Wednesday Wellness: Panaway

Hey guys!  I missed last weeks wellness post due to a sick kid, so I'm back at it this week.  This week features Panaway- one of my favorites!

"Mom!  My legs hurt!"  I've heard that from Aaron a few times over the past year.  Of course, this usually happens at night when it's time for bed.  (Insert eyeroll).  But then I quickly realized that his legs actually are "hurting."  Hello, growing pains!  That's where Panaway comes in handy.

Panaway is a lot like Deep Relief (the bomb diggity), but it's stronger and it works faster, in my opinion.  It's an essential oil blend that consists of Peppermint, Wintergreen, and Clove.  It's one of the oils that I didn't open for months when I bought my first starter kit, because I didn't know what in the world I needed to do with it.  But y'all, Panaway is amazing!  It's mostly used as a pain reliever in my house.  I apply it to legs for growing pains, I apply it to my temples and the back of my neck for headache and tension; especially when I need something stronger than Peppermint.  It's especially great for arthritis and back pain.  I actually apply to our little shih tzu daschund mix, Sophie May!  With her long back and stout frame, she feels pain from time to time from running after the kids, playing outside, or going up and down steps at our house.  A rub-down of Panaway on her back, and our little fur angel is ready to go!

I have a few oils that I keep a roller-ball attached to directly: Stress Away because, hello, momma-hood; and Panaway because sometimes you need a little somethin'somethin' to take the pain away.  And fast.

Hello, lover!

Lucky for you, I have a Panaway available!  And, I'm selling it at my cost!  So if you're interested in all this little blue baby can do, comment, shoot me a message, a text, whatevs!  I'll hook you up.  ;)

~LL

P.S. My last Wednesday Wellness, I talked about Thieves- THE BEST.  I have ONE of those butt-kicking, bacteria/virus fighting, feel-good in a tiny bottle oils available.  Just ONE!  Lemme know if you want!

Wednesday Wellness

As many of you know, I am quite the oily mama.  I started using Young Living essential oils in August 2014, and I haven't looked back!  We use them daily; we put them on our feet, on our spine, on our temples, on our belly buttons....you name it- we've probably put it there. Ha!  We ingest them, we wear them, we clean with them, we.live.that.oily.life, y'all!  We use them for immune boosters, mood enhancers, skin cleansers, teeth whitening, headache erasers, tummy issues, SLEEP!  The list goes on and on!  And no, none of this is too good to be true- these are natural, plant-based oils that God put on this earth for our health and well-being.  They've always been there!  And they work!  Sorry for all the exclamation points, but oils get me pumped!  I could go on and on about what a blessing they have been to us in the almost 3 years that we incorporated them into our daily life.  This is the real deal, you guys.

All of this being said, I've decided to start a Wednesday Wellness series on my blog.  I know I haven't been that great about blogging (oops!) but I've really got to get back into it.  This series will hold me accountable!  So here goes.....my first Wednesday Wellness featuring my absolute FAVE: Thieves!  (insert praise hands!)

She's a bad, mama-jama!

If you ask me:
What was the first oil I tried?  Thieves.
What oil is a must-have?  Thieves.
If you could only choose one oil, what would it be?  Thieves.
Help!  Stomach flu and real-life flu have hit my home, what do I do??!?  Thieves, baby.


Y,all.  I cannot say it enough.  If you only have one essential oil in your arsenal, this is the one to have!!  Thieves is anti-viral, anti-bacterial- it literally protects you and your babies immune systems when all of that nastiness is going around (like NOW).  Thieves is a blend containing: Clove, Cinnamon Bark, Rosemary, Lemon, and Eucalyptus Radiata.  Just applied to your big toe, it defends your body from all sorts of crazy germs.  We apply it on our feet, spines, and back of neck for that extra protection.  And we always use a carrier oil (like almond, fractionated coconut, or even olive) because Thieves is a hot oil!  Thieves diffused with Purification and Lemon oils rids the air of nasty germs.  Kills it all- for reals.  Got a sore throat?  2 drops of Thieves, 1 drop of lemon, and a teaspoon of honey added to a hot cup of water- I promise you it'll be gone by the time you finish that water.  Tired of using toxic chemical to clean counter-tops, bathtubs, floors, etc.?  Make your own natural cleaner with Thieves!  And heck, while you're scrubbing your kitchen counter squirt some in your mouth for that extra immune boost!  I'm not even kidding!

