Advent Week 4

Merry Christmas!!!!!! I hope you all are having a wonderful day. Let me know what some of your favorite traditions.

Clove helps fight colds, numbs the skin, relieves baby's toothaches, and it repels lice. It also smells like Christmas, although it is a little strong so I suggest you start with a very little at first.

Advent Week 3

As Christmas is getting closer, there may be a lot more stress and therefore more colds. The oil that is great for any time of the year, but especially this time of the year is Thieves. Thieves helps fight any sickness and it kills way more airborne germs then anything else. Not only that but it smells like Christmas!

Tid bit for the week: Teddy Roosevelt banned the use of Christmas trees in the White House because of his environmental views.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Advent Week 2

We are now at the second week of advent and the second part in this series. This week we are going to look at Myrrh.

Myrrh was also a gift to Jesus from the wise men. It is a great help against respitory problems, colds, bronchitis and much more. Myrrh is fairly expensive as well. 

Tid bit time!  Christmas trees have been sold in the U. S. A. Since 1850 and Christmas trees are grown for 15 years before they are sold.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Advent Week 1

With Christmas coming around the corner, I thought it would be fun to do a 4 part series. Each part will cover one oil specifically and a fun tid bit. This the first part of the series and we will look at Frankincense.

Frankincense was one of the gifts that Jesus received from the wise men. This oil is very expensive and is extremely useful. It helps fight colds, any respitory problem, helps heal wounds and takes away any skin blemish like warts and stretch marks and much more. Mary would have known all the benefits of this oil, but wouldn't have been able to afford it. So in a very amazing way God provided a means of taking care of Jesus's health. 

And for the tid bit: A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired on TV on December 9th, 1965.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! I hope you are having a wonderful day with friends and family.

What oils are you/ have you used today?

What are you most thankful for?

what is your favorite Thanksgiving food?


Soli Deo Gloria!

Oils For Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving is a week from today and I am getting very excited for it!! This time of year is my absolute favorite! I love everything about it, the weather, the holidays, the smells. I am very excited this year to add essential oils to the mix.

I think I will be getting out the diffuser at some point and diffusing Thieves, Clove and Lemon Essential oils just for fun! Not only will they freshen up the air, but they will give everyone's immune systems a boost and they are festive smells.

What oils are you going to use this Thanksgiving?

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Holiday Season

With the holiday season fast approaching us, it's always good to have a couple tricks up our sleeves to prevent as much sickness as possible. There are quite a few natural things that you can do to prevent sickness during this hectic time of year. Everything from what you eat to sleeping to not stressing to essential oils. So let's get started!

There are several things that you can include (or leave out) in your everyday eating that will help reduce your chances of getting sick. First thing you can do is to cut out as much sugar from your daily diet as possible. During this time of year sugar seems to be everywhere. There is no problem in eating sugary treats at the parties and at the holidays, just cut as much out as you can. Also eating more coconut oil and cinnamon whenever possible is very beneficial. They both boost your immune system like nothing else. Soups and stews are chock full of nutrients that will also boost your immune system.

Sleep and stress kinda go hand in hand. If your not sleeping well you tend to stress more and the more you stress the less you sleep. Stress and lack of sleep can seriously reduce your immune systems ability to fight bad bacteria. I know it's hard not to not stress during this time of year, but it's always good to take time to smell the daisies. ;)

There are also plenty of essential oils to use as air fresheners and to help your system fight germs. Thieves, Frankincense, Lavender, Peppermint and Stress Away are all excellent oils to use during this time of the year.

I hope you all have an excellent holiday season and a very healthy one!

Soli Deo Gloria!!

Thieves

 We are getting into the holiday season and what better oil to look at then Thieves! First I wanted to say that I am sorry that I haven't done a very good job recently at posting consistently. And Second I am hosting an online class on Tuesday, November 11th. It will be all day long and it's on Facebook.

