Thursday, April 28, 2016

Back Again...With Double The Creativity!



Nearly two years ago, I stepped off of a plane and saw my family for the first time after a year and a half of living in the Amazon Jungle. What an incredible feeling that was!

Yes, I am the daughter my mom mentioned in her last post. The one that was really sick.  Just less than one year after returning home, I married my sweet husband and became Mrs. Peacock. What an incredible journey I have been on since my mom started this blog so many years ago!





It's funny to think that just six years ago I was modeling shorts for this blog.  And, I can't be sure that I didn't throw a teenage tantrum before the pictures were taken!  That's the thing with my mom and I--we've always been different, but not necessarily the normal mother-daughter different.

You see, in this case my mom is the modern, trendy one.  She's the cool, tech-savvy teacher at every school she's worked at. She loves girls nights and chick flicks. She always dresses like a model and is always the first to discover the latest trends.

I, on the other hand, am the old-fashioned one.  I love camping, playing sports, sewing, and baking anything from scratch.

I think it was our differences that inspired me to start this blog back up again, this time with myself on board as more than a pouty girl in a pair of denim shorts. I've thought a lot about starting my own blog to post my recipes and "wifey" things.  Paisley Passions seemed like the perfect place to get started and, with summer on the way, hopefully my mom will be able to post more from her endless vault of incredible ideas.

We can't make any promises about where this will go, but we're excited to work on this project together and create ideas worth sharing!

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Young Living Oils- My Story

Let me start by saying, I was the BIGGEST skeptic out there when it came to oils.  FOR REAL. When people would tell me they used essential oils for this, that, and the other I would secretly laugh inside and roll my eyes (to myself of course!).  Snake oils, I would think.  No way, no how do these work.

These oils are only for hippies or crazies, right???  I mean, come on, get real.

Fast forward a year or two. . .

My daughter was serving a mission for our church in the Amazon Jungle in Peru.  It turned out to be a trying and difficult time for her.  If you are interested in reading her story of her journey, you can find it HERE.  It's pretty amazing, if I do say so myself! Anyway, back to my oil story. . .my daughter got sick.  Really sick.  She suffered from typhoid fever, anxiety, depression, infection (from falling into a sewer and cutting her leg. . .F.Y.I. open wounds and raw sewage do not go well together!), parasites, scalp fungus, hair loss, fleas.  You name it, she had it.

Knowing that she didn't want to come home until her 18 months of service were complete, we went to our doctor here at home and asked what we could do.  He said it was not possible for him to prescribe medication and have it sent out of the country.  He suggested some different vitamins and things that we could send, but prescribed medications were not possible.

My daughter went to see what we lovingly refer to as "Jungle Doctors".  Scary, right?  Yes. More than you know!   Especially when we found out that she was prescribed medications that she should have never been given and that caused her to have hallucinations.  We later found out some of the medicine she was given was not even legal here in the United States.  YIKES!

Scared, frustrated, and beyond worried, (and secretly wishing she would just come home!) I began searching for things that I could legally send her that could help her get healthy again.  I searched the vitamins and the various homeopathic things that our doctor suggested.  I researched, read, and researched some more.

I remembered a student that I had that was using essential oils for ADHD. Yes, one that I had at some point in time secretly rolled my eyes and laughed when the parent told me about it.  I thought, well, researching snakes oils certainly cannot hurt.  So there began my research on essential oils.

I read all about the different brands.  The stories.  The testimonials.  I compared costs.  I compared brands.  I thought about all the times I have driven by the Young Living Farm in Utah and seen the beautiful lavender fields.  So, I looked into them a little bit more.

I found that Young Living gives a Seed to Seal promise.  What does that mean?  It means they grow their own plants on their own farms and they know exactly what they are putting in those oil bottles they sell.  They are responsible from seed to seal for every oil they produce.  If you want to learn more about the Young Living Seed to Seal promise, you can read about it HERE.

That was that.  I ordered two Young Living starter kits.  One for me (because I wasn't going to give them to my child without trying them myself) and one for my daughter.  At the time I was still a little skeptical about the oils, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try.

