2.26.2016

Product Review: Amopé Pedi Perfect

This post was sponsored by Amopé Pedi Perfect as part of a sampling activation for Crowdtap! I received complimentary products to facilitate my review. So I just want to give a HUGE shout out to them and a huge thank you for sponsoring this post!

This product is wonderful! Simply amazing. My feet have never looked or felt better. I LOVE the fact that you are able to use it while in the shower or while taking a bath OR even if you want to just when you want with no water!! It is perfect for when I just need a quick refresh. So excited about owning this product! I highly recommend this to anyone and everyone. The ease of use is PERFECT!! I think even men would love this product. It isn't super big so it doesn't take up a lot of space either which is a super bonus. If you do not have one of these GO OUT RIGHT NOW and buy one!! I promise you will not regret this purchase. Happy Shopping!!

In the before picture my feet were so gross and cracked and not smooth that they kept snagging on our sheets and blankets. After use of Amopé Pedi Perfect my feet are so soft and smooth. They don't hurt anymore. I will be using this product weekly to keep my feet fresh and pretty! Now I won't be embarrassed come summer to wear sandals and flip flops. Yippee!


2.23.2016

Take A Look Into Our Life - The Last Two Years

I have to admit, I might be putting off blogging this month.. why? Well, because February just stinks! For me this month is hard. A lot of things have happened and February is a consent reminder for certain events. I feel like February is just an unlucky month for James and I. And this year is no different. Lately I have been dealing with a lot of personal feelings and a consent heartbreak. And I often feel so selfish for feeling the way I do. I also feel alone quite a bit, when in reality I'm not alone. You can say that I am depressed.. which I'm starting to believe might be the case. I can't really explain my feelings, and I don't necessarily like to. I feel as if nobody understands me or how I am truly feeling. I have happy times and even happy days and weeks! Which is great, but there is always something stuck in my heart and my mind that I can't and won't let go of. I've briefly talked about my heartache with this but it is so personal that I don't feel like the whole world needs to know. But maybe that's why I have this trial? So I can help others? Or maybe it's time to reach out so others can help me? If you have no idea what I am even talking about.. I guess it's time I talk/write about the "elephant in the room." All I ask in return is to please be respectful to myself, James and our feelings. I am not doing this for pity I promise. I am doing this to help me with my healing process and for my understanding.Thank you for understanding.

James and I have been trying to get pregnant now for two years. I know, I know this isn't much compared to some people. But please understand.. it doesn't make it any easier. Also every persons situation in different! For us this is our trial that we are going through. And I must admit when everyone announces their pregnant and they are having babies a little piece of my heart breaks. This doesn't mean that I am not extremely happy for those people at all. Because I am. I truly am. But it makes me sad and jealous, yes jealous and a little envious of them because I want to be them. I want to have that moment to be able to share our happy news of adding to our family. And it just hasn't came yet. I also feel very, very rude and selfish for my feelings. And honestly I am starting now to understand that it is okay for me to feel the way I do. What we are going through isn't easy at all. And by having this on my mind constantly you have to understand that I am an emotional wreck and can break down at any moment. Trust me.. it's happened and it is so awkward! I mean last week in church I couldn't stay in Relief Society because of what the lesson was on. I tried, I really did but I couldn't hold back the tears and left bawling my eyes out. I mean those ugly tears where your face is all red and ugly and you're crying so loud. Talk about embarrassing. I really don't know how to explain my feelings. Which is difficult and helps add to the process of feeling alone. The truth is, for awhile I just didn't know how I was feeling and I was so embarrassed by my feelings that I kept them in. I didn't talk to anyone about them including my husband. I have recently started opening up and I think that is why I am writing this blog post today. It is all for me, to help me cope with this. I have been praying all the time for comfort and peace to be in my heart. I have even had to at times pray for my Heavenly Father to lift me up and help carry some of this burden for me. I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father is there for me to help me and guide me through this really tough trial. 

