Okay, so here’s the deal, when in college, I thought I would get a job in pharmaceutical sales … Then I graduated and ended up working for a Construction Company, as a Project Accountant. I was good at my job and was good with numbers too, but it just wasn’t my “thing!”
I would think and talk about changing up my career. Maybe I could work in the field of fashion as a buyer or work in skincare, or maybe work in the medical field as an ultrasound tech., etc. I even thought about going back to school for teaching. As the years progressed thought about becoming a fitness/pilates instructor or maybe a nutritionist.
All areas were great, but many required more schooling and with already having a dual bachelors degree in business and marketing. It just didn’t make much sense for me to go back to school! 🤷🏻♀️
Especially now that I was having babies and was entering into this new chapter in life, “motherhood.” 💗
God has been faithful though 🙏🏼, my husband was promoted quite a few times, since I became pregnant with our first little love.
So, the pressure of me going back to work lessened. I did find ways to make some extra cash for us though when money was tight. I opened up an Etsy Shop, making home decor wreaths, party decor, etc. This was great for a few years, but thankfully I was able to call it quits after we had out 3rd little love 💗 and hubby got a raise. I also listed items on Poshmark too! 🤗
I can say, I am blessed that God called me to be a SAHM (stay at home mommy) to our three (3) little loves 💗💗💗 I am also now, a Scentsy Consultant. It’s just a little something that I added on prior to all of our little loves 💗💗💗 being in school. I just wanted my own little thing, in between mommying!
Well, onto something “new” …
Our first little love 💗 (during Covid and remote learning) asked if we could open up an Etsy Shop. She wanted to make clay earrings. It was great initially, but with her schedule and our schedules, it just became too much. So she, and we, took a little break! 🤷🏻♀️
Now that school is winding down and almost out for SUMMER ✏️🍎📚 She and I were talking and we are giving it another go. “It” meaning an Etsy Shop. We are back to Cozy Styling, so once our cozy creations are designed and created, we will be adding to OUR SHOP! 🥰
So, let me discuss a little about mom life, or let me say, “parent life!” We try, and we try daily … No wait, actually it’s more like hourly.
Our girls 💗💗💗 they are indeed sweet girls, but they are still girls (which means emotional, for us) and they are also good kids, but again they are also still kids.
We raise them to have manners, be respectful, and we are currently teaching them to have confidence, be the bigger person when dealing with “the turkeys” in this life.
Yes, “turkeys” a co-worker told me this once, when I was dealing with quite a few turkeys myself while in the working world before babies. She explained how we deal with turkeys in life and then said, “don’t let the turkeys get you down!” 🤣😉
Well, currently, we are dealing with “turkeys” from every angle.
As are our little loves. 💗💗💗
Now, at the end of the day each situation is “small!” However, when dealing with “it” from this angle, and then this angle, and then this angle, and then this angle, etc. You get the picture!!! Currently, we are 🤯🤯🤯
I woke up early today (like before 5AM) because my husband is off to work super early. (There’s an event today,) but all was on my mind. I must have been dreaming about it?
It’s weird too, because I can tell certain people are backing away from us because they know something is up, but don’t know much because (we are private people.)
Which to be honest, is smart. Sometimes, you just need a breather to collect all of your thoughts …
I mean, we are calming down compared to a few weeks/months ago. We are starting to be able to process all, stay away from certain individuals, watch all a little clearer, understand a little more, but again although much is “small” … from all angles combined, “it feels big!” 🤔
I can honestly say that I have dealt with “turkeys” all of my life. So, I see it so clearly when our girls are telling me things. I get it too, it’s part of life, but it’s hard as a parent to teach your child, that this is how life is … they’re like, “but I am doing the right thing.” They’re playing their cards right, they’re being the bigger person, so they ask, “Why does this person get this or get that, when they’re not doing the right thing!” 🤷🏻♀️
It’s sad, and I think that’s where I am at … it is just SAD!!!
