Summer Has Officially Arrived with my VoxBox!

The Sunkissed VoxBox has arrived courtesy of Influenster! Full size freebies, here I come!

*Gasp*

But aren't you potentially allergic to some of them? 

I sure am. That's what friends are for, right? 

I love free stuff, especially when I can share it with friends!

So, here are the goodies: 

Dr. Scholl's for Her High Heel Insoles

Goody Hair Ouchless Ribbon Elastics

Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream

SinfulColors SinfulShine Nail Polish

I'll let you know what we think of them all as we try 'em out!

Lemon Water and Baking Soda: My Dish Soap!

Since I am allergic to all commercial dish soaps and recently moved to a place without a dishwasher, I was in a bit of a pickle. I tried making my own dish soap previously and failed miserably, but I finally figured out what works!

Lemon water and baking soda!

Does It Work?

Yes! Lemon is naturally disinfecting, and baking soda is abrasive.

How To Use Baking Soda and Lemon Water to Wash Dishes

1. Squeeze some lemons and use the lemon juice in some tasty recipe.
2. Place about 4 large lemons, or the equivalent in smaller lemons, in a large pot and cover with water.
3. Boil gently for about an hour.
4. Let set overnight.
5. Strain into glass jars.
6. Refrigerate.
7. Pour a small amount (approx. 1/4 cup) of baking soda into a bowl.
8. Add lemon water (approx. 1/3 cup).
9. Watch it sizzle!
10. Wash dishes with paste. 
11. Rinse in hot water.

Tips:

• Starting with generally rinsed dishes is easiest.
• For stubborn messes, apply the paste to the dish and let dry. Use water and a little elbow grease to rinse off and remove rust, stains, or stuck-on food.
• Bubbles don't equal clean. It can be a bit unnerving initially, but you'll settle in.
• If you need more baking soda or lemon water, this is not an exact science. As long as you are getting the lemon water at least on the surface, you are disinfecting. The baking soda is simply to serve as a mild abrasive.

Hugs Hurt Sometimes

Today my hubby had the day off, and I had a phone call for Medicaid. So we were both up around the same time. He stepped over to give me a hug.

I couldn't stop the tears from knowing how bad it would hurt.

Being the loving husband that he is, he started to move away. But I needed the contact, and sobbed for a moment in his arms.

I wonder how much this hurts him. I know it does.

Sure, chronic illness is hard on the patient. But it's hard on the loved ones, too, and they need as much support as they can get!

How to Make a Latex-Free Bra from an Old Shirt: A Video

By request, my video as to how I make my own latex-free bras. They are not fancy and don't provide incredible support, but they are cheap or even free to make, simple enough for beginner seamstresses, and most of all, latex free!

What do you think? I'm obviously not a professional video tutorial extraordinaire, so please do let me know if I was unclear on anything. 

Free Copy of Amazing Grace Movie

Today only, you can request a free copy of the movie Amazing Grace.

I am beyond excited to see this movie! I now remember hearing about it coming out a while back.

Anywho, you do need to provide some information aside from the general auto-robot-form junk, so do be prepared to think for a minute or two.

Check out the movie trailer for Amazing Grace below:

Thanks, Money Saving Mom!

The Chronic Illness and Relationship Series: The Circle of Illness

*Warning: Has a cuss word at the end. Just so you know.*

My prayer today is that today's blog post will make sense. I just came down with a cold, my meds are all screwed up, and I didn't sleep a wink last night.

However, I just got a glimpse of a post on a friend's Facebook page that made me realize that I really need to write this! This person has cancer, so it's all the more relevant in their situation.

Behold, I give you: 

The Circle of Illness

*Non-sups= non-supportive people

I know, it's a really crappy rendition, but this is my circle in a nutshell. In case you haven't realized it, I'm sick and have a lot of junk going on in my body that makes me feel like *insert every expletive known to man here* pretty much all the time. It is what it is.

Every person with an illness, whether it's chronic, terminal, or somewhere in between, has their own circle. (Yep, that means you.)

So here's your challenge. Now that you've seen my circle, grab a piece of scrap paper and make your own. I'm not kidding. Do it. It doesn't take long. Write down names.

Now, seeing as how YOU are the center of your illness circle, look at each name. Think about that person. Are they putting positive in or are they putting negative in. If they're putting positive in, that's wonderful! They're a keeper! If they're putting negative in.... well, you may need to re-evaluate that relationship.

Since I'm really starting to need my Kleenex, I'm going to leave it at that for now and revisit our circle fun at a later date. But if you are saddened at the realization that someone you thought loved you is only putting negative into your circle, don't fret. You don't have to do anything right now but recognize it. And feel free to kick them the freak out of your circle. 

I've done it. It sucked. It still does suck! But am I better for it. You bet your medicine cabinet I am!

Til later,

Pain free wishes and kickin' bitches outta your circle dreams,

Leanna

Latex Free Children's Toys from Melissa & Doug

Ever since I first learned of the company, I've been a big fan of Melissa & Doug. While I taught preschool and pre-k, their toys were some of my favorites to have in the classroom. Not only did they actually encourage the children to use their imagination rather than simply keep them entertained, toys from this company lasted.

In fact, I've never had a toy from Melissa & Doug break on me. Ever! For someone who cared for the children that had severe behavioral problems to the extent that every other preschool program in the area had kicked them out... that's a pretty huge deal.

As if the quality wasn't enough to gush about, most (if not all) of their products are latex-free. Since they have over 1,000 products and I haven't looked at every single product, I can't say they are all latex-free, but if you ever have any questions, their customer service is always accessible. I'll be going through and confirming with the company regarding some of my favorites.


