Vaccines: The Good, The Bad and The Pretentious

I began my journey as a mother early.  I was all of 18 when I found out I was pregnant and 19 when I gave birth to my oldest daughter.
There is a tsunami of emotions, thoughts, fears ect. that come with having a child at any age.  Maybe even more so when your still a child yourself, but even in the midst of all that was happening and going to happen.  I never once questioned whether I was going to vaccinate my child and future children.

First off let me give this disclaimer, because there are people who like to take it upon themselves to blast people and just be down right nasty and take things to an unnecessary place.  Honestly the reason for even needing a disclaimer to me is absurd, but none the less, this is MY own personal opinion on the topic at hand.  MY own thoughts and feelings as a mother and as a parent to 5 children, all of whom have been vaccinated.  I understand not everyone if anyone shares my views, everyone is entitled to their opinion and though you don't have to agree or like it, I do ask that you respect it.   Thank you


OK, now that that's outta the way, here it is. . .



Disease is everywhere.......

No doubt about that.  It's unbelievably scary and it takes it too a whole other level when you add a child to the equation.
I as a child suffered from the chickenpox, as did many children, ( I was born in the 80's and the varicella vaccine was not licensed and introduced until 1995).  I vaguely remember much about having the chickenpox, what I do remember was it was painfully uncomfortable and looked like I was covered in bugs, which is gross.
I also remember a boy from my school being sick with chickenpox, his unlike mine was horrendous.  He had the lesions all over his body, but he also had them in his mouth, down his throat.  He was severely ill.  I couldn't imagine having to see my child in that state and feel completely helpless.
Now hearing a story like this will affect people in 2 million different ways, especially when the topic of vaccinating is brought up. You hear answers like I will, I don't, I have, I'm not going to, and that is a personal choice we all as parents at some point will have to make.


I'm a parent ......

I totally get where people are coming from.  These are your kids, it's your job to make all of these decisions as their parent.  To spank or put in timeout, tv or books before bed or both, playing outside or going to museums, all natural, home grown veggies and fruit, free range meat, no meat, no animal products at all, organic milk, regular whole milk, soy milk my God in Heaven the list goes on and on.  Do the parenting that makes you and your child/children happy, I don't care.

The way you parent your child/children doesn't hurt me and mine one damn bit!



But when it comes to Vaccines....

That is a completely different story.
This little area that some seem to think of as "harmful" and "unnecessary" because Bing, or Yahoo, or Google said so.  You're being naive and you are hurting others by doing so.
Oh I know all about that a certain blonde celeb poster child for the anti-vaccine movement and all her banter about her child's immune system being superior to everyone else's child.  Just because she believes that, doesn't mean everyone else should be put at risk.  It's also not fair to unjustly blame vaccines for causing your child to have to live with a condition such as autism.  Especially when the vaccines in question have no actual link to autism, nor do any others.  So it was blindly put out into the universe, if you vaccinate your child, they will develop autism. That's what the masses heard. Encouraging people to not vaccinate their children.  That is essentially endangerment, and not just to your child, but to everyone.


Vaccinating is like........

Germ damage control.  You clean your house after an illness has made it's way through (I hope you do at least) You wash clothes, bedding. You wipe everything down, you disinfect.  Simple stuff, you cover your nose and mouth and most importantly........YOU WASH YOUR HANDS!!! So you don't spread germs around.  Basic hygiene, wash your hands, they teach this in kindergarten.
Vaccines too are like germ damage control.  They help assist the body in building immunity to fend off germs.  Maybe you feel your children don't need that assistance, because they only eat this and take these supplements or whatever reason, so their immune health is just fine.  That very well may be true, their not my child.
On the flip side of that though, your un-vaccinated child is bringing all these germs everywhere they go, the park,the grocery store, a family dinner, a birthday party and they're exposing people who may not be fully prepared to deal with them.  I'm talking about individuals with weak/compromised immune systems, babies, cancer patients, the elderly.  People who cannot handle these diseases.  The people who are vaccinated, we serve as a barrier to help protect those who don't have the immune system to fight these diseases.  Need a visual aide, The diseases are Lord Valdermort and we are Harry Potter (the barrier) fighting him.  Corny? Maybe, but whatever it works.

