Why I chose Young Living

Hi there. My name is Colleen and I am slightly obsessed with Young Living Essential Oils! Is this silly? No and I'll tell you why. These essential oils have changed our lives. Seriously. I cannot tell you the last time I took an OTC medicine. There have been no doctors appoints for the colds, stomach bugs, sore throats, nothing. I haven't had to reach a pill for a migraine in months! MONTHS!

This journey started out with a friend introducing me to the oils. Naturally, I was skeptical and wanted to do my own research. There is way too much bad information about essential oils and companies. This company is better than that one. This company has a wacko for a leader. This company's people stole this, that, or the other thing. Bottom line, I wanted something natural. I wanted something legit. What I found out what rather disturbing. So many of the essential oils, and I mean a vast majority, are adulterated! This means that something, most likely gross chemicals, are added to the oil. There only has to be a small percentage, and I mean SMALL, of the actual oil in the bottle for it to be considered "pure". Ridiculous, I know!  You really need to do the research for yourselves. I can tell you all about what I found, but you are the one that has to make an informed decision! All I can tell you is that I trust, wholeheartedly, Young Living. Basically, this is what it boils down to: Young Living is the ONLY company that guarantees it's oils to be non-adulterated 100% PURE THERAPEUTIC GRADE
Young Living has a Seed to Seal guarantee!    

"The Seed to Seal Process 

Delivers Young Living 

Therapeutic Grade™ Oils

Seed to Seal can be summarized 

in five steps: 

Seed Essential oils that work come 

from plants whose species have 

been authenticated by Young Living 

experts. Species certification involves 

scientific research, field study, university 

partnerships, and on-site planting 

certification. 

Cultivate Young Living has four farm 

locations where we learn the best 

growing and harvesting methods. 

With this knowledge, Young Living 

travels the globe visiting co-op farms 

to certify their growing processes. 

Distill Combining ancient and 

modern techniques, Young Living 

is recognized as an essential oil 

distillation innovator. 

Test Each essential oil must pass 

Young Living’s stringent specifications 

to ensure the optimal bioactive natural 

compounds are present in each 

essential oil. Young Living uses its own 

internal labs plus third-party laboratories 

to verify every essential oil exceeds 

international standards. 

Seal Young Living completes the Seed 

to Seal process by carefully handling 

large volumes of essential oils to be 

individually bottled and shipped to 

members worldwide"

From: YoungLiving.com

After all the research I conducted and studying the Seed to Seal process, I chose Young Living. I sure am glad I did :)

Weight is just a number!

Seriously, weight is just a number. When I was at my absolute healthiest (eating well & exercising daily) I weighed 155 pounds. I only stand 63 inches tall but I was solid. It was around this time that I had doctor tell me that the ideal weight for my age and height was 123 pounds. Say what?!?! Clearly, this man has not seen my family! I look sickly at 123 pounds. That is NOT a healthy weight for me.

A few months ago, I decided it was time to make a change. I had my plan and my support system. I lost 16 pounds total in four months. I could have lost more but I was not consistent, enjoy eating out too much, and I have a horrible sweet tooth. To top it off, the holidays arrived! UGH! So, I've again about 9 pounds back. That's not really what matters to me though. What matters is that I feel like poop all over again.

Here are my measurements & weight from when I started months ago:

Weight: 183

Waist: 37.5 inches

Bum: 45 inches

Thighs: 25.5 inches

Arms: 12 inches

After 4 months

Weight: 167

Waist: 35.5 inches

Bum: 45 inches (no way my bum will get smaller haha!)

Thighs: 23.5

Arms: 11.75

There was a small difference. I dropped 2 pants/dress sized and I was feeling great! 

Today's measurements:

Weight:176

Waist: 35 inches

Bum: 45 inches (ha!)

