Healthy Body Challenge Revisited

 A few years ago I found myself needing to lose some weight.  Once I started working out, I also realized that what I put into my body (food and drink) was also important to my fitness and health.  I couldn't just work out and expect to be healthy.  Plus, my bad diet was sabotaging my workouts.  So, I changed my diet and the diets of everyone else who lives under my roof.  We cut out tons of processed foods...which meant that I had to learn to cook.

And I did.

Now that I am confident in my ability to both motivate myself to work out and to make healthy food for my family, I've decided to move on to the next healthy step: changing what goes ON my body.  Everyone in the house uses whatever shampoo and conditioner I can get on sale.  The boys in the house like manly-scented body soap and shampoo and are quite partial to the 3-in-1 soap that washes and conditions hair AND skin.  It's a dream come true!

However, I had never really thought about what goes in to all our soaps and cleaning supplies.  Some of it (like propylene glycol) is also an ingredient in antifreeze...and some foods.  O.M.G.  Thanks to Pinterest, I found so many helpful tips and recipes for body soaps, shampoos, conditioner, cleaning supplies, and face wash. 

So, I started with making some cleaning supplies: dusting spray, mirror cleaner, room deodorizer, etc.  Apparently, there is some pretty nasty stuff in my beloved room fragrance spray that shouldn't be inhaled. I still have a few bottles left to use up, but I am already experimenting with room sprays made with vinegar water and essential oil.  The homemade dusting spray?  Well, I prefer the deliciously scented store-bought variety, but it is also apparently laden with chemicals that one should NOT inhale.  The homemade kind?  It smells nice (lemon essential oil), but it will definitely take some getting used to as far as the way it cleans.

My beauty routine is changing drastically.  I'm not going to dye my hair anymore.  There.  I said it.

I've switched to the oil method of washing my face.  Who would've thought to use oil to clean my oily skin??  But...it works!!  I use a mixture of cold-pressed castor oil and olive oil.   I haven't yet been able to give up my oil-absorbing cream that goes on under my makeup, and the ingredients in that stuff are terrible.  I really need to stop.  Baby steps, baby steps.

I've switched to Castile soap for my hair and use apple cider vinegar as a conditioner.  I add Moroccan oil to my hair after the shower, but I hear that coconut oil is the way to go for a deep conditioning.  I will try it soon.  I miss the luxurious-feeling hair I get from commercial shampoo and conditioner but know that stuff isn't necessary for healthy hair.  Just like I love to eat fried stuff with cheese, I also know it isn't part of a healthy diet.  Castile soap can also be used on the body, but I prefer Chandrika's Ayurvedic body soap.  It is made of all-natural ingredients and smells like the most amazing mix of patchouli and sandalwood and amazingness.  Colby and I won't use anything else.  The smell is like crack for the shower.  Yes, I compared the smell of soap to crack.  It's that good.  (Side note: Ayurveda is an old-timey yoga-like religious belief system.  It's pretty interesting if you're into that kind of stuff.) 

I've used organic lotion and Burt's Bees lotion for a few years now, so I'll keep them in my beauty routine.  There are still a few crazy ingredients in the Burt's Bees stuff, but it's a lot better than most.  Someday soon I hope to make my own lotion.

I love perfume, and I own a ton of it.  Sadly, perfume is also filled with a bunch of crap we aren't supposed to inhale.  I've been making my own perfume oil using jojoba oil and essential oil.  My favorite is a premade rose-scented perfume oil that I bought online.  However, I realized that I can make my own for a whole lot cheaper.

And I did.

So, here's to new adventures in beauty supplies.  Rest assured that I will NOT be making my own reusable tampons or feminine hygiene pads.  I've seen that stuff on Etsy.  Hell.no.  However, I will let you know about any successes and failures in my new Healthy Body Challenge.  I've already started reusing the containers for my store-bought products, and I'm filling them with my homemade ones.  That bottle of Aveno leave in conditioner is no cider vinegar and water for conditioning my hair in the shower.  The Mason jar is filled with lavender-eucalyptus shower tablets that I made with baking soda and water.  They smell really good!!  

Let me know if you have some awesome homemade cleaning supplies or beauty supplies you'd like to share, or if you have some homemade FAILS.

My Man Makes Breakfast

Colby is the breakfast maker of the family.  He makes famous waffles and has the patience to make crispy hash browns and perfect bacon.  This week he tried something new: sweet potato hash browns.