Ever wanted a natural air freshener? And especially one that will boost your immune system, and kill germs. One of the fun ways that you can have fun with Thieves is to run it in your diffuser to freshen the air and have the added benefit of cutting your risk of getting sick during the winter season. 

If you want to learn more about this great blend check out my Vimeo Channel.

And if you want to check out more about Young Living's products check out their website.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Happy Reformation Day!

Well, I was going to try and do something fun for Reformation day, but it is now too late. I hope you all had a great day yesterday, with all your costumes and candy and history and fun.

I couldn't help but include a couple pictures of some reformers. The top picture is Martin Luther and the picture on the bottom is  John Calvin.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Just For Fun

So I thought it would be fun to hear from you all this week. I want to know what you would like to read about, learn about and watch. I will ask you a series of questions below and you can just leave a comment with your answer.

1- What would you like to read on the blog?

2- What would you like to learn about in a Facebook class?

3- What would you like to see coming from the Vimeo channel?

4- Is anything in particular that you would like to see as a whole from the Thoughts From Oakdale sites?

5- Would you be interested in listening to a podcast from Thoughts From Oakdale?
 
I can't wait to hear from you all! Thanks for reading and watching Thoughts From Oakdale.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Product Review: Cowgirl Dirt Makeup

   Cowgirl Dirt makeup is a mineral makeup company that was started and is owned by Christians. I have known about them for about 2 years and it wasn't till about last month that I was able to try their products. My skin is fairly sensitive, so whenever I wear regular makeup my face gets rashes along my temples. I wanted to see how my skin would react to mineral makeup. After wearing Cowgirl Dirt's foundation and eye shadow for a whole day I hardly knew it was on and there was no rash! I highly recommend there products! They are a little expensive, but are totally worth every penny. 

Garlic

Garlic is an absolutely amazing herb! Not only it staple in good cooking, but it has some pretty great medicinal properties. I have used homemade garlic oil to help get rid of the hiccups and it worked really well. Garlic helps fight colds, earache, eye infections, clear acne, control asthma and much more. Just include garlic in your cooking or make your own garlic oil.

To make your own garlic oil: Finely chop 1 head of garlic, put the chopped garlic in a container that has a lid, cover garlic with olive oil, close lid to jar. Shake mixture 2x daily for 10 days. Then strain garlic chunks out of oil. It is now ready to use.

Hope you enjoy!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Almond Oil

       I  haven't had anyone ask me about almond oil yet, but I thought I better write a post about it. It's not an essential oil. It is included in some of the blends as a carrier oil, because of how abrasive some of the oils in that blend are. As some of you may remember Coconut Oil is another carrier oil. What you use carrier oils for is if an oil is to strong for your skin, simply add the same amount of drops of that EO to an equal part of the carrier oil. Almond oil does not have a very strong smell, so if you prefer something more mellow then Almond oil is for. Otherwise Coconut oil is better for you.
       Almond oil isn't bad for you, it just isn't as healthy as Coconut oil is. You can use Almond oil as a face moisturizer, you can cook with it, basically all the same things that you can do with Coconut oil you can do with Almond oil.

   So another almond product that I really like is Marzipan. It's so sweet though that a little will do for a very long time. Plus Marzipan is mentioned in one of my favorite Jane Austen Book/Movie. But that's not why I like it.

    Be sure to read my post about Coconut oil from a few months ago. I really enjoyed the  Essential Oils 101 Class yesterday! I really enjoyed the discussion that happened at the end. It was very awesome!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Essential Oils for Focus and Concentration

  During the school year it is often hard to focus and concentrate. Especially if there are all sorts of social gatherings to prepare for or extra-curricular activities to think about. So today we will look at the oils that will help with study time.

The oils from the Everyday Kit that are a part of this list are Lemon, Peppermint, Peace & Calming, Valor, and Lavender. You can put them into effect by rubbing them on the soles of your students feet and diffusing them at the same time. Using as many of these oils as you wish is totally fine. Just find the scent combination that you enjoy the best. The oils that aren't in the Kit but also help with focus and concentration are Cedarwood, Citrus Fresh, Orange, En-R-Giz, Vetiver, Basil, and Rosemary. Apply these the same as the other oils. 

