Change

We come into this world, into the life of our parents… we grow, we learn… we yearn for change.  As teenagers we seek to break tradition and break away from what we know and explore… it’s a natural progression for humans.  As young adults we try to find out who we are, what we want out of life… and somewhere in there, throw kids and a spouse into the mix (if you’re lucky).  Life is a journey, life is full of change. Life is about finding balance, about finding love, about finding yourself… it’s about learning to live, and also about learning to love what you have, and who you are.

I’ve noticed so much change within myself the past couple of years… As a teenager, and a young adult, I wanted so badly to have this beautiful life in my head… one where the biggest struggles were to choose what to wear that day!  One where I didn’t long for material possessions, because I had all I wanted and needed. I also longed to have everything new, who in the world would want those rusty old antiques my mom cared so much about anyway?!  I couldn’t fathom wanting or having children, and would never be tied down to kids or to a husband. Those were my thoughts… slowly, and before I even really understood what was happening, my view on the world, on what I wanted, and what I valued… it all started shifting.

I’m 30 years old, I have the love of my life sitting in the room next to me playing video games… I’m okay with that, I may even go join him in a bit… but first, I feel like I need to write down all these feelings… that’s where you come in 🙂  You see, all those things I wanted when I was younger, well… to be frank… they are unimportant now. I have found that what matters most in life, are the people we share it with.  The older you get, the more people matter… I mean REALLY matter… Slowly you start loosing loved ones, it’s never easy, those feelings of loss are just as strong today as they were were the day it happened.  We simply get used to the pain, and get used to those loved ones not being in our lives anymore… I think the death of my grandparents was probably the start of change for me, truly I do. Pappy died in 2006, then Grandma in 2010.

When they passed, I realized that I cared about their stuff… I cared about what happened to it, to their house, to their favorite things… and I started to realize, that every single antique mattered to somebody else, the same way their stuff mattered to me.  Every item has a story, a history.  I, for one, am learning that I rather like taking that little piece of history, and adding my story to it. I like knowing that what I have has weight, has meaning, has a story… In essence, I have learned that I love antiques. Now, this is probably no big news, or no big deal… you’re right, it’s not. But let me tell you what else I noticed about this.

Instead of going down to a store and buying something new, I would rather now shop online to find a beautiful antique… or go out with my mom to a thrift store and find a hidden treasure.  Believe it or not, this is reducing my impact on the world. I’m not supporting a new industry, or a chinese sweat shop, or a child labor factory… I’m having no part of that… what I am doing is putting money into the pockets of either individual people, just like me, or into the hands of charitable organizations that have a positive impact on both people, and the environment.

This is important. It’s important to realize how big of an impact small changes like this can make. My Dad, bless his heart, is so wonderful to us… each year during hunting season, he makes it a priority to kill 1 or 2 deer for us to eat on the following year.  You know what this means? This means that we’re not buying commercial beef or meat, and if we are, it’s very rare.  We are helping to keep the natural population of deer down, and I know that the animal I’m eating hasn’t suffered unnecessarily in horrible living conditions, or had to suffer a horrible death.  That matters to me tremendously.  I am, above all else, an animal lover.  We also aren’t putting anti-biotic/steroid laced meat in our bodies… This is healthier…

I used to never think about what I put into my body… I could have cared less… it wasn’t a big deal to me at all… I just assumed that if it wasn’t safe, it wouldn’t be available. I was so naive!  I have learned so much about the commercial food industry, about what is acceptable and regulated by the government… about what we put into our bodies without ever even realizing it.  I care now, when I’m at the store.  I read labels, I look for organic anything… I’m willing to pay more, to be healthier. I get SO excited at farmers markets, or when I see roadside produce stands… I love them!

So as you can see, during this quest of life, I have found that I care about much more than I ever thought I could… It was only natural that my curiosity about the world would extend into healthcare too… afterall, my Mom is a retired RN.  It was bound to happen sooner or later, and with a major health problem (PCOS) and no modern medicine answers… I found my way to Young Living, and to essential oils.

I’m so proud to be part of a company that cares about the same things I do… they care about the environment, about purity, about sustainability… they care about people, they care about animals… they care. I urge you, if you haven’t seriously started to question the things around you, please try.  Break out of your comfort zone, learn to care about what is going on in the world, with our food, with our healthcare… be involved in your local community… get involved with a company that you love, and that shares the same values that you do.

