For the longest time Hubby and I have been making excuses and assuring ourselves that we would 'eat better and make time for exercise' ...AS IF. we generally eat quite healthy at home (Granola bars, Yoghurt, fruits & veggies) ... our biggest issue is eating out ... we do it all the time and it's gouging a hole in our pocket... which takes us full circle to our OTHER excuse for not exercising as much as we should... COST. with two kids in the home, me going to school and Hubby working for minimum wage, Cost is WAS a huge concern... but if you think about it ... we were spending more eating out that a gym membership would be (about $100/month for both of us after startup costs)
Sounds a little backwards right? ...we decided to make a change for ourselves... we want to set a good example for our kids and be able to keep up and playplayplay all day with them
New Shoes (x2) - $100.06
New Gym Bags (x2) - $44.33
Gym Clothes (2 sets + Sports Bra) - $68.00
Towels (x2) - 22.76
Mini - Febreeze Bottles (x2) - $3.94
1st and last weeks membership paid up front (x2) $127
gym membership (x2) $ 106/ month
------------------------------------
Living a long life, being able to keep up with my kids, and loving myself, just a little more; PRICELESS!
*I should also note, ... most people won't necessarily have these initial costs.. I'm sure most people have appropriate shoes (we didn't - we only really wear skater shoes) Towels, gym strip and bags ... but we decided to treat ourselves! we deserve to look and feel great while making this Life changing transformation!
I'll be tracking our progress and schedule periodically. Hubby just got back from his first workout and says he is feeling great :) I can't wait!!
COLLAR SCARVES! ... What. a. concept. !!
They slide over top of the collar so they can't fall off or get lost, and because they are so simple and lightweight, your pet will hardly notice them! .. they are great for upping your pet's 'everyday' fashion quotient as well as enabling them to better celebrate the seasons and holidays with HenHares seasonal collections.
Ashley makes these adorable collar scarves in sizes small enough to fit Cats & Kittens up to Great Danes ! (as well as for thinner and thicker collars)
Check out my Models below;
Rambo (wearing a cross between small and extra-small (cat size) & Yogi Wearing a small These boys are Corgi x
Ashley at HenHare Sent me these BEAUTIFUL custom Collar Scarves in a gorgeous Blue Batik Print ... I am in love. These Collar scarves are beautifully handmade with love, ... the decorative stitching pulls it all together (Pun Intended - I'm Cool Like that!) beautifully
Twofie sporting the small (She's a Chi x Puggle x LH Doxie)
Ok, Pic-happy, I know - Sorry to any of my Dial-up Readers! ...Last one - promise!
(((for the record, CATS SUCK as models... but they look equally cute in these things!!)))
I lied. But....
Just LOOK AT THAT FACE!
For those of you that follow our Fluffy Foster adventures; Yogi/Yoda and Rambo have found their forever homes! - don't worry, I'll have more stories to share later this week when I get a new foster !!! (Twofie is my Fluffy Sister - and the cats are permanent residents)
Check out What Henhare has to offer! Etsy Facebook
Back in November, My Mother mentioned a milk bank commercial she had seen during the news, saying they were in desperate need. I called around to get more info on donating, and found out that My Town has a Milk Bank Drop-off location
I called the office and left message and a brief message about myself. I was very nervous about my eligibility, because Diabetics aren't able to donate blood or organs (two things I really was hoping to do in life and, subsequently, death ) Come December, I called again, and, again, left a message. I had all but given up, Discouraged and assuming they simply hadn't bothered calling back an ineligible Diabetic. A few days ago, I got a CALLBACK! How exciting. They asked me a few questions;
Do you Drink?
Smoke?
Use street drugs?
How old is your baby?
Are you on any medications? (Apparently Synthetic Insulin is on the safe list!)
After answering the questions, the lady on the phone informed me that I was 'Their kind of Mama' ...Great to hear after convincing myself I wouldn't be able to.It won't be easy At the moment, Baby K drinks between 6-8 oz of milk while I am at school, After every feeding I pump (I usually end up pumping 3x / day to a total of 6-8 oz ...which is JUST covering what Baby K is taking from our stash... Meaning I'm going to need to pump twice as long to Cover What Baby K is eating plus Donation Milk. ((We can do This!!))
How the Milk banking process works is ;
Donors 'save up' 100oz of milk prior to the screening process (because of the high cost of the screening process - I'm guessing to ensure that interested parties are able to produce enough to make it worthwhile)
The potential Donor undergoes some blood-tests including but not limited to; HIV-1, HIV-2, HTLV-1, HTVV-2, Syphilis, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.
