Was the Grinch a conspiracy theroist?

Have the holidays turned into a huge conspiracy theory?

I have learned a lot about how certain ideas and industries really work, rather than from the way that they are perceived in real life, from being a vegan.  I won’t go too far into that, but I don’t believe that all the facts, are always presented, all the time to the public.  And as consumers, we tend to place our heads in the sand when it comes to the things we enjoy doing, having, eating or pursuing.  Sure lots of things are “bad for you” but how many of those things do we choose to still enjoy anyways?  From foods, to alcohol, cigarettes and drugs of all kinds (legal and illegal); we want what we want and sometime we choose to look the other way even if we have an inkling that those things may not be what’s best for us.

After having many realizations that everything isn’t always as it seems, my mind often gets lost and I find myself thinking on a deeper level then ever before.  Just the other day, my family and I were in the car, on the way to dinner listening to Christmas music on the radio.  As I was listening and singing along I had a profound thought:

What if the government has hidden subliminal messages in all of our classic holiday songs that encourage us to buy more?

I know that is a pretty crazy notion, but what a genius way to trigger us to spend more… and more… and even more.  A way to boost the economy at the end of the year, so that when tax time comes around the rich get richer, the lobbyist dig deeper and you and I are none the wiser because we are all waiting to get our tax returns to pay off our holiday debts.

It would be the perfect ploy.  Think about it:  we are taught holiday carols pretty much from the time we could understand them.  We are trained like little monkeys when we are in school to perform them for our families.  And in all that time we were being programmed to always want more.

As children we  learn to associate the holidays with receiving gifts.  We are excited by the commercials on TV and the ads online and can’t wait for our moment with Santa (and what better place should Santa be stationed then in the local shopping mall).  Even children with the best upbringing are hoping to get more stuff.  And parents these days find it harder and harder to say no.  So they work more and more while little Johnny is left home alone not understanding any of it.  The greatest gift that any child needs is for their parents to be present in their lives.  I know when I look back at my life, I don’t think about the gifts that I got, but instead about the time I spent with my family (some of whom are no longer with us).  The traditions that we had and the memories that we created.  Sure I remember the year that I got the Inspector Gadget doll that I really wanted, but I would trade that in a second if I could just have spent one more Christmas with my dad now.  Just one more holiday together with the people I lost over the years.  But I digress…

I know there will be some parents who will say that they have taught their children the “real” meaning behind whatever holiday their family celebrates.  But let’s get real for a second mom and dad of the year.  If you were to ask most kids what they looked forward to during the holidays, I can bet 90% would say the toys and/or gifts they received score way above spending time in church with their second aunt that they see once a year.  I mean how many kids do you know that actually want to celebrate the holidays for what they are “supposed to be” rather than what they have become?  That magical day, that for a lot of children, all their materialistic dreams come true wrapped up with colorful paper and ribbons.  Sure some children will have it better than others, but what is the real toll that those gifts have played on their families?  How many extra hours did mom and dad have to work to get little Johnny the most sought after “what-cha-ma-call-it-imal” so that in a month or two it could be shoved in the corner and forgotten about, then trashed or hopefully donated?

Was that really the best use of time and money from parent to child?

Then, as an adult there is a shift.  You go from the receiver to the gift giver.  Feeling that you have to give bigger and better every year to “keep up with the Joneses”.  Blue collar consumers have to work harder and longer the rest of the year just to give gifts that many will forget about or re-gift to someone next year so that they can instead buy that Black Friday TV for themselves.  And the circle goes on and on while Bing Crosby plays softly in the background.  The triggers come into to the radio earlier and earlier and stores stay open longer and longer.  But your holiday bonus gets smaller and smaller while interest rates climb and you fall deeper and deeper into debt.

I am by no means an anti-holiday person.  And I love giving and receiving an awesome gift as much as the next person.  But as I get older (and try to live a more intentional life through minimalism) I just can help but shake my head at the Black Friday crowds I see on TV.  And I am disgusted by the stores that are open on Thanksgiving.  And for the love of all that is holy, please stop playing holiday music right after Halloween!  I feel like the holidays should be a time that we all slow down a little and really reflect on our lives and loved ones.  Life is too short to be waiting in line, in a tent, in front of Best Buy at 3pm on Thanksgiving day just to buy a TV that was probably already marked up so high in the first place that when the price drop on Black Friday the only person really winning in the end is Mr. Samsung himself.  Not you, nor the poor employee that is working and missing time with their family.

And so many wonder why the family system is falling apart.  Maybe the Millennial’s have the right idea after all?  Not wanting to have children and instead choosing to spend their money on living in the moment instead of for the moment you remove the plastic film from the newest fruit phone.  Some people probably spend more time with their electronic devices then their actually living and breathing family members and friends.  Or if they are spending time with their loved ones, everyone is sitting around the dinner table like zombies paying homage to their little blue screens.  Scrolling through websites or pinning the next best thing that will “make them happy”.  The next best thing.  But I digress….. again.

Anyways, just a long and drawn out thought.  I hope everyone reading this has a great holiday however you and your loved one’s choose to celebrate (or not celebrate) it.  Just live every moment like it could be your last because you never get a chance to do today over again.  And no one really needs a hippopotamus for any reason, they can be mean SOB’s!

 

Living with intention

I want to live a more intentional life.  I want to eat better.  I want to love harder.  I want to exercise and get faster.  I want to cut out the crap and be more inline with my personal values.

I know today is actually June 5th, but for me it marks the start of many things.  For awhile now I have gotten a little off track with my eating (don’t worry still vegan, but being vegan doesn’t automatically mean being healthy) and with my exercise.  I want to incorporate better food choices into my diet and get back into my running after a brief, but very much-needed break.  I also haven’t been to the gym since maybe November?  My work picked up and my hours changed to a point that I couldn’t get motived to workout.  To be honest with myself, yes work did pick up, but I am still working under 30 hours a week, so not having enough time is not an excuse.  And my hours did change, but truth be told, it’s more about me not wanting to wake my ass up earlier to hit the gym!

