Shaklee's Defend and Resist

Now that cold and flu season is quickly approaching us I thought this would be a good time to tell you about my experience with Shaklee's Defend and Resist complex.

The description says this:

When you first feel that tickle, get the protection you need with Defend & Resist Complex. It gives you not one, but four clinically proven immune-supporting ingredients: echinacea, black elderberry, larch tree, and zinc. Each supports, enhances, and promotes a healthy immune response.


When I read, "feel the first tickle". I thought how will I know when I feel a tickle in the back of my throat. I honestly didn't think I would know. But then I woke up one morning and I actually felt the tickle in the back of my throat!

It is the feeling when you wake up in the morning and just know that sickness is coming. You don't know when, but you know it is coming fairly soon. 


That morning I took 6 tablets and did the same thing for 6 days after and you know what?!

I didn't get sick. I didn't get a runny nose, or a cough.

And you want to know what else?

Mr. Genius also woke up a couple of days later with the tickle in his throat. I mentioned the Defend and Resist and his response was taking herbal pills were well...stupid. He took his regular cold and flu over the counter medicine...and he got sick!

This happened a couple more times. Of me not getting sick, and he getting sick.

Yet he still doesn't really believe in the "herbal pills".

Some people are a little more stubborn then others. ;)

One this I can tell you is that both Mr. Genius and I didn't get the flu vaccine last year. Just because we couldn't find the time. Mr. Genius got the flu and I didn't.

So I think it is safe to say that the Defend and Resist complex works!

If you have any questions about the Defend and Resist or other Shaklee items please feel free to contact my Shaklee rep,  Debbie Clinton. She is a wealth of knowledge who has used Shaklee products for over 14 years!

PS: This review was out of the my true opinion and I in NO way get any incentive for anyone else buying products from Debbie. 

Pop of color tables

First of all let me start off by saying that we have a contract on the house!!

 via

Phew!

And now do not have to have a perfectly clean house! Which makes for a much happier mom. ;)

I truly believe that either you can be a happy person or you can have a perfectly clean house. You can't have both.

Now comes the part where we have to figure out where we are going to call home.

Sometimes I am jealous of my kids and the fact that their biggest decisions are if they should use crayons or markers.

Being an adult is way over rated.

In part of the negotiation we are having to leave our washer and dryer. Which we are too upset out. The washer is not a favorite of ours.

So we are having to buy a new washer and dryer. The first question I have for all of you out there. Front loading or top loading?!!! I need your opinions please! Don't hold back. I have heard about mildew with the front loading ones. Have any of you experienced that?

Also, I hope to work on our house tour video this week.

But first I wanted to show you some side tables I just refinished.

I first got this idea from Eddie Ross.

I just loved the table. I love the white and then the pop of color on top. It is subtle.

I got these side tables.

And here is my Eddie Ross knockoff version.

Aren't they fun?!

Also we have come into the time in our lives where we decided to get rid of the changing table.

After all Romeo has been potty trained for 7 months and he has been too big to use this table for over a year. 

Anyone in Chicagoland interested? I am selling it for $140. Baskets, changing pad, and cover included.



Have a good week everyone!

I am linking to these parties.

Monday: The DIY Showoff, Skip to my Lou, Between Naps on the Porch Tuesday: Tip Junkie, Today's creative Blog , 
House of Grace , Just a Girl Wednesday: Blue Cricket Designs, Domestically Speaking, Someday Crafts Thursday: House of Hepworths, Shabby Chic Cottage Friday: Miss Mustard Seeds, My Romantic Home, Funky Junk Interiors, Shabby Nest, Finger Prints on the Fridge Saturday: Tatortots and Jello, Be Different act normal Sunday: Under the table and dreaming, I heart naptime 


 Pin It
 

Dear Wild Man

Today is the day you and I have been counting down to all summer.

Today is your first day of Kindergarten.

I will admit the beginning of this summer I was just as excited about this day as you were, but as the day drew closer I grew sadder.

For even though you looked like such a big boy today.

And you were lucky enough to get in the same room with 2 of your buddies/neighbors!

But I still look at you as my sweet baby boy,

who smiled and waved at everyone who passed us,

and would giggle with delight when LaLa (Elmo) would come on tv.

