life changing tips

I've had a lot of people ask me recently about how taylor and I use essential oils in our home.

I didn't even know what essential oils were until I started dating taylor!

and I'll admit, I was a 100% skeptic.

I thought it was "voodoo magic" and laughed at the people that used them.

but after taylor convinced me to try some, I slowly started to admit that they worked!

aaaand now, I am totally an oil junky.

here are my top eight "must-have-life-changing-oils"

#1. deep blue rub.

for all you athletes and gym-goers out there.

or even for those who just wake up with a sore neck ;)

this is kind of like an "icy-hot" but I promise it's 10x better.

I think almost every night, taylor or I are asking the other one for a deep-blue back massage.

it will change your life.

and for sore muscles?

it's a lifesaver.

especially with my shin-splints.

#2. serenity & balance oils

this helps with my anxiety like you wouldn't believe!

I put both oils on my feet night and morning.

I was able to wane myself off of anxiety medication, and hardly ever have panic attacks anymore.

(I was having them once a week before!)

when I feel an anxiety attack coming, I put both oils on my hands and breathe them in.

or I diffuse serenity.

two words: life changing.

I swear by this.

#3. lavender or cedarwood oil

there are some nights when I have THE worst insomnia.

I use lavender on my feet every night, and when I need a little something stronger, I use cedarwood.

#4. PAST TENSE

ohhhh my gosh.

this should maybe be my number one.

oh, I just don't know.

I love them all!

I used to be an excedrin ADDICT.

now, when I feel a headache coming on, I roll the past-tense behind my ears (and on my temples if it's really persistent).

it is a DREAM.

I have a friend who has horrible migraines and recently started using the past tense and loves it!

#5 digestzen oil

I kinda refuse to admit that I am lactose intolerant...

I love dairy soooo much.

but then, 30 mins after eating it, I'm downing gas-x, lactose pills, and pepto bismol.

 I started using digestzen about 5 months ago--it's a game changer.

two drops on my stomach, and it is almost instant relief.

I ran out about a month ago, and I literally cried (no, for real) that my bottle was empty.

#6. lemon oil

I drink lemon in my water every day.

it's tasty, and it's good for cleansing, digesting, and your skin.

plus, we clean our home with lemon!

and it's the best oil to have on hand for "sticky" stuff.

like when you peel off a sticker and it leaves that gross stuff behind?

dream-worker!

#7. lifelong vitality vitamins

THE BEST vitamins you will ever ever ever ever ever find.

I turn around and go home if I forget to take them.

I am 10x more alert, happier, and healthier when I take them!

#8. on-guard oil

the perfect anti-bacterial oil.

I diffuse this in our home 30 mins a day.

and also in my classroom.

when you feel that cold coming on? take a drop of on-guard oil and it can almost always knock it out.

it's also known as the "flu-bomb"

annnnd another great cleaning oil!

okay...I've got to stop, or I could go on forever!

if you want to know more, or how to order, comment below and I'll help you get them the cheapest way!

it is honestly so empowering to feel in charge of my health!

I've had so many questions lately, that I finally decided to open up about how we use them in our home!

(yeah, that's the little case of oils I carry with me everywhere! ha)

ALSO, if you are in the utah county area--a bunch of us girls are getting together next week so I can teach how to make cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer with oils!

you'll get to make them and take them home!

let me know if you want to come!

xoxo

random tangents plus a cello.

on friday night, taylor and I chaperoned orem's homecoming.

taylor was kind of dreading it, but by nights end, he admitted how much fun he actually had!

I think our highlights were:

+ laughing at high school awkwardness

+ one girl who wouldn't stop touching her boobs to "fix her bra" in front of the boys.

but when the boys weren't around? her bra was magically fixed. ha

+ pranking the other chaperone couple by having two of my students make-out on a bench in the "restricted section." the other couple had to awkwardly approach them and ask them to leave. it was soooo funny. high five to my students.

