Nature Girl vs the life cycle

It has been a strange week for me.

I feel a little like a butterfly...in the most natural sense.  The emotional metamorphosis of this past week has been, at times, radical and quiet at the same time.  

The loss of a friend is an amazingly disturbing event. I have never attended a funeral of someone not family and I was surprised by the depth and intensity of the emotion.  Though thinking about it in retrospect, I shouldn't be shocked, friends are the family you choose.  No matter how close or distant the friendship may become, that voluntary tie binds fast.  

Spending time with my brother and sisters, blood and not, was very soothing. The affirmation of relationships and experiences was a healing balm during a rough time.  It's amazing to realize that the people who share your life stories have shaped you as a person.  Sometimes you get to tell them, and sometimes you don't, but the important thing is learning whatever they were supposed to teach you.

I have been spoiled by an abundance of remarkable people.  From the one taken far too soon ( who lived so fully that I'm not sure I can fill my remaining years with an equal amount of experiences), to one who embodies the idea of faithful at a surprisingly young age.  I have been taught to stretch my idea of the world, be flexible in my treatment of others, be loving without judgment, and have patience with my own life.  It is important to appreciate the arts, learn new things, fight for important things, and to identify family differently.

My family is the most fulfilling possesion I have - and it changes me (sometimes unknowingly) on a daily basis.  My blood relatives taught me respect, joy, faith, and stability. My "family of choice" taught me to be vibrant, fulfilled, steadfast, carefull, patient and attentive.  I am a conglomeration of family input, and all I can do is live out their grace, love, faith, and energy in a positive and energetic way.

Nature Girl and the Ultimate Facial

I love facials, and manicures, pedicures, or anything that allows me to spoil myself, and relax...optimaly, in my P.J.'s.

One of my favorite things about my foray into network marketing, and with Arbonne in particular, is that it allows me to do just that.  Not only do I get to build a business on products that I love and believe in, but it allows me, and often requires me to, relax and spoil myself and others!

The Ultimate Facial is amazing and it uses all Arbonne products, based on the model of facials in high end salons.  It shows the versatility, and quality of our products so amazingly well, that everyone should experience this!  An Arbonne consultant comes to your home and teaches you how to use great products to spoil yourself! It's fun and informative and a great social event.

Step One:  Cleanser - The super moisturizing, anti-aging cleanser or gentler FC5 cleansers gently clean without stripping away your skin's natural oils.

Step Two: FC5 New Cell Scrub - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this product!  Small beads, and fruit enzymes gently buff away old dead skin cells and the smell is fresh and clean. 

Step Three: RE9 Cellular renewal masque - Salicylic, and glycolic acids, pineapple, Vitamin C, and essential oils all work together to boost the skin's regeneration.

Step Four: Mask - many choices! Tonight I did an Ultimate Facial day and we even mixed it up a bit by using the Seasource Detox Spa Sea Mud face and body mask for our clarifying mask step.  All of the product lines from Arbonne can be mixed and matched based on what each person needs or wants out of their experience.  The mask had the  typical Arbonne    great fragrance, and everyone looked beautiful!  A great addition to an already decadent event!

Step Five: Re9 Toner - our FC5 cleansers have toner in them to start, so this is just for the Re9 anti aging users.

Step Six: Eye Cream - I never realised how popular eye creams were, and how much they can do until I started this Arbonne journey - and our two different creams are light and incredibly moisturizing!

Step Seven: Moisturizer or Night Cream - a lighter SPF for day, or an intense moisture and nutrition burst for night!

Such a blissfully indulgent day, I can't believe that I get to do this for people and it's considered work?!  Love, love, love this opportunity I have to help people make healthy, productive, beautiful choices - inside and out! 

...Nature girl

'Tis the Season

Today is the last Sunday of Advent for those observing Christians out there.  This past week was Winter Solstice for my pagan/Wicca loved ones, and the enumerable other solstice and new year based holidays, ie. Dongzhi Festival; in Asia, Hanukkah for Judaism, St. Lucia's Day; Scandinavia...and on and on, all are turning us to focus on  family, new life, and new promises in the new year.

I tried to wrap my head around Solstice long ago and I keep coming back to it as I look at all the various world holidays this month pushing us forward.  Winter solstice, is the longest night of the year, and the shortest day, and yet the most hopeful time!  This time is seen as the return to the fertile time, lengthening days, Spring coming up, and the sun making it's return journey  to the earth.  This is the life reboot, and it happens in the stillness of winter!


