Working, kids, activities and trying to get... back to oils.

Yes... It seems like an excuse.  I just cannot pile everything into the day like I should.  I've been slacking. I know it.  This week, I've taken some time and tried to organize my blog thoughts.  Some of the posts may be repeats, but I'm going to do my best to start near the beginning again and keep some serious momentum!!!  Success is a dream and with some restructuring, this blog may be a stepping stone to greater things!

Right now, it's Day 54 of my daughter's senior year of high school.  Marching Band is over. Cheer and Drama Club have begun. The stressors keep coming. The bank of mom is running short on funds. Time is not on my side. But we shall overcome.  At least I'm not talking in song lyrics yet.  Hard enough coming up with 25 witty words to put with my kid's baby picture in the yearbook.  Funny? Poignant? Sentimental? Ugh!  Too many decisions!!

So, here's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to begin by telling everyone about how I found oils, which company I chose and why.  It's not a decision to be taken lightly.  Personal preference and research turned out to be the keys to my choice.  I have 4 different company oils at my house. Why? Because no matter what someone said, I wanted to know for myself with my own research that I was making a wise, informed decision.  If you go to google and type in "essential oil companies" the results are insane.  Everyone thinks they've got the next best thing.  Which do you choose? What wagon do you jump on?  How do you determine what's right for you?

Let's start with educating yourself.  Go to the websites.  Read about the companies. Don't settle on one because your sister's best friend's cousin's mom thinks it's a great company.  Compare brands.  Not just in reading.  Pick an oil. Spend a little money.  Buy one from say 3 companies. Same oil, different brands.  Smell it. Use it.  Watch the results.  Does it lose scent? Not smell strong enough?  Research. The one I found to work best for me... Lavender. I have 3 different brands at home. I found the one I liked the most. I now belong to that company. Do I sell it? No. But I have purchased oils for my family because they wanted them. Would I sell it? Yes. Absolutely.  Why? Because I did research. Because I like the product. Because it works well for me and my family.  If you want to know more about my choice, go here and read about it. Make an informed decision. Let me know how you feel about it. If it's something you think you'd like to try, message me and we can chat!

Let's hope I can keep the blogging going at a better rate now!!  Thanks for stopping by!!!

Summer is so short...

But so very long! And always exceptionally busy!! 

Amidst the summer chaos and activities I discovered these nasty little plantar warts on my feet!  The one was so bad...it was actually 2 the size of a quarter!!  Horrible!!!

What did I do??  I searched and searched different websites (including Pinterest).  I read more posts than most people ever do!!

It boiled down to a couple options. Sadly, I don't have many of the options given...yet!!!  I could've put Oregano oil on them every night. But I don't have Oregano.  I DO have Frankincense!!!  I put it on my feet day and night... for about a week.

 

This little beauty made my feet feel SO much better!!!  It's so versatile!!! 

 

 



Spiders go away!!!

Summer has everyone out and about!  It's such a busy time.  But there's always time for a tip or a trick along the way... Today's tip: Spider's do not like PEPPERMINT!  A great way to keep them out of the house is to mix peppermint and water in a spray bottle. Then spritz around the windows and doorways.  Any spot a spider could think to try and sneak inside! 

Storing Oils

Storing oils can be a complicated issue.  One must make sure to read the labels and insure proper storage. It's important to not over heat or cool them.  If this occurs, the oils can go bad.  Nobody wants that to happen. My rule of thumb is cool, dry location!! 

Today I stopped at the Thrifty Shopper... man, I love that place!!  I found this really sweet cabinet.  It's sort of old-fashioned.  But it's so handy!!! And, every single one of the oil bottles will fit in there!!! 

Check out this new cabinet!!

Right now, I have 2 different sizes of oils and they don't fit in the same shelving unit.  So.. two separate shelves.

(5ml bottles)

(15ml bottles)

Except now... that's going to change!!!! Here's the mounted cabinet.. and then I filled it!!!  Woo Hoo!!!  How awesome is this?!?!?!

