So, if your concealer is not doing it for you, try adding the BB cream. Good luck and Happy Hump Day!!!!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Butterfly Effect
So, we were delayed two hours for school this morning due to severe weather hitting while the buses were on their routes. Normally, I would be jumping for joy, but because it stormed the kid slept in the bed with the hubs and myself. Translation....between the kid, the weather radio, the weather siren, and turning the TV on and off to check the weather no one got any sleep. I woke up in a terrible mood, hurting because of the weather, and I couldn't get dressed for tending to the kid. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to put on my BB cream when I was putting on my make up!!!! My pores looked so large, that if you were to drive a car over my face, you would have blown out a tire on a pot hole. Plus, the butterfly rash was terrible today!!!! I blame this on the weather change, stress, and lack of sleep!!!! If you haven't used BB cream yet, it works wonderful for covering up the butterfly rash. I went in Ulta for tinted moisturizer and the lady suggested BB cream. I thought, what the heck, I will give it a try. I'm totally in love. It goes on smoother and you get better coverage if you use a foundation brush. I use a flat foundation brush from Merele Norman. I have a before and after pic. I use Smashbox in light.
So, if your concealer is not doing it for you, try adding the BB cream. Good luck and Happy Hump Day!!!!
So, if your concealer is not doing it for you, try adding the BB cream. Good luck and Happy Hump Day!!!!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Seriously PEEHIP
Ahhhhhh PEEHIP.......the public education health insurance of Alabama. In more or less of words, it stinks!!!! PEEHIP was the reason so many women went into education. It had great benefits, it was cheap, and you were treated like gold everywhere you went because you were a member of PEEHIP. Notice I said HAD. Over the last three years, PEEHIP has gone down the drain. It now charges double for co-pays, requires prior authorization to many common medications, and charges you outrageous fees for labs.
Last month, I had 3 doctors appointments in one day. I live well over an hour away from all of my doctors and I try to knock them out in one day. After a day, that began well before 8 a.m. And didn't end until my husband and I got home around 7 p.m. I had spent $150.00 in co-pays and lab fees. That totally ruined my December/January budget. (I haven't been paid in 6 weeks due to the Christmas holidays.) That is not counting food (we packed our own snacks and drinks), gas, and the PTO time my husband had to take to go with me. I thought well, I wonder what we will have to go without this month.
As the month as progressed, I have received 3 bills from 2 different doctor's offices, and a bill from the lab wanting more money from where they filed my insurance and my insurance didn't pay. Happy Birthday to me!!!! Those bills have completely ruined now my February budget.
Do you find yourself in a budget crunch due to your doctor visits, and how to budget for medical expenses?
I have felt pretty good today, other than being fatigued. Here are a few pictures from this weekend and today's outfit. The first is a picture I found on Pinterest that describes the hubs to a "T", the second is how I spent my Sunday night (working), and the last one is my work outfit.
Jeans: Belk
White top: Old Navy
Red Jacket: local boutique
Belt: Forever 21
Red Heels: clearance room @ Belk
Hope you have had a great Monday lupies!!!!!!!
Last month, I had 3 doctors appointments in one day. I live well over an hour away from all of my doctors and I try to knock them out in one day. After a day, that began well before 8 a.m. And didn't end until my husband and I got home around 7 p.m. I had spent $150.00 in co-pays and lab fees. That totally ruined my December/January budget. (I haven't been paid in 6 weeks due to the Christmas holidays.) That is not counting food (we packed our own snacks and drinks), gas, and the PTO time my husband had to take to go with me. I thought well, I wonder what we will have to go without this month.
As the month as progressed, I have received 3 bills from 2 different doctor's offices, and a bill from the lab wanting more money from where they filed my insurance and my insurance didn't pay. Happy Birthday to me!!!! Those bills have completely ruined now my February budget.
Do you find yourself in a budget crunch due to your doctor visits, and how to budget for medical expenses?
