Revitalize Your Hair

As you all know, I'm obsessed with anything healthy and natural, and even more obsessed with Green Tea. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out about this incredible hair care line that has it all. All natural ingredients, infused with green tea, smells amazing and leaves my hair feeling healthy and beautiful! Check out www.tea42beauty.com to find out more about these incredible products and to purchase some of your own. Don't you just love the packaging? So cute right?


"Over the years, caffeine has gone from merely something that gets you out of your jammies and into that Warrior’s pose, to a remarkable champion in the beauty cause. Because of its energizing capabilities, it’s a common ingredient in many replenishing cosmetic and beauty products. Caffeine invigorates the body in such a way that it helps deliver crucial vitamins and nutrients to skin cells and hair follicles, thereby rejuvenating them and promoting production of healthier, stronger hair.
One of the most antioxidant-rich sources of caffeine is tea. While it comes in all kinds, some caffeinated, some not, what all teas have in common is their healthy influence on the body. These beneficial effects have made it perhaps the most universally beloved beverage all over the world. Uniting these healthy teas with our pure, signature caffeine and combining them with tried-and-true elements like humectants, antioxidants and DHT* fighting ingredients, Tea42 has created a powerful synergy in every bottle that treats a multitude of hair types and encourages renewed youth and vitality by nourishing the scalp. A healthy scalp equals healthy hair!
Just like you can visit a tea shop and select a flavor that fits your mood or health cravings, we invite you into our blend bou-tea-que to peruse a variety of infusions we’ve created using tons of tea-inspired ingredients and our own potent caffeine. Join the revolution and let your hair drink in one of our custom, targeted creations. The results will feel so good, you’ll want to put the kettle on and brew up a lather every day!"
*DHT – dihydrotestosterone – a hormone that can come in contact with hair follicles. It can lead to nutrient depletion and shrinking of the hair follicles causing thinning, brittle hair.

Here's a picture of my hair after using the products. My hair feels so healthy and with the root spray I felt that it gave me lots of volume. Drinking my KOMBUCHA of course:). 

Save A TON Of Cash!

Hey Everyone, I have something really exciting to share with you today. Thanks to my awesome friend Malea, I've found a great new place to buy all my healthy organic pantry foods, like coconut oil, gluten free flours, grains, pastas, ect. In the past I've always used Amazon Prime because I just love the convenience of having it shipped to my house AND the free two day shipping. Sooooo, now I've found this incredible new website that essentially offers the same thing but WAY cheaper than Amazon. 



I just placed my first order at Thrive Market and my total came out to be $114.31. Then I went to Amazon and added the EXACT products to my cart to see what the difference in price would be. My Amazon order would have cost me $236.65!!!! 



Can you believe that? Wow, I had no idea I was losing so much money over the years buying these products on Amazon. So of course I'm now a yearly member of Thrive Market. They do have a membership fee like most wholesale companies (Costco). It's $60 for the year, but I pretty much paid for that in my first order. The fine print when comparing directly to Amazon is that the free shipping only applies to orders over $49, and it takes a day or two longer to ship. So, to me it's worth waiting a little longer for my shipment to arrive and I usually spend at least $50 bucks every time I shop on Amazon anyway, so that won't be a problem.

They also have a cool affiliate program. Every time you refer anyone then you get $25. So please use the link I've provided so I can get credit for referring you. Thank you:)...

Here are all the things I purchased just now on Thrive Market. (Note: These are screen shots of my shopping cart, so they are not clickable.)

I'm really excited about the Mighty Maca Greens. I've recently learned how amazing this stuff is. And it was $20 cheaper on Thrive Market. It's a great superfood powder you can add to your smoothies. Maca is grown high in the Andes mountains, at the highest elevation of any food plant in the world. I've read that it has energy lifting and mood enhancing qualities. Also known to improve hormone balanced and libido. We shall see *wink *wink.










So if you're anything like me, then you are just as excited as I am to have found a one stop shop for all these a amazing name brand organic health foods at a fraction of the cost! Now it is cheaper an ever to eat healthy.

Don't forget to enter my $100 GIVEAWAY!!!

Feeling Overwhelmed?



As mothers it is hard for us NOT to feel overwhelmed. We wear many hats and the responsibilities are endless. In my ten years experience as a mother I have learned a few things about myself. One is that I create the overwhelm myself and I can be a little overzealous when it comes to fulfilling my roles as a mother. We are constantly advised by older and much wiser women to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the precious moments we have RIGHT NOW. For one day we're going to ache for the sound of little feet running around our home. When ever I hear this advice I always think to myself, yes, I know, I've heard it before, but I'm different you see. I can slow down AND accomplish a lot at the same time.




Back when I was pregnant with my first baby I remember hearing a talk in church on this topic. The person giving the talk shared a poem that completely caught my attention. I'll share it here below.

This poem was presented at the 2007 Women's Conference
at the campus of Brigham Young University.
To be read in the style of Dr. Seuss:


The Perfect Mormon Woman
.by Vickie Gunther.
(gently edited by Dr Matt).

