Ahh, Warm and Cozy!

This delicious warm drink is perfect for soothing the symptoms of colds or flu or as a prevention.






Winter Wassail
4 c apple juice
1/4 c frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 c water
2 drops doTERRA Clove Bud essential oil
2 drops doTERRA Wild Orange essential oil
4 drops doTERRA Lemon essential oil
4 drops doTERRA Cinnamon Bark essential oil
Combine the apple juice, oj concentrate and water in a pan and heat until hot but not boiling. Remove from heat and add the essential oils. Stir well and serve.
The essential oils impart a delicious flavor and even better are very antiviral. This is so yummy you won't hesitate to serve it at your next get together and then everyone will leave healthy!
chooselifebalance.com

Sooo Berry Good For You!

Elderberry syrup is easy to make and with the addition of Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade doTERRA essential oils is perfect for preventing and knocking out colds and flu.

Elderberries are used for their antioxidant activity, to lower cholesterol, improve vision, boost the immune system, improve heart health and for coughs, colds, flu, bacterial and viral infections and tonsillitis. Bioflavonoids and other proteins in the juice destroy the ability of cold and flu viruses to infect a cell. It has been reported that people with the flu who took elderberry juice have less severe symptoms and felt better much faster than those who did not.

Raw honey is excellent for coughs and sore throat and Cinnamon Bark, Ginger and Clove Bud essential oils are extremely antiviral and warming to the system.
You can mix up a batch of elderberry syrup and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Use 1 tablespoon every hour if you are coming down with or already have a cold or flu or 1 tablespoon a day for prevention. If you have a smaller family you can just half the batch.



What you need:
1/2 cup dried elderberries
or 1 cup fresh or frozen
2 cups pure water
1 cup honey, raw is best
doTERRA CPTG essential oils, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger and Clove Bud (Lemon oil, optional)



Put elderberries and water in a sauce pan
















Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until reduced by half (20-30minutes).














Strain, pressing with a spoon or spatula to get all the good juice.




Add honey, stirring to melt.








Add essential oils. Remember that doTERRA oils are very potent 1 drop goes a long way. I used 1 drop Cinnamon Bark, 2 drops Ginger and 1 drop Clove Bud but you can adjust it to suit your taste, Lemon Oil is also excellent.









When cooled, pour into a quart jar and store in the fridge, remember to use it within 2 weeks.
www.chooselifebalance.com

For The Love Of Lavender

The use of lavender has been recorded for more than 2,500 years. Egyptians, used lavender as a perfume -- and also for mummification, by wrapping the dead in lavender-dipped shrouds. In ancient Greece, lavender was called "nardus," "nard," or "spikenard" and was used as a cure for everything from insomnia and aching backs to insanity. By Roman times, lavender had already become a prized commodity. Lavender flowers were sold to ancient Romans for 100 denarii per pound -- equivalent to a full month's wage for a farm laborer. "Lavender" is derived from the Latin lavare, meaning, "to wash." Romans also used lavender as a perfume, insect repellent and flavoring. In Medieval and Renaissance Europe, lavender was strewn over the stone floors of castles for use as a disinfectant and deodorant. Use of lavender was highly revered during the Great Plague of London in the 17th century, when individuals fastened bunches of lavender to each wrist to protect themselves from the Black Death.
Lavender has a long list of uses, here are some of my favorites.

Burns-I was out working in the garden yesterday for several hours and came in with a sunburned neck and arms, you know, the kind that starts to itch and then when you scratch you realize how burned you are. I put lavender mixed with some coconut oil on my neck and arms and it took the pain away. If the burn is really bad a great option is to use a small spay bottle and put some water in it along with drops of lavender and then spay it on, that way you don't have to rub it. The coconut oil offers some moisturizing that along with the lavender will heal the skin quicker. My husband was working on our tiller and set his hand on a hot spot. He burned the palm of his hand pretty bad, I wish I had thought to take a picture. We grabbed the lavender and put some drops on neat (full strength from the bottle), it immediately stopped hurting. He kept the lavender on it for a couple of days and it healed so fast we were amazed.
For serious burns use a paste of comfrey root powder, wheat germ oil and raw honey. Slather the paste on and cover with green leaves or gauze, when you need to add more, don't pull the old stuff off just apply the new over the top.
Lavender is also very calming, I like to use a drop on the back of my kids necks to help them sleep, another option would be to put a drop on their pillowcase. Need to relax, a few drops in a tub full of water and you're in heaven!
Have a problem with hayfever? Just put 2 drops each of Lemon, Lavender and Peppermint in a small amount of water and drink it up. Use this throughout the day whenever you feel symptoms coming on, I have used it with great success. I also love Dr. Christopher's Immucalm formula or for kids it is called Kid-e-Soothe. It is a mixture of astragalus root and marshmallow root. Before I started using essential oils this is what I would reach for. Actually, with improved diet and the use of essential oils I don't really have a problem with hayfever any more.
Lavender is also useful for diaper rash, stretch marks, rashes, and is an analgesic and antidepressant.
Diffusing lavender into the air can promote consciousness, health, love, peace and a general sense of well being. It also nurtures creativity.

