His Side of The Story [Part 1]

So, guess what ya'll! Jared agreed to write up his side of our little love story (and is okay with me posting it).

So here's Part 1 of his version of how things happened [Some light editing, and one or two comments have been added by me :p]...

Boy meets girl, girl meets boy.

Ok, most of you know I am a writer, by hobby, and I'll be honest this isn't my type of writing. I typically write Lord of the Rings style fantasy, complex stories with in-depth plots and developed characters. I am not much a journal writer mostly because it bores me, and I never know what to write. I've tried, several times but I've never quite been able to get into it. However because of popular demand, and the fact that Kaylynne has taken time to write her half of the story, I feel obligated to oblige. (And it would be a shame if our "cat" named posterity didn't have it for its reference.) [<<< Inside/Facebook joke]

The first time I heard of Kaylynne was probably the winter of 2010. At least I think, it could have been 2009, but I think it was 2010. My sister, Rebekah, mentioned her during one of our near weekly hang-outs. I can't remember exactly what she told me about her, but it did intrigue me. Rebekah quickly shook her head and replied, "She's not your type." (Sorry kid, that's just how I remember it.)

Honestly, Rebekah should have known better then to dangle a carrot in front of my nose and then say, "Nope, you can't have it." I pestered her off and on, for I don't know how long before one evening she and I were leaving Glenwood for an evening of fun. We walked past Kaylynne's door and I pestered Rebekah again. She was nice enough to afford a knock on the door.

Now, before I tell what happens next I should back up and mention that Rebekah had told me some of the things that Kaylynne was facing with her relationships at the time. Me being the older brother that I am, had always given my sister relationship advice when it comes to guys. I came up with the "Guy Rules." The first rule was date guys with simple motives, and stay away from guys who appear complex. This lead to the use of the phrase "KISS" or Keep It Simple Stupid, a well-known acronym that Rebekah was kind enough to relay to Kaylynne previous to this.

Now back to the knock. The knock on the door was simple enough. (We are simple people. Nothing fancy or complex.) Kaylynne opened the door. My sister was kind enough to introduce me as the brother who said, "Keep It Simple Stupid." This actually was a little bit unsettling for me; at the time I would never have said something like that to Kaylynne to her face. My sister was not as reserved. The meeting was short, and I don't remember all the details except that it was an uncomfortable meeting for me. This isn't surprising, as most times I prefer to meet people in a far more casual session where I can meet them slowly, and on my terms. Rebekah and I went on our way and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

My sister and I spent a lot of time together. By that fact alone, I got to know a lot of her roommates and friends pretty well. Kaylynne was among those friends. Kaylynne by nature of being Kaylynne, caught my attention several times. The times I was able to talk with her I found to be enjoyable. We became friends on Facebook and went back and forth, on each other’s statuses. [Here I can't help but wonder if by "Kaylynne by nature of being Kaylynne" he actually means..."Kaylynne by nature of always being the loudest one in the room..." lol]

I finally decided to ask her on a date. Well kinda, I was hanging out with my sister, and asked my sister if Kaylynne would like to come. Kaylynne was unavailable for some reason or another. I, not knowing at the time she was Lactose intolerant, decided to get her ice cream anyway. When Rebekah and I got home from the evening of fun I came up with a card, worked up a bit of a mathematical equation and then ding, dong ditched the ice cream and card. Apparently I spelt her name wrong, and found out later she wasn't so good at math, and not knowing until recently she was lactose intolerant, by all accounts that should have been a failure. My sister being the, sweet young lady that she is, followed up and helped Kaylynne with the math. I got a text later that week confirming the date.

The so-called equation he wrote for me ...I still don't get it :p

This was in September of 2010. We went out and got Jamba Juice. We talked about a lot of things. Computers, in particular came to mind. I was impressed by her ability to talk about just about anything and maintain a conversation. She also had a good sense of humor. The date went well by all accounts. However our first "DTR" was not in January [2012]. It was in September [2010]. On our way back she asked me, "So are you interested in me or are you just appeasing your sister?"

