A love letter to Facebook (or) The Great Chapstick Debate.

found via chapstickweekly blog

Utah is a very very dry place. like saltine crackers... The skin on my arms is so thirsty I sometimes hear the little mouths of my pores screaming FEEEEED MEEEEE! Of course that's nothing a little lotion can't fix. On the other hand are my lips. 

My lips feel like leaves or freeze dried astronaut ice cream. They are PARCHED. I am almost convinced they're shrinking. just almost.

So I put the question up to the good ole' facebook, not thinking much of it. It was just a cry in the wilderness screamed out from two crackling lips: "help!" 

Well facebook bffs all over had something to say (did they ever). I never before knew that lip care was a heated or universal issue. I never knew that friends far and near had a girl's back when she needed some serious de-chapping. I never knew the vast spectrum of options and formulas one has when one is facing de-lipifying disasters. 

I loved it. I loved hearing every how-to and helpful hint. I felt tickled warm and fuzzy over the whole thing. I also got a big fat kick out of reading each note and in my mind hearing exactly how each person would have said their two cents face-to-face. 

So this is my ode to the F.B. and to the friends with whom it keeps me close even after years and miles. When I have a problem big or (in this case) ridiculously small, I have a band of pals to come to my rescue with sage advice. 

Below for your enjoyment is the extensive list of smoocher remedies via the world and all of its' players.

Emily Holt

burts bees is THE best.

Kelsey Jones

softlipssss!!

Kristen Marchus

Burts bees all the way! Spokane does the same thing to me!

Scott Blatter

Mix a little honey with some fish oil, laced with garlic salt. That always does the trick.

Suzie Stevenson

Nivea is fabulous. It's the same thing as La Bello in Italy.

Regina Turner

try Aquaphor-- its for dry skin but works great for lips too! its prescribed for people taking acne meds who get super dry skin :)

Lizz Hounshell

don't listen to these people. Chapstick brand. is. the. best. (cherry flavored) trust the girl who used this while skiing/snowboarding for 10 years.

Jon Allen

Burts bees is legit

Kate VandenBerghe

Softlips fo lyfeeee

Lindsay Houts

What you shouldn't do is go on a 10-day backpacking trip and think that you're using chapstick, but really it's just SPF 15 for your lips. I mean, not that I would be that foolish. Just something I heard.

Josh Clark

Burts bees. Best in the whole world

Natalia Sophia Kroll

I agree with Burts Bees! Pom one is great!

Lesley Ridge

use some good ol' vaseline at night. it helps. alot.

Ashley Hanson

my trick for idaho/utah: burts bees in the day time, vaseline mixed with neosporin at night. it's the only thing that keeps my lips on my face.

Heidi Bromley Adams

Aquaphor is the best :)

Laura June Waldron

drink lots of water and I love Aveeno Essential Moisture lip conditioner with SPF 15--You can find it at Wal Mart.

Laura June Waldron

I also suggest a trip to California!!! :) Miss you and Phil!

Andrew Peck

gross. How are things otherwise? If your lips are gone, what do you need chapstick for?

Kirsten Fosse Leonard

Gotta go with the Auquaphor...if its good enough for a baby's bottom, its good enough for chapped lips

Megan Sheppard Ray

My very favorite that i have been loving lately is Bistex, the one with spf 30, it comes in a dark green chapstick tube. You will love it!

ps. Today I'm trying Burt's Bees Pomegranate... so far so good! 

I wear scrubs to work.

Thank the heavens for friends and family.

 Here is the latest chapter in the epic that is my job travails. 

Once upon a time I had this sister-from-another-mother named Jaicy (who by the way had the most beautiful blonde-brown curl tendrils when she was a tiny tot) and this Jaicy had a job at a lovely physical therapy office in the land of lindon Utah not so far from me, and just a year ago. 

When I moved to Utah, although she no longer worked there, she asked her boss about openings (because she is abounding with kindness and thinks about others all the day long). 

Then one afternoon 2 weeks ago something magical happened... A position opened up, a meeting was had, and training began. 

I was hired!

It might seem like a small thing. It might seem like a simple thing.

But to us

It's everything our little family needed.

I'm a receptionist, and I will recept' to the fullest. I have never felt more grateful for the privilege to work. Applying for jobs beat me with the humble stick. I never before grasped the unpredictable nature of life and I never realized that things could be out of my reach and control COMPLETELY (very frightening for the consummate perfectionist). I learned a lot about the value of work, I learned a lot about the word "frugal."

 I feel like a big drowsy weight has been sloughed off my shoulders. 

My brain is finally discombobulating (oh yeah its a word and as I typed it and saw no red line appear my heart swooned) from 1.5 weeks of training, protocol, computers, and general learning.

Enough about all of that though. 

Want to hear the highlight?

 I get to wear scrubs to work. Every. Day.

a very jamaican halloween.

I enjoy a good photoshop

The tag line for the 1993 flick "Cool Runnings" reads : One dream. Four Jamaicans. 20 below zero. You may remember it as...

the film with the dreadlocked chris rock look-a-like

the disney movie wherein people drop the A word

the childhood top 10 complete with reggae beats, olympic magic, and a very large John Candy (who also starred in our family favorite Uncle Buck)

However you remember it, Cool Runnings is one of those silly, mind numbing, and joyously entertaining bits of film you are sure to watch years later and still chuckle.

That's what we did. Four friends, two couches, some pizza pockets and a dvd. It was just as funny as it was way back when... and because we loved it so much... we dedicated our halloweens to its greatness.

"Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up it's bobsled time!"

Halloween was a trick-or-TREAT (cracking myself up here) this year. We enjoyed a wonderful party with great friends, great snacks, and great party games. Everyone was full of smiles and carefree. What a good night. In the end I was thoroughly exhausted... or maybe the spandies were cutting off circulation? you choose.

ps. My momma O'C has joined the blog world. Find her here or on the sidebar!