I’ve lots of awesome actions from Everyday Elements that let me play with my pictures. I love seeing how my good photo can be turned into something different. Here a couple of my most recent favorites:

  I’m sure that there is still some technical issues with my pictures. But I think for now, I’m on the right track on my photography journey. At least I’m farther than I was a few months ago.

So, here’s a fun video for your Monday:

I won’t give too much away, but it could finally be my chance at a promotion. It’s the promotion that could change so many things for me. We aren’t poor by any means, we provide for our family but there isn’t much left at the end of the week. This promotion could help change that.

It’s also the difference between a job, which I love, and a career that I know I would love and excel at. I’ve been waiting for something like this to come up for a few years since graduating with my business degree. I feel as if this position would be perfect for me and it’s right up my alley.

C’mon Monday……

Today’s topic is: Best Childhood Memory

I have lots of great memories from my childhood. But when asked about a favorite, there is one that always comes to mind. It’s rather silly and it involves my cousin whom I grew up with. We were born one day apart and our moms were literally in the same hospital room. Her and I grew up together and we had a blast.

It was summer and I can’t remember how old we were. We were young, like elementary school age. We saw my sister and her friend sitting in a dresser drawer. It was a lower dresser and it had two drawers across. We asked what they were doing and they said they were playing boat. When they were done, we decided that we wanted to play and hopped into the drawers. If my little sister and her friend could do it with no problems, we should be able to do as well.

We slightly rock the drawers as if we were on the ocean in our boats. After a few minutes, we could feel the dresser starting to tip forward. Before we could get out, the dress fell forward and we were stuck. There wasn’t a ton of room between the dresser and the bed so we were stuck in the middle but under the drawers. We started to yell for help but my house was being remodeled and the workers were running their machines so no one heard us. After what felt like eternity, my sister came in. We told her to go and get my mom to help us.  Instead of telling my mom, she gets side tracked by freshly baked cookies.

My mom comes in and helps us out of the dresser. Luckily we were not hurt at all and we just laughed and laughed. See, I’m one that if I get hurt or anything like that, I laugh hysterically. I think it’s a coping mechanism. LOL.

To this day, this story gets brought up almost every time we are together. It’s hilarious to us now. We just can’t believe that we thought we could sit in a dresser and it would be alright.

Her and I have so many stories and memories that we shared through high school. But this is always the first memory that we laugh about.

The topic for day 3 is, “What makes you happy?”

Of course, there are lots of things  that make me happy. My family is the number one thing that makes me happy. But for this post, I thought I’d talk about something else that makes me happy.

Today, my body makes me happy. I never imagined that after my surgery, I would be happy with my body. Well, besides that weight I need to lose. But in general, having the reduction has been in huge in the way my body has been working. I can honestly say that since that day, all the aches and pains were gone. Besides the surgery pains, that is. I wake up with no pain and I can make it through the whole day until bedtime without taking pain relievers.

The biggest result is that I’m happier as a person. Before, I felt like I was crabby all. the. time. But I suppose if you deal with what I did for so many years, you would be grumpy to. I can tell that my attitude is so much better because I’m happy with my body. I’m not angry or frustrated because it hurt all the time and I felt limited on what I could do.

Today, I can enjoy life as it should be because I’m happy with my body.

Not only do I like multitasking beauty products, I love trying the new trends in make-up. I was recently given the chance to review L’Oréal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream.  BB Creams seem to be all the range. I have yet try one so I was pretty excited when my tube showed up in the mail.

About L’Oréal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream: This product gives the sheer coverage needed to create a natural bare skin finish, while delivering built-in skincare benefits. With four beautifying actions, this all-in-one innovation primes and smooths, perfects to hide flaws, hydrates all-day, and corrects and evens skin. The product is infused with skincare ingredients like Panthenol, Vitamin E and Glycerin for 24-hour moisturization.

I love that I can use one product to do the work of four. It definitely cuts down my morning routine!

What did I think? I think it worked really well. My biggest issue is combating my very dry face during these cold winter months.  I need to double up on the moisturizer. So, I did add a tad bit of my own moisturizer to the BB Cream. Mostly out of habit. I put it on before work and was still fresh faced when I came home 9 hours later. I didn’t feel the need to reapply later in the day.