Having a good balance between food and exercise is very important.  Even though I haven’t been eating as well, I am by no means overweight, but I have noticed that my muscle to fat ratio has changed.  Last summer I actually weighed more but the extra pounds were from the extra muscle I had built.  I would like to build back some of the lean muscle I have lost in the past 6 months.  I am not sure what I am going to do about the gym; whether I am going to rejoin or join a different one, but I am going to get back into my running, actually starting today.  I have joined an 8 week speed work program that meets every Monday and Wednesday at 6:30pm.  I don’t particularly like speed work.  It is hard and the Central Texas summer weather doesn’t make it any easier, but I am more motived to get back into it because it is a group effort.  I have a couple close friends that are joining the group and our coach, is my trainer from the gym that I have been friends with for over 3 years now.  Plus if you can run in the summer you will be in tip-top form for when the fall/winter races start back up again!

As far as food goes, I am going to try to focus more on whole foods; getting in more fruits and especially more vegetables.  Last week I went to see my new doctor (Dr. Linda Carney in Buda, TX) because I was having issues with dizziness, foggy mind, and my cycle had been going  a little wack-a-do these past few months.  Dr. Carney is a 100% plant-based, vegan doctor.  So many people have raved about her in the Central Texas vegan community.  She is located about 40 miles from where I live, but after meeting her I have absolutely no issues with the distance.  She promotes healing through nutrition and tries to steer clear of medications whenever possible.  She ordered up about 15 different blood tests for me, to help her narrow down what/if anything is wrong.  I go back to hear my results on Wednesday!  This doctors visit was the first one I was ever excited to go to.  I had no anxiety and I can’t wait to find out what blood tests say.  Dr. Carney had a great “bedside manner”.  She sat and went over a bunch of different things with me for probably over 40 minutes.  Asked a lot of questions and took notes on our whole meeting.  Her office has plant based resources everywhere.  From Forks Over Knives posters on the walls, to a book shelf full of plant based authors (many of whom’s books I currently own) and a website for clients filled with even more plant based nutrition information.

I mentioned that my female cycle has been off for a little while now.  Nothing too extreme but sometimes, somethings are just too much to let go unnoticed.  I ordered a book called:  “WomanCode:  Perfect Your Cycle, Amplify Your Fertility, Supercharge Your Sex Drive, and Become a Power Source” by Alisa Vitti.  The author takes a very close look at how what you eat during your 4 stages of your cycle (yes I said 4 stages) can affect your overall health.  While she doesn’t promote being 100% vegan, I am curious to read about what foods she suggests to eat when and then why.  I do not plan on adding animal products back to my diet but I am open to reading as much information as I can about how what we eat can affect who we are.   The book has great reviews, so hopefully I won’t be too disappointed at the mention of animal products.

One more thing that I am finding to be more and more important to my overall health and welfare is just living my own life.  Cutting out things that don’t add to it and focusing more on things that do.  I realized this past weekend that I had spent a lot of time on social media.  That time could have been used for far more important things.  I literally could have written this blog yesterday and then had time to write another one today.  I could have spent more time with all of our fur-babies more evenly (we recently got two new kittens and our rabbit I think has been feeling a little left out).  I could have went out and bought the rose-bush that we wanted to commemorate the passing of our 13-year-old kitty, Raspberry.  I could have read more.  Talked with my husband more.  Or just enjoyed the silence, that comes with the lack of social media clutter.  (OMG I just realized that I just checked my Facebook page, oh my phone, while typing this on my laptop!)  It is time to disconnect a little.  The Minimalist talk about how they both took all social media off of their phones and only allow themselves 30 mins or so a day to scroll through their feeds while on their computers/iPads.  I mean do we really need that much information at the tip of our fingers at any given moment?  No.  I know for a fact we don’t because I am old enough to say that I grew up without the internet (until I was in High School) and without a cell phone (until I was out of High School).  (OMG I literally just did it again!  Something live came across my feed so I had to click on it!)  We have become like Pavlov’s Dog when we hear our phone “tweet”;  we are zombie slaves to our little glowing screens.  It is time to make a change.  So besides changing up diet and exercise, I am going to delete all social media platforms from my phone for the rest of the month.  Hopefully I will live to share the accounts of my actions with you all.

Oh and one more thing I forgot to add is that I will also be cutting back on all alcohol and caffeine intake as well!  Man, when I set out to do something, I really know how to go to the extremes, don’t I?  Honestly, I don’t drink much of either substance.  Alcohol I am eliminating just from the weekdays, and will only have a drink with dinner on the weekends.  And the only source of caffeine I have is from my morning tea, but I also have plenty of decaf teas and herbal teas that I can use as substitutes if needed.  I love having the will power to make these changes in my life.  I am the master of going “cold turkey” and I can’t wait to see how I feel about everything in a month.  If you have changed up anything that you consider pretty drastic in your life, please feel free to share your story in the comments!

With logical decisions, comes illogical anxiety

I was feeling so anxious last night.  My husband and I made a very logical decision.  But I had to keep telling myself it was a logical and very responsible decision.  It didn’t require a whole lot of thought or work to achieve and in the end it will probably save us some money.  Then why is it so hard to feel ok about it?  Why do I feel like I am missing out on something?  Why do I feel like I am turning my back to an old friend?  Why am I giving such deep emotion to a car?  Yes, you heard me right….. a car.

Let me explain a little.

So last year, we decided to try being a one vehicle family.  We traded in both of our current vehicles and bought a new 2016 model.  Since I was working so close to home (literally less than a half mile) we thought only having one car for a while just made sense.  We picked out a new car, with all the bells a whistles and shared it for over 6 months.  In that time, if I needed the car I would just take my husband to work and then pick him up later, thus giving me the car the rest of the day.  Or when I didn’t need to go too far I would either ride my bicycle or my motor scooter.  Over time, my work and social life started to pick up a little more and we also realized that we were putting the miles of two cars onto one, so later in the year we bought a second car (a 2017).  This would be my car.  By the time we got the second car, the 2016 was a year old and had over 20,000 miles on it!  (That is about double what an average person drives in a year.)  Now, after 4 months of having my own car, we realized that I still don’t drive as much as my husband does.  By the time the 2017 would be a year old it MIGHT have 7000 miles on it.

In comes the logical decision.

This past weekend I really got to thinking about the general maintenance for each vehicle.  We have extended service warranties on both vehicles and they are mileage based.  Basically, so many services, every 5000 miles, for so many years.  Well my husband had already used 4 of his services in the first year alone, while I hadn’t even used my first one yet.  So I thought, why not switch cars to balance out the mileage for a little while?  I mean I basically picked out both cars and liked both of them anyways, so what difference would it make which one I drove?  Makes sense right?  Of course it does.  But then why do I feel so much anxiety about such an easy decision?

Because I am still learning about how to not place feelings and emotions into inanimate objects.

