Crucianize

Tag: Sahm

  • The Reasons for Rebranding my blog

    As you will no doubt notice I have changed the name of my blog to better reflect the stage in my life I’m in right now. There’s no longer a baby in there and there hasn’t been for a while so it was time to change it.

    Once Upon a Dovy was the hashtag I would have used if we had had a huge wedding with ceremony and invitations but life has a way of changing in a quickness so I’m using it here now since this is who I am now.

    I know many people make new years resolutions and whatnots, I have never seen a point in doing this, this year I think I will. I want to go into 2019 not feeling depressed every day, I want to be able to sit down and work on my crafts whether it’s writing, photography, or crochet. I want to be able to enjoy the things I used to love and maybe pick up some new ones.

    I aim to crochet a temperature blanket, an afghan is way too ambitious for a beginner like myself so I want to start off small. For those of you who don’t know what a temperature blanket is, it’s a blanket where you crochet a row or two in the color that represents the temperature of that specific day, the aim is to have a row or two for every day of the year and you’ll have a unique and interesting blanket with many colors. If I was living back home in the Virgin Islands I’d no doubt have a blanket with maybe just two colors for the whole year but since I’m living in France with its changing seasons I’ll have so many colors, I think I want to add in a little break so I know when the months change, a line of white or something and possibly a heart applique for February since it will be Valentines and my birthday.

    Other than the temperature blanket I want to write more, this year has been terrible for my writing and I’m kind of ashamed of this, I also want to pick up my camera more, there is nothing around me that captures my interest but maybe I can start doing animal photography more since it’s more linked to nature than an old building is.

    Well, I have a pie to bake, Christmas parties and the such which I am not looking forward to…

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, I wish you all have a joyous time and if you suffer from Depression like me I hope you find something that’s worth holding on to.

  • Breaking out of the what ifs.

    Breaking out of the what ifs.

    It’s been almost three years since the loss and I think I’m finally breaking out of the what-ifs. I know in reality I will always wonder in the back of my mind just who this little person could have been, sometimes my mind conjures up images of a little girl, and other times it’s a little boy running around with Naveen. These days my mind takes another direction, I wonder will I ever attempt to have another? I think if I was assured of medical care and support from family I could attempt it but financially we might never have another child and that makes me sad. I wish things were different but it is what it is.

    I’ve started exercising this month, I’ve been using the WeBurn app, you can download it on the App Store and on Google Play.

    WeBurn stands for the most effective, short (7 minutes) and science-based Women HIIT Home Workouts that are fun to do and extremely motivating. Get your personal 7-minute Workout Plan, create your 7-minute Workout Challenge, turn on the music and get in the shape of your life!

    Join the community for free and reach your fitness goals faster and with more motivation and fun than anywhere else: lose weight, build muscles, live healthy or just get fit.

    I haven’t been active since I moved here and I wanted something I could do in the short space of time between dropping and picking Naveen up from school. It has a 4.7 rating on Google Play and the reviews were fairly good.
    Disclaimer: You do have to pay for the app but you can do two workouts for free.

    I do Body Shaping (135-162 KCAL) and Bikini Body (136-163 KCAL) which are free workouts. You can choose between three workout difficulties. Since I am a beginner I went with the Easier difficulty, I really didn’t want to start out hard and get discouraged. I gave myself one week to do the Easy one then I would try the Medium and see how I feel. It was a bit easy at first but by the second day, I was contemplating whether I had made a mistake but I stuck with it. Now that I’m heading towards my second week and will begin doing the Medium difficulty I’m a bit afraid, here is where my determination will really be tested.

  • What I Use To Keep My Skin So Smooth

    I am not affiliated in any way with Cien or Lidl, I was not given these products to review or offered a reward for my review.

    I was recently complimented on my clear skin, to be honest, I have never had much issue with my skin, one or two pimples over the years, my main problem is my raccoon eyes but they are hereditary so not much I can do about it except try to find a really good concealer.

    Even if I’ve never had to battle bumps on my face I still try to take care of it, one of the first things I did when moving here was to find a good facial wash and moisturizer, I was not used to the cold and it was proving to me that I needed moisture more than anything in this unforgiving temperature, my husband bought me a Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse set that included a small bottle of bath oil, multipurpose oil, a candle, and hydrating cream. 

