As of today, I have completed six weeks of walking since baby girl was born. I changed up my route as a result of an interaction that made me really uncomfy a couple weeks ago. I also carry OC Spray now, which is new since the experience. I'm really glad to have the spray... more as protection against dogs than people, to be honest!
On Saturday, August 17, I walked exactly 6 miles. Monday, the 19th, I walked almost 5.5 miles. So, I'm regularly walking between 5.5 and 6 miles. How awesome is that! ^_^ Both of the specific days i mentioned, i was able to complete my walk in about 2 hours. Obviously, i was significantly more tired on Monday than Saturday.
I am wearing baby girl in my linen wrap. It's hot for me and i end up with an X of sweat on my back, but baby girl is JUST fine! ^_^ She doesn't even break a sweat most days. Some days she has broken a sweat, but that's when the air has been super wet. I think she's not really hot at all even on those days!
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
His Mercy Endureth Forever!
Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever! I'm so happy i cannot contain myself. I desire to share of God's mercy to ME and a bit to my family. Although I cannot do so in detail about all, i ache to share the detail i am able to share!
This morning, i left for my walk feeling good and hopeful that the heavy clouds would not burst upon me in the way they did on Wednesday. What an eventuful morning walk THAT was... just getting wet and hanging out under a tree as I did. ^_^
Well, i didn't get too far before they started to drip... those dang clouds started wetting me with a mist and then a full on downpour. I was more worried about babygirl getting wet by that horrible first rain... chemtrial rain that is more likely to have lots of the horrible chemicals used by those who desire to poison the earth. So, i took shelter under a tree.
Before i took shelter, though, i must confess that I was less than my best. On my walks i talk to and listen to our Father in Heaven. When it was obvious that the wet was going to be much more than the mist it started out as, i felt upset and told our Father about it. I said, "I feel betrayed. It doesn't normally rain in the morning and i feel betrayed that it isn't held off for me to finish my walk. I know such is possible, but is not being done and i feel betrayed." Soon after i stopped under a tree. It was good shelter and babygirl wasn't getting wet much at all - especially in her sling. She just suckled away and was content.
As I was standing there, i finished griping at Father and began thanking Him. I didn't know what for, but i wanted to thank Him... so i did. Before I got very far, I noticed a car drive by. And then, a moment later, i noticed the same car driving back toward me in reverse. When parallel to me, the driver (a woman in workout attire), holding up an umbrella verbally offered it to me. I was a little shocked, but very happy and even more thankful. I asked if there was some way i could return it to her, she said no, i took it and she drove away.
If I'd had to wait for the rain to abate, I would've been standing under that tree for at least 15 minutes. Praise the Lord for providing me a way to continue my walk with Him! ^_^
Even now i feel some of the swellings in my heart that i felt in the moment. SUCH gratitude and Love. Some of it is my own (especially the gratitude), but most of the Love is me feeling what Father was communicating to me for and about me. How awesome! And although I am special and dear to Him, I am no more so than you! He loves us all exactly the same, though still differently! ^_^ I felt chastened, too, and blessed and SO Loved.
Our Father is EVER Faithful. It is our challenge, seperated from Him as we are by the veil of forgetfulness, to be Faithful to Him!
The other thing is something I've been praying over for weeks. I've been so worried and even tearful during prayer to Father about this other thing. More recently I began to hear that something pertinent to the issue over which I have been praying would appear before the end of the month (August). Even more recently, I heard that a piece of the puzzle that I need will be provided on August 26th. Well, I received a call about an hour ago that communicated to me that the puzzle piece i do not have, but need, may well be provided on Monday (OR BEFORE).
Praise the Lord, for His Mercy Endureth Forever!!!! Our God is a MIGHTY God!
This morning, i left for my walk feeling good and hopeful that the heavy clouds would not burst upon me in the way they did on Wednesday. What an eventuful morning walk THAT was... just getting wet and hanging out under a tree as I did. ^_^
Well, i didn't get too far before they started to drip... those dang clouds started wetting me with a mist and then a full on downpour. I was more worried about babygirl getting wet by that horrible first rain... chemtrial rain that is more likely to have lots of the horrible chemicals used by those who desire to poison the earth. So, i took shelter under a tree.
Before i took shelter, though, i must confess that I was less than my best. On my walks i talk to and listen to our Father in Heaven. When it was obvious that the wet was going to be much more than the mist it started out as, i felt upset and told our Father about it. I said, "I feel betrayed. It doesn't normally rain in the morning and i feel betrayed that it isn't held off for me to finish my walk. I know such is possible, but is not being done and i feel betrayed." Soon after i stopped under a tree. It was good shelter and babygirl wasn't getting wet much at all - especially in her sling. She just suckled away and was content.
As I was standing there, i finished griping at Father and began thanking Him. I didn't know what for, but i wanted to thank Him... so i did. Before I got very far, I noticed a car drive by. And then, a moment later, i noticed the same car driving back toward me in reverse. When parallel to me, the driver (a woman in workout attire), holding up an umbrella verbally offered it to me. I was a little shocked, but very happy and even more thankful. I asked if there was some way i could return it to her, she said no, i took it and she drove away.
If I'd had to wait for the rain to abate, I would've been standing under that tree for at least 15 minutes. Praise the Lord for providing me a way to continue my walk with Him! ^_^
Even now i feel some of the swellings in my heart that i felt in the moment. SUCH gratitude and Love. Some of it is my own (especially the gratitude), but most of the Love is me feeling what Father was communicating to me for and about me. How awesome! And although I am special and dear to Him, I am no more so than you! He loves us all exactly the same, though still differently! ^_^ I felt chastened, too, and blessed and SO Loved.
