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Saturday, November 10, 2012

Young Living's Lavender Hand and Body Lotion

  A couple of months ago I received a bottle of "Young Living's" Lavender lotion. Out here in this dry climate I've used many types of lotions and creams.  I'm here to tell you this is some of the richest, creamiest lotions I have ever used and it only takes a dab. A little goes a long way. If you have read this blog you know what a fan I am of Lavender and its healing properties. Go to  https://www.youngliving.org/edeye to see more.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Summer of 2012 Ute Peak Hike

    Back in July , I was going to call this "When in doubt go higher." A line off of a local free paper called the Mountain Gazette dedicated to the out door mountain life.
    Things change. What can I say; "I'm a Libra and prone to procrastination."
That could fill pages on another post! ha,ha!
      Anyway, I had been inspired back in late winter to hike a 14'er. by the movie "Blind Site".  So I planned to hike Grays peak the first week in August.
      I thought early on I needed to be prepared, that it wouldn't be that easy. I planned to do moderate to difficult hikes to prepare. I did the hikes over a six week period. I didn't notate the exact dates.
    The first hike was Ute peak. Rated most difficult.
         It wasn't planned, well maybe in the back of my mind it was. I had been wanting to take this hike for some time, but knew it was difficult.  Pre-season I was walking 5 miles a day, this wasn't much further.  It is close to the ranch and in a beautiful area. I just got up early one Thursday morning and decided that I was going to hike it.
      I got there about 9 am, a beautiful morning. The trail starts out by going through a tunnel under a giant conveyor from a local mine but then goes into a beautiful forest. Dense with trees, no beetle kill. It goes on like this for a while and I'm thinking this isn't too bad. Its slightly up hill kind of moderate. After a while your starting to go up some pretty good inclines but then they would sort of level out. Never really getting completely level, always going up. My will and motivation started giving my mind and body pep talks." Telling them that this wasn't so bad! We can do this! If we can't do this then how are we going to hike a 14'er. My mind and body slogged on complaining from time to time, but wanted motivation and will to be right.  Some of the views through the trees were beautiful! The trail just kept getting steeper!!! Motivation and Will kept the troops going uphill.
            This hike was supposed to take 5 hrs, round trip. It was around 1. I was near the tree line, it was still kind of a long up hill through open tundra to the top. Mind and body lured motivation and will to a grassy spot in the shade for some lunch and then sucker punched them into a nap. I WAS TIRED! I took about a 30 min nap. I drank some water ate a power bar. Will and motivation tried to rally the troops but clouds were rolling in and mind and body were way tired. There was no way I was going to make that last part of the climb today. I headed down the trail under threatening skies and thunder. As always, I got back to the car in record time. Although I'm going to tell you going that steep down is almost as hard   as going up, maybe harder on the knees.
      I have never been so physically and mental tired after a hike and I was out of it for the next two days. 
         

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Kicking it Up a Notch

   At the beginning of last summer I lost ten pounds. Ever since then I have been struggling to lose the next seven pounds. I lose two or three and then I gain them back. It doesn't help that during the winter I do a lot of sitting around reading. I guess its a good thing I haven't actually gained weight. I've made some small changes to my diet. Eating more vegetables and fruit, trying to stay away from fatty meats. Recently I cut back on my beer. I tell myself I'm only drinking two , but truth be told most nights I have been drinking three or four. Just not paying attention. Now I'm paying attention and while I'm not going to give up my beer, I have limited myself to two and I don't drink every night. It just hasn't been enough to kick start my body's metabolism to lose that next set of pounds I want to lose. Recently I was in Michigan and walked three or four miles a day. When I got back to Colorado, I still hadn't lost a pound more. I almost bought some "Ben and Jerry's". I started walking here, now I'm up to five miles a day. I thought about what I could do to jump start my metabolism. Today for the first time, I walked the five miles with a fifteen pound back pack. The thinking is that your body doesn't know the extra pounds are dead weight and after walking three miles your body is burning energy to a level to support a human body of that weight. It burns at that level for sometime even after you have taken off the weight.
         The walk got a little tough just beyond mile three. At mile four, you can take a right and walk back to the ranch or you can take a left and go up the hill to my turn around at mile five.  Just before the turn I was thinking I was tired  that instead of going up the hill that for today I would just head back to the ranch. After all it seemed like storm clouds were gathering. Then just as I got to the turn I thought about my goal for the summer. To hike a fourteen footer. I thought , would some one who hikes a fourteen footer turn around just because of a little black cloud or for being just a bit tired. When I got to the fork in the road, I took the left and up the hill I went. Funny thing, the further up the hill I got, the better I felt. By the time I got to the crest of the hill and the sign that marks the mile, I felt so good I kept on walking another hundred yards or so. I thought this is crazy, I feel like I could walk forever, when just a few minutes ago I was ready to turn around.Then I looked around, this is the highest point around, and although the wind was blowing pretty hard, it was a beautiful day. The sky had turned blue and was full of big boisterous cumulus clouds.you could see forever. I was deeply rewarded for my efforts.
    So if your feeling stuck in a rut and got the blaaaasssss. Here is what I suggest. First you got to get the right mental attitude. Learn something new, read about something new, get a new hobby. Your brain needs exercise, it needs to be brought out of the depths and walked around. When you exercise your brain with new activity it focuses on what really might interest you. Set your exercised brain to looking for something that inspires you, something that you used to want or dream about doing and never did. It could be anything. Set a goal.  Then set simple goals that will lead you to that larger goal.It will be hard at times, it wont happen over night, there will be set backs, but if you keep your goal in mind you will reach it. Sometimes you just got to turn it up a notch and be tenacious
     I don't know all I can say is that it seems to work for me.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Science behind the WOOOO- WOOOOO

