Eczema: Living the Itchy Life

Let me tell you a little bit about my personal experiences with eczema.  I've looked at the Webster dictionary definition of eczema, as I'm sure anyone who has it has done.  The definition goes something like this:

"A noncontagious inflammation of the skin, characterized chiefly by redness, itching, and the outbreak of lesions that may discharge serous matter and become encrusted and scaly."

Gross, right? Very medical, pretty well explained. But then, I looked at the Urban Dictionary definition and it seemed a bit more accurate, not written by someone who has to be polite and politically correct about things. Their definition, very close to my own, goes like this:

"A  disease that i got which makes people go crazy about you and stay away from you because it "looks" contagious. If i touch someone they think they have it when it is really nothing. But what it actually is caused by is an inflammation of the epidermis. Also what makes it sucks is that its unbearably itchy."

I'm well aware not many people have this condition, and I'm very, very happy about that. Although it isn't life threatening in any way (besides the urge to scratch as hard as possible when it gets unbearably itchy and you literally can't scratch it) it's incredibly inconvenient. As a woman who likes to wear makeup (I do it for fun, I used to do it for work), it's incredibly difficult and nerve-wracking to even consider trying new products because if it irritates my skin at all, I may end up rocking swollen eyes or a painful-looking blotchy red and swollen face for up to the next month. Something along the lines of this: 

This, fortunately, is mild as of late. Over the summer, it ha gotten worse, to the point where I slept with bags of ice on my face to make the burning stop.  I've been dealing with (and trying to stay ahead of and/or hide) this condition since I was a baby.  

Yesterday, my face looked just about perfectly fine, a minor outbreak on my chin but nothing major. This is the difference between 8pm Friday night and 930am Saturday morning:

I've been using a kids and babies lotion specifically for eczema prone skin by a brand called Mustela. The lotion is called Stelatopia and it's worked well enough to keep me from breaking out too badly for a little over 6 months. 

Unfortunately, prednisolone is still my best friend at this moment and the only thing that really clears this much of an outbreak up. I have no idea what keeps causing this as I don't change my routine for skin are or makeup very often.

If you have eczema or know any products that have been tested to prevent/heal eczema flare ups (used by a person, not just labeled that way), I would love to hear about it! Good luck to anyone out there who is powering through the itchy life, or knows anyone who is.

YouTube Discoveries

In this last year, I (along with my sister, Hannah) have made some major steps in the world of YouTube.  At least that's what I think about the work we've done.  In the past 10 months, we have made a total of 47 videos, gained 84 subscribers, and have racked up an impressive 12.461 views as of this morning at 9 AM.

It's crazy to think that this all started out as just one video I made to entertain myself when I was living with a roommate who worked constantly.  This, so far, has been a rewarding and really fun and exciting side project for me, and I always find myself wishing that I had more time or better equipment to work and experiment with.

In the coming year, I'm looking forward to discovering more methods and creative ideas to enhance the channel and the content we come up with, and I already have a huge list of ideas to accomplish this coming year.  Here are some videos that have done the best this year, and I really hope to get some feedback from everyone so we can further improve our videos!

The Walking Dead, Mid-Season Finale (Season 5)

Sugar Skull Face Painting

The video that started it all: Emcee Inspired Makeup from Cabaret

Hope you enjoy these as much as I've enjoyed making them!  Happy Holidays!

Nice To Meet You(Tube)

Hello, again! Two posts in one week?! Unbelievable!

Now, I'm not sure if I've ever shared a link from my YouTube channel here (I know I've left links for my playlists here before) but I've started to actually make my own videos! You can find them HERE, or search 'Divine MissE' through YouTube itself.

I am taking suggestions for new ideas for videos all the time, so please feel free to leave a comment either here or there and let me know what you'd like to see. There are also links to my Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest in the video descriptions of each video, if you'd like to check any of those out, and I'm looking forward to linking both my videos and blog with each other so they don't feel so separate anymore!

Today, I Believe...

• That sometimes all you need is time, space, and coffee to power through the days ahead.
• Relationships are amazing and worth a lot of your attention, but never lose your head in them.  They may be the person you end up spending your life with, but your true friends will be there even longer.
• Endings are sad and scary, but there's always hope to fall back on.  It's never too late for a new beginning.
• Finding new music that you instantly love is one of the greatest pick-me-ups in rough times.
• It really is okay to eat an entire half of a cake while you're mentally unstable.  Just make sure, when you come back around, you do an extra lap or so around the track.