I get it, we all want our kids to shine, but they shouldn’t shine when they are being a turkey in this life and to be honest, we all know, that they sometimes still do!
What we tell our girls … “It doesn’t matter, it won’t work in the end, because God 🙏🏼 is always watching, so always remember that!”
I remember years ago, especially as a new mommy. The “real” to-do list began!!!
Now, listen there was always a “to-do list.” However, the overwhelming-ness that attached to it, definitely increased once you became a parent. Along with the NOW factor!
I know we all have our things, our schedules, but then we add in our house things, parent things, and your kiddies’ schedules, sports ⚽️.
My lanta!!! – right!!! lol
Now me, I am type-A, a perfectionist type of a gal, but let’s just say “HOT MESS!” That’s how I feel most days!!! I found a way to embrace this “Hot Mess” too! Which, meant that my hair would not always be done, my make-up would not always be on …
Yes, I would wear sweatpants, leggings , and work-out clothes as my “SAHM mom fashion!” 🤷🏻♀️🤣🤷🏻♀️
However, the to-do list, it is non stop in this house. I mean I am a SAHM, and the “to-do list” never ends. I drink my coffee in the AM and when I can, I will blog. Which is what I am doing at the moment. I am actually at the car garage because I have to get a new tire and then after, I need to run out and get some things for the house and for our girls. 💗💗💗
Like “all,” we try to just manage. As we know, “the things” will always be there, and always need to get done. We also know, we are not alone. I mean I talk to parents, mom friends, our friends, family and it seems to be the norm for all.
I look at our schedule though … and it has been a “My Lanta moment” most recently!!! 🤷🏻♀️😉🤣
My husband though, is more of a calm, let’s just do and get it done, check off ☑️ the to-do list kind of guy. Where due to my type-A, perfectionist personality, things like a “to-do list” can overwhelm me at times! 😬
I had a talk with one of my dearest the other day and she truly brought much to light for me. We were just talking about life and the simplicity of being in our twenties (20’s), before babies. She said, “In the busyness, we also need to fill our cup.” This was an “ahh moment!” for me. It is something that seems so simple, but to me/us, we often forget this.
Ohhh to fill our cups, okay how to pencil this in too? That’s truly how my husband and I think, to go on a date night, out to eat, away for the night … Without kids, Ha!!! Yeah, nope!!!
I often will watch/listen to how people will write the word or even say, “Mama” …
I watch and I listen … many when talking about this role often say, “mom” of course. They will say, “mommy”, but I smile when I see others say or even write momma and truly what gives me more of an aweee 💗 is when I see it written out as “mama.”
Mama is near and dear to my heart. This was my title for awhile in this house. Our first little love called me mama when she was first learning how to talk, and then one day switched it to mommy. I remember crying when she said mommy too, (listen it’s a mommy thing for this mama, okay! 🤣)
However, out of no where she said mommy one day and she was confused as to why I was now sad … She actually went in our bathroom and grabbed me a tissue and brought it over to me, looking at me confused! 💗
Yes, my sweet little almost two (2) year old, knew to bring me a tissue whenever I was sad!!! Cute, right? 🥰
So, here’s the thing … she actually always thought she was saying “Mommy,” but since talking was all new to her, it was coming out as “Mama!” 💗 I truly loved that she called me Mama. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that she was now calling me Mommy too! 🥰 but Mama … is just, 💗 tear!!! 🥺
Oh those Mommy stories, so I will often write “Mama” and whenever I see someone else write out “Mama” I just smile, because it’s just near and dear to my heart! 💗
My sister was trying to get me to switch from Yankee to Scentsy. My husband and I use to have shelves upon shelves of Yankee candles and a scent in each room of the house too. My sister would tell me Scentsy is more you, it’s a healthier candle approach and the scents are amazing, etc.
I would say, “Nope, not letting go of my favorite scents!” and to be honest I still have quite a few! 😉
… but I finally gave in, and I bought Scentsy one Summer day, then a scent sold me to Scentsy. “Summer Holiday!” Yep, I was SOLD!