People are taking for granted something that is readily available to them, when people in other places pray for healing that doesn't come to them.  The one thing they cry out for to save their child that they don't have, you have down the street at your doctor's office.
The medicine we have and the science that contributed to making that medicine is a gift from God, it is a blessing.
Your are blatantly turning your back on that, turning your nose up at it.  To say it's driven by conspiracy and greed or that your child will be hurt more by the gift of medicine then the disease it self is ludicrous.
It's ignorant, ungrateful, it's pretentious.

Children die everyday from these diseases in various places in the world and their families have no choice but to stand by and watch powerless.  They pray constantly for a means to an end of the diseases killing their children such as a vaccine and here you have it staring you in the face and you are willingly and knowingly throwing it way.


It's sickening, it's irresponsible.



As a parent I accepted the risk of something possibly happening when i had my children vaccinated.  I thought it more important that they be protected and help protect others.
But are the parents who refuse to vaccinate accepting the risks that they're not only placing on their child, but essentially every person their child comes in contact with.  In my opinion no, they are blindly going down a road and they selfishly have no disregard for anyone else's well being.
We have an obligation as parents to vaccinate our children, that is my honest opinion, you don't have to agree with or even like it. Just please respect it

It's just incredibly sad to see a vast amount of parents not vaccinating because these celebs said they weren't going to because they skimmed over these articles that said so.  So I guess if those same celebs said it was in your child's best interest to be tossed off a bridge you would be inclined to listen, because that is exactly what is happening with vaccines.  People blindly following a trend put forth by some out spoken celebs who don't think before they speak.
I sincerely hope things change, before God blesses me with grandchildren.


Xoxo
Emily

OPI Fifty Shades Of Grey Nail Polish Collection With Swatches!!!

YES!!! You read that right, OPI and The Most anticipated motion picture of early 2015, well in my mind anyways, Fifty Shades Of Grey have joined together and created a kick-ass collection of nail polishes that frankly I just might lose my mind over!!

So, the idea for this blog post came about, last friday, when I was on Ulta.com, just looking through the online ad when BAM!!! I came across this...

I Seriously about fell off my couch
Those 3 beautiful Grays.
That silver with blue sparkle in it.
A fine silver shimmer.
OMG that Red.
The grays they contrast in color, yet compliment one another nicely
and who doesn't love a good gray polish.

So after I saw this online, I searched some more and found some of the Lovely adds being used to publicize the collection.

Anyone else fan girling hard for Mr. Dornan aka Mr. Grey!!
Sweet Jesus!!
I really love how the ads are done with gray tones, duh given the name that's a no brainer.
It makes it look softer, simple yet eloquent. It in a way deepens the emotion in the ad between the two individuals. It's just fucking great!
Sorry I'm not sorry, I didn't mean to sound crude but there's no other way to describe it honestly.




Now, let's not waste anytime getting in to these swatches.
(All swatch pics are via www.alllacqueredup.com  awesome site check it out)


The colors included in this collection are as follows from left to right:
OPI Romantically Involved
OPI Dark Side of the Mood
OPI Cement the Deal
OPI Embrace The Gray
OPI Shine For Me
OPI My Silk Tie

OPI Cement the Deal
Blue based light gray creme

OPI Dark Side of the Mood
Charcoal creme with hints of slate blue

OPI Embrace The Gray
Dolphin gray creme

OPI My Silk Tie
Fine silver shimmer

OPI Romantically Involved
Slightly warm red

OPI Shine For Me
Sparkling silver foil, with bright blue indigo glitter

Oh fellas you all so sexual!!! Is that weird to refer to nail polish as guys? Maybe, but I'm all about equal love here, my nail polish collection consist of both male and female, I guess, Whatever, random, don't judge me, or do maybe I like it. OK moving on!  Seriously though are those polishes Beautiful or what!! I just really like them!

This collection looks phenomenal and I really enjoy OPI polishes, they are good quality, but they are what many would consider pricey for nail polish,
Sold individually they are $9.50 a bottle
I believe there is a set if mini polishes as well retailing in the $30-$40 range I think (don't quote me) but none the less I am suuuuuper excited about this and I think ya'll should be too!!
I hope the movie is good and it makes for a fun, exciting, hot, sexy Valentine's Day for everybody!

