Band of Bloggers - Vol. 21/September 2017

Welcome back to the September Band of Bloggers! It's that time of year again. School is starting back up. Trees are starting to turn. North America is recovering from the apocalypse brought on by the eclipse. Wait, what?

The eclipse that visited most of the United States on August 21st has been described as a once in a lifetime experience. The next eclipse to cover the US from coast to coast will not come until 2045.

That brings us to our question this month. What is your once in a lifetime experience?

It feels like such a cop-out response, but our time in Korea has really been a once in a lifetime experience. I do not think I would have gotten the same experience if Korea had happened at any other point in my life. If I were younger, I would not have appreciated it as much as I do now and would have ignored all of the opportunities for personal growth. If I were older, I could have been too wrapped up in our family or my career to take the time to enjoy what this country has to offer. 

Korea has altered my perception of the world. Of America. Of my own perception of an open heart and mind. It has challenged my viewpoints on culture and politics. Until Korea, my entire view of the world was based from my home in the US.

Korea has helped me finish healing hurts and moving forward in life. Back in 2016, I said I wanted to move forward. I have been able to do so in ways here that could never have happened in the US. Stepping outside to a foreign world, with a foreign language, culture, and people staring me right in the face has pushed my comfort zones so much further than the US could have ever done. That's not to say that I could not have gone through all of this growth back home. Things have just lined up in Korea in such a way that it felt easy and effortless. The end result is this country will forever have a soft spot in my heart.

If you'd like to play along at home, please feel free to answer this question in the comment section below, and we hope you'll visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Jessica at The Meltdown Blog

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.

Glitterati - Pink Sugar/Marshmallow Fireside

Scent Description: Strawberry, bergamot, musk and vanilla/sweet, smoky BBW type.

Date Received: June 22, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.5 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5 Mainly marshmallow fireside, with just a hint of pink sugar in the background.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 The smoky notes got slightly stronger, but otherwise no surprises once melted.

Scent Strength: 1/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the kitchen, hallway, office, and entryway.

Melting Power: 4/5 I got about 7 hours of scent from a piece of this chunk.

Repurchase: Yes! This was a wonderful juxtaposition between a more smoky, outdoorsy scent and a tried and true (for me at least) home fragrance.

Glitterati - Little Black Dress/Tea & Cakes

Scent Description: White carnation, blood orange, sandalwood, black rose, smoky wood, patchouli, toasted vanilla bean, vetiver, amber, and musk/none available.

Date Received: June 22, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.4 oz

Location of Warmer: Guest room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 5/5 How do I describe this? A delectably exciting blend that brings to mind sultry date nights and a nice drink. Not too musky, not too heavy. Hides somewhere between bakery and 'other.'

Warm Sniff: 5/5

Scent Strength: 2.5/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the guest room, hallway, entryway, and kitchen.

Melting Power: 5/5 I got about 11 hours from a piece of this chunk, and the scent lingered long after I stopped melting. Definitely a strong blend with lots of staying power.

Repurchase: Yes. I have to get my hands on larger quantities of this blend when I next can!

Glitterati - Strawberry/Eucalyptus/Cucumber Mint

Scent Description: None available/Perfect wintertime-sniffles scent that will uplift your spirits and clear your airways/none available.

Date Received: June 22, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.4 oz

Location of Warmer: Living room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5 A combination of sweet strawberries, cucumber mint, and a blast of eucalyptus to wake you up.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 No surprises once melted.

Scent Strength: 1/3 It's there, but it's a surprisingly light scent.

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire living room and a little bit of the highway.

Melting Power: 4/5 I got a little under 6 hours of scent from a piece of this chunk.

Repurchase: Yes, though I think I will try and melt a little more next time. This scent was a lot lighter than I expected!

Glitterati - Blue Cotton Candy/Pink Chiffon

Scent Description: None available/exotic fruits, vanilla orchid, sweet vanilla, whipped chiffon musk.

Date Received: June 22, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.6 oz

Location of Warmer: Guest room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5 A nice, sweet, slightly musky blend between sweet and sultry goodness and a strong kick to the face.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 No surprises once melted. These two blends mix together quite nicely.

Scent Strength: 2/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This scent burst out of the closed guest room door and added the entryway and hallway to its fragrant range.

Melting Power: 5/5 About one fifth of a chunk lasted about 10 hours. Talk about a whammy.

Repurchase: Yes! It's a good thing I'm on both the mystery and customs list that are being worked on.

I realized the other day that I hadn't been melting very much Glitterati. I couldn't figure out why until I remembered that my Glitterati was in a completely separate drawer from the rest of my wax. When I reach for wax, I reach by scent category and not vendor. When putting away my Glitterati stash last summer I had no space in my drawers and ended up putting it all in its own drawer. Thus, The Forgotten Wax.

Thus begins Project Glitterati. I'm going to try to exclusively melt Glitterati until I've melted every scent at least once. This kind of sucks, because I don't have many Fall related scents in my Glitterati stash and I'm itching to start melting for Fall. All the more reason to melt through my Glitterati faster, muahahah! How many times can I say Glitterati in one paragraph? Glitterati.

