Finding New Friends

Jeff and I are now looking at a house with a few acres, hoping to finally get our start to a small homestead. We won't know if we can actually buy it for a week or two, but it's got me hoping. It's beautiful, ready to move into. 2 bedrooms, full bath, dining room, living room, kitchen (as opposed to our "galley") with a pantry, garage, laundry room. The upstairs is semi-finished to be 3 bedrooms (or a large room and a small room), and a full master bath suite. Semi-finished does mean just that, but Jeff really wanted a house we could work on (invest something into, you know?).

It sits on three acres, enough room for some fruit trees / gardens, and a handful of chickens and goats (although we are also contemplating sharing a cow with someone, instead of goats. I love fresh goats milk, but I'm not as big of a fan of its taste post-heating, which we would need to do to make cheese).

I know that all of that is a process, having grown up on a small farm myself (gotta love the Adirondacks!). But the idea of finally getting that process started is so exhilarating :) I cannot wait to stop feeling like our apartment is too small for the way we want to live!

In Other News:

I've been searching all over the blogosphere tonight, looking for bloggers with similar interests, people who are blogging about some of the same lifestyle choices (healthy eating, Godly living, frugal purchasing, etc.) I think I've found some very helpful resources, and I've added them (either to blogs I follow, or to my links). Here's to new friendships!

I added a new product to the Bee Beautiful line, before even adding some of the already listed items to the website. I have a friend who has troubled skin, even more so in her recent (though not her first) pregnancy, and wanted me to make her a facial toner. For those who don't know, a toner is a step in face care between cleansing and moisturizing. Toning has three purposes: 1) to pick up traces of dirt or make up (or even cleanser, if you use a creamy cleanser) that your cleanser may have left behind. 2) to eliminate bacteria in blemishes / dry out blemishes (without drying out all of your skin). and finally 3) To prepare your skin to receive moisture. Most toners contain glycerin, which is a humectant. In simple terms, a humectant helps skin and hair hold and attract moisture.

This toner is based in witch hazel, as opposed to isopropyl alcohol (less drying to your skin). I've also included Aloe Vera juice, to soothe, and Tea Tree Oil and Lavender to treat the blemishes. As a preservative, I've employed citric acid, which is not only natural, but also good for your skin. So, basically, My Gentle Tea Tree Facial Toner is completely paraben free, no harsh chemicals, and no petroleum derivatives.

This combination of moisturizing and anti-blemish ingredients is very specifically purposed. Many people have blemish prone skin that is also sensitive, and most acne products are not good for sensitive skin. The idea behind this product is to treat blemishes, but preserve the overall health of the skin as a whole, particularly for those whose skin is more sensitive.

Blessings!

New Blog for Bee Beautiful!

I have started a new blog for use with my etsy site for Bee Beautiful. The url is http://beebeautifulskincare.blogspot.com/

The blog will be updated with new products, information on sales, promotions, and giveaways, as well as any additional product info!

So check it out, and leave a comment to let me know what you think :)

Beebeautiful09.etsy.com

Just wanted to let everybody know that my first items are now up for sale on etsy! Soft & Sweet Lip Balm is now available for sale at an INTRODUCTORY price of $2.50 per lip balm.

Tomorrow will bring the addition of Lavender Bliss Natural Deodorant.

Bee Beautiful

I am getting things into the final stages to get Bee Beautiful Launched. I have now successfully made: Hold My Hand (Hand Protector), Bee Soothed Lavender Bath Bar, Soft & Sweet Lip Balm, and Lavender Bliss Natural Deodorant Mist. Still to follow: Touch of Silk Body Lotion and Beeswax tea lites and jar candles.

I am still working on the labels, and then the next step is taking pictures and getting the images up on the etsy site.

The soap turned out really well, and I am quite excited about it. Bee Soothed is lavender, and Bee Refreshed will be eucalyptus and peppermint.

Keep updated here :)

Fruitful Day...