Our Father is EVER Faithful. It is our challenge, seperated from Him as we are by the veil of forgetfulness, to be Faithful to Him!
The other thing is something I've been praying over for weeks. I've been so worried and even tearful during prayer to Father about this other thing. More recently I began to hear that something pertinent to the issue over which I have been praying would appear before the end of the month (August). Even more recently, I heard that a piece of the puzzle that I need will be provided on August 26th. Well, I received a call about an hour ago that communicated to me that the puzzle piece i do not have, but need, may well be provided on Monday (OR BEFORE).
Praise the Lord, for His Mercy Endureth Forever!!!! Our God is a MIGHTY God!
Labels:
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comfort,
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love,
mantra,
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praise the Lord,
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Me and My Family
The Etch-A-Sketch has become very popular around here. It seems that all of my girls really enjoy it. One seems to have something akin to a gift in this medium. She can sit down and produce a picture in under 5 minutes. Which daughter do you think I'm referring to? Let me know after you check out these pictures! :)
If you would like an official print of one of these creations, i KNOW my girls would love to sell them. They have so many goals and business ideas... all of which require money to begin their ventures. So, if they could sell pictures of their etch-a-sketch creations... that would definitely help them! Oh... and each picture will be available only in a limited number of prints... these could easily be REALLY valuable in the near future! Don't miss out!!! ^_^
Ria showing her reindeer with spots.
Kat with her first ballerina.
Tea with her squares. ^_^
If you think Kat may be the prodigee, then you and i think alike. She has produced MANY of these ballerinas. Each takes no longer than 7 minutes, with most taking a lot less time than that! She has also produced some other pictures i seem not to have taken pictures of. I'll do better and share them wtih you in the near future. Maybe we'll make an Etch-A-Sketch post a regular thing!
If you would like an official print of one of these creations, i KNOW my girls would love to sell them. They have so many goals and business ideas... all of which require money to begin their ventures. So, if they could sell pictures of their etch-a-sketch creations... that would definitely help them! Oh... and each picture will be available only in a limited number of prints... these could easily be REALLY valuable in the near future! Don't miss out!!! ^_^
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Thankful Thursday
I am thankful for the constant flow of blessings my family and I have been provided recently. Heavenly Father is blessing us tremendously and I am so very grateful!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Lilla Rose
I'm a LILLA ROSE distributor!
Have you heard of Lilla Rose? I hadn't heard of this company before this month. If you don't know me in real life, you don't know how much i love hair. If you don't know me in real life, you don't know how much hair i have!
I was a licensed Cosmetologist before we moved. I didn't love working in the business because i didn't really love to cut hair or work with chemicals. However, i LOVE to style hair! I also love pretty and sparkly things. I rarely can wear them, though, because i get distracted by them. But this... this is out of sight... but not entirely out of mind. I'm not distracted by it, but DO feel prettier for wearing something pretty! :) I'm very pleased!
Are you interested? You could go to my site and order, host a party online (or in person if you live near me), and/or become a distributor with me. I'd love to work with you in any and/or all those ways. Just let me know if you'd like to work with me!
These pictures were taken after i wore it all morning and then fell asleep with it in my hair. I didn't notice it (and i did sleep on my back). The braid was significantly less fuzzy before i wore it for hours and fell asleep on it. ahwell. You definitely get the idea, at least. :)
The flexi in my hair.
Now you can see that my braid is folded!
Yeah, my hair is pretty long. :)
A close-up.
This is August's Flexi.
Each month has a special, and this is it for this one.
Labels:
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Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Tricky Tuesday
Eating well (and by well I mean: HEALTHY) in this day and age is rough. The mainstream food supply is poisoned and becoming more completely unreliabe. The only kind of produce one should trust, as supplied through the chain grocery stores, is Organic. And even that label is becoming increasingly unreliable. Did you know that apple and pear orchards are allowed to spray their trees with antibiotics as preventative maintenance? It's true. Don't believe me. Check it out for yourself! Do your own research!
Did you know that lots of produce, without any indication, is being irradiated? Some suggest that all leafy greens are irradiated. So what? Do you KNOW why that's a problem? No... well, you should! I'm not going to spoon-feed you this information right now. It's for another day... if you express a desire that i should share it here. Let me know.
The point of sharing all of the above here is to share with you a way for you to provide yourself and your family with nutritious (potentially even more so than those organic items that ARE trustworthy).
You do, of course, know about growing it yourself. That will save you money if you can collect from your efforts. However, if you don't have time for weeding, watering, fertilizing... well, then, you may not have much to collect from the efforts you ARE able to put forth. With a Tower Garden, though, you may be able to collect significantly more with a lot less time invested. How? Well, since Tower Gardens are aeroponic, there is no watering and no weeding! There are some maintenance jobs, but even those amount to far less time invested than watering and weeding by hand.
The thing that finally convinced me was learning about the irradiation of leafy greens, as a general thing. Also, the fact that, even with the add-ons i decided to include, my monthly payment is less than $65 for a constant supply of food for my family. A basic Tower with no add-ons can be as little as $43 per month for 11 months (the first month includes shipping, so you pay a total of 12 payments). I pay the monthly payment out of one week of our food budget. So, short-term sacrifice for long-term gain! Yes, there is an output and it's not EASY to manage it for us (and probably not most people), but it's totally worth the results.
