Shampoo free and other cracks in my universe...

Hunter has made me a HUGE fan of Dr. Who.

The new version.

I haven't tried out the original yet.

I was incredibly ill for a few days...and we watched all 5 seasons together.

Yep, that is what we did.

...and I won't be doing it again.

My favorite Doctor is the current one, actor Matt Smith.

His first episode had to do with a crack in the wall of young Amy Pond's wall.

This was more than a crack in her wall though, it was a crack in the universe.

(gotta love Sci-Fi)

I thought of that episode this morning when I got out of bed and found this:

This is the crack in MY universe.

My favorite, most comfortable, most gloriously broken in, set of sheets tore.

Granted they had a small hole before but apparently during the night my foot got caught in them.

Now I have fleece sheets on my bed.

Warm, but not my favorite, most comfortable, most gloriously broken in, set of sheets.

Those have been officially retired.

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As far as other "cracks in my universe" here is a funny.

Last night I decided to try a homemade hair mask.

My hair has been really great recently but I put it in a bun yesterday and it came out in a fro.

I really should have taken a picture but I didn't.

So I made a hair mask out of honey and olive oil and put a shower cap on while I took a glorious bath.

When I went to rinse out the mask I had forgotten that water does not really take out oil.

It did feel kind of weird but I thought, "oh well, it will dry just fine."

This is what I woke up to:

So I went upstairs to whine about the state of my hair and here were the reactions:

Cita: Oh look how shiny your hair is!  The frizz is totally gone!

Me: But it is so oily!

Cita: Just wait until it dries it will be great.

Bug: Why are you whining, just wait till it dries!

Me: Guys, it is dry.

All: Oh...how do you get it out?

Me: Good question.

Bug: At least it is shiny.

So I will be washing my hair again today.

Although, don't judge me, if it gets rid of the frizz I am totally going to do it again....

...and again...

...and again...

...and again until the dry winter is done.

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In other news, since Thanksgiving I have been going shampoo free.

Like, none.

Sounds gross right?

Look at you passing judgement so quickly.

Naughty, naughty.

About a year ago I read a blog about a woman who had gone, what she called, 'poo free.

I thought it was interesting, but it took a while for it to work and I didn't want to go through all that.

Well, since that time I've read quite a bit about it, and when my shampoo was almost gone and I was so poor I didn't want to spend money on more, I decided to try going shampoo free.

It took a bit (between 1-2 weeks) for things to balance out but then I realized how glorious it was.

It is harder, in some ways, than using store shampoo.

Here is a list:

1. Like with any homemade thing there is an adjustment period while your scalp and hair figures out what the heck you are doing.
2. You have to figure out what your body needs BY LISTENING TO YOUR BODY.  Very different than just dabbing on a specific amount of shampoo.  For example is my scalp dry today?  Less baking soda then.  Is it oily, more baking soda etc.
3. I'm still trying to figure out the "conditioner" (really an acidic clarifier to counteract the baking soda).  I've been using an apple cider vinegar mixture but (mostly because of the nasty dry winter here) my hair is SUPER frizzy.  Last night I tried honey, which she recommended also, but I'm also going to try lemon juice which is something other people do.

So, with the adjustment period etc. why am I still going shampoo free?

1. Winters here are sooooo dry.  All of my skin dries out, peels, breaks, bleeds...including my scalp.  My hair also dried out, split, and broke every winter.  I used to use every product I could think of to help, and they got increasingly more expensive and it didn't make a huge difference.  I HAVE NOT USED ANYTHING THIS WINTER!!!  Nada, none.  There has been no need.  Sometimes, my scalp feels a little itchy because I used to much baking soda and it dried it out a little bit but other than that, there is no dandruff, not split ends, no extreme hair loss.
2. My hair is thicker.  I thought maybe I was making that up in my mind, but no, others have commented that my hair is feeling thicker.  I'm just not losing as much hair as usual.
3. It is shinier, healthier.  I love it.

Yep, totally recommend it.

I've also started using a natural face cleaner as well composed of castor and olive oil.

It is GLORIOUS!!!

I've never had zits disappear so fast, my skin is tighter and softer, and most importantly, MY WINTER DRY FACE PEELING IS GONE!!!

