Christmas Windows

This post never and last year ... so here it is! So decorating for Christmas this year has been kind of exiting. First we are in our FIRST home (2nd year now)! Secondly I decided I would host the appetizer for a Christmas progressive dinner here at my house. It was on December 6th. I had A LOT to do to prepare! While searching for some cute ideas I came across some fun festive holiday windows here. I set off to Michael s one night to create my own. Now let me tell you a little secret. When it comes to some of my ideas ... there is a rather large elf that helps in these creations. His name is Ryan. My WONDERFUL husband that helps my creations become a reality. HE is so awesome with the xacto knife. My patience and dexterity is pretty bad. So thanks to him and his cutting skills my front windows turned out pretty cute this year! Time consuming but SUPER cheap.

Inspiration to Creation

Shout to my husband Ryan. He has always been so creative and handy. When it comes to design I often think of things I could make or do to the house but I get stuck at the inspiration part. Ryan actually helps me turn the inspirations and ideas into action. Last year I wanted to do something different than a regular traditional Christmas tree. I found a few ideas I liked - see them here and then Ryan went to work. We love our little wooden modern Christmas tree. I'm so lucky he is so handy!

Christmas Mantle Happiness

Hello and Merry Christmas! Today I am sharing some pictures from my mantle I decorated this year (2015). This is usually one of my favorite areas to decorate as it's in the middle area of our home (we have a really open floor plan) and the fireplace/mantle traditionally is always decorated. I completely redo this area from top to bottom. I even bring in a new floor rug (its in another room during the year) as the bright blue that is usually there does not match the traditional red/green pallet. It's quite the process but I enjoy it and love the spirit of Christmas it evokes throughout the month.

                                                                                                                                                           

Sometimes its like MAGIC ...

If you follow me on The Eclectic Mama you notice I post about Interior Design AND Holistic Health, specifically essential oils. My website also talks about this. When I'm not busy with my family, cooking, cleaning, etc. THESE two passions take up the majority of my time and I love them both.

A couple weeks ago my husband had to go to Houston on business and we decided to join him for work and pleasure. One of my oldest and best friend's mother lives there. We stayed with her last year at Christmas and I did some design work in her main living area and one of the guest bedrooms. This trip we decided to work on the other 2 guest bedrooms while adding some finishing touches to the third. Today I am going to feature one of those bedrooms which is called "Jessica's Room".

I honestly sort of felt like this picture when working on this space as it was all coming together!

You should see me as I shop and load up carts! It's so fun as I see it all starting to come together. I get some pretty good stares as well! Especially if the boys are with me. Luckily I was solo on that particular Friday and it was so much fun!

Cheryl wanted to keep the existing furniture in this space.

As you can see the furniture is very french and timeless but picking the right color pallet was going to be tricky.

So naturally I went to Home Goods (my favorite store!) and started visualizing what I thought would work. It was finding a few pillows in some neutral fun patterns and adding a few more metallics to them that I decided this room needed lots of sparkle!

Which was great because even though it's a guest room that is totally Jessica's personality and I knew when she came to stay she was going to love it! I had so much fun working on this room, it was almost magical as it all came together. I'm glad Cheryl trusted me and even had her own fun ideas like the cheetah chair we put into the corner of the room!

Mom - its IKEA!

This is a blog post from last year that I never ran (it took me way longer to launch Eclectic Mama than I thought) but I recently took a picture of our "art area" that I shared and discussed my favorite orange wall. I also wanted to share these fun boxes that have been used on the shelf there. Of course since it has almost been a year, Ikea no longer carries these boxes but regardless here's the story of how they came to be! :)

Last weekend (oh gosh, it felt like the weekend but I think it was on Tuesday). This whole Christmas break with husband home from work has my days of the week feeling all sorts of weird in my brain. Anyway ... we decided to run a bunch of errands one day. Eddie Bauer, Columbia, Under Armour, Ikea and THEN Costco. A long day with my twin boys! I had a return to make at Ikea. As we rounded the bend on the freeway we were up above Ikea on an off-ramp to which one of my boys shouted "Mom, its IKEA!" Even before I saw it! My boys crack me up. They know their stores. They love Ikea because we bought their train set from Ikea. We told them we needed more tracks (which was the truth) but I also knew they would be well behaved as we strolled through the GINORMOUS showroom if they were on the lookout for tracks. They were very good and we made it in and out in record time. Don't get me wrong, I could spend hours there but we had a big morning behind us and we still had to make it to Costco.

