Introducing...

Nancy Goode!

Recently I joined a group called Collaborators in Cahoots, and it is full of wonderful people. This week I am pairing up with Nancy to promote her shop GoodeGear on Etsy.

I would like to share with you all, the welcome message in Nancy's store. Her writing in so wonderful, you can practically hear the bath water running already...or maybe that's just my husband taking a shower. ;o)

My passion is to create unique recipes that will benefit your mind, body and soul. Natural soap handmade with organic products. We also make natural skin care products, lotion, body wash, massage oil with the best essential and carrier oils, butters and herbs. These natural products can help with a variety of ailments.
We make many different kinds of soap and can customize any order for you. These homemade soaps are perfect as gifts, for use in the guest bedroom, or as a personal luxury. Contact us if you don’t see the exact soap you’re looking for, we can help get the right soap for your needs!
I create these recipes to help you enjoy your bathing experience and promote health and vitality. When it is time to remove yourself from your everyday life, when you just want to be left alone, start running the bath water, turn down the lights and enjoy the scents that will immerse your soul from my bath and body products. My products help with the aches and pains you experience in everyday life.

Just in time for Halloween!



And doesn't this look delicious?

So don't forget to go check out Nancy's store GoodeGear and treat yourself to something wonderful!

Neck Warmer Give Away

Hey everyone!

I promise I will be announcing a winner soon. It was a little unclear who was entering the give away and who was just commenting. I am working clearing that up now and then I will let you all know which special reader gets to take home that wonderful warmer.

Well Wishes!

Give Away Reminder

Tomorrow is the last chance to enter the give away in honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Check out the original blog for rules and a picture of the give away!

Good luck!

Breast Cancer Awareness Give Away!

As many of you may be aware, or so I hope, this month, October, is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Two years ago, I lost my mother because of what started as breast cancer, and it was very tragic for me. I still miss her dearly, but months like this are useful in helping to make sure no one else loses their mother, friend, sister, aunt, grandmother, etc to breast cancer. Take care of yourself and make sure you know your body well. Don't ignore anything out of the ordinary, and follow these steps to do you own at home checks to help prevent breast cancer.

Detection Plan

An Early Breast Cancer Detection Plan should include:

Clinical breast examinations every three years from ages 20-39, then every year thereafter.
Monthly breast self-examinations beginning at age 20. Look for any changes in your breasts.
Baseline mammogram by the age of 40.
Mammogram every one to two years for women 40-49, depending on previous findings.
Mammogram every year for women 50 and older.
A personal calendar to record your self-exams, mammograms, and doctor appointments.
A low-fat diet, regular exercise, and no smoking or drinking.



How to Conduct a Breast Self-Exam

In the shower: Fingers flat, move gently over every part of each breast. Use your right hand to examine left breast, left hand for right breast.

Check for any lump, hard knot or thickening. Carefully observe any changes in your breasts.

Before a mirror: Inspect your breasts with arms at your sides. Next, raise your arms high overhead.

Look for any changes in contour of each breast, a swelling, a dimpling of skin or changes in the nipple. Then rest palm on hips and press firmly to flex your chest muscles. Left and right breasts will not exactly match — few women's breasts do.

Lying down: Place pillow under right shoulder, right arm behind your head. With fingers of left hand flat, press right breast gently in small circular motions, moving vertically or in a circular pattern covering the entire breast. Use light, medium and firm pressure. Squeeze nipple; check for discharge and lumps. Repeat these steps for your left breast.

This information is given to us by The Breast Cancer Site where you can go every day and do something absolutely free to help fund breast cancer research and donated mammograms. All you have to do is click.

But now, we must move on to the fun part! A few months ago, I felt this overwhelming desire to make a dark brown and pink scarf/neck warmer, and as I was making it, I felt led to pray over it for the person that will receive it. Originally, I decided I would sell it in my Etsy store, but with the help of my friend Sandy at Cape Cod Originals I have now decided to host a give away with this very neck warmer. So, here are the rules for the give away.