We harvested our first family salad last week... and then another a few days later. I won't be able to harvest for another few days, at least, but we sure did enjoy those two FAMILY salads (that's enough lettuce and kale for 6 people twice within seven days). My son ate ALL of his salad BOTH times without a single complaint. Prior to this, as a rule, he would lick the salad dressing off the leaves and not eat the greens. THAT alone makes the Tower pretty wonderful to me! My Chef husband commented repeatedly the first time, "Are you sure there's kale in here?" He couldn't believe it because it was so very mild.
These results are well worth the short-term sacrifice! I'm so thankful to be feeding my family greens i can trust (from my Tower).
Another awesometing about Towers is that the Tower Tonic (nutrients for the plants) may be even better than organic fertilizers since "organic" legally means that Organic Certified growers must use fertilizers that are from previously living things. The Tower Tonic contains minerals and more that are gathered directly from the earth. Isn't that how plants are made to get them?
We are very pleased with our Tower and hope to buy some more eventually. That way we'd be able to eat from it daily! How exciting and wonderful that will be. :)
http://gollihugh.towergarden.com/
Did you know that lots of produce, without any indication, is being irradiated? Some suggest that all leafy greens are irradiated. So what? Do you KNOW why that's a problem? No... well, you should! I'm not going to spoon-feed you this information right now. It's for another day... if you express a desire that i should share it here. Let me know.
The point of sharing all of the above here is to share with you a way for you to provide yourself and your family with nutritious (potentially even more so than those organic items that ARE trustworthy).
You do, of course, know about growing it yourself. That will save you money if you can collect from your efforts. However, if you don't have time for weeding, watering, fertilizing... well, then, you may not have much to collect from the efforts you ARE able to put forth. With a Tower Garden, though, you may be able to collect significantly more with a lot less time invested. How? Well, since Tower Gardens are aeroponic, there is no watering and no weeding! There are some maintenance jobs, but even those amount to far less time invested than watering and weeding by hand.
The thing that finally convinced me was learning about the irradiation of leafy greens, as a general thing. Also, the fact that, even with the add-ons i decided to include, my monthly payment is less than $65 for a constant supply of food for my family. A basic Tower with no add-ons can be as little as $43 per month for 11 months (the first month includes shipping, so you pay a total of 12 payments). I pay the monthly payment out of one week of our food budget. So, short-term sacrifice for long-term gain! Yes, there is an output and it's not EASY to manage it for us (and probably not most people), but it's totally worth the results.
We harvested our first family salad last week... and then another a few days later. I won't be able to harvest for another few days, at least, but we sure did enjoy those two FAMILY salads (that's enough lettuce and kale for 6 people twice within seven days). My son ate ALL of his salad BOTH times without a single complaint. Prior to this, as a rule, he would lick the salad dressing off the leaves and not eat the greens. THAT alone makes the Tower pretty wonderful to me! My Chef husband commented repeatedly the first time, "Are you sure there's kale in here?" He couldn't believe it because it was so very mild.
These results are well worth the short-term sacrifice! I'm so thankful to be feeding my family greens i can trust (from my Tower).
Another awesometing about Towers is that the Tower Tonic (nutrients for the plants) may be even better than organic fertilizers since "organic" legally means that Organic Certified growers must use fertilizers that are from previously living things. The Tower Tonic contains minerals and more that are gathered directly from the earth. Isn't that how plants are made to get them?
We are very pleased with our Tower and hope to buy some more eventually. That way we'd be able to eat from it daily! How exciting and wonderful that will be. :)
http://gollihugh.towergarden.com/
Monday, August 19, 2013
Meditation Monday #37
I have a few friends who have joined me for a 40 Meditation Challenge. I haven't heard from many of them about their experience(s). I have had some great experiences so far and wanted to share a little bit about them. Before I do, I feel a desire to share something specific about my beliefs: I believe that ALL good originates in God and Jesus Christ. I believe that Meditation (all types, perhaps especially Kundalini Yoga) is a tool the Father has provided to help us change our brains (and thus our manifestations and lives) more quickly than we would be able to do without this tool. In this moment, it occurs to me that it's a tool like unto a screw driver. If you have the right one, you'll be able to uncrew the screw. If you don't... it'll take significantly longer... or may be almost impossible until you use the correct tool. If the screw is loose already (very few brain changes are necessary), then any old effort will eventually loosen it the rest of the way... but a screwdriver will do so much more quickly. I know this comparison is accurate based on my own personal experience. OH... and if you use a powered screw driver incorrectly, you can end up with upsetting results, too. So, for instance, if you use a form a meditation you're not quite comfy with, you may experience changes faster than you're quite ready for and experience upsetting feelings as a result. (Also from my own experience!) :)
So, today is the 3 day of the 4th week of the Official Meditation Challenge. I started 1 day early on my own challenge: to add in a PROSPERITY meditation to my regular Kirtan Kriya with tune-in and tune-out. It has been good. So far I've been able to do it every day. I'm grateful for that!
What i've noticed: It seems that the Lord is pouring down blessings upon me and mine. We have been blessed with warm linens, LOTS of clothes for the children and shoes (specifically TWO pairs of boots for Jmy that he'll be able to move into before too long; one being cowboy style while the other is more of a work/hiking boot style). The new experience(s) include money more directly. I think i've long had an aversion to having actual money... and/or being prosperous. I'm not entirely sure why, but i am striving to understand and surely will before too long. What are these new experiences? Do you wonder?
