Bertolli Pasta Sauce

I recently received a coupon for Bertolli pasta sauce from influenster. It wasn’t our normal brand so it was a perfect opportunity to try something new.  When we went to the store it was hard to decide which flavour to buy. In the end we decided on the tomato and basil. It’s our go to flavour with our other brand. It was delicious. Tastes fresh and was the perfect consistency. Nothing worse then having a sauce that’s to thin or to think.  Can’t wait to try another flavour. We are thinking marinara for our next one!

It’s been a while....

it’s been a while... things have been crazy
But let’s get back into things.
Influenster sent me the Vichy Liftactiv Collagen Specialist to try out and review

I was thrilled to receive this as I don’t do much with my skin or know where to start when I walk in the drug store.  After using it for a few weeks I definitely feel my skin is more hydrated. I can’t say if I noticed it is firmer. But I believe if I keep using it it will in time. It does have a slight fragrance to it. But nothing to strong which is good because I often can’t stand strong smelling products. I have very sensitive skin and was also surprised that I did not have a reaction to this product. Which is definitely a first! I will be looking in to more products from Vichy in the future.

Diy yard and garden

We had an early start to spring. But it quickly turned cold again. Still better then snow. But to fight my gardening bug I have been busy with some diy projects. I already had some skeleton flamingos and vaulters I made over the last few years. I made my flock grow by a few. From 4 to 12.

I also decided to paint my planters in the front which I have been thinking of doing for a while. And I wish I would have done it sooner.

Also made Jack from nightmare before Christmas out of little clay pots. I can't wait to find some more projects to do. It's a great way to past the winter and cold rainy spring days. Do you like doing diy projects? What have you made recently?

Showtime! Dirty Dancing!

I was given a chance to go see Dirty Dancing the stage production.  Someone was unable to go so they asked me to use their ticket. It's so nice of them to asks me to use it. I love Dirty Dancing the movie. I watched it over and over again with my friends and my cousins. It's k d of those things can it live up? I was also worried the tradition scenes might be corny. The vibe in the theatre was crazy. When the lights dimmed and the music started the cheers were so loud. Over all the show was fantastic. It was very similar to the movie. With just a few differences. The cast was excellent and cast perfectly.  Definitely left with an extra bounce in your step. I t also left me wanting to re watch the movie.
Do you have any movies that have been adapted into plays or musicals? Did it
live up to your standards?

Staying positive as a spoonie

I often get told I am very positive and deal with all my health struggles very well. That is probably the case 90% of the time. Staying positive it's key to keep moving forward. But it's important to allow our selves to feel down and be sad. With dealing with struggles with our health every day be it big of small it can all pile up and just suddenly feel like to much.
This last week everything hit me. And my body just kinda went blah. My skin was going crazy in every way possible and way more then normal. It just felt like I could not win. I felt sad and I didn't let it stop me from going about life but when I was alone I journal it out and talked with my muffin and a close friend reached out randomly. It really helped to just get it out and I felt much better after. And feel like I'm slowly getting out of my funk and back to being positive and plucking away moving forward. It's important to remember it's OK to feel down or sad. It helps you work through the feelings. Don't be ashamed of not always be 'ON' or happy. Experiencing the rough times makes the good times that much sweeter.

Adventure with the duck eggs

Found this that I forgot to post this summer.

