Jun 17
ok, so almost everybody knows that my business is selling essential oils. I haven't done anything with it for the past two years (too caught up with myself), so I'm pretty much starting over. However, I've worked really hard the last six months (with a lot of support from Mark! :) ) to get my site up-to-date and running.
Jul 18
Thank you all very much for the birthday wishes! ?
Aug 01
we no longer have "weeds" in the garden - they are big enough now to count as "trees"!
Aug 05
Now is a Good Time to Start!
One day (back in 1999... or so...), I realized that I needed to keep better track of what I do on a day-to-day basis. I've tried jotting notes in a schedule book on and off through the years... it works for a little while, but it usually ends up messy... or there isn't enough room on the page.... or after writing a word or phrase it seems so futile... You mean that's all I did today?! Then there's the thought: Why bother going through all the trouble if no one is going to benefit from that five extra minutes of effort at the end of the day that it takes to remember what it was that I did? About that time is when I quit - until the next year (or the next time that I need help keeping myself on track!).
A few months ago, while in the middle of canning season, missing working on my website, I started thinking of the "why bother?" question and came up with the solution: This blog. Even if no one ever reads it (besides me), it can have a dual purpose in that it has the potential of boosting my essential oils website rankings in the search engines! I think it is a great idea and I'm not at all ashamed to admit to having an ulterior motive in writing if that is what it takes to keep track of my routine, review my progress, and remain focused.
Since this project is so important to me, why did it take so long to start?, you may ask. I am a natural procrastinator and after a day of canning, "working" did not appeal to me... especially since I could not decide where to keep my blog for sure - here, on Tumblr, or on Essentials Of Life... Then, there is setting up and learning a new system... all of which I find both challenging and enjoyable.... just not at the end of a hard day! *smile*
I could have put this project off indefinitely, as I have plenty of higher priority projects to complete (like putting a newsletter request form in place!) and there are still beets to can... and we acquired a few more boxes of apples... and my husband has been dropping hints about housework... and, and, and... But, I decided that I need to buckle down and do something for my business for, as John Maxwell said: Dreams don't work, unless you do!
Nov 01
Back in June, we bought a new horse to replace one that had died. That didn't go well and we had to sell her due to a wild ride that she took my daughter on (as well as a few other problems that I don't care to mention). It took a little over three months to sell, then began the intense searching for a new replacement. We spent weeks looking through ads and traveled hundreds of miles while going here and there looking at horse after horse after horse before we found the one we went to pick up today: Chrissy. We are all so happy to have our search finished! And, we are truly hoping that she'll be as wonderful at our home as she was when we looked at her!
Nov 03
Although today was my mother-in-law's birthday, we spent the day making apple juice. I had injured my finger on September 22 while helping my 30 year old horse back to her feet (she has arthritis and can not pick herself up when she falls - we use a tractor and sling to get her up). Normally, it only takes a few days for one of my fingers to feel better after a strain, but more damage must have been done this time as it is still easy to get it to scream at me "Hey! I'm still healing here! Take it easy!" So, I got the relatively easy job of filling and capping the jars. My husband even often poured the juice from the container that it was collected in to a pitcher that was easier for me to handle - I felt so loved and pampered when he did that for me when he was already doing so much! *smile*
To finish the day, we decided to start watching the Love Comes Softly series - so, tonight's movie is Love Begins. We get to have fresh apple juice while enjoying the movie too! *smile*
Nov 04
I do a little "at home" bookkeeping for a local business and the boss needed me to print out a few financial statements. So, that's what I did while the apples were being prepared for juicing. Thankfully, today, we were able to finish juicing all of the apples that we had gotten - with a total tally of the year being 250 quarts! (Plus, 150 quarts of applesauce that we did in October) *smile* I've been so busy running back and forth that only now do I realize I didn't take any pictures to share! How sad.
Movie for tonight: Love's Everlasting Courage
Nov 05
With no canning to do this week, I'm a little out of sorts. There is so much I want to do!!! But, where to start? Hmmm...
