Sunday, September 20, 2015
Blog has moved!
I have moved my blog over to www.dyldylsmom.com where I will be sharing things like this as well as Amazon product reviews!
Monday, August 31, 2015
My One Year Thrive Experience Update!
My name is Michelle Hughes, a 41-year-old mom and oilfield girlfriend from Texas and this is my updated Thrive experience.
I last wrote about my experience after thriving for a short time and already feeling the amazing lifestyle changes. I have now been a thriver for 10 months having started last July. I cannot even think of the words that can describe what Le-Vel and Thrive has done for me.
When I started I was dealing with so much in my life. I really had no idea who I was anymore. I had absolutely no energy to even get daily tasks done. I had so much discomfort in my body that just walking was often painful for me. I spent most of my time in bed or on the couch. I made excuses when friends asked me to do things. I had not been able to work in a long time and getting to the fitness classes of Zumba that I loved so much was completely out of the question. My spirit was just gone!
I have gotten through a lot since I started thriving including the death of my biological dad last August after losing my stepdad to cancer in 2011. That was hard on me and considering that I have emotional issues to begin with that could have torn me down again but Thrive helped me stay grounded in life and get through another great loss.
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| My dad above and my stepdad below! |
Since thriving I have now been able to get back out and work again. I started working for the holidays at a major electronics retailer in the computer and camera department. There is a lot of running around, climbing ladders and more and I could do it and keep a smile on my face even through the busy holiday season. I am still working there part time and have also been able to do my at home medical transcription job again which is something I thought I would never be able to do again. My boyfriend is in the oilfield and that industry has suffered a lot of set backs due to gas pricing being low so the fact that I have been able to becoming a working member of society again has meant so much to me and my family. Working at home again also allows me the freedom to be there for my family which includes my 15-year-old son and three stepsons along with three fur babies that are just like my children. It also allows me to work on being a great mompreneur.
I catch my Zumba classes and UJam when I can and I am able to dance around my kitchen cleaning house when I can’t get there. I do events with my best friend. I do things with my friends again. I am able to be the woman, girlfriend, daughter, sister and mom that I was meant to be! I have coworkers and friends tell me all of the time that I am always so happy and sometimes I am told it amazes and inspires people. That probably means more to me than anything. If my spirit can motivate others or maybe even just cheer them up that is golden. Who I am today is due to me taking the leap to choose the Thrive experience! I am thankful for all of my leaders and to al of the great people I have met and will continue to meet along the way. Now that I have let Thrive go to my heart I intend to share this experience with everyone I can. Whether they need it physically or financially or maybe both I will be there at their side every step of the way! I am a Thriver for life!
Saturday, June 20, 2015
When Tragedy Strikes Your Teenager’s Life
Yesterday was a day I will remember for a while for the life that was lost and the three who were injured and lost a dear friend.
You see my son’s life was hit with tragedy yesterday. A car with four of his friends in it was involved in a wreck yesterday afternoon that left one of them dead and the other three injured. The other kicker is the one who caused it simply drove away!
I left my house yesterday afternoon in quite a hurry. You see I had an event for my Thrive business about an hour away. It was a benefit for St. Jude’s where high school kids gather and do a bit of a dance off using the B-boy skills and all style. I headed the way I would normally go and wow was the highway ever backed up. I do remember thinking for a minute that I really hoped it wasn’t a wreck where someone was hurt but more than that I was irritated that I was running late and did not have time for such a back up. I detoured away and headed on another route to my event.
I was really enjoying watching these kids do their thing. It was definitely a different experience. I took some videos and sent them to my son and even posted a couple on my Facebook. After being there a couple of hours I suddenly received a text from my son that made my heart sink. It said that four of his friends were in a bad car wreck. I then asked if they were okay and the next text really made my heart sink even further. He told me that one of the boys had passed away, another had a broken arm and leg and was not doing well at all, a third was referred to the trauma hospital and the last was doing okay. He said it was scary and the car flipped six times. I was sad and I called to talk to him and just felt so bad for him. The boy that was sent to the trauma center is a pretty good friend of my son’s. He goes a lot of places with him and he frequents our home and in fact had just been at our house the night before and my son just almost stayed the night with him.