I'm in LOVE with these new Ikea boxes. I am using a few of them to put the boys art supplies in.

 

Images via Ikea

Why I use doTERRA Essential Oils

Network Marketing? I didn't think it was my thing. Natural Health? Yes, please! doTERRA Essential Oils? Seriously … life changing!

When my boys were 4 months old they were experiencing some tummy problems. I had a friend who suggested trying doTERRA Digestzen oil, and she even dropped off a bottle for me to try. It was that experience that led me into wanting to know more. A few months later, I attended my first essential oil class and received a free bottle of wild orange. It smelled amazing. I purchased a book that night and from there I went down the essential oil rabbit hole. I liked doTERRA oils but I wasn't sold on the network marketing business model and I figured all essential oils were the same. Little did I know how wrong I was. I now understand how doTERRA oils are truly the purest and best sourced oils, and the only ones I would consider using. See this short great video that shares my sentiments.

doTERRA essential oils for our family have been beyond wonderful. I have found more uses for the oils than I could ever imagine. I cook with them, clean with them and I use them medicinally. My 3 year old twins have never been on a prescription medicine or been to the doctor for a sick visit. I have been able to treat everything with essential oils and natural medication. I learned early on at my babies well visit doctor appointments that I wanted to be in charge of my family's health. I wasn't comfortable with what traditional doctors were recommending for my new babies. I soon after found a trusted naturopath that I loved. Between her and my functional medicine practitioner coupled with the health food store, a few books and a lot of internet based research, I felt very comfortable with managing my family's health and saving the big stuff (like stitches) for my doctors! Make note - I do believe Western Medicine does have its place.

After using the oils for 3 years, I found myself talking and sharing doTERRA oils with friends and family and decided to look further into doTERRA as a business. doTERRA's business model (network marketing) works for the oils and after a few conversations with some friends who were already doing doTERRA as a business I decided to give it a try and I’m now partnered with some amazing mentors and leaders. I'm so grateful for my friend who introduced the oils to me, and I hope it makes a difference in the lives of those I introduce doTERRA to.  I love showing people there is an alternative approach to most health ailments.

doTERRAs deep commitment to quality and sourcing the purest essential oils is something that connected with from the beginning. Sure I could buy other brands of oils cheaper, and I did that initially, but they were definitely not the same. I buy local grass-fed meat and raw dairy products whenever I can. I buy organic as much as I can from our nearest health food store and the farmers markets. I love knowing the oils come from where they are grown indigenous and are 100% pure. These farmers have a better way of life because of the partnerships they have created with doTERRA. The cause is bigger than myself and something I am truly proud to be a part of.

If you are overwhelmed by the thought of using essential oils and aren't sure where to start, please see the resources I recommend below.

If you are interested in trying doTERRA essential oils and would like a free sample, please contact me. If you want to jump right in and start using essential oils, let's chat about purchasing a kit (the biggest cost savings) or creating a custom order. I teach classes locally in Dallas and my team has pre-recorded webinar classes as well as live online classes (all classes are free to attend).

My job is not to sell you oils. My job and passion is to help you learn more about the powerful healing benefits of doTERRA oils and the impact they can make on your life. And let me set the record straight-you don't have to sell the oils to use the oils.

Natural Health is here to stay. doTERRA oils are as simple, natural and as good as it gets! They truly are a huge part of my everyday life.  

Christi Luke - The Eclectic Mama Resources

My website - www.christiluke.com

My facebook - https://www.facebook.com/christilukeeclecticmama?ref=hl

My doTERRA website - http://www.mydoterra.com/christiluke/#/

doTERRA Resources

doTERRA Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/doterra

doTERRA Blog - http://doterrablog.com/

doTERRA Consultant Tools - http://www.doterratools.com/

doTERRA Everyday - http://www.doterraeveryday.com/

doTERRA YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/doTERRAcorp

Scientific Essential Oil Resources

http://www.aromaticscience.com/

http://doterrascienceblog.com/

Summer 2015 Road-trip Roundup

2 months (60 days) on the road with 3 year old toddlers. Sounds a bit crazy to some, awesome to others, brave or maybe all of the above. 

