Conscientious confusion

Lemon Coconut Oil Body Scrub

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:35:00 +0000

Quite a long time ago, the folks at Tropical Traditions sent me a jar of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil to try out, along with a book about the benefits of coconut oil. The book itself I did not find very helpful because it was mostly talking about how great the coconut oil is and how many ways it could be used but then not giving instructions on how to use it (i.e, "it is great for the hair" but no instructions on how to effectively apply it to hair to receive these benefits).

So it sat in my pantry for quite a while before I read a brief blurb in Glamour magazine about how some celebrity (I believe either Gwenyth Paltrow or Cate Blanchett) makes her own body scrub made of sugar, coconut oil, and lemon juice. There was no recipe, just those ingredients mentioned in the article.

I went online looking for coconut oil body scrub recipes, and found several. The ones with more than 5 ingredients I disregarded. I tried a few but actually did not like any. Then I decided, what the heck, I will just throw the 3 ingredients mentioned in Glamour in together to make my own recipe. I messed with my ratios some and this is my end result:

Jenny's Lemon Coconut Oil Body Scrub

3 parts organic sugar
1 part organic lemon juice
2 parts extra virgin coconut oil
drops of essential oils, as preferred (I used Sweet Orange and Sandalwood)

I found that the rough organic sugar I keep in my house was actually too rough on my skin in the first batch, so the second batch I put the sugar in a coffee grinder for a few minutes to make it finer. I would highly recommend doing this if you use rough organic sugar, to avoid irritating your skin.

As with previous body scrubs I've used, I apply after body wash, rinse it off, and it leaves a thin coat of oil which absorbs into my skin before I dry off. I like that I can customize it with my own essential oils as well.

*NOTE: I did receive a free jar of coconut oil from Tropical Traditions for this recipe

Natural Childbirth

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:26:00 +0000

Just a heads-up, I have finally published the full birth story of Asher's unmedicated birth center birth on the family blog. Please be aware, the post is PG-13 or greater due to pictures. If you are not comfortable seeing me giving birth (i.e., if you are related to me or squeamish), you might consider skipping this one and just asking me about it in person.

New baby!

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:36:00 +0000

On Tuesday, October 20 at 9:59 AM, we met Michael Asher Bradford for the first time! He was 7lbs, 14oz at birth and 20 inches long.
I am so thankful that labor did eventually start naturally when my waters broke at 2:20 AM. I was in labor around 4.5-5 hours, total. It was a natural, unmedicated birth and Christian was an AMAZING Bradley birth coach!
I'll be posting the full birth story on my family blog when I have time later, so keep checking!

The whining is going on elsewhere

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:10:00 +0000

I might not be posting much on this blog, but I have been whining plenty on our family blog about how yes, I am still pregnant. If you really feel like you haven't had enough whining for today, be sure to check it out.

Blog Action Day: Climate Change

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be one of the largest-ever social change events on the web.

I really want to participate in this day, because I feel strongly about this issue. I actually do vote for elected officials with an eye to how they cast their votes and direct their actions regarding climate change. And yes, I believe climate change is really happening.

I don't have much to add to the conversation except to say that I support any action that will facilitate the better stewardship of our earth. I'd like to point my readers to a list of my favorite resources on this topic. I don't know about where you are, but around here in North Texas it has been rainy and icky for quite a while. It's a great time to rent a video or read a book to your child about this very important topic. So here is a list of my favorites, I would highly recommend any of them:

An Inconvenient Truth (DVD)
The Lorax by Dr Seuss (children's book)
Food, Inc. (DVD)
The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer (adult book)

There are many more, but these are just my faves that I can think of right now. Don't forget, you don't have to buy any of these - most are available at your local library for free!

Ugg boots giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Being up all hours of the night, I started clicking around on friends-of-friends' blogs, and came across this giveaway for Ugg boots. If you have a blog, this is a great way to get entered to win Uggs. I do not have any Uggs myself, because I have not yet been able to justify the expense. However, all my girlfriends have told me that these boots are the thing to have during the winter. I do admit that my feet get awfully cold as I walk in and out of buildings during what passes for the winter season here in Texas. Mostly it consists of wet weather here, with a few months of "cold" in January or February.

You can read more about Ugg boots here. Did you know that they come in gold now too? It was interesting to me to know that they purport to be more eco-friendly than the competition:

Whooga ThermoFleece sheepskin is treated without the Chrome Tanning agents that are used in the majority of tanning factories. This results in our boots being both biodegradable and recyclable which is friendlier for the environment. Chrome Tanning is not only harmful to the environment but often causes irritation to those with sensitive skin and is actually detrimental to the durability and flexibility of the sheepskin.

However, it does sound as if they might be made from a less-than-renewable resource:

Our boots (and all authentic boots) are made from a scarce natural material, merino sheepskin. Demand is increasing every year and so manufacturers fight hard to fulfill orders, capacity of authentic manufacturers is limited and quickly outstripped by orders. Last season the increased popularity caught many manufacturers off guard, most people ordering from November onwards were forced to wait until March for their boots!

I would be willing to hear more from Whooga regarding the product, or to win some to try for myself! Anyone else have an opinion on Uggs?

YouData

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:05:00 +0000

I've been following A Frugal Friend on Twitter for a few weeks now and just learned from this fabulous site today about a program called YouData.