  I hope this is helpful to all teachers, students and parents. These can be used in the classroom and in the home. My sisters and I were at the play place the other day, which has a preschool, and I saw that the preschool had a diffuser running!

     Check out my Facebook page for more essential oil information as well as classes and my Vimeo channel for some oil how-to's. Join us on October 2nd for the Essential Oils 101 class on Facebook. 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Aloe Vera

    Aloe Vera is a desert plant, which would explain why it is so often used for sunburn relief. It is a beautiful plant and is extremely versatile. The part of the plant that you use is not an essential oil, but it does similar things for the plant that essential oils do for their plants.

   First Aloe Vera gel comes from the inside of the leaves of the plant. To access it and use the gel, all you have to do is pull a leaf off and squeeze the gel out like toothpaste. And if you don't use all the gel in that one leaf you can stick it in the fridge for a day and save it for later. The care and up keep of this great plant is super easy since it is a desert plant. You don't have to water it that often and you don't have to worry to much about it when you go on trips.

      Our natural first aid kit is certainly expanding. Aloe Vera not only adds relief to sunburns and bug bites, it is also a disinfectant. It also helps your body heal blisters. So its great for applying when you or your child gets a cut, blisters, sunburn or bug bites. For a great list of other natural items to add to your natural first aid kit go here.

       It can also be added to your natural cosmetics. If you make any of your own cosmetics, you can include Aloe Vera and give your finished product a great extra kick in that your cosmetics will be healing and taking care of you while your looking fabulous. Making your own cosmetics can be fun and exciting. It is definitely an adventure, there are so many resources out there right now. If you want to make your own make-up most of the resources are on the internet. There are a lot of books out there right now though on making your own body care products.

     I highly recommend getting your own plant and using the gel from your own plant, simply because you don't have to spend as much time checking the suppliers honesty like you do if you buy just the gel. I was given one just recently and I love it! It is such  a beautiful plant! Very simple looking, but that's what makes it so lovely. Here's another article that's very interesting.

     Well I hope that was helpful, and I look forward to talking to you on Facebook, Vimeo and here. On October 2nd I will be holding another class on Facebook, Essential Oils 101. We will go through all the oils in the starter kit as well as learn why oils do what they do! Hope you can join us!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Himilayan Pink Salt

 I discovered Himilayan Pink Salt by complete accident. I was at Winco getting Chia Seeds in the bulk section and just below it was the bin of Himilayan Pink Salt . It was so different looking I had to do a quick search on my phone. The top searches were so interesting that I bought a half a pound right then. Unlike regular table salt Himilayan Pink Salt is very good for you and can be used in many different ways.

This amazing salt is mined in the Himilayan mountains and is naturally pink. It can be used in baths, body scrubs and has a 1:1 ratio to table salt and can be used in place of regular table salt when cooking. 

Himilayan Pink Salt supports almost all of the body's systems. It is high in all the important vitamins and minerals, and has none of the terrible side affects of table salt. Unlike common belief, our bodies do need sodium, but we need the right kind which is contained in Himilayan Pink Salt. 

I have used it in a body scrub and loved it! I also used it when my brother had a cold as a throat gargle. I haven't been able to try it as a table salt replacement but I can't wait too. I am still looking for a good body scrub recipe, otherwise I would share one here. 

I found it at Winco in the bulk section for about $1.60 per pound. I am sure that it is available at other places I just haven't found it yet. I am still learning about all the great benefits of Himilayan Pink Salt, and can't wait to try it all the different ways to use it and what it's health benefits are.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Headaches

    Headaches of all kinds are annoying, uncomfortable and sometimes painful, and nobody enjoys having one. This week we are going to look at the oils that have great headache relief, and are better for you then Advil or Tylenol. First I want to remind you all that today is the Back to School class on Facebook it's not to late to join us! And invite your friends as well!