 

Pretty gift for lovely people

The end of the school year has come and gone.  The lovely ladies who work in the kitchen at the school where I work have been short-staffed for 3 months.  They've done such a great job banding together to make everything work out!!  I thought they deserved a treat!

Here's what those lovely ladies received:

What's inside?  Well... it's my yummy smelling lavender sugar scrub!
Let me tell you, I put the extra in a jar and gave it to a friend.  She couldn't resist taking a whiff and the entire hallway smelled SO good!!!  For hours!!!

While there are tons of good recipes on Pinterest. I couldn't find one I truly liked.  So I combined a few to come up with this luxurious lavender sugar scrub.

Here's the scoop:

2 cups of Raw sugar

3/4 cup Coconut Oil

4 Drops of Lavender

 

 

Now... here's the fun stuff. 

Coconut Oil

 YL Lavender

 Raw Sugar



Coconut oil: Don't melt it in the microwave. It looses some of those great properties.  I heat water in a larger measuring cup, then put the coconut oil in a smaller one and melt it like a double-boiler.

 

I measure the sugar, then add the coconut oil (not all at once) and lavender.  Mix it all together. If it seems dry add a bit more.  It seemed with the raw sugar the oil absorbed more quickly.  I had to melt more...so, just keep an eye on that. 

 

I had these cute little jars I'd found at the Thrifty store. They were perfect!

I paired this with some gardening gloves and some sweet treats.  Sadly, I didn't take a final picture.

 

 



Helping Dad

Went to Mom & Dad's today to pick up the kid.  Short version...my truck is still being worked on because they can't seem to find that stupid noise!!  We borrowed Mom's van and the kid drove herself to practice this morning.  We did the responsible parent thing and actually went and picked her up. Ha ha ha!! 

Mom was saying Dad is having leg cramps at night.  His Doc put him on some calcium, magnesium and potassium capsules to help out.  But...I'm going to mix him up a roller ball of goodness!!

After some fairly extensive research (about an hour checking websites and testimonials), I've decided to use the PanAway, Peppermint(yes, I know the PanAway has it already) and some Lavender.  Hopefully, this mix in a rollerball with some FCO should be pretty easy for him to put on in the middle of the night. And most of all... Hopefully, it'll help him!  I'm thinking of giving him a little sample bottle of Valor to put on his big toes to help him sleep.

So... let's see... how about:
20 drops of PanAway
15 drops of Peppermint
10 drops of Lavender
5 drops of Thieves (because he can use the immunity boost, sh! don't tell)
and top it with FCO in a 15 ml rollerball

I'd love to give credit... but I tweaked it to fit the need. :)

Hope Dad enjoys it! 

Off the grid...

I guess when you start something new, it's not really wise to leave it for so long.  Well, it's been an interesting week or so for me.  I didn't mean to fall behind on my posts. The craziness of life overcame the time for composing these comical, yet informative selections.  Here's a brief recap:

1. Taste of New York with my daughter
2. Trying to arrange for my truck to get fixed WHILE running through NYC.
3. Fixed but still broken truck.
4. Recovering from running through NYC
5. Getting parts to fix truck.... and the culmination of my week
6. Truck not starting in parking lot and needing towed to garage. :(

Now, this not only complicates me, but my kid and my man... who's truck I have been lent so I can work. Happy March. I'll just mention that I have 2 meetings tonight and the kid has play practice tomorrow. Ugh!!  The frustration of only 1 vehicle!

Ok... That's enough of that!!  Here's what I've learned while I was gone.  If you put Thieves oil (check out everything Thieves here!) on your feet every night, you stand the chance of beating all the nasty little germies you encounter on a trip (coach bus filled with kids and parents, on and off repetitively and staying in a hotel).  I did it!! Go me! Victory is mine!!  Every night while we were gone!  It was so great!!  Kids weren't sure of the smell, but they got over it!

I used the lovely Peppermint oil (check out Peppermint oil here!!) to help combat motion sickness and general travel nausea!  I didn't even take it out of my little travel bottle. I just smelled it and smelled it...and repeated that.  Helped me so much!!

