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Our two year contract was up with Sprint so that meant that we were able to receive upgrade discounts on new phones. We had the dumbest of smart phones. From early on with them they would freeze and just stop working. However lately, they have been completely on the fritz and not calling or answering when people call. Both of us have on call "jobs" so we most definitely need working phones. We upgraded and got iPhones mainly because we love Apple products and I really missed having an iPod for music in the car. This means I have a phone that can finally support Instagram. Yes, it's the little things in life. My instagram name is gypsymothsol if you want to follow along. I apologize in advance if I post 100 photos a day.

The mandala was a screen shot from the Mandala HD app by Yomba. It so super relaxing. I easily get lost in all the swirling colors and beautiful mandalas it creates. Hope you are all having a great weekend!
Also, sponsor spots are going to start becoming available around September 8th if you want to sign up! Check out the info on my sponsor page. I would love to swap buttons with other earth loving gals or guys. 
Peace and Love.
Katelyn

Naughty

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Sometimes nature is just....naughty.
And I am immature.

I needed the good laugh of the tushie fruit, I mean cherimoya, that was awaiting Donna and I at the store the other day. And FYI, always wait till the cherimoya is ripe before trying it for the first time. How you know it's ripe? I have no idea. I think it involves squeezing it to see if it's a bit soft. Oops. There I go again thinking about squeezing a tushie. Alright, alright. I'm going too far. I swear, this is a spiritual journey I am on that you are all following along.

We also harvested some herbs yesterday. 
 We have three basil plants that we have saved but all this basil minus the lot we used for pesto for dinner is now in the dehydrator.

 This isn't even 1/3 of our Rosemary. I didn't want to over harvest it.

Dimple butt. <3
I need to look up all the medicinal uses for basil and rosemary now.

Peace and Love,
Katelyn

Moving Forward

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I have a kitten asleep on my lap and although life is super hectic around here it's somehow completely calm. 

We have decided to move forward with buying a house and selling or getting our house ready to rent out. I found a house I liked a few weeks ago online but didn't show Joey. I figured it was out of our price range and just bad timing. He found the same house Sunday night and really liked it. We never agree on a house so I figured we should at least go look at it. I messaged the realtor to set up a showing and on Monday we were emailing about a time. There was an offer put in that morning on the house so she wanted us to come ASAP to look just in case, in case we wanted to fight till the death for it. We went hoping to find something wrong with it. Something that would show us it wasn't meant to be, that we needed to sit on our hands and ban internet surfing when it came to homes for a year. It didn't. And the offer that came in was rejected.

The offer was rejected.

Joey left there deflated because he was in love with it. Mad that he wanted to move forward with it. He said he did not want to try to get it however because he didn't want us to get our hopes up and then not be able to get it. I told him that I'd rather we try and get turned down for a legitimate reason than to never try at all. I'd rather stave off any "what ifs."


Here we are. Climbing out of the comfortable. Diving into the chaotic and exciting. 

And that kitty I mentioned?
Another change in this household. We had gotten a kitty earlier this year. It was bad timing and either Penelope happened to be allergic to it, or just conveniently got sick at the exact same time it entered the doors of our house. We had him for a couple days and then re-homed the little abandoned kitty. My friend was recently gifted a Balinese cat momma. She was pregnant. She had 7 little kitties. I may or may not have rubbed a kitty on Penelope's face to see if she'd have a reaction. Balinese kitties are supposed to be hypoallergenic but the kittens are not pure bred so we weren't sure. So far no reaction. This little guy is now a part of the family. We've named him Tesla, after Nikola Tesla of course. He had this mad scientist look to him and his tail reminded us of a Tesla Coil when he got mad at the dog. Joey wants to call him Skippyjon Jones.
Yeah, I see it. 

