Author: bkbailey2016

Good Wednesday evening beautiful people. I hope your day has been full of love and blessings. Mine sure has. Today I was thinking about items that people collect. Do you collect anything? Have you known anyone that collects anything? Maybe its something completely off the wall. Sometimes I wonder when it gets to the point of no longer “collecting” but, “hoarding” lol. Ugh that makes the think of that T.V. show about hoarders. Lord help me when I watch it. It makes me itch all over. I am married to a wonderful, severely OCD man who literally can’t sit and watch it lol. I think that “collecting things” is brilliant. I mean think about it, if you have a little something that you like, everywhere you go you will be looking for that particular item. Trying to find it in various colors or materials is so much fun. It also makes it super easy for others to buy for you. I mean how easy is it to buy an odd coffee cup for someone who loves collecting coffee cups. It’s a no brained. I bet if you think about it you are a collector even if you don’t know it. Ladies, do you have a bunch of shoes? Bam, there you go. You are a shoe collector. Fellas do you have a ton of tools? Boom, you are a tool collector. I mean they aren’t great collector items but you are a collector lol.

When I was a little girl we would visit my aunt and uncle quiet often. They never had any children so the 4 of us were their kids. My uncle had a den in the basement that was always super warm. For some reason I remember visiting in the winter more than any other time. The den had a huge television ( he always watched nascar, golf, or football..he still does), a bar, and cozy seats. He was a collector. And it’s a little strange but he collected hats. He had hats from everywhere handing all over that den. It was so neat. I mean they were baseball type hats but they were from old auto garages and restaurants from everywhere that he visited. I will never forget those hats. Isn’t that neat? A collector of hats.

My momma loves Christmas time. I guess that’s who I get it from. When I was living at home I remember her just piling the icing room full of Santa Clauses. And not the cheapo ugly ones. Nice one’s made of ceramic and glass. My daddy bought them for her all of the time. He was thoughtful. I looked forward to it every year. I still look forward to home at Christmas. She’s moved on from the Santa’s and now has that amazing village that I talked about and showed pictures of a few blogs back. She was a collector of Santa’s and now a village collector. And I must say she’s pretty great at it. I bought her a village piece for Christmas this year. See it makes it easy.

I know y’all are wondering if I’m gonna tell you about my collecting because you know I do. Well yea! Of course I am going to talk about it. I’m a big collector. Of three things in particular. Yes, I might slightly be on the side of hoarding lol. But, not in a messy r nasty way. Remember I’m married to the OCD guy. One, those Santa’s that were ought for my momma have now made their way to me. I add one every year. I LOVE them. They bring back tons of memories for me and I just love that little long haired beards man. Two, I collect salt and pepper shakers. Old ones in particular. I love going to antique store and flea markets and looking for them. My son and I had a date day right before all the Covid mess and went to antique stores in two cities near us. I get them for gifts for my birthday and Christmas and I love it. See I’m easy to buy for. And finally number , number three. I collect old Pyrex. I love the odd colored or patterned ones. My son works at an auction house so it makes it easy to buy. I find them at antiques stores as well. People have no trouble buying for me. Pick one of the three and I will love it and you forever.

I want to encourage you to become a collector. If you aren’t already find something that you really like. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive. It can be as small as a thimble. Let the joy of looking for these item be yours and let other know so they can enjoy shopping for something that you really like. I also want to encourage you to ask other people what they collect. It may surprise you what others collect. It will help you learn a little something about them. Besides that its so fun! Or course I attached a few photos of my favorites out of my collection. EEEEKKKK it’s so fun. I hope this little post jogs some great memories for you. It sure did me. Please comment and tell us all what you collect. I would just love to know. Have a wonderful night. ❤️Always.

