Jimi Hendrix

48 years ago, (on September 18, I'm a few days late), we lost a rock in roll legend. My late Uncle introduced me to Hendrix at the young age of 11. His music was different to me when I was young, but I loved he way he played guitar. I learned later in life, he played with his teeth, and he was also left handed. He claims to be self taught. I'm mean I wouldn't doubt it, he's awesome! His music is incredible. I can never get tired of listening to him. In my opinion, he is the greatest guitarist of all time. I grew up listening to him, I was raised by hippies. HAHA. Now I like to clean the house while listening to him. There could never be another as great as him!

How I quit smoking....

I am a former smoker, thanks to Nicotine Gum. It may be expensive, but in the long run, I am saving, due to the health issues smoking causes, as everyone knows.

How did I start? I was at my neighbors house having a drink. She is a smoker, and I started socially smoking. Not good I have asthma. 

I woke up the next day, after drinking and smoking with my neighbor, and I was craving a cigarette. So, off I went to my neighbors house I went for a cigarette. Almost all my co-workers smoke, so it's a social thing as well as addicting.  I kept smoking for 3 months. 

My husband was mad, I would wease at night, my asthma was bothering me. Then I had pneumonia. I was so sick. This definitely taught me a lesson. I went to the store and bought Nicotine gum. It is pricey, but it definitely replaced the nicotine cravings! 

I would smoke one in a while, I think it's a social thing.

I had the Jakle and Hyde thing you go through. Oh I can't have another cigarette, I need to quit, but I'm craving one so bad! Just drove me insane. Thank goodness for this gum. 

I have been chewing nicotine gum for 4 years! I spend about $30.00 a week on the gum, but it works and I have not smoked in three years. I don't care how much I spend, I don't want to be a smoker, I want to be able to breathe.

Now I need to wean myself off the gum, but I love this gum. It's a stress reliever. I have done research, I don't know the health effects, but my doctor told me it's not good for your cardiovascular system.  

It burns your throat at first, but give it a try! For your health.

My journey though debt consolidation. National Debt Relief review.

My husband and I are not good with money. My parents really are but I didn't follow in their footsteps. My husband is the type to want to spend all the money faster than making it. My husband is great though, don't get me wrong, we all have our downfalls.
For the past ten years we have been using credit cards and paying them off. Now that I am approaching my 40s and he is approaching his 50s, we finally learned our lesson the hard way. Right now we are going through rough times but it is well worth it. We are tired, we are working overtime, we miss our kids but we are going to be able to give them a better life and put them through college.
When I went back to work after being a stay at home Mom, and looking back I never needed to go back, but I wasn't used to having all money to spend. I got a lot of credit cards because I could afford the minimum payment. Huge mistake, one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. Do not ever do this. I went to town. I like going wherever I wanted buying whatever I wanted but didn't need and spoiling the kids. Now I need to teach my spoiled second born needs before wants. Now we all make mistakes and learn from them. I have a difficult job as a caregiver and I have sure learned my lesson.
My husband and I have about 15 credit cards. Absolutely ridiculous. The first way we tried paying it off is he went to a credit Union and transferred the credit cards onto another credit card from the credit Union. Big mistake if you don't have self control and discipline. Then we maxed out the cards we payed off.
Then after that we took out a home equity loan but it didn't count against us as in if we miss one payment we lose the house. Don't ever do this. Then again, history repeats itself, we maxed the cards out that we payed off. Both of us must be hard headed. Finally, when we couldn't make our monthly payments we called National Debt Relief. They were very friendly, supportive and helpful. They found all of our debts for us by looking them up. They consolidate with your creditors and come up with monthly payments that are less than what you were paying beforehand. They settle your credit card balance and you pay less than what you owe! You just pay national debt a monthly payment.  We got sued by a creditor, and I was freaking out! I was freaking out! I was looking for a second job, and side hustles. I thought I was going to lose my house, get garnished and so on. No, no, no, this didn't happen. I was worried for no reason, they went to court for me and made a settlement with my creditor. I didn't lift a finger. National Debt Relief is exactly what they say they are, a HUGE relief. Your credit score will drop drastically but you can always rebuild it. We bought two new cars so that we are set before this and we also refinanced the house beforehand.  I have one more year left. I cannot wait. I will be saving so much money and be able to rebuild my credit. It is a good alternative to bankruptcy. It is the second to the last alternative with bankruptcy being the last alternative. I heard that you have to pay taxes for the credit cards that you pay off but we'll be fine.
This has definitely taught me how to work hard. I've been pretty spoiled my who life.
I recommend having self control when it comes to finances. Please learn from me. Don't get credit cards if you don't have self control. Use credit cards only if you can pay it off right away. For example, you save up for a computer, put it on the credit card and use this saved money to pay the credit card balance off. This will build your credit. I recommend the snowball effect by Dave Ramsey. Start by paying off your smallest debt first and keep going. Also try working overtime or a side hustle or a second job, to pay off debt. Do this while you're still young. Make sure you have a 401k and are saving up for retirement before you are too old to work. I work with some 60 and 70 year old caregivers. Trust me you don't want to be working that hard when you're older.

