Status Update + doTerra Slim & Sassy

 Hello there! It's been crazy around here and isn't about to stop any time soon...that's okay! It's all good stuff. :) I leave for a youth camp in Canada really early this coming Wednesday. The day before I'm getting two wisdom teeth out. Yeah. I know. CRAZY! I feel a real peace about everything working out okay, though. I know I might be a little loopy and maybe having some pain traveling up to camp, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. ;P
 Meanwhile, I've been working hard at learning the ropes of having my own business. I've been using the oils every day with great results! My biggest wow is doTerra's metabolic blend called Slim & Sassy. A combo of peppermint, ginger, cinnamon, lemon, and grapefruit oils, this blend can be taken internally or used externally as well. I began a 30-day challenge on the 17th and only 9 days later, I have lost inches and pounds! Not a lot, since I am not much over my normal weight, but I am so happy with the quick results!
 How does it work? Well, it detoxes your cells. It goes in and eats through the toxins stored in your body as fat/cellulite. You take drops in water 20-30 minutes before you eat and it speeds up your metabolism while decreasing how hungry you are. Believe me, it really does! When I take it in the morning, I have to watch, or I will forget to eat! Skipping meals and eating processed foods is a no-no. Eating good quality protein, fresh greens, staying away from flour and sugar, and drinking plenty of good water is also key to this oil blend doing it's job - and fast! Some people get great results just from changing their diet. How much more when adding an oil that helps your metabolism?!
 For me, I began doing just 5 drops twice a day. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday evening I did it a little bit different. I took 5 drops in the morning, then later on I put 5 drops in a small spray bottle with a little bit of water and fractionated coconut oil. I sprayed this on the areas I wanted to loose size. Next, I took stretch-tite and firmly wrapped where I had sprayed. Left this for four hours both times. I measured less than before where I did the wrap! In four hours! Like, an inch and a half in around one place and an inch and four eighths in another. WHOOP WHOOP! This is SO doable, folks. $26 a bottle retail, less if you buy wholesale or get it in a kit.
 I will keep ya'll in the know as to how I'm doing over the 21 days I have left. I am so excited to see what results I will have by then!

Bon Voyage! 

Odds & Ends

 Well, here I am! Almost another week has passed and I am now even more behind in posting. :) Ah, such is life... Yesterday dad held a family meeting. The trepidation of my little-girl-turned-big-girl heart told me " I am in trouble ", lol, because family meetings used to be the time when we talked about what I had done wrong. :P Silly me. Dad wanted to get our ideas for a spur-of-the-moment family day out. :D Points! We ended up going to the coast and having a lovely, no-rush day. This morning we tackled the berries over at a local U-pick farm, getting in on the last day for raspberries. Tonight I am going to my favorite place, the Cobbs, for a couple days and then their daughter Anna will sleep over at my place Saturday. Yay! :D
 All the pics I am posting will be from the last few weeks...I will do the ones from our day at the coast another time.

Sand Man!
( complete with feather in hair and mustache )
:P

Sand Man turned Sand Dog!
( sorry it is sideways )

My dad's retirement party

My favorite - a sunset!
mmmmmm
:)

Independence Day!

We had quite the spread...

The guys
:)

My sweet, adorable cousin!
Love you Cathy!

Love the sound of this guitar!
( posted it just for you, Laina! )

Fourth of July is not complete without fireworks!

I LOVE THIS SHOT!!
( I don't have to explain, do I? It speaks for itself! )

My parents and I
:)

An outing we had to McMinnville
Loved the quaintness of everything
Unfortunately, my camera was a brat and took horrible pictures.
:(

We got ice cream at Serendipity...
BEST ice cream parlor ( and ice cream )
I got green tea and lemon meringue pie in my cone
YUM!

Antique piano that has been converted a few times.
It currently plays CDs, but the keys move in player piano style

This building used to be a hotel back in the day.
I love what they've done with it!
Some of the original stuff is still there - like the benches!

Spendy...but soooo worth it!
They make their own waffle cones and they are awesome!

I love the antique furniture!!!

And check out this old cash register!
SO COOL!

Aaaand last and very randomly,
two kitties outside my window the other day.

What a pretty kitty!


The End

Bon Voyage!

