Leni Goes Wild With Essential Oils

I've got some new stuff cooking up in my kitchen. Essential oils are my new passion. We've been using them for many years, but only recently began really researching the many ways we can use them for every day health.

Let's start with some disclaimers, shall we?

~I am NOT a doctor. 

~I do not have a medical degree of any kind.

~I am not dispensing medical advice. 

~I am a mom with a family that has numerous medical issues.

~My husband and I have been researching alternative medicine for about 17 years. 

~Western medicine failed us, repeatedly, and we had to look elsewhere. 

~Desperate times, desperate measures. Praise God. 

~I am simply sharing what we have experienced, take it or leave it. 

~There are AMAZING alternative practitioners out there. Go find one. Or two. Or five. We have three that we depend on and go to for treatment, advice and training on a regular basis. 

More upfront information.

~Yes, indeed, I sell essential oils. doTERRA Essential Oils, to be exact. Not because I need the money, because I love the oils.

~I suppose, in theory, I can make a profit. I haven't, but I could. I'm ok with that, but it's not my goal.

~If you know anything about me, I don't endorse anything I don't believe in 100%. 

~If the fact that I represent the company bothers you, I apologize, really. But it is what it is. I wouldn't endorse the company if I didn't think it was the best. There may be other great companies out there. I just don't represent them, so I don't know their stuff, therefore I can't endorse them. I don't talk down about other companies. I think it's low-class, and if you have a great product, you don't need to attack anyone else. Just do what you know. It's who I am. ;o)

Can I talk about oils now?

I'm going to do the unthinkable and not start with the basics. I'll get there eventually, but tonight I was just SO excited, I had to share an EO success. I have a child that gets nose bleeds. Sometimes they are really bad and really persistent. Scary, even. We've been to the doctor and had her checked for everything imaginable, they have found nothing wrong.

We tried a lot of stuff. Ointments, humidifiers, food elimination, acupressure, acupuncture, allergy treatment...you get the idea. Did I mention we do a lot of research? ;) After years of trying anything and everything, we have finally found something that worked. Cypress Oil. 

When she got a nose bleed today, I jumped into action. No really, I did. It was almost comical. I just got this oil recently, and have been waiting for a chance to test it. When I realized this was my shot, I jumped up, shoved my computer table out of the way, disentangled myself from my sleeping bag (Western NY is mighty cold this evening) and went running for the oil. I then wrestled her down and forced her to let me put some on her. She's a teenager, and somewhat resistant. I refuse to be thwarted.

I put a drop on the inside crook of each arm (about where they'd draw blood) because I'd read that this was a good place for this particular treatment. Within a couple of minutes, the bleeding had stopped. Now, might it have stopped on it's own? Maybe, but she doesn't usually stop that fast.

My husband had a lot of nose bleeds as a child, and there are a lot of circulation issues and vericose veins in the family, which all seem to be connected to nose bleeds and are treatable with Cypress.

I also read today that Helichrysum oil is great for nose bleeds, but it's expensive and I don't have any yet. It's on my list. Good for so many things!

Some folks have put together a great web site where you can search by oil, or by illness/symptoms. It is put together by folks that support doTERRA, but they try to make it usable for all. I only endorse doTERRA, but you do what you want and go with God. Just please, do not ingest ANY oil unless you know it is safe for internal use and of good enough quality to be ingested.

I plan to share more of my research as I discover new uses, and I hope you'll find it helpful. I really am having SO much success with these oils, I can't even believe it.

In coming posts:
DigestZen for ulcerative colitis, IBS, cramps, indigestion, nausea and heartburn.
Lemon Oil for germ killing and all around goodness.
Lavender Oil for relaxing, insomnia...man, did I not give this stuff enough credit!
Peppermint Oil for morning sickness, fever and energy.
OnGuard for the flu and nasty viruses going around. Everyone should have this stuff.
Clary Sage for all things female hormone related.
InTune for ADHD (family test subjects...we'll see what they think!)
Balance to bring you back into, well, balance. Hormones, anxiety, anger...
Eucalyptus for congestion and cough and so many other things!
Frankincense...where to begin. There's a reason the wise men brought Jesus this gift. Very expensive, very worth it.

OK, enough gushing about oils for tonight. I hope you find this as interesting as I do. If not, skip over it and find something yummy to cook. ;o)

Blessings and health from our home to yours,
Leni
http://www.mydoterra.com/lenorapdavis/

So How About That No Bullying Policy?

