Find Your Sensei

As I have navigated the world of oils, I have realized that finding your oil sensei is one of the most crucial parts to being able to use your oils in the most productive and effective ways. Without a sensei you can get seriously lost on your journey and end up never moving beyond the beginner white belt and wasting a lot of money in the process.

So how do I define sensei? Most simply put it is a teacher. Wikipedia says it literally translates to "one who comes before." But I feel most comfortable using one of the Urban Dictionary definitions:

"A weed aficionado in the highest sense. A Zen-master of herb. King of the Smoke Session. Someone who knows their bud. Someone I'd like to befriend. The term is somewhat loosely applied to range from your uber-dealer/homegrower to borderline burnout old-soul pot smokers with insight and refined taste developed through years sampling the good shit.

Hippie Jesus-beard dude: *muffled* here...
Other Hippie Jesus-beard dude: Heeeeell yeah. Thank you, Sensei *pffffwtttt*"

Since buying, selling, using essential oils is basically like buying, selling, using drugs, I thought that definition fit the best, but here is how it translates to the oil world. 

"An oil aficionado in the therapeutic sense. A Zen-master of liquid gold. King (or more typically Queen) of the all-day diffusing session. Someone who knows their blends. Someone I'd maybe befriend as long as they have inhaled their "Joy" or "Stress Away." The term is somewhat loosely applied to range from your Facebook-stalking, class-giving dealers to your closet oil freaks with insight and refined taste or sniff developed through years sampling good shit.

Hippie Yoga Lady: *muffled due to scent tent* here...

Other Hippie Yoga Lady: *SNIFF* Heeeellll yeah. Thank you, Sensei *SNIFF*

Okay that might be a little extreme, but in all seriousness, I have found my sensei and that is Angela. She has been my teacher through this entire journey. I have been to four of her oil classes plus many one on one sessions. But what makes her an amazing sensei and what should you other rookies look for in a sensei? Here are a few musts...

1. Someone who you can be totally open and honest with. When it comes to poopfests, sex talk, clogged ducts... you need someone that you feel comfortable divulging some pretty private things to. Oils can help in some pretty strange ways so you need a sensei that you feel totally comfortable with.

2. Someone who doesn't get annoyed by your 5,000 questions. I text Angela daily about some weird ailment, question, concern, noticing; you name it. She is always there for me and never let's me know how annoying and ridiculous I truly am. 

3. Someone who knows their shit (or at least knows where to find it). Angela is a wealth of knowledge but she also has her own senseis (is that how you spell the plural of sensei?) or as Young Living calls them "Uplines", reference guides, books, blogs, Facebook groups, etc. that she reaches out to when she needs more information. She has no problem saying "I'll get back to you" and then she actually does. What a concept!

4. Someone who has a lot of product and isn't stingy. Okay, I'm not using Angela or anything like that, but it sure is nice when your sensei has a lot of product on the shelves. I have been able to sample many oils just because Angela has them and graciously shares them with me. Now that I have built up some of my collection, I have been passing it on to my friends and family using the sharing bottles that came in my kit and bottles that I bought from Amazon. So people, pay it forward! (But not too forward, this shit is expensive.) 

5. Someone who understands your journey. Angela has been using oils for almost 4 years and I have known her for about that long. A few times over those 4 years she has talked to me about oils and has come to my rescue with some oil remedies, but she knew by my eye rolls that I wasn't really ready to join the oilers until now. She knows my specific goals with my oils right now; keeping my kids healthy, helping baby Jordyn sleep, improving my metabolism, helping my mom with pain and digestion. She knows that changing out my cleaners, laundry soap, toiletries, etc is not something I am ready to do at this time. I love my Downy Unstoppables too much to let them go even if they are filled with toxins. 

So all you rookie, white-belts out there, find your sensei. I'm sorry, Angela is already taken and I consume too much of her time and energy and oils for you to use her as well. Find your own! 

Oils Between the Sheets? Say WHAT?

