Ten Fantastic Things You Might Not Know About Young Living

I have not posted anything on here in quite a while, trying to puzzle out how to meld family fun, life thoughts, and my love of Young Living and my work with my team. We've exploded in the last 2 years to a 700-person team, my White Knight has retired from the Air Force and now works on a special project for our church, (there is a blog coming for that too, YAY!), two new babies born (pics and story to come), my oldest boy turns 18 this year and is 6'3" and 200 lbs and really looks like a ... man. The others are 15, 12, 8, 6, 3, and 1... but for right now, I'm going to start out with ten things that truly great about Young Living - these are things that have really rocked my world to learn about the company I have aligned myself with, and the more I see, the more impressed I am. So join me as I renew my commitment to blogging, and as I renew my commitment to open my doors and share my family with  you all. Family pictures and stories will come - this is one I wrote about 2 years ago but still holds true today, so it is a good place to start. 

1. When Gary Young says his goal is "oils in every home" he means it! 

Each corporate employee is given a $150 product credit to use each month in order to purchase essential oils and oil-infused products. This makes happier employees, and allows them to fall in love with essential oils too so they also can be a "product of the product."

2. Young Living Essential Oils Corporate walks the talk when it comes to giving to others Young Living Corporate pays 100% of the administrative costs for the D. Gary Young/Young Living Foundation. 

This allows every penny, nickel, and dime donated by distributors and friends to be put to the various projects and needs supported by the Foundation. Not one dime of distributor-donated funds is put towards covering admin or paperwork needs.

3. Young Living Essential Oils walks the talk when it comes to making care calls and supporting "Team YL". 

Silver and above leaders are assigned to regional leadership liaisons. Many of these liaisons make monthly, or even twice-monthly care- and follow-up calls to assigned leader-members to check in on them, see if they can be of service, and be helpful in general. This fosters a company-wide, top-down environment of responsible leadership, and fulfills the Policy and Procedure mandate to support our downline members.

4. Young Living goes green - even when you're not looking! 

The used raw material remaining after distillation is complete for a particular oil is put into compost bins in order to provide fertile and ready soil for future crops. Young Living is truly dedicated to keeping our essential oils and products as clean and beyond-organic as possible.

5. Young Living Diamond Leaders are truly DIAMOND leaders! 

In 2014, Young Living growth and expansion was so fast that corporate had trouble keeping up!! This meant long wait times when calling customer service for help, and shipping was backed up by several weeks! This was NOT the culture Young Living set up, and our leaders rose to the occasion! A number of diamond leaders (whose names I have not yet discovered :) stepped up to the plate, went to the corporate call centers to take over while call-center-employees headed over to help out in the shipping warehouses. Talk about servant leadership and setting the example! No job is to low for our leaders to take an active role and encourage downline members!

6. Explosive growth meant Young Living Corporate offices expanded from one to FOUR office buildings in fewer than five years! 

These buildings were not all that Young Living expanded in order to keep up with demand! They also built at least two new packing and shipping warehouses and hired additional staff. And demand continues to rise!

7. Young Living is the only company that can show you the lay of the land. 

No other essential oil company in the United States owns any of it's own farms. Yet Young Living members and the general public can visit Young Living-owned farms for farm-days, family events, Young Living-sponsored leadership events, and more each year! You can get your hands into the soil, take a tour, enjoy special festivities, and ask questions in any of the nine company-owned farms around the world, and better still: Corporate encourages you to go!!

8. Young Living is the only company with 30-years' training and knowledge. 

Gary Young began exploring alternative and holistic options more than 30 years ago. Young Living as a company has been in business for 21 years, as of 2015. No other company can talk about being in business for more than twenty years, much less having training going further back than that! This experience matters, as you will see!

9. Young Living puts that 21-years of business to good use. 

No other company can offer distributors and retail customers more than 300 essential oils, blends and oil-infused products to use for whole-body health and balance. This is on top of the generous compensation plan.

