Recent life in summary

First off, apologies for being MIA the past week. When not storming, it's been really, really nice outside; combine that with work being a bear lately and sitting in front of a computer screen more than required hasn't been high on my list of priorities. So, a summary instead.

1) Compassion
I about did backflips returning from the mailbox on Friday. I received my first letter from Manthan in India, my sponsored child (as of February). My husband also sponsors a child, a little girl named Arianna from Ecuador, so I'm very familar with the letters, but I'm very excited to form a relationship with this sweet little 8-year-old boy. I did have a question for those of you who sponsor a younger child. Do you receive letters on the behalf of your child? The letter I received was written on Manthan's behalf (not translated - actually written by someone else). I didn't know if this was a first time thing or commonplace for a younger child.

2) Forever flowers
I ordered these felt lovelies from handmadecolectibles on Etsy. I'd been admiring them for a while, and a Mother's Day coupon code made me splurge. They sit on the counter near our kitchen sink, and I love to look at them.

(image via)

3) New summer dress

I purchased from J.Crew on super sale plus free shipping. That maxes out my husband's willingness to spend on my summer wardrobe, so let's hope it's a keeper. It's a cotton weave that doesn't require ironing, which it a requirement in my book.

(image via)

4) Bird watching and blueberries

A little bird is building a next in the wreath on our front door. The husband suggested we remove it before any babies are birthed there, but I refused. I'm too excited. We also planted two small blueberry bushes in our side yard. It's looking like we'll have a crop of about 20-30 blueberries this year. Hopefully, next year, our bushes will yield a whole pie's worth!

5) Birthday boy man

Last, but certainly not least, my sweet husband celebrated the big 2-8 yesterday. We ventured downtown to eat some southern home cooking at a locally known restaurant, Poogan's Porth. We grabbed dessert after, and we were still home by 8. Lame. So, my husband used his birthday as an opportunity to make me watch a guy movie (again). Enter "The Hunt for Red October." A young Alec Baldwin kept me silently cracking up (The movie was made in 1990.), but it was actually quite good. The majority of the action was set on submarines, so it was close to my husband's heart.

I love you, babe (even though you rarely, if ever read this)! Isn't he a hottie?? (Although I totally forgive you if you try to claim your husband is the hottest. I just won't agree.)

(From our 2009 honeymoon in Asheville)

Enough miscellany for today.

Happy Everything Day

In the recent months, we've celebrated (or anticipate celebrating) my dad's running streak anniversary, my birthday, my sister's birthday, mother's day, the hub's birthday, and the hub's upcoming graduation. After realizing that life was getting in the way (and that celebrations are especially fun when shared), we coined this Mother's Day as Happy Everything Day.

The day consisted of dessert eating (Mom insisted on making a special dessert for each of the "celebrants," resulting in a lemon pie, a dirt cake, a chocolate pound cake, and red velvet cupcakes. The deliciousness and calories were infinite. I'm eating a cupcake now.)
We did some gift exchanging. B and I gave Dad a t-shirt says "Ask me about my streaking habit. I designed it myself (but sadly, I don't see graphic designer in my future). I'm in love with the pillow that my mom and aunt picked out for me. My sister scored some jewelry, and we replaced my mom's faithful Mary Jane crocs. (I'm not a fan of regular crocs, but I would prefer not to live without my croc Mary Janes.) And the husband is pretty pumped about his new Keurig (so am I!). (Those are sailing gloves he's modeling.)

I caught this picture of Kona actually looking in the direction of the camera. He always loves when the party is outside, and he can chill just slightly outside of the action.

 

This is the whole family. Decent family photos are something to be cherished, even if they involved minor threats and bribery.

 

I highly recommend Happy Everything Day.

Post-Mother's Day Miscellany Monday

Hello Monday! The husband's graduation speech went smashingly on Friday, and we enjoyed a relaxing, fun weekend with family and friends.

1) The Great Restaurant Debate

On Thursday night, the hubs had homework (and to write that speech I mentioned in the previous post), so we celebrated Cinco de Mayo in casual style - eating Qdoba at our coffee table. This always leads us to ponder which is - in fact - the the best, fast Mexican chain restaurant: Moe's, Chipotle, or Qdoba? Sometimes, it's the little debates in life that make for the best conversation. (I will argue on the behalf of Chipotle to the death. Unfortunately, the nearest one is a couple of hours away, so Qdoba has to suffice. I am not a Moe's fan. Please tell me you share my opinion.)

