Breathe Essential Oil Blend

*Please note, I do not sell essential oils, nor am I getting paid to talk about any particular brand. This is just me talking here.

 

Soooooo, shortly after I got married, I was embarrassed to find out that I snore. I think it’s a combination of gaining weight (most people do this when they get married, so I’ve heard) and contracting some sort of nasal condition involving one nostril being blocked almost all the time… but it moves back and forth, not always the same nostril. I know, I know, I need to see a doctor about this. And I have. And they’ve given be zero answers, so until I find a new doctor here in Florida and figure out if I can afford to see a specialist, I deal with it. One way I deal with it is by using doTerra’s Breathe blend. A friend who sells and uses doTerra had given me some little, tiny, adorable sample bottles, including Breathe, so when I randomly saw a blogger talk about putting a drop of Breathe on her snoring husband’s big toe (yes, I kid you not, a drop on his big toe) and it stopped the snoring, I had to try it. Oh, so weirdly, it works. But alas, those cute little sample bottles only last long enough to make us dependent before they run out! So I let it go, used a humidifier all winter, and occasionally used peppermint and eucalyptus to help clear my nasal passages before bed, but it’s not quite the right thing… I’m not stuffed up, not congested. Things inside are swollen. So the oils that clear things up my making your nose run… well, that’s not what this situation called for.

Then we made the move to Florida, and my stuffiness has gotten worse and even breathing throughout the day is more of a challenge.

One morning, my husband told me he hadn’t slept well because my snoring had been so bad all night. Well. That makes me feel so lovely, so feminine. Ha. That same day I went online and purchased the full sized bottle of Breathe, in spite of the fact that we are currently both unemployed, and money is precious. Sleep is also precious. And I haven’t heard any complaints about my snoring, so it’s gotta be working again!

My Current Favorite Essential Oils

 

Years ago I suffered a stupid injury; riding The Scrambler twice in a row (a carnival ride that, well, scrambles you…) sent me home feeling kooky, and I awoke the next day unbearable dizzy, nauseous, with this splitting headache and characteristic feeling of my scalp crackling… whip-lash. Whip-lash is one of those injuries that many people never actually recover from.  Over time is ‘heals’ enough that you think it’s all gone, until you do one dumb thing that in your previous life wouldn’t have made a difference, and now it aggravates those damaged muscles and tendons and a flare-up occurs. With me, it’s been 10 years and I still deal with flare ups frequently, depending on how we I’m treating myself.  It can be sore, tights muscles in my neck, or as bad as full blown migraines and the return of the scalp crackling and enough tears flowing to scare my husband.

Today, it all started because I spend too much time sitting on this bed. Did you know that sitting on a bed can bring on a migraine? Damaged neck muscles don’t like the slouchy, head tilting forward type of position it gives me. So, I had stiff aggravated pain up the left side of my neck, and the official sign of an oncoming migraine – sinus pressure and pain behind my left eye.

Thank the Lord, I packed my most used essential oils during the move down here (I really wanted to say “my essential essential oils”, but that just looks like a typo). Rosemary is my life saver when I feel a migraine coming on. I used to know more of the science of WHY rosemary particularly works for me, but I don’t remember. I just know it works. Combined with the Breathe blend from DoTerra* to help clear up my sinus pressure, they were my oils of choice, and what a blessing the relief is. It came slowly enough that I almost didn’t notice how much better I felt until my husband asked how my head was.

My head feels fine… pressure and pain gone!

 

*Don’t worry, I don’t sell essential oils, although I have a super awesome friend who does, in case you’re interested. I don’t even have brand loyalty. Note my bottle of DoTerra next to my (gasp) non-MLM NOW brand oil! My secret is that I’ve done enough reading and research about as many companies as I could to be very comfortable with using NOW or DoTerra (other brands as well) in the ways that I do, and I’m happy and getting good results. I’m not saying all brands are equal, I’m just saying be smart and educate yourself.

 

I thought flu season was over…

I made it through the whole winter without getting sick. Then the minute spring pops its head around the corner, my throat felt a bit sore… then a cough… achy joints… and loss of will to live came tumbling down on me yesterday. Laying in bed moaning and being sad over loss of vacation time for THIS was the order of the day. Shockingly, it wasn’t until today that I remembered that I am, at heart, a hippie. A hippie with dozens of essential oils and natural concoctions to battle flu and cold.

So today, the groggy indifference having worn off a touch, I have my diffuser running next to the bed with frankincense, peppermint, clove and eucalyptus in strong doses. It smells AMAZING. Along with it, I’ve made a quart of something weird to drink. It’s kind of a combination of fire water and a Singing Canary, if you happen to be familiar with THM terminology. We shall see how these things improve me.

I’m a would-be home maker.

Since getting married, I’ve LOVED having my own home. I love cleaning it and organizing. And being half hippie, I like doing that without chemicals cleaners. I signed on with Norwex two years ago, and proved to everyone that I don’t make a good salesman. My consultant status has been hanging by a thread for the past year because I can’t get myself to chase people down and beg them to have a party. But I do love using my Norwex products at home! Behold! A small, terrible video of how I very lazily clean toothpaste-spattered mirrors with nothing but a Norwex window cloth. Streak free. It still thrills me after two years!