You sign up for this program and when you log in, you look briefly at a few ads and get paid something like 5 or 6 cents for each ad you look at. They are very small text ads, it doesn't take long at all. The cool thing is, if you log in to your YouData Account and tell them more about you (what kind of food & wine you like, what is your housing situation, what kind of hobbies you are interested in, etc.), they will deliver ads that are more specific to you. And throughout the whole process, you never have to give them your real name or your mailing address. That is the part I liked.

I found this really cool eBay store called A World Of Good, which offers handmade, fair trade, often organic and natural goods. Every one of their eBay participating sellers donates back to some kind of charitable or environmental organization. They have baby stuff and clothing and all kinds of things I was very interested in and plan to visit again and maybe purchase from them in the future.

I earned 83 cents from viewing ads like that on YouData today! That might not sound like a lot, but you can build up money over time in PayPal, and I even saw something about using the credits for iTunes. If I can figure out how to use them for iTunes, I'd only have to look at a few ads to get a free song! That could really help support my habit of buying pop songs that I don't really think are worth $1 or $1.99 sometimes.

Anyway, if you are interested, they also have a referral program so that I'll earn $1 for every person who signs up, so sign up here!

Reminder: don't forget my product review policy. I found out about this site/program myself and I'm passing it on to any of my readers who might be interested because I think it's cool. No one has paid me to endorse this service in any way. Unless, of course, you sign up and I get $1 for each referral. But honestly, I was more interested in helping you guys earn cash for free iTunes songs :-)

Books and wine

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:59:00 +0000

I've had a lot of time to read when resting lately. I have asked for suggestions and various people have recommended books. For many years I didn't read much, so now that I am reading again, I actually found that I didn't some of the books I tried to read. Like this book I reviewed a few weeks back. That was the first time I had to actually stop reading a book because I disliked it so much. I felt like such a quitter!

Recently, Oprah announced a new book club book, Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan. The day she announced it, I reserved it from our library and I picked it up last week. I guess it is a few "short" stories (although I would not define one of the stories, which takes up half the book, to be "short"). I have really tried to like this book, because it is an Oprah Book Club book, and how could she recommend something I wouldn't like? But, I am afraid it is true. I cannot stand this book either. It might be me: it could have something to do with the depressing settings and circumstances in the book, and the fact that I'm looking for something to distract me right now from being constantly uncomfortable. Possibly a book full of despair, and stories of children immersed in poverty and suffering is not the best choice. Or maybe it is the fact that the dialect in which the characters speak is almost half French or another language and I can't tell what the heck they are saying most of the time.

I wonder if I should think twice about how I am selecting books lately. Apparently this method of accepting recommendations from others is not working for me. My previous method of selecting books was to just pick something that had an interesting cover. This is also my methodology when picking a wine - I pick wines that have nice labels. I realize this is a shallow way to select things, but I have to say that it has worked in the past. I have had almost 100% success picking books with nice covers.
Maybe less with the wine, but still.
I might consider going back to that method with the books.

7 Quick Takes Friday #5

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:16:00 +0000

Here we are again for 7 Quick Takes Friday .

--- 1 ---

It is sad that most of my recent posts have been only once a week, and most have been 7 Quick Takes Fridays or other writing prompts. This means I have very little "on topic" to share in this blog lately. Sorry about that. I will have to check the site traffic and see if this is affecting my readers...what do you think?

--- 2 ---

Yes, I am still pregnant. I have had pre-labor now for 6 days straight. This is a mixture of Braxton-Hicks and "real" contractions. The real ones do hurt, and they are distracting, but since they aren't consistent, there is nothing that can be done. They don't get better or worse.
6 days.
If you want to know how I feel about this, read my other blog.

--- 3---

I think we are going to miss the Texas State Fair this year. It is very sad. We had a tradition of going every year and eating the newest fried thing. This year it is Fried Butter! To be completely honest, I am a little worried about H1N1 exposure at the Fair. My midwife said we are welcome to try it, but it is definitely a risk. I really don't want to increase my exposure right when I could give birth any minute. And considering how slow I am when I walk, I think it would be pretty boring and frustrating for my husband as I lumber along. Still, I am sad that we are missing the Fair.

--- 4 ---

I have enjoyed listening to the B52s this week. If you haven't heard any of their music, I would encourage you to check it out for some fun listening! The article about them on Wikipedia is interesting too!

--- 5 ---

I looked up the Dr. Oz show and it appears that in Dallas you can only get his show if you get one of those special channels that come with satellite or "super cable". It isn't on a network. Since we have gotten mysteriously free cable (shhh, don't tell anyone) ever since we moved into this house, we don't get any of those fancy schmancy channels. Too bad, Dr. Oz. I guess I will have to get my medical paranoia from the internets.

--- 6 ---

Speaking of cable and the internets...We have some kind of higher speed DSL from AT&T, but supposedly they "can't" give us the fastest speed since we unless we bundle with cable TV. Which, as I mentioned, we don't have to pay for right now. I don't know if that is the reason, but every time our phone rings, we have no internet. Since I work from home, this is a problem, because sales people call our house all day long and knock me offline. Apparently our phone number used to belong to some kind of business, because they are always trying to reach someone's small business. I don't even answer the home phone anymore, but the mere fact that it rings knocks me offline. What is the deal with that?? It's not like we have dial-up, people! Does anyone else have this problem?? What is wrong with AT&T anyway?! I would switch in about 5 seconds but there are actually no other providers who offer service in our area at this time.

--- 7 ---

I picked up the Oprah book club book "Say You're One Of Them" by Uwem Akpan from the library today. I'll keep you posted on what I think of it.

Well that's all for this week, be sure to visit Conversion Diary for links to more 7 Quick Takes Fridays.