Lasting Scent Candles - Sweet Kisses

Scent Description: Cakes and frostings, sweet kisses. Formerly Sweet Decadence.

Date Received: April 8, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.8 oz

Location: Living room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 2/5 Has a very strong waxy note to it. Generic sweet vanilla scent.

Warm Sniff: 3/5 That waxy note died down a lot, but was still there. There was an added sweet bakery note to the generic vanilla.

Scent Strength: 1/3

Scent Throw: 2/3 Filled most of the living room.

Melting Power: 3/5 I got about 5 hours of scent from half of a scent shot.

Repurchase: Pass. That waxy note was just a little too strong for me to fully enjoy this scent.

Beezy Tarts - Caramel Macchiato

Scent Description: Caramel, French Vanilla Creamer, & Freshly Brewed Coffee.

Date Received: May 17, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.9 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5 A typical coffee type scent. I usually associate this smell with Yankee Candle stores.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 A delicious, not-too-nutty, not-too-milky rendition of coffee. Slightly bakery-ish.

Scent Strength: 2/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire kitchen, office, hallway, and entryway.

Melting Power: 5/5 Half of a scent shot lasted 9 and a half hours.

Repurchase: I'm going to go with yes. I really enjoyed this scent!

I don't think I've found 'The One' in terms of coffee blends so much as my nose has just undergone some changes. I feel like I'm less picky than I was a year ago. Either way, it opens up the scent horizons for me.

Satin Suzie Scents - Blackberry Jam Butter Cookies

Scent Description: Fresh baked butter cookies with a dollop of tart blackberry jam.

Date Poured: October 2, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.7 oz

Location of Warmer: Living room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5 Slightly crunchy cookies with a healthy serving of sweet blackberries.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 That crunchy note to the cookies died down a bit, leaving an overall creamy BBJBC blend.

Scent Strength: 2/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire living room.

Melting Power: 4/5  Half of a scent shot lasted a little under seven hours.

Repurchase: Yes! I guess my nose is going through another one of its changes, as I no longer find 'crunchy' bakery to be as off-putting as I used to.

Now that the temps are starting to drop, I've started melting again. Woo hoo!! Celebrate with me!

Read - Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected

Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected
by Kelle Hampton
2012

From the outside looking in, Kelle Hampton had the perfect life: a beautiful two-year-old daughter, a loving husband, a thriving photography career, and great friends. When she learned she was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband, Brett, were ecstatic. Her pregnancy went smoothly and the ultrasounds showed a beautiful, healthy, high-kicking baby girl.

But when he new daughter was placed in her arms in the delivery room, Kelle knew instantly that something was wrong. Nella looked different than her two-year-old sister, Lainey, had at birth. As she watched friends and family celebrate with champagne toasts and endless photographs, a terrified Kelle was certain that Nella had Down syndrome - a fear her pediatrician soon confirmed. Yet gradually Kelle's fear and pain were vanquished by joy, as she embraced the realization that she had been chosen to experience an extraordinary and special gift.

Bloom takes readers on a wondrous journey through Nella's first year of life - a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes. It is a story about embracing life and really living it, of bearing fearless and accepting difference, of going beyond constricting definitions of beauty, and of the awesome power of perspective. As Kelle writes, "There is us. Our Family. We will embrace this beauty and make something of it. We will hold our precious gift and know that we are lucky."

Hello, It's Me...

Hi, there! I figured I would step in and let everyone know I'm slowly returning to technology and the internet! First off - everything's fine! No need to worry.

I found myself at the computer even when I did not need to be, forsaking a lot of other activities for what had become an ingrained habit. Computer first, above all else.

As the weather heated up and I tried to figure out what to do with my newfound free time, anything computer related fell to the wayside. I haven't been on Facebook for almost three months, and I did not log into blogger for almost two - the longest time I've completely neglected the blog since 2014. As bad as I felt for leaving without letting my fellow bloggers know, I also felt it was silly to feel such guilt over a hobby. So instead I resolved to just enjoy myself and let the blog wait until I naturally returned to it, and the computer, and the internet.

Bunny and Hammy are doing wonderful. We eventually moved their homes into the bedroom so they could be in a more temperature-controlled environment. As part of that, I bit the bullet and bought two 12" Silent Spinners. A bit more pricey, but they truly are silent. The only thing I hear is the pitter-patter of their feet against the wheel when they run, and the occasional squeak of the wheel's base being moved around.

I went to my first noraebong, or singing room (karaoke room), with L and C. It was a wonderful night of drinks and singing until our voices gave out. I've never been to a karaoke place of any sort, Korean or American, so this was a great experience that I will cherish.

I helped run a summer camp for the kids with L and C as well. It was great watching various aged children cooperate and learn together. I also got told I talk like a farmer by one little girl. It was right after I said "alright" kind of how Matthew McConaughey says it in that famous line of his, so that may have something to do with it.

For you Game of Thrones fans... prepare yourselves. I've finally started watching the series. I just finished Season 1 the other day and am slowly starting Season 2. Be proud that I've finally joined in on this! It's taken so long!

So, long story short, I'm finally returning to the world of the internet and technology. Please bare with me as I get back into the hang of posting and commenting/replying. I've missed you all so dearly!