Honestly I was dumbstruck. I wasn't expecting it, kind of like I wasn't expecting it in January. It was frank, straight forward, and I kind of liked it. No pussy footing around, wondering if she liked me, or if I was rubbing off as a complete idiot. Problem was, I wasn't even sure how to answer. My response was something along the lines of, "I don't date because my sister wants me to, I date because I want to." In my defense it was the truth. I just had a hard time with this whole dating thing, still do, but it’s gotten much easier as I've gotten older. [It wasn't a satisfying answer to hear...but thats what happens when you ambush a guy! :p]

Honestly I don't know why I didn't ask her on a follow up date. Again, it wasn't because I didn't like her or wasn't interested in her. I don't think my mind was focused on the whole dating thing. That's about the only excuse that I can think of. (It's a poor one I know.) All wasn't lost. I took her out shooting [4 months later]. Yes, this is the infamous [truck shooting] incident ya'll are thinking about.

In her defense it was a mistake anyone can make. There is a line that extends from the center of the bore aptly named the bore line. There is also a line that extends through the cross hairs of the scope to the target called the scope line. Those two lines are not parallel but intersect at a distance. The scope line is about two inches higher than the bore line. Now, at the time I used my truck as a bench rest and shot across the bed at targets. Previous to firing rifles, we had done a bit of skeet shooting. There were unbroken skeet scattered about, so as I set up for shooting rifles I had Kaylynne go ahead and clean up the skeet with a .22lr rifle with a scope mounted.

Honestly I am very safety conscience when it comes to shooting, probably because my mom threatened that I'd shoot my eye out for all those years when I was a kid. It never crossed my mind that there'd be an issue. [I just don't think he realized just how short I am and how high his truck was - I had to be on my tip-toes :p] Well, there were few "cracks" then a "Crack" followed by a, "Ping!" and then an immediate, "I'm so sorry!". There was a bullet imbedded in the opposing bed rail of my truck. No harm done, so I was honestly not mad at all. To this day, I enjoyed bragging that my girlfriend shot my truck.

What had happened was that she saw skeet on the ground that could be seen clearly through the scope. However she did not realize that the barrel was pointed at the truck. She pulled the trigger and the rest is history. Like I said it was not something that even irritated me. I knew that everyone who she told about shooting my truck wouldn't let her forget it. Now things went well, we went to Cabela's and had a bite to eat, talked some more and the date ended there.

She pointed out that I'm a bit of a jerk when it comes to our prior dating. We went on a date, that went well, and then we'd flirt back and forth on Face book, for months on end until our next meeting. This was a mistake on my part; at the time I was in a different a mindset and expectations have since changed. Now I am sure you want to know all the fun things that's happen in the last few months, to get us where we are today. However I have to end it here as class is nearly over and I have yet to figure out how to post this to my blog. So I'll post the second half soon.

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So! That's his side of the story so far...it's lucky he's smart and his classes aren't too complicated for him (otherwise I'd be worried about the fact that he wasn't paying attention! :P) - It'll be interesting to read Part 2! :)

A Legit V-Day Love Story [Part 2]

It’s probably ridiculous how quickly everything has happened. I used to be one of those people who made fun of couples who claimed they were madly in love after just 1 or 2 months! …Now I’m ½ of one of those couples!

The past couple of weeks have been a total whirlwind for me, mentally & emotionally so I may have some of the following events a little mixed up but I’ll try my best to keep things straight.

A couple nights after we’d agreed to become an official couple, Jared asked me if I could maybe pray about us. So, I did – I started to pray about whether Jared and I should be together and even fasted and prayed about it that Sunday.

I believe it was the Saturday of the week that Jared and I became an official couple that we were planning on going out, however, I got a little overwhelmed with things and plans fell through so the Saturday date was skipped. However, Jared asked me if he could go to church with me that Sunday instead. I was hesitant (I’ve never really felt comfortable sitting next to guys in church and especially not ones I was dating) but I said yes. I feel like I can always tell Jared anything, and so I went ahead and told him that I did feel a little nervous about Sunday because of my discomfort with the idea of sitting next to a guy. He, being the super amazing guy that he is, told me that if at any point I didn’t feel comfortable to let him know and that he would accommodate (he’s super sweet to make sure that I’m comfortable with different situations, and if I’m not he’ll do his best to either try and fix things or help me to feel okay with things). Luckily – I felt totally fine sitting next to him, I even let him put his arm around me (although, honestly, I was a little distracted by my prayers that Heavenly Father would let me know if it was okay for me to date Jared).