10. Young Living corporate never makes comparison to other companies - and has set the bar for company expectation. 

Not only does Young Living not make comparison to being "like" any other company out there (the folks with the most to show for their work, don't need to brag about it), but it is written in company policy and procedures that members are not to speak poorly of, or "bash", other companies or their distributors. The culture and moral values of a company's top leaders trickles down in many ways. This way of behaving sets a tone company-wide for how everyone is expected to act towards other groups.

 

What would YOU add to this list? Some additions from commenting helpers... 

11. Young Living's Seed to Seal guarantee counts for a lot more than you might think! 

When Young Living says our oils are "Therapeutic grade", what exactly does that mean? It does not mean that our oils are "certified" anywhere or by any organization. There are no such distinctions, as yet, in the essential oil universe. However, it does try to give an easy way to sum up Young Living's Seed to Seal Promise. Young Livings maintains strict quality controls of every phase of the essential oil process, from before the seed goes into the ground, until the oil is in the bottle ready to be shipped to your door! Make sure you check out www.seedtoseal.com to see the whole process!

12. Even more quality control goes on behind the scenes!

Young Living sends random samples out for third-party testing to further insure purity and a top-notch product arrives on the Brown Van when delivered.

13. Young Living's ratings are top notch. Young Living has an "A+" rating on the Better Business Bureau. 

As the BBB website states: "A BBB Accredited Business since 7/15/2015 BBB has determined that Young Living Essential Oils, LC meets BBB accreditation standards, which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints. BBB Accredited Businesses pay a fee for accreditation review/monitoring and for support of BBB services to the public." While this does not mean that problems never occur, it does give a decent indication that Young Living has made every effort to resolve the complaints and issues that arise in a timely manner. That's top-notch customer service - and that's Young Living.

14. More top-notchery... Young Living is also an accepted member of the Direct Sales Association (DSA). 

The DSA website says this: "One of the hallmarks of our Code of Ethics is that it is enforced by an independent administrator empowered by DSA members to resolve issues. The Code Administrator can impose a variety of remedies in the event of a Code violation including calling for refunds, ordering a mandatory repurchase of inventory or other measures as needed. When media reports or other sources make the Administrator aware of allegations that could be Code violations, the Administrator may conduct an investigation into the practices of our members and suggest how issues may be resolved." Young Living has agreed to abide by these standards and the DSA code of ethics.

Three poems by Chef

Running Slow

I'll stop to smell the flowers sweet,
You'll run to not be late.
And I'll arrive at half-past-nine…
You arrived at eight.

An you will get the raise in pay,
And I will not;
But you will never slow,
And I will know the joys of life,
The beauty of the snow.

The softness of the moss
Or the swell smell of the rose.
And because you get the money,
I'll know things you'll never know.

Holy Friday, Orthodox Easter (Pascha) and Blessings

Perhaps you have seen this blog post by Rita Wilson (actress in her own right, Greek Orthodox and Tom Hanks' wife). It compares some of the differences between Eastern Orthodox Pascha and Easter as celebrated by western churches. I'll leave it to her to explain some of the differences and let you read her blog post there. 

For me, the weekend really begins the week before: Holy Week. It is about more than just Pascha and Christ rising from the Dead. Sort of. It is about the whole process moving from Christ in the Garden to being on the Cross. And we commemorate those events in various ways throughout the process of Lent. 

Last night was Holy Thursday. We read the story of Christ going to the garden to pray, His arrest, and all the way through to the tomb being empty, from each of the four Gospel accounts told of the story - so 12 gospel readings in all; many churches read them in a very dark room, while you kneel. 

Holy Friday, the service starts out by commemorating Christ in the tomb. We sing the Noble Joseph, at the beginning and it really is just a beautiful and moving song. 

 


This is not our church, nor even my favorite rendering of the song, but does give a pretty good view of what the service looks like for many churches. 