Not surprisingly, Young Living offers Thieves in some many different varieties because everyone loves it!  There's Thieves soap, toothpaste, dental floss, hand sanitizers, hand soap, mouthwash, throat lozenges, mints, spray, wipes.....the list goes on and on.  Let's just say it's the bomb-diggity.  Can I get an AMEN??!

So, if I haven't convinced you that Thieves isn't a MUST in your medicine cabinet, well, I'm sorry for wasting your time. However, if keeping you and your family healthy is a top priority, please, for the love, just give essential oils a shot.  I swear, you won't regret it!

P.S. Please visit/like/comment Lemontree Wellness on IG and FB!  We post all kinds of oily goodness on there daily!  Are you ready to purchase?  Click this link to get started!

Have a great Wednesday!

~LL

Lovesick

Ohhh.....Ryan Gosling.  Quit playing games with my heart!  I can't even deal.

Last night, my mom and I went to see La La Land.  It was incredible.  And no, I am not just saying that because my favorite man in the whole world (besides you, hubs!) was the male lead.  The movie was amazing!  The set, the costumes, the music, the story- all of it was just beautiful.  It was not violent, raunchy, gross- like most of the movies that are out today.  It was a love story, beautifully told, and you need to go see it!

Now- back to the important stuff.  Ryan G.  Aw, man.  Eva Mendes.....all I gotta say is honey, you are one lucky lady.  In all seriousness, I've been giving myself and RyGuy some distance.  I mean, he went and got Eva all knocked up a second time, and at that point I decided enough was enough.  It was officially time to move on.  I was doing pretty good with this whole charade; you know, not watching Crazy Stupid Love on repeat and googling his SNL skits.  I'd even semi-moved on with Taylor Kitsch, because who doesn't love Tim Riggins??

Then, BAM!  He showed up at the Golden Globes:

Hot damn (image via)

And gave this speech:

"My lady."  (Ugly cry).  FML.


And to torture myself even further, La La Land:

He dances, he sings, he plays the piano, and well, he's just damn perfect!  Ugh.

Rachel McAdams, for the love- DO NOT GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!

Now, please excuse me while I google Ryan Gosling memes for the next 2 hours.

Yep. (image via)

~LL

Hey, hey!

Is it bad that it's a beautiful summer day, and both Harper and I are on the couch- technology in laps.  Me- laptop; Harper- iPad.  #momfail  I just cannot deal with this heat today.  In order to avoid melting, we shopped this morning, i.e.: spent money that I shouldn't spend.  Oh well.  There's always tomorrow.  And when I say tomorrow, I mean tomorrow morning.  There's just no way I can handle temps that feel like 100 degrees outside when I woke up early enough to do a decent job on my makeup, y'all!

So, hiiiii!  I haven't blogged since January.  I have started a few posts, but ended up deleting or not posting because they were so boring.  The past 7-8 months have literally been a blur.  Between family, friends, work, school, etc. 2016 has been BUSY!  Now that summer's almost over, and school is starting back for both of my kids, I'm hoping for a little more time to hop on here and jot down a few thoughts more often.  I'd love to say that I'll blog every day, every other day, twice a week, or hell, even once a week, but I've made that promise before and it didn't happen.  I do miss blogging...actually, I miss it a lot.  Last weekend, a friend of mine encouraged me to start it up again, so here goes!

