Our DoTerra Essential Oils Story

I've been talking a lot on Facebook lately about essential oils and how they've helped our family.  Let me just begin by saying, I really can't believe I'm actually writing about this because I never would've dreamed we'd be on this journey.  Not too long ago, I saw a facebook friend posting almost the exact same things....how she had bought a kit and how much it was helping her family.  I thought.."Oils?  How in the world can an oil help us?" Needless to say, I was skeptical.

Our story:
Our family has a variety of health issues.  I was just telling a friend the other day how we get the strangest, random illnesses and typically they won't just affect one family member.  We've had years of ear infections which led to multiple surgeries for the kids, allergies that have led to skin reactions (eczema, bad bug bite reactions, weird rashes), stomach viruses and even most recently all three kids have had a round of Fifths disease--yeah, I had never heard of that either. All of these issues have led to thousands of dollars in doctor/hospital/pharmacy bills.  So let's just say I was more than willing to find some alternative treatment.

I had heard about essential oils from a friend in town, but I wanted to check it out further.  So I contacted my go-to friend when it comes to health and wellness.  She has given me countless amounts of tips and advice from money saving to eating organic.  I knew she would also tell me straight...was this oil thing legit?  Come to find out, she had the same questions not long before I did and had been trying the oils herself.  She gave me a testimony about her experience that convinced me.  Not only that, but she and another friend put together some samples for me to try.  After trying them out on my kids and myself...I was in.

I want to be sure you know that this is not a miracle cure.  It's an all natural support to help your body fight a variety of issues.  Here is a great blog post that tells another family's story and some good essential oils info.

You're convinced now, right?! : )  Several friends and family have asked me...ok, how do I get some of this stuff?!  There are a couple of ways you can buy the oils.

How to buy:
Each oil has a retail and wholesale price.  DoTerra has a membership program (similar to buying a Sam's/Costco membership) and it costs $35.  The membership allows you buy any oil or product at the wholesale price. Another benefit to becoming a member is that you can be a part of my team, which gives you access to private facebook support groups where you can ask questions and get feedback from experienced oil users. There are also enrollment kits.  For my family, this made sense to me.  Some of the oils I was interested in for joint pain (Frankincense and Deep Blue) were two of the most expensive oils.  I could get an enrollment kit that included those two oils as well as 9 more for a discounted price.  Also, when you get an enrollment kit the membership fee is waived, so you'll be able to buy oils for the next year at the wholesale price.  This month (today is the last day!) there is also a special deal.  If you become a member and buy 100 points ("pv"=point value; point values are almost equal to the dollar amount) worth of product you get 50 free points worth of products next month.  That's about the equivalent to $50 in free stuff.  With the kit I bought, I paid $150 for 11 oils, but got a $35 enrollment fee waived and $50 in free stuff...that's $85 right there that I automatically got back.  The last option is to just buy what you want at retail price.  Click here for the link to the different enrollment kits.

My family is probably like many of yours....we don't have an extra $150 just laying around.  This is an investment in our health.  Just to put it into perspective, last week I had to take my daughter for an ENT check up.  It was an automatic $45 for the copay.  We had to pay for gas for a 45 minute one way drive.  She had an ear infection and had to have medicine, which cost money.  I didn't even know she had an ear infection, but if I had I could've tried oils to help support her body to fight it.  If I can prevent one doctor visit, my oil kit is paid for.  Just a thought....that blew my mind!

Here are some oil combinations that you might use for various health issues you/your child might have:
eczema: I put melaleuca and lavender directly on my patches.  You could also add Frankincense. For small children you'll want to dilute the oils with fractionated coconut oil.  You can buy it from DoTerra or from Amazon.  I bought a big bottle for only about $9 on Amazon.
allergies: for me and my kiddos, I have a mix of peppermint, lavender, and lemon in a small bottle that has a roller on top.  All I need is one drop (yes, just one drop because it's very concentrated!) of each oil in that bottle and fill the rest with the coconut oil.  I roll it on the kids' feet at night (the feet have the largest pores on the body) and put some socks on them.  I use a stronger version on my own feet and have noticed that it has helped me with being able to breathe better at night. I no longer have to use nose spray (yay!)
bug bites/sores/rashes/diaper rash: lavender is great for this!  Dilute it for kids, but I put it directly on mine.

These are just a few examples.  With my Family Physician's kit, I can treat 30+ ailments.  There's also an oil in there that is 90% effective against the flu.  This is great for us because my youngest son is allergic to eggs, which means he can't have the flu vaccine.  This may also mean that our family doesn't need the flu vaccine!  The possibilities are amazing!

