I assumed when I started my blogs and my YouTube channel there would be people that don’t like me or don’t like what I do. I prepared myself for that. What I wasn’t prepared for was the following of hate on my social media accounts as well as my YouTube channel. I won’t really get into what is going on and what was said to me and about me. What I will say is, to those of you out there who may be dealing with the same issues I am. The best thing you can do for yourself is be yourself. The negative comments initially started on my YouTube channel and I politely responded. As well as a few of my viewers. Who I appreciate so greatly for sticking up for me. The world needs more people who stick up for others. I thought it was all over until 5 am eastern time. When I saw that not only did this person contact me directly on my business facebook page. She again began her rants of how horrible my videos are and how much of a designer she is. Basically telling me to use the net better… I say to all the people who follow my blog and don’t like it. Don’t follow it. For those who don’t like my YouTube videos, don’t watch them. For those who don’t like me in general, guess what you don’t have to. One thing about me that I have learned in my almost 40 years of life, is that I was born to be me and no one else. I will continue to follow my dreams and goals and not let those cyber bullies and haters damper my mood.
Tag: mommy blogs
Rest Day…
I’ve decided to take a mental rest day. Being a mother, wife, friend, small business owner, and volunteer. Can be a lot to handle at times. Especially when everything is coming at you all at once. In my life, I tend to take on more than I should without giving myself time to rest or reset. Which in turn causes me to deal with a great amount of stress. Too much stress has led my anxiety to be in full force. Dealing with anxiety and being manic depressive is enough in itself. But when fuel continues to be added to the flame, a great explosion is waiting to erupt. I don’t want this to happen, though I feel it coming on. Something definitely needs to change. I can’t stop being a mother or many of the other hats I tend to wear. So I have to make a change for myself. If only for a day.
Do you find that you feel the same way?
Do you find yourself saying you need to catch up on sleep? ( Which will never happen)
Do you find yourself being everything to everybody every day?
I suggest you do the same thing I plan to do. Take a rest day. Just one day a month or a week when you forget about the housework. Forget about running all those errands. Let the laundry go for a day. Don’t respond to text and useless phone calls. One thing you will never be able to do is to catch up on sleep. That will never happen. However, you can take a day to de-stress, unwind, clear your mind and just let go.
Rather you choose to sleep, watch tv, go to a spa, window shop or just do absolutely nothing. Do it. For your mental clarity and sanity. We all need to just take a day to rest then start up again tomorrow.
Your body and mind will thank you.
~Nika xoxo
Happy Veteran’s Day!
HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY
Today I want to thank all my family and friends who have served and are still serving. I have two grandfathers now both deceased who fought to protect our country, I lost an uncle in Vietnam and I have many cousins, aunts and uncles along with countless friends who have served. I give thanks for the service you provide, for the things we see and the things we don’t. I support our troops forever and always.
THANK YOU!!!!!
~Nika xoxo
DIY: File Folder Organizer
So guys I have tons of paper that comes in the house each week for the kids, mail, coupons etc. This has caused me to just have papers everywhere with no form of organization. Today I chose to change all that. I made my own file folder organizer. All I needed was decorative duct tape, file folders and scissors.
The way I decorated the file folder was simply taking the duct tape across leaving a slight overage to close the sides. Once I completely covered the folder. I added a few strips to the back left sides, spaced the folders out and taped them together so they were like one whole system. The last thing to do was to mount the folders to the wall. Instant, cheap file folders. Now all the correspondence I need to reference for later use or keep. Will be nicely filed away and off the floor.
I hope this post helps.
-Nika xoxo
Am I the only one?
Okay, I know most of you out there have children that have already started school. My sister lives in Georgia and her children are back to school already. So as you all know I love my kids to pieces and would sacrifice my life to give them one. However, I feel like this has been one of the longest summers ever. My children do not go back to school until September 6. If you are like me with a ton of kids at home you know the pain is real. I feel like a small child when my husband comes home from work so excited. Yes to see him because he’s home, but mainly due to the children driving me insane all day.
The morning starts out wonderfully, mommy helping the younger children get their breakfast, laundry, cleaning you know the usual. Making my videos if needed and working on filling orders. Most of this time I only have one teen awake and chores done. Getting ready to leave the house to spend time with friends. Yeah the other two teens pretty much sleep until after 1 pm. What the heck it’s summer right. So the older children are out of the house one is nearly 23 and the other a sophomore in college. So around mid to late afternoon, those two little sweet angels of mine. My youngest two lovelies start in on each other. They have to argue, they have to be in charge, they have to bring me into the arguments. They are like a little old couple. Then oh no don’t let Kameron have a friend that is mutual friends with Autumn come over. Because then the jealous mean sister comes out. Mom tell Kam to play with me, I’m his sister. Then I have to say, “it’s ok for him to have friends besides you honey. He still loves you and you can play with him when they are gone.” So my poor son has trouble on his hands as they get older. I just feel sorry for his future girlfriend.
So that isn’t the end of it. Do you remember when I said I begin my day by cleaning. Well let me tell you why. Those two teens that I told you sleep all day. Well seems that they get up around 2 or 3 am eating and leaving the mess for someone else to clean. Turning every single light in the house on as well as the t.v.s and video games. Why? you may be asking. When you figure it out please let me know. No matter how many times I harp about the mess and the lights it never seems to work. So the only solution to my pain is for school to start. At least from the time the last two kids go to school until 2ish when the first two kids come home. I will have peace, quiet, a clean house with all the lights OFF.
Sad that after being a parent almost 23 years its the little things that satisfy me. It’s sad that all I want is a little peace, a clean house and low electricity bills. Well if you have as many kids as I do 6 boys and 1 daughter you will understand this post very well.
