Fibromyalgia

Hello everyone,

So today will be a more serious post. I haven't blogged a lot in the couple of weeks because I have been exhausted and sore from my Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Today, I decided that it might be a good idea to write about it so you can understand what it is.

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalia is a chronic pain disorder. It cannot be diagnosed through x-rays or blood test or any other medical machinery. Doctors diagnose patients based on there symptoms and through a physical exam by touching and applying pressure on trigger points that are known to people with the disease ( although some people have widespread pain throughout the body). Women aged between 25 and 60 are the ones who are the most at risk to develop this disease then men are but no one knows why yet. There is also no known reason as to why people have this disease. Scientist think that the disease can be triggered by trauma to the body ( i.e.. infection, accident and child birth).

What are the symptoms?

Some of the symptoms that affect most patients are:

• Fatigue ( Patients can have a lot of fatigue due to many reasons. Living with pain is exhausting. There is also the fact that many of patients can't sleep through the night because they are sore. IT is a vicious cycle. Being tired makes you sore and being sore deprives you of sleep)
• Depression
• Pain and tenderness in certain areas ( there is at least 18 tender points, Some of them are located in between the shoulder blade, knees, neck and hips all carry tender points.
• Anxiety
• Fibro-Fog ( the inability to stay concentrated on a tasks) 
• Head aches

Although some people may have all these symptoms some of them may not. 

What is the impact on life?

Due to the pain that comes with living with Fibromyalgia many people become irritated and have trouble functioning. The motivation to do chores or even hobbies can become hard to do.  Even parenting can become a hard thing to do. 

Treatment

There is no treatment yet for Fibromyalgia. How ever there is many medications that can help with the pain. Keeping active can also help with the symptoms of the disease. Some scientist even think that diet can effect the person.


How does it affect me? Like any other diseases or medical conditions I have good days and bad days. Normally if I have what I call an attack ( a day when I am extremely sore) it is normally coupled with a bad day for my Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Most of my pain from FM is in between my shoulder blades and in my calves although I have days where even parts of my skin hurts ( normally it is my forearms but sometimes it is everywhere).

Sometimes it is very hard for me to function. The pain can keep me up at night, so having a good nights sleep is often rare. Sometimes simple tasks are hard for me to accomplish because I just can't concentrate. Being a mother and a good person towards others in general is also hard sometimes. Being exhausted from the pain and lack of sleep often makes me short on patience but with that said I do remind myself that I am not frustrated at my children or others and that I have to find good ways to vent these frustrations and not let them out on my children and others around me.

To keep my mind off of my pain and to keep my irritability in check I do a lot of things. I read, exercise, knit and do rug hooking. These activities keep my mind going and my fingers nimble. I find that that more I become inactive the more I get sore. I do believe that staying active helps alleviate some of the symptoms from FM and RA but that it keeps me from falling apart both physically and emotionally.

For those of you who do follow me you may realize that sometimes my post may be scattered in topics or just down right not make sense and often it is because I am exhausted and I just can't think straight. I often blog as another way to cope with my daily pain and stresses.

That is about all for today though. I hope that this post has shed a bit of light on what FM is and how it affects a person. 

Sources
http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/ss/slideshow-index
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fibromyalgia

Yoga challenge completed

Hello everyone, 

My last post was about the update on my 30 day spending freeze that I did in January this one will be about the 30 days of yoga that I did along side the spending freeze challenge. 

I started this challenge because 1) I love Yoga 2)I fell off the yoga challenge and 3) I figured it was a good way to start the new year.  

I posted a picture of myself doing yoga every day for the 30 days that I was doing this challenge to keep me motivated. These pictures were also posted on Instagram. 

I've learned a lot of this yoga journey and I am continuing in this journey. I haven't been doing yoga everyday but I do take the time for it every second day. I also started a 30 day meditation challenge which is proving to be harder then I thought it would be  ( any ways back to the yoga challenge).

What have I learned and gained from this challenge? 

I am more flexible and strong then I thought I was but I still have a long way to go. I was able to surprise myself with some of the poses and how easy they were. Some of them that were a bit harder for me became easier by the end of the challenge. Finding out that I was stronger physically then I thought also  made a difference in how I thought about myself mentally. I found that I am more confident in my abilities as a person.