I have always loved cars.  I’ve had so many cars in my 20 some years of driving that I would run out of fingers and toes if I tried to count them all.  And I literally loved some of them; gave them names and kept them in spotless condition.  Now my husband… not so much.  He likes cars as a daily tool, but never really cared too much overall about what he drove.  Just not his thing.  To him, a car, is literally just a thing.  He takes care of his car ok, but nothing like the way I do.  My cars have always been clean, inside and out.  I love trying to keep that new car smell for as long as possible.  I park far away in parking lots to avoid door dings and I visit the car wash often.  If I run over a curb, first thing I do is pray to the car gods that I haven’t scratched my wheels.  Again, my husband not so much.  He doesn’t necessarily “trash” our cars he just views them as what they are; a tool for getting from one place to another, carrying whatever needs to be carried; whether it be people or objects, nothing more, nothing less.  If some coffee gets spilled or a window gets left rolled down, no big deal.  But my car is almost like my pet.  I tend to personify them and when I drive my car I view it as an extension of myself.  Like my noble steed.  So having to “give up” my new “baby” after only 4 short months feels like, like…. I don’t know.  I can’t explain it.  Like I am saying goodbye to an old friend after a short, but over due, visit.  Which is crazy because the car will come home everyday to our house.  It’s not like I sold it to a stranger or dropped it off at the scrap metal yard!

I guess maybe the anxiety comes from a lack of control.  I can’t control how my husband will treat my car.  I know he isn’t as mindful with our vehicles, but I also know he understands how I like to keep them in good condition.  He wouldn’t do anything on purpose to “damaged” the car, but I just feel like I am more careful.  Whether that is actually true or not, I really can’t judge.  Maybe since I don’t drive as much and my car doesn’t get as much ware and tear, it gives me a false sense of validity that I take care of it better?

So after switching out our things from each car, and parking my “new” vehicle in the garage (what will my car think having to spend the night outside?) we came in and got ready for bed.  I started to talked to my husband in a very serious manner.  I really wanted him to understand that I wasn’t messing around and that I was really struggling with this new idea.  I truly think he did try his best to understand my anxiety.  He told me that he understood that it’s always been very important for me to take really good care of my vehicles even before he knew me.  He said that he remembered me explaining to him that “a car is your second biggest investment to your house” and that he could understand why I would have some reservations about all this.  But he did remind me that financially this was a good and logical choice (plus it was my idea in the first place).  Then he said something that really resonated with me.  Something that really made me think about how silly I was being for having such anxiety.  He said to me:

“Don’t let the things you own, own you.”

I couldn’t have said that better myself if I tried.  It was 100% on target with everything I had been trying to live by lately.  It was ok to appreciate the things that I had in my life but that was just it.  This car was a thing.  It was not a person or a pet; it was a thing.  Somewhere down the road I forgot that.  Sometime in my life, probably when I was younger, I took a turn and started to really place human emotions into an inanimate object.  I also was a guilty of letting what I drove speak for what kind of person I was.  I traded in cars left and right just to have the newest model with the newest gadgets.  Or something faster.  Or something bigger.  Or….  or….. or…… and so on and so forth.  Always looking for something else and never just being satisfied with what I already had.  I would literally ride the high of buying that new car but over time it would fade and I would need another “hit”.

Come to think of it, I went through a similar situation about two weeks ago.  My three-year old, iPhone 5s, had finally crapped out on me for the last time.  I had to face the music and go to the store to buy a new phone.  I had been holding off for months.  I really didn’t want a new phone.  While I was talking with the salesman, I felt that same sense of anxiety and loss of an old friend.  I loved that 5s.  It was paid off and in my opinion, just the perfect size and shape for me.  I felt like the new 7 couldn’t possibly take its place.  But here I am, weeks later and I don’t even think about the old phone any more.  I already bought a new case for it and several people have told me that they can hear me better when I talk to them on it.  The battery lasts a lot longer and it doesn’t just randomly shut itself off anymore.

Why do we do this?  Why do we “love” our things so much?  I mean we LOVE them.  The Minimalist have talked about this many, many times.  How can we use a word, that expresses such a deep emotion, so freely, on an object?  You love your parents, kids, pets, partners, PEOPLE (and animals); but to love a phone or a car?  That’s where the disconnect is.  That’s where we need to evolve more and check our priories.  We need to:

“Love people and use things, because the opposite never works.” -The Minimalist

Change isn’t easy and it is an ongoing process.  I heard my husband leave this morning in our car and I got hit with a little rush of anxiety again.  But after finishing this up and really putting things into a different perspective, I can say I feel a little better.  I feel like in a weird way doing things like this, letting go of my car, letting go of that control, is something I really needed to do in order to evolve a little bit more.

Feeling grateful

Last night before I went to bed, I watched a Facebook live feed from Jason Wrobel.  The headline for the feed was “praying for what you don’t want”.  Jason talked about how so many times we tend to focus our thoughts on the bad things that are happening or could be happening in the future to us.  These thoughts are manifested into stress and anxiety and really do us no good at all.  They leave us inadvertently “praying for what you don’t want”.  Instead, he suggested that we be thankful for the things we have been blessed with in our everyday lives.  As well as to be genuinely happy for others and the things they have been blessed with.  Instead of judging people or being jealous of their gains, we should embrace them.  The more we embrace these things the more likely we are to bring those same joys and gains into our own lives.

Yesterday, I also starting reading a book called:  “Citizen Thoreau” by Henry David Thoreau.  It is a collection of Thoreau’s greatest short stories.  I know I am probably a little behind the times with discovering Thoreau.  I have heard over and over again that a lot of his work was required reading in high school and college.  Maybe he and I have crossed paths before, but I cannot recall.  In high school was probably not interested in his work because I hadn’t yet grown enough to really understand the world around me, as so many of us hadn’t at such a young age.  The main story that I was interested in is titled “Walden“.  I have only just started into it, but Thoreau touches on what our basic needs are as humans and how we forget just how little we actually require to live a fruitful and peaceful life.  We need shelter of course, and food.  Along with those things we need heat.  Heat to cook our food, warm our homes (shelters) and really not too much else.  But we live our day-to-day, working for so much more.  More luxury.  More things.  More than we ever could really ever need.  We trade our time, our lives, just to attain more stuff.