So, from then on Scentsy was our new candle scentsational scent of fun. Not to mention their super cute WARMERS too!!!
Well, one day I am smelling the scents and (as many know, I am gluten free and labeled, undiagnosed celiac), so I smelled a scent called “Blueberry Cheescake” and suddenly I now wanted a Blueberry 🫐 Muffin! – lol 🤷🏻♀️
So, I added this scent to my order. When it arrived, I put it in my warmers and loooved it. My husband and our girls 💗💗💗 loved it too! So, I ordered more right away, and after spending close to $200 on Scentsy in one single month. I joked and said, “Maybe I should just sell this stuff at this point!” The girl I bought from responded with, “‘You should, you alone would keep yourself in business!” lol 🤔
So, asked a few more questions and talked it over with my husband and I signed on that Month as a Scentsy Consultant and began my little business in June of 2019. So, it’ll be three (3) years this June. It is just something small I have on the side of mommy life, family life, etc. Something part-time for me to have and it brings in some extra cash too! (I actually make more now than when I was working part-time, while pregnant with our first little love 💗)
Scentsy is slower right now though, but it’s still busy too. Not as busy as it was in the beginning of Covid, but once people’s smells were effected (like this gal) and the gas prices increased. People slowed down with it, but it’s a great product, and it’s a healthier candle approach too. So, if you’re interested in this “wickless candle approach, that’s cleaner, safer and healthier!” Contact me and if you want a part-time little business, contact me too! 🥰
Okay “busyness” … well, it is the new “norm.” in this house.
(Especially, once you become a mom and dad, and more specifically when your kiddies are old enough to all be in school and play sports, or cheer, dance, etc.)
We have been nonstop, like NONSTOP lately … I mean, we quadruple booked this Easter 🐣 ✝️ Weekend. We had two (2) Soccer ⚽️ Tournaments (that’s six (6) Games), our good friends’ wedding and Easter Sunday. Now, because of the craziness we spread out the games for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but we also had to coordinate getting to the wedding, did not host Easter this year, etc.
Not to mention, earlier in the week our littlest love caught a bug. Poor little thing 🤒, she’s doing better now. 🙏🏼 Still fighting off the tail end of it, with a cough, but her fever is gone, energy is back, and her appetite is back! Praise God! 🙏🏼
I think I lost it for a brief moment 🤯 I mean #mommying, in between the phone calls, the soccer ⚽️ things, germs, events, work, etc.
My husband and his calmness though, as he says, “We will figure all out and never book our schedules like this again!” 💗
So, here we are … It’s Monday morning, we all are tired 😴, but all turned out pretty good! 🙏🏼 Our one little love won 1st 🥇 place in her division. ⚽️ My husband rocked as a coach and our other little love handled poor sportsmanship well from the other team she played! 💗 I got glutened of course, so still fighting that off 😬 and our littlest love has been fever free for over 48 hours!!! 🙏🏼 and Easter was very nice! 🐣✝️
My Hubby has events today at work, so I am home with our littles. I am cleaning all, doing laundry, and the pup 🐶 needs to get to groomer, there’s errands, etc., but all that was 🤯 is now ☑️ …
It’s now mid way through the month and I have not written out our calendar. 📆 I need to do this today or maybe tomorrow? 🤷🏻♀️ and I need to regroup/think and just pause! 💗
Bringing it back to “cozy” … after all, my new blog is called “Cozy Styling” and like I said in previous blogs/posts, “I think we all need to find that cozy in life, from time to time.”
Oh and Happy Friday!!! – now this is Cozy, well, later tonight that is … all at home, eating yummy food, playing games, maybe a cup of hot tea. ☕️
So, what is your cozy?”
Okay, so if you follow me in my IG story posting, Scentsy posting, blog posting … I am a pinterest gal. To be honest, a good amount of my ideas, stem from Pinterest. I’d love to sharpen my photography 📸 skills too, so I can add to my now pinning and blogging, … but there’s only sooo many hours ⏰ in the day 🤷🏻♀️
On many mornings, I wake up and before my coffee, I find a coffee stock photo on pinterest, to post onto my Scentsy page.