I started with filling the washer with a mountain of towels that had taken up residence on the bathroom floor, polished the mirror, then turned around and saw the abandoned oven racks that I had left in the shower. Well, the kitchen was fairly screaming for attention this morning any way, so I headed in that direction... I needed to finish cleaning out the oven so I could put the racks away... Mid-way through wiping down the splash wall, my mother-in-law was ready to rearrange the cellar to put away all of the apple juice. Once that was accomplished, back to the kitchen I went to wipe down the cabinet doors, put in another load of laundry, scrub the sink, and tackle the burn marks on the stove.
As I was surveying my sparkling kitchen (with a very dirty floor), I realized that not one family member would be able to come in and say: Wow! You've worked hard this morning! without knowing exactly what I did. After all, not many people really pay attention to whether the oven is clean or not unless they are using them (or if smoke is billowing out! lol)! However, I know my accomplishment and realize that one of the best things about cleaning is that once the house is in order, it doesn't usually take as long for me to get my thoughts in order. *smile*
The afternoon consisted of returning the apple juice canning supplies to storage; watching my daughter ride Chrissy; organizing a few items in the tack shed; brushing my horse; snuggling with my kitty; checking/writing email; updating Essentials of Life with November's promotions.
Movie for tonight: Love Comes Softly
Nothing earth-shattering today, but I am ending the day filling accomplished. *smile*
Nov 06
I honestly have no idea where the day went! I do know that I managed to get the kitchen floor done (along with baseboards! *smile*)... oh, and both top an under the refrigerator - a project that has needed to be done for a very looooong time, as evidenced by the "sod" that rolled up when touched...
We're going to a 4H meeting - so no movie tonight!
Nov 07
We arrived for the 4H meeting a little early last night... Just at feeding and stall cleaning time... Dust from shavings and hay abounded and I had to stay near the door most of the time, turning ever so often to cough. My eyes felt swollen and my throat itchy long before we left. I was thankful to get home and do a nasal irrigation. My joints woke me up in the middle of the night, so I added one drop of ginger essential oil to a couple of swallows of almond milk. I was up again half an hour later as the inflammation did not subside as it usually does, so I layered the raindrop oils plus ocotea on my feet, legs, and shoulders. I was finally able to sleep, but still felt miserable this morning - sore all over and feeling weepy. Planning on turning in early...
Nov 08
The sunshine beckoned to me this morning, so I grabbed a set of pruners and my favorite gloves to tackle the overgrown azalea and rose bushes that I have neglected for a number of years. I can now see the decorative rocks (lava, obsidean, and quartz) that we hauled from our home in California when we moved here again! Yay! Thankfully, my husband and father-in-law took care of the clean-up after my demolition spree as I was exhausted by noon. I would have finished, but I am truly thankful that I didn't have to go back out - especially since they also raked the dead leaves out from under the bushes in hopes to cut back on some of the mustiness that continuously afflicts me! *smile*
The afternoon was spent in leisurely folding laundry, doing dishes, writing, and... snuggling with the kitty while checking out the sale going on at Digital Scrapbook Place! *smile*
Movie for tonight: Love's Enduring Promise
Nov 10
I terrorized my husband's dog by deciding that today was a good day to remove some of the stench that had been accumulating on him. He knew what I was up to long before I was ready for him because I snagged his dog pillow out of his house (no sense in giving the dog a bath if his pillow smells as bad as he does, right?), but he came when Mark called (not me, of course) with tail tucked and nose to the ground... lol I'm sure he's thankful that I use warm water, but he still does not like having a bath.
After lunch, I unearthed a few more rocks, then found myself in the barn... I really had planned on spending more time outside, but my horse, Gypsy, saw me outside and headed in my direction... How could I refuse an invitation like that?! *smile* I gave her a thorough grooming, which she enjoyed immensely! The other three horses were a little jealous, so I was sure to brush them a little too... *smile*
Movie for tonight: Love's Enduring Promise
Nov 11
Like it or not, I had to take some time to pay the bills. My boss also needed a letter to for me to type up.