Happy Saturday I hope that you have all had a day full of blessings and family time. I know that I sure have. This evening my husband and I are lounging in the living room watching some football on t.v. I don’t know if you are like me but, I typically scroll social media and look at Pinterest while we are winding down for the evening. I catch a minute or two of whatever is on the television but, evening is usually my time to catch up on what everyone else has posted for the day and to troll Pinterest to get ideas on a gazillion things I would like to do. I need to quit looking at it really. I am not a millionaire. I can not afford to do all this business lol. Tonight I caught myself just putting my phone down and not wanting to pick it back up. Have you noticed the many opinions your friends have on social media? Tonight I got caught up in reading some comments on a friends political post and I truly wish I hadn’t. I scrolled on after getting frustrated and then found myself reading more comments on another friends post about the Covid 19 vaccine. All I could do was just shake my head. Not over the yay’s or nay’s commented about each post but, the negative, judgmental tone to the comments. Wow.

When I was a little girl, and I mean a little 3 years old to be exact, my precious momma had me at our little church on Sunday mornings. Although I can honestly say that I don’t remember a lot about what we did every Sunday I do remember one thing in particular. That memory was the teaching of unconditional love. Tonight as I read the comments of some people that I have known for very many years all I could think of was that teaching. Now this isn’t a religious post. As I have said from the beginning of my blog site, I am a Christian and am not at all ashamed of that but, I also believe in the right to feel or believe whatever is right for you. Lord knows I have had more ups and downs than most can count and my little bumps in the road have been sometimes like mountains. With that being said, I am in no position to judge anyone. Honestly, none of us are. No matter what you feel or believe I hope to always treat you with respect and to love you for you. Let me just say there is not a lot of love or respect for that matter, going on in some of the posts that I am reading.

This past year has been filled with so much frustration and fear and struggle for us all. In my opinion most of us aren’t really even certain what to do right now. Do we take a vaccine or chance it? Do we believe everything that we read or completely ignore it? Do we get frustrated over the current political situation and lash out or stay quiet and be called meek by others. It’s sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t kind of world that we are living in at the moment. (Sorry for the potty language but oh well). I guess what I am trying to say is, at the end of the day, no matter what is happening in this big world, I am still me and you are still you. Nothing is going to change that. I am still a momma, a wife, a sister, a daughter, an employee, and a child of God. And so are you. We all get up every day and we put our pants on the exact same way. We brush our hair the same way. We chew our food the same way. I am no better than you and you are no better than me.

The opposite of judgement is love. Wow! That’s powerful. Think about that. THE OPPOSITE OF JUDGEMENT IS LOVE! Why would anyone chance losing a friendship over judgement. I’m sure you, like me have seen friendships and families fall apart because of people not accepting others for who they are. That is judgement. Good or bad, agree or disagree, that is judgement. Sometimes I have to sit back an take a long look at myself because I have judged. It hurts my heart, but I have. We all have. So as I say to myself “don’t be a drama llama” and try to think before you speak (I am telling myself this too). Are you getting ready to bless the person you are responding to or are you going to hurt them. Sometimes we might need to put ourselves in their shoes for a moment.

My wish for all of you tonight is that you see the best in others. I wish I could cross my arms and blink my eyes like “I dream of Jeannie” and make it all better. But, I can’t. If you are looking at the good it is so much easier to look over the differences. This little precious life that we live is so fast. In a blink it is over. Think about that. I pray that we all spend it in peace and without regret. Appreciate every day. It’s your story, go write it. Love on as many people as you can. We all need it. Especially right now. Blessings and love to you all. ❤️ Always

Of course you know what this post is going to be about. I am absolutely in love with my childhood and nostalgia. This week the weather has just been blah where I live. January and February are just yuck. No pretty colors, nothing blooming, everything is grey, and its just yucky. It leads me to think about anything except that current situation. I am a firm believer to fill your thoughts with positive to keep from being blue. On that note, do you remember something that you just loved as a child? I am talking about a special toy. Maybe an object that you just had to have for Christmas or your birthday. Well obviously I am a girl so of course my favorites were dolls. There were 2 in particular that I just will never forget. I want to tell you I could do nothing more than smile earlier as I was googling for photos to post with this blog. Those little reminders filled my heart with so many memories.