I learned of Thoreau through another set of people who I have been following, The Minimalist.  I have mentioned The Minimalist in a prior blog and have really been avid follower of them.  I have learned so much about living with less and because of that, being so much more grateful for all the things I already have in my life.  And a lot of these “things” are not things at all.

So, I woke up this morning and I got to thinking about all of the “riches” I have in my life;  that my husband and I share together.  So here I am.  I am even grateful for the fact that these thoughts brought me here today to share them with all of you.  I haven’t spent nearly as much time as I used to on my blog and that does sadden me.  I’m hoping to turn that around soon.  Today the fire was lit under me.  After having all these thoughts I just felt inspired to write.  Like if I hadn’t I would have regretted it and that was not how I wanted to choose to start my day or weekend.  So below is a list of everything (well probably not everything) that I feel grateful for today.  I hope by sharing this, maybe someone else, that maybe in a bad spot, may realize that they live a richer life then they once believed?

–I am grateful for my husband.  He is a hard worker and has an amazing job.  He loves to provide for us and loves and cares very deeply for me.  We may not always get along or see things the same way but overall I know he is a wonderful man and I love growing with him everyday.

–I am grateful for my friends.  I have a very (very) small group of friends but they are more like family to me.  And even though I may not spend a lot of time with them (I am more introverted in that way) I always feel like we just pick up right were we left off and that they have my back no matter what.

–I am grateful for my fur-babies.  I have a wonderful cat named Sammi.  She and her sister Raspberry (who we had to say goodbye to about two months ago) have been the best little babies I could have ever asked for.  They followed me through the last 13 years of my life.  They have always been there through the good and the bad and I have always tried to do the best for them in return.  I cannot imagine life without pets.  I also have a rabbit that I love dearly.  I never thought I would be a mommy bunny but she came to us by the powers of the universe and I am glad to have her.  We are also adopting two sisters kittens next week that we are very excited about adding to our family.  We miss Raspberry dearly, but we also have too much love to give to another animal that it just seems right to give a home to these little girls.

–I am grateful for our home.  We have a little condo on the very northwestern edge of Austin.  It has been the first place that I have lived in the past 13 years that has truly felt like home.  It is small by todays standards, but it is cozy and filled with love.

–I am grateful for my job.  I have had many jobs in the past that I have loved, but this is the first one that I really feel like I am apart of.  I work for a small business that is steadily growing.  My boss and his business partner have been wonderful to me over the past year.  Being the only employee has been great.  Having the freedom to set my own schedule has been priceless and feeling like I am apart of something in its infant stages is wonderful.  I am so glad that I can be apart of helping it to grow.

–I am grateful for my parents.  Just because they are lower on this list, doesn’t mean they have less value to me.  I could not be who I am today without them.  They have supported me with their love throughout my whole life.  They have guided me but have always let me choose which path to take at the fork.  I love them so dearly couldn’t have asked for a better two people to call mom and dad.  It makes me so sad when I hear other people say they are not close to their parents.  I cannot imagine my life in those circumstances, so again I say how grateful I am for them.

–I am grateful for the money that we have in our savings.  I know that money is not everything.  I do not wish to be “rich” and money does not make you more powerful (at least not in my eyes).  But having a good foundation does make our everyday life a little less stressful.  It allows us to have the roof we have over our heads and the food we put in our mouths.  It allows us to care for the fur-babies that depend on us for literally their whole wellbeing.  We have dependable cars and can afford to eat a good meal for every meal of the day.  It keeps our house cool in the summer and warm in the winter.  It allows me the means to write this very blog on my computer using our internet.  I try to be as humble as possible when it comes to money.  I try not to let it rule my every decision and by living with less, I worry less about it.

–I am grateful for my health.  I really try to do the best that I can for my body and health. I try to eat the best foods that I can afford and not waste.  I am vegan, which has to do with my health as well as the health of every living creature on this planet.  I try not to take my health for granted.  I love sweets but I try to remember that everything is better in moderation.  I always remind myself that you cannot out-run your fork and not to reward myself like a dog!  I consider myself a runner and attribute a lot of my good health to that passion.  And by learning to live a more meaningful life, I believe my health will improve even more.

I’m sure there are a lot more things that I take for granted that I am grateful for.  There are people in my life that provide services to my husband and I that I am very grateful for like our therapist and our vet clinic, hell even my hairdresser!

We sometimes forget that it can take a village to really learn how to grow.  That has become a sad fact in the past 10-15 years.  I feel like as humans, with the technology that we have available to us, have lost touch with each other.  I am grateful that I have learned of so many great leaders, life coaches, bloggers, etc. via the internet but at the same time I find myself feeling more distance from actually human interaction more than ever.  We are probably all guilty of this.  It is easier to sign onto social media and keep in touch with our “friends” through text and “likes” then it is to just sit down and have lunch or tea together.  But this form of communication can feel cold and impersonal.  I think as a planet we all need to come together for the greater good of humanity.  That’s a pretty bold statement but the sense of community is slowly disappearing and that is a very lonely thought.

So be grateful for all that you have and really dig deep and reach out to the people and places that are important to you.  Don’t take anything for granted and learn to live a more intentional life.

Purr-fect Minimalists

So, I was sitting up at 2am today, thinking (because that’s the hour of the day that my creative juices start to flow apparently).  Before I had gone to bed last night, I was listening to a podcast by The Minimalists and they were taking about dealing with “Unpleasant” things.

I guess I should back up the boat a little and explain just who/what The Minimalists are.  Basically there were these two 20-something year old guys, that one day just had enough of their six figure, corporate job, rat race lives.  One of them, Joshua Millburn, had been faced with some of life’s more horrible un-pleasantries, by loosing his mother to cancer and his wife to divorce, all in one week.  So after life had given him the big F-you he decided to change how he lived his life by learning about Minimalism.  He soon realized that there was no amount of “stuff” that could ever make him (or really anyone) happy.  So it didn’t matter how much money he made, if all he was going to do with it was buy more stuff and in his case, get further into debt for that stuff (go figure right?  Making 6 figures and still in debt).  After downsizing literally everything in his life, including his job, home, wardrobe, use of technology, and then some, he truly realized that he could be happy with less.  His friend and former co-worker, Ryan Nicodemus, noticed in no time that Joshua just seemed happier.  He asked Joshua what his secret was and after explaining Minimalism to Ryan, he too started to downsize his life.  Unlike Joshua, Ryan’s universe already forced him out of his job when he was downsized from the same job that Joshua willing left months prior.  So with life’s little push; so forms the Minimalists.  Now over the past 6 years they have created a website, gone on tour, wrote books and done podcasts all about Minimalism and the joy of living with less.