   Alot of the oils that are mentioned in this post are in the Everyday Kit, so if you have only ordered the Premium Starter Kit then you will be totally fine. There are a few oils that aren't in that kit that you can order later if you wish or you may already have them. We'll start with the ones from the Everyday Kit. They are Lavender, Thieves, Stress Away, PanAway, Valor, Peppermint, and Frankincense. You can use one or all of them to help get rid of your headache and for any headache according to how the smell bothers you while you have a headache. The other oils that don't come in the kit are Deep Relief,  Breathe Again, R.C. and M-Grain. Again it's all to smell during your headache, but they are all very safe and act quickly.
    To get any of these oils or any other Young Living products check out their website. Also check out my Vimeo Channel and my Facebook Page.


Soli Deo Gloria!

Chia Seeds

     I was realizing the other day that I had done 3 videos featuring chia seeds and 1 blog post about them on a different blog,  but I hadn't done one here. So here it is! Before we get started though I wanted to mention that I have moved my video channel from YouTube to Vimeo. All my past videos are there, so that they are easy to find in the future, and all new videos will be posted there instead. And I am hosting an online class next week on September 4th on Facebook, I hope you will join us.

     I first learned about chia seeds when I read a book for a Blogging for Books program. It sounded interesting because it was a fresh topic and it was related to health, which as you know is something that I am very interested in. They are high in fiber, omega-3, omega-6, Vitamins A, B, E, and D, zinc, sodium, magnesium, calcium and iron and much more. They also don't contain gluten. They are a quick and easy way to to help your body get what it needs. 

     Chia seeds are also extremely easy to add into your everyday life. You can eat them plain straight out of the bag, in salads, smoothies,  stir fries, drink them in water, the possibilities are endless! There are drinks that you can buy at the store that have chia seeds in them already. The recommended amount to eat is 2-3 tablespoons a day per person. With all the possible ways to eat them it is so easy to get that amount. 

     I hoped you enjoyed this blog post and that you will let me know in the comments below what you would like to read about in the future.

Soli Deo Gloria! 

Seasonal Allergies and Essential Oils

           I am going to be hosting an online class about using essential oils during the school year. It will start September 4th, and will take place on Facebook.  This week we are going to look at oils that will help relieve allergies. All of these oils come in the Everyday Kit.

   The oils are Lavender, Lemon and Peppermint. You can use them a couple different ways, and I might suggest using one or all of these methods as well as using all three oils. Option one is to apply them topically. This is probably the easiest and quickest way to get the oils into your system. You can apply them to the souls of your feet, your wrists, your temples and the back of your neck. The second way is to diffuse them, whether it is in a diffuser or on a cotton ball. The third and final way is to get gel capsules and put 3-5 drops of each oil in and take it three times a day.
    If you are interested in any of these oils or in any of Young Living's other products check out their website. If you like what you see and wish too order, click on the member sign-up at the top of the page. Then enter my member number into the enroller and sponsor number slots the proceed to fill out the rest of the form as you wish. (My member number is 1564241.) Check out my Facebook Page where I post all sorts of things about oils, host classes, post videos, and more! Also look at my YouTube channel.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Women Only Please: Hormone Balance with Essential Oils

    This week I am at my third and final Joni camp for this summer. So again this week will be a little shorter. Well this post was a little harder for me to write. Mostly because I hadn't thought to much about it. Hormonal balance is hard a difficult subject to write about because there is so much too it. Which I guess there is to most other subjects. So thank you for the challenge and I hope I don't totally  mess up.

       There were a few oils that I haven't tried for this hormones but that make a lot of sense to use for hormone balance. The best oils for hormones are Spearmint, Ylang Ylang, Fennel, Myrrh, Myrtle, Sage, Sage Lavender, Peppermint, Clove, Geranium and Nutmeg.  So the oil product that kept coming up was the product Progressence Plus. This is an oil based supplement that Young Living offers. It is vitamin E that is extracted from yams in an essential oil mix and helps with cramps during your period, hot flashes and other similar issues. I have not been able to try this product yet, but after looking into it I really want to.

