{Coco, your hair}

Get it?
Coco, your hair!
or Coco your hair

Ok, what I'm getting at here is my new favorite moisturizing hair mask: coconut! I know my hair doesn't look the greatest in these photos, and I should probably wait to take better photos, but there's no editing on this blog! This was the day after a mask, and I clearly didn't wash my hair too well. :-)

longest my hair has ever been!

As you can see in the photo, the ends of my hair are looking very straw-like. Even though my hair is naturally wavy, and you gotta love that I didn't get all the coconut oil out! A trim is inevitable, the last inch is getting tangled easily and feels pretty crunchy. Looking at the ends, you can definitely see the the splits, and they are just growing. I've probably already waited too long, but it's frustrating since this is the longest my hair has ever been!

I think it's important to realize that commercial products that "bind" your split ends contain chemicals that end up not being very good for your hairs health overall. I know I can't explain it any better than the blog link below, I'm really liking her blog and I find myself re-reading it a lot. I think every time I re-read it, I learn something else!!

I've been using Coconut oil on the weekends, when I am just cleaning or doing chores around the house. I....have even gone to the grocery store with it in my hair! I'm sure someone has though, "That's some greasy hair." They're right, very oily indeed...but it's so nice afterwards! In the future I probably won't have to use the mask as often, it just depends on how my hair feels. & you might not need this very often or more often! On the weekends I put coconut all over my hair, tip to end. If needed during the week, I'll put a little coconut oil on the ends or to tame fly aways.

Most blogs recommend leaving the coconut mask in for at least two hours, but best if done overnight. I haven't slept in it overnight, but I would recommend covering your pillow.

So the point is, it helps my hair! & I even think it's helping it grow. Mostly because my new coco deo has been helping hair grow, but that's totally besides the point. Ladies don't discuss such things.

my new favorite blog!!!! almostexactlyblog.wordpress.com

Homestead in suburbia?

I can't believe I published the last post without seeing that it was the 14th!!! Happy Three Month Anniversary honey!! It's weird to be counting our relationship by months again, after being together for over four years. It feels like the beginning all over again, except better.

So here are just some thoughts that have been sloshing through my mind lately....

What is homesteading? It’s the ability to live on your own, ultimately completely sustained. That was never my original intent. I just simply wanted to grow a garden that would cut down our bill, and provide fresh food that I could be proud of. What’s so hard about putting a seed in the ground and growing it?

You've seen our garden, but I haven’t really divulged my eventual dreams that involve homesteading. I don’t think I’m ready to try and keep cows, goats or pigs. I’m definitely not ready to slaughter them! I used to be vegetarian, before I found out I am allergic to soy and most tree nuts. Yep, definitely feeling like the pale nerdy kid with glasses. 

Based on what I've read, we have managed to start phase 1: grow your own food. It’s a small garden, and this year we grew tomatoes, mini tomatoes, okra, watermelon, cucumbers, onions, and strawberries. My dream is to grow: peaches, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, okra, watermelon, tomatoes, mini tomatoes, squash, zucchini, pumpkins, peas, beans, and lettuce. All the good stuff that we really enjoy eating! 

Last year:  Raised Garden Pt 1 Raised Garden Pt 2 Raised Garden
Two years ago: Apartment Jungle Update

On our current cute little less than ¼ acre, that just isn't going to happen, this isn't our dream home and I think the next home owner will appreciate that I'm not going to convert our backyard into one big garden.

Then I fell into the idea of homesteading while looking for a bread recipe. My mom used to make fresh baked bread in a bread maker when we were kids, and there is nothing on this earth better than fresh bread. Except maybe warm, fresh bread with fresh butter. Pure.heaven.

Finally! I can make my own bread! I have tried so many times, and each time it was very depressing. I have made focaccia before, but I’m debating taking the recipe down since I haven’t made it again since. I will share with you the recipe that I can make though, soon enough....once I try it one more time to make sure it wasn't a fluke. 

Now I think homesteading just makes sense. I don’t think the world will end tomorrow. I don’t think I need to get off my dependency from the government, mostly because I want my darn social security one day. (haha that isn't likely to happen.) I’m not sure what I’m aiming for here, just a way to make our lives simpler and easier on the earth. I’d like to give back more than we take, which isn't happening right now.

Ideas to take it further….

2. Rain barrels. It takes a lot to keep a garden green in the south, and it only makes sense. If the gutters are doing the work already…right? I lived in Australia for six months during college and collecting rain is a normal practice in Australia. For obvious reasons, but it seemed to follow the idea that its sort of wasteful to not collect the water.

3. Chickens! My Mountain Man (MM) says no, but I think it’ll be fun. At least Coco, our darling bird-dog of a lab, would enjoy it. I can see the fur and feathers flying furiously. Alliteration anyone?