I was born in 1978 so most of my childhood memories come from the 80’s. I was and am still an 80’s baby. It’s still my favorite era and I listen to my 80’s music every day. I may be a little partial but, I believe that this was the greatest time as far as toys for kids. Not a ton of electronics because we weren’t allowed to sit in front of a video game. Our momma and daddy put our rear ends outside to play. My little sister rode her bike from sun up to sun down. That’s why her legs are so beautiful to this day. That’s another story for another day lol. There were no video games in our lives and to be honest we didn’t even have a television in our rooms until high school. Kids now would freak out if they had just a radio, some coloring books, and their sibling in their room. It seemed to make us appreciate non material things. Oh, to go back in time.

Back to my favorite toy from my childhood. Both of these were wished for and given to me as Christmas gifts. I still have one of the two. My number one favorite gift as a child was my Cabbage Patch Doll! Yes, I LOVED him so much. His name was Mitchell. My parents bought one for myself and my sister. I wanted a boy because I always imagined that if I ever had children they would be boys. FYI I had one child and he is definitely a boy lol. My favorite thing about Cabbage Patch Dolls were the adoption papers. For those of you that have never had this wonderful experience, each doll came with its own individual outfit, accessory, and adoption papers which gave them their name. It was so exciting opening the box to see the name that was picked for your new baby. They had a first and middle name. I hate to say it but I can’t remember Mitchell’s middle name. He was a cute little bald feller just like the one in the picture that I included. I’m not certain if you can still buy these little angels at “the walmart” anymore but, my older sister has informed me that they are made in Helen, GA and you can go to the factory and adopt one. They have a nursery and everything. EEEKKK! I may have to con my husband into a little weekend getaway. You know a romantic one with a nice dinner and a visit to adopt a Cabbage Patch baby. Who else had a Cabbage Patch Doll? Didn’t you love it? I still have my little Mitchell and tons of memories that go along with him.

My second favorite gift was from my grandparents. It is again a doll and I may stump some of you on this one. I bet a lot of you won’t remember this at all. I will never ever forget opening up my little red headed Hugga Bunch doll. She was so perfect. There was a Hugga Bunch cartoon that I use to watch at my grandparents house on the weekends when I would spend the night. I loved watching it. My little papaw would snarl his nose when I would turn it on. You see they were a one t.v. home and he loved watching his wrestling. My Hugga Bunch came on during his N.W.A. Wrestling. He couldn’t fathom missing his opportunity to watch Dusty Rhodes spit all over the place lol. That could be another story as well. He may have snarled his nose but he completely remembered to buy me that doll for Christmas. I can’t seem to imagine that little old man walking into the store (probably Hill’s Department Store) and asking for a Hugga Bunch lol. As far as my doll, I do not have her any longer. I sure wish I did. I just loved her.

I hope that this blog post helped you remember a gift or toy that you received in your youth that you just loved and can never seem to forget. It has made me just giddy to think about it. Although these were my two favorites there are so so many more that get high praises. I wish I could talk about them all but I am not trying to write a book lol. I want to encourage you to think about happy thoughts especially in the times we are currently living. We all need joy. We all need to smile and feel happy. Memories are what do that for me. Please feel free to comment and share your memories of your favorite gift/toy. Especially if you are an 80’s baby like me. It may make me think of something that I have forgotten. Stay safe, heathy, and happy my beautiful friends. Have a wonderfully blessed night. ❤️ Always

Is there somewhere that you like to vacation that just feels like a second home? A place where you long to be when the days are busy and stressful? I think we all have that get away that we just love. My husband and I sometimes lay in bed after a busy day and talk about our favorite destination just so that we can wash away the cares and worries in our minds. Isn’t it great that we can take a little time out from all of the stress that day to day life brings to us. No matter if your favorite place to be is at a destination hours away or in a small little reading corner of your home, it’s nice to just be still and dream.

Several years ago I had a coworker whom became a great friend. She was quite a few years older than me but, so full of knowledge and stories. Her name was Bernadette and she was born and raised in France. In her 20’s she met an Army man with whom she fell in love with. Eventually she moved America where she married her man in uniform. Over the 8 years that we worked together she shared many stories of her home country. Her french accent was so strong that many times I would not understand the words that she was trying to say but, I didn’t care. I found myself looking forward to our lunch hour sitting together while I listening so intensely. It was almost like a book on tape. So many times I would close my eyes and just visualize the scenes in France as she explained them. The passion that she had in her voice just exploded with love for her home country. Many times she would refer to it as her favorite place to be. To this day, 12 years later, I miss those talks and I miss my friend.