Where to go to buy:
Click here to go to the link to my page.  Here are some instructions on what to do next:
When you go to this link, scroll down to the bottom of the page where you see "quick links" and under that you'll see "sign up/join" and click on that. On "step 1" you'll highlight the "join as a new wellness advocate"...it just gives you the most benefits. On the next page you just fill out the info (my name/number will be at the top on step 2). I think the rest should be self-explanatory but if you do have any questions, don't hesitate!

If you have any trouble, please contact me and I can get the answer for you!

Thanks for taking the time to read through this!  I would not be so convinced to share about these oils if I had not tried them for myself and seen the positive results.  I've also heard testimony after testimony of how the lives of others have changed for the better--less doctor visits and prescription drugs--after using essential oils.  Let me know how I can help you and pray for you and your family!

God bless~

Slowly getting back in the groove (some week 12 resources, a review video, and Kindle books!)

After my last post, I think the next day or so I ended up in the hospital again for a few days.  Not expected, but I went into the doctor with some unexplained pain and dehydration, so back to the third floor of the Med Center I went.  I was pretty overwhelmed with it all, but thankfully I'm back home and have been doing pretty well for a little over a week now.  I'm still sore, get tired easily and there are days when I just don't feel that great.  But after a check up last week the doctor felt that I was doing better and should be right on track by the 6 week post-surgery mark.  I never would've imagined all of this happening, but like I said before, God is in control.

In the time that I've been home, I've been able to get some Christmas gifts online and make a few things.  I'm really excited about the story stones that I was able to paint for the kiddos one night.  They actually discovered them that morning before I had a chance to put them away, but I'm hoping the "out of sight, out of mind" principle will take effect! : )

One thing I got for the kids that I found on Amazon with the whole "Liberty Kids" series.  I am really excited because the kids seem to like them and they have some good history lessons.  I also found them for about $5.99...so I'm very excited about the price! : )  I also saw a few The Magic School Bus dvds for $5...I thought that was a great deal. I just wish that whole series would go on sale for $5.99...my kiddos LOVE The Magic School Bus!

This week, after quite a hiatus, I am trying to finish up our school time before Christmas.  We never did get to do week 12, so I'm going back and trying to do it.  The kids have been so great.  I've been really impressed with their attitudes and attentiveness.  Here are a few things I've done so far this week...not nearly the amount of resources I usually put up but I thought they were helpful.

History (week 12)
 I liked this Napolean coloring sheet.  Interesting facts!

We watched this video about Napoleon...I thought it was pretty good.


I thought this was also a good video:


History review: 
I'm not sure if I've posted this video before, but I let the kids watch it today for a history sentence review.  I thought it was great!
I couldn't embed it, but you can find it here.

Geography:
I still printed out our Geography Cards from the blog "And Here We Go!"  She has also put together cards for the next half of the year!  Yay!
She has also done some songs to go with them.  We love those, too.

Science:
*Here's an interesting page about the Mercury space mission and astronauts...with pictures.
*Space shuttle launch:



*A graphic showing every manned American space mission
*Another graphic about John Glenn's space missions

I'd love to post more, but I think I'm about at my limit : ).  I hope this is helpful and that all of you have a wonderful Christmas!

OH...by the way...there are some GREAT deals on some wonderful Christian fiction right now for Kindle/Nook.  All for a limited time, so grab them while you can!

Some freebies:
To Love Anew and The Heart of Thornton Creek...Bonnie Leon
Daughter of Twin Oaks....Lauraine Snelling
A Daughter's Inheritance and Shadows of the Canyon...Tracie Peterson
The Lawman Claims His Bride....Renee Ryan
Somewhere to Belong....Judith Miller
An Unexpected Widow...Carre White
Angels Watching Over Me...Michael Phillips
Candle in the Darkness...Lynn Austin
Paradise Valley...Dale Cramer
The Meeting Place...Jeanette Oke
Understanding the Times...Ken Hamm (nonfiction...great resource for Biblical view of creation)

Books for a steal!  $1.99
Author Sarah Ladd is great about posting deals for Kindle and Nook on her facebook page.  I've gotten several of these wonderful books at a GREAT price!  Most of these only go on sale for short time.
*Right now ALL of Melanie Dickerson's books are on sale...including her most recent release, A Captive Maiden (a Cinderella retelling)....her books are SO GOOD!!
*The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen
*The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah Ladd
*The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden
*Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck (SO excited to see this one on sale!!  Yippee!)
*Monday's Child and Tuesday's Child by Linda Chaikin (I really enjoyed this whole series)

Those are just a few I've seen lately!  Hope you all have a blessed Christmas!