I got back to my business after a while and watching these kids do their dance thing and as I looked around I couldn’t help but think about these boys that are friends of my son. They are all about the same age as these boys competing or judging this competition battle. Living their carefree life not knowing what could happen to them at any given moment. That poor boy will not live to dance again and laugh with his friends. I held myself together but those thoughts plagued my mind.
I drove off from the event about 9:00 that evening and headed out for my hour drive. I called my son to talk to him and see how he was and if he had heard anymore news. A little after speaking to him and probably driving for 15-20 minutes I stopped at one of my favorite grab and go places Raising Cane’s. As soon as the car was parked my thoughts caught up to me. A young man a few years older than my son was dead. Two of his friends a year, well not even a year, older than him were seriously injured and another thankfully was okay. It then caught up to me that my son just almost spent the night with one of these boys and could have just as likely been in the car just like he had before. I just sat and cried for a while. It was a lot to think about. I was sad for those parents and sad for my son and all of their other friends and sad for myself and other parents who face worrying about their kids growing up and driving and riding with others and knowing that we just cannot protect them all of the time.
I also thought a bit about how I had been in such a hurry and was irritated at that wreck I figured had all that traffic held up and how that was the very wreck that my son’s friends were involved in. The very wreck one of them died at. What is worse is that the person who pulled out in front of these boys drove away. Yes that is right they just left the scene of the accident. I know it must have been frightening to know you accidentally caused that but to not accept that responsibility and drive off is just wrong.
I send my thoughts and my prayers out to the family and friends of the boy who lost his life and to the boys involved in this tragedy. I know as for me when I got home last night I hugged my son a little tighter. In fact, I also hugged the three friends of his at my house when I arrived. None of use knows when something like this can happen. We have to let those we love know how we feel today, right now!
http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/Four-teens-injured-in-Highway-82-roll-over-crash-308533641.html?device=phone&c=y
You see my son’s life was hit with tragedy yesterday. A car with four of his friends in it was involved in a wreck yesterday afternoon that left one of them dead and the other three injured. The other kicker is the one who caused it simply drove away!
I left my house yesterday afternoon in quite a hurry. You see I had an event for my Thrive business about an hour away. It was a benefit for St. Jude’s where high school kids gather and do a bit of a dance off using the B-boy skills and all style. I headed the way I would normally go and wow was the highway ever backed up. I do remember thinking for a minute that I really hoped it wasn’t a wreck where someone was hurt but more than that I was irritated that I was running late and did not have time for such a back up. I detoured away and headed on another route to my event.
I was really enjoying watching these kids do their thing. It was definitely a different experience. I took some videos and sent them to my son and even posted a couple on my Facebook. After being there a couple of hours I suddenly received a text from my son that made my heart sink. It said that four of his friends were in a bad car wreck. I then asked if they were okay and the next text really made my heart sink even further. He told me that one of the boys had passed away, another had a broken arm and leg and was not doing well at all, a third was referred to the trauma hospital and the last was doing okay. He said it was scary and the car flipped six times. I was sad and I called to talk to him and just felt so bad for him. The boy that was sent to the trauma center is a pretty good friend of my son’s. He goes a lot of places with him and he frequents our home and in fact had just been at our house the night before and my son just almost stayed the night with him.
I got back to my business after a while and watching these kids do their dance thing and as I looked around I couldn’t help but think about these boys that are friends of my son. They are all about the same age as these boys competing or judging this competition battle. Living their carefree life not knowing what could happen to them at any given moment. That poor boy will not live to dance again and laugh with his friends. I held myself together but those thoughts plagued my mind.
I drove off from the event about 9:00 that evening and headed out for my hour drive. I called my son to talk to him and see how he was and if he had heard anymore news. A little after speaking to him and probably driving for 15-20 minutes I stopped at one of my favorite grab and go places Raising Cane’s. As soon as the car was parked my thoughts caught up to me. A young man a few years older than my son was dead. Two of his friends a year, well not even a year, older than him were seriously injured and another thankfully was okay. It then caught up to me that my son just almost spent the night with one of these boys and could have just as likely been in the car just like he had before. I just sat and cried for a while. It was a lot to think about. I was sad for those parents and sad for my son and all of their other friends and sad for myself and other parents who face worrying about their kids growing up and driving and riding with others and knowing that we just cannot protect them all of the time.