Making time for myself on a regular basis is important not only for me but my family. Taking care of a family is a lot of work and taking time for myself started taking the back burner again. When I started this challenge I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it everyday ( I missed two days and made up for them the next day by doing two practices). To my delight I found time for myself everyday to practice yoga. Even if the boys were up I would still practice. Yes, it wasn't all easy to do when they were up but I still did it. It made me smile seeing my kids play on the mat with each other ( even if that meant I had to practice on the wooden floor), sometimes they tried the position I took and other time the practice also became play time with the kids. I learned that taking time for myself was important because I was just walking through my days not really present. I knew obviously what I was doing but I mean I wasn't there in a sense that I didn't feel connected or grounded to anything and yoga has brought that back into my life. 

I've become stronger and less in pain. I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis ( swelling in the joints) and Fibromyalgia ( a pain disorder), doing yoga for some reason or the other has seemed to help with this pain. I don't know if it is because it helps relieve pain caused by stress which lowers the amount of discomfort  ( when it comes to my fibro) or if the deep breathing and different poses we take helps with better circulation of the blood and other fluids that help alleviate swelling ( When it comes to my RA). Either way that is a great thing for me, being in pain often makes me a little bit less patient and exhausted all the time and this practice seemed to help me become a better person because I am less aggravated by the pain I often find myself in. 

Go with the flow. At the beginning of this journey I was following every instruction and following the sequences as we were told. What I like about yoga with Adrienne is that she gives us permission to just do what feels good for us. As I got closer to the end of my journey I started doing just that, I started doing what felt good for me, I often just started doing my own sequences sometimes rejoining in with the video but it was nice. I gave myself freedom to experiment and try what felt good for me. That is a lesson that I am now trying to take into my every day life. To just go with the flow and try to bring things that feel good into my life like, laughter and happiness. 

I will definitely continue in this yoga practice. Right now, I am trying to work on achieving two positions. I am working on the crow pose which is an arm balance stance and I am working on building strength on my arms and shoulder girdle to be able to do a headstand ( don't know how long that one will take to achieve).  I want to continue my journey to becoming a the best I can possibly be.

That is all for now. 

Namaste

30 day spending freeze if OVER.

Hello peeps,

If you have been following this blog you will know that I had taken up two challenges for the month of January that lasted 30 days. I was posting on a weekly basis but I took the time to post this one at a later date since the challenges were over soon.

The one challenge that I took that I will be talking about on this blog will be about ny 30 day spending freeze. That's right, I went ( or at least tried my best) 30 days not spending any more money then I needed too. Anything that wasn't on my grocery list wasn't allowed to be bought, no buying snacks at work or taking extra cabs.

The first week I spent 15$ that I wasn't supposed to ( read this post). The second week was great  I didn't spend anything extra ( read this post). .

For week 3 here is how it went. I was having a great week of fighting all the urges to spend money and then Friday happened. I brought my debit card with me because I had to do groceries that day and one of the deli meats that I was keeping my eye on in the hopes that it would go on sale or discounted for 50% off just happened to be 50% off that day. I had packed a light lunch and so I bought it that cost me 4.24$. I also bought an extra bag of pepperettes ( 9.99 on sale) and 4 things of pancotta also 50% off ( 2.25 each after the discount=9$) besides those expenses I didn't buy anything else that was on the list so week three I overspent 23.23$.

Week 4 I also didn't spend a penny extra in my last week of the challenge. All in all I didn't do as bad as I thought. I won't deny it though it was hard. Some days I just wanted to buy things, not because I needed to but because I wanted too. I realized through out this experience that a lot of my spending that was stopping me from saving money and paying off debts were on little things that I really didn't need. Like the pack of meat I bought because I wanted to try it, along with the 50-100$ extra that I would spend on groceries not because it was necessary but just because I wanted to have it. It was an extra thing on hand that I had to eat when I was bored. I realize now that our grocery bills can stay low. Yes, my husband has spent a few more dollars this month because he got all the good sales. I think ( even if it was my turn to do groceries) that spending money on extra items you actually need when they are on sale is fine. I also think that yes, once in awhile go ahead and spoil yourself with a little something but it doesn't have to cost a lot of money.

