New Products from Arbonne test #1

Arbonne is launching a new product line on Feb 1st. Because I'm a district manager, I was able to preorder the whole line of products at a discount so that I could check them out for myself. Well, my order came today and here is what I've found after immediately trying them.

As a little background on my skin, I have sensitive acne prone skin that fits into the combination category quite nicely. My breakouts are closely related to my monthly cycle like many other women, but I also have a horrible habit of picking at my face which leaves icky scabs and redness. Yeah, I know, I'm trying to quit.

So with that being said, here are my initial thoughts on the new FC5 line for combination/oily skin. The product line consists of the Purifying Cleanser + Toner, Oil-Absorbing Day Lotion with SPF 20 and a Mattifying Powder. In addition I used the Exfoliating New Cell Scrub and Hydrating Eye Creme which are intended for all skin types. First off, they smell great! This line is built on using kiwi, strawberry, carrots, mango, and pumpkin so I would expect nothing less. The best part about how they smell is that the scent is 100% Natural! So yeah, I love the scent. The wash didn't lather up as much as some other washes do, but I could feel it on my face so I wasn't worried. It's a super light gel wash and really felt awesome. The Scrub was my favorite one to try. I tend to need exfoliating more than others because of my complexion issues. The texture is super fine so that people with sensitive skin shouldn't be too worried about irritation from the granules. My skin looked brighter afterwards. And the last things I applied were the Day lotion and the eye creme. I know I need moisture, but I hate that often I feel shiny after I apply it. Not with this one! I'm stoked! And the eye creme is fantastic! I don't know what else to say. I'll make sure to write an update after I have a few more days to try it.

Friends throughout our lives

I was just over at Facebook, a large personal addiction of mine, and a friend wrote a poem that touched my heart. The context of the poem is that this girl just graduated from college, got married, and moved to a new part of the country all within a few years. It's that jumping off point that so many of us take time and time again. And in taking this leap of faith into something new and unknown, we are often separated from the people we've come so close to. Let's face it, when you move on to something new in your life, it's extremely difficult to hang on to the people of our past.

This person could have been your roommate from college that now lives on the opposite coast. It could be an old boyfriend who is now married to another friend of yours that you're just so ecstatic to see together. It may be the teacher that helped you reach that next level of greatness that you never knew you could reach. It may even be someone you never liked in the past, but now are finding a new found appreciation for the person they have become. It could be a thousand different people who now you don't really feel like you know anymore and it's easy to forget what an impact they made on who you are now.

My life has been blessed with many new faces and new beginnings. I can't say that I grew up in any one place. It happened for me all over the country. And through my life, I've met so many people that are still on my heart even if they're digits aren't in my cell phone. They helped me find my passion. They led me to the love of my life. They prepared me for the hurt I've had to endure recently and they've instilled me with a hope that the future will be blessed and bright.

I think that's why I love things like Facebook. It has allowed me to reconnect with hundreds of these people from my past that I otherwise might hear a rumor of through the grapevine but never actually confront again. I am thankful for them whether they know it or not. I'm thankful.

Jason's Photography

This picture is from Jason's wedding portfolio. I am so incredibly proud of what he's accomplished with his business. He has such talent and such an amazing point of view in his work. But don't take my word for it. Check out his stuff for yourself. Oh and just so you know, he's offering a deal on all his packages for Valentines Day. So tell your friends to check out his site at: www.jasonfukura.com !

Thanks.

Moving forward

I'm feeling so much better today. I'm finally getting sleep again which helps so much and my horomones seem to be returning to normal. Jason might argue that my normal is still a bit extreme, but I'll quickly remind him that that's why he loves me. We have such an amazing relationship. I feel highly spoiled often and am always relieved that he is a patiant guy. My housewife skills are somewhat lacking. Since we've been married, I haven't quite gotten a hang on revolving my life around laundry and dishes. I'm working on it and he knows it.

So for some of you who take a look at this blog of mine don't really know what I'm up to these days, so I'm going to divulge some of my daily life here for all to see. Wow that sounds so epic. I mean, yeah, I'm thrilled with my life, but I'm not sure I'll get a book deal for it. Besides being a struggling housewife, I wear the hat of Arbonne consultant, voice teacher, piano teacher, choir director, photographer's assistant, and lover of all things food related. My daily jobs would be as an Arbonne consultant, which I love, and two days a week teaching private lessons in a studio I rent in Woodinville.

Having the music studio is amazingly fulfilling because I'm actually getting the respect I worked so hard to acheive in college...and it's nice getting paid for it too. When I was in college, I would proudly tell people that I was going to school to be a starving artist, but I'm happy that at least I'm making a living at it. I still see myself moving more toward performance but for now I'm learning as much as I can about the voice and my craft by teaching it to others. Performing right now is primarily at church. The people there have found me out and I'm glad they did. I love to use my voice in worship and I feel that this gift God gave me is being put to good use for His praise and glory.

