feature: essential oils

hi everyone! i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving with your friends & family! it's hard to believe Christmas is right around the corner :) 

several weeks ago, i was gifted a super fun package in the mail from a friend in indiana sharing her essential oil business with me "doterra." she sent me a care package and wanted me to try all of the essential oils that she offers. 

i will tell you, that i am a huge fan of essential oils and have been using them for almost two years now. the essential oil that has truly saved my life has been peppermint oil. if you know me, you know i have had migraines and headaches since i was 15 and i would regularly get them every two months or so. i discovered peppermint oil online when a Facebook friend said to try this for migraines. i had literally tried everything in the book and been to every type of doctor under the sun and nothing helped or worked. because they are hereditary, i knew i would have them for a long time if not forever. it wasn't until i started using peppermint oil and also regularly attending a chiropractor; i discovered these terrible things that started with an "m" disappeared. it has been a little over a year since i have had one and i truly can't believe it. 

you might be wondering how this can help a headache or migraine and how to use it. because the peppermint oil is so strong, it simply soothes and relaxes the muscles. i apply peppermint oil to the back of my neck, temples, and dab it under my nose. i will use this anytime my head feels tight, pressure, or i feel like i might get a headache. i have passed this on to many friends and family members! if you ask any of my old co-workers what oil i used constantly in the office they would all know and say peppermint oil haha! it has truly saved my life. 

now, enough about me. my friend sent me this wonderful package full of healthy snacks, essential oil samples, magazines, and my favorite was the recipe cards of what to use and how. i would be more than happy to pass along my friends information as well if anyone is interested, please send me a message or e-mail and i will gladly send you her personal information :) as you can see, she sent me a great sample of each of the essential oils. i haven't tried them all yet but i obviously have been using the peppermint oil that she gave me as well as the lavender for sleeping purposes (its wonderful). i have also experimented with the lemon oil as well in the kitchen and have really enjoyed this one as well. 

here are a few helpful essential oil tips & recipes that i used:

all purpose cleaner: i mixed dr. bronners peppermint soap with 4-5 drops of peppermint oil and placed it in a spray bottle and i use this daily for cleaning in my kitchen and home

linen pillow spray: 3 drops of lavender, 2 drops of chamomile, mixed with distilled water  add this to a spray bottle and spray a mist on your pillows and let dry before sleeping (lavender is great for a good nights sleep)

refreshing room spray: 2 drops of peppermint oil, 2 drops of lemon, and distilled water and add this to a spray bottle and use as a mist for your home! smells so good and fresh!

20 health benefits of essential oils: 

1. affect the psyche

2. support immune function

3. supply potent antimicrobials

4. provide natural pain relief 

5. reduce inflammation 

6. ease stress and anxiety

7. decrease insomnia 

8. rejuvenate skin

9. protect against colds and influenza

10. soothe digestive disorders

11. improve circulatory system 

12. promote optimal endocrine function

13. support urinary system 

14. soothe burns, sunburns, minor cuts, and scrapes

15. support muscles and bones

16. provide oral and dental care

17. nourish and strengthen hair

18. improve mental clarity

19. protect against cancer

20. provide safe and natural alternatives to household cleaners 

i hope you have enjoyed a little bit of information on essential oils and why i am a true believer of them! thank you so much to Jerrie for inspiring this post and for sending me products to try! i love them all and appreciate it! if you have any questions at all or would like further information/ personal information on Jerrie's business in essential oils please contact me. 

thanks so much and hope you all have a great week :) see you again soon xoxo

recipe: mexican chicken casserole

hi everyone! happy wednesday! i wanted to share a new recipe i found in the "come home to supper" cookbook from the author of Southern Plate. i wanted to try a new casserole and found this mexican chicken casserole. i am a picky eater; therefore, i made this for reed haha! i wanted to make this for him since he loves anything and everything mexican! he absolutely loved it and i wanted to share it will you all. this is very easy and simple to make and like i said he really enjoyed it. here is the recipe!

ingredients:

-cooking spray

-4 cups of chopped cooked chicken

-2 cups of uncooked brown rice

-1 can of cream of chicken soup

-1 cup of sour cream

-1/2 cup of diced onion

-1 can of hotel (i used cilantro & lime juice flavor)

-1 can of beans (if you wish, this recipe didn't actually call for beans but i added black beans)

-1 can of green chiles 

-1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin

-1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

-1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

-8 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese 

details:

-preheat your oven to 350

-spray a 9 x 12 baking dish with your cooking spray

-place the chicken, beans, rice, soup, sour cream, onion, rotel, cumin, garlic powder, chicken broth, and half of the cheese in a large mixing bowl

