"Essentially" what I've learned

Tabitha LOVES putting oil on her feet every day. She even puts in on her stuffed animals too. 

So, here's a little update on my essential oils usage. Some of you have been asking, which I appreciate your interest in my little "experiment" and for those of you who didn't ask. Sorry. Just ignore this. But, really, can I just say? You SHOULDN'T ignore this because I think I'm the greatest essential oils user ever.
And here's why.

I can honestly  honestly say that I'm terrible at this experiment because I refuse to change my current ways. For instance, if I have a headache I take Ibuprofen ( which I've always done) and then I also put a little peppermint oil on my temples ( what my essential oils manual says to do). Then the headache goes away and I'm really happy about it. DONE.

But then, lets say, YOU come and tell me you have a headache. Well, sorry, I'm probably gonna have to offer you both, because I'm too impatient to figure out if JUST the essential oils would have worked for my headache. I hate headaches. I'm gonna try and kill them will ALL my guns. I am basically NOT the girl in the horror movie that shoots the bad guy and then TURNS AROUND AND WALKS AWAY. Girlfriend, you KNOW he's not dead and he's gonna come up behind you and get you! NO! You EMPTY ALL YOUR BULLETS INTO THAT DUDE.
So. That's what I do with headaches and allergies and eczema. I use up all my bullets.

The good news is that all my bullets seem to be working.

The other good news is that there were a couple of things in my life that I didn't have ANY other bullets for: my psorisis and our immunity and my children's restless sleeping.

So, I can definitely WITHOUT a doubt say that I am ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SOLD on "on guard" essential oils blend that works for immunity. I rub a diluted bit of that oil on my kids every morning before I put on their shoes for the day and, recently, when we were out of town I rubbed it on their feet at night too. And, friends, we have not gotten sick AT ALL. Ok, strike that, I got a really bad case of allergies that threatened to turn into a cold for two days. And I pouted and threw a fit that my essential oils weren't working, while I did shots of oregano oil ( not for the faint of heart) and diffused on guard in my room at night and BOOM a day later my cold was GONE.
And? AND? We went out of town and my kids kissed and hugged and ate after and breathed on and snuggled a countless number of cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and NO ONE GOT SICK.

People.

This is big news.

Because that NEVER EVER happens..
In fact, I now love this oil so much that I bought another two bottles of it  ( then put those bottles itnto little sample bottles and handed it out to my friends like it was candy. Because  WE SHOULD ALL BE HEALTHY TOGETHER.

And then we went BACK to visit family AGAIN and I was not diligent at all about putting the oil on my kids and Tabitha GOT SICK. So boo on me.

I have also been putting a mixture of oils on my legs where my psoriasis rash is the worst and it has, in fact, faded significantly. It is not completely gone, but then again they told me I might have it forever, so faded is a major step up from FOREVER. I'm still not sold on this being the miracle solution to my legs, but if I'm really honest, I'm not that diligent in putting the oils on every day. Which I clearly should be.

And now to the one that most of you Mommies have been asking me about Serenity. It is a mixture of a couple different oils to promote, well, serenity.  This is the one all my mommy friends have been clammering for me to test... Seriously? You care about calm children more than healthy children? Hahaha! No worries, I am not judging you, because i am RIGHT THERE WITH YOU. So here's what happened:  While I have tried using the oils to combat specify instances of  "preschool/toddler drama" say in the late evening when everyone starts inexplicably wrestling,  I didn't feel like it made a  marked difference. But, when I just diffused it a few times in our home during times I knew we'd be couped up inside for a while, I myself felt remarkably calmer and I  think overall our home was more peaceful. It wasn't magical or anything ( darn it) but I've also used a drop or two on a pillow or a favorite stuffed animal when the kiddos have woken up in the middle of the night and it did seem to affect how quickly and easily they went back to sleep. Unlike the  On Guard which I actually think I could stand behind and say YOU ALL NEED TO USE THIS, the Serenity oil is just another thing that I'd offer up as an option when  dealing with  sleeplessness, rowdiness etc etc.

I will say that since Tabitha has gotten a virus ( mentioned above) that has caused a fever for the last few days one night I forgot to put the diffuser of Serenity and On Guard mixed in her room and she was up CONSTANTLY and needed to be held and rocked.  The next night I remembered the diffuser and she was only up a few times in need of her paci. It could be a coincidence...or it may have really helped, especially since her fever was pretty much exactly the same. Who's to say?

And so, in summery. I think I now actually kinda sorta believe in essential oils. There. I said it.. But, other than the immunity  oils, I see most of them as just added tools that maaaay be helping and not hurting our family. I like the fact that now when I struggle with something in our home like sleeplessness or allergies I can turn to oils as a viable option.

Ok. I think that's enough  "screen time" for this topic! If you have any questions about my specific experiences do let me know! I'm actually putting in an order for myself tonight ( my cut off time is tomorrow night-October 31) so if anyone would like to use my discount send me a message ;-)-hehe. Cuz I'm a rebel like that.

My secret hobby

So, I think I've mentioned this before, but in my 7 years of marriage I've lived in 7 different places. Pretty crazy, right? And for the most part that has not always been the coolest. BUT there is one thing that I do  enjoy about moving and that is the decorating and the organizing! We have now lived in our current house for over a year and a half and I was starting to get antsy. Which is probably why I went through a weird furniture painting phase a month or so ago...