Although my spending freeze is over I will definitely watch what I spend money on and continue to look at all the progress I have made. I have also continued on my 52 week money challenge by continuing to put what ever amount of money I could aside each month ( anywhere from 10-50$) I cannot wait to see how much money I will have saved at the end of the year.


For now that is all. I will talk about the 30 day yoga challenge and how I felt with that.

Nighty, night

Me

More boxes updated

Hello everyone,

This is the other half of the box list updates. I will be working hard in the next couple of weeks to add another beauty box list.

Now Ships to Canada

Bride box-35$ a month get you fun full sized items tailored for a bride.

Dottiebox- Get a box full of  hand picked, hand made indie products for 20$ a month for a full box and 10$ for a mini box.

jewelbits- For  as low 33$ a month receive up to 125$ worth of jewellery (2-3 pieces)

Runner Box- For 10$ a month you can receive this "runners" box ( they also offer boxes for cyclist and triathletes) which contains many items from snacks to accessories. Only ships to select areas in Canada ( 14.95$ S&H fee).


No longer Available

Cave Cravings- For 30$ a month receive over 30$ worth of organic and paleo snacks.
This box does not ship to Canada but there site is down right now. The link still work but the company has their own message.

Cloud9 sample box-For 15$ a month (5.95$ S&H) you receive a box of 5-6 food samples. 
No longer available.

Go bits is now Vibites- Boxes cost 28$ for a box of 14 snacks you can pick and choose how often you want to see them in your mail box.

Green fork-N-spoon- For 29$ monthly receive 8-20 healthy snacks for you and your family.

Hungry Globe Trotters- For 34.95$ a month receive a dinner kit that includes spices and other items you need to make a supper for four to explore tastes around the world.

Jungle Stand-  For 9.92$ a month you receive several bite-sized samples to taste.

Mexican Candy box- Plans start at 15$ a month and you receive candies and snacks from Mexico.

Sprig- For 30$ a month receive 7-10 full size gluten free snacks.


Taste for sweets- For 16$ a month you receive 14+ snacks delivered to your door from around the world.

Beautylishious- Monthly non-subscription bag (you can buy only on month without subscribing) for 12$ a month or 36$ for 3 you receive 4-5 trial and full sized products that are considered organic and home-made.

Lily and Eve- For 19.99$ plus S&H and receive artisan handmade items from all over the US.

The tethered crate- For 24.95$ a month you receive 3-5 items from the hand-made community.

Bleu box- For 34.99$ a month receive 50$ worth of jewellery.

Candid Box- For 39$ a month you receive 5 fashion jewellery items. ( This is apparently now a sugar box but there is no where to sign up on the page).

Shiny Set- 24.99$ monthly CND 29.99 US ( you can also subscribe quarterly or yearly) you receive a jewellery set which includes a necklace and earrings.

Lily and Eve- For 19.99$ plus S&H and receive artisan handmade items from all over the US.


Pretty in a box- Pick between two plans 15$ (mini box) which features trial sized items, or 50$ a month for the full-sized box. Receive any thing from Jewelry to treats or make-up

Scrubscriptions- Plans start at 28$ a month and receive a pair of scrub and some relaxation products along with other nifty things for the nurse.
Start off at Q box

The big pink box-  For 25$ ( for new boxes) you receive several samples and product from small women run business. You can receive jewellery to soaps.

The tethered crate- For 24.95$ a month you receive 3-5 items from the hand-made community.

Umba box- Plans start at 25$ a month plus 9$ shipping. Receive 2-3 hand made products.

Welly Box- Plans start at 22$ a month plus 7.95$ Shipping. Receive a box with several different items that are all organic and on the market.

Cloud9 Sample box-  For 15$( + 5.95 s&h) a month receive 5-6 food and beauty sample items.

Sparaj- For 40$ you get a variety of items from Asia.

