De-Stress

This weekend, when I was out walking and listening to my audio book, Titus lunged at something and I was caught off guard. I didn't think anything of it at the time. All yesterday, my whole left leg would go numb and just throb with pain. I did lots of stretches and yoga poses to work out my hip flexors, hammies, and quads. I did pigeon and it felt like heaven (probably the only time I'll say that) and I alternated between sitting and standing at my desk a lot. I got home last night, did my 3 walks, and then rested with my leg raised. Before bed, I also rubbed my leg from hip to calf with muscle "de-stress gel." It worked and I was able to go to bed like a little baby. 

Today, my leg was cramping up again. For some reason, I touched my low back and felt a jolt of pain. Ding ding ding. We have a winner and now I know why my leg hurts so much. It took my until this morning to link leg pain to back pain and back pain to Titus jerking my low back on Sunday. I targeted my stretches to my low back. It's still tender and my calf muscle is super crampy tonight. I'll have to resort to my muscle gel again, but I'm not sad. I'd love to have my back and leg feel like a million right now, but for needing muscle gel, this stuff is amazing. It smells delicious; it's a mix of rosemary, black pepper, lavender, and ginger. Most importantly, it does the job! And tomorrow, I won't have to ask my coworkers if they have a stash of icy hot. I can haul this to work with me and use it at my desk without fear of people being grossed out by the smell. 

Home Buyer Course

I'm going to make this short since I'm exhausted. I'm going to be working 50 hour weeks through the end of September! It will be so worth it get handed the keys to my new home!  Which is part of the reason I'm up so late. I was working through Topic 1 of my Home buyer course. It's called Home Ready. If I take this course, I can qualify for a lower PMI (mortgage insurance). I was recommended it by the bank that pre-approved me for a loan. There is a cost of $75 but they stated they'd reimburse me for taking it once it was completed. Only like 8 more topics to go!

This first topic was all about Credit Scores and budgeting. Things I've had an eye on since 2009. Mom sat me down and made sure I knew how to manage a budget and could afford my expenses. I think she didn't want to have any of her kids land in any avoidable messes. I wish everyone knew about budgeting. It would be so nice not to explain to people that the majority of people get paid every other week and you have to plan for your bills.

It's been informative so far, but I've had all the basics on this first topic. I'm hoping to learn more and feel a little less scared/excited about home ownership. I know God wouldn't lead me down this path unless it was right. I trust the God has my back...and so does my family.

Home Buying

So I am in the processes of trying to buy a home. It is interesting, exciting, and also so confusing!! Something looks so cute and perfect from the outside, but the hidden back corner of the house has a guy wire that is holding the house up. The house I saw on Monday was leaning so badly, it has a cable anchoring it to the ground. It totally depressed me because I loved everything else about the house.

It was similar to a house I looked at back in March. It was a perfect size for me, in the country with a giant yard; however, the house was like 10ft from the county highway and it was a complete gut and redo job. The garage was also falling over. Another house I looked at that same day was far too big for me with very little yard.

I have another house showing scheduled for this Thursday. I'm hopeful for this house too. It's got it's pros and cons. It's on a busy street, both car and pedestrian traffic. This is not good when you have a deaf dog that is petrified of other dogs. If I get this place, I may have to drive us to the current place I typically walk him. Pros are: a garage, 2 rooms, large yard, and it doesn't have a cable holding it upright!

Some advise on home searching.
1. Take people you really trust with you.
2. Take someone who knows something about houses/construction
3. Don't get your hopes up too much about any one property. You get your hopes dashed when you find out the house you were already calling "my house" is held up by a string.
4. Be willing to compromise on things.

Strawberry Scones Forever

I had some strawberries and I wanted to bake. So I "pinned." I found a recipe for Strawberry Scones (recipe in the link). They were pretty simple to make. I usually find that the "total times" for recipe from prep to finish is always longer when I do it. This didn't take me long at all. I also didn't get as many scones out of it. Maybe I didn't cut mine small enough, but I had 8 large scones. They turned out delicious.

One of the guys I live with was leaving for New York City on Sunday, so I had made them as a kind of "Bon Voyage" treat. He'd never had one before; he took one bite and was like, can I take another for the road. I also got told by another guy I live with, "You couldn't have made those, they look like they came from a store." I can't decide if that is a compliment or an insult that he'd think my baking not store quality. When he tasted them, he thought they were divine. I already have a request for more. I have a ton of strawberries and blueberries that I'll have to put to good use.

I did have to change one thing about the recipe. I only used 1 cup of powdered sugar with the glaze, not 3 cups! I still used the same amount of wet ingredients though. They still tasted sweet without the added sugar.

Hole Lotta Love

Before

I seriously have to love my little princess to still let her in the house.  She loves being under the covers and she chews when she's stressed.  Her favorite thing to chew on, other than me and the other dogs, is the blankets. I can only assume that she then tries to crawl into the holes she's made in the blankets, like she's making a nest or burrow. My newest blanket, that I bought last October, she managed to rip this giant hole into it. I finally took the time to try to fix it.