My other job is as a consultant for Arbonne. I'm currently a District Manager working my way up toward my Mercedes Benz and beyond. Having a music degree, I never knew what I would do for a day job while I was getting my music career off the ground. Well, Arbonne fell into my lap about a year and a half ago. Thank heavens it did. I've matured as a woman by the relationships I've developed and have a career surrounded by people I call my friends. There's nothing but support when I'm with my team. This business is allowing me to build a life alongside my day job that's going to give Jason and I a bright future. In a nutshell, I'm happy.

A week later

Today is Sunday. I usually look forward to Sunday morning. By now during the week, I usually need a little spiritual refueling. Today was different. I had to force myself to get out of bed and get ready for church. I was dreading having to face that many people at once after losing the baby. Yes, they're all there to support us, but after such a great weekend, I just didn't want to be sad yet. But, willingly or not, I went. It was awkward and uncomfortable and I cried to myself a little bit, but I made it through. And now I've spent the afternoon sleeping and feeling dizzy from lack of hydration I believe (I know, I know, no lecture necessary). Jason and I plan to have a nice dinner for two. I'm looking forward to that.

We had a great time celebrating my birthday. On my birthday, Jason made me pizza from scratch. It was not bad for his first attempt. I love having a husband who cooks. He really does spoil me. The next day, Friday, Jason took a personal day so that we could celebrate my birthday in style. We drove up into the mountains to a little town called Leavenworth. It's one of our favorite places to go to because, well for one thing, it's absolutely breathtaking, has tons of outdoor adventure activities, and it's decorated to look like you stepped into Bavaria. It's a great escape.

Our adventure in Leavenworth started with snowshoeing along the Icicle river. Jason and I love to go on hikes and explore. It was the first time all week that I was truly happy and completely forgot about the baby. I wish we could have gone longer than we did, but my body isn't quite back to normal and I'm just trying to take it easy for now. The rest of our time there was spent walking through the town window shopping and enjoying each other's company. It was a much needed adventure. For us it was important to have something truly substantial to remember about this birthday other than what happened last week. I think Jason did a bang up job of making that happen. I can't imagine my life without him.

Year 26 begins

Tomorrow is my birthday. It seems rather anticlimactic this year in light of rescent events. In many ways it's just a reminder of what happened this passed weekend. Here I get to celebrate 26 years on this planet which is something my babies won't be able to do. I know that it was all in God's hands and that really our babies are much better off in heaven, but the days of their scheduled birth will always be a reminder of their absense in our lives. It's the selfish aspect of mourning. We don't mourn for the people that die, we mourn the absense of them in our life.

I got to thinking about it in the car earlier today about what it feels like to loose a baby to miscarriage. When anyone you love dies, it creates a hole in your heart, and that hole can be filled with all of the love and memories that you have of them in your life. It will never be the same as having them there, no, but at least it's a way to fill the void. Well, when you lose a child in this fashion that hole is left unfilled because you don't have memories of them to fill it with. The only picture I have of the baby we lost last week is an ultrasound picture which looks like a dot, not a baby. That's what I have left. It's really difficult to mourn someone you've never met.

So tomorrow, what am I doing to celebrate my birthday? Well, I have to go to the DMV and renew my driver's liscense (exciting, I know). Then tomorrow afternoon I teach a few lessons and finally, Jason has agreed to make dinner and a cake for me for tomorrow night. He already bought me my birthday present at Christmas so I told him to just run around the house and wrap some of my stuff up. You see, we always try to put a limit on our spending for each other at Christmas because then we can have a bit more to spread around to other people. Well, the past few years, he's exceded the limit by getting a few higher priced items (last year it was a Zune and this year it was a beautiful silk robe) so those always become my birthday presents. Clever guy, huh? I love him.

So, here's to my birthday. Hopefully it will be the turning point to bigger and better things to come.

Numb

I can't believe I am having to say this for the second time. Going through it is bad enough, but having to say it out loud is a whole other kind of torture...
After some complications this week, I had another miscarriage this morning. I started spotting on Wednesday after my first prenatal visit Tuesday. As I had said, everything looked good that day. When the spotting started, I thought, "Ok, this is normal after that kind of exam," prayed continuously, and took it easy. On Thursday it was unchanged, so on Friday morning, I called my doctor. She told me not to worry and to take it easy this weekend, so I did. I barely stood up that day...
Friday evening the cramping got worse and I had a hard time sleeping. I didn't fall asleep until almost 1am and was wide awake again at 4am. The cramps were worse and the bleeding was worse and...well...I miscarried at home this morning. Jason got me to the hospital where we went through the miscarriage routine once again. At times it felt like dejavue. We were ushered into the same exam room, I had the same ultrasound tech, and it took as obsenely long as last time for them to tell me what I already knew in my heart to be true. The baby was gone.

