A Giant Christmas Secret

Posted on by Krystal

Ok. I’m back. And this is important, you guys.

I have super insider info and I’m sharing here for the first time ever. So if you don’t want to know a little about Christmas magic and how it isn’t really magical, look away.

Santa. He’s pretty great, right?  He gets all these presents for kids (even though he’s pretty sure the naughty list should be a lot longer. He’s seen some of those kids in Walmart with their mom and he’s not sure they made the right list after all…) and gets them all delivered in one night.  He’s pretty amazing at all things Christmas, because he has to be. He’s FATHER CHRISTMAS.

BUT did you know he’s absolutely terrible at wrapping presents?  It’s true. Let me explain.

So first things first, no one ever thinks about the fact that Santa has family members he has to get gifts for as well. That’s a lot of shopping and wrapping and by the time he gets to wrapping the gifts for the kids, he’s pretty tired of folding, taping, and garnishing. He used it ALL UP.

Now, you’d also assume that Santa has a special wrapping room. No. He doesn’t. He can’t just wrap presents out in the open because then people would see what’s in them and that defeats the whole purpose. So no, instead Santa has to hide in his room and wrap. And he totally always thinks that his bed will make a great wrapping table, but it’s soft and heavy things crinkle the paper and he definitely needs to remember this next year.

Santa absolutely has Christmas music playing while he wraps, but he forgets because he’s concentrating so hard on trying not to rip this extremely delicate barrier that we insist on putting over EVERYTHING. Santa ignores the music while pondering what human came up with this idea and why they chose this media. He pauses from ignoring the music just long enough to wonder what the hell John Lennon and Yoko Ono whisper to each other at the beginning of that song. Except he doesn’t say hell. He probably says “what the jingle” or something.

Santa also takes a lot of liberties with kids’ presents.  Too much paper?  Easier for little fingers to grab that pillow on either side of the box and rip it open. Not enough paper?  Add a strip of scrap. No one will see. Rip a corner?  Just tape it. Because listen, Santa bought cheap paper again this year because he has too many gifts to wrap in that $10 roll. See?  Santa knows that the only people who will admire the wrapping are adults because kids don’t even blink before tearing it all off.

Sometimes, Santa gets lazy and waits until zero hour to wrap. Sometimes he makes this way harder than it needs to be because he drinks too much eggnog that night and forgets where he hid things. He then finds unwrapped toys months later and hangs his head in shame.  But like, really does it matter?  Suzy changed her list daily, right up until Christmas Eve so really she doesn’t even know what she wants anyway.

Santa also can’t micro inspect every package. There are times, if you look hard enough, you might find a cat or dog hair has hitched a ride on your gift. Yes, Santa has pets and who are we to deny him that companionship?

You might unwrap a box and find a long brown hair attached to the tape. “Who’s is THIS!?” you’ll think. This is the most secret part. It’s Mrs. Claus’. She’s not a natural gray. Don’t. Tell. Anyone.

Now. There’s only one time Santa might ACTUALLY say a bad word. I think it’s forgivable because it doesn’t happen often but it totally did happen that one time and he said something really not nice:  When Santa moves the scissors and incredibly, they touch the roll of wrapping paper and rip a GIANT hole in the center of the paper rendering that spot useless for the present he needs to wrap. I knew you’d forgive him. It’s really the worst.

So that’s it. That’s the big secret.

So Santa, if you’re reading this and sweaty, covered in tape, and yelling “WHAT THE JINGLE!?” I see you and your hard work.  Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, and get ready to do it all over again next year and every year for the rest of exsistance. No pressure.

Now where’s my eggnog…

My Secret Stress Relief

Posted on by Krystal

OK. So I’ve sat on this blog post for way too long only because I wasn’t confident in the fact that other people would be interested in this. But here goes anyway because the more I sat and thought about it, I was holding onto something that could help others and not sharing that seemed wrong.  Be prepared for some “woo woo” stuff right now.  You’ve been warned.

So the last blog post I talked about how 2018 has kind of been the worst year ever. And throughout the last eight months I’ve had a lot of people ask me how I didn’t spend that entire time completely freaking out. And trust me it wasn’t easy. But here it goes.

I’ve never been a particularly religious person.  Let me just throw that out there.  Where others would turn to a higher power to help them through a hard time, I never really felt like that was my jam. Instead, I am the type of person who likes to give my brain something else to do and something else to think about. So I decided that I would learn a new hobby, as complicated as that seems during such an intense period of my life. But I’ve talked before about how I am the queen of putting things off and sometimes that’s just how I keep from freaking out.

So during this particularly rough period of time I decide to do what I always do and give my brain something else to focus on. And honestly this kind of came out of the blue and wasn’t something that I had put a whole lot of thought into. But I decided that I was going to take up Tarot card reading. And I didn’t think it was something funny to take up or a cool party trick. I always found it particularly interesting and wondered if it was something that anyone could do or if you had to have any particular “abilities”.

Long story short, I was ill informed about what went into Tarot.

Regardless, I got myself a deck and started researching the heck out of this really cool (what do we even call it?) past time.

Now, know that I had no intention of falling into this stuff so hard.  None.  I just thought it was interesting and sooooo many people are so fascinated with divination for obvious reasons.  I think we all want to be able to peek behind the veil from time to time.  However, Tarot kind of had other plans for me, and soon I found myself head over heels in love with this awesome skill set I had learned.

