My Pillows

While I was in high school, I had a wreck in a Volkswagen Beetle and flip it several times. I almost got a ticket for driving left of center while I was flipped upside down. Yes, it sounds ridiculous but it is completely true! I was banged up and bruised but had no major injuries. However, the effects of that wreck began to show up years later in my neck. 

About 15 years ago, I started having a terrible time with my neck and shoulders. I went to the  doctor and he diagnosed me with bulging disks in my neck. He prescribed anti-inflammatories along with pain pills. The anti-inflammatories tore up my stomach and weren't helping. The doctor then gave me exercises to try. They helped some but the problem still remained. It was getting worse and I was losing sleep. 

After one very bad week, DH made me an appointment with a chiropractor. I was amazed at the relief he provided me. I have been going for 15 years now. I started out going every 4 to 6 weeks, then I was able to push my appointments out to 6 to 8 weeks and now I am up to every 8 to 12 weeks.

Besides giving me adjustments, he has given me advice of what to do or not do. He has advised me on when to ice or apply heat. He also recommended two different types of pillows for me. A D-shaped Cervical pillow for my neck and a body pillow to help with hip joint pain I inherited from my daddy's side of the family. 

The D-shaped Cervial pillow has a d-shaped hole in the middle to lay your head in while the lobe supports the neck. The design is to help restore the natural curvature of the neck, which it does. This pillow has provided me with a more comfortable night sleep. An added plus is that Miss Oakley loves the pillows too. The hole in the middle is just the right size for her to curl up in. 

Pic via Core Products

Most of my daddy's side of the family seems to have a hip problem of some sort. Whether it is a sciatica nerve issues or inflamed hip joints. My is more of the inflamed hip joint issue. Going to the chiropractor helps me out a lot. The adjustment relieves a lot of the pain and gives me some relief, but what has helped me the most is using a body pillow which was recommended by my chiropractor. I sleep with the pillow between my knees when I lay on my side or use it to prop up my right side (which is the problem side) while I am on my back. Since I have started using a body pillow, I have had a lot less issues with my hip. 

Pic via Walmart

Both of these pillows go with me where ever we travel. I don't think I would sleep very well without them. I have even got DH hooked on using a body pillow. Both these pillows are simple good thing!

Living life and loving every minute of it! 

My Go To Beauty Products: My Favorite Fragrance

When it comes to fragrances, I am very picky. I don't like anything heavy or overpowering. Most of the VERY expensive fragrances are to cloying for me. They also tend to inflame my asthma symptoms. I like light, floral fragrances. Fragrances that you wear that don't wear you. So when I found the Sweet Pea Collection at Bath & Body Works, I was hooked. 

Pic via Bath & Body Works

Sweet Pea has a lot of floral and fruit notes to it, but it stills manages to be a light fragrance. I use several of products in this fragrance line. I love the fragrance mist which covers me with enough scent that people get just a hint of it when I walk by. I also use love the body lotion, shower gel, and bubble bath. 

Two of my favorites in this line is the body cream and sugar scrub. The body cream doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy like some lotions or creams can. It leaves your skin feeling silky. The sugar scrub is a great product to use to exfoliate your skin. DH spoiled me for my b-day this year by buying me several tubes of it. We have heard it has been discontinued for now, but I am hoping that it will come back soon because they are in the middle of a packaging change. 

I love Bath & Body Works. They have a lot of fragrances and products to choose from. I like a lot of their different fragrances and have tried some, but my favorite is the Sweet Pea. It is my signature fragrance collection!

Living a simple life and loving every minute of it! 

My Go To Beauty Products: My Make-Up

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I rarely wear make-up. I definitely don't wear make-up while I am at home or when I go to work. After years of rubbing off my eye make-up and smearing mascara everywhere when my allergies were bothering my eyes, I just don't bother with putting make-up on. However, I will put on make-up when we go out to eat or to a movie or to a party or church.

I have used everything from Avon to Mary Kay to Maybelline make-up, but Cover Girl make-up is what I use the most. Although right now, I am using L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Sculpt Mascara. I like L'Oreal's mascara, but I am not over the moon about and will probably switch back to a Covergirl mascara when it is gone. 

I believe make-up should look as natural as possible. I live by the axiom of you should wear the make-up the make-up shouldn't wear you. So I tend to choose neutrals and shades of brown. I add a pop of color with my green eyeliner. 

For a foundation, I like to use Cover Girl Clean Matte Liquid Foundation in Classic Ivory. It matches my skin tone well and is easy to blend in. For a foundation powder, I use Cover Girl Professional Powder Make-up in Translucent Light or Fair.  It matches the foundation I use well. It also gives a polished look without giving a caked on look. 