This experience will stay with me for the rest of my life and I will forever feel that pieces of my heart died with them as is the case when we lose those we love. The only images of my babies are in my dreams I had while pregnant. With the first miscarriage, I felt I had lost my son and this time, in my dreams I had held a beautiful baby girl close to my chest.

I have to stop now. The tears are too much. Please pray for Jason and I that we can remain each other's rock and that we can find peace after this tragedy. We'll be ok, but it's going to take time.

Dr Appt.

Jason and I went to my first prenatal appointment today. It went well. I went in about a month ago for bloodwork and basically I'm fit as a fiddle. The doctor did a bunch of poking around and confirmed that our baby is about 10 weeks along as of today. That's what I had thought originally, but after having the early ultrasound, the due date might be a bit later. The nurse told me that after next week's ultrasound if the development is more than five days different than what they told me, perhaps they'll change the due date. But really, the due date is just an estimation anyway. My hope is that our little one won't be born on August 4th. Call me selfish, but that's our wedding anniversary, and I'd rather have two different days to celebrate.

Next step from here: ultrasound #2 next Wednesday. I don't think there's any pressing matter to having this one other than for us to have something to gauk at. Even the doctor, when we said the last ultrasound was done at about 4 1/2 weeks was like, "Oh no! You need a better picture than that!" We're not complaining. The dot in the first one was cute, but I'd rather see a little baby. And I think it will help Jason feel a bit more convinced of what's going on with me other than my raging horomones.

So what is my due date? August 3, 2009

Doctor visit

Tomorrow is the big day; my first prenatal visit with my OB! I feel like I've been holding my breath up until this point waiting for something to go wrong again and burst my bubble. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to be able to start breath normally again.

Because of having a miscarriage earlier this fall, I was given priority at the doctor's office to be seen. I called the office and the next day went in for an ultrasound and blood work. At the time, I thought I was about 6 weeks along at which point I should have seen a tadpole with a pulse, but it turned out I was more like 4 1/2 weeks pregnant so all I saw was a little dot. She zoomed in on it, which did make me feel better, but I was really wanting to see that heartbeat. I had just read in a magazine that as soon as the baby has a heartbeat, the chance of miscarriage drop to something like 2%. That wasn't in the plan for us and all I saw was my dot. The ultrasound tech assured me that I was indeed pregnant and that I shouldn't be worried.

So tomorrow, what I'm most looking forward to is being able to see my baby now that it's going to be 9 weeks along and looking more like a baby with a heartbeat. I must admit, I've become addicted to checking websites on pregnancy almost daily, so I'm pretty familiar with fetal development. After my appointment, I promise to share the newest baby picture.

Baby news!

So it has happened. Jason and I are expecting a baby. I found out on December 8th, I believe. After having sneaking suspicions for about two weeks prior to that I went and got the infamous pregnancy test. The results for that test were immediate. Two lines! I stood there for a few moments in disbelief and excitement. Then all the anxiety hit about this pregnancy because of losing the last one. I dropped to my knees and said a prayer that God would watch over us both. I prayed that this was a healthy pregnancy and that I wouldn't have to go through the experience of a misscarriage so soon.

Well, God answers prayers because now, I'm 9 weeks along and feeling more and more pregnant every day. I've never been so happy to feel like crap. Morning sickness hasn't reared its ugly head for me, but I have many other less than desireable things going on with my body. My blood sugars are out of control. If I don't eat, bad things happen. It's like Dr Jekel and Mr. Hyde bad. I'm learning quickly that food should be with me at all times. Then, everyone might be spared the moodiness that is pregnant Cari.

That's another one: mood swings. A few days ago, Jason and I were discussing that we would like to get rid of the couch because it just takes up so much space. Well, being Mr. Assertive, the next day, Jason posted the couch on Craigs list for sale. Within an hour he had a responce on the add and four hours after that, the couch was gone. When I found out that the couch was going away, I lost it. I started crying and no matter what Jason did to calm me down I just kept gaining momentum with my tantrum. The best part about this was that I didn't even like the couch! There was no good reason for me to be acting so irrationally, but I was.

Being pregnant is a learning experience. In many ways, I feel like a little kid who needs to be taken care of. Though, because I love my husband, I'm going to make every effort to keep my horomones at bay and be the perfect 'in the kitchen, pregnant and barefoot' wife I can be.