That said, this last weekend afforded me a little house-decor challenge when I inherited not one but two new pieces of furniture. Now, its not like our house is huge and just FULL of empty spaces waiting to be filled. In fact, quite the opposite. But, when the time came to take Brett's Grandmother's piano so that it could stay in the family and I could happily tell me children about the hundreds of sweet hours their Great-grandmother had spent at this very piano-teaching lessons and composing music and playing and singing hymns...well, there was clearly NO CHOICE but to take it.
And then when I was faced with either taking my Great-GREAT Grandmother's china cabinet or "I'm just going to take it to the dump right now",  Brett and I rented a Uhaul and on our last trip to visit family, came come with some "home decor puzzles".

And I won't lie. I absolutely DELIGHTED in my little furniture problem. Where could I put it all? What would I need to re-arrange?! How could I keep the house from looking stuffed with furniture?
Oh, it was all too much fun for me to handle!

In the end, my bookcase in the dining room, moved to the living room and became a part of the "play area". In fact, bonus points, when you re-arrange toys locations in your house, your children will magically think they have new toys and play happily for a solid hour and a half. BOOM!

The piano then took the bookcases spot in the dining room, and other than the fact that Ransom wants to play the piano before and after every. single. meal. I absolutely love having it in the dining room, especially a part of my family photo wall. Treasures should be with other treasures.

And the china cabinet? Well, it actually was quite helpful! I was able to put it into a corner of our bedroom and move all the books from the bookshelf in the dining room into the china cabinet/bookshelves! I ended up "gift wrapping" the doors because one side was missing its glass ( and since my bank account just took a hit, I'm not in the glass buying mood) and I actually kinda love how it turned out.

I may, at some point get some fabric because I feel like the paper probably won't stand up well with my little rascals running around, but for now this looks pretty cute! 

( wrapping paper is from Ikea many many moons ago)

And so, after this day of moving and organizing and running around after my children all in the midst of it, I'd go ahead and say that I'm happy NOT moving for another year and a half ;-) I've had my little decorating fix.

How I "lost" my phone and what I gained

So, last Saturday my phone was tragically and unfairly stolen at the library. I say tragically, because if you've ever purchased a phone "out right" without any kind of phone contract to buffer the costs then let's just say, that's a tragedy to ANY bank account.

And I say unfairly because I think all stealing is just so UNfair! I think once the feelings of optimism that maaaaaybe the person would decide to turn from their evil ways and return my phone to me ( it had already been wiped by the time I tried to access it on my find my phone app), had passed the major feeling I had was just the desire for JUSTICE! I just hated the idea that someone could be so jerky as to take advantage of a bedraggled Mom with her two little kids and then GET AWAY WITH IT. UGG!!!

Anyway, the tragic/unfair event happened right on the eve of us heading out of town to visit family and Brett was still in the midst of working very long long shifts at work. I had a ton to do before we left town and so, in the end, we headed off to visit family without dealing with the phone situation. It was going to work well because I'd be with Brett and people could reach me via his phone, or send me messages the "old fashioned way" using Facebook or email ( haha!) when I checked it once or twice a day.

And so almost immediately on our drive I realized that: when we drive somewhere and I'm NOT driving I check instagram continually. I also listen to Pandora and I also check my emails and I text my friends a lot. I also realized that my children do a million cute and documentable things in a given 10 minute span and without a phone to document those moment I have to just soak it in. No pictures for later instagram posting! Just plan old-fashion memory.

When we arrived at Brett's mom's house we were greeted by a glorious host of family and for the next two days my kids ran absolutely wild with about 8 or so cousins. Mud pies, hammocks, bicycles, cupcakes, s'mores and a very necessary bath at the end of each day. At the same time, I got to chill and chat with the adults and watch the glorious scene of cousins unfold....without taking a single picture. And without checking instagram to see what comparable fun other people were up to. I also didn't share the glorious fun we were having with anyone that wasn't siting next to me on the couch and it was STILL FUN! I got pretty much zero likes. And no comments. But it was still very much a glorious two days.

I then headed to my parents house for another day and  half where I hung out with my sister, commiserated on how 4 year-olds truly affect ones mental status, and discussed important things like  the unmentionable Kimye wedding episode ( if you don't know what this is, please don't ask...clearly you're already a better person than me and we should just keep it that way) and watched our children run around us screaming. Once again I did not share what I was doing with any one! In fact, I was now 4 days into not having a phone and I wondered if anyone wondered where I was. And if they did, was that really that important?

We finally headed back home yesterday, and because Brett was driving a big Uhaul back ( post about this coming soon!) I drove myself and the kids 5 hours home WITHOUT A PHONE. That's right. No GPS. No phone in case I got a flat tire ( though, granted Brett was about 30 minutes behind me on the road), no apps to tell me where the nearest Starbucks was, no pandora to listen to music, nothing. And somehow, we made it home Instead of a phone to keep me company, I just thought lots and lots of thoughts on those highways headed home and I've decided that my addiction to my smartphone really was at an all time high. I am hoping that now that I will once again have a phone ( tomorrow I'm headed to the Verizon store), that I will not return to the intense connectedness that was filling my days. I say this here because I know it will be easy to return. That the addiction sneaks in all sneaky-sneaky like and before you know it you're checking your Facebook feeds in the bathroom. ( ew!)
However, if you check your phone when you're sitting at a red-light in your car. Then, you my friend, might need to have your phone stolen at the library because wake-up-calls can be greatly refreshing.
( Though, I'm sorry, I still feel sad that I have no pictures from all those awesome cousin-fun-times.) iPhones are good for some things.