In the middle of sacrament, with Jared’s arm around me, I got a feeling that told me to be patient a little longer (not the yes/no answer I was hoping for. Although, in hindsight, I think I now understand what Heavenly Father was referring to in terms of me being patient a little longer).

That evening, after church, Jared and I played chess and had dinner together (I tossed together some crock pot ribs, a broccoli/grape salad and cooked up a bag of sweet potato fries – recipes to come!) It was fun to spend time together like that, we talked about things like the military and what not, and after dinner – he totally just got up, took off his watch, rolled up his sleeves and took care of the dishes (he didn’t even do that thing that guys sometimes do, where they point out that they’re helping with the dishes, like it’s a big deal or something – it totally blew my mind. Seriously girls, how cute is it to see a guy doing dishes!? So cute!)

Afterwards, he and I sat on the floor for a few hours talking together. I told him that I’d gotten an answer from Heavenly Father about us and that I apparently needed to be patient in regards to our relationship, but I couldn’t think of any reason why he and I shouldn’t date. Jared told me, “No…babe, you were asking the wrong question,” apparently – Jared had the end goal of our relationship in mind when he’d asked me to pray about things! As he and I talked, I started to realize that he felt much more strongly about us than I did. Every logical, sensible bit of me snagged my emotions and ran away with them and I started to freak out. We’d only been dating for 2 weeks at this point, I didn’t feel like I knew anything about him, it was insane and completely ridiculous! In my mind, it was like this complete stranger was all but proposing that I spend eternity with him!

I pulled away and began sputtering out every argument I could think of (though, if I recall correctly, only parts and pieces of what I was thinking managed to coherently make their way out of my mouth – I’m pretty sure I said “it’s WAY WAY WAY WAY too soon” multiple times if not a variety of other things). Now this is where Jared gained a ton of points in his favor. I could tell he was kind of shocked at my response and probably felt really rejected but instead of arguing with me or getting upset, he immediately responded by hugging me and trying to calm me down (he’s incredibly sweet like that…and I’m also pretty sure part of him was worried that my roommate/cousin would come into the living room wondering why I was suddenly freaking out like that lol) He told me he was sorry that he’d upset me, that he understood how I felt, that we could take all the time we needed to see how things go between us, and that he wouldn’t bring it up again until I felt I was ready to discuss it. One of my favorite things about him is his ability to calm me down (an ability that requires ridiculous amounts of patience).

I don’t really remember the rest of the evening after that (my mind was a little preoccupied with thoughts like, “He’s CRAZY! He wants to marry me!? What is WRONG with him!?”); we mostly just talked about random things, continuing to get to know each other.

Seeing as how he and I are still together, obviously I decided to stick things out and see where they go with him.

So far, he’s proven to be the most amazing guy I’ve ever dated. My past boyfriends didn’t exactly set the bar very high as far as expectations go and Jared knows that. However, instead of only doing the minimum he continually works to set the bar higher and higher (he once told me that even if our relationship doesn’t work out, he wants me to know how it feels to be valued and treated with the utmost respect and with absolute kindness so that I won’t date any more jerks who don’t treat me well). Jared is an absolute gentleman, and works hard to keep me happy. He’s caring and affectionate; he’s intelligent and fun, he’s laid back and patient; he sets a good spiritual example for me; and he’s got my back, no matter what.

I’d say he’s like a Disney Prince…but those guys are SO 2 Dimensional; Jared is better, than a Disney prince. All of the implied Prince-ly characteristics that every girl hopes to find in a guy and he’s MUCH more interesting!

To my friends hoping for a more Jane Austen comparison – No…he’s definitely not Mr. Darcy (and honestly, Mr. Darcy kinda struck me as being a little too…high society for my liking – sophistication is sexy, but you know Mr. Darcy [in modern times] probably wouldn’t know a darn thing about fixing a car, he’d be too busy taking the ballroom classes at BYU! :P)

Needless to say, I’ve come to truly adore, respect, and love him! He makes me SO incredibly happy! (Jared, I mean...not Mr. Darcy :p)

More to come….eventually. But until then – Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! 

(Sorry this was all text and no photos...I'm terrible at documenting my life! :P)

A Legit V-Day Love Story [Part 1]

I was sitting here listening to some of my favorite love songs, and it occurred to me that I haven’t yet written about the most wonderful part of my life! His name is Jared and I can’t even type his name without smiling. And since Valentine’s day is coming up, I figure this would be the perfect thing to write about!

