All posts by CadyLy

doTERRA Essential Oils: Peppermint

December 1, 2015Health and MedicinedoTERRA, essential oils, peppermintCadyLy

Peppermint is some potent stuff! I was first introduced to peppermint in my introductory class at the Troy Community Center about a month or so ago. It was passed around for us to put a drop in our hand and sniff it. I couldn’t even take a complete breath in — it was strong! But it does give that nice, minty clean feeling in your nasal passages and throat, similar to Vicks Vaporub.

Since I really wanted to give essential oils a good, fair trial, I also got a book about them, so that I could learn about each oil, its uses and applications. (The following facts about peppermint are from the book, “The Essential Life,” by Total Wellness Publishing.)

Peppermint is listed as being good for:

Alertness
Allergies and Hives
Asthma and Sinusitis
Autism
Bad Breath
Cravings
Decreasing Milk Supply
Emotional Balance
Fevers and Hot Flashes
Gamma Radiation Exposure
Gastritis and Digestive Discomfort
Headaches and Migraines
Loss of Sense of Smell

And has the following properties:

Anti-inflammatory
Analgesic
Antispasmodic
Warming
Invigorating
Cooling
Expectorant
Vasoconstrictor
Stimulating

Now for my personal experience with peppermint. It’s a little mixed, and I’ll tell you why…. It’s potent! This is one of the oils which is listed with a safety warning: “Dilute for topical application as may cause skin sensitivity.” THIS IS NO JOKE, PEOPLE! A friend stated that she used peppermint topically on her forehead and back of the neck for headache relief, so when I had a headache, I decided to give it a try.

I forgot that I have sensitive skin.

So, I ended up with a huge rash and a bad allergic reaction. Like, affecting my breathing bad. The rash lasted for about a week and a half and then went away, but it was red, raised and itchy while I had it.

Moral of the story: pay attention to any warnings that are on the oils! Some are not meant to be ingested, some may be irritating for sensitive skin, etc. There are carrier oils, like fractionated coconut oil or almond oil that you can use to dilute the essential oils, and these may be helpful for some of the more irritating oils.

While I’m sitting here typing out this post, I have a cough from a mild cold. Since my essential oil book is right here, I decided to look up what you can use to treat coughs. In order of efficacy, they suggest lemon, cardamom, respiration blend, peppermint, and cinnamon. I only have the peppermint, so I decided to give that a try. I put 2 drops in an 8 oz glass of cold water and have been sipping on that while writing. Since it’s in my glass, I can also inhale it as I sip. It has helped my cough somewhat. Better than a cough drop, actually. Be careful not to exhale into the glass with your eyes open, you don’t want to get peppermint into your eyes!

doTERRA Essential Oils: Therapeutic, Placebo, or ?

November 22, 2015Health and MedicinedoTERRA, essential oilsCadyLy

So, you may have heard about essential oils from a friend, or heard about someone trying them. At the moment, it’s kind of the “in” thing to do, along with buying trendy, healthy food from Whole Foods or Fresh Thyme or Trader Joe’s. At some point, you will probably try some, just to see what all the hype is about.

This more or less is me. Just to let you know where I’m coming from, I am a big skeptic when it comes to these things. I am a firm believer in modern medicine and science. I think medications made by pharmaceutical companies work because they have researched the exact component or chemical needed to be efficacious for some disease process or the other, and have found a way to replicate or isolate this component, so that you are getting precisely the effect you are going for.

There are pros and cons to everything in life.

I recently attended a seminar on essential oils, willing to hear their side of the argument and find out for myself what it’s all about. I’ll tell you right now, I suck at direct sales and am a much better consumer than salesperson, so I’m not here to pitch you a line or make you buy anything from me. I *am* here to try out this line of products and give you my brutally honest opinion. Like anything else, if it’s a quality product, its got nothing to fear from a little scrutiny, right?