Animal Checks

How I got pregnant after two years of trying. Trying to conceive tips.

I got married at 21. My husband and I were trying to have a baby. I took us two whole years for me to get pretty with my daughter. So for those of you who are trying to conceive, here is what I did.
I got an ovulation calendar off of the web. I followed what it said. It got with my husband one day before ovulating, according to the calendar. My cycles are pretty regular.
Before we did our deed I put a pillow under my lower back so maybe my cervix was more tilted. I don't know if this helps but it worked.  After we did our deed,  missionary position, I also put my legs up for about 20 minutes against the wall so the little spermies could get to the egg. I was pretty determined after two years of trying, we thought we were infertile. Two kids later and no more, we were wrong.
Lo and behold about 3-4 weeks later, I was exhausted and smells grossed me out. My husband said "I think your pregnant". I took a first response test and I was indeed pregnant. The sixth week I was so nauseated and sick to my stomach, fatigued, quit working and quit school. I had hyperemesis, where you are extremely nauseous and sick to your stomach.
Everything worked out fine and I have two happy, healthy, intelligent, beautiful, not so baby anymore, girls.

That time I found out I had an adopted cousin through 23& me. ( Adoption story that turned out fantastic)

It turned out more than fantastic.
I did a 23 &  me DNA test almost two years ago. It was fun and interesting to find out where my ancestors came from. Then I looked at my DNA matches, (where you view your DNA relatives). I saw my Uncle, then I saw more people I knew. I saw a close match and didn't think anything of it. Then my Mom called me up because I gave her my password to my 23 & me so that she could see my results. She told me one of your Uncle's had a baby and put it in up for adoption. I was excited but I misunderstood her. I was like "a baby"? I wanted to keep the baby, I love babies, she was like no, one of your Uncle's fathered a child that is older than you and is looking for their biological family.
So right away I logged into 23 & me, I was beyond excited, I was estatic, I could not wait to meet my new found cousin already. I wrote him and told him "Hello long lost cousin, please write me with any questions you may have it's so nice to meet you". He also had very vague information about his adopted family that matched up. He posted on his profile that his Grandpa was a principal and yes, my Grandpa was indeed a principal. So, we just talked about everything. My late Uncle who was not his Dad also contacted him and encouraged me to reach out to him. My Uncle has since passed a few months ago in July from a sudden, unexpected heart attack at  the age of 63. I got to finally meet my cousin at our Uncle's funeral.
I knew my other Uncle was his father because my Uncle on 23 & me matched him as an Uncle.
Anyway, my cousin was born to a 17 year, in the Texas cradle society, a home run by nuns, for unwed mother's. She stayed there throughout the pregnancy. This was in the early 70s. She gave him up for adoption, two days later to a wonderful couple from Mexico, who gave him a great life. His adopted  Dadowned a farm in Mexico. They were well off.
Anyway, that left me stuck in the middle. I would talk to my cousin at least once a week. We really clicked. He wanted to meet his Mom so badly. I was determined to find his Mom. I would search through sites like ancestry.com, David Grey's people finder, adoption sites and the search turned out void. I mean I poured my heart and soul into this search  I was spending a lot of time researching trying to find his Mom. It was a sealed private military adoption and she had him at a military hospital. See her Dad was a Captain in the air Force. We wouldn't be able to find his Mom no matter what we did.
After a year of talking to him, I told him to take a ancestry.com test because his biological sister and father took one. I knew his younger sister by 20 years would pull at his hearts strings and reunite everyone. So he did and a month later, his sister contacted him through ancestry.com.  She was so happy! She said she was going to talk to her Dad, my Uncle, his Dad.
So then finally all the puzzle pieces started coming together. He talked to his Dad and he said that he could ask him anything and he will answer. He asked who his Mom was. My Uncle told him. He then found his Mom. He emailed his Mom a long letter, and she replied "whoa", I promise I will email you in the morning, I need to process this.
To make a long story short, he got to go and meet his Mom and his brother. I didn't get to see it but it is such a beautiful thing. His brother cried because he always wanted a brother. His Mom too cried of course. Then he got to meet his Dad and sister. Which is obviously my Uncle and cousin. I was so incredibly happy for everyone!
I remember when my Grandma had Alzheimers she told me that there's "one that I don't know about", referring to babies in the family, then it clicked. I should of listened to her because Alzheimers patients don't always lose long term memory.
I was so glad to help him find his biological family. I wonder what it is like to be adopted and not know where you come from biologically speaking. He had outstanding parents and a good upbringing. He has his master's degree, he felt like he belonged in his adopted family but he still wanted to know where he came from for learning  his identity as a person. He is from Mexico, which is cool to me because I've been fascinated with the Latino culture. I grew up in a Latino predominant area. I can speak Spanish with him. He is so intelligent, he speaks English better than me! It's also fascinating because of the genetics vs environment factor and how much each factor plays into our lives.
I finally got to meet him. It was the most awesome thing in the world to learn that you have a cousin that you have never known about, until you are 35 years old. We had the best uplifting family reunion that words can't describe. He came out for our Uncle's funeral. My heart was just shattered. I was close to our Uncle. He died so unexpectedly of a heart attack. My cousins visiting really uplifted my spirits and brought me out of a depression. We went out to eat and to an outdoor mall, we had BBQs and visited until late hours of the night. We have a big family so it was loads of fun. I talked about what my Uncle was like, whom he'll never get to meet.
We had the most awesome 4 day family reunion. Then he had to go home and we all miss him. We will see each other again soon.
Now totally 100% recommend getting a DNA test through 23 & me, or ancestry, or both. You may have family secrets like me. You never know. I also have third or fourth adopted cousins looking for their families so I don't think it is rare. I know not all adoption stories turn out great, but mine with my cousin did, and I couldn't be happier.