As you know, I love MasterChef. I really enjoyed last night's show, but it left me pondering. If you are unfamiliar, there is one contestant on the show who really plays up her tough girl, loud mouth attitude. Her language is vulgar when she's angry (Yeay, Luca, for telling her to watch her mouth...the voice of reason and class.) Anyways, she's also fond of telling tales of beating girls up in the past, yada, yada, yada...

Last night it came to a head when someone challenged her bad behavior. Now I get that conflict gets ratings, but she told this woman point blank that she was going to beat the tar out of her if she didn't shut up.

Here's what I have been thinking about. The producers should eliminate her, I don't care how good of a cook she is. We have this whole National Anti-Bullying campaign going on. We tell kids every day, in every way, that bullying will not be tolerated, and adults have your back. Really? This woman is nothing short of a bully girl grown up, still bullying. Hoping to be taken seriously as a chef, while she cussing people out for cooking better than she does. Threatening to physically harm people and being a vulgar individual.

Kick her out. Make a statement. Practice what you preach, America!

Implementing the Kitchen Plan

Since last Fall, I have been working on a plan to overhaul my kitchen, with as little money as possible. This involved a lot of labor-intensive steps. Marrying off my daughter, hauling out her room, moving all of hubby's stuff into his new music room, selling the treadmill, the list goes on and on. My end game is to have a dishwasher in place before my kids all move out. I've got at least a year or so to work on that.

The first step was to turn my buffet (which had been in the kitchen) into an entertainment center. I wanted the living room to have a more polished, put together look. 

Buffet in it's new home.  

The drawers neatly house all of the DVDs, and our oldest dog thinks we put it there just so that he could sleep underneath it. Our front door is just to the right of the buffet, and this opened up the walk way nicely.

My new shelving, where the buffet used to be. Used the money from selling the treadmill to buy the shelves.

I am also putting in new food rotation shelves for my canned goods. If you are looking for a great product for that, contact Janelle Bird at Shelf Reliance. She is a personal friend and was very helpful when I was trying to figure out exactly what I needed. Will be posting pictures of that set up in the future.

Off the Food Track for a Moment

This is a post I shared on Facebook a bit ago, and I wanted to share here, also. Mainly because I continue to be amazed that maybe the Fibromyalgia nightmare is coming to an end.

To my lovely friends who live with fibromyalgia, I have to share with you. 10 months ago, I went off my synthetic thyroid medicine and started taking a natural form from a compounding pharmacist in Rochester. I did this after reading reports of MANY women who developed fibro after being on synthetic thyroid meds for 5 years. As of about three months ago, 90% of my fibro symptoms are GONE. I feel like I've been set free from a prison. Passing it along in case it might help any of you.

I also have been seeing an Acupuncturist and a Chiropractor who has more degrees in alternative medicine than I can count. He is the one who first suggested (very firmly) that I get off the synthetic thyroid. 


Really, I feel amazing. Minor set backs here and there, but I went 48 hours without Neurontin the other day, and didn't realize it! I had to get back on it to chase off the pain in my legs, but I usually can't function once I hit that 24 hour mark, so this was astonishing.

I hope this will be a help to someone out there. Please don't hesitate to ask questions if there's something more you'd like to know. 

Blessings,
Leni

The Things I Learn From My Dogs

My dogs have a very specific way of sitting and staring intently at something that they want, waiting for us to notice and give it to them. (Usually staring at the door, willing it to open so they can go out.)

Yesterday I was in Walmart, and passed an old man in the candy isle who was in a wheel chair. He was holding two bags of candy, and staring intently at the top shelf. At first I went past him, thinking that he already had the candy he wanted, but after a couple seconds, I realized that I recognized that stare. "Is there something I can reach for you?"

The man's shoulders slumped with relief, as he said, "Well, I'd really like that giant bag of Jolly Ranchers up there. I need them to keep my mouth moist, and that's a much better deal than these small bags." I could relate to that, I've been living on Jolly Ranchers lately. Yes, I know that Jolly Ranchers completely do not fit my food philosophy. Shhhhh.....

I grabbed it for him, and put the other bags back on the shelf. I went back to my cart, and turned to see if he needed anything else, but he was already gone. Makes me wonder just how long he'd been sitting there waiting for help.

So thanks to my doggies for training me well. I'll get you that extra doggie treat later. Just remind me by staring at the treat bin.