Now back to what I was doing/thinking at 2am this morning.  I was actually petting my 13-year-old cat, Sammi, that for sometime now insist on sleeping right next to my pillow and purr-furs to have some part of her body pressed up against mine.  She was pretty happy to be getting some loving from me when she very well knew I should be fast asleep.  I got to thinking about her life  (a well taken care of house cat) and Minimalism.

My cat Sam, and her kitty sister Rasberry live the most purr-fect example of Minimalism that I can think of.  I mean honestly, they don’t really have any possession; except for the collar around their neck’s, a litter box that their human-slave (myself) keeps clean for them (most of the time), a heated bed (that Sam tends to hog all for herself), along with a couple of catnip toys.  That’s it.  No mortgage.  No car payments.  No bills to pay or job to go to (although sometimes I don’t think they keep up with their end of the kitty-rent-free deal when they leave me moist, hairy, surprises to step in with bare feet, just saying).  And I can tell you this, they are two of the most happy kitties.  They really have no worries and live a very pam-purred life.  They seem 100% happy in their carefree, minimalist style lives.  They don’t require “things” to make them happy.  They just love living life from day-to-day, soaking up an occasional sun beam or taking in the smells from our raised patio and of course the head scratches from mom and dad.  They don’t need to watch tv or get online to enjoy their lives.  They don’t have iPhones or Amazon accounts.  They live in the moment and flourish off of our love for them.

What a novel way to live.

Once all our basic needs are met (food, water, shelter and in my opinion love) what more do we really need?  I am just starting to learn how to live with less stuff and instead push to live through my experiences and passions.  It’s a hard process.  I’m not going to lie.

Unlike my furry friends, I was not raised to not want things.  Ever since childhood we are consciously and subconsciously, raised to want more.  To want better.  To keep up with the Jones’s in away.  Advertisements are everywhere for the newest, latest, and greatest, must have, things.  Peer pressure is real among children and adults to provide and have nothing but the best for ourselves and our families.  But what does it leave us with?  Latch key kids, whose parents have to work over 60 hours a week to be able to afford the house that is too big, with too much stuff, and too green a lawn to take care of.  Then those kids look for love in the things that their parents can afford to buy for them.  New phones, video games, clothes, cars and so on.  And the cycle starts over.  Maybe this time, the 60 hour work weeks drive these new parents to divorce.  Families are spilt apart rather than growing together.  And all for what????  Stuff.  Stuff, stuff, stuff and more stuff.  Instead of raising our children to feel entitled and devalued, why not raise them to understand that they can never get back time that is lost with their families when they are a slave to their things?  Take them to the park, go on road trips, read together, just spend time together!  Teach them compassion and empathy and above all love.  Self love and a kindness.  Teach them about things that cannot be bought.

Looking back on my own childhood, I do remember having some great Christmas’s and birthday’s.  My parents were not rich by any means but I never went without anything that I can remember and I’m sure I got a lot of great things for these occasions.  But what I remember most is the time that I spend with family and friends during those occasions.  I remember taking walks with my grandmother.  Going swimming at my aunt and uncles house and hanging out with my cousins.  I remember going to the flea market every Saturday morning with my dad or coming home everyday to my mom after school.  During the summer it was fun to hang out at my friend’s house or go swimming.  I always felt loved.  And I always felt like I belonged.  But I honestly could not tell you much about the gifts I received.  Sure I remember a couple of the bigger items (getting a brand new Nintendo back in the 80’s was crazy amazing) but most I don’t even own any longer.  They severed their purpose at that time in my life and now they are gone.  But the things that I wish I could get back are not things at all.  It has taken me a long time to realize this.  And now I hope to move forward in my life knowing this and embracing the time that I have with all the important people in my life.

I mean going back to my cat analogy.  I could leave my two babies alone for a whole day with tons of toys and treats and stuff to keep them occupied, but I can guarantee you that the second they hear me coming to the door they will be on the steps waiting for me to come in and love them.  They will have forgotten about whatever toys are scattered around the floor and just want to have an open lap to lay in.  (I slow blink you too Sammi and Rasberry.)

What it all boils down to is stuff is stuff.  Stuff does not equal love.  Stuff does not fill the holes in our hearts or our souls.  It just gets in the way of what is truly important.  Your passions, beliefs, families, friends, furry babies, goals, adventures, and time that you can never get back.

One of the questions that was asked of the Minimalists during last nights podcast, was, “Is there anything you removed from your life that you now regret that you removed?”  Both Joshua and Ryan’s answers were No.  Actually Joshua’s regret was that when he found out that his mother was deathly ill, he regretted that he had let so much time pass without any contact with her prior.  Granted they had a very rough mother to son relationship (she was an alcoholic and he a latch key kid, both with no money) but at the end of her life he wanted nothing more than more time with her.  I am not sure where I have heard this before, but I believe a lot of nurses and care givers who work at hospice organizations or homes for the elderly all hear the same thing when people are in their finally days.  Everyone just wishes they had more time.  Time.  Time with their family and friends.  Time to go on that trip that they never got around to.  Time to just sit back and enjoy the wonderful life that they had.  Time for more sunsets.  Time for more visits with their children.  So, even though it sounds so cliché, “you can’t take it with you in the end”, couldn’t be truer of a statement.

Another point that was brought up about “regretting something that you removed” was that if you were that attached to a material object that you actually felt it pain when it was gone, then you were probably putting too much energy and life force into that object in the first place.   A set of fine china from your grandparents house, is not your grandparents.  It’s just stuff.  You may remember the times that you ate off of it, maybe at the holidays, but those memories are far more important to have then the box of plates and tea cups that you have stored away in your garage.  Write down those memories.  Blog or journal about those times in your life.  Share the stories with younger family members that may have been too young to appreciate them in the same way.  But let that box of unused stuff go.

