Days 112 to 117 - Busy Bee (pun intended due to my experiment with Beeswax)

I have definitely been more focused on the GAPS goal of reducing toxins in other areas of my life for the last few days.  The food part of my journey has been a little more relaxed due to celebrating my birthday and taking a day trip to Illinois.  I will openly admit that when I have allowed some sugar in my meals, I have not felt great afterwards.

On the toxin elimination side, I officially launched my lovethewell.com site, as well as the facebook page and twitter account.  I am preparing for the first public appearance at my mom's antique sale this coming weekend.  One of my last products to whip up before this weekend was men's stick deodorant.  My dad was not only the one who requested that I make it, but he has volunteered to be the first to try it!  It smells amazing, with several essential oils and some wonderful odor-absorbing and natural skin conditioning ingredients.  The process was a little messy, but fun, and the end product turned out really well.

Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter & Beeswax to be melted together

In the jar awaiting their fate

It was interesting to see watch the ingredients melt at different thresholds. First the coconut oil (almost immediately), then the cocoa butter (when there were bubbles and a little steam in the water outside the jar), and then finally the beeswax (after boiling for a couple of minutes).

Melted mixture cooling

Stirring in the essential oils, pro-biotic, arrowroot, witch hazel, and vitamin E oil

Filling the deodorant container

Finished product!

Days 76 to 111 - Moving Forward

I must apologize to you all for being MIA for so long.  At lot has happened since my last post.  I will attempt to quickly catch you up.  Last I updated you, I had just returned from Vegas, so here’s what you’ve missed…

• Went out of town again to visit sister and nephew over Labor Day weekend
• Still struggling with allergic reactions (saw my N.A.E.T. doctor again and she recommended Urtica Urens which is specifically for food allergy rashes)
• My sister and I challenged one another to try whitening our teeth with charcoal.  This is my "during" picture.  I didn't notice a remarkable whitening effect, but I will try it again soon.

• Vacationed with the hubby in Colorado for 11 days (managed to eat GAPS-like - between carefully choosing restaurants and eating in… had a few cheats with sugar and/or starch)

• Continued to take Frankincense daily, as well as alternated applying dōTERRA On Guard (immunity blend), Balance (balancing blend) and Lavender (for allergies & stress reduction)
• After 5 days of 3 pellets 3 times a day, the Urtica Urens did the trick…saw a DRAMATIC improvement in allergic reaction!!!
• Returned from vacation and became obsessed with making my own everything based on dōTERRA essential oils…personal care products, beauty products, cleaning supplies…I still have a lot to learn, but am having SO MUCH FUN!

• lovethewell - Based on my passion for making my own products at home, decided to start a business
• Asked a friend to make me a logo
• Asked my husband to set up email and website...check it out...lovethewell
• Got recommendations for ingredient combinations from friends and family 
• Shopped a LOT on Amazon (mostly for containers)! 
• Research, research, research 
• Started mixing, bottling and labeling for an event where I will have a booth in October 
• Opened a bank account & set up the business with the state of Missouri 
• Ongoing – annoyed my family with updates every 5 minutes, but they give amazing feedback!
• Refinanced our house
• Replaced our home A/C unit
• Got to the bottom of my coolant system with my car (annoyance for the past 1 ½ years)
• Maintained Intro Phase II / III – since work and personal travel have picked up, it’s been impossible to make all my own food.  For now I will eat as GAPS-like as I can (still no grains, sugars or starches).  When travel dies down, I will restart Intro from the beginning.  Hopefully with the food allergy reactions under control, things will go much better the second time around.
• Tried to manage stress levels in spite of the life issues listed above!