Also, finding out that my essential oils went hand in hand with Tarot and crystal energies was an added bonus.  Because let’s be honest, I love my oils and what girl doesn’t love pretty rocks?

If I went into details here, you’d think I was crazy.  I’d think I was crazy.  I started to have experiences right away with these cards that made me think that maybe, just maybe this was a path I was meant to take.  The things that were coming up were just too big to be coincidences.  And I sat on this information for months because I was afraid of sounding like I had gone off the deep end.  Like, how do you even begin to tell people that you’re having conversations with your dead relative through a set of fancy looking playing cards?  Yeah.  Now you see my dilemma.  It.  Sounds.  Nuts.

Regardless, I eventually came clean with those closest to me and believe me, I expected a thorough talking to about how this was all nonsense and the Devil’s work and how I need to not mess with things I don’t understand.  BUT, that was not at all what happened.  My grandmother casually told me

“Oh, I believe you.  My grandmother used to read Tarot…”

WHAT.  Where was this cool tidbit before?

Not to mention, I discovered that my great-grandmother on my father’s side was a cartomancer as well.  She read playing cards in a similar fashion to Tarot.

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I mean, how beautiful is this deck?

So here I was thinking that this time, my family would surely disown me for my weirdness, but in reality, this is something that ran in the under current of my DNA all along.  How friggin cool.

So, now I’m at a place where, yes I am still growing and learning (tarot is one of those things where the learning is never really done) but I’m now fairly confidant in my abilities to read for myself and others.  I’ve been reading just about anyone who walks in my door (if they want to of course) and I’ve learned somethings about what Tarot is and isn’t.  At least to me.

Let’s start with what it ISN’T

First of all, Tarot isn’t something that is limited to ladies in comical halloween costumes or those with “psychic” abilities.

Anyone can read Tarot.  Just like any other skill set, some will be better than others, but it is incredibly inclusive and obtainable if you’re willing to put in the work and time.

Tarot isn’t “evil”

There is nothing intrinsically evil about a bunch of cards.  The messages in the cards are complex.  There’s darkness and light in every card.  Yes, even Death.

The cards aren’t the be all end all

Listen, I know we all want to know how the story plays out, but the cards are not giving you information that is DEFINITE.  Things change, situations are fluid based on your choices. You write your story.  Period.

 

Now, what it IS to me…

Tarot is like therapy

Tarot is like sitting down and talking things out with your best friend.  The cards are only going to tell you so much and how you interpret them is solely based on how your thought process works.  So for example, if you sit down to the cards and they say “something is coming to an end to make way for a new beginning.” and you say “Oh!  That’s talking about my relationship!”  The cards didn’t say that.  You did.  But maybe you knew that relationship was on it’s way out and the cards are simply giving you another way to look at the situation.  It’s way more psychological than psychic.

 

So, if this isn’t your jam, I completely understand.  I do.  But you might be surprised once you give it a chance.  ♥

What are your thoughts on divination?  Have you had a reading?  Would you like one?  How would we all feel about maybe doing some card pulls during Facebook Live?  Sound off in the comments and let me know!

 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly…

Posted on by Krystal

Ok, so if you’re reading this post looking for Clint Eastwood, than I’m terribly sorry he isn’t here.  You may leave now.

 

Still here?  Good.  Hi there.  I’m back.  Again.  Consistency is definitely not my middle name.  But life has been a bit of a roller coaster here and I’m still recuperating in a lot of ways.

If you’re tired of my excuses and really don’t care where I’ve been, this is now YOUR turn to duck out along with the Clint Eastwood fans.

So where to start?

Let’s start with all the bad, which ironically is just how this story goes chronologically as well.

Back in January, I swore that 2018 was going to be my year.  2017 had been pretty terrible and I was absolutely desperate for some silver lining action.  The universe cackled.

We received a notice that the home we lived in (which had been in foreclosure for some time) was finally, super officially bank owned and they wanted us out.  Which, yes, we knew it was coming, however no matter how hard we tried, we just could not find a house that would work for us within our budget.  Hands down, the most stressful situation, especially considering we have kids and animals and a whole life.  10/10 do not recommend.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the following night my grandmother called to tell me that my grandfather wasn’t doing well.  She was going to spend the night with him because they were convinced that this was it.  It was his time.  So, I trekked to the nursing home and sat with my grandmother and aunt as we waited.

Now to add insight, my grandparents are two of the most important people in my life.  They’ve played a huge role in my existence and I’ve literally spent my entire life dreading the day when I didn’t have them any longer.  I knew that they were my grandparents and therefore would pass out of my life sooner than I wanted, but I couldn’t imagine a world without them.

So in other words I was living my nightmare.

My grandfather waited until the next morning when everyone left.  He waited until he was alone to pass.  He took a chunk of my heart with him.

I had assumed that when he passed, it would be easier.  He had Lewy-Body Dementia, and hadn’t been himself for a long time.  Which is weird, because you find yourself mourning the loss of someone who’s sitting right in front of you.  I honestly couldn’t imagine anything worse.  It had been a long, hard, emotional haul.  Some would say that at least he wasn’t suffering anymore, but selfishly I just want to go back to the way things were before he got sick.

After the funeral, my brain started to separate him into two separate people: him before his illness and him after.  My brain understood that the sick him had died, but in strange, confused moments, I imagined him well and sitting at home, eating his favorite snack while watching tv.  I still struggle with this.  There are experiences that I’ll never have with him again, and good God if that isn’t hard to wrap my head around.