I have felt pretty good today, other than being fatigued. Here are a few pictures from this weekend and today's outfit. The first is a picture I found on Pinterest that describes the hubs to a "T", the second is how I spent my Sunday night (working), and the last one is my work outfit.
Jeans: Belk
White top: Old Navy
Red Jacket: local boutique
Belt: Forever 21
Red Heels: clearance room @ Belk
Hope you have had a great Monday lupies!!!!!!!
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The Day I Gave Up My Hair
If you saw my Keek yesterday, you will know that it was called "Hair Day." These are the days that I go to have my hair washed and styled. You may me thinking to yourself what does that have to do with lupus? Well, let me just tell you.
When I was first diagnosed, I had the most beautiful head full of dark brown, full of body, hair that I could ask for. It would do just about anything I wanted it to do. I could be in and out of the shower, dressed with make up on, hair fixed, clothes ironed, in about an hour. I was one lucky girl that that was all it took. Ahhh, those were the days!! Then, it happened. My hair started falling out in handfuls. I was fortunate that I had plenty of it, so at first it wasn't that noticeable. It got so thin that it would do nothing. I would curl it with a curling iron, it went flat. I would hot roll it, it went flat. Trying to use a flat iron was a disaster. I tried every volumizing foam, shampoo, and spray on the market. Nothing seemed to work. After battling with this for about 2 years, that side effect of lupus began to get better, but my hair was never the same. I was beyond frustrated. Frustrated to the point that I gave up. I gave up on my hair. I would wash it with the cheapest shampoo I could find, put conditioner in it so I wouldn't have tangles, and let it air dry. Most of the time, I went to bed with it wet, got up, attempted to do something with it, and out the door I went.
It wasn't until this spring that I looked at myself and realized I was letting myself go. Slowly, but surely I was letting myself go. It was getting harder and harder to get dressed, put my make up on, and fix my hair. There was no way I could do it all in one day (shower, dry my hair, fix it, and put make up on). There were times that I would stay at home just because I didn't have the energy to get dressed.
My family would say, you have got to do something with your hair. It looks awful. So, I pulled out the hair dryer, the curling iron, the flat iron, and the hot rollers determined to do something with myself. Little did I know, what was about to happen would hit me like a ton of bricks. As I began trying to make myself presentable again, I noticed that I was dropping the hair dryer several times while I would try to dry it. When I would try to use the styling tools, my fingers would hurt so bad that I would have to stop and rest, and there were times when I would drop the styling tools and burn myself. I was devastated to say the least. I knew what this meant. Lupus was showing itself in my hands. It was crippling my fingers and my ability to grip things.
I decided I was going to go have my hair cut and highlighted to make myself feel better before I went back to work in August. After the stylist was finished, I loved it!!! I felt so good about myself and the way I looked. It was amazing. She showed me how to style it and said it could even be done the night before and it would still look good in the morning. She was right, but that still didn't take away from the fact that I couldn't grip the hairdryer and I risked burning myself with the curling iron.
I went in the day before school started to have my eyebrows colored (I have a gray spot in my right eye brow...lol), and I was exhausted. I was thinking how am I going to get myself and my daughter ready for school and make myself look presentable. So, I did something that I had never done before. I asked the girl who was coloring my eyebrows if she had time to wash and fix my hair, and it just so happened she did.
It felt so good to have my hair washed the way it should be, have it blow dried out, and styled. It brought life back to me and made me feel so good about myself. You could not see my bald spots or where it was thinning. I was so pleased with the way it looked. I got home that afternoon and the hubs said, "You look amazing. You look like you feel so good." And that my friends was all it took.
That was the day I gave up my hair to the best hairstylist I have ever had. I go twice a week to have it washed and styled. Yes, I touch it up between visits, but it takes 5 minutes at the most and dry shampoo is the best invention since sliced bread. It has changed my life!!
Have I had to make sacrifices to be able to afford to have it done. Absolutely!!! I no longer order out for lunch at work, I have cut back on my clothing budget, and had to make do with what I have, but I don't care. I have found something that is not in the form of a pill that makes me feel wonderful!! It took me several months to tell my family that I do this. It was a pride thing that I wasn't ready to let go of, but I am glad I did.