(disclaimer: the two students were "dating" so they were more than excited to take part in the prank. haha)

+going to in n out afterwards with the cutest date there!

I told taylor afterwards, "now, I can confuse people and say, 'I didn't know my husband during high school, but we went to high school homecoming together."

and he looked at me and said, "you're weird, kells."

I don't know why that was so funny--but I still laugh thinking about the look he gave me. haha

the other day, I realized that taylor never calls me "kelli."

he calls me "kells" or "kel" or "davis" or "pet names"

but never kelli.

I didn't even realize until the other day, when he said, "hey, kelli?"

and it was sooo weird hearing him call me by my full name.

and then I said, "I don't think I've ever realized that you never call me kelli."

and then with a wink he said, "sure I do, kells."

hahah...I kind of want to keep a tally now.

i know this whole little snippet is strange.

but...i'm just baffled: how have I never noticed this? 

anyyyways...

I promise this is the last time I will blog about my broken toe!

(maybe)

but it's finally starting to look a little better!

it's the nice black one in the middle there.

I am iiiiitching to run, but I tried a few days ago, and that was a major mistake.

and now taylor won't let me.

I think he's sick of hearing "careful of my toe!" every time we cuddle in bed. hahah

last night though, I decided to do the jillian michaels 30 day shred (I did the whole 30 days a few months ago, and I definitely recommend it!)

it gave me a little bit of cardio without putting pressure on my poor little toe.

so that helped the running itch a little.

but man, I'm going to be so super happy when that toe doesn't hurt anymore!

and, one day, I hope to be as witty as taylor.

last week in stake conference, taylor handed me his phone that said, "we should have reserved the back row of the theater."

I meant to type back, "why?"

but accidentally typed "ehy?"

too lazy to fix it, I just handed it back to him.

and of course...this ensued:

 I don't think I was very reverent in church after seeing that. haha

and how cool is he!?

he's been wanting to learn the cello for awhile, and he up and made it happen!

he's a 25 year old taking cello lessons! 

don't you love the little "finger placement" stickers on the cello?

 it makes me giddy hearing him play.
even if it's "twinkle twinkle" five million times in a row.

he's such a go getter--and helps me remember that dreams are for those that don't make things happen on their own.

and if you're wondering, I'm still taking piano lessons!

one day, taylor and I will form a little band. ha

but really.

if this guy has taught me anything, it's that you just have to make things happen--because you only live once!

so one day, I will be able to proudly say, "oh yeah, I play the piano!"

but right now...I'm still in little kid music. haha

last week was a little bit rough--it was soooo busy.

so I'm pretty excited for the monotony that this week will bring.

and for the fall weather creeping in!

aaaand that means my favorite holiday is just around the corner!
i have been planning our costumes for months!

and you better believe we will be throwing our traditional halloween bash! 

I can't wait!

xoxo

bad luck

I feel like I kind of have had bad luck this week:

I broke my toe

I shattered my iphone
(I know, I know, I think this is the 3rd iphone I've blogged about breaking. I am the WORST)

I rebroke my toe

parent teacher conferences are tonight (major ugh)

we ran out of milk last night (major problem in the gilbert household)

so I've been wearing sandals because my toe can't fit into anything else (mostly because of the pain), and today I stupidly ran into my desk chair and the same toe got hit.

and this time, when I looked down, it was at a 45 degree angle.

so that was gross.

I pushed it back into place (cried and swore) and then pouted all day over how much it hurt.

but taylor's text made me feel a little bit better:

and I am dying over the fact that I can't run right now!

If I'm still out of commission by Monday, I might actually die. ha

and parent teacher conferences are great, but also horrible because who wants to be at work for over 12 hours?

And I really didn't mean for this whole post to be full of complaints.

but it's a wednesday, and I guess that happens.

to make this a little happier, here are five things I am super grateful for:

1. a cute little apartment. I LOVE our apartment. it's perfect, and spacious, and cozy.

(and who can complain about walk-in closets and heated/jetted tubs?)

