Updates from Traci Stensaas

Gardening season has arrived!

Gardening season has arrived!
It feels like we’ve been waiting for this warmer season for months.
Finally, garden centers are bursting at the seams with all kinds of plants, the yard is a beautiful shade of green, we still have lilacs to sniff and enjoy, and our garden is tilled, planted and tiny plants are starting to pop out of the ground. It’s a beautiful thing. Life is good!
This spring I decided to try something different in the garden. I use essential oils in our home, camper, on my animals…. This year I’m expanding essential oil use to the garden. Oils on the plants, the ground around the plants, and the perimeter of the garden.
My first oil I’m using, is peppermint. Certain critters do not like peppermint. Spiders, mice, ants and aphids aren’t fond of it.  I’m sure there’s more. In fact, usually by now the little ground squirrels have helped themselves to our sweet corn.  Currently, they have not feasted in our garden. I’ve sprayed around the garden twice and it’s been planted for about two weeks. I will continue to spray a couple times a week. I'm counting this a win with peppermint. What do you think? Will this be enough to keep the little buggers away? Our cats have thinned them out, but in the past, they still found a way to eat up our planted seeds. 
How do you protect your garden from unwelcomed visitors?

We're back to school!

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We're back to school!
Back to school!
Where did summer go?  It still feels like summer, but we’re definitely losing daylight, our activities have increased and my horses are starting to get fuzzier.  
Gone are the leisurely days of summer. We’re two weeks into our homeschool year and it’s going pretty well. This year we have one son in 10th grade doing online school, and the other two are still doing school with me, 8th grade and 3rd grade, although they both jump in and get a lot of it done on their own. Our homeschool co-op group meets twice a month, plus all three are in weekly piano lessons, two are in taekwondo three times a week, and one decided to run in cross country with our local school. Add in Wednesday night church and our weeks have filled up!  It’s really easy with all of the running around to stop at a convenience store and grab a snack as we run to and fro, but that is neither healthy, nor inexpensive.  I look now at prices and remember the days when a candy bar used to cost 50 cents. I am determined to do better, eat better, spend wiser and set an example I want my boys to follow. 
I thought I would share with you a favorite and easy snack.   We’ve taken these camping for years, but now it’s also going to be a school snack that I can send along to cross country meets, grab before 6:30am cross country practice or just grab 1 or 2 as we run out of the house for Taekwondo.
 
No-Bake Energy Bites
 
Ingredients
2 cups dry oatmeal (I use old fashioned oats)
1 ¼ cup chopped walnuts
1 1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup ground flaxseed
1 cup chocolate chips (I like the mini chocolate chips)
2/3 cup honey (I like local raw honey)
2 tsp vanilla
 
Method
Stir all dry ingredients together, then add in the honey, vanilla and peanut butter until thoroughly mixed.  Let chill in the refrigerator for around 30 minutes. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like.  Mine are usually about 1 ½ ” in diameter.  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.  
Makes about 35-40 balls.
These are a great source of energy and I love the extra protein that the Pure Protein Complete adds.  You could swap the Vanilla Spice for the Chocolate.  Either tastes great and both have the Young Living Seed to Seal quality that I trust.
Have a great week and stay well! 

The Heat Is On

  • Traci Stensaas
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The Heat Is On
It has definitely warmed up in our corner of South Dakota.  Today’s real feel is about 87 0  and we have a heat advisory from today through Monday. It’s a bad sign when the emoji’s on the Weather Bug app show cactus with burning sun.  That’s warm enough for me and too warm for my furry critters that are outside 24/7.  I’m grateful for the air conditioning and all the ceiling fans, because they’re all going.  I feel for anyone who works outside in the heat, and for the animals.  My horses do what they can to stay cool.  They love to stand out in the pasture where a good breeze can help keep the flies and mosquitoes away.  They also always have access to clean water, salt and loose mineral.   They have some shade, but I really don’t see them use it a lot.  I do really like to spray them down with this recipe to help them stay at least a little bit cooler:
Stay Cool Spray
5 drops peppermint essential oil
5 drops tea tree essential oil
8 drops citronella essential oil
5 drops eucalyptus essential oil
5 drops lavender essential oil
1 tsp baking soda
Distilled water
 
I add the essential oil and baking soda to a 16-oz spray bottle and top it off with water.  Spray thoroughly, being careful to avoid their face.   It helps keep them more comfortable in so many ways!
 
As always, I only use the best, most pure plant juice on the planet.  That is Young Living! I’ve been to one of the farms and seen the distillery, the fields and the greenhouses.  No other essential oils company allows you to tour like Young Living does.  It’s so easy to get started!  If you aren’t already a Young Living member, I’d love to be your oily gal.  Click here to get started, I have all of the above oils bundled and ready for you.  Stay cool!

Spring Survival!

