Healing Lip Balm

Do you spend tons on lip products to try to get rid of chapped, cracked lips? Do you have a different product for cold sores, everyday, and dry weather?  Stop spending those dollars and make an all purpose healing lip balm.  The following recipe will heal your chapped lips, help to fight cold sores, and provide a barrier against the harsh wind that we face here in Nebraska.

I found 2 recipes that I really liked so I combined them into my own type of recipe.  I am really happy with the results.  You can see the original recipes here and here.

Now, onto the recipe!

*Please remember to use only 100% pure essential oils when making skin products or other recipes.

Supplies Needed:
3 Tbs. Beeswax Pastilles
2 Tbs. Coconut Oil
1 1/2 Tbs. Shea Butter
1/2 teas. Vitamin E Oil
10 Drops Lavender Essential Oil
10 Drops Lemon Essential Oil
10 Drops Peppermint Essential Oil
Lip balm pots or tubes (about 20 total)

 Combine all ingredients except essential oil in a glass jar (a glass measuring cup with spout works well for this).  Place in a pan of water over low heat.  Do not let the water come to a boil.  Stir the mixture frequently with a knife.
While the mixture is melting set up your pots or tubes on a piece of wax paper.  (I used it only for cleaning purposes.)
Once all the the ingredients have melted, turn off the heat.  Leave the jar in the warm water and add the essential oils.  Mix thoroughly.
Pour the mixture into your tubes or pots leaving a little bit of space at the top.  If you make a mess, as I did, use a knife to scrape the hardened mixture into one of your pots.  This stuff is to good to waste.  Let the tubes and pots sit to harden, about 10 minutes.  Put the lids on and enjoy.

The lip balm lasts on the lips for quite a while and has a slight lemon taste.  If you are more sensitive to one of the essential oils, you can simply omit it.  Lemon is known for it's disinfectant qualities, lavender for it's calming qualities, and peppermint for cooling.

Enjoy!
~Jessica

Lotion that Heals

Dry, chapped skin is never fun and I deal with it on a day to day basis.  I suffer from eczema and I have never really found any lotions that rid me of the itching that is associated with this and other skin conditions.  That is, until Rebecca at campwander.blogspot.com made an All-Purpose Healing Salve that works wonders! 
I changed the recipe a little to meet my skin needs and because she is always changing the recipe herself.  After realizing how well it worked, I looked into why store brand lotions never work for me.  The main answer I came up with: they all have Petrolatum.  More commonly known as petroleum jelly.  http://www.livestrong.com/article/226763-side-effects-of-petrolatum/ is an article that I read when researching a little bit about petrolatum.  Not only is it bad for the skin, but it is in almost every lotion that I own. 
So, onto the recipe!

You will need:
    4 or 5 jars.  (I use 4oz glass Ball quilted canning jars.)
    1 Cup of Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
    1 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (To get a white color of lotion, use Extra Light Tasting)
    5 Tablespoons of Beeswax Pastilles (They melt faster)
   10 Drops of Pure Lavender Essential Oil per jar (I use DoTerra for all my essential oils)
    8 Drops of Pure Lemon Essential Oil per jar
    6 Drops of Pure Melaleuca Essential Oil per jar
    3 Drops of Pure Frankincense Essential Oil per jar (Optional)
    Vitamin E Oil (Optional)
    Pot for boiling water
    Glass Bowl or Jar (I use a quart canning jar)

Procedure:
-Fill your pot half full with water, set on low to medium heat. The water should never come to a boil.
-Set your class jars on a nearby counter.
-In your large glass bowl or jar: add coconut oil, olive oil, and beeswax pastilles.
-Place into pot, stir occasionally with a knife.
-Prepare your small jars: add the drops of each essential oil directly into each small jar.
-Add a few drops of Vitamin E oil if desired.
-When all the ingredients in the large jar are melted together (10 minutes) put the contents into each small jar leaving about 1/2 inch from the top.
-Cover small jars with a paper towel and allow to cool.
-To speed up cooling process, you may put them in the refrigerator. 
-Top with lid once completely cool.

Uses:
-Cuts/Scrapes (instead of neosporin)
-Burns
-Dry skin/Eczema
-Warts
-Acne

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.There are other blends to try as well, but this is the most healing of them. 

