Life right now

Life is still at full speed for us! I am still in my busy season, I don't see an end in sight! (maybe by Christmas?!) I can just hope for a break, what does a break look like to me? Staying at home for a full day! That's all I'm asking for!

BEING MARY | Lindsay Anderson

Thanks for hoping on this Monday afternoon!

I am so excited to be sharing with you this wonderful and heartfelt story from Linsday. In May, Linsday was asked to do a devotion for our ladies Mother's Day gathering. As I sat there in a room filled with woman of all ages and chapters of life I saw that there was not a dry eye, along with me.

This story touched me and I wanted it to be shared.

Thank you, Lindsay, for letting me share and for opening up for us to relate and feel like it's okay to not be perfect, and to be more like Mary.


Linsday Anderson:

When Lori asked me about a month ago to speak to you all tonight, I laughed because I thought, “what could I possibly share or encourage these woman, most of them older than I am.” But deep down inside, I knew I would end up doing it. Just because, that Is the way God works. When you’re asked to “pray about something” God usually changes your heart, and not always the way you have it all planned either.

Gozalandia, San Sebastian PR | Day 5

We are becoming waterfall chasers! Emily, our photographer, and friend highly recommend that we go and see Gozalandia in San Sebastian before we leave Puerto Rico. So we did that on Thursday morning and it was pretty awesome! We were a little sad about the crowd of people there. The last waterfall we went to was not a tourist site, it was more of a local spot that you had to find. This was clearly marked and had guys there helping guide people. 

After about 40 minutes of being there, it started to clear out though and we ended up having the waterfall to ourselves for just a short time. Then 100 college kids came on buses and that was a great reason to leave! It was fun, beautiful and was worth going ... our only wish is that we had it to ourselves longer!! 

vlog at the bottom <3

Survivor Beach, Aguadilla PR | Day 4

Wednesday was another amazing day for us! We started our day in search of Survivors Beach. We had to park at Surfer's Beach and follow a self-made trail through the woods/beach/rocks to find Survivors Beach! We made a new friend, Chan on our way. He also was looking for Survivor Beach and with all our heads together (okay, just them, I wasn't helping at all) we found the beach! It was breath taking and we all were so excited to be there! We had the beach to ourselves and I think that's another reason we were able to really enjoy it!! 

Later in the day, we headed to Rincon, PR to have our pictures taken! Our photographers Ricky and Em were the kindest most in love couple and we had one amazing evening with them. After pictures, they invited us out to eat at a local pizza place. We sat for a couple hours just chatting about anything and everything! I feel like we had so much in common and that we had found some new life long friends. 

At the end, I share a vlog of our hike to find Survivors Beach!! So much fun!!! 

El Ultimo Brinco, PR | Day 3

Yesturday started out with another advantage! We were on the hunt for El Ultimo Brinco waterfall aka "The Last jump" The directions we had were not spot on for the waterfall so we drove around the mountain up and down, turning to the left, to the right, back to the left, around and around. We stopped along side the road to ask for better directions and even though the man knew little English he got us to where we needed to be.... well, almost! We were on top of the waterfall over looking it. Knowing that we could not park along the road (The roads are very curvy and the width is very short! 

We were standing there thinking of our next move when a man and woman in a little truck came driving by and stopped we tried to explain that we wanted to go down to the bottom of the waterfall. We aren't sure what they understood because we didn't understand anything they were saying!! They sort of pointed to follow them up the hill we were on, so we did! We stopped just a ways down from there where there was a little trail to the left of the road. They pulled in and got out of the truck and I believe they were saying that our car could not go down there, but that they would go down first and see. We waited for them to come back up and yes, they tried and explained to us that our car could not go down .... but that he would drive us down in his truck. He opened the tail gate and we hopped on in!!! Call us crazy! Ha.

They took us down and we saw this beautiful waterfall. The kind lady took pictures of us and we then tried to give our thanks to the best way we knew how. We told them that we would stay down here for awhile and then we would walk back up when we were ready! 

We spent a good hour there taking pictures, getting in the water and of course Cain had to climb it. I wasn't too thrilled about that part!!! 

We made the walk back up to our car and were so excited we had found the waterfall! 

I shared a vlog on our afternoon at Crash Boat Beach plus our advantage of the waterfall below! 

