Updates from Cheryl Jones

Nowadays it is the "IN" thing to do - reading food labels at the grocery store.  But what about your fresh fruit and veggies?  They don't have labels. and short of growing your own vegetables in your own home garden, you don't have a clue  So many questions really should be asked What kind of soil were they grown in?  Were there pesticides used?  What were they washed in? How were they stored?  How many hands have touched them?  The list goes on.......

While we may not be able to get answers to these questions, we can mitigate some of the damage to our bodies from the answers we don't know.  How can we mitigate what we don't know?  Here are some ideas for you.

First, almost all commercial growers use toxic pesticides of some kind on their farms. This means a couple of things for you and your body.  1) You will  end up ingesting some of this pesticide when you eat your food because the plant will have incorporated the pesticide as it grew. 2) You will end up ingesting some of the toxic chemicals that the items were washed in because plain vinegar or water will not wash all the chemicals off the produce no matter how long it sits or you scrub. And 3) there is no way of knowing what was on the hands of people who touched the produce, so it's a safe bet that water or vinegar alone will not wash off the bacteria or other grunge on the produce.

Now that the bad news is out of the way - here is your GOOD news!  There is an solution to the last 2 scenarios above. What is it you ask?  It's Thieves Fruit and Veggie wash! https://www.youngliving.com/en_us/products/thieves-fruit-veggie-soak  And for those instances when it's only a single piece and not a whole bunch - there is Thieves fruit and veggie spray! https://www.youngliving.com/en_us/products/thieves-fruit-veggie-spray-2oz  In each of the above products, you can be assured that there are no harsh chemicals.  

Here is my story.  I came home from my local grocery store with some bags of prewashed and precut veggies.  Before Young Living, I would have taken the advertising at face value and just put them away for use without rewashing or rinsing.  Because they were labeled as prewashed, right? I mean who wants or needs to rewash what you've already paid to have done?   

On a whim. I took the produce out of the bags, and put them in the sink and poured in some water and a capful (I mean a capful?) of Thieves Fruit and veggie soak.  I swirled the produce around a few times, and let it sit for a couple minutes while I put the rest of the groceries away.  I cam back to the sink and pulled out the veggies to rinse over the other section of my dual sink and put away.  

That's when I got the surprise of the week.  There was dirt, grunge and grime in my soaking side!!!!!!!  YUCK.  Honestly, the amount of yuck that came off the "prewashed" veggies almost made me gag,  Not just because I had almost not rewashed them again, but the thought that all that would have gone into my body if I hadn't.

Sometimes clueless is good, but in this case it could be dangerous to your health.  Not because of what you see, but what you don't see.  In this day and age of Covid and other microbateria/viruses, and extra wash of your produce at home is a good thing.  And it gets even better with Thieves Fruit and veggie soak or spray because of the added benefit that the blend Thieves brings to the table - by supporting your immune system.

I tried something this week that blew my mind and I wanted to share it with you.

As you know, I'm all about essential oils, but I also love to garden. But as you know, with any kind of gardening, weeds are a part of the garden.  I've been looking for a non-toxic way to kill weeds so that those toxins are taken up by the roots of the surrounding plants and into the food, or herbs I want to harvest and eat.  Until this week nothing seemed to really work.

Then BAAMM - I tried Cinnamon oil and within 24-48 hours the weeds were gone!   So now I experimented.  What would happen with less oil but something else - and it looks like the winner is Cinnamon oil and white vinegar. I used the cleaning vinegar because it's 6% or so acidity vs plain distilled at 5% - but man, it works like a charm.  

No more back breaking work spent hunched over pulling weeds, and no harm to the soil or plants.....  I will say - you do need to be careful on application.  You can't just spray willy nilly.  Spray specifically on the weeds only, and if possible aim at the root of the weed.  

I have learned a hard lesson this past weekend.  Listen to your inner still small voice!

This past weekend I drove 3 hours to go to a cousin's funeral. Even though it was just a day trip, I packed some items just in case I would need them - a change of clothes, some extra oils, etc.  In  Florida, you try to always have a change of clothes nearby because in this summer heat, you can sweat through your clothes in no time; and of course you always want to keep some extra oils with you as a precaution too - but I digress.

As I began to pack up my extra oils, I was debating which oils to bring.  If I brought all the ones along I was thinking, then I wouldn't have room for other items in my backpack.  So I picked 2 or 3 out of my bag and left the rest at home - and away I went.  And here's why I say listen to yourself.

When I arrived for the funeral, I was a few minutes late, and after driving 3 hours wanted to look and feel a little fresher than I felt after driving for 3 hours in the sun (even though I was in the a/c in the car).   Into my oil bag I went and low and behold the oil I was looking for wasn't there.  I had left it at home.  Oh well, I could do without it, and in I went.  

