Meeting my Birth Mom

This is a topic I haven't talked about as much on this blog, but I'm excited to share with you. Last weekend, after a few years of emailing, my birth mother and I met for the first time. I also got to meet her family (she has two kids - my half siblings!) - some in person and some via FaceTime, but it was the culmination of 28 years of curiosity. 

Growing up, knowing I was adopted since I could remember, I was always naturally curious about my birth parents. What they were like, what common traits we shared, if our personalities were similar, etc. The whole nature vs. nurture thing always intrigued me. My parents have always been supportive of this curiosity and were excited when an opportunity arose to meet my birth mother. 

After finding out she had been battling cancerous brain tumors, my heart broke and I didn't want to miss out on a chance to get to know her, and allow her to get to know me. I also wanted to thank her in person for giving me life. I know she had options, and she chose to give me a life. It's amazing to think back on how different things would have been had she made another choice for my life. It's also neat to think through how her decision impacted my parents. They were given the child they couldn't have, and we've shared 28 years of life together so far! They also wrote I letter I read to her last weekend thanking her for the life she gave us, and she expressed thanks to them for being able to raise me. Such neat moments I bet we've all thought about experiencing "once day". I'm so thankful that day came! 

All of these thoughts and emotions were on my mind as we walked into lunch last Sunday to meet her. I already knew she had a generous and kind soul and it was so neat to just be there in each other's presence. To try to catch up on 28 years of curiosity, questions, etc. It was just the tip of the iceberg, but I feel like I get to know myself better when I get to know where I came from. It's such a neat experience. I'm so blessed to have been raised by a great loving family, and now, to get to know the one that brought me into this world. I'm still soaking it all up, but wanted to share with you a piece of my heart. 

Today's Pinspiration:

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September Special

Thanks for all of your love regarding my last blog post! It's been very encouraging to say the least. You all are so sweet!

I wanted to hop on quickly to share an oils special I have going on this month:

Throughout September, anyone who purchases a premium starter kit (details about what's in the kit are here) from me will get a free bottle of Cedarwood added to their welcome kit I send! 

Cedarwood helps many with sleep and allergies to name a few, and it doesn't come in the kit, so it'll be an extra oil for you! Cedarwood has a warm, balsamic, woody aroma. It is relaxing and soothing when used for massage, and has long been used as a beneficial ingredient in cosmetic preparations for oily skin. I'll also be sending a pocket reference guide to help you get to know your oils. The welcome kit has some fun goodies you'll enjoy.

For the next two weeks or so, Purification will be replaced with Di-Gize and Frankincense with Sacred Frankincense in the premium starter kit, making the kit worth even more value! This is just temporary due to demand.

As always, let me know if you have any questions. I'm excited for you to experience the wellness Young Living essential oils offer! 

I hope you're enjoying your night! We're enjoying the winding down of a great long weekend.

Today's Pinspiration:

I was looking for a cute September/fall related photo, but ended up linking this one better. I love love. I do look forward to weekends of cooler temps (though we'll have to wait a while longer for that), football, and fall baking. Bring it, September!

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Fibromyalgia Update

Hey friends! I am actually excited about this fibro update - more than I ever have been to write one of these updates! After being diagnosed with fibro in March 2011, I have tried countless prescriptions (10+) and this spring, I found myself in a place where I was taking 6 prescriptions a day, still struggling with chronic headaches, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and just struggling still in general with the impacts of fibro on my life. 

I'm so thankful to say the Lord has brought me a long way this summer from that place and I can finally see and feel the hope of wellness around the bend and have made great progress. 

I'm down to just 1.5 pain pills a day now (2 prescriptions) to help with fibro. I've been taking 1/2 of a pill of one of them for two weeks to ease off of it and will take that away this weekend (YAY!). I hope to ease off my last pain prescription in the months to follow, though it's a stronger RX and I'm praying it will go well as I ease off. I feel so much more myself after being on pain meds for so long that have made me feel groggy, dizzy at times, super tired, feverish, out of body feelings, some have given me high blood pressure and all kinds of side effects. I feel like the scales have been peeled back and I'm ME again and it feels great. 

There are still days I have pain, rare headaches (I used to not have a moment without a headache, so this is huge!), and I still deal with chronic fatigue right now. I'm so thankful though and I think the path the Lord has brought me through has given me so much perspective in life - days I wake up and feel a little bit rested are such a gift after years never waking rested. I praise the Lord every morning for giving me the strength, energy, etc. for the day. I didn't praise Him for "simple" things like that before my fibro battle. 