My cotton bunny- For 16$ a month receive all you need for your period and a little gift as well.

Trinkets- Receive tampons in the mail ( all natural cotton) as often as you would like. ( Not sure to where it ships)

Smokers Choice- A monthly 420 box subscription cost between 25$-75$ depending on the box you choose you get to receive novelty items to make your high time easier.

Kona Kase-  15$a month and you receive everything to perform at your best from nutritional products to tips and tricks. ( Will be delivering in Canada in 2014)

Bikeloot- Boxes cost between 8-10$ ( depending on the subscription months) and you receive 5-6 products from snack, bike gear and personal care.

Fit box- For 14$ a box you receive a box with nutritional supplements, snacks and fitness promotions.

Best friend- For 30$ a month receive a box filled with toys, grooming products and natural treats.

Katsens Pets-  Plans start as low as 25$ a month (4-7 samples depending on the box) Each box can contain, treats, toys and accessories. They also support rescue groups.

Pets love toys- Plans start at 19.95-24.95$ depending on your pets size ( dogs and cats), view your pets gallery pick out the items you want and then ship it.

PoochPax- Plans start at 19$ a month and you will receive 4-6 age appropriate toys and treats that your dog will love.

My big day-For 18$ a month you receve 4-5 beauty samples sent to you in evening clutch bags.

Co-ED- Choose between the classic (20$) or the deluxe (35$) box and receive a box full of snacks and items that will help you through your school day.

Weekly update and a GIVEAWAY

Hello love muffins, 

Just a quick update on everything going on this week. 

The no spending freeze is going well. I haven't spent any money. I am really proud of myself for this. It has been really hard not to spend any money on things I don't need. At work I am surrounded by snacks and a bunch of other food goodness. Sometimes even if I bring my own food I still find myself wanting to eat things even though I am not hungry. To help me curb these urges of wanting to eat I just drink water which seems to help. 

I am also doing the 30 days of yoga challenge with YWA. We are on day 19 and I feel amazing. I won't lie this is also a little hard. I don't always want to do yoga. There has been a few days when I really didn't want to do it but I pushed through it and when I was done I felt really good. 

I want to stick those habits and I am hoping that after these 30 days I will continue these habits. I was reading this article the other and it claimed that  can take 214 days before a habit becomes an automated response.  I am hoping that with determination I can bring these habits into my life and keep there. Last year I was doing a great job at exercising and then at the end of the year all my resolutions went into the gutter because I caved in to all my unhealthy habits. This year I am going to stick to them and lead a healthier happier life. 

My words for the the last yoga days have been:

Day 15;Appreciation

Day 16: Relaxation

Day 17: Energy

Day 18: Forgiveness

Day 19:Opposition

I will be reviewing a subscription box with the next month ( shipping out on the 27th of this month so probably February). They have informed me to a give away and I am gladly inform you about it. 

It is by Beanbox they are doing a give away for a free aero press and a one month subscription ( the box alone is 20$) .

Click here for the link and your chance to win.

Good luck everyone. 

Me

Boxes updated

Hello all.

I said that I will be going through my box list to see if any are no longer available or if they now ship to Canada. As well as trying to add new boxes to the list. If I miss any please feel free to let me know and I will add it to the list. Below are the changes that have happened so far. I will continue to work on the list as fast as I can.

I also realized as I was doing this that my box list for beauty was erased . I will be working to remake a beauty box list for every one sorry about this inconvenience.



Below are added boxes to the list:


Button up- Plans start at 16.99$ a month and you receive a new button up shirt every month to keep your work life clothes ever changing. ( Not sure where this box ships)

Kitnipbox-  Plans start at 19$ ( 6.95 shipping and handling to CAN). Every month your kitty ( or kitties) will get a box full of treats, toys and accessories.

Does not ship to Canada

Tuck in the box- For various prices you get a box for school age children or adults.



Boxes that now ship to Canada

Steepster- 17$ a month get you 3 hand selected teas that follow the theme of the month ( enough tea to make 20-30 6 oz cups).

Lendperk- Plans start at 20$ a month and you can rent dresses out. If you like the dress then you can buy it.


