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Friday, October 10, 2014

In the Cross Alone I Glory


I heard this song today on Pandora, possibly even for the first time. It really hit me. There is nothing that I can give, nothing that I can do in my own strength, that will allow me to live. Only in the cross can I glory. "It is finished!". Only what Christ has done by His death on the cross, promises me eternal life, promises me hope of a future with Him, promises me that I can do all things through Him. I pray that I can rest in that!

Mama Bear

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Pulled Muscles After Forty


On Sunday, my husband was helping set up for church (we meet in a middle school right now), and pulled a muscle in his back. Recently, he has been trying to avoid taking any pain meds, such as Advil, Tylenol, or Naproxen. But last night, he was in so much pain that he was ready to take something. I asked if he wanted to have me rub some of my Young Living oils on him, and he said he'd give it a try, so I rubbed Panaway, Idaho Blue Spruce, Deep Relief, and Copaiba on his back. Within TWENTY minutes, his pain was GONE! There is a reason I LOVE these oils!

I'd love to tell you about these oils, and how I have been using them for my family in the past several months. Have questions? Please feel free to contact me on Facebook or email me at angieochoayoungliving@yahoo.com.

I'll be posting soon about my October giveway, so keep an eye out for it! It will be for INSTAGRAM followers only! ;-) My Instagram username is @AngieOchoaPhotography

Have a blessed week!

Angie

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

My New Adventure - Young Living Essential Oils

I can't hardly believe that it's been over a year since I last posted! Well, yes, I can believe it. Life just has a way of taking over, and some things become a little less important (such as blogging). I'm SO excited about my new adventure that I just HAD to share it! I am now and Independent Rep for Young Living Essential Oils! I have been using the oils for our family for about 3 months now, and I really love this natural way of taking care of aches & pains, coughs & colds, stressful days, sleeplessness, hormonal issues, personal hygiene, and SO much more!


One of the things that I'm SUPER excited about is this month's Premium Starter Kit! Oh my WORD this is insane... For a LIMITED TIME ONLY the Premium Starter Kit has some incredible changes... Instead of Purification Blend? DiGize. Oh.....DiGize, it's perfect for all of those yucky tummy issues we sometimes have to deal with, whether from lactose intolerance or a nasty tummy bug that's going around. And instead of Frankincense, which is already a very very valuable oil... Sacred Frankincense, which is like regular Frank to the n-th degree (skin, pain, headaches, healing, etc).


All together this is nearly $30 MORE in oils for the same $150. They're estimating supplies at two weeks...I think it will go faster than that. HURRY UP!!! Comment here or PM if you have questions or want to jump ON it before this amazing offer reverts back to the regular amazing offer. 
(Haha, it's true. The PSK is a killer deal either way!)

If you'd like to order your Premium Starter Kit from me, I am personally offering a $20 Credit to your account when you order during the month of September!!!!  Go to our Young Living website and sign up as a Wholesale Member. Please use my member #1762073 when you sign up, to ensure that I am able to put the $20 in your account.  

Sometimes you may hear the “Wholesale Membership” referred to as a “Distributor” - that never means that you HAVE to build a business. Of course, if you want to, you can. In fact, to Distribute YL you don’t have to buy some fancy additional kit, you don’t have to purchase $1000 of product and we will NEVER suggest you carry a stockpile of Oils to sell to friends. Distributors get the same starter kits regular Wholesale Members do, they’ve just made some money by telling friends/family about the amazing Oils.  And you'll still ALWAYS get your products at 24% off!!!

Questions? Email me! I'm happy to answer any questions or give more information.

Have a BLESSED day!

Mama Bear

Friday, August 9, 2013

Mama's Weekend Getaway

Now that we have a family of six (we have a foster daughter who is just 6 months old), there's not many opportunities for me to get away and just have me time, let alone chances for me and hubby to get away for some US time!
Our Room at Asilomar
 Last month, Papa Bear had ALL FOUR kids, while I got to get away to Pacific Grove, CA with some girlfriends.  For TWO nights!!!  I was SO blessed and refreshed!  We had no agenda but to just have some girl time and to relax.  We stayed at Asilomar Conference Grounds and enjoyed some incredible ocean views, lots of laughter, and a bit of chocolate.  

Two Sweet Friends

Me and another sweet friend (I'm on the right)

Tiki Faces
 We ate at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries.  TWICE!  We went to Hobby Lobby in Morgan Hill (because it's the CLOSEST one to us, and I love it so much better than Michael's!).  I found a really cool basket there for $6 and a VERY cool BIG mirror for $24.  Both were 80% off!!!  We played on the beach, made a sand castle, took silly pictures of each other, had breakfast together at the conference grounds, had potato leek soup the first night, because it was so chilly, and because that soup just sounded so yummy (and it was!).

Love this woman!

All of us at The Ice Cream Shop in Pacific Grove
  We took board games, but never got around to playing them.  Another friend came down and joined us for Saturday, so we went to the Barnyard in Carmel and did some fun thrift store shopping for items to re-purpose into newborn pants and hats for my photography business.  We had a little snack and then went bought some coffee (for Papa Bear), and some chocolate at one of the best little chocolate shops EVER...Pieces of Heaven.  


