My Broken Heart

I lost my 2nd mother today at 7:20 am. She's gone and I'd give anything to bring her back.

Rena and I met in the Boston airport 20 years ago. She hired me to be the nanny to her 4 boys. I was terrified. Never been that far from home, but the instant I saw her I knew that everything was going to be okay. She wrapped me in her arms and told me how happy she was to see me. From that day on our relationship grew into something so special that there just aren't words to describe it. Rena told me that I was the daughter she never had and I was blessed to have two mothers that loved me. My love for her only grew over the years. She met Dave and loved him too. . .just like she'd known him for forever.

Rena could disagree with someone yet make them feel good about it. She loved unconditionally. She loved life. She wasn't afraid to try new things, meet new people and welcome you into her home and life. She loved completely.

Cancer took Rena from us today and with her a piece of my heart will forever be gone. This is THE MOST painful thing I've ever been through. I have to wonder. . .how long will it hurt this bad? Does the pain ever go away? I serve a wonderful and mighty Lord and I just have to trust that He knows what is best. My heart is just so broken.

In this video that her son Brett put together, you may recognize me in an orange sweater and much shorter hair, but what I hope you see is that she had such a zeal for life and deep love for family.

Slideshow: momfinal - Slideshow

I love you Rena. I will always love you! I miss you already so much.

Pick a COLOR any COLOR!

You asked, we listened......and are so pleased and excited to announce 11 NEW exciting Colors to expand our Pearlz Line!!! Check it out........


Pearlz are available today right here in the Retail Shimmerz Shop.....and even more exciting.....if your order is at least $35 you will receive a FREE Jar of Pearlz! (offer good through May 17th, 2010)
Be sure to join us on Facebook to see the new colors featured throughout the day.
We can't wait to hear what you think

Bad Blogger. . .Bad. . .Bad. . .Bad!!!

I can't make excuses. . . well I could, but I know better. Blogging just hasn't been a huge priority for me lately. I get caught up in all of lifes craziness and then before I know it, a month (or two) has gone by. YIKES!

Well, lots of stuff going on at my house. Let's see. . .

*Shimmerz (of course), we have a new Shimmerz Pearlz color release next week. Oops! Spilled the beans. lol Be on the look out for those. Dave outdid himself of these babies!

*Gracie got her ears pierced (finally). I guess the 4th time is a charm. :) She was also a model in her first fashion show for Dillards. Super fun!

*Kaleb is golf crazy again. Just would be really nice if the weather would somehow cooperate. It's really not fun playing golf and trying to learn some mad skills when the wind blows 40mph and then the hail kicks in. It seems like every Mon. and Wed. the weather is yucky. Kaleb is also making noises about drivers ed. Eeep!!!

Sami turned 18!!! She's legal (as she puts it). She was talking about moving out with some friends, but hopefully the financial reality of that will smack her and she'll put that off for a couple of years. My heart can't take that!

Dave and is getting grayer each day, but still just as charming. He cracks me up. What a funny, sweet guy!

I'm FINALLY doing well. Had a couple of complications from the Splenda, but doing so much better. The anxiety is gone, the depression is gone, food doesn't take like dirt anymore (although I won't complain about the 20lbs I lost), I don't ache, and I actually have some energy again. Of course I wish I had the energy of a 20 year old, but let's be realistic! I've even been creating again. I've missed that soooo much! I'll post a picture very soon.

I have lots of pictures to share and I will. I just need to make some kind of collage to consolidate them.

Thank you so much for all your sweet words of comfort and support during my little Splenda breakdown. Your prayers . . . I can never thank you enough for those. You all are such a blessing to me.

(((HUGS)))

I Am So Excited!!!

We have some Exciting News to share......

Liz Kartchner is the newest Face of Shimmerz!!!

She is excited to become a Shimmerz Endorsed Instructor and will be using Shimmerz Products in her upcomming classes!

Liz writes a monthy column for Creating Keepsakes Magazine called "Dear Lizzy", she wrote the book "52 more Scrapbooking Challenges" and has a fun Craft Line called "Dear Lizzy" from American Crafts.

Welcome to Shimmerz Liz!!! To learn more about Liz you can check out her inspiring Blog Here

It's Been Too Long To Be This Sick

It has been almost 2 months since I've blogged anything. I'm sorry for my lengthy absence. Let me tell you why I've been MIA.

As many of you know, I've been struggling with horrible anxiety attacks. I was doing better for a while, but then the bottom dropped out and I've been dealing with a wide range of issues. After seeing two different doctors and lots of blood work, I've been diagnosed with . . . .

* Adreanal Fatigue - which causes anxiety, fatigue and a fear of leaving my house.
* Ovarian Failure - which literally throws me into early menopause.
* Depression - that speaks for itself.
* Chronic Fatigue - so exhausted that I just can't function.
* Hypoglycemia- which is low blood sugar.
* Everything I ate tasted bitter, so I stopped eating. I know. . . not good.

I've tried naturally remedies, prescriptions, massage, accupressure and accupuncture, trying to find some relief and cure. Nothing was working at all. I was becoming more exhausted and more depressed. It was ruining my life, but I tried really hard to put on a smile and march forward for the sake of my family. It was awful!!

