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Sharing Saturday: Thieves Vitality Update

Yay! Thieves Vitality is awesome!

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know how awesome I find the Thieves products from Young Living, especially Thieves Vitality essential oil! It has proved itself again in the past couple of weeks!

First, I had a sore mouth. I thought about all the antibacterial and great things about Thieves Vitality, and decided to add some to my water. It completely surprised me that the mouth sore cleared up and my sore throat also went away. Yay! I really should get some of the cough drops and throat lozenges that are Thieves as well!

Second, one of my neighbors at the shelter had some sort of sore/puss-filled icky on her little boy’s head. She didn’t know where it came from or what to do about it. I thought of the Thieves Vitality right away. I put some on a napkin and applied it to the wound. The next morning the sore was completely gone!

Look at all of these wonderful Thieves products!

Amazing stuff, that Thieves Vitality essential oil! It has yet to fail for me! Now, please realize that I am not a doctor, or medical professional by any stretch of the imagination, but I am a mom. I have seen this work, and it’s not something I would want to live without!

If you’re interested in Thieves Vitality essential oil, or any of the amazing Young Living products, please use my link below! God bless!

https://www.youngliving.com/us/en/referral/31628184

How Sweet It Is…or Was

No! No! No!

Hello, everyone!  I have come to the conclusion that I need to give up refined sugar.  Shocker, I know.  A diabetic giving up sugar?  No way!

I’m not talking about just cake, cookies, etc.  I’m talking about ALL refined sugar.  Yeah.  That’s right

Why would I want to do such a thing? There’s a simple explanation. For a long, long time now, I have not been feeling well. It’s nothing that I can say “That’s it! That’s why I feel as if I’m swimming in molasses everyday. My brain feels like cottage cheese, I can’t remember anything, and I’m anxious all the time. Something is clearly wrong.

Are you kidding me?!!!

So, I decided to make the drastic decision to cut all processed sugar. Honey, agave, and other natural sweeteners I’m keeping! I’m not superhuman, you know!!! I mean, I’m great, but not miraculous!

The first few days were a challenge, to say the least! Sugar withdrawal is no joke!!! But, I made it! Whew! My brain may not be completely on tap when it comes to quitting, but it’s working! Yay.

Sharing Saturday: A Word

I feel the need to address the whole MLM thing. If you are unaware what that is, it stands for Multi-Level Marketing. What is it?

Multi-level marketing is a term used to describe companies that sell their products through many agents, who in turn recruit people to be on their team, and make a percentage of those profits. When the people they have recruited, recruit more people, they make a smaller percentage of those sales too, and so on and so forth. It is not illegal in the United States because it is not a pyramid scheme! It operates differently than I pyramid scheme in that there is a valid product being sold.

Young Living is a multi-level marketing company. It is also decidedly NOT a pyramid scheme! I cannot stress this enough. I am a brand partner for Young Living. What does that mean? Well, at first, I wasn’t a brand partner. At first, I was a customer. I loved what I bought and wanted to share all of the wonderful things that came about through the Young Living products.

So, I started telling people about how the Young Living essential oils had made my life better…and they really did! Even if I wasn’t a brand partner, I would still be a customer! I love the ultimate commitment to purity and ethics that Young Living grows, right alongside its marvelous lavender! I also love, love, love their products, as you can probably tell by the way I’m sharing! Lol, what would I do without my Ningxia Red? Probably just wither and die!

Do I want you to purchase YL products? Of course! However, it’s not the money that interests me. It’s how wonderful they make you feel! Lavender for soothing skin and providing a calm space. Raven for allergy help. Digize for sinus headache relief. And so many more! It’s all just right there for the asking. God has provided all we need to be healthy and at peace!

If you are interested in Young Living products, please visit my link below:

https://www.youngliving.com/us/en/referral/31628184

Currently, YL is having sale of 15% off! New customers get an extra 10% too! Yay! Woohoo! So, dust off those fingertips and head on over to the website through my link above and order yours today! You won’t regret it!

The Remains of the Freezer Recipe – Beef Stew

Only cook what you have!

Hello, my beautiful followers! Thank you for taking this journey with me. I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, and thought I’d share what’s been going on in our little piece of the world!

I have discovered that I do not like to run low on food…like ever. This led to stockpiles of ingredients in our old house because I had a large freezer. I rarely let it run low. I liked to have choices.

Now that we have a much reduced freezer space in our apartment, I have had to figure this out. It’s painful for me because, I never realized how much it stressed me out not to have those choices.

