Resolutions Check-In

Resolutions
January Check-In

1. workout tracking
• NOPE.
2. work out
• NOPE.
3. blog more
• YUP.
4. new laptop
• NOPE.
5. friend time
• Ehh...
6. devotional
• NOPE.
7. bedroom
• NOPE.
8. Steampunk photo shoot
• In progress...
9. coding love
• NOPE.
10. crafts/DIY
• YUP.
11. take care of pets
• Ehh...
12. doctor visits
• Ehh...
13. TV/Internet
• YUP.
14. finish tattoos
1. 7/10

48 Things You Never Knew About Me: Part 6

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

Silence. It's so quiet in my office! No music, nothing. I have one CD that I listen to - the Rock of Ages sound track (Thanks, banana! Sorry I nicknamed you banana for my blog!!) - but if I listen to that too much I go kind of crazy. Oops - also, I'm *not* writing this at work, mmkay? So pretend like none of this ever happened. I'm moving on to the next question now.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?

wtf kind of question is this? I have no idea. I wouldn't exist if I were a crayon. In the sense that I would be me. I would be an inanimate object with no thoughts, feelings, or life. Probably eaten by a child, dog, or drunk guy on a bet. Melted in the sun, lost in a couch cushion...who knows?! I sure wouldn't, because I would have no brain!! But, yeah, anyway - yellow. I would probably be yellow.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?

Uhhh.... I like the smell of my new deodorant/body spray? It's...what is it? Water something. Water lily? That sounds wrong. It's some flower. Anyway - I like the way it smells. I also like the smell of matches, and campfires. Most air fresheners and candles, other than lavender or cotton or fresh laundry. Blech. I love the smell of sheets that have been in a linen closet for awhile. My sister knows what I'm talking about - I assume others do, too. Certain cleaning supplies. Especially the laundry detergent I made. It smells so good! Men's deodorant/body spray. Rawr...

24. HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR POLITICAL VIEWS TO YOU?

Ehhhh... I guess it depends on the topic. I'm pro-life, pro-marijuana-legalization, pro-let-adults-marry-who-they-want.....and I'm sure pro-other-things. (Note: word it so you're always pro-something. It sounds better.) But as far as politics go...I'm eh. I don't like any politicians, honestly. And I can't stand to try to keep up with the news to form an opinion as to who is the least terrible. Last election I voted for the Green Party candidate. Kind of throwing my vote away, but I also think it's important for Americans to realize there are more than two parties to vote for in this glorious country. And Republicans and Democrats suck, generally.

Homemade Dish Detergent: Update

I did it! I made homemade dish detergent. If you remember this post, I had decided to use this recipe:

• 1 cup borax
• 1 cup washing soda
• 1/2 cup citric acid
• 1/2 cup kosher salt (for scrubbing action)

I wasn't able to find citric acid, so I bought powdered LemiShine instead. I still used half a cup. I assume this is acceptable. I also followed the FAQ that went along with the recipe - it said to leave it sitting out for several days, stirring it, to prevent clumping. That worked great! Until I got stupid. >.< The first couple days I left the lid off of the container and stirred it frequently. No clumping at all! Then I got cocky, and put the lid on it. It almost - almost - turned into a brick. I caught it in time, though! Took the lid back off, dumped some rice in, and stirred like crazy. I think the amount of it increased by 50%, because it's not a fine powder anymore, as much as it is a kind of chunky...something. Not huge chunks, mind you. But definitely less fine than when I first mixed it. We still haven't used it yet, since we had a few pouches of the old detergent. But the clumping problem has been resolved at least! Now let me dig through my phone pictures to find some to add to this...

These are the ingredients I used, excluding the Clorox wipes. ;) I got them all at Walmart. The Borax was a little tricky, because they didn't have any on the shelf. But we found a guy and he checked and they had some in the back, so baZING! Washing soda, Borax, and LemiShine were all in the dish/laundry aisle. And the salt was over in the food somewhere - Mr. T found it while I was waiting on Borax.

