Aduke Schulist - www.adukeschulist.com

10 Baby Names I Love But Won’t Be Using

This was a tag going around YouTube recently. I wanted to do it, but could never remember all of the names I thought of when I was pregnant. I had a new list of names for each pregnancy, but I was reminded of some of them recently when discussing names with Kaia and I wrote them down just for this post…

As you will see, I like unique names. My current children all have pretty unique (and long!) names. My oldest son has 4 names in front of his last name. My kids go by Kaia (boy), Aloshua/Losh (boy – sounds similar to Joshua), and Aybra/Abby (girl – sounds similar to Abraham).

So here is an alphabetical list of 10 Baby Names I Love But Won’t Be Using

*Please note, the babies in these images are NOT my children, but are client’s babies from my Photography business. I have permission to use these images.

Adolf

For obvious reasons, this one was vetoed pretty quickly. Adolf means “noble wolf”. I like the meaning of the name, but funny enough, I am not really into names because of their meanings otherwise. (I have included them in the following for those curious)

Aladdin

My favorite movie growing up! I always loved the name Aladdin. Aloshua (my middle son) was almost named Aladdin, but I figured two “Al” names was too much and couldn’t decide which one to use as a first name if I chose both. This one means “nobility of faith”.

Alek Zander

This would have been a first and middle name. I liked how it sounded like Alexander, but was unique. Alek means “defender of men” and Zander means “man warrior”.

Caillou Amir

Caillou has a bad rep from the cartoon character that everybody loves to hate. I like the way this name sounds. I didn’t choose this name because it was very similar sounding (especially when said fast) to part of my older son’s name (Kaia Imire). Caillou means “pebble” or “bald head” and Amir means “prince”.

Emily Elizabeth

I’m not a fan of traditional names at all, but this one just speaks to me. I didn’t use it because it was on my list for my first child who happened to be a boy, and it reminds me of the little girl from Clifford too much. Emily means “industrious” or “striving” and Elizabeth means “oath of God”.

Madzimoyo

When I was pregnant with my daughter I was researching Malawian names (her father is Malawian) and this one stuck out to me. It means “water of life”. I didn’t find out her gender until birth and this is a boys name.

Prince

I can’t describe why I like this name, but didn’t choose it because in my mind I pictured people being confused and thinking it was a title.

Rajah

Another Aladdin name, this time the tiger from Aladdin. Aybra was almost given this as another middle name. This name means “king”. I liked it better for a boy.

Spencer

This was one of the first baby names I wrote down on any list of baby names, unfortunately my son’s father already had a child with this name. The more I dived into baby names, the more unique they got. Spencer means “steward of provisions”

Wolfgang or Amadeus

I like both of these names together as in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There wasn’t a specific reason for not choosing this, except I like other names better. Wolfgang means “travelling wolf” and Amadeus means “to love God”.

There we have it.. 10 Baby Names I Love But Won’t Be Using. I can only imagine some parents reading this and patting themselves on the back for not being as crazy as me with name choices. (My oldest son literally landed on a “worst baby names” website because of his name)

Would you consider any of these names for your child?
Do your children have unique or traditional names?

What’s New Or Something Like That..

Happy new day, y’all!

It has been a busy few weeks around here. I just wanted to give a general life update and tell you guys what has been going on and what you can expect coming up on this little ole’ blog.

Seminary

First of all, my oldest son Kaia started seminary. It’s a 4 year religious class done by our church and coincides with the public school calendar. One of my favorite things about homeschooling was not having to rely on someone else’s calendar, but here we are, getting up at the butt crack of dawn every single morning that school is in session locally so he can go to this class before (public) school even starts.

I had to figure out an entire new schedule between my own business, the kids’ appointments, 4-H, and all other activities we are doing. It was so stressful at first and I didn’t know how I was going to make it work (being a single mom is tough y’all!), but everything has worked out fine. It makes for an early day, and adjusting has been a little difficult, but everything is going well.