Crash Boat Beach, Puerto Rico | Day 2

The second day in Aguadilla and it was amazing! We slept in, had a great lunch and then headed out to find Crash Boat Beach. We were following our map on the phone and it leads up to this cliff overlooking Crash Boat, not where we wanted to be but was an amazing view over looking the beach. It only took a minute to turn around and find the beach thankfully, the roads are a bit sketchy here so the less driving the better!! 

 It was amazing, so beautiful and the water was so warm! Cain's friend who lives here said the water was on the cool side, well not to us! It was just perfect. We didn't pack our swimsuits when we left because we didn't know how we felt about swimming today. It was amazing warm weather out but it's December and I think our brains still felt like we were in Indiana and swimming just didn't seem right! Once we felt that water though we decided we needed to go back and get our swim suits! It's only a 5-minute drive from our hotel to the beach so we went back and put on our suits and were back in no time and were in the water swimming until our legs gave out! 

It was a great second day! To think we have 7 whole days left on this gorgeous Island! 

NOVEMBER 2016 | VLOG

It was the BEST of months. I will never forget my time in Texas with Cain, the moment he found out he past his Paramedic test and the face of Emma when she realized Cain had made it home. Those things will only get sweeter with time.

Our Next Adventure | Puerto Rico

When Cain was away for Paramedic school we started planning a vacation for when he was back home, just a little get away for us to take, seeing how we were apart for so long. We started to plan it and things really started to get exciting! We found out that Cain would have lots of points for free hotel nights after staying in a hotel for 4 months in Texas, we found great plane tickets and everything fell into place with dates. We booked our trip to Puerto Rico! We were excited about it when we booked it but Cain was still in Paramedic school and we were just focusing on him getting through and put the trip in the back of our heads, because we had lots of other things going on at the time. 

WACO, TX | MAGNOLIA MARKET

When Cain found out he would be going to College Station, TX for a 4 month Paramedic school one of the first things I did was look up how close he was to Magnolia Market in Waco, TX. When I saw he was not going to be far, I was super jealous! At the time we thought I would not be going to visit him while he was away, so I made him promise he would go in my stead and get me something! 

Well, fast forward to this past weekend. I am here in College Station visiting Cain and we were able to go into Waco and visit Magnolia Market, together. 

What?! Is this real life? It was pretty much another moment for me where I had to stop because I realized that I was really living my life and getting to do this, something I had been looking forward too. 

Our great uncle Cook and aunt Kathy picked us up Friday morning at 8:30am and we were off to Waco. It was 70 degrees when we left and got down to almost 50 degrees when we got into Waco, it was just under 1 hour and 1/2 traveling time. I didn't know the temperature could drop so fast! And I was not prepared! I wore a dress like it was still summer time and it surely was not! The wind had picked up also so that was just a great combo with the dress I was wearing. 

Magnolia did turn out to be pretty amazing, it was such a great visit and all the employees were so friendly it made for such a great time. We didn't stay very long becasue it was getting pretty cold and the crowd was picking up. But we stayed long enough to enjoy our time and pick up some things to take home. 

After we visited there Uncle Cook and Aunt Kathy wanted to show us a famous brigde in Waco. We didn't stay long because it was so cold but it was very cool! We also found a wall that said "TRUE LOVE" of course I had to get our photo taken. 

We ate at Twisted Roots Buger place and it was AmaZing - oh so good! 

I can't wait to go back to Magnolia Market and hopefully get to go with more family <3 

We of course wanted to not just take still photos but we included video also, that's at the end! Enjoy our goofyness .... haha

Aggieland Tailgate Lovin

It's Monday and our work and studying have already begun for the day

but I sit here still smiling and have so much joy to be here with my

husband <3

Zoe 7 Months

I'm not a completely a horriable aunt, it might have taken me a month to get to these pictures. But I finally did! Zoe was the cutnest little 7 month old :) She was a little sleepy too. 

Emma bakes with Meme

How lucky we are to have Miss Emma and Zoe Grace every Tuesday to play, bake and relax with. This has been one big perk of being home again. My mom loves to bake cookies and treats for people and her family and Emma is starting to enjoy it too. Or maybe she just likes eating the batter? 

I had my big camera out from the night before and felt like these were memories to be remembered. 