       Oils that I have tried for cramps that I have tried is the blend Deep Relief.  I get really bad cramps during my period, so bad that I can't do much the first two days of my period. When I use this blend during this time I am able to do way more things then I was normally able to do. I still don't feel great but I feel way better then normal. I highly recommend this blend for a plethora of different things.

      If you are interested in any of these oils or any of Young Living's other great products check out their website. If you like what you see and want to order, click on the member sign-up button at the top of the page. Then enter my member number in the sponsor and enroller number slots at the top of the form. (My member number is 1564241.) Also check out my Thoughts From Oakdale Facebook Page. I post all sorts of oil fun there like charts, fun facts, events I am hosting and much more! I am also on You Tube please subscribe to me there for all kinds of oil related videos. I am going to be hosting an online class on Facebook in September about how to stay healthy with oils during the school year so keep an eye open for that. 

Soli Deo Gloria!!!

Children and Essential Oils

         I didn't have my oils a week before I had the opportunity to use them on my little sisters. My sister Esther will come up to me when she's not feeling well or has a scrape and says "Sister, I need oils!" I highly recommend using oils with children and babies. Using essential oils with children and babies is easy and safe. Let's look at oil application, and a few oils that help your children ward off common sickness.

 Application: There are a couple really good ways to apply oils to babies and children that I want to mention here. The first is diffusing the oils. Since babies and children have young sensitive skin it might be gentler and more efficient to diffuse the oils they need rather then applying them topically. However, if they are really sick and you want to give a little extra push towards recovery, I recommend applying the oils to the soles of their feet as well as diffusing.The reason I suggest the soles of their feet is because the skin there is tougher, but that's also where the biggest pores in your body are and the oils can get into your system faster. So even as an adult applying oils to your feet is extremely beneficial.

       Colds and the flu are two of the most common  childhood sicknesses. Thankfully the oils overlap and do double duty on these to sicknesses. The oils to use are Lavender, Lemon, Frankincense, Eucalyptus, Thieves, Peppermint, Roman Chamomile and Clove. Some of these oils would be best diffused because they are slightly abrasive and a little to strong for young skin.

       "Littles" are always getting scrapes and bruises.  Thankfully again there is one list of oils for these two ailments as well. These oils can applied topically since they are gentle. Lavender, Frankincense and Peppermint are the best at soothing and healing cuts, scrapes and bruises.

          What better way to take care of children than with a safe, non-toxic natural alternative for all their little ailments, and even their bigger ailments. If you are interested in any of these oils or any of Young Living's other great products check out their website. If you like what you see and want to order, click on the member sign-up button at the top of the page. Then enter my member number in the sponsor and enroller number slots at the top of the form. (My member number is 1564241.) Also check out my Thoughts From Oakdale Facebook Page. I post all sorts of oil fun there like charts, fun facts, events I am hosting and much more! I am also on You Tube please subscribe to me there for all kinds of oil related videos. I am going to be hosting an online class on Facebook in September about how to stay healthy with oils during the school year so keep an eye open for that. 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Traveling with Essential Oils

     Thank you to all of you who participated in the giveaways over the last couple weeks! The next few blog posts are based on what you voiced you would like to learn more about. Today we are going to look at traveling with essential oils. I have done lot's of traveling this summer and have a little more yet to do, and my oils have been there with me every step of the way.

     So far this summer I have gone to 2 Joni and Friends Family Retreats and have gone tent camping with my Church family. I am also getting ready for my 3rd Family Retreat. I have taken my oils to every one of these events and was so thankful that I had. Not only did I use them, but so did others. At Joni camp I used Thieves, PanAway, Lavender, and Eucalyptus, first because I caught a cold both times I went. And second because I had a bruise on my foot during the second camp. During Church camp I used Lavender, Peppermint and Clove essential oils. I used them as sun protection, bug protection, sunburn and bug bite relief. Other people who were camping with me even used them!