I had to take out the ripped stuffing and patch in a new piece of batting.  I then tried using stitch-witchery to hold the torn edges together. It never took. So I then pinned and tried to sew by hand just enough to keep it together while I managed it's bulk into the sewing machine. I ended up having to remove the pins and just take it slowly.  Some places the stitching is so close and tight, and then it gets loose.  Those were the places that it started moving easily through the machine. I had to do one spot twice as parts started to pull apart because not enough overlap was sewn together. The ripped parts are now closed up and I have my blanket back now. After I finished, I pretty much vowed that I didn't want to look at a sewing machine for a long time. Alas, she has a hole in my quilt that my grandma made for me.  I must fix that because I'll never get rid of my angel blanket.

After

Trinity seems to be happy that it's back again! I'm no Betty Crocker/Homemaker, but it was nice to be able to save the blanket and not just have to throw it away.

Honey and Lemon

So I did a couple of tests with lemon juice and honey this last week.

I had seen on Pinterest, that vortex, a pin about freezing lemon juice.  We had a couple of lemons sitting unused, with no purpose, in the fruit bowl.  I decided to juice them, zest some ginger, and add honey.  I first juiced the lemons and poured the juice, to about half full, in to an ice cube tray.  I peeled and then zested my ginger; adding a small amount to each cube division. I then added a squeeze of honey to each and topped the cubes off with some more lemon juice.  The tray then went into the deep freeze. 

I wanted to try this so it would be easier for me to drink green tea with all these additions, without having to get the grated ginger, lemon juice, and honey.  Yes, I know, it isn't that hard, but still, I'm lazy.  These are quick and easy to pop into tea on the go.  It also helps cool the tea down so I can drink it right away.  Otherwise, I typically wait, what seems to be FOR-EV-ER, for my tea to cool.  By that time, I've forgotten about it, until I come back and find it stone cold.

There were some issues.  So silly me, I had an spidey-sense tingle before I added the honey, that honey was something that didn't freeze.  I should have googled it first.  Honey does not freeze as it is more sugar than water, and not enough water is present to actually freeze.  So the honey just separated to the bottom of the tray.  It didn't bother me too much; I simply scooped the honey from the bottom and added it to my tea. It did make it so I had to leave the cubes in the tray, instead of popping them out and storing them in a different container. 

This is something that I like enough to try again.  I will for sure pass on trying to freeze the honey next time, and just have to keep that trusty honey bear near-by for tea time.

I also tried a lemon juice, honey, and egg-white facial.  I mixed the ingredients up and used my facial brush to apply the mixture on my skin.  (This was another Pinterest find that I gave a try).  It said to place tissue strips on your face after the first coating, and then apply a coat on top of the tissue.  Then let sit for 15-20 minutes.  The whole time I was applying, I was creeping myself out with thoughts of getting salmonella in my EYE or mouth.  Ugh!  I left it on for 20 minutes.  Then peeled the paper towel strips off my face.  The paper towel wasn't completely dry and I hadn't coated it so heavily it would take hours to dry.  I still had plenty of mix leftover with one egg-white, a tsp of lemon juice, and a tsp of honey. I can't say that I saw much difference in my skin at all.  I don't think I'll do this facial again, but I have heard egg-white is great for the skin (shrinking pores and tightening skin) and something you should do WEEKLY.  I don't know if I could handle it.  Maybe if I whip it up into a meringue first. :) Maybe other facials have you whip it up first and, therefore, have less of a chance of it dripping down your face and into your eyes. 

 

Don't I look thrilled! Lol

Running Belt Stretches Beyond

I was pretty exhausted last night.  I noticed the right side of my throat was swollen yesterday.  This, coupled with my low "fever" last Friday; I just stayed home and crawled into my bed.  I was originally going to crawl into bed at 8, but when I went to put my dogs into the kennel for bed, Toby was acting up.  I think he just needed some lovey time with mom all by himself.  So I brought him in, and we cuddled on the couch for about an hour.  He rubbed all over the couch and then finally settled in next to me.  He's such a love bug.  I decided last night that I will alternate nights and just let one at a time come in and have some lovey time.  They all have dog pile time, but sometimes that's just not enough.  I get spoiled with love and so do they :) Win/Win.

So my Testy Tuesday review is on the BingPet running belt.  This picture is SO deceiving.  I even searched running belt/hands free leash for large dogs.  The lady must be tiny!! Because this belt is about as big, and useful, as a decorative belt.  This belt didn't last 5 feet out the door.  The ring for attaching the leash to pulled apart.  The chain I have attached is a light weight chain but 120lb strength.  The "stretchy" belt is REALLY stretchy.  There's about two or more feet between my waist and the belt in this photo...and he could have pulled more.  I paid $25 plus shipping for this belt.  The only thing I found cool about this belt was that is lights up. 
I'd say this running belt should have no association for dogs.  It would be better used for a human running belt.  And the dog leash attachment ring would be better suited for your house key.  Or maybe if you have a 5lb or less dog.  I'm returning this promptly and getting something more substantial.  We still got our run in, but my organs now know what it's like to be in a corset.  I took his regular chain leash, pulled the leash end through the handle, and then attached this chain to the leash hook.  We made it through.  I can't wait to go on another run.  I'm sure he's looking forward to it too.  Just need to kick this throat ick.  He honestly went for this 34 minute run with me and then went on a 30 minute walk with the other two dogs.  He's got a ton of energy to spare...and the more energy he has, the more trouble he gets into.