:D

Summer Magic

 Hello There! So. I have been awfully negligent in blogging. My apologies! Here are some pictures I took while on a walk with friends at Baskett Slough a couple weeks ago. I loaded quite a few because they are all so pretty, I couldn't decide what ones I wanted to post. :P Some of them are quite similar, but with maybe different lighting. The sun was amazing! I have lots of pictures to share from the past few weeks, but I will just start with these and hopefully will be able to catch up on blogging about all I've been up to before too many more interesting things happen to me. :D

Jonah Days

 Okay, time for some basic, down-to-earth honesty here. Everyone has a Jonah day. Let's all just admit it. There, feel better now? No? Yes? :D
 I'm really feeling a bit ( okay, a lot ) like Jonah today. Running away from what God has placed in my life...angry that things aren't turning out the way I expected them to...feeling woe-is-me...you get the picture. Yep, Jonah and I have a lot in common.
 I always have wondered what happened after the Lord spoke to Jonah that last time at the end of the book of Jonah. If it were me, my mind would have gone back to the miraculous thing of the giant fish; how God planned everything just so. He knew ahead of time that Jonah would be a coward. He knew Jonah was going to run away, but ( and wow, this is amazing ) God also knew that Jonah would surrender. Jonah would get swallowed up, taken to the bottom of the sea, and he would have a prayer meeting. He would go out on the word of the Lord and call Nineveh to repentance. Then, in the human frailty of his mind he went up on a hill to watch God destroy the city. When God didn't do what Jonah expected God to do, he was angry. He threw a tantrum, a pity party. God took pity on him, spoke to him, tried to redirect his thinking. I wonder what Jonah did?
 We do that too. We rely on what our interpretation of a situation is. We go on what we think of the circumstance, telling God " No! I don't want to do that! ". He sees our stubborn way and puts us in a spot where all we can do is pray. God answers our prayer and then we complain about the results. We can be so guilty of making a mental image of what something ought to be like. When it doesn't come about how we think it should, we get bent out of shape. ( Wow! This sure stings! But it's the truth... ) How to deal with that? There is no clear answer from the book of Jonah ( that I can see ), since it cuts off so abruptly, but for me, it is reminding myself that God's plan is greater than my expectation or interpretation. Jonah's prayer from the fish's belly speaks volumes to me:

“In my distress I called to the Lord,

    and he answered me.

From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,

    and you listened to my cry.

 You hurled me into the depths,

    into the very heart of the seas,

    and the currents swirled about me;

all your waves and breakers

    swept over me.

 I said, ‘I have been banished

    from your sight;

yet I will look again

    toward your holy temple.’

 The engulfing waters threatened me,

    the deep surrounded me;

    seaweed was wrapped around my head.

 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;

    the earth beneath barred me in forever.

But you, Lord my God,

    brought my life up from the pit.

 “When my life was ebbing away,

    I remembered you, Lord,

and my prayer rose to you,

    to your holy temple.

 “Those who cling to worthless idols

    turn away from God’s love for them.

But I, with shouts of grateful praise,

    will sacrifice to you.

What I have vowed I will make good.

    I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

~

 I especially love that very last part " Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ' Salvation comes from the Lord. '" Amen.

Busy & Business

 Hello World! I have been spinning about as fast as the earth and it doesn't look like I will be stopping aaaany time soon. :P

 So what have I been doing, you ask? Weeelll...aside from the fabulous weekend I had meeting new youth, I have been: starting a business, going to a seminar, going to special services at church, spending the night with friends, and going to the coast. Oh, and not to mention squeezing in luxuries such as showers, laundry, cat clean-up duty, and grocery shopping! :D I also have something going on every day this week. Today is my mom's birthday, tomorrow is my dad's retirement party and church, Thursday is Independence Day, Friday my dad retires, Saturday he wants to go out on the town to celebrate, and Sunday is two services at church. Whew! Think that is enough? Those are just the highlights!

 My first order of business is, well, my business! I didn't come up with some fantastic something-or-other, no. I did, however, get introduced to a fabulous company with fabulous products that are easy to explain, comprehend, and use: essential oils! Okay, so that didn't thrill you? How about this: this company sells the highest quality oils you will ever find. Nothing synthetic, gathered from natural habitat, and manufactured with utmost precision. The company is five years old, debt-free, and has several months of back-stock. They rely on individuals to spread the word and those individuals earn money! What company is this? doTerra.
 I won't go into all the details yet, but I will say that you can go to my website www.mydoterra.com/naomiarvidson and check out the company and their products to see what you think! I am so amazed by the testimonials I have heard and seen and personally experienced with these products. I am so excited about this!!! :D Feel free to contact me for more information, although I hope to do a more in-depth post once I have time and am more versed in what is what.

 Well, time to go. I have lots to catch up on!