UNIQUELY U

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson - American essayist, lecturer, and poet (1803-1882)

You are uniquely you and God doesn't create anything less than incredible!  Be proud of who you are in this space of time.  Search deeply within yourself for that remarkable inner strength that your Creator has graciously provided you.  You have gotten used to what you know and to what you can do.  Remember, though, that you can experience SO much more!  Look at yourself with a fresh, objective set of eyes, and you’ll see plenty of amazing ways you contribute to the world around you.  You are what makes this world a magical place!  

Sending you uber loads of Light and Laughter!

~Cassie

Love me some cuddles from my snuggle-bug :O)

Some goofy fun with my little bit :O)

DON'T MISS IT!

Don't miss your opportunities to say "I love you" to those who matter most

:O)

{PARENTING} DOING LIFE WITH YOUR LITTLE ONE(S)

 

{Artwork by my favorite artist: Katie Daisy}

The other day I saw in passing a picture, or sign, or status, something, that mentioned a line about "do life with your children" and it's  been in my head ever since.  I tried to track down where I saw that, but couldn't.  It's been rolling around in my mind the past few days and my thoughts have been similar to: "Do life with your kids?  Isn't that what a parent does from the time their child emerges into their world?"  I mean, we're responsible for them and we're with them most of the time if they aren't in school.  Every.  Day.  

So, through my days of musing, I've started to develop bionic ears becoming super attentive to what Nickels has been sharing with me.  I've become super sensitive to how I'm speaking to her and ultra aware of the quality of time we have together.  Mentally picking apart the times I get short with her and sound snippy and other times where I might not be fully listening and then snap back to reality when I realize she's saying, "Mama...Mama...," over and over again to get my attention.  It's easier to get caught up in over analyzing where I'm lacking as a parent than to see all the love I'm pouring over her and the good I'm instilling in her.  

Last night, since it was chilly outside, I decided we were going to get a fire going and do her homework together by the fire.  When we were almost done with her homework that's when it dawned on me: "This is doing life with my little one!"  It's moments like this that define "do life with your children" to me.  It's moments like this that will build her trust in me and create in her a desire to be close throughout life.  It's moments like this that will make her want to go grab a coffee with me and share with me what is going on in her world.  It's as simple as that.  Creating a warm fire (a favorite of the Librizzi Girls) and making a pallet on the floor and getting cozy together in front of it.  (AND we got her homework done at the same time!  #winning )  :O)

{Our pallet by the fire last night, doing her homework together}

Keep things simple.  Relax some and enjoy the journey with your little one(s).  You always have control of simplifying as you move ahead on your journey.  Don't beat yourself up and over analyze how you do things, or what you don't do, or what you say or don't say.  Breathe with a sigh of relief that you can keep things simple...it's your face time, your loving words, and cuddles that mean the most to your little ones in their young years.  Simple.  Flying a kite, reading a book, painting a pumpkin, sitting by a fire, coloring, etc.     

Turn a new leaf and step forward with a simpler, fresh perspective.  It'll make both you and your little one(s) smile  :O)

{The day we flew a kite together.  I love her smile}

Sending out lots of Light and Laughter,

~Cassie

PUMPKIN HUNTING & SEEDS ROASTING

My two favorite loves + good food + some creative time = recipe of a perfect time together.  Several weeks ago we went to Ruibal’s at the Downtown Dallas Farmers Market and picked up a few pumpkins to hack away on.  Oh boy was that fun!  We picked out a large, medium, and small pumpkin; different ones to represent each of us.  When checking out, we grabbed a pumpkin carving kit to aid us in our adventure.  The key to carving a phenomenal pumpkin is the pumpkin carving kit.  Truly, it worked like a dream! 

It was so nice to be outside soaking up the nice weather and fall colors.  After picking out the perfect pumpkins we had a nice dinner on a patio while the sun slipped away to slumber.  Once our tummies were singing from being nourished, we headed to my condo to start de-gutting our pumpkins.  Sounds morbid, but it was so much fun!  After clearing out the insides, I separated the seeds and roasted them in the oven, like this:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

What you need: 

Fresh pumpkin seeds

Olive oil or coconut oil (I used a little of each)

Sea Salt

Pepper

Cumin

Thyme

Rosemary
Garlic and Herb mix (salt free) from Sprouts

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the pumpkin seeds on a foiled cookie sheet.  Coat them with olive oil and/or coconut oil, mixing them together to distribute the oil evenly.  Then sprinkle on the above herbs/spices to your taste.  Some of you might like more of certain spices and less of others.  Gauge it by what you know you like best.  OR, you can just do small pinches of each one.  Mix them all up together to distribute the seasonings evenly then place them in the oven for about 40 minutes.  If you want them toastier just keep them in a little longer and keep an eye on them. 

They are uber yummy, so enjoy!

Our pumpkins turned out uber fantastical too!! :O)

Sending you lots of Light & Laughter!

~Cassie

#SPEAKLIFE

People speak in one of two ways, they either speak life or they speak death.  Consider what sounds best to your own ears; is it going to get better or is it going to get worse?  Its a quick and easy response for most peeps: most would rather hear someone speaking that it is getting better!  #speakinglife!

Speaking life means to be claiming good things to and for people, and over you as well!  Here are some examples of words of love that speak life into people: words that edify, build up, increase, words of expansion, and multiplication, magnification, words of encouragement, and abundance!   Get ready you guys (and gals)!  Manifestations of uber superbness are getting ready to chase you down and overtake you!  You are uber blessed and highly favored, Gods favor gives you the biggest advantage, you are protected from all sides, breakthroughs are coming, AND you will be a blessing to each person around you, you have the power to make wealth and are being healed from the inside out in this very moment!  Receive that?  I sure hope so!   

There might be some who are a bit hesitant and think me a goon at this point to accept the declarations above.  So let’s connect the words of love that I am speaking about with the words of God.  After all, He IS love and is always speaking life over us  :O) 

My father used to always tell me (in my stubborn days) about a scripture that says it’s the little foxes that spoil the vine.  It's finally clicking in my head why he was sharing that.  Read Song of Solomon 2:15;  Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!  Clear out your home of those things that could bring you and your loved ones down, remove negative statements from your speech.  You don't want your love compromised!  The words that you speak are where it all starts.  James 3:10-11 says; And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.  Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!  Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?  You can't have both positive and negative statements coming out of your mouth and it not confuse your inner peace (and those around you).  Choose words that bring more peace to your heart and into your home.

 More times than not, we need to check ourselves before we open up our mouths and let our emotions do the talking for us (especially us ladies, we tend to wear our emotions on our sleeve and it ends up nipping us in the bottom).  We need to think before we speak.  (side note: I'm not preaching to the choir on this, I'm having a heart-to-heart with myself about it and just sharing what I'm learning :O)  We need to come to a place in our thoughts and in our soul that rejects the words of comparison, the words of lack, the words of deficiency, the words of absence, and the words of unworthiness in our lives.  We need to reject the negative words spoken over us, and reject the negative words that we often speak about ourselves, our situations, and to other people.  We also need to be cognizant of those negative trails for our loved ones; sometimes our loved ones need a little course correction.  Let's be their little helpers by letting them know (lovingly) how they are talking about themselves and/or their situations, at the same time showing them how they should be speaking life.  

Have you thought about what could happen if you were speaking life over your relationships and/or situations?  If you haven't, then take a moment to do so:  Speaking life over your significant other, and over yourself?  Over your family, and your children?  Those words of love and adoration are life giving water.  All emotions are altered, attitudes are changed, joy increases and love fills the air!  Why speak discouragement and defeat over the people you love and yourself, when you can be speaking words of hope and love?!

Far too often people begin with believing for the lesser, and then hope they see the greater someday.  We can have stronger love and greater peace within our hearts and in our homes.  We have the power to alter that in our lives and for those we love by changing our speech!  All that you need is already within you; you are going to make it, you are going to rise up, you are going to overcome, you have greater ability than you may have previously thought, possibilities are limitless for you, nothing can stop you from obtaining the life that God says is yours!

Take a moment and check within yourself, do you sense anything within you that has changed?  It's the speaking of life over you that has just impacted your attitude.  You already have a better outlook right now than you did when you started reading this little love note!  You look as good as your outlook, mind to take some time to note what thoughts you’re entertaining and statements you are speaking.  For a more tangible way to compare it, think about fruit.  Personally, I am in to fresh fruit, and would rather stay away from icky, sour apples!  This is something I'm already teaching to Nickelbug.  The foundation for our children starts when they are little ones :O)

I hope you are encouraged and have a brighter horizon you're gazing at after reading this!  Please watch the music video by Toby Mac: Speak Life .  I hope it inspires you and puts a smile on your face :O)

Sending you all lots of Light and Laughter!

~Cassie

{DIY: ALL PURPOSE CLEANER} Ah-Lah-Naturel...

USING ESSENTIAL OILS TO CLEAN YOUR HOME

Do any of you have a hard time being around chemicals when cleaning your home?  It has always been a challenge for me to find an all purpose cleaner of good quality that doesn't make me feel like I'm suffocating while cleaning my home.  Using chemicals of any kind can be toxic, especially when cleaning enclosed spaces, such as restrooms, because there isn't an outlet for the fumes to escape so you're breathing them all in!  (insert scrunchy, pinched bleh face here) There have been times when I've had to leave the room because I couldn't breathe!

I decided to take matters into my own hands, BOOM!  I've been talking about it for weeks, so I finally buckled down this weekend and made my own all-purpose cleaner using simple ingredients I already had at home that are non-toxic, affordable, and anti-bacterial.  A close friend of mine and I have recently jumped into the pool of using essential oils so I decided to utilize some of the ones I have at home to create it, and it smells UH-mazing!

Ingredients you need are:

Distilled Water

White Vinegar

Lemon Essential Oil

Tea Tree Essential Oil

Lavender Essential Oil

Peppermint Essential Oil

Spray Bottle

First, fill the spray bottle with 8 parts distilled water and 1 part white vinegar.  Vinegar is a natural disinfectant to sanitize what you're cleaning, however, it does NOT smell pretty.  SO...adding the essential oils not only makes it smell prettier but the oils are also chock-full of health benefits for us! (I'll explain the benefits of each below)  

Next, add the essential oils: 20 drops of lemon, 10 drops of tea tree, 10 drops of lavender, and 15 drops of peppermint.  

Last note, SHAKE BEFORE YOU SPRAY!  The distilled water/vinegar mix will not mesh with oil since oil & water do not mix, naturally.  Be sure to shake before you spray to get a good mix out onto what you're cleaning.  

Eureka!  You've got yourself an all-natural homemade, non-toxic, all-purpose cleaner!  :O)  Not only does it disinfect, but it smells superb and adds an aromatic mental pick-me-up while you're cleaning, giving you the energy to actually WANT to be cleaning!  In my book, that is an A+!  This is something you can definitely be proud of, knowing you created something that actually protects you and your loved ones from breathing in toxic fumes of unnatural ingredients.  

If you're curious about the essential oils, here is some information about each oil that I used for you to know the full extent of the benefits you're receiving while you're cleaning:

Lavender essential oil

Properties: Lavender essential oil can be calming, sleep inducing, analgesic, disinfectant, antiinflammatory, antiseptic, and antifungal.

Health benefits: This oil is beneficial for treatment of issues with the nervous system, insomnia, pain relief, urine flow, respiratory disorders, skin care, hair care, blood circulation, indigestion, and immune system health.

Lemon essential oil

Properties: Lemon essential oil is an antiseptic, antiviral, astringent, aperitif, bactericidal, disinfectant, febrifuge, haemostatic, restorative, and a tonic.

Health benefits: This oil protects from wounds becoming septic, while inhibiting viral and bacterial growth, strengthening gums, and stopping hair loss. Furthermore, it lifts skin, induces firmness in muscles, stops hemorrhaging, fights infections, and cures fevers.

Peppermint essential oil

Properties: Peppermint oil is used as an analgesic, anesthetic, antiseptic, antigalactogogue, antiphlogistic, antispasmodic, astringent, carminative, cephalic, cholagogue, cordial, decongestant, emenagogue, expectorant, febrifuge, hepatic, nervine, stimulant, stomachic, sudorific, vasoconstrictor and as a vermifuge.

Health benefits: It is commonly used in the treatment of pain relief, as a way to induce numbness, protect against sepsis, reduce milk flow and discharge, relax spasm, strengthen gums, stop hair loss, and lifts skin. Also, it induces firmness in muscles, stops hemorrhaging, removes gas, is good for brain and memory health, and promotes bile discharge, clears congestion and eases breathing. Furthermore, peppermint essential oil relieves obstructed menstruation, expels phlegm & catarrh, reduces fever, is good for the liver, nerves, and stomach, while promoting perspiration and slight contraction of the blood vessels.

Tea Tree essential oil

Properties: Tea tree essential oil is antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiviral, fungicide, insecticide, antiseptic, balsamic, cicatrisant, expectorant, stimulant, and sudorific in nature.

Health benefits: This oil is often used to inhibit bacterial, microbial, and viral infections, while also killing insects, protecting wounds from becoming septic, promoting absorption of nutrients, speeding up the healing rate of scars and after marks. Finally, it can cure coughs and colds, and it stimulates systemic functions and appropriate discharges.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for a wonderful, safe all-purpose cleaner that you can be motivated to clean with knowing it won't harm you or your loved ones!  Please share with me any recipes you've created, I'd love to try them! :O)

Love & Light to all of you!

