Beauty in the Backwoods

Sunday, January 15, 2017

My Plexus Story

After being overweight all my life and having health issues from my weight, I made the decision to have gastric bypass in 2005. I was pushing 30 and there was no way I was going to let my extra weight control me and my health. I was too young to be having all these health problems and it was time I did something about it. I originally lost 125 pounds from the surgery and feel that it was one of the best decision I have made.

Years later, I was finding myself having issues with regulating my blood sugar. I was having to eat every two hours, just to feel normal. After the surgery, I was required to take chewable multi-vitamins, calcium, liquid iron, B-12 shots and protein drinks. If you have had gastric bypass, you know just how hard it is to consistently take these everyday. Over the years, I tried a lot of different pills and protein drinks, and I hated all of them. I did find a few that tasted better than the others and managed to take enough to get by. With my blood work not looking at it’s best and having issues with my blood sugar, I had to do something. I started researching new supplements and came across Plexus, from a friend on Facebook. Like most, I was hesitant to start and I did my research. Isn’t it funny how we will research supplements to death, but don’t even hesitate when we drink soda or an energy drink? I was drinking 5 or more Dr. Peppers a day. Just by eliminating the soda, I was able to afford Plexus Tri-Plex. I also started taking X-factor. The X-factor eliminated my need for liquid Iron and B-12 shots. Not long after I started Plexus, I could tell a big difference. My blood sugar issues are gone. I felt amazing, I sleep all night and most important of all, I loved the taste of Plexus Slim and found my new routine was easy to maintain. Just swallow these pills and drink this amazing tasting drink everyday? Are you for real? This is so easy. After months of taking Plexus, I went in for a yearly checkup and found my blood work to be at it’s best. No more anemia, no more B-12 shots every three weeks, no more blood sugar issue. Where have you been all my life, pink drink? Plexus also has weight management supplements that I take from time to time to help maintain my weight. I am so happy I found Plexus and got my health back on track. I fell better than I did when I was in my 20's. Thank you Plexus!
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Read about how we arrived in the great northwest.

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Friday, January 13, 2017

How we arrived in The Great Northwest, Part 4 (Oakridge, Oregon)

After arriving in Oakridge, Oregon, and looking around, we quickly fell in love with this cute little town. We stopped at the local bait and tackle shop and got a referral to the local property management office in town. They had two rentals available; one in town and one just outside of town. They showed us the rentals, we put our application in, and we were quickly on our way to wait to hear back from them. Several days went by and after contacting them several times for an answer, they finally let us know that we had been approved for the little home just outside of town. This is the home they said is in the country, but actually it is surrounded by other homes and not exactly what we were looking for, but at this point we couldn’t be picky or we would be living in the tent until we found another place.

Twins excited about our new home.

After we secured the home rental, we made two trips to the Columbia River on the Washington side to get our trailers. So thankful for my sister-in-law’s parents for letting us store them on their property.

We lived in Oakridge for over a year and the kids spent one full school year there. During our time living in Oakridge, we made many friends, and took advantage of having the National Forest at our backdoor. The weather was perfect all year round. Perfect to us, after living in tornado alley, earthquake central, and the unbearable heat and humidity of Oklahoma, to which we both were accustomed. We found paradise, so we thought. The beauty of this area is overwhelming to say the least.

Crater Lake

Fishing at a lake, near town.

Trout

With me being just out of the workforce and after the children went back to school, I found myself bored. Looking for something to occupy my time, I started a vinyl and rhinestone business making t-shirts and decals, etc. I also brought, Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op, to this town and was the site coordinator.

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Saturday, January 7, 2017

How we arrived in The Great Northwest, Part 3 (Homeless in Oregon)