I also thought a bit about how I had been in such a hurry and was irritated at that wreck I figured had all that traffic held up and how that was the very wreck that my son’s friends were involved in. The very wreck one of them died at. What is worse is that the person who pulled out in front of these boys drove away. Yes that is right they just left the scene of the accident. I know it must have been frightening to know you accidentally caused that but to not accept that responsibility and drive off is just wrong.
I send my thoughts and my prayers out to the family and friends of the boy who lost his life and to the boys involved in this tragedy. I know as for me when I got home last night I hugged my son a little tighter. In fact, I also hugged the three friends of his at my house when I arrived. None of use knows when something like this can happen. We have to let those we love know how we feel today, right now!
http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/Four-teens-injured-in-Highway-82-roll-over-crash-308533641.html?device=phone&c=y
Thursday, May 28, 2015
My 10 month Thrive Experience
Read my story and let me know what you think!
http://tinyurl.com/ms8vz3x
Read other stories at http://www.facebook.com/levelbrands
Sign up for FREE at http://dyldylsmom.le-vel.com
Sunday, May 3, 2015
What People Are Saying - Couples Series (2 of 3)
Two of my amazing leaders are featured here in this video! Come join us! You will NOT be sorry!
Check out my site at
http://www.dyldylsmom.le-vel.com
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Today Was So Not A Fairytale
So today I started my day off with back pain and a bad attitude. I took my Thrive and took a hot shower which helped the back pain but unfortunately not the bad attitude. I let my anxiety get the best of me. I did not practice what I preach by affirming my day. I let the stress and anxiety in my life and my job bring my spirit down. I worried about what the busy day would bring and thought about things that could go wrong. I thought of what it would be like to not have to work anymore or at least to work only one job. I let that interfere with my morning and daily ritual. I did NOT tell myself how the day was going to be great and how all my customers and coworkers would be great. I got in the car with my attitude, turned on my Taylor Swift music and tuned it out with my negative thoughts! I fought through the day trying to put on a fake smile and pretend my way out of it. I am pretty sure those who knew me some would have known I was being a fake. I guess we all have those days but I am disappointed in myself for letting my spirit be brought down that way.
One thing today did help me bring my spirit back into focus and I remembered why I like working with the public again. I had a couple of people who I had greeted at the door when I was up there grabbing a scanning gun. They ended up back in my department. The little lady with her handheld walker ended up being 88 and was shopping with her son for a new computer. She wanted one that would last her 5 more years like her last until she was the age of 93. I snapped out of my fog and remembered how much I liked helping people. There she was at her age shopping for a computer so she could get on the internet and communicate and print her greeting cards like she enjoys doing. That is why I am there. To make people like her smile. Although I still was just ready to end my sub par day at work I was able to do what I needed to do and be who I am meant to be and who I like to be.
My anxiety is an everyday struggle. I question every thing I do. I think about what I did or said or what I may do or say wrong. I criticize my every move and word. I let things people have said about me in the past ring in my head over and over like a record on repeat. I allow myself to believe that I am or may be some or all of those things. I let myself wonder if people still think those things about me or worse. Every single day I try to muddle through my anxiety and self doubt. Some days I get by really well, others I barely skate by and still others are like today when I feel like crawling up in a ball somewhere. The struggle is so real. I vow every day to try to be who I am meant to be and who I know I can be and that is all any of us can do.
One thing today did help me bring my spirit back into focus and I remembered why I like working with the public again. I had a couple of people who I had greeted at the door when I was up there grabbing a scanning gun. They ended up back in my department. The little lady with her handheld walker ended up being 88 and was shopping with her son for a new computer. She wanted one that would last her 5 more years like her last until she was the age of 93. I snapped out of my fog and remembered how much I liked helping people. There she was at her age shopping for a computer so she could get on the internet and communicate and print her greeting cards like she enjoys doing. That is why I am there. To make people like her smile. Although I still was just ready to end my sub par day at work I was able to do what I needed to do and be who I am meant to be and who I like to be.
