My New Side Gig - Beautycounter

Like I said yesterday, I'm going to try to write here more often. This blog had been semi-replaced by Facebook and other social media, but I kind of miss coming here to chat. I was shocked when I realized it had been 7 YEARS!

In my little catch up post yesterday I mention that I switched from working full time to part time in 2017. The company I am working for is great and I love having more time with the kids. During the shake up from full time to part time, I also decided to start working with a company whose vision I truly embraced - Beautycounter.

What is that vision? safer skin care (not organic, not all natural, but safe). 

Why is that important to me? Well, without going into gory details I learned a couple of things the hard way about 6 or 7 years ago:

1) We can be sensitive to things without being allergic

2) Stuff builds up in our bodies

3) Our skin is our biggest organ and when our bodies are angry with us (see numbers 1 and 2) our skin is a likely place for us to see that reaction

It took nearly 9 months for me to go from super sick to medication free, and it took embracing things outside Western medicine to do it. So, when I was introduced to Beautycounter's mission to change skin care and their 1500 item "Never List" of chemicals known to cause harm I was intrigued. 

I was first introduced to Beautycounter in May 2017 and that was only because a friend became a consultant and had a party. I only went to the party because with working full time I wasn't seeing my friends as much and I missed the connection. I had no idea that I would fall in love with the products! Since May, I have gradually been changing my skin and hair routines to 100% Beautycounter and am seeing awesome results. 

My super curly, somewhat hard to control hair LOVES the Smooth and Control line. I actually use LESS styling product and my hair looks and feels less "stiff" - something I had just lived with because it was what was needed to control the curls and letting my hair dry on it's own (heat is not my hair's friend!)

My skin care routine is now 100% Beautycounter - and I'm going to get personal for a minute - blackheads. Those annoying pores on my nose and chin that always looked huge and like they were a pimple waiting to happen.... yeah, those are gone. I'm not even sure when it happened. I was using the magnifying mirror the other day and it just occurred to me how much better my nose looked :) I use a combination of our Nourishing collection and Balancing oil every day, our Cleansing balm at night, and Charcoal mask at least once a week. 

One thing I also love, Beautycounter stands behind their products - there is a 60 day money back guarantee. If something doesn't work for you, they buy it back no questions asked. If Beautycounter is something you want to try, you can do so (with me) HERE! 

Until Sunday - If you purchase a Flawless in Five set (you get to pick the colors) - you get a FREE foundation brush! This is such an amazing deal - even better, once you pick your foundation shade for the set, the website actually helps take some of the guess work out of what colors to choose next! There is also an awesome tutorial on the Beautycounter site about how to use the Flawless in Five sets. 

If you decided to try Beautycounter as a Band Of Beauty member ($29 for a year)

You get a free gift, free shipping of orders of $100 or more, and every order earns you 15% credit toward future orders. This months free gift for joing the Band of Beauty is the Nourishing Cream Cleanser, a $26 value - so it's like paying $3 to join! 

Thanks for hanging out with me today and letting me tell you all about my new side gig! I'd love it if you would come check everything out! 

7 years

Oh wow - I can't believe it's been so long since I posted here!
Needless to say life has been a bit busy! A quick recap since my last post:

2012 - I finally beat the hives with the help of acupuncture and diet changes

2013:
We sold a house - lived in an apartment for a few months - bought a new house
We became a family of 5 with the addition of Ethan
Emma started Kindergarten
Tyler started speech classes at the School District Preschool

2016:
Dave changed careers and became an financial advisor with Edward Jones
I went back to work full time as a Cost Accountant at Wilton
Tyler started Kindergarten
Ethan began attending day school

2017:
Our big family vacation was a week at Disney World in March
Dave's business continues to grow, he's almost a Level 1 advisor
I left Wilton to work part time for a really cool IT start up
Emma is in 4th grade, Girl Scouts, and plays the Clarinet in the school band
Tyler is in 1st grade and Tiger Scouts
Ethan attends day school and is getting ready to start Kindergarten in the fall.

I'm going to try to be back here on a more regular basis! Thanks for reading!

Halloween Fun

Since I wrote last, Emma had her first school party. I was one of the Mom's helping and while the hour went by very quickly, it was also one of the most exhausting hours of my life! I really don't know how preschool and kindergarten teachers do it!
We took advantage of the great weather the weekend before Halloween and went to Boo at the Zoo with Dave's sister and her family. The kids had a blast! They got dressed up as Princess Aurora and a Moo Cow for Halloween and we went Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. Tyler didn't care for the hood on his costume, but he looked adorable in his costume. Emma really got into the spirit of trick or treating this year and we have had to spread her haul out over several days.

I finally made it to the allergist on Friday. Nothing showed up on the test to indicate what might be causing the hives I have been dealing with since mid September. Blood work was done, so we are waiting on the results of that. I'm not really sure what the next step is for the hives... We'll see what the allergist has to say after the blood work comes in.

Dave celebrated his birthday over the weekend. The kids and I took him out to Giordano's on Thursday night and then we celebrated with his family on Saturday.

That's really all our news for the moment!

