The Struggle Is Real: part 1

This will be the first in a series of many about how dōTERRA helps me clean. 

As many know I have a real struggle with keeping my house as clean and tidy as I want to.  I have many excuses work, homeschooling, sloppy kids, ect.  

I'm too short to clean my microwave. Really! The struggle is real! I have to stand on a stepladder (dangerous) to clean it. So it doesn't happen as often as it should.  My trick to turning a major job into a 5 minute job is dōTERRA Lemon oil. I put 4 drops in a bowl of water in the microwave on high for 5 minutes and all that splattered baked on food just wipes away.

 

If you want to order your own message me or visit my website:

www.mydoterra.com/fitandwellnesswithashleyb 

I❤️Fall

Words just can't express how much I love all things about Fall. Ecpecially pumpkin spice anything! I was excited when I saw a recipe with two of my favorite items pumpkin and OnGuard Oil Blend.  The taste is amazing, it boosts the immune system, and it's healthy!  If you would like to buy OnGuard message 

me or visit my website: 

www.mydoterra.com/fitandwellnesswithashleyb

Here is the yummy recipe: 

2-3 Drops of OnGuard 

1cup of milk of choice

1 cup of ice

2 frozen bananas 

1/2 cup of yogurt

1/2 cup of Pumpkin purée 

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

I'm Just Glowing

Recently I was introduced to DoTERRA Essential Oils. I liked the products so much I became a Wellness Advocate for DoTERRA. I am now working on incorporating these oils into my every day life. I could go on and on about their uses, so I have decided to blog about it weekly! This week I made an exfoliating facial scrub and I think it worked really great!!  It was very easy to make. It smelled amazing! It brightened my mood and my skin!!  There are also so many other uses for lemon oil and it's only $10 wholesale price that it quickly became one of my favorite oils. 

Oatmeal Lemon Facial Scrub

1/4 cup oatmeal

1 tbsp water

5 drops lemon oil 

 

If you are interested in essential oils send me a message. You can also visit my website:

www.mydoterra.com/fitandwellnesswithashleyb

Gotta Save that Green Stuff

Money: wouldn't everyone like to have an endless supply of it?  We make enough to live comfortably.  My kids got everything on their Christmas wish list, except the Cookie dog that Kyra said was her #1 at the last minute.  I looked all over for that dog.  She got the Go Go Walking Pup instead and that poor dog is stuck in the corner of her room.  Go Go hasn't been played with since the day after Christmas.  That being said, maybe I should only not have even bought that dog and saved the $50 for something else.  Anyway, I ramble too much.  My point is I think my kids would be just as happy if they didn't get every single thing and just the couple most important ones.  Like Kyra wanted the 3DS so I got them both one or it would have been a fight over it.  Myles has a PS3 and PSP and I rarely see him with his 3DS.  That's more money I could have saved.   Why do I spend so much money on these kids?  Obviously we have to give them food, clothing, and shelter and that's a lot of money, but I have bought some of the dumbest toys.  The other day I bought a toy at the Dollar General and she literally broke it in the parking lot.  I should have just given a dollar to the person in line behind me. 

Don't get me wrong I'm not one to blow money all the time.  I don't buy anything that's not on sale and most of the time I have a coupon for it.  I save a lot of money that way. I don't get my hair cut often and I never get my nails done.  I just end up spending that money on something else (like crappy toys).  So my resolution for 2012 was to find a way to earn extra money for savings.  This week while truck shopping (my husband's Tacoma was bought back because of a recall so we had to get another truck)  I came across so many SUV's  that I would love to have.  I have been driving a mini van for too long. I'm not sure why I bought a mini van in the first place and we financed it so we ended up paying way more than it was worth.  So I have decided that my goal is to put some money in savings for a "rainy day" and put some money in a new car fund.  I wont save for a brand new car but I will make a "car payment" to myself.  Lord willing the van will last me until I can save enough to pay cash for a really nice used SUV.  I am determined that I do not want to pay a bank to borrow their money.  This may take me a few years but I think I will be that much more appreciative of it if I know that I have really worked hard to save this money for a car.

So if you see me at the Dollar Store or where ever and I a buying my kids something junky just cause they are begging for it; please come over and slap the back of my head and tell me not to do it LOL.

I'm Baaaaack! Didga Miss Me?