So, whatever you find that makes you feel good about yourself, do it!!!!! Sacrifice what you can, and learn to live without. It has changed me for the better and I feel better because of it. No more hairdryers dropped on the toes or burns from the styling tools. It was what I needed to get that extra boost of energy and my self confidence back.
If you live in the North Alabama area and need a great hairstylist, let me know and I will give you my stylist's info. If you are having the same problems, give this a try for a month and see if you can swing it. It has changed my life and hopefully it will yours too :)
When I was first diagnosed, I had the most beautiful head full of dark brown, full of body, hair that I could ask for. It would do just about anything I wanted it to do. I could be in and out of the shower, dressed with make up on, hair fixed, clothes ironed, in about an hour. I was one lucky girl that that was all it took. Ahhh, those were the days!! Then, it happened. My hair started falling out in handfuls. I was fortunate that I had plenty of it, so at first it wasn't that noticeable. It got so thin that it would do nothing. I would curl it with a curling iron, it went flat. I would hot roll it, it went flat. Trying to use a flat iron was a disaster. I tried every volumizing foam, shampoo, and spray on the market. Nothing seemed to work. After battling with this for about 2 years, that side effect of lupus began to get better, but my hair was never the same. I was beyond frustrated. Frustrated to the point that I gave up. I gave up on my hair. I would wash it with the cheapest shampoo I could find, put conditioner in it so I wouldn't have tangles, and let it air dry. Most of the time, I went to bed with it wet, got up, attempted to do something with it, and out the door I went.
It wasn't until this spring that I looked at myself and realized I was letting myself go. Slowly, but surely I was letting myself go. It was getting harder and harder to get dressed, put my make up on, and fix my hair. There was no way I could do it all in one day (shower, dry my hair, fix it, and put make up on). There were times that I would stay at home just because I didn't have the energy to get dressed.
My family would say, you have got to do something with your hair. It looks awful. So, I pulled out the hair dryer, the curling iron, the flat iron, and the hot rollers determined to do something with myself. Little did I know, what was about to happen would hit me like a ton of bricks. As I began trying to make myself presentable again, I noticed that I was dropping the hair dryer several times while I would try to dry it. When I would try to use the styling tools, my fingers would hurt so bad that I would have to stop and rest, and there were times when I would drop the styling tools and burn myself. I was devastated to say the least. I knew what this meant. Lupus was showing itself in my hands. It was crippling my fingers and my ability to grip things.
I decided I was going to go have my hair cut and highlighted to make myself feel better before I went back to work in August. After the stylist was finished, I loved it!!! I felt so good about myself and the way I looked. It was amazing. She showed me how to style it and said it could even be done the night before and it would still look good in the morning. She was right, but that still didn't take away from the fact that I couldn't grip the hairdryer and I risked burning myself with the curling iron.
I went in the day before school started to have my eyebrows colored (I have a gray spot in my right eye brow...lol), and I was exhausted. I was thinking how am I going to get myself and my daughter ready for school and make myself look presentable. So, I did something that I had never done before. I asked the girl who was coloring my eyebrows if she had time to wash and fix my hair, and it just so happened she did.
It felt so good to have my hair washed the way it should be, have it blow dried out, and styled. It brought life back to me and made me feel so good about myself. You could not see my bald spots or where it was thinning. I was so pleased with the way it looked. I got home that afternoon and the hubs said, "You look amazing. You look like you feel so good." And that my friends was all it took.
That was the day I gave up my hair to the best hairstylist I have ever had. I go twice a week to have it washed and styled. Yes, I touch it up between visits, but it takes 5 minutes at the most and dry shampoo is the best invention since sliced bread. It has changed my life!!
