Posted in Uplifting

Crabgrass

Crabgrass

Named after the crab from the ocean because it has many stems. It holds up well to foot traffic, can grow in cracks of concrete and is drought tolerant. Just to name a few of the reasons this is such a hardy plant/weed. There are a few different kinds but they all infiltrate and permeate your entire yard.

I remember when I worked in the office for my in-laws lawn business we would have so many customers calling for help to get rid of crabgrass after they had tried everything to get rid of it. Most were willing to pay any price just to get rid of it.

I always wondered what the problem was and when I asked my ex father in-law he would just laugh and act like he couldn’t believe I didn’t see the problem. So I went along and scheduled many jobs for the people who wanted to get rid of it. You can’t just pull on one patch and think you are good, no you have to go through your entire  yard and pull all of it but then it just comes back. The jobs were big and even required a backhoe and fresh fill dirt. After they dug up the whole yard going deep to make sure they got all the roots they would put fresh dirt in then would plant the desired grass, plant or sod making a definite transformation for the better but the home owner wasn’t off the hock they had to be on top of it to make sure there yard stayed nice and crabgrass free.

I know I should probably write a book about life lessons from the garden but there are great examples in your yard/garden. I was talking with my mom who had a great thought on how crabgrass is like your pain or problems in life.

Just like the home owner that bought a house with someone else’s crabgrass problem, we can be born into someone else’s hurts and their pain then it becomes ours. We inherit the pain. Just like my children had grown up for most of their life in a violent house with an alcoholic father they now have the hurt given to them because their dad had pain he didn’t know how to deal with. All he felt was pain so what else could he have given?

Or the pain that is given to a child who is molested, a person that is raped or beaten. I could go on with the pain that is given out to innocent people.

They say the people who hurt people hurt the most themselves is so true. It is because of that crabgrass pain that can be the most difficult to deal with. It is someone else’s pain that became yours. I know that without help that pain wont really go away it might look like it but it’s still there just waiting for the new season so it can germinate and grow stronger.

I am thankful for people who are there to help us deal with our pain. I think God works through these wonderful souls. He is there just waiting to help take care of our crabgrass.

He is only a prayer away and will do the heavy backhoe work replacing the old with the new making a transformation for the better a new and wonderful crabgrass free life.

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Recipes

One Pot Lasagna

I was hungry for lasagna but didn’t want the work or to make my air conditioning work harder by turning on the oven, plus I needed to go to the store.

Left with the desire for lasagna and not much to make it with I chose to come up with a one pot on the stove lasagna. I had three noodles, small can of tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes and it gets better one lonely zucchini that I needed to use up. So with a handful of ingredients this is what I came up with.

Not only did I have my dinner in about 30 minutes but left overs too. This made about a serving for four but when you are cooking for one and like left overs like I do it works out great.

 

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One Pot Lasagna:

1 or 2 Tablespoons of diced garlic

One small onion chopped or diced ( I used purple because I already had it chopped)

4 small sweet peppers chopped

1 small zucchini cut in bite sized pieces (  I did bite sized and grated 1/4 of the zucchini )

3 lasagna noodles broken up

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1 14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes

Hand full of mozzarella cheese

Per your taste dried oregano, parsley, marjoram, salt and pepper

 

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In sauce pan sauté onion, garlic, zucchini pieces, sweet peppers until the onions is almost transparent. add stewed tomatoes and sauce then if you have some of your zucchini grated add it at this time with your cheese. Stir and simmer as you add your broken noodles

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After you add the broken noodles keep heat to a low simmer and add a lid. This should take about 20 minutes to cook but could be a few minutes longer depending on the noodles.

I like mine with a lot of sauce so I placed it in a bowl with bread and topped with parmesan, and Ooh so good.

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Posted in essential oils

DIY Bathtub Crayons

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With this great weekly find I found a great recipe for bathtub crayons from Young Living.  I know that with summer winding down making days get shorter and our time spent indoors longer this would be a great thing to make so that the bath time struggles are gone leaving just the fun.

These wash off walls and leaves the kids clean. ( I would do a pre test area on the wall to make sure but they should wash off leaving no mess)

DYI bathtub crayon materials:

Glycerin soap
Small bowl
Essential oil* (We love SleepyIze™, Lavender, Citrus Fresh™, and German Chamomile.)
Natural dye
Silicone molds
Instructions
Cut the glycerin soap into 1-ounce pieces.
Using a small bowl, melt a 1-ounce piece in the microwave for 15 seconds. Continue heating for 3-second increments until the soap is fully melted.
Add 1–2 drops of essential oil.
Pour the glycerin mixture into the mold until it’s almost full. Avoid filling the mold to the brim, so the soap doesn’t spill over.
Add about 10 drops of dye to each individual mold—or as many drops as needed for your desired color—and gently stir to blend in the dye.
Repeat for as many colors as you want.
Let your crayons dry in the molds for 24 hours.
Start coloring!
YL TIP: Do you use bath time as another way to help your little one unwind before bed? Pick the perfect essential oils to create a relaxing atmosphere! Be sure to add SleepyIze or Lavender for a calming aroma that will prep junior for bedtime.

*While some essential oils in this recipe appear in our KidScents® line and are diluted and formulated for children, please note that we recommend additional dilution for use with infants and very young children.

