Beautiful Hats for A Beautiful You

Looking for a great organization to donate your work to? Nicci J Designs is partnering with Profiles Salon to provide hats to cancer patients.

On the second Monday of the month, Profiles Salon closes it’s doors to the public. The salon provides it’s services free of charge to those going through cancer treatment. Guests can get the pampering that they need! Services such as manicures, massages, and facials are provided in addition to hair or wig styling. 

But some days we just don’t want to do our hair! So Nicci J Designs is working towards providing a alternative, a beautiful hat for those days! We would love for you to help us reach our goal of every one of the approximately 50 guests receiving services each month to be able to choose a hat to take home!

What we need:

Summer is coming to Michigan! What we are looking for is fun hats for warm weather. Sun Hats, fun beanies, ball cap styles ect. Hats that will keep the sun off bald heads or for those days we just don’t feel up to doing our hair. Anything fun that would make you feel beautiful! Knit, crochet, sewn, or woven, what ever you like! Anything that would be good for warm weather in Michigan!

· Learn More About Beautiful You

 

Beautiful Hats for Beautiful You contact:

Nicci  616-813-4781

NjRonda@Gmail.com

Volunteer Now!

Just e-mail Nicci and let her know that you would like to help out!

Some links to inspire you!

Pheonix Hat

Cashmere Casquett

Spring Grass Beret

Summer Hat          

The holidays are coming!

Life is busy is ever right now. So much going on with qutting smoking and everything going on with Etsy. Quitting smoking has gotten me on a kick to quit everything and get all around healthier. Yeah this is good, but it keeps me very busy right now.

So what all am I doing right now? Well I am now 15 days cigarette free. The e-smoke is going really well. I have now already stepped down my nicotine level and am only having infrequent cravings, and those are all mental not physical. Seeing the success I have had with this has also motivated me to start the weining off process of my antidepressants also. That is a lot harder than the smoking ironically. The transition makes me feel really weird. Kinda dizzy and just a little off. But this is something I want to do so I am flowing with it.

The next thing I want to quit is my job. I need to for my mental health lol. I have way too many designs and projects in my head that dont have enough time to come out and it is starting to drive me a little crazy. I have decided to start focusing on designing purses and the number of different design ideas is absolutely crazy. I am working on a few different designs of cigar box purses, I have design ideas for can make purses out of like beer cans soda cans etc cetera, not to mention my recycles clothing items and such for purses also. I really want my Etsy shop to catch in and start selling so that I can quit my job because then I can add in more craft fairs and such and really get going on my art. So if you are so inclined please promote or talk up my Etsy shop everywhere! Lol Christmas is coming soon and I also do custom orders so let me know!

Speaking of Christmas, of course I am on a tight budget and have decided I am going to make most of my gifts. Luckly many of the people that are on my list to enjoy my handmade gifts or actually have asked for them. What this means that I am also very busy working on those projects as well as my shop projects. as of right now I have 7 people that I am working on handmade gifts for, I am about 1/8 of the way through the first one. Yes I am quite crazy.

On the child front, it has been decided that Kai will be staying with us for the school year. This is great for his education and social development I think, but obviously he is upset that he isn't going to live with his mom. I have been having some issues with him not listening and his being very upset if someone refers to me as his mom. I don't know how to help him adjust to this and help him get used to the idea of us being a family. Ezzy is doing well at school and has been doing great. The kids are getting along which is so much better.

Well off I go again. So much to do. I have a huge list that I hope to accomplish by the end of the weekend and so thankful for a light work week because of changes in schedule so hopefully I can get it all accomplished! Wish me luck!

Parent Teacher Conferences

First off, Candy Crush sucks, it is way too addictive.

Well it is another day. Another adventure in being the non parent, non military, go with the flow type. Tonight was Kai's parent teacher conference. John was none too happy to start with because we got assigned the 8:10 time slot. Too late for his taste. He also was all about that I didn't have to go, it's his son, but I am the one that is doing homework and such with Kai, so I was going to go. No big deal. I am pissed enough that I can't really make it to my own daughter's conferences and have to deal with just e-mail and phone conversations with her school because of the distance and such, and I love Kai and just want him to succeed so ... Well I am rambling. Anyway, suffice to say that John went in a bad mood to start with.