    These items served me well for a few months but I had run out and Nuxe is not the cheapest product to buy especially when you have a really small income. I needed something but I had no idea what to buy so I asked a friend what she used, her answer was Nuxe lol but she also mentioned that there was a line of products by Lidl called Cien and she had heard good things about it, Lidl, if you don’t know, is a German global discount supermarket chain, based in Neckarsulm, Germany, that operates over 10,000 stores across Europe and the United States. There is a Lidl very close to my home and it is very affordable so I decided to give it a try.

    I picked up the Crème Hydrante Aqua for 2,99€

    • Made with Glycerol and Pantherol.

    This cream will deeply moisturize your skin and protect it from the harmful effects of the sun thanks to its UV filter. Its formula is without mineral oils which allow for better absorption of the cream, without leaving a greasy effect, it promotes the oxygenation of the skin.

    • Essential protection for all skin types.
    • No added Mineral Oils.

    A great success and a recognized quality that allowed him to be acclaimed by a jury of consumers during the 12th Victoires de la Beauté.

    I also picked up the Aqua Rich Gel Nettoyant for a little under 2€.

    • For clean and fresh skin.
    • For Normal and Mixed skin.

    Lastly, I picked up the Eau Micellaire Refraichissment for a little under 2€.

    • Facial Cleanser
    • Makeup Remover
    • Refreshing              

    Now, this was my first time using a Micellar Water I don’t know if it’s usual for it to leave your face feeling dry but this one does that, I always put on some of the moisturizers after using this, it works really well for removing makeup and I especially love that it’s a pump bottle I just have to press my cleansing pad down on the tip and the product comes up and wets my cleansing pad, this bottle design leads to less product wastage and one bottle can last you a pretty long time.  

    I’ve been using these products for a year and a half now and I think they do their jobs very well, my face has never been more smooth or soft, if I don’t moisturize around my nose it can get pretty dry but not with these products. In total, I think all the products came up to less than 7€.  

    If you’re in France and don’t have a lot of money to spend or just like a good bargain I’d highly suggest buying these products from Lidl.

  • Returning to my blog after three years

    Hello, long time no see…

    Entirely my own fault, I ended up in a very deep depression and I was not being truthful to myself about how deep I was, every day I would say it’s no big deal I’m not too bad,     and then next I’m crying in a corner by myself. I had to take a step back and work on myself, I’m happy to say that while I’m not 100 percent better, I’m in a place where I don’t feel like everything is dark. It’s been about two years since my last post and almost three years since my move to France, I’ve been working on my French, I can understand a bit now, I can reply in my head sometimes but the words don’t seem to come out unless it’s “Bonjour/ Bonsoir/ Bonne Nuit” “Oui”, or “Je sais pas”. Pitiful I know, I’ve been doing workbooks, watching tv shows, talking to my son although he tells me I’m not supposed to speak French to him, I have also been doing some genealogy.

    My paternal family is French from the French Antilles so I have been using my tiny bit of French to read the birth, marriage, and death certificates, it has been so rewarding because I learned a lot of new words and I can now identify them without having to look them up or translate them, also we watched some movies in French, my absolute favorite was Coco, I was actually able to follow along with most of the storyline and understand most of the movie, a weird thing happened whenever I hear the songs in English I automatically hear them in French in my head, I find this very fascinating. I suppose it’s because I’ve never heard the songs in anything but French so I stored it away under French vs watching movies I saw in English in French. 

    Anywho, what other updates, my little bean will soon be five years old, I shaved my head last year, I have a very nice curly Afro now, shrinkage means that it’s long but you’ll never be able to guess that unless I twist, braid, or flat iron my hair. I’ve also been working on a story, the title is a bit TBA at the moment but I can share my synopsis with you. Here is what I’ve been working on since late last year.

    An Irish jeweler living in a small town buys a new journal, upon opening said journal he discovers that it’s already filled with mysterious writings. He tries to return the book to the store, but they have no records of it ever being sold by them, the jeweler decides to read the journal in the hope that there would be clues to the identity of the owner, he discovers that a young woman might be in trouble and he might possibly be her only hope. During the course of his investigation, the Jeweler uncovers an old family secret and begins questioning everything that he has ever held about the world around him. He must now find the owner of the journal and help rescue a young woman before it is too late. 


    Once it’s completely finished I’ll be sure to link it here for your reading pleasure, that is if you are interested in reading it…