Thighs: 24.5

Arms: 11.75

I have my plan. I have my support group, which has gotten bigger. My friends have really motivated me. They've taken an interest in what I'm wanting to accomplish and that's a really nice feeling to have. One friend in particular suggested that I purchase a FitBit. Her and her mom both use this little device and can track each other's progress. If I got one, they could track me and offer some support and motivation if/when I need it! That's pretty sweet if you ask me. I started easing myself into my new routine. By Monday, I'll be ready to go full steam ahead. If I HAD to pick a weight goal, it would be 160. If I get to anything less, that's cool too. That's not where my focus is. I'll track inches lost and weight just to see how this change is transforming my body on the outside. The blood work and blood pressure check will determine the rest.

Here are some things I know to be true. This lifestyle change is absolutely necessary. I'm actually excited about it. Through God, ALL things are possible. This includes getting through days without all my gross, over processed foods and mass quantities of sweets. When I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, this stuff

will help to calm me the heck down, especially if I'm being bratty ;) Did you really think I could post without mentioning these AMAZING oils? You're crazy! I'm telling you, you just don't know what your missing out on! Here's to changing my health, and possibly yours, one day at a time!

The Start to an Oily Journey

If you know me well, you know that quite a few years back I thought the whole organic foods and essential oils thing was silly. Like to the point that I would tell my sister she was a little kooky. Well, after she put me in my place (I mean that sarcastically, kinda) I did a lot of research. My big seester shared what information she has come across. She definitely has become a wealth of knowledge about processed foods, food dyes, and even medications over the years. Needless to say, after all the info she shared and what I read myself, I slowly began to transition over to organic foods. I purchase as much as we can comfortably afford. With my lifestyle change in process, I think that there will be more organic/clean foods coming into our home in the near future.

Now onto the oils. My sister has used essential oils for YEARS. Years! She loves the scents. She would kind of randomly talk about an oil. To be honest, I never really paid too much attention. I probably thought it was just another weird thing my sister did. Haha! I promise I love my sister dearly. We are 11 years apart in age. We have very different ideas on life and that's OK :) 

Savannah, a very good friend of mine, told me about Young Living Essential Oils. I looked into their products and thought they looked nice and all but I'm not really into the whole oil thing. Over the course of the next few weeks, ALL she would talk about it these oils. Oh my word, she is losing her mind ;) I like to think that I have become a pretty open mined individual but she was fallin' off her rocker! Savannah wanted to visit and share everything she had learn about the oils. I love her. So, I said alright :) It never hurts to just sit down and listen. You never know what new knowledge you could walk away with. 

Bottles and bottles everywhere! It really wasn't that many. Maybe like 12 or so. Peppermint was up first. I am a lover of peppermint. I love the smell and cool feeling you get in your nose and airways when you inhale it. I opened the bottle and took a big whiff. Holy cow! It smelled soooooooo good. It's peppermint though. Peppermint always smell good. We went through each bottle and I got a brief explanation of what each oil was good for or how it could be used. I wondered if there was anything I could use for thyroid health. I found success with certain supplements I was taking, but I have two tumors on my gland and anything extra to help, I am willing to try. Plus, I still wasn't feeling just right. I'll share that story in a later post. I was also looking for something that might help my husband's cholesterol. He's a bag of bones! Seriously! Family history is not in favor of his health though. I did some poking around and found that lemongrass has been proven to help lower cholesterol! Awesome! 

Question. What make Young Living Essential Oils so much better than other oils?  Seed to Seal. Pretty simple. Young Living is involved in EVERY STEP of the process. You can read more about Seed to Seal here https://www.youngliving.com/en_US/discover/quality. There are several of essential oil companies out there. The only company that offers 100% pure, therapeutic grade essential oils on the market is Young Living. Do all the the research you want. I did and I found that this company's product would be worth a try for me. If I didn't like it, I didn't like. No big deal. I ordered a few oils.