I’m a would-be artist.

This half finished painting has been sitting in my office/craft room, untouched for, I don’t know, six months? More? Here’s to hoping I finish it before another six months go by.

Allow me to reintroduce myself.

Hello again. Nice to see you. It has indeed been nearly three years since I’ve blogged about anything. Catching you up on everything that’s happened in three years is not really a great idea for one post, so I’ll just briefly (hahahaha, we can only hope) introduce who I am right now.

My last initial changed from an M to an N a year ago.

I live with my sweetie in a two bedroom, second floor apartment, with lots of windows for glorious sunlight (Hubby seems exasperated with the number of house plants, but he still bought me another one for Valentine’s day!). We have no laundry room, so Sunday nights are laundry night at my parent’s house. And for company, we have a sweet little grey kitty named Kitty, who loves attention on her own terms and is more crazy than not.

I’m no longer a greenhouse girl/ florist, since paying rent etc. kind of forces one to look for full time work. For now I’m a front-end worker in a deli at a natural foods store, meaning I make sandwiches and smoothies for college students and rich people, package in-house made foods for the sales floor and receive/stock items from a dozen or so local bakeries… plus a bunch of other stuff. I like that it’s busy work, decent pay and benefits, even though it’s not exactly my dream job. The best part though, is that it’s the same store where hubby works! We get to see each other every day, even if we don’t always have the same shift.

I’m hoping to come back to blogging every so often mostly as a creative outlet. This whole sleep-eat-work-repeat thing can get to me, and manifest in frustration which… isn’t a pretty sight. So… here I am. Thank you for reading.

 

This.

You probably need to click the image and enlarge it in order to read it, but it’s worth the couple of extra seconds. There are a number of young pre/early teen girls in my acquaintance, and every time I hear them talking and criticizing their bodies I want to do something, probably violent, so it wouldn’t be too effective, but just get them to STOP. It’s a generational cycle; Grandma did it, mom did it, so I do it. But it needs to end. I am one of those who wonders how different my life would be today if I had had more confidence, or not even necessarily confidence, just lack of consciousness about my body not being the social norm. Girls need to be allowed to be who they are without worrying that it’s wrong or undesirable or disgusting. (Guys, too, btw. It’s a much more prevalent problem in the female world, since most guys can toss on jeans and a t-shirt and eat whatever they want without thinking about it – but I know from my own family history that not all guys can do that. Young buys with weight problems etc. need to be taught their value is not in perceived attractiveness just as much as girls.)

Let’s see, where was I? Well, to catch up very briefly, since my last post, my younger sister got married, leaving me the last ‘child’ at home, my elder sister gave birth to my niece who is precious beyond words, I wrecked my old Civic and bought another very like it but the color is Tardis Blue, my brother and SIL found that they are expecting in September, I found out that my best friend is moving 1/2 hour closer to me so I can see her on a MUCH more regular basis, I’ve read a number of marvelous books and watched some good TV shows/movies, started exercising with kettlebells, which I love, crocheted a red-riding-hood cape for my niece which is TOTES ADORBS, and recently found that our favorite meat-market has closed permanently! Aaaaa!

And other things, but I won’t overwhelm you. I’m here again because I’ve found myself in the work/blank stare at the tv screen/sleep/repeat rut. I need to do something beside collapse in a brain-dead heap when I come home from work, so I’m going to try exercising it a bit here of an evening. It’s likely that a whopping 2 people will read it, but I don’t really care about numbers… if you do read it and enjoy it, I’m glad. If you don’t, I’ll be here typing anyway, adding to the vast abyss of unread internet content.

Right now, actually, I think I hear my mother returning from grocery shopping… which means I can go make broccoli salad for my lunch tomorrow! Yay for tasty vegetables! Five years ago I wouldn’t have eaten broccoli if you paid me…

Whole30 week 3 check-in

21 days in, no grains, no refined sugar/sweeteners, no dairy, no legumes.

It’s actually not hard. Easier than I was expecting. I thought for sure my cheese cravings would come crashing down and turn me into a crazy person, but I find most ‘cravings’ for anything pass in a matter of minutes and I’m fine.  The hardest part is STILL vegetables. I started out well, but I’m finding if I don’t take time to prepare a meal, I’ll just grab protein and fruit and skip the vegetables, which is a no-no.

What I miss the most, surprisingly, is

Whole30, Day 12

Okay, so here I am nearly 2 weeks into Whole30. I’m only half way through reading ‘It Starts With Food’, the guidebook, which is more than a guide book. I am very highly impressed with that book. Over the past two years I have read my share of anti-infamatory-type foods books, and this is by far the best when it comes to explaining food-related hormones. We’re not talking about female, moody, boo-hoo hormones, we are talking about the ones that are in charge of your nutrient intake and regulating… well, everything in your body when you eat anything. They explain it in very easily understood terms, and I couldn’t help but think how amazing it would be if this was a high-school text book. What would the American people look like in the next generation if it was taught these read food-facts in school?

Anyhoo, on to my results thus far…