You might be asking me why I decided now is the time to open up. Well, to tell you the truth.. I'm not really sure, it just feels right in my heart. I feel ready to talk about it and be open about it. I want other that are going through this too, to know that I know that their situation may be different than mine but there is someone else there who can somewhat understand your feelings. Trials are not fun to go through alone. I know I have my family and I have my husband. I have been using them. But sometimes you need support outside of family. Another reason why I think I am starting today is because I need to start letting go and to relax. James and I have recently started discussing adoption. We don't know if this is the direction we should go yet but at the same time we both feel really good about it. The truth is, I don't care if I carry the baby inside me. If I get to that would be an added bonus. All I want is to be a mommy and to have our family grow. I don't want to be a mommy to furry animals anymore. They are nice and I love them and I will always treat them like they are little humans.. but truth is they aren't, I know. That is why my heart is aching so much.   

If you want to know what has been going on in these past two years then continue reading and I will go into some details, if you don't care and are finished thank you for your time and now is a good place to stop. OR if you're curious then go ahead and read on. 

I was diagnosed with PCOS which is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.you can go here to find out more about what that is. It is a common thing for women to get. If you're having irregular periods or non at all or facial hair or are becoming super hairy you might want to get checked for it. Basically I knew from the beginning that this was going to play a big part in us trying to get pregnant. So after we moved up to Idaho I found a new OBGYN and visited with him and he started me on some medicine to help me regulate my periods but to also help me ovulate. Because no period = no ovulation. Which is a crucial part in becoming pregnant. So I started the medicine and I did a round and was so excited and positive it was going to work even though the doctor told me in most cases it takes more than one time.. well it didn't work out so I go super frustrated and didn't call the doctor back or get another prescription. I was heartbroken. But eventually I went for my yearly check-up and vented and cried about all my feelings and my doctor talked with James and I and convinced me to give it another try. So I started the medicine again this time for five months because that's all he wanted me to do since by this point we had already been trying for over a year with nothing happening so if it didn't work then he wanted to get James checked out. Well apparently the Lord had a different plan.. and knew that I would be even more disappointed if we tried and tried for five months and nothing happened. So some weird things started happening with James. (He might kill me for this but I think it's important to know so I can help explain things..) one of his breasts started to become enlarged. So we made an appointment with our family doctor to see what was going on. Well he ran some blood tests and we found out his testosterone levels were super low. WHOOPS!! Well, that sure wasn't going to help us to get pregnant. So the doctor referred us to another doctor who specializes in this type of thing. Because they were worried something might be wrong with his pituitary due to how low his testosterone levels had become. So we went to this doctor and got some information and he wanted James to get an MRI to see if there was anything going on with his pituitary which we figured he was going to be getting. Well, the doctor was a HUGE pain and never scheduled the MRI and wouldn't really keep in touch or return our calls. Even with the new blood work he had James do.. it took forever to just get those results out of him. So James went back to our family doctor for an ear infection and to talk with him about the doctor he had referred us to. So our family doctor then said it was important to get the MRI (mind you it had been about 2-3 months after our visit with the other doctor) so he went ahead and scheduled it. So James got the MRI done. (Actually only about two weeks ago..) and the results came back. We never heard anything from the original doctor who wanted James to get it done (and yes James had the results sent there and our primary doctor) so he called over to our primary doctor to see if they had the results and they did. So when he went in for his follow up appointment the doctor went over what they found. Which was a little tumor or cyst on his pituitary. He told us that is was small enough that they most likely would just leave it alone. Well a few days later the other doctor called to let us know that they found a tumor on James pituitary. And that was that and we had to wait two weeks to see what this doctor thought of it. Waiting is never fun especially when you have that kind of little information. So on Monday we ventured back to this doctor. And it was a joke! He never brought up the MRI and he asked if we were trying to get pregnant which was the MAIN reason we were sent to him. There was also some other problems that were going on and he just pushed them to the side and didn't ask anymore questions and was in a rush to get us out of there. So here we are today.. stuck not knowing what our next step is and we are waiting more to know if we even have a chance at getting pregnant. Because I decided it is best to figure out what is going on with James first then we can focus on me after. *SIDE STORY!* (The medicine I was on stopped working and wasn't helping me ovulate.) Thankfully James parents have agreed to help us find another doctor who will be down in Utah and will hopefully know how to further help James and explain things to us.

