OOTD

I haven't posted OOTD in a long time mostly because I haven't taken a picture of them. I wear jeans most days. They are toddler friendly and easy. I recently bought some peep toe booties that I LOVE! So comfy! I wanted something I could wear while chasing a toddler. If they aren't toddler friendly they will sit in my closet collecting dust. I looked on Amazon to see what they had and actually found a pair. I made sure they were Prime, so I could return them if I hated them after I tried them on. 

Left:
Gap: Jacket and Jeans

Tee: Target

Flip Flops: Nordstrom Rack Havaianas

Right:

Dress: Lularoe Julia Dress

Jacket: Target

Booties: Amazon 

I saw someone on IG wearing a similar outfit one day. I decided to recreate it based on the items I had in my closet. All of these things are really old.

Cardigan: Loft

Button Up: Old Navy

Skirt: Lane Bryant

Shoes: Lucky

Purifying Charcoal Mask

I tried BeautyCounter's Purifying Charcoal Mask a couple weeks ago. I really love this mask! I have been using this indian mud mask that I like, but I HATE washing it off my face. It is so hard to get it all off. I figured the charcoal mask would be similar. It was nothing like the other mask I have been using. It went on really thin and spread very easily. I didn't have a bunch caked on my fingers either. 

When it dries you can see where it is pulling out the impurities from your pores! It's pretty crazy!

Here is the mask all dry! I love how clean my face feels afterwards. The first time I used it later that evening it had brought a pimple to the surface! 

After I used the mask I used the Balancing Face Oil. My skin felt amazing! 

I'm hosting a spa night at my house for my friends to try out the charcoal mask on Saturday, October 29. If you would like to come you are more than welcome. You can email me for more information. 

You can find the charcoal mask HERE. 

You can find the Balancing Face Oil HERE. 

Storms!

BeautyCounter!

Here is my story that has led me to BeautyCounter!

I really started to look at the ingredients of products before I had George a little over 2 years ago. I refused to use any Johnson & Johnson products on him. Some people thought I was crazy. I didn't care! I felt it was very important that I use products with the least amount of chemicals as possible.

Once George starting eating foods I tried to feed him as much organic as possible. Over the past year I have worked on getting all of us to eat as much organic and grass fed meats. I also make my own laundry soap because I want to know what is in my soap. I stopped using cleaning products about 6 years ago. I went to vinegar, baking soda and peroxide to clean my house. I have a lot of health issues where I feel our environment causes a lot of these issues, so I really try to eliminate as many chemicals as possible from our home.

One of my friends Susannah recently starting selling BeautyCounter. Honestly at first I was like oh boy here we go again with yet another person selling junk. I joined her Instagram and Facebook groups. I would read what she was posting and guess what I agreed with what BeautyCounter stood for! Then BeautyCounter made it's was to my very favorite store Target! I actually got excited about it because I wanted to check out the products. I went to Target the day they launched. I waited in the store while they set up the display. I grabbed an eye cream and headed to the check out. I've been using it for a few weeks. The area around my eyes feel so much softer.

Last week Susannah was kind enough to let me try the skin care and body products for a week. I was sold! I have a lot of issues with an itchy scalp. And Head & Shoulders is NOT the answer! It doesn't matter if I wash my hair daily or once a week. I used BeautyCounters shampoo twice and fell in love with it! No more itchy scalp! The skin care products made my face so soft. I love the charcoal mask. When I returned all the items to Susannah I couldn't believe the difference I felt with my face. I ended up placing my order for the skin care products within 2 days. I can't wait for them to get here!

I am not a person that jumps on the bandwagon of selling the newest and latest thing. This is the very first thing I have ever sold. Joining BeautyCounter makes sense for me because I will be using these products for me and my family.

#beautycounter #beautifulproductsmadesafe #theneverlist #greggrenfrew#miadavis #christycoleman #HCHW #BCF #EWG #cleanshampoo#countertime #agegracefully #soothingfacewash#enlighteningtreatmentpads #radiancefirmingcomplex #upliftingdaycream#nourishingcleansingbalm #restorativenightcream #vibranteyeperfector#beautycounterface

Long Cardigans

I am really loving the long cardigans! I bought the gray long one I am wearing in the picture below during the Nordstroms Anniversary Sale. I wish I had also bought the camel colored one. The camel one sold out super fast and never came back in stock. This cardigan is so soft and comfortable. I would wear it every day! 

Cardigan: Nordstroms

Top: Lularoe

Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Sole Society

I am also loving Old Navy long cardi they have on sale right now.  They are a great deal! I am thinking of getting the camel and burgundy one. I have been looking for a burgundy long cardigan. I bought one at Target recently, but I am not loving the sleeves on it. Luckily I haven't taken the tags off of it yet, so I can still return it. 