Since we moved in 4 years ago we have had a duck living out back by the wood pile.  This year the wood duck took up living in one of our spruce trees. It made a nest about 12 feet up. She would always squawk and fly away when we walked near that tree into the farmers field we back on to but always came back. A few days ago I was out doing yard work and noticed there were duck eggs all on the ground. At first glance I noticed 6 and they looked fine. I called muffin and he suggested trying to put them back. My father in law also happened to call which was lucky cause he knows a lot about birds and animals. With being involved with a bird sanctuary for years. I also called a local wild life reserve help line. All 3 said to put them back. But even with a latter I wasn't tall enough so I gathered that eggs and laid them in a towel tell muffin got home to help put them back. In doing so I found one egg didn't make it 😕  When muffin came home we found an egg I missed and attempted to put them back but when he got up there we noticed a huge hole in the nest. I called the help line again and told them this and also that the mom hand not been around which was unusual. They said that they might be dead from the fall and not being nested with mom for so long. But to put the in a shallow plastic container in the nest. So that's what we did. Mom still hasn't been back so it's likely the eggs won't hatch even if they are ok from the fall. We are just such animals lovers that we wanted to try everything possible to give them a chance of survival. Not gonna lie I'm pretty sad they won't make it. I was looking forward to having little ducks around.

the struggles of being a spoonie

I don't know about other spoonies but I put on a brave face and often to say when I am in so much pain. Yesterday was horrible. I had a dr appointment that didn't go the best. I ended up puking and passing out when I had my blood taken because they were having issues with it. I felt so weak. But it was bowling night. I started off feeling not horrible. Ate a salad at wings cause I was feeling light headed. But as the night went on at bowling I hurt so much I kept switching from standing and sitting it all just hurt. I came home and went on my heating pad. But couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned all night cause my whole body hurt. My toes and hair even hurt. I was talking at bowling about how I am sure I would have more tattoos is I wasn't chronically ill. The focused changed to my health and I feel like I have just been treading water since. It's hard cause when you become sick everything changes. It makes it hard to do things you enjoy and love or even basic daily tasks. Today I have just been laying on my heating pad and resting. And I still just feel horrible. Extra pain meds hasn't even touched the pain. I find people don't like to hear when you are hurting when you are chronically ill because when you do you get the you always feel rough or you are always sick. I done know about other spoonies. But I would give anything to not be sick and be able to go out for s few hours with out paying for it for day. Just because people aren't always voicing their pain didn't mean they are suffering.

Cleaning up a storm

I am sure I have said it before. I love cleaning. Most people think it sounds silly. But I find it so rewarding. Plus with all my allergies and auto immune issues i find it helps a lot to try and keep the dust and germs down. We have been working at getting the house as chemical free as well. As I am very sensitive to chemicals and also it's better for us, the dogs and the environment. I was more then surprised to find between my few norwex products and the young living cleaner I started using. I was blow away that the grease from cooking bacon etc that was so hard to get off came off in no time and I didn't even have to scrub between young livings thieves cleaner and the norwex kitchen scrub cloth. I was never able to get  the grease fully off. But it was a breeze with these products.  Another tricky area was the bath tub and shower. As it gets used 3-4 times a day. It use to take so much effort to scrub the soap scum and dirt away. Now with just water and a norwex bath room scrub mitt I can clean the shower in just minutes with minimal effort. I just spent the day making some DIY bath, body and cleaning items. I had a frying pan that never hit clean no matter how  I made some soft scrub cleaner and with it and my kitchen scrub cloth I got it looking like new in just a few minutes.  Also I used the cloth just with water to get the tea stains off in my mugs. I love that I don't have to use harsh chemicals. I loved spending the day doing this cleaning so much that I put in a decent sized order for more norwex. I can't wait! I am excited to have a dusting wand to get our tall walls. I was talking with some people last night and it was the first time I met someone who cleans their dishwasher as much as I do if not more! So many people think I am crazy that I clean my dishwasher. But with my allergies I find it a must plus once you see the dirt that gets in there you would be doing it as well.
Do you enjoy cleaning? Do you just do it because you have to? Or do you find it enjoyable and relaxing like I do? Do use chemical cleaners or do you try and do things more natural ?

Back at it again

After a taking a break one of my goals this year is to try and get back into blogging.
Once again this if for me. If anyone reads and enjoyed that's a bonus. Please don't leave negativity or hate. There is no purpose for that.