Okay so first of all, I am going to try to keep this post very PG, because my mother-in-law reads my posts and the last thing she or anyone else needs is details about our sex life. With that said, I also need to be real and raw (bad choice of words when talking about sex) in order to share my journey so here it goes.

We all know that sex is a very crucial part to any healthy marriage. It builds trust, confidence, attraction, and of course, intimacy. In my perfect world (and for sure in Ryan's perfect world), I would be a little sex-kitten wife. I would wear sexy nightgowns to bed; although I think my XL Blazers shirt, basketball shorts, nursing bra, and nursing pads is pretty darn sexy. I would surprise him with sex on the dining room table or on the wash machine like you see in movies. Don't worry everyone, you can eat in peace at our table knowing that doesn't happen in our house. We would do it everyday and even multiple times a day when I am feeling extra frisky. I would be more spontaneous, adventurous, and creative.

Knowing that I am pretty far from our "perfect world," I know I need to take some steps and initiative to keep our sex life thriving because ultimately it keeps our marriage thriving. I know that with age, having a new baby and toddler, and just life in general, I haven't been keeping up my end of the bedroom. Don't think I am like a dried up prune or anything like that. Just like most relationships and most women, I don't give it up as much as Ryan and quite honestly, I would like.

So, last night I attended an oil class called "Lucy Libido" that was taught by my friend, Angela. It was about oils to use in the bedroom, as well as oils that increase libido and help balance hormones in your body. I think that even just by going to the class showed Ryan that I am wanting to put in more effort to build our intimacy. As I headed out the door to the class Ryan says to me with a wink and a smile, "So should I be like 'ready' for you when you get home?" (Typical guy, right?) I smiled back and said with a shrug, "Maybe." (Typical girl, right?)

The class had 5 attendees and we all enjoyed watching Angela blush through some of the topics and some of the language used in the class script. We also had many laughs when talking about the differences between men and women when it comes to sex. Angela covered several oils that increase "stiffness" and stamina in men. I think the words were something like "It helps the soldier salute for longer." All of us agreed that that wasn't an issue in our bedrooms. There was another one that was nicknamed "nature's Viagara." Again, a non-issue over here.

There were a few oils that had benefits to both men and women. Like Orange, for example, is an aphrodisiac for both sexes and releases stress so you can relax in the bedroom. A good one to diffuse when setting the mood. Or Cypress which increases blood flow and we all know the benefits of increased blood flow. A good one to put on inner thighs and 2 inches below naval.

There were a couple that sparked my interest because they were hormone related. Especially since I just had a baby, my hormones are all sorts of crazy so balancing my hormones isn't just good for the bedroom but also the well-being of the people I interact with daily. Progessence Plus helps stimulate the production of progesterone, hence the name. And Clary Sage helps promote the production of estrogen. These oils will take time to have an affect but I thought they are probably worth a shot.

As part of the class, we made an "inner thigh potion" to take home. It had 10 drops Cypress, 10 drops Orange, 20 drops Clary Sage and then coconut oil. It was called "Juicy."

Of course when I got home, Ryan asked what I learned, but of course all he really wanted to hear was "I have this magical oil that will make me horny 24/7." Dream on! I told him about the oils for hormones. Blah, blah, blah. Told him about the totally unnecessary man oils. Blah, blah, blah. Then I told him about "Juicy." As we were heading to bed, he says, "So are you going to rub that on your inner thighs and let me know when your ready?" Okay, I literally laughed out loud when he said that and when I just typed it. That is what 15+ years together will do to you. I responded, "I think it would be better if you rubbed it on my inner thighs and I rubbed it on yours. Then we will see what happens." He agreed that my way was much better. The story stops here because we all know what happens when you touch your husband's inner thighs and he touches yours.