15 months ago our family moved to Dallas, TX. I'm a girl who grew up in the Northwest who loves the four seasons and anything outdoors so I knew it was going to be an adjustment. But guess what? No one ever told me how HOT Dallas was! It's so hot and I don't like the heat. We lived in Arizona for 18 months while Ryan was in grad school and I thought that was hot ... Dallas is super HOT with little relief. So last year I decided I wasn't going to stay in Dallas during the last 1/2 of the summer. So fast forward to the Spring of 2015 and I decided "what if I just went on the road with the boys, like what if I sort of just put a plan together?" It could totally work or it could be horrible. Twin boys, 3 year old twin boys at that in the car for long hours. I decided to just go for it. So I made some tentative plans. My parents live in Salt Lake City, UT and my in-laws are two and a half hours from there east. Before moving to Dallas we lived in Seattle and I really wanted to go back and visit as the boys often talk about our "old house" up there. So the middle of July rolled around and I left on July 20th. A week before I bought a Subaru Outback, borrowed a roof rack and was ready to do it. I think I'm a pretty organized person but there is SO much to account for when traveling with young ones. Packing was pretty intense but once we hit the road I felt confident in what I was bringing along. 

Our DOG (gasp, as if I didn't have my hands already full), a new GPS, a portable DVD player, books, bikes, sleeping bags, clothes, lots of snacks and food and we were on our way! 

To read the details of our trip click here. 

A few pics from our summer trip!

A few collage pictures from our trip. I still have so many to go through!

Summer, summer, summer time!

Our journey from Dallas, TX all the way to Seattle, WA and back ... COMING soon. 

How I got into Interior Design

When I was 18, I went off to college at UVSC - Utah Valley State College in Orem, Utah. It's now referred to as UVU - Utah Valley University. While I was at UVSC I took quite a few multimedia classes. That was 14 years ago so multimedia has come along way. I loved my college days at UVSC but mostly for the social scene. I enjoyed some of my classes at school but I wasn't prepared to really dig in. I received my associates degree from UVSC and transferred to BYU - Brigham Young University in the winter of 2003. I joined the department of Communications and declared my major as Advertising. For some reason I was eager to finish school. Looking back, I'm not sure what the rush was but I graduated 15 months later from BYU in April of 2004. One of my regrets is not doing the creative advertising track at BYU. I kick myself because my creative side for sure should have spent the time double majoring or getting a minor in graphic design. Instead ... I was off to the island of Hawaii. A few days after graduation I packed up my bags, got a storage unit in Provo and flew to Oahu with a few of my close friends. What an adventure, right? Only to return to Provo a few months later with no job and no place to live. I lived in a couple random places before I decided to move up to Salt Lake City to live in Sugarhouse.

I still needed a job and my dad taught me how to network. Its pretty safe to say I'm not really shy and consider myself and extrovert. I pretty much will talk to anyone anywhere and I needed and wanted a job in Advertising so ... I figured out who the top players were and I called them up. I asked for lunch appointments to get to know them and their firm better. I met quite a few people and was finally offered an internship at R and R Partners. See their website here.

Working for an agency in downtown Salt Lake City in an office that was located in an old historical home was pretty great. Although I was making pennies, it was still a foot in the door. They had some really great clients. The Utah Opera, The Utah Transit Authority (UTA), and Intermountain Healthcare (IHC).  I helped pick out billboard locations, write scripts for radio spots and helped pick photos for creative ads. It was pretty awesome.  I even was invited to the Holiday Christmas Party to the R and R headquarters in Las Vegas were we flew down for a quick 36 hours mini-vaca. We stayed in the JW Marriott and I even got to bring a friend. What a great time! Unfortunately my internship came to an end and getting hired on didn't work out so well ... so I went back to networking.