Shameless plug: May Books

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:29:00 +0000

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, remember that the holidays are creeping up on us soon!!

I have a great idea for everyone regarding the holidays, get all your shopping done in one place: May Books!
These small notebooks with either lined or unlined paper are designed by my friends, Mica May and Jonny May, here in Dallas (so if you are in Dallas, they're local, too!). The paper used is recycled, and the "resilient, durable and water-resistant covers are Green-e Certifited Canvas. After a few days of use, the canvas becomes worn-in like the perfect pair of jeans." More info on "green" May Books.

You can pick from a range of pre-designed books, or design/customize your own. Custom designs come in lots of 100, so you can buy a whole batch and pass them out to all your friends and family for the holidays! (here's one that matches my blog!) -->

I know that we are considering this ourselves, to make shopping easier this season! Maybe a custom book in honor of baby Bradford??

I Wish...

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:22:00 +0000

I am going to participate in this fun suggestion from Miss Elaine today, because honestly I have not had a lot to write about lately. I try so very hard to keep the baby stuff out of this blog, but I am getting to the point where I am super tired of being pregnant. We are just sitting around, waiting for me to go into labor over here. It could be as much as 2 weeks, or it could be any day. The baby is so low in my pelvis right now that it takes it's little arms and tweaks me internally in places that really should not be tweaked, if you ask me. Very painful sometimes! One thing I am not worried about is the strength of this baby. This child is STRONG, and has always been strong! It gets excited and beats up my insides.

See, I told you, I have problems talking about things other than waiting on the baby right now.

So here, from Miss Elaine:

I Wish...

for a healthy baby, of course
for this healthy baby to go ahead and come out, as long as it's ready and all that...
that the various facets of government would work together, for the good of everyone, and not just for the special interests or major corporations, or their own interests, for the money
that people would understand the freaking difference between health insurance reform and health care reform. NOT THE SAME THING, PEOPLE *climbing down off soapbox*
for more of this lovely fall-ish weather
for frozen yogurt, pretty much any time
for more paid time off after the baby is born. Maybe I should just go ahead and wish I lived in Europe, where that actually happens.
for paid time off now, before the baby is born. Which also requires a wish, since I used up all my comp time on the stupid bed rest, meaning I have to work 8 hour days again now, right up until I actually go into labor. Thank you, American work policies.
for another pair of brown wedges to replace my favorite pair which finally fell apart. Those shoes were awesome. They matched everything and they were so comfy.
for a NatureMill composter, as always. Without having to cough up the $300-$400.
to somehow avoid all the stress of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. I can feel them creeping up on me, even now. Every year I dread it. No, we do not know where we are traveling for either holiday yet. We will let everyone know when we figure it out, considering we will have a newborn, I will be back to work, and neither of us will have any vacation days left by then. We will do our best, but I understand that someone is going to be upset because we cannot be everywhere, and that is just too bad.
for that wonderful nanny who is out there somewhere, waiting to be hired by us. I wish many good things for her, and I can't wait to meet her!
for cake, I love cake.

Well, that is all for now. What do you wish for??

7 Quick Takes Friday #4

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Here we are again for 7 Quick Takes Friday .

--- 1 ---

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is releasing a series of videos aimed at educating the public regarding the ingredients of our personal care products and who is regulating what goes into them (care to guess?). Check it out and share it!

--- 2 ---

There are members of my family who have already lost a bet regarding when we are going to be giving birth to this baby. Sorry, everyone, haven't even had any "real" contractions yet! I can get up from modified bed rest tomorrow (Saturday) - woo hoo!! Hopefully I will have more to blog about when I am up and out again! One potential topic is the natural postpartum recipes that our Bradley instructor gave us. They sound like a great idea, I just need to get to HerbMart to purchase the appropriate herbs.

--- 3---

I love Amazon.com for many reasons. I ordered all the rest of my missing things this week and now I feel ready to have this baby! Ordering online with free SuperSaver shipping is a beautiful thing.

--- 4 ---

Another thing I am thankful for: Morningstar veggie products. These have been a lifesaver this week in pre-prepared foods, which I generally would not advocate, but they are a good alternative to microwave meals.

--- 5 ---

To maid or not to maid? We have talked about whether or not to hire a green maid service for the postpartum period. I know my mom will be here the second week of the baby's life and that will be great, but do I need to call the Nature Maids for the subsequent weeks? Any of you moms have any suggestions there? Do you think they'd trade a discount for a blog review?!

--- 6 ---

Another awesome thing this week: Law & Order marathons on USA! Mostly old SVU episodes. Old episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent come on first, but I don't like it as much as SVU. This has really helped to pass the time. I switch over to Oprah when the NCIS marathon starts at 4 PM. My life is so exciting.

--- 7 ---

Another awesome fun video for your viewing pleasure, in the words of the creator "A musical tribute to two great men of science. Carl Sagan and his cosmologist companion Stephen Hawking present: A Glorious Dawn - Cosmos remixed".

Someone has autotuned speeches from Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking. If you know me well, you know I am obsessed with anything involving autotuner. This is one of my favorites!

Well that's all for this week, be sure to visit Conversion Diary for links to more 7 Quick Takes Fridays.

Weak heroines: I cannot stand them

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:29:00 +0000

I have been reading a lot of books lately, my goal is to read books that are entertaining and distracting, but that don't make me think too much or get depressed. I read so many baby-raising books early into this pregnancy that I can't handle any more of those right now.