Sure, I do understand that everyone has their own personal vise.  Maybe pick out one tea-cup to have just for yourself and then let the rest go.  I know my vise is greeting cards.  Even though I made a promise to myself about a year ago, that I would stop sending/buying greeting cards (because what a big waste when you really think about it, but mom if you are reading this, which I know you are, I will always continue to send  you cards because I know how much you love them) I have kept every single card my mother has sent me since I moved out-of-state over 13 years ago.  I have no idea why, and they just sit in a box in a closet in my condo.  The only time they get touched is when I add another one to the box.  But now when I come to think about the why even more, I realize that this was a learned behavior because I can go to my parents right now and my mom would have a huge pill of cards from my dad and I probably from longer then I have been alive.  I don’t even know if I have ever really asked her why she has kept them all?  Not that there is anything wrong with it, but it may not be the best use of space.  I’m sure when the horrible day comes that my parents are no longer with me, I will find solace with them, but I do try to remind myself that they are just cards; not actually physical extensions of my parents themselves.  I think that is the hardest thing to deal with when deciding what to keep and what to get rid of.  We personify inanimate objects.  We feel like we will be “hurting the feelings” of the object we are trying to part with, because someone we love dearly, gave it to us.  That’s where the real issue lies; in separation of feelings vs what actually is.  That’s what makes it Unpleasant.

Well I have rambled on a lot longer then my original thoughts from my 2am cuddle feast with my cat.  I know it has been quit sometime since my last entry (almost 4 moths, yikes!) but I do hope to be writing more and more as I allow less and less stuff to enter into my life.  I hope you will continue to follow me as I go down the rabbit hole of Minimalism and learn how to find joy in my life from more experiences and less clutter!

Mariposa

A couple months ago I mentioned in a different blog post that we had successfully downsized to only having one car.  And we still could not be happier with that decision.  We spend less on gas, less on insurance (but not as much as you would think because we did loose our multi driver discount), and it’s just nice only having one car to worry about in general.  I have been walking and riding my bike to most places that I need to get to.  My work is only a couple blocks away and my gym is about a half mile away.  If for some reason I need to go farther away, I just take my husband to work in the morning and pick him up later.

My husband has been on board with the whole one car idea (obviously since we traded in both our cars to get the one we currently have), but he worries about me only having a bike to get around on.  To the gym or to work it’s no big deal, but if I want to go to any classes in the future (like my photography one’s) or I have a doctor’s appointment that is just a little to far to peddle too he wanted me to not have to take him to work all the time.  Or there are days that he just needs the car in order to make it to appointments that he may have after work.

So lets go back in time about 6 years ago.  The time when I had transportation on two wheels!  Yes, I used to own and ride a motorcycle.  It was a Kawasaki KLX250SF dual sport.  It was my first and only motorcycle.  I took the safety class and got my license to ride!

But because of some unfortunate circumstances in my life, I had to sell it.  And ever since then I have been waiting for the day that I would be on two wheels again.  Now my husband was not too keen on the idea of me having a motorcycle.  He had just met me when I had my last one, and was glad the day I sold it.  (He doesn’t hate motorcycles, he was just worried for my safety.)  And every time I bought up the idea of buying another one, he was not too happy about it and the topic would be dropped for awhile.

Now back to current time; as you can see this was the perfect time to bring up the idea of having two wheels again.  It would be something that I could get a farther range on and would still be more environmentally friendly then buying a second car (plus I am really against having a second car.  I want to go at least a year with only one, if not longer).  He still didn’t like the idea of a motorcycle, but for some reason was ok with the thought of a scooter (go figure).

So let me introduce you to our newest two wheel purchase!

This is my 2016 Genuine Buddy 125 scooter, and yes she is lavender!  I named her Mariposa, which means butterfly and she is pretty awesome.  Since she is a 125cc scooter, you do require a motorcycle license in the state of Texas to ride on the streets.  Good thing I have had mine since 2009!  I was told by the dealer that I am the first person in Austin to own the new color, but overall Buddy’s are very common and reliable scooters.  They are made in the USA and carry the best warranty on the market, 2 years with road side assistance!  She has a top speed of 59mph but the dealer said since I was so light (120 pounds), I could probably get up to 65mph.

I have to admit I was a little nervous when I first took a test drive on one at Urban Motorsports.  You would think it would have been easier for me to drive because it shifts automatically; not like a motorcycle that has a clutch.  It was hard to wrap my brain around not having to clutch. Instead you just having to pull back on the throttle and go!  But after a few spins around our neighborhood, it felt like second nature again.  Now I have a little more freedom to go to places that are a little farther away.  And so far, it has only cost me $1.08 to fill up her tank!  She will get around 90 miles to the gallon once she is broken in (after about the first 200-500 miles).

I would highly recommend getting a scooter, especially a Buddy 125, if you are in need of a second vehicle to just get around town on.  But just be safe!  A lot of states require that you take a motorcycle safely class to even get your licenses and always wear a helmet.  I have a full face helmet from when I rode my motorcycle.  Even though the 3/4 face helmets “look” more like scooter helmets, I would recommend a full face.  I used to work at a motorcycle dealership and we called 3/4 helmets “jaw breakers”.  And that was strictly because if you were to get into a wreck, there would be nothing covering the front of your face and you can piece the rest of it together from that.  I also wear a armored jacket and gloves when I go on longer trips.  For both the helmet and jacket I would recommend anything from Joe Rocket.  They have awesome gear.

Examples of full face vs 3/4 helmets.

The helmet on the left is the exact one I wear!

And no matter if you are on a motorcycle or a scooter, be safe out there and to all the 4 wheels vehicles remember to “share the road”!

Happy Earth Day, everyday

WARNING!  So I am climbing up on my soapbox today.  I always try to be as upbeat and positive as I can with most of my blog posts.  I feel like my blog is my creative way to express myself and the things that are truly important to me.  Being vegan, (there I said it and I managed to get to the 4th sentence before mentioning it) I feel like I try to be as in tune as possible with animals, my health and our environment.  A lot of my post convey this.  But this post may seem a little “in your face” but that is only because I am super passionate about the topic.  I am by know means against things like Earth Day but I don’t like it when people are hypocrites and/or oblivious to things around them.  And I think a lot of the issues stem from people not being informed or choosing to keep their heads in the sand because “it’s too hard to change”.  Change is hard; but like a lot of things in life it can be necessary.  And right now it is very necessary for the generations to come, so that they will have an Earth to celebrate.

Celebrating Earth Day is like throwing money at cancer; neither one are fixing the real issues.  Sorry for starting off so cynically.  Don’t get me wrong, the Earth should be celebrated, but that should be a daily occurrence, not an American made holiday for environmental agency to make money off of.  I think the right idea was in mind when Earth Day was founded in 1970.  And it has gained millions of followers world wide; but what are we really doing to make our environment better for every living creature?

According to earthday.org:

“Earth Day is more than just a single day — April 22, 2016. It’s bigger than attending a rally and taking a stand.