A diagnosis from my doctor of "obviously too much stress because your stomach is eating itself (that might be a paraphrase)," left me wondering where the stress is. Because I don't feel particularly stressed out. But then again...

My life is pretty cluttered. I feel like it is in that "cluttered on its way to being simplified" place, though. With the recent discovery on my part that convenience really is more convenient, but simple is healthier and takes less of a toll on our bodies, Jeff and I began at the beginning. Making our foods from scratch, and making our ingredients from scratch. I have been making skin care from scratch, and have decided to share the wealth...

I'm opening an etsy store called Bee Beautiful, to sell natural, beeswax based skin care products. I'm really excited about it, and cannot wait to see it take off. Unfortunately, though, "we are trying to do house-stuff in an apartment," as my very observant husband put it.

We live in a small place, and though we dream of a farm, that is not where we are at this moment. So, as if our apartment was not cluttered enough with the day-to day, there is now a great big pile of things in our living room. Ingredients for skin care products, boxes that I do not want to throw away because I can ship things out in them, packing peanuts and bubble wrap; all these things have taken over our tiny living space.

Clutter really stresses me out. It is quite ironic, because my initial response to seeing a very cluttered room is wanting to take a very long nap, so you would not think that there were ulcer-inspiring levels of stress here. But when you break it down it looks like this: clutter makes me anxious, which makes me want to do something, but gives me the impression that there is no good place to begin. In seconds, my mind has already covered potential starting points and why starting there will not work, since I need to also do this...and over-stimulation is almost instant. The next step is exhaustion. I'm the same way with homework (or rather, I was, in college).

So it surprised me when the doctor was asking about stress, because I could not think of a single situation that was causing me stress. But it is my inability to properly deal with clutter.

So...I usually need a crisis moment to get me into motion, finally. That was probably my appointment with the doctor, telling me that I needed to get my stress management into shape. He also told me not to eat to many fatty foods or spicy/acidic foods for the next couple weeks. I have to admit, though, that I only plan on following that about 3/4 of the time. The high fat foods I eat are not indulgent, but usually full of healthy fats. And I cannot live without garlic. Neither, for that matter, can my husband.

Today I began in the kitchen. It is the main place that the skin-care-making has gone on, so it was a natural first start. I did dishes, I put things away. I made a new batch of dish soap, I did more dishes. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the mound of stuff beside me. Unfortunately, we have plans for the afternoon / evening, so it will have to wait until late tonight or tomorrow afternoon. Honestly, that is probably good. It will give me a chance for some reprieve.

Anyway, I'm excited about what I got done today...and what I will get done tomorrow!

Skin - New Song

I was at the church today, between mentoring and teaching voice, resting a bit since I felt very tired (as it turns out, free pancake day at IHOP for mardi gras + no wednesday workout = a very tired Melody Joy).

As I rested, my thoughts turned to a "song" I had started jotting down the other day. Just words, I really had no rhythm in mind when I wrote it...I pulled it out of my purse and it happened. Suddenly I'm humming and then singing...the tune played itself across my mind before I could even begin to fully conceive of it. Then, I finished the words and started plunking the notes out on the keyboard (to give me a head start for writing it on staff paper later, I plunked out the melody while writing the letter notes on the notebook sheet, right next to the lyrics). I thought this was a great plan, because I have very little focus for getting songs written out on staff paper, and I think that removing one step (the plunking) from that process will make it more efficient. So I am splitting the work up in such a way that I will not forget the tune by the time I write it down, but neither will I wear myself out trying to write it down.

I had a little extra time, anyway, since by the time I was about halfway through my voice student's mother called to tell me they had to cancel. The poor girl had a nosebleed! Those used to really scare me when I was younger. And frankly, all the vibrating that occurs in the sinuses during a voice lesson is probably not a great post-bleed stimuli. Relapses are less than pleasant.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the song. Just in case it matters to anyone: Key of D, 6/8 time, starts on the third beat. Since it is being read and not heard, I wanted to set it up to be "heard" as well as possible.