We got there a few minutes early so we went to the book fair. As kids are to do Kai wanted to get books and was bummed that one that he wanted was already sold out, and the only one  left was a hardcover that I don't see the point in paying $13 for a book he is only going to read once so I was looking and making other suggestions and such. We ended up not getting anything tonight and are going to go out this weekend to the bookstore to get something instead.

So we are waiting for our conference. As often happens, the one before us went over. 7 minutes after ours was supposed to start John was pissed. He doesn't see how people can't stay on time and if that is the case then they should schedule better ect. He decided that we, read he was leaving. So I told him that was fine, I would walk home. He told me that I was being ridiculous and that we were leaving. I refused.

I should probably insert some back story here, John did not have a good experience in school. I mean it was really bad. So bad that he hates the education system. For the past year and a half Kai has been home schooled. I understand this, but the district that we moved into is wonderful and I have been very happy with my experience here, with my daughter before we moved, and now with Kai and his experiences.

So I alone met with his teacher. He does have some issues that I wanted to check on his progress with so I made sure I stayed. We had a good discussion and it gave me insight that I needed to know about and how to work with Kai. Also some resources that I can use to help him. I was able to give her some techniques for helping to work with Kai as well. It was good.

So I walked out, thinking that I was going to be walking home only to find the guys sitting in the hall waiting for me. Too stubborn to come into the classroom. Knowing how John reacts and that it would do no good to bring it up at this point, we didn't talk about it. Kai asked if I was going to walk home, and I told him I had been going to. Yes I am very stubborn too. I was really surprised that they were still there.

I think the point was made though.

How things can change

Things can change so fast from day to day.  Where I was a month ago and planning to blog weekly has quickly changed to non existing. I really am hoping to change that blog at least once a week. So much has changed since the last time I blogged. My truck was total by a woman who didn't want to pay attention on the highway, its all good no one was hurt at least, but due to that fact I and the fact that I can't find a reliable car in my budget right now, looking at other options for employment closer to home and possibly home base. Right now the focus seems to be starting my Etsy shop up again. So be looking forward to post related to that. Maybe I'll be lucky and be have it take off and be able to do that full time. That is the current dream that I'm working towards.

As I posted the other day I am trying to quit smoking. I bought this e-cigarette. I was a pack a day smoker as of last Wednesday, yes I mean three days ago, so far the past two days I have only has 4 cigarettes each day! The people at Mister-E's are awesome! They walked me through using it and everything and I got to try all sorts of different liquids and everything. I went to their shop, but you can also shop at their online store. They only charge $3 for shipping too. That is awesome. So wish me luck.

So a lot more has changed than just that, John mentioned that he wanted to have more kids. I was sure I was done having kids. I had that so set in my mind. Now I am questioning that idea. I loved the idea of being "free" at 40. I will turn 40 in March, Ezzy will turn 18 in May. I had just adjusted to the idea of waiting till 45 for Kai to turn 18. Now I am looking at the idea starting all over at 40. My entire world idea is changing. This is going to be a interesting change.

Quitting smoking

So I purchased a Finiti smokeless cigarette system to try to help me quit smoking. Yes, it is still smoking, but I am hoping that by starting with this I can start to wean myself off the nicotine addiction. I tried it out and it sucks. It is horrible to hit and I am a menthol smoker and the menthol doesn't have a menthol taste at all. Going to return it and try something different. I will keep updating on my progress and what actually works.

How do you deal with Stress?

Stress is something we all experience on a daily basis. How we choose to deal with it is a life long, daily battle. I had a co-worker tell me the other day that I inspire her because I strive to maintain a good outlook every day. This is by no means because my life is easy! I have a job that doesn't pay much ore than minimum wage, I have over $45,000 in debt that I am working to pay off (maybe in 45 years at this point!), I am going through a divorce and custody battle, and I am a diagnosed bi-polar depressive. And these are just a few of the many issues I have! LOL

I don't have a easy life, but I also choose not to dwell. I choose to be happy. Many times I have to fight for that choice in my own head. It is easy to dwell on negative thoughts and emotions. I did it for many years, and my health and emotional stability paid for it. Through my hospitalization, and subsequent therapy, when I was diagnosed with bi-polar I learned to find my happy place. It wasn't easy, and it is something that I have to work at every day. These are some steps that I take, maybe you can find some things that will work for you.