So are you wondering what the magical love potion, "Juicy" did? Well... so am I. I have no idea if it had some sort of physical effect. I wouldn't say I had some euphoric, out of body experience or anything. But were Ryan and I both highly satisfied? I mean, duh. So I can't confirm or deny its effectiveness. But here is what I can confirm. Ultimately it did what it was supposed to. It increased intimacy and passion. Whether that was a physical response, emotional response, or both, I don't know. By bringing home the oil and being willing to try it, we brought some fun and adventure into the bedroom. Do I think that using oils in the bedroom will make me the sex-kitten that I aspire to be? No. But if we have fun and our intimacy increases then it's worth keeping by the bedside.

P.S. If you read this and think you might like to watch Angela blush and learn about some sexy oils, I would definitely recommend it. There was so no pressure to buy and it wasn't a sales pitch. It was literally just great information. And to top it off, we left with some "Juicy" love potion. If you think you might be interested in a class, let me know and I will get you in contact with Angela.

P.S.S. I did decide to add a few oils to my monthly order to get us started. I bought Orange (super cheap by the way), Cypress, and Progessence Plus. I had already ordered Clary Sage for another reason and I tried to buy Idaho Blue Spruce because it was in a lot of the blends but it was out of stock.

Types of Oilers

On my previous post titled "My First EO Experiences" I said the following:

'Side Note: I feel like there are two types of EO users: 1. The fancy, prissy type who love Starbucks, only use Honest Company diapers, and use oils just to be able to say to their housewife friends that they use oils. 2. The earthy type that talk too much about chemicals and toxins during their yoga flow, only drink coffee or maybe tea from small, local coffee shops, and use oils just to show how earthy and pure they are as a human beings. I am neither of those types. I drink Dutch Bros flavor infused energy drinks, hate yoga, don't give a shit where my diapers come from and at times a little embarrassed to admit I am using essential oils.'

Now that I am over a week into this crazy world of oils, I realize that I was very naive to believe there were just two types of "oilers." By the way, I discovered from my 10,000 Facebook groups that I have been added to since buying my kit that the official term for people who use oils is "oilers." Sometimes women who use oils are referred to as "Oily Ladies." I picture two different images when I hear "Oily Ladies;" 1. Two girls in white t-shirts wrestling in baby oil. (Thanks to the move "Old School" for that image.) 2. A women sunbathing with suntan oil all over her body in hopes of getting the perfect tan. Either way, it doesn't create a very enticing image for me. I'm not sure I want to be referred to as an "oily lady." It just sounds messy.

So I still believe that the two original types of oilers exist but here are a few to add.

3. The Hustler Type- these are the people that use oils for their income. They hustle on Facebook, Instagram, trade shows...you name it. I swear they have some event every day. I want to believe that the Hustlers are in it to truly promote wellness and a healthier, happier life but you know they see dollar signs with every sucker that they can get to buy in to this oily world. Can't knock that hustle, but man when I get 32 notifications from Facebook and all are related to oils, I kinda want to pour some peppermint oil in my eyeballs. (For you other rookies out there: peppermint is considered a "hot" oil. First time I used it, it said to rub on temples so I did just that, but I did it close to my eyes. Beware and rub it closer to your hair line and avoid contact to your eyes.)

4. The Religious Type- I am not at all trying to be controversial here. Skip this part and go sniff some Stress Away or Joy if religion talk can be a trigger for you. Please know I'm not knocking church goers and believers in God. I am Catholic and a full believer in God. I believe in the power of prayer and I want to raise my kids to follow God's will and speak His word. I pray, not as much as I should, but I do pray. With that said, I sometimes stray from God's will, as we all do, especially when I am driving on River Rd in the middle of the day. I also don't push my religious beliefs on anyone else and don't always give God the credit when things go good or the blame when things go bad. In my oil journey, I have noticed that many oilers are highly religious, not a bad thing, just a noticing. They often say things like "our prayers were answered when purification was re-stocked." (That's a joke by the way) They also reference the Bible when talking about why oils are so powerful. (That's a real thing) They even pray for more sales and adding more members. (Also a real thing) So if you are new to oils, don't be surprised if you get many "God bless"s or "I'll pray for you"s during classes you attend or Facebook groups you join.  Maybe it is God's will that we all walk around with Thieves on the bottom of our feet.