A little of what catches my eye or grabs my attention. Fitness pictures, Healthy foods, Posts on Faith, Coffee photos (but ironically don’t “love” coffee 🤷🏻♀️ only in the mornings.) Fashion, cozy fashion in the winter, even in the summer, and just cute fashionable things. Nail pictures, I love my nails painted, but DISLIKE getting my nails done 🤣 (this is a new thing I now “know,” but the piggies love them painted and love a pedicure too.)
More on cozy … facials are another new thing, loving at home facials or scheduling one at a salon or spa.
I love, like looovvveee organization. It’s interesting (and my husband often jokes about this) nothing like a clean house, my bed made, angles, a new comforter, an organized pantry, a new journal/planner, etc. just looovvveee!!!
Speaking of journals, I love notebooks, odd yes 🤣 but I do … nothing like a fresh notebook, journal or planner! 🙂
and loving leopard, WHAT!!! … what happened? I am now loving leopard too. 🐆
Just a little of this and a little of that on this Friday, time to get some errands done! ☑️
As a new mommy and daddy, we remember hearing this ⬆️ over and over again. My husband and I often joked too, “Fast, are you kidding? Not exactly fast, the days are long and we were insanely tired!” 😴🤣
However, looking back, the baby years did indeed go fast. We now have three (3) baby girls, who are all now in grade school …
“The days are long, but the years are short!”
Wahhh!!! 💗💗💗 “looking for that little small wonder to slow down time!”
We wanted to have another after our third little love was born (more me than him) and then we found out we were expecting another little blessing from above. 🙏🏼 A little shocked, but in awe and just wowed!!! 🥰
… but after our miscarriage (or maybe two (2) miscarriages actually 😢) we now just don’t know? 🙏🏼
… our sweet baby would have been two (2) years old this past October 💗💙
I am at peace a bit more now though. After my recent Doctor’s Appointment, my talk with my OBGYN/Gyno. 🙏🏼 and positive results from tests. 🙏🏼
If we are to have another I/we would be filled with joy and if not, three (3) is a good number too. So, being a family of five (5) with our pup 🐶, is truly such a blessing!!! 🙏🏼
So, I write and say, “Hold on, hold on to “time” mom’s and dad’s or at least try to 😉,” I spent many years trying my best to slow down time. I relished and focused on relishing in the moments too. However, I still miss those baby years and would love to do it, on repeat, over and over again.
I find myself in a weird holding pattern these days, of wanting to go back, and so very much enjoying what’s going on right now! 🙏🏼💗💗💗🙏🏼
Being a mommy is truly one of my greatest gifts from the Lord. 🙏🏼 I don’t regret, not even for a second giving up my career as a working mommy in the working world. I love that God called me to be a Stay-at-Home Mommy and I am so insanely grateful and thankful for this too!!! 🙏🏼
I still am at home, while my babies are now in school. I am still a busy mama too. Fitting in this and that, the mommying, scheduling this and that, the errands, the to-do list, involved in their school, a coaches wife, the house work, fitness life, working part-time, etc.
… making balloon arches right now, for one of our little love’s event 💗
My most recent add-on’s too, while being a SAHM … are a Scentsy Consultant and I am now learning the ropes of Blogging too, or trying to!!! 😉
So another day, another blog …
You can take a look too if you like ✨✨✨ jenniferbendas.scentsy.us (I put orders in a few times a month) and my new blog cozystyling.com
Okay … eating for “nutrition” is not as easy as one would think! 🤔
This may sound crazy, but making sure you are eating enough … for some of us, this is difficult in itself. I mean us ladies, since we were teens, have been influenced by the “world” (for lack of better words), and on average, have been watching what we eat, watching our weight, or watching how we look for most of our lives!