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My grandparents and I on the day I got married.

 

Anyway, enough of that because once I get started, I don’t stop.

Fast forward a couple of months.  We still haven’t found a house.  We still can’t stay where we are.  And it’s time to get out.  Now here’s where I’d like to say we were totally prepared to leave and had everything packed and a truck rented.  We didn’t.  And though we are both guilty of putting it off, I couldn’t see past my own sadness to do what I needed to do.  And we paid for it.  We spent three days trying desperately to pack and move stuff out, and in the shuffle, so much was left behind.  It came to a point where I had to constantly remind myself that it was just stuff and stuff can be replaced.  I cannot tell you the last time I felt like such a failure.  It was hard.  So hard.

But!  We at least had some place to stay until we got our own home and we ended up moving in with my dad while we continued the hunt.  This meant driving my kids 40 minutes to school each morning and 40 minutes to get them in the afternoon, but seeing as it was April, I couldn’t see pulling them out of school for the last three months.  Not to mention this was a big year for Slugger since it was his last in elementary school.  There’s  a big party and gifts and a graduation.  I didn’t want to take that from him.  So, drive them I did.

Thankfully we eventually found somewhere to live.  It’s an adorable house.  A cape built in the 20’s, but in good shape and the perfect size for us.  The bummer?  We have to move out of state.  It’s incredibly bittersweet.

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Our little home

When I first moved in with my husband, I absolutely hated it.  We were in the middle of nowhere.  It took forever to get anywhere.  Bugs.  Dirt.  Summer traffic.  EVERYONE KNEW EACH OTHER BUT ME.  But after 12 years,  it grew on me.

My kids went to an amazing school.  Their class sizes were tiny, so they got all the help they ever needed.  We made friends.  My kids played sports.  I acclimated.

So now we leave for the suburbs, which is all I ever wanted, but a part of my heart will remain in that little town in the middle of nowhere.

Trust me though, it will not be hard to get used to having EVERYTHING within walking distance. (Almost.  Sort of.  There’s an ice-cream shop and a diner with in walking distance.  Do you need more?)  I’m excited.  I am.  I just wish it had played out differently.

SO the point is, we are still fixing up the house the way we want it and have yet to move most of our stuff in, but once we do, I’ll be back on the grind, filling you in with our new adventures.

If you’re still here, I appreciate you reading as I pour my heart out.  There were tears shed here and it’s not always a pretty, happy, sunshine life.  I said I would be transparent.  Here it is.

I look forward to maybe, one day, being consistent.  In the meantime, thanks for hanging in there.

 

Nevertheless…

Posted on by Krystal

The internet is a funny thing.  We see the best of everyone’s lives and then sit and compare ours to the snip-its they are allowing us to see.  I always thought this was ridiculous, but you know what?  I’m guilty too.

I’m guilty in that I absolutely compare myself to the girls with the beautiful clothes, perfect messy buns, gorgeous homes.  I do.  I wonder how they look so great all the time and how their lives are so shiny and beautiful and mine is just such a mess.

But I’m also guilty in the sense that I also heavily edit my life.  Now I don’t do this because I want people to think I live a perfect fairy tale or that I’m better off than anyone else.  Quite the opposite, I don’t want people to see what is really going on and think “Oh wow.  Her life is F’ed UP”.

But here I am.  I’m about to put all that out there.  I’ve put bits and pieces out there before, but if I want to truly expect people to know and trust me, than I need to show them all of me.

And getting to know someone who is never present online, well, that’s nearly impossible.

So here’s my thought.  I’m letting my hair down, you guys.  I want to be ME.  Not some polished, happy version of myself.  Listen, sometimes I get cranky.  Sometimes, I curse.  Ok, well a lot of the time I curse.  Sometimes, I don’t like things.  But that’s part of being a real person.  And I feel like those are all the things that I’m so afraid to convey on social media.

So what is the point of this post?  Well, firstly, it’s another in a growing list of “I’m sorry I’ve been absent” posts.  When I tell you my life has been in shambles over the last year and a half, that is no understatement.

We have had several health scares with family members, some more permanent than others.  From serious motor vehicle accidents, to surgery, to a completely debilitating disease, this year has not been kind to our extended family members.

On top of all that, the home that we are currently living in has been foreclosed on.  We have been house hunting for quite some time, as I’ve mentioned briefly before, but due to our lacking budget, we have yet to find a house that will work for us.  So right now, I’m packing to move into a house that I don’t own yet and we are desperately searching for something while the clock ticks on.

I cry most days.  I hide it from most, but this year is taking a toll on me mentally.  And I know I’ve talked before about how easy it is to shut down when you are stressed.  I do it ALL THE TIME.  But when you shut down and do nothing, sometimes you lose sight of some of the things that make you happy.  For me, my business is one of those things.  I love building my business, interacting with people, making relationships.  HELPING PEOPLE.  I love it and it brings me joy.  But I forgot.

SO here I am.  I am back for the hundredth time.  Be patient with me.  Know that through the madness, I’m trying like hell to get back to happy and back to my business.  I want to shed some layers and become just a little more real, a little more transparent.  Nevertheless, I plan to persist.

First Day Survival

Posted on by Krystal

Sure. That sounds a little dramatic, but whatever. Today was the first day of school!!!  And it still isn’t over. I’m actually typing this from cheerleading practice on a phone with 5% battery. Nothing like cramming it all in.