Boxes that were removed as they are no longer available: ( if I have them unavailable but you find the new site please let me know. I have looked to make sure but I could of overlooked it)

Little secrets 365 is no longer a subscription box but you can still buy products from them. This is an adult store.

Tuck ins adult box is no longer available. I cannot find there site anywhere if this is wrong please let me know.

Boink box also an adult toy box.

Soap of the month club

Chicmaker is underconstruction

Craftistas- For 24$ a month you receive all the material you need to make a DIY project.

Cape Cod Gift boxes- Prices vary on the box. Get monthly items from food boxes to glass boxes full of things from cape cod.

Travel Box- This monthly box is 19.95$ ( + 6$ S&H) a month. Each month traveller obsess and people on the go will receive 4-5 premium travel items from beauty, food and lifestyle categories.

Julibox- Plans start at 40$ a month you receive all the ingredients to make 2 different cocktails x2 ( 4 in sum).

Yoko tea- Starting at 9.94$ a month receive 2-5 exotic teas deliver.

Beautylishious- Monthly non-subscription bag (you can buy only on month without subscribing) for 12$ a month or 36$ for 3 you receive 4-5 trial and full sized products that are considered organic and home-made.

Saffron Rouge's Inner circle- For 24.99$ a month you receive deluxe size samples  from organic beauty brands.

Soap of the month box- Plans start at 6.50$ a month ( plus s&h outside the U.S.) and you receive hand made organic soaps.

Welly Box- Plans start at 22$ a month plus 7.95$ Shipping. Receive a box with several different items that are all organic and on the market.

Kids stash by milk and honey kids- for 27.99 plus s & h you receive a fun crafting kit for your child. ( they are having an issue with the site. I do not know if they are have cancelled their services or if they are just having issues with their site. I will have to check up with this company later) 

Little eco-foot print-  For 29$ a month you will receive a minimum of 5 high quality products from cosmetics to non-toxic children toys. ( This is now a blog a no longer a subscription box company)

Mamas got mail- Plans start at 49.99$ a month (+ s&h) and mama gets to receive a box just for herself. ( This is also now a blog and no longer a subscription box service)

My hibou- For 30$ a month you receive a box with 6 themed fun activities ( there is also a sibling crate) Only ships within Canada ( Canadian company).

Vincent Goes-  Get a fun kit to make art with your kids. Plans start at 29.99$ a month.

Treasure Pack- Sunglasses and scarves for 14.99 get 3 scarves a month or 3 pairs of sunglasses. They also have a jewellery box.

Unmentionably cheeky- For 6$ get 2 pairs of undies a month.

Ditsies- For 12$ a month you get a pair of underwear set to your door.

Besh box- For 55$ a month ( plus S&H) you receive, cooking tools, recipes, speciality ingredients, household items, music playlist,  cocktail pairings and more.

Carnivore Club- For 50$ a month you receive 4-6 different selections or cured, smoked meats, charcuteries and jerky from around the globe.

Gfreely- For 27$ ( shipping included) you get a monthly box of Gluten free products.

Happy Belly box- Pick between two plans ( sample box or the mega sample box) and receive healthy allergy-free food. ( Gluten and dairy free) Prices range from 24.99$-49.99$ a month.

Julibox- Plans start at 40$ a month you receive all the ingredients to make 2 different cocktails x2 ( 4 in sum).

I will continue to work on the on going list that I have created for you and will hopefully sooner then later add the beauty boxes back to my list. 

Patricia

The de-cluttering of my bedroom

Hello Everyone, 

I just wanted to update everyone on my goal to living frugally and one of those was to clean and organize. If some of you have read some of my other post you will know that I live in a small two bedroom apartment and space is sparse. That said here is the journey of me cleaning my room ( don't mind the mess). I only took pictures of the two places that were the worst in my room so here it goes.

My dresser

Now, this part of my room was one of the worst. My clothes was pretty much just thrown in there god only knows how wrinkly my clothes constantly came out of there just to be put back the same way. My underwear, sock and bra drawer were just as bad I could never find what I wanted because everything was buried. The top of my dresser had two baskets on top of it which were just loaded to the top with towels and facecloths that we barely used. 