I could go all the way back and talk about how we met when I was living at Glenwood, he’s Rebekah’s (one of my best friends) older brother – but…shame on me, I can’t actually remember meeting him, just that it was probably one evening when I wasn’t exactly looking my cutest. (He says he remembers meeting me but I guess there’s not much to the story since it was like a 2 second 'hello' :p).

Jump forward a few semesters, Jared decided to ask me out. He wrote me a card (and purposefully misspelled my name – he claims it was a clue that it was him who sent it, since his spelling skills are just a little lacking :p) and inside, his invitation to our date was written in the form of a mathematic equation (he knew I was a geek…but I’m definitely not into math/science as much as he apparently thought – kudos to him for trying though, it was still pretty clever). I saw the equation, shrugged it off and stuck it on my shelf (had it not been for his sister, I never would have actually figured out the equation and agreed to go out with him). – Long story short. The date was enjoyable…but a little awkward.

Jump forward another…semester or two. Jared invited me to go shooting with him, “we could call it a date if you want,” he said. “What the heck is wrong with this guy!?!” I thought. But I agreed to go cause…I like guns and almost never get the opportunity to go shooting. Long story short, I was super impressed by his collection and ability to handle weapons so well…and then I accidentally shot his truck. I did not expect another date after that.

A while ago, back around the end of October/beginning of November last year, I decided to take a Facebook fast (learn how to socialize offline, maybe get some homework done, etc.) without giving anyone any warning. I just closed down my page and didn’t log back in for 30 days. Apparently, it was at this time that Jared realized how much he’d enjoyed talking to me online and reading my silly status updates. So, when I got back online we started talking again – I believe it was that same week he invited me to join him, Rebekah and her husband to go to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights (he wasn’t really clear as to whether it was a date or not – I tried to dress cute anyway).

Shortly after that, I went to Texas for about a month. Jared and I had been playing Words with Friends and Chess with Friends constantly and continued to do so. Apparently, after his friend Chris gave him a nudge – Jared decided to be straightforward and honestly told me that he thought I was intelligent, quirky, and cute and that he was interested in dating me more. I told him I was interested in him as well and agreed that dating more would be a good way to better get to know each other. Jared started to actually talk to me a little more (via text…but, hey – we are the technology generation) and we continued to text everyday for about 3 straight weeks. Just before I flew back to UT, he asked me to go out with him a week after my return, and I said yes.

Right around the time that I flew back, Jessica (another of my best friends) told me that Jared had informed her and her husband that we were a “thing.” Unsure about what this meant (cause we had previously discussed dating but certainly had not agreed upon any kind of exclusivity or anything like that), I’d decided to approach the topic once I felt like I had a better idea of what his angle might be (in terms of dating).

That same week that Jared and I had agreed to go out, one of my exes called me up out of the blue and claimed that he just wanted to “catch up” so we agreed to get together on Monday (MLK Day) and go to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point.  That evening (the day that my ex called me) I was texting Jared, and one of us mentioned that we should “hang out” on top of dating, so that we could get to know each other a little more and decided that on Monday evening, we would do just that.

So! MLK Day and I meet up with Josh (my ex) at the dinosaur museum. We had a fun time, kind of just wandering through and talking about the exhibits and everything and afterwards we even spent about 2 hours outside in the freezing cold just talking (got pretty flirty too – luckily, he had a little bit of a cold so he didn’t make any moves. Which is good because knowing that I was also interested in Jared – I would have had to do one of those artful dodges that gals tend to do in awkward situations like that, and…lets just say I’m not actually very good at those).  It was enjoyable enough being with Josh but I was curious to explore the whole “dating Jared” thing, the idea of Jared really enticed me (mostly because he’d apparently given us a label, we were a “thing” and because…well, when a guy asks you out despite the fact that a year previous, you shot his truck…it could be a good sign!)

That evening, I drove down to Provo and met up with Jared at his apartment (which is on the darkest street I think I’ve ever seen in my life).  We went and walked around the Riverwoods. We wandered into the toy store and talked about things like mutual friends and our childhoods. Then we went into an LDS book/heritage shop that had lots of paintings of temples and replicas of old LDS Books of Mormon and stuff (I loved it! And it was perfect because it was an opportunity to discuss the church a little bit – which is a huge deal for me since I’d never really been able to discuss anything spiritual with any of the guys I’ve dated in the past). At one point we were standing in front of the paintings of the temples and I asked him which temple is his favorite – his reply? San Diego (my favorite temple as well!)

