The housing game

So last February we moved into our current home. Our 4th townhome duplex...as you can imagine with legs like mine thats not a good mixture. So again last Feb (2012) we moved in here with a 6mo lease thinking that when it was up we'd sign one more 6mo lease and move in Feb 2013 into a house or one floor duplex. Our plans didn't work out, in July of last year they sent us a letter raising our rent by $30/mo and we either had to sign a 1yr lease or move out then, moving wasn't an option at the time so we were stuck. Now fast forward to July of this year and our lease is up on the 31st. So I've been looking the last month for a place.

I cannot believe the rent prices now, everything seems to have gone up at least $100-200/mo its crazy! On top of the rent increases more then 75% of the things in our price range (which is comparable to the price of a mortgage most my friends have)  are all townhouses or apartments, neither of which we can or will do. I've found a handful of houses or one floor duplexes in our price range...the catch they almost all want First, Last and Deposit ....just to move in it would cost us $2625 that ain't gonna happen! A friend of mine was shocked to hear that the deposits are the same as a months rent everywhere she's rented its been half a months rent (not for us, in the 8yrs hubby and I have been together every place we've lived has been a full months amount deposit).

I did find one place that seemed nice and a fit, but the catch we have is that we can only pay the deposit on July 5th and then give a 30 day notice (the deposit would be paid with what we would've paid for July rent here, but wouldn't have to because we paid last months rent when we moved in here) and then not move in or pay first months rent till August and the management company said the owner wouldn't go for it since the place had been vacant for a month already he wouldn't let to go another month. UGH. I'm stressed with this and at this point we're going to be stuck signing another year lease (only option they'll give us) in a townhouse thats not safe for me. Not only is there the issue of the stairs for me but our back yard isn't fenced. We live in a town house condo track and all the backyards run together. We have random kids running and playing behind our house at 9am (and our kids are in bed by pm) or later, and they all seem to think that our toys are free range, tired of it. The house hunt game SUCKS!

A quick look at me

I don't think I've gone into much detail (I'd have to go back and look) about my issues. Honestly its taken me quite a while to not be embarresed that at 24 I had to start using a cane (well actually I'm SUPPOSED to use a walker) and leg braces. Finally 2yrs later I'm in a little better place in my head about it. Theres nothing I can do, no cures, and its just how I am and I have to learn to accept it even more then where I'm at today. Anyway I want to share two video's with my readers.

This first one was done in July of 2011 so basically 2yrs ago

This one was done tonight. I've been in quite a bit of pain lately, especially in my shoulder and neck as well.

Where I've Been

Its been a few months since my last blog post (the one before the most recent review that is). Its been hectic dealing with the kids and myself lately. Firstly Seamus has not been his normal self at all and we've been having to go to the doctor once a month just to do more checks and med checks and trying to figure things out. He also lost his IBI therapy because he's not considered disabled by the federal government (i.e. he doesn't qualify for SSI so he's not disabled :/) and we've been having to figure all that out and find a way to get it back for him.

On top of Seamus' stuff I had another appt with the MDA and she still doesn't agree with the NeuroMuscular SPECIALIST that I saw in December. At first she agreed but then because I don't have scapular winging she said she doesn't think I have FSHD, but everything fits other then that (again :/). So now she wants me getting a DNA test done to see what it says, thing is its over $1500 for it and even with the financial assistance from Athena Diagnostics it will cost me basically $400 that I don't have and can't come up with, so that test is out the window and I'm in diagnosis limbo yet again. Right now I'm sticking with the FSHD diagnosis that I got back in December (not sure if I posted about that, one day I may).

I'm also starting to have more troubles with my shoulder and its becoming worrisome. To top it all off my leg braces broke back in April. I took a step off my front porch (about 2" high) I heard a snap and my knee gave out and next thing I knew I was on the ground. I narrowly missed hitting my head on my car. My left leg brace completely snapped in half and I have no way to get another (as they're $250 each through the local orthipedists office, but I have to see a doctor (more $$, yay being insuranceless!) to get a new script since mine is 2yrs old), and of course the one that broke is the one for the leg that has the worse complete paralysis foot drop (not that the right is much better at a 1/5 score 0 being completely not functional).

So thats a rundown of whats been going on here! Hopefully some better updates soon. And lets cross fingers that Idaho steps up and extends medicaid so maybe I can actually see the doctors I need! (cause no way we can afford hubbys work insurance that with premiums and deductibles costs about half his  yearly income!)

AVEENO® POSITIVELY RADIANT® Intensive Night Cream Review

I love Influenster so much. Getting to try and review new products to share with my readers, and family/friends, is something I love to do and really fun for me. Recently I got to review a new product from Aveeno, the Positively Radiant Intensive Night Cream.

I was a little iffy about trying it. The last face cream that I tried broke me out, even though I thought it was a gentle cream. When I finally worked up enough courage to try the Aveeno Positively Radiant Intensive Night Cream, I was glad I did.

The first time I used it I took a shower and cleaned off my face. I then patted it dry, washed my hair to let my face dry a little more. I then used the night cream. I put WAY too much on that first time. I quickly learned a little goes a long way with this. To my surprise no burning feeling, no breakouts, nada. I went to bed right after I put it on and when I woke my face seemed to feel a little softer then normal. I kept using the cream after each shower at night and slept in it, never broke out and my face felt and looked great, I did see a little less blotchiness with it. I'm sadly having a break from the cream right now due to a hormonal break out that I don't want to, on the off chance, aggravate more.