~Jessica
   

doTerra

I have talked a little bit before about how I use essential oils everyday.  Today I just want to share a little bit about the oils that I use and how I use them.
DoTerra is the name of the company that I get my oils through because they are 100% pure.  They are safe to put on your skin, and your child's skin.  They are safe to diffuse in the air (they change the composition of air particles to actually make the odor go away).  They are even safe to ingest. 
One of the main reasons that I love using essential oils is because I know that they have no harmful side effects.  I have learned so much the past few months about different chemicals that are in a lot of lotions and soaps and it scares me to think what so many people are doing/putting on their bodies. 
Some of the easiest ways to use essential oils are:
     -Putting a drop on your skin (warts, dry skin, fungus, etc.)
     -Diffusing a drop in the air (air purity, disinfectant, etc.)
     -Putting a drop in water and drinking (use a glass or stainless steel bottle)
     -Brushing your teeth
     -Mouthwash
     -Perfume
There are so many other ways, these are just ways that I use every day.  I will try to put up some very specific blends that I use and how I use them.  After all flu season is coming and I don't even have a sniffle.

~Jessica

Celebrate

The other day in one of my classes we discussed in depth how important it is to celebrate student's achievements rather than focus on their failures.  This has been nagging at me for a few days now and I have thought a lot about the way that teachers use their words to either build up or break down a child.
Do you know what I am talking about?
Mrs. Dorman talked specifically about a kindergarten child who was trying to spell the word because.  The child wrote her first assignment with the spelling bkz.  Mrs. Dorman celebrated the fact that the child had a beginning sound, a middle sound, and an end sound.  After all, the child is only in kindergarten.  However, Mrs. Dorman did put a sticky note next to bkz and wrote because on it.  She also explained to the child that the bossy E on the end made the S sound like a Z.
A few weeks later, the child brought another writing assignment forward.  This time, she had because spelled beks.  The child had learned the sight word be, and used her knowledge to write a new word.  Again Mrs. Dorman celebrated the beginning, middle, and end sounds.  She also congratulated the child on using her prior knowledge and remembering that the E was bossy and made an S sound.  Again she put a sticky note on the child's paper with the proper spelling of because.
The next time the child brought her paper forward, the word because was spelled correctly.  WOO HOO!!! All the encouragement she had been getting had paid off.  "This child is a word expert.  She is an expert on the word because" said Mrs. Dorman to her class.  "If anyone needs to know how to spell because, they should come to her." 
Not only did Mrs. Dorman celebrate this child's accomplishment at spelling the word because, but she also built up the child to try to spell other words.  This child's writing is not held in place by what she knows how to spell.  She feels free to write whatever she is feeling, not just whatever she knows.
So why do so many teachers point out what children do wrong?  My hope is that someday every child is being celebrated for what they know, not what they don't.  I hope that I can be strong enough to give every child encouragement, to find the good that is always mixed in with the not so good.
I challenge all of you to do the same.

~Jessica

Friends

Friends are the best ever!  I think I've said that I live with my fiance and a roommate.  Well today, my fiance bought me a wii and wii fit! I am so excited! What makes this gesture even nicer is that he also bought my roommate a new guitar.

I think that the best thing in this world is for people to do nice things for each other.  If more people did nice things and didn't expect anything in return, then the world would be a much happier place to live in. 

I know that I haven't been writing as much the last few days, but school has been wiping me out.

~Jessica

Day Off

Sometimes it's so nice to have a day off.  Today was that day.  I took the day off of work and had no classes to attend because of Labor Day so I did absolutely nothing.  Don't get me wrong, I definitely should have done quite a few things....
     Laundry (I did do 2 loads)
     Baking (I made some link sausage)
     Homework (Not a thing)
     Unpacking (From the move to this house about 3 weeks ago)
     Cleaning (HA!)
     Taking the dogs for a walk (I was too lazy)
     Etc, etc....

So what did I do for a whole day?  Obviously not very much.  I caught up on some Netflix t.v., looked at Pinterest for some good recipes and teaching ideas, and surfed around the web for a few things.  I researched a little more about brewing Kombucha because I ordered a starter culture (so excited!) I want to get some grolsch style bottles for the brewing, but they are pretty expensive.

However, amongst all the things that didn't get done today, I did accomplish one very important thing.  I spent time with my fiance.  Sometimes we both get so caught up in everything and we forget to take a time out.  I love when we just have a day to veg out together.  It always hits me hard when we don't have that time. 

Maybe I'll get more done some other day, but for today I am in a state of great mental happiness!

What do you do on your days off?

~Jessica