My anxiety is an everyday struggle. I question every thing I do. I think about what I did or said or what I may do or say wrong. I criticize my every move and word. I let things people have said about me in the past ring in my head over and over like a record on repeat. I allow myself to believe that I am or may be some or all of those things. I let myself wonder if people still think those things about me or worse. Every single day I try to muddle through my anxiety and self doubt. Some days I get by really well, others I barely skate by and still others are like today when I feel like crawling up in a ball somewhere. The struggle is so real. I vow every day to try to be who I am meant to be and who I know I can be and that is all any of us can do.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Gas Prices are really stressing me out
So first let me say that I am an oilfield girlfriend. An oilfield job pays our bills. My views come from that of someone who lives the life. Dave is a pump truck driver or bulk truck driver. He does not make the big bucks like some do. He is on-call every day of the month 24 hours a day except two Saturdays and Sundays a month.
I have gotten in several Facebook arguments lately with people who just love the low gas prices. I have admitted and will admit that before I entered this lifestyle I would be right up there with them. I now understand the other side of this. I do not want gas prices to rise so high nobody can afford to travel. I would just like to see them get back to a rate where we can all afford to get to our jobs and other places but oilfield workers are not losing their jobs or experiencing pay and hour cuts. For us it has been pay cuts and hour cuts. Like I said we do not make a lot of extra money so we were not able to prepare to put money back like so many suggest. I was disabled from a vehicle accident in November of 2013. I cannot perform my full time job and career. I do have a part time job and some residual income from my businesses but we have 4 kids between us. We have one in college, two in high school and one in grade school. Our family relies on his income to pay our bills. I get frustrated with people who totally refuse to see that side of it. They argue about people losing jobs all the time. I don't think people understand that companies are laying off 7,000 to 9,000 people a day. This affects many people all at once. There are many towns that thrive on the oilfield workers to give them business. This is affecting the economy and will continue to do so.
For me it means that I am stressed that I cannot get the groceries we need or afford the extra things for my son and his sons. It means that I am trying to find extra income for myself to supplement even though I cannot perform any jobs that require me to sit for long periods. There are so many oilfield families going through these issues but people have blinders on. They get their gas cheap and that is all they are concerned with. I even had a man state the other day after I was saying how stressed I was that he hoped it went down even cheaper. This life is still fairly new after being in it for almost 2 years no but only with us living together for 1 year. I plan to better prepare next time but it is tough right now. It is affecting my health and I just pray that we can get to a happy medium for everyone soon.
I have gotten in several Facebook arguments lately with people who just love the low gas prices. I have admitted and will admit that before I entered this lifestyle I would be right up there with them. I now understand the other side of this. I do not want gas prices to rise so high nobody can afford to travel. I would just like to see them get back to a rate where we can all afford to get to our jobs and other places but oilfield workers are not losing their jobs or experiencing pay and hour cuts. For us it has been pay cuts and hour cuts. Like I said we do not make a lot of extra money so we were not able to prepare to put money back like so many suggest. I was disabled from a vehicle accident in November of 2013. I cannot perform my full time job and career. I do have a part time job and some residual income from my businesses but we have 4 kids between us. We have one in college, two in high school and one in grade school. Our family relies on his income to pay our bills. I get frustrated with people who totally refuse to see that side of it. They argue about people losing jobs all the time. I don't think people understand that companies are laying off 7,000 to 9,000 people a day. This affects many people all at once. There are many towns that thrive on the oilfield workers to give them business. This is affecting the economy and will continue to do so.
For me it means that I am stressed that I cannot get the groceries we need or afford the extra things for my son and his sons. It means that I am trying to find extra income for myself to supplement even though I cannot perform any jobs that require me to sit for long periods. There are so many oilfield families going through these issues but people have blinders on. They get their gas cheap and that is all they are concerned with. I even had a man state the other day after I was saying how stressed I was that he hoped it went down even cheaper. This life is still fairly new after being in it for almost 2 years no but only with us living together for 1 year. I plan to better prepare next time but it is tough right now. It is affecting my health and I just pray that we can get to a happy medium for everyone soon.
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