Beauty Bible

I like to be informed. Being the nerd that I am, I have to resort to reading about beauty in a book! The thing is, I don't trust most people because either they are selling a product and thus are biased or they are parroting back what a salesperson told them and therefore are ignorantly biased. I have to do my own research to try and find out for myself. For some reason I trust the published word over word-of-mouth.

I found a book at our library called "The Beauty Bible." Since I don't have it on me right now, I looked it up at Amazon and I think I found the right one. The author is most likely Paula Begoun. I've found a few helpful things that I'd like to share with those who are interested. It's a huge book and I've only skimmed it, but here are a few things I remember:

Serums:
Apparently more talk than walk. Advertisers use the word "serum" to sell the stuff because it makes it sound good. She wasn't too clear on whether or not it really was a helpful product or not though. It just sounded like perhaps it's not as great as it's hyped up to be. I'll have to find out more about this.

Toners:
A good thing. Need to read more on this; just thought it would be good to know what stuff I use is actually worth using! (Even if I don't really know why...yet).

Eye Creams:
A lot are a scam. People sell a tiny bottle for lots of money (the Arbonne eye cream does contain less than the regular face moisturizer and yet is the same price). Read the ingredients because, according to her, they have the same ingredients as any regular face moisturizer. I checked the Arbonne products the best I could (the lists are mega-long and all the words are totally foreign to me!). The eye cream is similar, but did appear quite different from the moisturizer. Perhaps now-a-days they really can add stuff to help with dark lines and puffiness that makes it better then a regular face cream (the book may be a bit outdated). The author, though, is of the opinion that around the eyes doesn't need anything different than what you would use on the rest of your face. Those of you who are more involved with experimenting with this stuff may have a different opinion. I'd love to hear it!

Warning!
The major problem with eye creams that the author pointed out made so much sense to me. They don't have an SPF!! That means that while you try to cover up and heal wrinkles and such, you are actually creating more wrinkles in the long run by leaving the most sensitive part of your face vulnerable to sunrays. I just make sure to put my face moisturizer (that has an SPF) over the eye cream...do you think that defeats the purpose of the eye cream??

The author explains that sun probably causes most of the damage to our faces and the best way to stay as wrinkle-free as possible is to wear at least an SPF of 15. Arbonne's Anti-aging moisturizer has SPF 8, the Not-So-Basic moisturizer has none, but the foundations appear to all be SPF 15.

That concludes this beauty update. Stay tuned for future broadcasts and be sure to contribute your own tried and true opinions so we can all become more educated.

I hate Our Stupid Insurance!

I just have to vent for a minute. It seems that with every medical bill there is something that drives me crazy! There has been nothing but problems with our Insurance and the most irritating part is that when we reviewed all the plan options for this next year, it was still the best one offered!! I never had any problems with my medical stuff in Utah as a teacher. The benefits were great and if there was ever a mistake, it came out that I owed less than the original amount. In fact, a few days ago I got $40 from my doctor in Utah because somewhere somehow I overpaid one year-and-a-half ago! So much for pleasant surprises! Here, my surprises are all negative and I end up owing up to $400 more than the estimations and the way it all works makes it seem like we're paying more out of our pocket than they are helping! I think I would like to add up what we pay monthly and then what we pay for our deductible (for each person) and then our co-pays and co-insurance and whatever random stuff it seems like we have to pay for and see how much the Insurance really is helping!!

Now I know that we probably have better insurance than a lot of people so I probably shouldn't complain, it's just that coming from my situation as a teacher in Utah where there were no problems, it gets so frustrating!!

The current issue is that I received the bill for Annalee's 18 month check up only to see that the Insurance covered $0.00!! What?! I called the number on the bill and they told me that usually the Insurance companies don't know that there are several mandatory well-visits during the child's second year and so I just needed to tell them it was a mandatory visit and it should be ok. So I call the Insurance and guess what? Our plan only covers two well visits during the second year which were met with her 12 month and 15 month visits! Never mind that she has to have these visits, it's not part of our plan. The crazy thing is that they help with the immunizations, but not the office visit. So can I just take her for the immunizations and not the office visit??

Another irksome thing is that on that particular visit she picked up a bug (I'm assuming it was from that, but I really don't have proof...but it's a safe assumption and was even suggested by the doctor himself!). So for those of you who don't know, Annalee's body overreacts to illness and it gave her a fever that spiked too quickly and made her go into a seizure shortly after we were even aware she was sick! I watched my baby convulse for several terrifying moments as I thought for the second time in her short life that I was going to lose her! The Ambulance showed up and assured us all was ok since her fever had gone done and she stopped convulsing and we just had to keep her fever down. I had to take her back to the doctor two days after her well visit so they could try to figure out what bug she had, if it was serious, and if they could help in some way. After all the extra tests, they couldn't figure it out. Nevertheless, this second visit is on the same bill and guess what? The Insurance covers their part of the charges! So why the heck don't they cover a mandatory regular office visit?? Next time I'm going to tell the doctor that she is sick and they can send the bill in as a sick visit instead of a well visit so the Insurance will pay up!