This is not all of us, but probably many of us …
So, to actually have an education and knowledge on what food is, when it comes to our health, what nutrition is, that foods can cause inflammation, etc. 🤷🏻♀️ Huh??? 🤔
My lanta!!! ✨✨✨
When I was younger (like middle school age) I remember having a convo. with this High School boy, who was into fitness. He was a football player, drinking fitness shakes, lifting and all the things. I was like, “Guess what “so and so”, I only ate a Snickers all day today!” 🤣 All proud of myself – lol … he said, “Well, I’d eat a little more than that, and next time when you do eat, especially if only one thing all day 🙄 which I don’t recommend. Focus on something a little healthier!”
I was like, “Oh!” 😬 and a little embarrassed 😳 I was thirteen (13) years old at the time, and he was eighteen (18) years old, and he just graduated from High School! (So, he was cool!) 🤣 He was right though … like really, starve yourself and then pick a snickers to eat! 🤷🏻♀️
Side note – This boy and I were friends and penpals for awhile, after this Summer. There was a group of us that hung out during our Summers up at a Country Club on a golf course in Idaho. We all met up every Summer. (I spent my Summers with my grandparents in Idaho as a kid, which my Idaho Summers is another blog for another time), so to be continued … but my Idaho Summers were indeed wonderful! 💗
Idaho – Golf Course
Back to nutrition, (as I think back to my relationship with food.) I would like to think that I learned earlier, that eating only this or that all day long, was not okay. However, I did not! I would sometimes tell myself (during those college years, to be exact) “You haven’t eaten all day, so you can have Wendy’s tonight!” 🤷🏻♀️ (something I wouldn’t even consider eating now, especially since being gluten free!)
I did this more often than I would like to admit. I never counted calories per-say, but food was … something I limited to like a meal a day, here and there. Once I was thinner (I was always thin, but didn’t see this as a teen) … but again, once I was thinner, and was told by others that I was skinny. I liked hearing it, so I knew basically what to eat and what not to eat.
Food was never about nutrition for me, at this time in my life. I was a college kid, so food was something I would eat, when I was hungry and not eat when I wanted to lose five (5) pounds. Just being honest! 🤷🏻♀️
When I met my husband (the Summer before my senior year of college) I was weighing in like the nineties (90’s.) I had a problem at this point though, I ate very little and was okay with being “skinny.” He’d take me out to eat constantly when we first met. We were friends for like six (6) months before dating, 🥰 but if I wanted mozzarella cheese fries, he’d say, “okay let’s go!” lol 🥰
I remember my grandma calling me one day too, and checking in on me. I remember it vividly too, (I was sitting in my bedroom on my desk chair in my roomies and my rented town house at the time), and she said, “Be careful Jennifer, what you are doing to your body now … it may not effect you now, in your twenties, but it will effect you by your thirties!”
I now look back, and often say, “hmmm, was she right?” 🤔 I mean, after our first little love was born, I was in my late twenties (20’s) and this was when I realized I had an intolerance to gluten, and the possibility of celiac disease? As I had my next baby, I now had a food allergy to citrus too and many other things were now going on …
In a previous blog, I was discussing “female things” and after talking with a girlfriend who has had similar issues to what I dealt with and am dealing with, she was telling me how she fixed her issues with Nutrition. She said, “After talking with a Nutritionist, she never realized that food is like medicine too for many (if not ALL of us!) So, this got me thinking 🤔
I actually went home after we talked, (this was before my Doctor’s Appointment) and started researching, much about this topic and I am actually considering, taking a few Nutrition Classes now … (yeah, I know, where would I fit this in?)
In my little research that I have done already, and after talking with a Nutritionist too. Females need certain things, (especially when it comes to Hormonal Health!) Now, you may say, “Well, I am fine and so and so is always on a diet, doing this and that, and they’re fine!” What I say to that, “That may be true, and that’s great for them, but we all are wired differently!” For example, my body may need more folic acid or more healthy fats, and if I am confirmed Celiac (already know I have a gluten intolerance) then my body wasn’t absorbing certain nutrients for years while eating food in general! Especially, when not eating the “right” foods!