1) Look at who is around you. I looked at the people around me ad found out who lifted me up and who pulled me down. I focused on strengthening my relationships with the people that strengthened me. As for the people that pulled me down, some I distanced my self from as much as I could, and others I cut out of my life completely.

2) Plan your stress away. Lear to schedule your stress time. Yes some things are so important that it is hard to think about anything else, like having to find a new place to live on a short time frame, but it isn't going to solve anything to continually stress over it. Set aside the needed time to deal with the issue and let it go until that time. You need to find someplace to live? Schedule 1 hour a day to devote to that solution and search for listings and call on them. You need to figure our how to feed your kids this week? Schedule a time to find the local food pantries and then schedule an appointment. Need a new job? Schedule a time to update your resume and do job searches. If you have a plan, you can release some of the stress, knowing you are doing everything you can.

3) You've been bad. Go take a time out!  At times we all get on edge and that last little ting sends us over the edge. When our kids do this we send them to a time out and make them think about what they have done. Who does this for us? If it is extreme enough, the cops will, but I hope it never gets that far! When you catch yourself on that edge, give yourself a time out. Regroup, gather your wits about you, calm down, and think about if this is helping you.

4) Fill your own cup! There is a saying about how can you share with others when your cup is empty. A lot of us count on others to fill our cups, but really we need to take responsibility to do this ourselves. What is it that you enjoy? What makes you happy? For me I have discovered many thing that help. At hot bubble bath, working on an art project, photography, cooking, and most recently blogging. Use that thing/s to help you refill your emotional happiness.

5) Fake it till you make it! I am NOT a morning person, and I do have bad days! However, my shift at a national drug store chain starts at 7 am. My customers routinely comment on how cheerful and in a good mood I am in all the time. I just fake it till I am in a good mood. I have personally found the truth in the theory that if you fake a good mood it will help you get to that spot. The reasoning I have found in this is that by acting in a good mood it elevates the mood of those around me, which in turn elevates my mood. I make people around me smile, and "fill their cup", which in turn then they do the same for me. Also, knowing I made someone elses day better, not worse, helps me feel good about myself.

6) Sometimes you just have to be silly! Laughter is the best medicine! Acting silly and being a dork can help you improve your mood. I am sure that the people at the monitoring headquarters of our company think I am insane if they see some of the things I do on the monitors LOL "I like to move it, move it" and when certain songs come on (such as the one above mentioned) I will dance around like a dork while I am working. It not only gets my blood moving, but makes my customers and co-workers laugh at the fun I can have while working.

These are just some of the things that work for me. This list is by no means inclusive. Find what works for you to help reduce your stress and improve your happiness. Go out and find your happy place, but if you need some help in the mean time, feel free to borrow mine!

Welcome to my blogging adventure

So I'm starting to try out this blogging thing. Not sure what all this blog will be about , I have a crazy life and that is what the topic of this blog will be. It could cover any number of topics. I will give you a overview of my life at this point so you can see if you can figure out the direction this blog will go LOL. Because I have no idea. 

So someday I would love to be a stay at home mom again. This time having it be by choice, not by illness. I did love it though. For now I am a full time working mom of a wonderful, sometimes, 13 year old daughter, and a 8 year old close enough to step son. I hate the term step son, so this is just so that you can understand, I will here on out refer to him as my son.  I am going through a divorce right not, and I just moved in with my boyfriend at the beginning of July. We are combing families. Right now I am fighting for custody of my daughter, and he has full time custody of his son. This is creating the joy of two only children learning to live together. We moved to a small town, but the only thing that we could find that was in our price range, and had the space we needed was in a trailer park. The joys and stresses that come with life and growing up and all that fun stuff. That will definitely be topics of blogs. 

I work full time at a menial job making way less than I should be. I have a associates degree, but can't seem to find a job in my field in the joyous Michigan economy. So I am looking and my job search might be a topic of blogs. 

I am also a crafty person. I don't think I would consider myself an artist, but other people do lol. I love to craft, so that is where my Pinterest blog comes in. I am going to be trying different things I find on there and try them out. I have another blog on that topic..

I also love to cook. Here again I will be finding recipes and trying them out and you can find that info on my Pinterest blog. 

I am also on a tight budget. I don't make a lot, so for me making every penny stretch is an important thing. . That may be a blog topic.

Other topics that may be covered; my Pinterest blog, blogging in general, learning how to blog, life, the universe, and everything. 

Welcome to my blogging adventure. 

Nicci J