Giveaway is closed! Congrats to Jenn R., our winner!
Misty was my first friend at my new school. For a girl like me who had spent the majority of her life moving from state to state every few years, making a friend at a new school on their first day of class was like a real life scene from Sweet Valley High minus the blonde skinny chicks on the cover.
We met in 8th grade PE class (Okay, not exactly high school, but close enough.) Is there anything more dreadful to a cordinationally-challenged klutz like me than standing there waiting to be picked for basketball on your fist day of school. I still get all splotchy on my neck thinking about it.
I was so bad at basketball! And in this small town school being bad at basketball meant that you were unpopular, or at the very least, not popular with the people who thought that being good at basketball mattered – which was like 85 percent of the school.
Misty, though, unlike me, was good enough at basketball for it not to strike fear in her bowels as she approached PE class – meaning should could catch the ball, dribble to the other side of the court and make a shot, without falling over herself.
I, on the other hand, came to fear the ball. If and when it was thrown at me (which was very, very rare) it was more likely to bounce off of my head (happened once, I promise, I am not lying) than actually land in my hands.
The entire graduating class of 1995 – as pure and precious as the wind-driven snow.
I digress.
Misty had something else going for her beside her basketball chops that I did not – something which gave her major street cred at our rural high school. She was born and raised in the rolling hills of the Ozark Mountains. Her family had settled the land six generations ago and her heritage in Newton County was (and still is) as long and deep and the very Buffalo river which runs through its foothills.
Misty and her daughter selling their goodies at the Newton County Farmer’s Market.
Today, Misty is an organic farmer and doer of all things good at Our Green Acre. And I do mean ALL THINGS (said in thunderous god-like voice). Her farm provides quality pasture raised organic large black hogs, beef, raw milk, chickens, honey, eggs, and produce.
Not only does she have a full on running organic farm that she handles entirely on her own, and the biggest pantry filled with the largest amount of home-made canned goods on the planet, she also makes soaps, and body scrubs, tinctures, essential oil potions – you name it, she makes it.
And I’m not done yet, she also owns and runs Steel Creek Cabins – vacation cabins that her family built by the sweat of their own brow. You can see them here.
You want to know what the clincher of all clinchers is? She harvests her own beeswax from her own bees? Who does that?! I mean can that even be done?
Anyway, as you can tell, I think Misty is awesome and I want you to feel her awesomeness with me!
Because when another woman knocks it out of the park, we should all be proud! Way to represent! When I meet a woman who brings so much to the table, I’m full on doing a happy dance inside and I get inspired to let my little light shine too.
You know what else is great about Misty besides her white socks? She’s generous! Meaning, she’s giving away some of her amazing products to share with you.
So here’s what is up for grabs in this giveaway (white socks not included):
Boo Boo Balm: This healing salve is full of herb infused oil that promotes healing of chaffed skin, inflamed skin, cuts, scrapes, burns or just as an intense hand, elbow & feet treatment. Ingredients: raw local honey; olive oil infused with st. john’s wort, comfrey and calendula petals; organic beeswax; coconut oil; raw cocoa butter; organic shea butter; orange essential oil. 5oz jar of Boo Boo Balms sells for $12.
Chest rub: This chest rub is an all natural alternative to Vic’s Vapor Rub that works wonders. Full of infused herbs (horehound, mullein, peppermint, thyme and calendula) and essential oils (wintergreen, rosemary and melaluca) this rub not only soothes, but helps heal chest congestion issues. 5oz jars of Chest Rub sells for $12.
Beer & Herbs Soap: All natural and zero animal fats, these soaps are made from coconut, palm, olive & rape seed oil. Scented with essential oils (young living) and made with all natural ingredients, there’s no artificial anything! Because fragrance oils are not used, the soaps do not have a heavy or overwhelming smell. Soaps sell for $5.
Lip balm: With ingredients like organic cocoa butter, organic beeswax, coconut oil and essential oils you can’t go wrong. Protective for the wind & cold, and luxurious during warm weather too, this lip balm is amazing. Each tube is hand filled, labeled and shrink-wrapped by Misty in her home. Tubes are made from 35% recycled material. Lip balm sells for $3.
Here’s what you can win!
One lucky person gets all of this and it could be you! Here’s how to win:
(I’m a little old-fashioned with giveaways so it’s all about “earning comments” which will increase your chance to win. I will tally up the comments and use a number generator to select a winner.) Here’s how to earn your comments:
First:
Comment on this blog post, (if you tell me your worst PE story I’ll love you forever), that counts as one entry.
Second:
Friend request Our Green Acres and you earn an additional comment on this post.
Third:
Share this post on your Facebook page and you’ll earn another entry.
So, that gives you three possible entries.
The giveaway winner will be chosen, contacted through email, and announced on my Facebook page, Tuesday morning, December 17th.