My husband called about a job that he has previously done in the past. He was told that they didn't need any more hands. After a few minutes, he got a call back and was offered a job for the evening (the one he'd asked for). That resulted in cash in hand at the end of the night! What a blessing!!!
Well, another experience is that someone made an offer of money, as an investment, when we're able to get more bees! Someone thinks so highly of Jessie's beekeeping that they want to invest! How great is THAT!!?
The other was the offer of my upline in one of my businesses to work with me in shows and make sure i get the majority and/or all of the sales so that i can re-coop my investment. How awesome is that? She totally does not have to make such an offer! And if she follows through, that will be one heck of a blessing to me and my family!
So, those last two are not cash in hand, but they are finance related and will result in cash in hand in the future! Even just the offer is new as such has been RARE (not this many in one week) in the past. My reaction to them has been HUGELY different! So... i feel like my meditation efforts are bringing some terrific results: changing my brain and communicating receptivity to heaven. Praise the Lord for His Faithfulness!!! ^_^
So, today is the 3 day of the 4th week of the Official Meditation Challenge. I started 1 day early on my own challenge: to add in a PROSPERITY meditation to my regular Kirtan Kriya with tune-in and tune-out. It has been good. So far I've been able to do it every day. I'm grateful for that!
What i've noticed: It seems that the Lord is pouring down blessings upon me and mine. We have been blessed with warm linens, LOTS of clothes for the children and shoes (specifically TWO pairs of boots for Jmy that he'll be able to move into before too long; one being cowboy style while the other is more of a work/hiking boot style). The new experience(s) include money more directly. I think i've long had an aversion to having actual money... and/or being prosperous. I'm not entirely sure why, but i am striving to understand and surely will before too long. What are these new experiences? Do you wonder?
My husband called about a job that he has previously done in the past. He was told that they didn't need any more hands. After a few minutes, he got a call back and was offered a job for the evening (the one he'd asked for). That resulted in cash in hand at the end of the night! What a blessing!!!
Well, another experience is that someone made an offer of money, as an investment, when we're able to get more bees! Someone thinks so highly of Jessie's beekeeping that they want to invest! How great is THAT!!?
The other was the offer of my upline in one of my businesses to work with me in shows and make sure i get the majority and/or all of the sales so that i can re-coop my investment. How awesome is that? She totally does not have to make such an offer! And if she follows through, that will be one heck of a blessing to me and my family!
So, those last two are not cash in hand, but they are finance related and will result in cash in hand in the future! Even just the offer is new as such has been RARE (not this many in one week) in the past. My reaction to them has been HUGELY different! So... i feel like my meditation efforts are bringing some terrific results: changing my brain and communicating receptivity to heaven. Praise the Lord for His Faithfulness!!! ^_^
Monday, August 5, 2013
Meditation Monday #36
I'm no longer counting the days. I've completely lost track! I wasn't able to be as steady after baby girl was born. I missed the day of labor, the day she was born, and a couple more days. Then i got back to it (short ones), but then i had mastitis and was out of my practice for almost a week. That was rough. But i got back to it and have been daily again since then (around 3 weeks postpartum). i'm very pleased with my efforts and accomplishments in that regard. i'm sure there are lots of meditating women who do better and i'm good with that, too. i know that for me, i did my best... and that's all i can do! ^_^
i've felt even better since i was able to get back to walking. That IS basically an hour of meditation in the form of prayer and/or listening to uplifting talks and whatnot. i'm so grateful for the ways i feel the Lord working in me and changing me. Very often, i feel like i can see His Hand in my daily life and it's such a blessing and comfort!
If you haven't started, i REALLY encourage you to do it. Meditate, my friend. Kirtan Kriya. If you want a link, i'm happy to find you one. But you could also search my blog and find lots!
Be WELL!!!
i've felt even better since i was able to get back to walking. That IS basically an hour of meditation in the form of prayer and/or listening to uplifting talks and whatnot. i'm so grateful for the ways i feel the Lord working in me and changing me. Very often, i feel like i can see His Hand in my daily life and it's such a blessing and comfort!
If you haven't started, i REALLY encourage you to do it. Meditate, my friend. Kirtan Kriya. If you want a link, i'm happy to find you one. But you could also search my blog and find lots!
Be WELL!!!
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Super Sunday #9
So, Baby was born on June 10. June 23 I was down with mastitis. The actual infection in the duct lasted only about 2.5 days, but my body was rough for most of the week. I did try walking that Saturday and it didn't go so well. I walked a very short distance and it took me about 45 minutes and i was ridiculously tired. I figured i just needed to buck up, so i also walked on July 1st and 2nd. The bleeding got worse, though, so i stopped.
Bleeding stopped by the end of the week of July 8th and stayed done, so i started walking Monday, July 15. It felt SO different... MUCH better this time! I walked my regular hour walk and it only took about 70 minutes. I've walked each day and my time has improved with each walk. YEAY!
As of July 29th, i was able to walk my regular route in 50 minutes. I didn't do that preggie, but did it wearing baby girl! ^_^ SO excited!
Also, my weight is down 32 pounds overall since before i was preggie. i'm happy about that. My goal is not only shedding weight, but that is certainly going to be a side benefit to becoming a more balanced, fit and healthy person! YEAY!!!
Praise the Lord! All these changes occurring in me are only possible in and through Christ, Jesus and i TOTALLY know it!!!! ^_^
Bleeding stopped by the end of the week of July 8th and stayed done, so i started walking Monday, July 15. It felt SO different... MUCH better this time! I walked my regular hour walk and it only took about 70 minutes. I've walked each day and my time has improved with each walk. YEAY!