Afterwards, we decided to go on a drive (since at that point, neither of us seemed to want to just end the evening there) so I kind of aimlessly drove around Provo a bit and we ultimately wound up at the Provo temple. As we got closer to the temple, I suddenly decided to ask Jared about his description of us as a “thing.” He got all flustered (which was great – no, not because I’m fond of torturing a guy with awkward, straightforward questions – it’s hard to explain, just, it made me feel like for once his opinion of me was something more to express other than, “sure…I like you…” – something he’d awkwardly said on previous dates but I’d never been sure I believed it).  We managed to get through a mini DTR (Define The Relationship) and by the time I turned into the temple parking lot, we’d agreed to start a legitimate relationship.

“So…what does this make me to you?” I asked, “…I just wanna hear you say it!”

“Oh, it makes you my girlfriend!”

While we were at the temple, we just sat in my car in the parking lot and talked (Jared surprised me with a thermos of Apple cider - which is extra sweet since he remembered I’m lactose intolerant :p) So, over hot apple cider – we talked about anything and everything, our families, our temperaments, our spirituality, everything. It was really nice.  I felt absolutely giddy about the fact that I was sitting next to this really great guy and at such a holy place and we both seemed to feel so comfortable with one another! It was the first time I felt like Jared and I had an actual connection (in previous dates, I’d felt like he and I should work out because of our similarities, but it never really felt like we’d actually connected on any real level. I’d honestly begun to think that we would only ever just be good friends, which was fine – after all, he’s one of my best friends’ brother, I figured he and I dating would just be awkward anyway). I actually felt like we'd finally taken that step beyond just friends.

 So at the end of the evening, we spent a little bit of time outside looking at the stars (his street is dark enough for it!) and talking a little bit. I kept scooching close to him (partially cause I was cold and partially cause I was hinting at him that I wanted a hug) finally, I just went ahead and hugged him (just a minor disappointment, I thought “Dang…so much for a goodnight kiss if he’s not even gonna hug me! This is gonna be a sloooooooooow moving relationship!”).  At one point, he kind of just looked at me and said he didn’t really know how to do the whole “end of a date” thing – but I couldn’t tell if he was trying to wave a white flag or build up courage, so I stuck around a bit (I think I even teased him a little about not having the confidence to kiss me) and finally, he leaned in and gave me a kiss (and, awkwardness aside, it was totally a magic Disney moment)!

The craziest part was after I got into my car, just before I closed the door, he told me to text him to let him know I’d made it home safe and quickly added, “Love ya!” before turning to walk away. I’ve never had a boyfriend tell me he loved me (at least not so soon and almost never without dishonorable intentions). I wasn’t entirely sure if I’d even heard him correctly, so I managed to get out a confused “Love you too!” – I’m not even sure if he heard me. The whole drive home, I kept asking myself “Did I really say that!? Did HE really say that!? DO I love him or did I just lie to my new boyfriend!?” (For the record, after some reflection - I realized that, no, I did not lie to my new boyfriend :p).

So that’s us – officially boyfriend & girlfriend.

…It would be interesting to hear his side of this whole story one day (I wonder if I could ever talk him into writing it down…if not for my own curiosity then maybe for posterity’s sake?)

More has happened since he and I became an official couple, and I’ll be writing more soon (assuming anyone is even interested), but this feels like a natural stopping point for now.

Project 365

PROJECT 365 Weeks 2-3(ish)

Finding My Inner CaveWoman

So...I'm pretty excited about this!
With my new years resolution to get in shape and eat better, I've decided to go paleo/primal. (No, I won't be moving into a cave, but I do intend to find my "inner cavewoman" :P)

Before I get into that, here are my overall/ultimate goals:

• Be able to do at least 1 pull-up/chin-up by the end of the year.
• Lose at least 3-4% body fat if not more.
• Cut sugars, dairy, gluten, and processed foods out of my diet.
• Eat as clean as possible/budget-able (grass-fed, pasture-raised, organic dirty dozen, stuff like that).
• Learn to have a better relationship with food (as much as I LOVE carbs/sugars ...they don't love me back, so I have to learn to let em go in favor of the foods that will treat me well ...kind of like dating relationships :p).