The milk is pasteurized
then distributed to carefully selected and prioritized mothers and babies.
So far, Kairi and I have Approximately 40oz in the freezer.
"Got milk? The BC Women's Milk Bank is accepting deposits. Canada's only breast milk bank collects, pasteurizes, stores and dispenses milk to mothers who are ill, on medication or who have undergone surgery and are unable to breastfeed. And for the tiny recipients the difference human milk makes is one of life and death. "They've tried formula and just don't tolerate it," due to allergies, gut surgery, cardiac surgery or kidney problems, said Frances Jones, coordinator of the B.C. Women's Milk Bank."
If you want to learn how to Donate, Either milk or Funds, to the BC milk bank, Alberta Milk Bank or Other Canadian Milk banks, or to become a recipient Go HERE
Photo From HMBANA.org
If you are Located in the USA, you can contact the BC Woman's milk bank, to be put on their list of recipients, however, Americans are not able to donate (Milk) to Canadian Milk Banks, as it is not possible to verify the Blood Test Reults
If you are in the USA Visit the HMBANA (Human Milk Bank Association of North America) HERE to See if there is a Location near you !
Photo From HMBANA.org
If you would like to make a small monetary contribution to our baby-saving efforts, please Don't hesitate to donate --- The Milk Storage bags are not paid for, and, unlike the USA, Canadians aren't compensated for Breast Milk (Please make sure to put into the notes section what the donation is for - Thank you!!) Any funds donated will go directly to Milk Storage bags.
You have probably seen (Or heard) of the Sesame street & Breastfeeding clips that have recently been going viral on Facebook & the Blogspere.((If you haven't ...or even if you have; Read on!))
I first saw it on a FB Breastfeeding support group I'm a fan of (I believe it was The Leaky B@@b)
Had posted a video of a 70s episode of Sesame Street Featuring The Character Buffy Sainte Marie, a Popular Singer/Songwriter who was featured on the Show for many years, Breastfeeding her son Cody.
NOW, if you had told me two years ago ... that someone was BREASTFEEDING ON SESAME STREET!?! I honestly DON'T know what I would have thought (The Image that probably would have come to mind is somewhat similar to 'GirlsGoneWild' featuring the residents of Sesame Street staring and panting)
*pantpantpant*
I believe that to be a very Typical reaction of North American Culture, considering almost EVERYONE with the exception of Direct relatives of Breast-fed babies sees breasts as sexual objects as opposed to the best source of nutrition available to babies, as nature intended.
I am a much more mature person that I was 2 years ago ... (Obviously)
and, being a breastfeeding mother, I Believe naturalizing our culture to Breastfeeding and the god-given intention of Breasts is VITAL. I FELL IN LOVE with this video, It is SOOO tasteful and was very Reminiscent of when Big T first saw me breast feeding. Big bird's reaction and questions seem a very Typical reaction of a child ...and is almost a mirror image of our Dialouge.
Here it is; 1977 - Buffy Nurses Cody (Thanks for Sharing NantoVision1 )
Then, sometime in the 80's (Judging by her hair) we have Maria Nursing Gabriella
(VERY similar to the Big Bird / Cody / Buffy Clip)
For Whatever reason, there was never one filmed in the 90's or since.
The clips were never pulled from TV and there were no complaints.
I would LOVE to see a breastfeeding clip on modern Children's shows... such as sesame street. It could not possiby do any harm, as Children don't understand sex... They Don't need to. I think if Nursing / Breastfeeding was portrayed in the Media (Sesame Street even ;) ) if Children were to be exposed to breastfeeding, it would be a step in the right direction for naturalizing our culture to breastfeeding. I think it's pretty much too late for our generation, but we can consider ourselves pioneers, Nursing Mothers should not be confined to Dirty washrooms (or clean ones for that matter) and Lonely bedrooms to keep our children happy or healthy.
I am very passionate about this subject (If you couldn't tell from the wall-of-text above) and am trying to take action (Despite my own personal phobia of public 'exposure' ) as much as possible so that in the future, Breastfeeding mothers need not feel the terror I currently experience when I feed my Child.
There is a petition on Bringing breastfeeding back to Sesame Street, HERE in which (SO FAR) 80% of people have voted 'YES' ...
Please go and Place your vote ... I'm certain that though this petitaion has no legal standing,
it will give sesame street producers an idea ... an Idea that I would LOVE to see come to fruition.