I knew, like with OTC meds and prescriptions, it can take a few uses to notice any kind of difference. I started with EndoFlex, for my thyroid. I rubbed the oil on my thyroid twice daily and on my vita flex points on my feet. Within a week, my family saw a noticeable change in my attitude. If you are not aware of how thyroid disorders can make you go a little nutty, please read up on them. Within two weeks, I felt like I found what was missing. My last thyroid check, NORMAL! Let me repeat that, NORMAL! I haven't had normal thyroid levels in a long time. Praise God! I got that health issue under control. My husband goes for his 6 month cholesterol check in a few weeks and I'll let y'all know how that turns out. The most awesome thing about lemongrass, it's an anti-inflammatory! How cool is that?!?! Sore muscles? Slept wrong and your neck is hurts? Lather on some lemongrass. It really helps. The hubs has some issues with his shoulder and lemongrass layered with a few other oils (including peppermint) has made a huge difference for him. The peppermint smells amazing. It helps with headaches when I get them. The boys love when I diffuse peppermint. It's a just a nice, fresh, minty scent. It is also helpful in soothing bruises and sore muscles.

Last section, I promise. After two weeks of using these oils, I took the plunge and ordered myself a Young Living Kit. The kit includes the Everyday Oil Collection, a diffuser, and some product sample. It it worth every penny, in my opinion. My sister's response to all of this? In so many word "Duh Colleen! I've been using essential oils for years." She is now a Young Living users as well! Yay! I want to share everything I've learned about these oils with y'all! Question? Concerns? Want to try this awesomeness for yourself? Let me know! May your day be full of love, joy, and maybe cupcakes! 

I can

The message at service yesterday was one that will likely stick with me for awhile. A commonly heard verse, was the main idea. It goes like this: "I can do all thing through him who gives me strength (Phil 4:13)".

 Our pastor used a car with a flat tire as an example for this lesson. The car, which was in near perfect condition, had one problem. It had a flat tire. It would seem like the flat tire would be a pretty easy fix. Right? Well, taking a deep look at ourselves and acknowledging what our "flat tires" are, is not always easy. It is not always an easy fix. What are the steps we need to take to get a flat tire fixed? If you're like me, the first step is to call my husband and say "I have a flat tire". I have now established that I have problem. The next step is to devise a plan to correct the problem. This for me, thankfully, is my husband just changing the tire. Done deal!

Looking at my life, I have several "flat tires". What person doesn't? Our individuality and struggles (both past and present) are what make us who we are today. One of my worst "flat tires" is food. I know that may sound a little funny to some of y'all, but I have a problem. I LOVE food. ALL FOOD. I am in love with all foods that are terrible for me. I eat when I am happy. I eat when I am sad. I eat when I'm feeling indifferent. Ironically, I don't care for cupcakes too much. For those that don't know, I am a baker. I specialize in cupcakes. I don't eat my own cupcakes though. That's just weird not that I'm really thinking about it.

 Unfortunately, this food problem affects my health. I've struggled with high blood pressure since I gave birth to my oldest son. That's 10 years that I have been dealing with this. I'll get it under control and be good for awhile. Then I go on a food binge, and it's back at square one. This blood pressure problem is one I will deal with my entire life. I have family history that plays against my health. Everyone does. All the sugar and sodium that I consume, negatively impacts my health. I've done my research and I know what I need to do. Now, I just need to do it! Easier said than done. I've tried several things in the past like diet change, supplements, and exercise. Guess what! They all work! Crazy, I know ;) I just have a problem sticking to the plan! 

I want to just throw this out here. I am 100% comfortable in my skin. Sure, I weigh a bit more that I should. I'm a few sizes bigger than I was when I got married. I came to terms with the fact that I will never be in a two piece again years ago. I have stretch marks. I have excess skin on my belly from my babies. Those two things in particular, tell a story of unconditional love for my children. I am proud of those marks and skin! I don't feel well though. I have good days and I have bad, just like you. So, a whole new lifestyle is about to be implemented. I need to get healthy. Not skinny and super ripped, but healthy. I need to feed my body what it needs, clean foods. I need to continue to supplement because I will never eat enough veggies. I need to exercise every day.  