 

If you are interested in essential oils please visit my web site or contact me with any questions.

myyl.com/gwynsch

 

Posted in Uplifting

The Last Time

 

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Photo by Moose Photos on Pexels.com

I was scrolling through Facebook, yes I do that a lot but as I was scrolling I stopped and was looking at a post of a very fast and very high roller-coaster that looked so incredibly fun I realized something that brought a tear to my eyes. I thought when was the last time I went on one?

I know it was a while ago, my kids were teens. It was our last real vacation together. I look back now realizing it was our last time together before growing and moving on. I think if I would have know that was our last one I would have relished it more. Maybe less complaining of my feet hurting or the heat and a little more enjoyment of the fact I had my teens happy to just be with me. We did enjoy the roller-coasters until the very end when we had to file out of the park with the last few remaining people as they closed for the day. With laughter filling the air as we walked to the car talking of our favorite things that happened or even at the long lines we waited in. We all had fun but didn’t realize it for what it was. For me it was the last time to ride on a roller-coaster and for my kids it was the last of their carefree childhood.

But

That’s just it we all have our last times, we all have the last hug or hand holding, the last time to tuck a little one in.The last time we see or kiss a loved one. The last day of work, or favorite pass time or maybe the last time we get to enjoy eating a favorite dish.It is never marked with fireworks or a goodbye party, instead it is always done in such a quiet way you didn’t know it was the last time until looking back.

Maybe because our last times are always in such a quiet way we should  make the most of each small little thing every day because you never know if it is your last time.

 

Psalm 90:10&12

10  Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

12  Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

 

Posted in essential oils, Recipes

Coco/Peppermint Fudgsicles

I was reading Young Livings recipes on cooking with essential oils and found this great recipe. The only thing I changed was I used raw honey but they turned out wonderful and on this downward stretch of summer with temps still staying pretty hot these are the perfect thing to cool you down.

So easy and things most of us have on hand, it only takes a little patience to wait as they set up.

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Coco/Peppermint Fudgsicles
1 14 oz can of coconut milk

1/3 cup of Coco powder

2 Tablespoon of coconut oil

2 Tablespoon of raw honey

1-2 drops of peppermint essential oil.
Pour into molds, place in freezer for about 3 hours to set up.

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Posted in Uplifting

A Goat-head Weed

If you have never heard of this weed that only means you are blessed to live in a place where other plants can grow well because the climate is either very nice or you have humidity. This plant thrives where nothing else does so for those of us that know this dreaded plant you understand the pain of having it over take your yard or the massive pain from stepping on one of the stickers that make walking on hot coals look like a piece of cake.

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As this weed grows it spreads like an octopus and its tentacles. It blooms small yellow flowers and to the person that does not know this awful plant you would think it looks almost pretty but don’t be fooled that is where the thorn like no other will grow.

This thorn is in the shape of a goats heat with points on each end of the head. It can take down the strongest person and flatten the best of any bike tire.  My children learned to stay on the side-walk thanks to this plant but even then you aren’t a 100 percent safe.

I noticed this plant the other morning on my walk and thought where did that come from? I love weeding and thought I stayed on top of it but no I had one of the worst weeds to pull growing at the end of my drive way by the side-walk. I hadn’t noticed it before and knew that when I came home I would need to pull it.

I went to pull weeds because when you go to pull one you see all the little ones that are coming and I realized that goat-head I had pulled a few weeks ago but left some of the root. Now it was back bigger than ever with yellow flowers that will turn into thorns that will fall off harming everyone in its path.

That got me thinking again on our thoughts.

I have a certain thought that is just like that goat-head. I think I have dealt with it all seems fine but out of nowhere I feel hurt or have anger that comes out and I think what happened but its my goat-head that I have left part of its root and it began to grow even larger, if I don’t take care of it then it will grow some awful thorns that shed off harming others.

I have been slacking off with the weeding of my house and thoughts but I am sure I’m not alone.

 

Proverbs 4:23
” Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

 

“Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds. – Ritu Ghatourey

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uplifting

The Youngest

The other day I was on Facebook and laughed maybe a little to hard at something I read, it was “Well-behaved firstborn gave me the confidence to be a good mom. My wild child second kid taught me to not judge other mothers.” Ooh so true and funny, as a mom of a very well-behaved first-born daughter and a very lively second born son.  I read that and thought no truer words were ever written.

I was able to breathe, take breaks look nice and stay clean with my daughter, in fact I would look at other moms and wonder why they looked so exhausted. I felt like I had what it took to be a mom.

Then along came my son, everything was different. From pregnancy, birth and to now. Just how simple and easy my daughter was that is how challenging it was/is with my son. I can remember like it was yesterday the sheer and utter exhaustion I felt at just a week after I had him. I felt such a kindred spirit with those other moms. In the store we would give a knowing nod of “you got this” or “I feel your pain”. I now had such compassion for those other moms because I was now one of the walking dead. It was about a year after my son was born I finally was able to have both legs shaved at once. Things did get some easier but I learned never to judge another so harshly. You never know what someone is dealing with or the shoes they are walking in, and yes I did leave the house in unmatched shoes and one time instead of scrub bottoms my pajama bottoms but I found kindness and laughter I never knew.

My son turned my easygoing world upside down but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The joy, laughter and his energy is captivating. He has charisma that over flows from him. To an extent I have my son to thank that I am a better, definitely kinder, non judging person.

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
1 Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

This picture from my daughter’s wedding says it all, I don’t even need to point out which one my son is.

jesse