It’s me!

Hi! I’m Vikki Baptiste, pleased to you want to know more about you, but beware … I’m not known for my brevity.

The only “oils” I knew growing up were the oil my dad used to fry his fish and chips in, and Skin So Soft!

Once I had flown the coop and made my solo debut into the big wide world, I made the move from England to Australia, and became more aware of more natural ways to take care of my health. I worked on sheep stations for a while, so all that lovely lanolin coming from the fleeces kept my hand soft, while the tea trees (aka Melaleuca) had some mighty strong qualities of their own!

By the time I had moved from the “outback” to the “big smoke”, I continued to turn to essential oils for both well-being, and for green cleaning! Anything that had “natural” in the name was fair game for me, and I amassed a number of cute little bottles full of (mostly) wonderful-smelling oils and tinctures.

When I moved to America and got married, I learned that my mother-in-law shared my passion for oils and we would often trade oils and recipes, especially with two young babies in the house!

It seemed that as the children grew, my oil collection also grew! They were forever coming up with colds, coughs, rashes, and other complaints that I could always find recipes for. My bible was Valerie Worwood’s “Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy” – and it was always close at hand!

When a friend of mine, Lisa, told me a friend of hers was coming to my city to teach a class on essential oils, she suggested that I attend. And, as you do with Facebook invitations, I clicked “yes”, not intending to go. (Don’t deny it. You know you’ve done it!)

A few days before the class, Lisa called and reminded me about the time and location, and confirmed that I was going. “I should be there” was my reply. And then I got curious. Why would she call me, all the way from Utah (I was in Illinois) about going to a class when she wasn’t even going to be there? I looked again at the invitation and found the name of the company that was the sponsor of the class.

I looked this company up on the internet, and thought to myself “if they think I’m going to pay these prices for essential oils, they must be crazy!” But, I thought, I’m an information-gatherer and I can’t pass up an opportunity to learn, so I’ll go.

The day came and there was a thick blanket of December snow on the ground.

No way, I thought to myself. But Lisa called again, and asked if I was going.

It MUST be important if she’s called 3 times! I asked my daughters if they wanted to come with me, and ended up with a 9 year old in tow, trudging through the snow to get into Gold’s Gym. Hiding my face as I slinked past the fit bodies training on the floor, and finding my way up to the Alignlife office on the 2nd floor.

When I got into the room, a lady welcomed me and offered to put some oil on the back of my neck that would ease any stress I was feeling, so I said sure and she proceeded to put some great smelling oil on the back of my neck. And … c’mon … I have a nine year old daughter, and that’s stressful enough in itself!

The room filled up with people who I later learned to be a class of massage therapists, and I sat – somewhat uncomfortably – in the circle, feeling like my neck was on fire. I asked my daughter if her neck was hot, and she said that it wasn’t, so I assumed I was imagining things. WARM things!

A few minutes later, the lady who welcomed us introduced herself, and she had not got very far into her presentation before the lady sitting to the right of my daughter said “is this stuff supposed to be warm?”

“Oh goodness!” the class leader said “I forgot to let you know that some people may be sensitive to peppermint, so if you’re feeling a little warm, let me know – I can fix it in seconds.”

My hand shot up into the air as I blurted out “I thought it was just me!” and she put some coconut oil on the necks of those who said they felt a little warmish. The burning sensation left right away – amazing!

I listened intently to the presentation. While the presenter told us about an oil blend that assisted with digestive issues, one of the girls said that she had indigestion. The present gave her a drop of the blend – literally, a drop –  and told her to rub it on her chest. Not even twenty minutes later her heartburn was completely gone.

The presenter showed a video that told a story of a little girl who was plagued with seizures, 8 to 12 seizures a day, and after using just Frankincense oil, she went from a 3 year old who was so medicated she looked like she was in a drunken stupor, to a vibrant little girl whose incidence of seizures was drastically reduced.

At the end of this video I had my application form filled out to buy these amazing oils on a wholesale basis and had signed a check (using money that was meant for my mortgage payment – that’s how much I wanted these oils!)

That was December 2009 – and I haven’t looked back since.