~Cassie

{DIY: WALL ART} ...LOVE WHAT YOU DO

Everyone loves a simple art piece on one of their walls that makes a lovely statement, including myself.  I don't have any simple word art on my walls so I decided to make one!  This took very little time to make with items that I found around the condo.  So it didn't require that I spend any money on it which is always an A-plus in my book :O)

Here are the items you'll need for this little project:  1x4 slat of wood(or wood shape/size of your choice), house paint (shade of your choice), paint brush, x-acto knife, magazines, print out of the phrase you want and in the font you like, newspaper, rubber cement and a camera (to snap shots of your lovelies). 

First: Set up an area where you can spread out the newspaper to place your wood slat on in order to paint it.  Then paint it! (it'll only take a few minutes to paint) I set mine up on bar-stools so I could stand up to paint them.  Normally I would spray paint (I loooove me some spray paint) in order to get a smoother finish.  However, for this piece I wanted the brush strokes to show to add a little bit of texture on the background so I used Valspar that has primer in the mix.  

Second: While the paint is drying, get together the letters you printed, x-acto knife, and magazines.  Choose any kind of magazines you prefer to get the colors, textures & shapes you would like on your lettering.  Tear out all the pages you want to use (keep in mind the sizing of the letters in conjunction with the pictures you are choosing)  then place the letter on top of the photo you choose and trace the letter with your x-acto knife to cut it out.

Third: After you're done cutting out all your letters out for your phrase and the paint has dried, use the rubber cement to glue it to your wood slat.  Finish it up by nailing in a couple sawtooth hangers to the back and viola!  Your handmade wall art is ready for display :O)

Easy-peasy!  I was excited to hang it in my room; it's something simple, yet such a wonderful reminder to always fill your day and your mind with what you cherish and love the most :O)

Sending you lots of Light & Laughter!

~Cassie

LIFE LOVE AND INTEGRITY

"Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you." ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr. 

#boom

So I haven't blogged in a loooong while, and I changed the name of my blog because I'm going to start sharing more DIY projects I work on, but I had to share my musings over this beautiful quote I came across today!  SHEESH, when I read this quote it hit me the same as that feeling a person might get when walking and looking down at their phone, then accidentally running into a parking meter, leaving them stunned and wowed at the same time! (I can neither confirm, nor deny, being said person above) 

How we choose to live our lives always starts with the thoughts we entertain and eventually they come to fruition through our behaviors and habits which evolve into a level of character.  That's a mouthful, but true!  #deepstuff  The character you develop can be a powerful model to those around you, especially your little ones.  As a mother, a sibling, a boss, a friend, a co-worker, or any other role you might fill, how do you handle fairness?  Is honesty displayed in your daily interactions at home, at a restaurant, the grocery store, at work, on the playground with your child, with family and friends?  How do you react to someone that has wronged you?  How do you act on a tough situation in order to progress toward a more positive outcome?  What behavior patterns are you developing for your children to observe that reflect your level of fairness and sound character?   

As a Mama, I have the opportunity (which is an honor) to model a life of love, loyalty, and fairness and exude strong traits of integrity.  I've been taught that integrity is choosing to do what is right, even when no one is looking, and to always share the truth with love, no matter what the outcome might be.  that.builds.trust.  (Side note...Part of me wishes I would have soaked in these lessons fully when I was younger (I love you Mama & Daddy!), but mostly I'm uber full of gratitude for who I am now, for the people in my life, and for the opportunity I have to be a strong model of integrity to those I cherish and love on this beautiful journey of life.)  Nickelbugs little eyes and ears that I have been gifted with will mimic those that she reveres the most, so I don't take this lightly.  So far, she is everything that defines love and integrity, so I must be doing something right!     

Nickelbug and I's Saturday Morning Snuggles :O)  
(#soakup even the seemingly small moments)

Keep an open heart and be willing to inspect your daily choices.  Try to keep things simple by choosing to pour love and gratitude over your little ones no matter how sour the day might be.  This will bring so much peace into your home and each of your hearts.  Give your children a legacy of a solid foundation from which to grow their character and faith for their future.  Then sit back to watch them bloom!  :O)

Sending you lots of Light and Laughter,

~Cassie

P.S. Stay tuned for some fun, easy DIY projects that I will be posting about soon :O)