Wordless Wednesday

Menu Monday

I am back to cooking 3 meals a day for all of us. I pack Art's breakfast and lunch for him each day. Most of the time he takes fruit and cottage cheese or fruit and eggs for breakfast. Lunch he takes a sandwich. He is starting Whole 30 today, so now the meals will change for him. My goal is to make double the food the night before, so there are leftovers for lunch the next day. 

Breakfast will be simple. Bacon and eggs. Or an egg bake with veggies. 

Here is what I have on the menu for dinner this week. 

Cuban Pork Chops
Maple Bacon Chicken
Sweet Potato Skillet
Greek Meatballs with a Greek Salad
Burrito Bowls - Cauli rice, leftover pork from the freezer, tomatoes from our garden and avocados

I usually have salad, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage on hand. I will grab other veggies I see at the farmers market that I think will go with our meals. It all just depends what is in season and they have available. 

I really like to have sauteed kale with tomatoes with my bacon and eggs for breakfast! Those flavors together are just delish!  Some mornings I will make myself a bulletproof coffee and not eat anything else. That coffee really fills me up. I use organic full fat canned coconut milk and ghee. I throw it all in the mixer and blend it for a couple seconds. It is so frothy and delicious! 

5 Years Later

The left was 5 years ago, the middle was 4 years ago and the right is now. This proves that eating healthy and exercise you can drop 90 pounds!  I didn't use any weight loss pills or surgery. All hard work!  Over the past 4 years I've received a cancer diagnosis, a few miscarriages, had my miracle baby, and MS diagnosis. During all that I gained some weight but now I'm smaller than I was 4 years ago. If I can do it anyone can do it! 

You may hold my hand for awhile, 

but you hold my heart forever! 

My heart was stolen!

I love looking back at pictures of my little man! It is amazing to watch him grow. Each morning I look at TimeHop an app on my phone over the years social media postings. My favorites of the pictures from the past 2 years of George! At times it's funny to see what we were doing or just how much he has changed. 

6 months

1 year

14 months

19 months

2 years! 

What a little stud! This boy makes my heart so happy! 

We have entered the lovely two's! The other day was an epic day! He was furious the bananas in the house were green. He wanted a banana. Finally I gave him the entire bunch, so he could see they were all gross. He pulled each apart examining them to see if one was yellow. He yells BROKE. Later in the day I find every single green banana in the garbage can. When I found them I just had to laugh. I had expected that day to be horrible because he had to get a shot plus his blood drawn. To my shock he sat there perfectly calm when he had his blood drawn. He didn't cry or anything. I felt so proud of him. He was not too happy over his shot a little later. I bought him some yellow bananas later in the day. 

I try to take him with me to my doctor appointments, blood draws and he sees me give myself a shot often for MS. I tell him these are things we do to stay healthy. I also try to explain to him before hand what to expect. Normally it helps him, so he doesn't get so upset. 

He keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing every single day!

4 Different Types of Thyroid Cancer

Did you know there are 4 types of thyroid cancers? There isn't just one type that is easily cured with surgery or radioactive iodine. 

The 4 types are:

Papillary
Follicular 
Medullary
Anaplastic

Thyca.org is a great website! If you are interested in finding out more information on the different types go HERE. It has so much information for people with different type of thyroid cancer. This website has helped me find a great support group of people who have the same type of cancer I do. I am so grateful I was able to find these people. They understand what you are going through. Sometimes family or friends just don't understand. There are times it is hard for me to understand what in the world is going on. When I go to them it is reassuring to know I am not alone. 

Menu Monday

I am back at trying to make my menu for 2 weeks. I mostly just need to buy enough meat for 2 weeks. Then I can get my veggies at the farmers market on Saturdays. I don't buy much else from the grocery store than occasional meat or condiments we might need. 

Next week Art is going to start doing Whole 30. I don't feel there is really any difference between that and Paleo. I am going to cook what I normally eat but double the amount. That way he can have the leftovers for work. 

This week we are having the following:

Orange Chicken Thighs and Broccoli
Roast made in the InstaPot with sauteed kale - I need to make a whole blog post on the Instapot. A-mazing!!!
Lamb Kebabs - whatever veggie is left in the house we will eat with this
Garlic Honey Broccoli and Cauli Rice
Breakfast

I Fight Strong!

I fight every day to stay ahead of this cancer! It is something I have to stay on top and fight every single day of my life. There are very few days where I don't think of it. There are times when I don't think I would fight so hard if it wasn't for G. He has given me a whole new fight. I just want to see him grow up, graduate high school, go to college and hopefully get married one day. 

There are times I get irritated because there is sooooo much breast cancer awareness stuff out there. The other day I thought wait why am I getting upset over that. People have got to be made aware of the different types of thyroid cancers.  It just takes a few people to raise awareness for different type of things in this world. 

