Helpful Natural Remedies

Life has run off with me and it has been 2 weeks since my last post! It is already April 20 and I have only posted one time this month.

If you recall from early December of last year I wrote this blog about my solution to dandruff...well recently it seems to have come back partly (not near as bad as it was) and the Tea Tree Oil was not helping quite like it did before. Plus I ran out, so I was open to different remedies to try.

I have done a lot of reading on natural scalp and hair treatments since I have dandruff and am trying to grow my hair out. Apple cider vinegar (referred to ACV from here on) is one that kept popping up as very beneficial to both your hair and scalp. It naturally cleanses the build up on your hair and works to condition and soften your hair. The acidity helps neutralize the ph of your scalp and helps unclog pores that can prevent natural oils from moisturizing your skin thus causing flaking.

I tried a little experiment and here is what I did: I poured pure ACV on my scalp (enough to wet it but not dripping) and massaged it in--especially my problem areas. Then I let it sit for 15-20 minutes and shampooed/conditioned in the shower like normal. I did this every other day and after about 5 times I have noticed a significant improvement in not only my scalp, but also my hair! My scalp has much less flaking and no itching. My hair is soft and very shiny. Sure, I smell like a pickle right after I wash my hair but after it dries there is no trace of vinegar smell. It was harder to pour the ACV directly out of the bottle so I got a little squirt bottle to help control the flow better.

ACV is definitely cheaper than Tea Tree Oil so I would recommend those who are not having success with other remedies should try this!

If you read my last blog post you remember that I started cleaning my face with oil. Yes I am still doing it and I like it! I haven't noticed much improvement per say in my tone or discolorations, but I love that I do not need moisturizer any more. I love that it does not burn if it gets in my eye or when I am taking off eye makeup. I can also say that any blemishes I do get are quickly gone in a day or two instead of hanging around for over a week.

 

In short, I am sold on the oil-cleansing method. If for nothing else but for the cost! It is just pennies to make a small amount that lasts forever. It takes very little oil to get the job done and it has to be better for your skin if it's chemical-free and all natural pure ingredients! I do think for my next batch I am going to get some jojoba oil to throw in there for more blemish fighting properties.

On a different note, Nick and I met some friends for dinner by the lake and here is a pic of us at sunset :)

Experimentation = Oil Cleansing!

What am I cleaning you ask? My face! With oil? Yes! Before you call me crazy, feel free to read this very informative article that sums it up perfectly. My skin is kind of weird and I have battled with it for years. I'm not going to be dramatic and say I "struggle" with acne because I don't. I do however have annoying blemishes, dry spots, and a very oily T-zone that an almost-30-year-old should not have.

For a long time I used astringent to clean my face at night but was still getting occasional break outs and dry/oily skin. Nick got me a different kind of face cleaner for Christmas and it seemed to help a bit but still had the same old problems. It just ran out yesterday so I decided to take the plunge and try out the oil cleansing method!

I started out simple with a mixture of 2/3 castor oil and 1/3 EVOO. I also added a few drops of Tea Tree oil (Nick calls it my marinade). It took just a pinch to cover my face and I rubbed it around for about a minute, then gently cleaned it off with a hot wet washcloth. These pictures are after the cleaning (and will be my "before" pics if it turns out well):

 

It doesn't look too bad in the pics, but I do have some discolorations, small blemishes, blackheads, and old scarring (pay no attention to the red spot under my left eye--it is dilated capillaries that I've had for many years). I have read several accounts of people who have used this method and it has reversed much of the old scarring and marks on their face.

I usually have super dry skin after a shower, but this time I did not. I didn't use any lotion or spot treatment before bed. In the morning my face did not seem oily at all, and I did not notice any new bumps. In fact it almost seemed more clear than the day before! I also noticed during my day at work that my face did not get oily in the afternoon like it normally would. Yay!

I am going to do this each night as my face cleansing method for at least one month. I will take pics again after one month and tell you about pros/cons at the end.

PS My son got a spot in our local primary school! We officially enrolled him and got the afternoon class that we wanted. Now we are all set and will meet his teacher in August.

Easter Fun

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday! We had a great time with food, family, and friends.

Here were my holiday nails :) Eggshell and baby chick

Last Wednesday I took Brad to an egg hunt at a local museum. He had a fun time and got some treats!