So what did I do to clean this part of my room. I took everything that was on or in it out and off. I gave it a good clean and then I started the real hard work. I folded, sorted and decided what I was keeping and what I getting rid of. I also decided to try and place my shirts by dark, colours, under shirts and exercise clothes. The plastic bag that you see in both pictures are all the scrubs I am keeping in case I decide to go back into the field of work which I studied in. 

One of my drawers holds all of my underwear and my bathing suits. To organize it I took all of my underwear and decided to roll them up, in the process I got rid of the ones that had holes and were stained ( I am a woman I bleed and leaks happen) . This makes them easier to stack up on one another and makes my drawer look so much neater, with the room left over I put the bathing suits that I decided to keep neatly folded beside them. 

My sock and bra drawer got a similar treatment. I got rid of all the socks I knew had holes in them or didn't have a match to go with them. My bras got the exact kind of treatment. I placed my bras neatly on one side in a row so I could see all of them without having to dig through  the heaping pile I have collected and the socks were put beside them.

For the baskets. I took out all of the towels and went through those too. All of them that could be used for rags were put with the rest of the rags. I also got rid of a few towels that we just didn't use because they were so old. We also had our dish clothes in that pile and they were moved to a newly organized spot underneath the kitchen sink.

The Corner

Now if you can imagine the bits of pictures you see above isn't the complete mess that was in this corner. This corner is where everything and anything was put. from clean clothes to dirty clothes and everything in between.  To clean this corner the first thing I did is I grabbed all the clothes that was thrown in it and put in it in the laundry. The bit of clothing you still that still remains in the clean picture is that of my hubby. The one on the boxes are pants that I need to get hemmed once my 30 day spending freeze is over. 

I also went through my plastic containers, sorted through and gave away some of my yarn. I also went through all the paper work that I had laying around. I also got rid of the smaller plastic container. I tool all of the items in it and put it in the longer one at the end of my shelves ( I went through all my plastic containers and organized them.). I then took the small plastic container and removed it completely from my shelf which allowed me to put the boxes of my big yarn project down on the shelf instead of the longer plastic container ( my pile of junk was pretty darn high).

The other parts of my room that were cleaned were all my plastic containers as mentioned above. I have two long tall ones and one tiny one that got moved. I was able to completely clean one of the large drawers from the plastic organizer. I also filled one with all of my products that I need to use up before buying or making more. 

I also cleaned out the top part of my pantry which held cleaning supplies, a printer that we no longer used, and several dishes and glasses that we never used ( in 6 years). I still have the shelves to organize and to do inventory of. 

I also cleaned underneath the kitchen sink which was filled with old cleaning products that we never used, or half emptied cleaning products that we forgot about. I put the small plastic organization container that was in my bedroom and put it underneath the sink and  put all of our dish clothes that were found in with the towels in my bedroom underneath. Now, we find all the cleaning supplies that we need. 

In the kids room, I went through all of their clothes and got rid of what didn't fit the boys and put in a rubber maid container the items of clothing that I can pass down from my oldest to my youngest. I also got rid of all the baby blankets, and receiving blankets that we had since we had so many of them and no longer use them.  I also went through the boys toys that are all in the living and got rid of some since we got a bunch of new ones for Christmas. It is hard for me to get rid of their toys because they still play with all of them and a bunch of them I know they will play with when they are a bit older. The biggest toys I got rid of was a mega blocks rid on fire fighting truck which my mom wants so it is going to her home. We are also giving away a ride along zebra that turns into a scooter and a 4 wheeler. Those are the ones that take the most room and that we have no space for. Also the children often can't play with these as they make a lot of noise and we live on the top floor of our building.

I still have a lot to go through but some of the things are for summer. We still haven't decided whether or not we will be getting rid of the stroller come summer, because it all depends on how long my youngest son will be able to walk ( we don't have a car). I also still want to go through the kids stuffed toys and the rest of my kitchen. 

For now that is all the news of my journey to living a more frugal life ( although I think everyone should do this on a regular basis even if you're not living frugally).

Pat