I haven’t been as consistent blogging the past couple weeks. I’m not really sure why. I have been busy being mom, wife, friend, crafter, entrepreneur, and a myriad of other thigns. Here is just a glimpse of some of the things I’ve been doing - Caught up on past episodes on Hulu that I like to watch (Modern Family, Parenthood, Glee, Biggest Loser, Cougar Town)
- Made plans to go to Portland next week for my brother’s wedding
- Had a couple days with real no break from my kids – one seems to always be awake, especially my little Miriam who wants to stay awake until I go to bed
- Looked at a couple thrift stores for the perfect containers for some homemade remedies I was thinking of making for Mother’s Day
- Made a cute decoration for my girl’s room – girl décor is severely lacking in their room so I’m slowing changing that
- Sewed a couple bibs for Miriam using an old pair of jeans..super cute and easy!
- Found some time to stamp and create some new card sets
- Researched online marketing and read numerous articles
- Gone on several bike rides
- Dyed some clothes to make them perfect for my type 3 nature
- Worked on some emotional issues I have with believing I’m just not good enough
- Made several mental lists of crafts, home remedies, and herbal experiments that I want to make
- Didn’t sufficiently clean out the washing machine for the above clothes and stained a load of clothes a blue tint….
- Thought a lot about my Etsy shop and how to generate more sales and what direction I want to take
- Figured out FINALLY that my diffuser wasn’t broken and the cord simply wasn’t pushed in all the way
- Added more interesting blogs to my google reader
- Went swimming with all the kids at the Lehi Legacy Center swimming pool
- Supported my hubby in going to a couple of “geek” outings
- Cleaned up vomit, yucky bedding, and potty accidents
- Watched Iron Man with my hubby to get me ready for Iron Man 2
- Spent more time on the internet than I should…
I love essential oils and learning of new ways to use them. I recently heard that lemon essential oil can be used to remove sticky residue and it works! I’ve used lemon EO to remove the remains of a label on my microwave and to remove the sticky gunk off some jars I wanted save. The best way to use it is to put several drops on a cotton ball and rub on the sticky surface to remove. Depending on how big the sticky surface is, you may need to repeat this or use more lemon EO. If you are using a bigger surface you can just shake a few drops directly onto the surface and rub it into the sticky residue then use your cotton ball to rub it all away! If you need some lemon essential oil, you need to check out doTerra and click here to view my friend Aubrey’s shop. doTerra is having a great promotion right now that you can view here if you are interested in getting wholesale pricing!
Let me know if you have any great ideas and success stories you've had with essential oils. I'd love to hear your ideas!
My dear little Miriam turned one this last weekend and I can’t believe how the past year has flown past! She has been such a blessing in our home and we can’t imagine what life would be without her. Her little smiles brighten our days and whenever we’re in a bad mood, simply holding her helps us to soften our heart. She has a way of gazing up at you with her wide eyes that seems like she is peering into your soul and loving every part of you! She is a determined little girl and we’ve seen her bounce back from heart surgery this past year with no problem whatsoever (click on the link to see updated surgery pictures). She just figured out how to get into a sitting position on her own and we haven’t even been working on that skill in physical therapy. We are so thrilled with her progress and love watching her learn and grow. She is such an example to us and we all love her so much. I’m grateful for all she has helped me with this past year. There is something about having a baby girl that has really helped me to learn more about loving and accepting myself. Thank you sweet Miriam for choosing to come to our family! We love you!! We had a small birthday party for her and I found a cute little dress tutorial online that I made for her special day. I made her a matching bow with some of the leftover fabric. Since she isn’t eating a whole lot of solids I really didn’t want her to eat cake and all the sugar. I ended up making her my date nut torte recipe and she liked it and as you can tell from the pictures, she got it all over herself!
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
~Prayer by St. Francis Of Assisi
This was my first attempt to make any sort of skin care products and I’m happy to report that it was a success! I probably should have started with something a little simpler, like a salve, but I really needed to moisturize my hands and wanted to make my own hand cream. I always get dry hands and feet in the winter and then again in the spring and this year has been no exception. I've used all sorts of products and this last week I just wasn’t in the mood to purchase a cream or lotion at the store. I recently purchased this book and Rosemary has a "perfect hand cream" recipe that knew I wanted to make. I made this recipe just the other night and I am happy to report that the only improvement I’d make is adding more lavender essential oil.Check out the ingredients that I used and steps below:  Waters:
2/3 cup distilled water
1/3 cup aloe vera gel
2 drops essential oil of choice (I chose lavender, but would add a lot more than 2)
Vitamin A and E as desired
Combine the water ingredients in a glass measuring cup then set aside. I had really had no clue on how much Vitamin A and E to add, so I went off the daily recommended dosage and then multiplied it by four - why four? I don't really know, but it works I suppose! I added 40 drops of the Vitamin E oil (10 drops is the daily allowance and then pricked 4 gel capsules of the Vitamin A and squeezed them into my water mixture.
 Oils:
¾ cup apricot kernel oil
1/3 cup coconut oil
¼ tsp liquid lanolin
½ ounce beeswax
I had 1 ounce bars of beeswax and so I just broke one in half - you can use up to an ounce though.
 You want to then heat the oils over low heat in a double broiler until they are melted. I simply used a bigger pan of water and set a smaller saucepan inside. Once the oils are melted pour them into a blender and let them cool.