So there we are... up to date on what has been really happening in our life for the last two years. It has sure been a roller coaster of emotions and heartbreaks. But don't get me wrong there has been a lot of good and happy times too. It's not all sad and depressing around here. But thank you for listing to my story and my trial. If you have any word of advice, questions or comments please feel free to comment below or if you have my number call or text me or even if you wanted you can Facebook message me. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has known what we have been going through for your love and consent support. We couldn't go through any of this without all of you. We love each and every one of you and really appreciate you being there for us and for trying your best to understand how we are feeling and what we are going through. And I also want to say thank you to all of you who are reading this and are being respectful with our feelings and our story. We really appreciate all of you too. So here is to our new chapter in our life and being more positive and about our situation! I hope you are ready for a ride. As there will be updated posts on what is going on with everything and also of course what we decide about adoption. ALSO, if any of you have adopted before and have any tips or advice for us PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE share with us! We are at a total loss on where to even begin with this whole adoption idea since it is such a new thing for us. So all advice is welcomed. Thank you all again for your consonant love and support. And I promise, the next blog post will be on a much happier note.. I still have a lot of catching up to do on what we have been up to recently. 


2.12.2016

Here Piggy, Piggy!

 This last week was filled with adventures! From going to a pig farm to making my own laundry detergent and much more in-between. It's always fun to be able to try new things. I am glad that I live in a place that I am able to do things that I normally wouldn't be able to do anywhere else. Especially down in Utah where we used to live. I love where I live and I think it was one of the best decisions James and I made.

Speaking of pig farms.. On Tuesday James grandparents invited me with them to go and get some sausage at their friends pig farm. I'm so glad that I went with them!! They had a whole bunch of baby pigs and one batch was even just barley born. These pigs are raised to be 4-H pigs (show pigs) so they were trying to get them to be friendly and go to people. I was lucky enough to be able to hold one of the baby pigs! The one I got to hold was only five days old. He was so cute, soft and cuddly! Although he did get poop on me. But in the long run it was okay and nothing a washing machine couldn't fix! It was so exciting and something I have always wanted to do. Baby pigs are so cute. If you want to learn more about the pig farm or are in the area and you're looking for a 4-H pig or good sausage go here to their Facebook page!

Mr. Edwin has discovered hiding under my rugs now. It is his favorite things to do. He first started doing this on Sunday. Silly little bugger. Now he hides all sorts of things under it. I keep finding his toy mice due to me stepping on a lump all the sudden. Sometimes he goes clear under our rug and curls up in a little ball and falls fast asleep. He is so cute. But don't let his cuteness fool you, he is such a little turd!! But non the less I still love my kitty, kitty.

I finally bought all the ingredients to make my own homemade laundry detergent! I prefer having the powdered kind because of my washing machine type. (I have a top load) I feel like it gives it a better clean. This recipe was so easy and it will last us awhile! I got the cute container at Walmart for around $5.00. The total cost for all the ingredients was about $8.00 and the best part is you only use two tablespoons per load! Talk about a steal of a deal. 

Laundry Soap Recipe: *to make a bigger portion*
4 cups Borax
4 Cups Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
2 Fels-Naptha bars
Put Borax and Washing Soda in container. Use either a cheese grater or a food processor to grind up Fels-Naptha bars. (I used my food processor which cut down a lot of time!)
Mix all together and give it a whirl!

