Essential Oils for Winter Crud {Video}

We've been facing winter crud this week! Nick could feel it coming the last two days, so we've oiled up and are so thankful to have a natural alternative to help us. We tend to bounce back much quicker than before too. When you feel something like this coming your way, keep in mind that your body will need more rest, lots of fluids, your vitamins and everything else your mama tells ya ;). 

Here's a video I did with the oils we typically turn to first. Each person and family may have different favorites or preferences, and ours may change over time, who knows! We've been liking these lately.

I hope the weather is nice where you are (it was nearly 80 degrees here today!!). If it's not, I'm sorry! I know that feeling too. Hopefully the sun is at least peaking out at you here and there ;) I was blasted with sunshine yesterday on my drive home and loved it. As an Iowa girl, 70+ degrees in January is something I will never take for granted.

Learn more about essential oils and how to get your own here. I hope you're all having a great week!

Today's Pinspiration:

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 {Of course, I'm not a doctor, and these tips are not meant to treat, diagnose or cure anything.  I'm just happily sharing what has been working for our family as well as in others, in hopes that it will help with yours.  I also only recommend using Young Living oils, as they are the only company that controls their seed to seal process, keeping their oils chemical free.}

What I Use for Tension Related Head Pain {Video}

Hey friends! Happy Wednesday! I don't know about the weather near you today, but it's been 70 the past few days (including my birthday!) and filled with sunshine and I'm loving it. I heard the sn*w word for tomorrow, we'll see, but I'm enjoying the beautiful sunshine today!

I made a video to show you what I use to help tension related head pain. Also, tension that tends to build in my neck and shoulders. Please note, when I mention putting peppermint in my mouth and water, I don't recommend ingesting any oils other than Young Living. My body may also get relief from some oils and other oils may end up working better for you. I'd recommend trying a few to see what may help you! 

Peppermint and PanAway essential oils both come in Young Living's premium starter kit. Let me know if you want to try them! 

Looking In: You & Me

This week's blog hop category is "you & me". There are different directions to go with this category - mine went right to my hubby, Nick. This month (January 29th to be exact) marks 9 years of togetherness for us. It was 1-29-06 that Nick asked me to be his girlfriend. It truly doesn't feel like nine years ago! We've been married 5 and a half years now. I always like reminiscing about our journey together. Let's journey through some of our memories in photos over the years.

December 2005. This may be our first photo together, before we were dating:). This was taken at the conference we attended over Christmas, where we got to know each other a lot better. We knew each other through friends since August, but hadn't spent time together other than bowling with a group of friends, etc. 

This was around when we started dating in January 2006. It was sophomore year in college - this was my dorm room. Man, it feels like forever since this memory! 

I think this is when we had been dating for maybe a few months. :)

December 2006 - Christmas with my dad and Nick's family helping families impacted by Hurricane Katrina. What an experience to have together. 

Spring Break, March 2007. We visited Nick's friend David out there and got to see all of the sights! Our first and only time to Hollywood. 

December 2007 - all dressed up for Nick's fraternity formal. 

Summer 2008 - Nick moved to Fort Worth, TX after we graduated college at Iowa State. I had posted this pic on Facebook and said "Fort Worth is a nice city!". So funny - who knew we'd be back to this area together! 

2-21-09. Nick flew from Fort Worth to Des Moines, drove me up to Ames and proposed. He proposed in front of my old dorm, where we officially met in August 2005. 

Engagement pics back at ISU in July 2009.

8-8-09 - we were married! 

Back at ISU for the VEISHEA parade - April 2013

Maybe this was summer 2012? Can't remember. It was a date day I loved! This photo has warm memories since it was the first day in a while I was feeling well - I cherished this day with my man in small town Minnesota! 

October 2013 with our Ranger puppy! 

It's been an adventure. It was truly really fun looking back through photos for this post, reminiscing about where it all started. After these years, we get used to things, so it's easy to forget the feelings and memories of all these photos. Seeing those photos, I get the butterflies back into my stomach and re-live falling in love with Nick again. So cool! 

If you've read my blog for a while, you've seen me write about how helpful Nick is to me. Through my dark fibromyalgia days, he does everything for me. When we met, we didn't know I'd have this pain battle ahead. Sometimes the things I face make me feel like I'm in an 80 year old body, and I never want that to hold Nick back. He's my biggest supporter. Through praying for me daily, helping with most of the chores around here, showing love, encouragement, and talking me through it all. No marriage is perfect - ours certainly isn't. But it was created by God and I'm so grateful for it all. 

I'm so thankful for my husband. I love you, Nick! Thanks for all you do, and all you are. I'm so blessed by you! 

Check out other posts in this blog hop on this page. 

Today's Pinspiration:

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Looking in: What do you See?

I'm participating in a blog hop and am excited to share more of my heart with topics everyone in this hop will be sharing about. The themes are open for interpretation, so it will be fun to see what these topics mean in other's lives.

This week is looking in. Lately, if I could look into my mind & soul, it's busy. Busy busy busy. It's trying to do everything at once, achieving far less that I hope for. I feel as though I'm trying to get by in all areas of life, but in the end, feel like I'm failing in each one. Well friends, a new year brings an air of freshness, and no time than the better to change it. 

Here are some things I've been thinking about to help myself get to where I strive to be. 

Be in the moment. No really truly, in the moment. I especially want to improve in conversations. Focus - the only place I am in that moment, is in that conversation. I hope to be more focused and intentional in conversations. Truly listening and hearing what's being said. Absorbing my surroundings and appreciating them, rather than rushing to the next one, or being so distracted by other things, that I miss the current moment. 