As of July 29th, i was able to walk my regular route in 50 minutes. I didn't do that preggie, but did it wearing baby girl! ^_^ SO excited!
Also, my weight is down 32 pounds overall since before i was preggie. i'm happy about that. My goal is not only shedding weight, but that is certainly going to be a side benefit to becoming a more balanced, fit and healthy person! YEAY!!!
Praise the Lord! All these changes occurring in me are only possible in and through Christ, Jesus and i TOTALLY know it!!!! ^_^
Thursday, August 1, 2013
For My Girlfriends Who are Joining Me in a 40 Day Meditation Jouney
ADDED on AUGUEST 19, 2013: New Entry for THIS Challenge
Welcome, welcome. I'm so glad you are joining me! Meditation is awesome and wonderful and can help you change your brain (to change your life) even faster than what you've been doing. If your experience is anything like mine, in a year from now you will be amazed at the shifts, changes, and improvements in your thought processing and, generally, your whole perception of life and ability to gracefully handle what comes into it!
If you're joining a little later than our start date (Saturday, August 3, 2013), just make sure to figure up 40 days from your start and finish out then. If you love it as i have, you'll just keep right on going after the 40 days are finished anyway! :)
Because I have experienced such wonderful incremental results using Kundalini Yoga, I will reference Kundalini Yoga as the "go-to" form of meditation when I make suggestions. However, you are certinaly free to meditate in any form you prefer, always! I've done guided imagery in the past and it was amazing. I don't prefer it because i had experiences i wasn't quite ready for as a result and prefer the way the changes occur using Kundalini Yoga.
Obviously, if you're a guy reading here, you are welcome to join in a 40 day Mediation Challenge/Journey, too. If you ARE a guy and want me to include you when talking to whomever is reading, let me know you are reading! Otherwise i'm taking it for granted that only chicks are here checking in. :)
You don't HAVE to, but i do recommend making sure you wear white and cover your head with some sort of scarf or something. I use a long, flat white diaper that i can tie at the nape of my neck. It's not pretty, but IS clean and it does what i need done.
First, always start with a TUNE IN. Daily, i complete, at least, a 7 minute Kirtan Kriya. But you can do up to 30 minutes of Kirtan Kriya (or longer if you have tons of time). Just make sure you TUNE OUT when you're finished.
If you have more time, you can do Kirtan Kriya and another, like PROSPERITY meditation... or RELEASING ANGER AND NEGATIVITY or any of the many other tools in the Kundalini Yoga toolbox, before you close with the TUNE OUT.
If you don't like Felice Austin (or how she teaches, or whatever), you can certainly use another mentor as your Kundalini Yoga teacher... or another mentor for another form of meditation, for that matter. :) I'm just sharing what i've found to be most helpful. I've got a whole PINTREST board that is, in large part, a link spot for a bunch of different tools that are Kundalini Yoga.
As I add more information to our Challenge/Journey, i'll link each new post here. I'll also make sure to put a link on our FB page (for the ladies I know about who are joining me in this Challenge).
Welcome, welcome. I'm so glad you are joining me! Meditation is awesome and wonderful and can help you change your brain (to change your life) even faster than what you've been doing. If your experience is anything like mine, in a year from now you will be amazed at the shifts, changes, and improvements in your thought processing and, generally, your whole perception of life and ability to gracefully handle what comes into it!
If you're joining a little later than our start date (Saturday, August 3, 2013), just make sure to figure up 40 days from your start and finish out then. If you love it as i have, you'll just keep right on going after the 40 days are finished anyway! :)
Because I have experienced such wonderful incremental results using Kundalini Yoga, I will reference Kundalini Yoga as the "go-to" form of meditation when I make suggestions. However, you are certinaly free to meditate in any form you prefer, always! I've done guided imagery in the past and it was amazing. I don't prefer it because i had experiences i wasn't quite ready for as a result and prefer the way the changes occur using Kundalini Yoga.
Obviously, if you're a guy reading here, you are welcome to join in a 40 day Mediation Challenge/Journey, too. If you ARE a guy and want me to include you when talking to whomever is reading, let me know you are reading! Otherwise i'm taking it for granted that only chicks are here checking in. :)
You don't HAVE to, but i do recommend making sure you wear white and cover your head with some sort of scarf or something. I use a long, flat white diaper that i can tie at the nape of my neck. It's not pretty, but IS clean and it does what i need done.
First, always start with a TUNE IN. Daily, i complete, at least, a 7 minute Kirtan Kriya. But you can do up to 30 minutes of Kirtan Kriya (or longer if you have tons of time). Just make sure you TUNE OUT when you're finished.
If you have more time, you can do Kirtan Kriya and another, like PROSPERITY meditation... or RELEASING ANGER AND NEGATIVITY or any of the many other tools in the Kundalini Yoga toolbox, before you close with the TUNE OUT.
If you don't like Felice Austin (or how she teaches, or whatever), you can certainly use another mentor as your Kundalini Yoga teacher... or another mentor for another form of meditation, for that matter. :) I'm just sharing what i've found to be most helpful. I've got a whole PINTREST board that is, in large part, a link spot for a bunch of different tools that are Kundalini Yoga.
As I add more information to our Challenge/Journey, i'll link each new post here. I'll also make sure to put a link on our FB page (for the ladies I know about who are joining me in this Challenge).