Look at me, look at me, look at me now.
You can do what I do, if you knew how!
I study the scriptures one hour each day;
I bake and upholster and scrub, and I pray.
I keep all commandments you see, quite completely;
I speak to my little ones gently and sweetly.
Design all their clothes and sew all they wear,
I drive them to practice and cut all their hair.
I memorize names of the General Authorities;
Order each goal to be done by priorities.
I play the piano, bless all with my talents.
My toilets all sparkle! My check books are balanced.
One day a week every child gets a date;
Attend all my meetings — on time, never late!
I'm taking a class on the teachings of Paul,
But that is not all! Oh no, that is not all:
I track my bad habits till each is abolished;
Iron every t-shirt. My toenails are polished!
Our family home evenings are ever delightful;
The lessons I plan are both fun and insightful.
I do genealogy faithfully too.
It's easy to do all the things that I do!
Up early each morning, refreshed and awake;
I know all the names of the youth in my stake.
I read to my children! I help all my neighbors.
I bless the community too, with my labors.
I exercise daily, cook menus gourmet;
My visiting teaching is done the first day!
I also go do it for someone who misses,
The least I can do for my caring ward sisters.
I chart resolutions and check off each goal;
I search for "lost lambs" on my Primary roll.
I store home-grown produce in summer and fall.
But that is not all! Oh no, that is not all:
I write in my journal and sing in the choir;
Each day, I write "thank you's" to those I admire.
My sons were all Eagles when they were fourteen.
My kids get straight A's, and their bedrooms are clean!
I have a home business to help make some money;
I always look beautifully groomed for my honey.
I go to the temple at least once a week;
I rotate car tires, fix each plumbing leak!
I grind my own wheat and I bake all our bread;
I have all our meals planned out six months ahead.
I make sure to rotate our two-years supply;
My shopping for Christmas is done by July!
These things are not hard; it’s good if you do them.
You can if you try. Set your goals and pursue them.
It's easy to do all the things that I do.
If you plan and work smart, you can do them all too!
"It's easy!" she said . . . and then she dropped dead.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *
Would you believe my first thought after hearing this poem was, Where can I get a copy of this because I'm going to use it as my daily check list!!!? I wanted to hang it in my office and read it every day so I could  become "the perfect" Mormon women, except for the dropping dead part of course. I thought well, SHE may have kicked the bucket, but I was going to figure out a way to DO IT ALL...

Without dying...

In my several attempts to fulfill every responsibility and worthwhile goal as a mom, I literally drove myself and Sean insane. I would crash and burn but continue trying. That's the definition of insanity, you know that right? Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome.

It took me ten years to learn this lesson, but I think I'm finally catching on. I don't need to keep adding to my list. I don't need to do it all in one day or one month. I want to focus on ONE thing at a time and give it my all. Quality over quantity. Not try to do as many things as possible until I run myself into the ground. I guess I couldn't distinguish the difference between passion and obsession. To me being laid back was laziness, contentment was idleness, and removing things from my list was simply giving up. In my mind, admitting I couldn't do it all was a lack of confidence and faith in myself.

Let me walk you through a series of events that lead me to this "AHA" moment. About 4 months ago I made the decision to get my tubes tied and close the baby making door. Immediately I thought to myself, YES! Now I can go back to DOING MORE! Since I will no longer be making babies, now I'll finally have time to be the amazing mom I always aspired to be. What I failed to remember was the fact that I STILL HAVE babies. I may not be making them anymore, but I still have them and they require A LOT of time and energy. I just began piling on more and more without acknowledging the reality of my situation.

Now looking back I recognize the slippery slope I once again found myself falling down. I was feeling constant stress, overwhelm, and my confidence began to waver. After about 2 months, my internal stress began to reveal itself externally. My skin broke out so bad. All over my face, neck, chest and back. I began my usual remedy that always works when I break out around that time of month. Quit sugar, dairy, gluten, caffeine. I went all natural in my skin care products and make up. I supplemented with everything I knew that helped with skin health, Zinc, Vitex, Cleansing minerals, Omega's, Vitamin B, Chlorophyll, Colloidal Silver, ect. I sanitized all my pillowcases, sheets, blankets, make-up brushes. I did EV.ER.Y.THING! And my skin only got worse. Pure break outs for 2 months until I finally realized that maybe it's not what I'm consuming or putting on my skin. Maybe it's something emotional. So that's when I made the decision to go see someone who specializes in energy work, muscle testing, Kinesiology type stuff.

Last week I spent two hours with this women and I must say, I feel like a new women! Within DAYS my skin started clearing up. She helped me pinpoint what kinds of emotions I had trapped within my body and how to release them through energy and intention. It was absolutely incredible. So much so that I'm going to go see her again tomorrow.

So the moral of the story is. You may have good intentions and believe that you are motivated and determined enough to DO IT ALL, but ultimately, will you be happy?  In my case I was NOT happy and felt stressed and completely out of balance.

