In Rememberance...

These heroes are dead. They died for liberty – they died for us. They are at rest. They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines. They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of storm, each in the windowless Place of Rest. Earth may run red with other wars – they are at peace. In the midst of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death. I have one sentiment for soldiers living and dead: cheers for the living; tears for the dead. — Robert G. Ingersoll

Enjoy the holiday. Honor those who have served and are serving.  Remember with great love and pride those who gave everything they had to give us everything we have.

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag." — Zell Mitchell

Time flies...

Today marks the day Sophie ends Pre-K.  Her graduation program is this afternoon.  I still can't quite come to terms with the fact that she starts kindergarten next year.

One of my plans for her now that she's hit this milestone is to get her to start doing chores on a more regular basis.  We'll probably use something like this.  To get her started, I've been working on cleaning her room today. Of course, now that I'm just about done, I realize I should have had her helping me through the entire process so she could see just how much fun it is to clean her room when disaster strikes.

I've cleaned out the toy box and drawers with the hope it will prevent a massive buildup of toys on top of the toy box and drawers.  I've also cleaned out the closet, organizing the toys and clothes in there with the same thought in mind.  She'll probably be upset with some of the toys I decided to pull, but I think they're all toys she hasn't touched in some time.

We need to consider a big girl bed for her. She's just about too big for the toddler bed.  The question is, do we get a loft style bed to give her extra room, a bunk/trundle so she can have a place for other people to sleep if she has a sleepover, or a regular twin sized bed that chews up the entire floor?  If we can get a bed with storage in it we could possibly remove the dresser.  So many choices!

What I find I like most about this whole cleanse and purge is that there is now room for a Scentsy warmer in there.  I'm not sure if she's ready for the responsibility, so it will probably be on a probationary period.  She'll probably pick something pink, with a pink scent to warm.


Yikes, my baby is growing up!  Kindergarten, a big girl bed, a Scentsy warmer...I'm not so sure I'm ready for all of this!

From the FAQ:

Q    When and how did Scentsy get started?

A    The story of Scentsy is the story of how a simple idea – offer a safe, wickless alternative to scented candles through home parties – grew into one of the most successful companies the direct selling industry has ever seen.

Since establishing its direct selling model in July 2004, Scentsy has experienced phenomenal growth, averaging an annual increase of well over 300% in both revenue and the number of Consultants. With 2009 projections of nearly $180 million estimated for 2009 and more than 35,000 Independent Consultants throughout North America, Puerto Rico, and Guam, Scentsy's message continues to spread virally at a rate that far exceeds industry norms.

Company owners Orville and Heidi Thompson credit this success to the three-point business strategy that drives everything Scentsy does: Simplicity, Authenticity, and Value. To the Thompsons, Value means "contributing more than you take" and their commitment to build the company around that philosophy has produced remarkable results.

The "contributing more than you take" part is one of my favorite things about this company.  It's so refreshing to be working with a company whose values align with mine.  My "day job" is similar, which is why I love it so much, but not to such an obvious extent.

June WOTM!

I can't believe I forgot to post about this!  The June warmer and scent of the month arrived this past Thursday and I love them both!  The warmer is one of my favorites, both of them are.  That's right, I said "both"!  We're lucky enough to be blessed with two warmers of the month for June.  Star Spangled is the default warmer for US citizens and O Canada is the default for our Canadian friends.

  

The perfect dessert for a summer picnic! 

Fresh from the orchard, ripe and juicy

fruit-stand peaches simmered in sugar

and topped with a fuffy dollop of 

sweet vanilla cream.

From the FAQ:

Because I know some people have questions about Scentsy but hate asking for fear of appearing ignorant (which is not the case at all since Scentsy is still so new), I'm going to post some of the frequently asked questions here.  If there are any questions you would like to ask, please don't hesitate.  

Q    What is Scentsy?

A    Scentsy is a direct selling, wickless candle company headquartered in Meridian, Idaho. The company is owned by Orville and Heidi Thompson and sells its products through a field sales force of 40,000 independent sales representatives known as Independent Scentsy Consultants, who market and sell Scentsy products through home parties.

Unexpected combination...

