Merry Christmas!

I snapped this photo the other night showing some new decor from Joss & Main (of course, where else!).....and the new cabinet all decked out for Christmas.

Also, trying a new hairstyle for me......very different (to me) styling-wise.  I tell you....if you would love some easy hair, grow you hair out!  So much less work than when it was shorter...

Hope you had a wonderful day!!

Noosa Yogurt....Oh my!

I was toodling through Whole Foods the other day.....and decided I'd grab a quick snack.  I love to grab a yogurt, get a utensil on the way out, and enjoy.

I spied a new option - Noosa Yoghurt.  In a couple interesting flavors....Blueberry (YUM!), Mango, Strawberry-Rhubarb, Peach, Raspberry and Honey.   I read the label and finally just decided to try it.  If you go to their website above and like their Facebook page, you can get a coupon for your purchase.

YOU HAVE TO GO TRY THIS YOGURT!!!  Oh MY goodness!!

From what I've read, this is Australian-style yogurt from Colorado.  I don't care where it's from.  I sent my oldest son back to Whole Foods to get more....got EngineerHubby his favorite peach...and also trying the Mango.  Raspberry is next up!

Please treat yourself...I've heard this is also available at Target, but I have not verified.

Alexithymia - Article Explains Disconnection to One's Own Emotions

Emotional disconnection disorder threatens marriages, researcher says

If you know anyone with Asperger's Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or similar conditions, reading this article could change your life and/or relationships.

Alexithymia is very real......and needs to be diagnosed and understood.  If you are a spouse of an Alexithymic, you are NOT crazy.

Powerful

My dear pain friends......I ran across this quote today and feel it applies to me and my recovery from the deepest depths of the pain.......(along with reading the book "Opening the Cage of Pain" by Rue Anne Haas).

"Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn't you - all of the expectations, all of the beliefs - and becoming who you are."

- Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, is Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine.

If this intrigues you but doesn't make sense at this moment, check out the above mentioned book.  ( (HUGS ) ) 

Weekend Randoms

I had a rare Saturday off and we ended up at a lovely park in a nearby town.  It was one of those quaint locations where every photographer in town was there with their clients.   After touring all the little shops (and didn't buy a single thing!),  we thought we'd do the cheap method and take an iPhone photo.  Turned about pretty good, we thought!

And a SUPER rare photograph of the boys these days.  Sorry for the pitiful quality...I was just happy I got anything at all!  I'm sure our oldest would be cooperative...have to catch him on a golf day!

Can't forget Sage and Sweety!

Tomorrow, EngineerHubby has surgery on his other foot....did the first one 1.5 months ago.  Plantar Fasciitis surgery.  Hopefully soon he will be able to exercise and not have tons of pain.

Appliance Holder Stand Find

Look what I found at TJMaxx for $12.99?  Truth be told, I didn't know if it would work, but as always....when I see something I think I need or can use, I purchase it and keep the tags on it.  So easy to return.  Not easy to get over the frustration of going BACK to purchase something and not finding it.

EngineerHubby was happy to see if this would work....we did have just enough lip on our granite master vanity....and I am loving this.  Keeps the heat off the granite, everything is in easy reach......

Not easy to see, but it has a power strip underneath the appliances...so helpful.

Sick For 3 Days and News To Me?

Am I just the only weird one.....anyone else ever find out they've been sick AFTER they get better and notice the difference?  This reminds me of the time I was super tired.....worn out......but NOT sick......then I fainted, had to go to the ER and voila'  - found out I had BOTH strains of the flue at the same time!!!  And had no idea.

This week, I've been super tired.  Again.  2 days ago, I was at work with a massive headache, got nauseated and quickly ran outside to get fresh air and help it pass.  Except.......it didn't work.  If my boss happens to check the security footage, he will see what happened in the front landscaping quite suddenly.  Good news - only liquid since I hadn't been hungry.  Eeewww.

Straight to bed that night, tired all day at work yesterday - one of those "struggle to stay awake" days.......  Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up feeling like ME.  And now I'm up before the birds getting my quiet time prior to work.  So NOW I know......shoot, I was SICK!  Other people take time off work...hope I wasn't contagious!  (Another clue.....my 20 year old reported the same symptoms as me....headache, nausea....and I thought..."uh oh......have I been kissing on EngineerHubby?)

I, well make that WE do not want EngineerHubby sick.  No we do not!

