Melaleuca - Safe and AMAZING Products (MUST READ)

Who likes NON-TOXIC Cleaning?

So I have been on a mission to find products that will work for my family that are safe and actually work.  The most important product that I was looking for was cleaning products that are all natural and safe even if a child happens to open the cap and take a swig!  A friend told me about Melaleuca a few years back and I never really looked at the company or the products.  Then one day a friend gave me a bottle of the Tough and Tender cleaning product from Melaleuca.  The products are all non-toxic which means that you don't need to worry about any tragic accidents stemming from your household cleaners.  Seriously (these cleaning products are so safe they don't have child proof caps on them). I wasn't a believer until I tried this "Tough & Tender" cleaning product on my own kitchen counters.  First off I haven't found a product that cleans my granite counter tops WITHOUT leaving streaks.  Ask yourself if you have had the same problem?  I hate when the sun shines into my windows and all I see is residue from the cleaning products I thought were doing a good job.  Well I was wrong, those products haven't worked and are full of chemicals.  I'm a BELIEVER that there are products that actually work! Seriously I have never seen my counters look so clean!  I usually don't promote things I don't believe in but HOLY COW, if you even remotely like to see clean counters, showers, mirrors, furniture, disinfect your house and children's toys etc and are very safe for the family I would highly recommend Melaleuca to you!  I have officially thrown out all of my high priced cleaning products and what's even better my youngest daughter can even help me clean without me worrying about all the toxic chemicals she may be touching. :)
OK now I'm on a tangent......
I started using the detergent.... WOW my clothes actually feel soft, smell great and its worth every penny.  I was spending about $25 + on Tide (Which I LOVED) and with this detergent its $17.49 for 96 loads.  I don't know about you but my husband dreaded me picking up the Tide which was twice as expensive as the generic brand detergent which I didn't like anyway.  All the Melaleuca products are highly concentrate so you are the one adding the necessary water to the products instead of the products being filled with water and less on product....DOES this make sense? 
OK so to end my tangent on these amazing products, there is a whole store online of amazing and safe products for you and your family.  I'm starting to use the nutrition line which I'm even more excited about.  IF your interested in any of the products I mentioned or just want to know more about this company please send me an email kirstenflannery@gmail.com or comment on this post and I will answer any of your questions.  All my lovely friends that have small children please look at this company.  They have great vitamins, hair products, toothpaste for your youngsters. 
I'm serious when I say I don't normally recommend products but these are worth the investment.  The best thing about Melaleuca is that they are selling things that everybody needs!  You're not spending money on unnecessary items.    Here's a couple pics for you to ponder at: 

Bathroom Faucet/Before

This is a typical bathroom faucet that is not in terrible condition but does need a good scrubbing and disinfecting.

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That Same Bathroom Faucet!

Scrubbed and disinfected all the way down to the base of the faucet.  All done without harsh chemicals like bleach or ammonia.

Fresh, Healthy and Yummy!

Kirsten and I are always trying to educate ourselves and do our best when it comes to eating healthy, organic and local. This is an ongoing effort in educating ourselves and trying new things. 

My mom was recently in town and on a trip to the always awesome Target, she bought me Jessica Alba's book, The Honest Life. Jessica has a chapter in the book dedicated to healthy eating and I LOVED it! She suggests making friends with your local farmer and finding the nearest farmers market. Well, I wouldn't say that Nevada is the state where your neighbor is a farmer but I knew that someone had to be growing something in this rock hard soil! I knew of a local farmers market and had even walked the isles of it a handful of times but never with a real purpose. This time I wanted to have a list of staple items that I knew I used on weekly basis as well as a list of questions to ask the vendors I would purchase from. Asking face to face questions is one of my favorite ways to learn.

Fresh 52 Farmers and Artisan Market

I woke up early on Sunday morning and gave my local Fresh 52 Farmers Market a try. It was AWESOME! I have nothing else to compare it to but what made it awesome were the vendors. They were extremely kind and answered all of my questions without making me feel like an idiot! 