      My parents had gotten me an oil travel case for Christmas and I bought a travel diffuser from Young Living a couple of months ago. These have been such great assets to traveling with my oils. The travel case has made the actual traveling part way more relaxing in the sense that I don't have to worry if the oil bottles are going to break in transit, and it also keeps them in an organized and easy to use place when you get to your destination. The travel diffuser is the perfect size for taking on trips.  It is also very versatile in its power options which makes it an even greater asset. It has the ability to be plugged into the wall as well as to run on batteries.  Another great recourse that I take with me so that I wont be taken by surprise is the Reference Guide pictured below. It has tons of sicknesses, diseases, etc listed in alphabetical  order, under each ailment it lists the oils that help your body take care of that particular thing. It's small enough to fit inside my travel case. (Check out my most recent YouTube video for a demonstration of my travel case.)

             I highly recommend traveling with essential oils whether you're flying or driving and no matter where you're going. You can take oils with you on the plane as part of your carry on. The rules for the planes is that each container can only be 3oz and each flyer is allowed to fill one quart size Ziploc baggy with as many 3oz containers as they want. So definitely take them on the plan with you. For one thing, it's not fun to finally head out on a trip that you're excited about only to get sick or have someone in your group get sick. Plus you if you have trouble sleeping in a new place you'll have your oils with you to make a natural sleep aid or just to help you relax.

 

        If you are interested in any of the oils or the diffuser that I talked about in this post check out Young Living's website.  And if you like what you see and want to order, click on the member sign-up button at the top of the page and enter my member number in the enroller and sponsor number slots. (My member number is 1564241.) And if you are interested in a travel case or a copy of the Reference Guide check out the Abundant Health website.  Also check out my Facebook Page for more fun stuff related to oils! There will be classes and events listed there that I will be hosting posted there, as well as exciting giveaways and You Tube videos! Just as a heads up, I am going to be hosting an online class Septmber 4th-September 11th, 2014 on Facebook with the focus on oils and the Back to School season of the year. So keep an eye open for the class!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Joni Camp II and What Oils I Used

      I have been to my second Joni and Friends Family Retreat this last week. It was absolutely amazing.  Every time I go to JAF  Family Retreat I love it and the people even more then I did before. It's beginning to feel more like home. This last week I was paired with a young boy whom I had last July, and who I absolutely love! I love him and his family soooooo much.

       As you may have guessed I did take my oils with me. Which was such a good thing, especially this camp, because I really needed them this time. Before coming to camp I had started to get a cold. I was also have a little bit of trouble sleeping the first couple nights. Every night I sprayed my bed with Thieves Spray, to help my body fight  my cold, as well as kill any other germs that were either already on my bed or that I might have picked up during the day. I also applied Thieves, Frankincense, and Eucalyptus oils to further fight my cold. And because I was have trouble sleeping I applied Stress Away and started sleeping like a rock.

       Then about mid week my foot started hurting like my shoe was too small. I knew it wasn't possible for that to be true, so it seemed strange to me that it should hurt. On my break I discovered a small bruise on my foot. So I applied PanAway, Lavender, and Peppermint oils to the bruise and it stopped hurting and started to healed. I am soo excited to go on my third camp this summer!! Thank you so much to all of you who have helped me get to camp!! It really means a lot to me. Check out the Thoughts From Oakdale shop for some really cute things.

      If you are interested in any of these products check out Young Living's website. If you like what you see and would like to order, click on the member sign-up button at the top of the page. Enter my member # into the enroller and sponsor  # slots at the top of the form and continue with the check out process. Also like the Thoughts From Oakdale Facebook Page, I post all sorts of fun things about oils there as well as do giveaways, and post when events will happen! I just did the first giveaway a couple weeks ago and am doing another one right now!

Soli Deo Gloria!