Guess my ethnicity according to 23 & me and Ancestry.com

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases: I jumped the band wagon and took one of those DNA test, not one but two. Let's have fun. Guess my ethnicity. I think it is fun to guess other people's ethnicity.  I'm obviously European but from what part? Guess what kind of breakdown of regions. I'll post my ancestry test in a few days and let you all guess. Growing up I was told German, German, German. My Great Grandma's parents were from Germany and everyone else as far back as I know we're American.  I'll put some pictures of me below so you can guess.

 Ok so this is what some people have guessed. 

• Syria (according to one test maybe .1 %
• Japan ( nope, although 23&me used to say 1% East Asian and Native American)
• South African (no only . 2 Subsaharan African. 
• Scandinavian (yes 1-4 % Swedish)
• Irish (yes! 12% according to ancestry.) 
• Cherokee Indian ( .2 % Native American which is cool but I'd like more)

So what am I? A Brit, British. Not supposed but I didn't expect it because I was told I was German. Here's my test results:

 99.6 European. Big surprise! 98% Northwest European. Which it looks like these regions all share DNA. See below.

I like this part. I'm very cultured. My grandpa told me Native American. Only .2% but from where. It's such a tiny percentage. Some people don't count these percentages, but it's in your DNA. It's so small is it really there. 

.2% Subsaharan African. 

 Region breakdowns. Cool! I'm pretty much from London, the UK and part of Ireland.

Breakdown of where my ancestors are from and time range. Even cooler. 

 This is ancestry.com. more than half of my DNA is from England/Wales. My family is very American and have been here for 200-300 years. My maiden name is Miller.  Then German. My great great grandparents, we're from Germany. Then Ireland. My great great grandpa (Jemison) immigrated from Ireland. Then Sweden. No idea where or from whom I inherited this from. Then Eastern Europe. Maybe Polish because my Aunt's DNA test says Poland. Then France my 3rd great grandparents we're from France and also Italy.

 Communities. I guess this is spot on my parents and ancestors are definitely from the Midwest generations back.

Ancestry says that I am native to England ok I'll take it. Makes sense I'm an englishman. The English immigrated here years ago to escape the English government. Kings and Queens. Do I have royal blood? Maybe one day I'll find out, if I have the money to renew my ancestry membership. 

 Above is my heritage. Says I'm mostly Irish, Scottish, Welsh. It's different.

 There's that Siberian that someone predicted.

 This is my orgins. Mostly west and central Europe.

This is DNA. Northwest European again.

Which DNA test do I recommend? I like both 23& me and ancestry.com, but I think I pick 23&me because it has my haplogroup, more breakdown of regions, health reports, research, and I found my adopted cousin through 23 and me. 

Was I surprised? I recommend DNA tests if you have the money it is fun and educational to me. I thought I was German. I guess I'm English but if you look at the reports all these regions share DNA and I also read that Germany and England share 30% DNA. I don't know if this is true or nor do I have time to research. I think it is cool to have Native American and African. Even if the percentages are minute. I didn't have Native American on my ancestry.com test, but my Uncle did. You can also upload your DNA to other sites like GED.com, and other sites. Just endless discoveries and education. Oh how far along we have advanced scientifically. My husband's Mom is from Germany so he is 70% German and my girls are 50%. America is the melting pot. I have more diversity than my husband because his family immigrated sooner than my family. I think when you're family has been in the United States longer there's a chance for more diversity, but I don't know. Until next time. I'm going to be late for work. 

Remembering 911

Today marks the 18th anniversary of the most horrific act of terrorism that has ever happened in the United States.
Do you remember where you were when you found out about 911?
I was a youngster, only 19 years of age, prime of my life. I woke up in the morning. Of course I slept in, I didn't have any responsibility's in life just yet. Anyway, I work up to beautiful weather, got breakfast, sat down, turned the TV on. I didn't know what I was watching. I thought it was some kind of Armageddon movie review. I had literally no idea. Then it was on the next channel. I called my Mom at work and realized that I had 10 missed calls from her. She was freaking out! She being an overprotective Mom, told me to stay in the house. She explained it to me and I was in so much shock. I then called my boyfriend at the time to check on him and talked to him for hours.
This was so shocking to me. It took me hours to process what had happened. Never in my life have I ever heard anything like this. My Aunt who worked in a skyscraper in San Francisco was traumatized by 911 had to find a new job because of her anxiety.
It effected the whole world. I felt so safe growing up and not imagining that anything like this could ever happen in America.
Many lives lost were lost in this day, and many people lost their loved ones. With a  heavy heart I am honoring and thinking of all the people effected from this tragedy. I have the upmost respect for all the fire fighters and police officers, and am thinking of the ones that lost their lives trying to save others. Today I remember all the victims of 911 and I am saying a prayer for their families.
There is also a petition on change.org to make 911 a National holiday. I mean I think it is a good idea to honor the families. Petition for making 911 a holiday

Alzheimers Awareness month!