Let's take her to the fair

About two weeks before the fair Graci says to me "We should take Emma to the Fair like you take me to the fair!" I agreed and said, "WE should do that!" I've taken Graci to the Fair the past few years to do the fish game, get cotton candy, ride down the slide etc .. you know Fair type things. I have enjoyed every year doing so. When Graci thought of taking Emma with us this year it made me happy. I love being an aunt and doing things with Emma. I think it made me happy because I love that Graci enjoys playing with Emma, I think I secretly hope they get along so we can all do things together, like this. 

Auntie Lane was in on the action to this year, she also wanted to take Emma to the Fair so we all got together and made it happen. 

Fish, sweets, games and parade! Oh, what a fun time. Emma did pretty well for her first big day at the Fair the noise from the parade was a lot for her, but she enjoyed it I think. Now she's got the idea of how fun the Fair can be

Sunsets & Aromas

Last night's sunset stopped me in my tracks. No, really it did! After leaving a long filming session I was driving home and once I turned onto my road I just stopped, turned on my blinkers, (but let's face it no one is on my road) and the first thing I did was thank God for this beautiful sunset.

It was about a week ago that I read a wonderful chapter in a book call "Wife After God" that made me do an another **Stop, turn on the blinkers (metaphorically, of course) and Thank God. The author was talking about companionship in marriage, but also our companionship with God. 

Here is what I read: "God desires companionship with you, as well. He wants to cultivate an intimate relationship with you, and He longs for you to join Him. He pursues you as a gentleman pursues a woman He impresses you with creation, magnificent sunsets, brilliant flowers, and powerful seas. He woos you with poetic language, sweet aromas, and courts you with His Holy Spirit. Be still, look around you, see how the Lord is pursuing you!"

This spoke to me so strongly. And since then I have started seeing the ways God is pursuing me in these ways and other ways. I shared this chapter with Cain, as we do every night together and I shared with him how impactful it was and then said: "See, God gave us essential oils for sweet aromas!" ;) This Cain knew already haha We are so thankful for our sweet aromas.

So before taking off again to finish the drive home last night I texted Cain a picture of this sunset and said "God is pursuing me" He knows my heart and I needed this. 

This is what progress looks like....

This is what progress looks like....

Yup,  haven't you ever seen this before? It's a kitchen table once in the middle of the room, moved to the corner of the room.

That's progress. And that's Lanette getting motivated.

After some clarity this week, I decided to make progress and move my very special and sentimental dining room table to the corner. What does this mean you may ask? It means I am starting to pack.

The first room we decided to pack up is my Office/"What do we do with this item?" storage room.

Once this room is cleared we can take the first boxes to Bluffton and my sister Lanie can bring a load of her things here and put into the "What do we do with this item" storage room, until she moves in, in May!

So, let the packing begin, let the tears come flowing down ... Lanette is feeling the progress!

Note: The table might end up back in the middle of the room one more time... just for me! :p

March ER ORDER | Young Living

 How did I not post our March's ER order list?! It was a great month of so many wonderful products! And SO MANY FREE things! My heart was full <3

We were and still are trying to make sure Cain has all the essentials for his summer away from home! If you missed that post make sure to read it so you know what's up! > Things are changing

So we bought him some oils and Theives products this month!

So here are our goodies!

ER Order ::

NingXia

Clarity EO

Gentle Baby EO (Gift!)

Raven EO

Peppermint EO

Wolfberry Eye Cream

Copaiba Vanilla, Shampoo

Thieves Laundry Soap

Thieves Dish Soap

The March Promo (Free stuff!) included ::

Thieves Household Cleaner

Lemon Eo

Eucalyptus Globulus EO

Citrus Fresh EO

MultiGreens Capsules


And here is our ER order video! And oh boy was this fun!! I have no clue what brought this to mind when deciding on how to make our ER video.

For some reason, I thought Nova would be an hilarious addition to the video haha we think it was!

Just look for yourself!

Lemon oil .... or "Goo-Be-Gone"

Lemon oil has many uses in our home! Normally we like to use lemon is our water or sweet tea, other times we diffuse lemon for a clean aroma or in our Thieves all purpose cleaner for the nice and fresh clean smell!

But the other day I needed it to get a sticker off a glass jar! And it worked great for that too! When first learning about essential oils I had NO idea that I could use one oil for so many things!

Here's a short video to show the "Goo-Be-Gone"

What are they, and why?

So in October of 2014 I ordered a kit that I knew very little about, had to save my money to buy and was just hoping I would find value in it. Doesn't sound like a "sure thing" and you might wonder why I would do such a thing if I didn't know what I was buying. But I will explain that here in a minute...