Until further notice....

Hey friends...
Just wanted to give a brief update and say...until further notice I probably won't be blogging too much due to an illness. I'm hoping that means only another week or two of recuperating and I'll start feeling somewhat back to normal.  Just to give you a little background...

I had surgery on November 18th.  This was planned, not due to an emergency or anything, so I went into it knowing I would have to recuperate for a few weeks and hoped by Christmas...really before that...I would feel back to normal.  The week after surgery was kind of a blur.  I was taking pain meds, and benedryl to counteract my reactions to those pain meds, and eventually kind of started feeling better.  A week and a day post surgery I went for a follow up at my doctor's office and while I was there I suddenly started feeling terrible.  I was lethargic, flushed, and even my doctor was a little stumped as to what was going on.  I hung out at his office for a while, they brought me drinks and something to snack on, and eventually I felt well enough to leave.  But he wanted me to stay in town (my doctor is an hour away from us) and come back the next day.  I did (thankfully my parents live in town) and that night I started running a low grade fever.  The next day I went back, felt worse, but my fever stayed low grade.  My doctor, and us, thought because everything else seemed ok and my fever wasn't going too high that I had probably gotten the fever/virus that my son had the weekend before.  Made sense.  But I felt terrible.  We ended up just staying another night at my parents because the next day was Thanksgiving and we were planning to come to town anyway.  I continued to run a low grade fever off an on, but had times where I felt a little better.  Thanksgiving Day I felt well enough to eat a good lunch and actually thought I was starting to get over it.  By that afternoon, I was assaulted with a round of terrible chills that lasted a couple of hours and my fever, for the first time, rose to 102.

The doctor recommended that we go to the ER.  After some blood work, a chest x-ray, and a CT scan, it was determined that I had a post-surgical infection.  My white blood cell count was very high and I didn't feel well at all.  I was admitted and ended up staying in the hospital for 3 nights, pumped with antibiotics and fluids.  They've gotten me well enough to go home, but I'm still not close to 100 %. I'm on a couple of antibiotics here at home and thankfully friends and family are helping us take care of the kids while my husband goes back to work and I am recuperating.  I never would've expected this to happen, but I can see several ways that God's hand was in the situation.  I also had some great conversations with some of my nurses and saw just how much I like the group of doctors that I go to.  I'm very thankful for them and how much they checked on me.

So....I need to recuperate.  I can't express how hard it's been not to try and do several things I wanted to do this time of year.  Our Christmas tree isn't even up yet : (.  I hope that'll happen soon!  I wanted to do something for advent, but I don't know if it's going to happen.  No black Friday shopping or even Cyber Monday shopping.  I'm learning that I have to let go of some things in order to help myself get better.  That's hard.  I don't know if it's a mom thing, a woman thing, or just a me thing to give up the control.  Even in the struggles, God teaches us!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and please keep me and my family in your prayers. During this time my grandfather has also been struggling with some serious health issues and this may be our last Christmas with him.  We don't know that for sure, but it's a definite possibility.  My Dad is also having knee replacement surgery on Wednesday of this week, so we need your prayers in that.  It can all seem very overwhelming.  I've found, however, that when life seems overwhelming, I cling to Christ all the more.  I am desperate for Him.  He has never failed.  Thank you for your prayers and God bless!

Mommy Camp

Summer time is here and our church always participates in a co-ed softball league with other churches in the community.  It's a fun time of sports and fellowship.  I've played two different seasons, and when the time came to sign up for this season, I talked to the hubby and asked if I could play.  He has always been supportive, so he said sure.  So I'm signed up....and I'm out of shape!

I'm going to get real here....I'm still carrying around a good portion of baby weight from last year.  Ugh.  I don't like it.  I've been changing our eating habits, but the weight just sticks like glue.  I think part of my problem is that I haven't gone there...to the next level.  I haven't felt the major hunger pains.  I'm not getting enough sleep.  I'm probably not drinking enough water....etc.,etc.  I think getting out there and doing some fun group sports can help jumpstart my exercise.  But like I said...I'm out of shape...big time!