George 2 Year Pictures!

A couple weeks ago we had George's 2 year old pictures taken. He had a lot of fun on the train car. How adorable is this little guy! 

My mom made George this adorable Two Shirt! He had a farm themed birthday party! 

Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month!

September is Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month. Statistic - about 40% of people will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. 1% of those people will have thyroid cancer. 1% of people with a thyroid cancer diagnosis will have Medullary Thyroid Cancer.

Right now there is no cure. Chemo and radiation don't cure us. We don't ever go into remission. MTC is a battle that is fought every day. Thyroid cancer is not the good cancer people get. There is no good cancer ever!

Wordless Wednesday

Grab a chair and enjoy the show! 

Latest Jamberry

It's been close to 2 years since I started using Jamberry. Lately I just love them! I need a set on all the time. I almost feel naked without my nails done. I do love polish. Essie is my favorite. I just feel like it doesn't last that long. Polish will last me 3-4 days. Jams last me anywhere from 7-14 days. The matte finish Jams last me 14+ days. They just stay on my nails the best. 

I have it down now where it only takes me about 15-20 minutes to do a full set. I have to wait that long for nail polish to dry, so I don't think that is too bad. The more I put Jams on the faster I get. 

Wearing Sunday Brunch

Have you looked at the new catalog to see all the new designs? I try to avoid the catalog because I always fine 10+ designs I love and want. I have put myself on restriction from buying more until I use what I have. I have A LOT. I probably have close to a year before I will need to buy anymore. 

Traveling with a Toddler

I have traveled a lot with G alone on quick trips. I was a little nervous to make a 4+ hour flight alone. We had a 3 hour layover in the middle of the flight. I was mostly nervous how I would manage all of our stuff on and off the plane. I had a car seat, stroller, and 2 bags. I had plan to just take 1 bag on the way home, but G insisted we had to take his blankie. I shoved it in his little back pack to avoid getting it drug through the airport. Once we got off the plane he wanted me once my hands were free. 

It worked really good to just take one bag. The flight attendants and passengers were really nice about helping us too. I would wait until almost everyone got off the plane before I even attempted to get off. I had to wait for the stroller anyhow, so it made sense to just wait. 

Look who I ran into at the Bismarck airport! It's Josh!!!

Watching the planes! 

Playing with his farm animals. 

I pack a lot of new toys for G to play with on and off the plane. He loves opening new things to play with. On the way home I packed too much. He ended up sleeping for an entire flight. It worked out great! I think later flights are the best. Toys and snacks are the way to travel with a toddler. 

Just a little excited to go home to see Da Da! 

Here is my gypsy cart! It REALLY worked fabulous! For one person this works. The Bob stroller is a beast! It hauls everything so nicely. When I needed to push G I just set him in the car seat and away we would go. If he wanted to walk I set my bag in the car seat, so I could hold his hand. I was so glad I decided to take the Bob with us. It worked great on the farm too. 

Happy 2nd Birthday George!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my amazing little boy! 

I have been able to spend about the past 6 months as a stay at home mom with G. It has been a change for both of us. I was use to going to work and G was use to going to day care. It took us a little bit to get use to staying home, but we have loved it! Our days at home, in pjs, playing and doing things around the house are our favorites. We try to go do some fun things each week. We like to go to the library for story time or fun toddler places. 

I love being there as G learns new things. He is starting to talk so much more. At times I just can't believe how smart he is. He is at the age now where I can tell him he has to do something before he gets what he wants. Pick up your toys if you want to watch that show. He picks them up. I love when he tells me he wants ice - that means he needs a drink of water. 

Instead of giving G a bunch of gifts we decided to take him Fairyland in Oakland and make some memories. We bought him a couple little things. He has everything he could ever need. He LOVED Fairyland. 

He wanted to eat his strawberries and wasn't into taking pictures. 

Fairyland has these boxes where you put a key in to play the fairytale. George LOVED this! He would ask for the key, so he could do it at each box. We listened to each box in English and Spanish. 

George calls all birds ducks. He had to touch this huge duck. 

We had to wait about 20 minutes to ride the train. As soon as he saw the train he kept asking to ride it. He waited very patiently for the 20 minutes until it was our turn. He didn't cry or whine once in line. As the train would come around he would wave and yell hi to all the people. 

He was done at this point. We were getting ready to leave. He was hungry and tired. He wasn't very into pictures. He wanted to have fun instead. I tried not to be a paparazzi taking a million pictures. We had so much fun. As we were walking around I felt so happy and blessed with my little family. I asked him if he had a great time and he shook his head yes.  

I can't wait to experience the next year with this little man. I love being his mommy!