Ch Ch Ch Changes - From Consumer to Crunchy.

Guys, I'm going crunchy.

And it's weird. And kinda scary (but not really).

I've never been an all-natural, no medication kinda girl. Ever. Nature and I don't really get along - hell, I almost went to the emergency room when they did my allergy test when I was 8. I did go to the hospital the first time I rode a horse. I probably would be dead from an asthma attack if not for inhalers, allergy shots, and regular doses of antihistamines.

But then I got married to a law student, and started supporting a family of 2 (+2 pets) on a single, entry level income. And I started getting thrifty. And all-natural? Yea, turns out it can be pretty cheap.

I don't really go out of my way for it either. I have a very limited amount of things too. I make my own frozen dog treats, I make my own face wash, and my own lotion. And I've started using oat flour and almond oil. And I make my own bread (sometimes).

I'm going slow. Maybe one day I'll make my own laundry detergent. But until then, know that I'm not crazy. Some of the crunchy stuff? Yea it doesn't work as well. So I don't continue it. But the stuff that does work? True Believer.

Oh, and as for allergy medications? I'll never give those up. And the local honey thing doesn't work when you're as bad as me.

2012 Olympics!

First of all, I'm incredibly ticked off at NBC's Olympic coverage. As in, can we elect a different news channel to cover Rio? I'd rather watch anything other than NBC.

1. They cut the opening ceremony. Because the "program is tailored for the U.S. television audience", clearly we wouldn't appreciate a tribute to the London bombings. Clearly we would rather see an overplayed Michael Phelps with the hasbeen of Ryan Seacrest. Thanks for making THAT choice for us NBC. I think the choreographer has it absolutely correct when he says "It brings to mind the question ... that maybe it's too truthful."

2. The NBC commentators talked over the ENTIRE opening ceremony. There were parts that we missed (either because of talking or just plain editing it out), parts we couldn't hear, and dumb comments that most people could care less about.

3. Why can we not see anything live? Nothing. Unless we have cable of course. But really? NOTHING?

4. NBC isn't playing coverage of less popular sports. So fencing, judo, and archery? Nope, no exposure. They'd rather broadcast the entirety of a 5 hour bike race than cut to anything else.

/frustration

Among the positives though? I loved what I saw of the opening ceremony. I think Britain knew they couldn't compete with the sheer mass of China's, so they went a completely different route. I know they made the right choice. It told a history in a very creative way. I wasn't a big fan of the MTVish section, but I LOVED that they included the creator of the WWW. Sure, the torch lighting wasn't "creative", but it was meaningful with a perfect impact. To be honest, I thought the entire ceremony was very...London. Understated. Meaningful. Poised.

Now, let's go Team USA!

Budgeting.

I've never really followed a budget before. Seriously. I've just always followed the idea of "spend as little as possible" - it sounds terrible, but it's true. But now that Sean has a job where he's labeled as an independent contractor, we have to make sure we track his income and save for his taxes - as nothing gets taken out of his paycheck.

So what better time than to calculate how much we spend? Our first goal is to just track our expenses. We want to be able to make a realistic budget that we can be following by next year, but without knowing what we spend in the first place, it would be near impossible. And tracking we are.

And it's almost sickening what we spend in some areas.

We've spent $170 eating out this month. ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY. Now granted, it was kind of a strange month, but still. We over spent on groceries too, but we also hosted a 30+ person BBQ for the 4th of July. Clearly food is our biggest vice. I started budgeting on the 3rd of the month, and after seeing what we spent on food the first weekend, we've definitely been watching that already. It holds us accountable for what we spend. With Sean working, we have that money to spend, but we shouldn't be, ya know? We could be using that to pay off our car loan, or student loans, or savings for a house. Even if we only saved HALF of that money, we would have $720 in a year. That's 2 car payments (which is almost a mute point, because my car is paid off next month!).

In any case, keeping a budget (or even just a record), is amazing. Never realized how good it would be for us. :)

Thursday Night Catch-Up

First and foremost, for those who don't know, Sean got a(nother) job!! He's making calls to follow up on claims for a malpractice suit - it's not what he wants to do, it's not glamorous or fun, but it makes $12/hr and it's an actual paying job. And something on the resume.

So now he's working two jobs - one paid and one unpaid (at the free tax clinic). He's still also got his summer courses. He's been super busy, but that's how it goes. I've lost my housedude though. Guess I'll have to do some laundry :p

Work's settled down a lot, even though we're smack in the busiest season - guess it helps to have a full staff! I've been working my normal 40 a week, which is sooo wonderful. I just got back from a business trip to St. Louis. It was just a short 2 day trip, but I got a company car (and credit card) for a few days for it! It was a great trip, and we got to meet a lot of the big guns in the area. I love meeting the higher ups, and learning about all of the opportunities I have within the company. The whole having a career thing? It's pretty awesome. I seriously love my job.

Bowser got his manly bits chopped today, but he's taking it like a champ!

I've gotten 2 wedding invitations in the mail this week, and I'll get at least one more by the time the year ends. Two of the weddings are on the east coast, which kinda sucks, but we'll make it work (especially with Sean's new job!!). I'm excited though! I <3 weddings.

Life. Awesome.

Sunscreen Allergy - Solved!!

For as long as I can remember, I've been allergic to sunscreen. My grandparents owned a neighborhood pool, so sun was a frequent summertime friend for us. My family started noticing that I would burn more and get little red bumps (like ingrown hairs) all over whenever I wore sunscreen of any kind. I'm a naturally darker skinned person though - I'd burn once or twice, and that would be it each summer (go go Native American blood!!). It was never really a worry in my family though - we were poolside or at Six Flags pretty regularly, and so we were always tan. Even when my grandpa got skin cancer...my family treated it as a "let's cut it out and go on our merry way" kind of thing. It was never really like cancer.

But. I know that the sun isn't very nice to skin in general. I know that I should be protecting myself in some way. I'd rather not deal with ridiculous wrinkles and skin cancer when I'm 50. I already have ridiculous complications (like Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is combated with Vitamin D, but my body ONLY absorbs Vitamin D through sun exposure - so in the winter, my options are depression or tanning beds. My body hates me, and wants cancer). I needed a sunscreen I could wear!

A blogger friend of mine mentioned that she had an Oxybenzone allergy, which caused the exact same symptoms that I was getting whenever she tried sunscreen. She also suggested the EWG's Skin Deep website - some sunscreens are better for you than others. Thanks to the site, I found a great sunscreen, Coppertone Sport Pro with Duraflex. It's spray, so it doesn't absorb as much into my skin (which helps with my allergies to other things), and there's absolutely no Oxybenzone in it.

Thank you, for protecting me from cancery things.