My view for my life right now, what I want… it’s so much different today than it used to be.  I have surrounded myself with a wonderful bunch of people, on the same journey that I’m on, to a healthier, more natural lifestyle. I love them, I’m so blessed to be on this journey with them.

I would love to eventually be able to quit my day job, and support my YL team full time… I don’t think I’m that far away from that goal, I definitely can see that happening in the span of a couple years.  I then want to be able to support Michael too, and let him quit his job… I want us to adopt a beautiful child together, a child in need.  I want to travel, I want to fill my home with items that have history, that have stories… I want to continue helping further animal rights… I want to grow my own garden, have my own chickens, maybe even a goat!  I want to be able to be self sustainable. I want my impact on the world to be a positive one, not a negative one.

So, about change… it’s a process, it happens so slowly that sometimes you don’t realize it. It’s a beautiful experience of growing, of learning… life is all about change. ❤

Thicker, Stronger, Longer Lashes with a DIY blend!

I don’t know if you’re anything like me… but I hate wearing makeup, it irritates my skin, and especially my eyes!  Sadly I have horribly short and sparse eyelashes, and I really didn’t want to spend the money on one of the Rx lash serums that could possibly change the color of my eyes!  No way!  I love my blue/gray eyes!

Plus, do you have any idea what is in that stuff? Me neither! I would much rather have something that will naturally work to correct the problem of my poor lashes!

I created a blend the other night, that combines the benefits of several oils, including lavender essential oil, that has been proven by many to work to significantly increase both lashes and eyebrows (if you have that problem – I don’t!).

You may have seen the recipe to add a drop of Lavender Essential Oil to a new tube of mascara, to make lashes grow longer and thicker… well this recipe is for those of us who hate wearing makeup!

As you can see, this is a relatively simple recipe… and all the ingredients are wonderfully cheap!  You may even have many of them on hand already!

I bought my empty mascara tubes on eBay, but Amazon has them as well.

Castor Oil is the main ingredient in this serum… it is full of Omega 6 fatty acids, vitamin E and proteins.  It is easily absorbed into the hair shaft and locks in nutrients.  Using Castor Oil for hair growth dates all the way back to the ancient Egyptians!  You can even massage castor oil into your scalp before bed for more hair growth on your head!  Sweet Almond Oil is nourishing and moisturizing to the hair. Vitamin E oil is moisturizing and also helps to strengthen the hair.  Both Vitamin E oil and Aloe helps to lengthen the lashes. From the research that has been done, it seems like the more you nourish your lashes and brows, the more they grow and thicken.  Many different oils have worked for different people but Castor oil always stands out in these recipes.  Adding in the lavender oil with these ingredients super charges it!

I apply this at night before bed, and yes it can get in your eyes… but it does NOT burn at all!  I have very sensitive eyes and I have been completely fine with this recipe.

I opted for the smaller mascara tubes, since I wanted to make some for other people too! 🙂

Here’s the finished result!

Let me know if you have any questions, or if you’ve already used a similar recipe and have gotten results, please share them! I look forward to the feedback!

Have a blessed day! ❤

Cooking with Essential Oils!

I am super excited to announce that my team and I will be hosting a “Cooking with Essential Oils” class, I am super excited to see the wonderful recipes everybody has compiled!

This month, Young Living is offering one of it’s exclusive, limited time promotional oil blends!  It’s called ‘Taste of Italy” and I was SO excited when one of my team members provided me with this amazing recipe for homemade marinara using Essential Oils!!!  I decided something that sounds so amazing needs to be seen by the entire world, so here is the recipe, feel free to share with friends!

As always, if you are interested in connecting with me on facebook, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of this page and click the link for my Facebook Page 🙂

Blessings and Wellness to you and yours! ❤

-Kelly

New Kit!

So Young Living, in their infinite wisdom and understanding that we need to be able to order certain oils all the time, has decided to change the Premium Starter Kits.  They have added Melaleuca Alternifolia AKA Tea Tree Oil, and Stress Away to the Everyday Oils kit that once held Peace and Calming and Valor.  This is awesome because these two oils are amazing!  And the bonus oil that comes in the kit that used to be Stress Away, is now Citrus Fresh (which I LOVE) so overall, it’s a win/win/win situation!