5. The Why-the-hell-not Type- Right now this is my group. The group of naive followers that figured "why the hell not?" Like many, the oil stuff intrigued me and I kept hearing about different uses. This is kind of a dangerous group to be in for a few reasons. First, people in this group will pretty much blindly try anything, which can lead to break outs and headaches, but can also lead to pain relief or better sleep. Second, people in this group will spend more money just to try something that might not work. I hope to move from this group to a more informed group in the coming months for my physical state as well as my financial state.
Rookie's Beware: Frankincense is super awesome and I have been using it like crazy, because why the hell not? Just found out that it is sold in a 15 mL bottle for $73.50. So I learned to conserve a little more and beware of the cost before going too crazy with an oil.

I wonder how many different types I will discover over the next few months of this oily journey.

The Hangover Cure

My husband and I definitely like to enjoy a drink or 2 or sometimes 5 together. We aren't wine snobs or even beer snobs. We like to keep it pretty classy with a Budlight can in our hands. But if we are feeling fancy we love to sip on a Moscow Mule (Ryan makes the best ones) or cheers to a Widmer Hef. If we are feeling crazy we might take a shot of Fireball.

Now that we have two kiddos, our party nights are few and far between. The other night our three year old was staying with Grandma and Grandpa and I had plenty of milk stocked up for Ryan to feed the baby so I decided to enjoy a few drinks. I started with a Moscow Mule and since I have become quite the lightweight I was already feeling tipsy and slurring some words after one. I should have known then that I had had enough but of course I went against my better judgement. After dinner I enjoyed another Moscow Mule, some Fireball, and I think I even threw a beer in the mix.

Being 31 and a pretty seasoned drinker you would think I would know better than to commit some serious party fouls. 1. Drinking before having food in my stomach. 2. Mixing alcohol types.

My raging party fest lasted all the way until about 10:00pm. I know, such a party animal. We headed off to bed and in the middle of the night, around 2:00am my stomach started to hurt. I thought for sure I was going to regain my title from my college days of "Toilet Hugger." I quickly ran to my bathroom; don't worry not to puke but to grab some Digize to drop two drops into a capsule. I washed it down with a little bit of water thinking 'I'm probably going to barf no matter what so why the hell not try.' I laid in bed and practiced my mind over matter deep breathing and sure enough 15 minutes later I felt better and was back to sleep.

The next morning I woke up with a pounding headache and it felt like a boxing match was occurring in the depths of my stomach. I was quickly reminded why I don't drink very often anymore. I grabbed my phone and googled "essential oils good for hangovers." Peppermint was one the first things that popped up so I rubbed some on my temples and did the hand-tent thingy (which makes me feel like a druggy who snorts cocaine). I also applied some Digize directly on my stomach. Within very little time my headache seemed to lessen and my stomach hurt much less. I thought "Ah-ha." I found the cure.

Unfortunately about 30 minutes to an hour later I felt the headache coming back and the boxers reentering my stomach. I know I could have applied more oils but I just wanted to go back to what I have been doing for years. That's when I started my usual hangover regimen. Drink as much water as I can stomach, 4 Advil, and some caffeine. Usually a nap is part of my routine but I was meeting up with friends so the nap had to wait. McDonald's breakfast is also a usual part of my routine but it doesn't fit in my current diet plan.

Throughout the day, the hangover symptoms came and went. I continued to sniff the peppermint, but stayed away from Digize because the smell was getting to me and I didn't have the patience or energy to make any more capsules. I pretty much felt like shit all day.

So what have I learned? Well I think God intended for there to be no true hangover cure to prevent us from drinking every day. The only real hangover cure is simply to not drink or at least drink less or at least not drink a random mix of alcohol types with little food in your stomach. I can't say that any of the oils really helped but they definitely didn't hurt and the peppermint at least woke me up a little bit. I hear the NingXia Red (look I finally figured out the name) can help with hangovers but I didn't have any, so you bet your ass I ordered some that afternoon. In all honesty, I have just come to terms with the fact that if I drink, I will feel like shit and sometimes, not often, but sometimes feeling like shit is totally worth it.