This is what it looked like immediately after mixing. Like I said, it's  increased in size since (awww...yeaaaaah....), so the container is probably half full. I could've doubled the amount to fill the container up, but I wanted to save my ingredients in case it didn't work. I can use pretty much all of it for other stuff. The magic of DIY!

So, yeah, that's that! I'll report back in after we've run a few loads with it, let you know my final opinion. Hopefully everything works out great!

Day Off!

Guys, I'm taking a day off. Isn't that exciting?!? For all of you still in school (that is, all of you)...you've got Spring Break coming up so you're all "Psh, one day?? Supa lame!" But, guys - you have no. idea. how exciting this is for me. No idea! The only other day I've had off this year was January 4th, for my mom's retirement party. I won't have another holiday until Memorial Day, at the end of May. Then there's the 4th of July, then Labor Day, alllll the way in September. We get 9 holidays in a fiscal year. Nine. Plus two "floating" holidays, which I believe are just two extra vacation days. Then we have two weeks' of vacation days, which I'm assuming is just 10 days, or 80 hours. That won't go up for....is it five? ten?....anyway - YEARS. That is so depressing!

Anyway, the point of this post is for me to wrap my head around tomorrow. What am I going to dooooo?!?! I have 9 hours of freedom that I don't usually have!! I have to plan it to the second to make sure I squeeze every drop of awesome out of it that I can! So - my itinerary:

9:00am
Somewhere after this is when I'm going to wake up. I'm going to get up when my alarm goes off to let Splinter out and feed all the animals, then I'm going to do something I've been dreaming about for months - GET BACK IN THE BED. And sleeeeep. For like, three more hours. IT'S GOING TO BE SO AWESOME. So, yeah, somewhere between 9:00 and 10:00 imma wake up. After I'm up, I'm going to give Splinter a bath, put flea and tick drops on all the animals, and then take a bath myself. Mmmm...baths...

10:00am
I'm going to have to wake Mr. T up, guys. This is going to be the hardest part of my day. I'll probably just convince him to move to the couch. Because I'm going to - *drumroll* - wash the sheets!! And towels!! And all of Mr. T's clothes!! So, yeah, this is actually going to be an all day thing, since Mr. T's laundry has exploded out of his hamper all over our bedroom floor, and even leaked into the bathroom. Of course, God knows which piles are clean clothes and which piles are dirty. They're probably all gonna get washed. And we start over again in the process of getting organized.

11:00am
At some point around lunchtime we're going to be visiting lots of banks. Well, two banks. But that's like...2 more than I usually visit in a day. 8P We're going to have to go to my bank and open a 2nd account, and request debit cards for each of us for both accounts. We've started doing Dave Ramsey, so it's no credit cards, and super-detailed budgeting from here on out! Mr. T is still going to keep his account at his other bank, but it's only going to be for his "business" - he's opening an art gallery/studio/something. Hopefully it will make money and not just drain us. 8P So, anyway - banks. Our current account is going to be our monthly spending account - all the money we're going to pull for various bills and spending. The savings account attached to it will be for our "sinking funds" or whatever - money we're saving to buy things, like hardwood floors, a laptop, etc. Then the 2nd account we're going to open up will be where Mr. T's student loan payments come out. And that savings account will be our emergency fund and retirement savings - money that we don't touch usually. Mr. T will also need to call up all the people who pull money automatically out of his account and transfer them to the new account. Good times!