Spring Survival!
It’s our first week of Spring!  
We’re gaining daylight, my horses are starting to shed their winter coats and so are the dogs.  Some days are warm, others, not so much.  Here in South Dakota, morning can feel like a beautiful Spring day and we can get a full blizzard by 4pm. But still, birds are chirping and on some days it does mostly feel like Spring! 
I have a few tips for you for thriving through pollen season….if it isn’t 100% here yet, it will be soon! One of my favorite parts of Spring is when the Lilacs bloom, how about you?
Spring Pollen Roller for adults
10 drops each of Lemon, Lavender & Peppermint
 
Spring Pollen Roller for kids
7 drops each of Lemon & Lavender, 3 drops Peppermint
                                        
You can also add Copaiba to these rollers to make them even better!
Add these oils to a 10ml roller bottle and top with your favorite carrier oil. I love Young Living’s V-6 oil.  Roll behind ears and down the side of your neck or on the spine and also on your feet.  If you are going to be in the sun, be sure to roll these oils out of sight of the sun as Lemon can cause skin sensitivity in the sun.
 
Spring Diffuser Blends!
Add any combination of Lemon, Lavender, Peppermint & R.C., Eucalyptus and Thieves
Do you need a new super cute diffuser?  Try this one!   I've included the shopping link and BONUS, it’s on sale with the oils of Lime, Peace & Calming, Peppermint, Stress Away and Lemon Myrtle until March 23 at 11:59pm MT.
 
Spring Capsules
3 drops each of Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint and Copaiba vitality oils in an empty veggie capsules and top it with olive oil.
 
If you don’t have the empty veggie capsules, grab some local honey (super important that it is local) and add a drop of Lemon, Lavender & Peppermint Vitality in a spoonful of honey.
 
Other tips...
Support your digestive system with Life 9 probiotics or MightyPro for kids.  
You can also use digestive enzymes as well, try Allerzyme! Supporting your digestive system is super important!

Quick note... not all essential oils are created equal.  We only use the best and most pure. Not sure where to start?  I would love for you to join my AWAKEN'd tribe and when you do I will send you a gift, plus guide you along the way. 
Thank you for checking in today!  I appreciate you. 
Traci

Spring Fever

Spring Fever

It’s that time of year!

One day we hit 50 degrees here in South Dakota, two days later we’re at zero.  On Saturday we’ll be back into the 40’s.  All of these temperature swings can wreak havoc on our emotions AND our bodies.

It can zap our energy.

It can cause moodiness.

 

Good News!

We are gaining daylight!   Have you noticed? I certainly have. When my two Golden Retrievers start getting impatient to go outside at 6:30am, I see some daylight already.

Warmer days will be here before we know it. I’m ready for them.  We can probably assume, though, that we’ll continue to ride the weather roller coaster along the way.

There are steps we can take to help regulate ourselves and stay on a more even track.

Exercise produces endorphins which are the “feel good” hormones.  Plus, getting enough exercise tires you out and will help you sleep better at night. Go for a walk if outside conditions allow, or get up and walk around the house, do some stretching, find a yoga video on the internet that suits you, or simply run- in place, do some pushups, jumping jacks, go up and down stairs if you can or do some lunges or squats. Get out to a mall that allows walkers. Find a walking buddy and get out and move. Do you have a dog? They would love to accompany you on a walk!

Get outside! Taking a break from screens and getting outside for movement, sun exposure and fresh air also helps us sleep better and can boost our mood.

Take Vitamin D. Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin. It’s always good to have your doctor check your vitamin D levels. Quite often we are deficient, especially this time of the year.

Eat a healthy diet. Let’s face it.  Our food is our medicine or our poison. It’s really that simple. Sweet treats, carbs, comfort foods….they may provide immediate gratification, but eating these actually make you feel worse.  Instead, focus on a healing diet.  Lean protein, leafy greens, and vegetable can help keep hormones in check and boost serotonin levels.  Also make sure you are getting Omega 3 fats.  Omega-3 fats can improve mood and memory. They also help you stay physically healthy.

In addition to these steps, I love to use my essential oils. These little bottles of pure power are like messengers to your whole body. Essential oils have a unique ability to penetrate cell membranes and travel throughout the blood and tissues.  Some of my favorite oils are citrus oils because they are so uplifting. To wrap this up, I’m sharing one of my favorite oil rollerball blends that I carry with me.

I like to call this my Happy Camper blend…

In a 10 ml rollerball bottle mix:

10 drops Joy (a Young Living blend)

6 drops Ylang Ylang

4 drops Orange

4 drops Lemon

Top these oils off with a carrier oil such as Young Living’s V-6 carrier oil, almond oil, or fractionated coconut oil. Roll this blend over your heart, across your chest and on pulse points for an uplift in mood!

I really love using essential oils around our home. We’ve ditched scented wax warmers, candles and air fresheners and our health is so much better since we did!  If you’d like to learn more, please reach out to me.  I’d love to connect with you.

 

 

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Meet Traci Stensaas, a horse loving, homeschooling, boy mom.

 
Our family used to face constant bouts of illness. My son suffered from reactive airway disease as a toddler. Every passing bug knocked him down. We became well-acquainted with doctor visits and nebulizer treatments, trying anything to ease his breathing troubles. I believed that cleaning our home using store-bought cleaners was a good thing and that I was helping him get better.

Then I discovered the truth. Those chemicals were causing more harm than good. I found there were options that not only cleaned effectively but also boosted our health. I started with simple swaps. We all started a healing journey. The transformation was incredible. He is an athlete and has enjoyed all kinds of sports like football, basketball, cross country, track, and Taekwondo. We're all healthy, happy, and thankful for these positive changes.

I now support other moms and families in replacing toxic products with safe, clean options, one step at a time. If that's you, get in touch—I’d love to help.

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