I started using the oils as soon as they came, and my daughter began using them on her mission.  She would write home and tell me how much they were helping and how much she loved them.

Flash forward 11 months, because that is how long I have been using them, and I am here to tell you I LOVE MY OILS!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!

Want to experience them for yourself???  CLICK HERE and sign up.  You will be glad you did! Members get 24% off of the retail prices.  SOOOOOOOOO worth it!








Friday, May 30, 2014

Linky Love and Blog Hop Library

Slowly but surly I am making changes around here.  I have had countless people ask about my Linky Love Library and Blog Hop Library.  Many of you have wanted to know when it would be up and running again.

GOOD NEWS!  I have it up and going!!!  Just be a little bit patient with me as I sort through all of the parties and make sure they still exist.

Also, if you have a party you would like me to add to the list, please let me know!

Have an AMAZING Friday :)

Sunday, May 18, 2014

That was a LONG break! Time to start again :)

HELLO!!!  Is anybody still out there???

Hey, remember back in the good old days when I actually put stuff on my blog and shared it? Remember when I had great bloggy friends who I got to know through my blog and theirs? Remember when I started teaching and I posted that I was taking a break?

Who knew that three full years would go by before I would come back? When I first took my bloggy break, I expected to be back to blogging after my first year of teaching.  Um, yeah.  That obviously did NOT happen :)

Let me just tell you, first of all, I AM SO EXCITED to start blogging again, and second of all, WOW, teaching is not for the faint of heart! Haha! I had NO idea when I began my teaching journey three years ago that it would consume every ounce of my life: creatively, mentally, and physically!


After getting three years under my belt, I feel like I am ready to come back to my blog and start over again. Just an FYI, I didn't COMPLETELY leave the blogging world, I have been busy blogging on my class blog for my students the past three years. My blogging expertise sure has come in handy for my job. Curious about my class blog? Feel free to hop over and check it out: Mrs. Simonson's Class

This summer I am planning to tackle a bunch of home improvement projects and I cannot wait to get started.  We have lived in our home for four years now.  Just an FYI, that is the absolute longest I have ever lived anywhere in my entire life!  Well, needless to say, it is time to start freshening up things around here.

I cannot wait to share my home improvement journey with you this summer and hope to sprinkle in a fun craft or two while I am at it.

Watch for changes to come while I freshen up the blog and get ready to dive into the blogging world again.

Oh, and if anyone is still out there, feel free to leave me a comment or two, or three and say hi!  It would be nice to know I still have some bloggy friends :)

Until next time,
Lori

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Taking a Break. . .


 Dear Friends,

I am sure you have noticed that I am not posting as much as I used to.  I have missed some of my parties, and I haven't made anything in AGES to share with you.  Let me explain why.  I have been in college pursuing my ELED degree and this year is my first year teaching.  I am super excited to finally be to a point where I can begin my career.  That said, my career and my family need to be my focus right now.  So, I am taking a break from Paisley Passions.

Don't worry.  I am not gone forever, just until I feel like I can find some kind of balance in my life.  I knew that being a first year teacher would be time consuming. . .I just had NO IDEA how much of my life it would consume!!!  It seems as though every waking minute is spent trying to figure out lesson plans and making preparations in order to have the best year possible.  So, when you drop your kids off at school this year, make sure and give the teacher a BIG thanks for all of their hard work :)

Taking a break from my blog was not an easy decision.  It is something that I have wrestled with for a while now.  But, I finally came to the conclusion that taking a break is the right decision.

I hope you all understand and will all be ready to come back and follow me again once I get back to posting.

Thanks for all your kind comments and for being such supportive followers!

I hope to be back sooner rather than later!!!

Lori


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Thrilling Thursday Linky Party!

Welcome to Thrilling Thursday!!!  It's always one of my favorite days of the week!!  :)

Let's see what you have made this week!!! :)  Link up and most of all HAVE FUN!!!!


Thrilling Thursday at Paisley Passions





Wandering Wednesday Blog Hop!

Let's link up to Wandering Wednesday!  :)