Basically, what it all boils down to, is that I need to take the steps. I need to let go and let God handle my heart. I have admitted to a problem. Now, I need to use the strength He gives to correct the problem, one step at a time. I need to make the commitment to actually showing up to church every Sunday too. Church always motivates throughout the week. 

Problem: FOOD

Plan: God, Church, lifestyle change (diet, supplements, exercise)

See what I did there? I put God first. 

 "I can do all things through him who gives me strength (Phil 4:13)" Take the step, He will be there to guide you, to motivate you, to see you through. These "flat tires" can only be fixed with His strength through you. Without that strength, I am stuck. When things get tough, or you are feeling discouraged, remember the verse! When you take a step forward and are afraid to take the next step, lean on Him and leap! 

So yeah, that about sums it up. That did not flow together like it did in my head but y'all get my point! God bless!

Unbelievable ! It's 2014!

I guess it's not really that unbelievable! Time seems to be flying by at an increased rate as each year passes. 2013 was wonderful, wild, stressful, joyous, and now it's over. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it's 2014! I fell even more in love with my husband, our family, and put forth a lot of effort to maintain my friendships this year. I feel like I really accomplished a lot in my personal life. I had the privilege of watching a friend's belly change throughout her pregnancy with twins. I learned that several of our other friends are expanding their families. I'm blessed to have the opportunity to see my sister-in-law everyday and see her (slowly, thank goodness) grow into a beautiful young woman. The absolute joys of my life, my wild and often loud boys, are changing and growing everyday. I am excited to see what kind of young men they are going to be in the future. 2014 is the year of both mine and my husband's 30th birthdays! I'm not upset about this one bit, like so many of my other friends ;) I think this is going to be the best year yet!

There are three personal things that really stand out about last year (aside from my family). The first thing, we FINALLY found a church that we love! I cannot express how much this put my heart and soul at ease. We've been here for a few years and it's been quite a journey finding our church "home". Second, I have pinpointed what I want to do with my life. At the young age of 29, I now what I want to do. Religion and it's history have always been something I am quietly passionate about. The ultimate goal is to attend grad school for Christian Studies with an emphasis in youth ministry. I want to work with high school and college aged children/ young adults. To be more specific, military youth within the church.

 The third thing is Young Living Essential Oils. These oils are quickly changing my life! I'll get into the what's and how's in another post. My dear friend, Savannah, introduced me Young Living. To be completely honest, I thought it was silly. I never really gave essential oils a thought beyond the idea that it makes my sugar scrubs smell great. Savannah sat at my kitchen table with 10 or so bottles of essential oils. The first one I went for was peppermint. I already had some store brought and thought there is no way Young Living's could smell any different. Boy was I WRONG! Oh my goodness! It smelled AMAZING!!! Seriously, it's legit! I smelled every single oil she had at least three times. I slowly began to realize, that if nothing else, the scents themselves are fantastic. I know that Savannah sensed (scents and sensed haha =D) that I was skeptical. She told me look at this webpage, http://thelemondroplounge.com/, and look around. That's exactly what I did. This was enough for me to create a customer account with Savannah and Young Living. I ordered a few individual oils. Within a few days, I had the oils and was so impressed that I ordered a kit less than week later. These oils are changing my life in more ways that one! If you want to learn more about Yuoung Living Essential Oils (YLEOs), have questions, want to see what other people are saying, or want to get in on the goodness, let me know. I'm a part of and AMAZING group call the Lemon Drop Lounge on Facebook. It is loaded with info about YLEOs, peoples testimonials, and questions from people like you and me wanting to learn more. Don't knock it until ya try peeps!

The Lemon Drop Lounge! Check it out! This is what really helped to spark my interest in Young Living!


Boom! I'm out!