Interested?  Here are the links to Simple Mom (the blog I referenced when I started this process).

Going shampoo free

Cleaning your face naturally

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Last day of 2012!

Make it a good one!

Last day of the year!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Well, a week ago anyway.

Happy end of the world!

False...it did not end, people need to learn their ancient history better.

Happy anniversary parentals!

Well, about 2 weeks ago anyway.

Happy eternal marriage Laurie!

Well, almost 3 weeks ago anyway.

um...not to good at staying on top of things apparently.

um....

Happy New Year!

TOMORROW!!! Yes, a day ahead, sweet.

For Christmas I got a desperately needed new 'point and snap'.

I've been working on the settings to calm the flash down a bit.

I'm not a huge fan of automatic settings.

I had fun taking pics of the familia with it.

The Madre:

The Padre:

Stephie:

TayTay:

Bug (who cannot take a normal picture to save her life):

Aliswan, TayTay, and Bug:

Now that I have a camera that takes pics in focus I am hoping I will start posting more.

We shall see, things are a bit nuts right now.

Adios!

Accomplishing goals and snapping out of it.

I go through ups and downs just like any other person.

Lately I have been going through a down.

Dislocating my shoulder and being out of it for the last 2 weeks didn't help all that much.

This week was kind of a testament to my state of mind.

Didn't really work.

Couldn't really focus on school, or thesis, or...anything.

My room is an absolute pig-sty...scratch that, my apartment (the parts that I touch) is.

So, this weekend I am trying to snap myself out of it.

I spent the morning doing menus, schedules, and setting goals for the week.

Life will continue to improve.

That is the plan at least.

I know because I wrote it down.

One of those goals is to update this weekly.

So despite a pretty uneventful week, I AM UPDATING!!! 

Take that melancholy.

I spent the morning planning (as stated above) but also watching videos on lds.org, specifically the Mormon Messages.

If you are feeling a bit down I totally recommend this.

Big time.

Speaking of complacency...which has been my theme for the past few weeks...here is one of the videos I watched this morning.

I hope your Sunday is happy because it is your choice if it is.

Happiness is perspective, perspective is a choice.

♥ ♥ ♥

Mountains of Miracles and Mountains to Go

This week was absolutely insane for me.

Meaning it drove me insane.

Let me explain:

Monday: 

meh, not to exciting.

Tuesday: 

I started off the day like most days, biking to work, working for a few hours and then heading to class.

Class was in Special Collections in the library and it was absolutely awesome.

For class we are preparing an exhibit and we went to Special Collections to look at old photos but ended up finding boxes and boxes of journals, writings, and books from the woman who donated the collection we are exhibiting.

In a word: AWESOME.

On the way home from class I needed to stop by the Creamery to pick up some ingredients for the dinner we were going to cook for our visiting teachees.

As I was biking to the Creamery I had to bike around a construction sign and go on the grass.

Hidden under the beautiful fall leaves was a nice big rut.

My front tire got stuck and instead of just letting myself fall I jerked my handlebars about to stay upright.

There was some seriously loud popping in my left shoulder.

My first thought was, "Oh crap, I think I just dislocated my shoulder"...which was promptly followed by me trying to move my arm.

I couldn't move it, it just sat there on my handlebars.

Then the pain hit like a freight train.

Oh my goodness it hurt SOOO bad.

I was stranding there straddling my bike and I realized my vision was getting really blurry, I thought I was going to vomit everywhere and there was this unbelievably loud rushing sound in my ears.

My next though was, "Oh crap, I think I'm trying to pass out...ummm...GET OFF THE BIKE!!!"

So I stumbled off my bike, put the kickstand down as I threw my backpack down and laid beside my bike.

I stayed there a good 5-10 minutes before I could move.

When I got up I tested my shoulder and despite some pretty significant pain, I was able to move it.

Because of that I thought that maybe I hadn't dislocated it.

So I thought, "Well, you haven't dislocated your shoulder, I still need to get the groceries".

Yep, I'm a bit of an idiot.

Anyway, quick ending:

I biked to the Creamery 

(people looked at me a bit oddly, probably because I was white as a sheet and looked as though I was about to pass out),

got my groceries and ate a mint brownie

(I needed the sugar),

and biked the rest of the way home.