In the afternoon, Arianna wasn't feeling well, but the barn needed cleaning (it's her chore), so I offered to help move horses around for her. While she was using the tractor to clean, I grabbed a webster and tackled cobwebs.
Movie for tonight: Love's Long Journey
Nov 12
In order to use our horses in 4H, they needed some vaccinations. One of the horses also needed her teeth floated to be better able to chew her food. Today was the day to visit the vet for these matters. The vaccinations were a simple matter, but it was more exciting than I had anticipated to watch the teeth being done! The last time I had an occasion to watch the procedure being done, a twitch was used to help keep the horse from moving about (even half asleep a horse doesn't like people messing with the mouth) and a small rasp was used to file the sharp points down. This time, however, the horse's head was put in a cradle, a metal thing was used to keep the mouth open, and power tools were used to smooth out the edges. It was much faster and easier on the horse! Although I knew that the teeth needed to be done, I did not realize that she would need some removed! Three loose, and decaying, teeth came out. A horse's teeth are a lot larger than a human's, so the extraction tools are quite a bit larger... say "Awww" *laughs*
Next, we went to a store to have my daughter try on jeans... too long, too stiff, can't breathe, needs a belt to cinch in the extra inch... What's really irritating about shopping for clothes (or shoes for that matter!)? The same size is not the same! Aaargh!
Tonight's Movie: Love's Abiding Joy
Nov 13
I felt yucky all day (one of those "female problem" days...). Glad it waited until today to hit! I can't say that I accomplished any thing of importance today...
Movie: Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman
Nov 14
Friday is so short during the winter - especially when I sleep late! Ugh! I made a mad dash around the house doing a bit of spot cleaning (you know... like, scrubbing the spots off the bathroom mirror...), then threw together an easy lunch (still not feeling the best either...). While the spaghetti was cooking, I made a quick batch of cookies (they were soooo good too!). After lunch, I threw in a couple of loaves of cinnamon bread for breakfast, then realized I wouldn't have enough time to make a lunch for Sabbath - tomato soup, here we come!
Nov 15
Dreamland found me working on my website. Plans and to-do lists were dancing in my head... I awoke excited and eager to start the day! My dream involved updating my home page, but I quickly realized that I couldn't do that yet... I had emails to write first... then, I wanted to tidy up these blog posts.... after all, I had been doing good about saving a draft of notes of what I'd done each day, but hadn't put any thing into complete sentences as yet...
Before I got far, my mother-in-law asked if I was going to beets today... really, I should, but there are some apples that need tending to first...so, she started preparing the apples for applesauce. Since I still can't cut apples without pain, I sat down to write... only to be interrupted and asked to do something else. This happened so many times through the day that I am sorely tempted to give up on my website! If it wasn't something that I enjoy doing, it wouldn't be such a hard decision to make. For now, my plans will have to be placed on the back burner while I focus on cooking and turning the house into a habitation for humans instead of swine. I guess.
Tonight's Movie: Love's Unending Legacy
Nov 17
I spent today looking over 4H requirements, researching Pony Club, and searching for barrel racing events. 4H is a lot more complicated than I ever imagined it would be! I sent out a lot of questions to various places, but, so far, it appears that we need to go a different route than 4H for what my girls want to do...
I managed to squeeze in a little time to groom all of the horses and a few minutes for cleaning in the tack room, which was wonderfully relaxing. *smile*
Tonight's Movie: Love's Unfolding Dream
Nov 18
I was reading a magazine article this week and a statement was made that really struck a chord with me: "Do what works". The comment was referring to calorie counting... Just because one person can be super diligent about keeping track of every morsel eaten doesn't mean that is the only road to weight loss. (Of course, if that was all there was to it, then I'd not have such problems with my own size!)
Aside from that, "Do what works" can be taken into account in most aspects of our lives (my life, in particular). For instance, this daily journal thing obviously is not going to work for me. I did fairly good at leaving myself notes about what I did each day for a couple of weeks (well... until I got discouraged and was considering quitting), but was only able to write decent sentences once a week. I would then go back through each day's notes to edit them before publishing. The problem with this is that my followers get slammed with a week's worth of posts all at once. On top of that, I find it confusing going back and forth day to day filling in the blanks, remembering a detail about Monday while checking about what I wrote on Thursday.... Or, finding it difficult to write more than one sentence about a day...