I have been on call this whole holiday weekend but thankfully only had to go in for a couple hours this afternoon! The big dinner was my mom's house at 4pm so were all able to attend and enjoy ourselves. In attendance were us 3, my inlaws, SIL, niece Zoe, my brother Shane and his 3 kids, my stepdad's friend Charles, and his two boys. There was tons of food and we had perfect weather to go with it!

The older kids hid the eggs outside, then the 4 younger ones had a blast finding them all! Each kid got 21 eggs. They were mostly filled with candy but a few had money in them!

Brad was a very good boy who ate all of his dinner, plus cake/cupcakes/fruit salad. He had a great time playing with the other kids and running around in the yard all afternoon.

Tomorrow is the first of April and a fourth of the year is already behind us! We decided to drop the price on our house as of tomorrow so hopefully that will stir up some action. I had thought that it was the halfway point in it being for sale, but it has actually only been 2 months. We probably will not drop the price again because we want to at least break even and not owe at closing (if we ever get an offer, that is).

We also find out tomorrow if Brad got into our local Primary school so be sure to check back soon!

Spring is Here

The days are warmer, the sunset is later, and the trees are blooming! Don't get me wrong--I love winter and love the snow--we just never get a true "winter" here so I try to look forward to the changing seasons.

Last week I planted a bunch of grass seed and caught up on some yardwork. Brad helped me plant several bulbs of garlic, as well as some basil and cilantro seedlings in a greenhouse. Nick informed me yesterday that some squirrels had dug up the garlic so hopefully they will recover! Any rain we get is few and far between so I have to be diligent to water water water.

We haven't showed our house since our return from Seattle and it is hard not to get disheartened. I keep telling myself that it will pick up when the weather is nicer, when people get their taxes filed, when school is out.....it is out of my hands so it does no good to worry! Next month is our halfway point in the listing so we will drop the price to see if that helps.

As far as Plan B, we find out on April 1 if Bradley got into the local primary school.

Easter is just around the corner, and I did some festive designs on my nails to celebrate....

My mom is cooking a big Easter dinner with an egg hunt so I'm sure all of the little ones will have a blast! As Brad gets older it is so fun to watch him grow each holiday and see him enjoy it more and more!

This week was Spring break (for most) and the way I celebrated was by working extra! How fun. Hopefully the reward will be noticeable on my next payday :)

We are all looking forward to our Denver trip in May. I have been looking up fun family things to do and have found several that look neat. Ideas so far are the US Mint, a gold mine tour, and dinner at Casa Bonita. I'm sure we will also drive into the mountains, and I would love to go thru the historical Victorian towns that are around.

I seem to have been in a creative rut for awhile--yes I crocheted a ton of headwarmers/hats during the winter, but I have not scrapbooked for close to a year! I think I am overwhelmed by it because I have so much stuff that when I get it all out, I can't put it away till I am done. I have *briefly* considered getting out of my typical scrapbooking and starting to preserve our family photos in some other less hands-on way. I don't think I will revert to that until absolutely necessary, maybe when a second little one comes along....

Right now I am psyching myself up to go get a ton of photos developed and just knock it out. With Brad's fourth birthday on the horizon as well as him starting school--I will only get further behind! This has always been a fun hobby for me and I don't want it to become a burden by getting behind. We always find time for the things that are important to us!

Precious Moments

 Yes, we are home from Seattle. But first--I want to share some adorable pictures of my little boy and his cousin! He stayed with his grandparents while we were in Washington, and my MIL took them both to get portraits made. They turned out wonderful, and these are a few of my favorites....

 

So precious! His cousin Zoe is 5 months older than he is, and they will both be starting Pre-K this fall. They just love playing together.

Our trip to Seattle went good. We had a good time but not enough to do all of the things we wanted to. Our layover was in Denver and it almost got canceled due to a heavy snow storm. Hundreds of other flights to/from there were canceled throughout the day. Thankfully ours was late enough in the day that the storm had passed and they were able to clear the airport. Our flight landed in Seattle just after midnight, so we were VERY tired by the time we got to our hotel.

We got up early to catch breakfast, then packed up and headed north to Vancouver, BC! This was our 3rd time into Canada, but our first time actually driving there. We got thru the border with no trouble (although we still get nervous every time like we are doing something wrong) and had lunch in the city.