Isn’t it interesting what people fall in love with at their favorite places? I know that you are wondering about mine. Now, I live in the mountains of Northeast Tennessee. I personally think this is one of the best places in the world to live. We are a stones throw from so many beautiful places. We have so many areas to hike, bike, explore, and be at peace. Although I love my mountains, my favorite place to be is Hilton Head, South Carolina. Yes from the mountains to the ocean. For me it’s a little slice of heaven. Here’s the kicker, as much as I love the ocean, I literally don’t get in above my calf. I can’t swim. In fact I am scared to death of water. To me there is nothing like just sitting in the sun, feeling the ocean wind, and taking a walk on the edge of the water with no more than my feet and ankles submerged.

If you’ve ever visited Hilton Head you know that it is not near as crowded as some other beaches. That’s a plus for me because I’m just not in to crowds. It is an island which makes it very easy to travel from place to place on a bicycle. There are bike paths literally everywhere. All restaurants and shops have bike racks out front. I also love that you can ride on the beach. Hilton Head has such a calm, laid back, private feel that I truly don’t want to leave. The “special” of Hilton Head to me is deep rooted as it is where my husband proposed to me. It was completely romantic but, that’s a story for another time.

Now that you know my favorite place to visit/be, what is yours? Where is the one place that you go to in your mind that takes away all of the cares of the day. Where do you go that you begin the “countdown” months earlier? Where is your favorite place to make memories? I encourage you to think about it. Talk to your significant other about your memories in your special place. It’s a great way to start a conversation and to move away from negative. Please feel free to comment your favorite place to be. I love hearing stories about your adventures. Happy thoughts and a blessed evening to you. ❤️Always

Good evening everyone. I hope you are all having a wonderful start to your week. Is there anyone out there who lives a low carb lifestyle? I do and have for a very long time. I find that by eating meats, vegetables and berries makes my body feel so much better. By limiting my intake of starches and sugar I seem to have less brain fog, less muscle pain, a lot less stomach ache, and more energy. Now, I do not deprive myself. If I want a cookie I eat it. But, I try to do it right after a work out and only once a week or so. So, please don’t think I am 100 % good all of the time because I am not. The one thing that I hear from a lot of my low carb friends is that they truly miss bread. Me too. To be there is nothing better than a sandwich or a piece of toast with butter. For a very long time I thought there was nothing I could do except just realize that my bread eating days were over. Then I found a little miracle. A golden nugget if you will. Time for a product review.

About a year ago I googled and searched low carb bread for what seemed to be a month. One evening a came upon a website called ThinSlim Foods. I carefully read the ingredients because I am allergic to nuts and a lot of low carb breads are made with almond flower. This bread was not. On a whim I ordered one loaf. Mainly because I truly thought it would taste like styrofoam and also because it was $6.99 a loaf. To my surprise it is very good. So good in fact that I ordered more. Now, I am not sure if this bead takes you out of ketosis for those of you that measure that. But, I will say that I weigh myself every day and I do not gain weight over night after eating these products.

Since buying my first loaf of bread I have also purchased ThinSlim pasta, bagels, pizza crust, and waffles. I love them all. I wanted to try the muffins and cookies however; they are made with nut products. I was ecstatic to find that my local Food City store is now carrying the bread and bagels. This saves me shipping and I don’t have to wait for the mail. The ONLY negative that I have found to these products is the price. I hate paying so much but, I am the only person in my household that eats it and the price keeps me from eating too much. I treat myself a few times a week to either a sandwich, an bagel, or a little pasta. The best part about these products are it’s taste and variety. To me it is so good.

If you are watching your carbs and need a little extra fiber hop on over to ThinSlim foods website and check them out. I hope that you will like it as much as I do.