With all that said, I still want to keep a daily journal; but, I think it may be best if it becomes a weekly journal instead, since the only consistent thing about me is my inconsistency! *laughs*
We'll see how this new direction works...
*****
The last two weeks have been a blur of cooking and cleaning. It's been fun and we had a wonderful holiday *smile*
Some of my accomplishments include:
Super cleaning the laundry/mud room - including under the washer and dryer, inside the cabinet of cleaning/laundry supplies, the boot shelf, and re-organizing the gloves (gloves are like socks - they never seem to stick together on their own! *smile*).
Gathered outgrown snow pants, shoes, and clothes to donate to the local school's homeless program (our county has a record number of children that are considered homeless!)
Sweeping the cobwebs off of the house.
Finish sweeping the cobwebs off of the barn walls (there were far more cobwebs in there than the house!)
And, I even did a little work on my essential oil site! I removed all of the items that have gone out-of-stock and removed the November promotion details. Not much, but it's more than I've been doing...
Add in some culinary experimentation, time with my horse, and a few
too many hours playing my favorite game (it sure was fun! *smile*) and
it equals a satisfying end to "vacation". Yep. Next week,
I have to get back to work... A whole new adventure awaits - 2013 tax
preparation. Oh joy. I think I'd better stock up on Stress Away before
I get started... I can feel the tension mounting already! *laughs*
Dec 06
In the middle of adding in a few months worth of receipts so that I can turn in our 2013 taxes (I try to get everything wrapped up as early as possible), my youngest daughter had a riding accident. Both her and the horse are ok. Sort of. You see, they were out for their usual afternoon ride, but it had an unusual twist... the saddle slipped, which spooked the horse, causing my daughter to lose balance... then, the ground came right up and grabbed her! It was such a terrific fall that both her boots went flying! My in-laws got to her first because they were on their way to pick up a package from the post office and they saw it happen. My husband had just gotten out of the shower after painting, looked out the window, and saw a horse running around the field with a saddle on the underside and no rider (yes, he did manage to get dressed first...). He said, "This can't be good", so I turned from my work, saw the same thing and made a mad dash for the door. Just as I got to the gate to let the horses into the barn, my old horse slipped on the mud and went down. I could see my daughter laying out in the middle of the field (but Grandma was with her), a scared crazy horse was running around with a saddle on her belly, and now my senior horse needed help getting up. It was awful!
Since my girl was being taken care of, I took care of the crazy horse first before any other tragedies could occur. Thankfully, my oldest daughter and my husband were just a few minutes behind me, so it didn't take long for me to be able to make my way to an obviously injured rider (she'd never stayed down on the ground so long before!). We were all finally assured that her neck and spine were intact and allowed her to move. It didn't take long to determine that she needed to see a doctor though...
We opted to take her to a hospital that is slightly farther away, but has a larger ER. As it turned out, it was a blessing that we did! Boom, boom, bang! Within 15 minutes of entering the door, she had seen a doctor and, a short while later, was taken for x-rays. It turned out that she had broken her leg and it was determined that she should have a rod put in. This hospital even keeps a surgeon on call for just such injuries, whereas we would've needed to wait much longer at the other one. We were on our way home within 20 hours (we had to wait for surgery because we had had a late lunch not long before the accident or it would've been even less!).
It's been a bit over a week now and the swelling has finally receded,
the stitches have been removed, and she is starting to put a little
weight on her leg. The rod allows the leg to be weight-bearing within
days, but it appears that she also sprained her ankle, so it is taking
a little longer. She's already asking when she can go riding again!