But what helped even more you're wondering is what a lot of people are calling "liquid xanax." I'm calling it "Calm down."  I did want to put more than that on it, but that just wasn't appropriate for my kid to use on an educational trip.  I researched for 2 weeks before picking a recipe.  And then, I didn't have all the ingredients.  I improvised. Left one out. Hasn't made a big difference at all!!  I figure by the time we run out, I'll have purchased the last ingredient with my EO order from YL (No, I don't have links...but I will eventually. Feel free to contact me, I'll hook you up!)  If I could give credit to the wonderful person who shared this, I would. I have this problem where I write it down on a piece of paper and forget to bookmark it. It's in my Pinterest somewhere!! Easy to use, just roll it on your wrists, temples, behind your ears and even on your neck.  I didn't put it on the inside of my arms, but apparently, it can go there too!  It smells great!!!  I walked up to my kid numerous times and just said "You smell good"...any other time, this would seem creepy, but she's my kid and I know why she smelled good. LOL!!!

My Calm down formula:
50 drops of Lavender
35 drops of Valor
30 drops of Stress Away
10 drops of Vetiver
Fill remainder of bottle with carrier oil (I used FCO) leaving space to mix.
I fit all this gloriousness in a 15ml roller bottle!!  (even with the missing ingredient) It smells GREAT!!! The kid loves it.  Her friends love it! They want to buy the oils just so I can make it for them!!!

We both made it through NYC without truly snapping on anyone.  Considering how the awesome bus driver, Nathan, was threading needles trying to get that huge bus through double parked streets, a definite accomplishment!!!

I'll try to be more prompt with my posts and explain the rest of my latest accomplishments! Have a great Friday!!!!

Wicked Wednesday Wonderment

Middle of the week glorious joys!!  Only 2 more days until the weekend!  Not that it won't be horribly busy! I've volunteered to be a judge for our local Academic Sports League.  It'll be so interesting. I jumped head first out of my comfort zone and into the fray of not fully understanding a rubric. Positive note...free training AND dinner.  :)

Day #3 of which oil do I want to talk about... Well, let's go with...Thieves!!!  My daughter complained today that she feels like she's getting sick.  What did I suggest...a tablespoon of colloidal silver and some thieves!!  Of course, being the obstinate teenager, she just said "I don't want to smell like that"!  Say what?!?!?  I've been using it for several months now on my feet.  I haven't been near as ill as in previous winters.  Since I began working at the school (germ factory), this is my best winter yet (knock on wood).  Every night before bed I apply 1 (or sometimes 2 if they're sneaky) drop to the bottom of each foot.  I like the smell.  It's clove or cinnamon but I never know which is stronger.

I'm planning on making some cleaner because the antimicrobial/bacterial aspects just make it marvelous!  If I can find the right little spritzy bottles, there's a purse size in my future too!!  Until then, it'll be on my feet every night (and the daughter's once I talk her into it)!!

Well, I'm now putting the lavender on a new boo-boo. Apparently, it's have an accident day. Caught my calf while trying to shut the truck door. Ouchie!!  Nice red welt and a bruise.  Just glad I didn't slide under!! 

Winter Blues

Today we've had way too much freezing rain!  Now it's just raining.  Raining on top of all that snow. It's so icy and nasty. I have the winter blues. So what did I do? Packed up some dishes from the china cabinet.  There's this nasty sweet smell inside.  After a while I got a headache.  So, what did I do? I'm diffusing some Purification.  There was going to be a change up, but..eh, I have the winter blues...blahs...sadness. A thaw would be great!  But for now, we're going to enjoy our lovely smell of lemongrass, rosemary, tea tree, citronella, myrtle and lavandin.  And after about an hour, my headache is gone!!

Time to go and put lavender on my boo-boo!!  Maybe I'll come up with something more creative tomorrow.

Lovely Lavender

Maybe I'm a bit biased. I just love the smell of Lavender! I could sit there with the open bottle just breathing in the lovely fragrance! But ok... you understand how much I just love the aroma!!