I am a smaller framed female (5’2”, wear an xsm/sm), and it took me becoming a mommy to realize this too … I no longer limit myself when it comes to food, but I think I did and may even still do, in some ways subconsciously. Like, I will stop myself from eating this or that, overeating is a no, mainly because I don’t like the feeling of being super full and have had digestive issues, off and on for years. I on average choose not to eat certain sweets, no to diet beverages too. Then I wouldn’t eat all day, but use to eat snickers and candy saying to myself, “It’s okay, you can eat this, since you didn’t eat anything today!” (I do like candy, but eating just sugar as my food intake, not good!) 🤷🏻♀️
This was years ago though (before Covid actually!) No longer do this …
I am also a person who’s not always a breakfast eater. There’s hungry days though and these days, I no longer ignore. So, if my body is craving extra food, I now EAT! You, see during my research, your body will often crave things, when it needs something. If you know me, I am a gal who has ALWAYS craved things. Random things too, like a cheese burger, a milk shake, mozzarella, etc. I have learned to give into my cravings more now, compared to only when I am PMS-ing and pregnant.
Some of the things I have found in my research relating to hormonal health. Drink Matcha tea and green tea more. I am consciously trying to eat 1/4-to a whole avocado daily. 🥑 Females, NEED healthy fats, especially for hormonal health. Red meat, (okay, don’t really eat it), but for hormonal health red meat is “inflammatory,” so like I love tacos, we eat them weekly. Taco Tuesday in this house, so I’d eat red meat when eating tacos. However, now, I consciously will make ground turkey for tacos, especially for me!
I won’t say that I will not EAT red meat ever again, I just try not to eat it “often.” Also, I am now eating more plant foods, you know fruits and VEGGIES, eating more fish, certain proteins, etc. I am gluten free already, so paying attention is easier compared to years ago, when going gluten free. Like I do need carbs, so I’ll make rice (often), a gluten free pasta or I will eat some gluten free pretzels. Especially, if my body is craving carbs. Sugar I’ll even crave at times, ever so often, so I listen and grab a Hershey kiss, a small Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or something little.
HYDRATION is also a thing and it’s a HUGE thing!!! Hydration, is a whole other blog post 🤣 so to be continued on that … but I am trying!!!
There’s so much to “Nutrition” when it comes to foods, so I am going to see if it helps? 🤷🏻♀️
Back in September, our littlest love came home from school on a Friday, and was just exhausted. She was so tired that she could not help, but cry. She just wanted to lay directly by my side rest and nap. So over that weekend, she slept-in, napped, cried on the soccer ⚽️ field, etc. (Looking back, poor little thing) … She was just really tired and had a slight runny nose too.
She got a little better, after the weekend and after hanging with my family on that Sunday. She was happier and not as tired. I even made her nap right after school for a few days after the weekend. We did not think anything of it, truly, except that she was probably just run down! We thought maybe she was just adjusting to now being in school and that the days made her tired. After all, she was a big bad Kindergartener now!
Now onto me, oddly I had a weird hip pain for like an hour over the weekend, while snuggling her. Then woke-up with an AWFUL back ache, after the weekend. Our oldest little love, then was complaining of her muscles hurting after Soccer ⚽️ practice on that Tuesday night. We then both woke-up with a head-ache (this was now on Wednesday) and had a mild head ache for three (3) days. We did not have a fever, but both had a slight runny nose. She had the chills, she kept saying too, but again, no fever! It didn’t progress into anything else. So, I thought maybe it was fall allergies and we could be dehydrated, so drink more water? 🤷🏻♀️ (I laugh 🤣 because my oldest little love was like how much water do we need to drink?) That Friday, we both ended up with a sore throat in the evening while watching a movie, so I then said to my husband, “Maybe we are coming down with something?”
That Saturday we both woke up, felt better, but I still took a mucinex to be safe. After all we were spending the day at the fields ⚽️ and working the snack stand. We also were heading to PA to visit with family for my Father-in-law’s Birthday later that day. My back was still hurting though, so I told my husband that I was going to have to call a Doctor on Monday to see if I did something?