I networked into McCann-Erikson formerly Boede+Partners. They had recently taken on a portion of Microsoft's Small Business Account. I was offered a job as an Account Coordinator. I went from working in a large historical home in the Avenues to a large historical building in the middle of downtown Salt Lake City. Things were exciting as McCann was growing rapidly by the day and the Microsoft account was booming. Great people, great company parties, great lunches catered, free drinks, free candy, a boss that traveled a lot, but ... It was a tech account and I didn't really speak the tech language. I often felt lost and a bit behind. I enjoyed the agency lifestyle though. Production artists, copy writers, project management, account coordinators. I sort of got to work with all of them but I also felt like I was more suited in a smaller agency where I would get to be a bit more hands on with clients and accounts.

So I probably jumped ship too soon but I interviewed and was offered a job at Studeo. Also located in Salt Lake City but near the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon. Studeo has since dissolved. Although there were some pretty messed up corporate politics going on there it was nice when I needed another job. So to back up a bit, I got married right after joining Studeo in the summer of 2006.

My husband Ryan decided to apply to grad school in the Fall of 2006 and in the Winter of 2007 he was accepted to Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, AZ.  So I had only been at Studeo a couple months when I needed to move. Luckily for me, Studeo worked with a media buying agency in downtown Phoenix called RMG Marketing. So I finished out the year at Studeo and Ryan and I packed up and drove in a snowstorm to sunny Arizona where we would spend the next 18 months. Arizona was great! I had some really great co-workers who I still stay in touch with to this day. We met some great friends and really enjoyed living in that part of the country until summer hit. Oh boy ... it was HOT. Super hot and that summer was LONG!  Ryan LOVED school but also rushed through and graduated too soon in the rocky job market recession of 2008. Although it was rocky, job wise he decided to take an offer he had to work at an ad agency back in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Backing up even more! Before I got married my parents moved to North Salt Lake in the summer of 2006. I can't remember how but I met a woman my mom knew and went to her house. I remember her home was decorated super cute. She told me about the Interior Design Program at LDSBC. So before we ever moved to Arizona I had applied to LDSBC, got in and then turned it down because we were moving. So upon Ryan graduating from Thunderbird I knew if we moved back to Utah I could possibly enroll at LDS Business College in their Interior Design Program.

Ryan graduated in May and I wrapped things up at RMG. In July 2008 we left Arizona and were on our way back to Salt Lake City.

Another chapter closed ... the Interior Design Chapter was about to begin! www.christiluke.com

Living in a Barn/Guest House

Back in 2013, Ryan and I moved to Washington State. Ryan accepted his dream job as a RAM Advocate (a marketing rep) with Chrysler/Ram trucks. His territory was from Bellingham, WA all the way to Medford, OR. I lived in Redmond, WA from 18 months to 16 years of age so I was pretty excited to go back! We weren't sure where to live though as we could have lived in Seattle area OR Portland. We got word that there was a "studio" barn/loft apartment available in Hollywood Hill (east-side of Seattle in the suburbs) on the backside of the property of a family friend's house. We figured it would be best to stay there whether it was 3 weeks or 3 months until we could figure out a more solid plan. Long story short ... we fell in love with the Hollywood Hill neighborhood and decided the small, comfy, cozy barn could make do!

 This is what the majority of Hollywood Hill looks like in Woodinville, WA. Large yards , big homes, with lots of horse properties. Very gorgeous and very expensive. Hence ... why we lived in the Barn!

In this photo you can see the main house and the barn on the other side of the sports court. 

 The barn. Super typical cold and deary rainy Seattle day. But when this place is sunny there is no place prettier. Like you can see here!

Guys ... it was SO small. Our boys slept in a CLOSET! Seriously, along with other coats hanging above them!

And the room upstairs was just ONE big room. On one end was a balcony with a sliding glass door and on the other was a sink with hookups for a washer and dryer. The rent was so cheap and affordable, month to month and the location was prime so we decided to stay put!

Although I was SUPER limited with decorating I tried my best. The biggest makeover/remodel was in the kitchen. Here's a few before and and afters.

 

  Before

After

 Before

 After

You can see lots more of the barn pictures here.

