Pearly Whites

I believe most girls, whether secretly or openly, want pearly whites. And I recently bought bright red lipstick, and just letting you know, that is not a flattering color when your teeth happen to be a little less than snow-white… So when I saw we had run out of the Crest whiteners, I slightly freaked out. Instead of waiting until the next time we went to the store, I took matters into my own hands and looked up a natural way of whitening my teeth.

Sidenote: Personally, I’m sick of the chemical route of whitening my teeth, since it always results in me barely being able to breathe because my gums are that sensitive afterwards. And when I accidentally and inevitably swallow while the whitening strips are in, it burns my throat terribly. Surely that isn’t healthy… Alright, I’m down from my pulpit. ;)

In my search, I found this somewhat delicious and, I believe, darling way of whitening your teeth. (Yes, I just used the word darling to describe whitening teeth…) It’s a fast, cheap, easy and natural way of whitening teeth.
What you shall need:
~3 ripe strawberries (the real recipe calls for 3 to 6 strawberries. I used 4 and had an overabundance of puree…How big do they think our teeth are?! Sheesh…)

~ A blender

~ A bowl

~ Baking soda

~ Cream of tartar

~ Water

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Puree 3 ripe strawberries in a blender then place in a small bowl.

2. Apply puree to your teeth with a toothbrush or a cosmetic brush. The puree should be painted on rather than brushed on. (personally I think they only said paint it on because it makes it seem more artsy and fun sounding.)

3. Make a mixture of 1 tsp. of baking soda, 1 tsp. of cream of tartar, and 1 cup of water. Swish the mixture around in your mouth and then spit it out.

4. Brush your teeth with 1 tsp. of baking soda on a toothbrush.

5. Rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Then it came with a wonderful WARNING sign that always worries you and makes you wonder how safe it really was….

WARNING: Brush your teeth well after each strawberry treatment. The whitening ingredient- malic acid- in the strawberries along with the sugar can cause cavities if left on for too long. Limit the treatment to once per week. (So watch out.)
While doing this, I was slap happy because of the beautiful color the pureed strawberries were, and it was fairly fun “painting” my teeth with strawberries, and my teeth really were whiter afterwards.

I have a few extra warnings for you.

Be prepared about the mixture of cream of tartar and baking soda…it scared me nearly half to death when it began to fizz like some science experiment. I really questioned how safe this whitening endeavor was. But I plowed ahead and I made it out alright.

Be sure you shut your mouth when you’re brushing your teeth with the baking soda. Slobber goes everywhere. You can thank me in advance because no one warned me, so you can imagine how unglamorous THAT was.

Baking soda tastes a lot worse then you think it will. For reals.

And my last warning: you might consider setting aside the rest of that strawberry puree and saving it for after brushing your teeth with that baking soda. Helps to get rid of that horrid taste if you eat some, or so I thought. And who could resist such pink loveliness that tastes good! ;)
After all said and done, I found this to be an effective and unique way of whitening your teeth and thought it would be fun to share.

The Importance of being Earnest

My time has not really been my own during July and thus far into August. This summer has been the busiest I have yet lived, and I truly believe that. The JOY Drama Group was together again most of this summer to put on a benefit play for the storm-leveled Stained Glass Theater in Joplin, Mo. All proceeds and donations went to the theater group and their ministry.

All throughout July were the rehearsals for The Importance of being Earnest, between which family were staying over at our house different weekends, we were trying to visit family and friends before the school year begins, not to mention trying to squeeze in math and French and a few other school subjects that still need finishing up…The first week in August was tech week.

Friday, the fifth, was our first performance.

Saturday was a farewell party to some friends of mine who are heading off to college. Sunday was another performance at the Artisan Theater, which is “in the round”. We had never performed in the round before, neither have we used microphones before, so it was a very new experience.

This is our cast, crew and director.

Tuesday last, our drama group headed up to Joplin, Missouri, where we volunteered at a Mt. Hope church. On the way there we had a memorable time, one of our friends had a 5-hour energy, so you can imagine he was a bit hyper. It was altogether a hilarious time!

There, we helped clean the church since they’ve had thousands of volunteers staying at the church all throughout summer. After cleaning the church, we helped them organize the sheds and trailers containing supplies donated to the distribution center. It was such fun, because we got pretty close to the other volunteers at the church. They would joke around with us, and us with them. It was a blast! Rebecca and I were given charge over organizing the baby supplies.

It was a mess -to be sure- but between us and the amazing assistance of our other wonderful friends, we were able to get it perfectly organized. At some points before it was organized, we thought we were going to drown in baby diapers…I even had dreams about baby diapers if that tells you anything about how many there were.

Here's our group with a few other volunteers we became friends with.

Every evening after working all day, we would meet the STGJ group and do something fun. We went for a frozen yogurt run, one night we watched some cartoons on a big reel movie projector, and we bowling. Since we all got on so well, it was as if we had known them for ages! We made wonderful friends, and were very loath to part with them Friday.

Last Friday was our final performance of The Importance of Being Earnest, and before the show we got our usual prayer circle, but this time, some of the SGTJ people prayed with us. It was a very … I really cannot find the right word to describe it. Humbling? Aw-inspiring? These people that we had been praying for all throughout summer, and for whom we had been putting on this production for, were praying with us, and for us. And we all had such a strong common bond; a love for Jesus, and love for the arts.
The play was a success. Beforehand we presented the SGTJ with a check for the money which had been raised for them. It was a joy bringing laughter to the audience. To hear these people, whose lives had been altered by the May 22nd tornado, laughing was the completion of all we had worked for over the past month. Backstage, we were slap-happy. It was a blast and a very neat experience.
After the play, we loaded up our set and costumes for the last time and socialized briefly with our new-found friends before we had to leave. Once they rebuild their theater, we are going to get our drama group together to watch their first production in the new location! They even mentioned coming down here to watch one of our plays!
The whole thing was a very unique experience and I loved every minute of it, even the sweaty exhausting work. Lol. I felt like I could have stayed for a month in Joplin, and almost wish we could have. Although it felt like we had been gone from home for a month, when we were there in Joplin the time went by so quickly. Good friends, hard work, funny happenings, and helping out is very satisfying. This was my first mission trip and I loved it so much I'm now looking forward to a next mission trip!
On the morning of our performance, one of the volunteers at the church came up with a Bible and showed us a verse he had found.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NLT)

“If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me.”

How awesome is that?! So that’s the importance of being earnest, folks; looking for the Lord in earnest!