Monday, July 29, 2013
Gears Goin' but Not Much Happenin'
My life feels like the title a lot lately. It's not the truth of the situation, but it sure does feel like it more often than not. Such is the case when a new Mama has a new nursling. And no matter whether it's #1 baby or #8, Mama is new every time!
One thing i've re-realized anew is how much i must die to myself with each new arrival. It's AMAZING how much i get used to having an older "baby" who is really independent and then to have a newborn who is completely dependent... it's a HUGE change. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to learn the new ways i've become selfish and have to relinquish them and die to self all over again.
Jessie has taken the girls to a nearby Farm Swap a couple times. We have been able to sell some livestock, but not nearly as much as i'd like... so that's another way it feels like the gears are turning and nothing is transpiring. NO! It's not nothing. It's just not as much as i'd like.
I'm working to purge lots of things from our store of "stuff" and that is going very slowly indeed. It's nearly impossible to do while holding baby girl who is only seven weeks as of today... so i have to try to sneak away when she's sleeping and that doesn't last long at all. So, it's a tiny bit of work and a LOT of trying to work things out in my head so that i can work REALLY efficeintly when i get to do what i need to do!
I'm walking every morning except Sunday again. Today began my third week back to it. It's WONDERFUL to be back. I was really nervous because i started walked before i should've and went out 3 times and felt BLAH about it. I was worried that i wouldn't love it like i did when i was preggie. I've been SO glad to realize i only felt that blah way because i was still run down and my body was not ready for that kind of exertion. Praise the Lord for that!!!
I've begun working as a Distributor of Tower Gardens and Young Living Essential Oils. More people tend to be familiar with Young Living than Tower Gardens, which is really interesting to me. When I started learning about essential oils no one i knew really knew about them. Now it's become quite common for people to be at least a little familiar with the term: essential oils... even if they don't actively use them for themselves.
Tower Gardens are awesome! They are aeroponic and very modern looking! The footprint is a total of about 3 feet by 3 feet and it can be short or a bit tall (a bit more than 6 feet tall) depending on whether you get the basic or an addition. It's as good or better than organic food and can be as little as $45 a month for a year to pay for the Tower itself. My Tower is brand new with little seedlings, but i've been watching a member of my upline with her Towers for at least the last 2 years and she has harvested SO much better-than-organic produce off her Tower. I'm sure she has spent far less on food than i do relatively speaking. So, i hope to begin saving money on our food bill in the next month! I hope you'll check it out: http://gollihugh.towergarden.com/ IF you order from me on or before July 31, you will get a coupon code for FREE SEEDLINGS (that includes shipping)! You can order right through my website and i'll be in touch with you. Oh... if you'd like to Distribute, you'll need to contact me first so we can get you signed up, pay $50, then you buy the Tower from yourself ($49 Retail Commission), so that you'll end up paying only $1 to be able to Distribute Towers, too! How great is THAT!!?? It's what i did and i'm just tickled about it!!!
If you'd like to order Young Living oils from me, let me know in a comment and i'll get in touch with you to share my member number so you can either set up an account through which you can order any time or you can become a distributor and buy wholesale whenever you want!
One thing i've re-realized anew is how much i must die to myself with each new arrival. It's AMAZING how much i get used to having an older "baby" who is really independent and then to have a newborn who is completely dependent... it's a HUGE change. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to learn the new ways i've become selfish and have to relinquish them and die to self all over again.
Jessie has taken the girls to a nearby Farm Swap a couple times. We have been able to sell some livestock, but not nearly as much as i'd like... so that's another way it feels like the gears are turning and nothing is transpiring. NO! It's not nothing. It's just not as much as i'd like.
I'm working to purge lots of things from our store of "stuff" and that is going very slowly indeed. It's nearly impossible to do while holding baby girl who is only seven weeks as of today... so i have to try to sneak away when she's sleeping and that doesn't last long at all. So, it's a tiny bit of work and a LOT of trying to work things out in my head so that i can work REALLY efficeintly when i get to do what i need to do!
I'm walking every morning except Sunday again. Today began my third week back to it. It's WONDERFUL to be back. I was really nervous because i started walked before i should've and went out 3 times and felt BLAH about it. I was worried that i wouldn't love it like i did when i was preggie. I've been SO glad to realize i only felt that blah way because i was still run down and my body was not ready for that kind of exertion. Praise the Lord for that!!!
I've begun working as a Distributor of Tower Gardens and Young Living Essential Oils. More people tend to be familiar with Young Living than Tower Gardens, which is really interesting to me. When I started learning about essential oils no one i knew really knew about them. Now it's become quite common for people to be at least a little familiar with the term: essential oils... even if they don't actively use them for themselves.
Tower Gardens are awesome! They are aeroponic and very modern looking! The footprint is a total of about 3 feet by 3 feet and it can be short or a bit tall (a bit more than 6 feet tall) depending on whether you get the basic or an addition. It's as good or better than organic food and can be as little as $45 a month for a year to pay for the Tower itself. My Tower is brand new with little seedlings, but i've been watching a member of my upline with her Towers for at least the last 2 years and she has harvested SO much better-than-organic produce off her Tower. I'm sure she has spent far less on food than i do relatively speaking. So, i hope to begin saving money on our food bill in the next month! I hope you'll check it out: http://gollihugh.towergarden.com/ IF you order from me on or before July 31, you will get a coupon code for FREE SEEDLINGS (that includes shipping)! You can order right through my website and i'll be in touch with you. Oh... if you'd like to Distribute, you'll need to contact me first so we can get you signed up, pay $50, then you buy the Tower from yourself ($49 Retail Commission), so that you'll end up paying only $1 to be able to Distribute Towers, too! How great is THAT!!?? It's what i did and i'm just tickled about it!!!
