Hello, fellow Steemians

My name is Ivana Rivera.

I’m a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend who’s hobbies are vegetarian cooking, organizing, gardening, homeschooling my 2 beautiful children and researching information about Lyme Disease, health, ​and nutrition. Finding the balance to do all of this is tricky but at the end of the day, it’s worth it. I try my best to keep the house clean, sane and well kept....well, sometimes 😉

I moved with my family from the Bronx, NY to Michigan seven years ago. It was a big decision for my husband (@theferalone) and I, going from the big city to a small town in the middle of nowhere. My husband and I got married in 2008 and decided to get pregnant 4 months after being married. Raising a child in the city didn’t seem to fit right in my mind. We started searching for a place of our own that would fit our growing family. But in a safe neighborhood they were all out of our price range. Around the same time, my husband’s parents were looking to move to Michigan and we decided to help them look for houses online. We couldn’t believe how little it was to own a house in Michigan. We sat down, talked it over and made the decision to move. 6 months later we owned a beautiful house and 18 acres of land plus half a pond. Whoop!

I’m an entrepreneur who started my own brand of herbal non-toxic bath and body products. I opened my Etsy shop October 2016 and it was a pretty big deal for me. The passion for making nontoxic bath and body products came from articles and videos I saw about the chemicals that were in all of the cosmetics and house hold cleaners we were using in our home. I took it upon myself to learn how to make non-toxic bath and body necessities for my family.

At the time I started my small business, I was recovering from Lyme Disease but that didn’t stop me from following my dream. Honestly, I think that having something to do like that distracted me from the pain I was in. Following my dream helped me through. In March 2016, my youngest brother passed away, he had been struggling with severe Cerebral Palsy all his life. His passing brought about severe anxiety for me which lead to a series of panic attacks. My health continued to spiral down as I began experiencing other symptoms: heart palpitations, tremors, chills, joint pain, panic attacks, severe anxiety, hot flashes, muscle twitching, muscles contracting, nerve pain, intense brain fog, ringing in my ears, chest pressure, air hunger, mood changes, loss of appetite, intense fatigue, headaches, dizziness, night sweats, sleep disturbances, sensitivity to light and more. It took almost a full year, but I was finally diagnosed with Lyme Disease. I will continue to document my journey with Lyme.

My future posts will consist of vegetarian recipes, my journey through Lyme disease, my non-toxic cosmetic products, my experiences and advice as a young woman entrepreneur, gardening, and maybe some homeschooling tips!

Thanks for reading!

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You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook