Happy New Year!!

I LOVE New Years. Love it.  The craziness of the holidays is past and things are wide open. I know many people see new years goals as a silly thing, but I like to make them and I really do strive to keep them.

We had a crazy year. For realz. We moved to Hawaii, after all. That's crazy for anyone, right!? I will remember 2014 as the year we moved to Hawaii and the year I started my business. I asked the kids what their favorite thing about 2014 was and they all said, "staying at the Hale Koa." Ha! I guess if you have to live in a hotel for five weeks, it better be on Waikiki, amiright? I bonded with my kids in a new way during that time. Casey started work immediately when we got here and the kids and I tooled around town, hit the beach, started Geocaching, walked until our legs were about to collapse and got to know each other in whole new ways, thanks to the absence of our household goods. It was a sweet time for us!

One thing I'm pretty proud of accomplishing last year is a renewed love for playing piano! I played for many years when I was young, but put it aside when I started playing the sax in band in high school and college. Last year in Virginia, I was bored and isolated and a little depressed and I pulled out some books, ordered a couple new ones and started practicing. It has morphed into something I love to do daily and I can really see a lot of improvement! I ordered a Chopin book last year and immediately put it away, it looked so hard. But in recent weeks, I've picked it up again and am able to play a couple of his pieces pretty well with practice!  I recently ordered the piano music from Pride and Prejudice (the Keira Knightly version) and it is beautiful and so fun to learn. I've been loving listening to piano music too. My favorite person to watch play on YouTube is LangLang. Enjoy:



And now, oil! Oh, my goodness, I can't even believe what is happening with my essential oil business. I have surprised myself in SO many ways. I never thought of myself as the kind of person who could do this kind of thing. But, I believe in the product and once that happens, it's impossible not to want to share that with others. Also, I have been so blessedly surprised by what God is doing in my heart towards people. My social circle has been a largely Christian bubble for years and while I don't regret that because that's what God had for me for that season, it was starting to bother me and I was praying about it. I was also praying about how to model to my kids an entrepreneurial spirit. This was God's answer to those prayers! More people have landed on my doorstep than I ever could have dreamed possible and many of them are prayers projects, put into my life by the Lord and I am so thankful and watching in wonderment what He has in store next.

Which leads me to needing your help! I have a business goal of giving out 100 samples in the month of January. That's a LOT!! So if you've been curious about essential oils or if there's something you've been dying to try or an ailment you've been seeking relief for, let me know and I'll get some oils into your hands ASAP. Shipping's on me! You can email me at penelopey4(at)yahoo(dot)com. 

Moving on, super long post, I know. 

I do have a few goals for the New Year, some great business goals, we have some financial goals, some travel plans and I have some homeschool hopes. I think my only firm "resolution" for now is to read 12 good chapter books out loud to my kids. I think The Miraculous Journey of Edward Trulane will be first! Leave me your faves in the comments and I'll check them out! 

And I think we should go to the beach more. That shouldn't be hard ;)