2. a husband that makes me laugh. last night we giggled in bed forever. and it was the best.

3.a job that I truly love. my students seriously own a piece of my heart. and nothing makes me happier than when old students drop in to say hi!

4. a husband that works SO hard for us! and a job that makes him smile! he works long hours some days, but he always finds a way to make me feel special.

5. mass texts with my three sisters. the funniest things ever. it's just a constant conversation, and it's so fun to be in contact with them 24/7.

I just tried to take a picture here at parent teacher conferences, but it was really awkward, so i stopped.

so instead, you get a completely unrelated picture of one of the happiest weeks this summer:

a weekend + a broken toe

remember how it's no spendtember?

it's about this time in the month that taylor and I want to break and go out to eat.

(because we have to cook 7 nights a week!--that's new for us. ha!)

...and actually, I don't really even like going out to eat.  

I could be happy doing it every other month.

but taylor lives for it.

soooo...yeah.

anyways, we save up all of our giftcards for september.

(in fact, we are still trying to make our way through a pile of wedding giftcards...3 years later. ha)

so, #1 tip to make no spendtember manageable: giftcards!

we went to cafe rio on friday and to the movies on saturday night--all for free!

we saw "If I Stay"...has anyone seen it?

don't.

it was horribly boring. 

taylor was not excited to see the movie--and I kept telling him, "ah, c'mon, I bet it will be really good!"

annnnd...no.

horrible!

thank goodness there were lots of cello scenes in the movie to keep taylor entertained (did I mention that taylor started cello lessons? haha! it's awesome!)

anyways, on saturday we went to the BYU track meet to cheer on our almost-sister-in-law in her race!

 and here is our one selfie attempt. ha
our kids better get his dimples, or I'll cry.

so yesterday, I dropped a cookie sheet on my toe.

it came down vertically and just smashed my middle toe.

I knew right away it was broken...broken real good.

taylor started laughing, but I shut that down real quick. 

gave him the "how can you be laughing right now" stare. haha

and then like 30 seconds later, I started throwing up because it hurt so bad.

so that was awesome.

and now I limp a little, and I'm really mad, because can you run on a broken toe?

it looks sooo gross and big and purple.

and it's the first time EVER that I've wished that I had a job that I could sit at a desk all day.
my toe is already throbbing and it's not even lunch!

buuut, my night was made a little bit better when our cutest new brazilian neighbors brought us cheesy rolls!

like the ones from tucanos? (the only reason I go to tucanos are for those cheesy rolls!)

and these ones were 10x better--it was amazing.

they brought us two full plates, and within five minutes, the first plate was gone.

it was embarrassing.
I told taylor, "good thing, I'm gonna run this off this week."

and he said, "are you? what about your broken toe?"

and then I remembered, pouted, and ate five more to make myself feel better. 

basically that was the highlight of the weekend.

i looove our brazilian friends!

p.s. Meet the Mormons, a feature film, is coming to your local theaters (cinemark, regal, etc) on october 10th! go see it!

it basically describes who Mormons really are, and what makes us "tick."

it will be super informative.

AND all proceeds go to charity, specifically The Red Cross.

so go learn something, and feel good that you "donated" to a charity ;)

Happy Monday!

some entertaining texts

taylor reallyyyyy sucks at texting.  

He never texts anyone back.

BUT he IS good at sending me funny pictures every day.

and his excuse for when I complain about him not answering my texts is always, "kells, a picture is worth a thousand words.  So I technically sent you SOOO many texts today!"

case in point:

ohhh the office.

we love it so.

but when he does text, he's pretty funny.

enjoy a few of these conversations:

^this one kills me. hahaha

oh, and this gem below was when taylor deposited a check and swore it never showed up in our bank account. so I went in and sat with a banker on two separate occasions to figure it out.

it was one big mystery!

and then, while sitting with the banker, I had the thought to have taylor check his business account.

and taaa-daa! he found the deposited check. hahah

so yeah.

he's pretty entertaining.

and I'm glad he's around to make my life happy.

ohhh and guess what!