Book Review: Rejection Proof

As kids, we face rejection on a daily basis - every time we ask our parents for something that we know is going to be turned down, we are taking a risk. By the time we move into adulthood, we have repeated that course of action millions of times, moving away from our "safe place" of rejection (our families) and out into the wider world of friends, teachers, and strangers. As adults, many of us have experienced that "no" so many times that instead of being inoculated to hearing a negative answer to our requests, we are paralyzed to even ask any more.

A man named Jia Jang took this paralyzing fear by the horns when he found himself living a successful life, by society's standards, but miserable because he was not living up to his personal dreams and expectations. He started on a quest to get rejected 100 times in 100 days. The idea involved making requests in varying levels of outlandishness, and getting rejected. His requests ranged from asking a stranger for $100, to asking to slide down a pole at a fire station, to getting a free room at a hotel, being the worst salesman ever, and so on. Through the course of this project, he refined his technique and received better and better results at getting to "yes".

Opening up to the ultimate rejection: 

Saying Good Bye

This weekend I lost my first parent. I have been so blessed to make it 38 years before having this happen. I knew it would come eventually. It had to. We're on a path to death from the moment we are conceived. But… this was not expected. And what do you say when it comes to pass? 

Taken before the birth of the two great-grands, and three additional grands… This is family. This is love.

I am the "lucky" one. Of six children, I am the only one who lives more than about a four hour drive from my parents. So I have not been as close to the final days and hard moment-by-moment events. And I am the "unlucky" one too. Now that he is gone, I am hearing more and more about how many of my brothers and my sister went to sit and chat with him regularly; some of the even went daily. The grandkids, and new great-grands who were brought around, and how much they were loved. 

Recipe Day! Lemon Crepes with What??

Lemon Crepes with Lemongrass-Lemon Cream Cheese Filling and NingXia Red Drizzle

A friend of mine created this amazing-looking recipe and shared it on her Essentially Pampered FaceBook Page today. You really should check it out for more Yummy, oil-infused recipes! She plans to set up a blog soon too, but until she does, FaceBook is where it's at!

Enjoy! (I'm drooling here!)

Psssttt!! Head over to my shared Three Friends Fitness Blog to see the recipe itself, along with important notes about the essential oils used! Doesn't that look SOOOO good?? I can''t wait to make them myself!

Understanding and Asking Forgiveness

As children, we're never fully aware of the pressures the adults in our lives are facing. This is as it should be - our homes should be a safe haven, a place of trust, love and communion. The adults may not always act or react "just so", but often work to shield their kids and do their best to improve on what their parents did.

As a child, it is rare to consider who your parents were "before."

Steeling Myself for Life's Transitions

I did not go to church today. It is not often that I miss Liturgy and those times (you know the ones) where you wake up and just. Don't. Feel. Like. Going. - I usually still go because it is the right thing to do. And I am always glad I did.

One of my favorite of the Skeptic's icons
St. Patrick

NingXia Red - a supplement every BODY could use!

I've finally finished a NingXia Red post over on the Three Friends Fitness blog I share with two of my nearest and dearest friends. They are more into the running scene than I am and so I stick with posts about food choices, essential oils, and other such wacky crunchy topics. I hope you'll head over, get some running love in there, get some longer-winded posts by me (you know I can't keep it short, no matter how much I try), and leave a note to show us that you dropped in!

I have a pretty Crunchy Life. There are degrees of crunchy and holistic, and my latest forays into the Crunchy world involve the supplement side of Young Living Essential Oils.I've been using Essential Oils for about 3 years now, and have stayed away from the supplements because I just don't. do. vitamins. But in 2014, the Crunchy Skeptic (AKA: my husband), was training for his first full marathon - the Air Force Marathon. Now, as you've seen with other posts done by me, I am not the runner of our trio. I leave all that to Slick and Spinster Beth, but the Crunchy Skeptic is on board with it. He needed something that wasn't chock full of all of the chemicals to train for the long endurance runs that a marathon requires. He tried several energy drinks on the market and found they all either tasted awful, were full of sugar and additives, or just didn't work for his needs.  So he asked me to see if there was something that Young Living might have to help. Enter NingXia Red and NingXia Nitro.