So now it's March of 2016 and I can say ... I truly have found value in Essential Oils and I am so thankful I invested in my health and way of life.

What I knew about Young Living (Company I purchase my oils from) was very little, but I trusted my friend when I purchased my first kit , in that I was buying my moneys worth. Now after doing my own research and understanding so MUCH more about the process to make Essential oils I am so so thankful I made the right choice in the Starter kit I chose.

So what are Essential Oils, here is what I know and have learned.


Have you ever heard the story of Jesus's birth? You know where the Three Wisemen brought gifts to him? They brought him gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. I'm going to be really honest in this blog post.... I did not put the two and two together that Frankincense and Myrrh were essential oils that I could have for myself today. I thought it was something that was a thing in bible time.

So if you think Essential Oils are a "Fad" you can say, sure ... right now, it's very "popular" but , is it a new thing, or something we just came up with? NO... it's been around for a very long time. And they have so much value ... the wisemen brought these oils with gold. .... Gold... a piece of gold is put next to Frankincense and Myrrh. To me that says it all, they are of value, it's something that I can have in my home that the wisemen themselves wanted Jesus to have.

What is Frankincense, Myrrh and other Essential oils like Peppermint, Lavender and Tea Tree?

They are distilled from flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, seeds or a peel. They come from what God put on earth for us to enjoy and use. Just that simple.

Even if you don't think you are super "Holistic" or "All natural" these are very useful oils that have been around for so long, I trust that they are giving me the support and boost my body's needs. Because why else would God put them there for us. I don't think he did it with no purpose, I think God has a purpose for everything!

But if I'm going to use essential oils, and going to be apply it to my skin, take as a supplement or diffuse for the aroma...  I want to use the purest oils.

This is when I realized I made the right choice when choosing Young Living. Their "Seed to Seal" promise does help me sleep better at night knowing that when I apply them to a kid (And my own future babies!), myself or my animal that nothing bad is going to happen, there is no fake additives or chemicals also being applied.

Why did I buy my kit back in October of 2014, even though I didn't know a whole lot? Like I said, I trusted my friend when she told me that they were of great value to her and that they had blessed her family.   But because I wanted to start making a change in my life style to have better overall health, to not use chemical products in my home and to be blessed by them also.

I think at the end of the day we all want what's best for ourselves and our family. These oils and other products from Young Living have blessed my family. They have found a place in our home and lives forever. Once you use them everyday there is no way around it, they are of great value.

For more info on these special oils go HERE, HERE or HERE :) I would love your family to be blessed by them like they have ours.

Enjoying the Cave

Now this is nice....

The cave is clean and I have no work to get done! Well... that's a little lie. I can think of about 20 things I would like to get done but it's not work (Photography) related. It's just hobbies, little crafty things that sound fun until you go to do them! I will have time to do those things all in good time but for now this is me enjoying my couch on a snowy afternoon. Yes you heard that right, I'm sitting on the couch blogging... this is not normal for me. I hardly ever have enough time to sit on the couch throughout the afternoon. The only reason I sit here at night time is because Cain makes me! 

We are just loving the fresh snow outside! Nova is our little snow dog. She has always loved the snow. She eats it, rolls in it and pees on it. It's a funny sight to see her get all excited in the snow rolling around like it is sand at the beach on a hot sunny day. 

Cain is such a good doggy dad!

Here is another little peek into the cave. Things are coming together a little more and more everyday. I don't think anything yet in the house has a set place though. I've moved things around at least three times since we moved in almost 2 weeks ago! I'm in no rush though for these things. 

Do you like our cute wooden map? I sure do! We haven't gotten pins yet to fill in the places we have been together but it's on my "To buy" list. (I hate how that list is getting longer and longer) 

While I was typing this blog post up Nova and I had a surprise visitor! We didn't think Cain would be home until another couple of hours but he stopped by to show us his new hockey gear before going to the rink to play a game with some other guys! 

Nova was a little jealous of the hockey gear though. While Cain worked on his new helmet Nova just sat there with her paw on Cain, begging him to play with her!

These moments just melt my heart. I love our cave and our little family. I'm thankful for every minute we spend together! 

Stay tuned for more pictures of inside our sweet cave and I also did a big clean up in my office and I can't wait to show everyone what Cain built for me! .. .It's pretty awesome. 

Stay warm!