Until next time

Stay Beautiful Ya'll


XOXO
Emily

Homemade Baby Food

So, being the stay at home mom that I am, I sometimes (rarely) get a little down time during the day. Most times I have to wait till the hubs is home or after the 2 older girls go to bed.  But, when I do get that precious time for just me I love to cruise Pinterest.

Recently, well kinda, I have been pinning things about meals for toddlers or kid friendly meals. Then I came across some pins for making your own baby food, and I thought, What a good idea.  I thought so because, I have severe food allergies. So with all my kids, when it was time to introduce solids I was very fearful and had to be extremely careful. Why I didn't think to try this years ago I don't know. Plus buying from a store, they don't always have the fruits/veggie baby foods your child likes or can have.  So I decided to give it a try.

 It was relatively simply and left me feeling like I had accomplished something!!!

 I just figured hey, I can totally make some baby food and freeze it and if my kid loves it Awesome!!

So how's about we get into this!!

Deciding What You Want To Make

I just figured I would go with most of the foods my 7 month old has tried already, likes, and tolerates well.

Which is Peas, Squash, Butternut Squash, Sweet Potatoes, and Bananas an Pears at this point.  

She hates, hates, HATES Green Beans. Girl will not eat them, we tried for 3 weeks. She wasn't haven it.  

So I decided to make and freeze sweet potatoes, squash, butternut squash, and pears.

Cooking Methods

Clean, peel, and chop your fruits or vegetables.  You can leave the skin on but I usually don't unless it's organic or came from my mom's garden (because I sadly don't have one, yet).

Next you cook them, hence the heading, I personally simmer fruits, steam most vegetables, and roast sweet potatoes and squash's

Simmering:  Place chopped fruit in a small pot with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook on low eat until the fruit is soft.

Steaming:   Place vegetables in a steamer set over boiling water, Steam for 10 to 15 minutes till tender.

Roasting:    Preheat oven to 400 degrees, add a little bit of water to a rimmed backing sheet about 1/4 of an inch. Roast about 25 minutes. 

         (For butternut squash its a little different, I will be doing a separate post on how I roast it).

You can save the water you use from simmering/steaming to thin purees if needed

Pureeing

Place the cooked fruits or vegetables in to a blender, food processor, baby bullet, magic bullet, whatever you like.

Puree until smooth.

Freezing

I used ice trays to freeze mine,  Just spoon the puree into the trays and freeze them immediately.

Once frozen, place cubes into freezer safe bags that you already labeled, and place back in the freezer.

Eating

You can thaw them out overnight in the refrigerator, or heat them in the microwave for about 30 secs.  Let them cool before serving them.

           
                    She loved it and did really well with eating it, isn't she cute, Halloween bib and all!!!!

There you have it.  My first ever experience at making and freezing my own  homemade baby food.  Now get excited about creating your own homemade baby food and go make it happen!!


 Stay Beautiful ya'll

                                                              

XOXO

 Emily

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus Lipstick & Lipglass Sneak Peek with Swatches!!!!

Hey there ya'll!!!

Can you believe it? Miley Cyrus and Mac Viva Glam

Coming together!!! How excited are you all?!

That's right, Miss Miley Cyrus is officially the newest face for the MAC Cosmetics Viva Glam Campaign. The campaign puts all the money earned from the sales of #VIVAGLAM products towards helping men, women, and children living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.

This go round they are debuting a brand new hot pink lipstick and lipglass!!

Here's a little sneak peek of MAC VIVA GLAM Miley Lipstick & Lipglass

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus Lipstick $16 us/ $19 cdn (LE)

(Hot pink amplified)

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus Lipglass $15 us/ $18 cdn (LE)

(Hot pink with sparkling pearl)

**All Pics of products are via Temptalia here's her link**

www.temptalia.com

Go check her out!! She's beyond amazing

Swatch of MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus Lipstick

God It's GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!

Swatch of MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus Lipglass

What an awesome topper that will be, for any bright lip!!

Both of these products will be available online and in stores on January 22, 2015 in the US and

 February 12, 2015  internationally.

This is crazy exciting, I hope ya'll can get your hands on these because they look pretty amazballs and super fun.  Plus you get awesome makeup while helping people, it's a win win!!

Happy Shopping Lovelies and Stay Beautiful!!!!