I am so proud of you and how much you have grown.

But now the true tests begins. Did you really listen to me all summer about keeping your hands to yourself....Only time will tell.

I love you Bud.

Have a great day at school and I will be waiting for you with open arms at the bus stop.

Some new furnishings

Thank you all for so many sweet comments and emails about our decisions to sell our house.

I know that this is not the norm for people to sell their house and downsize and live below their means nowadays.  Along with selling our house to start renting again? But when have I ever done something normal?

We got the house officially on the market Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Our realtor said that it takes a week for all the websites to load up the pictures and the info about our house so we hope to start getting calls about showings then. Hopefully.

I made a video with the boys giving a tour of our house, I haven't had the time to load up the video yet.

I will.

I pinky promise.

Until then, here are some items I have been working on. Most of these were done before we went on our little vacation.

First I got this bed.

It was from an old house that my neighbor is helping to restore. I got a few pieces of furniture from this house.

The color was really neat. It was painted blue then a blue-green over it. Here you can see the blue underneath when I sanded it down a little bit.

I decided to go a little funky with this one.

Bright pink with a little black glaze, then sanded a little for the blue to show through.

Next I got this cedar chest/bench.

When this picture was taken I had already taken the hardware off.

I haven't done anything in a purple. I am actually not a purple person. You know some of you have told me you are red people. Well purple just doesn't do it for me.

I have seen a lot of cute items on pinterest that are purple. So I thought I would try it out.

So...

These pictures show the color that well.

I thought it turned out cute, but I am still not a purple person. Hey, I tried.

Next one of my sweet friends saw one of thier neighbors put this small dresser/small buffet at the end of the driveway and grabbed it for me!

Thanks Linda!!

Here is the before.

And the after.

I also just got finished with a dresser for a client of mine. Sorry no before pictures with this one.

This is our last week of summer in this house!

Next week, I will officially have a kindergartener and the the week after that I will have a preschooler and two mornings a week to myself!!!

I think first on the list with my free time will be to take a nap...but who am I kidding. You all know I won't actually do that. ;)


I am linking to these parties.

Monday: The DIY Showoff, Skip to my Lou, Between Naps on the Porch Tuesday: Tip Junkie, Today's creative Blog , 
House of Grace , Just a Girl Wednesday: Blue Cricket Designs, Domestically Speaking, Someday Crafts Thursday: House of Hepworths, Shabby Chic Cottage Friday: Miss Mustard Seeds, My Romantic Home, Funky Junk Interiors, Shabby Nest, Finger Prints on the Fridge Saturday: Tatortots and Jello, Be Different act normal Sunday: Under the table and dreaming, I heart naptime 

On the move

We got back from vacation...and I am still alive!

So I CAN live with out air conditioning and an indoor shower.

Who knew?!

Although we were all very excited to come home though.

On Friday morning I told the boys that it was time to go home. At first they were sad and then the electricity went out.

Which meant no fans...we had 5 going.

They immediately jumped in the car and sat in there for over an hour waiting for Mr. Genius and I cleaned up the house.

It is safe to say that we are spoiled by modern conveniences.

Later on I plan on showing you some picture of our little vacation. It was much needed time away together.

But today I want to tell you about our big news....

We are selling our house!

  via

I am having major, crazy emotions about this decision.

I think I mentioned before that we took the Dave Ramsey class at our church last year.

 via

Taking that class is the best decision Mr. Genius and I have made in our married life. It has truly blessed us.

We rarely fight about money now. And friends let me tell you about how much of a miracle that is.


I have been trying for YEARS to get us on a budget. YEARS people!!!!

This class is what got Mr. Genius motivated to get on a budget and to actually stick to it!

It has been so helpful for us.

We payed off Mr. Genius' student loan so then our only debt is our house!

Which is great! But the problem is taxes went up and with Mr. Genius' home office taken away, expenses went way up.

Also Dave Ramsey recommends that your mortgage be a certain percentage...which right now I can't remember what that percentage is. Whatever it is...ours is more.  Much more.

Mr. Genius has been wanting to put the house on the market as soon as he heard what Dave Ramsey recommended for the mortgage percentage. I fought him on it. I was not ready to move. After all we just moved here from TN. 