I Have a Shop Page

In the past I thought a blog shop page wasn’t quite right for my blog. I always related them to fashion blogs, and Lord knows I’m not always fashionable. But, with all the products and favorites I share, I figured it was time to put one up. I will eventually separate it into categories, but for now, it is hosting some of my favorite beauty products all in one spot. What sort of categories would you like to see posted? Here’s a sneak peek: You can find it on the menu at the top of every page.

In other blog news, I’m working on either getting a new theme for a more polished/updated look, or making some adjustments to my current theme to better suit what I have in mind. If you experience any technical problems during this time, I apologize and should have them all sorted quickly.

In Other Random News…

The boys took their chickens to the fair. We didn’t stay for the judging or auction, so I have no clue what ribbons they won, but here they are semi-smiling with their trios. We are now left with 13 chickens.

Housework has me in over my head. I have a schedule and always found doing certain tasks on certain days helped, but lately I feel like my house is falling apart and don’t even get me started on yard work. I blame it on Seminary.

And finally, YouTube has taken a back burner for so long and it kills me a little inside every time somebody comments or messages me asking when I’ll have a new video up. I’m trying to be better about YouTube and have a few new vlogs up with more in the editing queue. One of my goals for this year is to get better at editing, so I want to push myself to create some unique vlogs or videos that are more than just a vlog.

Do you watch any people whose editing style you admire? I’d love to check them out. Julien Solomita is my pick

How do you guys manage your house and everything else life gives you when life is giving you extra?

ICYMI:
Things I Like: A Brain Dump
August 2018 Ipsy Glam Bag

August 2018 Ipsy Glam Bag

The last time I shared my Ipsy Glam Bag on here was last year. December to be specific. I’ve been taking some pictures of my bags, but for whatever reason never posting on here. Time to remedy that. Before I share my September bag, I wanted to post my August 2018 Ipsy Glam Bag. (Better late than never, right?)

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

August 2018 Ipsy Glam Bag – The Bag

The bag was a pretty basic linen type cloth bag in a salmon orange color with a yellow border and zipper. The tassel on the zipper gave it a little oomph. I typically don’t re-use the bags for anything and opt to store them for service projects later, but may hold onto this bag. I like how plain it is.

Eau Thermale Avene Cleansing Gel

Cleansing gel is a new to me product. I was pretty excited to use this. The texture is comparable to a syrupy liquid, but it feels smooth. It gives a nice lather, but without all the foam that soaps and other cleansers produce. The smell is amazing. It’s priced beyond my typical cleanser budget, but worth the splurge.

Bang Beauty Smokey Eyeshadow Palette

This is an adorable quad palette in my favorite colors. I don’t know why I didn’t get an image of the inside of it but you can see it here: (Bang Beauty Smokey Quad). I’m sure I own no less than 10 palettes with colors very similar to these and they are hands-down my most used shades.

Make Up For Ever Color Pencil

I was excited to see pull this out of my August 2018 bag thinking it was a lip pencil. My excitement increased when I saw it could be used for eyes, blush, contour, lips, and anything else my heart desires. It blends well and the shade Wherever Walnut is a pretty good compliment to my skin tone. I’m not sure if it would be as versatile on all skin tones.

Pixi by Petra BeachRose Blush

I feel like I’ve received a lot of Pixi products (highlighters and blush) and the shades have all been very similar. I don’t have anything against them, and they have always been nice products, but haven’t been my favorites. This BeachRose shade is dark enough to be a contour for me.

Eddie Funkhouser Lux Light Glow Drops

I was really expecting this product to be more of a light colored highlighter, but it’s got this really pretty bronze glow to it that blends to perfection. It can be used as an all over illuminater, but I’m going to try it out as a base coat on my eyes. #EyeObsessed

Overall, my August 2018 Ipsy Glam Bag was a success. I will probably pass the blush on to somebody else, but the rest of the products will definitely be used by me. It’s rare that I get a bag where I enjoy everything, so this was a nice surprise. If you want to join Ipsy you can use my Ipsy Referral Link to sign up. I’d be so appreciative.