This is perfect with people with sensitive skin! Which is why I decided to make my own finally. If you want a scent to it you can add a few drops of essential oils or some people buy a bottle of Downy Unstoppables to mix in to give it that scent. If you try this let me know what you think!


2.11.2016

The Big Game - You Know, The Super Bowl!

As many of you know the Super Bowl was on Sunday! The Broncos and the Panthers were the ones who played. The Broncos were the overall champs. To be honest, I could care less who was playing and who won. What I was excited about was hosting a small.. and I mean small party at our house and being able to have a ton of delicious foods. We invited up the grandparents and watched the game. Well, more like the commercials at least me and grandma. The men might of watched the game but threw in a little nap in between. 

For the food we had all sorts of things. Buffalo Chicken sandwiches, Soda, Water, Kool-aid jammers, Nacho cheese, salsa, pretzels, nuts, gold fish, grapes, cucumbers and carrots. And of course we had yummy lemon cupcakes! Like I said, we had A LOT of food. But hey the game lasts awhile so why not right? I like being able to throw little parties and decorate so it was a lot of fun for me.

Did any of you watch the Super Bowl? If so who were you rooting for? What food did you enjoy? Leave your answers in the comments below!

2.04.2016

UN-boxing: Grandma Sent Me A Package!

 Today was an exciting day! I received an package from my grandmother. So I thought it would be fitting to do a little UN-boxing!
My grandma almost always uses old card boxes when she sends packages. It's super cute! Once I removed all the tape and our addresses I got to opening the box. Inside was a lot more than I was expecting!

She sent me some more buttons! I am so excited. I don't know if you can see it but there is a key and a heart that I am thinking of making a necklace out of. It will be super cute. I will show you once I'm done.. I just need to go shopping first and get the supplies. Once I opened the box and saw all these buttons I just thought to myself yippee more crafting!! My grandma knows me so well.

The one thing I was most excited for was this fabric heart that my grandma made me! I emailed her a few weeks ago asking if she could make me another fabric heart to be become a part of my gallery wall. I'm so thankful that I have such a loving grandma that is wiling to do anything for me. Love you grandma Jean!! 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little UN-boxing blog post! I sure had fun. Let me know if you'd like to see more of these (I get a lot of fun packages..) down in the comments below! 

2.02.2016

New LDS Temple & A New Puppy!?

This last weekend James and I ventured down to Utah again. I feel like we are hardly ever home anymore.. just kidding! But we had a good excuse. We went to see the new Provo City Center Temple open house! You can go here to view the temple online and learn more about this temple and temples. You can also go here and learn more about my religion and what the Mr. and I believe. 
As you can tell from the picture James grandparents also came down to tour it with us and my parents also tagged along. It was such a gorgeous temple. We also got a special tour of the brides room. Which was AWESOME! I love that in this temple they saved some things from the fire of the tabernacle (which is what it used to be until it was burned due to a fire) and they copied a lot of it. This building has so much history and it's about to get a lot more. It is such a beautiful place. Temples are so important to me. They help me feel at peace and so close to my loving brother Jesus and my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for them. The best part about them is I get to be with James for eternity and along with that my wonderful family! I don't know what I'd do without any of them. I love them all so much!

Also while down in Utah we got to see my parents new puppy Otis!
He is 8 weeks old now and super tiny but absolutely adorable! He is a Shitzue-Yorkie mix so he is going to be a little pup! Otis has so much energy and is super playful but he plays hard and crashes hard ha ha. He is also very cuddly. But you have to watch out because he likes to bite a lot.. especially clothing and noses. He also like to lick your pants for some reason. But he is so cute and even Maggie liked him.. well, once he settled down a little bit.

It was a very quick trip down to Utah this time but I'm glad we got to see our families and spend some time with them. And of course I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to tour the new Temple! If you get the chance to go and see it please do. I promise you wont regret it. And remember everyone is welcome!