For my eyes, I like to use eye make-up in shades of brown. I buy Cover Girl Eye Enhancers 4-Kit Shadows in Country Woods or Natural Nudes. Those shades match my coloring well. They enhance my eyes without being overbearing. To make my green eyes stand out, I like to use a green eye liner - which may or may not be Cover Girl depending on whether I can find it in green. For my lashes, I like to use black mascara. 

I don't like the feel of lipstick on my lips, so I go for more of the gloss or lip balm product on my lips. I use shades of pink or peach, because anything else just looks to harsh on my face and for my coloring. 

I am by no means a make-up expert, but I know what looks good on me and what doesn't. I have picked up a few make-up tips from family, friends, and tv shows that have really helped me with my putting on make-up over the years and I am still learning more. Over on Pinterest, I have a board called Make-Up Mastery where I am compiling tips, ideas, and tools for me to learn more about make-up and to improve my make-up techniques. Go and take a look at it! 

Living life simply and enjoying every minute of it!

My Go To Beauty Products: Olay

Growing up, the soap of our household was Jergens soap. It was the only soap that didn't break my momma out. When I got married and set up a household, we started out using Jergens. It wasn't that soon before, DH started breaking out. So, we tried all different kinds of products from Dove to Ivory to Dial. All of those products dried me skin out terribly. We finally landed on Olay soap. It didn't dry my skin out and DH didn't react to it, so we had found our new soap. 

Pic via Olay

As I have gotten older and getting closer to 50 with each passing years, I started noticing littles wrinkles and that wrinkles that kept appearing. My skin is really in good condition because I don't smoke, drink, or lay out in the sun or tan. I rarely wear make-up due to seasonal allergies that affect my eyes. Yet, my skin is changing with age. So when I started looking products to help out with wrinkles and bags under the eyes. The first product I tried was Olay products and I am very pleased with them. I use 3 products from the Regenerist line of products. 

As a moisturizer, I use their Olay Regenerist Regenerating Lotion W/Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 15. It doesn't have a heavily scented smell. It is easy to put on. It makes my skin feel soft and moisturized.  I also like that it has a sunscreen in it. I use it when I am going to be outside instead of regular sunscreen which makes my stings my skin. 

Pic via Olay

For a face cleanser and exfoliant, I use Olay Regenerist Regenerating Cream Cleanser. It is easy to use. It cleans and exfoliates my skin gently. I like the tube it comes because you can get every last (or almost every last) bit of cream out of it.

Pic via Olay

Around the eyes, I use Olay Regenerist Eye Lifting Serum (which I just found out that they are discontinuing.)  I really liked this product. It did make my eyes look better and it didn't sting when I accidentally got some in my eye. I am really disappointed that it is being discontinued. I guess I will have to switch to Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Eye Swirl, Eye Treatment. When I buy some and try it, I will let you know what I think about it. 

Pic via Olay.

Pic via Olay.

Aging is a natural process and I believe in aging naturally as gracefully as possible. However, it never hurts to take care of your skin and using products out that are out there to do so. While products like this do help, I still believe the best thing you can do for your skin is to not smoke, not drink heavily, not lay out in the sun or a tanning bed, eat a health diet, get plenty of rest, and wear make-up as little as possible. 

Simply aging as gracefully as I possible can and loving every minute of it!

Happy Fall Y'all

When it comes to Fall, I like to decorate our home with with pumpkins, grouds, scarecrows, and leaves. So, here is how we do Fall at our home! 

From our family to yours, Happy Fall Y'all! 

Our Master Bath Project

Our home improvement project I have been hinting at for several weeks is finally finished. That project was to add some tile work to our Master Bath. More specifically, we added tile to our shower area and our sinks. 

It all started a few months ago when DH had to work on our shower head. As he was working, he said we need to look at doing something different because the wallpaper was getting a fair amount of water damage. We talked about various ideas and finally decided we would add tile. It wasn't a few days later we were looking at tile. We then went on to talk about tiling behind our sinks which we had discussed before. So the snowball had started rolling and there was no stopping it now. DH began work Labor Day Weekend and finished up the weekend after. 

This is how the project first started out. DH was just fixing a loose shower head.  Notice the shower head is coming out of the area with the wallpaper on it and the water damage.

The tile we picked out.

They weren't from the same collection, but they work well together.

Cutting out the wall board...

adding blocking...

to attach the backer board too.

Same thing was happening to the shower area.

Backer Board ready for the tile, but measuring and cutting had to happen first.

Time for the mortar to be laid...

so the tile can be laid.

Tile laid and the grout being added.

The shower waiting to be wiped down.

The tile around the sink grouted and ready to be wiped down.

Next step was to add a sealer...

then caulk.

 

The finished product.

I am in love with it!

This was DH's first time laying tile. I think he did a terrific job. He says he would rather lay flooring again, than lay tile. Hopefully, when I ask for tile to be added around the guest bath's sink in a few months, he will have forgotten about how much he hated it! 

Living a simple life and loving every minute of it!