I've had skin issues (chronic eczema) my whole life. okay, maybe not my "whole" life, but at least since age 4. I've tried every skin creme there is (after lots of experimentation thanks to professional opinions and otherwise, I find using "baby" vaseline b/c it smells so much better than the straight stuff and my Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion by Clinique helps) and my skin continues to be as dry as sandpaper and very peely when it comes to allergy season. It's so annoying! I've eaten every nasty Chinese medicine/food/etc. that supposedly would cure me of the itchiness and skin issues (hello, iguana soup and turtle soup are as nasty as they sound and they do DIDDLY-SQUAT!!!!) and NOTHING has worked. Sigh. There are worse things in life, so I can live with it and look forward to Heaven where I'll get a new body that's eczema free!!!
Recently, I heard a presentation about Melaleuca, a wellness company that specializes in amazing products that are safe for your body and your home. Terry G. did a great job explaining and answering all our questions (Deirdre and I had a ton!) and we both decided to try it as a part-time business. I was especially interested in Renew, their skin therapy treatment that has worked miraculous wonders in so many people. I purchased the Vitality 4 Essentials (AM & PM vitamins that are "scientifically proven to deliver maximum mineral availability and antioxidant protection," etc.) and I look forward to seeing if my body feels differently after taking them. If they can make me feel energized in the mornings instead of being so groggy and slow (I'm a night owl through and through. I am happy to stay up til 2am or longer, but it's the mornings that just slay me!!!), then you'll be the first to know about it!
I took my first set of vitamins today. I also purchased the Melaleuca Original Shampoo (it smells like gasoline to me but I think it's the strong herbal scent that I'm nasally sensitive to!) and am curious to see how effective it is compared to my other salon products. All I can say right now is that it sure is LESS expensive than the stuff from the beauty supply stores and that sounds great to me! It'll be a HUGE bonus if it works, too!!!
I normally take allergy meds so I'm trying out the Melaleuca ones and seeing how my allergies will be. Krista is going to go on the Melaleuca capsules for boosting her immune system. I would love to see her less sick and less prone to all the germs out there, so it will be very interesting. And, the final thing I purchased was the Melaleuca laundry detergent. Man, I wish my order came on Saturday so I could have tried it on the three loads of laundry I had to do! But no worries, the laundry basket is already getting full so I'll be able to test out the detergent soon enough.
I'm going to keep you posted everyday and let you know how Melaleuca is working for me. Part of me is really, really skeptical since I've tried so many other products that didn't help me (you should have seen all the Shaklee vitamins I had to take everyday to "help" my eczema and allergy issues which only trained me to swallow my pills quickly without gagging and that was about it!) and the other part of me is really, really hopeful that maybe, just maybe Melaleuca will be the missing link to all my itching and allergy issues! Well, I'm taking you on my Melaleuca journey and I will be brutally honest. Believe me, I won't be holding anything back either way!
The best thing is that the yearly membership is only $29 (there was a special going on when I signed up so I only had to pay $14 something) to purchase Melaleuca products (Oh my stars! They have everything from safe green cleaning supplies to fiber bars to make-up!) at a tremendous discount. After the first year, the membership fees go down to $12. And! If the product doesn't work for you, there are no repercussions. You'll get your money back (up to 60 days of trying everything out) and that's that. Of course there are a ton of other benefits, but this isn't the forum to go into all the details so if you're interested in being a customer under me (shameless plug!), let me know!
In other news...
Recently, I finished reading My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren (loved the fact that Issy had her own radio show!), Nick of Time by Tim Downs (I love anything Tim Downs writes!!!) and Softly and Tenderly by Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck (Together, they make an amazing writing team! I loved the stories and it will pull a variety of emotions out of you that you're not expecting.). Now, I'm working on my downstairs book, Serendipity by Cathy Marie Hake. I haven't gotten around to finding an upstairs book yet because we've been busy setting up Michael's room (thank you, Kathy S. for your generosity!!!). I've cleared out a bunch of books from Krista's closet so now she'll have more room to organize her things. Hopefully, I haven't given her more room to throw her things around!
I've moved Michael's Legos and trains upstairs. His Duplos have been emptied into the bottom drawer, the Tinker Toys have been emptied into the middle drawer and the big boy Legos are all in the top drawer. Ahhh...our living room will no longer be overtaken by sprawling train tracks or Lego cars, garages or other Lego projects! The Lego Apple Tree House, the fire station set (poor Krista had to rebuild the entire thing!), the various vehicles and mobile police truck unit are now on the shelves for Michael to play with...in HIS room!And the big bin of Thomas & Friends and all the tracks and accessories are neatly stowed away in the closet (now that all the Duplos have been relocated!).
It's been a productive day :o) I want my children to live their lives by how the NASB version states 1 Corinthians 14:40, "But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner."