Happy Monday, everyone.  I hope you've all been well! (Or are getting well after the onset of seasonal allergies have kicked in).

April Playlist + Goals

I can't believe 2014 is basically already a fourth of the way over already.  This is ridiculous!  This months goals are pretty simple, I think, and there are only three.

1. Get things started -  I have an awesome birthday gift idea for someone special (which is going to take a bit of time to get together), and I also need to start jogging again. ASAP.

2. Get organized, and stay that way - after moving, things are even more of a mess than how they started... Spring cleaning!

3. Maintain my haircut + take care of my skin - Oklahoma (and e.l.f. brand makeup removing wipes) have not been good to my face and it's just starting to get back to its normal self.  Also, last time I got my haircut was in mid February (over a month ago) and I just cut it.  If you have short hair, you know this is a huge problem.  No one likes a mullet. 

Playlist!

Click here top listen to this months playlist.

Keeping it Weird

1. Rusty Belle - "Hellion"

2. Ruckus Roboticus - "Never Play With Scratches"

3. FC Kahuna - "Hayling"

4. Gotan Project - "Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)"

5. Of Montreal - "Tim, I Wish You Were Born A Girl"

6. I Monster - "The Great Soul Destroyer"

7. Phantogram - "When I'm Small"

8. Moby - "Porcelain"

9. The Mountain Goats - "Up The Wolves"

Instalife #8

Long time no see, huh?  Here is the (on time!) instalife post for this week!  I promise, I'll get better at keeping up now that things have started to settle down a bit.

Day 47: Polka Dots - Obsessed.  Polka dots and stripes are my favorites.

Day 48: Lace - Bought myself this dress for my birthday, please excuse my arm.

Day 49: Car - Liking the Prius more than I thought I would...May need to save up and get one for myself!

Day 50: Hat - the only hat I've ever really been able to pull off.

Day 51: Street Sign

Day 52: Decor - Pinterest has me obsessed with fun decorating and DIY projects for a home.  Someday!

Day 53: Prized Possession - I love my journals. I've kept one since first grade!

Hooray for finally (almost) catching up! Hope everyone's enjoying their weekend!

Today I Believe...

• It's okay to have several favorites of everything. Personally, I could never choose one color or movie or song because I change my mind every few minutes.
• Setting 5 (or 8) alarms is acceptable.  Just make sure if you're going to sleep through them, you sleep alone or far away enough that you don't ruin someone else's sleep.
  
• This right here:

• Change jars are a great thing to have, especially if you work somewhere with a vending machine.  As an adult, snacks become your meals.
• Just be a big kid and do things yourself.  You can't rely on other people to make things happen for you.
• Forgiveness comes in a lot of very small, mostly painful steps, but if it's worth fixing, it's worth the work.
• Sometimes you just have to cut it all off and start over. Literally.
  

Instalife

Have you finished your holiday shopping?  I thought I was done shopping about a week ago, but have managed to buy more and more through out this week.  I never feel like I'm actually done shopping before the holidays, but since it's now the 23rd, I think I need to be.

This past week was pretty busy between work, a holiday party, and holiday prep.  Here are some pictures of what I've been up to:

I was asked by my brother in law to be a photographer for his squadron's holiday party.  I used my sister a few times to test my camera settings, and got a few cute pictures of her.

My sister at the holiday party (she doesn't look very pregnant until she turns sideways!)

Hybrid ice.

We had an ice storm, everything is still encased in it.  All of the plants look really interesting, though, and luckily none of the roads have frozen over.

Capitol of Oklahoma

Bright makeup!

I also broke out my Sugarpill products this week.  I haven't really played with them in a long time, so it was fun to rock a bright look for the day.  A lot of people told me it was very 'Hunger Games'.

Then, I used some cranberry and gold shadows to get ready for the holiday season.  Unfortunately, this isn't the best picture.  It's the only decent one I took that day.

Sorry I've been slacking a little bit this week, but I do have a lot of posts coming up between now and the end of the year, and I've put together a posting schedule for the next year that I really hope to stick to (which I will show you soon!)  I hope you guys are having a safe holiday season and 

So Very Thankful

Here are the final letters of thankfulness for the ABC's of Thanksgiving.  I know I'm a couple days ahead of myself, but if I leave off the last three or four, I'll totally forget about it.

