Sunday, March 3, 2013

Random Updates

Since I know everyone loves to hear what I'm up to (sarcasm) I thought I'd give you all a few random updates. By the way, I'm getting homesick. I'm getting that itch to take a trip to the states. I need huge discount stores, fast food, 24hour-ness, family, friends, English, my mom and THE SUN. Luckily, as I'm typing this the sun is out today, but I'm from Phoenix and I miss the blazing blinding sun (the sun NOT the heat)! What I don't need is to spend unnecessary costs on travel, lodging, food, entertainment and to travel alone with THREE babies and to have to adjust to the time difference and the readjust once we return. Those things keep my mind in a serious reality check! Okay, here are my updates in no particular order

Life...
Each month one of my closest friends and myself like to create a New Month Resolution. Why wait until the beginning of a new year? This month my resolution is: 30 pages in 30 days. I need to write these stories that are crowding my mind. It's like black Friday meets a Beyonce concert in there. Tons of ideas I need to get down on paper. My goal is to write - just to write. I need to clear my mind. Facebook had a suggested status or page in my feed that was PERFECT for me and this goal. To sum it up, it simply said to write without going back each day to review/critique the previous day's work. If you keep doing that you'll never move forward because you'll always find something to change. We all know the purpose of rewrites, so why do this daily? Genius! Lightbulb! Can't believe how simple that was, yet so profound. It was exactly what I needed. By the end of the month I may come back with a slew of reasons why I didn't reach my goal of 30 pages. Dont judge me if that happens :)


Food...
I just finished baking vanilla cupcakes with a strawberry buttercream frosting. Sounds amazing right? Well, THEY ARE!!! I really shouldn't be making these since I've been doing so well working out and eating right, but I'll just have the husband take them to work tomorrow after we each get one or two tonight. They were very simple to create too! I took a Betty Crocker white cake box and added a 3.4oz package of Jello vanilla instant pudding to it. I used egg whites instead of whole eggs and the extra virgin olive oil in place of vegetable oil. Whipped it up in the Kitchen Aid mixer and voila! The frosting was just as easy.

Strawberry ButterCream Frosting

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened (I used Smart Balance)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup of fresh strawberries, chopped (I thawed some from my frozen bag I use for smoothies)
Stuff all of the frosting into a gallon sized ziplock bag then snip off one of the bottom corners. This way you can spread the frosting on the cupcakes with ease. Also makes it look fancy! That's an old trick which Im sure you're all aware of, but let me have hope that someone I dont know reads my blogs :) hahahahaa! 




Travel...

We have taken two family trips in the last few weeks. They were local travels to some indoor places we thought would be a nice change of scenery for the family. One was an indoor aquarium and the other an indoor prehistoric museum. Just by those descriptions, I personally thought the aquarium was going to blow the museum out of the water (pun intended). We were shocked that it was the complete opposite. The Sea Life Aquarium in Speyer, Germany is pretty much a joke. We had to stand outside in line in the cold for about 20 minutes. With such a buildup of anticipation we were expecting to be amazed... anything. The inside was cramped and the entire place probably fit inside the lobby of the museum. Luckily, we scored a deal online for our tickets and all of our kiddos are free at both places. The museum, Gondwana, was a little more expensive, but worth it. You start and end the tour with a movie. You can opt to listen to the tour in English and each room was better than the last. One room felt like we were walking under water, another had an amazing flash flood rushing at you, there was a mechanical T-Rex that roared and ate its kill inches away from you. That last part was a little scary for my girls, but very awesome nonetheless. To top it off, we ended the tour with an hour of play in the indoor play area! Definitely wore the kiddos out and I think my husband too.



Hair...

I'm still a natural goddess, as my friend Cicely says. My hair care routine can be found on the Healthy Hair Journey tab at the top. I'm really loving my hair and all I can do with it. It's ironic how I would relax my hair and then try to style it to appear more full or curly. My current routine is simple. Basically, I keep my hair moisturized and in a bun during the week and style on the weekends. I did just mix up a hair custard that worked on all 3 of us. Choose your favorite EcoStyler gel (1 cup) and add a tablespoon of extra virgin coconut oil, a tablespoon of aloe vera gel and mix until it has a custard consistency. It's like magic :) Keeps my curls in tact without being hard or causing any white residue. I just sprayed my curls with water, sealed with a little grapeseed oil and then applied the gel. I was able to use a satin bonnet and rock the style for 3 whole days! That's a lot for me. Normally, I get 1 day out of a style. I could probably go longer, but I have to wash my hair for the week and I sweat so much during my weekday workouts that there would be no hope for these curls.

Regardless if youre natural or relaxed, focus on healthy hair habits. You can look on YouTube, Google, and hair forums for tons of ideas and information. If you only do a few things, I would suggest these tips:

- moisturize your hair (water or water based product- read the ingredients! water should be first)
-seal in the moisture with an oil
-limit heat & stretch the time between your relaxers (only apply relaxer to new growth)
-wear a satin bonnet or sleep on a satin pillowcase at night (cotton dries your hair's moisture)


Ciao!