I did finally finish the Twilight series. The third and fourth books were the best because the plot started earlier and earlier into the book. The third book, I only had to read maybe 1 chapter before the plot started up. The fourth had a "real" plot almost all the way through, even though none of them leave behind the teenage emo angst. It's all so dramatic. They are completely in love. And it has nothing to do with being 17, I am sure. (sarcasm)

Anyway, the fourth book was my favorite because the heroine finally got some cahones. Spell check cannot advise me on how to spell that word correctly, but upon reflection, the thing that probably annoyed me the most about this series is how weak the heroine comes across for most of the books. Sure, the author is trying to make her emotionally strong (she loves her vampire and her family so much and she would give her life for them, blah blah blah), but that doesn't mean she has to get so beat up physically in every single book. She never fights back! What?! You would think by the second or third time her life is put in danger, maybe she could, I don't know, sign up for some self-defense courses? Take karate? Kick-boxing? ANYTHING??

Rebecca
by Daphne Du Maurier
I did not actually realize that the weakness of the heroine was what I disliked about the Twilight series until I began my next book, Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier. It was recommended to me by a friend and I am sure it is actually a very good book. It gets good reviews. But I cannot stand it.

I am not going to make it through this book. I cannot handle the heroine being as dumb as she is. I realize she is young, mostly because she keeps saying it over and over: "I was just so young". I DON'T CARE ANYMORE. Excuses, excuses, why couldn't you just make an effort to learn, then, like everyone else does as they grow older? Apparently she likes to wallow in her stupidity and make a fool of herself.

This is my issue: the same reason that I can’t watch shows like The Office for very long when they get intentionally awkward. I can’t handle watching people make fools of themselves, I don’t find it entertaining, I find it embarrassing. I am embarrassed on their behalf and it spoils any enjoyment or amusement I might have.

It may not be very American of me to feel this way. We are the country of reality TV, after all - apparently everyone enjoys seeing people founder, embarrass themselves, and be immature. But as for me, I cannot handle it. I choose to avoid it. Haven't I lived through adolescence once? Why torture myself by watching other people be just as dumb? "Rebecca" is probably a very good book to most people. Personally, I will be skipping to the end to find out if she ever got any backbone, and then returning the book to the library.

7 Quick Takes Friday #3

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:25:00 +0000

Here we are again for 7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

Well, I did it - I finally finished the entire Twilight series. The third and fourth books were the best, with the fourth being the best because it had a plot the whole way through. The third had a plot most of the way through, which was a relief after the near plot-less-ness of the first and second books. I think the fourth book would make a good movie with some action and CGI scenes. But honestly I think they could make all 4 books into a single movie if they really wanted, considering that more than half of the first 2 books are teenage emo love stuff. Bleh.

--- 2 ---

Now I have nothing to read again. 8 more days of lying down.

--- 3---

I am blogging this before our weekly prenatal appointment in about an hour. When I have the results of that (am I dilated more? I know the suspense is killing you), I will post them on the family blog (AFamilyIsUs), rather than here. So take a look. Also, don't forget to follow afamilyisus on Twitter - do it now, because we have to approve your Follow request. I can almost guarantee we will not be approving requests at the time that I actually start labor. At that point it will just be too late!

--- 4 ---

I am feeling so extremely blessed by our sweet friends who have been bringing us delicious foods twice a week to help with the cooking. I have some friends with serious cooking/food buying skillz!! And it has been fun to see someone show up at our house a few times a week since I am stuck here alone so much. I am also so thankful for the ministry that is CareCalendar.

--- 5 ---

The new season of Oprah has started. I know that probably no one cares about that, but I get really bored, people. I thought Whitney Houston's makeup was AMAZING on Tuesday, I loved her lipstick shade and her eye makeup particularly. I was just sitting there staring at it. I did not care either way about Dr. Phil being on yesterday.

--- 6 ---

Speaking of television, of which I do not really watch a lot...I watch probably a cumulative 5 hours a week, sometimes that is even including Star Trek The Next Generation episodes which are on DVD and not TV. Anywayz, I was so relieved when Miss Elaine confessed yesterday that she also has no idea who the Kardashians are. I thought there was something wrong with me all this time for not knowing. Now I have accepted this as being OK, since I still have no idea who these people are or why I should care.

--- 7 ---

I finally had to remove all the Fleetwood Mac albums from my iPhone this week because every time I put the iPod on shuffle, it would play nothing but Fleetwood Mac. What is up with that? Very odd. It's like the iPod had a crush on Fleetwood Mac.

Well that's all for this week, be sure to visit Conversion Diary for links to more 7 Quick Takes Fridays.

Ditch the Disposables Challenge 2009

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:30:00 +0000

Ever since this first post, I really wanted to participate in Crunchy Domestic Goddess' Ditch the Disposables Challenge 2009. However, right now it is really difficult since I am trying to save money and I am on bed rest and can't do any shopping, both due to the pregnancy. I really would like to win one of her giveaways to help me out in my efforts. Here is the Challenge and where I stand as we currently are:

You can make the switch from:

Paper napkins to cloth napkins
Paper towels to cloth towels or something like Skoy cloths
Tissues to handkerchiefs
~~Paper, plastic or Styrofoam plates to your kitchen plates~~
~~Disposable utensils to regular silverware~~ We have always done this. This is what the dishwasher is for
If you order food “to go” or have food to take home from a restaurant, bring your own container rather than accepting Styrofoam or plastic. I am confused about this one, because what are we supposed to do, carry around containers in our cars at all times? And from working in a restaurant I also know there are laws that prevent restaurants from bringing in certain things from outside into the kitchen...
~~Inexpensive plastic “Take & Toss” sippy cups to Thermos or Camelbak bottles or the Klean Kanteen~~ We don't have kids yet so I think this is a given, but it actually never occurred to me to use disposable cups for the child. I have never seen anyone use these. It seems like it would be more trouble than it's worth - you have a diaper bag with you anyway, presumably, so why would it matter if you have a disposable or a regular cup in there? They'd both take up the same amount of room, right?
~~Disposable water bottles to (again) reusable bottles like Thermos, Klean Kanteen or Camelbak~~ I believe I wrote briefly about how we already do this and the issues with BPA I encountered recently
~~Plastic sandwich bags or paper lunch bags to reusable containers/bags~~ I mentioned I wanted to do this but failed to blog about how I did. I got some great little cloth sandwich bags from ReusableBags.com
Plastic straws to glass or stainless steel straws. I would really like to do this one. But, $15 for 4 straws?! Really, Amazon?? And they aren't even long enough to fit in my 32 oz. water bottle.
~~Swiffers (or similar products) to a broom and dustpan or mop (or use reusable cloths like cloth diapers/terry inserts in your Swiffer)~~. Also wrote a blog post about using microfiber cloths in my Swiffer. This is still working great.
~~Disposable dust rags to cloth rags~~
~~Disposable diapers to cloth diapers~~ Well, the baby has to be born first, but I am ready with my supply of BumGenius Organic All-in-Ones!
~~Disposable wipes to cloth wipes (inexpensive plain washcloths work really well)~~ Again, baby isn't born yet but I have a supply of cloth wipes all ready to go and I blogged about how I am planning on doing cloth wipes on our family blog.
Disposable feminine products (tampons, pads) to reusables like DivaCup, MoonCup, Glad Rags, Luna Pads, Pretty Pads, or New Moon Pads, among others. You can even make your own pads. I would really like to do this. I was going to start this about 9 months ago, but then I got pregnant. Hopefully I can start once things settle out in that area, if you know what I mean.
~~Grocery store bags to reusable bags~~. We have been doing this for 2-3 years. I can tell you all kinds of stories about how it completely blows the minds of the grocery store employees, even after 2-3 years.
Disposable wrapping paper or gift bags to reusable cloth gift bags. I am just starting this, and it is sporadic. I have given 2 gifts (both to children) so far using reusable bags. One mom is still using the bag I gave her for a lunch bag for the child! And we also did this for my eco-friendly baby shower, it was great not to have the waste!
~~Single-use batteries to rechargeable batteries~~. We have been doing this for a while also. We are slowly building up our stash when the batteries go on sale and we have coupons. Otherwise they are just too expensive.

So, which of these to commit to? I would really like to try the cloth napkins, because that is actually also a step toward reducing paper towel usage - we use paper towels at meals right now. The only issue I have is that I don't have any cloth napkins. This stupid bed rest really puts a damper on things, since I can't go to the store and buy things, and I am not allowed "up" long enough to be able to sew from fabric I already have.

I would very much like to win today's giveaway for Skoy cloths because I do feel bad about how many paper towels we currently use, even though they are made from 100% recycled materials, and I do supplement them with Twist sponge cloths. Everything is just so expensive, when we are also buying baby things like cloth diapers and cloth wipes.

I would also like to win the Diva Cup and permanent straw giveaways. I will be keeping my eyes open for those! Will you take the challenge?

Conscientious Confusion

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I've never really written a post defining the title of this blog, and yesterday's post made me think it is probably about time!

Conscientious - To me, this means making conscious choices based on the information I have been given, rather than just "letting things happen" or sticking with the status quo.

In the context of this blog, I often share information that I have come across and what choices or changes I may or may not have made in my own life in response to new information. For example, if I find out that that most body products contain phthalates and that phthalates have been found to cause reproductive damage, what am I going to with that information? Will I decide I am OK with that risk, or will I choose to seek out phthalate-free personal care products? If I want to make a change, what products do I like and what don't I like? I share my favorites with you in case you choose to make the same choice, or perhaps you're just looking for some great new products to try. Read my product review policy here.

Will your decisions be the same as mine in some areas? Perhaps not. And that is OK. I am not trying to convince anyone, just provide information and let you know what I personally have decided to do with that information. I don't expect everyone to make the same choices that I do. What a boring world that would be! But I do want to pass on the information so that everyone is equipped to decide.

Confusion - There are times when the choices aren't clear. Or when I can't figure out a way to do things "right". Cat litter is a good example, for me. I wanted to use a "greener" cat litter, but in the end, my cats rejected it. I had to make a choice between a cat constantly pooping outside the box and my desire to be "green". The cat won. This happens sometimes.

I also share these "failures" or frustrations when I can, because I want to be honest, no one is perfect! I will never be as "crunchy" or green as some bloggers, although I'd love to. And sometimes my readers have good suggestions for things I hadn't thought to try!

More confusion - And then again, sometimes I just write stuff about my life or take pictures of my travel or our cats. This is not really relevant to anything. I just want to share. Do people like that? I am not sure, but I do it.

So there you have it. My reasons for blogging. A little rough, a little difficult to define, and a little confused. Just like the title says!

Service: who is responsible for honesty?

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:07:00 +0000

One of my past posts that brings in some of the most traffic is my review of the Kwik Kar on Greenville here in Dallas, TX, from 2008. Feel free to read the post to get an idea of what I am talking about. The gist of the post, for me, is that I do not want to take my car to a service place where the technicians consistently tell me that I "need" service which I don't need. To me, this means cannot trust the people working on the vehicle to be honest, that they are merely trying to make money off me, possibly because I am female and don't know much about cars. I understand that I have the right to complain to a manager about being treated this way, but actually I do not believe that I should have to police the people doing a simple oil change on my car every time I take it there.

