1.17.2015

You and Me Forever




Adam and I just started this new marriage bible study and I'm really excited about it! I wanted to share what we are reading, You and Me Forever by Francis Chan and his wife Lisa. I think this will challenge us in some new ways, not only with our marriage, but also in our personal relationship with Christ. Our routine right now since Ollie usually likes to play with her "babies" after bath, is to read the bible and then a couple pages from this book every night. It has already brought up some amazing points/details/ideas that neither of us just haven't really thought about. Kinda fun! So yay! Check it out!



Holla' back Youngin...Young Living that is.




I wanted to do a quick blog on the new thing I am getting into...essential oils! This really isn't a typical "Amy" thing I feel. In fact, my husband made fun of me multiple times when I approached him about the idea of getting "these oils" for "things"...I have been hearing about them from every different direction. Bombarded. Facebook. Insta. Pintrest. Yes. Yes. Yes. And so finally, to my surprise, dear Adam got me some for Christmas (with the help from my dear sis-in-law, Liane)! I wanted to try them out and see what all the hype was about. A big thing for me was that you can use them a lot with your kids and family. So, I think of it as a family investment. After talking to some people and doing some research I decided to go with the Premium Starter Kit by Young Living

It includes 5ml bottles of peppermint, joy, frankincense, lemon, lavender, thieves, stress away, purification, pan away, and melaluca (tea tree oil) AND the bonus oil citrus fresh. If you sign up for any of the starter kits, you are then able to purchase any reorder oils at 24% off retail prices and get discounted shipping. Here is the link to what is in included in the starter kit. Great deal as the diffuser alone retails for $100.

http://www.youngliving.com/en_US/opportunity/products/starter-kits/premium-starter-kit

There are a million ways to use the oils. So far, this is what I have done personally: 

1) Diffuse- I have been diffusing away on weekends and at night time. I have been diffusing lavender a lot during Ollie's bath time and an hour or two before bedtime in her room. You can diffuse for a multitude of reasons, some being: reduce bacteria, improve concentration, stimulate the mind, remove odor, relieve headaches, relax the body, and the list goes on!
2) Headaches- Adam has had a couple headaches and even though he made fun of me for these...guess who was asking about them when his headaches came on...?! We applied the peppermint on his forehead and back of his neck and it worked! Headache gone!
3) Ollie- I started rubbing lavender mixed with coconut oil on Ol's feet before she goes to bed. Now, I don't know if it's the smell, or the mini massage I give her little feet, but she now almost requests it!
4) Sugar scrub- so I pinned this sugar scrub on pinterest just thinking them lemony smell would be a nice change of pace from this winter coldness. I made it this weekend and honestly, when I was making it, I thought it was too simple. Sugar, coconut oil, lemon oil. I used it the next time I took a shower and was LOVIN how soft my skin was after! I guess I don't exfoliate as much as I should...:/ But, it was amazing. 
5) Chapstick- Okay. Adam received this homemade chapstick at his old work awhile ago and he told me it was his favorite chapstick ever! So, I wanted to try to make some! And Ollie is obsessed with chapstick, so I figured we would do a mother/daughter project...



6) Lemon water. I have been adding a drop or two of lemon to my water daily. Here are some benefits!



7) Bath- This one seems pretty simple. However, I am now obsessed with it. The other night I read you could just add a few drops of lavender oil to you warm bath. I did. And I felt like I was at a spa. The smellllll....hmmm...take me back. So, this will be used a lot! 

I have been using the lavender like crazy. I just ran out and am making another order today to just get a bigger bottle of that. Honestly, I didn't think that would be one of my favs..but it is amazing.

Since I am pretty new at this, I just pinterest ideas and a million come up. So it's easy to just take off with it!




Click here if you are interested in signing up! Feel free to ask me any questions you may have- now, I'm pretty new so I may not know all the answers immediately, but I have plenty of people who I can refer too! Or if you just want to order a couple oils and try them out, I can order them for ya with the discount! 

The wholesale option is by far the best deal, offering you a 24% discount as well as the opportunity to buy the Premium Starter Kit. There are no member fees, no monthly or annual fees, and you are under no obligation to sell or distribute any products. If you choose the retail member option, you will not get the 24% discount, and you will not be eligible to buy the Premium Starter Kit.

1.07.2015

Hummus & Chocolate

It's January one and a new year is upon us! A lot has changed this past year.  Moving back from Kansas. Adam working from home. New house. Remodels. My new job. Yep! And a lot will change this year with an addition of a little boy to the clan! Feeling very blessed! 

I have tried to take every moment this winter break to soak up in Ollie time! Since the next time I will have time off school will be to to have a baby (hopefully)! A couple things about this cute face right now. 



1) Nails. She loves when Adam or I paint her nails. She wants new colors every day. She wants toes painted. Fingers painted. The whole shebang. Sometimes there are multiple colors going on at one time. Yellow and green paint are her favorites. Uncle Boss would appreciate the Packer colors.

2) Hot Dogs. After every nap and every morning over break Ollie woke up and said "hot dog" as her first words outta slumber. She likes hot dogs. With buns, without. Corndogs. She likes them all. And it's still pretty much like clockwork that when 9pm rolls around and we are just about to climb into bed after our bath and books she grabs one of our faces with both hands and whispers the words.."hot dog"...

3) Sentences. It's fun to see little brains work. She is starting to take all the words she says and create sentences of her own. They even kinda make sense. The other day we were going to Target and as she got out of the car she told Adam "cold hat, hat, mommy hat, daddy hat, ollie hat. cold out."

4) Like father like daughter, like mother like daughter. Ollie is such a little mini me of both Adam and I. The perfect storm. This morning she asked for hummus for her snack (Adam), but last night she begged for chocolate. So we had her pick up her kitchen area to receive that piece of chocolate. She cleaned up in seconds singing her "clean up clean up" song and when Adam gave her the chocolate she thanked up both over ten times and gave us multiple hugs as she savored her piece of chocolate goodness (totally me- considering I bought a bag of pb M&M's the other day and realized that I alone consumed the WHOLE bag in a week. The big bag too. Yikes.) It's fun to see her likes and appreciation for things at this young age- everything is such a big deal!

Here's to 2015!