So, instead of bragging I am never sick, the truth is...I don't KNOW I'm sick.  LOL  (Even when I vomit, I convince myself it is a food reaction.....)

Anyone else skip knowing they are sick until after it's over?

Wall Decor!

We finally found some things we love......after much hemming and hawing back and forth, one night EngineerHubby snuck off to purchase these items.  It was just difficult for me and he finally pulled the trigger.

Back to Blonde....

I've gone blonde again.  Which is odd to me, because truth be told, I thought I still was.   "Only in my mind" was not a viable option.

This makes it SO much easier to deal with the gray.....going through root color spray and eye shadow was getting old!  What, you've never tried putting eye shadow on your gray roots?  It works......but really?

4.5 Months in Our New Home

Time just flies!
I seriously cannot believe all the blank walls and undecorated areas.....Wonder if I will have it put together by this time next year? lol

Anyhoo....here are photos I took yesterday.....

Paint colors -

Perfect Greige by Sherwin Williams

 on all walls except Formal Dining and Master Bedroom.

Peppercorn by Sherwin Williams 

in Formal Dining Room and Master Bedroom (not shown)

The Hearth Room.....will we use it?  LOL  Showcasing a peace lily?  Can't decide....will we get reclining chairs....a curved conversation couch?  

Gorgeous Wall Carving from...guess where....Joss & Main.

I love my home....SO much!  For being our 15th home and never having built before, I am kicking myself.  I am now a believer in building just what you want and in your preferred budget.  That, of course, is the key.

Love my Yellow River Granite....so so happy every time I walk in the kitchen or bathrooms where we put it.

So much on our list.......but I guess we have plenty of time.  This is our 15th and LAST house!  Ha!

Fun with Hot Flashes - NOT!

One day in June. a new gal was hired at my company.  While I was training her, literally every 45 minutes she broke out and was WET.  She would start fanning herself but I thought to myself - HOW MISERABLE!!

Never one to let my "medical degree from the Internet" go unused (LOL), I shared with her what I knew about Maca Root and showed her a few I brought from home.  Can't remember now why I already had some....hmmm....... 

That day, she took one and went from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm without having another hot flash.  A miracle!!  She then ordered her own and I didn't ask again.

Good news I paid attention to the advice I gave her, because about a month ago, I started getting VERY VERY WARM....never wet, never broke a sweat, but definitely not my normal self.    

(And as an aside.....WTH!  I was told I had premature ovarian failure since age 26...have been 100% infertile ever since and have proof of that...no prevention of pregnancy...)...and that I'd not go through menopause.  Hmmm.....

I took my Maca capsules sometimes once a day, sometimes twice....but after a week or so, the effect was less and less.   I was bummed!  One day, however, I was ordering some more of that amazing, natural skin care products from Simply Divine Botanicals.com and saw she was now offering organic Maca Root Powder and I ordered some immediately.  PLEASE go read what she writes about it there.

Maca Root - on Simply Divine Botanicals.com

Ladies!!!!  This stuff is AMAZING.  Not only did it help my "warming sessions", but they are GONE.  Only when I am massively stressed do I have a baby one.......

I put 1/2 to 1 tsp of this powder in my morning green smoothies with my skate liver oil from Green Pasture.org and I have never felt better.

So now I have my own personalized "study" of 2 women...one 46 (me), one 52......and we both are having great relief with this product!

If you decide to try this, please do yourself a HUGE favor and order the sample sets of the skin care....both the main one and the seaweed one.  You will never be happier...you will never look younger.... and say goodbye to those hot flashes!!

Please let me know how it works for you .....love to hear!

The Console Cabinet - It's Here!

I mentioned before that I have loved this cabinet from afar....for months and months...and never could handle the sticker price.  Yet every time I saw one, I would just light up.....

When I saw it on Joss and Main one Sunday morning for WAY less than I'd ever seen it, I couldn't believe my eyes, put it in my shopping cart and proceeded to hem and haw like nobody's business.

Finally EngineerHubby said I should buy it...he knew how much I loved it....and sometimes we pay a little more for things we love THAT much.

So, I've been waiting and waiting.....and it is finally here!!

This was the temporary TV stand until it arrived.

Mirrored Console made by Hooker Furniture.

 This is ENORMOUS!!!  Wow!!!  Now, I just have to get it accessorized.  Same story with the rest of my house.  Ha!

And yes, WE LOVE IT!!  Even the doggies.....

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