Adobo & Fries

I have been trying to focus more on myself lately. My son is 4 now and I have let my own health, wellness, beauty routine and skincare go by the wayside far too long. Since I am still sore from the accident I can't do my walking DVD or any kind of workout yet so I'm changing gears for now and moving on to skincare. I'm knocking on the door to 40 and probably should have been focusing on my skin more long ago. Tonight we have a holiday party to attend. I thought I would try out an eye mask and try to do something about my "mom circles" under my eyes. I dug a Yes to Cucumbers eye mask out of my drawer and decided to give it a try. The pros: the cucumber smell was lovely and the eye patches felt lovely on my skin. The cons: it did absolutely nothing for my dark circles and I feel like it almost made them deeper! The above picture is during the mask and the below is 20 minutes after. I wasn't expecting magic, but I wasn't expecting worse! An

Since our car accident we've been struggling to get into the holiday spirit this year. Thanksgiving was a bust since the first half was spent still in the hospital and our decorations for Christmas have been minimal due to lingering pain and energy restrictions.  One of my favorite holiday traditions is baking treats for our neighbors and I was determined to still get that done this year. I made three different types of cookies and a special Thank You pie for my friend who stayed with us all night in the ER. Both my husband and Eli helped (and Orion laid on the rug beneath our feet) so it was truly a family affair this year. My back hurts and my kitchen is a disaster but it was more than worth it. I made my delivery rounds today, dropping off the goodies. To our next door neighbors who put up with our barky dog, who lend us tools and who are always up for a good over the fence chat, to our elderly neighbor across the street who lost her husband this year just to give her som

The outpouring of help and support and prayers we received post-accident has been incredible. From dear friends who came to pick up Eli at the scene of the accident and keep him safe, to neighbors bringing food, to other moms who offered to drive Eli to school when I couldn't...the list goes on and on. I truly could not have gotten through the first 10 days post-accident without a village. It was honestly a village I didn't know I had. We have only lived in our town a few years. I'm not one to make friends easily. I have an anxiety disorder and struggle with putting myself out there and making small talk. Its hard for me to ask for help and I feel awkward accepting it. Unfortunately not being able to walk easily and being unable to drive for a week put me in a position where help was a necessity. When offers to help poured in I couldn't always say "no thank you, we are fine". Sometimes I had to say yes and take them up on their offers.  I'm shocked

My apologies for the absence. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was my husband's 40th birthday. We were in the car (including our 4 year old son) driving to his birthday dinner when all of a sudden we were hit from behind. We were stopped at a stop sign behind another car and were hit with such force that we bounced between the two cars several times. Thankfully Eli was unharmed. His car seat kept him safe and sound and he had no injuries. My husband and I didn't fare quite as well. I had several bruises and neck and back injuries, as did my husband. After we were hit I leapt out of the car, losing my shoe in the process to get to my son. I asked him if he was ok but he wouldn't speak. I got him out of his car seat and then collapsed with him in my arms on the side of the road in complete hysterics. He was fine, just scared. The police came quickly and were able to give me oxygen (I think I had a stress-induced asthma attack). The EMT's arrived and my husband was ta