This Week's Bookshelf

So this week I'm getting a late start on deciding what I'm going to read.  I have plenty to choose from but I'm trying to keep it to one business/self-development book and one fun book per week.  

I'm a huge fan of Jon Acuff and I recently acquired this book of his so I think I'll dive into it.  Start is supposed to be pretty awesome according to my friends.  And his next book, Finish, is supposed to be even better.  It's not out yet, but I want to get Start done so I'm ready for Finish.

You can check out Jon Acuff and all his great stuff HERE.

For my "fun" book I'm actually reading something a little darker.  I love a good mystery, and I love a good historical work (has to be entertaining, holy moly I can't do that dry academic stuff).  This one combines the two in a way that teaches us a little history and entertains us with storytelling at the same time.  

From the back of the book:

     Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson's spellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men-the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, striving to secure America's place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death.  Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.

There are some theories that the man who committed the serial killings during the World's Fair in Chicago was the same man known in London as Jack the Ripper.  While I lack the knowledge to carry an opinion on the matter either way, it's intriguing enough to make me become at least somewhat familiar with what happened in Chicago.  

Erik Larson is known for writing history in a way that makes it so much easier to consume than the often dry academic history texts held in regard by institutions of higher learning.  As someone who doesn't like dry, I appreciate that skill.  

You can snag your own copy on Amazon.

Happy Reading!

Haley

P.S.  The recommendations and links in this post are just my personal suggestions.  I don't get anything from any person or company mentioned here.  

This Week's Bookshelf

Well, I'm still reading this:

But give me some grace, it's a REALLY thick book!!

I finished 25 to Life from last week's list and enjoyed it.  There wasn't anything earth-shattering in it, but it was inspiring, especially since Adam Green works in the same multi-level marketing company I do.

This week I'm going to try to finish the John Maxwell book and add something fun in the mix.  So here's what's up for this week:

I'll let you know how it goes!

Bending so I don't Break

I'm gonna be honest here and tell you that my wellness journey is an uphill battle most days.  I'm generally healthy but I LOVE to eat.  And most of what I love definitely does NOT fall into the category of "healthy".  Greasy burgers, Tex-Mex, bar-b-que, pizza and wine are all tops on my favorite foods list.  As I type this,  I'm having lunch prepared for me by my husband.  It's leftovers from two different dinners this week.  A salad with baked chicken and a bowl up green chile tortilla soup are generally healthy options, but my husband knows me well.  He added a healthy pile of cheese to both of them by default.  He assumed I would want cheese (and he's right, although I probably would have skipped it because I'm trying).
Exercise is another area I struggle with.  Let's face it.  I'm lazy.  I spend most of my day in front of a computer or working in my kitchen.  Feeding 6 people will do that for you. I'm just not motivated to get out and get all sweaty and tired.  In all honesty, I do always feel good afterwards and I'm always glad I did it, it's the starting that is hard.  I have found something that I love to do though, and it's good for my body.

Yoga.  Yup, I love doing yoga.  Some day I'll start going to a class, but for now, I do it at home.  The great thing about Yoga is that it's good for people of all ages and abilities.  It's also easy to modify, so even my mom who had a stroke recently can do some poses from a seated position in a chair and receive some of the benfits.

I personally have found an app for my cell phone and iPad that I use.  It has a variety of workouts so you don't get bored and is perfect for beginners and experienced yogis alike.  Check out Daily Yoga and see if you might like it, too.  The fantastic thing is that it is free.  And there are plenty of free workouts to choose from so there's no cost commitment.  If you decide you like it you can pay for upgraded features and unlock even more workouts.  

You may think you're not flexible enough for yoga, but trust me, you are.  The great thing about yoga is that you start where you are and if you keep doing it, eventually you'll be able to do all the poses.  I can do poses now that I couldn't even attempt when I started.  (Look up half boat pose, for example)  

If you're looking for exercise that isn't difficult or taxing on your body, try some yoga.  You start where you are and after only a couple of weeks you'll notice you're stronger and more flexible than when you started.  Just don't be mad if you become addicted to it like I did.

This Week's Bookshelf

It's time to revisit my library!!  I'll be honest that I haven't been reading anything of much substance lately but it's the new year and time to make a few changes.  So this week I'm all about my business.  I am a Young Living Independent Distributor (for full disclosure) and I'm working on building my business so that's where most of my reading focus will be for a while.  One of my chosen books is a little on the fat side so the reading list this week is relatively short.  Check out what's on my night stand right now:

25 to Life: Jailbreak Your 9-5 by Adam Green is a great book about forging your own path into a "career" that looks different but gives you the freedom to really LIVE.  It's a quick read, very short, but very powerful!  You can get it on Amazon here.