*laughs*
Dec 31
My new year's resolution for 2014 (only posted a few days late), is to be more social. Done. That was fun. ;) Seriously, it is my intense desire to have a less emotional year, but that is not something in my power to control. It has been a very turbulent ride since November 2010, but I think it is smoothing out. 2013 "only" consisted of Arianna having TWO riding accidents (one in June and the other in December); saying good-bye to our best horse in May (I'm sure most of you know that I didn't take that one well); Mark fell off a tall ladder, then tipped the tractor over within weeks of each other in June and is still having hip problems; I injured my hand in September and it is still in the healing process; and Adora turned 18 (yikes!, when did she grow up??). The good news is that we were able to accomplish a lot of work around here despite the set backs. We are all in fairly good health (Mark may disagree ;) ), getting the bills paid, have plenty to eat, and are warm and dry - more than can be said for a lot of people!
Jan 04
The doctor made Arianna really happy this week - he said she could go riding again! But, after the second ride, for some strange reason the horse kicked up her heels as Arianna was dismounting, knocking her to the ground. He leg swelled a little and she's sore all over. *sigh*
Jan 18
Does anyone know... Is there a facebook setting that extends the amount of posts I get to see? I wasn't done looking last night, but today I get a message "no more posts to see" where I stopped last night. :(
Jan 25
Here's a beautiful thought from Help In Daily Living: "God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. "
Feb 01
We have health insurance! Yeah! Many people are complaining about the changes that "Obamacare" has brought, but those changes are what brought about our being able to have health insurance. I certainly do not believe all of the changes were good, but am thankful for this one. I just made a dental appointment and am so looking forward to Mark getting some fillings! I am hoping that by eliminating jaw pain his headaches will decline. :)
Feb 05
We have SNOW!! Not our typical dusting, but beautiful, fluffy, sticking-to-the-trees, filling-up-the-boots snow! (Mark says we have eight inches at the moment.) :)
Feb 07
I have rediscovered LISTS! Facebook lists to be precise. Although I want to read everybody's status, I do not want to read everybody's everything and half of the people on my list don't even show up on my wall! But, I found the solution! Lists! Now, I can go through each list, which is specially designed for whether I want to read everything or not, and actually get to read what I want! Awesome! The bonus is that I found that I could read farther back on the list than my wall, so maybe now checking facebook won't be so irritating when I've only read two days worth of info and I want to got back ten days... That may just be wishful thinking on my part... only time will tell for sure...
Mar 08
Mark and I went to the dentist for our initial visit. I've had periodontal disease for the last 10yrs or so, but have not been able to afford the regular dental visits. My bottom front teeth have been loose for the last 5yrs and now the dentist says they need to come out in order to save the rest of the teeth. I'll be getting a partial as a replacement. At least I won't have to suffer with a gap there! :)
Mar 15
One of our kitties just died. :'( He's been feeling poorly for a few days. We made him as comfortable as possible. We are comforted knowing that he's no longer hurting.
Mar 29
Yesterday, Mark was like: Diana, you've been so busy building your website that you don't have time for daily life... like dessert! So, I made a pecan pie
Apr 05
I've gone months without my body trembling involuntarily throughout the day. Then, I saw a short video showing real close call vehicle accidents (you know, the kind where the car just misses the kid before plowing into the tree or something) and my nervous system went into over-drive. :p
Apr 19
I got my partial yesterday. I can't eat with it and I've already developed a sore. Guess I get to go back in for an adjustment. sigh
May 24
Adora got her driver's license today! :)
Jul 28
Thank you all for the birthday wishes - I feel blessed to have such a thoughtful fan club! ? My birthday was a memorable event with preparations to take a trip to see my Dad and sister. I received the perfect present - a case that my humongous laptop fits in! ? Me and my favorite laptop get to stay together; though Mark is lovingly staying behind to care for my horses (who else would pick my horse up when she falls down???) :) Plus, I had the (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime experience of removing maggots from a live rabbit. Ewww! :p The poor bunny will probably be ok and is thankful to be rid of the squirming scavengers. What a big day!
Aug 02
Time to meet Mark's dog, Marshell! He's a min-blue heeler. He already adores Mark (and his truck ;) ) but he's not too sure about the rest of us. :)
Nov 15
My daughter is now an author!!!
Dec 30