1. If you comment on my blog, you will receive one entry.
2. If you become a follower of my blog, you will receive two entries.
3. If you link back to my blog in your own blog, website, or store, you will receive two more entries.
4. I don't want to leave out the loyal followers of my blog, so if you already follow my blog, and you post a link to this give away and comment, you will receive the same 5 entries as a new follower would. :)
5. This give away will be open for 7 days. From now until next Thursday at Midnight central time, you can enter and tell everyone you know about this give away and early detection.
6. If you post a link to this give away anywhere, please leave me a link to the place you posted it at so I can check it out for myself. Leave all links and comments in the comment box.

You may use my picture in your own blogs, but please tell all! The person meant to receive this warmer will finally be getting it, and I am confident of that.

Oh, and for the guys out there reading my blog, don't be afraid to join in the fun! Your mothers, friends, wives, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, etc would all love a warm new hand made neck warmer, and they all have breasts, too! This is a good cause. Yay Breasts!!

Also, as a side note, any purchases in my Etsy shop this month will have 10% donated to my local Relay For Life team through the American Cancer Society.

My little brother needs girl advice!

Hey there everyone. Today, my little brother is turning 17! It seems so crazy. I remember the days where he and I used to fight all the time about absolutely nothing, the time we tried to build a fort in our back yard, the time he fell on a rusty nail from the boards we were using to build a fort in our back yard without our mom knowing, and so many other memories.

Our lives are so different now, and generally he is a good kid. Sometimes, he is just lost, though, and for good reason. About two years ago, we lost our mom to cancer. Now, for the past year of his life, he has been living as if he were an adult. He lived with a friend, paid rent, cleaned house, got a job, bought groceries, and pays bills. He is still in high school, but life without Mom has been possibly hardest for him. The rest of my mom's children, including me, were already living on their own. We range in age from 33 to 17.

Our mom died just two weeks before his birthday. He was 14 when she died, and he was the one home with her in her last days. Sometimes he makes me absolutely crazy. I know he is smart, but he is bored. School is an issue and always has been for this reason. The thing is, though, he used to confide in our mom, things I would never have dreamed of telling her. My brothers were always very close to our mom in that way. I tended to follow her example, and sort of fend for myself. She was a single mom.

Now, however, the boys don't have her around anymore. The rock in their life that they used to go to with their problems is gone, and I need your help. My little brother has been "dating" a girl his age on and off for a few years now. She's a great girl, and they both have a lot of growing and changing left to do. He wants her in his life, though, and I'm not about to tell him he shouldn't when I know exactly how that was at his age. Anyway, it would be really great if you guys would go over to his blog, and not only tell him Happy 17th Birthday, but also read his blog post "Just wanting to chat..." and give him some advice. My sister and I have already been there, but some unbiased advice would be nice. Ladies and gentleman, pull out your "Mom and Dad" cards. It is time to put them to use. ;o)

Long, Long Day with many questions swirling my brain

So much so that I decided half way through that title that I didn't want to use punctuation and capitalization anymore.

This day started bright and early with a round of showers for the husband and I before heading off into a brand new world. Of course, being limited by my small town, I had to grab my latte at McDonald's, and yes, I am ashamed to admit that. It wasn't entirely awful, though, and on a different note, I had to boycott my local coffee shop for one day due to my utter disappointment at their lack of espresso knowledge. So, now that I have gotten that tangent out of my system, I just want to say that I am tired but wired, and full, full, full to the brim with questions and thoughts.

I did go to my Reiki workshop today, but it was much as I had expected. I want to first say that my instructor was the most loving, full of peace and joy, person I have ever met. However, our ideas on faith clashed a bit. While I can completely respect this, I cannot be comfortable inviting it into my life. I have a lot of thinking to do about this in general. Basically, her belief is that all the deities are the same. I do not agree at all. I think the exact opposite. While many religions express similar ideals and moral codes, they are not at all the same. There is only one God. I have only one Savior, Jesus Christ, and there is only one Holy Spirit, making up, ultimately, one Trinity.

However, from my instructor, I was able to see how much my heart needs to grow in love. If this woman does not even claim God as her sole creator or guide, yet she is still so full of love and life, what excuse, then, do I have? We talked today about my involvement in my community as well. I know I have expressed this before, recently, but I do not feel very involved in my church. I want to be more involved, but a big part of me is holding back. A big part of me is afraid...afraid of becoming attached, afraid of being rejected, afraid of looking young and naive, afraid of being David facing Goliath...But I know I have not been following or even seeking God's advice on this topic out of fear, and it has to stop now.