My biggest  beauty problem I have is the redness on my face. I’ve had a difficult time finding products that cover fully. I wouldn’t say the BB Cream covered fully, but it was pretty close. The winter cold air wrecks havoc on my face and redness is worse during that time. So, I’d love to continue using the BB Cream into the spring when my face calms down some. I also had an awesome pimple on my chin that was covered nicely.

You can buy  L’Oréal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream at major mass retailers for $10.95 for 1 fl oz. It comes in four colors.

**I received a complimentary product from SheSpeaks/L’Oréal to facilitate this review.**

The biggest news I have is that I had a breast reduction surgery!!!! After about 10 years of wishing away, it finally happened and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. The last few months have been really hard for me. Having large breasts, like a DDD or an F depending on the bra, can bring along some health issues. For many years, I’ve had horrible back pain. So much in fact that I spent $800 at the chiropractor during last spring. In the past year or so, my shoulders and neck started to have problems. By the end, there wasn’t a day that went by that I wasn’t popping some sort of over the counter pain med. It was to the point that once I got through work, I didn’t feel like doing anything else, including this blog.

But what really scared me and hurt, was a recent an ER trip last fall. I woke up in the morning with horrible chest pains. To the point that I thought I was having a heart attack. After tests, it was determined that my rib cage cartilage was inflamed. My whole rib cage was pretty much out of whack. I blamed it on my big boobs and went on. I could control the chest pains but they never really went away.

After I found out that I could possibly get a breast reduction surgery covered, I made the appointment right away. For insurance purposes, there are some guidelines on whether or not it’s covered but my plastic surgeon thought I was a good candidate. This past October, I was approved!!! After going through the vacation book at work and a heads up on some insurance changes that would benefit me, I decided to wait until 2013.

It’s been almost 2 weeks since surgery and I couldn’t be better! I’ve had some pain and only had to take pain pills for a few days. But the pain that I did have was well worth the fact that all my other problems are gone. That’s right. No more back, neck and shoulder pain. Or headaches. The best part is that my chest pains are gone as well. I can actually breathe without wanting to pass out.

Breast reduction surgery has been a godsend to me. My doctor thinks that after the swelling goes down, I should end up about a C cup. Because my surgery was to relieve issues, for insurance purposes I couldn’t tell him what size I wanted.  He had to remove the amount that would help me. If it were up to me, I’d be an A cup…lol. One of the best parts is that I was able to go to Wal-Mart and actually buy a sports bra. I bought 2 for $10.98. I can’t tell you the last time I even bought a bra at Wal-Mart and for under $40 at that. I can’t wear under wires for 6-8 weeks. I’m also not going to go out and buy new bras until my swelling goes down.

I’ve had a great support system with family and friends during my surgery which really made it a whole lot easier. Even thought I’m still recovering, I have more energy and motivation then I had before. I can also tell a difference in my self confidence. My breast reduction surgery was definitely well worth the wait!

In the past, I've played it safe with my fashion choices. But as I'm getting older, I'm trying to take more risks. Well, my risks are somebody's normal when it comes to fashion. I've always been one to wear your basic colors. I still like my basic colors, but now I'm trying to add pops of bright colors to jazz things up a bit.

No nonsense tights and leggings can help do just that. I can pair a cute black dress with a pop of color with tights or leggings.

 

No nonsense by newtomom featuring opaque tights

I love the idea of a simple black mini with the pop of yellow tights. Plus, tights are our friends here in the Iowa cold winters. I chose yellow because I don't think I own a single yellow piece of clothing. These would really have going out of the box. Add some cute Mary Janes and I'm off to work in a jif!

 

What do I like most about No nonsense tights and leggings? The fact that they are beyond affordable and can be found at food and drug stores and mass retailers. So no matter what part of town I'm in, I know I will be able

 

No nonsense has teamed up with Jill Martin, an Emmy Award-winning TV personality and co-author of the New York Times bestselling style guide “I Have Nothing to Wear!” to help give women like me the push we need to wear colored tights and leggings.

She is a fabulous choice for a No nonsense ambassador. She offers ideas on how we can update the clothes we already have into something new and exciting. I don't have a lot of money for new clothes every season, but I can afford some No nonsense tights and leggings to give me an updated look.