We somehow ended up in a huge Asian district and by the time we ate lunch we were pooped and wanted to head back to the hotel. It was a 2 hour drive each way so that took most of the day! For dinner we headed to our local fave--Red Mill burgers and each got a bleu cheese bacon burger. So yummy!

 

The next morning we grabbed breakfast in the lobby, then headed 2 hours south to see our family! Nick's aunt and uncle leave in a precious little town nestled in the pine trees and mountains. The views are amazing and they have a river right behind their house. They treated us to lunch and several cups of coffee! We stayed for most of the day then headed home.

 

 

 We had a gift card to a theater that we really needed to use (because that particular theater is not in Oklahoma but there were several around Seattle) so on our way home we stopped at a theater and arrived just 5 minutes after the movie we wanted see had started--Oz the Great and Powerful! We hoofed it up 4 sets of escalators to get to the 4th floor and got to see it in 3D. It was very good!

Unfortunately we stayed up way too late that night. We stopped somewhere and grabbed dinner and didn't get to bed until around 1am, then had to get up at 4am to catch our early flight. We were running a bit late to the airport and had to literally jog to our gate! They were halfway done boarding our plane when we got there. Our layover was very short and we had to quickly get to our next gate for the last flight. We landed safely and took a nice nap when we got home!

That evening we drove out to the inlaws' house to pick up Brad. My mom and stepdad met us down there, and we all had dinner together.

Now it's back to real life and work tomorrow!

Lots of Plans!

 Yay for my 400th blog! Thank you for reading.

Our return to Seattle is finally here! We leave tomorrow evening and are excited to get out of town for a few days. I went in to work early today and got off early so that we could all drive Brad down to his grandparents' for the weekend. He will have a blast playing with his cousin and getting spoiled. We will pick him up Tuesday evening after we get in.

This will be our first flight with Frontier Airlines. Hopefully it goes well because we have another trip with them booked for May! I found a great deal online that I could NOT pass up for a trip to Denver. For that trip we are taking our little one because the flights were so cheap! It is only a 1 1/2 hr flight with no layovers so I'm sure he will do fine. This will be Brad's first flight since we took him to Chicago when he was 1. I found a lovely hotel with free breakfast and internet, as well as an indoor heated pool and hot tub :)

We have had a few more showings on the house but still no offers yet. Our realtor said it should pick up after spring break. We are still not too worried about it--if it is meant to sell then we will get an offer!

We are still working on Plan B if we don't sell the house this summer. Earlier this week we went to the elementary school down the street to enroll Brad for preschool. We found out the "old" elementary school is now grades 3-5, and the BRAND new school right behind it is the Primary school for grades PreK-2. It is only two years old! That is the one that he would go to. There are 80 spots for PreK so they do a drawing for who gets a spot. We will find out April 1 if he is in.

In other news...I got all of my paperwork (and money) sent off for my application to be an RN in New York a couple of weeks ago. They said it could take up to 8 weeks for everything to go thru. I was a little worried because I had to trust 3 different places to fill out the appropriate forms and mail them all to the correct place in NY, and hope that everything came together under my file.

Long story short, I had some free time at work the other day so I decided to look online to see if I was listed as a licensed nurse in NY....and I was!!!!!! It said I became licensed as of March 4. I am super excited! I actually just got my official license and registration in the mail today. I don't have to renew it until Feb. 2016.

For our trip, our plans are pretty relaxed. We won't have any time to explore tomorrow--we land very late and I'm sure we will be exhausted. We are going to eat dinner in Denver at our layover, then just go to bed when we get to our hotel. Sunday we are planning on driving into Vancouver, Canada to check out the scenery! This will be our 3rd trip into Canada, but our first time driving there.

After that we will probably go into downtown Seattle back to Pike's Market for some snacks and souvenirs. We loved the market last time and wished we had more time there. On Monday we are driving south to see our family for a few hours, then after that we are heading west to the coastal town of Grayland to see a beautiful beach that we found last time. We leave very bright and early Tuesday morning and will be home Tuesday afternoon.

I know we will fall in love with Washington again because it is such a beautiful state. If only they were cheaper and had old Victorian houses! Next blog will have pics, so check back next week!