After talking to the padre (who has had extensive shoulder and knee problems) we came to the conclusion that I had very likely dislocated my shoulder and that it needed to be looked at first thing in the morning.

I was in some excruciating pain but I eventually went to bed and thought maybe I would sleep it off.

Wednesday:

After not sleeping really at all I made an appointment at the doctor's office.

She thought that I had dislocated the shoulder but that it had popped back into place.

Just to make sure she sent me to the hospital to get an x-ray.

Final prognosis was somewhat miraculous.

Apparently it is not unusual to have the joint pop back into place.

What was unusual was that I had no pinching or tearing of the muscles and ligaments surrounding the joint.

Everything is just pulled and SUPER sore.

So, I am in a sling for the next week or so and then...well and then I will try to avoid ruts.

Thursday:

I was able to do my shift at the temple with minimal pain.

Major blessing.

Afterwards I went to class and came home to a big bottle of ibuprofen and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Friday:

As a class (or 3/4 of one) we drove to Ignacio, Colorado to go to the Southern Ute Museum.

We spent most of Friday driving.

Except a quick side trip to Hovenweep National Monument.

That night we stayed in the most disgusting, cold, revolting $22 a night motel that I could ever imagine.

It put the worst hotels I stayed in while traveling all over the Mediterranean and Europe to absolute shame.

Saturday:

Left Cortez, Colorado first thing in the morning and headed to Ignacio.

The Museum was AMAZING!!! and I loved every minute there.

After the Museum we went to Monte Verde National Park!!!

These are of the Cliff Palace.

This last photo is of the Spruce House.

Shortly after this we made our way back home and got back around midnight.

Very quick trip, but really good.

♥ ♥ ♥

There was the week!

Crazy right?

♥ ♥ ♥

This week...ugh.

This week was...not the best week ever but not the worst either.

It was just...ugh...or maybe...meh?

After a glorious General Conference last week I was really excited to go to the temple with my padre Monday morning...SUPER early.

5:45 am anyone?

Actually it was good that we went at that time because about halfway through the session I started to get really, really, really sick.

Dizzy,

nauseous,

tunnel vision,

loud wave like sounds in my ears,

my face started to fill with snot,

coughing commenced,

...yeah, not a good morning for me.

I made it through the session but went directly to bed when we got home.

...and stayed there...

...for pretty much the rest of the week.

Tuesday I got out of bed for 1.5 hours to go to my class.  

Thankfully Hunter lent me her car or I would not have made it the 1.27 miles to the museum.

Wednesday I got out of the horizontal position for an hour to go to theory hour at 5pm.

Yep, again I got a ride to and from the meeting, followed by promptly getting back into the warm comforts of my bed.

By Wednesday I was starting to feel a little better though, all the rest was good.

Thursday I was able to do my shift at the temple, sleep a little, and then head to class.
We had Thursday's class at Brick Oven over a 16" pizza.
After that lunch I went to an early dinner with the Cita, Stephie, Hunter and Bug at Olive Garden.
It was a delicious day overall I think.

I spent the evening with the Cita watching Snow White and the Huntsman (which kind of sucked) and the Vice Presidential debate (which really sucked).

Friday I was feeling much better and was able to spend time with the familia who were on fall break.

We did family names at the temple all together first thing in the morning.

and yes, it appears that it is impossible for us to take a normal smiling picture together.

...except for maybe Stephie, she is always smiling.

☺

Right after the temple we came home, picked up our backpacks and family history, and headed to the Family History Center in the BYU library.

The Padre was still wearing his pink sweatband from the Thursdays BYU soccer match.

At the library Bug studied for her permit test, Stephie read a novel, I researched copyright and trademark law, the Padre worked on a project for the Cita, the Cita and Hunter did family history research.

It was a good time.

Afterwards Bug and the Padre went to the DMV (Bug now has her driving permit folks, avoid our neighborhood...just kidding...kind of) and I went to bed because the morning wiped me out.

Saturday, still tired but I was able to do a CrossFit workout with Hunter, go to the blackout Homecoming game (which we lost...grrr), and ended the day at Aunt Karen's with homemade pizza and fun games with the extended familia.