I've got two weeks until the games begin.  In light of that...I decided to start Mommy Training Camp...aka Mommy Camp.  I don't want to look like a crazy person when I'm trying to run to first base...given that I'll be hitting the ball.  I also don't want to feel like my legs are going to fall off after our first game (which has happened every time!).  I asked my hubby to be my trainer.  Here's how Day 1 went:

*warm up--stretching, jumping jacks, jogging in place
*sprints--we opened up the stopwatch on my phone and took turns timing each other how fast we could run from the fence on one side of the yard to the swing set...the distance we're estimating it is from home plate to first base.  Each family member did it at least three times.  Except Seth, of course. : )  We tried to beat our previous times. 
*Joe and I took turns running around our little storage house in the back yard.  Joe did 5 laps, I did 3.  I told you I was out of shape ; )

That concluded Mommy Camp for tonight...but we're planning on doing it every day for the next 2 weeks.  Sophie looked up at me when we were close to the end and said, "Mom, after Mommy Camp can we go in and play Wii?  I'm tired!" : )  I'm glad that we can all get involved in the training and the kids are getting outside and running around with us.

Prayers appreciated for Mommy Camp 2013 : ).  I'll need it! 

Going Organic (with a recipe!)

So my whole baby step thing...still going!  I have setbacks every now and then (like today: two weddings in one day and I didn't resist the food/wedding cake...yikes!).  But I am making some significant strides...and God is definitely providing every step of the way. 

This week was my first week in coordinating an organic produce co-op type thing in our community.  A few weeks ago I went to a health presentation and the man who owns the farm came and showed us some of his produce.  He even gave us a bunch of carrots as a gift.  I was sold!  The carrots were delicious....and the fact that they were pesticide free and organic were a huge plus.  Around this time I also read this article from 100 Days of Real Food's blog about what to buy organic.  We were eating all of the "dirty dozen" fruits and veggies on a weekly basis.  I really wanted to find a way to get good produce at a decent price.  All the pieces fell in together and suddenly I'm getting together orders for organic produce from others in our community.  By Thursday our orders were delivered.  Look what I got...

Now that I have all of these beautiful fruits and veggies....I've got to start eating them!  Let the chopping, boiling, stir-frying, dicing, and cooking begin!  I don't want any of this to go to waste.  I was looking through an "All Recipes" magazine that came in the mail the other day and they had a comparison of a "healthier" version of carrot cake versus the traditional.  I had some beautiful organic carrots, so I thought...yum..carrot cake!  But I decided to take the healthy version from the magazine and tweak it a little.  What came out is delicious!  It was so good, that I didn't even make the cream cheese icing to go on top...we have just been devouring it without any of the sugary icing.  Yes!  I felt victory with this cake.  Naturally, I needed to share.  I'll put the original and in parenthesis I'll put what I did.

Healthier Carrot Cake III (from allrecipes.com/healthy-carrotcake)

*4 eggs (I used farm fresh..not from the store)

*3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)

*1 1/2 cups white sugar (I used my 100% real cane sugar that I think is unprocessed...no GMOs)

*2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used the "pure")

*2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used 1 cup of King Arthur's white wheat flour and 1 cup of Swan's Down flour...I was a little hesitant to use all white wheat because I was afraid of it being too dense...but I think it would be ok next time)

*2 teaspoons baking soda

*2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)

*1/2 teaspoon salt

*2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

*3 cups grated carrots (organic)

1 cup chopped pecans (I didn't even put these in)

For frosting (I didn't even use it, but you might want to):

*1/4 cup butter, softened

*1 (8 oz) package Neufchatel cheese, softened

*2 cups confectioners' sugar (this was the reason I didn't do the icing...I didn't have any on hand...blessing in disguise?)

*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 9x13 in pan (I used my bundt pan...so it was kind of like a carrot cake pound cake...mmmmm)

2. In a bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla.  Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans.  Pour into prepared pan.

3.  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 min (I think I did right around 50), or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack (I turned it right on to my cake holder) and cool completely.

4. To make frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, Neufchatel cheese, confectioners' sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla.  Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  Stir in chopped pecans.  Frost the cooled cake.

It's so yummy!  I would take a picture, but it's almost gone!  lol  I hope all of you are experiencing God's goodness in a special way.  He really does care about all the details of our lives.  He does answer prayer.  He is faithful.  God bless!