Ok I know I haven't blogged in months.  I wish I could say it's because I was just so busy working out and keeping my house spotless.  Unfortunately, I just stopped blogging.  I could list all these excuses, but nobody wants to read about how many obstacles come my way.  I'm really just gonna tell you all the simple truth of it:  "Old habits die hard."  I haven't totally reverted back to my old ways but I took a few steps back.

Anyway, it's the first day of 2012 and there is no better time than now to get back to what I started.  I want to make my resolutions on here and I'm really gonna try to keep up with this blog at least once a week even if I have to do a quick vlog about whatever the weeks topic is.   I want to get back to using this blog as my accountability and I really do appreciate hearing from y'all.  I know I don't have a huge following, but to hear some people ask when am I gonna put up a blog means a lot to me.  You will see my blog by Saturday January 7, 2012.  I hope everyone and wonderful New Year and I will leave you with my New Year's Resolutions.

My Resolutions for 2012 in no particular order:
1.  Blog every week about at least one of these resolutions or something fun like a product review
2.  Stick to my cleaning schedule
3.  Find a way to earn extra money for savings
4.  Stick to my budget
5.  Exercise daily
6.  Don't let food have control over me! (Check out my weight loss blog for #5&6)
7.  Spend more time doing Bible study
8.  Being a better wife and mother

Birth Control and Baby Fever

Seriously I thought I was done having kids.  I have a boy and a girl.  A matching blond set. They each have their own room and are both kinda spoiled. So why now do I have this burning desire for a baby? 

My youngest is a very independent four year old.  She occasionally wants to cuddle with mommy, but for the most part she doesn't need mama anymore for her basic needs.  My oldest is at that age where he only comes into the living areas for food.  I really enjoyed when they needed me to do things for them.  I feel like I need a baby.  I am watching pregnancy vlogs on YouTube.  I am also Pintersting more baby things than anything else on there.  I think I have really caught the baby fever.  Maybe it's because my daughter pretends that her baby dolls are her brother and sister, because she want to be a big sister so badly.  I don't think she fully understands that a real baby would take up a lot of my time and she wouldn't be the only one that is the center of attention.   I have tried to explain that to her in a way she would understand, but she says she doesn't care.  She is so cute she asked me how we would get a baby and I told her that when mommies want a baby they pray about it and God puts a baby in their belly.  Well now in her goodnight prayers she prays for a baby. 

When I had my daughter I got an IUD inserted.  I just felt this was the best option for me.  I knew I couldn't afford more babies right away and at 23 I still had time to have more down the road.  The pill made me sick and I actually was on the pill when I got pregnant, because I was ignorant to the fact that it wasn't totally in my system yet.  (My daughter is the best thing that ever happened to me thought, and I'm so glad she is in my life anyway!)  I know there were other methods of birth control out there I just didn't  like the side effects of any of them.  So anyway I got a copper IUD  that lasts for up to ten years and for me it has been awesome!  This IUD has no hormones, and I have never had a pregnancy scare.  I know of one person who has gotten pregnant with one in.  I also know of someone that their IUD came out during their period. So, everyone is different, but it is rare for those things to happen.  Anyway, that's my two cents about birth control.  If you don't want kids for a while but aren't sure if you are totally done an IUD is the way to go.

So after that birth control spill my point is I can't just start trying to get pregnant with out going to the doctor and having this IUD taken out.  This means that I have to make the final decision that I am going to try for another baby.  I know that if I were to have a baby it would all work out.  You just find a way to make things work, but I feel like right now I can't afford to have more kids, I don't have enough room in my house, and I want to finish a least my associates degree.  I also want go lose weight so I'm not fat and pregnant.  I want to be fat because I'm pregnant.  On the other hand I don't want  to wait on everything to fall into place, because that may never happen.

 I also have a lot of fears about being pregnant again.  I have been pregnant three times.  My first pregnancy was with Zoe.  I was going to my checkup at 25 weeks and they couldn't find a heartbeat.  I delivered her that night and it was the worst experience of my life.  Then a year later I got pregnant again and I found out pretty early because I was trying to get pregnant.  I went into the doctor becacuse I was spotting at about 9 weeks.  He did an ultrasound and told me that I had a blighted ovum.  I had an empty sack and had a miscarriage a few days later.  So, when I found out that I was pregnant the third time I was an emtional wreck with worry.  I tried to not get attached to the idea of actually getting to bring a healthy baby home from the hospital.  I am not blind to the fact that it could happen again and I would not want my daughter to have to go through that with me.  It was hard on me to go thru.  How would I explain to her that her baby brother of sister died in mommy's tummy?  I went throught that with Myles but he didn't really have his head wrapped around the fact that I had a real baby in my belly.  Needless to say I have not told Kyra that she has a sister in Heaven.  I will when she is older, but if we talked about it now she would want to talk aobut it all the time. My emotions could not handle talking about it everyday.