Speaking of cramming it all in, this is a HUGE post.  It is.  So, before you bail (please don’t) I just wanted to let you in on some exciting stuff.  I’m hosting an online Intro to Essential Oils class, right on Facebook.  It’s Monday, Sept. 12th at 9pmEST, but the info will stay up a couple of days.  There will be all sorts of good tips and information and probably a giveaway and probably some fun.  And.  So many ands.  Anyway, head to my Facebook page to find the event and JOIN US.  Any way, back to the post at hand.

Orginally I planned to just talk about what my kids were using this year to help them in school, but after I slathered things all over MYSELF this morning, I thought it could be awesome to cover both sides of the coin.

Dont get me wrong. I was really excited for both of the kids to ship out this morning, but it was a little bittersweet. I’ve had a buddy with my for the last (almost) five years. Seeing as I suffer from anxiety, it’s always helped to have a friend to talk to. I know that sounds super dependent. And it is. Shhhh.

So anyway. I was doing fine until Facebook decided to break my heart by showing me a picture of Slugger’s first day of Kindergarten. (Totally just typed Kinderfarten by accident and my phone says that’s a word. Mental note to look that one up later.) My mother’s guilt always kicks into high gear when I see pictures of little Slugger. We’ve had such a hard road and I always wish had done things differently. Maybe had more patience. Or been more gentle. I don’t know. A lot of things. Moral of the story it was seriously killing my “I’m going to Target with my bestie alone” vibe.  It doesn’t help that I’m PMSing. Dangerous.  So I oiled up. And ended up dressed as a unicorn. Magic!image

Ok and my phone died.  I’m going to break here to tell you a secret.  Every time my phone dies, I imagine I’ve been transported back in time and I’m trying to show people my phone.  I just keep telling them that if only I had a charger, I could show them that touchscreens are real!  Not sure what that says about me.  Anyway…

Since my phone died and I’ve had approximately 2300480298 things to do, it’s no longer the first day of school.  But we can pretend it is.

TIME TO GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!

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Every kid is different, and this isn’t really a guide to school success, more like me telling you what is currently working for us and how we plan to use those same oils/supplements for school.  Things will change I’m sure.  Just as they did last year.  But for now, here’s the lowdown.

Slugger:

We are starting Slugger’s morning off everyday with two different supplements right now: Super B and MultiGreens.

Super B is filled with all of the B vitamins ever (don’t quote me on that) and other AMAZING things like manganese and biotin.  These are great for supporting healthy cognitive function, maintaining energy levels, supporting circulatory function, and boosting your moods!  Umm yes, please.  They also turn your pee super bright yellow, which would only be a positive thing if you are a ten year old boy.  He thinks it’s great.

MultiGreens are filled with more awesome stuff like bee pollen, spiraling, and Pacific kelp.  They even smell amazing.  Which doesn’t really matter, but whatever.  They work in conjunction with the glandular, circulatory, and nervous system.  Glandular…preteen…yessssss.  I’ve posted on ALL the social media about how glad I am that my son no longer smells like a football team.  A BLESSING, YO.

I’ve touched many times on Slugger and his various issues and hangups.  Last year, we had one oil blend that was a total game changer for us:  Clarity.

WHEW.

This blend IS AMAZING at helping provide mental clarity and stimulating the senses.  It also puts some pep in your step.  I believe I covered in a past post how we made the switch from Brain Power to Clarity last year.  Brain Power was great as well, however being that Slugger falls on the ADHD spectrum, stimulation is key to help support healthy brain function.  Using Clarity in conjunction with the the help he has in school allows him to stay focused through the WHOLE DAY.

The next oil blend is one that BOTH kids are taking with them this year.  It’s our tried and true “Bathroom Buddy”.

Bathroom buddy is a Combo of DiGize and Peppermint, both of which offer amazing support to your digestive system.  Anytime either one feels a little “off”, they roll this combo on their belly and go back to being their obnoxious wonderful selves in no time.  Usually after a trip to the bathroom.

DiGize is packed full of amazing oils in itself.  You know, in case I haven’t bragged on it enough or solidified the fact that it is my FAVORITE blend.

DiGize:

Tarragon, Ginger, Peppermint, Juniper, Fennel, Lemongrass, Anise, and Patchouli.

Now, you’re probably all “There’s already peppermint in there, Dummy!”  And you’re right!  There is!  However peppermint is always good to boost certain oils and help them absorb a little faster.  So we add that bad boy in there.  Diluted, of course.

Now, my tiny Pixie.

Pixie is probably one of the most precocious little people you can meet.  She has no problem telling you her life story, no matter how busy you may appear.  Unless of course, you’re a kid.  Then she has no use for and really doesn’t have any idea how to talk to you.  So we needed to make her BRAVE.

We tested out a blend for cheerleading that worked pretty well, but then after going through the Happy Oiler Handbook (did I mention it’s amazing?) I found a recipe called “You Make Me Brave”.  It only had one extra step that ours didn’t, so I thought why not try it for school?  You Make Me Brave consists of Orange essential oil, and two different blends, Peace & Calming and Valor.  Now.  Those blends?  SUPER SOUGHT AFTER.  And super out of stock.  So if you’re following along at home and need to be…well, brave, let me know and we can come up with substitutes for you that might work just as well at turning you into a movie star.  I happened to have snagged both blends before they went out of stock, so I sacrificed them to my child like a good parent.

