Its been almost a week since I officially signed up as an Arbonne International Independent Consultant! Each day that goes by, I am so excited!
On day 2 I got my first business builder, and I am so excited for her! She is going to do great!
The path is clearing up, and I can see my family's future more in focus! I look forward to what God has in store for me!
Why did I choose Arbonne?
A few reasons.
1) I really liked the products. --I was first introduced to it back in 2005. I thought the products were great, but taking care of my health and my skin was not a big priority to me. It is 2011, and now at the age of 25 (and with one child), it has hit me that I am not going to be young forever! Not to mention, that now I have an amazing husband that I always want to look my best for! So I've started taking more interest in myself. I want to look good an feel good. I started using the products again when I decided to join (ran out of the older stuff, and didn't care enough about myself in those terms to get more), and I already see a difference. I've never had issues with acne. During my pregnancy, I never DID NOT have issues with acne LOL. Now, post-prego, I'm back to normal for the MOST part. However, I do find myself breaking out from time to time. The Arbonne products have helped that. Also, Andrew's has had patches of dry skin recently, so I started using the baby cream samples, and it's really been helping.
2)I don't really care too much for the other direct selling companies. I'm in a Mary Kay driven family. My grandmother and aunt sold it, my mother has sold it since I was little, and continues to every now and then. I've never really taken an interest in it. Plus, growing up with Mary Kay for so many years, I know little bits here and there about the company. I know when Mary Kay was still alive, she made sure that Mary Kay continued being a "word of mouth" company. She did not want to commercialize it. A few years after her passing, the Mary Kay commercials began to pop up. I feel a company that is not willing to honor the founding vision/legacy, will eventually lose its appeal. Mary Kay Ash stood for some much, and its a shame to see whomever is currently running it sell out to, what seems to me to be, greed. That's the beauty of being part of a direct selling business. We cut out all of the middle men. When you add advertisers, retailers, etc..you drive up the price of the product. Then it becomes just like every other item you can buy in the stores. To anyone sells Mary Kay, if its treatin'ya well, awesome! It's just not for me :)
3) I LOVE what Arbonne stands for. "Pure, Safe, Beneficial". I've learned so much about beauty and health since I've begun this journey. It shocked me to find out that the average woman comes into contact with an average of 515 chemicals a day. 515?? REALLY? It's crazy to me! Being a fan of Anatomy and Physiology. I was already aware that our bodies absorb things through our skin and into our bloodstream, but I did not know that the rate of absorption was 60% quicker through the skin! It's really made me more aware of what kind of environment I put myself in, and what I'm putting on my skin! I love how everything is plant/botanical based and just there is something for everyone! I also love that they don't sell random things. All of the products are common household products, things that we are already purchasing on a regular basis (shampoo, conditioner, creams, vitamins, makeup,etc).
4)I love the unity! Since I've joined the realm of Arbonne, I've made so many new friends. Many of whom I have never even met! Its great reading people's stories, or seeing what inspires others to succeed. I feel like I've added an extension to my family, family I have yet to meet! The support is amazing. I am getting constant support from my sponsor (and I think I talk to her a whole lot more than I talk to my own mother!..I know.. I need to start calling my mom more lol). I am building my own business, but I'm not building it alone. I am in business for myself, but I also have a team. I'm virtually surrounding myself with others that have high hopes, dreams, and aspirations. And I love it!
5) Finally, their compensation plan is awesome! The commissions, the bonuses, the TRIPS! Other than being born in El Salvador, I've never really been out of California (okay..I've been to Vegas..I've also been to Puerto Nuevo, Mexico..but I was in the mountains...lol)...I would love to go to new places! My sponsor is leaving in less than 2 weeks to ATLANTIS... not.. not Atlanta, Georgia LOL... Don't worry..I had never heard of it either.. I had to look it up..its in the Bahamas... I would LOVE to go to the Bahamas! AND her trip is paid for!..PLUS, I think she even got 1K to spend out there! I would LOVE to take my family on a trip. Mike and I spent our honeymoon in Long Beach..it was great, but I'd love to give him a second honeymoon in an exotic place like ATLANTIS LOL! Next year!!! Oh and I almost forgot! I can will my earnings to my family. Meaning, if something were to happen to me, they will continue receiving any residual income I am receiving. My family would be taken care of, or at least have an outside source of income. I love that!
Also..I cannot forget..the Mercedes...I've never really focused much on Mercedes..but then again, I tricked myself into thinking that something like that would be out of my reach. It is no longer out of my reach, and the more I see about Mercedes, the more I am loving the idea of having my own! Arbonne will pay for my Mercedes when I get to a certain point with my business..and it is not that far up! Only like 3 levels from where I'm at! Plus, I read all of the success stories..Its not like the lottery..very few will win...there are SO MANY success stories with Arbonne. You have your single moms, dads, people living out of their cars, blue collared workers, white collared workers, and so on. So many people from different walks of life have been impacted by Arbonne. And I am next!