Here's why I love it so much:
My daughter is allergic to the aluminum in antiperspirants. Poor kid. Both her armpits break out in red, itchy hives. (Yes, she's going to be upset about me sharing too much)  At first we went to the doctor. He gave her a steroid cream. She used it for 3 years. Then, I discovered essential oils and homemade deodorant.  What did I do?  I made deodorant!!  I found a "recipe." I'd love to give credit to the person, but I can't find the link. :(  Shame on me!  Sorry!! 

I had a few oils I'd previously purchased.  Ebay is my friend.  I've had them about a year or so and done a few minor things with them. Nothing of major importance now...but it was a start!  Next time I make it, I'll post pictures!  It's very easy.

Homemade Deodorant

5-6 T Coconut Oil

1/4 c. cornstarch/arrowroot powder (I used cornstarch)

1/4c. baking soda

2-3 drops essential oil (Emma chose Tea Tree)

Mix it all together.  I ended up adding a bit more coconut oil. It just didn't want to turn into a ball! I cleaned out an old deodorant container and put hers in there. 

 

She complains that it's hard.  Boo hoo. It works!! She doesn't have those itchy, red hives any more! I also use it! But I just put in into a ball and store it in a sealable container. It's a rock. It works. I don't stink. I do sweat. That's her main complaint. She sweats.  Eh, no hives. It's good.  Next time, different scent. More scent. I'll keep the Tea Tree for the antibacterial, healing properties, but add some lavender or other scent. Make it interesting.
The kid made a mistake last week.  She used a dry deodorant I received as a sample.  Ooops. She only had one hive under her armpit. I think she was lucky!  So, she mixed 1 drop of Lavender with about a 1/2 tsp. of Coconut oil(I can't say specifically because my "non-cooking" is so cold you have to scoop it out. Curse you winter.  Ok, back to the kid... She puts in on both armpits and rubs some down her arms.  It just smells good!!  The hive was gone in less than a week!!!  Back to mommy's homemade deo!!

Now that I have a better quality product, I'm going to try to heal this thing I've had on my leg. It's been there a couple years. It doesn't change. Let's see if I can get rid of it.  First drop of Lavender tonight before bed!

 

 

Please pay no attention to the hairs...I've been participating in "insulation" winter. I'll update again next week! Unless, it's gone before the 7 days are up! We shall see!!  I'm going to call it... "Boo Boo be gone test #1"

 



Did March come in like a lion?

As a new month begins, I can't help but wonder if the 3 inches of overnight accumulated snow and the continuing flurries mean March came in like a lion. So much snow! There's no place to put it any more!  The cold doesn't help either.  Negative temperatures for weeks without a thaw or break aren't leaving any warm feelings.

To make it a more "joy"ous day, I'm diffusing Young Living Joy!  It's a fruity combination to me.  Light, lemony, but not over powering! Joy contains Bergamot, Lemon, Palmarosa, YlangYlang, Rose, Geranium, Jasmine, Roman Chamomile, Coriander and Tangerine.  Well, that explains the fruit!  (I've been diffusing for about an hour and a half now, and the cats are going crazy!!  They play, but this is full on kitty warfare! LOL! I can't help but wonder...)

Hopefully, we'll have a thaw pretty soon!!  Until then, I'm going to see how many awesome creations I can come up with using my Everyday Oils!!!    Don't worry, I'll keep you posted!!

New beginnings

Over the past 6 months, I've been researching, purchasing and testing different oils from different companies.  I have discovered that Young Living oils fit my needs best of all.  Great product made with quality!  To get what I wanted from the company, I joined them. I am now a Distributor of Young Living Essential oils #2571138 (if you're interested). The diffuser is currently my absolute favorite thing!  Purification oil provides a sweet, refreshing scent that instantly deodorizes and neutralizes the air.  It smells like lemon and citronella. Or as my man says, lemon pledge. There are so many more beautiful things I could say about Purification, but no information overload tonight. Besides, it's the first post! Here's to many, many more!!