This Earth Day and beyond, let’s make big stuff happen. Let’s plant 7.8 billion trees for the Earth. Let’s divest from fossil fuels and make cities 100% renewable.”

Planting trees is a great idea, but instead of planting them and having to wait 5-20+ years for them to mature, why not stop cutting them down in the first place?  We are loosing the equivalent of one football field a second in the rainforest do to deforestation to make room for more livestock.  More livestock?  Really?  Since when is eating meat more important then preserving the lungs of our planet?  Let’s explore other ways agriculture/livestock is killing our planet:

The most interesting part in all this, is when you go to pages like Earthday.org and other environmental agency’s pages, there is no mention of the impact that agriculture has on our planet.  This is also not something that is generally taught in schools.  And don’t even get me started on the government approved food pyramid.  And look at the efforts the USDA is claiming it’s making in honor of Earth Day:

“WASHINGTON, April 19, 2016 – This week, representatives from USDA’s Rural Development team will be celebrating Earth Day by visiting newly funded projects that will improve rural water quality and safety in 33 states across the country. USDA is investing $183 million in 60 water and wastewater infrastructure projects through Rural Development’s Water and Environmental Program (WEP), which provides technical assistance and financing to develop drinking water and waste disposal systems for communities with fewer than 10,000 residents.”

Instead of trying to throw more money at the issue why not get to the true source of the problem?  Keep the water supply clean and more readily available from the start.  Animal agriculture wastes and contaminates more water then anything else.  Millions and millions of gallons of water are used to produce crops to feed animals, and to water them and then to clean up after slaughtering them.  All that water is put in bloody, waste filled, retention ponds behind farms and slaughter houses.  That water then seeps into the ground and eventually into the water supply, thus contaminating our rivers and lakes and just like the old saying goes “all rivers flows to the sea”.  It’s a domino effect by then.

So much is harmed and wasted just so we can eat meat, poultry and fish.  The land, air, water, animals and our own health are effected by the consumption of animal products.

• We are killing the very lungs of our planet with deforestation happening at an alarming rate daily.
• The amount of methane (produced from animal “farts” and “poops” to dumb it down) in the air has sky rocketed and causes more air pollution then all of our transportation needs lumped together.
• We are inhumanly torturing millions of innocent beings everyday for our greedy wants.  (These are not “needs” because we can live healthy, sustainable lives without animal products.)
• We have hungry people, in poor nations all over the globe.  Yet we produce enough food to feed the planet just from the amount of food we grow and use to feed livestock.
• Diseases like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular issues are sky rocketing because we are consuming more and more animal products then ever before and we have become more sedentary then ever as well.  Red meat and dairy have been found to contain carcinogens that cause inflammation all over the body and make it harder for us to ward off these diseases.  And to go along with that, we are trying to fight them by throwing pills at them and “walking for causes”, but very few in the medical field are trained in the 7 years of schooling about the benefits of good nutrition through a whole foods, plant based lifestyle.

This list could go on and on…..

But why not play a huge part in alleviating the issue?  Make a change in your day to day life that will have a bigger impact.  Bigger then driving a Prius.  Bigger then recycling.  Bigger then low flow faucets and twisty light bulbs.  Go vegan.  Go vegan for your personal health.  Go vegan for the voiceless animals that are killed in horrific ways every day.  Go vegan for the environment; for the water, air and land.  Go vegan for the generations to come.  We cannot continue to live the way that we do.  We will not be able to sustain, especially with the rise in global population.  Please take the time to educate yourselves.  The information is out there.  Demand it, watch it, read about it and learn from it and then pass it along.

I went vegan a little over 3 years ago and I would never go back.  I don’t think that makes me better then everyone else but I am proud that I took the time to educate myself.  There are so many things that we do everyday, year after year, that we don’t really think about the repercussion of.  Instead we follow the masses.  Grandma and grandpa did it this way for years so that is the way we will teach our children to do it.  Just because we don’t know any different doesn’t make it right.  Stand up and stand out.  Empower yourself and your family and friends and together we can make a movement like, Earth Day, become something that everyone and everything on this planet can truly celebrate.  (Rant over, thank you.)

Dirt babies

For about the past two years now, we have been composting.  Even though we have a small condo and small backyard, we still manage to compost all our food scraps.  Since I am vegan, I like to keep my compost that way too, so only non-meat items are allowed, except for the eggshells that my husband will contribute every now and then (he is omni, what can I say, we can’t all be perfect).  We also throw in things like used paper towels, trimmings from out indoor and outdoor plants, and shredded paper.  We have even encouraged our neighbor to compost her like items as well.  We have a small tumbler in the backyard that I got from Costco.  Actually it was my birthday gift from my parents two years ago!  The gift that keeps on giving!

Our process is simple.  We have a couple plastic containers, that have gasket sealed lids that we keep on top our fridge.  When you have something that needs to go in the compost tumbler, you put it in there.  When the containers are full, I take them down stairs to the tumbler in the backyard and empty them.  Give the tumbler a few spins, and voila! you’re done.  It takes us about a year to fill the tumbler.  You would think it would fill faster, but the little worms and flies that are in there do a great job of breaking everything down, thus creating more space for next time.  When it does come time to empty it, I have a small area in the corner of our yard that I pile the compost into.  Every now and then I go out there with a rake and stir up the dirt.  We also put some of our larger compostable items directly into that pile; like for example our Halloween pumpkins.

Which leads to my new little backyard mystery.  Currently in my pile, I have these giant leaved plants growing.  They have pretty thick, fuzzy stalks as well.  I had raked them down before, thinking they were weeds, but when they grew back I noticed they only grew in the pile and not in the rest of the yard.  So I got to thinking they might not be weeds after all.  Asked my neighbor to take a look at them and she took a picture and put it on Facebook for some feedback.  Most everyone who commented said they looked like some sort of squash growing.  I know I haven’t had any squash to put in there but we did have whole pumpkins that got thrown in there over the past two years.  So we googled pumpkin leaves and they looked very similar!  I’m pretty excited about this!  I would be floored if we grew some pumpkins or even squash!  I have no idea how they will do in the upcoming summer months but for now I am going to just let nature take over and wait and see.  It’s kind of like waiting to find out the sex of a baby!

So what will our dirt babies be?  Pumpkin or squash?  Due date, fall of 2016!