Do you know of any other low or zero carb bread products. If so comment and share. We are all in this together and we are here to help each other. Here’s wishing you a very blessed night and happy healthy eating. ❤️Always

Did we all make our new year resolutions? If you are like me you write a ton of things down that you want to accomplish for the year and by December you realize you may have completed about half of them. Why do we do that? I don’t know about you but, as a woman some of my resolutions are always weight loss, to exercise a zillion times per week, and to not eat an unhealthy meal for the entire year. This is why I can’t accomplish these resolutions. Every year I make them entirely too hard to achieve. I put tough conditions on myself that I know from the start are not reachable. I start out with great intentions and then fail miserably. I think to an extent we all do this. I am sure there are some folks out there that complete all of the crazy, far fetched resolutions that they write down but let me tell ya, it ain’t this gal.

As I began to look at what I would like to do for 2021 I came to the realization that, unless I set attainable goals, there is no doubt I will be disappointed in myself throughout the year. So, I am looking at things a little differently this year. I still have the same ole similar goals as all off the years before I just tweaked them so that just maybe I can reach them this year. Do you ever remember setting a goal and the feeling that you get when you reach it? The satisfaction of looking in the mirror and saying “you know what, I just did that”. For me it is the best feeling in the world. I don’t know about a lot of you but, I am a list gal. I like checking things off. I like making charts and crossing things off as I get closer to my end result. For me that is satisfaction. Progress. I need to see the progress. Try to make a list or chart of your resolutions and watch yourself get closer and closer to reaching your goal. In the same sense it will give you accountability when you fall behind. The two things that I can promise you are 1) you can do or achieve any ole thing that you set your mind to and 2) your little body can handle so much more than you think it can.

Here’s my tweaking in action. Every year I set a goal to lose a mound of weight. I am not considered overweight according to the chats but I can tell you that we each have a weight in which we “feel good”. So this year, instead of putting myself through so much stress about the number on the scale, I am tweaking my goal. This year I would like to reach my “healthy” weight. Now notice I said “healthy” and not “feel good”. My heathy weight is about 12 pound more than my feel good weight. I have about 17 pounds to be at what I consider my healthy weight. Y’all that is so attainable. No, it wont be easy but, nothing of any worth is ever easy. Think about this. What if you change your weight goal to something actually attainable? I bet you make your goal. Here’s the fun part for me. I make a chart. Put your start weight at the top of a piece of paper and your desired weight at the bottom. I fill in the numbers in between and put a box around each one. Every pound that I lose gets marked off with a big “X”. I also put the date that I achieve that number. If you have a lot to lose give yourself a little treat every 5 pounds or so. And by treat I mean a new pair of socks, a cookie, a new bubble bath soap, a trip to the nails salon, NOT and entire day of eating which will make you gain the entire 5 pounds you lost.

Tweak number 2: Accountability. Every year I have vowed to write a page and keep a health journal. Have you ever tried to write every single day in a notebook? I mean every bite that you eat and exercise that you do? If you can do that then BRAVO! I can not. I try. Really I do. But, life happens, I get busy, I get sleepy, and the notebook stays empty. This year I have set up two ladies as an accountability group. These two ladies are ones that want to attain similar goals as me as far as making healthier choices and having movement. They are ladies that I know for certain will jerk me right back in line if I they need to. They are ladies that would drive to my house and literally scrape the cookie off of my tongue if I’m not suppose to be eating it lol. How do I know? Because they are my sister’s. And we have vowed to be tough and encourage one another. Get you an accountability tribe like this! Now you may ask how we are tracking it. By text. We are texting a picture of what we are putting into our bodies every day. I mean snacks too. In the hopes that if one of us makes a big fail and starts to eat an entire king sized candy bar, the other two can send help lol. Get you some good accountability partners.

Tweak 3, and the last one I will share with you this evening. I have a BIG goal for the end of September. I would love to complete a 42 mile ultramarathon. Why 42? Because I am 42 years old. I know y’all are saying “she’s really lost it now” but, I have ran several ultra’s in the past and was able to achieve 33 miles. In order to do this I will have to up my running training. In years before I have told myself “run 5 days a week and big miles”. You know what I’m gonna say. I didn’t hit my goal. This year I know that I can physically run 3 days per week. I know that this is attainable. So I am setting the bar at that. I have a running partner, my little sister, who will make sure I don’t get lazy. In return I will run her little short legs off lol. My tweak is requiring myself less days to run and also not making myself feel horrible if my ultra takes more hours than I would like. Y’all I am perfectly fine with being slow (I am not competitive) and I am also fine with walking when I need to. If there is a hill, and there are in this particular race, then I’m a walkin it lol.