Billy’s cousins, so glad to be out of that old Blazer. The view of Mt. Hood from their house. Sadly that Volcano took the life of my sister-In-law’s brother, the winter before we arrived. Oh, the relief I felt when we first saw the mighty Columbia nestled in the Gorge that day. We were overwhelmed with excitement and fear of the unknown. Not much further and we would be arriving at my sister-In-law’s parents’ home. When we arrived, my sister-In-law along with her parents and children were there to greet us and we were so happy to see them. We made it safely and with all of our belongings. Until we could find a home to rent, my sister-In-law’s parents let us park our trailers and Blazer on their property. We unhitched our trailers, gathered our camping supplies and headed down to the river to camp out at Peach Beach. That tent you see, would be our home for several weeks. We set up camp and just in time for dinner, my sister-In-law and her family arrived with a home cooked meal. After four days of eating on the road, a home cooked meal was just what we needed. Peach Beach The tent we will call home until we find one. The next day we said our goodbyes. Billy’s cousins did a little sightseeing and then flew back to Oklahoma. Where are we going and where are we going to live? That is the question we still don’t have an answer to. We decided to hit the Historic Columbia River Highway and then head south on I-5 and camp out until we found a place to live. Mammoth Falls We wanted to get back to the area we fell in love with on our trip, just northwest of Grants Pass, Oregon and start looking for a place to rent around there. On the way, we camped and checked out several small towns. I can’t remember all the places we stayed, but I do remember one of my favorite campgrounds at Dorena Lake. We stayed there several days and had a great time. After Dorena Lake we drove down to the Merlin and Galice area and camped at Indian Mary Park. This is the area we originally fell in love with. We paid for two days and set up camp. You see the heat of Oklahoma was what we didn’t want and we soon found out that the temperature there got to be over 100 that day. We were told by Bill’s friend that it didn’t get that hot there, but we found out on our own and from the locals that it sure does. Unfortunately, this isn’t the place where we want to live. Our two nights we paid for quickly turned into one, due to the heat and we then headed back north. Rogue River Wet and tired of camping and needing to use Wi-Fi to search the internet for rentals, we headed to a motel near Dorena Lake in Cottage Grove. After that, we spent several days looking at rentals we had found online. Finding a home to rent “in the country,” as we called it, was difficult to say the least. Having no luck, we decided to go check out a place that had a rental we inquired about months before we left. It was no longer available, but the lady we spoke to gave the little town of Oakridge rave reviews. Along Highway 58, on the way to Oakridge This is where the saying in part one comes into play, “sometimes beauty can fool ya;" I was referring to this little town of Oakridge. A beautiful town nestled in Willamette National Forest and the Cascade Range. Above the fog and below the snow line, Oakridge offers a year-round paradise of outdoor thrills. A former logging town, is now known as the "Mountain Biking Capital of the Northwest." an outdoorsman’s paradise. Did we find a home to rent “in the country” here, or did these folks even understand what these Okies meant by “in the country”? To read the next part, click on the link below. Part Four Don't forget to subscribe to my blog here, to get the latest updates. Interested in being my Avon customer? Learn about joining my Avon team. Follow me on Social Media Facebook Instagram YOUTUBE Google Pinterest Twitter

Sunday, January 1, 2017

How we arrived in The Great Northwest Part Two (On the road)

Everything we own is packed in those two trailers and vehicles that are gassed up and ready to hit the road. The thought of wrecking and all of our belongings being scattered all over the highway terrified me. I had nightmares about it. Running off the road going down a steep mountain haunted me until the day we arrived. I couldn’t sleep while we were on the road to save my life. I look at these pictures today and think, how crazy it sounded to people that we sold everything we couldn’t fit in those two trailers, quit my good government job, all to chase a dream of living a more sustainable life. The life of not being reliant upon the government, the grocery store, the water department, and living off the grid was a dream that we're determined to make a reality. We longed to find a piece of land we could call ours, land we could build a log cabin on, grow our own food, raise our own animals, the simple life, so many of us have forgotten about or don’t know. Keeping up with the Jones’ is a life we no longer want or cared about. The decision we made to leave Oklahoma was a good decision for us and God blessed our family with planting that seed.

Moving day finally arrived. We pulled out before the sunrise to get as much driving in before it got too hot. My husband’s cousin and his son drove the '72 Blazer and my husband, Billy, drove the Tundra. Billy still gets tickled to this day remembering that first day on the road. He forgot to turn the heater valves off in the Blazer his cousins were driving and by that afternoon the outside temp was over 100 degrees, even higher in the truck with the heater on. By the time we stopped that afternoon, due to the heat, he was exhausted. We got our rooms and he was so tired he didn’t even go eat with us or take a shower. He collapsed on the bed and slept all night. Poor guy.

On the second day, we headed out early again, this time Billy turned the heater valves off in the Blazer, so they wouldn’t burn up. Oh, how he would regret that, for that very afternoon we hit snow and by the time we stopped for the night, Billy’s cousins were freezing to death in the Blazer. The heater was turned off… Oops!

On the third day, Billy’s cousin had figured out the trick to the heater and he made sure that didn’t happen again. We had a good start that morning and thought we could possibly make it by night fall. Unfortunately we had a blow out on the trailer we were pulling, so we pulled over as far as we could get off the Interstate to change it. That was the good thing about traveling in pairs. You just never knew what would happen. The rim was warped so we found the nearest Wal-Mart and purchased two spare rims and tires for the trailers.