Only God knows why we go through these things, but on this side coming out of it, I can see more clearly and am so thankful for this progress and perspective. I have a new goal to help others in their journeys to wellness - and in some cases, help encourage those wanting to find alternatives to prescriptions. Don't get me wrong, prescriptions certainly have their purpose and there are times we need them, but I'm so thankful to be heading in a direction not relying on them every day. 

What's helped? So many things have helped, friends, really. 

• So much prayer through this process. 
• Having a strong family and friend support system (thanks to my hubby especially!). 
• Changing what I eat to exclude dairy and gluten (I may continue on this journey or cleanse at some point to go deeper). Removing dairy from my diet especially has helped the IBS. I have learned to be careful and avoid certain foods (with too much fat, too greasy ,etc. my body can't handle well).
• Drinking water. I can allow myself to be dehydrated easily, and I really don't feel well when my water intake is low. I've been trying really hard (I'm not sure why it's so hard!) to keep this up. Flavored oils in my water help at times to add a little something to the water too. 
• Chiropractic care helped when I went this spring - I need to find a new chiropractor now. I also need to exercise - it's supposed to help a lot and I need to get myself on an exercise plan - even starting with yoga. 
• Connecting with a helpful naturopath helped point me in the right direction and did a thorough evaluation. She was even the one to point out, "You're taking ALL of these prescriptions, and you STILL have all of these chronic symptoms"... yes.. that was a moment of realization I needed to hear I wasn't headed where I was trying to go. 
• Essential oils have been giving me a great foundation this summer as I've decreased my prescriptions. I use some Young Living supplements, oils in the premium starter kit, and I'm been having fun trying new oils each month to help. I've been really blessed by Young Living's supplements and oils this summer! They've helped with pain, headaches, teeth grinding (I used to wake up with pain throughout my jaw and the sides of my face & temples every morning and now I don't - at all!), anxiety, and I'm sure there are others I'm leaving out. 

I praise the Lord for all of this progress, it feels great! Thank you to so many of you for your prayers over the years. I continue to lift it to the Lord and trust His plan for my life. 

Today's Pinspiration:
I can really relate to this sentiment. I'm so thankful to have gotten off so many RXs successfully so far and pray the remainder goes smoothly too. It's a big adjustment when my body has taken them for so long.

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{Farm Fresh} Spaghetti Squash, Roasted Okra & a Fig Salad

Happy weekend, friends! In our last loot of produce from the co-op, we had some fun new vegetables to try! I had wanted to try spaghetti squash before, but it was out of season at the time. I also hadn't tried okra and was excited to try it! 

Spaghetti Squash

Cut the squash in half, pull the insides out with a spoon (it's similar to the inside of a pumpkin), discard that stuff. Put a little olive oil inside both halves, season it with pepper and I used a little garlic and a touch of salt. Put them in a pan (I added aluminum foil to the bottom), open sides down. I think this way, it kind of steams the squash.

Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes. We checked it by taking a fork to see how easily the insides fluffed - they should fluff pretty easily! We put it back in for another two minutes or so then pulled them out. 

It's wild how much it is really like spaghetti! In look, texture and flavor.  Nick and I were so impressed and excited about the outcome of this squash. Good thing, because we have two more in this week's produce batch!

Add your favorite pasta sauce and you'll love it! You can also add meat, veggies, ect. I made it quickly so didn't have anything else prepared, but it was great just like this!

Roasted Okra

To cook the okra, I cleaned them, cut off the top and bottoms, and let them dry. Once they were dry, I put them on parchment paper and rolled them around with olive oil (just enough) and salt. Then, I put them on a baking sheet with the parchment paper and added them into the oven with the squash. When the squash came out, I raised the temp to 425. 

If you bake these alone, I'd cook them at 425 for 10-15 minutes. 

They turned out so good and we enjoyed our first okra experience! 

Our farm fresh meal that was SO delicious and filling for a couple of veggies! :)

Our batch also had figs - another first for us! We tried some just eating alone and enjoyed them. The taste isn't what I expected, but it was nice! I added them for an easy side salad for another meal last weekend.

This week, we got tons of produce, so I'm sure I'll have more recipes coming your way!

Those collard greens and rainbow chard leaves are HUGE!

Today's Pinspiration:

Cheers! Let's make it a party and shower others with kindness :)

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