Now you can all finally understand what military families go through.

And know that we survive…and you will, too. Also, maybe 20 years of training is why I’m surviving just fine right now (minus eLearning 😂).


People have said “I don’t know how Military families do it”.

Well, now most of the world knows a taste of how it’s done.

Birthdays can’t be celebrated as you like.

Vacations have to be canceled at the last minute.

Not knowing a date you can plan anything.

Emotions all over the place.

Unknown future state of life.

Here’s a plan. No, scratch that, this is the plan. Wait, that’s changing, this is the plan, yes, this is it. Oh, things are more serious than what we thought. The plan is this and we will update you with a revised plan as we go.

All holidays cancelled.

You can’t see your family.

You miss saying goodbye to a person when they die.

You miss a funeral.

You miss a wedding.

You miss your Anniversary.

You either embrace the suck or you lose your mind and happiness.

You can’t see your kids or grandkids.

The government pretty much dictates your life.

People are in danger.

Ok, also, these things are true-

You appreciate what you have.

You make the best of situations.

Dates on a calendar are just that and you celebrate things when you can.

You realize what’s really important in life.

You celebrate 4 holidays/birthdays at once.

You no longer judge people for having Christmas lights/trees up “odd” times of the year because you realize people do what they can, when they can.

Once your life gets back to “normal” you appreciate everything more.

You realize it’s ok there was a not so epic birthday because your perspective has shifted on what’s important.

You lean on your family.

You lean on your friends.

Your normal changes and you adjust.

You’re stronger because of your struggle.

In the end, it will all be ok. Even with tragedy here and there.


You will be stronger in the end of this journey. You will not be able to see it in the storm. You’ll feel weak, defeated and not sure how you can make it. When it’s over and the storm ends, you’ll stand taller, stronger, more capable and appreciative of what you have.

https://www.facebook.com/jenniferspencer.blazier – CREDIT!


I’m a rising star!

I rarely get recognized for any of my work accomplishments since I have no true working upline (and my “official” upline leader is the CEO of our company due to people dropping off… which sounds cool but is effectively useless)… I have been taken under the wing of an amazing leader, but I’m not in her back office (since I fall outside her dominion) but she still tries to keep tabs on me. Soooo she posted this in her 8000-member group today.

We tried the totwaffle!

It all started with this viral Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/506801921/posts/10156771865371922/?d=n which starts like this:

So we decided it had to be done.

Step 1: Thawing

And Tom was in charge and I was busy working so I didn’t get any more pictures until the end.

Aaaand…it took much longer to cook than we thought, plus Tom didn’t fill it full enough to start so had to add some more tots halfway through. This pic is after we took some off for the kids.

We also made the syrup/ketchup mix (read the linked post for details) and it was yummy. The tots were crispy but I’d like them even crispier.

In short, they were good and a nice change…and the candied bacon and cheesy scrambled eggs were good sides…but I probably wouldn’t do the totwaffle again. I’m perfectly happy to expend way less energy and effort and just have tots.

Show me your drunk face v2

I innocently started a Facebook group to continue the drunk face thing…and we had a mini explosion. Over 100 people joined and a fair amount of them have posted!

Most are my friends (from all times and areas of my life—going back to high school classmates and my first internet friends from 1997 to family members and of course Tivo peeps) but others are inviting people, too!

It really isn’t a drunken fest—it’s more a show me what you’re drinking but I just thought the original sounded funnier.

Show me your drunk face!

Since everyone was getting on the virtual event bandwagon, I did as well. I scheduled an event on Facebook called Show me your drunk face and invited just about everyone I know:

After our first week of self-distancing and homeschooling I think we’ll all need a drink or six. Come share your poison in a photo or live video!

I wasn’t sure how well it would go over but figured what the heck. So imagine my surprise when people started posting anf posting and kept posting and kept posting… It was a success! I even went live a time or two, a bunch of us did shots at the same time, and it was really fun.

What really surprised me, though, that people kept posting even after the event was over! Like days later! So, stay tuned for what happened later…

#dollypartonchallenge

Okay I’ll play along with the #dollypartonchallenge—the sad thing is I really didn’t have any good “business attire” photos for Linked In or Tinder-esque photos of the 8,590 pics on my phone. How is that even possible?! Oh yeah, I’m a SAHM who never really needs to wear business clothes and I don’t need pics for trying to find a date or hookup. (And the pics I have for my husband I certainly am not sharing on social media! 😂)

I was today years old when I learned…

You aren’t supposed to burn your Christmas tree in the fireplace. Whoopsie.

I posted this pic and caption on Facebook:

When it’s time to take the tree down but you don’t want a trail of needles through the house and you love a good fire. 🎄🔥

Two friends immediately posted that was NOT A GOOD THING, but I didn’t see it because I was offline watching a movie with the fam. Then a friend called me to tell me about it. We were being careful, but we did stop burning it.

In one week our family will be on this ship…

I honestly still can’t believe it’s real. This will be our first cruise with the kids and they are beyond excited.

And I am extremely thankful for SeneGence for providing me the opportunity to treat my family to this experience. Yes, you heard that correctly…this entire cruise from flights to excursions to souvenirs is MY TREAT—paid for totally by my little side gig. That was my main goal when I started doing this 2-1/2 years ago—totally a pipe dream and little did I know that the business would take off and I would be having so much fun and earning enough to spoil my family like this.

SeneGence has also totally changed my self confidence, changed my look, given me a whole new set of friends, and showed my kids that when you set goals anything can happen!

#senethankful

Going outside my (shadow) box!