I was nervous at first about making Arbonne my decision, because I did not want to invest in something that I would fail at. Now I am so happy to say, that I did make the right decision. The only way I could ever fail with Arbonne is if I make the conscious decision to quit. Which will NOT be happening here! The only way I see myself going, is up!
I'm always looking for others to take with me to the top. If anyone reading this feels like they want something more; if anyone reading this could use a little extra pocket money; and if anyone reading this is motivated to make a change in their lives and in the lives of others. I would love to hear from you. Arbonne can do for you, what it has done for me. It's given me a new hope, and an exciting new vision.
Let me help you make a change in your home, your health, and/or your pocketbook!
Carmen
Live2Dream.myarbonne.com
CarmenW@myarbonne.com
www.facebook.com/ArbonneCarmenW
July 21, 2011
July 20, 2011
Update
So although I have not been able to continue on with the diet (finances), we have been working out. No diets. No crazy supplements. Just straight working out. And I must say, I'm not too disappointed with the results thus far.
I've gained a more realistic view of my goals for weight-loss, and I've pulled myself out of this "I don't want to look nice until I lose all of this weight" slump I had been in. I'm learning to accept myself for me, meanwhile keeping my eyes on the goal of getting back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I will not lie. Sometimes I am guilty of comparing myself to others whom are as I once was. However, I've learned to use that as fuel to stay motivated rather than letting it bring me down. That attitude has made all the difference in my dedication and consistency. Not to mention, I have my #1 fan (LOL) by my side. I absolutely adore my husband. He is more than I could have ever even imagined to ask for in a husband. I'm not sure why the Lord thought I was worthy of having such an amazing man by my side, but I am so thankful that he gave me Mike as a husband. He motivates me, and is not letting me do this alone. He's right there pushing me, 4 times a week, to work harder, go longer, and to not waste time. I love you, Mike.
Okay, so we took some photos last night. Although I know I still have a long ways to go, I am happy to see a difference. That is all that matters to me. I will be comparing to the first ones I posted in April. Will update again soon!
I've gained a more realistic view of my goals for weight-loss, and I've pulled myself out of this "I don't want to look nice until I lose all of this weight" slump I had been in. I'm learning to accept myself for me, meanwhile keeping my eyes on the goal of getting back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I will not lie. Sometimes I am guilty of comparing myself to others whom are as I once was. However, I've learned to use that as fuel to stay motivated rather than letting it bring me down. That attitude has made all the difference in my dedication and consistency. Not to mention, I have my #1 fan (LOL) by my side. I absolutely adore my husband. He is more than I could have ever even imagined to ask for in a husband. I'm not sure why the Lord thought I was worthy of having such an amazing man by my side, but I am so thankful that he gave me Mike as a husband. He motivates me, and is not letting me do this alone. He's right there pushing me, 4 times a week, to work harder, go longer, and to not waste time. I love you, Mike.
Okay, so we took some photos last night. Although I know I still have a long ways to go, I am happy to see a difference. That is all that matters to me. I will be comparing to the first ones I posted in April. Will update again soon!
July 10, 2011
Two Weeks, Two Scary Moments
Two things have happened recently that got my heart beating a little faster than I'd like. I don't remember the last time I've been so scared.
The first one was about two weeks ago. I was at home with my little one, and we were in my room. I had just gotten a phone call on my cell phone from some telemarketer, and for some reason this guy was not understanding that I was not interested in whatever it was he was selling. Suddenly, Andrew started crying, and I used that ask an excuse to be rude (it's hard for me to just hang up on people..but the baby was crying so I had to!). I hung up and put my attention to Andrew. Did he hurt himself with one of the toys we had there on the bed? Nope. Did he have a dirty diaper that was bothering him? Nope, clean diaper. I wasn't sure exactly what was wrong with him, but he would not stop crying. So I cradled my little angel, and he would not sit still. So I figured, stomach ache. I laid him on his stomach, and rubbed his back. But he just kept crying louder and louder. I did not understand what was wrong! He turned from his stomach to his back, and back to his stomach, then back to his back. Suddenly, I noticed he was starting to lose color in his face and lips. That was when I freaked. I called my husband right away to tell him, and he said without hesitation that he's on his way home. Thankfully he works a little less than 5 miles away from home. He was home in 4 minutes, although it felt like an eternity! We got Andrews things, and took off to Loma Linda Emergency room (which is also like 5 miles away, thank the Lord!). The whole way there I was in the backseat with Andrew, and boy, did he scare me during that ride! He was hardly responsive and kept trying to close his eyes and lay his head against the car seat head rest. I, in tears, kept yelling for him to "look at mama". It worked a little bit. As we arrived to the emergency room, he started heaving, and vomited. I unstrapped him and jumped out of the car with him while Mike looked for a parking spot.