Big Things To Me

A couple of things that are priority in my life are being a momma and cooking! Today I would like to share something on both of those.

Last night I got home from work after my little one had gone to bed, and this morning I left for work in the morning before anyone was awake (sad, right?) So Nick was in charge of the bedtime routine with little man, and he informed me that he did not put on his nighttime diaper--he left him in his undies. We have been trying this out on nap time with success, but not bed time yet. This morning when I finally got to talk to Nick he told me that Brad woke up dry and went potty first thing! Yay! I am so proud of my little guy.

I was wondering if he was comfortable with peeing in a diaper so that's what started us trying out the undies. He has been perfectly potty-trained for almost a year now but still wet every morning (in a diaper). We are trying it again tonight. I had read that some boys' bladders aren't mature enough for staying dry at night until 5-6 years old, so I wasn't in any hurry to rush it. I am elated that his potty training has gone so perfect this far and didn't want ruin a good thing.

As for cooking...I tried out a new dish tonight and it turned out superb! A 10 out of 10--will definitely make again. It was a take on crockpot chicken and dumplings. I saw the original recipe on the cooking channel on my Roku and knew I had to try it. I put my chicken out to thaw last night, but the problem was I didn't have any time this morning to put things together in the crock.

I improvised as soon as I got home from work this afternoon and the results were wonderful! I ended up cooking the soup a total of about 2hrs and every drop was eaten. Next time I will try it out in the crock just to make it easier. Here it is: (my stovetop version)

4 thawed chicken tenders (or 2 large breasts)
1 can cream of chicken
small diced onion
2 tbs minced garlic
EVOO
2c frozen peas/carrots
1c frozen corn
4c chicken broth
1 can 5ct buttermilk biscuits
salt/pepper

Saute the garlic and onion in the EVOO in a dutch oven until tender, then dice up the chicken and add. Season with salt/pepper and cook for about 10min stirring around, then add cream of chicken and broth. Stir in veggies and cover with lid. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally for 1 1/2-2hr. 15 minutes before serving, quarter biscuits and stir into soup. Cover with lid and reduce heat and serve!

New Toys!

The past week we have gotten a couple new toys that we enjoyed trying out. The first is a Mossberg 12g shotgun that Nick feels we need for home defense. We loaded up on ammo and hit the gun range with my stepdad (an avid gun collector) to get familiar with it. It definitely packs a punch!

Yesterday a toy for the kitchen was delivered--an electric citrus juicer! There is nothing quite like the sweetness of fresh-squeezed orange juice. It has a cone for grapefruits and oranges, and one for lemons or limes. It holds 32oz and works like a charm!

We have a lot of family birthdays coming up soon. My mother's birthday was Sunday and I spent the whole weekend having fun with her! On Saturday I took her to a little French cafe for brunch and dessert, then we came back to my house for awhile where I gave her some presents--a coffee grinder and a bag of whole coffee beans. The next day I arranged for us all to meet at a diner in the city where I bought her and my stepdad dinner. On Monday we hung out at her house where I cooked lunch, then she watched Brad while we all went to the gun range. She cooked dinner for us while we were gone, then we all ate when we got back. Today my brother and SIL bought everyone lunch at a new steakhouse then we all came back to my house for coffee and chat. Whew!

My nephew Cameron's birthday is Sunday, my stepdad's birthday is Monday, then my dad's SIXTIETH birthday is next month! I think I already have presents and cards for everyone, I just need to wrap them.

In other news, I found out by chance today that the public schools in my area start taking applications for preschool in one week! I had no idea they did registration this early but I don't want to miss out on anything for Brad in case we are still here in the fall, so I guess we will all go up to the local elementary school soon to do paperwork. Luckily it is one of the best schools in this city and only 4 blocks away from our house! I just can't believe my little guy is going to be in school. It is a half-day class and we are going to do the afternoon one.

That's about it for now! I head back to work for the next few days, then our little vacay to Seattle is only 2 weeks from Saturday!

Planning

In some areas of life I like to be spontaneous and adventurous. Examples would be how I got married (engaged for a month then married on a day I didn't have school), catching a great deal on a flight and going on a last minute trip, going skydiving, buying a stock I caught a good tip on, etc. But in most things, I am a major planner. I have to have a 1 year plan, 5 year plan, 20 year plan, and so on.