I truely believe that children are a gift from God.  I wish I had that drive like the Duggers to have as many babies as God allows, I just don't feel like God wants me to have 20 kids.  I want to be the best parents I can be to the kids that I do have and I don't think there would be enought of me to go around if I had a large family.  So sometimes I feel guilt about the IUD in that "Is this what God wants for me?" way.  I think if God really wanted me to have another baby he would somehow make me have this IUD out.  I know I'm indecivie, but some of these major life decisions are so hard.

So to sum it up yes I want another baby, but I'm going to wait until I am totally sure I'm ready. I have a few more child bearing years and even thought I'm not sure that I am done with having babies, like I once thought.  How did you now when you were finished having kids and ready for the next stage in your life?

"My Friend"

So this past week I had "my friend" visit.  I know you ladies know what  I mean. Your mom may have taught you to refer to it as something else, but we all have a menstrual cycle. It's rare for a woman to talk about it to anyone but a close girlfriend.  Which is a shame, because it is a natural part of life.  It's not the most pleasant thing, but why is it so mortifying to leak and have menstrual blood on your pants?  I know it embarrasses me when I have a "spill".  In fact it happens to me almost every time I have a heavy period.  Not only is it embarrassing it is messy and sometimes hard to clean up.
Last Sunday I started my period.  Like a typical first day of my period I was cramping really bad.  I cramp so bad on the first day that I don't like to wear tampons.  Tampons seem to make my cramps worse, but on this day my flow was really heavy so I had to wear a tampon and a thick pad to church, for fear of a leak.  Well what do you know I had to walk out of church with my jacket tied around my waist. I soaked thru a pad and a tampon in less than two hours.  I came home thinking there has go to be something I can do about this.

Well, a few weeks ago my bestie posted a blog link about cloth menstrual pads.  My first thought was I couldn't do that.  Then another friend commented on her post about something called a Diva Cup.  Again, I thought I couldn't use one of those.  Then after the thousandth time of cleaning up a bloody mess and stain fighting my pretty skirt I decided to give them a try.  Sunday evening I did a lot of research, mostly on YouTube. I watched one lady who had several reviews on several different cloth menstrual pads or mama pads as some people call them. Anyway, I went to several of the websites  that were linked from her reviews.  Her favorite pad is Party In My Pants pads or PIMPS.  I decided to purchase this brand because they have a free sample called curious. You pay the shipping of $3.99 and they send you the panty liner for free.  I just got it today but and I am no longer on my period but I wore it today just to see how it feels to wear it.  Also, they are super cute! PIMPS wrote me a personal thank you for trying there brand and also sent a small square of organic dark chocolate.  I am also going to try to sew my own pads because now that I have my Diva Cup I will not need to wear thick pads.  Visit www.partypantspads.com  for more details.

There are other versions of the Diva Cup, but I chose to purchase it after reading some reviews.  The Diva Cup to me is the best thing since sliced bread.  A Diva Cup is a surgical silicone cup that fits in the vagina and catches your menstrual flow.  You can ware it for up to 12 hours,and you don't have to worry about toxic shock syndrome from wearing it. I got it in the mail while my period was still heavy this week.   LOL I have never been so excited to be on my period.  I got to use it for two day and never had any leakage.  Then second day I even wore the Diva Cup with out wearing a back up pad.  Visit www.divacup.com for more details.

I know what y'all are thinking.  Isn't that messy?  Well isn't it all messy?  Periods are just messy.  I usually get blood on my hands anyway,  so why not use the Diva Cup and save the money on buying a box or more of tampons every month.  Isn't it gross to wash those cloth menstrual pads?  Don't you usually have to wash blood out of your under ware at least once in your cycle?   I know this may not be for everyone, but I just thought I would share, because I am so glad that my friends were "brave" enough to share these products with everyone on Facebook.  I am also going to save a lot of money not throwing away pads and tampons, and that means a lot to this frugal mamma.