Let's talk about Amway...

www.amway.com 

This a disclaimer that this is only my personal opinions of our time working for this system. Please read more about Amway; I may not tell our story in the most eloquent way so you may want more information.

I'm not sure how many of you are too familiar with Amway so if you'd like to read more please click the link above. I'm also not sure how well I'm going to do explaning our experience, but after being involved with the company in my own words:
 It is an online business that helps families start their own online website that sells products in bulk and their own line of products, similar to that of Costco's Kirkland Signature Brand. It helps husbands and wives become a closer unit, and brings parents home from their jobs. If you are willing to put in the work.

In 2006 I got a call from Bryan while at college, he said he was going to watch some business meeting at his sister's house and he'd call me afterwards. The call I received hours later was not from the same boyfriend I had talked to earlier. The boyfriend I heard from hours later was excited, uplifted, and determined. He had just seen a business plan that he foresaw changing our future. It was presented by multimillionaires Tracey and Kimberly Eaton.

In the months that followed I saw a different side of Bryan. Someone something had a lit a fire underneath him and he had a new passion for life and me. Which brings me to my first point. Amway changed our relationship [for the better] Bryan has never been a big reader, and he was excited and encouraged to read and build a better foundation in our relationship before we got married. We read books like 'Love & Respect' and 'The Five Love Languages'  and truly grew emotionally from them both. I mean at the time, what 20 something year olds were worry about their future and reading books to strengthen their future marriage? One of the points they teach is family comes first and putting your spouse before your kids. I'm not a mom, and I've heard some mom's sound astonished by this. But for example; I once heard Tracey Eaton tell a story about a time when his kids were talking back to Kimberly and he said to them, "Don't talk to my wife like that." That blew me away.

In the beginning it was tough. Amway has been around for 50+ years, but back when it first started it built a bad reputation for being a 'pyramid scheme' Which made it incredibly hard to talk to the older generation about. Even when asking them to become clients of our website and shop for the things they shop for anyway to support us - it was hard to earn the trust back from those bad memories[and not to mention when met with opposition my outlook on the entire situation turned sour] However, when I started investigating into the matters myself, I realized that pyramid schemes are illegal and that found that it was accredited and given an A+ by the Better Business Bureau - which brings me to my second point. Amway may never escape the bad reputaion it's been given, but is truly a different company it was 50+ years ago.

I went to meeting after meeting, after event, after board plan with Bryan and watched hundreds of couples just like us, with the same fire lit under them, ready to be in business for themselves. We were never told that this business would replace our income at the time, you were in business for yourself and the time to build it was from 5pm-midnight after you've finished working for the man and everyone else was sleeping. Which brings me to my third point - Amway changes people's lives. What do I mean by that? We watched our sponsor go from a socially awkward, shy, confidence lacking guy to an extremely outgoing, funny, and assertive man. Not many companies can do that for you. Not to mention, after a certain point in the business you may make enough money where you are able to come home from your job - however that is after some extrememly hard work, tears, and possibly years. But it was encouraging and seemed attainable no matter what we had to do.

At this time last year Bryan and I were at a crazy busy point in our lives. He had just started a new job and we were planning for our wedding that was fastly approaching us in July. It truly broke our hearts [and spirits] for a while because we had to take a step back from the business. We weren't able to put 'our all' into it at the time. It may be something we look into in the future and I know our experience will be just as gratifying. Which brings me to my fourth and final point - I hope that Amway didn't burn any bridges for us. We were encouraged to talk to anyone and everyone we thought might be interested, which inspired us to speak with friends, family, even people we knew in high school. We only had good intentions and never meant to come across as weird - quite the opposite. We knew we had a vehicle that could be the answer for some families.

So what's my point?

I used to be timid and embarrassed to say that we were affiliated with this company - but now I am proud to say that we were and became better people because of it. We met some amazing people, become closer as a couple, and spent our time dreaming about our future together.

 So if someone asks to 'show the plan' to you, don't be so quick to judge - hopefully they had the best intentions like we did and want to help you :)

Let's talk about crappy situations...

**DISCLAIMER**
Don't read if you are offended by poop talk and or lots of [digressions]

[in the famous words of Ksavera]

So there I was,

It was 9pm last night. I had cooked dinner for Bryan, myself, Christine [sister-in-law], Kim [mother-in-law] and Sophia [niece]

We had just finished Glee - which was amazing! Bryan got a service call. He was out the door before I could even give him a kiss [ps I just want to say how much I love him, seriously, he never complains about these crazy hour service calls]

Kim left, Christine looked at me and said,
"How late do you think Target is open?"
I said, "probably about 10ish?"
she said, "Wanna go with me?"
I said, "Heck yes!"
[thinking to myself, Bryan is gone, I'm definitely not tired yet, and I <3 Target...heck yes!]

