Tomorrow's Wishes

Fall is such a unique season. It is full of life, vibrant colors, and busy wildlife. It is a time of long walks, comfy sweaters, and bonfire nights.

It reminds me of my parents, who are no longer with me.


It reminds me of the possibilities that we have in our life.


Trees release so that they may create new life, they feed the critters, and allow us to admire their beauty. What once was alive, falls into a slumber, only to awaken in a new season.




It is the start of the holiday season, and gatherings of family and friends.


It is a time to be thankful, a time to make new plans, and the perfect time to reinvent ourselves.

It also reminds me that I have a ton of things on my bucket list, that often I feel like I will never get to. For many reasons, like lack of money, life circumstance, or simply the lack of my own motivation.

Or maybe it's because I think I am supposed to be in a certain place, but in reality, the timing just isn't right for me yet.

Regardless, I like to create bucket lists of small things I can do everyday. To live in the moment, to be happy right where I am, to live in the metaphorical season I am in.

I feel like I am always in transition, hoping to come out of this season with a new understanding of who I am and what my purpose is. It seems to be a never ending search at times. My passions tend to get put to the side and life takes over.

But that's OK.

I realize that I can't force things, that my path isn't always straight, it might even feel like I am repeating the same thing over and over, going in a never ending circle.

But my life is not dictated by me, in His timing I will end up where I was meant to be all along.



Writing things down, like a fall bucket list, helps to take my mind off of what I can't control, and grounds me into the moment I am in.

Until we can learn to enjoy those simple things in life, the small everyday moments, of every season of our lives, we are not truly living.

Maybe, just maybe, we have to be happy right where we are, no matter the circumstance, before we can move forward. It might not be where we want to be or thought we would be, but we need to trust that it is all part of His perfect plan.

What's on your bucket list?

DIY LIP BALM


I love this one, it is incredibly smooth and feels amazing on your lips!

I have played around with a lot of different recipes, but by far, I LOVE this one!

Now, you might think that is a lot to make a tube of lip balm, but honey...you can't just make one! You have to share!

What you'll need: (I've tried to include links to most...but you can get everything on Amazon)

1/4 cup Shea Butter
1/4 cup Coconut Oil
1/4 cup Beeswax
8 tbsp.Sweet Almond Oil
4 Drops Vitamin E
20-22 drops essential oils
Empty Lip Balm Tubes

Optional: Lip Balm Tube Holder and Disposable Droppers



This recipe will make 24 lip balm tubes or small cosmetic jars. I prefer it in the tubes myself, but I made a few just to give you an idea.

I have tried to include links to many of the products I purchased, but they are all easily found on Amazon.

It is a bit expensive getting all of the ingredients initially, but honestly it will make so much! And you can use a lot of the ingredients for other DIY products. And when you think about what you would pay for one single tube of lip balm in the store...you are saving so much money!And they make great gifts, teacher gifts, family, friends,mail person, bus driver, stocking stuffers, party favors, and you can put on in every room. You can never have too many lip balms!

Pair this with a DIY sugar scrub and homemade soap for a great hostess gift! The gift possibilities are endless!

This really is a super easy recipe.

Melt the Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, and Beeswax together. For this recipe I used Beeswax in a block, so much easier to use the pellets, but I was out, either is fine! I usually start with the beeswax since it takes a bit longer, half way through you can add in the Shea Butter and Coconut Oil. Or throw it all in at once, either is fine!


I like to use a glass measuring cup placed into a pot of shallow water. However, you can melt them in a microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each 30 seconds.BUT, I prefer the stove method, I think it makes for a more creamy lip balm, but that is just my opinion.

Next, once it is nearly melted, add in your sweet almond oil and Vitamin E.
Once it is fully melted, remove from the heat.

Add in your essential oils and you are ready to pour! Be sure to start pouring immediately because it starts to firm back up quickly.

For this recipe I used lemon and lime essential oils for half of the recipe and Lavender essential oil for the other half, I also made a few with Peppermint essential oil in the jars.

Just make sure to either pour your melted mixture into separate glass cups before adding your essential oils OR cut the recipe in half and do it twice, or go crazy and make a bunch of smaller batches...you really can't go wrong!

If you need to purchase pure essential oils you can use this link to either purchase retail or join my oily team to receive 24% off of retail. I'll even send you a welcome gift if you sign up with a premium starter kit. Reach out to me for more information!

OK we are almost done!

NOTE: THE GLASS WILL BE HOT SO PLEASE REMEMBER TO USE A POTHOLDER OR GLOVE WHEN HANDLING.

Again, I use the lip balm tube holder and disposable droppers to make my life easier! I find this MUCH easier than trying to hit the little lip balm tube holes.Or trying to get them to stand up while pouring. I mean you can scrape it off and reuse it, but it is much less messy using the holder and disposable droppers. You can also purchase glass droppers.