Have I had to make sacrifices to be able to afford to have it done. Absolutely!!! I no longer order out for lunch at work, I have cut back on my clothing budget, and had to make do with what I have, but I don't care. I have found something that is not in the form of a pill that makes me feel wonderful!! It took me several months to tell my family that I do this. It was a pride thing that I wasn't ready to let go of, but I am glad I did.
So, whatever you find that makes you feel good about yourself, do it!!!!! Sacrifice what you can, and learn to live without. It has changed me for the better and I feel better because of it. No more hairdryers dropped on the toes or burns from the styling tools. It was what I needed to get that extra boost of energy and my self confidence back.
If you live in the North Alabama area and need a great hairstylist, let me know and I will give you my stylist's info. If you are having the same problems, give this a try for a month and see if you can swing it. It has changed my life and hopefully it will yours too :)
Thursday, January 24, 2013
3, 223
3, 223...........That is how may days I have officially been a "lupie."
I have been approached by many people asking me, "How do you do it?" "How do you manage it all with stage 4 lupus?" Well, folks I am here to tell you that there is not one answer, there is not one secret, and there is for sure not enough room in one post to talk about it all. That is why I am starting this blog. I hope to answer your questions, help you through the tough times, and hopefully have some fun along the way. This has been and will continue to be a lifelong journey. I am thrilled at how far I have come and look forward to making even more progress in the future. There will be bad days, there will be TERRIBLE days, I know..I have been there and will unfortunately continue to visit there, but I hope we can share as may good days as we do bad.
We have been brought together as a family by a terrible, invisible, incurable disease that we cannot possibly fight alone. It takes a tribe to keep us healthy and I say the more the merrier. This blog will not always be positive and upbeat as I will have bad days that I will have to talk about. I struggle just like you do, and I will need to picked up off my face and be told to get out of bed many times. I hope this is place to share things that work for you and things that don't. I don't claim to know everything, but I do like to pass on information and things that work for me. This can be anything from the best concealer to cover that butterfly rash to how to fix your hair so that people cannot tell it is thinning. I have a very good friend, we will call her Em J, that can whip Paula Dean around a kitchen with her pinky finger that is a master mind when it comes to cooking and nutrition, that will be posting on here as well.
You can follow me on twitter @tiffanyfaith, instagram @tiffanyadonnan, or you can follow me on keek @tiffanyadonnan. Don't do social media?? That's OK....shoot me an email: lupieforlife@yahoo.com.
Have a great night!!! Tomorrow is Friday.......woop woop :) :) :) :)
I have been approached by many people asking me, "How do you do it?" "How do you manage it all with stage 4 lupus?" Well, folks I am here to tell you that there is not one answer, there is not one secret, and there is for sure not enough room in one post to talk about it all. That is why I am starting this blog. I hope to answer your questions, help you through the tough times, and hopefully have some fun along the way. This has been and will continue to be a lifelong journey. I am thrilled at how far I have come and look forward to making even more progress in the future. There will be bad days, there will be TERRIBLE days, I know..I have been there and will unfortunately continue to visit there, but I hope we can share as may good days as we do bad.
We have been brought together as a family by a terrible, invisible, incurable disease that we cannot possibly fight alone. It takes a tribe to keep us healthy and I say the more the merrier. This blog will not always be positive and upbeat as I will have bad days that I will have to talk about. I struggle just like you do, and I will need to picked up off my face and be told to get out of bed many times. I hope this is place to share things that work for you and things that don't. I don't claim to know everything, but I do like to pass on information and things that work for me. This can be anything from the best concealer to cover that butterfly rash to how to fix your hair so that people cannot tell it is thinning. I have a very good friend, we will call her Em J, that can whip Paula Dean around a kitchen with her pinky finger that is a master mind when it comes to cooking and nutrition, that will be posting on here as well.
You can follow me on twitter @tiffanyfaith, instagram @tiffanyadonnan, or you can follow me on keek @tiffanyadonnan. Don't do social media?? That's OK....shoot me an email: lupieforlife@yahoo.com.
Have a great night!!! Tomorrow is Friday.......woop woop :) :) :) :)
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