4. Sustainability in basic needs.  This is a big one, and one that we wouldn't be able to tackle for a while, if ever. That includes well water, solar panels, septic tank, and maybe even hybrid cars. Minimal or no impact, and investments that end up costing nothing or even giving back a return.

Is this even realistic? Not really. But let’s think of what our needs are, and find a way to do them cheaper, easier, and just more thoughtfully. Water-get a well. Food-get a garden, plant some trees, and raise some animals. Energy-solar, wind, essentially use something other than coal.

Easier said than done. I’m on the hunt to find someone else who does this near us, so I can learn from them. You can’t believe everything on the internet, after all. This is a long journey, not a post with a simple conclusion, so if you've already done this or have a place for me to get more info, please please please share!!

my favorite garden blog: http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/

my favorite self-sufficiency blog (not updated much anymore): http://newlifeonahomestead.com/ 

{first foster pup}

I share a lot of dog rescue statuses on Facebook, and I often find myself annoyed by other people who do it too. Ooh the irony.

I’d like to think the difference now, is that we’ve done something to help the rescue effort. Someone fostered our dog before we adopted her dog from Halfway There Rescue, and enjoyed working with them so much that now we’ve fostered with them.

Our Ground Rules:

 We must both agree. No pressure. 

Short term commitment.

Our dog is ALWAYS our priority. This put us in a few tough situations, but we stuck to it.

No expectations, we cannot compare our foster to other dogs, or have expectation of what he will/won't need or how he will/won't act. 

Meet the mystery dog mentioned in a previous post: Rock. We liked to call him Rock-man, Rock-head, Rockefeller, Rocky, and sweet boy.

He was marked to be euthanized July 31^st, at 8am at a shelter. I saw the facebook post, and asked my sweetheart if we could foster, and he decided that this was the one to foster. The description on Facebook said that he was under a year but didn't know much else.

He spent the night with the vet, and got a clean bill of health. Hooray!!

We knew our sweet Coco-bear was a real handful. She had TOO much energy as a puppy, and would often not sleep because she had so much energy after a day of playing. We were told he “wide-open,” but we still had an open mind.

So, here’s what we learned with our first foster:

• Sweet Rock-head is finishing getting his last molars I think and likes to chew. Of course, we’ve got that covered. Either that, or pittie teeth are totally different from lab teeth. yep, I had no clue.
• He wasn’t learning too quickly when it came to potty training. This was frustrating, but we bought more carpet cleaner. At the end, he had been accident free for ten days. Hooray!
• He definitely pooped in my husband's new car, on our one hour journey back home. I always thought this was funny, but he only sometimes thinks is is slightly comical. HA.
• He can now sit on command, but needs to learn to not jump. The method that was working was just turning away from him and saying “No” and only petting when he sits. Do what I ask = get what you want.
• Crate training isn’t fun, but he finally walked in on his own  “kennel” after 3 1/2 weeks!! But no messes in the crate, which is glorious compared to Coco who had some digestive issues. We kept him in a kennel to protect our biggest investment-our home. This also limited any frustration we may have felt if there was any damage or messes. 
• I think one of his favorite things must be sleep, because he didn’t like to wake up in the morning. He was so precious, he just sneezed his head off.
• Learning other things like “back-up” and “lay down” are not working. Oh well.
• He’s not crazy about being left in our fenced in backyard with Coco, but he followed her lead on play time, and when it’s time to come inside (aka, bark at me).
• Watching him learn how to go up stairs was HILARIOUS. Bless his heart, he looked like he couldn’t control his legs! I wish I'd gotten a video!
• Our first walk on the leash was interesting, he clearly didn’t know what was going on. He was a little confused, but continued to follow Coco’s lead and didn't get overwhelmed.
• He was food aggressive, and we didn't work on this with him. My dog is MY priority, I chose not to put her in that situation. We fed him in his kennel, also to help with kennel familiarity.

In the end, we realized that he is really too sweet for what he had been through, which I won't share. He only wanted to be loved and be good.

Every foster dog is different. We are glad we were able to do this, and I’m glad we were able to keep an open mind. We did get frustrated, but we made a commitment and we stuck to it. There were times where I thought I would have to call the rescue and say that we couldn't do it anymore, I can admit it. 

But to know that in a month or so, he will be a well-trained dog that will make someone’s heart burst with joy...it was worth it. My heart bursts with joy when I see my sweet Coco-puff, Coco-nut, Coco-bear…and I just know one day he’ll know the same love. We gave him foster love, but he deserved more. 

kissed by a pit & I liked it!

Even if this is the only time we are able to foster, because fostering is hard, I am so grateful it was this sweet boy! He is onto the next leg of his journey, but he has a special place in our hearts. & I'm onto finding another way to contribute to the continuous, often thankless efforts of animal rescue.

{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.