So any who, that’s Pixie’s secret weapon.  And I can absolutely see a difference in her already, so I’m even more excited to see what the school year holds in store for her!

Now to my unintentional PMSing, Stressed, First Day of School Mom Kit.

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This is basically everything.  I left out DiGize, because I use that EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Because I love it.  Not that I don’t use these other things everyday.  Some of them I do, but I forgot to put the bottle in the picture and this is me pretending that was intentional, ok?

So what do we have here?  You can see the Super B and MultiGreens we talked about earlier.  Love them.  But there are also some other supplements to make your kid free experience run smoothly as well.

Every day I take the Master Formula.  It’s really cool because it’s actually a little packet of supplements already divided up for each day.  So you grab you bag and go.  EASY.  I’m not even going to pretend to be smart on this one though.  I’m literally going to show you EXACTLY what Young Living has to say about these bad boys.

As per the website:

• Naturally supports general health and well-being for the body
• Gut flora supporting prebiotics
• Ingredients help neutralize free radicals in the body
• Includes antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and other food-based nutriment
• Pre-packaged sachets are convenient to take your vitamins on the go
• SSI Technology delivers ingredients in 3 forms chosen for their complementary properties

Click HERE to go to the information page for Master Formula.  It’s some seriously awesome stuff.  GUT FLORA SUPPORT?  Yes.  Clearly I need that.

Now Essentialzymes-4 is super new to me and I just started taking them this past week.  They just keep showing up on my Itovi scans, and I really don’t have to wonder too much about WHY.  These little guys help support healthy digestion of our super duper processed foods and aid in the absorption of nutrients.  Uh yeah, sign me up.

Now, goodness, if I haven’t lost you yet then YOU my friend are either really interested or a trooper.  I like you.  I’m going to wrap this up with my various oils because if you are a woman and have a vagina/uterus/reproductive system/hormones, you need to know about the next two oils.

Progessence Plus and Endoflex.

Now technically, Progessence Plus is a serum MADE with Essential oils, but whatevs, right?  It contains WILD YAM, which sounds weird, but has naturally occurring progesterone.  What?!  It also works double duty, because this stuff is great for your skin.  Let me say, I saw such a difference when using this blend, it actually scared me.  Like, I stopped using it because I was all “NO WAY!”  And then I regretted that I stopped using it because “things” went back to their terrible ways and then I swore I would never be without this again.  Hormone support?  CHECK.

Endoflex supports healthy endocrine function.  So that thyroid?  Let’s keep it healthy and happy.  That makes everything ELSE healthy and happy.  AM I RIGHT LADIES??

The dream team up there.  Trust me.  My kid’s thank me for using them, my hubs thanks me for using them, MY UTERUS thanks me for using them.

I would like to say I’m surprised I ended a blog post by talking about my uterus, but that would be downright lie.  I’m not surprised.

But this, this my friends, is our back to school game plan.  So far I can say we each feel pretty darn great and I will update (obvs) with how this goes for us!  Thank you for sitting through this ridiculously long post!  Go eat some ice-cream!!  You’ve earned it!

If you want a closer look or NEEEEEEED to have any of the oils/supplements mentioned click HERE.

Then tell me how much you love it.  Because you will.

 

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Posted on by Krystal

Vacation.  HA!  That is hilarious.

So I’ve been missing again.  I received an awesome reminder via my email that it has been FOUR MONTHS since my last blog post.  Which just sounds wrong.  I refuse to believe it’s been that long.  But I digress.

We have less than two weeks until school starts here and I’m having conflicted emotions because this is the first time BOTH of my kids will be in school full time.  I want to be sad about it, but I’m ecstatic.  Maybe that makes me a bad person.  But whatever.

So what, you might ask, has been taking up all my time this summer?  Well the vast majority of it has been trying to keep my children alive.  You would be surprised how hard that is.  It requires feeding them, breaking up ridiculous fights, and trying not to murder them.  If you murder them, then honestly why did you bother doing all of those other things?  It would just be silly.   So I find that I’ve been saying “Just go away!”  a lot.  Because I can’t murder you if we aren’t in the same room.  I’m not Carrie.

So the keeping alive of the children was especially difficult this summer because the hubs and I decided we each needed our own vacation.  In the hospital.  A month apart.

I have to say, that my husband was at least courteous enough to wait until baseball season had ended.  The night of Slugger’s last game, he started to complain about a pain in his knee.  He hadn’t done anything to it, but he’s notorious for having horrible joints and being that he spends the entire day on his feet, we didn’t think a whole lot of it at first.  But then he went into work the next morning and couldn’t even stand.  He had to come home and tried to convince me that his giant, red hot knee wasn’t that serious.  I wasn’t convinced and long story short, he ended up hospitalized with an infection under his knee cap.  There were lots of antibiotics involved and a surgery to drain it.  After a little less than a week, he came home.  It was weird and scary.  I didn’t like it.  Not a highlight of my summer.

While this was going down, Pixie decided she wanted to participate in the Little Miss “Insert name of our town here” pageant this year.  So, while her father was in surgery, we were standing around in a super hot field, waiting to see what tiny person would be crowned.  My daughter had NO CLUE what any of this entailed, but was super excited because she knew she got to wear a dress and stand on a stage.  Which is more or less all she did, along with flashing the judges her underpants randomly whenever she felt nervous.  She didn’t win, but now we know for sure she’s my kid.13423875_10209530964381234_9101752849184228286_nEven though she didn’t win, she received prizes for being a runner-up.  Prizes = Winning.  So she promptly left there telling everyone she met that she was the winner and the new Little Miss.  Eh.  Whatever.  You do you, Boo.