Favorite Recent Reads

I’ve been sharing a lot of favorites lately and noticed it’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my favorite recent reads with you. I used to be so good about updating what I was reading on Goodreads, and then I started getting a little lazy. I would take a picture of the book so I would remember to upload it later, and that ended up with me just taking pictures of all the books I’ve read since last Summer, but somehow not updating a single one on Goodreads. Welcome to my life, guys!

I will eventually get all the books I’ve saved pictures of updated to Goodreads, but in the meantime I wanted to share my Favorite Recent Reads with you.

Please note: This post contains affiliate links. You will not be charged anything for purchasing these books using my links.

Three Weeks to Say Goodbye by C.J. Box

I discovered C.J. Box a few years ago and he quickly became one of my favorite authors. I find myself randomly checking his section in the library to see if any new books have been added. Three Weeks to Say Goodbye was new to me, and not the typical style I would expect from him, but still a favorite recent reads.

A couple adopt a child from a mother who signed away her rights, only to find out that the child’s biological father was never notified any of this was happening. The story follows the adoptive parents as they try to keep the biological father from taking away their child.

Talk to the Paw by Melinda Metz

This was the first time I’ve read anything by this author and it won’t be the last. Talk to the Paw is hands-down my favorite from this entire list of favorite recent reads.

Mac, the cat, knows his owner is lonely and needs a human for herself. He sneaks out, steals items from his owner’s neighbors and puts them on the doorsteps of people in order to connect them together.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Conversational Sign Language

Whew! That’s a long title. Since around mid-April, we have been learning ASL as a family. Mostly myself and my oldest son, but the younger two are picking up a lot too. We are fast learners, and have already been asked to substitute for the teachers who are teaching us twice. Kaia, my oldest, has even been asked to interpret at church some.

I picked this book up from the library and learned maybe 3 or 4 things from it. The rest we had already learned from our teachers. We are in no way experts, and still have a lot to learn, but this book is great for teaching the basics and introducing you to deaf culture. I highly recommend this book it if you are just beginning to learn ASL.

Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel

Travis, a champion diver, is injured while performing a silly stunt. His diving career is shattered and doctors are urging him to amputate his leg. Instead, he is contemplating ending his own life, but needs his friends to help. Will they help?

Breathless left me questioning what I would do in this situation. I already know where I stand on Euthanasia and assisted suicide, but this book brought up some things I hadn’t previously thought about. It’s definitely a controversial topic and may be not suitable for all readers.

I Can’t Believe You Just Said That!: Biblical Wisdom for Taming Your Child’s Tongue by Ginger Hubbard

True story, while I was reading this book, a friend was complimenting my children about how well they behaved and that she wished her children behaved like mine. I laughed thinking “What am I doing reading this book if my children are so well behaved?!” While I don’t think my children have problems with behavior or being disobedient to the point of it being a problem, I do like to glean new ideas to help in every situation that comes up as a parent.

I enjoyed the Biblical references and learned some new tips for not raising my voice (I’m a yeller), yet still getting my children to listen. I learned that my parenting needs a lot of work, but also that I’m doing a lot right. Totally recommend this book if you are in a parenting rut or at your wits ends with your kids.

You may have noticed these images were taken at my home, in the therapy waiting room, and even at the pool. I tend to carry a book with me everywhere and use my downtime to read. I set a goal to read 100 books this year, but had a few bad months were I didn’t read as much as I had been. I’m not sure if that will throw me off of my goal or not, but I’m currently sitting right below 60 books.

Do you have a reading goal for the year?
What’s the last book you read that you really enjoyed?