2) Thor
We saw it. I'm not a fan of super hero movies. But, I really liked this one. I'd definitely recommend it for a date night, especially if you always disagree about movies (like us) and want to earn some compromise brownie points.

(image via)

3) We don't own a guard dog.
We live in a neighborhood where they are still building. Right now, they've made a couple of loud noises you can hear in our house. Kona immediately high-tailed (low-tailed?) it into the office where I'm at. Seriously, he's sitting under the desk. Picture proof:

4) New Battery
My work laptop desperately needs a new battery. It's operating on electricity only right now. I used our internal ordering system to buy a new one. I noticed that all the part numbers had the same disclaimer: "***Please confirm correct battery choice before purchasing.***" It turns out there's a reason for this emphasis. I picked my computer type and still ended up with the wrong battery. Oops. Since I work from home, I'll have to wait four days to see if my second choice fairs better than the first.

5) Ring Question
Do you get your wedding/engagement rings/other "fancy" rings you wear daily cleaned regularly? How often? Is it inexpensive? Necessary? My rings didn't come from the same store, so I've always wondered how to go about getting them cleaned. So I haven't.

In addition to the love for my own mother I shared yesterday, I wanted to wish all the moms and moms-to-be in blogland a very happy (belated) mother's day!

Joining up with Carissa at Lowercase Letters.

Thank you, Mom.

 

From the day I was born,

 and at every day along the way,

you've been there for me.

As an example, as a counselor, as a teacher, as a friend.

 Thank you.

Happy Mother's Day!

Deals, Favorites, and Public Speaking

My interest in couponing (a la Extreme Couponing) ebbs and flows. However, I never get tired of the coupons and special offers I receive in the mail/e-mail from non-food stores. Sometimes they are a big fakeout, such as FREE SHIPPING if you $150 or more. (Seriously, that is (one of) my pet peeve(s). Who spends, on a normal occasion, $150 at one store?) But, all in all, they save money and occasionally make something unaffordable, affordable. What's not to love?

At some point along the line, I got on Victoria's Secret's mailing list. Now, I get a consistent arsenal of coupons from them. I'm certainly not complaining (I haven't paid for underwear in two years.). Last month, I received a $10 off anything coupon, and I picked up these sleep pants (which I am wearing now). I love the smocked waistband, infinitely more comfortable than a normal elastic waist. It's like wearing a cloud. (Not that I have official proof of this, but I imagine wearing a cloud would be way comfortable.)

(image via)

I also used a couple of coupon codes from Kodak Gallery to order two mini-albums of our wedding photos (18 months later) for our moms. Two albums for $32 with shipping. Two happy moms.

This is the cover. When I shared it with the hubs, he said, "Hey, that picture makes it look like we're pregnant." This declaration was both inaccurate and somewhat of a buzzkill. However, I choose to presume that the mothers aren't going to draw the same conclusion.

When not making slightly less-than-endearing comments about my custom gifts, my husband was named "Sailor of the Quarter" amongst the staff that teach and/or support the training school he works at. As a result, he was given the honor of speaking at an upcoming graduation ceremony. I'm not really sure that a forced public speaking opportunity is ever a true "honor" (because, ugh, public speaking is higher than death on the fears list for a reason), but tonight he's putting the final touches on his speech. I think it's pretty significant that he has the opportunity to speak to this group of sailors, who are at an exciting, yet intimidating, point in their baby Navy careers. I'm confident he's going to nail it (if not on looks alone). Not that I'm partial.

Hairnesty (Shampoo boycott - week 3)

One week ago I posted my plan to limit myself (indefinitely) to once-per-week shampooing. I feel it's only fair to openly state that after hitting "post," everything went downhill.

(image via - also, not me)

Last Wednesday, I woke up and rinsed (only) and dried my hair followed by an application of dry shampoo. I had an appointment, and I wanted to look nice. (Remember, for comparison's sake, that the first two Wednesdays of my experiment, I'd let my hair dry naturally.)

About two hours later, I asked my sweet husband, "How does my hair look?" He answered (without a hint of rudeness or snark), "Greasy."

So, yeah.

Conveniently, you left some interesting comments on my previous post about alternating conditioner and shampoo. So, on Thursday and Friday, I rinsed and conditioned. And on both days, my hair ended up in a ponytail. (I think my experiences can be blamed on starting with hair that was abnormally greasy.)

And finally, on Saturday, I did leave my hair curly, per my usual routine, but I looked pretty rough. (It didn't help that I went to Merle Norman to pick-up some make-up that afternoon, with my rough-looking hair and no make-up on. I walked into the store to see a group of girls getting their make-up done for a wedding. They looked so cute; I had to remind myself about the merits of inner beauty just to keep myself from running out the door.)

