Good Morning - it has been some time since I have really wrote anything - I have so much to say. Please know that I am not an expert writer and this may be sporatic and jump all over the place. I want to start with what has prompted my writing today. While Mallie was eating lunch today , we were watching videos of this young up and coming artist sing. It popped into my feed and she was singing Jolene - Mallie was instantly drawn to it. She loves music but Jolene is a favorite song of hers. Country gold a girl after my own heart :) So we started watching other videos and this girl did a cover of Sugarland's "something more" . I had not heard it in forever and my how fitting the words are to me. First of all I was staring at Mallie while she was watching and trying to sing along to a song she had never heard before. Heart melted. Then the words of the song really are speaking to me today. It is very fitting I guess because 7 months ago I did something that is forever changing my thinking about what I want in life. I have had a couple really great conversations with people the last few days and I just feel I want to share my heart and why I am doing what I am doing. With the social media world blowing up and everyone selling something - I just want to tell my why I am choosing the path that I am.
First and foremost my little Mallie is my number one reason for doing anything. She is our world and our everything. Since she was born my life has forever been changed. I have been challenged in strength and there were days I wanted to run. Not from her but just lost not knowing what to do. I became her advocate for every single thing and I researched till all hours. I googled and read as much as I could trying to figure out what is best for her so she can have the best life. I have come to realize something so important. She needs more of my time and I need to be more available to her. She is growing up so fast, time is not slowing down but speeding up. I need to invest in her more than I am now. Working 8-5 everyday and coming home to cram in dinner and homework with three tired out people is downright crazy some nights. We are all on high emotions from the stresses of the day. Trying to get all the things we are supposed to do and then where is the FUN time? She goes to bed around 8 and we are not walking thru the door until sometimes 6pm. Mornings are the same - rush out the door. Other people are raising her...... I never looked at it like that before but school and daycare see her more than I do. THAT IS SO SAD to me.... As we move on into her school years she needs that extra help with things that are too hard to do in 20 min a night. I have realized that something needs to change and I am pretty focused on that right now. So what am I doing???
Going back to when I graduated HS - I Had no plans. I had no Dreams for a career. I had been dating Steve since I was 15 and tho he had gone away to college. I had not desire or reason to do that. So I did a little community college and when a job opened up at a local photographer's I jumped on it. My first real job and I loved photography. I thought of it as a learning opportunity - tho I was hired for admin duties, it was still a foot in the door. I did learn alot working for him ,not what I expected to learn but I did grow and learn. See no fault to him as I never said anything - I was hoping to learn ins and outs of photographing people. He retired and I had another job come in the nik of time. I was thankful to have a job to go to because I still had no idea what I wanted. I have gone my whole life not knowing that I had options outside of 9-5 jobs. I mean I knew people did things they loved and got paid for it but because I had really found that one thing..... sure I love photography. But I love it as a hobby and my own personal use. I know I could never do it for a living because I believe I would get burned out. Having it as a hobby is where I like it. Having Mallie has made me see how precious life is and you really need to find something that makes you happy. The reality for most is you can't survive financially without that 9-5 job. That is where I have been my whole life. I need to work, to pay bills and to survive. It don't matter if you like or not that is how you live. For those that have already discovered a dream and made it to a reality and are living and loving - I am so happy for you. For those stuck and not sure I hope my story helps you.