In the last week or so, a commenter purporting to be the owner of this establishment has been responding to my initial post. I appreciate the fact that he has been watching what is said about his shop online, a year late though it is. I understand that he believes he is offering the best service and that perhaps he would like to make improvements to how his establishment is viewed.

However, there is a point where we differ. His opinion is that, if a technician tries to sell me something that my car does not need (in this case and several times previously, the technician showed me "dirty" fluid from my car and said it "needed" to be changed immediately, when I found out from a quick call to my parents that the fluid had just been flushed out and changed - I am not sure where this technician got the "dirty" fluid, but it was not from my car), it is my responsibility to go to the manager and complain about this in order to force better service. The impression I got was that I should expect to have to do this every time in order for things to be made right.

My opinion is, I shouldn't have to do that. I should be able to go to an oil change establishment and have my oil changed and not have to monitor every aspect of what the service technician is doing by holding the threat of the manager over them. In my opinion, it is a waste of my time to patronize an establishment where I know I can't trust the staff and that I will need to go to the manager with every little thing just to make sure that I am not being cheated.

This was not the first time I had this same trouble with a technician (not the same one) at the same shop, so I know my experience was not unusual. My husband had the same experience, as well as several people who commented on the blog since then.

The purpose of my blogging about this, and the reason that I will leave the post up for people to continue to read, is that I think everyone deserves to have all the information when making a choice about where they take their vehicle. I believe in making information available so that people can know what they are going into. Much like the service that Angie's List or Kudzu.com provide - I am giving you my personal experience and allowing you to use that information to make your own decision.

If you are a fairly mechanical person and you would like to go to Kwik Kar on Greenville and have a long conversation with the technicians and the manager every time you have your oil changed because you like to prove people wrong and you enjoy a little friendly confrontation along with your oil changes, great! I am sure there are quite a few people who have the time for this and possibly even enjoy it. I am not one of those people. I don't go for an oil change to get into an argument or to test my own mechanical knowledge against someone who works for an automotive shop. I just want to be told the truth and feel that I can trust the technician.

We have since found great, trustworthy technicians for both our cars at Christian Brother Automotive and Foster's German Motor Works (for our 30 year old veggie-oil converted Mercedes). I cannot say enough great things about those guys!

So what do you think?
Is blogging about my experience over-the-line and shouldn't be allowed? Or are my opinions helpful to others?
Should I be OK taking our cars somewhere that I will need to go to the manager every visit to ensure honesty? Or am I better off going to a more trusted establishment where I don't have to do this every time?

I think you know where I stand.
I want to leave this open for everyone to make their own decisions.

7 Quick Takes Friday #2

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:06:00 +0000

Well, I missed 7 Quick Takes Friday last week because I had accidentally scheduled another post.

--- 1 ---

I have to say that I really haven't had a lot to blog lately... It's really boring being on partial bed rest. I can't do a lot of work on taking further steps to be more green, (even though a post by Crunchy Domestic Goddess really made me want to try) because I can't really go to stores, and I was told not to cook or clean. Argh!

--- 2 ---

I am getting to the point where I am ready to have this baby, because I can no longer depend on my body as I have in the past and that drives me a little crazy. I love doing yoga, working out, and walking around the lake near our house with Christian. But with this up/down schedule and whatever my body is doing right now in the gestation process, just going to the grocery store for 2 hours takes all my energy for the day. How lame is that?! We used to ride our bikes 13 miles around the lake with no problem, and now I can't walk through Babies R Us for 30 minutes without having to nap the rest of the day?!

--- 3---

I have been told that one of the advantages of a natural birth is that a woman will feel much more in awe of her body, and realize it is much more powerful than she thought. I sure hope this happens for me, because right now I am feeling like my body isn't being so very fun or helpful, and definitely not powerful.

--- 4 ---

Last weekend I really needed to go to the grocery store, it is difficult to give the list to Christian when there are some things I just don't know that we need unless I am there in the store. Since the midwives told me not to go shopping, I compromised and rode one of those little automated scooters for disabled folks, while Christian did all the picking things up and putting them in the cart. It was a very interesting experience. I felt like people were staring because I don't look obviously disabled. But at the same time, I am not someone who cares what people I don't know think about me (people I do know, however, are a different story...I have issues with that), so I really just ignored any possible reactions from the general public regarding a seemingly thin pregnant woman driving the disable person scooter in the grocery store. I will tell you, however, that the aisles in the supermarket are much narrower than you would think if you are walking on your own 2 feet, and that people are absolutely NOT willing to move out of the way of those scooters. They would rather hit you with their shopping cart.

--- 5 ---

I am sorry that this post has been about pregnancy or the effects thereof. I try to keep that stuff out of this blog, but this post is really more about random things right now and, hello, I am stuck on the couch most of the time. It's hard to ignore being stuck on the couch.

--- 6 ---

I have caved in and started reading the Twilight series. I have to say that I was kind of dragged into this, kicking and screaming. Teen crush books are not my thing. I had been told that the books were absorbing and I my goal was to read something distracting just help to pass the time. I have already finished the first 2 books - have you seen how large that type is, and how wide the spacing is?? The books look like huge tomes, but if you put the text in a regular size font with regular paperback spacing, they would just be small paperbacks. Killing trees, anyone??