• So, my newest obsession is Stranger Things on Netflix.  If we're Facebook friends, you know my thoughts: it's amazing.  It's only 8 episodes and I finished it in less than 3 days.  I think I'm having withdrawals from it like I did with Breaking Bad.  Hoping to avoid the major funk that happened once BB was over.  I'm thinking I'm safe since this was the first season of Stranger Things, and obvi, since Netflix is super smart they're going to renew that bad boy for a second season.  
• I'm on the hunt for a great pair of skinny jeans.  I need to know where y'all are buying your skinnies!  I bought a pair off of Old Navy's website (I know, sexy) last week, and can I just say.....they were heinous on me.  Wth??!  I need jeans that are going to be tight on my legs the only skinny thing on my body, I assure you and snug but comfortable everywhere else.  Give me all the goods, people!
• Here's my take on the Kim K/T Swizzle drama: Tay should have never said she was cool with that horrible Kanye song.  If I were her publicist, I would have highly encouraged her to say HELL NO.  (I love to be "the publicist" in my head, btw.  I know for a fact if I had been Britney's publicist back in 2007 the fateful head shave incident would not have occurred, she would not have rode around sans panties with Paris H, and she would not have performed that horrible, I'm hiding my face looking through my fingers performance of Gimme More at the MTV VMA's.)  All of that being said, saying that it "was cool and she was flattered" was not something that ego-maniac AKA: Kanye, needed to hear.  And btw, I'm so sick of hearing about these people.  I say that as KUWTK plays in the background.....
• Today is National Lipstick Day!!  My favorite!  Rock that red, pink, or even purple lip!

That's all I got!  Hope y'all have a great weekend!

~LL

Whole 3

It's 2016!  Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  Ours went by entirely too fast. One minute we were in the throes of Christmas Eve craziness, and the next we were taking down our Christmas tree and all of our decorations.  I seriously don't know where Christmas went this year!  Sure, I had another nasty sinus infection sneak up on Christmas Eve eve, so I definitely wasn't feeling my best.  I have to admit, I cried when Adam took down our tree; I just wasn't ready for it to be over.  We actually took it down immediately after Christmas (like next day) because it just made me sad to look at it when it was over.  I just don't think I got into the Christmas spirit this year.  December was so stressful: money issues, the insane amount of money we spent on Christmas presents (more on that later), work, school, etc.  After an already long night at my in-laws home on Christmas Eve, we arrived back at our house at 10:30 for my poor hubby to stay up until 2:30 AM putting together Christmas toys.  We were exhausted.  I helped as best as I could, and then passed out face first into my pillow around 12:30 AM.

Next year will be different.  I will not spend an arm and a leg on Christmas presents.  I will not be in a mad dash and stay under constant stress, I will take care of myself so I'm not sick and over it by Christmas Eve, and most of all, I will reflect on what Christmas really means.  Amen!

With ALL of that being said, I am very thankful for the fabulous presents I received!  Adam gave me the fiercest pair of Ray Ban Aviators that I'm completely obsessed with.  My mom, knowing my makeup obsession all to well, gave me a Sephora Gift Card.  I was able to make this purchase, and oh baby, it's SO WORTH IT!

The Tarte Tartelette palette

I'm in love with this palette.  This is not a great pic (ignore the forehead bump please), but I just had to document how gorgeous the colors are.  They're so pigmented and stay on ALL DAY.  I honestly like this palette better than any of the Naked palettes.  Go and buy now!  It's totally worth the $50!


In other news, I've started a Whole 30.  Yes, I'm crazy.  I'm on day 3, and literally taking this diet lifestyle change minute by minute.  If you're not completely in the know, basically this diet is no sugar, no grains, no dairy, no alcohol; only meat, fruit, and vegetables.  Sooo......super hard.  I never realized what a sugar addict I am until the past few days.  I've missed coffee creamer, Coke Zero, Sweet Tea, pop tarts, and WINE more than I ever thought I could. It's hard, man.  Here's a glimpse of what my past few days have looked like food-wise:

Juice is allowed on the Whole 30 and after trying this Naked Juice today, I'm sold.  Such a nice change from my water and La Croix.  My past 3 breakfasts have consisted of a fried or scrambled egg with veggies, and whatever leftover protein I have from the night before.  Lunch has been everything from zoodles, Aidell's chicken sausage and carrot sticks with Wholly guacamole, to tuna salad made with Primal Palate mayo.  My first Whole 30 dinner was Sunday night; we had chicken sausage, roasted squash, and pasta (for Adam and the kids), last night we had Roasted Chicken Thighs, sauteed broccoli slaw (amazing), and rice (again, for Adam and the kids).  Tonight we're having leftovers.  I have to admit, I'm not crazy about all the cooking that goes into it.  I'm a big fan of convenience foods, though I know they're not healthy at all.  I will say, everything I've cooked so far has been delicious.  Definitely no shortage on flavor!  And I do like the fact that I'm getting new ideas for meals, particularly breakfast and lunch; no pop tarts and turkey sandwiches here!  At least for the time being anyway......wish me luck!!  Day 3- let's do this!

