Those New Years Resolutions

I don't make New Years resolutions.  Because nobody keeps them and I believe that if you want to make a change you should just make it, don't wait until January 1 to do it.

But this year there are a few resolutions that I kind of want to make.  So I guess I do make New Years resolutions after all!

1. Be more intentional with my time. I find it so easy to get home and flop down on the couch.  And I love that, and it's going to be hard to change because after a long day it's how I relax.  But then I think about how much more productive I could be if I was just more intentional with my time.  Work out while I'm watching TV or actually fold the pile of laundry instead of letting it sit next to me (this sounds easier than it is).  Blog in the morning or after the kids go to bed.  Or like right now, after I spent 10 minutes aimlessly trying to find a movie to watch on Netflix and then realized that I have two photobooks that need to be made!  So the goal is to find things that I can be more productive with that better our family life as a whole.

2. Get up at 5:30 am.  Ok, I've been trying to do this since I went back to work.  It works about 2 days a week and I aim for 4.  So I want to try harder.  You see if I would get up at 5:30 I could get a 30-45 minute workout in and then I wouldn't have to worry about working out in the evening.  (Which 100% of the time never happens...)

3. Meal plan.  This has just disappeared since I went back to work.  A lot of it is because I barely have time to grocery shop, and if I don't know when I'm grocery shopping it's hard to plan meals.  So maybe Ryan and I have to make more of an effort to figure out what night I will grocery shop and then I can properly plan my meals.  I also received Shay Shull's Slow Cooker recipe book for Christmas.

Some other goals is to drink more water, go to yoga more and try to get back into reading on a more regular basis!  Since going back to work these things have all kind of disappeared, but they are important!

Here Comes Santa Claus...Right Down the Santa Train

Christmas Eve seems as good a time as any to finally post about our trip on the Santa Train.  The Santa Train is a local train that you ride on and there is someone singing carols and then Santa comes to visit.  It's fun for the kids and kind of makes an even out of seeing Santa.  

The first half of the trip we had a man singing carols and playing the guitar and another man playing the saxophone.  The Santa comes onto your train car and everyone takes a turn to go down and see him.  Santa was so nice and friendly.  He gave the boys a train whistle.  Parker asked for a flashlight for himself and a flashlight for Cooper. (He's been pretty consistent all season that all he wants is a flashlight, Santa has a pretty easy job this year.)

Why Doterra?

I guess I promised a post on why I choose to use Doterra oils, so here we go!

Oils are confusing.  I get it.  They are everywhere now.  They are in the mall, at Walmart, at random stores.  So how do you know which ones to use?  And why would I choose to go with an MLM company to purchase my oils when I can just go to the mall to grab them?

First of all, for me Quality is a huge issue.  When I am putting oils on my skin, or on my children or even taking internally, I want to know that I can trust the oil.  I know that Doterra has quality oils.  Do they cost more?  Maybe.  But oils are kind of serious business, they are fairly strong and so I really want to trust what I'm using.

Support is another huge consideration for me.  Because Google is confusing, I like to have as much info available as possible.  When you go to a store and buy an oil, there are so many things that you don't know.  Some oils are hot oils and shouldn't be put right on your skin or ingested.  Some are phototoxic, so if you put it on your skin and go into the sun, you will burn.  I like to know that I'm using my oils as safely as possible.  And I also like to know all the ways you can use an oil! 

When you sign up with Doterra, you get support from the team that you sign up as a part of.  So I have access to a members only website and facebook group, plus a connection with my upline leader, so I can talk to her if I need to.  And she knows everything there is to know about oil usage! 

Like anything, you need to look at what is important to you and decide which brand is best.  Anyone who knows me knows that I don't really spend money frivolously.  But I will spend a bit more on quality oils that I can trust.  (However, I don't think that Doterra is overpriced comparatively to other oils, besides maybe the oils that you would find at Walmart, that I really wouldn't recommend buying...) But overall, I think oils are also saving me money.  I've been cleaning with oils for a few years and a bottle of lemon oil costs like $12 and still lasts a long time.  If you look at all of the products you can replace with oils, you can really save a ton of money.  I also love to make my own roller blends because it's so much more economical then buying them premixed!  Roller blends make your oils easy to use because they are prediluted, safe for kids and make your bottle of oil go even further.