Well these are some physical resolutions that I have for myself this year. I hope that you have set a few that will help you become a healthier version of you. Even little tiny changes can make a huge difference. Find someone to be accountable with. Love every step of the way. You need to enjoy the journey. Chart the tiny improvements along the way and most important be good to yourself. I along with so many others am so proud of you. No matter how tiny the step is you are lapping everyone else that chose to do nothing. Don’t forget to share your stories about what your goals/resolutions are. All we can do is encourage one another. Now get out there and achieve your goals. ❤️ Always

Well Happy Happy New Year! I don’t know about you all but I am thankful that 2020 is over. Actually, I say that but, it wasn’t so awful. If we are reading this, we all survived, we all had our hearts opened, we all hopefully learned something about ourselves, and we are all a little stronger for it. The year of a pandemic. We lived through a year with a pandemic. Did you ever feel like you could say that you lived through that? I certainly didn’t. Last night we officially opened our doors at midnight to let this crazy year out and welcome what we hope to be a banner year in.

Today, January 1, 2021, begins a brand new page of a beautiful new year. How will you write your 365 chapter book? Seriously, think about that. If you could write a chapter each day this upcoming year what would your book look like at the end of the year? More importantly how would you like for others to read it? Do you want to give your readers a motivational uplifting story, maybe an adventure book, maybe a walk of faith, or for some folks who are always negative, I am sure it will be a horror story. No matter how you plan for your year, let your actions (or your words) be seen by others as a tribute to you.

I pray that this year be a year of renewal for each of us. I hope that we look back on 2020 and realize what lessons we have learned. Now, I know there are some of you out there who believe that all of this was political, that do not believe in Covid, that believe that all of this was planned and caused. I have friends who refuse to wear their masks and refuse to think that this virus is more than the flu being blown out of the water. You know something, that’s okay. We are so blessed to live in a land of freedom where everyone has a choice to believe and feel exactly how they want. I am and have always been an “okay with whatever you believe” kind of gal and no matter what you prefer I love you anyway. I myself have learned to adapt to so much this year.

Never before did I think I would learn to wear a mask, to become a homebody, and to be okay with just being at home. I sure did. And honestly it wasn’t too bad. Here’s how I truly feel, and yes I’m about to talk about religion. I think God never gives us any more than we can handle. I feel like this last year was used to teach us so many lessons. For me it taught me to be still and to look at what is important in my life. It taught me how important my family truly is to me. Seriously, some people, and a lot that I know very well, lost loved ones to this horrid virus. My family is here. They are well. And I am blessed. More than anything I think 2020 taught me how important it is to be good to one another. It costs absolutely nothing to be kind. If anything I think my Lord tried to teach me to love. Well people, that’s what I’m gonna do.

I’m sure we’ve all set our New Years resolutions. That will be for another blog cause boy I got some good ones and I sure what to hear about yours. In the mean time let’s say thank you to 2020 for all that it taught us. Vow to be a better person this year than you were last year. Vow to just love on people and hold your family and babies tight. Today is chapter one of your beautiful 365 chapter book. Write it. Make it completely YOU. This year don’t waste one day. Take your journey and write about it along the way. Have a wonderfully blessed new year and welcome to 2021, our best year yet. P.S. No matter what your goals this year, I am so proud of you. ❤️Always

I can’t tell you how many people have asked me over the years what skin products that I use. Honestly, I have been very blessed to have pretty good skin. I truly have never dealt with some of the issues others have. Even as a teenager with raging hormones, my skin stayed pretty clear. No acne and no grease. As I have gotten older the only issue that I’ve had is that my skin tends to be dryer. I always say it’s hereditary. My grandmother, her name was Martha (and yes we called her mamaw, I’m from the south), had beautiful skin. Even before she passed away she was wrinkle free. So, I’m thankful for good genes.