The Complete 101 Collection by John C. Maxwell is a compilation of some of his best books.  All of his "101" books in one place.  So really it's not one book, it's 8 books.  You can read it all (like me) or read each of the 8 books as you need them or want them.  John C. Maxwell is the guru of all things leadership and I absolutely LOVE what he has to say!  Definitely worth the $14 you pay for it on Amazon here.

***Disclaimer.  I have NOT been compensated in any way for recommending these books.  I just really like them.  These folks don't know me from Adam.  Seriously.  Well, Adam Green knows I'm not him, but he doesn't know me.  You get my drift.

The Winter Itchies

I've admitted I struggle to drink enough water.  Proper water consumption keeps your skin hydrated and healthy.  So I'm trying to get the proper amount of water in my system each day, and I'm making progress, but a few extra glasses of water for a few days isn't going to completely replenish the moisture in my skin.  It will take a little longer than that.
Even with all the extra water I'm now drinking, winter is BRUTAL on my skin.  Like dragon scale brutal.  This morning I got up and started itching on my shins.  I've had this problem before.  The skin right down the front of my shins gets dry and SUPER itchy.  I could scratch until I bleed if I let myself (which I don't).  Because of my husband's excema, we have always kept a supply of prescription strength moisturizers laying around.  I normally reach for those with mixed results.
  Today when the dragon legs showed up, I decided to try a more natural fix and I'm so glad I did!  There are tons of recipes for fancy lotions and creams using essential oils and natural products floating around, and I have plans to make some of those to see how I like them, but today I needed emergency relief!
All I had on hand was some coconut oil and my Young Living Essential Oils.  (I ONLY use Young Living and if you're curious as to why, read here)  So I dug out some coconut oil and put it in a small glass bowl that I have a lid for.  Then I added several drops of lavender oil to it and stirred like crazy.  It made a thick cream which I smeared on my legs.  Aahhhhh.  Instant relief.
Just a warning, the coconut oil was in a solid state because of the temperature of my house in winter.  I stirred it which helped a lot, but it was still kinda chunky and not at all smooth.  If that texture freaks you out, you could probably make it more pliable and smooth by setting the bowl in a couple inches of warm water for a bit, but not too long or your cream will be watery lotion!

See.  Seriously easy.  I do plan to try some of the "fancy" lotion and cream recipes I have pinned on my Pinterest boards, but in an itchy emergency, this stuff worked miracles.

Warning:  you will smell like a beach at spring break when you apply it.  But the smell does go away after a while, sort of.

The Virtual Bookshelf: This Week's Reading List

I LOOOOOVE to read.  As a mother of four and a wife of a soldier/full-time college student, I find I don't have as much time to read as I would like.  When I get a few hours to read I tend to get lost in my books.  A leisurely novel can be consumed in a matter of hours.  As part of my goal to manage my time better and take better care of myself, I plan to spend a little bit of time reading almost everyday.  I'm realistic enough to know that reading everyday is probably a stretch, but if I can work in 30 minutes on MOST days, I'll consider it a win.  I'll be sharing my reading list and book-nerd wish list with you each week, along with some past reads that I highly recommend.  Here's this week's night stand selections:

I started reading this last week and haven't finished it.  Brennan Manning's writing style is complex and requires my focus so it's a slower read for me than other stuff.

I have gotten about half way through the first chapter and it has my attention.  Having lived off and on in survival mode most of my adult life, I'm looking forward to some insight that might be useful.  I'll let you know how it goes!

This one came highly recommended from my best friend, therefore, it automatically qualifies for a read.

That's it for my list this week.  I'll be lucky to get them all read but there are lots of good ones on my "read soon" list to motivate me to finish these!  Here are a few I'll be reading soon:

Where'd you get THAT?

As a mother, I really want to take great care of my family.  I know that means making sure they eat healthy, but feeding four kids gets expensive.  All it takes is a trip to the grocery store to see that it is much less expensive to feed your family much of the processed junk than it is to feed them good, nutritious, whole foods.  While my husband and I are willing to spend more to invest in our family's health long-term, saving money is still important.  Sourcing whole foods, and even organic foods, at a reasonable price can be difficult.  We're often left to the small, unsatisfactory produce departments at our local grocery store.  I know, especially this time of year, there isn't much variety and much of the produce has been shipped from far away, even foreign countries.  While there's nothing wrong with sourcing produce from where ever necessary, produce is often more flavorful, colorful and nutrient-dense when sourced locally.  But short of planting your own one-acre garden and running a 10,000 square foot green house, how do you do that?  The best answer I have found are food co-ops.