You could imagine my frustration at that moment, while trying to explain what happened to the nurses, and them responding as calmly as though nothing were wrong (I know, they need to be calm, but in that moment, I needed to feel a sense of urgency from them for my son!). They took his vitals in the back, and since everything seemed normal, asked us to wait in the lobby till we were called in.
We waited about 15 minutes (felt more like 15 hours though!), and then we were taken to our room/bed. They did some things to check him, and decided to put him on an IV because he was becoming dehydrated. Then they did an ultrasound and x-ray, which is how they found out what was wrong with him.
Turns out, Andrew had what they called Intussusception, which is basically when the small intestine somehow sucks itself into the large intestine, and causes a blockage. They said this affects (other than the obvious intestinal obstruction) blood and oxygen supply, and could potentially be fatal. They explained what they would have to do. The first step would be to do something similar to an enema. They would fill his colon with water (pressurized) to see if that will cause the small intestine to pop out and back to place. If that did not work, then they would have to do surgery. Thankfully, it popped out. It was heartbreaking during the process. They had Andrew strapped in with his arms strapped back above his head so that he could not move anything. The machine they strapped him on turned in a circle, so at one point my poor baby was hanging face down, parallel to the table, crying loudly. After the whole procedure was done, and they saw that his intestinal tract was normal again, we still had to stay overnight so that they could monitor him (the chances of it recurring were about 10%). I was so relieved to see that he was back to his happy, rambunctious self after the procedure was done. I am thankful that it was not something more serious, but I would never want to go through that again with my precious little boy.
The second scare occurred just a couple of days ago, on Friday. I got a phone call from my dad saying that he was in the emergency room after having what he called a "minor heart attack". He had to get off the phone right after that, but said he would call me back. My heart dropped at that moment. I could not believe what I had just heard. You hear about things like this happening all the time, but I never really thought about it occurring to my own dad. He's only 49, and in seemingly good health. I called my husband in tears to tell him. His first response was to say that he's leaving work (my wonderful guy), but I stopped him and told him I'd prefer he just be on standby until I got into contact with my dad again. I didn't even know where he was taken, anyway. I got off the phone with him, and noticed I had a missed call on my cell phone. It was a number I did not recognize, but they left a message, so I checked it out. It was my dad calling from the hospital. The message was brief and somewhat comical. He said he had a heart attack, and was picked up by the ambulance but he doesn't know where he was brought to at that moment (not the comical part)..then in the background I heard a nurse saying something along the lines of "you just had a heart attack and should not be on the phone; plus this is MY phone you are using. You can't use MY phone". At that moment it was not comical, I got so frustrated and wanted to find out who that nurse was so I could go punch her in the face (I would not have really done that..but at that moment I wanted to because she was keeping my dad from telling me he was fine). Suddenly the message ended, so I assumed that he hung up right at that moment. I called that number back, and sure enough, it was the hospital he was at. I spoke to the attendant in the emergency room, and she told me that he was there, and the room number. She would not give me any other information, and told me they did not have phones for patients to use. I'm getting frustrated at this point, but decided to call my aunt (his sister) with whom he had been staying with those last few days. Thankfully she was there at the hospital with him, so I was informed on everything that was happening. He was there for a few hours, and then he had to transfer to the closest hospital for his health care provider. He ended up staying overnight, and the following morning they did a stress test on him (he had to run on a treadmill). A little after noon, he was released but told to take it easy and not get stressed or angry. I am so thankful that he is okay, and that it did not turn out worse than it did.
So yeah, those are probably the two scariest moments I have had in a VERY VERY VERY long time. I do not look forward to any other scary occurrences. This did open my eyes though. I realized I need to be a little more grateful for the people in my life. They may not always be around.