I'M PREGNANT!

...according to all of my students!

hahaha

yesterday and today, I had students and even whole classes asking me, "Mrs. Gilbert, is it true!?"

"Is what true...?"

"Are you pregnant? Everyone is saying you're pregnant!!"

I kept asking why people thought that and didn't figure out the source until yesterday afternoon.

A few days ago, I told a class that I had a "doctor's appointment" this week--and OF COURSE, that means that I MUST be pregnant! 

Because the only reason a female would EVER go to the doctor is for pregnancy, of course!  hahaha

I'm so impressed how that rumor spread so quickly.

but alas, I am not pregnant!

oh little students--I love you and your cute ideas dearly!

one day i'll wake up early

taylor is so good--he wakes up every morning at 5:30 to go to the gym with his dad, and then he runs home.

and by the time he gets home, I'm still sleeping.

He comes in and offers me an omelet every morning, and that's when I finally decide I better get up.

Every night, I tell Taylor, "Hey, tomorrow morning I'm going to wake up with you at 5:30 and go to the gym with you!"

And every morning, when the alarm goes off and he asks if I am coming, I say, "Maybe tomorrow."

We've had this same series of conversation every day for the last four weeks.

this morning, when I muttered my, "Maybe tomorrow," taylor said, "You know, 5:30 isn't for everyone, kells. Maybe you should just accept that." hahaha

I think he may be right! how the heck do people get up that early!?

And so, instead I run in the afternoon--and the whole time I am running, I think, "man, I wish I had just done this in the morning!"

but I'm pretty grateful for the late nights that taylorrray runs with me, because he doesn't like me running at dark by myself.

and then I take awesome priceless pictures in preparation.

and I love how taylor and I are sometimes on the same brain-wave.

Funny how marriage does that to you.

last night, Taylor ran to the grocery store.

I wanted to do something nice for him, and so I prepared a little treat for him.

When he got home, he said, "Kells, forgive me. I broke no spendtember. But it was necessary."

And from behind his back, he pulled out beautiful flowers.

and then we laughed over the fact that we both had an "urge" to do something nice for the other person.

so he enjoyed his treats while I smelled my beautiful flowers.

I'm kinda dreading today--I've got a million appointments after work--doctors, DMV, BYU, visiting teaching. 

But hallelujah for hump day.

Oh, today in ASL, a student was trying to sign "voice" and instead signed "f*** you" to me.

It was the greatest moment. hahahah

a monday post

I feel like things have been so hectic in the gilbert household.

so many ending to-do lists--and blogging has sadly moved to the bottom.

i've been resorting to my personal journal lately.

all through middle school and high school, I was an avid journal writer.

In fact, I can count on my two hands the number of nights I missed throughout those seven years.

there has always been something therapeutic in journal writing.

then, after a certain roadblock in my life, I stopped writing suddenly--it was too painful to write in my journal (a story for another day).

I resurfaced my journal writing when taylorray walked into my life.

and since starting my blog, my journal has more become a place to record my deeply personal and spiritual thoughts; whereas my blog records our day-to-day activities.

the last few weeks, I have been pouring thoughts and feelings into my journal, with things that seem too personal and intimate to share on a blog.

I've been battling a few personal "dilemmas," and I have luckily found immense comfort in three sources:

taylorray

my journal

and a loving Father in Heaven

so while I have been a little MIA on this blog lately, I am happy to report that things seem to be coming around--as they always do. :)

aaand, on to happier things!

this weekend involved a lot of reading, messy ponytails, pantsless afternoons (wahooo for uniting in the love of hating pants!), and chess matches!

I have been on the worst losing streak with chess lately.

and I was getting soooo frustrated.

like the last three games were games that were MINE. so clearly mine!

but then somehow, I would lose

anyways, on saturday night, I FINALLY won!

it was the best feeling ever.

we are just a liiiitle competitive over in this gilbert household.

