went to Disneyland  in celebration of my little sister Ruby turning 16. Christian and I decided to skip out on disney and help out our friends with their bridal shower. Our friends are tying the knot on August 7th of this year and for their bridal shower they decided to have a Breakfast at Tiffanys theme party. Every little detail was so cute and described their relationship perfectly, from the polaroid selfie stand down to the Cheetos bar, it was perfect! Its always nice to witness two people who are madly in love with each other but these two are a little different, you can feel they're love for each other radiate towards everyone surrounding them. Even though that weekend was based on their love story we didn't have a lot of time to just talk and hang out so we decided to stay over at their place to soak up a little more bonding time before we had to leave. While the guys got wild with their game of Fifa, the girls un-winded with sleepy laughter. On Sunday morning we decided to all head over to Thousand steps in laguna Beach. Christian and I haven't been to the beach since our honey moon in cancun and when we walked up to the water we were surprised with the freezing waves of the pacific ocean. We all come from the Az so we aren't used to any type of cold weather. Or atleast I am not because my sisters and husband decided to go in regardless of the freezing temperatures. We all enjoyed the rays of the sun a little to long because even though we were all trying to get a nice tan we mostly all got tomato red haha. 

This year has been filled with so many weekends like this and its definitely not stopping here, even though we can't travel the world we have decided to explore our own beautiful state. Arizona has many amazing spots to visit and Christian has expressed interest in finally touring our states very own wonder of the world so that is a mini road trip in the works. Im excited for what is happening in our lives and for what is to come, and no matter where God decided to take us this year we will be taking it in with open arms.

Let me tell you guys a little story...
One day a wife and her husband decided to go to the beach to enjoy Gods beautiful creations..

While they were walking down to the shore the husband thought of  horrible idea...

He planned to drag his wife into the freezing cold water against her will.. But the wife was not going down with out a fight so she pulled....

And pulled....

Until she finally broke free... 

Wife:1 Husband: 0

Just look at that Evil little smile.

The end.

My father in law and Nephew 

"The beautiful Ayalas :)"

.... and my husband trying to throw another person into the water.. 

A beautiful friendship 

Breakfast at Tiffanys 

Thanks for reading here is a video my sister made showing our trip to California from her perspective check it out and make sure you give it a thumbs up.

From Ms. to Mrs.

Wow where do I even begin,

Our wedding was on April 29^th of 2016. We had an Indoor/Outdoor celebration at The Paseo, a beautiful rustic venue with a modern twist, it was exactly what I was looking for. I was literally looking for the first four months of our engagement and was about to settle until we stumbled on this Gem and fell in love, it was every thing we envisioned and more. My husband and I (still getting used to saying that... *Heart Eyes) had our friends and family from all over town and some from outside of the state come and join us as we vowed to love one another till the end of time.  As I was walked down the isle by my parents I felt so much joy seeing all of those beautiful familiar faces.

Christian and I decided to walk down the aisle to one of our favorite worship songs by Hillsong, Con Todo (Spanish version). It was the perfect song because it represents what we want our marrige to be about; God. When we spoke out or vows we didn’t just vow to give our all to each other. We also vowed to give our all to God. Something that was very important to us when we were planning our wedding was how we portrayed our love for God through our ceremony. We had the privilege to be married by our amazing pastors, they have no doubt been the best influence on us since we began going to our church Iglesia Vida as a couple and have given us advice that is in our best interest.  Our pastors have always been our mentors, our shoulder to cry on, our teachers, our cheerleaders, and most importantly our friends/ Spiritual parents, but not just any friends, friends that genuinely care about you and aren’t just going to sugar coat things for you, so it felt just right to have them marry us.

I can’t imagine my life without Christian in it. He has become my best friend over the years, my ray of sunshine, and now my husband. We spent almost seven years dating and learning so much about each other that it almost feels like there's nothing else to learn but boy was I wrong. We definitely are still in our honey moon stage and it still feels like I’m having a sleep over with my best friend every night. We are still learning how to live with each other and I don't now when the honey moon stage will end (Praying for Never) but  I do know that when times get hard, with God by our side we will fight hard for our love and never let go because letting go isn’t even an option.

I think what made our wedding so special to us was that everyone that meant so much to Christian and I was there to support us. We had so many people by our side the entire year we were planning our wedding offering to help in any way that they could. Something I will always remember when I look back was how stress free I felt the entire day, if something went wrong someone was always there to just take the problem away from our hands.  I truly feel blessed with the amount of loving people we have surrounding us.

Here are a few shots of our wedding Shot by our talented photographer Asael Jimenez.

#BestDayEverC2

Thanks to All our family and friends who joined us on our special day, we love you.

Love, 

The Garcias