Hydroponic Micro Greens, Brussels Sprouts & Garlic

My shopping list included: 

Eggs

 Strawberries

 Kale

Spinach

Cauliflower 

Broccoli

Asparagus 

Green Beans

Garlic

 Yes! That is GARLIC pictured above looking oddly like onions. It's so fresh!

Sprouts (Hydro Greens)

These Hydro Greens were not on my list but their health benefits are outstanding and are now included in every smoothie I make. Check out the health benefits on WebMD's link.  

If you are ready and willing, I encourage you to check out your local farmers market. Grab a friend and make a coffee date out of it. Don't be afraid to start small and try just a few things at first. If you try to buy everything you usually eat all at once you will drive yourself crazy! Baby steps are just fine. 

Charred Brussels Sprouts with Fig Glaze

In honor of those beautiful brussels sprouts I purchased, I plan on making the recipe pictured above. I of course forgot the damn fig jam to make the glaze so I am going to just whip up a cheese sauce instead and serve it with some gluten free penne pasta. I say, "whip up" like I know what I am doing. God bless my husband for always eating what I make and pretending to like it! 

Lindsay and Kirsten signing off "Click"

It's POTTY TIME!!!!!

Life got in the way....sorry its been awhile since we have posted anything!  Besides traveling to beautiful Hawaii and California we are both in the midst of POTTY time!  Yup you heard me right our babies are potty training.  As new moms, we wanted to share with you what our experiences have been, what is working, what is NOT working and all the crap we bought because that's what we do right......by a bunch of stuff that we think we will use but realize that it's not about the stuff you buy but the way you approach this wonderful experience.   YES I said wonderful!  Some of you are probably shaking your head saying I'm full of it but, if we embrace the experience with the kids .......they will embrace it with us when we are all in diapers at 90 years old :)  Get where I'm going with this!!!!

Lesson #1 You Don't Have to Buy out the Store!

$60 later which bought me 1 portable potty, bags, 1 fold up potty seat, wipes, 2 potty seats for the bathrooms, piddlepad and lots and lots of stickers and lots panties!

Lesson #2 What items we couldn't do without!

Have to admit we went a little overboard but noone told me what works and what doesn't.  The question always popped up in our minds, "how do we potty train while we are working out?"  Well let me tell you moms out in the world it can work and we are proof!  The items I couldn't do without are the following:  Wipes, portable potty with plastic bags, extra set of panties /clothes and a piddle pad!  Yup that's it...that's all you need!  It might not seem that easy however it is....we have accident's and that's what the piddle pad and extra set of panties / clothes are for!  It's gonna happen and we certainly can't be neive to it, but if we are encouraging and have the potty ready to go while we are working out, driving, at soccer games, park etc then we are 1 step ahead of having an accident.  

The pictures below are of our beautiful daughters and friends who are all in this together!~  It's potty time, they are encouraging each other and they LOVE seeing how much pee each person does....yup it goes that far!

 

Lesson #3 How did we get started and what worked for us!

Well to be honest what worked for me (Kirsten & Ema) is that we started talking about it before we left for Hawaii.  I really got fed up one day and told Ema,  "I'm done with diapers, we're gonna potty train as soon as we get back from Hawaii." (This was a pivotal moment) Ema responded the next 10 days that "when we get back from Hawaii, no more diapers, potty training time!"  My response for 10 days was ok yes that's right we are gonna do this!

As soon as we got home I loaded up on my $60 shopping spree of potty training stuff and started.  I made a potty training chart (1 sticker for Pee, 2 Stickers for Poop and when she reached 20 stickers she earned a SPECIAL PRIZE).  I also set my microwave timer every 30 minutes and loaded Ema up with liquid and off we went.  Every time the pee pee timer went off we headed for the potty and by the 3rd day she was telling me that she had to go potty.  We are over 1 week into this process and she has only had 1 accident.  She's doing great and she is also so proud of herself and that's exactly what I wanted out of this process.  EMBRACE mommy's you will find what works for you and what doesn't!