Then I had a heart to heart conversation with Dave. He explained how tired he was and just wasn't feeling great either. I told him that something was seriously wrong with me and I didn't know how much more I could take. So we began to list possiblities that only affected us and not our kids.

We came to the conclusion that we drank a lot of premade iced-tea that came in gallon jugs. It was green tea with ginsieng in it. It was supposed to be healthy. It didn't have sugar or caffeine in it. It contained Splenda. Even healthier. . . right? WRONG!!!!! My coffee creamer had Splenda, our ice-cream contained Splenda. I baked with Splenda. And since food tasted horrible to me there were days when all I had in my system was iced-tea. . . with Splenda. I drank a lot of it in a day. Up to a gallon.

So we Googled side effects of Splenda. Here's what we found. . .

*Anxiety
*Depression
*Metallic taste
*Ovarian problems
*Fatigue
*Heart palpitations
*Blood sugar issues
*Joint and muscle pain
*Memory problems

And the list went on and on. I was SHOCKED to say the least. I was suffering from ALL of these. There were even testimonials of other people telling about their health issues and they were all leading to one thing. Can you guess? SPLENDA!!!!

I immediately stopped drinking the tea. Oohhh, how I loved that stuff! I had already given up caffeine long ago because of anxiety issues, so that wasn't part of the equation. I began drinking huge amounts of water to try to flush out my system as much as possible.

The result. . . it's been almost 3 days and I feel like a totally differnet person. Seriously!!!! I'm not depressed, not one anxiety attack, no chest tightness, no bitter taste, I can read an email and actually remember what I read the first time. I'm not moody, my joints don't ache, I have energy and actually "want" to do things. I am amazed!!! Dave is sleeping better, has more energy and his joints don't hurt anymore either. He wasn't drinking as much as I was, but he's feeling a marked change.

So I went to the doctor to confirm this, and yes indeed, he confirmed that I was poisoning myself with SPLENDA. Literally poisoning myself. I was blown away. I was so incredibly relieved and also angry at the same time. The FDA approved this stuff and told us all it's safe and it's just like sugar. THEY LIE!!!! And I'm living proof.

I have no doubt that if we had not found the answer that it wouldn't have been long before I was admitted to the hospital for a nervous break down.

I am so thankful for God's healing hand and loving leading in helping us find the answer. I believe that this hunch was truly inspired my Him.

So, I encourage you to look for yourself. Google the side effects of Splenda. Take inventory of your health and especially the health of your kids. Save yourself the worry, and anxiety that I went through.

My prayer is that this blog post can reach out and help others.

(((hugs))) to you all.

P.S. Please feel free to share this information with your friends and family.

NEW Product Release -- Part II

I've been waiting anxiously for this release. We've been working hard to create Vibez in 16 incredibly vibrant, super shimmery colors. Because they are so VIBRANT, you can spritz them once and get amazing color saturation with a level of shimmer that will blow you away.

Of course we've got goodies to give away. So click on over to the Shimmerz blog, http://shimmerzpaints.blogspot.com to see all the details. Then click on over to the Shimmerz website www.shimmerzpaints.com to get your Vibez today.

New Product Release----Part I

What an EXCITING day! We've been working hard on this release for months. Today is the day. We are releasing Shimmerz PEARLZ. We are also teaming up with. . . well. . . you need to watch the video to see.

Be sure to go to the Shimmerz blog today and win! http://shimmerzpaints.blogspot.com We are giving away a set of Pearlz each hour.

Okay are your ready? Here it is. . . .

It's a New Year----So What's New About It?

I'm not a person to make New Year's resolutions. I don't like to set myself up for failure. Besides when you're a person that over-thinks everything from every possible angle anyway, making resolutions can be a painful process. :) I do like to set goals for myself and my business. You know sales goals, new release goals, etc, etc.

Then there are personal goals. Like, making more time for myself to recharge. Being more mindful of my relationship with the Lord. Being a more "fun" mom and wife. Going to CHA and networking. Making a name for myself in the industry. Finally learning how to really use Photoshop. Being everything to everyone all the time. And my list goes on. It's crazy!

Then in one of those rare, still, quiet moments the Lord spoke to me and I finally got it! One of my goals should be about just being ME! God made me the way He wanted me. I was made and am according to HIS plan of who I should be. It doesn't matter if I'm known in the industry. It doesn't matter if I don't learn Photoshop. What matters is that I am a child of God. I need to just be me and learn to accept me---AND---stop comparing myself to everyone around me. I do that alot! I work hard and try really hard to have a successful business that also stands for more than cutting throats in order to make money. That's important to me.

So here's what I'm learning in a nutshell. . .

*I love my Lord and Savior inspite of me not being perfect.
*I love my husband, kids and family with all my heart inspite of not always being fun. I am here for them and make time for them. They are important to me and they know it.
*I love my business and am so thankful for it inspite of constantly second guessing myself and how I should run it. I have wonderful people that work for me. Wonderful customers who buy from me and I don't HAVE to do it a certain way in order to be successful. I have to listen to my gut, my instincts and my Lord. That's how it will be done.

So what are my goals? Well first and foremost. . . just breathe and be ME. All the rest will come and if it doesn't . . . well that's okay too.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!