So, now we are up in PA. We walk in and my Sister-in-law says, “You okay? Are you feeling okay?” I said, “Yeah, just tired. It’s been a long day!” Not thinking of the week of symptoms (because again we thought allergy like symptoms.) So, we spent the night in PA, we wake-up Sunday and my back is no longer hurting and for both of us, all symptoms are still completely gone! 🤔 So, I am like, well, this is great, that was weird!
So, we enjoy our morning and as I have mentioned, I am a Scentsy Consultant. So, all want to order scents, so I take out the catalog, and bring my bag of scents out. We all begin to smell, and I CANNOT smell any of them. I text my husband and say, “I cannot smell any of these!” He says, “WHAT, go blow your nose!” So, I did … not that I had to, but figured why not? Maybe it will get my nose to wake-up or something? 🤷🏻♀️ Nope! I then, call my daughter in from outside while playing with her cousins and say, “Smell these!” She too cannot smell any of the scents and she looks at me and says, “Wait! Did we have Covid?” I said, “I think so!”
I then realize over breakfast, that I cannot exactly taste certain things, either! 🤷🏻♀️ So, now I am texting my husband saying, “We have to leave!” After all, Covid literally changed the world, as we all know!!!
So, now driving home, I am just 🤔 like wait, did we just have Covid and not know? My husband asks if I want a French Vanilla Cappuccino? I say, yes of course! So, he stops and I am sipping on it on the way home. He says, “How was your Cappuccino?” I said, “It was good, can’t taste it like I normally do, but it’s still good!” He says, “Oh good, because it wasn’t a French Vanilla Cappuccino, wanted to see if you would notice!”🤣
So, the next day I call my mom, to tell her about my loss of smell, my taste being altered, and the possibility that we had Covid. She tells me she’s been fighting a cold all week, she caught it, a few days after we hung out and I say, “Oh no, can you smell? and is Dad okay?” She says, Dad is fine and she’s doing better, she thinks she can smell, but come to find out when she got home later that day, she also could not smell. She also was over my sister’s house for our nephew’s party over the weekend, while we were visiting with my husband’s family. (My Father-in-law and nephew share the same Birthday.)
So, let me go back to earlier in the week … my sister called me asking, “What did you do, when your littlest love was tired over the weekend?” Her sons were now tired too and she’s like, “This is so weird. They just want to sleep.” I told her, “I think it’s just school and such, they are little, adjusting and just tired.” So, I told her what we did with our littlest love and that she felt better by Tuesday.
So, back to me no longer smelling, our oldest little love not smelling, my mom not smelling … I decide to check with our littlest love and she too cannot smell! Then, later find out that my cousin comes down with a cold and he gets tested, he’s Covid positive! He was hanging with my sister and the boys at my nephews party. Then my Brother-in-law comes down with a cold, he too is Covid positive.
I was feeling fine like I said, but since I cannot smell and my taste was now altered, I go and get tested. I am Covid negative, they told me that I most likely would test negative because loss of smell is the aftermath or a final symptom of Covid? 🤷🏻♀️
So, now talking with my sister, she decides to go and get tested, even though she has no symptoms! However, hearing of me and my girls, her boys, along with mom, her husband, and our cousin. She tests, her results come back, Covid positive. Later she gets mild symptoms. So, my mom decides to get tested and she too, like me, is Covid negative.
My husband in the meantime has had body aches, like flu like aches for three (3) days and is slightly congested, but doesn’t get tested. He is overly busy at work, so he decides to just go in and isolate himself in office (all are mostly working from home too) and he cannot be quarantined at home, right now. Work needs to get done!
