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- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
It was a perfect combination of circumstances that led to me trying a hair mask for the first time last night. It all started when both avocados in my kitchen were overripe and my lunch plans had to be adjusted. I tried cutting all the brown out of one avocado, but it was pointless and I just ended up with a mess that had to be thrown out. On the second avocado I was smarter, and when I saw it was too streaked with brown to eat, I simply set it aside.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
The only reason Matt and I have a landline is because our building requires it in order for us to buzz people in. We both have cell phones, and while I sometimes make calls on the landline to save my minutes, it is rare that we receive any incoming calls other than visitors needing into the building or telemarketers.
Tonight the phone rang, and we aren't expecting anyone over, but you never know, and our landline is in the church directory so occasionally church people call us there instead of our cells. I waddled to the kitchen and picked up the receiver only to hear silence.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
This is the pot of jasmine tea I'm having to start my day today - it started as a hard little tea-bud and opened into such a beautiful flower!
Maybe this is a reminder of the potential held by each new day. Although really it just made me happy so I wanted to share :) I hope the new year is off to a beautiful start for you.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I wanted to write a post looking back on 2012, but it's tricky because... what to focus on? Although I very sweetly thought that Kindness would be my word for the year, I never implemented any kind of follow-up to check in throughout the year, and so as I re-read that post I still love it, but I can't say I lived it. I am struck by the similarities between that post and this more recent reflection on Joy - that over and over again God reminds me he has to be the source for me to do good things with my life.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Lest anyone be fooled by my blog-self and think my real-life self is ready for parenthood, let me tell you how sick I feel right now because I ate a chocolate bar instead of breakfast while I typed that last post. And now I don't have room to finish my high-in-iron cream of wheat, which was supposed to be my real breakfast, to nourish me and my unborn child. And the only remedy I can think of is to try topping it all off with a slice of cold pizza to see if it settles everything down.
Bleh.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I have seen two movies in theatres this week, and both times have been so much fun! Most of the time I don't really care to go out, and this has been one of the most frequent negotiations for Matt and I in marriage - I love being home and he loves going out, and fortunately we love each other, so we do our best to communicate and compromise and usually things work out okay one way or the other :)
This week we finally went to see Skyfall, which we had planned a date night for weeks ago, but that got cancelled due to all the essays and sermons Matt had to write (it was also not a great night for my back, but like I said, I really don't need any excuse to stay home). Now that the semester is over and Matt has had a few days to recuperate from his insane busyness over the last two months, we packed up the cineplex gift cards we've (I've) been hoarding and had a real, out-of-the-house date!
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
One week before Christmas I am finally starting to settle into anticipation and soak in the Christmas spirit. I'm really glad because some years December is so hectic it feels like savouring Christmas can't happen until Boxing Day!
I have been off work for a little over a month now, which has been a blessing. It was definitely an adjustment to be home so much more and still feel like I accomplish so little, but Matt has been wonderfully supportive, and I feel that I've learned pretty quickly to respect the new limits my body sets.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Having shared why I feel just as safe to birth at home as in the hospital, you might still be confused why I'd rather have this experience at home. Honestly, I am looking forward to labouring and meeting the Truck in our apartment. I have a friend who had a natural birth in the hospital just about a year ago, and I was so impressed with her! She was offered an epidural as soon as she arrived at the hospital but insisted that she at least wanted to try to see how far she could get on her own (she got all the way). When she was telling me about the experience it was before I got pregnant, but I told her that I also hoped to birth without interventions and that I was intrigued by the idea of home birth. I was braced for a judgy reaction like I might have had a year earlier, but her instant response was, “oh, that sounds so relaxing!” I think that was the vote of confidence I needed to take myself seriously as I continued reading and researching my decision.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I went to the health store at the mall to buy toothpaste today. Remember how I'm a little bit crunchy? Well today I found out where I draw the line. I was looking for a brand called Tom's, which makes toothpaste with a pretty short ingredient list and no fluoride - I bought it as an experiment a couple months ago since my teeth have become extremely sensitive and my gums have become really bleedy during pregnancy (it's not all glamour, folks! LOL, as if you thought it was). I liked how things have gone, and I was all ready to drop $8 on a new tube, but the only flavour the store had today was fennel.
I asked the saleswoman if they had any other flavours stashed somewhere I couldn't see, and her response was "it's okay, this is an herb." No ma'am I did not ask what fennel was, I asked if I could not have it in my toothpaste. Fennel in toothpaste is my line right now. I'm not saying it's a forever thing for certain, but I am simply not in a place to spend $8 with the hope that Matt will still kiss me (because if he also draws the line at fennel, I can't say that I blame him). I still bought overpriced crunchy toothpaste, but it was a $6 tube of some European-looking brand. Flavour: spearmint, thanks.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
We are more than half way through the month now, so I thought I'd check in with how our month-long break from plastic is going.
Overall, I'd say the goals of our plastic fast are being met. However, we have adapted the rules because living on cash only is complicated and requires organizational time and skills that we apparently don't have. So instead of never using any of our cards, the limits we've been living with are:
- using the credit card we share only for groceries and gas.
- I pay for my chiropractor visits on my debit card because my insurance pays directly into our bank account, so the money goes in and out of the same place.
- we still use cash for personal spending, miscellaneous things we need for the house, and for treats like the pizza we had for dinner last night :)
I am waiting for the last automatic bill payments of the month to go through before I update our budget so we know where we stand for the home stretch of this month. So far things look good though, and I'm happy!