September is Alzheimers Awareness month. This is something that mean a lot to me. My great grandma lived until the age of 97. She had Alzheimers, by the time she was 95 she forgot who I was. She inspired me to be a caregiver at the age of 15. My Grandma had encephalitis, which caused her to have Alzheimers early around the age of 72. I was already working in assisted living by the time I was 20 when she needed my care. I was certified to pass meds and do vitals. Thank goodness. I would do my grandma's meds, blood pressure, housekeeping, cook for her and shower her and so on. She had to go to an assisted living, and has gone to be with the Lord. I have been a caregiver for over a decade in assisted livings. I have worked in memory care where they have advanced or end stages of Alzheimers. Alzheimers deteriorates your brain. It is a horrific disease. First stages they get forgetful and lose their short term memory. They have trouble finding things around the house and so on. Then forgetting they left the stove on. Trouble caring for themselves. As the stage progresses, it is like they are going backwards in life but they have aches and pains and health problems. Young people can also get Alzheimers but it is rare. A lot of the people I take care of cannot do anything for themselves. Some still think they are a child asking for their mommy and daddy. They still remember things that have happened in their childhood but they cannot remember two seconds ago. They can ask me the same question all day. It gets redundant but they are suffering from their disease and they need care. It is really sad and depressing to see this day in and day out, but it is a rewarding job and I am happy that I have the opportunity to help them. The disease deteriorates the brain. Eventually their brain doesn't tell them to breath, the heart can't beat, and they cannot swallow. It is fatal.

Let's go Broncos, let's go! Ok, they didn't go anywhere last night. I knew they would lose, but I had a tiny bit of false hope. 😭 They lost 16-24.

How I stay healthy working in assisted living.

I work in assisted living with a lot of people and a lot of germs. I do care, I assist them with basically everything. Sometimes, I am not allowed to call in sick because the residents are dependant on me and I hate working sick and we are short staffed all the time. I also have an elementary age and middle school aged children that bring home sickness. Since the elderly population immune system is weaker, they are more at risk for sickness and disease. There is a lot of viruses, influenza, and pneumonia going around every year. So how do I stay healthy? I don't always stay healthy but I do most of the time. I've read up online on how to stay healthy so I have done my research. You can use these tips for the whole family. Flu season is approaching us. Trust me you don't want influenza. Influenza is more in the lungs and body aches more so than it is having a stomach bug. Stomach flu is gastrointestinitis I. Influenza is awful. First of all you all know this. Wash your hands. Really wash your hands for at least 20 seconds or as long as the happy birthday song. In health care, and in meetings they are always telling us to wash your hands. The first thing you learn in nurses aide training, wash your hands. It is the first skill I preformed for the state board test for CNA. I also carry hand sanitizer for my kids for when they come home from school. They say in microbiology that kills the good bacteria but I'm to OCD and germaphobe to care. Next vitamins. I had a doctor tell me that you just flush out the vitamin's and that vitamins are just a marketing scheme. I don't believe here's why. One day I wasn't feeling good. I had a nasty virus. My manager told me that I had to come in. I didn't get any sleep because I was sick and upset. I had to come in at 6 in the morning. I worked but it was miserable. I could barely do my job. I went home and took 3 tabs of airborne and felt better. I took one airborne everyday and stayed healthy for almost a year. Which was shocking because I got sick a lot beforehand, since I work in healthcare. Airborne has 1,000 mgs of vitamin c. Vitamin c helps the cells that regulate the immune system and it also has e which helps the immune system as well. I also take herbs like garlic, Andrographis and elderberry. If you have influenza, take elderberry syrup and oscillococcinum together. Also, oregano oil. Oregano oil can kill strep bacteria. Also, the same doctor that told me not to take vitamins, told me to take vitamin D3. You can also get out in the sun for some D. Fresh herbs with cooking also helps. Probiotics and prebiotics. Most of our immune system lives inside of our gut. Green tea is full of antioxidants and flushes toxins. Also, drink plenty of water. Also fish oil is awesome for brain health. You can also use a neti pot, because you inhale germs and you can flush these germs out to prevent illness. If you run out of the solution that goes with it you can use salt. Also gargle with salt water. Kills bacteria in the throat. Ok, we all know this healthy diet and exercise. When I was sick in bed researching, I kept coming across this. Try to eat at least 5-10 fruits and veggies a day. Try to cut down on sugar because it represses the immune system. Aim for a goal of exercise 3-5 days a week for 30 minutes. You can walk, swim, run, whatever you like. I like one day of strength training, one cardio day, and one stretching yoga day. So there you have it. This is what I have found from my research and have tried. It's worked for me. Germs are everywhere, especially for me because if I'm not around the elderly, I'm around little kids. I have asthma so I gotta stay healthy. You can use these tips for your children as well. I try to get my kids out in the fresh air for exercise and vitamin D at least 5 times a week. Stay healthy this flu season!