Skin
by Melody Joy

I want to flow freely
From all that is in me
But a barrier remains
Fighting the passion in these veins
And it is all over

All over me
More than reigning me in
It stifles
It strangles, it
Chokes with fear
It strands me here

Standing next to You
Trapped in my skin
I can't make it feel right
And I can't make it look right
And it is not right

It's all over me
More than reigning me in
It stifles
It strangles, it
Chokes with fear
It strands me here

And I strive to draw
Closer to You
And I don't know how
But I'll let you through
As I let You
Help me stop trying
This anxiousness
Is steadily dying
And I
Am strangely at home
With you in my skin

And Your peace is all over
It's all over me
More than soothing my soul
It strengthens
Emboldens, it
Drives all fear
Away from here.

© Melody Joy Music, February 25, 2009

Overslept - but still feeling productive!

I was supposed to wake up at 7 this morning...I did, just to briefly turn off our yogurt maker and stick the yogurt in the fridge, but then I went back to bed "just for 30 more minutes," and woke up at 9:oo! apparently I was more tired than I knew.

I have a lot on my plate this morning, but I've gotten so much done that I decided on a small break for blogging. At 9 I immediately set about the task of turning my yogurt into cream cheese. I found this very interesting blog from a woman on the west coast who is doing many of the same projects I am. She is, it would seem, just a year or so ahead of me, and so I have turned her into my dairy resource. I get the benefit of reading about what she liked and disliked as for results and it saves me a lot of trial and error :) Her blog covers a wide range of topics, but I linked the cultured dairy page. I pretty much just read from her dairy and natural foods entries. But I digress.

So I started with getting the yogurt-to-cream cheese going and after a quick breakfast (homemade bread toasted, with Nutella. Mmmmm) got started on de-cluttering the living room. We have a small apartment so it is tough to keep the one central area de-cluttered. But that is the first phase in scrubbing our apartment from top to bottom this weekend. Monday is apartment inspection time, which means that aside from being clean, things have to be super-clean.

I try, when setting about a huge task, to allow my A.D.D. some room in the process. It can be pretty exhausting for me to try force my thoughts into a more focused place for a long time, so if I do it the way it comes naturally, I find I get a lot more done. One of the best lessons I've learned in recent years is that I do NOT have to do things the way that "all the others" do them. Anyway, that is the main reason for a blogging break, and also the reason for another interesting phenomenon...

"De-cluttering" the living room is only about half-done. The upstairs bathroom, on the other hand, is sparkling, and I have TWO loads of laundry going, and have started the downstairs bathroom. The kitchen I'm leaving for later. If I put away all the clean dishes, and rinse and stack the dirty ones, I know my wonderful husband will wash the dishes while I am away at the NEXT thing on my agenda.

I am going to talk to a new friend of mine about BEESWAX! Mostly, I want to look at all kinds of skin care remedies that I can make at home (including those involving beeswax), and this IS the lady to talk to. Not onlyis she unafraid of experimenting with recipes, she already has several tried and true ones set in place. So...off I go to get ideas.

Jeff may have a new job soon, and while initially I was really bummed out to find that it would take up his Saturdays, at the moment I'm realizing that I can use my Saturdays for a number of things such as getting caught up on housework, studying Scripture and writing / songwriting out of that time, spending more time in intercession. I have been really feeling God pressing me that He has some things in store for Jeff and I that are really great, but will definitely require our being ready. I'm excited about that, but this is all I'm going to say on it for now. My primary problem in following God's will is that I start trying to get three steps ahead of Him and figuring out where He's going. This blog could easily become a vehicle for that if I let it, and that is not what I want. I will say I feel pressed to invest myself on all fronts: sermons, songs, and intercession.

I have gotten so much done in just 2 ish hours of work....and that makes me very happy. There is, however, a lot more to do! Bye for now!