But more and more things have happened to help me realize that not only does Mr. Genius want us to sell, but God does too. I am still working on my attitude about it.

Do you always have to smile when you are obeying God?

Don't answer that.

I can not promise that there wasn't a temper tantrum or two...or ten. Tears may or may not have been shed over the fact that we will be renting. And pity parties could have been in full force.

There is a lot of pride in me that I didn't realize about being a home owner. I like having a house that I could paint the kitchen cabinets pink and put in green carpet.  Not that I would do that, but it is my house and I can if I want to.

 I seriously can't believe that I found a picture that matched my description!

Going back to renting...means I won't be able to have that freedom.

But the fact that we will be doing what we need to do, does out weight all the bad.

So people I have less then one week to get the house ready to be on the market!!!!!

I am freaking out over here.

Yesterday we started getting the ball rolling. I cleaned out closets. Then organized those closets. Sold furniture. Move around boxes in our basement in order for it to feel bigger. Touched up paint. Fixed blinds.

Over the next couple of days I plan on making curtains, make a frame for the boys bathroom mirror. Sell more items in the basement. (Anyone need a 46" projector TV?). And last but more certainly not least, clean up the garage. Thinking of cleaning that place out gives me hives. OH and we are having another garage sale...in two weeks! Did I mention that Mr. Genius will be out of town during most of this?

via

Yeah, more hives keep breaking out as the minutes pass.

Once the house is all done. I plan on doing a big house tour so you can see what I have done around here and what I had planned to do.

My hope is to find a rental house that has a garage so I can still redo furniture. I love doing it so much.

Starting next week, I will be painting dressers and bed and chairs and whatever else I have out there in full force in order to clean out that garage.

Now my break is over and our winter shoes, gloves and scarves are looking at me wondering what in the world I will do with them.

Up to the attic I will be.

My Tuesday Ten

Stephanie Lynn at Under the Table and Dreaming is doing a party when you tell ten things you have done over the past week.

Since it was such a long time from my last post I thought I would tell you ten things I have been doing over the past month.

{1} First of all I am sure all of you have heard of Pinterest. Well it is my new obsession. Whenever Mr. Genius catching me on the computer now he says, "Are you Pinteresting again?" or sings "Ad-dic-ted".

I LOVE this site! You can find so many ideas on it!

Here is the link to my Pinterest account.

Look at some of the things I have found on there!

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes!! This is my new favorite food. This is coming from a woman that is not a big tomato fan. My mom is so proud.

This is my new favorite saying that will be put up somewhere in my house. Just need to find the time to do that.

{2} I have read this BEST book. Seriously, I read it in my 2 hour nap/quiet time. If you have lost someone dear to you whether it be a friend, family member or child. I highly recommend this book.

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. This book is a true story about a little boy just under 4 years old that dies and goes to heaven for what he says was 3 minutes then came back and he slowly tells his parents about what he saw while he was there. I have read books about heaven before. Especially after dad died, like 90 minutes in heaven and Heaven by Randy Alcorn. But this one is by far my favorite. This book has made me so excited about going to heaven. I can't wait to see my dad my grandparents...all without glasses, (because there are no glasses in heaven) and most of all Jesus and the angels and our baby that we miscarried over 6 years ago.

{3} The next thing I have gotten into is Heartsy.com. 
I am sure you all have heard about etsy.com well Heartsy.com is the groupon equilavant for etsy. It is a way to get some items in etsy for 50% off of more! I signed up a while back ago from another's blog (can't remember who) and she mentioned that if you sign up with her both I can her will get $5 off our first purchase. It was free to sign up so I thought I would give it a try.

One day Kiss a Prince was having a special for $15 for $30 in her shop. So I bought it and got 2 sugar scrubs and one solid lotion.

With the voucher for signing up under that blogger I got $30 worth of product for just $10! WooHoo.

I love the stuff too.

{4} Next week we are going on a vacation!!! Although I do need to say that where we are staying has NO air conditioning, NO TV, and NO indoor shower. Yes you read that right NO INDOOR shower. I will be either taking a shower at night or in my bathing suit. Honestly I think it will be a combination of the two. But what I am excited about is this will be our first vacation as a family with just the 4 of us. But I am praying that the 110 degree heat we are experiencing this week will be long gone. I may have to keep chanting to myself..we are creating memories, we are creating memories, to keep me going.