My Personal Spook Alley

My heart was pounding and fear clutched at my throat, restricting my breathing, as I nervously surveyed my surroundings. Where was I? Not in a haunted house. Not lost. I was in a mall!! Apparently the scariest place around for me! I had forgotten how terrifying walking through a mall by myself is. It really does a number on my nerves with all the people and the noise and the mass confusion. I especially dislike the vendors in the middle of the paths who jump out in front of you shoving soaps and potent fragrances in your face. It reminds me of Mexico. I can hear them now in thick Spanish accents: "Almost free for you." I hope none of them spoke Spanish because most of the time I passed by I leaned over and pretended to be engrossed in conversing with Annalee, but was really saying the same thing each time (hey, when you're nervous, fresh ideas run low in the brain). One time I sped up to walk on the outside of someone else...they caught her instead. The last time I was fortunate to be on the phone with Lee and realized that was my ticket. From now on I'll just pull out the trusty anti-social device and avoid any human contact!

The Role of a Referee in Soccer

When a team loses a match, whose fault is it? The referee's. When a team wins, to whom does the credit go? Their supreme skill of course, with no thanks to the horrible calls from the referee! While some may say the original intent of having officiators in soccer was to enforce the rules and to protect the players, it can be argued that an added bonus has emerged. The current role of a referee is undeniably to be a scapegoat... (Click to read the rest of the article)

That's the beginning of an article I wrote that has earned me $0.01! (...I know, I'm racking it in :) For those of you who don't know, I love to write. I have slacked off the past few years and have decided to pick it up again. Almost a year ago I found a website that you could join for free and possibly earn money for articles you write. How great would that be to get paid to do something you love?! However, I didn't do much with it until about two or three weeks ago. I'm still figuring it out. Lee found another site that supposedly earns more money and it's based solely on page views. I'll put up some links to articles I post there, but for now, I want to see how I earn money on this other site. I think it has something to do with page views as well. So, do me a favor and click to read the rest of my article about the role of a referee in soccer. Even if you don't know anything about soccer, humor me and at least visit the page. It's not at all technical and it's actually not a very serious article like all the others. I wanted it to stand out from the others so I took a different approach. Some people appreciated my twist because it's ranked 3rd out of 9 submissions.

If anyone else is interested in trying out these sites to get paid for writing about stuff you know about, let me know and I'll send you an invite because I think that's another way for me to earn money! Otherwise, I'll keep everyone posted here on my blog as to what I think about these sites and if they're worth checking into.

Doctor Visits

Luke: 2 Months

Luke is a whopping 14 lbs 10.9 oz! Annalee was barely 14 lbs at 4 months! This kid is a monster! He's in the 97th percentile for weight and only a little lower in height (24 in). I think he's in the 50th percentile for his head circumference, but the doctor reassured me a smaller head has nothing to do with brain power!

Annalee: 18 Months
Annalee is still creeping through the 20 lb range and really I don't remember much else of her stats. She's pretty low in the percentiles, like in the 25th or so...maybe as low as the 10th in one area. But she's perfectly healthy and hitting all her milestones like a pro! She is still pretty scared of the doctor's office, particularly of the table. She went crazy when we had to lay her on it to try and measure her! The worst for both was definitely the shots. Annalee went first. It started off bad since she had to lie on the table again. But then he sobbing just about killed me as they pierced her with the needles! It was over super quickly though and she tried hard to control her tears. She helped me hold in Luke's pacifier while he got ready for his own torture. It terrified Annalee to see the nurse stab the needles into Luke's legs and then to hear him scream at the pain. In fact, I think she started crying before Luke did because she watched them do it and knew what was going to happen to her poor little brother. So naturally, I had two crying children, both of who wanted/needed comforting at the same time! It helped to have Annalee give Luke kisses to make him feel better as it temporarily distracted her from the horror of the scene she just witnessed. I think that next time I won't let her watch!

My Bucket List

I'm not planning on dying any time soon, but there are a few things I would like to accomplish sooner than later. Here are a few I could think of, the top three being long-time dreams of mine:

1. Write a book (I would say publish, but that's out of my control. All I can do is write the book and hope that it's good enough to get published...and maybe be a #1 Bestseller!)

2. Compose a song on the piano

3. Write music and lyrics to a song (possibly the same song as above, but who knows, maybe I'll write more than one)

4. Learn to sing...well

5. Learn to play the guitar

6. Crochet an afghan (this one is already in progress...slowly but surely)

7. Learn to sew (I already have material for projects I have in mind...all I need now is a sewing machine!...oh yeah, and a few lessons)

8. Learn to garden

10. Learn another language (or few)

11. Visit church history sites

A Boy Named Goo

Lucas Edward, aka "Goo" according to Annalee, was born July 23, 2008. His name means bringer of light. He is six weeks old and is a wonderful baby! Life with two kids is better than I expected so far, mostly because he doesn't cry too much and is easy to soothe. Annalee loves her little brother. She's always giving him kisses and is so concerned when he cries (especially when it's her bed time!). She likes to point out his facial features, though I try to limit it to the ears since she tends to poke his eyes out, honk his nose too hard, and gag him with her finger down his throat! I am constantly telling her to be soft (suave), which means that any time she rubs his head (or ours for that matter) she says, "wawee, wawee." Diaper changing time is fun as she pulls out all the diapers in her effort to help.

Luke was born 8 lbs, 1 oz. According to my scale, he now weighs about 12 lbs! He is growing like....like something that grows fast (sorry. Limited sleep makes for limited vocabulary!). Oh, I know. I believe the saying is that he is growing like a weed. He is sleeping well, though he likes to grunt a lot instead of cry. This means that I wake up to all the grunting during the night, only to get up and find he has fallen back asleep! He is keeping his eyes open longer during the day and is getting some good head control. His favorite time to survey the world used to be between 10pm and midnight, but he's much better now.

Overall we are really enjoying the two kids and we're can't wait for the time when they can interact a little more together!