Click here to find out what NingXia Red is, why it works the way it does, and what happened to the Crunchy Skeptic on his first-ever marathon!

Stories from a Budding Writer: The Bear and the Bee

A note from the author: The yellow highlight is because it's the bee speaking and since bees make honey, their speech should be yellow. 

Enjoy!

Checking In - Big Changes Coming

I have been really really busy since Maestro's birthday - clearly - since I have not posted here about any of the other birthdays, any of the holiday events, none of my regular holiday reposts….

I don't mean to be quiet. I don't mean to be so busy, but life has been in the way!

One of the things coming up on the blog-go here is a series on Young Living Supplements.

I was doing these classes online through FaceBook, but I need to move them here so they're accessible to my team and to others who use Young Living and so I don't have to spend that time teaching the classes, and can instead be writing new ones, traveling to see and support my growing team, and travel to some of the free trips I've earned so far. It's going to be a busy year for all that!

So here is the quick update:

Maestro is 15 now. 6'1" tall, 180+ lbs, and really involved in gymnastics,
Chef is 12, nearly 13, 5'5"-ish, nearing 100 lbs, and loves doing long runs - the 5 and 10ks

Bruiser is 10, 5'2"-ish, around 85 lbs, and looking forward to getting back into baseball soon
Buttercup is 6, just lost her first TWO teeth, is sparky and spunky and ready to go
Mr. Magoo… the boy with the oh-so-expressive face, will be FOUR in April and is learning to count and to be one of the big kids,
and Marble-the-baby is 1, ONE!! and walking, four teeth in the front, two up, two down and climbing, running, following the big dogs,

and can someone please tell me: Where did my babies go???

The White Knight has decided that it is time to retire after 20 years 

and work from home on unfinished projects, and spend time doing what most dads never have the opportunity to do: spend time with, and really get to know his children before they start leaving home on bigger pursuits. And I'm ready for him to be home. June is the day. SOOO much to do in the meantime. 

Before that fateful June day, we have to find a place to move to, get moved, I have my regional and nation-wide trips to make, because the check I make will be what we live on (We'll be ready. I've found that Network Marketing really isn't a "pyramid Scheme" but in fact can create a viable, livable income) So for a little while, you'll see more Young Living/Essential Oil/Supplement/Health stuff on here mixed in with the family stuff and "deep thoughts." I'm so excited about the 2015 changes it isn't even funny. 

I'm so glad you're here with me. Whether you are friends and family or Young Living Oily friends, you'll see the family, recipes, homeschooling stuff alongside the essential oil, health, supplement stuff. See you next time!

I made Pina Colada muffins just this morning - so YUM and the recipe will come soon. 

Thankful - and Contemplative - Maestro is 15

2013 - with a Flat Stanley

Last week my oldest boy - the one who is now taller than I am at 6'1", who wears his Pop's clothing size, chooses his own music, many of his movies, friends and fashion - turned 15. 

SchoolHouse Review Crew: Out of the Box Games

I have been a huge fan of Out of the Box Games since The White Knight was in Iraq in 2007.

They donated to our boxes for deployed troops, they were a fantastic way to have games for in the car, and a way for me to get some non-screen board game time in with the kids in as few as ten minutes! Well, this most recent review opportunity for the Snake Oil - Party Potion game had me pretty excited as a result.

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Clued In Kids

What parent would turn down the chance to keep a whole group of kids happily and easily engaged and occupied for a half hour? You know you wouldn't - and neither did I! I was glad to have the chance to review Clued in Kids for the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

I was given two hunts to try out - Playdate Treasure Hunt Pad was the first one we did. To be honest, life has been pretty hectic here lately so I held it for a while and didn't do anything with it because I didn't feel like I would have time to set it up and give it a fair shake. How wrong I was!!

