Cold Season is Coming!

Life sure has a way with running ahead of us, I'm baffled to think that we are three months into 2016! However, winter is coming to a close and soon we'll be in shorts, flip flops and enjoying dinner on the porch.

Sadly, with Spring comes cold and flu season, once again, and it sucks the life right out of you! Now there are flu shots and avoiding handshakes to prevent a cold but what do you do when you already find yourself feeling run down with stuffy sinuses, sore throat, upset tummy and sore sore muscles?

There's always the drugstore but what if you could spend less time drowsy and more time enjoying the warmer weather?

Here are a two of my absolute favorite essential oils that make me feel better when I am "blessed" with a cold.

"Thieves® essential oil is a powerful combination of Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus Radiata, and Rosemary essential oils for an aromatic blend that fills any space with a rich, spicy aroma. Inspired by the legend of four 15th-century French thieves who formulated a special aromatic combination composed of clove, rosemary, and other botanicals used while robbing the dead and dying, Thieves is one of Young Living’s most popular products.

With the benefits of Thieves oil including cleaning power and an irresistibly spicy scent, Young Living offers it as an essential oil blend and as an important ingredient in a full range of home cleaning and personal care products, from dish soap to toothpaste. Looking to make your home smell as clean as it looks? Diffuse Thieves oil throughout the house for an aroma that makes every room smell more like fall baking than harsh cleaning formulas."**

Benefits:

• Immune Support
• Purifying

Ways to use Thieves:

• Add a couple drops to 8 ounces of water after being around anyone who is ill or has a sick family (can be also be added to tea)
• Massage a drop onto your neck at the first signs of tonsil/gland swelling and/or sore throat
• Add a few drops to a sink full of warm water as a fruit and vegetable soak 
• Add a few drops to your sink while soaking dishes
• Create your own house cleaning products with Thieves 
• Add to hand soap 
• Use Thieves to make homemade cleaning wipes for on the go*

*Note: Some essential oils are not recommended for infants, babies and young children. Please research each oil according to your child's age before applying or using on their toys. 

"Eucalyptus globulus has a fresh, penetrating scent. It contains a high percentage of the constituent eucalyptol, a key ingredient in many mouth rinses. Applied topically, it is often used to support the respiratory system* and to soothe muscles after exercise. Eucalyptus Globulus has an approximate ORAC of 24,157 (TE/L). TE/L is expressed as micromole Trolox equivalent per liter."***

Benefits:

• Respiratory Support
• Muscle Tension

Ways to use Eucalyptus:

• Diffuse for opening nasal passages
• Use in a personal steam vaporizer (such as this one)
• Add 1-2 drops to a teaspoon of coconut oil and rub on chest, under nose, base of feet before bed
• Add 1-2 drop to a teaspoon of coconut oil and massage sore muscles and nape of neck
• Add 3-4 drop to a damp washcloth and hang over the side of your shower curtain while showering (or you could plan ahead and make shower melts)

Though I wish we could all be free of threatening nasty colds, I am so thankful to have these oils ready to go when one settles in! No one wants to spend two weeks under the weather and drowsy. 

Feel free to contact me at katelynsyoungliving(at)gmail.com if you are interested in any essential oils. 

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Disclaimer: None of the information provided on this blog is to be used to treat, diagnose, or cure any medical ailments. Please consult your doctor before incorporating essential oils if you are on any medications or have any medical conditions. Some essential oils are not safe for pets, infants, children and women who are pregnant. Please research all oils and dilutions prior to use.

** https://www.youngliving.com/en_US/products/thieves-essential-oil

*** https://www.youngliving.com/en_US/products/eucalyptus-globulus-essential-oil

The Good, the Bad, and the Mrs.

December of 2015 has come and gone and we are coming up on three months of marriage! It's hard to wrap my mind around how three months could be over, just like that! Yet, when I look back over the last three months and consider the times I have failed to love or was short tempered and selfish, I feel as though it has to have been longer.

I cannot tell you how many internal battles I have had where I had to choose between being the nagging wife mentioned throughout much of Proverbs (21:19, 15:17, 27:15-16, 25:24) and abiding by 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Sadly, nagging takes many more forms than I ever knew the word to mean.

I knew I was sinful before I met my husband but there is absolute truth in the knowledge that marriage is another part of sanctification. It's as though the Lord is showing me a mirror of myself, magnifying my sins until it breaks my heart. Let's face it, it's acting out. A toddler with the same attitude as a grown adult would be called a brat, while the adult would be considered overwhelmed or tired.

Who would hurt someone they prayed so fervently for? Who would speak disrespectfully to the one they just vowed to honor and obey? Me! I have! No words can express the pain I felt when I let those words of (enter: anger/selfishness/pride) leave my lips knowing they would hurt the one I love so dearly. Next came the regret, wishing I could take them back, and then grace stepped in.

Growing up, I would become emotional if my life didn't fit into the beautiful box I had hoped for. When I made choices that left spots on what I wanted my life to look like, I didn't know how to cope. My emotions left me disappointed in myself, wishing I could go back and start over. I wanted so badly to live life without blemish that each time I failed, it became more and more painful. I became obsessed with maintaining somewhat of a "perfect life".

When I met David, he reminded me that our past didn't have to define our future and that each breath, each day was an opportunity to do better.

Forgiveness is something we all seek, yet we harbor it from others. We know it's powerful! We know it's in the hands of the giver and one of the few things in life that cannot be taken. I guess that's why I am so overwhelmed when someone shows me grace and offers forgiveness. Nothing I have ever done has been worthy of either so they are invaluable gifts.

I will never be a perfect wife but I do want to learn from my mistakes and offer forgiveness when it's my turn. This is the goal I will continue to work toward. My God demands it and my husband deserves it.

Farewell

Those of you who have been following my blog for a few years know that I also blogged over at "All in Good Measure". I saved my creative and educational food posts for there and my life updates and mind wanderings for here. Well, I seem to be in a purging faze and felt it was high time the two blogs became one. Considering the last food post was from November of 2014, it's much less obvious that I fail at blogging ;). I figure it's more accurate to my life for it all to be in one place...it's me, my life, the whole shebang! Oh but don't worry, those posts are all here. Wouldn't have been able to part with them if I wanted. So sit back, relax and don't hold your breath ;).