M - Mom, music, motivation, Modest Mouse, The Mountain Goats.
N - New ideas, my nephew.
O - Obligations, optimism, opportunities, the Office.
P - Patterns and prints, people (the good the bad and the ugly), Parks and Rec.
Q - The queers and the queer movement.  (I love them all.  Is that insensitive?)
R - Red Robin, relations (to people, songs, movies, etc), reliability, Ruby Tuesdays, reading and being able to read.
S - Siblings (because where would I be without them?), sunshine, seasons, simplicity, spontaneity.
T - Time, taste buds, telephones, Tom.
U - Umbrellas.  Seriously.  Also, uno.
V - Variety,
W - The Walking Dead, wigs, women's rights.
X - x-rays and medical technologies.
Y - all of my yesterdays, yearnings, and yes-moments.
Z  - Ze Frank (zefrank on YouTube).  Seriously, sometimes I get weirded out by some of the things he says because that's exactly how I feel.  Sometimes, that's the best feeling in the world.


I'm a little late, but I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Today I Believe...

• Too much coffee isn't a bad thing until you start to seriously get dehydrated.

  

  Welcome to the midwest, where everyone drinks from mason jars (this is only sort of true).

• Songs are addicting.  I've been listening to the same few songs on repeat for days.

• The mixture of coffee, familiar songs, and being stuck inside because of an ice storm actually make things seem a little more cozy.

• Missing someone makes you realize just how important they are to you.
  

• The holidays aren't made by what you give and take, but the time you can spend with the family you have.  This Christmas is going to be very different because of far away most of my family is.

• Living in a flat state gives you a reason to chop your hair short or always rock a ponytail.  The wind just makes you eat any loose hair it can blow into your face anyways.

  

  I've been playing around with some ideas...

• Sometimes buying clothes you normally wouldn't helps you find new wardrobe staples.

Through time and space...

• Not a lot of things can boost your confidence like a good hair/makeup day.

• Goals are important, and I'm starting to get serious about mine.

ABC's of Thanks

So, I have seen this going around on Facebook and decided it will keep me motivated to write here a little more often.  I know I fell off the wagon with my weekly random act of kindness, which I hope to bring back in the future, but this seems a little less active (and less expensive, too!).

So, this Sunday marks day 3, so we'll start with A, B, and C.

A - I am thankful for autumn because it all feels new and motivating.
B - I am thankful for my brother-in-law (and sister) for giving me a place to live for a while.
C - I am thankful for coworkers for being so supportive and helpful through a not-so-smooth transition into moving away.

Next Sunday I will be going through the next 7 letters (up to J!) and hopefully before then I'll give you guys an update on what I've been up to.  I have a lot of pictures, and even more to come this coming week!  I also have a lot of plans coming up that I'm excited to tell you about and hopefully you'll be able to help me out with even more ideas.  Happy Sunday!

Silver Lining

This past wee has been nothing short of exhausting.  While I love my job, I've found myself just wanting to stay in bed all week instead of getting up and being productive.  I have a lot to do in my last month living in Connecticut, but I don't really want to do any of them.

Today was especially lazy.  It's the first real day off I've had in a while, meaning I didn't have anything I really had to do, I didn't have to be anywhere at any time, I just got to sit on the couch and watch some t.v. and watch the trains pass the apartment I'm staying in for the next couple of weeks.  It was a gloomy, rainy day, so I stayed in my pajamas and ate ramen.  This is going to be a "Today, I believe..." list.

Today, I Believe...

•  showering, getting back into pajamas and watching BBC can make for a great day off in the middle of chaos.
• train rides really are amazing and beautiful.
• barely using your phone all day can help to clear your head and keep from stressful conversations.
• everything happens for a reason, even if it isn't clear why everything is falling apart around you right now.
• "You have to do everything you can, you have to work your hardest, and if you do, you have a shot at a silver lining..."  is probably one of the most accurate and hard-hitting messages for me right now.

Happy Sunday, everyone.  Hopefully the coming weeks will be better.

Starting Over Part 2

So, it's been decided that I'm off to Oklahoma after all.

There are a lot of reasons for me to go there at this point in my life, but the biggest factor (besides the potential of being homeless) is my soon-to-be nephew, Tyler!

He will be arriving in late February if all goes according to plan, and I am so insanely excited to be there when he arrives.

I'm excited and depressed about this whole moving thing, though.  Packing is a pain, but Kaeley and I are having a tag sale this Saturday and need to be out the following Tuesday.  Everything came up so fast!  Luckily, so long as I get all of the packing and organizing I need done tomorrow after work and on my day off Tuesday, I plan to spend (Monday the 30th) in New York after work as a personal moment and as some fun learning for work at a Makeup Forever class.