Love and Logic Parenting - a Little Experiment

Our house has been a little "chaotic" lately for many reasons. One of those is that we have six children at different stages of development. Second to this is parents who would like to stop yelling, and still see the chores and helpful siblings happening.

I started doing a bit of research and stumbled upon this video:

Love & Logic Parenting, How to Get Kids to Listen

I wish they had it set up so I could embed it, but they don't. So please head over there and listen and then come back to see the results of our first shot.

The Challenge:

Yesterday, I asked each of my oldest three boys to do one less-often-done chore. One had a bathroom to clean that hadn't been touched in quite some time; a second had some sawdust to vacuum up in a particular area of the house; a third had the refrigerator to empty and wipe down. I asked them anywhere between 10 a.m. and noon, and told them I needed it done by bedtime, or by dinner, depending on the child because two of them had scouts last night, so their evening was somewhat cut short. This was not an unexpected event though, so I knew they were each capable of the job assigned in the time given.

Then - as the video says - I waited. I gritted my teeth and did not offer reminders when they went outside to play at 2 p.m. I gritted my teeth when I left to take them to scouts and the other son was watching a movie on Netflix. Wait. Wait. Wait.

When I left for the scout meeting, I told 5-year-old Buttercup that she had until I returned home to get her room straight or we would have to do it together when I returned and she would miss part of the movie. Then I kissed all good-bye and walked out with those who needed to go.

The Results:

I returned from scouts about 30 minutes later. Buttercup was exactly where she had been when I left. Oops. "I'm so sorry that you didn't do your room. Now you have to miss some of the movie to get it done with me. Let's go take care of it."

Without any screaming, yelling, hollering, and minimal complaining, we went upstairs and she was even relatively enthusiastic about getting it done and was proud of the job she had done. She even did not complain about missing the movie time! (Color me surprised!)

Still I waited on the boys. (Whew! That was hard.)

At bedtime, the boys wanted to all sleep in Maestro's room. Good night, boys. Good night, Moon. Good night, All. Prayers and bed. Curtains down on act 2. 

I did a few quiet night time things for myself. Had a piece of chocolate that my lovely White Knight brought me. He confessed at one point that he had seen how they left their rooms and the kitchen after dinner and almost yelled, but then remembered what we were doing and stopped himself.  

To be fair to Maestro, he did g back down and straightened the kitchen before heading upstairs to sleep. I almost felt bad about waking him. Almost.

1 a.m.

I went nicely, sympathetically, into the room where all three boys slept so soundly. I turned on the light. I spoke gently, with increasing volume about what a shame it was I had to wake them. How sorry I was it had to happen this way but I just couldn't rest knowing that those three jobs were still messy.

But we're sleeping! Can't we do it in the morning??

No. No, I'm sorry. I just can't rest knowing that those are still messy. Come on. It won't take too long and then we can all get our rest.

But once I'm up I can't go right back to sleep. It takes around an hour or more!

I know. I really do. But we'll just get this done and be right back up.

Down the four of us trooped in the dark house to do the three chores when the distractions of friends and TV were not such an issue. Their feathers were clearly ruffled, and I was working hard to stifle my gleeful and evil cackles as I watched them work. Oh the joy of seeing the jobs get finished without fighting, yelling, arguing! Oh the fun of watching them not bicker with each other or complain about why do I have to do this job. Amazing how much "complaint energy" just doesn't exist when they are so tired and want to "get'r done" and get back to bed!

Thirty minutes later, the jobs that would have taken hours to finish with all the daytime bickering, were done, and my precious Cherubs were back in bed, asleep. Soundly, all three. And (surprise to me!) they were even fairly pleasant getting up the next morning at the regular time.

Will we try this method in other areas and learn more from Love and Logic Parenting?

Yes. Yes, I think we will....

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Let the fun begin!!