My man's YouTube Minecraft channel.

My husband and his friend are always playing Minecraft. I on the other hand do not understand it. Are they building things? What are creepers? My kids grew out of it and do not play it anymore. This is his channel: Minecraft YouTube channel  hit that like button and subscribe if ya don't mind

Denver traffic got me like....

Whoa.... Since they legalized marijuana in Colorado, we've had a population boost. I can no longer get to point A and B like I used to. The traffic is horrific. I'm not used to this since I grew up here. Lol 😂 The lines in the grocery store, doctor's office and everywhere in general are loooong. There is some good and some bad that has come out of this. My kids school is well funded by the pot money. They have more support and programs for learning and a new playground. Denver is growing and developing. The children's museum is awesome. We cannot afford to enjoy any of these amenities. Groceries are way too expensive. Thank God we own our own house, because rent has skyrocketed. My friends pay almost triple for an apartment compared to what I pay for my 3 bedroom two bathroom townhouse. Homelessness is rampant. It's not the same but I still love it, believe it or not. Hiking is still free. But oh the traffic. I takes me 25 minutes to get to work, vs 15 minutes 5 years ago. People cannot drive, stay in their lane. It drives me nuts. I wonder if they are high or drunk some of the time. I'm worried about my daughter who will be learning to drive soon.

Halloween already?

Time flies! I cannot believe it is this close to the holiday season. I'm a procrastinator. I wait last minute to buy Halloween costumes and do my Christmas shopping. Maybe I should be more organized, and shop ahead of time? 😂 I'm sure I would be less stressed. The pumpkin patch at the local farm will be opening soon. The kids and I can pick out our own pumpkins, carve it, and bake the brains of the pumpkin lol jk. The kids love the bouncy castle. My favorite is the petting zoo. I love animals. When the kids were little, they got to ride the ponies. Then comes the trick-or-treating. We try to go to as many houses as we can and get tons of candy. Of course I find their chocolate stash when they're in school. The weather in Colorado can either be perfect, too hot or snowy on our night out of getting our treats. Depends on the year. Growing up, I wasn't allowed to celebrate Halloween, so I go all out. I used to take my kids to a lot of Halloween festivities. The children's museum, haunted houses, and we have a zombie crawl out here. One of my daughter's is a Tom-boy, so she likes to dress up as a dinosaur or as a superhero. My other daughter is a girly-girl, so she is either a princess or something cute. I makes it fun. I like to dress up as a cat or a hippie. I'm not sure what I am going to dress up as, are you? I'm going to dress up as a tired Mom, a Mommy zombie 😂😂😂 That is how I feel most days.

Go Broncos!! I'm a Colorado native. I grew up when John Elway was quarterback. I don't think the Broncos will win the Superbowl this year. I remember how excited I was when, they did win, when I was a little girl. So, who do you think will win the Superbowl this year?  

That time I had bed bugs and how I got rid of them.

