Life Abundant Blog

living life abundantly in spite of PCOS

My Infertility Story on Amateur Nester

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Today, I’m honored to share an interview I had with Lisa over at Amateur Nester. Lisa has collected some beautiful and heart-wrenching stories from the infertility community and has started to share them on her blog. Reading these interviews breaks my heart, but it is also a beautiful reminder that none of us are alone in our journeys. There are other couples who get it and women who are walking in our same shoes.

Please check out my interview with Lisa here: My Infertility Story on Amateur Nester

Be sure to follow along and read the other interviews she has collected. If you have ever felt alone in your infertility journey, these stories will help you.

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February 2018: Restoration in my Home {Part 2 – Bathroom Renovation Complete}

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Restoration

The act of restoring; renewal, revival, or reestablishment

Restitution of something taken away or lost

Something that is RESTORED, as by RENOVATING

Read Part 1 here > January 2018: Restoration in my Home

I can’t even begin to explain how wonderful it feels to restore my master bathroom into something new, fresh, CLEAN, mold-free, and not reminiscent of my miscarriage. This bathroom renovation is an act of restoration not only in my home but deep in my soul. It’s hard to explain, but I think I did a fairly decent job in Part 1, so if you haven’t read that yet, head on over and then come back here. Many of you have followed along on Instagram and I have absolutely loved sharing the progress made each day. It brings tears to my eyes to see how far this bathroom came, and to know that I can walk in and not feel disgusted.

So without further adieu, here are the before and after photos of our master bathroom renovation, and at the end, I’ll list everything that had to be done to make this dream a reality:

[Read more…]

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I’m Still Standing: When Infertility And Miscarriage Hurt The Child Left Behind

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In case you didn’t see my announcement on Facebook and Instagram, I’m now writing monthly over on Still Standing Magazine about infertility and miscarriage. Stepping out to write for Still Standing was an act of bravery for me. I’ve been a long-time reader of Still Standing, and when they put out a need for some additional writers, I swallowed my fear and applied.

Today, my first post is live. I would love if you would head on over there, read it, and maybe leave a comment if you feel led to do so.

Read> When Infertility And Miscarriage Hurt The Child Left Behind

Image used with permission by Samantha C. Photography

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January 2018: Restoration in my Home

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Restoration

The act of restoring; renewal, revival, or reestablishment

Restitution of something taken away or lost

Something that is RESTORED, as by RENOVATING

My first post in this restoration series for 2018 is all about something very tangible… it’s anxiety-inducing, exciting, and overwhelming. There are so many emotions surrounding this event because it is something we’ve been talking about doing for years, and just never pulled the plug. We’ve spent hours on Pinterest and have watched way too much Fixer Upper to get to this point.

Our house is 28 years old and we’ve lived in it for nine years. Both bathrooms leave something to be desired, but the master bathroom is hardly what anyone would consider a master bathroom. It’s small, and the way it was originally configured was very inconvenient. It’s been prone to mold, feels cramped, and is definitely showing its age. Over time we’ve painted it a few times, changed out the shower curtain, and switched out the fixtures, but we’ve developed a major need to renovate it. We have decided that it’s beyond cosmetic updates at this point…

We are demolishing and restoring it.

[Read more…]

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DIY Recipe Roundup: Non-Toxic Cleaning Supplies and Body Products

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This post contains affiliate links. Also, nothing in this post is intended to prevent or cure disease. Read my Disclosure Policy.

After years (literally) of putting it off, I finally signed up to get a starter kit with Young Living essential oils and I went absolutely crazy with DIY recipes. Zoey actually helped me! Over the years, I’ve used several different brands of oils but have used them irregularly. I just bought the bare basics as needed, and found that I preferred the quality of both Young Living and doTerra compared to what I could get at my local health market and on Amazon. After a lot (and I mean a lot) of research, and after hands on experience with hormone support from Young Living oils, I finally decided to just go for it and ordered my starter kit. As soon as my kit came in I started making ALL the things! Today, I’m sharing recipes and links to recipes to get you started on your own non-toxic DIY journey.

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My Word for 2018: Restoration

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Restoration

The act of restoring; renewal, revival, or reestablishment

Restitution of something taken away or lost

Something that is restored, as by renovating

I’ve never in my life chosen a word to represent a year. I follow many bloggers and YouTubers who do a series centered around a specific word each year and I love reading and watching those series. It’s always interesting to see how their lives change as they proclaim their chosen word over their lives, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I was capable of being that committed to something like that.

But the thing is, 2017 was a hard year, and I’ve decided to start 2018 in a completely new light.

And, being a grammar girl, it’s only fitting that I do this.

Due to a variety of reasons, my word for 2018 is Restoration.

[Read more…]

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Dear 2017

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Dear 2017,

Boy, do we need to talk.

When a year comes to an end, it usually doesn’t feel any different to me. I’m not usually one to be so excited about the change of year and what is to come, because it all feels the same. Normally I have a few fun things planned for the next year, but in all reality, it just doesn’t feel any different at all.

But you?

You’re the first year I almost don’t want to make a scrapbook for.

You are the one year that I absolutely cannot wait to leave in the dust.

I am going to PARTY on January 1, 2018 at 12:00 AM when you’re over. There are three major events that happened during your reign that not only brought me immense pain, but changed my life:

[Read more…]

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PCOS on an Airplane: A True Story

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Once upon a time, I boarded a plane for a work-related trip. What happened next surprised me big time.

Earlier that day, I had experienced some light abdominal pain. I honestly texted my best friend that I thought I was ovulating, but was really confused because I was hurting in my lower back from it, and I thought I had already ovulated. I went about my morning, minding my own business, and kept my pain to myself.

Fast-forward to the plane: as we prepared to take off, I suddenly realized that I felt feverish. I texted my husband and let him know that I was afraid that I was getting sick. It seemed to come out of nowhere and I was really unhappy that I went from feeling completely fine, sipping on my Starbucks, ready to fly to this conference for work… to having body aches, the chills, and like I had the flu. I had zero “sick” symptoms, just the symptoms of a fever. And when I say it came on fast, I’m talking minutes. I was completely fine and suddenly I wasn’t.

[Read more…]

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Saying Goodbye to a Furbaby {Lily}

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Back in May, I wrote a post about my cat Vesta’s last days with us: Saying Goodbye to a Furbaby {Vesta}. It was an incredibly difficult post to have to write, but I knew I needed to for closure.

Today, I’m here to do it all over again for my dog Lily.

[Read more…]

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Three Essential Oils I’m Using for PCOS and Infertility

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Disclaimer: Nothing about this post is intended to help you cure or prevent a disease. Please use essential oils after doing a lot of research, and please understand that just like pharmaceuticals affect us all differently, so can oils. Read my Disclosure Policy.

Outside of the basics I’ve used for years (peppermint, lavender, eucalyptus), I’m relatively new to the world of essential oils. I never really used them for PCOS prior to the miscarriage, and I have nearly a decade of infertility under my belt. I’ve tried so many different things but this area has been new to me. Other than the last oil that I’ll talk about below, my world of infertility and essential oils just now collided and I’m very excited about the results.

[Read more…]

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