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Fortuigence Persuasive Essay Writing

In our last church in Maryland we had a more experienced homeschooling father who mentioned once that a weakness he had seen in homeschooled children was an ability to write well. I must admit that writing is a less-observed area in our home program as well. So I frequently request to do reviews of writing programs to try out when The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew offers them. This time, I had the benefit of trying out Fortuigence's Essay Rock Star Persuasive Essay Writing Course.
From the "at home" perspective, the temptation is to think, I never write 'book reports' as an adult, so why would I need to make my kid learn to write one in school? The ability to write well is one that we use frequently as adults though, and many of us could do a little better, especially in the days of technology, social media, texting, abbreviations, and so on. Maestro is in high school now and this is definitely a box we want to make sure gets extra emphasis for a while until we pass the "I hate writing" stage and move into at least grudging acceptance.

Schoolhouse Review Crew: IEW Fix It Grammar

For the first time in our homeschooling lives, our family had to do standardized tests this year. We decided to use the results as a way to determine weak spots in the boys and to guide us in our teaching efforts this year. Each of them were weak in grammar and rules of writing, so the chance to review Institute for Excellence in Writing Fix It! Grammar - The Nose Tree (book 1) teacher's manual  and the companion student book was an excellent way to begin our September schedule. 

This program had a lot of positives to start with. First, it comes from a company that is known for its excellent programs in the finer points of writing. The books are spiral-bound, so they lay flat while the kids are working, and the lessons are designed to take only fifteen minutes a day! Now, we used these first-level books for each of our oldest four children - ages 14 down to 5. They are geared towards grades 3-5. 

First 10k and Marathon!

I am so excited and thrilled for The White Knight and Chef! Last week we traveled to Ohio so they could run in the Air Force Marathon. Chef did his first 10k (finish time: 1:07), and TWK finished the full in 5:22 - that is an average pace time of 11-12 minutes! I am so impressed and happy for them both.

Maestro was going to run as well, but that was a Mom Fail. I had his race time and date wrong (his was the day before everyone else) and so we missed it because we were still driving out there.

At the starting line

The trip out we stopped briefly in Baltimore for a friend's retirement ceremony, and then had a sleep over night and a bit of walk around in Pittsburgh - but that is for another blog post. A little later on, I'll also do more update and put the whole marathon story, what essential oils were used (you know we used them!) on my Three Friends Fitness blog. This post is all about my two Guys sticking it out and pushing through to levels they had not reached before now. 

Way to go, Guys!

About 2 hours after Chef finished,
and 30 minutes after TWK

Schoolhouse Review Crew: 7-Minute Life Daily Planner

It has been a running theme on the blog that I need to get organized and get my time in order. I had the chance to try out The 7 Minute Life Daily Planner for a review and get to put my thoughts here. This 266-page planner is published by published by The 7 Minute Life, and offers access to additional online tools and printables as well.  Let's dive right in, shall we? One of the things this book does at the beginning is to walk the user through a series of exercises designed to clear the mind of clutter, prioritize life goals/plans and desires, and create workable steps to achieve them. I wrote my feelings at the time on a blank page in the beginning of the book so that over time I would have a measure of my journey using this program. It starts out, "I feel frustrated at my own inability/unwillingness to get it all together. I am excited by and proud of a few things ... but my own failings with respect to keeping the rules set, keeping my papers and things organized and the examples I show my kids are pretty bad and very frustrating." I then listed out things that I feel pressured by, and went to work on the steps outlined in the book. 

Meditation Monday: What Drives You?

The kids were watching a Veggie Tales movie yesterday and I remembered - vaguely - seeing an interview done with the creator some time back. So I looked up the interview, out of curiosity, and found some things in the interview that resonated with me with regard to my business and the way I run things. It also resonates with how I live my life, and why we do things in our home the way we do.

These quotes come from the linked article if you want to read the whole thing.

... the question I ignored was, "How did God wire me?" Because He didn't necessarily call me to see how big an organization I could build.