The Dongzhi Festival is celebrated by many Chinese and East Asian (though I found not mention of Japan including this celebration) cultures.  It is a time for reunion with family, past and present, to share the year and prepare for the one to come.  They even have traditional foods like tangyuan, so it reminds me a little of Thanksgiving but it is much more symbolic than that. Some believe you are a year older after this mark in the year, and I have found that my birthday is a much less reliable marker of my age than the close of the year...I like this idea! 

Unlike Christmas which is a relocated holiday, thank you Emperors Constantine and Aurelian, and the various solstice holidays Hanukkah is neither.  The Jewish calendar stands as a kind of bridge between Julian and Celestial.  The festival of lights is an observance of a miracle, a re-dedication of the temple that needed a holy light to burn longer than expected.  The Jewish celebration is to demonstrate the light of faith to the outside world not necessarily for the faithful within, it is a proclamation of miracles and struggles...very proactive, and forward looking, good things for a new year.

As a kid, like so many others I had an American Girl Doll, and even though Kirsten is now discontinued, my favorite story was her Christmas story.  She was a daughter of Swedish immigrants on the frontier, and she got to be St. Lucia for her family.  The following is and excerpt from the book "Kirsten's Surprise":

"In Sweden, Saint Lucia's Day begins the Christmas season," Kirsten explained.  "It's the darkest day of the whole year.  It's so dark that there's only daylight for a few hours.  But no one minds the dark,because Saint Lucia's Day is such fun."

Lisbeth was braiding a straw belt for her doll.  "What do you do?"

"In each family, one girl gets to be the Lucia queen.  She dresses up in a long white dress and a red sash, and she wears a crown of green leaves and lighted candles.  She gets up very, very early in the morning, while it's still pitch black and everyone is asleep.  She lights the candles in her crown and she goes from room to room in the dark house, carrying a tray."

Now this is from a children's book so it's a little simplistic, but the general idea is there...the offering of hospitality, honoring a saint (the red sash symbolic of martyrdom), and the candles and evergreens present in so many of these traditions of life through the winter!

Now, the holidays for me are always a little nutso, I haven't even decorated the tree yet.  But my Advent wreath is up, the candles have been burning, and I am focused on the newness of the upcoming year, the promises of my faith, and the blessings of my family and friends.  Christmas Eve is tomorrow and the beautiful thing is - once I get there, Christmas to New Years is the most calming and cleansing time of my whole year!  I have family time, time with friends, and all of it fills me with energy and peace to carry into this baby of a new year.

So if I can give all of you out there one little nugget of anything, it's this...No matter how stressful  no matter how despondent  no matter how frustrated the holidays make you...Look around for your candles.  The people that recharge you, the things that make you joyful, and the events that clear your mind.

...Nature Girl

Nature Girl vs "getting life direction"

I think this is going to be "that entry" for me.  The one that really forms what I am trying to do with this blog and with my life right now.  I have been so blessed to be at a crossroads of sorts, surrounded by people who love and support me and I feel like I am one at of those slow motion scenes in cartoons.  I've been running like mad and come to the cliff and taken that first step off the edge unknowingly.  Now it's time to see if I am Wile E.Coyote, and will fall to my doom (hopefully not); or Roadrunner and I really can "fly".

I've made the decision to Arbonne to grow my family and do what I am passionate about instead of what will just get us by.  Knowing that the road will not be easy makes this decision even bigger and the commitment even more intense. I can see how people that we ask to join us look at us like we are nuts!  The thing is, the potential for benefit and reward is SO much bigger than the downside!

Here is something for the numbers people:

When people go to work, they get paid on the hours they are there. Simple right?  What if they went to work as usual but made a few calls on lunch hour and did a presentation on the weekend (two hours tops), and maybe they met someone who though it was great.  Maybe a student who doesn't have a job, but a lot of time in between classes and a whole weekend day free to do presentations. Now that person would have their regular job and this great opportunity.  But wait, now they get paid on sharing a great product and a commission from their teammate too! When they are at work, maybe the teammate is at a presentation rocking it out! Their earning potential just increased without even trying!

The Arbonne opportunity is not FOR everyone but it can fit everyone who wants it.  People can make it whatever they need, or whatever they want! I am jazzed for this new part of my life but I can't help being a little overwhelmed.  It's kind of like Christmas for me, It's beautiful and shiny, and there is so much going on, and it's exciting and you see so many people....Honestly, it's a little hard to focus.  I tend to do all of my "Christmas" (you know - shopping, wrapping, parties, visiting, baking etc.) in the last week before Christmas..that's how long it takes me to get acclimated.