Things I am grateful for this week:
1. My roommate Hunter who took care of me in my sickness.
2. My familia who did the same.
3. My professor who was very patient with my illness this week.
4. That my head cold didn't include barfing and that it only lasted about 5 days until I was nearly back to normal.
5. My Heavenly Father who blesses me with all of these things.

Here is hoping that next week is a little better on the health side of things so I can go to work...and afford groceries.

♥ ♥ ♥

...been a bit.

It has been a bit.

Sorry about that.

What updates I can give since June?

Let us see...

July

I was actually home for the 4th of July!!!

If you are not aware, Independence Day is nearly bigger than Christmas at the House of Nuts.

and, for the first time since 2008, or thereabouts, I was home.

Usually I am traveling the world. 

This year I came home early.

We camped out near the BYU Broadcasting building and watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks with the fam.

It was marvelous.  Bug and I got to spend some quality teasing time together.

At the end of the month my baby sister turned 16.

We threw her a movie themed birthday party.

The Hulk pounded her down.

That was also quite enjoyable.

August

We went to Colorado to visit family and while there I had my first real manicure pedicure.
See?  I can't even get the name right!

The Padre played his awesome window percussion while we were there.

I got a new roommate!

My good cousin who will be called Hunter...because she is.

Hunter and I enjoy many things.

Including playing with the exercise ball.

Here is Hunter:

Here is Aliswan:

We also went to IKEA and got new desks.

I always find it strange that you have to trash your apartment in order to make it look awesome.

In other news, I still love Rosie.

More than just anything right now.

Hunter, Bug, Stephie, Deruda and I also attempted the opening of our first coconut.

Here is the coconut:

Now it is open...notice the hammer.

Yes...it was absolutely necessary.

Nice eh?

Unfortunately we found out that we did it wrong.

FYI read the directions on how to open a coconut before taking a nail and hammer to it.

There is video of us drinking from and breaking open the coconut but it is long and I am pretty sure you wouldn't watch the entire thing.

Oh!!!

We also took Deruda down to SUU after a tearful goodbye dinner in which the Cita had to stand on a chair in order to be taller than Deruda.

September

September started with me deciding to add another program onto my masters degree.

Yep, the day before school started I decided to do the Museum Certificate program in conjunction with my MA in Archaeology.

It adds another year onto my remaining year before graduation...a.k.a. It will be 1.5 to 2 years before I leave good old BYU.

Oh well.

I am apparently certifiable.

This month my roommate Hunter got to go to the temple for the first time to do baptisms for the dead.

Stephie and I were so happy that we got to be there with her!

Also in other apartment adventures with Hunter, I walked out of our front door to find this last week:

Are you looking at this creepiness and thinking to yourself,

is that a red hourglass on that 

creepy, 

creepy, 

creepy 

spider?

Let's get a little closer shall we?

Yep, it is.

For your information, Black Widow Spiders are faster than you think.

When I finally got up the guts to smash the atrocity with my foot I missed.

Yep, missed.

It quickly avoided my initial attempt.

Do not fear.

It lost the second round. 

Ugh.

I hate Black Widows.

And FINALLY,

this is how the month of September ended.

I turned 25.

On that same day I worked my first shift as an ordinance worker in the Provo Temple.

I work a super early shift but it is the perfect way to start my day.

Now I work once a week for a few hours and it is the light of my week.

October

Okay, really only 1 thing because the month JUST started.

This weekend was the most amazing weekend.

It was general conference and I was so overwhelmed and edified.

I loved it all and will talk about it a little more a little later.

This post is long enough.

Between sessions today we drove up to Bridal Veil Falls and gathered leaves.

Family traditions and all that.

Here are the final pics.

The falls themselves:

The goofy girls:

Bug and Aliswan.

Bug, Hunter, and Aliswan.

Dad taking Rosie across the water to the big rock.

I think it is a dude thing...Rosie is not a dude, she was terrified...probably because he almost fell into the water at one point.

Hiking up towards the top of the lower fall.

Hunter, Stephie, and Bug at the base of the upper fall.

Aliswan, Stephie, and Bug showing off our leaves.

My 2 favorite shots of Hunter.

She makes me happy.

Well folks, there is the longest update EVER.

Happy Sunday!

♥ ♥ ♥