Peace and Love,
Katelyn

Good Earth Living

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While in Texas with Laura we got chatting about apothecaries and our mutual desire to have our own. Knowing I have a love for natural healing and knowing that I was on the path to this, Laura told me about this "Apothecary Circle" that she wanted to sign up for and asked if I would do it with her because she thought it would be nice for us to take this journey together. When she sent me the info for it I immediately found myself saying, "Yes yes YES!" This was the perfect time to finally dive head first into it instead of just putting it off till later. I was already in the process of starting to grow my own herbs/medicinal plants to use in my own tinctures and teas so this is PERFECT. 
If you are interested in this path I suggest you check out Laura Emily's listing for this class that starts in December, but even better, she has offered anyone who signed up in August the chance to be an affiliate. Which means I have a coupon code for you! If you use the code Herbs75 during checkout you get 15% off and I earn 15%. Plus, look at this amazing kit she gives out to the August sign ups!
 AUGUST Sign-ups
Those who sign up in the month of August, they will receive:
-a free master apothecary kit to start their home apothecaries. This kit include 15 bulk herbs, 5 earth clays, boston round bottles to create tinctures, organic beeswax, 3 resins (frankincense, myrrh, and copal) organic sweet almond oil, organic essential oils -including lavender, bergamot, and lemongrass-, Himalayan pink salt, dead sea salt, organic celtic grey salt, Epsom salt, and more! Over $100 worth of materials! The Master Apothecary Kit will be mailed out in October.
-August sign-ups will automatically be enrolled in the Good Earth Living affiliate program to earn 15% commission on sales made with their individual code, including a press kit to ensure their success in earning commissions (members will NOT be asked to sell products- our affiliation program works purely on referrals). The Affiliate program is pretty new for Good Earth Living, and I am already sending out several hundred this month in commissions to sweet souls just like yourself, who merely posted about the shop on facebook.
-August signups throughout the year they will access a monthly one-on-one consultation with me, checking in and scripting out a game plan. Along with earning a certificate of training in Home Apothecary, August member sign ups will earn emphasis studies in Space-Clearing, Holistic Nutrition, and Detoxing. All Apothecary Circle members will have free access to all eBooks, eCourses, workshops and lessons throughout 2013.

Also, I have a nifty little affiliate button on the sidebar for you to come back to and access it easily. The code Herbs75 works for 15% everything in her shop!  Let me know if you sign up! 

Click here to visit Good Earth Living.

I think as we are holed up with the storm coming that this will be a perfect time to replant some calendula, echinacea and other healing plants in pots as a "rainy day" activity.

It's time us women healers harness our energies we have deep within.

*All photos are copyright of Laura Emily of Good Earth Living.

Peace and Love,
Katelyn

Date Night.

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My friend Donna messaged me the other day and said,"I'm coming over around 6 on Friday night so you and Joey can go on a date." Like I'm going to say no. We haven't gone on a date since before Penelope was born so this was such a treat! We had the intention of going to the local "pub" (ish) but when we pulled up there was a radio station van outside and it was packed. I turned to Joey and said, "I'd really rather not go there when it's that busy." We drove around for a few minutes trying to decide where we would go instead and came to the conclusion to go to the fancy restaurant that we have gone to for a couple of dates, one being the first date we went on after Leena was born. We called to make sure we could dine there since they prefer reservations and it was a Friday night. Luckily we were able to get in and they were having a special musical night. When we got there there was a full rainbow above us. I've never seen a full rainbow in person, a complete, beautiful, glowing rainbow. While walking into the restaurant, that was when I realized that it was so very fitting that we ended up there for our first date after Penelope was born. Kind of that "full circle" feeling of after having Leena. We were seated in perfect view of the string quartet that was playing and enjoyed the 3 course meal they were offering that evening. It was bliss. I also was slightly afraid of eating my salad because it was a work of art and felt terrible that as soon as I started eating it, well, it looked like a bomb went off on my plate. 