Until September 6th I will be in a house with children who argue, leave lights on, sleep until the afternoon, and talk until all I want to do is go in my room lock my door and wait for daddy to get home. Though I wish this I would never do this. I have to be a mom and just deal with it all and love my kids until the end. Which I do though sometimes I have to vent.
-Nika xoxo
This Michigan Weather
First off I want to say, I hate the cold lets just put it bluntly. I have lived in Michigan my entire life. Yes! One would say I should be use to it. However, I can never get use to the cold weather EVER!!! A few days last week it was very nice and starting to get up in the 60’s. Oh boy was I loving it. Today though 46, yes 46 degrees. The sun is shinning but it is still cold. I want to start getting out there and walking. So that I can start walking away some of these pounds I packed on these last 5 years. Ugh! I can’t wait until May when I go to Georgia for my nieces graduation. It’s nothing better than my visits to Georgia for me. It’s been a while since I traveled there anyway.
So if by chance any of you live in a warm state or a state that has warmer weather than me let me know. I can live vicariously through you.
-Nika xoxo
Recovering from surgery…
Happy Valentine’s Day first and foremost.
So I had my surgery on Friday and I must say when I came home. I was in so much pain I wanted to scream to the high heavens. Knowing that this would have only made things worse, I didn’t. I tried my best to sleep on Friday but my lovely children were so concerned about my well-being I barely got any sleep. I think they were just nervous. My sweet precious children. My daughter of course didn’t want to leave my site and has been doing so much to make me comfortable. Going as far as even following me to the bathroom. I had to put an end to that yesterday. Mama needs her privacy. So how am I feeling today. Well I made the mistake of going down my stairs, what was I thinking? Big mistake is what it was. First off when you have any kind of surgery done to your inside lady parts and the doctors tell you to take it easy. You seriously need to listen. Today is not only Valentine’s Day. It is also my 3rd child’s birthday. So, I wanted to go in the basement to get the presents I had for him. Yes I came from my upstairs bedroom, to the second floor then down to my basement. Two days from surgery. I’ll tell you one thing. I will not be doing that again. Rest means rest. Though being still and not being able to cook or clean is driving me insane, the pain I am feeling is more overbearing than I can take. Therefore, for the first time in my life I must learn to sit still and allow others to help me. Hopefully the next time I post, I will be back to my old self. Up sewing, crafting, blogging, vlogging and most of all back to taking care of my family. Till next time guys and gals…
Nika xoxo
Getting Healthy and Losing Weight!
Okay all, so I went to the doctor today and it seems the 31 pounds I have gained over the past few years is causing me to have more health problems than expected. So not only do I need to lose weight one of my doctors has put me on a high vegetarian low fat diet. Which my primary care physician told me about a year ago I need to go on a low fat diet. Though, I didn’t listen. Now it seems I am causing myself more harm than good. So here it goes…. I am going to tell you where I started, where I am and where I want to be.
Even after having 7 children I always maintained a weight between my lowest 98 lbs and highest 110 lbs, which most people thought was still too small. I am only 5’3″ so technically I was within my range. After my last baby I weighed between 112 lbs -120 lbs which was great though I still wanted to be fit and not flabby. Ok so most of you know in 2010 I had a huge health tragedy and nearly died. Which after a week in the hospital I came out way small than I went in. Fast forward 2 years I slowly started gaining weight and not really understanding why. Well it all came to me that some of it was due to medication the rest of it was due to poor diet. See when I worked prior to the tragedy I barely ate because life was just too busy plus I was more active. Being forced by my health to be a stay at home mom turned my kitchen into a playground for me. Hence… weight gain. And constant trips to the store to buy as much chocolate and snacks as I pleased. And though through that time I have consistently tried to diet and eat healthy. I relapsed so many times. Which leaves me to weighing in at 151 lbs right now. Well in most cases that is not really all that heavy. Lets remember I am 5’3″ tall. On top of that I only have around 68-70 percent lung function right now due to the tragedy in late 2010 paired with knee pains, and a few other issues that will turn into a book if I keep writing.
So in my case the weight gain is actually not a good thing. Now, I’m not trying to be super small like I was in prior years I feel 120 is a safe weight for me. I won’t be too skinny which has also caused me issues when I was under 120. And I won’t be too big. To me that is the just right weight. So if there are any of you out there that would like to follow me on this journey I created a DietBet just click the link below if you want to join me and get healthy while shedding some pounds along the way.
When things don’t go as planned…
This weekend I had everything planned out. Since Genevieve was finally finished and published. I wanted to start working on my sewing projects. Well the tables turned dramatically for me. If you watch my YouTube videos you know I deal with medical issues that cause me to get sick at the drop of a dime. Well, last month towards the last three weeks and into October I have been on and off antibiotics. I was well for a good 3-4 days and thought things were turning around for me. No such luck! 🙁 Well being sick has definitely changed what I wanted to do next. Even making me feel slightly depressed. I just sometimes feel I will never accomplish my goals. This isn’t the case. Though I would have liked to start working on my sewing projects I can start working on my next book. This will hold me over until I’am better. Times do get hard for me. Often more times than not that doesn’t mean I have to stop completely. I just simply alter the plan.
“Never stop working on your dreams just alter the plan”
Genevieve meet world, world meet Genevieve!
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So much time, effort and insecurity went into writing this book. If you have been following me from the beginning you know how much went into this book. I am proud that I set out a goal and followed through with it. I am so good for starting things and not finishing them. This book right here is always what I have wanted out of life. Becoming a writer, a published author. As I have stated many times before, rather Genevieve does well or rather it fails. My goal was set and accomplished and I am very proud of myself. If you would like to follow my journey check this book out for yourself.