~LL

So, that happened.

I felt the need to come on my blog and confess that I just inhaled a number one combo from Krystal.  I mean, I pretty much killed it.  I was even having heartburn while I was eating it and did not even care.  That's cray.  I'm blaming it on the goose.  Grey Goose, for clarification.  My mom and I went to see Mockingjay last night (by the way, it was really good) and afterwards stopped by a local restaurant and shared a steak while treating ourselves to a cosmo.  And let me just say- they treated us right.  So right that I came home and had the brilliant idea to pour a glass of wine the size of my head and drink it all.  So smart.  Such a lightweight.

As well all know, when Katniss Everdeen AKA Jennifer Lawrence is feeling super Sasha Fierce she rocks a smokey eye like nobody's business.  After seeing her makeup last night I had to copycat.

Thoughts?  I did it in black and white so y'all couldn't see the blemish on my chin.  I'm obsessed with a smokey eye.  It's my favorite makeup trend next to a great lipstick.  Probably too much for a Sunday, but I'm feeling fancy today!

Can we talk about the hilarious SNL sketch that revolves around Adele's "Hello?"  Oh my gosh, I laughed so hard.  And seriously, Matthew McConaughy wearing that wig and fur coat.  LOL!  

That's it for Sunday, guys!  About to take my little guy outside to soak in some sunshine on this gorgeous day.  Enjoy yours!

~LL

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

Where do I even start?  It's been almost a year since I updated LL!  That's crazy.  Like I said in my previous post, I hopped on over to Wordpress for a minute to try it on, but I couldn't help but miss my good ole blogger blog.  So much easier, simple, comfortable- what I'm needing A LOT of in my life right now.  So I'm back.

To catch up, I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old that keep me on my toes every day.  My hubby finally got a job where he is home with us every day, and I am staying home currently with my two year old.  I've been on the job hunt for the past few months to no avail.  I have probably applied to 50 different jobs, had three interviews, all to hear, "there's a better candidate for this position."  Grrr.......getting a job in this market is tough!  I'm just trying to remain optimistic that the right job will be revealed to me soon.  Rather sooner than later.  We'll see.....

I woke up extra early this morning craving the Chick.  And when I say Chick, I mean Chick-fil-A, whoop whoop!  It's a Georgian's fav place to eat, mark.my.words.  Of course, I've officially gone crazy and decided that my body no longer needs sugar, so I'm "attempting" a low-carb, gluten-free, paleo, atkins, whatever you call it diet.  My favorite thing to eat at the Chick is a chicken breakfast burrito; trust.  It will change your life.  While speeding home to devour this tortilla-less burrito (because I'm good, y'all) I hear on the radio a letter from a survivor of the theater massacre in Paris just last weekend.  Wow.  Listening to this person describe the horrific violence that occurred right in front of her broke me.  Watching innocent people and loved ones die in front of her, as she lay motionless so these monsters wouldn't know she was alive.  Can you imagine??  Perspective.  Perspective as I feel sorry for myself because I can't eat a freakin' tortilla.  Perspective because I can't find a job.  Perspective because I definitely do not appreciate all the blessings bestowed on me every day.  I was sick about this event all weekend.  Monday I googled "the safest place to live in the world" because I'm scared to death.  (Btw, Canada sounds great.)  Instead of praying I worried incessantly.  Then my sister sent me this.

Wow.  Perspective.

God bless the people of Paris.  God bless the people of Lebanon that lost many just the day before in another terrorist attack.  God bless us all.

We will not let this evil take away our happiness.  We have God.  We also have flowers.

Have a wonderful day, friends!

~LL