The first one was about two weeks ago. I was at home with my little one, and we were in my room. I had just gotten a phone call on my cell phone from some telemarketer, and for some reason this guy was not understanding that I was not interested in whatever it was he was selling. Suddenly, Andrew started crying, and I used that ask an excuse to be rude (it's hard for me to just hang up on people..but the baby was crying so I had to!). I hung up and put my attention to Andrew. Did he hurt himself with one of the toys we had there on the bed? Nope. Did he have a dirty diaper that was bothering him? Nope, clean diaper. I wasn't sure exactly what was wrong with him, but he would not stop crying. So I cradled my little angel, and he would not sit still. So I figured, stomach ache. I laid him on his stomach, and rubbed his back. But he just kept crying louder and louder. I did not understand what was wrong! He turned from his stomach to his back, and back to his stomach, then back to his back. Suddenly, I noticed he was starting to lose color in his face and lips. That was when I freaked. I called my husband right away to tell him, and he said without hesitation that he's on his way home. Thankfully he works a little less than 5 miles away from home. He was home in 4 minutes, although it felt like an eternity! We got Andrews things, and took off to Loma Linda Emergency room (which is also like 5 miles away, thank the Lord!). The whole way there I was in the backseat with Andrew, and boy, did he scare me during that ride! He was hardly responsive and kept trying to close his eyes and lay his head against the car seat head rest. I, in tears, kept yelling for him to "look at mama". It worked a little bit. As we arrived to the emergency room, he started heaving, and vomited. I unstrapped him and jumped out of the car with him while Mike looked for a parking spot.
You could imagine my frustration at that moment, while trying to explain what happened to the nurses, and them responding as calmly as though nothing were wrong (I know, they need to be calm, but in that moment, I needed to feel a sense of urgency from them for my son!). They took his vitals in the back, and since everything seemed normal, asked us to wait in the lobby till we were called in.
We waited about 15 minutes (felt more like 15 hours though!), and then we were taken to our room/bed. They did some things to check him, and decided to put him on an IV because he was becoming dehydrated. Then they did an ultrasound and x-ray, which is how they found out what was wrong with him.
Turns out, Andrew had what they called Intussusception, which is basically when the small intestine somehow sucks itself into the large intestine, and causes a blockage. They said this affects (other than the obvious intestinal obstruction) blood and oxygen supply, and could potentially be fatal. They explained what they would have to do. The first step would be to do something similar to an enema. They would fill his colon with water (pressurized) to see if that will cause the small intestine to pop out and back to place. If that did not work, then they would have to do surgery. Thankfully, it popped out. It was heartbreaking during the process. They had Andrew strapped in with his arms strapped back above his head so that he could not move anything. The machine they strapped him on turned in a circle, so at one point my poor baby was hanging face down, parallel to the table, crying loudly. After the whole procedure was done, and they saw that his intestinal tract was normal again, we still had to stay overnight so that they could monitor him (the chances of it recurring were about 10%). I was so relieved to see that he was back to his happy, rambunctious self after the procedure was done. I am thankful that it was not something more serious, but I would never want to go through that again with my precious little boy.
The second scare occurred just a couple of days ago, on Friday. I got a phone call from my dad saying that he was in the emergency room after having what he called a "minor heart attack". He had to get off the phone right after that, but said he would call me back. My heart dropped at that moment. I could not believe what I had just heard. You hear about things like this happening all the time, but I never really thought about it occurring to my own dad. He's only 49, and in seemingly good health. I called my husband in tears to tell him. His first response was to say that he's leaving work (my wonderful guy), but I stopped him and told him I'd prefer he just be on standby until I got into contact with my dad again. I didn't even know where he was taken, anyway. I got off the phone with him, and noticed I had a missed call on my cell phone. It was a number I did not recognize, but they left a message, so I checked it out. It was my dad calling from the hospital. The message was brief and somewhat comical. He said he had a heart attack, and was picked up by the ambulance but he doesn't know where he was brought to at that moment (not the comical part)..then in the background I heard a nurse saying something along the lines of "you just had a heart attack and should not be on the phone; plus this is MY phone you are using. You can't use MY phone". At that moment it was not comical, I got so frustrated and wanted to find out who that nurse was so I could go punch her in the face (I would not have really done that..but at that moment I wanted to because she was keeping my dad from telling me he was fine). Suddenly the message ended, so I assumed that he hung up right at that moment. I called that number back, and sure enough, it was the hospital he was at. I spoke to the attendant in the emergency room, and she told me that he was there, and the room number. She would not give me any other information, and told me they did not have phones for patients to use. I'm getting frustrated at this point, but decided to call my aunt (his sister) with whom he had been staying with those last few days. Thankfully she was there at the hospital with him, so I was informed on everything that was happening. He was there for a few hours, and then he had to transfer to the closest hospital for his health care provider. He ended up staying overnight, and the following morning they did a stress test on him (he had to run on a treadmill). A little after noon, he was released but told to take it easy and not get stressed or angry. I am so thankful that he is okay, and that it did not turn out worse than it did.
So yeah, those are probably the two scariest moments I have had in a VERY VERY VERY long time. I do not look forward to any other scary occurrences. This did open my eyes though. I realized I need to be a little more grateful for the people in my life. They may not always be around.
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