1:00pm
Hopefully we'll be done with all this by 1:00. We can do that, right? Sure. I guess at some point we'll eat lunch. Then - off to Lowe's!! I need to buy stuff for my entryway plans...I'm going to get a piece of plywood and paint it pink 8} then hang the framed map/key I made Mr. T for Valentine's Day (I need to finish that post, I just realized...) on it, along with something to sort our mail. On the bottom of it, I'm going to attach little hooks to hang our keys from. I'm so excited! I'm also going to get a board to paint white and attach hooks to hang dog leashes from. I also want to hit up some thrift stores to look for a mirror and bench. We gotta hurry and do this before March, because then we go on Dave Ramsey and  have to budget!! ;)

3:00pm
Hopefully by 3:00 we're back home, and now it's time to craft! Bones marathon and crafty-crafts for the rest of the day. Well, until our FPU class at 6:30. I need to finish my string art. I think it needs to have more string to have the "est. 2010" stand out a little better. Then it's on to the entryway!! Mr. T has some paintings he needs to work on, and my guns for my steampunk photo shoot!! So we'll be busy busy. So excited!

6:30pm
FPU time! We're going over our budgets this week. Mr. T and I had our "Budget Committee Meeting" last night, so I need to go in and tweak some things on the budget I made last week. It's going to be a nightmare, I do believe. They said it takes 3-6 months to get it all figured out, and I believe it. This week we're talking about getting rid of debt! Snowball something! Woooo! We're down to two student loans and then we'll be debt-free! We paid of the credit card before we began FPU, and we paid off Mr. T's Jeep a couple weeks ago.

8:00pm
That's when FPU is over. We head home, and work on crafts until I go to bed - weeeee!


You guys...I'm so excited about having a day off. I don't know if you noticed or not, but I. am. SO. excited. So excited!! 8}

source

48 Things You Never Knew About Me: Part 5

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?

Gah...everyone? One of my best friends growing up passed away in a car accident when we were in high school. Sometimes I feel like a terrible friend, because there are people who remember the exact day she passed and her birthday and always post on FB on those days...and I just don't. But I think about her a lot and I'm like...why? Why did that have to happen? What would her life be like now? Would we have kept in touch? And then there are all my grandparents. I went from having all four (plus one surrogate) living to none within about five years. That just sucks. Especially my mom's parents - they were fairly young and healthy. Died in a car accident. It just...sucks. None of my grandparents saw me get married.

And as far as living people - I miss my parents a lot. I don't see them as much as I used to. And I feel like I'm not as close to them as I used to be. There's this sort of double life I'm living where I have to hide certain aspects of myself from them and it's weird. I don't like it. I also rarely get to see my brother and his wife, since they live in Alabama. Of course, I never see my sister and she lives in the same city! I miss hanging out with all my CS friends. But not enough to ever want to go back to school. Gross... And I miss Mr. T absolutely any time he's not around. Doesn't matter if we're at work, he ran to the store, or he's in another state. I miss him.

18. WHAT IS THE TECHNIQUE THAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON THE MOST?

Self-motivation. Getting housework done. Working out. Running errands. Getting organized. There is so much I want to do! I never feel like I have the time to do it, but when I do have free time, I just sit on my butt and watch TV. Stupid Mrs. Wilson!

19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

Black. I really need new flats and low heels for work. Bah!

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?

I just had breakfast! Cup of coffee and Eggo's cinnamon toast waffles. Those things are the bee's knees.

48 Things You Never Knew About Me: Part 4

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?

Hmmm...this changes, I guess. Sometimes a good vanilla really hits the spot. And sometimes I want chocolate. Sometimes I mix the two. Sherbet is fantastic as well. Sherbet mixed with vanilla ice cream...mmmm... If you want to get fancy, maybe go for some chocolate chip cookie dough, or moose tracks. Really, you can't go wrong with ice cream. Except strawberry. I don't like strawberry ice cream.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Eh, a general overall appearance. Weight, height, clothing, face/hair... I'm pretty judgmental and either think "wow, hot" or "wtf is wrong with <body part>??" And I always assume people do the same to me. So woo!

15. RED OR PINK?

Eh.... I guess it depends? But I'm thinking I might lean more towards pink, oddly enough. Green is my favorite color, but you can't mix it with red or it goes Christmas-y. And with pink you have a lot of options - hot pink, pale pink, salmon, fuchsia... Huh. I guess I like pink. Well, more than red, anyway.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?

