Little Things - Part 2

My last post was getting too long and I loathe the "wall of text," so I'm breaking this up.

Everyone always says that the little things make a world of difference, over time. I wanted to share some of the little things I've changed about my habits to help the world around me.

-Reusable grocery bags

-Buying cage-free (and or organic) eggs I have a co-worker who has some backyard hens and has offered to barter her eggs for baked goods.

-Membership to local Produce Co-op, Urban Acres. I stumbled upon this Groupon deal in January, and a coworker of mine went halfsies on it with me. Their main store/pickup location is close to the zoo, so it works out quite well. Since joining, I've discovered that I like yam, radish, turnips. I discovered that I do not like beets...yet. I'm still trying to figure out a way to cook them. The co-op price ends up being about $2/lb, which on average is probably a little more than what I would spend on produce in the grocery store. But on the other hand, all the co-op produce is organic, most of it is local, and I am eating a hell of a lot more veggies now than I ever have. Partly because I don't want to waste my hard-earned dollars, but I can also see and feel a difference in my body. It's a win-win.

-The zoo struck an awesome deal with DART, Dallas's transportation system, for discounted rail passes--close to 75% off. A requirement of our house search is to be within 5 minutes of the DART line that runs by the zoo. Right now, between driving to Denton for school, driving to Plano for thesis work, and driving to the Zoo for work work, I am filling up every 5-7 days....and I'm averaging about 36-40mpg. My gas usage will drop dramatically when all is said and done. Cannot wait.

-We bought an HE washing machine. I love it.

Future plans for becoming greener:
-cloth diapers (when the time comes)
-making household cleaners (so much can be disinfected with vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, and the sun!)
-GARDENS! RAIN BARRELS! VERMICOMPOSTING! oh, my!

Little Things - Part 1

It's been sooo long since I've last posted. It's also been a supremely busy semester at work, home and school.

Well, let's see what's been going on:

Scott and I decided to try to buy a house. We both have definitely learned a lot about houses and about ourselves (and have been humbled in the process). We found one we really loved, but got out-invested at the last minute. I say out-invested, not out-bid, since we offered more, but the other guy offered cash, as-is. Cash is King, apparently. We're back again at square-one. Yay.

My graduate lab successfully hosted our 4th annual conference, the Art and Science of Animal Training. It was amazing as usual. I really wish I hadn't been preoccupied with housing stuff, or I might have absorbed a little bit more. Conference weekend is always extremely fast-paced and full of so much information, that it take a few weeks to reflect on what you learned and pick out the points that mean the most to you.

Scott's friends got married on St. Patrick's Day.

I somehow managed to volunteer myself to help plan the zoo's Earth Day celebration, called Party for the Planet (P4P). It's a 2-day shindig during Earth Day weekend in April. I am managing Sunday's festivities after a 24-hour trip to Houston/Montgomery for a friend's wedding the day before.

One of my oldest friends is getting married!! Her family moved in down the street when I was in first grade. She was one of the only kids my age in my neighborhood. We grew up exploring the woods and pasture behind our houses and shared a passion for art and animals. We really didn't get to hang out that much after she graduated high school, but we ended up at A&M together and got to hang out a few times. I was so happy to see her and her fiance two-step at our wedding. I am SO excited to see them get married.

I'm going to be a (fairy) god-mother to Baby Mac (my niece)! That's going down in May.

Steph, Scott and I are going to BONNAROOOOOOO in June!

Oh, and I started a brand new thesis project last week! The good news is that it should be a much cleaner project, and I don't have to backcode a year's worth of data.

A lot of little things going on, and time is flying by so quickly!

Internet crushing

I have a new internet crush. I met him yesterday. He's from NYC. I think. He lived there for a time, at least.  He doesn't wear a shirt much, but he makes a badass balcony container garden. I am in love inspired.

I hate buying vegetables with the hope that I will be motivated enough, or have enough time, to cook, only to revisit their withered corpses in the crisper drawer weeks later. Same goes for lettuce. Good intentions turn into gooey lettuce. And then the trash smells. It's a whole ordeal, really. One that I'd rather avoid...by being awesome and growing my own food, which I can harvest on an as-needed/eaten basis. I received an Aerogarden this last summer, which has created Basil Explosion 2011. I'd love to grow some cilantro and thyme, too.

My new internet crush has an awesome tutorial on constructing DIY self-watering containers for your garden. I would like to attempt these sometime soon. I recently procured three broccoli plants from my dad, and I'd kinda like to try my hand at them. (Especially, since my carrots failed miserably last fall).

I'd also like to experiment with vermicomposting. There's a "worm ranch" in the area that sells red wrigglers and composting kits.

I'm thinking I'm going to use this blog to sort out my ideas and plans for now, and then update with my progress, failures, and insight.

Time flies by

I didn't even realize almost a whole month has gone by since I last blogged.

Update on the GOALS: Bonaroo posted their pre-sale date/prices. We are seriously considering going, provided certain prohibiting circumstances do not arise between now and June. Happy Birthmas to us!

I'm super excited to camp out (and not shower) for a week with Scott. The closest we've come to camping together was to pull tickets for the t.u. football game 6 years ago. We camped out by Kyle Field with Scott's roommates and their (girl)friends, plus Johnny--both couples are now married, and the seven of us hang out regularly still. As much as I don't like this city, I love having such good friends around.

Side note: Scott just called me into the other room to show me that the cats are touching. Barely. Koko is feigning sleep. Tortie looks confused.

Tomorrow, I meet with my advisor. I'm hoping I have enough data to move on to the next phase of my project. I'm hoping that I can be done with data collection by January. I'm hoping.

Tomorrow, we also go to Houston to spend time with my family for Thanksgiving. I actually get both Thanksgiving and Christmas off this year! Plans include making pumpkin pie and stick bombs with my older niece. And maybe jogging. And maybe thesis writing. But probably not.

Content

Scott (my husband) and I were discussing blog content today, or I guess, just website content in general. Like the end-game one wants to approach with his or her blog, reaching their target audience, and the means by which these are achieved.

So I started talking about my blog, this blog, and how I want it to be a way to keep our friends and family updated once we have kiddos and move (both of these may or may not be distant eventualities...which may or may not be redundant). I started this blog now for the sole purpose of reserving the awesome name when I become a mother. Because I'd like to be a badass mom.

I love looking through the blogs and facebook albums of old high school friends. I love seeing how we grow up, have spouses, houses, pets and kids, but we all seem to still look the same as we did ten years ago. Aging is a gradual process, I get it, but it's still neat to look back and see if where we are now is anywhere close to where we'd thought we'd be.

So back to content. The first goal of this blog is to serve as bragging point for our growing family. Right now, it's just us and the cats, but it's a start.

I'd also like this to be a place to sort out ideas, share projects, maybe share advice with others.
Topics I'd like to eventually cover:

• Babies on a budget
• Going green without going into the red
• Look what I can do! (for DIY projects)

Goals

Just a list of goals which I would like to accomplish by the end of next year:

• Complete my thesis
• Get a dog
• Go on a real vacation with my husband
• Go to Bonaroo and pretend to be a hippie
• Complete a 5k race without walking 

• (I almost did this yesterday, but I walk for about 10 seconds within the last quarter-mile)
• Complete a half-marathon with my parents-in-law
• (I decided this might be doable, and that we're all crazy)
• Keep up with this blog

I will likely add to this list later, but it's nice to have things written down. I'm a list-maker.