Kirsten and Lindsay signing off....CLICK

Beautiful things.....

Happy Thursday to our wonderful friends out in the world.  Day 4 of rebooting my body and I'm still with it....miracles do happen.  Not saying that I don't stick with things however when it comes to running around, feeding the kids/family and of course all the wonderful snack food that we have in our pantry, it's sometimes hard not to just have 1!  Come on..I'm sure if your "human" you can relate to saying "I'll only have 1...or just 1 more won't hurt."
I have been a clean mean green eating machine for the last 4 days and I feel really good.  I'm not hungry, I'm not straying off my 7 day reboot, I'm drinking more water than I know what to do with and the bathroom has become my best friend (TMI) sorry.    I really hope your staying with this or at least trying to incorporate more greens into your daily lives!   Great article I read this morning that you may find interesting:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6172/How-to-Heal-Your-Gut-and-Heal-Yourself.html

On a different note,  received a FB message from a dear friend who had a baby recently.  She's been reading our posts, blogs and just seeing how active Lindsay and I have been with our little ones.   She asked the question, "Where did you meet all your mommy friends and where did you find the activities to do with your little ones. I feel lonely!"  WOW where do we even begin.  Well we were in my friends shoes 2 1/2 years ago wondering how we were going to make it through everyday without a breakdown.  Are my kids learning and progressing?  How do I find friends?  Should I do this or should I do that?  Are other moms going through this too?  I'm sure you all have had thought about the same questions as new moms.  Well it seems that being a new mom is very much like moving to a new town.....you tend to find a community all in it's own and it's like starting over.

We used to research and research and research things to do with our baby's, and now things to do with our toddlers and let me tell you Pinterest is our BFF!  LOL  We wanted to provide a list of activities that we did with our little ones which helped build the friendships, support and kids interaction.  Even though this list is from Las Vegas, most of the activities that we did are nationwide.  Ok here it goes:

• City Lights Music Together (The best program hands down!!!)
• Stroller Strides / Plums Moms Group (Fitness program for moms and their babies.  Even though we aren't in the program anymore we still believe it has helped build a network for us and that's where we met each other!!!! :)
• Gymcats (has a FREE baby program up until they start walking...fantastic for hand / eye coordination)
• Baby and Me swim class (so fun to see the babies blow bubbles and fun in the H2O)
• Dancing with Miss Jenny - Barbara Greenspun Women's Center (lots of free classes, lactation consultants etc...great program)
• Dance Zone (age 2 and above)

If your a mom and feeling in a rut or not sure what types of things to do with your children...it's ok your not alone.  It's a learning process for every new mom and this is what has worked for us!  If you have questions, please post....we want to hear from you!

Kirsten & Lindsay signing off "CLICK"

Day 2 of the cleanse!

Day 2 of my Green Cleanse....WHOOP WHOOP!  Woke up this morning feeling lighter, and more energy than ever....hmmmmmm is that what greens do for our bodies.

Morning Smoothie
My Greens 3 times today (4 scoops)

Lunch Smoothie
My Greens drink

Snack - Apple with almonds

Dinner - My Greens drink
Chicken, broccoli and Quinoa

And well of course a day is not complete without a glass of wine!  (Hey I'm a mom of 3 kids what can I say...this is not a cleanse to lose weight, but if that happens then Yippy.  It's a cleanse to make me happy, clean and refreshed for this new year!)

Had an amazing Serenity Friend-Z Workout!  It made me so happy to have my friends and family with me on this gorgeous January day!   And who said they can't do Serenity Suicides up a hill 3 x non stop, 5 min jump ropes, squats, lunges, abs .....HMMMM the exercises go on!  Feeling Amazing....stay with me my friends lets do this together!

Kirsten and Lindsay signing off "CLICK"

Happy Monday!  So this weekend I decided that my body seriously needed a reboot!  Not a computer reboot but a BODY reboot!  Sometimes our bodies get over worked (mentally, physically and emotionally), and I'm sure most of you would agree with that.  

Question:  How many veggies are you eating daily?