He shredded one huge sweet potato which made a ton of hash browns.

He also had all four oven burners going making fried eggs in a separate pan from scrambled eggs and two pans of sweet potato hash browns.

The kids did not like the sweet potato hash browns, but I though they were really good. I hope he makes them again. Of course he will. He makes anything his beautiful wife wants because he loves his wifey sooooooo much. I'm so lucky.

The kids enjoyed their morning coffee. Can you tell?

Soren Lost a Tooth!

Soren lost her first tooth!!  She lost it at school during lunch; she swallowed it.  After leaving a note for the tooth fairy explaining the mishap, Soren was left four shiny quarters for her tooth.  Another big kid milestone officially reached.  Sigh.

Tea Party

Soren was invited to her first princess tea party.  Soren's friend is a Jehovah's Witness who doesn't celebrate birthdays (hers or anyone else's).  We invited her to Soren's birthday party, and she had to give us the invitation back and tell us she can't celebrate birthdays.  However, she can obviously have a tea party as long as it isn't on her birthday.  Got that?   So, Soren and I got all dressed up like princesses should and headed to the tea party.

The girls played games, did a few crafts, and ate pizza and cupcakes. But it was NOT a birthday party. Not. I don't mean to sound bitchy and sarcastic, but really?? We did have a really good time, and the family is super friendly and welcoming. I hope we can have another tea party soon!

I Am Thankful for Girl Scouts

Even with all the turmoil and all the tasks I have to complete in a week, I like getting together on Tuesday nights with my Girl Scouts.  I want the girls in my troops to grow up appreciating their importance in the community.  I want them to see that even little girls can make a difference and realize that if a kid can make an impact grown-ups have no excuse not to do the same.  I want them to have memorable experiences, make lasting friendships, and learn life lessons.
I took my Brownie troop (Evie's troop of 2nd graders) to Duncan Aviation for a tour of the airplane hangers and a plan. They earned an aviation patch and had fun along the way.
These are our two Daisy tagalongs, Soren and her friend, who each have big sisters in the Brownie troop:

Here is the whole troop of girls in one of the hangars:

Soren got to see what the pilot sees:

Evelyn after her plane tour:

This is one proud Scout mama!

As Dade said after attending a Girl Scout meeting with me, it's kind of "like herding cats." Yes, it can be! I am thankful for the opportunity to be a good role model for the next generation of girls, and I hope that they see each other as the amazing girls they are...and the amazing women they can become!!

Kitten Kapers

Oh, to be a kitten.  Spending most of the day sleeping, only waking up to eat or lick or play or drink from the fish bowl.  No responsibilities like the dogs have: no barking at strangers, no cleaning up the after-meal mess on the floor (although they'll help), no chasing away rabbits and squirrels and snakes. 

Being a kitten can be lots of fun.  They make a game of tripping me down the steps.  They make sure I am never alone in the laundry room, kitchen, or crapper.  When I had the stomach flu on Thanksgiving Day, the kittens never left my side in bed.  And, my goodness, the mischief they find:

Sheldon resting in our bags hanging on the banister.

Sheldon resting in a toy box.

And, of course, Sheldon resting in a box.

Penny has her share of adventures, too:

Penny was very interested in our Halloween craft.

Penny climbing the Christmas tree for the first of many times.

Having a kitten is like having a toddler that you can spray with a squirt gun when it's naughty.  We do love our kittens, though, and I think they maybe like us a little bit, too. 

7,8,9,10

Well, my goal of making daily posts about gratitude is already a disaster.  I guess that goes right along with the rest of my life these days.  Sigh.

Enough of the pity party...I have four days of gratitude to account for, and I'm going to do it!

Day 7:  I'm thankful for my oldest boy, the one who made me "Mom".

Day 8: I'm thankful for my second boy, the one who made "siblings".

Day 9: I'm thankful for my first-born daughter, also the first-born granddaughter, who helps us discover the amazing and terrifying world of girls.

Day 10: I'm thankful for my baby, the one who made our family complete.

Vote!

This Election Day I am thankful to be able to vote.  Women couldn't always vote, and I don't take lightly the suffrage that took place to earn me this right.  Women shouldn't have needed to earn the right to vote, and in essence the right to full personhood, but we did.  Why didn't more men fight for their wives?  Well, it's a stupid question I guess, but one worth bringing up again today.