Now, if y’all know me, I don’t really do shadows. (Frankly I kind of suck.) But I watched an amazing SeneSister do this eye look yesterday and she is so fun and genuine (sidenote I totally want to be her new bestie) that I was compelled to comment. When I said if I tried this look I’d end up looking like I have two black eyes…she challenged me. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, Joyanne Boggs!!

I then totally fangirled over her and she graciously agreed to come to my group and do a demo for us (coming soon)!! But first today. Today I attempted this (minus the fake lashes because a girl can only do so much) and Joy had faith and showed up for emotional (and technical) support. And guys? It was a blast and I didn’t totally suck!

There was an unexplained Lapis Glitter incident 🤨 😂 plus I learned I still really need practice (I’m definitely not at her level!)…but overall, I’m really proud of myself for stepping outside my box!! #senesistersrock

Purple hair trio!

I saw this super cool colored hair wax advertised online and went directly to Amazon to buy it. My hair has been fading and Katie has wanted more color than the pink shampoo I have been using on her. And this was very temporary—as in comes out in one wash. So we tried it! I did it Live on Facebook…which the kids thought was great fun (they are always intrigued when I do my Live LipSense demos so they liked being part of a video).

Here are our results… The kids loved it! Owen’s was much easier as it’s shorter, thicker, and much heartier. Katie’s was a mess because it is so fine and snarls easily (I’ll have to try hers later when it’s wet). But as something fun to do? I highly recommend it.

Naturally Slim, Round 2

When it’s time to get serious about Naturally Slim again. Plus I already have my walk in for the day. #icandothis #ididitonceicandoitagain #failureisnotanoption #facebookaccountability

Lunch!

20 minutes later

I posted the above on Facebook and within minutes, a friend suggested we support each other by checking in via text message. I knew a bunch of my friends were all wanting to reboot as well, so asked who would be interested and quite a few were so I decided to start a Facebook group where we can all post and commiserate and help each other out. I think by the end of the day we had maybe 25 people and a week later we are around 50!

My first birthday fish sage!

I was originally planning on meeting a girlfriend halfway for a girls night out and we would do a joint live Facebook LipSense sale while having a few adult beverages in the hotel. She had to bow out due to work commitments, but I still wanted to try the sale myself so that’s just what I did! Of course, I kept with the adult beverages because, hey, that’s who I am and it was my birthday after all. :p

So why did I call it a fish sage? Well, in the initial planning stages with my friend over text, my phone autocorrected bad typing of live sale to fish sage and the rest is history. We both thought it was hilarious and I thought it might draw in more people’s attention if I was advertising a FISH SAGE. The result was…meh. A few people were intrigued, but it didn’t have the rousing success I had envisioned. (The fish sage joke only lasted for the first two days of the advertising. I quickly let people in on the joke.) The advertising was also proof you can pretty much google any two words and find appropriate pictures!

I was a bit nervous but once I got started it went well enough. I had about 4-7 people watching for the hour and a half I was on (I didn’t plan for it to go that long but oh well!) and although I didn’t sell anything during the sale as I had imagined, I sold quite a bit afterwards! So it was a success!

Here are some screenshots of the live video just because. There were some hilarious parts where I really didn’t know what I was doing with some of the makeup but I rolled with it and it was all good. (Keep in mind before this gig, I really didn’t wear lipstick or makeup more than a few times a year. I mean, ever since I stopped working nine years ago—and even back then I had no idea how to apply makeup—I just winged it. So I’ve worn makeup and eye shadow more in the past month than I have the past five years. And I’m still learning.)

And this was the full end result of the makeup demo. It was only a semi hot mess. And yes, the two different color lips were on purpose. 💕

It was definitely an interesting way to spend my birthday!!

Time for a panic attack: Purge Treasures

So, we just completed the pre-move walkthrough with the moving company guy. Consensus? We have too much shit. I know this comes as no surprise to people who know us… We NEED to purge but it’s SOOOO hard. So I decided today was the day to clean out the bulk of the four-drawer file cabinet. We just keep stuffing crap in there and never use any of it—and it’s about 200 pounds we can easily get rid of. Of course, I have to quickly sort through everything because there’s stuff I know I’ll want to keep, but I came across so much old junk that made me laugh or cringe that I posted some to Facebook.

CMU line dancing class coursebook. Because you know I still need a list of 60 line dances. #purgetreasures #recyclebin

A whole folder of song lyrics. Notice the year? #purgetreasures #recyclebin

A real stock certificate, circa 1995. #purgetreasures #keep

/sniff

A friend’s senior picture. #purgetreasures #recyclebin

#purgetreasures #keep (But I’m sending it to Dana to keep!)

How many of my Grayling peeps remember these report card folders?! #purgetreasures #keep

Kindergarten

From September 11, 1995 Central Michigan Lumber ad. #purgetreasures #recyclebin

Isn’t the limit for keeping taxes 25 years? 😆 #purgetreasures #shredder

#purgetreasures #recycle #roommatefromhell (I had quite a few roommate from hell pages!)

I’ve definitely needed to move this from Michigan to North Carolina to Michigan to North Carolina to Virgina. #purgetreasures #recyclebin

#purgetreasures #recyclebin

#purgetreasures #keep #nolongerexists #weddingreception

From the first time I saw it with my mom, circa 1992? #purgetreasures #unsure

Ahh. Taking out a $2500 loan to pay for uniforms. #purgetreasures #keep #usmc

My friends made me happy cry!

I was hosting an online Facebook party for this cool new lipstick and had included people from all times of my life…and the consultant was posting fun games for them to earn raffle entries. This one she did was so sweet and the responses made me happy cry. 🙂 I’m posting it so I can look back on it when I’m having a bad day.