Physical appearance and/or lack of motivation to improve myself. Darn women with their poor self-esteem! I think overall I'm decent, but I'm about 20 lbs more than I want to weigh and soooo not in shape. I have poor posture. I don't know how to apply makeup properly so I never wear it. My face is still pimply and lame, even though I'm in my mid-twenties and this should be over with by now!! 8P And then, as much as I hate the way my body is...I'm too freaking lazy to actually exercise. WTF is wrong with me??

48 Things You Never Knew About Me: Part 3

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

Negatory. That, my friend, is just crazy. I will also never sky dive. Just thinking about it kind of makes me have to poop. I don't really consider myself scared of heights, until I end up somewhere really high. Then I get dizzy and this weird sense of "What would happen..." and suddenly: terrified. When I end up somewhere really high in Minecraft my butt hole clenches. There is no way I'm jumping off a bridge or out of a plane irl. No. Way.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?

It varies. I have random cravings for different ones, sometimes adult and sometimes sugar-riddled children's cereal from my past. I think I might buy Life next. Mmmm...cereal is so fantastic, guys. So fantastic!

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

Dude, I don't even own any shoes that lace anymore. Well, not any that I wear regularly. I still have my old Vans from high school that are laced vertically with the knot hidden INSIDE. Remember that?? How cool we were?! Do kids still do that? Oh! I also bought some boots for a photo shoot that lace, but they have a zipper down the side, so those don't get tied/untied, either. Laced shoes are for babies. You're not a baby are you, baby? Baby.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?

Physically or mentally? Either way, no. Now open this pickle jar while I weep over a toilet paper commercial.

48 Things You Never Knew About Me: Part 2

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

NOPE.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

I think about this sometimes, and I'm honestly not sure. Because things I find annoying in other people I realize are things I do. So...do I find them annoying because I want to be the only person that does that thing? Or is that thing I do genuinely annoying? Also, I don't really like females. I'm trying to fix that by having a Ladies' Night at my hiz-ous every week or so but, yeah...don't have a lot of female friends. So I'm not sure I'd add me to the list.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?

Nope, never.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

Yes, yes I do. I also have those weird balls of bacteria that people who still have their tonsils get. Which, I don't get them as much as I used to. What does that mean? Am I better now, or worse? Do you get those? I've met other people that do - it's not just me. And we've verified that it is due to tonsils. And we all agree it is by far the worst smell in the world. But you have to smell it! Every time! Oh it's so gross. Anyway - short answer is "Yes."

48 Things You Never Knew About Me: Part 1

Yeah, I'm not doing all 48 in one post. Suck it. Also, I find this easier than actually thinking. So suck it twice.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

My name is Sarah. Half the female population is named Sarah, I think. The other half is Sara. As far as naming me after anyone my parents actually knew...I don't think that happened. My middle name was also random. Which, I mean, is fine. But I want my kids' names to have a little history behind them.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

What kind of person asks this kind of question?! Ya freaks... I don't know when I last cried! Probably some cute puppy video or something I saw online. I don't cry often, but when I do it's over something stupid and not tear-worthy.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?

Eh. Sometimes. It gets the job done and is legible. That's all anyone can ask for. Especially considering how terrible my mom, brother, and husband's handwriting is. Sheesh. My mom often can't read back what she's written if you take it to her and ask. And my brother once scribbled out his signature on a birthday card and rewrote it because it was so bad.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?

Ummm.... Ham. Yeah, imma go with ham on this one. I like honey ham on honey wheat with cheese and baby spinach. I just discovered I have no idea how to spell "spinach". God bless spell check, amiright? Oh shut up, spell check - "amiright" is totally a word! Fickle love, that. I guess I might also add some onions and honey mustard. omg so much honey on my sandwich! And now I really want to make this. But when I buy sandwich supplies they all go bad before I eat 4 sandwiches. I'm too lazy. :(

Inspiration Boards

A lot of bloggers make inspiration boards. Like... "Here's a list of things I like, and where you can buy them!" Most of the time it will be cohesive - an outfit to wear on a date, or a bunch of stuff to decorate a room. Sometimes it's a whole bunch of the same kind of thing, like storage for your bathroom.