I was born with a momma who was a hairdresser. Some of y’all will call that a cosmetologist. Here in Tennessee she was a plain ole hairdresser. We were introduced to makeup when we were pretty young. She believed in soap and washing your face every night before going to bed. I still do it. I try not to miss a night and if I do I feel like my face is itchy. When my sisters and I started our make up journey we were given the option to use only “good” foundation. I actually use Merrell Norman. I’ve used it for 20 years and I just haven’t changed. Although I think the type of makeup that you use is important, I think what you do to your skin matters most.

My regiment is pretty simple. Again I wash my face every night. It may surprise you but I use white dove soap. I scrub my face with soap, water, and a wash cloth. That’s it. I use the same soapy cloth to remove my eye makeup. Let me tell ya I wear a lot. Here is the important part. Here is the product review. I use Aloette hand and body silk on my face. I absolutely love it! I love the way that it smells and the way that it makes my skin feel. I honestly believe in this lotion. I usually get a bottle from my momma as a gift around Christmas time. You don’t have to wait to get it as a gift, you can just visit the website aloette.com and purchase it. It only takes a little pea sized drop to hydrate your face. I have to admit, I use it on my legs after I shave as well. I never get razor burn and I think the lotion is why.

In my option I believe you can wear any brand or type of makeup that you want as long as you wash your face and use a good lotion. I hope that this helps you in some way. Try to find someone in your area that sells Aloette. Always try to help independent consultants. They wouldn’t be selling the products unless they believed in them. When you find one ask for a sample. I feel certain they would be happy to give you one. Aloette has tons of other products, I just use the hand and body silk daily and I can confirm that it works extremely well for me. I hope you can give it a try. Have a wonderfully blessed evening and happy dreams. ❤️ Always

Good evening lovelies. I hope each of you has had a beautifully wonderful week this far and had a blessed Christmas. Who is exhausted from the holiday? If I could raise my hand really high via text and say me, me, me I would. I can’t so just picture me doing that lol. Maybe it’s just that I am getting older or because this year has been crazy wacko but, this past week I’ve literally wanted to plop on the couch and watch television as soon as I walk in from work. My husband, you know the friendly delivery driver, said to me last night that this was the hardest, most exhausting year that he has had delivering through the holiday season. I believe maybe we all feel a little physically and mentally exhausted.

For me this year has been filled with so much more worry than others. Between my son graduating from high school and becoming a man (um he will alway be my baby), this stinking pandemic, and a busy holiday season I am completely exhausted. Mentally and physically. Do you realize the side effect of not resting or sleeping well? Well here’s just a few. Brain fog with short term memory loss, an immune system in the tank, weight gain, higher risk of heart disease, depression, and this one isn’t proven but, I turn in to the wicked witch of the south. Seriously!!!!! And those are just a few upsets to your temple that can happen. Well that’s enough for me. How about you?

As you all can tell by this time after reading my blogs you know that I am a Christian. I try to have faith , but for the last 6 months, I don’t feel like I have put my trust in the Lord. My favorite verse in the Bible is Psalm 46:10 “Be Still, And Know That I Am God”. It just speaks to me in volume. So much that I literally have it tattooed on my wrist. It’s just my daily reminder that I need to “Be Still”. Think about that. It means rest, have faith, don’t worry, trust, wait before you speak, and I could go on and on.

With that being said…….JUST REST! If you come home from work and you are exhausted it’s okay to change in to your cozies and just rest. It’s okay to go to bed a little earlier than normal. It’s okay (as I said in a past blog) to say no to others. It’s NOT okay to completely exhaust yourself to the point of being sick. Tiredness is a way for your body to let you know that you are just doing too much. Sleep and rest are healing. I know what you are saying. “There’s just too much to do to rest”. Well honey, if you’re sick or gone it will never get done. Not by you anyway. And probably not the way you would do it. So just rest.