It's the most liberating thing to throw out that list, and appreciate what it's like NOT to have a schedule. To just BE, FEEL, APPRECIATE, NOTICE, and relax. Sometimes you just need to let go of it all and start over. Start fresh, with new intentions, purpose, and mindfulness of your surroundings and most importantly, the people you love the most. I am literally trying to make myself MOVE slower. I'm trying to gently glide around my house instead of rushing around like a mad women. I'm really trying hard to be more relaxed, in the moment without any thought of the millions of things I THINK I should be doing. Because the thing I should be doing in this season of my life is slowing down and appreciating the fact that I still have babies in the home and the wonderful blessing that is.



The Power of Choice

“If today you are a little better than you were yesterday, then that’s enough.” –David A. Bednar.

Steven R. Covey teaches in his book that 10% of our lives are made up of things we cannot control, while the other 90% is determined by the way we respond to them.

I feel it helpful to share the things I'm learning because it creates a greater understanding for myself as I attempt to explain different concepts. It really expands my comprehension and in turn hopefully helps others in some small way. We need those constant reminders and positive affirmations. I’m not claiming to be an expert, I just love to share information that has helped me or inspires me in some way.

In Steven R. Covey’s book, he talks about a little girl and her dad having breakfast together. The daughter accidentally spills some coffee on her dad’s work shirt. He get’s upset, yells and storms upstairs to change his shirt. He comes down and realizes that she is still sad and hasn’t finished her breakfast. She ends up missing the bus so he takes her to school. When he drops her off she doesn't say goodbye because she's still upset.  So since he is now running late he exceeds the speed limit and gets pulled over and handed a ticket. Then of course he arrives late to work and realizes that he left his brief case at home.

We've all had days like this right?

It started from the spilled coffee and the way he responded. All of that could have been avoided if he had just responded in a calm, non reactive way to his daughter. After all, it was an innocent mistake. His response is what determined the rest of his day.

Now I want to share with you how this relates to ME. A few months ago I wasn’t having the best week and now I can admit that it was because of  the way I chose to respond to certain situations.
Basically, Sean and I had a conversation and I chose to get my feelings hurt and I let that affect the way I felt for a good 2-3 days. It affected the way I treated Sean AND the kids. It quickly became a downward spiral because I allowed it to.
We have all had those days where nothing seems to go right. Ninety percent of the time we have brought it upon ourselves. It’s the cold hard truth. Hopefully through out our lives and with a little practice, we will get better at this principle. It’s not an easy one to master that's for sure.  I’m 34 years old and I still act like a child sometimes.

How many times have you ever said “Ugh…You’re making me so mad!” I say that to my kids sometimes and I hate to admit what I'm actually teaching them.

 That others have control over their actions and emotions. That it's okay to blame others for the way they're feeling. It's simply not true!  Nobody can MAKE us feel anything. We ALLOW those feelings to take control. I'm not saying we should all be to the point where we never get mad or hurt. We should feel those feelings but not allow them to take over and consume us.  We should feel them, be hurt, be sad, be mad, but with the self control to remain calm on the outside until we work through those feelings on the inside. We need not fall into the blame game...

“Oh I’m no good at anything because my parents didn’t provide opportunity.” Or, “We were really poor growing up, so I couldn’t afford to go to college, so therefore I can’t find a good job.” Or, “I’m really overweight because we were taught really bad eating habits growing up.”
There are so many excuses we could come up with. Sometimes it's easiest to blame others for our circumstances. We need to get really good at this principle, and defining where the true problem lies…within ourselves.

It’s hard being a mom, because we are still learning and feel pressure to be that perfect example. 

Even this morning on our way to school, I felt really bad because I snapped at Lily for getting gum out of my purse. I hate when she does that because then all the other kids want gum and she can’t have gum at school anyway. I was like, “Lily, stop it!”

She was wondering why I was getting so mad, and I was like, “oh sorry Lily!” 

Its so hard to be a good example. But I want to be the kind of example of someone who is humble enough to admit fault and say sorry.

We have been given a lot of control over our lives, 90%, that's a lot!!!


I think it comes down to 3 things:
1.     Being humble. Accepting fault and constructive criticism.
2.     Being proactive. Take action. Stop with the excuses. We need to build the kind of life we want.  We can create that with our 90%. It’s a matter of choice. Its how we use our time and how we choose to respond to things. Stop making excuses. Who says you aren’t talented, gifted, beautiful, creative, outgoing, smart, ambitious, determined, compassionate? Maybe you just haven’t learned all you need to learn. Get educated. Overcome those obstacles. Stop putting labels on ourselves.
3.     Being grateful. Anytime you feel like things are falling apart, in any situation, you can ALWAYS find the positive. It’s just a matter of looking for it and being grateful for the lessons within the trials. Enjoy the journey.
We have the choice to respond positively to any situation. It’s a life long process. But it’s good to have these reminders and work at being better than we were yesterday.

 Be sure to follow me on Periscope for regular messages via live video streaming! I love interacting with you all this way so leave comments!!! www.periscope.tv/crystalescobar

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