Essential Facts

The AVEENO® POSITIVELY RADIANT® Intensive Night Cream, formulated with ACTIVE NATURALS® Total Soy Complex and vitamin B3, helps to reduce the appearance of discoloration, uneven tone and blotchiness, revealing healthier-looking skin. 

About This Product

• Contains a proven concentration of ACTIVE NATURALS® Total Soy Complex boosted with vitamin B3 to help visibly diminish the appearance of dullness, blotchiness and brown spots • Oil-free, hydrating formula penetrates deep within skin’s surface while you sleep revealing an even, more radiant complexion • In a clinical study, women saw improvement in tone and discoloration • Gentle enough for everyday use #RadiantWithAVEENO 

SPOTTED : $14.99-$16.99 for 1.7 oz. jar at National food, drug and mass merchandisers, drugstore.com

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Disclaimer:  Ireceived the AVEENO® POSITIVELY RADIANT® Intensive Night Cream complimentary from Influenster.

Influenster Badge winnings and GIVEAWAY! (closed)

A couple months ago I had the privilege of getting one of Influensters Naturals Vox Box. I was honored to win two of the Badge prizes one from LypSyl and one from Shea Moisture. My prizes just came in the mail this week so I wanted to share them with my blog readers and spread the love of winning :D


The Shea Moisture prize was super awesome! It had a body wash, lotion, and 3 face care items. I tried the body wash already today and I still feel soft a few hours later! I'm in love with Shea Moisture's products.

I really like LypSyl's line of lip moisturizers. In my prize package I received a Cold Sore relief, and two intense protection moisturizers. Its super long lasting and doesn't bother my mouth like other beeswax products do. I also really love the smell of it.

One of the intense protection ones is the same that I originally received to review so I'm going to be giving it away to one of my lucky readers! Below is a photo (front and back) of what I will be giving away. I will be shipping this myself, just passing on some good karma to someone else :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway




Disclaimer: I received this product as a prize free of charge. All opinions are my own.

Dino Lingo Video

Influenster asked if I wanted to review a video clip about language learning programs for kids, and I figured why not?! So Kieran and I sat down and watched a couple of the clips. I was amazed at how many different choices that Dino Lingo offers for languages. Dino Lingo had the 'normal' languages you see in children's learning programs like Spanish or French, but they also had Irish Gaelic, Japanese, Korean and many more! Kieran and I watched 3 of the clips, the French, Irish Gaelic and Spanish ones. She loved watching the little dinosaur and would giggle when she saw him. For me watching the Spanish one was easier to talk with her about since I knew what it was saying and how to say the words (lol), but I think that hearing and seeing the others was pretty awesome even for an adult. We really liked watching the clips, the nice thing is that they repeat the words multiple times and put the words on the screen, and its clearly spoken.

Here's a look at some of the video clips we watched, complementary from Dino Lingo and Influenster:
Spanish
French
Irish Gaelic

Boots No7 Beautiful Skin ~Review~

Two other products that I received in my Beauty Blogger VoxBox were the Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Night Cream Normal/Dry and the Boots No7 Cleansing Lotion Normal/Dry. I'm not normally one to use lotions or moisturizers on my skin because I have super oily cheeks, nose and chin and break out A LOT (adult acne sucks!) so trying these was something I wasn't too sure about. The first thing I did when I opened the bottles up was smell them, hehe! I really liked that there was no overwhelming smell to them. I remember my grandmas face creams always making me gag due to the smell, so to have a face cream/lotion that doesn't have a strong smell was wonderful! Before I even put them on my face I rubbed each one into my hand. I was surprised to see that they weren't super thick lotions like I was expecting. Once I got over my fear about a break out I tried the Cleansing Lotion on my cheeks. I was very excited and surprised that #1 I didn't look oily, and #2 I didn't break out after using it! It was very smooth going in, felt almost like water. Then I tried the night cream. I have a pretty dry area between my eyebrows and middle forehead so I rubbed some in there before bead. Again NO Breakouts! It was awesome. I'm really liking the Boots No7 products and they are something that I normally would never get on my own so I'm really glad that Influenster and Boots sent me some to try!

About This Product

No7 appreciates that busy lifestyles mean you don't always have time for a lengthy skincare regimen. That's why we've created Beautiful Skin. Discover radiant skin in 14 days with two simple steps:

Step 1: Cleanse
The first step to beautiful skin is clean skin. All Beautiful Skin cleansers quickly and gently remove all traces of dirt and impurities, leaving you with perfectly clean, healthy skin. Skin is so effectively cleansed that there is no need for a separate toner.

Step 2: Moisturize
Once cleansed, hydrate your skin with our nourishing day and night creams. All our day creams deliver SPF 15 and Broad Spectrum UV Protection, while our night creams work to promote optimum hydration while you sleep.

Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Night Cream Normal/Dry :
Rest easy throughout the night knowing that your skin is getting the best possible care with this luxuriously rich night cream for all night moisturization, includes Cocoa butter for an additional boost. A nourishing cream with Glycerin and Shea Butter to energize and promote optimum hydration while you sleep. Designed to work in harmony with your skin, replacing lost moisture and leaving you with healthy looking radiant skin.

How to Use:
Smooth into your face and neck after cleansing every evening.

Essential Facts

Beautiful Skin - the newest and easy to use two-step range of everyday skincare cleansers and moisturizers, tailored to your specific skin type eliminating the need for toners. Products are color-coded, making it easy to find just the right products for your skin type: Normal/Oily (Pink), Normal/Dry (Green) and Dry/Very Dry (Lilac)

 

SPOTTED: $13.99 at ShopBootsUSA, Target, drugstore.com, and ULTA among many other retail locations

Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary from Influenster and Boots.