Want to follow along and learn some awesome fashion advice? Follow No nonsense on Facebook and @benononsense on Twitter.

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this post. Please visit Ubi.com to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. #UbiChamps

I recently had the chance to review another dancing video game. This time, I received The Hip Hop Dance Experience.

A little about the game:

Drop it like it’s hot with hip-hop’s hottest dance game. The Hip-Hop Dance Experience is the first authentic hip-hop game in the dance category. Dance to the most popular tracks of the genre with original moves designed by the most famous hip-hop choreographers in the industry. Watch the game trailer now!

 What did I think? I LOVED it!! I have a few of the games in the Just Dance group, but I am loving The Hip Hop Dance experience. Hip Hop music is my most favorite genre to dance to. Ever since I was little, I’ve been listening and dancing to hip hop.

 Playing this game, brought me back to my younger years when I spent my weekends dancing my cares away. With such classic hip hop songs like “Funkdafied” by Da Brat, “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison and one of my all-time favorites “Hip Hop Hooray” by Naughty by Nature, I could picture myself back in high school. I’m not even joking when I say that Hip Hop Hooray gets put on every cd I burn and you may just see me waving my arms from left to right.

Not too bad for my first time, huh?

Not only are there  some of my favorite classics, there are some current hits as well. Although there lots of great hits a few of them jump out at me. Songs like “Airplanes” by B.o.B ft Hayley Williams of Paramore, “Over”  by Drake and “Sexy And I Know It” by LMFAO are sure to jumpstart your dancing mood.

Like the songs I listed? These are just a few of the songs on the game. Visit Amazon to see the complete listing. Once you’ve checked it out, I’m sure you’ll want to play.

 I did find there was a slight learning curve compared to the other games I’ve played. I was used to the upcoming dance moves scrolling along the bottom of the screen. In The Hip Hop Experience, the upcoming dance moves are on the left side about in the middle. Once I figured it out, I was good to get my groove thang on.

 Want to get some friends together for a fun night of dancing? There are many features to this game to make for an evening of fun. With

multiple modes of play like Intelligent-shuffle which features high-energy multiplay trigger challenges for endless fun!

Other modes:

• In the Dance Party mode, jump in at any time and light up the dance floor with your favorite dance partner.
• Face-off with your friends to a high energy throw-down in the Dance Battle mode to prove who has the best dance skills.
• Master every move with step-by-step tutorials in the Power Skooling mode
• In the Dance Marathon mode, dance to an endless stream of tracks to keep the score moving or it’s “Game Over”!

When I received the game, I put it on the shelf until I could play. Well, I went to the store and came home to find J and Jack dancing and laughing. J couldn’t even wait for me to get home before he opened it! I jumped in and battled. Care to guess who won? I totally smoked him!!

Now is the time to announce the 2 winners of the $30 Lane Bryant gift cards!!! The winners are: Mami2jcn and Tim!!! I’ve sent you guys emails regarding your prize. If the winners have not responded in 48 hours, new winners will be chosen.

Need a little fashion inspiration for an upcoming holiday party? How about tips on how to keep your look fresh this season? Sure it’s cold outside, but that doesn’t mean we can’t feel and look sassy, stylish, and maybe even a little flirty through the winter! Come one, come all, because we’re talking holiday fashion with our friends at Lane Bryant! Join our @LaneBryant “Holiday Fashion Fun” Twitter Party this Monday, 12/17 at noon PT/3pm ET! Fab prizes! RSVP to win prizes, including $30 Lane Bryant gift cards! RSVP: http://clvr.li/128tjBx

And don’t forget! Lane Bryant’s “12 Days of the Most Wonderful Surprises” is still going on now until December 16! You can unlock a new surprise offer every day on the Lane Bryant Facebook page. It’s the perfect way to get your favorite must-have fashion items for the holiday season, at great prices.

The Details:
What: Lane Bryant “Holiday Fashion Fun” Twitter Party
When: Mon 12/17 noon PT/3pm ET
Where: On Twitter! CleverTweets: http://clvr.li/SYaCNf
Follow: Hashtag #LBHoliday @CleverGirlsColl @LaneBryant
RSVP here: http://clvr.li/128tjBx
Prizes: 18 $30 Lane Bryant gift cards

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.