The best part?  Now Valor and Peace & Calming will be more readily available for EVERYBODY to purchase, and not only available in the PSK’s anymore 🙂

Here’s the low-down on the new awesomeness!

And because I know you wanna see it, here’s the 411 on Mel A 🙂

Ready to order?

Essential Rewards

I know you’ve been using that kit, and I know you’re in love by now… right?  That’s right, it’s okay to admit it!  You’re becoming a full blown addict to these amazing oils, which is a good thing!  So I know you’ll be excited when I tell you that you can use your awesome membership to earn FREEBIES!  Okay, okay… calm down!  Breathe!  You good?  Okay, let me tell you how!

Young Living has this amazing program called Essential Rewards, where you get points back for what you spend!  Now those points can be cashed in for freebies!  You can get anything with the points that Young Living sells so long as the Point Value (PV) is the same as the price, which is almost everything!

This program will keep all your essentials right at your fingertips, so you never run out.  Each month you select a minimum of 50PV worth of product, select the date you would like it to process, and it automatically ships it to your home at a DISCOUNTED rate!  How exciting!  Now I know that the word “autoship” might freak some people out, but I promise you… this is no ordinary autoship program!  You may log into your account at an point and change anything about the order… that includes the products, the date, the shipping type, the address it’s sent to… like I said, anything!  And it processes at midnight on the night you selected, so if you have it set up for the 10th of the month, you can log in on the 10th (or before) and make any changes you’d like to the order, save it, and it’ll process that night!

So now that I’ve got your attention, let me tell you more!  This program gives you different amounts of points back depending on what consecutive month you’re in… let me explain!

Months 1-6 you get 10% back

Months 7-12 you get 15% back

Months 13 + you get 20% back

You can also cancel this at anytime, there’s no catch to this at all… just an amazing way to earn free oils and other products with your normal orders!  On top of this, they will also give you one “grace” month per year where you can skip a month and not have to worry about loosing your points or where you are in consecutive months!  Pretty great, right?

There are a few other things I should tell you about Essential Rewards so that you are armed with all the knowledge about this amazing program!

• To sign up, just go to your virtual office and click on Essential Rewards on the left side of the screen, it will walk you through the process!
• To redeem your points, just call Member Services, or hop on Live Chat!
• You must be enrolled in Essential Rewards for at least 3 months before you can redeem your points.

So now that you are just as savvy as I am about Essential Rewards, go forth and earn freebies my loves!  And as always, if you have questions, just let me know! ❤

Ready to order?

Stress Away

Stress Away smells like Heaven, or at least what I hope Heaven smells like! It’s a vanilla/lime combo and it is SOOOO relaxing! It reduces mental rigidity and restores mental balance and response! That’s a good thing, especially as our society is one that rarely ever stops! I use this stuff every single day, totally not kidding… everyday! Anytime I feel like I’m getting worked up over something (especially at my job) I apply it to my wrists and just inhale it… it does such a fantastic job of calming me and bring me back down to earth!

Ready to order?

 

Joy

Joy is known for helping lift depression, soothe a broken heart, and may also serve as an aphrodisiac! Place a drop of Joy into your left palm, rub your hands together, and slowly inhale the scent. Then place your hands on your heart. If you are looking to heal your heart or become more open-hearted, use these moments to let this blend infuse into your heart’s desire. Joy produces magnetic energy that brings joy to the heart, mind and soul. My friends mom wears Joy EVERYDAY as perfume! What an awesome way to replace those harmful chemically filled perfumes you’re currently using. Joy is an oil that is great to diffuse at work as it uplifts the mood of the entire office!  My Aunt loves to diffuse Joy with Orange for an even better experience!

Ready to order?

Valor

Ahh Valor, keeper of my night time peace, how I love you… Fun tip for you all, put 1 drop on the bottom of each of your spouses big toes and the snoring will cease… I kid you not… you can thank me later!  It’s amazing!  Michael has told me that when I use this on him, he actually sleeps better because he isn’t snoring so much, and I KNOW I sleep better! 🙂

Valor also really helps with those who suffer from anxiety, depression, and even panic attacks… I’ve successfully used this on my sweet dog, Sodapop, in conjunction with Peace and Calming during thunderstorms when even her Thundershirt wouldn’t calm her down. It elicits feelings of comfort, courage, and self worth! If you need to have a big talk with somebody, and you’re nervous about it, try putting a few drops on the back of your neck and temples, you will feel so much calmer about it all… this also works for interviews, exams, even first date jitters!