You Smell Good

People are always telling me I smell good and my house smells good. I don't use perfume or even deodorant anymore and all the candles I used to burn? Never again. Essential oils have replaced many of the products I used to use to "smell good". The biggest reason I made this change is my liver. The liver has to process everything we eat, drink, smell or put on our skin. Even when we do our very best to put only pure things into and on our bodies, just the environment in which we live takes a toll on our livers. Burning candles is also very damaging to the thyroid.
Essential oils have been a delightful alternative.
Essential oils are the volatile liquids distilled from plants, this can be from any part of the plant, leaves, flowers, bark, roots, stems, seeds, fruit, resin etc. I like to think of essential oils as the life blood of the plant. In these oils is a powerhouse of energy. The vibration of a pure essential oil is very high, rose oil has the highest vibration. The vibration in the oil helps the body regain balance so it can heal itself, just what our bodies were intended to do!
Essential oils are the regenerating, oxygenating, and immune defense properties of plants. Essential oils are so small in molecular size that they can quickly penetrate the skin. Essential oils are lipid (or fat soluble) and are capable of penetrating cell walls, even if they have hardened because of an oxygen deficiency. In fact, essential oils can affect every cell of the body within 20 minutes and then be metabolized like other nutrients.Essential oils are anitbacterial, anticancer, anitfungal, anti-infectious, antimicrobial, antitumor, antiparsitic, antiviral, and antiseptic. Essential oils have been shown to destroy all tested bacteria and viruses while simultaneously restoring balance to the body. Essential oils may detoxify the cells and blood in the body. Because oils are fat soluble they get in the cells and kill viruses.
Because I use essential oils daily internally and externally on myself and my family I want to be sure I am using the purest possible oils I can get. I choose to use doTERRA essential oils.
doTERRA essential oils are CPTG, which stands for Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade.
There are 4 different grades of oils, the first is what is used in the perfume industry, these are almost always synthetic, you can produce any smell in a lab. The second are GRAS or Generally Recognized As Safe, the FDA says these are "probably" OK to put in our bodies (I don't know do I trust them?). The third are Pure. The essential oil industry is not very well regulated, a company can say their oils are 100% pure but really this means that only 5% of what is in the bottle has to be the oil they say it is and even that can be synthetically made! The rest can be fillers, pesticides, weeds, whatever. The last grade is CPTG, doTERRA is the only company in the world that tests every single vile that comes out of their plant to make sure that not only does it only contain the pure natural oil that is says it does but that the oil contains the correct constituents so that if will do what it is meant to do, help the body to heal. All you have to do is smell these oils to understand the difference between doTERRA and all the rest.

The Journey Begins

When I came down with strep throat, for the first time in my life, a year after my first baby was born, I had no idea that this would begin a journey that would lead me to the point I am right now.
I grew up eating the typical diet for the 70's we had Wonder bread, tuna casserole, meat loaf, cold cereal, Hostess Twinkies and lots and lots of milk. I remember drinking a full glass of milk with each meal. When I got married we lived on cold cereal a lot and I continued to eat a diet full of processed foods, lots of junk food, white flour, anything sweet, lots of meat. I had no idea that what I put in my mouth had such an effect on how my body felt. I had a lot of colds and sinus infections and just figured this was normal. During my first bout with strep I was given Penicillin and found out I was allergic to it. I had my next baby 3 years later and again developed strep this time about 6 months after having her, again I was given antibiotics. After my third baby I once again developed strep about a month after he was born and this time I would be on the antibiotics for 10 days and off for about a week and then the strep would return. It was a vicious cycle that continued for 4 months. During this time they put me on stronger and stronger antibiotics and I was on them for the entire 4 months. After that time I finally tested negative for strep but was still told that it would be best to have my tonsils removed. I didn't know why at the time but I just knew this wasn't the right option for me. Well, 4 years later in December of 1997 I was 2 months away from having my 4th baby. I didn't want to go through all of that again so I kept looking for another way. We had some Christmas money so we decided we wanted to start our food storage. We looked up stores that sold wheat and grinders and set off to Kitchen Kneads to find out what it was all about. I took the classes they offered that taught about grains and beans and asked lots of questions. I started replacing some of the white flour in foods I made with fresh ground whole wheat and guess what? After my baby was born I didn't get strep! Wow, this was great, I knew I was on the right road but had no idea where it was taking me or how long the journey would be. Since then I have studied whole foods, herbs, essential oils and energy therapy, I have been super strict about my diet at times and at other times been very lax. Different times in my life had made it easier to live the things I have found to be true and other times I have been in survival mode, I never knew how much there was to learn. I don't claim to know everything, sometimes I am overwhelmed by what I don't know. No matter where you are in your journey, as you strive to live your life the way God intends He will bless you for every small step you take. I will continue to share the things I have learned along my journey, and because of my energy type, I will probably jump from one thing to another, oils to herbs to food etc. take what you need now and do your best with it. God bless you on your journey!

Me, blog? Yes, I believe I should!

Our Deepest Fear By Marianne Williamson

What holds us back in our lives, is our fear. And sometimes when you take a very close look, you find out that your fears aren't exactly what you thought they were. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in all of us. And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. So its holy work to move past your own fear; it doesn't just help you, it helps the world.

This quote is one of the reasons I decided to start a blog. I have often thought that what I have to offer is seemingly so insignificant and my knowledge so small that no one would ever be interested. After reading this quote and pondering what it means in my life I finally had to face the fact that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with so much along my journey that if I didn't share the things I have been taught I would truly be ungrateful. So here is my attempt to “let my light shine” and “move past my own fear” . I hope you will take what I have to offer in the spirit is intended and share with others what you feel inspired to share.