Here are some pros, coming from someone who has made selling doTERRA their full-time job:

It’s natural, not synthetically made.
Components are not removed from the essential oil, so that if the oil from a plant has 20 different compounds within it which are good for treating 20 different ailments, you are getting all 20.
It’s a lot cheaper per dose than pharmaceutical drugs.
Essential oils do not have the same long scary list of side effects as do pharmaceutical medications.
You can treat a lot of common problems at home without a prescription.
Because they are natural, you can feel confident about what you are putting in your body.

I’m sure there were a lot more benefits that I’m not remembering at the moment. What I was left with was a few questions….

Since I’m getting “all 20 compounds” in an essential oil, is it possible that I’m over medicating, or getting chemicals that I don’t need, or to which I could react, when I’m seeking to treat just one particular ailment. E.g. If I want to treat acne and the plant is also known for raising blood pressure (completely hypothetical, I don’t know that anything like this exists, but it could), could I inadvertently raise my blood pressure while taking the essential oil treatment? This would be an unintended side effect.
DOES IT WORK OR JUST SMELL GOOD? This is probably the biggest question. After all, there’s no sense in buying into (literally and figuratively) a product which doesn’t do what you think it will do.

All this being the case, I am going to be writing articles on my findings and publishing them here. I’m hoping that the essential oils will win out over my skepticism. I really do. I am intrigued by the idea of being able to take care of things on my own without resorting to a whole medicine cabinet of prescription drugs.

Since I post a lot of different things on my blog, I’ll be tagging these posts with “doTERRA” and “essential oils,” so feel free to search/filter by these tags. 🙂 Join me on the journey! And feel free to ask me any questions along the way! I will try to find an answer for you.

Seven Quick Takes – Saturday Afternoon Edition

September 26, 20157 Quick Takes FridayCadyLy

— 1 —

Thing have been CRAZY around here! You would think that a girl with as many planner as I have would be able to stay sane… Well, yes and no. I have been working a lot of overtime, which is my preference, but between that, grad school, and extracurriculars, I don’t have a lot of down time for myself and it’s starting to take its toll. I don’t have a good diet at the moment. Nor any sort of exercise routine to speak of. I desperately need to clean the house (although a friend helped quite a bit recently). This week, I think I’m going to take a hard look at my time commitments and make a plan for fitting some of these things in. Please keep me in your prayers and keep cheering me on! 🙂

— 2 —

Speaking of my Mitochondrial Myopathy… This week is Mitochondrial Awareness week. My particular disease is a neuromuscular disorder, most consistent with MELAS. It is progressive and terminal. But this doesn’t stop me from trying to do everything that I love, sometimes to the dismay of my friends. However, I recently came across a quote that I just love:

Will I someday be standing with scars to give account before Him that I wasn’t about my own comfort but Christ’s call, that I didn’t make my life about safe living but about dangerous dying, that I didn’t escape into a neat, saved American dream but into a messy, mission-driven God-sized demand, H/T

I think this sums me up pretty nicely.

— 3 —

Papa! My favorite family made the front page of the Free Press! Not only that, but they are currently in Philadelphia trying to cozy up to Pope Francis! What an awesome adventure! I am praying for their trip and for God to bless them with His grace. Love you guys!

I guess I only have 3 Quick Takes this week…

God Bless!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t the Lyceum!

Fr. John’s Daily Pontiffications

September 25, 2015UncategorizedDaily Pontiffications, Pope FrancisCadyLy

Fr. John has been breaking down and discussing events and issues surrounding the Holy Father, Pope Francis’s, trip to the US. Well worth a watch! Enjoy!

Daily Pontiffications #1

Daily Pontiffications #2

Daily Pontiffications #3

Daily Pontiffications #4

I’ll keep this page updated as new Pontiffications are published!

God Bless!