Many of Krystyl N' Co's Fans/Followers are bloggers and therefore Know the BEST way to support Bloggers are to follow them in any of the Social Media Mediums that they belong to Such As
Voting on the Fence;
If You're a blogger, Grab another Blogger's Button to post somewhere on your site/blog ... OR suggest a button 'Trade' Similar to THIS
Another (VERY SIMPLE) way to support Bloggers is Interact !! Comment on posts, 'Like' facebook posts, check back on the blog often (ads to page views) and ENTER giveaways (as well as thank giveaway sponsors ...it's vital that they KNOW that the Review/giveaway generated traffic to them) +1 their pages and posts
Supporting bloggers helps the communtity to grow, the more people know about the blog the more traffic momentum the blog gets ...this in turn, can lead to review and giveaways as well as getting the word out about important topics (Breastfeeding help, Cloth Diapering Awareness, Housekeeping, Green Living, Natural Parenting etc. Advice and tips ) Many Bloggers are SAH/WAH parents ... Also many Local artisans that make Handmade wares Use Blogs as a better way to interact with Customers and potential customers alike. as well as try to gain a international customer base and following.
****Krystyl N' Co will be giving away a $50 Ecomom Gift Code when we hit 100 facebook fans and 200 GFC followers ****
OTHER ways to Support Bloggers ; (Krystyl N' Co Doesn't have these)
Blog Frog
MySpace
Tumblr
Pintrest
Networked Blogs
Stumble Upon
Digg
RSS
Etsy
PS. if you ARE a blogger, leave all your links below and lets link up <3
Peace, Love & Happy Networking
I got one for each one of the family, The ones with ribbon have bells and little tags - Ryan's says 'Big Daddy Ryeno' and Little K's says 'Baby's first Christmas' - they each say the year on the back (2011)
Making our Molasses-free Gingerbread (We made 3 batches and it made enough for about 20 Tins/Baskets)
RECIPE;
Cookies;
1 c. Butter/Magerine
3/4 c. Brown Sugar
3/4 c. White Sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 c. Flour
2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2tsp. Ginger
1 tsp Clove & 1/2 tsp Nutmeg (I Substituted both for 1 1/2 tsp Allspice)
~Cream Together Sugars and Butter/Margarine ~Beat in Egg ~In Separate Bowl, Combine all remaining ingredients including spices ~ Combine two bowls, mix evenly and pat into ball ~flatten slightly and chill (3 hours in refrigerator or overnight) ~Preheat oven to 375 ~roll out to 1/8 of an inch and cut out with cookie cutters (or roll into og and slice into 1/8 inch circles) ~bake for 6-12 mins on lightly greased baking sheet
Faux (Marshmallow) Royal Icing
2 cups powdered / confectioners sugar
1 tbs Corn Syrup
2 1/2 tbs Hot water
1 tsp Vanilla
2 C Mini Marshmallows (Melted)
~Mix first 4 ingredients until smooth.
~ Melt marshmallows (until they puff up) in the microwave (15-30 seconds)
~ Combine and blend on High for 2 min.s - Until smooth
**Icing can be refrigerated - add a few drops of hot water and blend again if necessary **
Our Materials, Decorating, and our baskets full o' goodies
Beautiful once wrapped, This was
Big T's Christmas gift to his Teacher
These gifts are perfect for unexpected guests, people you don't know well enough for personal gifts and people such as Doctors, Teachers, Mailman, Bosses etc.
Happy 26th Bday to my Husband of 2 years and Love of about 5 ...
Here we are at RedRobins for Big Dad's Birthday Dinner - Excuse the keys (lol)
I wanted to Say a little Blurb about my AMAZING hubby and all round partner-in-crime.
Ryan (Ryeno) is there for me no matter what,.. He supports me in ALL of my endeavors no matter how skeptical he may be (*cough*clothdiapering*cough*) and NEVER says 'I told you so' when my ambitions and hopes are a little too high. ... though we sometimes share a knowing smile... we get through everything together, when they say 'Through thick and thin' ... well, we take that seriously. Ryeno has saved my life (Literally) more times than I can count During Diabetic Episodes Though he was afraid of needles when we met it was important for him to know how to inject me in case of emergency, ... he's come a long way and now gives me my injections regularly.
Ryan is now a 'Virtual' Agent for his employer and works from home, saving him an hour and a half daily commute. He is now able to be home for dinner every night, and is able to help around the house alot more, the best part? I get to spend more time with him... I am also going to be going to college in January and him working from home is going to make that possible.
Ryan has helped me immensely in the last few weeks getting my blog going. he's a coding genius! and is considering getting some formal education on the subject. He ALSO has a fledgeling blog of his own, Ryeno's MMO, Gamin and Review I'd love for you to follow him and Tell Him 'Happy Birthday'