I'm at that point where I'm taking caring of my body physically but need to cleanse my inside to remove the toxins that we are digesting daily.   I decided to reboot my system for 7 days.....NO that doesn't mean I'm going to be on one of those Water, lemon cleanse diets and not eat at all!  I'm not that kind of girl.  I wouldn't even call this a diet!  I'm going to eat clean, and watch what I'm constantly putting into my mouth.  I would love some of you to join me in this cleanse and see what our bodies do!  Mine will probably go into shock....which may not be a bad thing! :)

My plan for the next 7 days is to follow my friend Frankie Andersen's cleanse:

Drink 4 scoops of Greens (3 times a day) - I'm taking them from It Works but I'm sure you can find them at Whole Foods as well.
LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER
2 amazing shakes a day and 1 sensible meal (LOTS AND LOTS OF VEGGIES)
snacks can include: Almonds, apples, carrots, broccoli....anything you consider CLEAN eating

A made a shake today that was so yummy:
8 oz of Almond Milk
1/2 Banana
frozen blueberries
chia seeds (which have so many amazing benefits including keeping you full longer)
1 scoop of protein
handful of spinach

I'll keep you all posted on how I feel!  I hope you try this with me.....
Here's to eating Clean and Running a Healthy Machine

Kirsten signing off "CLICK"

Finding Balance aka "The Mommy Drug"

It must be my hormones...... I feel out of whack....... Why am I so irritable....... I'm gonna tear my hair out!  Have you ever said this to yourself?

Well the two of us have a confession to make....we have said this to ourselves more than a dozen times in 1 day.  LOL  Finding balance in our lives have not been easy.  Between the two of us we are juggling 5 kids, eating, working out, diaper changes, sports, making dinners, tantrums, homework, you name we do it.  We both have suffered from post-partum depression (and we are not embarrassed to admit that).  We have tried medication prescribed by our doctors and of course wine, but nothing has continually helped where we still feel like ourselves but also still feel a sense of calmness in our lives.

Let us introduce you to our friend BALANCE. She comes in an all natural liquid form and is safe to take while pregnant and nursing. (Always consult your physician first of course) 

Lindsay's journey to find BALANCE began 4 years ago... I was pregnant with my daughter and I had what most would call depression while pregnant. I felt like I was going crazy! Turning to the internet I found a local Herbal Shop that claimed they had BALANCE in a bottle that was safe for pregnant and nursing mothers. I bought the bottle, consulted my OBGYN and gulped down my first three squirts. Within 15 minutes I felt my mind become clearer, the anxiety fade and my general attitude more positive. My second pregnancy brought the same hormonal imbalance and feelings of depression and BALANCE once again, came to the rescue. 

Balance has been in my life since then and if it had a box to check, I would definitely recommend it to a friend. So that's exactly what I did! 

Hi I'm Lindsay's friend....Kirsten LOL.  I was introduced to Balance after complaining about how I was feeling so out of wack, irritable and was just a plain B*&%$!  Lindsay brought me a few days worth of Balance to try and I will tell you, within 15 mins I felt like super mom with a positive attitude and I even think my 3 kids and husband noticed a difference (well even if they didn't I sure notice the difference.)  

We both highly recommend this product and you can purchase it through a Las Vegas based company called Herbally Grounded.  It's well worth the $25.00.

Kirsten & Lindsay Signing off......"CLICK"

P.S. Leave us a comment, we would love to hear from you and any of your crazy "MOMMA" brain experiences.

Who we are.......

What is Serenity Friend-Z? (Frenzy)  It's just us being us!  Two mothers in our 30's trying to do the best we can for our families.  We have crazy days of sick kids, poopy diapers, vomiting, tantrums, flat tires, burnt dinners, sleepless nights and interrupted workouts.  Finding the silver lining... "OUR SERENITY" that brings us back to a place of sanity, is our friendship.  Our common interests in fitness, natural health & healing, cooking, adventures in our home town and so much more.  As many people have inspired us, we hope you too can find inspiration, ideas and laughter.