This blog post contains affiliate links from Amazon.com. I get a small commission through qualifying purchase made through this site. A friend at work asked me if I wanted a queen size bed. I thought to myself, why not? Free is free. I could give it to my daughter. I ignorantly agreed and I trusted my friend, she is a hard worker, and she is a friend after all. Her and her husband dropped the bed off at my house, and I was happy that I provided my daughter with a new bed. I mean, this was very nice of her, or so I thought... Fast forward two weeks later, I was so wrong. My poor daughter was covered in red bug bites that looked like mosquito bites. I told my husband, "I think we have bed bugs". My husband said "No, it's just mosquito bites". I believe him, but looking back it's embarrassing to admit that I didn't put two and two together. Seriously? Anyway, I started getting the bites, and so did my other daughter. I was so itchy, it was worse than mosquito bites. Still didn't catch on, but soon I would. One day my daughter beings a black bug to me, with a circular body, she asks, "Mommy, what kind of bug is this". Terrified, I finally had the revelation, WE HAVE BED BUGS. I cannot explain how repulsed I felt. I felt invaded in my own home, like these little intruders that are stealing my blood in exchange for itchy welts, that are driving me crazy. I felt attacked, like "How could this have happen to me and my family"? I clean the house every week. Then I thought to myself "Why, Michelle, would you except a used bed? I felt so bad for my kids, I felt like a bad Mom, but I just made a mistake that I learned from. I had good intentions by getting a "nice" bed for my first born. Never ever again! Enough rambling, let's get to the point. How I saved thousands, and got rid of them by myself, without paying an exterminator. I am embarrassing myself by sharing this experience to help someone that may have an infestation of bed bugs. I got on the web for hours and researched. First off some facts about these horrifying invaders. They come out at night for a meal to feed on you. They like to live wherever you sleep. I found them in the curtains, couch and in the beds. So what did I do first? I just started washing everyone's bedding, and clothes. I also washing the bed bug infested curtains in hot water, and saw them try to escape for their life. You don't have to do this but I got rid of everyone's beds and got new one's. You can save money by getting a Bed Bug Matress Protector these darn critters will get stuck and have no where to go. Then I bought a Fabric Steamer. I used this about every other day on my new beds, curtains and I don't recommend it, but I was a little OCD and used it on the carpet. After all I was having nightmares at night about these God forsaken creatures. Then I went around the baseboards. Might not be good for the wall, but I obviously didn't care. Bed bugs hate the smell of cinnamon, so I bought a Essential Oil Diffuser, and a ton of Essential Oil. I used more than just cinnamon. I ran it all the time. Then I bombed the house. I mean who wants to live in a bed bug infested house? I used Bed Bug Bomber. Word of caution. Read all the instructions or you can actually bomb your house! Unplug the refrigerator, washer, dryer, I unplugged everything. My husband blew out the pilot light in the furnace and the water heater. The next day I just vacuumed, and then I let the chemicals sit so I wasn't mixing anything, but keep the essential oils going. A week later I sprayed the beds, curtains, baseboards, pretty much everything. Harris Bed Bug Killer. It's odorless, which is good because I have asthma and doesn't leave stains. Wear a respirator mask, gloves and long sleeves!!!! Then I sprayed Diatomaceous Earth on and around the baseboards, put it under the bed, in the bed and on the couch. Finally something natural that isn't full of chemicals. You still need a mask, DE is pretty dusty. I read DE is very effective in getting rid of insects. DE is fosilized powder that cuts the insects exoskeleton, and they dehydrate and die as a result, thank goodness. Also, rubbing alcohol 91% kills bed bugs and their eggs. It dehydrates them as well. It is supposly flammable, so be careful. I sprayed Rubbing Alcohol 91% on the beds, including the matress, and box spring. I sprayed the curtains and carpet as well. I also used Bed Bug Aerosol weekly. I repeated the process after vacuuming up the DE monthly for six months. I don't know about mixing all these chemicals, but we're fine and like I mentioned, I have asthma. It took about a month and I was bed bug free!!! I hope I have helped someone that is stuck with these blood sucking creatures. I truly hate them..... Then the next summer, I got cockroaches. 😭 To be continued...

Oh my aching back! Taking full care of the frail elderly for a decade, is taking a toll on my body.

This site contains affiliate links. I make a small commission on purchases made through my links. How to help your back pain. I work as an caregiver in assisted living. It provides "enhanced care", for the elderly. What I mean by this is, roughly a third of our 70 residents are either totally dependant on us, or need a lot of help to stand or be transferred. We use hoyer lifts and sit to stands. We take care of residents that have had strokes that paralyze on side of their body, M.S., Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or they are elderly and frail. We assist or completely transfer them to bed, bathroom, and shower. Change them in bed. Don't get me wrong. I love my job. I am just trying to explain what I do for a living. I'm not complaining or anything. I have been a caregiver for a decade. It is my calling. Caring for those who cannot care for themselves, brightening up someone's day, being there for someone during their darkest time, holding someone's hand while they take their last breath, because their family isn't present. Keeping them nourished, preventing falls. Making their last days count, and improving their lives. I used to be an activity director. The bond I make with them, I feel like they are my second family. I will never quit, regardless of back pain. Improper body mechanics. This is one reason why my back hurts. That and you are lifting a human being and they move when you're doing a transfer. Seriously though, when lifting anything, save your back! Lift like you are doing a squat in the gym. Make sure you keep your back straight. Keep your legs shoulder width apart or whatever you feel is best. Use proper body mechanics, especially if you have a physically demanding job! Or just in general, because you only have one back. I also buss the dining room, as in lift heavy trays. My back is killing me today. I go home with back pain, soreness and fatigued. I get burning sensations in my arms and so on. So, what do I do to keep going? For example, my back hurt so bad today, I had to lay in massage chair today before work. My caregiver friends come over and use my massage chair. I'm happy to help. Stretching, yoga and pilates! Do stretches such as, laying on the floor on your back and stretch out your arms and legs. Put your foot on your knee, take your knee to the floor, and your opposite hand, and upper body to the opposite side. Stand up and reach above your head. Put your hands on your hips and stretch your back backwards, and to the side. Also, go to the gym and use weight machines to get your back stronger. If you have heart problems or in general consult your doctor about exercises and so on. I rarely have time for the gym. I'm a working Mom. I feel like I have no time. Exercising and eating healthy helps, but I don't want to sound hypocritical because working five days a week, and being blessed with two daughters, I just can't find time. I get massages every chance I get. Deep tissue massage. It helps so much. It's such a stress and anxiety reliever. I feel human again, after getting a massage. I invested in a massage chair. Best investment I've made. I didn't care how much or if I had the money or not. I also use tiger balm and Mary Jane slave from the dispensary. I am worried about how much pain I will have when I am older. I see first hand how much pain the older population is in pain. Hopefully, I can stay in shape as I age, but easier said than done. My parents tell me that it is heart healthy to have a physically demanding job vs sitting all day. My Mom read an article about how having a sit down job is as bad as smoking. I wonder how true that is. We all gotta do what we gotta do to make money. My job is wearing me out. Maybe I can find a sit down job, and work on day a week as a caregiver. Thanks for reading. If you have back pain or any type of pain, I sympathize. I feel what you are going through.