{5} There are 35 days left until Wild Man goes to Kindergarten!!! My life will not be the same after that day.

{6} I am working on make my own fabric for Wild Man's room with Spoonflower. His room needs some personality....bad. Wild Man put in a request for a Super Hero room with green and orange. This will be interesting.

{7} I have the urge to purge...I have this overwhelming feeling that we have too much stuff. When the boys aren't looking I am throwing away so many toys or putting them in the garage sale pile.

{8} Cuz I am crazy we are having another garage sale...because of point number 7.

{9} Sometimes after bath time and we tell Romeo to get his pajamas on and Mr. Genius and I are talking about the day in our bedroom we look down and see this...

We have our own naked cowboy who is stratigic where he places his guitar.

{10} I am now going to get a lot of crazies on my site because I just typed naked.


Have a good day everyone and do your best to stay cool.

A Dining table and Coat Rack

One Month!

It is been over one month since I have last posted!

Thank you to the sweet people who have emailed me to make sure I was still around.

I think it is safe to say that this summer is kicking my tail. The main thing that has changed is that Mr. Genius no longer has a home office. Which means he has to catch a train before the boys even wake up and if we are lucky he gets home just before they go to bed....at 8 pm. *Sigh*

We are trying to stay positive during this time. Especially since the reason we moved away from TN, away from all of our family, friends, and everyone we know was so Mr. Genius could get away from a schedule like this and actually spend time and be a part of this family.

Today I read the Bible verse from James 1:3-4
"Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

So watch out people. I will be perfect after all of this. Just kidding, I will leave the perfection to Jesus.

I know that having a husband working long hours is small compared to other things going on in the world. It is just the frustration of changed plans, but we are giving it to God...daily...well actually hourly. Especially when the boys are extra crazy and I am just wanting to help to get dinner done, wanting to work on some furniture to pay for preschool, or just have a break.

Ok, ok enough about that. I have some furniture before and afters for you.

I know that is why all of you are here anyways.

So here we go. One day as I was taking the boys to our weekly library visit. For some crazy reason I decided to take a difference route out of our neighborhood. It was trash day. This day one of my neighbors decided to throw away this dining room table.

It obviously needs some work, but nothing that can't be done!

The obvious is of course the broken off leg.

I just got my gorilla glue out and let it sit for a day to get a good bond.

All done. It still has a crack in it, but I like it that way. It will give it personality when painted.

The top of the table had a lot of scratches on it, but that is expected.

Oh I also found a desk that same day, but I haven't done anything to that yet.

I used that desk as my legs for the table while I was waiting for the leg to get glued on.

With the three leaves the table came with it gets 96" long.

So I stripped and sanded the table and painted the legs.

And here is the after.

Now because it has been a month since I last posted. I will now show you another before and after.

My neighbor is a handy man that is helping a friend redo and 100 year old house in a nearby city. Some furniture was left in the house and he brought some of it to me!

One item was this antique foot board which I DID take a before picture.

Cross my heart, hope to die kind of promise I took the picture.

And I can't for the life of me find it...GRRRRR

So, Mr. Genius cut the legs off for me.

And this is what it looked like after that.

So that is an almost before picture.

Then I found a Rustoleum spray paint color called Lagoon. Added some chalkboard paint in the middle. Added some hooks and TADA!

It's a coat rack! It's a message board!

So there ya go. Some of the things I have been working on lately. Hope you enjoyed!

I am linking to these parties:

Monday: The DIY Showoff, Skip to my Lou, Between Naps on the Porch Tuesday: Tip Junkie, Today's creative Blog , 

House of Grace , Just a Girl Wednesday: Blue Cricket Designs, Domestically Speaking, Someday Crafts Thursday: House of Hepworths, Shabby Chic Cottage Friday: Miss Mustard Seeds, My Romantic Home, Funky Junk Interiors, Shabby Nest, Finger Prints on the Fridge Saturday: Tatortots and Jello, Be Different act normal Sunday: Under the table and dreaming, I heart naptime