So this brings us to July.  My hubs was recovered and back to work.  He stubbornly went back before being cleared by the surgeon and then rubbed it in my exasperated face when the surgeon agreed with him at his next follow up.  Men.

July started out as a pretty magical time.  Our school does a summer enrichment program for all grades INCLUDING the kids going into Kindergarten.  So both of my snowflakes were signed up faster than you can say “BYE KIDS!”.  It was about three hours a day/four days a week.  Which is perfect for both of us to get used to the idea.  I would love to say that I was productive during this time, but seriously it was only three hours.  You can’t do anything in three hours, so I didn’t even try.  I caught up on some reading.  Because then I was learning things too and everyone was better educated after those three hours.  At least that’s what I tell myself.  13599930_10209667783921637_4293443858245239248_nNotice Slugger’s completely mismatched socks.  This kid.  He’s going to be the death of me.

Speaking of Slugger, he turned ten at the end of July.  I’m still in denial.  I’ve covered the many things I’m not qualified for and having a ten year old is just another thing to add to that ever-growing list.  I mean, I was ten not that long ago.  I don’t know what I’m doing here.  I have no idea.  Soon we’re going to be having THE TALK and seriously, I’m not qualified to lead THE TALK.  And my husband won’t have THE TALK, because he, well, doesn’t talk.  WHAT THE HELL!?  I can’t do this.  I need to huff some Stress Away.  I’ll be back.

Ok.  Let’s not talk about that again.

Here’s the part where we get to my tale of misery and woe.  Let me preface this by saying: the only time I’ve been hospitalized was when I was birthing my children and though I didn’t enjoy it, at least I went home with a prize.  Like, “Sorry that was painful!  Here, have a baby!”  I can deal with that.  This wasn’t like that.

Things are about to get gross.  You’ve been warned.

I woke up one morning with weird stomach pain.  Now, this isn’t THAT unusual for me because I’ve had weird stomach pain for a good portion of my life.  The fact that I HAVEN’T had any pains in a while was more unusual.  But any way…

So I think that these are the pains I used to get and I bust out my Digize.  Then I ate some yogurt, because in my head I was all “Yogurt has probiotics”.  I ended up regretting that, because only a few moments later, I ended up seeing that yogurt again.  Gross.  So I call the hubs and really at this point, my main concern is that the kids want lunch and I can’t stand long enough to make lunch, so for the love of all things holy can he please come home and make them lunch?  He comes home, makes them lunch, and proceeds to tell me that I probably shouldn’t feel like I’m in labor and that maybe we need to go to the ER.

So I get my act together enough to roll out of bed and put shoes on.  I did not care that I was wearing little sail boats on my pajama pants.  Didn’t care.  But I did put a bra on, because wearing pajamas while needing a shower and not brushing your hair is a lot to deal with on top of free swinging boobs.  Yeah.  I said it.

If all this wasn’t enough, I hobble myself to the door just to open it up to a BEAR on my deck, hanging out.  In the middle of the afternoon.  This is my life.  Thankfully the bears around here don’t know they’re vicious and can be scared senseless just by whispering aggressively at them.  Which is precisely what I did.  I angrily whispered “What are you doing!?  Get out of there!” and the bear looked at me like I was the scariest whispering person ever and took off.

I learned a super important lesson this day.  If you want to get through the ER quickly, just start vomiting.  No sooner did I start, a nurse rushed in with an IV full of anti-nausea meds.  Which was helpful.  Especially since it was slightly humiliating that every time I threw up, the elderly lady next to me would yell “GOD BLESS YOU!”  She was hard of hearing and I’m pretty sure ended up being my neighbor once I got moved to a permanent room.  Unless I was just blessed with two different deaf old ladies during my stay.  I mean, anything is possible.

I really didn’t think any of this could get worse.  I mean, I was already puking into a bucket and groaning with my eyes half closed for all of the Emergency Room to see while receiving numerous blessings.  That’s an all time low for me.  But then, I went in for a CT scan.  Which was fine.  I mean, whatever.  But after the CT scan, I started to feel very hot.  And queasy.  And the poor, distinguished looking gentleman in a lab coat had to rip me out of the machine so that I could once again resume vomiting.  However, at this point, my stomach was empty.  So instead of vomiting, just made awful noises while retching into a bucket and proceeded to PEE ALL OVER THE TABLE I WAS SITTING ON.  Yes.  I peed.  On the CT scan table.  So then I was groaning, and apologizing, and kind of hoping I would magically lose conciousness.  I didn’t.  But at least the lady next to us couldn’t hear the story when I had to repeat it to my husband upon returning to my assigned cubicle.

So skipping lots of other barbaric stuff, I ended up admitted with what they THINK was an infection in my large intestine.  We are really good at weird mystery infections around here.  So I basically had to lay in a bed with an IV and starve for a few days.  Which was ok, because I was in so much pain that eating wasn’t even a thing I wanted to think about.  THAT’S A BIG DEAL.  I LOVE EATING.  AND THINKING ABOUT EATING.  But anyway…

Things were running smoothly until the antibiotics really started to kick in.  Because the side effects of the antibiotics?  Stomach pain and diarrhea.  The irony was not lost on me.  And I was kind of ok with this anyway because I hate vomiting and would much rather sit on the pot than kneel in front of it.  Everything would have been roses.  Except, that morning, they moved my IV to my right hand.  I’m right handed.  You would think that wiping your butt with the wrong hand would be as easy as just visualizing what the dominant hand does and then, you know, doing that.  BUT NO.  My left hand is for aesthetics only.  It can’t follow directions.  I sat there longer than I’d like to admit just willing it to do my bidding.  It.  Was.  Terrible.  At one point, I missed my target completely and ended up sticking my hand in the toilet water.  I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.   Don’t try it.