Part of the modern Republican agenda involves setting women back at least one hundred years:  redefining rape, trying to limit access to birth control through Planned Parenthood and private insurance, and making access to abortion next to impossible.  One might think this is 1912, but it isn't...it's 2012.  More men should be furious that their wives, girlfriends, sisters, friends, and daughters are being treated this way.  Hell, I don't understand why more women aren't furious about how the radical Right has taken over the Republican party. 

But, I digress.  I am thankful for all the women who fought for our right to vote, and I continue to be thankful for the women who fight for the right for me to control my own reproductive organs. 

I am also thankful my wonderful husband could go vote with me.   

Kitty Love

Today I am thankful for our kittens.  It may be a silly thing for which to be thankful, but anyone who loves his/her pets knows that pets are like members of the family.  They continually do stuff to piss you off, but it the end they cuddle up beside you and give you some love. 

Whether finding a sunny place on the steps to sleep...

...or cuddling up together...

...these kittens are a special part of our family.  Thank you, kittens, for giving us your kitten love every day.

Baking Buddy

Today's post is dedicated to my Kitchenaid mixer.  I am thankful for all of my modern appliances and the convenience they provide, but my mixer is an appliance I get to use not only as a chore.  Sure, I love my dishwasher and washing machine, but those gadgets are purely meant for housework. 

My mixer helps me make all the delicious fresh bread the fam and I enjoy.  It mixes up a batch of gooey cinnamon rolls or savory pizza dough in no time.  My only wish is that it was one size bigger so that I could make more than one loaf of bread at a time.  However, that dough hook has made my life so much easier and has saved my wrists from the pain of chronic tendinitis (kneading by hand is hard work!).

I salute you, Kitchenaid mixer, for all the joy you bring. 

Autumn's Bounty

Today I am thankful for Autumn: its weather, its effect on the trees, and its harvest bounty.  Everyone knows I love to eat, and my favorite part of Fall is apples...loads and loads of apples!  Autumn in Nebraska can be a little, well, brown.  The fields have been harvested and only dirt is left behind.  There aren't too many trees here, so I really enjoy the fleeting red and yellow leaves when I see them.  Otherwise, there are just miles and miles of dirt fields, dead grass pastures, and gravel roads.  Brown, brown, and brown.

Apples, however, come in so many beautiful shades of red, yellow, and green.  Autumn's tastiest harvest is also really cheap right now which fits in perfectly with our stretched budget.  While they are available, pick up some apples and make this apple crisp.  It is so delicious!!  I have eaten two or three batches all by myself so far this year.  The best part?  You leave the skins on the apples! 

Autumn, thank you for your crisp mornings, tasty fruit, and pretty scenery (what you can find of it here in Nebraska).  I am so thankful when you arrive each year to end summer's heat. 

I Am Thankful for You, Friend

 Day number two of my month of gratitude focuses on my friends.  As stated in the previous post, my friends have been amazing since Colby's unemployment.  Actually, I know they were all amazing before, but my time of need has been their triumph.  They have been my heroes bringing gifts of all sorts: listening ears, hugs, prayers, play dates for the kids, food, coffee, and even cash.

Friends don't love you because they have to. The bond you share with friends is built on mutual respect, shared experiences, and common ground. Friends don't always agree on everything, but true friends don't hold it against you.

 I think good friendships depend on a lot of good karma: what you put out into the universe comes back to you. When you build relationships with people that bring happiness, kindness, and laughter, you will find these things all multiplying in your life. It is then your job to spread all the joy you receive. That's how I see it.

 So, by the time my struggle ends I will have many kindnesses to repay. I can't wait.

A Month of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day comes once a year, but gratitude should never go away.  I've learned through struggle that being thankful for even the smallest gifts makes life not only more tolerable but more enjoyable.  For the month of November I will be writing a post of daily gratitude, and I will also be focusing my yoga classes on thanksgiving meditations.

This first day of November leaves me thankful for coffee.  Coffee?? Yes, coffee.  It is the center of many amazing moments in my life: "dates" with my friends, mornings with my husband, and productive late nights getting done all the chores needed to keep us going.

October was a month of struggle, depression, tears, and anxiety.  However, there were also many days spent sitting around a kitchen table or a Starbucks table or on a friend's sofa sipping coffee.  Sometimes I was crying; sometimes she was crying.  Most of the time we were, whomever the "we" was, happy to be enjoying some time as friends.  Heck, I even have a friend who works for Starbucks who brought me lattes on her way home from work.  It's a small gesture that meant so much to me during a time that was (and continues to be) stressful.