I've been trying to combine more of the scents I have at the office since most of the scents I have are either too strong to warm alone in our small space or are always in the warmer (not that there's anything wrong with that, though).  This weekend I had Pineapple Paradise and Sizzlin' Coconut together in the warmer which made a very nice summer combination.  Today, the scent was faint enough that it needed to be changed out.

I rummaged through my drawer trying to find something other than another lemon combination (though I really wanted to use more lemon!) and settled on something that was quite unexpected. My director thought I was warming Flutter when he walked into the room, but unfortunately, I don't have any more of that at the office.  I used one cube of My Dear Watson and one cube of Skinny Dippin' to make a Skinny Watson.  It was a bit strange at first since I would get a whiff of Skinny Dippin' and then a whiff of My Dear Watson but not both combined at first.  Once it warmed for a little while, it actually did smell fairly similar to Flutter, but not quite.  There really is no describing it, but everyone in the room seemed to really love it.  What's even better about this combination is both of these scents are in the favorites section of the catalog, so no discontinued scents!

Amber Road...

I really do love this scent. 

When Life Gives You Lemons...

I love, love, LOVE lemons, especially in the spring and summer. I can't get enough of them.  I love lemonade, lemon muffins, lemon cupcakes, lemon chicken, and (of course) lemon scents filling my house.  I've already made lemon cupcakes this year and will likely be making lemon cookies or lemon bars soon, and maybe even lemon sorbet.  I made a great lemon icing for the cupcakes and had so much left over that I used it as a dip with graham crackers. Everyone raved about it.  Yum!
 
One of my favorite lemon scents is Coconut Lemongrass.  Last spring I was itching for a good lemon scent, and that fit the bill perfectly.  July rolled around with the whole Bring Back My Bar special and Luscious Lemon came back for the month. I have that at work, though it's difficult for me to warm it there since it tends to be a strong scent and I'm in a pretty small space with other people and I don't want to knock them out with my Scentsy. I just want to knock out the stinky boy and dusty computer parts smell.

With the sunny days and warm weather, I've really been craving a lemon scent to brighten up our little office, so I decided to find another scent to help tone it down.  If I had Vanilla Cream, that would have made the perfect lemon cupcake scent.  I had something pretty close, Vanilla Walnut.  These two combined actually made the room smell great!  Unfortunately, my new favorite lemon scent is combined from two discontinued scents!

Suger Cookies!

Since today was Teacher Appreciation Day and this past Saturday was a certain someone's birthday, we were tasked with making treats for school today.  With all the rain we had gotten the past two days, I had no desire to stop at the grocery store for various ingredients I didn't have on hand, so I decided to keep it simple. 

One of my favorite recipes for plain and simple treats is So Easy Sugar Cookies. I have no idea where I found the recipe, but it's one of my favorites when I'm looking for a quick and easy recipe.  There were a wide variety of sprinkles added to the pan prior to baking, sprinkles for everyone.  These were a great hit with my daughter's classmates and her teachers, which made her positively beam.

Of course, baking these cookies last night was nearly the same as warming a Sugar Cookie bar (click here for Scentsy recipes containing Sugar Cookie).  I could smell the yumminess but couldn't taste any of it since the entire pan was going to school and I didn't want there to be one missing.

Mix it up!

I have a warmer on my desk and work and since I'm sitting right next to it all the time, I try to be careful with the scents I warm. I can't warm anything too strong or my head starts to hurt. I can't warm anything from the bakery/cafe line since those scents tend to give me wicked cravings.  I can't warm anything others in my department don't like.  There are lots of restrictions, so I limit myself to a few scents.

Flutter was well received by everyone, but Amber Road was not.  Some people liked Luscious Lemon but some thought it was too strong.  I put in My Dear Watson today and realized that was far too strong for me to sit right next to it.  I decided it was time to start playing with recipes at that point.

I saved the My Dear Watson back into the original container and decided to mix Welcome Home with something.  There's a cinnamon element to it and I am not a fan of most of the cinnamon scents unless there is something cutting it. I don't have a big selection of scents at work, but I was able to find one that works well with Welcome Home.  One cube of Cappuccino (BBMB from last summer) mixed with one cube of the Welcome Home and it smells a bit like a coffee house in the middle of winter.  With the way the weather was today, it was perfect.

For more recipes, check out Scentsy County Fair.  What are your favorite Scentsy recipes?