I plan on making a post or two about the packing experience and the process of selling everything and starting over.  I'll also definitely make a video of the travel day for you guys here.  Leave comments of any advice or suggestions if you want to!

Things I've Learned from Courtney & Nick

My sister is getting married this weekend!  I am so excited for her and her new life with Nick, who is such a great guy for her.

They've definitely had their plates full for the last year, with Nick being deployed with the Air Force, both of them moving to Oklahoma, as well as planning the wedding and all of the things that go along with it. I'm not sure how they've managed to get everything done in such a short time, especially with my sister starting a brand new job down in OKC, but they've managed to get everything together and seem to be handling the stress a little better than some couples do.

 They've been up in Connecticut for the past few days and on Monday I got to spend the day with them putting together some of the final details for their special day.

This man was a great help in finding THE shoes!

Things I've Learned From Courtney & Nick

• Life is a great balancing act, and when you can't get what you want you  can always learn to accept someone else's way.
• Value the people who value their own happiness.  They're the ones who give the best advice.
• If it's meant to be, it will be, and it's well worth the wait.
• Things don't always go as planned, but things will always work out for the best in the end.
• Love can deal with distance, especially if you're the adventurous type and can close the gap one day.
• Taking a risk can be the only thing between you and the life you want. The worst that can happen is getting turned down, in which case you move on.

Congratulations Nick and Courtney!  I'm so insanely happy for the both of you and I wish you all the luck in the world, although I know you won't need it.  I'm so excited for the wedding Saturday!  Love you both!

Things I've Learned From Living On My Own

I've been trying to move out of my parents' house since I was 18 years old.  Not that I don't love my parents, I do, I just always felt like I was stuck there and relying on them, which I didn't want to do for forever.  I can honestly say, I'm glad I stayed with my parents as long as I did.  Being an adult is hard, and if you don't think so, you are probably not doing it right.  Or you're way more self-motivated than I am.

Things I've Learned From Living On My Own:

• Speaking of self-motivation, this is something you need to be really good at.  And if you aren't good at it, you better learn to be good at it, and quickly, otherwise nothing gets done.
• Getting things done is hard.  And expensive.
• There is a lot more cleaning involved than you will ever be okay with doing.  Always.
• You can eat whatever you want, whenever you want.  That isn't as great as it sounds (especially after you realize you gained 8 pounds in 2 months).
• Family suddenly feels closer once you get farther away.  When I lived at home, I could go a week without seeing a member of my family.  Now that I live an hour away from them, I hear from most of them almost every other day.
• I have too much stuff.  I need to get rid of it because it's still sitting in boxes three months later...

I need to have a yard sale... And a good work out routine.

Week 15 and Life Update

Hi!  I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blog posts lately...  As I mentioned, I'm in the process of getting ready to move, finding a new job and still working the last one, and was trying to buy a car (which went well!) so needless to say I was really super busy.  Hopefully after April everything will get back to their usual level of crazy and not be the super-high anxiety and rushed level they're at now.

First off, I bought a car!!  It's 2000 Dodge Neon and although the paint is missing in some places, almost everything else about it near-perfect.

My dad hates that he's in this picture =P

Secondly, I've been looking for a new job where I'm moving to, which is an hour away from where I am now.  After filling out five or six online applications (which are horrible), I made my way down to southern Connecticut on Sunday to do actual job hunting.  That was entirely exhausting and took just about the entire day.  BUT!  The second place I went to apply to gave me an application AND scheduled me for an interview so I'm really excited!  Potential dream job, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Between that ordeal, the car and packing, I haven't exactly had much time to do anything but shower and sleep...

What a mess...

I'm both happy and sad that this is my last week at the daycare I work at.  I feel like it's time for me to get out of there, but I've been realizing more and more lately all the things I'm going to miss about it.  There will be a post about it tomorrow if you want to know more about that.

NOW!  The random act of kindness of the week was #48: Make a treat for coworkers.  This past Friday was a coworker's last day at the daycare and she had started this thing called Chocolate Friday when she first came to work with us.  In her honor, my room co-worker (Shannon) and I celebrated her last day with one last Chocolate Friday hoorah.  Shannon bought some chocolate and chocolate glazed donuts and I made brownies for everyone to kick off her last day (and the start of another weekend).

I will be back tomorrow with another Things I've Learned post (I promise!)