        For a number of years I've been studying Taoist Chinese medicine and healing techniques.  I'm very much a believer in how prayer,visualization exercises, attitude and how you approach something will determine its out come. Prayer and a positive attitude has helped me a number of times. Over this time I've read a few articles that actually support some of my Ancient Chinese texts. Scientific study supporting thought that's thousands of years old. Now I read a new book, suggested to me by a friend, that is called "The Genie In Your Genes" by Dawson Church that supports through scientific study that attitude and the way you process stress and the way you visualize the outcome of things has a direct effect on the way your genes work and process the outcome of your well being. I've always felt that thoughts become things, if you think negative thoughts negative things will happen. Through scientific study this book supports the effect of prayer, postive thinking and the benefits of massage and other methods not accepted by our normal medical academia. Check this book out it might give you the insight or knowledge you need to improve your life beyond your normal beliefs

Friday, February 24, 2012

Try this Amazing and Nutritious Juice

        I'm in the market for a new juicer. I had a cheap one and a while ago the motor burnt out. Now I'm looking at a really good one. I love to make my own juice. Better yet my body loves the fresh juice. I can feel the cells in my body swell up with all the nutrition and goodness that only fresh squeezed juice has. If you ever try the recipe below you will be surprised at the energy and the feeling of well being you get from drinking just one glass of this mixture a day. It is full of potassium, vitamin c and beta carotene. It also helps you hydrate and gives you a full feeling.
              Try this for a very nutritious and sweet uplift; In your juicer add  one beet, depending on size three or four carrots, three or four stalks of celery, a cucumber and a bunch of parsley. You will be surprised at the sweetness of the beet, or at least I was when I first tried it. One note: Don't be shocked at the red color the next morning when you use the toilet. Ha,ha!!!!  

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Thieves Household Cleaner

      During the summer, I order quite a bit of product from "Young Living", I really believe in their product line. With most of my orders I get that months promotions. One thing that I got free last summer was"Young Living" Thieves Household Cleaner. I set it aside because I had several other cleaners that were half full. After all an organic "green" cleaner couldn't be as good as these cleaners with all the grease busting chemicals, could it? In the mean time I had been really falling in love with the smell of Thieve Essential oil and had been using a Thieves spray that I had also gotten for free. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I thought I wold check this cleaner out. It did great on the my dirty kitchen counter, but that was fairly easy. Next I used it on a counter top convection oven I have and use fairly often. It makes the best rotisserie chicken, but that's another story. I used the Thieves cleaner on the built up,baked on gunk that had built up on the glass front. I also used it on the floor on some built up spills and grime in front of my counter. I'm here to tell you that with very little scrubbing the Thieves cleaner destroyed all that built up grime! Better and easier, I think, then something with nasty chemicals in it like Purple Power. As a bonus it leaves a super clean smell and if my kids (cats) were to lick at it, because its organic, I don't have to worry about it. It cleaned the floor in front of my counter so well that it makes the rest of the floor look even dirtier then it is. Once it warms up and the little bit of snow we have is gone. I'm pulling my area rugs outside and doing the rest of the floors in my cabin!    

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Back Pain????


                For years I have suffered with a pinched nerve in my back which caused my arms and hands to go numb as I slept. I have seen a Chiropractor and that has always kept it in check.  I also see a Reflexologist from time to time. This last summer she told me I was getting pretty bad flat feet.  By the end of the summer I had developed what I was thinking was Achilles Tendonitis. It was getting very painful and made hiking difficult at best. My Reflexologist had suggested another Chiropractor that also did acupuncture. I had always been interested in acupuncture so I made an appointment to see this doctor. The doctor checked me out and suggested getting Orthotic shoe inserts that were made for my feet.  I thought about it and on my next visit she measured and took an imprint of me feet. When they came in I wore them that first week and low and behold the pain in my Achilles tendon went away. It’s been four months now and I haven’t had any problems with my tendon or the numbness in my arms and hands. It’s been pretty unbelievable. I will say that it was expensive, after the order and the three visits, the bill was a bit over five hundred dollars and it as a bad time for me because it was going into a time when a lot of money wasn’t coming in. But what cost do you put on being able to walk and sleep without being woken up in pain during the middle of the night? It was well worth it and I strongly suggest that anyone having problems with their ankles, legs or back to take a look at your feet. After all the feet is your foundation, much like the foundation of a building.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Thieves Oil


         I recently went to New York City for New Years. Two days before leaving I started sneezing and sniffling.  I immediately started rubbing drops of Young Livings “Thieves” essential oil into the bottom of my feet and then putting a drop in my hand, rubbing my hands together in a clock wise motion to get the oil molecules moving and then cupping my hand over my nose and mouth and breathing in three breaths and holding each breath.  I left for New York and ran the streets day and night for 5 days which included a six hour concert and a polar dip on New Years day in the Atlantic Ocean.  During the whole time I practically bathed in the “thieves” oil and felt great. I arrived back to my little cabin tired, broke and unfortunately out of “thieves”.  My body being totally worn out gave in to the cold and while I was down for a week when I got back I am convinced the “thieves “essential oil held off the sickness and in the end there were only two days during the week that I got back that I wasn’t functional.  I sincerely think that without the “Thieves Oil" the sickness would have come on much quicker,  possibly ruining my trip and being much sever then it actually was.