You see, as a child, my family was very poor. My mom rarely planned meals and, though the freezer was somewhat full, I still was afraid we wouldn’t have enough to eat. She never seemed to make enough to fill me up (or I didn’t like it enough to take seconds, not to mention the dirty looks and comments made if I did!) and I was encouraged to fill up with bread and butter. I had no idea that I had celiac disease and that the bread was making me so sick.

So, when I grew up and had my own household, I made sure there was enough and we even had leftovers sometimes. It was pretty novel for me. I was free to eat the good stuff.

What we are doing this week and until I visit the food pantry next weekend, is use whatever we have in the apartment. This has brought up all kinds of long-buried trauma that I am working through, but it has also been good knowing that no food is going to waste. I made my dinner schedule and we are not buying any extras, except possibly baking powder and xanthan gum, which we realized we were pretty much out of recently.

One of the things in the freezer was about a pound and a half of thin-sliced chuck steak. I threw it in the gf cooking sprayed crockpot mostly frozen (only defrosted enough to get the paper piece on the back that is used to suck up the juices!) To this I added a 1/2 tsp. of salt, 1/4 tsp. of ground black pepper, and 2 tsp. granulated onion. Next, I diced a medium onion and added that. After that it was the 1/4 lb. bag of baby carrots (I would have used more, but we didn’t have any! At least that’s what I thought until I found them the day after the stew!) Next I added five scrubbed medium red potatoes, cut in half. A 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes with the juice went in next and then 1/2 cup of water. I covered and cooked it for 9 hours. Delicious! And all from the remains of the freezer.

Not our beef stew, but it went so fast, I didn’t have a chance to get a picture!

I just love it when I can come home from work and be greeted with the smell of a home cooked meal that I can serve without any extra work! I mean, honestly! Home many of you want to stand at a hot stove and cook? No me! I’ll take easy any day! I can also rest easy qqknowing that I have prepared a healthy meal for my family.

A Woman Who

They almost saw me

They almost knew

That I am not superhuman

That I am not perfect

That I am nothing but a woman who

Tries hard, but fails

A woman who

Can’t keep her head straight

A woman who

Forgets

A woman who

Makes mistakes

A woman who

Is consumed by anxiety

A woman who

Suffers from so much doubt it makes her want to cry

A woman who knows that God has a plan

But can’t stop her worrying

A woman who

Succeeds

A woman who

Focuses

A woman who

Owns up to her choices

A woman who prays

A woman who

Laughs

A woman who

Trusts God

A woman who

Cherishes friendships

A woman who

Loves with all her heart

A woman who

Lives

I don’t usually comment on my poetry, but I did want to ask for your prayers as I go through this season of stress. I’m trying to kick out anything that is not from God, which of course anxiety and worry is not, but I can use all the help I can get. Thank you for your prayers! God bless!

Sharing Saturday: Yummy Pie!

Delicious and gone!

Got your attention, didn’t I? Well, pie is yummy! No doubt about it! But what does that have to do with Young Living and their awesome products? Read on, dear friends! Read on!

The other day we had a small catastrophe. Child #4 accidentally let the pre-made gluten-free graham cracker style pie crusts slide off the tote on which they were sitting, not once, but twice. Oops! I may or may not have lost my mind. So, when all was resolved we had lost one pie crust, had one that was crushed, and a third that was still, amazingly intact.

So, child #2 decided it was time to make a pudding pie with the whole crust, before something happened to that one. Yes, please! I did save the crumbly pieces of the one that was crushed. We will use it to top pudding in the future. So, really, all we lost was one. Not too bad. And since I had gotten them on clearance, even better!

I’m not sure if you’re aware of how I feel about pudding, but here it is in a nutshell: I detest “instant” pudding! I’m sure many people love it, as it is so quick to make. I, however, have always been a bit strange on this front. I would prefer to make pudding on the stove even though it takes longer (not that much longer, but whatever!) than eat instant. It’s not that good, people! Try the cooked version for yourself and you will be amazed at the difference! If any job worth doing is worth doing well, then I say, a pudding worth doing is worth taking the time to cook it!

Snobby? Maybe, but try this recipe and tell me what you think!

Child #2 started with a small box of name-brand vanilla pudding in the cooking variety. She made it according to package instructions. Next, she wanted it flavored. To what did I turn? Why my awesome Young Living Vitality Essential Oils, of course! These oils are formulated to be ingested. I added 5 drops of orange vitality and Wala! The most delectable orange cream pie ever! After adding the essential oil, which Child #2 stirred in thoroughly, she poured it directly into the pre-made gluten-free graham cracker style crust. Do not let the pudding cool, as suggested on the box! If you do, you will end up with a crust that does not stay together and sloppy pieces. However, if you pour the pudding in warm, it will solidify the crust and you will get clean pieces when serving. Refrigerate until chilled through. Serve.

Our not-so-secret ingredient!