I love that we don't need many dates or really any to keep our "spark" alive but I also love that going on dates really reminds me that I so dearly love my husband. I think any couple, no matter how long you've been together, you need to make time for a date every once in a while.
And you see that in the upper left hand corner?! AUTUMN COLORS!
 Outfit details:
Dread wrap: Sarong type wrap gifted to me from Laura
Necklace: Shakti Studios
Dress: Thrifted
(Thank you Donna for not talking me out of buying it.)
Belt: Thrifted
Shoes: Blowfish Shoes

It's funny how things evolve. I told Donna and Joey that I wasn't going to post these photos on the blog as they were taking them tonight because I felt like it would detract from my purpose with this new blog. Then I thought about it and sharing these photos feels right. 

"People do unconscious alter building all the time; we call it interior decorating." - Luisah Teish
I feel this same way about the ways we adorn our body as well. Tattoos, henna, clothing, jewelry, etc, it's all unconscious alter building to me. When we take the time to really put something together and feel good in it, I think that only helps us in putting good out into the world, if it's for ourselves that we do these things. 

Katelyn

Intuitive Heart Sanctuary Giveaway

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All photos are property of Lauren Luquin of the Intuitive Heart Sanctuary.
 These past 8-10 weeks I've been in a group/forum called the Intuitive Heart Sanctuary, where Lauren would give us prompts to do some soul stirring work within. My immediate impression of Lauren was how kind she was. She is super laid back and welcoming to everyone. She speaks words of poetry that you can't help but feel deep inside you. She lovingly and thoughtfully guides you along to find that inner you that you may be hiding even from yourself. I haven't had a chance to go through all the prompts yet from having to put most things off to get The Bohemian Collective lookbook photos done but I'm slowing starting again in these last couple weeks of August to go through and do the work. It's art and nature based which was perfect for me. I loved it so much that I asked Lauren a couple weeks ago if she'd be willing to let me host a giveaway for a free membership to the fall session of Intuitive Heart Sanctuary. She has so graciously offered one of my readers a seat. I will be rejoining. Who will I see there?

How to enter:
You must first be a follower of my blog.
Then to enter go to Lauren's blog and follow her.
These two must be done for your entry.
To get additional entries:
Leave a comment with what you did to enter.
The winner will be drawn on Thursday, August 30th and announced August 31st.

Peace and Love.
Katelyn

I am afraid of the dark.

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As I hear stumbling down the hall I am awoken from my sleep. Groggy eyed and confused I strain to listen to muffled words in the dark. Muffled voices getting louder. I slide off my bed and cower as a tear in the fabric of our home is coming. "Did you do the other one?" Other what? What is he talking about?

Phone being dialed. Buttons clicking. Waiting. "I need an ambulance. My wife has slit her wrists."

Groggy eyes instantly fade away. I am now alert.

My father yells for my older sister. Again. I jump up and yell that I will go get her. Running out of my room into the hall I see it. Blood. It's everywhere. I run as I dodge touching any of it. I barrel into my sisters room speaking in another language to her. Panicked. She only makes out a few choice words.

My sister calls my grandparents to come get us. Waiting outside in the summer air. Dark but somehow cold. Two vehicles come up the street. An ambulance. My grandparent's car.

Sometimes I am perpetually 15 years old with this fear of the dark burned into my soul.

Wounds that healed, that I thought were healed, are reopened. It's time these demons are finally put to rest.


Katelyn

Busy Bee

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This past week has been crazy with editing The Bohemian Collective photos among life as a mom of two with my husband offshore at the moment. Along with photographing a birth in there. I finally finished the Bohemian Collective photos and I'm in love with them. I can't wait for you all to see this wonderful lookbook that Laura is putting together. It will release tomorrow! 

Today is for catching up on things I've been putting off however. Things for the soul. Like reading and doing some henna on a canvas. SouLodge and the Intuitive Heart Sanctuary. It's been too long since I've done any soul work. I will catch up on emails you may have sent and getting my sponsor spots all taken care of later today. Then after I catch my breath, I will begin editing all the birth photos I have and the lovely belly dance girls I photographed yesterday. 

Peace and love.
Katelyn