If you'd like to order Young Living oils from me, let me know in a comment and i'll get in touch with you to share my member number so you can either set up an account through which you can order any time or you can become a distributor and buy wholesale whenever you want!
My Tower with FREE seedlings installed.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Our Birth
Every time a baby is born, a Mother is, too. And i mean EVERY time. So, our baby #5 came along ON her due date. First time for everything... many firsts this time, actually. So, see... even with #5 there have been many NEW things/experiences... ways i've been born into being a Mother to a new little human being.
Evelyn Margaret Joy Gollihugh
We're calling her EmJ (sounds like the letters M and J).
She was born on June 10, 2013 at 4:18am.
My smallest baby: 8 pounds 2 ounces. (I did ask for a smaller baby this time. God is GREAT!)
She was 20 inches long.
At her 72 hour visit she was 8 pounds. Not bad given how difficult a time she's had fully latching!
Labor started a little while before it STARTED. Through the night for three nights before it really kicked into gear. So, starting on Thursday, the 6th, i had light contractions... the kind that don't rise and fall... they just ARE. Not fun, but also possible to sleep through (for the most part). Saturday night the contractions became rise and fall and came once each hour. They were strong enough to wake me, but i fell back to sleep after each one. It worked out all right except that i was too tired to go to church first thing in the morning. I slept (except for the hourly contraction).
Baby wasn't moving all that much and since i hadn't had my scheduled weekly visit with my midwife, i was feeling a little anxious, so called and asked her to come check on the baby. She arrived around 330pm. I was 2 cm dilated and the baby was doing just fine. The 2cm wasn't exciting at all given that i've walked 3 for MONTHS before! But at least it was more than it had been a couple weeks earlier.
By around 830pm labor kicked into gear.
I already knew i was pretty much IN LABOR because i got totally stuck on finding two things: a picture of some pictures i wanted to paint and our camera. Both are still missing... unfortunately, i've pretty sure i threw away the picture while looking for it. :( (I'm pretty sure it was in something else i threw out. grrr) The camera... still just totally missing! Pretty sure i know who has caused it to go missing, but she's not spilling any useful information. another GRRRR!
I KNEW i was in labor when i started sobbing because i couldn't find the picture. I mean, all out CRYING hard. Yes, I realized then that i was in labor.
It was probably around 130am or so that i knew things were getting close to time... or, at least, i felt like they were. Jessie called my midwife around 2am. She arrived around 3am. She had enough time to set up. Her assistants arrived right around 4am.
Backup. Karen checked me soon after she arrived. When she told me i was 7cm dilated i almost freaked out. Interally, i TOTALLY freaked out. Why? 7 is good, right? Okay, well... yes, for the most part. Especially from a 2.
HOWEVER...
When Karen arrived for Jmy's birth... over 2 years ago... i was 7cm dilated. Jmy wasn't born for another FIFTEEN HOURS!
Do you understand my reason for feeling a bit upset? If not... well, i'm pretty sure you've never had a long labor before.
So, i felt like i was going to go NUTS in my head. I went to the bathroom and applied rose oil to my abdoment, clary sage to my inner ankles and then Jasmine to my abdomen... all within about 30 minutes. Probably not the best idea if i wanted to maintain any semblance of control over pain or manage anything... at that point, i was just sure i didn't want to be in labor for another 15 hours! The pain of contractions went from around a 6 to around a 9.9 in SHORT order. The contractions also increased in length and intensity... of course.
Around 4am my waters broke. Meconium. Can't find baby's heart tones.
"Time to get that baby out, Tori. Try lying down so we can try to get these tones. Okay, baby likes this. Stay this way."
That didn't last long as i was totally ready to push very quickly. Two pushes and our little girl entered the world... tearing me front and back.
My smallest baby yet. Biggest tear yet. Ironic? Yes. Frustrating, too. ahwell....
So... considering ACTIVE labor... i was probably 'only' in labor for around 8 hours. Pretty stinking awesome considering my "shortest" labor before EmJ was 21.5 hours! Took me 4 tries.
Oh... and the fact that labor started COMPLETELY on it's own this time is completely and utterly wonderful and fantastic to me! Yes, i augmented... but i did NOTHING to get things going or make sure they KEPT going. Praise the Lord for changing me so that i can now trust my body to do what it's meant to do!!
Evelyn Margaret Joy Gollihugh
We're calling her EmJ (sounds like the letters M and J).
She was born on June 10, 2013 at 4:18am.
My smallest baby: 8 pounds 2 ounces. (I did ask for a smaller baby this time. God is GREAT!)
She was 20 inches long.
At her 72 hour visit she was 8 pounds. Not bad given how difficult a time she's had fully latching!
Labor started a little while before it STARTED. Through the night for three nights before it really kicked into gear. So, starting on Thursday, the 6th, i had light contractions... the kind that don't rise and fall... they just ARE. Not fun, but also possible to sleep through (for the most part). Saturday night the contractions became rise and fall and came once each hour. They were strong enough to wake me, but i fell back to sleep after each one. It worked out all right except that i was too tired to go to church first thing in the morning. I slept (except for the hourly contraction).
