Las Vegas Vacation: Sequins, Cirque de Soleil Beatles Love and a bar in a Chandelier!

 Get ready for sequin overload...you've been warned.

 This was the view we had from our room. We even saw a couple of people do the jump off of the top of the Stratosphere and we could see the ride on the very top going up and down. We didn't really do much our first full day, we walked to McDonald's for breakfast, got some things at Walgreens and spent most of the day relaxing and researching where we should go to dinner.

We ended up grabbing a great happy hour at the sushi place in our hotel "Katsuya".

We shared: Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno, a California roll, and a spicy tuna roll. I also had a watermelon cucumber mojito. All delicious! Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of our beautiful sushi, hence the empty trays.

 Next we got glammed up (well, I did) to go see the Cirque de Soleil Beatles Love show at the Mirage. I have dreamed of seeing this show ever since I first heard about it!

What I wore // Dress: ASOS // Shoes: Target 

 Ready for a night on the town!

P.S. I only saw like 4 other people wearing sequin dresses during our entire trip. Las Vegas Tourists: step up your game!!!

 We did spend some time in the casino at the Mirage after picking up our tickets and waiting for the show to start. The line to get in to the show once the doors opened was so long!

Inside the theatre.

They shot confetti out on us! 

 After the show was over. It was so colorful and there were so many cool acrobatic stunts and ariel work, and dancing. A feast for the eyes, and obviously the music was amazing.

 All you need is love. 

 I got that ;)

To end our night we went to the Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan. This was another dream of mine! A bar inside a chandelier?? Sigh. Unfortunately, the Cosmopolitan looked a lot closer to the Mirage than it actually was, and by that point in the night, I was tired and my cough was starting to act up, so we didn't even get a drink or explore. We snapped some pictures and then grabbed a cab back to our hotel! It was worth the walk though to finally see the beautiful Chandelier Bar & be told by some random homeless guy that I was beautiful :)

Las Vegas, a sparkle and glitz lovers dream!

The Cross has made You Flawless

I feel like our present society is so conflicted on body issues right now. There's one camp that says, you are what you are and no one has a right to say anything about you, and then there's the people that insist you must have perfect eyebrows and wear false eyelashes everyday. The Beyonce movement has made phrases like "I woke up like this" and "Flawless" an unattainable statue to live up to. Don't get me wrong, I totally have a sequined sweater that says "I woke up like this" and I'm all about glam and getting made up. I'm pretty sure Beyonce started the movement with the mindset that we should embrace our natural self--and yet even she has been accused of photoshopping her Instagram pictures. 

Lately I have been struggling with image issues. I've had a parade of zits on my chin since mid summer that seem to last forever, my skin is always shiny and has uneven color, my eyebrows are not up to today's beauty standards, I am growing out short hair and I haven't had it colored in months, I do not have beautiful long eyelashes, and I have put on 20 pounds since I got married.

I took this picture shortly after I woke up this morning (not even my worst, I still have remnants of yesterday's makeup because I was too tired to wash it off last night). 

I bringing this up today because I feel God has been speaking to me to say something.

There is a song "The Cross has made You Flawless". It stood out to me for the first time about a month ago--the word Flawless. I soon forgot about though, until, this week, when I was struggling with insecurities a ton, and then I heard the song 3 times on different radio stations in the matter of an hour. 

NO ONE IS FLAWLESS ON THERE OWN.

Jesus came, he died on the cross because he loves us.

He washes our hearts clean.

The cross is the ultimate Instagram filter.

The cross is the ultimate foundation/primer/cover up all in one.

My outside body may not be flawless, but I know that I am forgiven and that Jesus loves me.

I will stumble and make mistakes, but because of the cross, I can seek forgiveness and Jesus sees me as flawless, even though I am an incredibly flawed human being. 

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever, believes in him, should not parish, but have everlasting life.

1 John 1:19

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I will fall again, I will get caught up in self depreciation and comparison, but I know that I have God's unfailing love, and though I may go through seasons of doubt, he never fails.

Look at your heart though God's eyes. Do you have Jesus in your heart? Because that is what is beautiful to him. He doesn't care if you have messed up, and he knows you will mess up again.

He doesn't care if you have zits on your chin or lacking perfect eyebrows.

If you haven't yet, seek Jesus and let the cross make you flawless today.

Happy Saturday :)

Love is Patient, Love is Kind

I have an ugly confession to make. Sometimes I loose my temper and yell at my husband. It's embarrassing to admit. Every time it happens I always feel awful afterward and I don't know why I let myself get so worked up. I am grateful that he never loses is temper back, or says hurtful things to me. He always stays calm and is patient, and forgives me. I feel like God is showing me his love through my husband. Even though I sin and fall short of the Glory of God daily, He never "yell's back at me", He forgives me every time and shows me mercy. I often have a difficult time viewing God in personable ways, but when I think of how my husbands treats me when I am not very nice to him, I know that God is using him to show me His love and mercy. Thank you God for my husband. Please help me to control my temper and not use hurtful or unkind words when I am upset or angry. Please help me to be a better Wife to my husband.

Happy Tuesday!