March 13, 2018

If you have followed any of my writings, you already know this may be either a long post or a post with multiple parts. I still don’t know which it will be but we will find out.

This new category ‘Naturally Made’ is to document my journey in living a more natural lifestyle. I say ‘more natural’ because I do not want to put too much expectation on myself or my family. I am a novice at this so it will be a progressive adventure. I will try my best to remember to take pictures with every new venture into more natural living as you continue along with me on this journey. If you are just now coming along and haven’t read any of my writings, let me start with some sort of an introduction.

I am an imaginative, creative, spiritual, Spirit-filled (by The Holy Spirit), redeemed (by The Blood of Jesus through His Sacrifice for ALL who choose), naturally and supernaturally made (by The Ultimate Creator God Almighty), often making mistakes, always seeking Truth, lover of science and of God, child of the Most High God. Writing is a gift and a tool God gave me that helps me stay present, collected, and connected.

I came into this journey of living a more natural lifestyle mainly because I am getting older and I can tell that things are becoming a bit more “out of whack” than my normal. I also wanted to cook even more healthy foods for my family because I like cooking and I like healthy. My beginning was learning about the vitamins and minerals that are necessary and crucial for our bodies to function properly. The phrase I use to explain this is “I want my body to function the way God originally intended it to”. Well…the beginning of this journey has led me down some amazing treasure filled “rabbit-holes” and its only been a few months.

Being a stay-at-home Mom with 1.5 athletes (my oldest is 14 and my youngest is 6 and just beginning sports) and a husband who works in IT (firewalls, networking, routers, etc.), things like time can become a bit hectic. I had to find ways to keep us healthy but not break the bank or have me dreading dinner time because of lack of time. As I was researching the vitamins and minerals I also began learning about fruits and vegetables that I have never heard of, seen, or ate for whatever reasons. So far it has proven successful. I cook a big meal on Sunday that usually lasts us through Tuesday as well as something healthy for us all to snack on through the week (usually homemade granola: recipe will be at the end of this post as well as in the Recipes section of this menu item). Then I just mix together stuff for the rest of the week.

The main research I was doing for the vitamins and minerals came from
http://nutritiondata.self.com/ (which gives you the nutritional data on a multitude of foods like red peppers) and https://draxe.com/.

About three weeks ago, I was on Dr. Josh Axe’s page (draxe.com) when I saw something about essential oils. I came across it because I decided to look up a homemade hot oil treatment for my wonderful dreadlocked hair (I don’t remember the recipe I used but next time I do it I will place it on this site).

Because I am late to the game I knew what essential oils were since many I know already use them. I read the article later that night (after spending time with and on my hair) and went down one of those rabbit holes I mentioned earlier. I am still there grabbing all the wonderful pieces of treasure to share with others.

I switched gears (I will get back to the vitamins and minerals but not currently because I see it is all connected) and began researching essential oils. Before I continue, let me take you down another trail.

Another reason for my choosing to live a more natural lifestyle is because of many people around me being diagnosed and/or passing away from various forms of cancer. I have heard of people who were very healthy in every way naturally but still getting cancer. I have a dear friend who was diagnosed a few years ago with cervical cancer. Because of circumstances that are not her fault, the cancer spread and she just started treatment last month. She has finished her chemotherapy without incident and has a few more weeks of internal and external radiation. Yes this is important to my story of getting started with essential oils.

Back to the story…I was deep into my essential oil studies. When I say study I mean just that. I am researching each essential oil and writing out their benefits as well as any other information I deem important. So far I have researched over 50 and I have more to go! I went to visit the friend I previously mentioned last week. We had a great time and I got to meet her Mother. It was great! I saw my friend had some essential oils and I started smelling them (I was being nosy as usual but I do that with my inner circle). I told her how much I liked the smell and that I couldn’t wait to have the money to start buying some because of all the research I have been doing. She decided to give me some of hers as well as a diffuser. Amazing! I came home and used the diffuser right away. Hey, what good is knowing something if you don’t experience or use it?

I am now finding sooo many (and I mean soooooooo many) do-it-yourself (diy or homemade) projects to use essential oils in. This brings me to why I am writing about this. I made my first ever homemade non-toxic air freshener today. It smells FANTASTICAL!! More important than that, it is cheap and easy to do. I decided to toss my hat in the ring for posts about natural living because the more we experience in this journey of a more natural lifestyle, the more we can share with others, the more others begin to research and understand, and then more choose to be more natural. Eventually we can come to a place where the big industries use more non-toxic products or don’t exist at all thus keeping our air and water more free of toxins; win win baby.

Before I close, here is something I will say. I strongly believe humans were created to work with the functionality and resources of nature; not against it or over it. Yes we are called to have dominion but that does not mean killing our earth for our personal gain. If you choose to come down this journey (either with me or someone else), please be sure to do thorough research. My goal is to find companies that work with nature and not against it. I pray you will choose to do the same. Keep checking back periodically to see how I am progressing on this journey. In the meantime, here are more links that started me on my path. I hope they get you started as well.

http://www.thehippyhomemaker.com/ (I am so excited to read through this entire site! The articles I have already read have been very beneficial.)

https://www.aromaweb.com/ (This site gives great information on individual essential oils as well as their chemical composition-lover of science, remember?-and links to other sources to help further your research.)

http://www.floracopeia.com/ (I really like this site thus far. I have not as of yet ordered anything from them but I like what they stand for and they provide a wealth of information on individual essential oils.)

https://draxe.com/ (I have already mentioned Dr. Josh Axe but the wealth of information that can lead you down your own rabbit-holes is invaluable when dealing with something as finite yet infinite as our being, existing, and living.)

https://www.rockymountainoils.com/ (The information on this site is not as detailed as some of the other sites I have listed but it is still a good source. My plan is to test out oils from here as well as Floracopeia.)

http://www.experience-essential-oils.com/ (I like this website because it has fun facts along with other information you may or may not find anywhere else.)

As promised, here are some recipes. This is my recipe for homemade granola adapted from
http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/quick-n-crunchy-granola-130588 as well as my essential oil air cleanser recipe. I googled many different diy air freshener recipes and just made something up based on what I saw in most of the recipes.

Homemade Granola (great in a bowl with milk, plain, in yogurt of your choice, or any other creative way you choose to eat it)

My First-Ever DIY Air Cleanser Spray (smells so fresh and sweet)

Live life how you were created to, with joy and in balance. We are vessels of fire so let your shine arise!

Alicia R. Shipe