{crunchy lifestyle}

Guys....Guys! Hey!!

This blog has been viewed over 5,000 times!! What?!

So I realize I need to get myself in order. I realize not everyone wants to surf through archives of their new favorite blog like I do. {its like reading a new book :)}

So, up at the top you'll see a new tab, called "crunchy lifestyle!"

Around here, or at least between my husband and I, we called all-natural, hippie-like people "granola." And then that sort of morphed into "crunchy." & it turns out that it isn't totally uncommon for people to use that phrase when referring to these awesome people.


I also mention in our "about us" that we are trying to lose all chemicals by the end of this year. Well, it's already September. I can't say that I still use everything on the crunchy lifestyle tab because it was inconvenient with everything else we were trying to accomplish.

I know, I am almost embarrassed.

I realize that life gets in the way. & with all the things that we have gone through and accomplished in the past year, I am happy that life got in the way! When faced with priorities (i.e. studying and doing homework, or grating your own soap...) you sometimes, sadly, have to make decisions you don't want to.

Never fear! No time like the present to get back on the band wagon, and get to it.

So, I hereby give you, the "crunchy lifestyle" tab!

xx

{3 months-hair update}

Sorry my photos aren't super fancy, & for whatever reason I can't watermark them like I usually do. Plus, the internet freaks me out. I think I'm reverting into an old, distrusting decrepit woman. 

Anyway, here's my neapolitan hair.

not the cutest photo, sorry it is wavy from being in a bun!

This is the longest I have gone in several years! My poor dyed hair.

I have reached 1.5 inches in natural hair growth, shown in the photo below best. Hooray!! That's a lot, average .5" per month!


Current routine:

• using Kenra, for colored hair
• no masks or other special treatment
• occasional biotin, but not regularly
• healthy-ish diet: veggies & fruits, water, and lean meats {who doesn't love wine, chocolate, and pizza every once and a while?!}
• rarely using heat
• Often wrapping into a bun...like it was before these photos :)

Clearly I'm not doing anything special, but starting to... like using coconut hair masks, biotin, fish oil, and thinking of going no 'poo. I've thought about satin pillow cases, sleeping caps, and a lot of other things too....I'll share it all soon.


But it's hard to go no 'poo with dyed hair, and last time it was an absolute mess. My hair almost revolted against me. I tried baking soda and apple cider vinegar. & then I tried castile soap and apple cider vinegar. The castile soap actually clogged up our shower, and thankfully we lived in an apartment at the time! Hellooooo maintenance man.

So I'm having a hard time figuring out when I want to go no 'poo, because I don't want the dyed sections of my hair to freak out while the rest is happy.

this is the type of photo my husband takes instead of hair photos for me...he's so sweet..

Coco’s belly

baby coco, first day home!

Ever since we first got this cute little poop machine, she has had tummy problems. The worst part is that we NEVER know if she is actually not feeling well! Happy dog problems, I suppose.

The first few times she felt bad, it was parasites (whoopee!) and we cleared those up and prevent them with...a particular type of medicine that I won't mention because not everyone likes it.

Then something weird happened, and she got sick {vomit on the rug, anyone?} and more sick {let’s not go there}. Some antibiotics, and she was off on her labby ways.

It happened again {right on the freshly cleaned carpet} and we went through the cycle again. Was it the food? We were feeding her chicken and rice for puppies, so I switched to lamb and oatmeal for puppies and more antibiotics. The vet recommended maybe doing a test to see if she has a food irritation {food allergies don’t exist for dogs, there are simply irritants}. I declined, surely that was unnecessary and she didn't need it.

Once she was no longer a puppy, but still acted like one, she went to fish and sweet potato. Stinky, but she liked it!