I have never been so thankful to shampoo and condition as I was on Sunday.

My revised thoughts:

I tried to do too much at once. If you read the article, you notice it said to ease into the "no-poo" lifestyle. I got all crazy and jumped in head first (very unlike me, mind you).

Moving forward, here is my new plan:

Sunday: Shampoo/condition; straighten (no product).

Monday: Nothing (no rinse/wash, leave dry)

Tuesday: Condition only; straighten (no product).

Wednesday: Shampoo/condition; straighten (no product).

Thursday: Nothing (no rinse/wash, leave dry)

Friday: Condition only; straighten (no product).

Saturday: Rinse/condition. Leave curly with product.

Sunday: Shampoo/condition; straighten (no product).

I also reserve the right to modify at any time.

There you have it - an honest update. Anyone else have a "no-poo" experience?

I leave you with a few comments from last week. Everyone's hair is unique, but maybe one of their routines will help you make a hair break-through!

Elizabeth: It has been over nine months since I shampoo (or a straightener) has touched my long, ultra thick, very curly (translate - SUPER frizzy) hair. I use conditioner (all natural - organinc) as my cleanser as well as for my leave-in conditioner. Unfortunately, I HAVE to wet and recondition my hair (in order to present some sort of civilized mess) to the public everyday...which does nothing to reduce the amount of time I spend on it. I might actually be spending more time on it daily than ever, however, I don't have the added time of straightening it...so that's a plus. On the upside, my hair is the healthiest it's ever been! I haven't had a hair cut in about 10 months and STILL have no split ends!

I don't know if just using conditioner is helping the environment any but hopefully!

Chrl: I...go every other day with out washing or rinsing. In the summer I change it up a little bit more. I wash and straigten one day with a little product. Then just rinse the next day and add curling product. The third day I rinse condition and then add curling product if necessary. Then on day four I wash again.

Lindy: I love dry shampoo! I also just condition somedays and don't wash or rinse at all other days. I have thick short hair which sometimes can not be tamed and pony tails are not an option...

Bethy: Yay for no-poo!...I have to admit, I haven't gotten down that low. I've done twice a week. Plus I was my bangs pretty much every other day because they sit on my forehead all day and end up quite greasy. (Ew, TMI.)...

P.S. Some asked if my hair smelled. It doesn't smell "freshly washed" by the third day, but I didn't notice any bad/gross smell.

Monday again?

In high school, I remember many people signing yearbooks, populating AIM profiles, etc. with these Grateful Dead lyrics:

"Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip its been."

I can't say I was cool enough to reference the Grateful Dead in my high school yearbook nor have I ever actually heard the song, but somehow it came to mind as I scanned over the events of the past week.

1) Appointment follow-up

Thank you for your prayers. My procedure was completed successfully. Minus (TMI warning) a couple hours of cramps and some hot flashes (Sorry for all the times I told you to "walk it off" when you had a hot flash, Mom.) (Ok, I didn't say that, but now I know that I never should.). Even though it's easy for me to worry too much and struggle with God over whose in charge, I'm so thankful that I'm not, and I'm so thankful that we live in a part of the world with preventative care.

2) Cullman

I know the "southern" tornadoes have been all over the news. They hit close to the homes and hearts of many. My husband's family lives in Cullman, AL, one of the towns hardest hit by the AL tornadoes. Please keep them and others in your prayers. Thankfully, my M/F-in-laws' home wasn't hit, but a house four doors down was. Right now, I think there's a lot of numb, a lot of nerves, and a lot of thankfulness.

Cullman, AL, courthouse

(image via)

3) My husband's dream barbecue

Last night, the hubs and I grilled up some boneless pork chops and some asparagus, and we ate it on the back patio.

Add a loaf of french bread, and no plates were necessary. We ate directly off the baking sheets. (No, we don't do it often, but it was fun and such easy clean-up.)

4) South Pacific
I love musicals, but I've never seen this one. During a Friday night girls' night, my friends introduced me.

(image via)

It's full of fun songs and some cheese (but goodness did they go overboard with the "mood" coloring. How have I not seen it before?

5) Photo-op

I bought a maxi dress from Target recently. I love it because its not too long for a short(er) gal like me. I felt wearing it to church yesterday call for a photo-op. My hubs didn't agree, but he obliged.

Yay, Target! (As usual.)

Happy Monday! Tomorrow, I have a "no poo" hair update. Stay tuned.