How Susan Branch Helped Me See My Awesomeness

I have always known how awesome you are. Yes, you. Wherever you are on this journey, whether you see it or not, I can see you are awesome.

While low self esteem has never been a label I would slap on myself, I don't think I've ever seen my own awesome. And I think it's getting in the way. In the way of complete and miraculous healing that I am so ready for. 

Yesterday, Susan Branch (and a few others), helped create one of those Aha! moments in my life.

My dear friend, Barbara, has the happiest of shops. Susan Branch was coming to do a book signing. I jumped in to both help my friend and just soak up all of that happy I knew the women coming would be simply bubbling over with. Some traveled from Minnesota to meet Susan!

As I re-folded tshirts and helped pass out cupcakes, a few women recognized me from my former business. I was a Cupcake Lady what seems like a life time ago. One thanked me for what I had made for her (I am still particularly proud of my gluten free and allergen free recipes). Several wanted to know what I was doing now and share some happy thoughts both about and for me. So very kind, I thought. People are so very awesome.

Women (and a few husbands) waited with patient excitement to meet Susan. 

Now, friends, I have come smack face to face with Michael Jackson as I entered a side door in Vegas and he with his entourage tried to exit. Weird was all I thought. Growing up in California, I've met many movie stars and the like. I have never understood the idolization of stars or even collecting autographs.

As I watched woman after woman hold Susan's hand, some crying some too excited to stand still, as they told their story and how her soft and cheerful paintings, her gentle written words lifted them through cancers, caring for and then losing loved ones, and so many stories just as big to each person. As I watched her listen with open hearted love, never seeming to let it take from her own energy...

I got it. 

They didn't want Susan's signature. 

They wanted to stand in her light.

and her signature would be a token to remember that moment by. Hopefully to be inspired by. 

Susan remembered me from an intimate show she had hosted several years ago here in her home roots- and mine. I was touched. All of these people from events, business, life...and she remembered me. Again, I was touched by the amazingness of others.

Later, Barbara shared how incredible that Susan remembered me. I don't recall what she said but for the first time I thought of the others that had asked about me, thanked me, remembered me that day and for THE FIRST time it occurred to me that I, too, am worthy of being remembered. That what I give to this world is something others are thankful for. That the kindness and gifts I have and choose to share are also pretty darn awesome. 

This isn't about how awesome I am or even how awesome Ms. Susan Branch truly is. I want to share the beginning of my accepting my own awesome and it is my lovelies of wishes that you know how awesome you are! Watch out, 2015, I'm bringing all of my awesome with!

PS You can read about our day on Susan's blog! Scroll down to Past Events here.

You are loved.

You are loved.

5 Tricks For Clearer Skin (Free & Natural)

Adult acne chased me through my twenties. At the time, I didn't see the connection between the food I was eating, the life I was living (chaotic and busy, busy) and the regular break outs I was trying to cover up and get rid of.

Bigger picture changes have led to happier skin but there are things you can do right now to help stop the cycle.

Here are a few tips and tricks I've picked up along the way. Easy. Cheap. Natural. Not often you get all three!

1. Change your pillowcase daily. 

Oils from your hair and product all build up on your pillow which you lay your face on for hours (hopefully 8+) every night. Fresh pillowcases will help your skin rejuvenate while you sleep.

2. Clean your make up brushes once a week. Remember to clean the tools you keep in your purse! The sponge in your compact, the tiny brushes, and more that are easy to forget while your tidying your medicine cabinet. Wash them gently in whatever you wash your hair in. Rinse well and let air dry sitting bristles up in a glass. Easy peasy.

3. Keep hair off of your face. I love my bangs and refuse to give them up but oil and product from hair can lead to break outs. See if there's a connection between a trouble spot and where your hair falls.

4.  Clean your phone(s) with alcohol at least once a week. Your cell, the one at work- heck, you might even have a land line, too. Squirt 91% alcohol on a cotton ball and wipe down. 

5.  Stop touching your face. I know. You don't pick either. We can have little habits we don't even realize like leaning on our chin, jawline, or brushing the bangs away 100 times a day. Every time you touch your face you transmit more bacteria. Pay attention for just one day and you'll probably see one habit you could nip.

What tips do you use for clearer sking? Please leave a comment below- I'd love to hear!

xo,

Amy

Happy Fall! My Hopes for the Season

Enjoying breakfast on the porch this morning.

It's the day after Halloween! Time to get started planning and making holiday goodness. This is the first holiday season as a family for my Fisherman and I, plus the wee one on the way. Being on bedrest, moderate or not, it's a humbling chance to slow down. Soak up the season. Enjoy tiny moments. My hopes for celebrating the season:

• not spend any money on decorations, including a Christmas tree. use what we have, make the rest, use nature to bring the season inside. 
• purge even more of my own holiday decoration collection 
• make a short list of simple gifts to make and share and stick to it. 
• spend time on handmade cards. mail early.
• above all else: keep it simple and roll with it.

Bam. That's really just about it. How do you hope to celebrate this season?

xo,

Amy

Welsummer Hens and the Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

 Meet Squirrel. When she first came home from Farm Supply at about two days old, she was tiny. I mean teeny tiny her whole first month. It seemed like she hardly grew in her first month as our other chicks grew and matured around her. She looked just like a baby squirrel. Hence, her name. She's caught up now with other girls but follows me around telling me all about everything. Other chicken keepers have called the Welsummer's flighty and easily spooked but our Squirrel's (we have two) were handled so much as chicks they aren't as easily spooked. Welsummer hens are just about my favorite breed out of the eight different types we have. Sweet, chatty, and beautiful. Photo by Jessica Wilson. 

Photo by Jessica Wilson

Like leaving dial up behind, once you have fresh eggs you really can't go back. Buttery rich in flavor as well as higher in Omega 3's (double!), protein and other good stuff. When you buy farm fresh you aren't just supporting small farmers and chicken keepers, you are truly getting more nutrition for your dollar. Okay. Hopping off my soap box. Now, how to make a perfect hard boiled egg.

1. Cover the bottom of your pot with one layer (just one) of fresh eggs. Add enough cold water to cover the eggs by and inch or two.

2. Bring to a quick boil. Leaving on the hot burner, put a lid on it, turn off the heat
and let sit for 12 minutes for a softer egg and up to 15 for a firmer egg (my preference). Rinse in cold water.
No more dry eggs, and sulfury grey rings!

For more tips 'n tricks on raising chickens, follow along with my Pinterest board, Chickens & Garden!

Enjoy!
xo,
Amy