I celebrated for so long, that taylor finally whipped out his phone to snap some pictures.

I might have been just a little overboard happy about this victory. ha!

and we also joined mom and dad gilbert for part of their camping fun over the weekend!

we just joined them for saturday afternoon--I wasn't quite feeling the "sleep in a tent" deal.

especially since taylor left me friday night for his scout campout! ha

taylor was sooo happy to take out his shotgun and shoot some clay pigeons

(which, I will admit, that I definitely thought clay pigeons were a type of bird at first, and I was mortified that we were going to be shooting real live birds. just wave hi to this little california valley girl over here!)

and just look how beautiful utah is this time of year!

do you spot four little people?

and this guy's shooting skills are pretty spectacular!

I told him that it makes me feel pretty safe knowing I'll have him by my side in the event of a potential zombie apocalypse. 

and I was really super lucky, because I got to form a really intimate relationship with the dirt and rocks.

aka two full winding canyons was just a little too much for my carsick self.

so I spent a majority of the time keeled over throwing up.

luckily, the first time I threw up (when my whole lunch, plus some, came up) I was by myself. 

a quesedilla isn't so pretty in reverse!

but for the next 40 minutes, I had some awesome dry-heaving episodes.

and even a few black-out moments from throwing up so much!

so yeah, that was a lot of fun.

I think everyone was a little nervous when I said I wanted to shoot the gun, especially since I was still shaking from throwing up. haha

basically we had a pretty great little weekend!

I'm kind of dreading these next two weeks--they are packed to the brim with mostly not-so-fun stuff.

but some pretty great holidays are just around the corner.

the weather is getting a little cooler, and the leaves are changing, and...ahhh this time of year gets me at my giddiest.

OH, and go to your local library and check out "the kitchen house" RIGHT NOW.

it is sooo good.

I'm gonna curl up next to my cute reader-husband (currently rereading "the giver") and read next to him, slash also bug him with weird voices and tickling attempts.

thumbs up for making it through another monday!

hey, thanks, world.

yesterday, I realized that my liscense plate registration expired in march.

MARCH. hahah!

I freaked out and told taylor how lucky we were that we hadn't gotten a ticket!

It literally didn't even cross my mind until the reminder for taylor's car came in the mail yesterday.

so I made plans to go to the DMV right after work.

aaaaand looooo and behold.

I get out to my car today, and guess what is sitting on my windshield?

you got it.

a ticket.

a ticket that we totallyyyyy deserved--but WTH world!!

I was going to the DMV right after work ended!

what are the chance!?

needless to say, I was pretty upset.

but the irony? still can't get over it.

and this was on top of a day that was less than fantastic already.

I had two angry parent emails (accusing me of grade errors and then sending another email an hour later apologizing, because they realized it was their child's mistake, and not mine...so I guess I should be happy there was an apology letter, but it definitely set the mood for the day).

and also, a strange phone conversation with someone that left me thinking, "wait...what did I do wrong?"

anyways, so I drive down to the DMV, wait in line for 30 minutes, only to find out that I need to go to the DMV in provo, instead.

And this is absolutely no one's fault but my own (and their dumb website--I googled a million times, "how to renew my license plate registration" and couldn't find a decent answer anywhere.

...it's different in CA than in UT, so I'm blaming it on that. ;)

so I drive down to the Provo DMV, wait in line for 25 minutes to be told that my car year needs the emission check.

once again--totally my fault.  I thought my car was a 2008, so when I looked at the chart, it said I didn't need the renewal, buuut oh yeah!

my car is a 2009.

(really, this post is just about how dumb I am today...haha)

anyways, so then I drove over to jiffy lube to get the emissions check.

As I'm waiting in the lobby, Taylor called me and asked where I was.

I totally forgot that he had a scout campout tonight and was leaving at 5pm!

and I had sent him a million texts that day saying all I wanted to do was get a big hug from him to make my day better.

and now...I wouldn't even make it in time to see him!