Food co-ops are cooperatives or groups of people who pool their resources (time, energy, money) to source groceries that are local, sometimes organic, and often sustainable.  Often the prices are lower than the local grocery store and if organics are available they are almost certainly cheaper than you can find most anywhere else.

But where do you find a co-op?  Is there even one in your local area?  You don't think I'd have written this if I didn't have a solution for you, did you?  Of course, finding a food co-op may mean a short drive to a neighboring town or city, but I think it's totally worth it.  Here are a couple websites to help you find a food co-op near you.

www. coopdirectory.org is a website that will let you search by state.  While this list is not exhaustive, it is a good place to start.

Local Harvest didn't give me many co-ops for the areas I searched, but they had a decent list of Farmer's Markets (another great resource for your local produce and other food products)

I'm currently stuck in the middle of nowhere Kentucky where the whole foods movement has taken somewhat of a back seat to the terrible economy and basic survival.  There is a seasonal Farmer's Market nearby but getting to a store like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods takes me an hour out of my way (as in i would have to drive two hours round trip for nothing but those stores).

Through some friends, I stumbled across Bountiful Baskets which can be found in a LOT of locations.  There is a site near my current home and its fairly convenient, which makes it totally do-able.  Bountiful Baskets does source its produce much like a grocery store.  The produce often comes packaged similarly to what you find in your local supermarket.  But, getting it direct from the source can save a significant amount and the produce is often fresher than what you can find in stores.  There's an option for an all-organic package as well.  Each week they offer add-on baskets where you can pay extra for a variety of things, many of which are useful for canning and preserving.  This week they're offering 21 lbs of pineapple as well as 35 lbs of apples.  We opted for the "juice pack" which is expected to contain beets, carrots, kale, lemons, oranges and a few other fruits in addition to the weekly basket.  Bountiful Baskets is also in the community where we will be relocating so I'm excited to be able to use this service there, too.  The great thing about getting produce this way is that you're never 100% sure what is coming in your basket until you pick it up.  This can be unnerving for those who aren't as adventurous, but I've used it as a reason to get my family to try new foods.

However you find one, I highly recommend a food co-op for healthy, reasonably priced foods for your family.

Restoring Me: Bath Time!

I love a good bath.  A quiet soak in the tub with no one bugging me or bothering me.  Ahhh, what a dream.  And most of the time that's all it is...a dream.  If the kids aren't knocking on the door then the dog is lying outside whining or the husband is barging in.  My favorite is when my cat sticks her paws under the door and meows non-stop.

But even with all the interruptions, I still love my bath.  It relaxes me and recharges me.  And in all honesty, sometimes keeps me from harming myself or others.  I kid.  Sort of.

In honor of the glorious bath time experience I thought I'd share my favorite bath salt recipe.  It's pretty basic, but it works for me.

I just use 2-4 drops of essential oils to 1 cup of epsom salt.  I like to make up a really BIG batch and keep it in the large jar.  That way I can just dump some into my bath water and then put the container back under my sink.  The smaller jars make GREAT gifts.  Just put a little decoration, pretty ribbon, etc on it and viola!  You have a gift ready to give.

So that's my recipe and it's super easy peasy.  But after chatting with my oily friends on Facebook, I realized there are as many recipes for bath salts as there are oily friends.  So I wanted to share a few other recipes that I think might be worth trying.

Not all these websites use Young Living Essential Oils, but I  highly recommend only using Young Living.  If you want to know why, read here.

Mom off Track has a cool recipe using an almost empty bottle of essential oils.  This would be great for getting those last few drops out of that bottle of oils.

The gals over at TheFrugalGirls have an awesome recipe for a really pretty giftable bath salt.  If you're opposed to food coloring, skip this one.  Seeing as how I'm not eating it, I'm okay with it finding it's way into my bathtub in small quantities.  Some folks aren't, and that's cool. You could totally skip that step and have plain white salts.  Whatever floats your boat and fills your tub!

One of my favorite websites, Money Saving Mom, has a recipe for lavender bath salts that looks awesome (again, think gift).  She uses sea salt and epsom salt.  (This one calls for food coloring, too.  It's for visual appeal only and that step could totally be skipped)

Like I said before, there are as many recipes for bath salts as there are oily friends in the world.  I'd love to know what recipe YOU use!  Leave a comment and share with all of us!