The Skeptical Husband

Like most guys, my husband thinks this oil stuff is a bunch of bull. I can't say that he is happy about spending money on this stuff but he knows it is important to me so he isn't putting up much of a fight. After the first night of diffusing lavender in our room, he woke up feeling stuffed up. Of course he blamed the lavender. So last night, our second night with the diffuser, I moved it away from his side of the bed but still diffused lavender. Before bed, I put RC oil on the bottom of his feet and brought him Breathe Again (from Angela) to roll on his chest but of course he didn't try it. I think I will have to pin him down to get him to try some of this stuff. I called him today to see if he woke up stuffed up today and he reluctantly answered "no." It is clear he doesn't want to admit that any of this oil stuff makes a difference.

So here is my plan of attack: One way he will buy in is if he sees some success for things that matter to him. He has a skin thing on his shoulders and back that is very hard to get rid of. He has tried prescription and over-the-counter meds for it. It is a fungal thing and covers a large area. There is a medical name for it but I can't remember what it is. It doesn't hurt or itch, it is just the appearance of it that bothers him. I am going to offer to put Frankincense on it daily and see what happens. I will let you know how it goes.

Another way he might buy in is if oils increase sexy time. I'm going to research oils that set the "mood" and all that good stuff. Maybe I can get him to give me a massage while using an oil and I will return the favor. He knows massages are a gateway to getting in my pants so it just might work.

At the end of the day it is Happy Wife, Happy Life, so really as long as I'm happy, I think he will continue to at least not object to oils in our home.

My First EO Experiences

Did you catch the title of this post? I'm trying to sound like the veterans by using acronym EO for Essential Oil. I saw it in a one of the books I got at my first class. Go ME!

So let me back up a little bit. I first started hearing about EOs about 3 years ago. I was working closely with my friend, Angela and she was getting pretty heavy into the oils. (It kind of sounds like some sort of drug addiction or something. I'm not convinced yet that it isn't.) When Bryson, my son, was 2 weeks old, I ended up in the hospital with mastitis, which hurts like a bitch and makes you feel all around really crappy while trying to take care of a new baby.

Fast forward 6 months and Angela and I were traveling to California for a training. I was away from Bryson for several days so I was pumping non-stop. Unfortunately pumping wasn't cutting it and I could feel my ducts getting clogged and I was having flashbacks to mastitis. Angela being the pro that she is quickly contacted one of her EO peeps and asked if there was an oil to help with clogged ducts. (Timeout: Okay I need to stop here for a second... If you are reading this and are wanting to hate on the fact that I was nursing and even considered using an oil, please close this right now. You are not the person I want reading this. I don't need the judgement.) Her person told her to have me use Thieves, which she had with her. I was so desperate that I was willing to try anything so we went to the Whole Foods salad bar and I got a dressing container full of olive oil, which I tried to pay for but the clerk gave me for free. We went back to the hotel and I applied the olive oil and Thieves to the areas that felt clogged. Of course since at that point I wasn't even on the EO team, I got the Thieves outside of the olive oil and my skin started to burn. Not like a third degree burn, but just like my skin was getting hot in spots. Angela came to my rescue and warned not to use water, but rather apply the olive oil to the burning spots, which relieved the sensation right away. Mind you, while I was doing this mid-century witchcraft crap, I was sure I would end up at urgent care the next day. To my utter disbelief, I woke up the next morning and my ducts were completely unclogged. Now I'm not stupid enough to belief that Thieves on its own unclogged my ducts. I continued to pump like crazy, massage the spots, apply warm compress, etc. But I was surprised with how quickly the regimen seemed to work.

