Creating Lasting Traditions

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On Friday, after I had gotten off work, I decided to make some gluten free, vegan pumpkin muffins.

I have been wanting Pumpkin food for the better part of the month.

Yesterday afternoon, I made a batch of homemade chili, which is fitting for the cook crisp days we have been having.

I also helped my mom make a batch of chocolate chip cookies as well as a batch of chocolate crinkle cookies, which are like brownie cookies.

Yesterday morning, I had to go to an all store meeting at work. Over the course of last week, our Christmas fixtures were set. Our holiday theme / motive is “creating lasting traditions”. Over the time I have worked for the company I am at, as well as other times, I have been slowly building up my Christmas decorations and Christmas tree ornaments collection. I have been adding things as I find things I like. This is the third holiday season I will have been with the company, so I have seen the ornaments for three holiday seasons now. Many of the ornaments are the same, and each subsequent season, has only brought out a few new ornaments. Many of the ones I have liked & bought from work, are the woodland creatures / Nordic / Scandinavian themed ornaments. The deer / reindeer has been a consistent through the three seasons. What is also interesting, is that Scentsy had brought out a holiday warmer with a similar looking deer a year or two ago, which I snapped up, since it fit in with what is starting to be my “Christmas theme”.

When the whole topic of “making lasting traditions” came up at work yesterday, I got thinking about the types of traditions I would want to make, if and when I have a family of my own. Many of which are simple, and won’t cost a lot of money. Things like making Christmas Cookies, and going and visiting some of the elderly, and bringing them some Christmas cheer, and watching “The Polar Express”, while drinking hot chocolate, and coming and visiting my family (as I don’t intend to stay in the Portland metro area), and do things like going to Peacock Lane, and the Christmas event at my parents church. I want to make the Christmas season “magical” for my kids, as well as teach them that Christmas is not about the gifts (even though they are nice), but about the birth of Jesus, and sharing God’s love with others.

Lesson Learned; Should Have Used the Cast Iron Pan

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Earlier this afternoon I had mixed up a batch of gluten free, dairy free chocolate chip cookies, beings that today’s high was 32 degrees cooler than yesterday’s high. I don’t handle anything above 70 very well, and 65 to 70 is perfect summer weather for me. Yes, I know I should live in SE Alaska, and I would if I had a job. So, today, I had the energy to bake.

Most of you probably wouldn’t know that I really don’t like beef. I don’t like the smell or the flavor of it. My brother on the other hand loves it. He bought a steak to cook for dinner.

Beings that I haven’t cooked more than a package or two of ground beef, in making meals for others, in over a decade I didn’t think to grab the cast iron skillet instead of the red copper skillet since he was going to sear it on high heat.

This is what happened to that poor skillet:

It didn’t look like that this morning.

We also had the smoke detector going off and me running around the house opening windows and turning on fans. Between the smell and the smoke it was nuts.

Baking the rest of my gluten free, dairy free cookies was also put on hold during this steak cooking, because his highness is always more important than whatever the lowly peasant (me) is doing.

My cookies turned out really good by the way.

In trying to get the house aired out, I have a pot of cinnamon water on a low heat on the stove. I am not a fan of chemical aerosol sprays or other chemical laden sprays to mask smells if I can help it (I am slowly getting away from Scentsy). I definitely prefer more natural methods. My mom was the one who taught me about the cinnamon water trick to help with smells, so I am giving it a try.

Even though I am not a huge fan of the smell of most meat while it is cooking, there are some that I do like to eat once it is cooked, like chicken and fish. I also enjoy venison on occasion. I have yet to try bear or moose, but if they were cooked in someone else’s kitchen or outside (on a camp stove), I would definitely be willing to try them.

What I am Warming Wednesday & Favorite Essential Oil Blends

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Now that I have had a few essential oils for a bit, I figured it was time for an update.