XOXO

Emily 

Make and Freeze Lasagna!!!

Ingredients

28 oz jar spaghetti sauce
1 lb. ground beef, browned or 1 lb. Italian sausage, browned
8 oz. jar mushroom pieces, drained
16 oz. container ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 T. Italian seasoning
8 lasagna noodles, uncooked and divided
2 c. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese ( I couldn't find any plain Monterrey Jack cheese so I just substituted mozzarella cheese, I've also used the Italian blend bag cheese)
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Combine sauce,browned beef/sausage, and mushrooms; set aside (I did not use mushrooms)

2. Mix ricotta cheese, egg, and Italian seasoning together; set aside.

3. Layer as follows in each of 2 ungreased 9x5 loaf pans or 9x13 pans:

one cup meat sauce,
 lasagna noodles,
1/2 cup ricotta cheese mixture,
1/2 cup Monterrey Jack cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
Repeat layers.

I then covered with aluminum foil and then wrapped it a couple times with plastic, just make sure its fully covered. Now it is ready for the freezer.

When ready to prepare, thaw overnight in the refrigerator.  Remove Plastic wrap and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

And then enjoy!

All About me.....Almost!!!

                                                                         

Hi there! My name is Emily, welcome to my blog!


This blog is about my life,in all its many aspects. Beauty, home, style,family and all the craziness and shenanigans that comes along with it.

I live in south west Kansas with my husband Rob and our girls, Kara
Jolene and Lillyan Isabella. We have been married since October 2011.
Kara was born in December 2008 and miss Lilly bean came in November 2012.

****UPDATE****
Hey Guys, so since I first made this post things have kinda changed in our lives.  We moved, big whoop (lol yeah right, if it were only that easy)  But more importantly we had another beautiful baby girl!!!  Little Miss Hadleigh Teeghan Johnson was born 3 days before my (BIG, HUGE, not really but to me it was, 30th birthday) on June 4th, 2014 which also happens to be my best friend's husband's birthday as well.  Right now at this very moment, she is 7 months old.  Yes that's how much I suck at life. Yes I am a full time mama of 3 lovely little girls. A kindergartner, a 2 year old, and a 7 month old, so life is crazy to say the least. But life is good and the girls are healthy and that's such a blessing to us!!!! Xoxo

I decided to start a blog as a fun way to share my ideas, views,thoughts,likes, dislikes about.....I guess almost anything. Whether its family related, beauty, products of all kinds,decorating the list goes on. I wanted a positive outlet of sorts to be able to put what I'm thinking and do it in a fun way. I love reading blogs so I figured I'd try it! I believe and hope this will be a fun,exciting,and fulfilling ex perience. Help pull me out of my comfort zone some and give me a new view of life and inspiration!!

2014 Favorites

Hey everyone, here are my beauty favs for 2014!!!! I did a video about on my YouTube channel so go check it out!!!

Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Touchable Hairspray

Redken Exstreme Anti-snap leave in treatment

Bath and Body Works Beautiful Day perfume

Viva la Juicy Noir

Ed Hardy Love & Luck

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

 Sedona Lace Round Top Kabuki #480

Kenra Platinum blow-dry mist

L'oreal Magic Lumi light infusing primer

L'oreal Magice skin Beautifer BB cream in Fair

Maybelline fit me concealer in Fair

Nyx HD concealer in Porcelain

Ulta single eye shadow in Sabel

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

Lorac Pro Palette

Maybelline Baby Lips in Crystal Kiss

Vaseline lip therapy rosy lips

Tarte Light, Camera, Lashes

Cover girl Clump Crusher

Rimmel  Exaggerate Lip liner in Eastend Snob

Nyx Mega Shine Lip gloss in Cosmo & Sugar Pie

BareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Buttercream Lip gloss in Must Have Pink

CK1 Color Shine Lipstick in #800 Naked

Kat Von D Studded Kiss lipstick in Lovecraft

Urban Decay Revolution lipstick in Naked

I know it's not a lot of Fav's but I think it's a pretty good start, especially since this is my first ever Favorites blog post and it was my first ever Favorites video on YouTube.  I hope you all enjoyed this post, look for more posts from me coming in the future.  Thank you guys so much.  Stay Beautiful!!!!Xoxo

-Emily