I hate them. So much. It's pointless, and boring. And all the crap is freaking expensive! The one time I saw something cute, I went to the site and it was over $40 for glass jars to store stuff in your bathroom. Do people actually buy this crap? I mean, I guess they do or the stores wouldn't last very long.

Do the bloggers get some sort of commission? I have no clue how people make a living blogging, maybe it's a necessary evil. And maybe I'm just a spoilsport. I just don't think it's fun to hunt all over a site (or multiple sites) to pick out a fantasy wardrobe, then lay it all out in Photoshop and link all the pages...blah blah blah whatever.

I'm gonna just keep doing my rambling thing, mmkay? And you 4 people keep on reading my rambles. I make no money, you get no fashion advice. Deal?

Homemade Dish Detergent

I'm doing it, darnit. I posted on Facebook that I was going to make my own dish detergent and everyone was all "Boo, hiss! Didn't work for me!!" so I got scared. But I've done more research and I'm going to do it, darn it!! Harumph.

I first found this recipe and it's the one I posted online that got all the "Boo, hiss!" comments:

• 2 c borax 
• 2 c Arm & Hammer washing soda 
• 2 c lemi shine 
• 1 c kosher salt

So I searched around again and found this recipe that is borax-free:

• 1 cup washing soda 
• 1/4 c. citric acid
• 1/4 c. coarse salt
• 10-15 drops of citrus essential oil (Optional) 
• Homemade citrus vinegar cleaner rinsing agent

She was anti-borax because she thinks it's super deadly but other than that the recipes are about the same. I posted again on FB, asking if anyone had succeeded in making their own dish detergent and my cousin said she knew some people who had. But theirs was also a disaster - it hardened up like a rock.

But I had found this recipe that came with this FAQ that seemed to explain how to remedy all the issues people had had (cloudy dishes, clumped detergent, etc.):

• 1 cup borax 
• 1 cup washing soda 
• 1/2 cup citric acid 
• 1/2 cup kosher salt (for scrubbing action)

You'll notice it's almost exactly the same as the first one. DIY cleaning supplies are so complicated!! Well I was a little worried about the borax, since that one chick seemed to be, so I did some (a tiny bit of) research and found this and I agree with ze Crunchy chica that borax is a-okay. 

Guess what. She also had a recipe for dish detergent:

• 1 c. Borax 
• 1 c. Washing Soda 
• 1/4 c. finely grated Castille Soap (optional)
• 1/2 c. Sea Salt (optional) 
• 30 drops Lemon Essential Oil (optional) 
• Citric Acid (optional)

Again, basically the same. Madness!!

Anywho, what I'm gonna do is...uhh....which one is it....mmmm....Recipe #3! (The one with the FAQ.) I trust it because it had the FAQ. Logical, right? 8} And all of them are about the same, so does it really matter? I don't think so. I'm going to try some of the suggestions in the FAQ to combat cloudiness and clumping and...hopefully I will succeed! Wish me luck!

Archetype Me

So if you know me (and I think you do (only because the only people that read this are the 5 people still pretending to be my friend)) you know I have a Google Reader and it is full of subscriptions (probably close to 100 now...) A lot of the blogs that I follow do giveaways. I never used to participate in them, because then I have to actually go to their blog and comment and then still not get anything. So much wooooooork..... But! I want free stuff!! *pout So I've started entering competitions. That's what this post is - me entering a competition.

The blog is Pintester and it's pretty freaking funny. She makes me feel better about possibly failing at things, because she makes a living at failing at things. We live in a glorious age!! The competition revolves around Archetype Me which is one of those online personality things. I'm a sucker for those. I used to do them all the d*mn time, before Facebook. I even took a couple of screen shots while I was going through it.