There are several times in the first book (although fewer in the second) that I had to set down the book and just marvel at how cheesy some of the lines were. Something about his " beautiful, tortured topaz eyes" or something... I can really only take so much of that. And most of the first book seemed to be going on and on about their relationship, which was not very interesting to me. I find the character of Edward difficult to believe. Not because of the vampire aspect, but because no man is that noble all the time, I don't care if he is 90 years old. And I believe very few people who are 17 and claim to have found the everlasting love of their life. Everyone thinks whoever they are going out with at 17 is the everlasting love of their life!

The plots seem to kick in about 2/3 of the way through the book in the first and second books.. When that finally happens, then I had trouble putting it down and it was indeed distracting. If the rest of the books continue to have some kind of plot along with the teenage angst, I think I can enjoy them. But the emo undercurrents are just kind of a beating sometimes.

--- 7 ---

My friend Millie sent me some songs on a thumb drive this week and some of them were from Newsboys, does anyone remember them? Well, technically they are still around in the Christian music scene, but what I remember about them is from the mid-90's when we all wore giant baggy clothes and I crowd-surfed at their concert at Six Flags. For some reason the music just cracks me up with memories.

Well that's all for this week, be sure to visit Conversion Diary for links to more 7 Quick Takes Fridays.

Water bottle confusion

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:52:00 +0000

Yesterday I was surfing around while laying here, bored, when I ran across a post from Crunchy Domestic Goddess* about how some SIGG bottles are actually lined with materials containing the dreaded BPA. Remember when the leeching of BPA was big news? At the time, everyone was promoting stainless steel water bottles like SIGG as a good alternative to plastic to avoid the risk of BPA.

Our church had given us 2 free SIGG bottles as a "thank you" for volunteering some time in early fall of 2008 and we'd been using them ever since. I felt really secure using the SIGG bottles throughout this pregnancy because I figured I was avoiding BPA.

Well, apparently the whole time, SIGG bottles were lined with a material containing BPA, but the company "didn't mention it" to anyone. They quietly changed their lining starting August 2008 (after we got our bottles).

SIGG claims that the lining with BPA has been shown to have zero leeching. And I am sure that is the case with a completely intact bottle, but I have to tell you that I have dropped each of our bottles 2-3 times each, so they are significantly dented. I am guessing the tests they ran on their bottles were probably not those that have been dropped, warping the structure of the inside of the bottle.

I was a little miffed about this. I am not freaking out or anything because really, what can I do? If I have been sucking down BPA for the last 8 months there isn't anything I can do about it. But I do wish SIGG had been more upfront. I would have liked to have been given the opportunity to make an informed choice, and not find out now that I have been putting the baby at a risk I would have chosen to avoid. I will not be buying anything else from SIGG, regardless of whether they have fixed the lining. I choose not to support a company that chooses to make the decisions they've made.

We went to Whole Paycheck yesterday and got a nice BPA-free plastic water bottle and I'm using that now. It's so boring and plain that I can't even find a picture of it to post here, but it works. Just wanted to give you all a heads-up in case you have been drinking from SIGG bottles. Go to the post from Crunchy Domestic Goddess for a picture of what the old liners vs. the new liners look like, if you need to check your bottle.

* NOTE: I would recommend taking a look at the Crunchy Domestic Goddess site - if you think I'm a little too crunchy sometimes, she makes me look like an SUV-driving yuppie tree killer...

A year ago

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0000

One of my kind commenters suggested this writing exercise I believe he and his friend might have invented. I like the way they did it because it isn't as long and involved and intimidating as some of the other prompts I've seen ("your favorite childhood memory", "things you would like to see happen"...ack! instant writer's block!)

I don't know if they have a name for it, but I would call it "A Year Ago" if I were naming it:

One year ago, Christian and I were not even on the same page regarding whether to have children.
One year ago, I don't know that even I was fully convinced, even though later I was the first to change my mind.
One year ago, I had never met any other DFW area bloggers.
One year ago, I think I was still going into the office to work every day AHAHAHAHA.
One year ago, I was just discovering the joys of really good designer jeans.
One year ago, I started to care about a U.S. Presidential election for the first time in my life.
One year ago, a "friend" from my church called me a Marxist and a Socialist for something I casually said very conservatively and neutrally.
One year ago, I became more guarded on Facebook and started un-Friending people.
One year ago, I was still driving the electric scooter to work, although we were contemplating buying the "real" scooter.
One year ago I finally gave up Arbonne and switched to products from my dermatologist to fix my face.
One year ago I read Taking Charge of Your Fertility and started charting with FAM.
One year ago other than that.... is kind of a blur for me.

I really have the most horrible memory. I am just making a huge effort to keep posting even if it's boring. Feel free to do your own "One Year Ago" and post a link to it!

Eco-shower pics on Flickr/Family blog

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:38:00 +0000

For those of you who are following the eco-friendly part of this blog but might not be so interested in the baby stuff, I have a post on the family blog about my eco-friendly shower this weekend. It's up to you whether you care to visit. My friends did an amazing job!! I am so blessed. Here is an exerpt from one thing that struck me about this shower in particular:

The theme, as mentioned before, was eco-friendly. I was so excited that as I opened gifts I didn't amass the dreaded "mountain of tissue paper" that I remember having at my wedding showers. Everyone wrapped things in reusable bags, baby blankets, and boxes that I can use to store items in the nursery.

So, take a look at the blog post or the Flickr pictures if you're interested. Also, per the invite in my previous post - everyone used the half of the invite provided for encouraging notes that served as gift tags. Now I have a whole booklet of encouraging notes!