Discount Code for those who can’t be bothered with a giveaway:
Misty also sells amazing sugar scrubs, lotion bars and more soaps than you can imagine. So if you want some awesome stocking stuffers for the naturally minded friend you love, or for yourself, and giveaways annoy you, then just go straight for the gold, and get you some right now, here’s the link: ourgreenacre. When you place your order include “GIVEAWAY10%” to get your ten percent discount from Our Green Acres. Email your orders to Misty at: misty@ourgreenacre.com.
Good luck!
The Joy of This 
I was made fun of a lot when I was in school. I didn’t have a lot of friends. I was over weight, moved around a lot and had a learning disability. Now a mother of 5 with one on the way, I still struggle with doubts in myself. I long to have the confidence you have Joy! I know I could sure use this give away! Being a homeschool mom with so many little ones, I don’t have the money to spend on such amazing things. :)
Ah, a woman after my own heart. Homemade and homegrown with love :)
What awesome product. What is even more awesome is that you have such an forever friend.
In fourth grade I hated PE. I saw no point to it. Especially because I was accident prone and disliked running. The PE teacher gave me a D- because I would pester them with questions every class. “How is this going to help me when I’m older?” Or ” Why is it important to know how to hit a tennis ball? ” They were beyond annoyed with me. So when they finally ordered me to run laps. I ran 1/4 of a lap, tripped on my own two feet and fell. The next day I returned with a boot on my foot and a doctors note stating I had broken the growth plate in my foot and was excuse from PE for the rest of the year. I swear the coaches head turned bright red. Yep. I’m an athletic dynamo.
Must say, I have a soft spot for high school PE class- I met my husband there.. :D great giveaway going on!
These products look amazing! Sorry, I don’t really have a PE story – I played volleyball (not very well) in jr. high and soccer in high school, but didn’t have to take PE because I was in marching band all 4 years!
I used to share your fear of PE and frequently moved so get the making a friend thr first day thing too- my first day friend and I have been friends for almost 21 years now and I eventually overcame my fear of PE like activities and played soccer and hockey. So glad to see you are back blogging again!
My worst p.e story was when I was in middle school. We were in the locker room changing out of our gym clothes,(me,being super self conscious about changing in front of the other girls) I would change as fast as I could so no one would see me. I decided hey,I’ll just leave my tennis shoes on while I change back into my jeans. They’ll go right over my shoes right?!? Wrong! They got stuck.Bad! So stuck that it took both gym teachers and a few girls to pull at my jeans to get them unstuck. All while I lay on the ground in my UNDERWARE! That was one embarrassing day I’ll never forget!
awe joyous you made me laugh and cry. love you and thank you for all your sweetness!! can’t wait to see who the lucky winner will be!!
Reblogged this on Our Green Acre.
Wish I had a PE story but I guess swim team will have to do. My poor dad sat in the stands each and every week to watch me almost drown swimming butterfly. I swear folks either laughed or turned their heads away in fear they were going to witness a tragedy in the pool…
And I would love to try those amazing products!
This is a such a great quote! I am in awe of this lady! “Because when another woman knocks it out of the park, we should all be proud! “
Love all things natural! It’s so hard to find products you can trust to be good for you and your families health. Thanks for the awesome giveaway and I’m do glad you’re back!
Shared on fb!
No PE issues that I can think of. lol.
In high school a lot of girls liked getting those long fake nails. One day during gym class I went to jump for a ball while playing basketball and the other girl who jumped for the ball had those fake nails. She was a bit more aggressive than I was and as her hand went up against my arm she slit my wrist with her long nail. Now before you get worried, it wasn’t enough that I was ever in mortal danger but it did draw blood and it HURT! When I asked the teacher for a pass to the nurse, the teacher said, “Just go! Your blood is your pass.”
Shared on FB and I’ll share another story. My senior year we had a really small class of 12 girls due to scheduling. When it came time for the lacrosse unit we were all too aggressive and by the second class too many people got hurt that the gym teacher said we would take walks in the neighborhood next to the school instead.
Holy moly I hated PE. I was the fat kid with a need to be praised complex. I could kill at things like volleyball because I could follow the rules and have good spacial skills, but I sucked it up at things like the Presidential Fitness stuff– in one year I cut three minutes off of my mile run— THREE MINUTES! Clearly I was working my butt off, but my fastest time earned me an F. (Not in the whole class, just in the mile.) OMG.
This is indeed inspiring me to let my little light shine however little and unseenly to the world. And it surely does not involve BEES!!! ;-)
Misty seems awesome!! I dream of getting out of the city someday and becoming an organic farmer and making things for myself! Oh, and like you, I’ve always stunk at basketball (and all things sports related). I left gym class with a bloody nose on more than one occasion from being hit in the face with a basketball or football. *shudder Not good times.
I am not very athletic, so PE always made me nervous. Well, one day (and I have no idea why), I decided to be a badass and really try to be a fantastic outfielder in a mean game of kickball. Someone kicked a fly ball, and instead of ducking as usual, I put my hands up, called it, and as if in slow motion, the ball came right towards my hands. I reached a little higher and the ball came in contact…with my left middle finger…and broke it. That finger still looks weird. And that was my last game of kickball! ;)
here’s a comment! i’m sure i have a good story but my brain is on the fritz right now.