This one cracked me up, only because when you try to apply it to me....bahahhahaha!

So, what do you admire most about me? My sense of style? Luxurious lifestyle? Oh, I know - my physical endurance!! I honestly don't even remember what I put here, because none of them were accurate.

Anywhoodles - here are my results:

I'm a creative caregiver with a healthy dose of spirituality. Go me! If you create your account they personalize a Web site for you or something something...you can connect with your friends who have taken it and see what you have in common something something...I dunno, I didn't do it. I knew none of you hooligans would do it, and I'm already getting a ton of spam emails every day, so I didn't want to build on that list. That probably knocked me out of the running for winning the $50 gift card, didn't it...

By the way - how do these competitions work? Does the poor blogger actually go to every blog and read every post? Because geeze Louise that's a lot of work. I just entered one yesterday for a chance to get a $100 gift card to this online clothing store. We had to go pick out our ideal Valentine's Day outfit and link everything. I didn't mess around, y'all - I had a dress, tights, shoes, and a necklace. When I went to post, some people were all "I'd get shoes, because yay shoes!" One of them better not beat me, because I put effort into it, darnit! How is "darnit" not a word? Oh, there's a space? Darn it. DARN IT!

I'm going to go now. Pick me, Pintester! 8} I spend about $50 a week in gas getting to/from work.

Unpretentiousil

I got a giggle out of this, especially the part about making something you could easily buy, since I've recently jumped on that crazy train. Although, I know a lot of not-at-all "hipsters" that do that in an attempt to save money, avoid unneeded chemicals, and/or lower their impact on the environment. Or maybe I just know a lot of stay-at-home moms who are secretly hipster...

Decisions, Decisions

Let me start this by saying Mr. T and I are not about to start trying to have kids. I'm not even saying that to try to trick you into thinking we're not and then actually start so we can be all SURPRISE! We are not trying to have kids. Mmmkay?

But I am going to go off birth control. Probably.

NOW HEAR ME OUT. Actually, this may get a little awkward, so feel free to ignore this post if you're a bit of a puss. (Not like you don't ignore all of them, anyway, fickle non-existent readers.)

A few months before we got married I got on the pill. I was on it for....awhile. I don't remember exactly how long. For a few months I was off BC and then about six months ago I started Depo Provera shots. I consulted with my doctor twice about Implanon. The first time he suggested I try out Depo first, because it is cheaper and only lasts 3 months. Once we knew I wouldn't have any crazy side effects, I could switch to Implanon, which lasts 3 years. Well I forgot to tell him I wanted to switch before my next appointment rolled around, so I stuck with Depo for another 3 months. At that appointment I told him I definitely wanted to switch to Implanon and they said that was fine - when I called to schedule my next appointment to tell them so they knew to order the Implanon. My appointment would need to be between Feb 6 and 20 or the shot would wear off. I called at the end of January to schedule my yearly checkup and tell them I wanted to order the Implanon. The woman I spoke to told me I needed to consult with a doctor first, and at my appointment we could schedule another appointment to get the Implanon. Annoying? Yes.

So, you may be wondering when this post gets awkward. Because none of that should have been. If you thought it was, definitely don't continue.

Let's start with PMS first, shall we? Pre-birth control I was super regular. I've never missed a period since my first one when I was 12. When I got on the pill nothing changed. When I got off the pill nothing changed. ("Boy this is boring.") When I got on Depo I was told one of the side-effects was "irregularly irregular" periods. Never know when it's gonna start, never know how strong it's going to be, never know how long it's gonna last. And most women never have a period. Well. I had a super light period for...about a month. So light I didn't need pads or tampons, but heavy enough I needed a panty liner. How is "panty" not a word?! Pantie? Huh. Maybe it's "pantie". Who knew? Anyway - that annoying. But the next two months I didn't have a period at all! Then I lost switched insurance and didn't have any for a month. So my appointment had to be rescheduled. So my "window" closed and the shot ran out. Another month-long period. This time I bought super-light tampons because they were less annoying than PANTIE liners. Once I switched from pads to tampons I could never shake the "I'm wearing a diaper" feeling... Anyway - cleared up again but now, thanks to needing a third consultation to say "Yup, I want Implanon now." my shot's going to run out AGAIN, probably causing another month-long period. Which may be more than a month, if I don't get on BC again. WHO KNOWS?!