I absolutely love the photo posted below. Mainly because guilt is the devil. I find myself feeling guilty when I “just rest”. I know that you do too. Please just learn to be still and rest when you need it. Do not let your mind convince you that rest isn’t important or give you a guilt trip about taking a break. You are better than that. You have an obligation to so many people but, you can’t be anything for anyone if you are exhausted. Give yourself a little pep talk. Allow yourself to just rest. Now that your finished reading, change into your cozies and pile up somewhere and rest. Have a gloriously beautiful night. ❤️Always

I’m sure over the last few days that we have all crammed our bodies with plenty of foods that were less than healthy for us. I know I can answer yes to that. I allow myself to eat the bad things on certain days of the year. For me after a couple of days of completely gorging myself and I literally have to stop and try to detox. It’s crazy what effects the bad foods have on me. I get so much inflammation and let’s not talk about my tummy, which I refer to most of the time as the devil. We will talk about my detox for anyone who is interested at a later time. Today I want to talk about the best boosts that I can do for my body. I want to talk about vitamins. Yes, you need to take them even if its a good ole Flintstone vitamin. P.S. I love Flintstone vitamins. I think they taste good however; I no longer take the children’s chewable. Ive grown to find some more that are much better for me. I want to share with you four of my go to’s.

For those of you who know me know that I do not like medications. I try to treat myself with vitamins and herbs as much as possible. Yes, I’m that weird person. I take a daily vitamin every morning. I am not sure at this point that I could do without it. My choice for my daily is Axion which is made by Xyngular company. I absolutely love it. I can take one or two a day. Now, its a little pricey. It’s about $45 for a month but, I have tried so many vitamins that have done nothing. After being on these vitamins for 3 days I felt so much more energy and it may sound crazy but, my hair seemed to be healthier and my nails grew so well. The help with brain fog and focus sealed the deal for me. Look them up online and give a few of their products a try. I also use their lean protein and trimstix’s.

Each day I also take a Vitamin C supplement. We all know that vitamin C is good for our bodies. Of course oranges are the best natural source of the good vitamin however; as i said earlier, my stomach is not a nice organ. If I drink orange juice or eat oranges I am miserable for about 6 house. The combination of sugar and acid is not a good thing for me. Instead I get my daily dose of vitamin C in pill form. I use Nature Made supplements for this one. I like the fact that I can get them at any Walmart store or pharmacy and the price is very affordable. It is proven that taking vitamin C can help prevent cold and even shorten its span. So go out an grab you a bottle of this great little gem.

Another great vitamin that I take to help my system is Vitamin D. A great source of Vitamin D are eggs, mushrooms, and fish. I can eat eggs and mushrooms all day long but, fish is another story. Fish is your best source of Vitamin D and I am allergic to all fish. Another great source of Vitamin D is pure, lovely, sunshine. I love it and I get out in the sun as much as I possibly can. Well we aren’t getting much right now in the gloomy winter months. For this I make the Nature Made Vitamin D3 supplement. So how do you know if you need some Vitamin D? Are you constantly sick? Are you always exhausted? Are your muscles and back always hurting? Is your hair falling out? Are you felling down and depressed? All of these are signs of a Vitamin D deficiency. Grab a bottle. It will make you feel better. I take this every morning with my regular vitamin.

Finally, the last supplement that I take is Magnesium. Some great sources of magnesium are leafy greens, nuts, avocados, and pumpkin seeds. I can do all of this except for the nuts. Again, another allergy. Some of the signs of a magnesium deficiency are headaches, poor sleep, muscle cramps, and heart palpitations. I literally was having all of these. Magnesium is proven to help with muscle and nerve function as well as keeping your heart healthy. I can attest to the fact that after taking my magnesium supplement for 4 days my heart flutters almost completely went away. I do not miss taking this supplement on a daily basis. I typically take it with my lunch however; it can be taken at any time with or without food. For these little blessings I use Nature Made as well.

Folks I know that some of you will think that I am crazy and that’s totally okay. Each person should do what is best for them. Are there any supplements, vitamins, herbs, or oils that you use and truly believe in? If so comment below so that we can all reap the benefit. I have attached photos of the exact supplements that I use. I hope that these little tidbits will help in some way. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Have a wonderful night. I hope that it is full of blessings, peace, and love. ❤️Always.