The latest

We've continued to be busy bees the last couple of weeks and have been having lots of fun. We started the month celebrating Carol's (Dave's Mom) 65th birthday with a great dinner and wonderful homemade cake made by Julie (Dave's sister).
Dave and I took the kids to Konow's Pumpkin Patch on a day that was nearly 80 degrees outside! We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and the kids had a lot of fun. We all got to ride the "cow train" and Emma had a blast swimming in the corn and feeding the animals at the petting zoo. We were a little disappointed that the pony rides weren't there, but were very excited to come home with pumpkins and mums to cheer up the front stoop for fall.

Both kids had there flu shots this past week. Emma was a little bit of a drama queen, but got over it quickly. Tyler cried, but not for long. I took advantage of being at the doctor's office and weighed Tyler... he came in at a hefty 24 lbs 10 oz. The kid gained a full 2 pounds in a month! My little guy is definitely growing up. He's mastered the standing up and getting back down process and is working on taking a few steps while holding on to things. He's on the verge of being a cruiser. He's also trying to wave. Emma continues to like school and her dance class. This coming Sunday, we have an ice cream social at her school. I'm looking forward to seeing here room and seeing what all she is learning.

Dave is continuing to be super busy at work. I think he works too hard! I am continuing to battle the hives. The doctor puts me on medication and things are fine until I finish the medication... Then the hives come back. The good news is that this time, the dosage is much lower and the medicine is still keeping things under control. I have an appointment with an allergist in 2 weeks and am hoping he can help me pinpoint what is causing the hives so that we can get them under control for good.

I think that's all of our news for now... We have more fun coming up including Boo at the Zoo, Emma's first school party, and of course... Halloween!

Doctors and More Doctors

Going to the doctor/pharmacy seems to be a headline around here lately. But, we'll start with the good news!

Tyler had a check up at the pediatrician recently and got a big thumbs up. He weighed in a 22 1/2 lbs and was 30 1/2 inches tall (at 8 1/2 months), Emma's exact measurements at 1 YEAR! He has also really figured out how to pull himself up on things, so nothing is out of his reach! He's still working on how to sit back down, but he's figuring it out fast!
Emma is getting into the rhythm of preschool and really likes it. She LOVES her dance class! I'm getting the hang of the new schedule too and seem to be surviving.

I've had a rough couple of weeks. I've been fighting the hives since mid September and have now been to 2 doctors looking for help. Every time we think it's under control, they flare up again. After calling the doctor today, we are hopeful...

That's about all the news from our house... time to go read stories!

August and new milestones

Evidently, two kids is just too much for me to keep up with the blog! The highlight of our August was a trip to Wisconsin Dells. We stayed at Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness Territory and really enjoyed it. We had a 2 bedroom condo and that is the way to go with 2 little ones! It was a very relaxing trip... Tyler loves the water and fell asleep twice in the lazy river. Emma still seems to prefer sandy beaches to pools, but by the end of our trip she was more comfortable and "swimming" with her noodle.
In other news...
Tyler has joined the crawling crowd. If I thought he was into everything before, he has proven just how wrong I was! He loves exploring and is already starting to try and pull himself up on things. The pulling up/crawling combo has resulted in a few bumps and bruises... hopefully the pediatrician will understand when we see her next week! He is also up to 4 teeth and really babbles. This morning I could have sworn he said "Da da" just as Dave walked through the kitchen.
Emma had her first day of preschool yesterday and seemed to like it. She was disappointed that she had to use her red tote bag provided by the school instead of her polka dot back pack, but I think she's okay with the idea now. What has Emma REALLY excited is the fact that she will start dance classes on Friday. She will be taking Pre-Ballet through our park district. We found her a leotard/skirt combo and preschooler dance shoes at Target last week... she would wear them every day if she could.
We are looking at a busy fall schedule... Dave continues to work too hard. I am still taking my yoga classes, but I have cut down to once a week now that my intro deals and coupons have expired. My DAR and church committee work will be resuming now that school in back in session. We have fun adventures at the zoo and pumpkin patch planned for the next few months as well as lots of birthday fun... hopefully I'll be back with an update soon.

July Part 2

Okay, it's official, I'm a bad blogger!
The last month has been pretty quiet. Our biggest adventure was a weekend trip to Michigan in late July. Dave took a Friday off and we headed up to Warren Dunes State Park. Unfortunately, we were just ahead of a bad storm that was moving from the great state of Illinois. We arrived at the beach about 2 minutes before an announcement was made to leave the water and beach due to the approaching thunderstorm. It was a bummer to not make it to the beach, but it was really neat to watch the storm come in. We ended up going to our hotel in Benton Harbor and playing in the pool - Tyler LOVED the pool, but Emma wasn't so sure. The weather improved, so we went and explored St. Joseph. We did make it to the beach on Saturday, but we decided to stay near St. Joseph and enjoy Silver Beach because the weather still looked iffy. Emma had a blast and even loved the cold water!
Since we got back from the beach, nothing too exciting has happened. We've gotten to see Dave's family a couple of times and Emma has loved getting to catch up with everyone, especially Jack and Kyle, because everyone else was on vacation during July.
Tyler is now a mobile menace! He rolls everywhere! He has figured out that he can get onto his hands and knees, but not how to make them work together to move. But, he doesn't seem to need to crawl to get anywhere... he's already into everything!