New kindle

So with my garage sale money I decided it was time to get a new kindle. Mine is about 6 years old and it's cover is cracked as well as the audio option won't work with head phones it cuts in and out and the screen freezes. So I ordered it at the beginning of May. I started browsing  free and on sale books. Not that I needed more! Lol. May came and went and my kindle case shipped and arrived but my kindle still never arrived. Now June is coming to an end and it's still not here. It says it should be here by this Tuesday. I hope that's the case cause 2 months seems way to long  to weight for something specially when it stated it should ship and arrive in 2 weeks. The excitement has worn off cause it kept saying it was gonna ship and never did. I will likely get excited when it actually arrives. It will be neat to see the new features and the size difference. It's also touch screen where as mine wasn't. Oh how technology changes so fast a few months and your phone is out dated so I can imagine with 6 year difference in technology. I'm gonna keep my old one to listen to audio books in the garden.

Read more in the winter

I always think I'm gonna enjoy the yard and sit out with a cool drink and read. But every summer it never seems to happen. Winter seems to be my high reading time. It's so cold and my body doesn't do well with cold so it's easier to stay in and curl up with a book and my heating pad. In summer I wanna get out with family, friends and the dogs enjoy the weather and summer activities. And to top it off I also love to garden and work in the yard. So when I am at home I like to get out and do that. And then I'm usually over heated and will come in and relax and read a bit. My plan is to enjoy and sit out and read at least once this summer. That is if the mosquitos aren't to bad. Otherwise I will have to wait for a day with a nice breeze to keep them away.
When and where do you do most of your reading?

From cane to walking 40 min

the past few years have been a huge struggle. Every day and everything I do has the ability to set me back. Going on vacation, being sick or doing to much.Something as simple as dishes and laundry can cause enough pain I'm sick in bed the rest of the day. The past year I have gone from relying on a cane and barely being able to walk from the bed to the couch. To being able to walk about 40 min a day. It's slow pace and knocks me down so I can't do much else for the day. But it's a huge deal. I never thought I would be able to walk my dogs again which made me so sad. The look on their faces when we get back and they are tired out from the walk is the best ever and warms my heart. I may be on the couch dizzy and in pain for the rest go the afternoon but it's worth it. It has taken a lot to get this far. I started with being only able to walk 30 seconds. So as silly as it sounds I walked at home in place and every few days I would add a little bit more. Eventually I was up to 30 min and spring was coming. I wanted to walk the dogs again. I started with one and would take it slow and do a short walk. As I said my muscles are sore from my health issues after doing anything that I get tremors and will have my legs and arms just give out. I'm hoping I can keep it up. I know I can through the summer but don't know what I will do once winter comes. Winter is horrible of my body and health issues so I might have to do walking inside again and it might be less. But I'm gonna keep pushing my self and trying to maintain what I have gotten back mobility wise. I know I won't ever be where I was  but I also never wanna end up back to where I was basically bed ridden. You take the simple things for granted. You don't know how lucky we are tell it's taken away. It's been a long road and I still have a long way to go. The key is not giving up on your self. Knowing your boundaries and leaning to adapt to your new situation.

The Caucasian chalk circle

I was lucky enough to get envited to see the play the Caucasian chalk circle. I had never heard of it before but am always willing to see and experience new things. Our friends son was in it. He was playing 2 roles one being a elderly women. Arriving it was sad to see that there were only maybe 20 people there to see the show. When I have been to see the schools musicals it's usually packed. Although it was opening night so I assume the other shows had more people. But also it might be people not knowing the show and it not being a musical people seem to like musicals more then plays now days.  It was interesting that there was an iron curtain (chain link fence) where the cast would change and get ready for the next scene. So you could watch them. There were 3 people who stood out for me and drew your attention that even the people getting ready for the next scene. One was our friend as well as the main guy and girl. They were both great. The main guy who was the judge was amazing. They all had amazing timing for the funny lines. The story of the play is a rich couple who when war breaks out accidentally leave their baby behind. A young poor women finds the son and takes him as her own and protects him. Soldiers search for her and the baby. The coustums were some what cyber goth style which was different and interesting. Definitely take a step out of your boundaries and go see plays and musicals that you didn't know about. You may find a new favourite.