Review: Peanut Butter Taco

September 9, 2015PlanningEtsy, Peanut Butter Taco, review, shop, stickersCadyLy

This is the first sticker review that I’ve done as a blog post, and mostly so I could bombard you with a metric ton of photos of these super cute stickers! 🙂 My apologies to those readers who are not part of the planner community… (But perhaps you’ll enjoy the cuteness nonetheless…)

I met Monica a few weeks ago at a meet-up for Michigan planners in Lansing. There were a few girls there, Monica included, who ran Etsy shops which sold planner supplies. I took note of them to check out later, since I like supporting local businesses, especially owners whom I have met personally.

Shipping was super fast! The shipping label was printed one day, picked up by USPS the next day, and in my mailbox on the third!

And just look how adorable they are:

Sampler Sheet included with the order

These monster library book stickers are my absolute favorite! So stinking cute! Now I need to check more things out from the library, just so I can use them!

Don’t these look like the perfect stickers to record your hopes, dreams, and goals in your planner?

I probably need to make more of an event when I *actually* cook, as opposed to when I eat out/get fast food. Extra kudos if I make an actual meal, instead of cereal.

Directly related to the previous sticker set, as I’m not likely to make a meal unless I meal plan and go to the grocery store to get the necessary ingredients.

For home improvement events

Last but not least, one of my goals this season is to learn a little more about football. Which means watching more games.

I hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I enjoyed receiving them. If you would like to order some of your own, please head over to Peanut Butter Taco on Etsy.

First Day of 20th Grade!

September 9, 2015Fun at Work, Grad School/SeminaryCadyLy

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I’ve always loved the start of a new school year! I love learning, and there’s something intoxicating about the smell of new office supplies. After a three year hiatus, I have returned to grad school as of the past Spring semester. Today, I start classes for Fall semester. I will be taking Synoptics and Foundations of the Christian Moral Life. I can’t wait to begin!

With me in the photo are Brandon (my co-worker, who is on his 17th year of school), and Jarrod (my supervisor, on year 24 and his 2nd Master’s degree). We thought it would be fun to add our photos to the slew of “First Day” photos cropping up on Facebook.

Peace and Panic

September 8, 2015Fun at WorkCadyLy

This is how it always goes, right?

This morning, I saw that I had some mandatory eLearning training to complete, so I made myself a tea (not coffee, shocker!) and settled into my computer to complete the modules between calls. Since I was nice and cozy, I even played some Enya on YouTube and thought about what a nice, peaceful morning it was at work.

Then, excitement ensues. The idea of a quiet, cozy morning is replaced with something else. Not a bad thing, as I like the excitement, but isn’t this typical?

I was able, eventually, to return to my cold tea and finish my eLearnings.

I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else. I love my job! 🙂

Office Survival Tips #1: Whatever Works, Bro!

August 16, 2015UncategorizedOffice SurvivalCadyLy

If you are like me, you may find yourself locked away at your office for hours and days on end. At which point, you may need to find creative ways to survive. 🙂 Today, I bring you tip #1:

Whatever Works, Bro!

It seems that this tip tends to occur around meal logistics. Like, when I bring something for lunch/dinner, but forget to bring the necessary dishes/utensils. This happens more often than you might think.

Today, I had brought in some soup, but neglected to think that I might need a bowl and a spoon to eat it. So I looked in the kitchen cupboards and found a bowl-shaped object and a spoon. Score!

As you can see, I think I’m eating out of someone’s grandma’s candy dish, but I’m making it work! (Plus, as a side benefit, it makes a lovely clinking sound as I dine, almost like we are being all fancy up in here!)

Another fine example of this is the Coffee Filter Popcorn Bowl:

What odds and ends have you found around the office to make a meal happen?

P.S. Let me know if you liked this post. I’m thinking about keeping it around as a regular series.

What is “Busy”?

August 9, 2015Exciting Adventures of the Everyday, Grad School/Seminary, PlanningEmily Ley, Erin Condren, planner, planning, SHMSCadyLy

Hi! My name is Jenn, and my life exists somewhere between hyper-organized and utter chaos. I don’t mean any sort of happy, balanced medium, but more like a madly swinging pendulum that leaves me exhausted and out-of-sorts. Any of you have the same problem?