Things I Like : A Brain Dump

Does everybody go through phases in life where they think “What am I doing? I can’t do this anymore. I want to be doing something else?” and then whatever sparked the initial passion to begin whatever it was in the first place comes back and you realize those thoughts of quitting were silly?

That’s been my relationship with blogging the past few months. You may have noticed I took a little break there for a while. I was feeling burnt out. I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere. I was comparing myself with others and just beating myself up. I really debated just closing all my blogs down and focusing on social media. Then I realized that was a silly idea.

I started thinking about how I can’t control my social media, but I have full control over my blog. I started thinking about why I began blogging in the first place and how my blog has changed over time, and then I realized that I should focus more on my blog than social media, so here I am giving you guys a brain dump of “things I like”. What does this brain dump have to do with blogging? Well, I want to be sure I am blogging about things I like, and not just things I think you want to hear about. That may seem super selfish, but this is a “lifestyle” blog depicting my life, and well, I want to make sure it’s genuinely reflecting what I like. Hopefully some of these things will resonate with you guys. So, let me know what things stick out to you and what you would like to see more of.

Things I Like

I’m a Target shopping, pumpkin spice loving, legging wearing, basic girl. I don’t do things because they are trendy. I like to try to new things that peak my interest. I also like having favorites, like certain products I always come back to. I like the whole Beauty scene, but on a budget. I don’t feel like I always have to be fashionable, trendy, or even beautiful. I like being made up and fancy, or natural and comfortable.

I like sugar. Perhaps a little too much. I like baking, mostly cookies, but I’d love to learn how to make cupcakes. I’ve always wanted to learn how to flood cookies, but I don’t even know what that technical term is, so perhaps that should wait until a little longer. I love the look of cakes that have been decorated with a somewhat messy, yet natural elegant look.

I like spending time with my kids. I like playing games with them. I like watching TV with them. I like Family Movie Night and making delicious treats with them. I like the time we spend outdoors working on projects around the house. I like looking outside and seeing my yard looking good.

I like connecting with people on social media. I like seeing what people share and feeling like I know them even if they don’t know I exist. #Stalker? I feel inspired when I see people living out their best life. I like parents who post inspirational stories using everyday life as their starting points. (You know, those parents who make profound moments out of spilled cereal?)

I like mom blogs. I like fashion and style blogs. I like beauty blogs. I like pet blogs, and I like parenting, and fitness, and health blogs. I don’t like labeling myself as one of those things.

I like taking portraits of people and seeing their faces when they see their images for the first time. I like creating flat-lays and would love to get into creating stock-photos. I’d like to start a picture series and have a few ideas in mind.

I love seeing all the different editing styles of my favorite YouTubers. I’d like to learn how to make better videos myself. I like educating people about various topics, but don’t feel skilled enough to be a pro in one topic. I like podcasts, especially ones that are encouraging.

I like creative things from other people. I like seeing DIY projects and rooms being remodeled. I like arts and crafts, but tend to stick to the early-years type crafts that fit into our homeschooling.

And finally, me time is important to me. This sometimes happens in the bath with a good book, and sometimes it means getting in a much needed nap. I like taking walks and exploring new areas. I feel like my health is important and I’ve been working on being a healthier me.

As I’m reading this brain dump, I’m glancing at my “most used tags” and see that a lot of it correlates to what I’ve typed above, so I guess that’s a good start, and leaves a lot to talk about.

So, readers, what would you like to see first, or see more of?

10 Baby Names I Love But Won’t Be Using

Adolf

Aladdin

Alek Zander

Caillou Amir

Emily Elizabeth

Madzimoyo

Prince

Rajah

Spencer

Wolfgang or Amadeus

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Happy new day, y’all!

Seminary

I Have a Shop Page

In Other Random News…

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August 2018 Ipsy Glam Bag

August 2018 Ipsy Glam Bag – The Bag

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Favorite Recent Reads

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Things I Like : A Brain Dump

Things I Like

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