Again, two weeks ago, she got sick {yes, on the brand new wedding gifted rug!}. This time it seemed worse, and after she started trying to lay down while still getting sick I started to panic. Seriously, getting a dog is the perfect precursor to children. I immediately turned to my dear husband, what are we supposed to do? We packed up, and got to the emergency vet as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, that “getting there as soon as possible” included going to the wrong vet, and then remembering I did transfer myself to the emergency hotline. Panic does wonders to your brain, just scrambles it!

happy to see the vet

She was so happy to see the ER vet, I mean, whole body wiggling happy! So after more antibiotics from the ER vet, I made an appointment with our normal vet. She’s had the food irritant blood test done, which is really just to see if she has either lymphoma or irritable bowel disease (IBD) based on how her liver is processing, etc. Both came back negative, but she has low B12. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, but has been known to cause upset tummies.

Low B12 can be due to malabsorption, which can be assisted with shots and a probiotic. We're testing the probiotic now! Should things not improve in a few months...we'll do some B12 shots. But I'm not looking forward to that. 

Until then, we’re back to lamb and potato and grain free and a probiotic. I’m hoping that helps her belly, and she hasn't been burping recently. She had the worst smelling burps, they smelt like poop. Happy side effect? No, her gut is definitely not happy and we’re struggling to find out why. It’s going to be a while til’ we find the right combo for her tummy, but we are hoping this is it for our little rescue fur ball! 

{hair complex}

{1st update - 3 mo.} {2nd update - 4 mo.}

13" to Locks of Love, 2011

I have a complex when it comes to my hair. I go through periods of really caring, then caring little, then caring too much, and not at all. When it gets the length it is now, I get tingly and want to chop it all off.
every.single.time

All for a good cause, I love donating it. First, it's really cool that we literally grow it, and it's free to give and help others. Second, there are a lot of people who can't grow their own because of many issues and not just cancer. It started a long time ago, and I've donated five times to locks of love. It usually takes two years to grow my hair out long enough, almost always more than minimum. So let's see why I'd do such a thing:

First time, because i had just discovered you could literally donate hair. Shipped it all the way from Germany.

Second, because they spelt my last name wrong on the thank you post card the first time. (Not hard to do)

Third, because I never got a thank you post card. So let's try again.

Fourth, because I don't like odd numbers. I guess I have a complex about that too.

Fifth, because I was ready for a change after college. Why not give it to someone who needs it.

Sadly, it takes six donated pony tails to make a wig! So here we go, number six.

Now there's a new twist. I've been dying my hair for five years. That's a lot of dye. And damage. I've wanted to do this for a while, but now that we are post wedding I think I can commit. (Commitment phobia and wedding in the same sentence?)

So here we go. I'll be updating once a month, shooting for the first week of each month. 

{fail, dreams, schemes}

This past week was a week of failures.

& I’m not even being pessimistic, my coffee mug is still half full.

I, of course, would have shared all of this with you! Except…

My eggplant lasagna did not go well, I think I burnt the eggplant somehow. (by somehow, I mean baking at 450 instead of 400…)

My healthy cookies were not as fluffy and gooey delicious as said to be, probably because I used whole wheat when the recipe didn't say to. Oops.

I definitely forgot to add vanilla to my blueberry ice cream, which would have made it AMAZING, so instead it tasted good. Darn it.

So not many exciting* things going on here, except that I’m finding myself in the kitchen every day after work with this impossibly cute apron on with my new last name. After attempting eating whatever creation I've come up with, we take a walk.

Since it’s darn hot here in the south, we walk during the sunset. We follow puppy dog tails leading the way. We do newlywed talk along the way, talking about hopes and dreams. We plan out our futures, and how wonderful our life will be together. While some might call it the honeymoon stage, it’s something we've always done. 

We plan, we scheme, and we walk.

& occasionally we fill a kiddo pool with water and get a good laugh. 

She could fly with those ears.

*although we do have something "exciting" going on, stay tuned.

{planning a wedding}

Please read: I started writing this post back in November. It was really difficult to write, and ended up never publishing it. Planning a wedding is really personal, and truly depends on how you and your partner work best. We're big planners {if you couldn't tell} so this is how the process worked for us. I think it's time to share this with y'all!

Quotelife Photography

I don't talk about this much, mostly because I want it to be a huge surprise for everyone coming! Perhaps you are reading this as a bridesmaid, a mother of the bride, or the actual bride. We are about halfway through the planning process, and enjoying it!