Now, while this side-effect has been...annoying...it's not the main reason we're debating on dropping BC. Weight gain, low libido, cost, acne, and risk of breast cancer are all much better reasons. I've gained weight since we got married. Yes, most people do. Happiness, blah blah blah. I want to blame it on BC, okay? Low libido is definitely due to BC. Because when I'm not on it...well it goes back up. This is probably the strongest motivator. Which...we're caught in this debate of more sex, but then more likely to get pregnant...especially since more sex. But then...less chance of getting pregnant, but also less sex.... So what do you do? Is it worth it to have less sex to avoid having a kid? We feel like at this point in our lives a kid wouldn't be the end of the world. We're still NOT TRYING. But if there is a condom malfunction, at least I'm not a GTA and we're not living in a bedroom at Mr. T's grandmother's house. I'm not sure on the cost, but I know Implanon will be expensive. One of the FIRST TWO TIMES I consulted with a doctor about it, he told me it would take a year to break even with what you'd pay for pills, and it's not actually cost-effective for at least two. So that's a lot of money up front. Our insurance is high-deductible with an HSA. And I've been going to the chiropractor a billion times a week lately. So. It's time to choose what medical things we want. And I want contacts. And Mr. T needs to go to the dentist. Actually, I need to go to the dentist! What else...acne? Yes. I had mild acne in high school. By college it had cleared up totally. On BC....it's baaa-aaack! Bah! I am trying new face wash that is (I think) helping. But still. I'm about to be 25 and I have acne like I did in high school. It's gross. As far as rick of cancer...Mom had Hodgkin's Disease in college and got extremely high doses of radiation that have caused all sorts of health issues since - including lots of cancerous things. Now, the little egg that would one day be Mrs. Wilson was tucked away in that chemo-riddled body through all of this. And I'm becoming more and more paranoid about cancer as I get older. So. It's not a bad idea to eliminate one of the risks. Now all I need to do is get Mr. T to quit smoking...

Anyway - that's my long ramble to say that I might be going off BC soon. Which means you'll be getting those lovely little "TMI Baby Updates" again. And hopefully none of them will say "I'm PREGNANT!" for another couple years. Because that would be no bueno. It's one thing to think "Oh, it wouldn't be so terrible if we had an unexpected bundle of joy." and quite another to actually have said unexpected bundle.

Let's Talk Faces: Update

I posted a few days ago about switching to oils to wash my face instead of face wash. Well, I finally bought stuff! Mixed it up and I've used it for a couple nights now. Ummm....I haven't broken out all over the place, so yay? Other than that, nothing too exciting to report. I did find a different source. Which, they give way different ratios for the two oils than my previous source.

Source 1:

• Oily Skin: Try a blend of 30% Castor Oil to 70% Sunflower Seed Oil.
• Balanced Skin: Try a blend of 20% Castor Oil to 80% Sunflower Seed Oil.
• Dry Skin: Try a blend of 10% Castor Oil to 90% Sunflower Seed Oil.

Source 2:

• For those with oily skin, try three parts castor oil to one part EVOO.
• For those with normal skin, you could start off with a one-to-one ratio of castor oil and EVOO.
• For those with drier skin, start off with one part castor oil to three parts EVOO.

I consider myself oily-to-balanced, so I put in 1 part castor oil and 3 parts sunflower seed oil. I don't know what to believe anymore! Castor oil is way more expensive than the sunflower seed oil - I could only find a tiny little bottle of it at Kroger, for about $1.50. And I got one of those huge containers of sunflower seed oil for less than $4. I don't even have enough castor oil to attempt to make it three parts of the sunflower seed oil that's already in my container! I just don't see how there can be such a huge difference...