I feel like it's my week before Christmas in Arbonne - I finally get it, the light went on, I understand it, and now I'm ready to really launch out into space; arms wide, wind whipping in my hair, and belly flop into the clouds!  I think Arbonne can take me as high as I want to go, and that's the only thing I haven't decided yet.

...Nature Girl

Nature Girl vs "waste"

I know, weird title right?

I have this thing against waste.  Not the body kind, in rooms where it belongs; but litter, recyclables in trash cans, compostable material in the trash can or recycle bin, extra shipping materials, non-biodegradable or recyclable packaging.  These things just...bug me.

According to the EPA: 

In 2010, Americans generated about 250 million tons of trash and recycled and composted over 85 million tons of this material, equivalent to a 34.1 percent recycling rate (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). On average, we recycled and composted 1.51 pounds out of our individual waste generation of 4.43 pounds per person per day. 

This is a great report and you should defiantly read it.  Basically the sorting of our trash can be better.  Our municipal trash guys are doing a great job of re-sorting and reducing the amount of junk going into the landfills even after we close the lid and think we've done a great job!

It seems like in a, hopefully, evolved society like ours we should be able to reduce our impact on the globe as much as possible.  That's why I happily work in a company that is carbon neutral, and has a drive and commitment to be, and stay green.  Now I realize that I sound about as crazy as those people who prepare for the end of the world, but honestly I just like to do my part to keep my trash out of landfills.  So I donate old clothes, recycle cans, bottles, plastic and paper...oh and I have a worm bucket.

Yep, I said a worm bucket.  It's where all the food waste goes that isn't protein based.  Onion skins, tomato ends, green onion tops, asparagus bottoms, old broccoli, veg that doesn't get eaten in time, banana peels, lemon rind, coffee grounds, tea bags...I have very spoiled worms.  Good thing is, I get presents from the bucket.  Today I went to feed the worms and found that some garlic had sprouted!  Now I will have delicious home grown garlic courtesy of the worms.  One less thing on my shopping list, and one more way I'm keeping my junk out of other people's way!

...Nature Girl

Nature Girl vs the Pomegranate

I have failed myself today.

Well, If I'm honest, I failed myself a few days ago, when I tried to open a pomegranate in a white shirt.
I got this beautiful pomegranate and I thought, "these can't be that hard to eat" and I started to peel and pick at tiny bright red seeds, feeling very like Persephone.  And then I remembered the end of that myth.  The stained fingers, the six seeds, and I looked down at my nice white shirt that now looked like a murder scene...yep, fail.

It has taken me a few days, a google search and a conversation with my friend, and her daughter (my niece), to figure out how to peel one of these stubborn not-so-little fruits.  Conclusion...how on earth do you eat it?  Is this like a passion fruit, where you don't really "eat" it per se, you just use the juice?  I have all these little pods, with great color and flavor, and yet one POP! and there is a seed.  Do you eat the seed??

I think I am going to continue to enjoy pomegranates in their whole form, in decorations; their tangy yet rich flavors in juices, that others go to the trouble of producing (though if I put this on a roast...or duck...yipes). And in Arbonne's Mandarin Pomegranate line which is just sumptuous.  I also hear rumors that there is a really good pomegranate chocolate out there.  My exploration continues...

...Nature Girl

Nature Girl vs "the big C"

 I just found out a friend has cancer.

It's a strange feeling; she's a year older than me and she has a little girl.  I've known her since I was 17  years old.   We used to go and get cupcakes at this place in Laguna Beach - She's going to read this and kill me for this - they were as big as plates! We would each buy these cupcakes and go down to Main Beach (I think) and sit on the swings and talk for hours - we would eat the whole damn cupcake by ourselves!  Oh to have that metabolism again...

Life has since taken us down different paths, and we are not AS close as we once were. She is still very dear to me though and I can't help but be very shocked by this.  I am angry, and sad, and hopeful all at the same time.  If anyone is going to be a surviver and a fighter it's her.  If anyone is going to "beat cancer" it's our girl!  If anyone has the support necessary to hold them up when they need it, wherever they need it she has it.

There are so many incredible people who have survived, but so many more that we as a people have lost to this horrible disease.  Great organizations like Susan G., Don't Worry Be Happy, and so many others support research, patients and families!  Everyone knows someone...someone who has cancer, someone who knows someone who has cancer.  Go, get involved, walk in an event, donate (time, energy, money).  But most importantly - support your loved ones however they need it, Cancer is just the diagnosis - NOT the person!

... Nature Girl