How I opened an Etsy shop and was successful.

Etsy is a platform to buy and sell handmade, vintage, digital art and much more. If you are good with graphic art, crafts or love Vintage, I encourage you to join the Etsy community. Etsy members are very supportive about giving shop critique (constructive criticism) and help promote your shop. It is a great idea for a side hustle, and even a full time job. You can make and sell anything from jewelry, crochet, knitted items, paper-craft, felt art, sewing, card making, hair bows, paintings, digital art, such as Christmas cards, resell vintage, and much more but these are just the ideas off of the top of my head. Here is my long story, then I'll get to the how to get started with Etsy and be successful. Scroll down if you just want to know some tips for Etsy and don't want to hear my rambling. 😂😂😂😆😆😆 I was a stay at home Mom of two precious little one's, my husband was in the hospital with a leg infection and I was dependant on him for bills. He was out of work for a month. Well, us being inexperienced in life and not having savings, I was so worried. I freaked out. Live and learn. I guess we learn the hard way. Everything turned out fine, even better than we could imagine and he hasn't returned to the hospital since then. Seriously, we are doing awesome and I am happy with where we are at today. My cousin told me about Etsy. She encouraged and motivated me. She was very supportive and I probably would of never been an Etsyer if it wasn't for her. I didn't even know how to crochet, but I decided that is what I was going to do. First, I asked my Mom to show me how to crochet and my husband did to. He is a jack of all trades, and he is just incredibly intelligent. I was practicing and practicing making crochet chains in the hospital room, sitting next to my husband. Then I would watch YouTube videos online and crochet along, and that is one way I learned. Next I would try beanie hat patterns. My neighbor also encouraged me and bought items from me. I was ready to follow patterns that were free online that I found on and make beanie hats. I was having fun, and my kids were set for winter as well. I loved making beanie's with a flower on the side. Then I saw patterns on Pinterest, for animal beanie's and character beanie's like Hello Kitty, which was my best seller, Marvin the Martian, Minnie Mouse, and animal hats. I also started making and selling hair bows, crochet fingerless gloves, scarves, dish cloths, baby blankets, and diaper covers. Which is awesome because I love babies. I even sold digital art and I was not good at it. I had Adobe Photoshop, so why not? I was having fun making money then.... We got garnished for the hospital bill. Live and learn. We were still young, inexperienced and haven't been out of our parents houses long enough, I guess. We made our choices and learned from them. That's one thing about making mistakes, you learn from them. I keep it real and try to be authentic. That's why I'm telling my whole story, no details left out. One purpose of this blog is it to teach from my experiences. I had to go back to work to keep a roof over my kids head and food over their stomachs. I needed money now and fast. My job is physically, and emotionally draining. But you've got to do what you gotta do. I'm a caregiver in assisted living. I'm still there until this day. I've been there almost 7 years. I didn't have time to Etsy anymore and I was exhausted but I can't wait to go back and sell crochet. So finally let's get to the point of the blog. How can I start on Etsy and be successful? First decided what you are going to make and sell obviously. Join Etsy. Fill out your about me section, what you love to make and sell. Be enthusiastic, creative and drive people towards you. Fill out your shop policies, shipping information, and return policies. My return policy was that if they simply return the item I would give them a full refund. I didn't want any bad reviews and I didn't get any! Also, for shipping, you can buy your own weight scale and print shipping labels at home or just visit the post office, wait in a long line and have them do all the work. When you send items to your customers, I recommend sending it with pretty tissue paper, make it look pretty. Get business cards, custom address label with your shop name. You can also send them a free gift with the item they purchased. Wow your customers and keep them coming back. It is an investment but it's worth it. You can also ship world wide. That is the beauty of working for yourself and having your own business, you get make the decisions. I mean you still need to have superb customer service, and all for good reviews and to keep them coming back. Also, at the same time, do not be taken advance of and have your boundaries. Be assertive, but kind. You can also choose to do custom orders. Customers can ask you to make something specifically. Like hey I really want a Marvin the Martian beanie. I would do custom orders, why not? More sales. Next photography. When you take a picture of the items that you want to sell, make sure the picture is clear, crisp, and looking good, so that it has appeal and customers want to buy it. Be creative, put something pretty behind it, or a white paper to bring your item out. For example I put a teddy bear on the baby blanket that I made. You can use apps or programs to edit your photo. You can download canva or picmonkey or use Adobe Photoshop or even Instagram. Next description and adding tags. Tags bring in people who are on Etsy to buy, that are not on Etsy selling but they are from "the outside world" of the world wide web. When describing your item, be very descriptive and make it sound appealing. Most stuff on Etsy already is. One example instead of saying pink say mauve. Add tags, very important so that people can find you. For example, I am selling a crocheted baby hat with a flower on it. I am going to add the tags: crochet, flower, floral, beanie, hat, baby, baby shower, and gift. Then I would personally in the description say keep baby warm with this adorable handmade beanie, especially made for your little one, but that is just me and I do what I want in this regard because I am working for myself, no boss, except the customers. Then again it's better to say handmade crocheted sea blue beanie hat for baby. Acrylic yarn, and so on. Look around on Etsy and look at shops that are doing well. Which brings me to my next point, the Etsy community. Etsy is a very supportive community. Get involved in teams. You can post your items on team's and people will favor them and it will bring you exposure. You also need to be supportive and help your teammates out and favor their items. It's a what goes around comes around idea. I did a lot of favoring items for exposure, and I mean a lot, and to just make Etsy friends in general. You get to see all the pretty stuff people make on Etsy it is fun. You also get to make treasuries. Treasuries are like a product showcase. You put twelve people's product into a treasury and you pick a theme, like lovely lavender. My favorite color. Then they will do the same for you. You can also participate in BNR's which you reserve your spot by buying from someone and they will buy from you possibly. I think it stands for buy now reserve. I don't know but that's what I thought. I participated in these. Last but not least social media is very important! You need more exposure equals more sales. Pinterest, on Pinterest you may get invited to join group boards which creates more exposure. Twitter, there are people on Etsy who will retweet your product. You can make yourself a business Facebook page. You can have a blog. There is also Tumblr it. Once again social media is awesome for exposure. Look around Pinterest on tips on how to make Etsy sales. Making that first Etsy sale can be difficult but it will happen. Do not give up. I got impatient, but I will never forget how excited I was when I made that sale. You can also take online Etsy classes hI never took a class. I'm telling you the Etsy community is supportive and I like to do things my way but I'm sure I would of benefited. So there you have it that is how I started on Etsy and made 65 sales. I hope I have helped someone and I am excited for you to open your Etsy shop. This is my link to my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MichelleRoseBoutique