Tulips to Ivies

I was in the car this morning driving my husband to work when a radio commercial for a florist came on.  They were advertising a spring bouquet of 30 tulips for 30 dollars.  Just the other day, I read somewhere about how flowers like that are very wasteful and I would imagine not that great for the environment.  I haven’t researched a whole lot into it yet, but I could clearly get how that could be true.  If you consider that they are probably grown, using a bunch of chemicals and then are trucked in from miles away and probably even from different countries all together.  Sounds like another form of GMO farming to me.  Not to mention you only get about a week of life out of them.

To offer a solution, whatever article I was reading suggested to give house plants, if you MUST give something.  They last longer and a lot have been known to help clean the air in your house.  Plants like Ivies can even turn into the gift that keeps on giving because you can cut them down when they get too large and replant the smaller pieces to share with someone else.

Now the thing that amazed me most about hearing this commercial and thinking back to the article I read, was when my husband blurted out that flowers seem pretty wasteful and he would rather give me a house plant instead!  That floored me.  I was already thinking that I was going to go home and research into how commercial flowers are farmed, and then share the information with him but instead he already got it!  He asked my opinion about it and said that he was really starting to see the world in a different way from all the things I share with him.  Just him saying that, and putting things together in his mind, for himself, was better then any $30 tulips in my book!

Sometimes I feel so small and alone and even crazy with my thoughts.  How could doing so many small things, that seem pretty insignificant to others, ever make a difference?  Composting, recycling, being vegan, living minimalistically, and so on; how will that ever change anything?  I’m learning even if something seems so small, it can have lasting affects if you stick to it.  So never give up or give in.  If you believe in something, then do it!  Talk about it, write about it, plant the seed, because right when you think no one is listening, someone will surprise you!

Yucca….. charcoal?

For about the past 6 months now, I have switched over to only using bar soap as a body wash in the shower as well as for hand soap.  I don’t have a “favorite” brand of bar soap but it does have to be all natural, organic, vegan, and has to include activated charcoal.  I’m not too picky on smell, most of the natural, hand made soaps I’ve found all have a nice scent to them.  Usually a little more “earthy”.  The activated charcoal is the winning ingredient for me.

Being a runner and someone who spends a decent amount of time in the gym, I sweat.  And for a lot of athletes, along with that sweat can come acne.  I always thought just by taking a shower after a workout or a run was enough to prevent acne but I found that it wasn’t.  It also depends on what you are cleaning your body with.  There are a lot of chemicals in commercial body soaps that are too harsh for your skin.  Most dry you out why too much by striping all your body’s natural oils away.  Even though you will feel clean, your sink maybe dry.  If it is too dry, then your body with naturally produce more oils and then you are right back to where you were before you took a shower!  Using a moisturizer can help, but sometimes they too will clog pores and cause acne.

So, I decided to find a better way.  Something without all the ingredients that I can’t even pronounce.  That’s when I looked into handmade soaps with natural oils and other organic ingredients.  And through that process I learned about the purifying attributes of activated charcoal.  Activated charcoal is used in many products because it’s ability to pull out toxins.  For people with acne, it can pull out bacteria that is down in your pores and excess oils/dead skin that build up over time.  By pairing it with natural oils, such as tea tree oil or even olive oil, you can deep clean your skin and replace the oils at the same time.  It has worked wonders for me.  I used to get acne on my back and shoulders from wearing a sports bra and now it is much more minimal from showering with the soap.  I also use the soap as a face wash and I have seen even more dramatic results there.  And if I do get any little pimples that pop up, I spot treat them with water diluted, tea tree oil.  Just a small dab with a Qtip and they are usually dried up within a day or two.

My other fascination with using bar soaps has been the cutting down on waste.  Instead of having a plastic bottle left over, now I have almost zero waste from the bars.  They maybe wrapped in paper or sometimes just have a sticker on them.  Plus I can use them until they are gone!  With a plastic bottle you are almost, always, throwing some of the product out because it just won’t come out of the bottle!  And not all of the bottles that these products come in are even recyclable.

So now that I had found a replacement for my body wash and hand wash, it was time to find something to replace my shampoo and conditioner with.  Good timing too because I am in the process of growing my hair out.  I usually have a very short pixie type haircut, but for the past 5 months I have been letting in grow.  I thought about the whole “no poo” idea, but my hair gets super oily in-between washings and I wasn’t ready to go through the detox process not knowing how long it would last.  So instead I started researching bar soap shampoos.  The first thing that popped up was from the same company that I had bought my charcoal body soap from.  Awild Soapbar carries a bar of soap that is made to be used as a shampoo.  It is their Yucca Root shampoo bar.  Yucca Root has anti-bacterial components and natural moisturizers.  Bingo!  Exactly what I was looking for from a company that I already was familiar with and is also local; just right outside of Austin in Manor, TX!  Couldn’t have asked for better!

One of our local grocery stores carries a lot of bars of soap from this company so I was able to just pick up a bar when we did our weekly food shopping.  It smells nice, very fresh, just like the charcoal body bar.  So far I have only used it twice.  Once on Monday and again on Thursday.  The first time I used it I could defiantly tell a difference in using and bar soap instead of a commercial bottle soap.  Once I got a good lather up it was just like the bottled stuff. The difference I noticed most was when I went to rinse it out.  My hair felt like it was extra clean.  Like squeaky clean.  It felt like I had been striped of any build up that may have been on it.  It dried faster and maybe even straighter too.  I have naturally wavy hair that I straighten after drying.  This time  after it had dried it didn’t seem as wavy.  Since I didn’t use a conditioner, my hair didn’t seem as shiny and had like a “texture” to it but it was defiantly clean.  An apple cider vinegar and water rinse is suggested after washing if you want some shininess, but I haven’t tried that yet.  The website said that it would take about a week for your hair to “detox” from all the build up.  My hair has been dyed and never had any kind of detox before, so I’m sure I will need the full week.  One thing I did notice right away was that it didn’t seem dirty as fast.  Normally by the next day after washing, it has a little oil build up.  This time I really didn’t notice the oiliness until the third day.

I’m really hoping that I will like the results I should see after about a week.  To be able to say goodbye to commercial products for my whole body will feel great!  Plus most of the bars of soap I buy are all from small, sometimes local businesses that hand make their products.  I love supporting the little guy.  I feel like they care more about what goes into their products so in turn I get more out of their products.  I’m thinking I will write an update on this product after maybe a month of use.  Until then, please feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have about natural body and shampoo soap bars!