Recently...

...reading The Locust Effect by Gary Haugen, founder of International Justice Mission, and Victor Boutros; Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin - less than 100 pages to go!

...contemplating the beginning of doula certification and the coming workload. My first desire is to GO GO GO in a crazy and futile attempt to get it all done at once, but I know that I will be more successful in a chunk-by-chunk approach.

...waiting for some essential oils and a poster frame to arrive in the mail. Can't wait for either - thank God for Amazon Prime!

...watching "The Mindy Project" - only one more episode of Season One!

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...anticipating Halloween with Cami and Samara! Last year we went as the Fantastic Fox Family, and this year we've got some pretty "rockin'" plans... no spoilers here, though!

...planning Christmas presents already. Thinking of both DIY options and more intentional purchases.

...working on finding my next crochet project. I finished Cami's birthday present with a striped cowl and matching headband, and now it's decision time for above-mentioned Christmas presents.

...hoping for some cute boxes at Michael's for beautifying my home, and some fake flowers can't hurt, either.

...dreading the end of Doctor Who Season Eight. I know we're only halfway done with the season, and there are still plenty of characters to develop, but already I'm dreading watching the last episode.

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...ready for my next audio book! I ordered The Girl Who Came Home and it's waiting for me at the library as I type.

...grateful for text conversations, spontaneous phone dates, peanut butter, family, doula adventures about to start, and the grace of God. 

31 Days of...?

There are several many bloggers starting 31 Days of {Something} today, and I'm excited to have plenty of reading to do this month. Last year I participated in Victoria's 31 Days of Writing {which you can view on my Creative Writing page above}, and that was really fun {and exhausting, but mostly fun}.

This year, though, I don't think I'm going to participate in a formal 31 Days-style. 2014 has been the year of link-ups, and while it's been wonderful to join with bloggers in various conversations, I've been feeling like I've lost my voice a bit on this blog. It's almost like I've forgotten how to blog without a prompt, and so I want to practice that a bit more. It's scary admitting that, but then again, so is the rest of this blogging thing...

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I could make the commitment to post just something for 31 days, but I think that a) misses the point for me, and b) would drive my OCD self a tad crazy. My blogging goal for 2014 was to post twice a week, and I've definitely been on track for that, but now I want to hone in and make at least one post a week something that is from me, without a prompt or link-up or anything.

What will you write about, Bek?
You are wise to ask, my friend! There are a few topics that I'd like to either start or continue writing about.

I've shared a little bit about essential oils and I'd like to a) start using them more and b) write about them a bit more, too. A TON of bloggers use oils to prevent their children from getting sick, and while that is wonderfully awesome and will be useful in the future, it's not super relevant to my single life right now. So I'd like to hopefully learn and then share how I use oils.

Also, remember that I'm working on the funds for doula certification? Well, thanks to an abundance of babysitting and tutoring jobs, it looks like I will be starting the certification process in about two weeks!! Woohoo! I am so so so excited to begin this journey in earnest, and I will do my best to keep y'all posted as I go.

I've been mulling over the concept of feminism and various related topics, and I have a handful of drafts written, and I think I may actually hit publish on a few of them this month. If you have comments, questions, concerns, ideas, or anything else about "women's issues," please let me know - I'd love to start some conversations and hear your perspectives.

Finally, since Autumn is upon us, it is time to break out the crochet hook and make snuggly items! Hopefully I will be sharing some projects and patterns, etc., so stay tuned for that.

Thanks for listening, friends. Happy October!

7 Quick Takes: Oils and Anniversaries

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary for this week's Takes!

1.  First of all, our hostess Jen has an amazingly crazy schedule, yet she still makes time to host this link-up every week. Thanks, Jen!

In case you didn't know, Jen has written an awesome book {that adjective comes from countless blogging friends who have read it and loved it} and I'm excited to get my hands on it {come on, library!} and share my thoughts on it. Stay tuned!

2. Okey dokey, what's up with the oil? A couple months ago, Samara and I purchased Young Living's Premium Starter Kit {it's the best value, peeps, for realz!}, because we'd been reading about essentials oils from Emily and Jami and Natalie {oh, and Heather just started a series, too!} and we wanted to try it. It's been awesome. So awesome that these oils are the subject of the next few Takes.

3. The premium kit comes with a diffuser and oh. my. gosh. I am in love with this thing! It's so easy to use and it smells wonderful and makes me feel like I'm in a spa and hello, it's also adorable!

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People come over to my house and say, "What's that egg thing?" and I usually respond with, "It's my baby stop judging I'm in love here let me show you," and then there's no jumping off this hippie train {right, Natalie? ;) }.

4. Golly, Bek, that sounds cool and all, but what do these oils do?!? Oh, my friend... essential oils are awesome! So I may have mentioned a while ago that I had some health yuckiness {and some super horrid bills to pay}, and on Tuesday, I went to the hospital and had a minor surgery and got everything taken care of. I think the side effect of sedation, though, was a head cold, because a) who gets head colds in July?? and b) I started having symptoms only after the procedure. But I will take a head cold over puking aaannnnyyyy day, so glory be.

I woke up Wednesday feeling super congested, and thought, maybe I should try some oils and stuff. Thieves is the mother of all immune support, and since I didn't have time before work to diffuse it, I just unscrewed the bottle and inhaled a whiff. Just one breath. And then I got dressed. And by the time I was completely dressed, my nose was completely cleared up. It's true. It's magical.

5. Later Wednesday evening, I was showing our oils to some dinner guests, and I read that peppermint can help with sinuses and headaches, so I put a drop on my finger and rubbed it onto my temples and sinuses. Ohhhh my goodness, people. Peppermint is a cool oil, and my face started tingling where I had applied the oil. My headache disappeared. 

And when the directions say to "avoid eye area," I suggest doubling the size of whatever you consider the "eye area" because peppermint is strong and your eyes will sting a bit. But that was a small price to pay for no more headache! I slept like a baby that night. 

6. On a non-oily note, yesterday was my bosom friend's parents' anniversary, and she wrote a beautiful post about them! They are my pastors in Kentucky as well a part of my "Kentucky family" and I think they're super cute!

7. Speaking of anniversaries, today is my parents'! They've been married for 27 years, and aren't they adorable!?

with my sister Jayna

the whole fam!

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad! Thank you for the awesome example of a fun and dedicated marriage. You're the best!