Not procrastinate.. . as much. Clearly, this one's hard for me to part with - I have to be honest with myself and admit I'm a procrastinator. I think maybe this stems from my fibro journey, with pain and exhaustion, and putting things off until I feel better. That time doesn't always come in a timely manner.  I would feel less stressed if I can just take care of things quickly and not let thing after thing collect on my mind. If I push too many things off to another day, one day, I'll have 10 things I didn't want to do, rather than getting through 1 a day. Make sense? I hope my brain is reading this closely - I'm speaking to myself here!;)

Clear the mind. How often is your mind clear? Mine's pretty much never clear. And it's stressful! Why don't we do something about that? Think about something that may help clear your mind. Then, do it. It can really be that simple.
I hadn't taken a bath but maybe once in the last year. A few weeks ago, I thought I'd take one to relax. I was able to clear my mind, and it was so refreshing- physically (I had salts & oils, my body loved it), emotionally, spiritually.  If that doesn't sound nice to you - then do something else. For example, today. My phone died as I was getting ready for work, so I made a mental note to grab my charger before heading out the door so I could charge it at work. I forgot. So I had a dead phone, and mourned on my way to work the fact I'd lose track of everything in my phone's electronic world all day. You know what? I survived! Plus, my mind was more clear without that distraction. It actually felt really nice.

Don't overwhelm yourself with things to do though. Just reflect, maybe journal a little, and see what you see. If you don't see what you hope for as you reflect, think of a simple change or two you could tweak. Nothing major or stressful - just a simple step to get you on the right path. Then, let's do it, my dears! One step at a time. 

My blog hopping friends:
Set Free
Emerson Lu
Growing up Low
Oily Adventure
Life with the L's

Today's Pinspiration

The more I thought about this one, the more I like it. Our fears can displace so many of our hopes and dreams. I pray we can clear that kind of clutter especially from our minds and pursue our true purposes. 

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New & Old Transition {& a fibro update}

I usually don't get really into the new year reflections, goal setting, etc. This year, though, I really truly think great things are happening and I want to set goals to work on and set attainable steps for myself to achieve my goals. If you want something, go for it! I've been processing the past year and getting excited about what 2015 may hold. 

2014 was a key year for me, and I achieved a BIG goal I had set for myself and really honestly, had no idea when I would achieve it. It's getting off prescriptions I was taking for fibromyalgia. A year ago, I was taking I think 8 meds (most daily) for fibro. I still wasn't feeling well, and felt helpless following the doctor's plan for me. It hit me last spring when I was at my doctor's office and she had no new ideas. She said I was taking what she would have me take, and though I still had chronic pain, chronic headaches, chronic fatigue, etc., she said to call her back in a month or two with an update on how I'm doing. Well, since she didn't change anything, nothing would change. That was my moment when I loudly told myself I'm in charge of this journey (not my doc), and she doesn't understand the impact these symptoms have on my daily life. I was determined more than ever to find a natural homeopathic doc to help me transition OFF my RXs, and find something natural to help. Even just getting off the prescriptions would get me back to my baseline, to see how I feel without meds for the first time in 3 years. 

The naturopath I saw helped me review my diet, make changes (I noted many of those changes here), and helped me realize I was taking ALL of those meds, with all the symptoms I started with. Only now, I had high blood pressure issues, and didn't know which symptoms were from me, or the meds anymore. Just about every med had fatigue as a side effect, which made me question my growing chronic fatigue - was I getting worse, or the meds adding to it?

As a young person with chronic (nonstop) pain, headaches, fatigue, etc., I wasn't living my life. I was surviving it. I was getting through each day - trying my best to be great at work, and was laying low (in bed, on the couch) most nights and weekends. So many depressing seasons. I also knew how much Nick helped me, but inside I know deep down it's not fun for him to take care of his seemingly 80-yr old wife when most our age are living their lives. It just felt like mine was paused, and I was trying to tiptoe around my pain to not fall into a flare. I lived in fear of a flare a lot, not wanting to push myself too much and wind up in bed for a few days. 

Some of these things, I still deal with to some degree. My fibro is not gone, but I've entered a new phase. One where I'm feeling a bit more control over it, and less a victim to it. Part of it is getting off the meds. A huge goal I accomplished. I did it! After not being in control for so long, I did something I wanted to do for me. I realized I wasn't getting anywhere with the path I was on, so I changed it. That was huge for me in itself. I continue to journal, pray and lift this to the Lord, I'm just taking active steps myself now. 

I can now say, my pain comes and goes (but it goes!), my headaches come and go (which means I don't CONSTANTLY have a headache!). The fatigue is still there - I don't really get breaks from that. I wake tired, go throughout the day tired, and am tired at night. Still exploring that one. 



All that to say, 2014 was a pretty empowering year for me. Now that I've made progress, I know I can accomplish goals, achieve things I set my mind to. That's what makes starting a new year exciting this time. 

I will say, after seeing the naturopath last year, I started by taking off 1 prescription (tapered it off to reduce side effects from getting off it). I told myself I'd see how it went, but getting off 1 would be great. After adjusting to that balance for a few weeks, I'd do the same with another. It was really baby steps. I did 1 at a time and throughout the process, I didn't know for certain I was getting off all of them - I just knew I was taking one step at a time. Goals can be that way, and are probably more achievable, when we break them up into little pieces. It's easier to table one small step every few weeks, than a huge overwhelming goal. 

Cheers to setting goals and achieving them, friends! You can do this. 

Today's Pinspiration:

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