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Jul 10, 2012

Sharing Our Spoons

July 10, 2012 By 4 Comments

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“Sharing Our Spoons” will be a weekly link-up where you are able to find support and encouragement to focus on your entire health. Not just physical but all of you. For this link-up you will be able to choose holistic goals to help you achieve optimal health. The five goals include:

  1. Physical: could be weight loss or exercise related or it could be goals like eating more veggies or cutting soda
  2. Mental/Emotional: take a day to be alone, write a letter, paint, etc
  3. Spiritual: start a new devotional book, commit a certain amount of time a day for prayer/meditation
  4. Something fun: Take time to treat yourself – maybe a pedicure or Starbucks (if you don’t typically splurge for specialty coffee)
  5. BONUS: One thing to get you out of your comfort zone a week – try something new, sign up for a class you maybe have been putting off.

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Here is how I did this last week:

  • Physical: Take a 10-15 minute walk (at a slow pace) every day
    at least 5 times this week. FAIL.
  • Mental: New goal is to send 3 “just because” letters this week! FAIL.
  • Spiritual: Start new Bible study called Walking by Faith by Jennifer Rothschild. FAIL.
  • Something Fun: I want to continue to play around with a book I just purchased that has hair style ideas for Abby! Finally I can say done! This was really fun! Here are styles that I have tried:

Styling biracial hair

 

  • Challenge: My challenge goal this week will be to plan out the next 2 weeks of posts. Another fail. Pulling out all of my Content Brew handouts.

Its pretty sad that I completed only 1 of 5 this past week. Recovery definitely had something to do with it. Not using it as a crutch, more of a reality. I head back to work on Monday so I will likely be laying low this week. Pain has definitely declined. Fatigue and nausea are still kicking my butt so hopefully the Zofran my surgery called in and a lot of resting will help get me ready for back to work!

p.s.



Filed Under: chronic illness, health Tagged With: , , ,
Feb 13, 2012

Stopain Review & Giveaway

February 13, 2012 By

For the past 8 years I have tried every pain reliever on the market I’ve tried heat packs, cold packs, pain patches, and every kind of gel ever made. So when I was asked to review Stopain’s topical pain relief products, I was glad to try it out.

 The Stopain products come in three forms: gel, spray, and roll-on. I decided to go with the roll-on to try out!

 

I found the product to be helpful in relieving muscle aches and lower back pain. I would consider the pain relief results to be comparable with those with  BioFreeze or MaxFreeze but with a few perks. The Stopain didn’t have nearly the smell of other topical pain relievers. I could smell it when I put it on but it went away quickly versus smelling like I took a bath in BioFreeze. I also liked the convenience of the roll-on! It was nice to be able to keep my hands clean so I wouldn’t smell it on my skin all day. Also, the roll-on was easy to toss into my purse without worrying about it leaking (which has been an issue in the past with other topical treatments I’ve tried). All-in-all, I was very pleased with the product and would definitely purchase it again once this bottle runs out!

 

Another reason to like Stopain products is that they donate a portion of every purchase to the Arthritis Foundation

 

Now its your turn to try out Stopain products with a giveaway! One winner will be drawn on Wednesday morning!

 

To enter:

1-Visit Stopain and tell me what version of the product you would like to try out!

2- Like A New Kind of Normal on Facebook and then leave a comment telling me you did!

3- Like Stopain on Facebook and then leave a comment telling me you did!

 

Good luck!

 

**Disclaimer: I was provided with the Stopain Roll-on product to facilitate this review but no other way. Opinions are 100% my own**

Filed Under: chronic illness, giveaway, review Tagged With: , , , ,
5 More Lessons from Disney
Oct 7, 2011

5 More Lessons from Disney

October 7, 2011 By 2 Comments

You can click here to see my first post on our Disney vacation!

Here are a couple more lessons I picked up on our trip!

 

6- Try to spread your days out if possible, especially if you are a spoonie or have a small child. We opted to get 6 day passes versus 4 day passes for several reasons – 1) the cost really wasn’t that different (when we purchases our tickets there was only a $25 price difference between the 4 day & 6 day passes) and 2) this allowed us to freedom of spending as much or as little time in the parks as we wanted. Because we knew we had 6 days, we didn’t feel the pressure to cram seeing all of the Magic Kingdom in one day. It also gave us the freedom of having shorter days if we felt like it (most days we were on the shuttle to the parks at 9 and home by 2:30 except for Animal Kingdom). I know that I could not have handled full days and I definitely know Abby would have been worn out. She was knocked out by the time we left every day! Plus it gave us the freedom to enjoy the relaxing pool and lazy river in the evening at the resort!

 

7- Make time for the non-ride attractions. Being post-op and having a toddler, we didn’t have the option of the big rides this go-round (thinking Everest, Space Mountain, etc) so it encouraged us to explore some of the other options the parks have to offer. If you go to the Animal Kingdom, you MUST  go see the Lion King & Finding Nemo shows! Fantastic! Animal Kingdom also offers a lot of walking trails which I have heard are definitely worth it (we didn’t do the trails since I wanted to give my poor husband a break pushing me around). One of Abby’s favorite places was the Boneyard at Animal Kingdom which combined two of her favorite things: slides and dinosaurs. How can you not smile when you see this face?

Animal Kingdom Boneyard Slide

Another favorite at the Magic Kingdom was Mickey’s Philharmonic! She actually cried when it was over!

 

 8- Pass over the camera. Since I was blessed with my new DSLR, I tend to find myself doing most of the picture taking. Not that I have mastered the camera by any stretch of the imagination but I am more comfortable with it than John so I think that’s why I tend to be the one behind the camera. It showed on this vacation. We’ve got loads of the most wonderful pictures of Abby and Daddy, as well as pictures with my family but unfortunately I’ve found myself in very few of them which is a bit sad! So definitely remember to pass the camera every so often! P.S. The cast members of Disney are awesome at taking pictures using your camera at Character Spots (as well as the professional putting images on your PhotoPass).

9- Enjoy the wonder through the eyes of your child! It has been a long time since I had been to Disney (1988 to be exact) so quite a bit had changed and it was almost like it was a first-time trip for myself but watching Abby take in all the sights was amazing! I had to remind myself of this the night of the Electric Parade. I really wanted to catch some good shots but I couldn’t get the settings right on my camera and the longer I fooled with it, the more I realized how much I was missing! So instead I put the camera aside and enjoyed watching Abby watch the parade – something I would have missed if I had stayed behind the camera!  I loved watching her eyes light up when she got to meet Tiana in person or how big she smiled as she gave Buzz Lightyear a high-five. I loved watching the wonder as we watched the puppeteers bring Finding Nemo to life. I loved how excited she got to ride Dumbo or the Triceratop Spin or even the PeopleMover (which she thought was a big deal).

Disney Dumbo People Mover Dinosaur

10- Finally – enjoy yourself! Before this trip I never understood why families would choose to go back to Disney year after year. I mean, don’t you want variety?! Now I know why. There is something truly magical about Disney and there is just something about it that brings family together. John is not a huge theme park roller-coaster guy but he even loves Disney. My parents are huge Disney fans and love going just the two of them (of course they absolutely loved having both grandbabies on this trip!). Even with all of the obstacles (pain, being post-op, etc) I had the most wonderful time and am already counting down to our next trip! Disney 2013!

 

Filed Under: chronic illness, family, health, travel Tagged With: , , ,

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