Baby steps to healthy eating

I honestly can't believe that I'm getting serious about being healthy.  You'd think that after having children, thyroid cancer, and being overweight for many years I would've gotten serious a long time ago.  And I have done diets...oh so many diets.  I've lost weight...I can't even begin to calculate my weight loss totals.  It's great that I know I'm capable of losing weight, since I have so much that I need to lose...AGAIN.  But that was really all I was going for in the past.  Yes, I wanted to be healthy, but the most urgent thing in my mind was to lose the weight.  This time is different, though.  Maybe the cancer has changed me.  Maybe it's just God who is changing me and doing a work in my heart and mind that I haven't experienced before.  All a part of the baby step process.  In my own life I've found that God gives me what I need when I need it...and often when I'm most able to handle it.  I have to contribute this journey to Him and trust in His guidance because there is no way I can do it myself.  I honestly don't believe in coincidence, either.  God has done too many amazing things in my life at just the right time for me not to credit Him. 

A few weeks ago I was scanning my facebook home page, just reading what everyone was up to.  I ran across a friend's post about soy.  I didn't know much about soy or really anything that had soy in it..except soy sauce : ).  I knew I had heard of people having soy allergies, but since no one in my immediate family had an allergy to it, I didn't bother with learning about it.  One thing she said caught my eye, though.  She mentioned that her doctor told her that if you have thyroid issues, cancer, or a family history of cancer, he recommended that you not eat foods with soy.  My red flags flew high at that moment.  Me=thyroid cancer, family history of cancer, and family history of thyroid problems.  I jumped right in on the conversation and got some info.  I also read other comments that affirmed what my friend said.  In my opinion, this was from the Lord.  I don't think I could've handled a big lifestyle change last year...or the beginning of this year.  I believe God has prepared me and has helped me to feel less overwhelmed physically so that I could take this information and start making changes...one baby step at a time.

Where to start.  I had no clue.  So I started looking at food labels.  Soy was in almost every processed, pre-packaged food item I looked at.  Yikes!  Because let's be real...I like making easy stuff for us to eat.  I pretty much depended on it in past months.  I couldn't see myself spending hours in the kitchen making my own bread and homemade this and thats.  But...I could see myself taking some small steps to START making some things myself.  I like to cook, so that's good.  The kids are starting to be able to entertain themselves even more...even the little guy...so that gives me a little more free time.  I put out a plea on facebook for some recommendations.  That led me to this blog: 100 Days of Real Food.  This is a REAL mom...making REAL food.  One night I was up until almost 2 am reading all I could.  One thing I LOVE about her blog is that she is realistic about eating healthy and has two little kids, so her recipes are kid and mom friendly.  Here are a few of her recipes that I plan to try out...

whole wheat pop tarts



Picture from 100 Days of Real Food blog...
whole wheat pot tarts



homemade spaghetti sauce

Fruit, nut, or berry whole wheat muffins

whole wheat tortillas

These are all things that my family likes...and the ingredients are doable!  Yay!  After printing some of these off I looked over at my hubby and said, "I think I could really do this."  And I really want to. 

Other blogs that I want to check out are:
Beyond Diet

Good Cheap Eats

Pinterest has also been a good source of recipes and ideas.

I also decided to try and read some articles/info on this whole soy thing and also get some ideas about healthy living.  I found this article when I googled "soy lecithin", which is found in so many products.  There are lots of differing opinions on it, so I would suggest getting all the info...not just from this article.  But my first baby step is to cut soy.  I just believe it's the right place for us to start given my medical history. 

I also found a collection of articles that my friend Amy (the friend who helped me get going on this journey with her soy facebook post) has been doing on the Southern Savers blog called Organic Living Journey.  I read through some of her articles yesterday before I went grocery shopping.  It was extremely helpful and practical.  I would definitely recommend them.

As we were riding home from the grocery store last night, I was encouraged...and happy.  My hubby and I were both getting excited about these changes in our eating and we even started getting ideas about having our own garden this year.  Us?  A garden?  Yes, God is definitely doing something!  Today I was printing out some of the recipes I mentioned and I started talking with the hubby again about my desire to lose weight.  It's weird how your perspective can just flip around.  All these years I would get almost desperate to lose weight..and that was my sole focus.  Lose the weight.  I also added "get healthy" in there, too, but I would still find ways to eat something unhealthy and lose the weight.  Now my focus is...eat healthy.  I'm not as focused on the weight loss, just on the eating.  But I know that when I'm eating right, I'll lose the weight.  It's one of those "duh" kind of things, but for me this is a real epiphany.  I know I might slip up sometimes, and I also know that I'm not going to throw out everything that's bad in my pantry and fridge.  We're just going to start where we are right now and each time I buy food it's going to get better and better.  God has even provided a way for me to get fresh eggs and possibly fresh bread with no soy.  Baby steps.  Filled with grace.