And if you're wondering where I've been, I've been hanging out with my friend Millie this weekend, who flew in from Kansas City for my shower. We got to do a lot of fun things on my 2 hours "up" in between my 2 hours "down". She was also awesome enough to do some cooking and cleaning for me when I was down. I am so thankful! We also had time for some good food at some of my favorite spots.

She is also so artist - she created these unique onesies for the baby:

This one is Christian's favorite:

Those are motion lines from a speeding unicorn...yes, that is what they are...

Follow the baby on Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:00:00 +0000

I know some of you who read this blog don't read the family blog, and that's fine. If you care, though, I wanted to give you the heads-up, though - we've started a Twitter account for updates regarding the baby. We'll be using this during labor to keep anyone posted on the progression. Before we go into labor we probably won't use it too much.

Here it is: follow afamilyisus on Twitter!

Make sure you follow early because this is a protected account, we have to approve you to receive updates. If you wait until we go into labor, we might not have access to a computer to approve you at that time.

Don't forget, you can always sign up to get text messages whenever we update!

Homemade green shower cleaner

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:27:00 +0000

A while back, I reviewed store-bought green bathroom cleaners, and then later revealed my ongoing battle with our old, old, old bathroom grout. It gets mildew really easily because it is no longer sealed in any way. Old, old, old.

I still do use the Clorox GreenWorks bathroom cleaner I reviewed previously to get the soap scum off my tub. However, between scrubs I was using one of the Tilex-type shower sprays to keep the old, old, old grout in our shower from getting all moldy after showers. After a while I became a little suspicious about what exactly was in that spray, so I started attempting to make my own.

Per the "vinegar is amazing book", vinegar is a good mold killer. For a while I was using just vinegar and water. I began adding a few tablespoons of natural/biodegradeable dishwashing aid (it's like Jet Dry, only the natural version) to keep it from streaking. I found this solution to still allow some mold to grow, especially on the cloth shower curtain liner I had substituted for our previous plastic liner. Also, Christian was always complaining about how the shower smelled like pickles.

Then, just the other day I started reading some green cleaning web sites talking about tea tree oil and how it has natural bleaching powers. I actually like the way tea tree oil smells - is that weird? So I went to Herb Mart and got a nice bottle of tea tree oil and added that to the mix.

Here is what I've been using so far and I believe it is actually the most effective so far:

Jenny's Homemade Green Shower Spray

spray bottle from old Tilex daily shower spray
1-2 tablespoons Wave Jet Rinse Aid
1-2 teaspoons tea tree oil
white vinegar - fill the bottle almost halfway
water - fill the bottle the rest of the way

Shake it up before spraying on the shower. I spray shower walls and tub directly after using the shower, and the solution is also safe for white cloth shower liners.

It smells like tea tree oil more than vinegar. I like the way it smells!

7 Quick Takes Friday #1

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:06:00 +0000

--- 1 ---

I have been following the Conversion Diary blog for a while as a lurker (I admit it), and I would highly recommend it. It is very thought provoking. It is so thought-provoking that I don't follow in my Google Reader because I can't handle reading it unless I am in the right frame of mind. Also, I rarely comment because Jennifer gets so many comments that mine are rarely needed. Having no kids yet and not being Catholic myself, I usually don't have anything to contribute that would be helpful anyway. I learn more from the comments others make.

--- 2 ---

I am still online for work right now, I have 5 more hours left in my shift. Things have been slow the last few hours, but I expect that means that all hell is about to break loose and I'll be online past the usual quitting time of 10 PM. Is it a full moon? Full moons have been proven to correspond with my co-workers' craziness increasing.

--- 3 ---

Last night we got to see RiffTrax Live with the original cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffing on Plan 9 From Outer Space. I was a little tired but it was date night, and since our relationship was founded in part on our mutual love of MST3K, I considered it essential that we see this, and I was glad we did. I could never have made it through that horrible movie without the riffing, for sure. I love those guys.

--- 4 ---

I just watched the episode where SpongeBob Squarepants almost gets his boat driver's license. And now it is snowing under the sea. That makes no sense!

--- 5 ---

I am trying to get better about posting more frequently on this blog even if I have to go a little off-topic because I want to be interesting. I am considering using some blog writers' prompts from other sites on some days. If you know of any good ones, let me know!

--- 6 ---

My husband requested a main dish with fruit this week and I wanted to try this recipe from AllRecipes.com. Being a vegetarian, I don't buy meat much. I had to go to 3 stores trying to find free-range chicken that was less than $8/lb. I eventually gave up and bought regular we-torture-our-chickens-in-factory-farms chicken which was still $8 a pound just because it was organic. Ridiculous that it was 1) so difficult to find free-range chicken, and 2) so extremely expensive even for the regular kind just because they were fed grain instead of the parts of other chickens. They still grew up never seeing the sunlight and with their beaks and feet cut off. I do not miss meat at all.

--- 7 ---

In case anyone cares, the cat has started pooping outside the box again. Despite the fact that I gave up the green litter and went back to the kind that never biodegrades, we bought a new litter box, we took off the hoods of both boxes, and we bought a new mat, she is still doing it. I have no idea why. I am completely out of ideas.

~~~~
Don't forget to check out more Quick Takes at www.conversiondiary.com

Here is a turtle

noreply@blogger.com (J) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Christian took this video of a turtle he found on the walking path around the lake next to our house with our new(ish) camera. He's a great filmmaker, I love this shot!