Most of the essential oils blends I am using are from Saje. I am still loving the DoTerra OnGuard as well. I have to say that the Saje Inhale seems to be helping with my allergies, they are usually brutal this time of year. At night, I am using several blends and creating my own nighttime blend, which I am loving. All of these that I am going to be listing are from Saje: 4 drops of be still, 4 drops of tranquility, 4 drops of unwind, and a couple drops of stress release.

This afternoon in my Scentsy Warmer, I have been warming 2 cubes of Eggnog and a cube of St. Nickerdoodle. Both of these scents are from the 2016 scents of the season collection.

To me St. Nickerdoodle smells like overly cinnamon apple pie. Egg Nog is a very sweet creamy scent. I decided to combine them and see what happened. I actually like the combination, it smells more like Apple Pie A La Mode.

While I am well aware it’s well past Christmas, as it is spring now, I am still kind of in a winter-y mood, partly because I spent this past weekend at the beach, where it was cool, and wet part of the time. I am also not a huge fan of a lot of the super sweet floral-y spring and summer scents. I prefer the clean scents and the richer, deeper scents.

I am also trying to get a lot of my Scentsy bars used up. I am trying to simplify my stash. I am trying to get down to two or three scents for year round, and two scents for autumn and two scents for winter/Christmas.

New Favorite Scentsy Scent!

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When I had first tried Scentsy and for the longest time afterward my favorite year round, classic scent was Coconut Lemongrass. Here a few months ago, I had kind of gone off the scent. It’s not that I hate it now, it just didn’t do it for me like it had. I was looking for a new all around clean scent. I still love Sunkissed Citrus, but it hasn’t held the same place that Coconut Lemongrass did. Sunkissed Citrus is a very clean yet summery scent for me.

It was a few months after Sea Salt and Avocado came out before I tried it. For now it has taken the place that Coconut Lemongrass once had. So I stocked up on Sea Salt and Avocado so I will have some for a while.

January was Bring Back My Bar month, and I was super excited when I saw that Mulberry Bush was brought back. I had purchased a bar of Mulberry Bush either before it was retired or on another Bring Back My Bar order a while back and loved it. I was sad when I had used it up. So when it was brought back, I stocked up.

I haven’t been a consultant in about a year. While I don’t miss being a consultant, I still love the products. Each season I enjoy looking at which warmers are being brought out, and which scents are returning.

The one scent that I was hoping would come back this spring / summer catalog was Apple S’mores, but it doesn’t look like it is coming back.

Preparing for Christmas

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I am one of those people who waits until after Thanksgiving to decorate. That doesn’t mean that I don’t start preparing for it earlier.

This year, beings that I have been working Retail, in a store that carries Christmas Decorations, I have been inundated with Christmas Decorations for the past month and a half. I have also been slowly working on purchasing the decorations I have liked over the past month or so.

This year, at work, one of the main themes for our decorations this year is “Nordic Lodge”. Beings as it has taken up more than 3 fixtures on Center of Floor, it is a pretty big deal. There have been a few decorations that I have seen every time I have gone to work that I loved, so I have picked them up.

Autumn and Christmas are my two favorite times of year to really decorate for the season. I love decorating this time of year and make where I am living look festive. When I was in college, I didn’t care so much about my first apartment, as it was kind of a crappy apartment, that never felt like my. My second apartment while in college, from the time I first walked into it, felt like home, and I decorated it a lot more.

I definitely want to decorate more when I get my own place again, and make it feel homey and cozy.

Yesterday, the newest Holiday Scentsy Warmer I had ordered (as well as some bars and a holiday brick) arrived. I got the winter stag Warmer, as well as 3 bars of lavender white Balsam and a brick of Silver Bells. One of my favorite scent combos this time of year is Very Merry Cranberry and Silver Bells. On its own the very merry cranberry is a bit to sweet and a bit too much for me. The Silver Bells helps tone it down and add in a light minty, cold & crisp mix to it, which I love.