I’m feeling much better now.  I still can’t eat quite like I used to and still have random pains, but I’m off all meds and am alive and can wipe my butt.  So it’s all gravy.

WHILE ALL THAT WAS HAPPENING, Pixie started cheerleading.  Which has been a fascinating experience.  I missed her first couple of practices because I was busy sticking my hand in toilets, but for the last two weeks I’ve been taking her and goodness, my kid is going to be a star.

She’s not interested in what the other girls are doing.  Oh no, not my child.  She’s putting her own twist on EVERYTHING.  A lot of it involves jumping.  She jumps.  A lot.  Which is cool because if I jumped, I’d pee, just like I did on the CT scan.  Have kids, they said.  It’s fun.

Anyway, cheerleading has been 2-3 nights a week.  Pixie still really doesn’t understand why they have to show up and do the same things over and over, even though I’ve explained that’s what PRACTICE means.  So it’s been challenging.  Tomorrow is their pep rally, and I’m sure it’s going to be a big, adorable mess.  I’m excited.

AND THIS HAS BEEN MY SUMMER.  If this was being graded, I’m sure the teacher wouldn’t have bothered and probably just would have called my parents to make sure I’m not on drugs or something.  But I’m not anymore.  I finished them, remember?

And though I’d like to say this has been a great summer, it really hasn’t.  I’m glad it’s almost over.  Bring on the school year.  BRING IT ON.

Because I Have To.

Posted on by Krystal

So.  As the title implies, I’m writing this post because I have to.  Why do I have to?  Because I haven’t.  Duh.

I haven’t written anything in some time, and not because my life is void of activity or events, but because I’m terrible at follow through.  There.  I said it.

Also, I have to say (since I like to be honest here) my confidence has been seriously lacking as of late.  There is something to be said about putting yourself out there and hoping people like who you are.

“But you shouldn’t care if people like who you are!  Just be you!  You are special!”  That’s what we’ve been told growing up, isn’t it?

But goodness, it’s so much harder than that.

I don’t know who I am most days, or how to be sure of myself.  I (as I’ve mentioned before) struggle so much with the concept of making adult friends.  And I know I’m not alone.  There are many people who feel this way.  And especially after having kids, all of a sudden you turn into this MOM-BOT that only says things like “Sit down!”  or “Nice hands!”  and you go by names like “Mrs.  So-and-so”  or “So-and-So’s Mom”  and you’re all “Wait!  I used to by my own person!”.

Add to that mix the fact that my humor is, um, a little off brand to the mom world, and things just get even MORE awkward.  I can’t express to you the amount of times I’ve made a joke, just to have people’s eyes glaze over and their jaws slack a little.

I guess the point of this post (besides me once again complaining about how I don’t know how to life) is that I’m in the process of barreling through this weird, awkward second puberty I’ve found myself in.  Thirty is the new twelve.

So if you find yourself feeling similarly, at least know you aren’t alone.

That’s all.

Itovi, Utovi, We all, umm, tovi 

Posted on by Krystal

So I had posted on Facebook some time ago that my Itovi had arrived.  

What the heck is an “Itovi”?

Well I’m going to tell you what it is and what it ISN’T. 

 itovi

There it is, in all it’s tiny glory.  
The Itovi is a personal scanner. Sounds pretty sci-fi, right?  And in so many ways, it kind of is. 

The Itovi uses a technology called “Bioimpedance” to tell us about our own bodies and health. Bioimpedance is the same technology used in most of the fitness trackers people are using these days. Basically, tiny frequencies of electricity are used to bounce around and report back on what is happening in your body. That’s probably the least scientific way to explain this, but Google. Just. Google. 

So after a scan that roughly takes about two and half minutes, you get a read out that looks something like this:

 

So, the read out you see is actually from Pixie’s most recent scan.  Now if you’re like my dad, you’re probably looking at this wondering what any of this means.  As you can see, of the 273 bio points scanned, 72 of them can use improvement. Now this information is based off of so many variables: sleep, stress, diet, exercise, water intake, and so on. 

What this scanner doesn’t do, is diagnose.  I am not a doctor and I’m not going to tell you that you have small pox, or the measles, or whatever else.   

But this scan shows me that based off of this readout, Pixie would have the most beneficial results using Petitgrain. It gives the Young Living description of each suggested oil or supplement and nothing more. So now what? 

Now, I would take this information and research Petitgrain on my own. Knowing what it assists with and what benefits it has leads me to a plan of action as far as how I would use this oil on Pixie. And that’s the gist. 

Do you need extra knowledge of oils to use the scanner?  Not necessarily, but it certainly helps fill in some of the gaps here.  I’ve been more or less running the scan and then providing each person with a full break down or “oil map” letting them know the nitty gritty details. 

Overall, it’s an amazing tool that offers the most customized results possible. Regrets?  None. 