So here it is - I had a wonderful friend share a product with me several years ago. I pretty much never really looked at it - took the samples and that was that. Several more years had gone by and I had made some pretty good changes in my health becuase I was not happy with myself. I hated how I looked and surely did not feel good. With prescriptions hanging over my head because I had high cholesterol, I just knew I needed to do something. My dad passed away at 61 from heart disease. Had his first Heart attack at 53. So scary when that happened - noone should have to see a loved one suffer or leave the world so soon from somethings that could have been prevented. Losing my dad has stuck with me for so many reasons but one is I need to be on this earth as long as I can for Mallie. I am not getting younger and genetics don't go in your favor the older you get. Genetics are huge but honestly what we put in our bodies is bigger! Food can either help us fight disease or create it. So I lost 20+ pounds - ate clean and started a workout regimen. I was really excited to get my blood work after I did all that. Surely it would be better! Well to my dismay my triglycerides went down but , good vs bad cholesterol still sucked! Total was still high.... I was really bummed and just thought , well I will avoid the drs so I don't have to go on those nasty meds. Fast forward to Oct of 2014 when I reached back to my friend about Juice Plus. I was looking for anything that could help my daughter get off her miralax. I am pretty proud that is the only med she was on, but still a chemical and it did not work consistently. As a family we all started it together! After the first 4 months one thing was very apparent. I still had Mallie on Miralax but we no longer had monthly back ups and tummy issues. There is no magic dosing with miralax and too much or too little is never a good thing. Finding that middle ground was impossible. It all depended on what she ate that day or how much she was drinking too. So for that consistency with both together was a huge improvement. Mallie has unique challenges with her digestion that we are still currently looking into but a huge change for sure. Other things - she is willing to try more fruits and veggies - will even ask for them sometimes. She loves drinking water more than anything else which is also helpful. This last year being on JP - she only had a couple sicknesses that did not need antibiotics. Her yearly ear infections have gone away. She has had tubes 4 times!! I do have to say the first school year we started JP she was sick alot - but because it works on a cellular level it takes time to build up those healthy cells that regenerate every 3.5 months. As a family our overall sickness has decreased in duration and how many times. I don't think steve got sick at all this year. So July of last year I got my yearly bloodwork and was expecting to see the same thing. To my surprise I had normal numbers - FIRST TIME EVER!!!! Only change was Juice Plus! I knew that we would take it forever! I called my friend and said how do I save money on the product. 2 Days later I was a distributor - only wanting to save on our own product. Ha! I even had a call with a few of Liz's sponsors and I remember thinking why do I need to talk to them? I honestly don't remember much of what they said to me (sorry Leslie and Rebekah) - I shared my story with others and they decided to give it a try. When you love something you share it with people right? I do it with everything. I find a good moisturizer, I tell people - that part comes natural to me. I also love hearing from REAL people about products because they tell the truth. Little did I know in July what was going to happen to me.
At first I shared it and many decided to try. Then I tried to SELL it and let me tell you that is not a great thing. Everyone is selling something right? I became "one of those people" where I bet lots of you reading this were like Geez.... enough already. Quit trying to sell - just post cute pics of Mallie. I do want to say sorry to those that I have been in contact with where I just seemed like an annoying sales person of another product. I slowly learned that you can't just do that. My goals started to change because bottom line is I really just want to help others and educate them on importance of nutrition. Baby steps is what I did and I did not get it 5 years ago like I do now. Seeing my family, friends and others start to feel better - whether it was more energy. Headaches going away or allergies getting better, story after story I have forever been blessed by. It really makes my heart happy when people's lives are impacted for the better. I have met and became friends with some amazing people. I just love the community that is building around JuicePlus - with one goal to help others. So I guess I have found my calling - it is so rewarding to me. I just want to inspire others and share knowledge. Even if you don't buy Juice Plus I hope I teach you something or inspire to make some changes for you or your family. We are living in a fast paced processed everything world. What we eat and what we do will effect generations long after we are gone.
I am happy to say Steve is making huge changes for himself too - I like to think I inspired him - not sure he would admit that. None the less he has lost over 30 pounds and is feeling amazing! He is not exactly where he wants to be but will get there. I am so proud of him and so excited to see what the future holds for our little family. He will no longer want to sit on the couch and we can get out and do things together! I LOVE IT!! Plus he puts up with my time I spend on the business. Working full time and trying to make a career change in my spare time is hard. Thank you for your patience and support Steve. Also thank you for all that you do for us! I love you!
I want to say finally that - Juice Plus is a MLM company and no not a pyramid scheme. (those are illegal). I am happy to say Juiceplus products have changed my life and made realize how I can help and give back to others. The products and the company are amazing and I am so excited about my future. I don't feel like I am selling the products - I am sharing. The power of the products are a catalyst for other changes to come. No matter who you are, young or old you can benefit. I can't promise any one thing and surely does not CURE everything. Fruits and veggies help reduce free radicals in our bodies -that is a known fact. We are supposed to eat 7-13 different ones each day - most people can't , won't and don't. Juice Plus bridges that gap and then some. Simply its dried fruits and vegetables in gummy or capsule form. IF we were to buy 13 different fruits and veggies to eat - it is well over 30 dollars. Try feeding a family like that and good luck getting them all to eat every kind. At less than $2/day per person - I think its pretty amazing! Not too mention the relationships the company has with the growers. We have farms all over the country that make our produce - picked upon full ripening for the best nutrients, then dried at low low temps to lock in all those nutrients. I can't say enough :)
Ok so I have rambled on alot today and hope you find something in this post that makes you think. I want to help as many people as I can in all aspects of life. I hope to someday soon be able to not only drop Mallie off at school but pick her up. I can't wait for the day I don't have to feel guilty for asking to get time off at work. Would love to go visit my sisters who all live far away whenever I want. I like that I can take this business anywhere. I want to not live paycheck to paycheck anymore! I have found a way to do all of this and help others too. This is my DREAM job that I never knew existed.
To all my friends and family -thank you all for the support and encouragement. I am truly blessed! Love to all!!