How Do You Save Money at Melissa & Doug?

The easiest ways to save money on this website for latex-free toys are to join the Treasured Toy & Birthday Clubs. You will receive an e-mail coupon for 10% off your next order with the Treasured Toy Club, and 15% off any orders placed during your child's birthday month through the Birthday Club.

Besides these two clubs, they regularly run all sorts of different specials, with toys in their outlet currently marked down up to 55% off their regular price. If you have a birthday party coming up, check out the Birthday Bear Press & Spin Game in their outlet for just $3.59. It looks so cute!

 Plus, save an EXTRA 10% on all toys currently in their outlet by using the code OUTLETTEN at checkout. Score!

Latex Allergies and Flying

Picture courtesy of http://www.public-domain-image.com.

Latex allergies make walking out the door something to be feared at times. Flying with it? Forget it!

Nah.

This checklist for airline travel with a latex allergy at Grateful Foodie has you covered.

Not that I'll be flying anytime soon, but if you have a trip coming up, planning is everything!

Re Use It and Save Money!

Have you checked out ReUseIt.com yet? What a great website! Their slogan, "reusables for every part of your life" really is true, too.

While their goal, naturally, is offering reusable items, many products are incidentally latex free and safe for me! I'll be sharing with you some of my favorite finds, so stay tuned!

Grab the Deal of the Day and feel good about saving money and the environment!

Their current shipping offers:

  Free Standard Shipping on orders $59+ Use Code: RUSHPJUN

  $1.99 Standard Shipping on orders of $50 or more! Use Code: LSPRNGRU

Free Chili's Flatbread! No Purchase Necessary!

Have you got your free Chili's Flatbread coupon yet? If not, hurry! It's going to be my hubby's reward this weekend for grocery shopping with me. :)

If you've never had this before, it's basically a small gourmet pizza. And it's good.

Bob's Red Mill Potato Flakes Review and Simple Recipes

With a zillion food allergies, I don't have many easy go-to foods that aren't fresh produce. While I trust him, my hubby doesn't trust himself to buy me anything since the last two times he's bought me groceries I've had a reaction.

This leaves me with few options when I don't have the energy to cook and don't have anything cooked ahead. Fortunately, Bob's Red Mill has me covered.... every four days, at least.

Bob's Red Mill Potato Flakes contain potatoes, mono and diglycerides from vegetable oil (to improve texture), and citric acid. That's all.

They're gluten free, and while I haven't called and asked about what types of vegetable oil is used, I've been just fine eating them. (I am allergic to soy and corn, both of which are possible sources.)

My go-to "recipe" is to throw some in a big bowl, add water, and microwave 2 and a half minutes. I add sea salt and nutritional yeast, stir well, and I'm on the way to Tastyville.

My other "recipe" is, again, adding some water and microwaving for 2 and a half minutes. Then I add some plain almond milk (NOT vanilla!), a little salt, and sometimes a little cheese if I'm feeling daring. The almond milk certainly makes it creamier.

So what's your favorite easy mashed potato "recipe?"

My Experiences with Surgery Induced Early Menopause: Part 1

Surgery with a latex allergy is downright terrifying. Once a latex allergy has developed into a Type IV allergy, every latex glove has the potential to kill you if it's used on you and the right steps aren't taken to treat a reaction.

Surgery with a chronic illness like fibromyalgia is scary, but for a different reason. Personally, I've always taken forever to recuperate from anything. Take the average person's recovery time, and double it. That is the absolute best case scenario. Most things have taken me a good four times or more longer to recover from.

With this sort of background, I elected to have a Da Vinci hysterectomy the beginning of January. It was not suggested by my gynecologist or even hinted at. My husband and I requested it, and while surgery is never fun, I am so glad we made that decision.

Why Have a Hysterectomy if You Don't Need It?

Since age 13 I've been on birth control bills. I've pretty much tried them all, and I was at the point where I was running out of different types to try. I absolutely hate trying new meds as I never know how I'll react, and the birth control pills just weren't doing their job anymore. Cramps were so painful I would cry some months (it takes a lot of pain to bring me to tears) and periods were so irregular we thought I was pregnant on multiple occasions.

I'd had multiple procedures done over the years: cryocauteries, a D&C (no baby or anything, just a lot of crap down there), countless ultrasounds, abnormal pap smears, and a laparoscopy. 

The real factor, though, was the ovarian cysts. Oh. My. Gosh. The first ovarian cyst I had rupture was after I had kidney stone surgery. It was the exact same pain, same symptoms. It felt like my insides were going to explode. Indescribable pain. We went to the ER expecting there to have been some sort of complication from the kidney stone surgery, only to find a ruptured ovarian cyst.

Those little buggers kept popping up in the years since. Without warning, I would be down for the count. Unfortunately, there was no treatment left for them in my case. I was just supposed to deal with the pain when it came, knowing that at any moment in time one could rupture and leave me gasping for breath in agony. I wasn't down with that.

From about August through the end of December, I was either in pain from ovarian cysts or completely out of it with fog from latex allergy. The sleep disorders and fibromyalgia were probably hanging out with me then too, but I don't remember that.

The latex allergy I couldn't do much about, but the ovarian cysts I could.

One additional factor going into the decision that we had recently discovered is that I essentially had a partial wall in my uterus. This made getting pregnant risky for both a baby and myself, with the likelihood of a miscarriage or other birth complications sky-high. My husband's always been terrified of me getting pregnant anyways, scared that it would kill me with all of my other medical problems. I always thought it was a completely irrational fear, but he may not have been too far off the mark with that discovery.

Stay tuned for Part 2. I just couldn't fit all I wanted to say in one post!