Even with the sun shield up in the windshield, when I got back into the car, it was stifling hot, and instantly the sweat began to bead on my upper lip and neck.  The whole way back to the family house I kept thinking, if only I had that one oil I had forgot to bring.  I was not very happy with myself at that moment.  And that's not the worst of the story!

While making the rounds of condolences to my cousins, several of them mentioned they had seen some of my online posts about essential oils.  AHA!  Now was my opening to get reconnected to my family with my passion - teaching about essential oils.  But alas, the first question out of the mouth of the first one to ask about them was about one of the oils I had thought about bringing but had left behind!  POO!  

I was still able to connect with family, give my support and condolences even without the oils - but oh what a blessing it would have been to those family members to have been able to have the oils they were interested on hand to help them through this difficult time.

Moral of the experience?  Always listen to your inner self.  There is a reason that God gives us this little nudging - it's because HE has a reason and we just need to listen to that still small voice.

I know it was kind of corny but hey it got your attention didn't it?

I have to say I've tried a lot of cleaners over my lifetime.  From the dollar store brands to the higher end expensive ones found in specialty shops.  I wouldn't say I was a connoisseur of cleaners but I've definitely tried my fair share of them over the years.

With that said, that the Thieves Household Cleaner is  the best cleaner of all of them I've ever tried.  It  has cleaned every possible surface that I have in my home and in my car.  What does that mean?  Leather upholstery, fabric, porcelain, granite, ceramic, grout, wood, painted surfaces, formica, lace, door handles, wrought iron, butcher block and probably more I can't think of at this moment.  I've used it in my kitchen, on my floors, in my laundry, in my bathroom, and everywhere in between. I'm constantly amazed at the thing I can get clean that I was sure I would have to resign myself to throwing away or living with stained.  I've cleaned pet accident stains from my rugs and floors, cleaned years of grunge from grout, food splatters on my stove and so much more.

It's not that I'm that messy (okay some of the food splatters are totally my fault) but mostly because I have been looking for different challenges to put Thieves Household cleaner to the test on. And do you want to hear the best part?  It's CHEAPER than the name brand cleaners you find in all the big box stores!   Let's go over the numbers, shall we?

Your name brand cleaners usually run about $3.49 for a 32 oz bottle.That 32 oz spray bottle lasts about 1-2 months depending on the amount of surfaces you need to spray down.  That becomes tp about $21 a year.  Just on a spray cleaner.  Now add in the cost of your floor cleaner, your glass cleaner, your oven cleaner, your granite/tile cleaner, your bathroom cleaner and all the other cleaners you have or use in your home including a stain stick for your laundry.  Not sure what your cost is because I don't know the number and names of your cleaners BUT....... I can tell you this.  I'm pretty sure that all those cleaners together add up to more that $22.50!  

That's right.  A 14.4 oz bottle of Thieves household cleaner is only $22.50.  How can that be cheaper?  Great question and so glad you asked it.  You only need a capful of cleaner for up to 32oz of water.  That means you would get about 22 of the 32 oz spray bottles of cleaner - of about $1 a bottle of all natural non-toxic no chemicals added cleaner!!!!!!  That alone is a savings because it takes the chemicals out of your house and out of your lungs when breathing in all that you spray on surfaces.  It is saving your health.  But wait - there's more!

This same $22.50 bottle of cleaner will also replace all those other cleaners that we mentioned - your glass cleaner, your floor cleaner, etc.  All of a sudden that $22.50 bottle of cleaner doesn't sound so expensive now does it?  

How long does it last?  Another really great question.  My bottle of cleaner - after making up my spray bottles of cleaner for my 2 bathrooms, my kitchen, and general purpose cleaning each month, AND cleaning 1500 sqf of tile floor every weekend, has lasted me almost 4 months and I still have some in the bottle.  Now for those of you that must have your "pine fresh scent" or your "lemon fresh scent" to feel like it's really clean.  You can!  Just a couple of drops of pine or lemon (or both) essential oil in with your cleaner - and VOILA!   Now back to the savings.....

So as of today, the Thieves household cleaner has only cost me $5.65 a month to replace the almost $15/m I was using in cleaners, and the savings keep adding up because I will probably get another 2 more months out of this bottle.  That would mean, to I've replaced every cleaner in my house (and my house stays as clean or cleaner than before) PLUS I don't have harsh toxic chemicals to worry about with my pups - all for $3.75 a month.   That is a savings of over $144 a year for me just in cleaning supplies.  Not to mention the number of doctor visits for respiratory issues that I ,may have had because of the toxic fumes I would have been breathing in daily....

I may be wrong, but I don't think so, when I say that people do not necessarily realize how dangerous many of the chemicals are that allowed in our household cleaners actually are. Many of these chemicals are banned in other countries but not here in the US.  Just another reason to fall in love with an all natural product that can do the same job (and in my opinion better) than these chemical cleaners.

Save your money, save your health!