If you would like to order Orange Vitality Essential Oil from Young Living, or any other of their awesome products, please use my link below:

https://www.youngliving.com/us/en/referral/31628184

Perfectionism Is Not Perfect

Isn’t that the truth?

Perfectionism is not perfect.

Perfectionism is not kind.

Perfectionism will not release me,

But cause me to lose my mind.

I am caught in a web of good, better, best.

What will people say?

What will I do?

Worry worry worry away the whole day through!

Perfectionism isn’t perfect

How can you say?

Perfectionism is a game

I will no longer play.

Annie’s Burger Town Update

Our beloved Annie’s Burger Town.

Hi, everyone! Just thought I’d give an update on Annie’s (our favorite drive-in restaurant that burned just a few hours after celebrating my birthday there with dinner.) Here’s the story link:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02HRAVzNVkDKyR5z9U36J16HiXJ15XpNgqorvEuLtxytpJt8jKnrVB4ktRYk3bD7ql&id=1617334714&mibextid=CDWPTG

There has been a GoFundMe page set up for Jeff and Maria Halpin, the owners. Here is the link:

https://gofund.me/603b4841

There is also a fundraiser t-shirt available. One of the local printing companies (where Annie’s gets the shirts that the servers wear) is donating all materials and labor so that all proceeds will go directly to Jeff and Maria to help them in their time of need. Here’s that link:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02HRAVzNVkDKyR5z9U36J16HiXJ15XpNgqorvEuLtxytpJt8jKnrVB4ktRYk3bD7ql&id=1617334714&mibextid=CDWPTG

The fundraiser t-shirt and the night of the fire, May 18

Thanks everyone! Please keep the prayers coming for this wonderful small business! They are like family to a lot of people in Walworth County and have hired countless young people as servers and cooks over the years, not to mention all of their generosity to our community. Please support them as they have supported us!

Prayers, Please!

I could go for a burger!

I had a totally different post I was going to write for today, but, as it turns out, something came up that needs prayers. So…I will give you the story first and then the prayee, so to speak.

Today is my birthday. I never do that much, but we do love having dinner at our favorite drive-in, Annie’s Burger Town. So, that is where we went for my special night.

They have awesome food and gluten-free buns! Yay! Their burgers are legendary and their salads are awesome! We got three bacon cheeseburger meals (comes with coleslaw and fries) and one grilled chicken salad (with a side of fries, because you cannot go to Annie’s and not get fries!) So totally satisfying and wonderful! Best burger ever!

A few minutes ago I got a text from a friend. There was a fire at Annie’s tonight. It looked from the pictures, that it was in the back of the restaurant, where the grill was. I was like “No way! We were just there like three or four hours ago!” Unfortunately, yes.

Our beloved Annie’s Burger Town burning 😭😭😭.

So, my prayer request is that everyone is safe. They close at 8 and since this was reported around 9:45, I’m thinking that it was after everyone was gone. Also, please pray for Maria and Jeff, the owners as they assess damages and make plans. Hopefully, it won’t take much to get it back up and running, but the flames don’t look good.

Hurry back, guys! We can’t live without our Annie’s!!!

Sharing Saturday: Multiple Shares

To God be the Glory, Now and Forever! Amen!

Hi, everyone! I have a lot of things to share with you today! First, I met a lovely woman at a farmer’s market type setting today, quite by accident. She is newer to Young Living and I got to share with her about Ningxia Red and Grapefruit Vitality Essential Oil. I happened to have the last one with me and let her have a sniff. She thought it was as wonderful as I do! I told her that I like to mix it with water and a zip fizz. Zip fizz is a water enhancer that I buy at Sam’s Club, which is loaded with B vitamins and gives me an extra boost of energy, not unlike my Ningxia Red, though I will never give up my Ningxia, it’s plethora of antioxidants, and all the wonderful things it does for my body!!!

The second thing I wanted to share is that I will be giving more in-person events very soon! Yay! I will finally be able to get out there and share with more people! Stupendous. Why, you ask? Well, that is the third thing I’m going to share in this post.

I have been offered a permanent job at my beloved shelter!!!! Woohoo 🎉🙌🥳! I had my interview on Friday and got a job offer soon after. The paperwork is not all completed, but will be soon and then I’ll be off and running! God is so good! My new shift will allow me more time to work on my Young Living business and serve many more people. And that, after all, is what we’re called to do, right?!!!

So, God bless you all, dear friends! If you would like to try any of YL’s awesome products, please use my link below:

https://www.youngliving.com/us/en/referral/31628184

Have a beautiful weekend! And Happy Mother’s Day to all the marvelous mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and mother-type humanoids out there! Hope it’s a blessed one!