I have so many ideas for what my “ideal state” would look like, but rarely have the time (or money) to implement or follow through on them. But slowly, some things are falling into place.

Late summer last year, I got my first Erin Condren planner. I went with a paper planner because Google Calendar just wasn’t working. Any time I really needed to see my schedule, either my phone battery was dead, or it was on an itty bitty square on my screen that said +22 items for the day. It was nearly impossible for me to make plans while away from my computer (meaning my work computer, since my home computer was having issues). Also, with a dead battery most of the time, people would tell me dates, but I’d forget to add them to my calendar by time I got home. And 99% of the time, my phone’s ringer was off, so the “alarm” feature didn’t help me a bit.

Enter my ECLP where I can use brightly colored pens, markers, and stickers! Even though it seems a little silly at times, it makes me happy and I USE THIS THING! I can honestly say that it makes a huge difference, and therefore is worth the time and money that I put into it.

Back to the busyness of my life…

In May, I started grad school again after a 3 year hiatus. This fall, I will be taking 6 credit hours, as well as working full time plus. (The plus is because I’ll also be working as much overtime as I can because grad school is expensive and I have to take at least two classes per semester). And let’s not forget my mitochondrial disease, because at any time, it can wipe everything off my calendar. 😦

Here is the plan:

I use my Erin Condren for my main schedule, including blocking out chunks of time for events, meetings, etc. The vertical layout works perfectly for me, as I tend to think about my days chronologically and prefer to plan in weekly increments. The monthly view in my ECLP is where I keep track of birthdays and bills.

Since I get sick a lot, and since my plans need to be flexible, I don’t do a lot of pre-planning, since I don’t like to have a lot of “Canceled” or “Rescheduled” stickers in my planner. So, I tend to use sticky notes as placeholders for things I plan on attending. Outside of using mini sticky notes for pre-planning bigger events, I was also using larger sticky notes to write down everything that I did in the day, so that I could record the highlights of my day in my EC later. I like being able to look back at the things I have *done* as well as what I’m looking forward to.

But then, I started having the problem of losing my large sticky notes. I’d have to try and remember what I did on a given day, and that was HARD! But I finally have a solution for that! Back in May, I received my first Emily Ley Daily Simplified Planner. It didn’t start until August, so I had to wait to use it. But now, I use this to record all of the messy details of my day instead of using sticky notes!

I made an agreement with myself that I wouldn’t use stickers in my Emily Ley. I wanted this to be strictly functional, and I wanted to be able to put all kinds of personal details like addresses and phone numbers where necessary in it, without worrying about what I was going to post online later. And I’m sticking to that… mostly….

Between my weekly overview (ECLP) and my detailed view (EL), I pretty much will have things nailed down. BUT! I have one more planner! I got an Erin Condren horizontal layout planner that I will be using to track things in my faith life. Church, Scripture reading, prayer, reflection, etc. This also, is mostly going to be a personal planner/journal and won’t get as much IG or blog “face time” as my main ECLP, but don’t think that it won’t be used just as much! 🙂

So, now you know the planning tools that I will use to manage my work schedule, doctor appointments, class and homework schedule, and faith life. I will go more into depth on the actual planning of things in future posts (since this one is fairly long already!). I can’t wait to see what you are using to manage the busyness of your days!

My First Baseball Game!

August 4, 2015Sporting Events, St. AnastasiaBaseball Game, Comerica Park, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, young adultsCadyLy

There are still quite a few “first” experiences for me to have, but tonight, I was able to cross “Go to a Tiger’s Baseball Game” off the list!

Fr. Jim invited me to an event for young adults from St. Anastasia where we would all meet at the rectory at 5 pm for a barbecue, then carpool to Comerica Park to see the Detroit Tigers play against the Kansas City Royals.

It was beautiful weather for both a barbecue and a ball game! We had grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, chips, soda, and cookies.

Our Grill Master

We had a really good turn-out; I didn’t get a count of how many of us were there, but somewhere around 30 young adults. For a Tuesday evening, that’s pretty good!