I might have cried sitting in jiffy lube.

but then I sped home, and luckily, my sweet husband waited until 5:10 so he could give me my much needed hug.

but as soon as he hugged me, I bawled. 

I hated the fact that he was leaving in two seconds, and I was having a horrible day, and ah! I just wanted him with me.

I've also been thinking a lot today about "being offended."

I've had two anonymous comments on my blog the last two weeks that were very hurtful...and well, rude.

And last Sunday evening, I was really offended by something someone said to me.

And as much as I hope it was unintentional, it still stung.

I've been thinking a lot about the saying, "You are the one who chooses to be offended."

And as much as I wholeheartedly agree with that, I don't think that it necessarily takes away the pain of a hurtful word or comment.

and so I've been battling--what do you do when someone you love or even someone you don't know offends you?

How do you move on and not let it affect your daily attitude, self image, or relationship with the person?

As I've been circling this thought in my head, I keep coming back to three sayings:

#1. "Never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved."

#2. "What we do for ourselves dies with us.  What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal."

#3. "I can do hard things."

Love, service, and endurance.

Love the offender.

Forget yourself, and serve.

And endure--this is but a small trial in the scheme of things.

And even though the pain or hurt is real, I can do hard things--including, forgiving a hurtful comment.

(why is that sometimes so hard to do?)

This blog post was quite disconnected, but getting all of these thoughts down is exactly what I needed.

And even though I am still a little pouty over the fact that I am lonely tonight, I do feel much better.

And actually--it's kinda funny that I got that ticket today. hahah

oh world, you are something else. always throwing me curveballs to keep life entertaining.

I definitely just cooked a whole pizza for myself.

aaand, the cookie dough is ready on the counter.

and I'm going to try really hard not to think about the fact that I am terrified of sleeping in an empty house.

buuut,

happy weekend!

may all your bad days end in a whole pizza and chocolate chip cookies

(and hopefully WITH someone, and not all alone! pity party, pity party, I know ;)

xoxo

and p.s. can we all just be nice to each other?

go be nice to someone right now.

a kind of perfect labor day

yesterday was kinda perfect, in it's own relaxing way.

taylor and I pulled out our chess set (there was a time in our marriage when we were playing multiple games a day--every day.  we are a liiiitle competitive.)

we sat outside with our lemonade and the perfect weather, and played a few rounds.

aaand.

it's 2-1.

in taylor's favor. ha

the other day, I found a bunch of barnes and noble gift cards that have accumulated over the years.

so yesterday, we decided to take a trip down and get some "free" books.

taylor and I are both nerds when it comes to that store.

it is always one of our favorite date destinations.

and we walked away with some pretty good books that I'm quite excited about!

aaand, we ended the night with our very favorite friends watching bachelor in paradise.

ohhhh that show has us wrapped around its little dramatic finger.

and guess what it is?

no spendtember!

we devote september to rebalancing ourselves and forcing ourselves to take a hard look at what we are spending our money on.

(see here for last years!)

other than the regular bills, groceries, etc., not a single extra dollar is spent in september.

and we are hard core about it.

it's actually kind of fun--and REALLY eye opening!

try it with us! it's not too late to start!

plus it has a catchy name ;)

it's also a chance for us to be super creative on our dates--like going to barnes and noble and spending giftcards--no money!

orrrr chess on the back patio!

and also--I've mentioned before how I struggle with anxiety and stress.

I have finally FINALLY found a solution that takes me off of all medication.

one word: oils.

dear skeptics: I was on your side, not long ago.

until they changed my life!

if you want to know what I do for my anxiety/stress, leave a comment and I'll email you details.

it will change your life!

aaand happy tuesday!

and september!

and no spendtember!

and HIGH FIVE ME AND SEND ME GOOD VIBES FOR OUR CHESS TOURNAMENT TONIGHT.

I MUST WIN.

xoxo