Whatever you choose to use, I feel like oils are the way of the future.  They are a way to make our family healthier, save costs and grab for a more natural remedy as a first choice. 

My Oily Usage

Today I wanted to share the ways that I have used essential oils in the past couple weeks. Using oils is a bit of a lifestyle change.  It's easy to get your oils and then leave them sitting on a shelf.  You really have to find ways to implement them into your life that's easy.  Once they become a habit, they become the first thing you reach for when you need to solve a problem!

So here are some of the really simple ways that I have used my oils lately:

• Lemon oil to clean my tub
• Lemon and On Guard spray to clean off pukey car seat straps (the joys of having children)
• Congestion roller on my sick kiddos
• On Guard Immunity roller to try to keep me healthy when I started to feel run down and sick
• Oregano on plantar's warts (gross I know, but nothing else has worked, although I do have to be cautious with Oregano so I'm taking a bit of a break from this)
• Lavender roller to help Parker sleep
• Lavender spray in the boys rooms
• Diffused Tea Tree and On Guard to kill germs from our household flu bug
• Lavender oil on dryer balls to freshen our laundry
• Easy Air (Breathe) in the tub - this would be great if you were congested, I wasn't, but it still smelled amazing!
• Lavender and Easy Air diffused at bed time to help us sleep (and help Ryan's cold)
• Tea Tree in my shampoo for eczema 
• Deep Blue on my thighs after a tough leg workout (not actually a tough workout, but apparently I'm out of shape!)
• Diffuse lavender and copaiba when feeling slightly stressed and overwhelmed
• Digestion roller on my tummy for instant relief of tummy trouble
• Homemade headache roller that had peppermint, frankincense and lavender in it to combat a headache

Let me know if you want any more info on oils and I will help you if I can!  I know that a lot of people are at a point where they are looking at some more natural options to use in their lives and in their homes.  If you are interested in Doterra oils and their benefits, I would love to point you in the right direction.  I'm also going to do a post on why I've chosen Doterra, so stay tuned!

My Essential Journey

You may recall (but probably not), that I started trying out essential oils a couple years ago.  For the past few years, I have dabbled in oils and used them here and there.  However my biggest hesitation for myself was that I was basically either pregnant or breastfeeding.  Oils are fairly potent and so it's super important that you don't use oils that aren't recommended while pregnant or breastfeeding, or that you don't use oils on kiddos that aren't safe for them.  (Being pregnant or breastfeeding actually isn't a reason not to use oils, you just have to know what oils you can and can't use!) 

I used some oils here and there, but it wasn't until I was having stomach issues a few months ago and had a wedding to go to.  I tried out a digestion roller on my tummy and the relief I felt was instantaneous.  After hours of stomach pain and discomfort, it literally disappeared seconds within applying the roller.  And that was my ah-ha moment!

So now that I have no children, born or unborn, who are affected by my body, I am able to really use oils for whatever purposes needed!  I've recently joined on with an amazing group through Doterra oils and I'm really excited about it!  

I'm going to have a few posts on my latest oily uses and I hope that if nothing else they can help you out a bit or open your eyes to all that oils have to offer!

I first started using oils because after having Parker I just didn't feel comfortable with the chemicals that were in our house.  I started using oils to clean the house with and have loved that!  I now combine my oils with Norwex products and feel really good about the lack of chemical cleaning products in our house.  I don't have to worry about the yucky stuff that the kids are sitting on in the tub, or the floor cleaner that's on my floors that they are crawling around on.

But there are so many more benefits to oils than just cleaning products!  They can provide physical support and emotional support.  They can make your house smell great and kill germs.  

I hope you will follow along my next few posts to learn a bit more!

Christmas Expectations

I just read something that was sent out by my church that said that if we have low expectations of Christmas, we can't be disappointed.  Disappointment only comes when something doesn't meet our expectations, so by lowering the expectations, you lower your chance of disappointment.  While I agree that this is true (and have seen people be disappointed when their expectations are too high), I don't like this theory.

If we had no expectations for Christmas, would we even be excited about it?  There would be no anticipation for this season!