My high school PE years included an annual unit on square dancing, presumably to shake things up a bit and to show all the kids an alternative for athletics in the future. From this I still know, twenty-one years later, the lyrics to “Oh Johnny, Oh!” which I will “sing”for you now:
“So we all join hands and we circle the ring
And then you stop where you are, give your honey a swing
You swing that little gal behind you
You swing your own and you will bow before her
And you allemande left with the corner gal
A-do sa do your own
Then we all promenade with that sweet corner maid
Singing, “Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny, oh!””
No PE stories, but at recess in 3rd grade a boy was leaning against a tree that had two split trunks and he was hiding his penis so he could pee! I asked him what he was doing and got a very defensive “NOTHING!” in return. Hehe :)
I don’t have a terrible PE story, but was probably one of the worst players on our try out volleyball team… eventually I quit because I realized I wasn’t having fun, and joined the running club instead. I still need my exercise to be fun, not just exercise!
OK I saw you waving your arms around all crazy so here I am. My worst PE story. We had the worst possible male gym teacher anyone could ask for. When that special time of the month came around he had no mercy for anyone…ever. So one day all us girls decided to get our revenge. We covered his entire car with maxi pads using the sticky side to paste them to every inch of surface. Then we tied tampons all over the antenna and wherever we could find a place to tie our sweet revenge. Then it rained…oh what a sweet mess. The best part was watching his face as he tried to rid his car of sopping wet feminine products with out an umbrella. :D
No funny PE stories that I can think of, except I hated taking it since I had varsity soccer practice afterwards! What was the point?
Anyway, the products sound awesome!
I wish I had a crazy PE story but the “in” thing to do in our PE class was to complain that our menstrual cramps were just too much to deal with while running the mile or swimming laps. In our defense, it was in AZ and running the mile in that heat is child abuse, in my opinion. As far as the swimming goes, we had to share the pool with the boys AT THE SAME TIME. GAHHHH!!! How awful, right? Haha. Ok, but I guess this all brings to mind a time when I was grounded for stealing candy from the story and got all my razors taken away…Our uniform required shorts. I was mortified.
On a lighter note, now that I’m parched and scarred from reliving my horrible AZ physical education experiences, I would like to say that I’d LOVE to try Misty’s fabulous products and spread some love. I never win a thing. Boo.
I never did PE but I’d still like to win. :)
The products sound fantastic!! I unfortunately have no embarrassing PE stories since I was homeschooled. But there was that one time playing rec soccer that I showed up to the game wearing a strapless bra. My fourteen year old self used a shoelace to hold it up the entire game. Sports bras were made for a reason.
I can’t tell you my worst PE story; it’s that bad.
Thank you for sharing! <3
just shared & added our green acres! I want to try these products!
No horrible PE stories, but one time a kid threw a ball that hit my face and broke my glasses and I cried. That was recess…. :-) Hope I win!!!
For a homeschool PE in the park get-together I threw up because the girls behind me were talking about eating bug guts. I had Rey obviously wanted Mac and cheese that afternoon for lunch. The whole line had to be pushed back several feet.
Eek! (:
Nice post. Personally, I love the hot roller hair. Reminds me of a rock video :)
Misty’s products sound lively. My 2 year old has allergies and eczema and, more and more, I’m finding natural products are the best for him :)
Shared
Friended!
My high school required one year of gym class – it was awful! We soon figured out that all you had to do was tell the (male) teacher you couldn’t participate in whatever torturous team sport he planned for the day because you had your period. But to make up for it you could come to school early and do a certain number of laps walking around the gym. Once I figured out how many days I need to participate to pass, I just showed up and walked every morning until I was done. Of course this was also my senior year, since I hated the idea of gym and put it off until then!
i used to get pelted playing dodge ball in 6th grade. it was so bad that i faked a stomach ache every chance i had :)
Not a bad P.E. story, but sports-related. I played basketball in Junior High (I was on the C team–the worst players). I got put into a game with about a minute or so left and ended up shooting a hoop in the other team’s basket. Yep. Classic.
Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
Joy, I love your writing style! I don’t have any PE stories but thought you would like to know I was a cheerleader for 7ish years!!
I want this stuff! And here’s my horrible story from 8th grade. I once ate 3 whole heads of roasted garlic spread on toast because it was delicious. Like heaven sent delicious. This hapened on a Sunday night. I went to school Monday morning to start the day off in athletics where I sweat my boobs off and no showers were offered (not that it would have changed things much). For the rest of the day and week people were disgusted by my intense smell. Like people came into the classroom from the hallway to ask who was grilling burgers or onions. It was mortifying. My mom made me keep going to school the rest of the week but did take me to our local naturalist who suggested peppermint baths and drops for eternity or until I started smelling better. My friends said I smelled like peppermint covered garlic. It was. . . Memorable.
Loved the blog post & learning more about these natural products!!