I don't feel that I made a wrong decision in going to my workshop today. I was able to learn about myself and others. I was able to honestly and openly talk about the struggles I have been having lately in my walk with God. I was able to admit to myself the areas in my life that still need some work and lots of love. I still don't feel as though I have blossomed. I feel like I need a little more rain and a lot more warm Son-shine, if you catch my drift.

So today was not a waste of time. Today was a milestone in my journey that I am still taking baby steps along. I can't say for sure yet that I am finished with my Reiki path, but I can say for sure that I am just beginning an even deeper dive into my soul search. I just hope that I can remember to take things one day at a time, breathe deeply, be love, and trust my God.

Need To Breathe

Lately, I have been really busy with my crochet business, and I have not had really any time to do anything else...

I have a stack of books I really want to just take a week off to read. I have so many ideas for my own crochet projects that I want to do. I have 3 or 4 more orders in my crochet business waiting to start. The good thing about those is that I will get to use my creative license again. I hate not being able to choose colors, experiment, and have fun with crochet. On the other hand, I have been making baby cocoons and preemie baby cocoons, and I just feel so blessed to have been asked to help. It is one of the sweetest jobs I have ever had, and I can't help but get caught up in it. I can only imagine the sweet, soft little babies that will be held, cuddled, and loved in the very cocoons woven from my own two hands. Every time I finish a cocoon, I hold it out in my arms as if it were full of a chubby cheeked little one, and I can't help but feel blessed and part of something bigger than myself.

These cocoons are going to India...I know I keep harping on this, but I just feel so honored. I can't believe how far my life has come.

In another area of my life, there is a lot of change happening as well. I have spoken on my blog a little bit about Reiki, or "hands on healing." I have always been drawn to people, for as long as I can remember. I feel specifically drawn to hurting people and even more specifically to those hurting emotionally. I am so utterly fascinated with the way people think and the inner workings of our minds. I love to just listen to people. I don't always, rarely even, have any advice to give, but I love to listen. Something about it just makes me content.

Anyway, a friend of mine recently expressed their concern with my choice to follow a path toward Reiki, and I wanted to give you all a website to check out in case you were feeling that same concern. When I post on here, I want everyone's honest opinions. I am curious to see what you all think, and when you become a trusted friend of mine, I actually take your words to heart. This website is called Christian Reiki and I just want to let all of you out there know that I would not be going into this if I felt it went against my beliefs as a Christian.

Today, I spent a little bit of time in prayer talking to God about why I want to learn more about Reiki. I explained to Him that I have always felt led to people who are hurting, and I desperately want to be able to help them while getting closer to my God at the same time. I want to deepen my relationship with God but also deepen my own spiritual understanding, and I believe Reiki will help me to do that. It won't, however, replace my search to understand God better or my study of the Bible. That is my ultimate goal of learning Reiki. I want to help others, myself, and deepen my spirituality and relationship with God.

I asked God to show me how He was feeling about this, to lead me and guide me. I asked Him to let me know if He didn't want me to follow this path, but I still feel at peace with it. I opened myself up 100% to God's will, even though I have already paid for my class and cannot get my money back. I am perfectly fine with that if God were to tell me that this is the wrong path for me or that I won't end up helping people or loving people after following this path.

I am not writing this post because I feel I have to justify my decision to anyone. I am writing this post because I enjoy the feedback my fellow bloggers give. I am writing this post in case anyone else had this question for me as well but was struggling with how to bring it up kindly. I am writing this post because it is weighing heavily on my heart right now to let you all know that God is my God, and I will never say otherwise. I am here to love, and I feel led to heal. Our spirits go through battle constantly in such a changing world, and I feel led to cleanse them and show people this wonderful, warm light that I know as my God. I am not ashamed of this. It is all part of the process, and I feel very much peace about this process.

The busier I get, and I am very busy right now, the more I need to depend on God, the more I need to devote time to learning about Him. I would not have this talent without God, and I cannot thrive under the pressure without God. I have been very blessed as of late, and I want you all to know you can have this love and this blessing in your life as well. All you have to do is ask. Jesus will hear you wherever you are, whatever you are doing, No...Matter...What.

Be love!