Now fast forward to present day. I am now on the EO team but I was like last picked. I was the one that no captain wanted on their team, but I'm on the team. So during my Essential Oils 101 class last night that Angela invited me to, I took frantic notes about every oil in my kit while the other attendee just sat back and listened like she already knew all the shit they were saying. I was shocked by some of the uses for the oils. Helping with UTIs? Stretch marks? Itchy dogs? As the Young Living lady blabbed on and on, I was finding myself in an EO trace. I think it was probably the shit she had coming out of her diffuser. It was probably some oil called "Gotcha Sucker- for convincing fools to throw their money into the endless pit of essential oils." It also could be whatever is in that Ninj-something (I promise I will figure out the name at some point). That stuff was GOOOOOOD! It probably was laced with some "Gotcha Sucker"oil too. Whatever it was, it worked. I called the husband to ask if we could get the kit and he just laughed and said "do whatever you want babe," which was all the "yes" I needed. So I left with this starter kit that I didn't even know how to use and a bunch of books that I might not ever read.

That night I started simple. I plugged in my fancy-dancy diffuser, which is the most simple thing in the world to use and I still had to read the instruction manual. I put in on my husband's nightstand so it would be furthest from our baby girl, Jordyn (again if you want to judge about using EOs around babies, please close now. I don't want your opinion). I put two drops of lavender in with the water and started that baby right up. I really liked the smell, the sound, and the light associated with the diffusing. (Oh no, Am I drinking the Kool-aid?)

While the baby was falling fast asleep, you bet your ass that I got out that Frankincense oil, mixed 1 drop with my lotion and rubbed it like crazy over my stretchmarks on my stomach. Jordyn did wonders to my body during pregnancy. And quite honestly if you told me that cow shit got rid of stretchmarks, I would probably try it. I didn't mind the smell of it too much, but I didn't LOVE it either.

I curled up in bed with Jordyn sleeping in her bassonet beside me listening to the soft white noise of the diffuser. I feel like you need to be sipping tea with your pinky up and say "diffuser" in a British accent for some reason. It just seems way too fancy for me. Side Note: I feel like there are two types of EO users: 1. The fancy, prissy type who love Starbucks, only use Honest Company diapers, and use oils just to be able to say to their housewife friends that they use oils. 2. The earthy type that talk too much about chemicals and toxins during their yoga flow, only drink coffee or maybe tea from small, local coffee shops, and use oils just to show how earthy and pure they are as a human being. I am neither of those types. I drink Dutch Bros flavor infused energy drinks, hate yoga, don't give a shit where my diapers come from and at times a little embarrassed to admit I am using essential oils.

Okay back to my story...baby girl is a really sucky sleeper, like a horrible sleeper. She has only slept for 4-6 hour stretches like two times in her life. Sure as shit she went to bed around 9:50 and didn't get up until 3:08 AM (I have proof, because I track it on my phone). She ate, right back to sleep, and we both slept in past 7:00 AM. Praise Jesus! A 5 1/2 hour stretch followed by about 4 hours. Not sure if it was the lavender or what but it is worth continuing to try if it means I am not getting up every 2.5-3 hours.

Now this is too much information, but if you read my first post, you know that I am a crappy pooper. I am super irregular and when I do go, it's not much. Well this morning I had the best poo that I have had in a long, long time. I am a runner and some of those post-run runs are pretty great, but this was even better than that. It seemed like crap, literally, had just been sitting in my gut for months and finally cleaned out. Not cleaned out in the diarrhea kind of way or explosion kind of way. There wasn't any cramping or pain. I think I just finally had the type of bowel movement that regular, normal human being should be having. On top of that Jordyn had a major blowout just moments later. She also let loose and man was she happy about it. It was clean-up on "aisle baby" but at least it was happy baby. Of course, being a rookie I had to text my pro teammate Angela about our poopfest. I'm not totally convinced it was something related to oils but it could have been, so I'm recording it here just in case. She wasn't sure it was either, but she explained that oils may be providing some detox which is allow my body to get rid of wastes.

I then got my morning going with a glass of water with 1 drop on lemon oil. It is suppose to help with healthy digestion and regularity, which we all know by now that I need help with. It also does a bunch of other stuff but I don't know any of those other benefits yet. Angela told me to start slow, so you will notice I only did one drop in most of the things I tried. I didn't love the taste of the lemon in the water but I got it down. I will probably play around with this. I hear grapefruit is good, but it didn't come in my kit so it will have to wait. We'll see how this one plays out. I'm going to try to do it everyday for at least a week.