Ahhhh, the life!  Monterey Municipal Beach




Can you see the seals?


That's me!  I don't care to have my picture taken, but I am learning to let go...

The Lone Cypress on 17 Mile Drive


Love this lady!

Love her too!

We took the 17 mile drive in Carmel, which is AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS!!! We had dinner on Saturday at one of Papa Bear and my favorite restaurants in Monterey...Hula's Tki Room.  We had ice cream at Lappert's A.K.A The Ice Cream Shop in Pacific Grove. We talked and talked and talked about some of the things that come with marriage and children.  We talked about God and His goodness and faithfulness. 

If you can manage it, I highly encourage you to get away with some girlfriends.  It'll do you good!  I am so blessed by these friendships!

Thank you, Papa Bear for allowing me to get away when you had all four kids.  You are an amazing husband and daddy.  I love you!!!

God bless you!

Mama Bear
 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

I'm Now Selling Photoshop Templates

Are you always looking for a great storyboard to be used on your blog?  Whether you are a professional photographer, or you are a mom-tographer who loves to showcase her kids' photos, these story boards are perfect for you.  Each blank set that you see below has the filled in set below it, so that you can see what it would look like with photographs in it.







I am also selling Facebook Cover Templates!

I hope that you will check out my BRAND NEW Etsy shop:  AO Photo Design!

Have a blessed day!

Mama Bear


Saturday, April 13, 2013

Life Gets in the Way

Sometimes, I get these great ideas, like starting a blog.  I am overly ambitious sometimes.  And then, life gets in the way.  Things get a little chaotic and crazy.  So much has happened in our lives since our last post!

To start things off, let me just say this:  We did emergency foster care in 2011, and got a little girl who was 10 months old in October 2011.  She celebrated her 1 year birthday with us and by the time she went to go live with a relative, she was 13 months old.  Needless to say, having her with us for 3 months, we got attached to her.  SO much so, that we cried when she left.  We KNEW this was a temporary situation, but we also knew that God called us to love these little ones for as long (or as short) as we have them.  We tried to guard our hearts, but about 2 weeks before she left, she really started loving back.  This was so hard on our whole family, that we decided we needed to stop for awhile, and maybe for good.

BUT, last November (2012), I really felt like God was wanting us to get back into emergency foster care.  UGH!  What???  NO!!!  Life was good.  Things were getting easier.  Our kids were getting older and able to do more for themselves.  My selfish and lazy heart did NOT want to take on a baby or another child!  Our youngest had just started preschool 2 days a week, where I actually had a couple of hours to myself!!!  Oh, the bliss!

Nope!  God had other plans.  How do I know for sure this was what He wanted?  Because Papa Bear had been thinking the same thing, and neither one of us had talked to each other about it yet!  So, we put off talking about it until after the New Year.  We prayed about it.  Then, about the second week of January (2013), Papa Bear said, "Ok, this is what we'll do; if THEY call US and say they are DESPERATE for homes, then we'll say yes, but we're not going to call THEM."  I was ok with that.  They probably wouldn't call.

WRONG!  Not even 2 weeks later, our caseworker called us and said, "So, are you guys ready to foster again?  We are DESPERATE for homes!".  Um, hello???  Could that be any more clear of an answer?  We knew then and there, that this was definitely what God wanted.  Sooooo, we said yes.  This was on Friday, January 25th.

Monday, January 28th, we got a call about a 1 year old girl who needed a confidential placement.  We had to say no on that one, for the protection of our family.  I couldn't believe we even got called SO QUICKLY!!!  I figured it would be a few weeks at least.

Then, Tuesday, January 29th, we got a call about a baby who was born the day before, 6 weeks early, and still in the hospital.  OH, MY!!!  She wasn't even a day old yet, when we got the call!  Well, we said yes.  We had to wait until she was 10 days old and had gained a substantial amount of weight before we could bring her home.  But we visited her almost every day before we brought her home.

This prompted us to put in our application for adoption.  NOTHING is saying that she will go up for adoption, but if she does, we wanted to have all of our ducks in a row, because of course, we fell in love with her immediately, despite the fatigue (and of course the sin that comes with such fatigue!!!  you know, anger, impatience, etc.).

We know not where this road leads, but we know we are doing God's will and we know that He sustains us each step of the way.  He cares for our every need before we even realize we have a need.  He gives grace when we have none to give others.  He is merciful when we are in the middle of sinning.  We are praying for birth mom.  We are praying for our own hearts.  We know that God is in control and He is a sovereign God.

We will wait.  And we will love.  And we will live life to the fullest, for His glory.

Mama Bear

Friday, December 21, 2012

Christmas Cookies with Kids


 As my little ones get older, it's become more fun to involve them in holiday cookie making.  They both have their aprons that they get to wear, just like Mommy, and they get to get up on the chair and cut out cookies.  I love being able to share this fun tradition with them, just as my own mom shared with me and my siblings when we were all young.








I LOVE kisses from my kiddos!  My oldest was taking the pictures for me.  Didn't he do a great job?!
I will show you how we decorated the gingerbread cookies in the next post.

Have a blessed weekend!

Mama Bear