So, yeah - I'm going with my first source. It seemed to be a fairly legit site, and there was a link to a forum where everyone was doing the same kind of ratios. So 8P !!

At any rate, even though I apparently trust "Simple Mom" not one little bit with my face....I think I'm going to try her 'Poo-less hair cleaning method. Or at least do some research on it. I feel like I'm turning into a total hippie, but I'm all about saving me some money. And not destroying the environment. I'll probably do the same thing I did with the oil face cleaning stuff and just wait until I'm out of shampoo. So...one day you'll be getting another post about how all my hair has fallen out or something, I don't know.

Hopes & Dreams

Okay, so I tried to do the "Thankfuls" and that was a total flop. But! I'm starting now and going to try to do "Hopes & Dreams" all during the month of MARCH. See?? Start now, maybe finish by the end of March. I have (basically) TWO MONTHS. I can do this!!!

I'm gonna list below the 30 questions I'll be answering. Maybe I'll even get fancy and link all of them as they get posted. Eh. We'll see.

1. List 20 random facts about yourself. 
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears. 
3. Describe your relationship with your parents. 
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could. 
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now? 
6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced? 
7. What is your dream job, and why? 
8. What are 5 passions you have? 
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how. 
10. Describe your most embarrassing moment. 
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have. 
12. Describe a typical day in your current life. 
13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have. 
14. Describe 5 strengths you have. 
15. If you were an animal, what would you be and why? 
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments? 
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at? 
18. What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive? 
19. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why? 
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood. 
21. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first? 
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years? 
23. List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them. 
24. Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now. 
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat? 
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong? 
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why? 
28. What is your love language? 
29. What do you think people misunderstand most about you? 
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

Resolutions Check-In

Here is where I originally posted my resolutions.

Let's see how I've done:

1. buy planner to record workout
• NOPE. I did download an app - MyFitnessPal - that kind of records them. So I'll give this a 50%. Deal with it.
2. work out
• Eh. I did the 30 Day Shred twice a week for 3 out of the past 5 weeks. No yoga. I've been better about crunches, but I just got a lower back tattoo, so those are on hold for a few days. I'm still gonna go with 50%. Because I can.
3. blog more
• I have done this!!! 100%!!!!!! 8}
4. buy new laptop
• Hm, not yet. But that's just for sometime this year. I'm not docking any points. 8P
5. spend more time with friends
• I've only missed one week for Ladies' Night! And I've hung out with the CS guys a few times. I keep up with them on FB chat, too. So.... 99%
6. devotional
• *whistling without making eye contact* We got through....a week and a half? WE DON'T GO TO BED AT THE SAME TIME - IT'S HARD TO DO THIS ONE. 10% :(
7. redo the bedroom
• Another "just some point this year" one. So no loss of points!!
8. steampunk photo shoot
• I got the boots! Banana has a sketch! We're going fabric shopping tomorrow! Mr. T has started constructing a ray gun! So....100%!!!!! Well, I'll say 80%, since I haven't actually done it yet. But we're on track!!
9. love for coding
• Bah.
10. crafts
• I have done a craft! And I have a billion more I want to do....it's just a matter of time. 95%
11. animal love
• Oh that sounds naughty. But this reminded me I need to put flea/tick/heartworm junk on all the pets. Thank you, blog! 100% after that!! Oh, and I need to buy cat food and litter. Currently: 75%
12. doctor visits
• I'm down to one chiropractor visit a week! And I have a lady-doctor appt. set up. But still...30%
13. TV and Internet
• SUCCESS! 100%
14. finish tattoos
• When I wrote my first post, I had four unfinished tattoos: giraffe, garter, steampunk ribs, and Bambi. Two are finished! But....I started another one. >.< 0% for starting another tattoo without getting those finished.