I have VERY fond memories living in the barn for 18 months. My boys often bathed in the sink!

In April of 2014 Ryan accepted a promotion with Chrysler in Dallas, TX. Stay tuned to read about purchasing our first home in another post. 

I'm headed to Woodinville, WA today to stay with my good friend Cherron who lived down the street from me. She has adorable twin girls who are 6 months younger than my boys. They are going to have a blast playing together again! This picture was taken on our favorite walk we took almost daily. They have grown up a lot since then!

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The Camping State Championship

Getting ready to head tomorrow back on the road to Yellowstone National Park. I plan to meet my friends to camp for 3 nights. I then have plans to head to Island Park, ID to meet Ryan and his parents to stay for a few days. Then we will head north to Missoula, MT and then Seattle, WA. I started on July 20th in Dallas, TX. I spent the first night in Amarillo, TX, the 2nd and 3rd night in Colorado Springs, CO. The 4th night in Glenwood Springs, CO. I have since been in Salt Lake City as well as 6 days in my husband's hometown of Roosevelt, UT. We have been on the road for 3 weeks now. The boys have been doing fairly well for the most part. Ethan has totally been testing my patience the last two nights and to be honest I haven't been handling it very well. More to come later on our trip.

Anyway ... so The Camping State Championship. I had no plans on blogging tonight. It's LATE - 1:00 am and I have a big day of driving tomorrow but I just went live with the Eclectic Mama and I wanted to get another post out there. I have been so busy the past 48 hours getting ready for this trip. Camping with 3 year old twins I'm sure its no joke. I've NEVER done it and I won't have my husband with me in Yellowstone. I will have my two friends and their 1 year old little boy. There is SO much to prepare for. So in my preparations tonight my grandfather who is almost 96 and pretty senile comes wondering into the kitchen multiple times asking what I was doing. I told him I was getting ready to go camping and he said "Wow, the State Championship, tell me more about that?" I actually giggled silently a little bit before I turned to him and explained for the 3rd time in 10 minutes that I was getting ready to go CAMPING. I kept preparing as I had groceries all over the counter. I was cutting fruit, I had the oven going with Parmesan Chicken, I had the crock-pot going with Polynesian Chicken and I thought "Geez, this IS the State Championship of camping", if I can pull this off, "I'm awesome!" So yeah, since I'm not the type to eat fast food on the road or just throw hot-dogs on the fire (I do love a good hot dog every now and then) but eating well and healthy is sort of my thing. It really takes SO much work though! My boys eat A LOT! A LOT, A LOT, A LOT. Like crazy amount and they are awesome eaters. Not picky at all. So I think I packed the whole kitchen. After all ... go big or go home, right? I'm in the Camping State Championship!

Grocery's pictured

Jacks Spratts - Sprouted Wheat Bread
Cedar's Organic Red Pepper Hummus
Bob's Red Mill Brown Gluten Free Rice Cereal
Kerrygold Irish Butter
Organic Grapes
Organic Blueberries
Organic Strawberries
Organic Cantelope
Organic Bananas
Avocadoes
Organic Kirkland Signature Salsa
Bertolli Oraganic Marinara Sauce
Celestial Organics Kombucha
Organic green/yellow zucinni & onions
Organic Cucumbers
Organic Kirkland Signature Peanut Butter
Organic Crunch Pack Sliced Apples
Organic Carrots
Organic White Rice
Organic Quinoa
Odwalla Superfood Smoothie Blend
Local Organic Raw Honey - L.R Rice
Arrowhead Mills Organic Buckwheat Pancakes
Eggs
Babybel Original Cheese
RedHill Farms Blueberry Pomegranate Goat Milk Kefir
True Story Organic Sweet Chicken Sausage
Coconut Water
Lemon Pepper Turkey Lunch Meat
Organic Pickles

Dylan and his 96 year old great grandpa - Charles Hardy. He pushed Dylan at the Grocery Store. They have a really cute bond. 

Send me an email if you want the recipes for the following crock-pot meals.

Polynesian Chicken
Chicken Chile
Parmesan Chicken

Wish us luck. Hopefully I take 1st place! :)