So, out of all of us, ten (10) had Covid like symptoms. Three (3) tested positive for Covid and out of us all, two (2) were vaccinated. Out of the vaccinated, one (1) tested Covid positive. Seven (7) of us loss our smell and altered/loss our taste. Three (3) only lost it for like two (2) weeks. Where as me, and my daughters … well, my one (1) loss it for about two (2) months, but just her smell and our other loss her smell for like four (4) months. She now has a weird smell to certain smells, as does my husband. They actually smell a certain type of chemical smell to the same smells. He though, never lost his smell!
We call our PA family to fill them in and they all are okay, thank God! 🙏🏼 My sister-in-law says I knew it when I saw you, you had Covid eyes, but I thought maybe she’s just tired too? (My sister-in-law is a nurse and our brother-in-law is a Doctor, so they’ve been dealing with many Covid patients during this Covid pandemic.)
Back to the loss of smell. My sister and I have had lasting symptoms, the worst! Her and I could not smell at all, for months. I would say for the both of us we were in month five (5), when we started to vaguely smell again. It has now been six (6) months for the both of us. I can smell some things, but not all and my taste actually is getting better, but still cannot taste all things. Like ice cream, I can taste something, and it’s good “again,” but it’s not exactly the taste of mint ice cream! 🤷🏻♀️
It is actually pretty difficult to explain to people. Only those who are dealing with this same thing, can understand!
Here’s the craziness in the situation too, we all were trying so hard to go back to normal that this health screening ⬇️ I didn’t even see, mainly because so many emails were coming in from every angle.
I mean duhhh “a possibility indeed”… A- chills, muscle aches, headache, sore throat, & runny nose & B – loss of smell/taste
Then two (2) of our little loves, when they returned back to school, were now to be quarantined from school, due to Covid positives in their classrooms and our other little love said, all of her little friends and her, had the same symptoms at the same time. Since they were allergy like and mild, 🙏🏼 they never ended up being quarantined.
I actually found out, a few months later, while talking with another mom (in the parent pick-up line) that both of our Kindergarten kiddies were in the same class and they sat at the same table back in September. Well, she’s talking about her and her husband’s loss of smell and I am like me too! When did you have Covid? She says, “When school started, maybe a week after!” She continued to say, “Her little boy never showed any symptoms, she thinks, so she sent him into school!” I am like, “Wowww!!! Ding, ding, ding, and now the puzzle pieces are coming together.” So, our little love brought it home that weekend in September because of a close contact in school. Then, the week she returned back, her whole class was to be quarantined because of multiple Covid positives. So, yes, we are now pretty sure it was Covid!
(Looking back though, to January of 2020), we were sick with flu like symptoms and we were visiting my grandparents in Florida. Out of our three (3) little loves, only one (1) was the sickest with a fever, GI issues, stuffiness, etc. I was pretty sick too, but have been sicker in the past. I still went and got tested for the flu though because we were pretty sure it was the flu, body aches, cough, fever, GI, so tested for both flu A & B, and both came back negative. My grandparents ended up catching it from us too, turning into pneumonia for them 🙏🏼 and we all (the adults) had a lasting cough for at least three (3) weeks. So, we are thinking this was Covid before “Covid-19” became a “thing.”
So, this time around (September 2021) it was now the “Delta Variant” that was going around. Ironically, out of our family of five (5), our little love who was the sickest out of our littles back in January of 2020 was the only one to not get any symptoms. 🙏🏼 She too, has been quarantined the most from school, due to close contacts and has been around many of her little friends in other situations, who also were Covid positives and thankfully never caught it again 🤷🏻♀️ that we know of …
So, I still have some symptoms that are off and on. My back will hurt ever so often, but my smell is vaguely returning 🙏🏼 and my taste isn’t as altered as it once was either!!!! 🙌🏻 🙏🏼 🙌🏻
So, we never tested positive for Covid 🦠, (either time actually), but we are going off of our symptoms and those that are in our inner circle, our families, our friends, close contacts, etc. We have now been in quite a few social situations, where friends and other family, have come down with Covid, and we all have been fine! 🙏🏼
Praying Covid continues to lessen now and weaken!!! 🙏🏼
Cozy Styling 