This month is what we like to call an investment–in other words, my husband and I spent way too much money but there will be a long-term payoff. Every once in a while, the free product promotions offered by the Young Living essential rewards program are just too good to pass up.

That was definitely the case this month when I looked at those promotions and saw all the free oils helped with pain and post-workout soreness. My husband and I are both fitness fanatics who happen to work out as an integral part of our jobs so any products that help us recover faster are the bomb-dot-com. My husband is the spender in our family and I am the saver, and somehow that continues to extend all the way into my business. Now I have to brag on my husband for a second. Yes, he is a spender and when Christmas rolls around goodness gracious he can blow through our checking account, but he’s not buying for himself. Occasionally he buys himself a skull covered, well, everything, but let me just say I am not a Victoria’s Secret Forever Angel card holder for no reason. That is the highest tier you can reach, y’all. My husband is pretty great.

But I digress. Of course I didn’t want to spend all the money necessary to reach the highest rewards level and get all the free products because money is money and I don’t like to spend it even on necessary things like…food. My wonderful husband knows that our family needs these oils because we use them in so many ways (plus we don’t have to pay for doctor’s visits or prescription meds–can I get an amen??) so against my will, we bought the oily motherload. When I say against my will, what I really mean is I desperately wanted the oils and just needed to be “forced” to spend the money. That is a successful marital team, everyone, not to mention one brilliant husband.

On to this month’s booty:

There are so many products I’ve been wanting to try and since I had to spend a lot to get a lot free, I decided this would be the month to check them all out.

I love looking at that picture; it makes my hormonal postpartum heart sing.

Honestly, my favorite use for Oregano is in my cooking because it makes darn good pizza sauce. I love cooking with Italian herbs but alas, my dried oregano stash is running low and I have this perfectly balanced spiraling spice rack. If I run out of oregano, it will no longer be perfectly balanced and that would be unacceptable. The solution to my predicament is to cook with Oregano oil, which also, conveniently, seriously boosts the immune system. Fever pains be gone! Headaches, you are not welcome here! Ain’t nobody got time to be sick. Oregano can also be used to remove warts, skin tags, callouses, congestion, and pesticides. Talk about multipurpose.

Then there is Panaway, which basically is used topically for pain. Did you work your butt off doing the 21 Day Fix yesterday and now you’re so sore you can’t move? Use Panaway. Did your husband accidentally kick you in the face when you were wrestling? (I’m looking at you, Richard.) Panaway for the win! Any pain you have, Panaway will send that pain away.

Wintergreen is another awesome pain oil, plus it smells fab-u-lous. Kills migraines, headaches, and bad smells.

Northern Lights Black Spruce smells like outside and is a man oil. Women can use it too, but my husband loves the scent and it’s very grounding because men get emotional too. The description in the desk reference book is so good I have to add it here: “Spruce oil creates the symbolic effect of an umbrella that protects the earth and brings energy in from the universe. At night the animals in the wild lie down under the trees for the protection, recharging, and rejuvenation the trees bring them. Spruce may be beneficial for bone pain, glandular system, aching joints, opening the pineal gland, sciatica pain, and stimulating the thymus and adrenal glands.” At least the latter half has something substantial to teach us.

My husband’s snoring annoys the bajeezers out of me. Valor II on his toes at night stops that snoring. It’s good for lots of other things too but when it can stop your husband from snoring why would you even care what else it can do???

Cedarwood is great for promoting deep sleep–we use it every night–and it helps keep hair and skin healthy (anyone trying to get rid of eczema or grow long hair faster?)

Lavender–goodness gracious I can’t say enough about this oil. They call it the swiss army knife of oils because it does everything under the face of the sun, but my favorite use for it is diffusing it at night. We sleep so much better when we have lavender in the house, to the point that when we run out we sleep terribly and are totally grumpy the next morning. $23 to avoid having to deal with the husband who is grumpy from not sleeping well is more worth it than you can possibly imagine. Lavender also has great healing properties–for example, my husband recently got two new nearly identical tattoos a week apart. The first tattoo he did nothing with. The second tattoo he applied lavender on twice and it healed faster than the first. Coincidence? I think not.

Vetiver is great for anxiety, and because of it’s calming effect it’s great for sleep. For you new moms out there, if you’re struggling with postpartum depression then this oil is for you! It will also make you brave; who knew?

En-r-gee, as the name suggests, will combat every mom’s greatest enemy. Do you chase a crazy two year old around all day? Do you wake up every three hours to feed your screaming child? Do you want to sleep 15 hours a day like I did when I was pregnant but you can’t because you actually have a life where things must be done? Basically this oil is a mom’s best friend.

Joy–apply over your heart when you’re feeling down or add it to a perfume because this one smells fantastic.

Christmas Spirit smells like Christmas in a bottle. We love to diffuse it because it smells absolutely incredible, but wait–it also is motivational, uplifting, and encouraging. Winning.

Evergreen Essence, like most tree oils, is emotional grounding and is especially a great one for the husbands due to the earthy scent.

Perfectly smooth shave? Increased testosterone? Delicious outdoorsy smell? Increased pheromones to make a little something something happen with the wifey tonight? This one is for you, men. Everything about this cream screams sexy.

Less goes a long way with the lavender shampoo and conditioner, and the best thing about it is the amazing smell! It can help with scalp issues like flakiness or dandruff and also promotes hair regrowth.

Not picture are OrthoSport, Inner Defense, R.C., and Bergamot. Bergamot enhances mood and R.C. is a respiratory oil that I have found to be one of my favorites. I hate coughing and as soon as I feel a cough coming on, I rub some R.C. on my chest. As soon as the oil touches my skin I will literally not cough again. It is unbelievable. Inner Defense is an immune boosting supplement, and OrthoSport was free with my order! Use it as a massage oil on sore muscles and you might possibly just feel invincible.

This is seriously my favorite subscription box ever. It’s not free, but it’s done wonders to keep our family healthy. When my son was two and a half weeks old, I flew by myself with him to Malaysia. To Malaysia. Malaysia is by no means even remotely a clean place, people. Some might judge my parenting skills but I took him into the wet markets to do my vegetable and fruit shopping because I felt confident his tiny immune system could handle it. I walked with him along the busiest street in all of Malaysia, Jalan Alor, surrounded by people and raw meat and dirty stalls, and he was fine. Newborns have extremely fragile immune systems but I had been drinking a ton of Young Living’s Ningxia Red and using all sorts of oils and they are powerful.

Try them out, folks. We pay money to head to a doctor when we’re sick–why it is not worth money to prevent ever being sick in the first place? Winter is coming faster than we know and many of these products go out of stock during the winter months because everyone is getting sick. Waste no time!