 This step is super important! Let the mixture sit until it’s at room temperature. You can put in the refrigerator as I did to speed up the process, but keep checking on it to make sure it doesn’t get too hard. The mixture should look creamy and be a cream color. I kept dipping a knife into the mixture and testing the temperature to make sure it was cooled off. You also want to make sure that the water ingredients are at room temperature.
 You then turn on the blender at the highest speed and with a slow drizzle, pour the water mixture into the center of the oil. If the blender starts over working, turn it off and add the remaining water by hand. I didn’t have a problem with my blender and was able to continue blending until all the water was poured in. If you have a beautiful creamy end result, then you did it right! Then pour into jars and store in a cool location.
There you have it! I used some cream on my hands that night and am happy to announce that this cream is amazing! I am so happy with the results. I have a small enough container to keep in my purse and plenty for use at home!
My Calendula Anti-Fungal Foot Soak was featured on CraziBeautiful. You can check it out here! I'm going to be a monthly contributor on their website, so check back for future updates on that! I'm also going to be spotlighted within the next couple weeks so I'll put up a link once it goes live!
Growing up I had several warts on my hands that I was self conscience of and totally despised. My parents used several kinds of over the counter products to get rid of them and when those didn’t work, they resorted to taking me to the doctor to freeze them off. The later was the absolute worst because the warts would blister, pop and then harden before it was finally able to be clipped off. It was painful, disgusting and took several days for this process. When my six-year-old son came to me with warts on his hands, I knew exactly what it was like and hoped I could spare him the embarrassment and difficulty of removing his warts. I heard that clove essential oil works great to remove warts so I thought I’d give it a try. I have a hard time in being consistent and remembering to daily put it on his warts, but about a month ago I put it on for about 3 or 4 days consistently and then forgot about it. When I put the oil on the warts I would first clip the wart with fingernail clippers to remove as much of the wart above the skin level as possible. Then I took a Q-tip soaked in clove essential oil and dabbed it on the wart then covered with a Band-Aid. I repeated this process 2-3 times a day for a few days and then a week or so later I noticed that the wart was turning black under the top layer of the wart. The following week or so my son came home from school saying that he wart fell off. Sure enough, after taking a closer look, the wart had come off completely and there was new skin underneath. In my experience this has been a great home remedy for wart removal and if you have any warts I suggest giving this remedy a try before resorting to a more invasive procedure!
I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, on this Easter Sunday. I was humbled this week by my teacher as I recognized yet again how selfish I can be. The Lord has blessed me so greatly and many of my prayers have been answered as of late. The other day I was driving down the freeway and I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessings in my life. I was crying and as I was thinking of these things, a car passed me with a license plate that said, NVR4GT. I cried even harder as I realized how quickly I forget those things in my life that have been true divine blessings! It seemed almost simultaneously I heard a song on the radio called Beautiful, Beautiful by Francesca Battistelli. I am so grateful for the Savior’s Atonement and for the gift of Mercy and for God’s Grace. Her song is such a beautiful reminder of these things! Here are the lyrics and the music video below.
“Don't know how it is You looked at me
And saw the person that I could be
Awakening my heart
Breaking through the dark
Suddenly Your grace
Like sunlight burning at midnight
Making my life something so
Beautiful, beautiful
Mercy reaching to save me
All that I need
You are so
Beautiful, beautiful
Now there's a joy inside I can't contain
But even perfect days can end in rain
And though it's pouring down
I see You through the clouds
Shining on my face
Like sunlight burning at midnight
Making my life something so
Beautiful, beautiful
Mercy reaching to save me
All that I need
You are so
Beautiful, beautiful
I have come undone
But I have just begun
Changing by Your grace
Like sunlight burning at midnight
Making my life something so
Beautiful, beautiful
Mercy reaching to save me
All that I need
You are so beautiful
Like sunlight burning at midnight
Making my life something so
Beautiful, beautiful
Mercy reaching to save me
All that I need
You are so
Beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful, beautiful”
This man Nick Vujicic is absolutely amazing and inspiring. I saw a video of him quite awhile ago and was thinking about his story today. Sometimes I get caught up in the pain and drama of my life and today I was realizing that I have been in that space yet again. I really want to move out of my pain and suffering and chose to give that all to Christ. I mean, he already suffered for me, right? I love inspiring people who have overcome huge obstacles in their lives. Stories like Nick’s help me see that there is so much more to life and we have the power to choose our happiness! Check out this video and go to his site, Life Without Limbs to learn more about Nick and the message he is spreading about hope in Jesus Christ.
 Fresh ginger root Ginger has so many amazing health benefits and is so simple to use. My favorite way is to make ginger tea. You first start by getting fresh ginger root from the grocery store then using a knife or peeler to remove the skin. I usually use about a 1 inch piece at a time which I grate into a little pile. Yes, the actually root can be rather stringy, so if it’s hard to grate, simply chop into small pieces and it’ll have the same effect. Put in a pan with several cups of water and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 min. Then add honey to taste and drink! Beware though, ginger is warming herb so it can be kind of hot. If it’s too hot, simply add more water until you get the taste that is just right for you. Just to name a few of the ailments that can be relieved through the benefits of ginger: nausea, indigestion, cold, flu, poor circulation, menstrual cramps, bloating, heartburn, arthritis, motion sickness, headaches, toothaches, coughs, bronchitis, and more. I’m sure that you are dealing with at least one of the above ailments in your household, so go buy so ginger and make some tea!
*********I just found a great site after posting this that shows how you can simply peel ginger with a spoon. Check out the video here!
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