That's it! Once they firm up, cap each tube and let them sit for about an hour. After that they are ready to use!


Let the gift giving begin! And of course...the soft lips!

When I am stressed...

Stress Away blend

Lavender

Peppermint

per-spec-tive- a particular attitude toward or a way of regarding something; a point of view.


Life is all about perspective. Optimists, pessimists, we all view things differently, and that's okay!

My family teases me sometimes because I like to take pictures of everything...e v e r y t h i n g ...leaves, bugs, a spiders web, mushrooms...I see beauty everywhere!

Let me ask you...

When you see a field of dandelions, do you see a hundred weeds or a hundred wishes?

When you see a lawn of clover, do you see a menace to your lawn, more work on your plate for the weekend, or a place to look for a lucky four leaf clover?

When you see a ring of mushrooms pop in your yard after the rain, do you see a fungus or a magical mushroom ring?

When you change your perspective, it opens your eyes to see the beauty that is all around you.

Yes, there is beauty in that mushroom ring, trust me, you just have to pause for a moment and open your mind to it.

I knew my husband wouldn't be fond of the mushroom ring in his lawn (however he is the one that told me to take a picture of it, before he mowed it down of course). I did take a picture of course, and when I showed it to our daughter she found it so fascinating. She went from it being just a cool looking mushroom (it opened up to be bigger than my hand!), to a fairy ring, to a door to another dimension (Google is crazy sometimes!) but the joy I got watching her...(sigh)...it's truly in your perspective people!

I will say my husband left it there longer than I thought he would to. ;)

I challenge you to change your perspective.

Soooo, it's July. Many of us (well me) start to reflect on what we have accomplished so far this year. What our New Year's resolutions were, what we were going to change, what was on our list, and what is STILL on our list.

Writing in my journal is kind of grounding for me, I have been doing it on and off my whole life. (I tend to write more when I think I am having an epiphany, you know like now.)

It is also where every year I write down that THIS is the year I follow MY dreams.

As I flip through the pages of 2018; I am looking at all of the posts about my family, the funny things that happened, our happy times and our sad times, what the kids have been doing, what we have been doing around the house and barn, the non profit organizations that I've helped, etc.

I have written about the things I wanted, WAIT scratch that, was GOING to accomplish, and I have written down ideas, dreams and quotes.

I always focused on a word or words and doodled it in my journal, words like:

Be Brave, Be Bold, Grow, The Future is Female, BOSS, Don't Fear Change, Have Faith in YOURself! Do What YOU Love, YOU are the only one holding yourself back, Make stuff happen!

2018 is the year for YOU!



Yup, it's July! J...U...L...Y people, and I still am not doing what I truly want to be doing! WT(blank)! Ugh, I am not getting any younger!

So, why, oh why do I have such a hard time with this? I mean I am always willing to help others with their plans and help motivate them to achieve their goals. Yet, here I am still typing away on this blog. (That most likely nobody outside of my family and maybe, I mean maybe, a few friends are reading.) AHHHHHH!

I put things on my calendar, IN INK, 'cause if it is written in ink it will happen, right. (You know they make these awesome white-out rollers!) I seem to keep pushing off anything that involves ME.

Somehow, every year, I let the world define me. I conform to what I feel I need to do, not what I truly want to do. In turn, I miss out on what I feel, deep inside, that I should be doing.

It's nothing fantastical, just focusing on my passions, taking pictures, writing, sharing my love for animals and our Life on Lost Creek Ranch (Yet another blog, no one reads) and using that to help others in some way.

I promote other peoples dreams, businesses, and lives, yet...I get stuck when it comes to my own.

2018 was supposed to be THE YEAR FOR ME...The year I made my inner dream come true. Well, other than actually hitting the big five O. I am still in the same boat I was in 2017. And I might add a few pounds heavier, I mean I DO love those evening milkshakes!

Yes, I have helped some very worthy non-profits with their missions, but I have a mission to...dang it! I keep saying that I'm am not going to take on anything that I really do not want to do, I am going to learn to say no, and I am going to follow my heart and take a chance on ME.

Maybe I feel like that is selfish? I don't know.

I like to do things for others though, make other people happy, help them accomplish their goals and their calling, but I have a hard time receiving that for myself. I can't seem to take the first step onto the path I feel deep inside my being that is meant for me.



God will lead me. I keep thinking that everything will lineup just right and I will know when to step onto that path. I will get a sign. Well, let me tell you, I've had plenty of signs, and He has led me to that path time and time again. I have stood at the beginning, maybe even lifted my foot to take the first step, but then...I swing myself around and go down a path in the opposite direction.

Maybe it is a fear of rejection...what if nobody likes my writing? What if they think my pictures suck? Maybe it is the fear that what I want to do really won't make a difference? Even though people keep telling me to move forward, maybe I'm not really good enough?

Yikes! It's scary putting yourself out there and failing (or tripping, I do that a lot). But if you never take a chance at failing, you'll never know what you are truly capable of or what is waiting down that path that is meant for you.