-stir well 

-turn the mixture into a prepared baking dish

-top the dish with the rest of the cheese

-bake the casserole for 30 minutes or until it is bubbly

-you can serve this with tortilla chips, flour tortillas, or corn tortillas (we used crunch corn tortillas)

-enjoy :)

this recipe was so easy to make and reed loved it! i hope you enjoy this recipe and i will see you all again soon :) as always, thanks for stopping by! xo

home decor: hallway details

happy monday! the past few days have been extremely relaxing and laid back. we finished up our Christmas open house at The Faded Farmhouse and i had two days off to relax yesterday and today and it has been pretty wonderful. my brother came over yesterday and we all watched football, the walking dead of course, and ate lunch & dinner together. reed and i spent friday night out for date night with dinner & a movie and saturday evening was a time to also relax and cook dinner. all in all, this past weekend was good for the soul ha! 

i wanted to share a few hallway details with you. i apologize the picture quality isn't the best in these photos due to lighting but wanted to share a few good finds from our hallway. i found a bottom of an old tobacco basket from a little antique shop in palestine, il. we found it for $5 yes you heard me right! i couldn't believe it and thought it was so neat with the stamps and imprints on the basket. this hallway is located at the front of our house as soon as you walk in the front door. this hallway connects the guest bedroom, bathroom, and my craft room. 

the table we found at "at home" stores when we first moved in. the greenery at the bottom of the table was found at "home goods" and the barn painting is from the faded farmhouse (of course) ha! on top of the table; i found the small greenery at tjmaxx and the basket came from the nashville flea market (it was also a steal for $4). lastly, i am a lover of old books. i use them to decorate the house with and i love the old vintage look of them. especially when you can find great classic titles such as "gone with the wind." 

again, sorry the photos are a little dark but i hope you enjoy our hallway details today! hope you all have a wonderful week and i will see you again real soon :) xo 

travel: utah, wyoming, and montana

                   hi everyone! i hope you are all having a great week so far. reed and i are back to reality after an amazing vacation last week. we headed out west and flew into salt lake city, utah to then rent a car and start driving! we have really come to enjoy these trips as we did this same thing in california this past spring for our one year anniversary. i literally spend hours mapping every detail out and planning our route and so far i am doing pretty good with travel guides  ha! (reed seems to think so anyway)

                  i'm not kidding when i say, we would love to move to jackson, wyoming some day. wow! the views, the quietness, the small towns... i could go on forever. we absolutely loved this trip and it was just what we needed to unplug (we barely had service) and spend some time in the mountains just the two of us. it was beautiful!!! we loved how quiet it was and felt right at home. we stayed in jackson and enjoyed some shopping, good eats, and cold weather. we visited the best shop (i literally fell in love) called "made" and also their second store called "mountain dandy". the cutest shops ever!! we also had "persephone bakery" on our list as well and it definitely hit the spot for coffee and morning breakfast.

                we loved our lodge at the jackson hole lodge. it was filled with mountain details and a cozy fireplace! the weather was perfect! our perfect weather is anywhere in the 60's, 50's, and 40's with some snow and occasional temperatures in the 30's and thats exactly what we got!! we were so excited!!! most people take off to the beach in the fall, but we did the exact opposite and so glad that we did. after jackson for a few days, we spent some time driving through the teton national park and then to the yellowstone national park. we loved the drive through west yellowstone and really enjoyed the parks. there was so much to see and do, i was so glad we were able to fit it all in while finding time to slow down and relax as well.  we love the flexibility of going at our own pace and being able to hop in the car and find new places off our planned "route."

               after a full day at yellowstone one day, we decided to take this random road to see where it would lead and we ended up driving 2 hours out of the way and came upon an amazing lake with unbelievable views. we ran into small towns with beautiful houses on hilltops and large farms with rustic barns; it was literally the best drive ever. we couldn't stop saying "wow" and "oh my goodness" and "can we move here." like i said, it was pretty perfect! ha i wanted to share some photos of our vacation and some details in case any of you were planning a trip here and wanted some information. if you ever have questions about any trip or get-a-way, please feel free to ask :) i hope you all enjoy these photos as much as we do. have a great week and i will see you soon!! xo

p.s.... sorry for picture overload, there were too many good ones

he threw snowballs at me any chance he could get :) ha!

the geyser's were so interesting to learn about and see in person

more snowballs.... he was pretty serious about this 

city farmhouse pop up show

hi everyone! happy monday! i wanted to share a quick post with you on the cityfarmhouse pop-up fair that i attended with my boss this past weekend in franklin. the cityfarmhouse  has a shop located in the franklin factory but once a year they host a pop-up fair in franklin, that usually consists of 60 vendors of amazing farmhouse decor and products. i had the pleasure of attending this year and wanted to share some great vendors and their beautiful displays!! 

enjoy and i hope you all have a great week :) xo

www.cityfarmhousefranklin.com