Next I got that fancy diffuser going again. I put Thieves in it. I only did one drop because for me it can be a pretty strong smell that I'm just lukewarm about. I had that going in my room all morning. We have a two story house with bedrooms upstairs and the kitchen, living room, dining room and family room downstairs. I was already feeling like I needed a second diffuser to keep downstair where we spend the majority of our day. Thieves is supposed to be good for your immune system and with cold/flu season here and me going back to work to a germfest in less than three weeks, I thought it might be good.

After I fed kids, fed myself, and showered, you know I lathered up with more Frankincense oil mix with lotion on my stretch marks. Fingers crossed! I also mixed a drop of that Frankincense oil with my daily face lotion. I heard it does good stuff for your skin. I'm 31 now, so I have to start thinking about wrinkles and the other BS that comes with aging. Not sure what exactly Frankincense does for your skin, but again, it can't hurt. I also put the Frankincense just straight on these mildly itchy spots I have on my leg. I brought them home from Mexico with me and my Dr told me to put hydrocortisone cream on it, but here I am 3+ weeks later and the spots aren't going away. I think it might be staph so I'm trying Frankincense to see what happens. I think Frankincense will be the first oil I will have to re-order, just because it is supposed to be good for sooo many things.

This afternoon I moved the diffuser downstairs and put Purification in it. I liked the way it filled my downstairs rather than being contained to my room. I can't for the life of me remember the benefits of Purification but it smelled descent and my family didn't mind it. It made me feel a sense of freshness if that makes sense.

And that ladies and gentlemen were my first experiences with EOs. I can't wait to see what else is in store for me.

The Start of My Journey

If you happen to come across this blog in hopes of learning something about essential oils, you will most likely be greatly disappointed. You see, I am a self-named ROOKIE of essential oils. And not the New York Yankee, Aaron Judge-type rookie. No. Like the bench warmer, barely made the team, can-I-get-you-some-water type of rookie. I know nothing and I mean nothing about essential oils. I just kept hearing people talk in essential oil-ese and I'm not sure if it sparked my interest or just annoyed the hell out of me. They would say things like "Oh yeah you just diffuse some thieves with eucalyptus" and some other thing I couldn't pronounce. I would think to myself, "What a bunch of bull." You need to know that I am a skeptic, but I am an easily persuaded skeptic. It doesn't take much for me to jump on bandwagons, but I have resisted the essential oil wagon for several years now. Mostly I have stayed away because it seemed too complicated, too expensive, and to be honest, a little too hippie for my liking. I didn't have the time nor the desire to get into this oil fad, until now.

I can't quite pinpoint why now I have decided to jump into this world of earthy freaks. It may have been my pesky friend messaging me about all sorts of oil classes and I ran out of excuses (Thanks, Ang). Or it might be that I have made some serious changes in my diet which has resulting in losing 18 pounds in 6 weeks so I wanted to see if there are other changes I could make to keep the healthy streak going. Or it could be the fact that I eat a crap ton of fiber (pun intended), workout, eat healthy, and still only take the browns to the super bowl once, twice if I'm lucky, per week. Or it might be that I have a 3 year old boy and a 3 month old baby girl and I am not sleeping and losing my shit at least once a day, so some things to keep me sane might be a good idea. Whatever the case, I have taken the plunge. I attended my first essential oils class last night and bought my first starter kit from Young Living. I decided why the hell not try it? It can't hurt (well except my wallet). It was $160 and came with 11 oils and two samples of the Ninj-something drink. (Remember I'm a rookie, I can't say or spell the majority of the names).

So I will be using this blog to document my journey. I decided that even if no one ever reads it, I want to remember the journey. It might be a very short journey, depending on my ability to stay committed and my ability to convince my husband it is money well spent, but it will be a journey nonetheless.