I think we need to adjust our expectations, especially when we have young children.  I have the expectation that Christmas will be great, but it may not be perfect.  We might not get the perfect family photo, the kids may not behave perfectly, there might be crying at some point in the day.  Nap time is sure to be messed up, which might result in cranky kids.  But we will make memories.  At some point in the day we will all be happy, we will enjoy opening gifts and watching others open gifts.  We will eat delicious food and spend time with family. 

So my expectations are high, but we aren't aiming for perfection here, we are just aiming for some Christmas memories.

November Book Reviews

So....you may or may not of noticed that there wasn't a book review for October.  Unfortunately I read no books in October, but it wasn't for lack of trying!  I spent 3 weeks trying to read Seeing Red by Sandra Brown.  Usually I like Sandra Brown, and this was her newest and the librarian talked me into borrowing it because it had just come back in.  I could not get into it!  Now it has decent reviews on Goodreads, so maybe I'm the only one who felt this way.  But I just found that it went on and on about nothing for too long.  And I HATED the way the man talked to the woman in it.  I found him crude and vulgar and yet she was interested in him.  It sounded like the book was written by a man because I couldn't imagine a woman actually writing those parts.  So anyways, this was one of the first books in a very long time that I didn't finish!

Luckily November has been better.  I'm back to work so I don't have as much time to read, but I'm often reading on my lunch since I have an hour.  So we just have a couple of reviews this month, and here they are.

The Rumour by Elin Hilderbrand

I knew that this was a good choice after the Sandra Brown fail because although I don't find Elin Hilderbrand's books hugely thrilling, and they are somewhat predictable, they are a nice light read.  It's easy to get into them and enjoy them. 

This book is about a couple of friends in Nantucket.  There is one who is having an affair with her gardener, one who is writing a book about it, and then all of the rumours that are going on about both of them an their husbands because Nantucket is a small place, and that's what happens.

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

I loved this book.  How much I love a book is just based on the feeling I get.  I couldn't put this one down but I also didn't want it to end.  I liked it much more than The Woman in Cabin 10, which was Ruth Ware's last book.  I'm also definitely looking forward to reading her other novel "In a Dark Dark Wood" now.  

This book is about 4 girls who were friends in high school.  While there, they had a "lying game" where the goal was to tell the biggest lies and make people believe them basically.  Of course something terrible happened as well and now 15 years later it is coming back to haunt them.  I liked that this book was about girlfriends, it made it different than so many other books.  I found it interesting the differences between the girls, the length of time that had passed and yet they could still pick up where they left off.  There were some plot holes as we got further in, which kind of bugs me.  I think that's what bugged me most about The Woman in Cabin 10 as well.  But overall this has been one of my favourite books in awhile!

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is a super late addition (like I'm adding it on December 21 and originally posted this at the beginning of the month).  I'm not really sure how I missed this book!

This book is based on the idea that every time we make a decision, the two decisions create a new life line and our lives run in parallel in two separate dimensions...if that makes sense.  I know there's a more eloquent way to state that, but I can't figure out how right now.  So this book is based on Hannah's life and two very different ways it could of gone based solely on the a decision she makes one night.  I did like the book, I found it interesting that I wasn't cheering for one story line more than the other, I liked them both.  But I'm not sure I buy into this idea that we have parallel lives. 

The book was a good read, like all of the other Taylor Jenkins Reid books I've read have been, but it wasn't one of my favourites.

Moms Make the Magic

I love Christmas.  I love the day, I love the season.  It's magical.  But that magic has really changed since I became a mom.

When you are a kid, Christmas just happens.  You get to enjoy every second of it, stress free.  All these presents just appear, a meal is put on the table in front of you.  You come down on Christmas morning and the tree is pure magic.  As a mom though, it's now my responsibility to make that happen.  

I have been shopping for months.  December is full of all my usual responsibilities, plus extra parties, decorating the house, visits to Santa, cooking extra special meals, parades, wrapping presents, making sure that everyone on your list has a gift.  (It's not just Santa who makes his list and checks it twice.)  Moms have to make all of this happen, and it's a lot of pressure.  But I gladly do it, because I want Christmas to be a magical time for my kids, just like it was for me.  

Christmas is the one occasion that I think that all of the extra stress and pressure is worth it.  I love all of the traditions, even if it means that every weekend is packed from mid November until the end of December.  

So here's to all of the moms out there who are making Christmas magical for their entire families.  And here's to a relaxing January, with maybe a spa day thrown in there somewhere...