Town wide yard sale and spring cleaning

i have always loved yard sales. You never know what hidden gems you will find. Our town has a town wide yard sale every year and I enjoy walking around and finding things and visiting with people from town. There are usually lots of yard sales as well as you can sell in the community club by buying a table. So this year after some massive spring cleaning. We ended up going through every thing in the house. Every paper every item and if we didn't love it or need it. It was gone. We started by posting some things on the local Facebook buy and sell. Which surprisingly with selling things for mostly $1 we sold $700 worth of stuff. But we still had quite a bit left. With not wanting to bring the stuff back in the house we decided to. Try our hand at a yard sale. Sadly there where not many on our street but our house this year so we didn't have as much traffic as we could. It was also raining the first part of the day. But in the end we still sold another $230 worth. We donated 10% to paws in motion which we are raising funds for coming up. Still having items left I didn't want them to come back in the house and clutter things up. So I packed up 2 garage bags for good will, 2 garbage bags and a box for a dog rescue that's gonna have a garage sale, we donated all the fencing etc from behind the shed to the local dog rescue in town and the rest of the hooks (200+) to the local school to sell for fundraising. We still have 2 boxes of DVDs etc that we can sell or donate that are in the garage. 

Boy it feels good to clean the house so good. We don't need all this excess stuff laying around to be happy. It was nice to make a little bit of money instead of just tossing or donating everything. I would much rather people be using things then me just keeping them for the sake of owning things. Did you do a big spring cleaning? 

Book review of Mercy by Rhiannon Paille

this is the 4 th book in the series of the Ferryman and the Flame. I had not read the previous 3 before starting this book. I took a little bit to get use to the lingo and world. I think if I would have started from the beginning of the series it would have come easier. Saying that I did buy the rest of the series before I even finished the book and plan on reading it start to finish since I enjoyed this book so much. I think I will get even more out of it the second time around. Even though I didn't read the others before hand it gave enough of a back ground  at the beginning that I was able to grasp the basics of what happened in the previous books.
Sadly while I was reading this book my device was acting up and I had to take a few months break from it. But I was glad to get right back at it. I can't wait to go back and read the series from the start. I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to receive an e copy of this book from the author. I had not heard of her or read any of her books before hand. It gave me the opportunity to try out and find a new author and series. I look forward to reading more from her in the future. I especially love to read and find local authors. I love supporting local in anyway when I can.

May is celiac awareness month

may is a very important month to me. Not only is it my muffins birthday but it's also celiac awareness month. Being diagnosed with celiac changed my life. Not only because I have to eat gluten free but because I was sick my whole life. I done remember not being sick or food not making me horribly ill. What a lot of people don't know is that some people don't have any symptoms with celiac and other people like me who don't have just the stomach issues but have a lot of the other issues with skin, memory and many many more. The only treatment for celiac disease is a gluten free diet and not as simple as just not eating bread gluten is hidden in many places from dental floss, make up, sauces and salad dressings to name a few. You have to be careful and read labels of everything. Not even just that you need to worry about cross contamination and one crumb can make someone like me sick for days. Not only that it also causes damage to the body. Untreated celiac disease is actually very serious and getting contaminated or not eating gluten free can lead to a lot more health issues. Please try and be understanding. Its hard enough with out people making fun of us of acting like we are being to dramatic about it. If we say we can't eat it cause it was on a plate with gluten items. We know our body and disease better then anyone else. Don't tell us it will be fine and pressure us to still eat it and make us feel bad. It's hard enough to eat out with the worry of what if we get glutened being embarrassed, having to defend our self or made fun of all adds a lot more stress and anxiety. Please take time to listen and understand. And if you want to be supportive doing research and reading up on a condition a friend or loved one has is one of the best things you can do.