I started planning by using The Knot checklist! I love that I can check off things that I have done, or won't do. Everything is timed by when they should be done too. I find that a lot of the items on the checklist are expected to be done early, but I am doing my best to do them even earlier. So, I can change the due date in case I know we won't be able to do it in January, and we should work on it in December. I can also add additional items to the checklist when needed. This makes future me very happy, because I know that next spring is going to be tricky since it's busy season for most accountants and I'll also still be in school.

I ended up making a big excel spreadsheet, so I could see all of my options in front of me and keep track of all my 'to do's' and all of my future appointments. This really doesn't work for everyone, I understand! Just think about how you plan best, and work off of that.

Please don't get overwhelmed!!!  This can definitely be a fun process, even if there are times when you are doing it alone! There are times where I've had to ask for help from a bridesmaid, or give my sweetheart a "honey do" list. Just smile and take a deep breathe. In the end-it's all about saying "I do." No one is going to ask why your linens didn't go with the theme of your cake or why all the different colors of blue didn't match. If you think they will, you're sure you want them to be there....right?

For us, if anything is too difficult then we just walk the other direction. If a DJ won't call me back, I don't worry about it. If a makeup artist isn't responding, then I don't worry about it! If it isn't meant to be, it isn't meant to be. 

After all, you and your sweetheart are a match made in heaven. You and your vendors should be too. It is truly that simple. If you can't trust your vendor, or have that funny knot in your stomach-walk away! This is so important, because the day of the wedding you don't want to have doubt in the back of your mind. You're going to be busy soaking in every second of your special day.

You have to decide what is most important to you. Is it money? Then list them by price, and go with the cheapest. Is it the most experience with your vision of a modern, fantastic wedding? Then ask for their portfolio! You should feel comfortable that they understand what you want, or else you're going to be very worried before the event!

Here's an example. Deciding on a DJ was one of the hardest decisions. We narrowed it down to three:

• The first DJ we met with was the owner of his own business and would be our DJ the day of the event. He was a really nice, owned his own business for many years, and also the cheapest. 
• The second was also the owner of his own business for many years and would be our DJ the day of the event, but also the most expensive and a little overly confident. 
• The third had us meet with one of the owners, but didn't meet us in a local shop or location. We drove out to their office, but they had us listen to music we liked. But we didn't get to meet our DJ for the wedding. At this point I really couldn't make a decision so we ended up meeting them again, but requested that we meet with our actual DJ for the day. This time we connected perfectly, and the price was just right!

I'm so excited for all of the future wives out there, being married has been so exciting for me! Being bonded to the person you love, and that loves you more than anything in the world, is the most incredible feeling.

Best of luck!

{how does your garden grow?}

{I wrote this blog post a week ago, and already I need to write an update!}

This year our garden is much bigger than all the previous years!
And finally, it looks like we are going have an overload of vegetables.


I am so excited that I can finally eat at least half of a raw cucumber, without needing to put something on it or just stopping. That's a bit of a break through for me. While I spend a lot of time on this garden, and dreaming of all the vegetables that we'll get to eat....I often don't end up eating them. This year, I've really been coaching myself to eat what we get. No mini tomatoes have made it inside the house, I just love snacking on them!

So, what's growing:

• One watermelon plant (with a watermelon!!)
• Two cucumber plants
• Four okra plants (small this year, looks like they are probably over crowded)
• Four large tomato plants
• Five onions
• Two mini tomato plants
• One bell pepper plant (that seems very unhappy, but not much I can do now)

I also put two marigolds in the garden this time, in between the tomatoes. I think it's helping the tomatoes and with our overwhelming mosquito population, which means now I can water the garden with only 10 mosquito bites rather than 20. Still ridiculous, but I'm trying to get rid of them without always spraying myself with bug repellent. Not working...totally open to suggestions! 

oops, look like I need to weed...

I noticed a few slugs on the cucumbers, and some beetles eating the okra leaves. Keeping an eye on them, but really don't want to do anything if I don't have to! Fingers crossed all the green tomatoes {there are a TON} don't all go red at once! Tomatoes for breakfast seems like a stretch for me. 

xx