We get to Target at about 9:15ish and Christine heads straight for the clothes. Sophia and I trailed behind her, when Soph started doing the potty dance. I grabbed her hand and we skipped to the bathroom, she did her business, and we met back up with Christine. Then all of the sudden Sophia looked at us with those 'uh-oh' eyes and she said, "I pooped my pants..." I scooped her up [because at this point it was like 9:40ish and Christine was still trying to get what she came for] and rushed her back to the bathroom. Sure enough, she had pooped her pants a little and was still kind of going. I made sure she was done, wiped her as best as I could, and put her poopy underwear in the little bag that was in the bathroom stall trash can. We stood next to each other washing our hands and she said, "Thanks Auntie Manda."

 I looked down at her and couldn't help but sigh and let out a giggle. 'Is this what being a mom is like? Late night runs to Target, kid in tote, possible potty accidents...

Obviously I know it's SO much more than that, but most of the time we don't get to see behind the scenes of being a mom. I feel like I got to witness that last night ;)

So, what did I learn?

1. Make sure they're done pooping.
2. Use all surrounding items necessary to clean up the mess.
3. Carry an extra pair of undies just in case.

Could you be mad at this sweet little face?

didn't think so.

Sophia, thanks for the lesson on being a mom, and turning a crappy situation into one I will remember when I have kiddos of my own. No doubt I'll find myself in that same situation again :)

Let's talk about sexual harassment...

There have been a couple of times I've mentioned my previous job - the one I had before the one I'm at now. However, I don't think I've ever gone into detail.

The summers of '06 and '07 I worked for my step-dad's construction company in their summer student internship program - aka - I became a construction worker laborer.

Everyone always asks what I could have done. I guess I shouldn't be too offended, I'm probably one of the girlyest girls you'll ever meet. But believe it or not, they had me tearing down drywall, pouring new cement, cleaning up after the carpenters - you name it, I did it. Basically I was their bitch.

The first summer was a pretty cushy job, I was inside most of the time working in air conditioned office buildings helping one carpenter. I learned a lot and worked hard. I learned how to 'demo' a room, lay rebar, and tear up carpet squares.

The second summer was a different. I had decided I wasn't going back to school and this was going to be an indefinite job since I didn't really have a plan. I was working for a different construction manager, in an outside facility, and it was hard. It felt more like 'real' construction work. We had our own trailer we ate lunch in every day and everyone kind of kept their heads down and did their job. That was fine with me, I just wanted to put in my hours and get home. Until about mid September, I started getting sexually harassed by one of the fore mans of another company. He was an older man, scraggly beard and smoked like a chimney, he was disgusting. But none the less, I feared walking by his trailer in the morning and lock myself in the porta potty after he would say lued things to me.

I first reported it to my foreman, then the project manager and then my own step-dad. I got the same response from all three, "That's just how he is, don't take it to heart." "Oh, you're gonna get that at any job you work at when you're the only female." "Don't worry about it." I was twenty years old at the time and knew that what was happening wasn't right. I wish I would have gone further to the top of the company with my complaints but I was scared. I thought making a bigger fuss would cause him to be more relentless with his sexual teasing and cornering me. I had finally had it one day, I called my mother in law during my lunch break, standing outside the gate of the construction site, crying. I felt like all my complaints were either falling on deaf ears or people just thought I was trying to make an excuse to not work there. I was lonely, ashamed and felt like I had no other option but to keep working at a place where nobody cared that this was happening to me.

Thankfully, that same day, Bryan's aunt contacted me and said she had a position opening in one of the clinics she manages and thought I would be an excellent candidate.

So, I gave my notice, said goodbyes to the few friends I had made, and kissed construction goodbye. I currently still work for the same company - that in my mind, saved me. I miss it sometimes, working in the sunshine, union laborer's wages, and getting off at 2:30 in the afternoon. But I know that I would have drowned if I had stayed.

In no situation is sexual harassment EVER tolerable.

There is nothing wrong with you, and you should go as high as you need to to get someone to listen to you.

I'm so sorry if this is something you've gone through or going through in your life. If you'd like to talk or need some advice, please email me at alhutson0513@gmail.com

This was a hard one, it definitely brought back tough memories, but I think it's important to talk about the painful stuff. Helps us heal.