It definitely struck me yesterday when I had pulled the warmer out of the box to see it in person that the side of the reindeer has a bit of the Nordic pattern similar to what some of the ornaments I had bought at work have on them.

Haven’t used Scentsy much lately

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I got thinking recently of how little I have used my Scentsy warmers and wax in recent weeks and months.

This summer was so hot, it was often too hot to have my window open to help with air flow, and it was super smoky this summer to boot.

Since the weather has changed, I have been sleeping during the day, and for the few hours I am home and awake before I leave for work, it has been late, so I haven’t used any Scentsy in weeks.

Beings that I have been up this afternoon and don’t have to think about going to be again to be back up at 10:30 pm to go to work since I have the next couple days off as well as the weekend, I am enjoying my Scentsy warmer and warming some Apple S’mores. Apple S’mores is one of my favorite scents, especially for fall. It’s sad that Scentsy only sells it during the spring and summer, because it is more of an autumn scent to me.

Productive Day Homemaking

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Today has been a productive day. 

Saturday I had gone to Bob’s Red Mill, and picked up more Potato Starch and Brown Rice Flour (I still had a package of Tapioca Flour at home) to make the brown rice flour mix I use, as well as a package of Xanthan Gum. I am only on package 3 or 4 of xanthan gum, and I have been Gluten Free for over 3 years. A package of Xanthan Gum lasts a long time. Today I mixed up the brown rice flour mix. 

I also did mundane things that needed to be done, like cleaning the bathroom and doing a load of laundry.

I also made a batch of gluten free & dairy free cinnamon rolls which turned out really good. 

This evening I also did some rearranging and reorganizing of my Scentsy Bars, since I decided to make room in my set of drawers that I use for my Scentsy Bars for some more bars. 

WIAWS: Blackberry Meringue

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The past couple of days I have had Blackberry Meringue wax warming in my country light Scentsy Warmer. Blackberry Meringue was one of the new scents that was released for the spring/summer 2016 catalog, and was not brought back this year. I had stocked up on some last year, so I still have several bars going into this spring and summer.

This scent was one of the few that I liked from the spring/summer 2016 catalog. It is definitely a light, sweet, fruit tart kind of scent. While it is sweet, it’s not overwhelmingly sweet. To me, it is a perfect scent to be warming this time of year, especially in a kitchen, or living room.

This past winter, and now into spring, has been so wet and grey here in Portland. Yesterday was such a beautiful day, and it got up into the low 60’s, and was partially sunny, which helped me a lot, and made me want to have a spring scent warming, to help be a mood lifter.

What smells I like to have warming, are definitely related to the weather/season. When it is cold and wet outside I would just as soon have something like Pumpkin Roll or Apple S’mores warming, or if it is around Christmas, then I’d have one of the Christmas Scents warming. When it is warm and sunny, I love having the lighter, fresh, clean scents going. I do have to say that Blackberry Meringue is one of my top 3 spring/summer scents when I want something lighter warming in my warmer.

WIAWS: Pumpkin Roll

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The past few days I have been in an Autumn & Autumn scents mood, even though yesterday was the warmest day we have had in months, right around 70 degrees. 

Autumn is my absolute favorite season. Despite yesterday being above average, this past winter and early spring has been cold and wet. 

I know spring just started, yet I am already ready for autumn to be here. I know it can’t be October all year round, but if it could be, I would be a happy camper. 

Pumpkin Roll is my favorite autumn scent from Scentsy. All the others are typically too strong and have too much cinnamon or just isn’t something I like smelling. 

WIAWS: Coffee Tree

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This week I have been warming Coffee Tree. It I was one of the January Bring Back My Bar scents that I had ordered. 

I have definitely been in more of a mood for the coffee shop type scents, while I have been working on my knitting. 

The coffee scents are definitely year round scents. To me they are inviting and welcoming, and add to the hang out kind of ambiance, which is totally something I go for. 

Until next week all.