Re reading Harry potter

I decided last month that I wanted to re read Harry Potter so that I could finally get around to reading the last 2 books which I never had a chance to read. Those books have been looking at me for to long. I'm so happy I decided to re read them. I am enjoying them so much and feel like I am at hogwarts her writing definitely builds the world that is so magical and you feel like you are apart of it. I can't put the books down. As soon as I finish one I pick up the next no thought. Another book isn't a choice I need to finish this series.
Have you read Harry Potter? Did you like it? Have you re read it? What series do you love to re read?
I was afraid that I would end up in a reading slump after finishing the series but I haven't. I'm actually on a good reading stretch which is great after being in a reading slump over the winter.

Spring cleaning #2

spring cleaning is still under way at our house. We are doing a huge clean. If we haven't used it in the past year or 2 it's donated or sold. We have sold quite a bit online so far and anything that remains we will have a garage sale if we have a decent amount or we will donate it. It feels so good to do a huge clean sweep. We don't need physical things to make us happy. Holding onto things for the sake of just having things is silly. Someone else could be getting use out of it instead of it sitting in your closet gathering dust. The house has a lot of freed up space. Keep in mind we haven't even filled all our closets and cabinets lol. But it was just getting to be to much. The house is feeling a lot better and more open. Besides the spare room which is holding all the stuff we are selling and donating. Lol that room is a mess you can't sit on the bed and most of the floor is covered. But it's slowly going down as we are selling things off.

Spring cleaning

Why do we as humans feel we need so much stuff. I am constantly cleaning and sending stuff to goodwill. But even still I am doing a huge spring clean right now and I was able to get 2 huge garbage bags for good will and 2 for garbage and recycling and I'm not even done yet. It's just crazy how much stuff we collect or feel like we need. Growing up in a house that was so full it easily could house 3 houses and did when my parents split up they both had enough for their houses and didn't need to buy much if anything and we still took van loads to the good will. Growing up in a house like that made me not want to save things and live with walls made of Rubbermaid bins of stuff we think we need to save. What good is it doing us? It makes me feel panicked when things are over crowded. We have storage we haven't even started to use in our house and when people see or hear that they are shocked. It bothers me to think of all they money wasted buying things even small things like $2 here $5 it adds up fast. And it seems like so many of us send so much of it to the dump or good will. I am trying to be more concise as a consumer and buying more of what I need and less of what I think I need and just really want. I'm not saying treating your self to something is bad. But every time we are out do we need to buy that magazine or coffee? Do we need that 8th black shirt? I think more of us need to think before we spend.

March reads

Stories from candy land  by Candy Spelling
Stories from Arron Spelling and Tori Spellings mother. It was interesting to get her perspective since I have read most of Tori's books.

Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets by JK Rowling
The second book in the series has Harry and his friends trying to find out who is the heir to slytherin as they are the person who has opened the chamber of secrets putting all students who are part muggle in danger.

Harry Potter and the prisoner of azkaban by JK Rowling
Harry is on lock down at hogwarts because someone is after him who escaped from wizards jail. But why are they after him?

Harry Potter and the goblet of fire by JK Rowling
It's Harry's 4 th year and hogwarts is having the tri wizard tournament. He is also having dreams about he who shall not be named. Is Harry's life in danger yet again?

Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
Harry hasn't heard much from anyone all summer and when he hears they just write they are super busy. With everyone being secretive and Harry worrying about he who shall not be named he is on edge.

I am really enjoying re reading Harry Potter I have been meaning to for ages specially since I  never finished the last 2 books so I am taking this as my chance. This world is written so lovely i feel like I am at hogwarts with them and I just can't put these books down! Are you a Harry Potter fan ? Have you re read the books? What's your favourite series to re read?