This Cook Book is AWESOME! buy it!

Better Homes and Gardens 15th edition. There are so many great recipes, your family will love. I try to eat really healthy. These recipes aren't always healthy, so I omit what's not healthy, and add what is. For example, if it calls for cream of broccoli, I can get organic, and low sodium, substitute the butter. Anything you don't think you should eat.

It has a casserole page. I love casseroles. They're delicious, and my family tears them up. Easy to make. These recipes are so neat, because they give you a ton of options for your taste, and come out great. They give you 5 options, and you pick.

Day 9: weaning off Paxil.

The beginning of the day was easy, breezy. I thought, this is easy. Then the evening came. I realized, life is hard without an antidepressant. My life is more difficult than I thought. Paxil was sugar coating, and covering up a lot for me so I didn't deal with anything. But this evening it hit me, being married is difficult. I had no idea my life was this crazy. lol that is what I thought today. Now, I calmed down and realized nothing in this life is guaranteed anyway. Shouldn't hold on to it so tight.

Oh the irony.

This is St. Patrick's Day. This is my 6 year old daughter Alissa. She's at the hospital on St. Patrick's Day. Her shirt says charming and lucky. I couldn't help but sit in the ER looking at her shirt thinking, "Girl, you are not so lucky today". Oh the irony. We spent all Saturday, mostly having fun outside. We love to be outside when it's nice out. Anyway, I was running the dog on the 45 inch leash, I told Alissa not to grab the leash. She did, and at a very strong force, the dog pulled her into the pavement. She couldn't move her wrist. So, fast forward, we're at the ER, and after waiting a while, she doesn't act like it hurts so bad. She does exaggerate. It's her personality. She has a wonderful personality BTW. The Doctor comes in, and she can't act out her part in acting like she's hurt bad. She exaggerates the ow, says ow when the Dr. isn't touching her, the dr. says I don't know about that. Long story short, x-rays come back negative, nothing broken. We go home, and she said she's just joking. I thought to myself, I could be uptight and agitated, but this is a learning opportunity for her. I taught her not to exaggerate when your hurt so we know at what degree to treat you. It just doesn't help. I showed her the story of the boy who cried wolf. I explained there are people in the ER a lot worse off than you, like the boy who fell on his head off of the playground equipment, that was rushed in the ER, and his parents were ignorant enough to not be so concerned, relaxed, and on the phone talking about their "plans for tonight". The 65 year old man with the low heart beat with congestive heart failure. So, I explained that to her, because Mommy used to be a Nurses aid, and take care of people. I taught her to save her acting for her play time, and not the er or when you're hurt. I taught her to care for the sick. I didn't scold her, make her feel bad, beat her, punish her. No, it's an slo Significant learning opportunity. I disciplined her, taught her. After all the definition of discipline is to teach.