Thanks for listening ladies <3

If you want to check out my other Let's talk about it posts please click HERE

Let's talk about anxiety

I've mentioned it before here and there, but I've never really gone into detail about my struggle with anxiety.

It started when Bryan and I first moved out on our own, back in 2007. I knew that it was the right thing to do. I was paying rent to live at my parent's house but was still having to live under their rules and curfews. For a girl who had lived on her own for two years prior and then coming back to that, it was very hard. Not to mention when you're 20 years old you think you know everything about everything. So, in November Bryan and I found and moved into our first apartment. It was small, not in the best neighborhood, but it was ours. I was paying rent to come and go as I pleased. I was happy.

[2008 after we moved out together]

In December I noticed I wasn't sleeping very well and found myself many a night falling asleep on the couch watching TV. And the nights that I was falling asleep in my bed [or trying to] my anxiety was so bad, I felt like I couldn't move - I felt trapped - paralyzed - in my own body. I would cry and Bryan would wake up and rub my back, get me water, and assure me that everything would be ok. But again, being this new 'independent' woman that I was, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I read books and internet articles about ways to calm your mind before you go to sleep and ways to relax your body. Nothing worked. My next step was to see one of the doctors I worked for. She prescribed a low dose of Ambien. I loved it at first, It was knocking me out AND helping me stay asleep, I thought it was the wonder drug. Then I started noticing things like I would remember falling asleep on the couch but wouldn't remember waking up to get there and in the morning I felt like I had had a hard night of drinking. I decided this medication was not for me. [If you are on it and love it I'm so happy for you. Unfortunately my body just didn't mesh well with it.]

After much consideration [and a year later without being on anything], I decided to talk with another physician and he ended up prescribing me Lorazepam I feel like it's definitely made my night time anxiety more tolerable however I don't want to be on medications forever, and know for sure I won't be able to/want to be when I get pregnant. I'm still exploring other options such as seeing a therapist to get to the root of what is causing my anxiety and also hypnotherapy; I'll let you know how that goes, not sure when, but hopefully soon.

So what's my point?

Anxiety sucks.

It's embarrassing. It makes me lose sleep. It stresses me out to think about the anxiety  attack I may have tonight before bed.

I'm not exactly sure what causes it or why it happens worse some nights than others, and I hate that I've just dealt with it for this long.

So my question is, have you or anyone you know ever dealt with anxiety? Whether it's during the day or night time, work or every day situations. What were your/their solutions? Was it embarrassing for you/them?

If you don't feel comfortable leaving a comment, please email me at

alhutson0513@gmail.com

Thank you so much for letting me be honest with you and for not judging, it means a lot.

Love you all long time.

Mama Cass says...

via

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
Birds singing in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me

Say "Night-ie night" and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me
While I'm alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me ♥

PS - Check back later for my "Let's talk about it" post of the week - See last week's here AND a really yummy recipe for Mexican-restaurant-like Spanish rice :) Yum.

Let's talk about pap smears...

That's right.

I said it.

Let's talk about that lovely medical check that all of us women get to enjoy every year - the pap smear. Because as you read this, I'll be getting mine. Like I've referenced before, I got my first pap last year and I was crying even before the doctor even had me undress. I cried during and I cried after. Let's just say I was more emotionally distressed than it physically hurt LOL

Despite my complaining and tears, I decided to do a little more research as to why it's important to get these awesome procedures done and not just to get my yearly prescription of birth control. Of course I hit up my trusty friend Google - and just started with the obvious, "Why is getting a pap smear important?" Here is a couple of reasons that I found yearly pap/physicals are pretty important.

-not every test is accurate

-no one can predict when/if you will develop cervical cancer

-this procedure enables health care providers to detect early precancerous changes in the tissue of the cervix and treat them before they become cancerous

-Between 60 and 80 percent of women with newly diagnosed cervical cancer haven't had a pap smear in at least 5 years

-A woman may need more frequent pap smears if: she has had more than one sexual partners, she has had an abnormal pap smear, became sexually active as a teenager, etc.

After understanding more of the risk factors and preventative measures, I guess I need to take it more serious, buckle down, put my big girl undies on, and take it like woman. Right? Right! So on that note, wish me luck. These are going to be a couple of things I will be thinking of to try and take my mind off of what's going on, even though I know it's for my own good. 

[holding hands]

[summertime & cute flip flops]

[being in a hot air balloon]

[baking yummy cookies]

[watching American Idol with my sweetie later]

[being happy when it's over]

Adios Amiga's, catch you on the flip side - 

have you scheduled YOUR yearly pap?