I need to know what I am aiming for, what I am working for, what I can expect, and what to do if things don't go as planned. I like to think that I can stay flexible because life is not predictable and therefore plans can not always be concrete. However I still try to plan for the unplannable! I will share my current plans with you:

1 year: be moved to NY, possibly in a rent house, Nick with a full time job, me with a part time job, Brad in school, working on baby #2, active in a local church

5 year: live in and fixing up an old Victorian house, plan for nice trip to Europe, own a 5th wheel vintage Shasta trailer, own jet skis, have chickens and large garden, get my BSN

20 years: children gone (or almost gone) from home, work as little as possible, home is paid off, retirement accounts are growing nicely, talking about where we want to retire at

For now, this is what I am basing my choices and actions on. I am trying to do the things today that will bring me to where I want to be. The downside of this way of life is that I occasionally feel at a standstill because I am waiting for "the next step" to happen and I am helpless until then. Examples are when we wanted to have children but suffered from infertility for over 5 years and had to do IVF, or now when we are ready to move to NY but have to sell our house first.

It is times like these I have to continually tell myself that it is all in God's plan and His will be done, not mine! He has given me the wisdom to make good choices and the courage to carve my own path. I owe my success and happiness to Him and I trust what He has in store for my life.

On a slightly different note, of course I am already planning on what we will do if we do not sell our house by August (even though it has only been listed for 1 1/2 wks). I presented my plan to Nick and he has agreed with it :) If our house has not sold by August, we will take it off the market. I will go full-time at work and carry health insurance for all of us. We will go see our Reproductive Endocrinologist Dr. Haas (who helped bless us with Bradley) and begin our TTC journey for #2!

We have always talked about having children 5 years apart, and we still 200% believe that is the right thing for us. We already know what our infertility issue is so we can cut right to the chase and begin necessary treatment for it. We are going to try some different things (read here) before jumping into IVF again. I haven't quite factored that expense into our plan....people say having a kid is expensive but $15,000 just to get pregnant is a bit excessive, ha!

I can safely say I have gotten to a point where I am ready for another baby, and I just LOVED being pregnant so that is no trouble for me! Brad will be starting school soon and independent enough to help out with little things.

So hopefully by the end of this year, I will either be in NY or pregnant :)

Up for Purchase

It has been a busy week here! On Monday, Feb. 4 we OFFICIALLY listed our house for sale! Here is the link to our listing -----)here

The very next day we had some one come look at it! The photographer didn't even come until Wednesday! We have had 3 more showings to total FOUR showings in the first week! I hope that is a good sign.

  

The yard doesn't look all that great since it is so dry and dead here. But the inside looks great! We have worked our behinds off to clean it from top to bottom and put away all of the clutter. That is not too easy with a three year old running around! Now we just have to keep that way until we sell it.

Our realtor is very sweet, and she feels that we have a great chance of getting a good offer within a few months. We signed a 6 month contract with her so if it does not sell by the beginning of August then we will take it off the market and wait another year. That way Brad can start preschool and not have to get interrupted for a big move.

We are hopefully--but cautiously--optimistic about getting an offer. We know we have done everything we possibly can to make it desirable. Right now we just have to wait for the perfect person to fall in love with it like we did! The good news is that our balance on the mortgage is less that I thought it would be, so if we get an offer on it close to what we are asking for it then we will get a good return on our investment! That money will go straight into the savings account until we buy our final house.

There are a million little things that will need to be done if and when we get an offer before we can move. Unfortunately nothing can get done right now until we have a time frame to be moving. Hurry up and wait!

Bugs and Dinosaurs

 Today was a fun day! A museum here in Norman opened a new exhibit on bugs this weekend. Admission was free today so I invited my brother and his kids to go with us to check it out! We met there in the afternoon and let the kids run around checking out everything.

In addition to the bug displays, they also had the usual dinosaurs and such to see. The kids loved it all!

Brad just has a blast whenever he gets to hang out with the big kids. After we were done there, we all went to get ice cream together! Of course the kids loved that.

We got a lot more cleaning and house projects done today. The outside looks a bit awful because it is so dry and dead here. Whenever the weather gets consistently warm I am going to clean out the flowerbeds and plant a bunch of nice flowers around to brighten it up. I also have to plant grass because we can't even get that to grow on its own....