I will say, the results we’ve seen have made tremendous sense when considering our various health concerns. I even eliminated one of the supplements I’ve been taking for a few days (totally intentional, not because I’m lazy. Ha!) and low and behold, there it was in my next scan. Voo doo!  Or, even better, science!  So cool. 

If you’re interested in getting scanned and are local to me here in beautiful New Jersey, let me know!  Or if you’d like to look into getting an Itovi for yourself, or just want more information because I’m a terrible science teacher, visit www.itovi.com

I think it goes without saying, I’ve received no compensation or product for this post (seriously, no one would pay for this). I just wanted to share how excited I was over this new gadget! 

I’m here! I’m here!

Posted on by Krystal

I have been missing for a while!  

I haven’t run away screaming (yet), I’ve just put so many, many things on my plate and I’m trying to keep myself focused and organized on all of them.  I know, I’m funny.

I have been loving the new aromatherapy course I’m taking, but I had NO IDEA it was so involved.  Like, learning about things that I didn’t even know were words let alone concepts I should understand.  It’s deep, involved stuff.  The fact that I’m still marching through it only proves to myself that this is something I’m passionate about.  And that’s a good thing.  A time consuming, stressful, good thing.  So I apologize that this course has taken me away from you, but it’s only so I have more knowledge to impart and more ways to help spread oily goodness.  (Mind out of the gutter, you know what I mean.)

I’m completely in the infancy stages of this course and have already learned a crazy amount of things.  Things that can actually be applied to my daily life.  Which is probably a “duh” concept for other people, but the skeptic in me still lingers in a corner telling me how crazy this all is and that there’s no way any of this is legit.  

Insert science here.  So, so much science, you guys.  

After a heaping helping of science, I started to rethink the oils we were using for Slugger.  Lately, he has been struggling again in school.  Part of this struggle is completely psychosomatic in the respect that because we took him off his medicine (about two months ago), Slugger equates this to being able to act inappropriately and blame it on the lack of medicine.  The fault in his logic?  The behavior he’s exhibiting would never have been controlled by the medicine in the first place.  We’ve once again had to have the conversation about why faking symptoms to receive unneeded medicine is a bad thing.  It’s a work in progress. 

The other part of his struggle is attributed to a complete lack of focus.  Rather than the stereotypical ADHD behaivior (i.e. Hyperactivity), Slugger has been almost retreating into his own head rather than working in class.  He literally sits at his desk and stares into space.  For the entire class.   Work isn’t getting done.  At all.

So again, I started to rethink his oil regimen.  I was originally approaching things based off Slugger’s behaivior at home, rather than his work ethic and I think that’s where I tripped myself up.  The behaivior at home is completely different than at school.  At home he’s loud and defiant.  So naturally, I gravitated towards oils that would promote a calming, focused effect.  The problem here is that kid’s with ADHD typically respond better to stimulants.  So no wonder Slugger was zoning out in school.  I was giving him the polar opposite of what he needed.  

After thinking all this through, I immediately made up a roller of the Clarity blend.  This blend is great for supporting cognitive function, but the best part?  The oils in the blend all tend to have an energizing effect.  A STIMULATING effect.  Bingo.  

Two days later, Slugger’s teacher was raving about how he was a totally different kid in class.  He is focused and alert.  He isn’t responding with anger when asked to make corrections.  He is applying his roller of Clarity about 3 times during the school day and it seems to be giving him the boost he needs.   

Thank God.

We just got our bottle of Mindwise in as well, so I have been giving that to Slugger daily to help things along.  I have to say, I’ve been taking it as well, and it is DELICIOUS. I definitely think we need to give it sometime to judge the results. But let’s put it this way, taste is a bonus.  Slugger takes NOTHING in liquid form, but once we got passed the initial taste, he was onboard.  Win.  

So that’s where we are right now.  Onward and upward.  And hopefully more blog posts. 

I’m trying.  

Hair We Go Again…

Posted on by Krystal

 
Welcome back to another edition of I need a better camera Hair We Go!  Today we were a little pressed for time, so I thought we would try a tutorial I’ve seen floating around for a while.  Some people call it “faking a long ponytail” or “the double pony tail trick”.  What ever makes you happy.  

Being that Pixie has such curly hair, her hair often looks a lot shorter than it really is.  You wet that head and her hair goes down between her shoulder blades, but once it dries, it’s more like a bob.  Regardless, I’d kill for her curls.  Typically, her ponty tails are tiny, curly and adorable.  I’ve actually had people ask if I curl her hair.  I should have really taken a picture of a typical Pixie pony so I could show you, but I’m a terrible blogger and who has forethought these days?  

So any way, let me show you how it turned out. 

   
 I need to start by pointing out the obvious, that weird part on the side of her head makes me crazy!  If I had more time, I would definitely play around with it and see if I couldn’t get rid of that obvious part that screams “Secret ponytail isn’t so secret!”  I had tried this hairstyle on myself and ran into the same problem.  I definitely think it has a lot to do with my lack of hair skills.  

All in all, this hair style is stupid easy and incredible satisfying.  Pixie’s ponytail has easily doubled in length and looks great (aside from that PART!).  I would absolutely do this with my own hair as well.  I would show you, but taking pictures of the back of my own head was super difficult and no one wants to see the lame attempt I made.  

So success!  

Here’s a simple tutorial from makeup.com so you can try on your own!

http://www.makeup.com/two-ponytail-trick
Let me know what you think!