Yesterday my desktop motivation calendar kind of hit home...

"Don't wait until the time feels right. Don't wait until you feel ready. You will wait forever."



That is an incredibly true statement. We are in charge of our destiny and if we (OK I) keep waiting for the time to be perfect, for everything to line up just right, it will never happen.

So, yes, I might still be writing for a non existent audience and sharing pictures to my very limited social media following. But maybe, just maybe, this will motivate someone else to start living THEIR dream!

And, if it does motivate you, the one person reading this, could you please come get me, I think I need a kick in the arse (that's the British word for buttocks)!

Make what's left of 2018 the year you go out and take a chance on YOU! You're not getting any younger either! Just saying.

Remember...

We think in pictures...if you wish to change what you think, change the picture. - Aristotle

Mean girls, Bullies...ugh! Just saying it out loud makes me want to scream and go into mama bear mode. Ahhhh!!!

 So...I thought I would talk about that today.

But first, let's talk about what a friend is.

A friend is someone who is there for you in your happiest hours, and in your darkest hours, when you are doing well, and when you are down and even broke. You may fight, but you make up. Friends tell you the truth, call you out when you need to be, and have your back when you need it. They don't talk about you they talk to you. They laugh with you, they cry with you. You are there for each other, unconditionally.

So now let's talk about the opposite...bullies...girl, boy, mom, dad, husband, wife, boss, co-worker, total stranger...it doesn't matter, mean is mean, a bully is a bully.

I went through it, each of my three kids has gone, or is going through it, and it breaks my heart to see it happening to them or anyone else. I feel like people are only getting meaner. Why?! Why must you make fun of what someone is wearing, what they look like, what friends they choose to have, what hobbies they are into? They make fun of you if you are too tall, too short, too thin, too wide. They make fun of you if you happen to have your own voice, or if their views are different from yours.

Ugh! I get so frustrated!

We try to raise our children to be individuals. To be leaders not followers, in other words, to be their own person and to follow their hearts. To not let others steal their joy or to try and lead them down a path that is not their own. To have a voice for those that have none. To step in when someone needs help and to stand up for what they believe in. To be kind, to give back, and to love unconditionally.

Yet, it seems that many times, this only makes them a target.

Maybe that's why sometimes I prefer animals over people. You could be having a good day or a bad day, and they are there for you, no judgment, just unconditional love.


No one should be made fun of for sticking up for another, for walking away from mean kids, for wanting to be their own person, for having a hobby that isn't what someone else thinks is "cool". They shouldn't be kicked, mocked, pushed around, or teased. No one!

But, it happens everyday to so many kids. If you don't join them, you become a target.

As a parent you feel useless. I see it so much on social media, parents talking about how their kid is being bullied, they come home crying, never getting invited to the birthday party, or getting invited so that they can be made fun of, being harassed and unfortunately some kids even committing suicide...and it is happening more and more. These are nice kids that don't deserve to be treated this way.

Maybe some people are just born mean, but more often than not, it is a behavior that is learned. Yes, lets address the elephant in the room. To all of those parents out there condoning this behavior by either not addressing the fact that your kid is a complete brat, by encouraging this behavior, or let's be real, by trying to live through your kids...well congratu-frickin-lations...

(clap - clap - clap)

You have raised a mean kid, a bully. You must be so proud. The cycle continues.

Ahhhh! Deep breath in.....and out...

Now mind you I am NOT perfect, I tend to have no filter (obviously), I wear my heart on my sleeve and I say what is on my mind (maybe to a fault). I make no excuses, what you see is what you get.

I still have friends from when I was younger. However, some of my deepest friendships came later in life and have lasted 35+ years and are still going strong. Through kids, life's challenges, moves, you name it...our friendship is rooted and true. True friends are hard to come by these days, especially when you are an adolescent kid just trying to get through school.

It doesn't matter how many friends you have, what matters is having true friends. If you go through life and can count on one hand how many true friends you have...you are blessed. Therefore...I am truly blessed.

To all of those kids out there being bullied...don't let them steal your joy...you have the strength to overcome. Don't be the victim and don't turn into the bully. Be the super hero that is inside of you and know that you are not alone.  God made you the way you are, and you are indeed amazing! This is just a short time in your life, it will mold you into the person you were meant to be. Take what life is giving you and use it as a step. Be the solution, make a difference.

I will continue to encourage my kids to be the wonderfully, unique, kind and adventurous individuals that they are. No matter how old they are (because bullies aren't  just adolescents) I will be there to wipe their tears, hug them, (may even go into full mama bear mode from time to time), I will offer words of encouragement and I will let them know that this to shall pass.

And through it all, I will tell them to find their inner super hero and wear that cape with pride! Be kind, love unconditionally, and just keep being YOU!


#NoBulliesAllowed #BeKind #LoveUnconditionally