Baby wasn't moving all that much and since i hadn't had my scheduled weekly visit with my midwife, i was feeling a little anxious, so called and asked her to come check on the baby. She arrived around 330pm. I was 2 cm dilated and the baby was doing just fine. The 2cm wasn't exciting at all given that i've walked 3 for MONTHS before! But at least it was more than it had been a couple weeks earlier.
By around 830pm labor kicked into gear.
I already knew i was pretty much IN LABOR because i got totally stuck on finding two things: a picture of some pictures i wanted to paint and our camera. Both are still missing... unfortunately, i've pretty sure i threw away the picture while looking for it. :( (I'm pretty sure it was in something else i threw out. grrr) The camera... still just totally missing! Pretty sure i know who has caused it to go missing, but she's not spilling any useful information. another GRRRR!
I KNEW i was in labor when i started sobbing because i couldn't find the picture. I mean, all out CRYING hard. Yes, I realized then that i was in labor.
It was probably around 130am or so that i knew things were getting close to time... or, at least, i felt like they were. Jessie called my midwife around 2am. She arrived around 3am. She had enough time to set up. Her assistants arrived right around 4am.
Backup. Karen checked me soon after she arrived. When she told me i was 7cm dilated i almost freaked out. Interally, i TOTALLY freaked out. Why? 7 is good, right? Okay, well... yes, for the most part. Especially from a 2.
HOWEVER...
When Karen arrived for Jmy's birth... over 2 years ago... i was 7cm dilated. Jmy wasn't born for another FIFTEEN HOURS!
Do you understand my reason for feeling a bit upset? If not... well, i'm pretty sure you've never had a long labor before.
So, i felt like i was going to go NUTS in my head. I went to the bathroom and applied rose oil to my abdoment, clary sage to my inner ankles and then Jasmine to my abdomen... all within about 30 minutes. Probably not the best idea if i wanted to maintain any semblance of control over pain or manage anything... at that point, i was just sure i didn't want to be in labor for another 15 hours! The pain of contractions went from around a 6 to around a 9.9 in SHORT order. The contractions also increased in length and intensity... of course.
Around 4am my waters broke. Meconium. Can't find baby's heart tones.
"Time to get that baby out, Tori. Try lying down so we can try to get these tones. Okay, baby likes this. Stay this way."
That didn't last long as i was totally ready to push very quickly. Two pushes and our little girl entered the world... tearing me front and back.
My smallest baby yet. Biggest tear yet. Ironic? Yes. Frustrating, too. ahwell....
So... considering ACTIVE labor... i was probably 'only' in labor for around 8 hours. Pretty stinking awesome considering my "shortest" labor before EmJ was 21.5 hours! Took me 4 tries.
Oh... and the fact that labor started COMPLETELY on it's own this time is completely and utterly wonderful and fantastic to me! Yes, i augmented... but i did NOTHING to get things going or make sure they KEPT going. Praise the Lord for changing me so that i can now trust my body to do what it's meant to do!!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Happy Father's Day
I've always known the truth of this meme.
I've shared it before.
Right now,
I share it again,
in celebration of its truth
and in gratitude
for the Dad my husband
has become.
TO JESSIE:
It's never happened before...
the way you've stepped up.
We've done this a few times,
so i know.
It's happened this time.
Just in time for me to wish you a
Happy Father's Day
with some recent specifics.
Thank you for:
*staying home from work
to make three meals a day...
for two whole days you'd normally
have been at work
(a total of 4 days off in a row)
it's a FIRST!
*doing laundry
while you were home
and again since you've returned
to working at the restaurant.
It's a FIRST
(after a baby's birth)!!
(I do know you started
a couple loads after one baby,
but the doing the whole thing AND folding...
THAT is a FIRST!)
*encouraging me by saying,
"I know you can do it.
"I know you can do it.
Sure it'll be hard,
but you can do it."
when i had to take all 5
to the Chiropractor because
EmJ desperately needed an adjustment.
I wanted to cry (and did).
But i cried less
than if i hadn't heard
what you said.
This is NOT a first.
I'm grateful.
*the funny card.
I did laugh.
*letting me know you
are happy about our baby's birth.
I'm glad to know you are happy she's here.
I've always known that our children need you, love you, and will (to a greater or lesser degree) strive to emulate you and who/how you are. No matter what has happened, i've always wanted them to have you in their lives every day because i know you are good for them and they adore you. I'm grateful our children have a wonderful Daddy. Thank you for working hard to be the wonderful Daddy you are. I very much appreciate the healing time you have blessed me with (more than ever before) this time around. I've definitely needed it! Something about being so old now, i think....
I do have a gift planned. It's not ready, though.
Sorry about that.
It'll be ready when i can make it... hopefully sooner than later!!
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Meditation Monday #35
Today is day 365 of my meditation journey. 365 days in a year... I've been meditating for a YEAR!!!!
I feel so accomplished. :)
I feel so accomplished. :)
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Super Sunday #8
I've missed two days of walking this past week (and i think i'm changing my "week"). I missed Thursday due to rain from TS Andrea. I decided staying well so close to the baby's due date was more important than taking a walk. :)
I also missed yesterday, Saturday. Friday was a day full of the early constant contractions and Saturday was starting out to be the same. So, i slept instead of going for a walk. I definitely needed the sleep, so i don't regret missing my walk too much. I sure am hoping to walk on Monday, though!
I also missed yesterday, Saturday. Friday was a day full of the early constant contractions and Saturday was starting out to be the same. So, i slept instead of going for a walk. I definitely needed the sleep, so i don't regret missing my walk too much. I sure am hoping to walk on Monday, though!
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