If you suffer from tension headaches, this will become your new best friend, it will stop those headaches in their tracks! It’s also quite helpful in reducing bruising if you injure yourself!

Valor has long been called the “chiropractor in a bottle” due to it’s ability to help balance your spine when applied to feet, lower back, and neck daily. If you visit the chiropractor, use this before and after your visit to help the adjustment hold!

Ready to order?

Purification

Alright y’all, I live in the South… there are mosquitoes the size of cars down here… and then there are those tiny black ones that eat you alive before you ever even see them… Plus my blood is apparently super sweet! So this oil has been my BFF, if I get a bug bite, I put one little drop over it and BAM! all itching is gone… it’s almost like it never was!

Speaking of almost like it never was, I found a way to make sure it doesn’t happen too!  All natural bug spray that smells like heaven in a bottle… and it WORKS! Here’s the recipe! I promise you’ll love it!

Okay, so aside from being a bug repellant, stopping itchy bug bites in their tracks, and smelling awesome… purification has some other great talents you should know about!

You know how febreze claims to ELIMINATE odors? Yeah, well purification is basically like an all natural febreze… it eliminates odors no matter where they are… washing machine, dishwasher, garbage disposal, stinky shoes, kids rooms, pet areas, or your entire house when you use it with your nifty diffuser… it’s awesomesauce!

You can also use it to clean cuts and scrapes on yourself, your children, and even your pets!  It actually kills germs much like Thieves!  It does a number on acne too, but be warned, it will get out all the impurities in your skin, which can result in a temporary flare up before it starts getting better!  It really does a fantastic job!  This is one oil I won’t ever be without!

Ready to order?

Thieves

If you do some research into the Royal English Archives, you’ll come across an interesting little tidbit. It’s a recipe for “thieves’ oils.” So the story goes: In the 17th century, when all of Europe was in the thrust of the Black Plague, a small band of marauding thieves seemed immune to the disease. They would enter the homes of Black Plague victims and have no fear of touching the bodies as they searched for jewelry and money. The King demanded to know their secret.

Their secret had to do with the oils they rubbed on their bodies. Because their family was from a long lineage of apothecaries, they had knowledge about how to use oils medicinally and prophylactically against disease. The King got the exact formulation they were using against Black Plague and this saved his entire family from the disease.

Today we know this oil blend as “Thieves”… This healing oil is a blend of five different therapeutic grade essential oils, including cinnamon, clove, lemon, eucalyptus, and rosemary. This combination of healing oils covers a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity and contains properties that strengthen the immune system. Due to its effectiveness against highly infectious germs, including viruses and bacteria, it is one of nature’s most powerful natural home remedies.

Thieves has been scientifically proven to kill deadly germs! Research from Weber State University in Utah has shown that it has a 99.96% kill rate against airborne bacteria… it was also proven to be highly anti-infectious, antiviral, antibacterial, and antiseptic.

Research shows that this blend effectively interrupts the life cycle of bacteria and also interferes with the ability of viruses to replicate… Studies have confirmed that most viruses and bacteria cannot live in the presence of many essential oils, including two of the oils found in Thieves, cinnamon and clove.

Thieves is one of the most popular blends available, so popular in fact, that Young Living introduced an entire product line made with Thieves!  How awesome is that?

This stuff can clean even the worst of messes and never break a sweat!  Plus it’s completely natural and safe for both pets and children to be around!

I use this oil anytime at all that I’m feeling sick, and when I get home from work I diffuse it to kill any germs I may have picked up while I was out. And do you want to know what the VERY best part of this all is? It smells like Christmas… Christmas in a bottle… not the fresh pine tree kind of Christmas smell, but the warm gooey cinnamon cookie type of Christmas smell… Oh, and one other thing, this bad boy comes in the Premium Starter Kit… it’s okay, I understand that your mind is blown right now, you can thank me later!

Ready to order?