WHAT I'M AVOIDING

Sugars, Processed Foods (Yeah...this category also includes beverages like soda as well as some popular cooking things like Vegetable oil), Gluten/Grains (Did you know corn is a grain? And humans can't actually digest it. Oh, and this category includes oats as well - goodbye mushy oatmeal), Dairy, and if you're gonna be really strict about it: No legumes, beans, white potatoes (although, I'm in the camp that says that white potatoes, while lacking in nutrients, are okay to have now and again) ...and there are a bunch of other controversial "is it paleo/primal or not?" foods -- I'm kind of avoiding legumes and beans too...but mostly because I'm really not a fan of em anyway :p

WHAT I AM EATING

Anything Real/Natural! Veggies (Any of em...except corn and white potatoes); Fruits (preferably fresh ones rather than dried ones but it doesn't really matter - however, because fruits tend to have more sugars, they're meant to be eaten a little less often than veggies); Meats/Fish (meats are obviously important because of the amount of protein they provide) generally, on a paleo diet, you wanna eat grass-fed beef/buffalo/etc.; Nuts (like wal-nuts, almonds, etc. - exclude legumes of course); and Fats (for cooking, it's a good idea to avoid vegetable oils and use clarified butter or even coconut oil instead - I love using coconut oil; as well as other fats sources like avocados!).

RECIPES

In preparation to start eating paleo, I wanted to make sure that I had a lot of recipes on hand so that I wouldn't wuss out and be like "I don't know what to have...oh, look! Bread! nomnomnomnom" and ruin the whole thing. This is a list of websites where one can find a variety of yummy paleo meals/recipes:

• http://www.paleoplan.com/recipes/
• http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-diet-recipes/
• http://www.chowstalker.com/whole30/
• http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex
• http://paleoblocks.blogspot.com/p/recipes.html
• http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/recipes-index/
• http://www.wholelifeeating.com/
• http://everydaypaleo.com/category/food/
• http://balancedbites.com/2010/10/priorities-for-eating-paleo-on-a-budget.html (This link is actually specifically about eating paleo on a budget!)

WHY PALEO? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Personally, I'm doing paleo because it takes into account the things that make me sick/feel blah anyway (like dairy, gluten, etc.) and because, by eating paleo even for just a week, I had more energy; I wasn't as hungry all the time; my skin got a little bit clearer; and I even lost an inch off my waist (these were just some of the things I've been self-aware enough to notice in the first week - After 2 weeks, I've seen even more benefits). If you read more into the diet itself here, here and here, you can get a better idea of what other benefits one might gain from it.

With the New Year, I decided I didn't wanna do one of those (typically) short term diets; I wanted to change my eating habits entirely to be much more healthy (you can ask anyone who knows me well, and they'll tell you that I'm not exactly known for my healthy eating habits :P) and I wanted to really get rid of the things that make me sick (you would not believe how badly I used to crave cheese, despite the fact that I'm lactose intolerant and shouldn't eat it). Obviously not every diet is perfect for everyone, this is just what I've decided would work best for me. I'm not gonna be a total nazi about it if I'm like out with friends or whatever (confession: I went to zupas the other day and... yes, I did eat the chocolate covered strawberry - but not the bread! :p), but it is something I intend to stick with as well as I can while keeping practicality and budgeting in mind!

In addition to healthy eating, I plan to increase my exercise (for now I just do a couple sets of body weight exercises at home, every other day) to some weight lifting (to build a little more muscle, tone up, and hopefully reach that pull-up/chin up goal) and cardio (hitting the treadmill!)

Project 365 - Week 1

So, one of my resolutions is to complete a 365 Project.
For anyone who doesn't know what it is, it's pretty simple - you take 1 photo, everyday for 365 days.
The idea is that, after 365 days, you're bound to be a better photographer than you were when you started.
Additionally, it makes you use your camera everyday.

I've attempted this project previously and didn't get very far.
This time I've decided to use the camera on my phone (because I almost always have my phone with me) and an app called "365 Photos" for android (there are similar apps available for iPhone as well, such as the Project 365 app).

These are my photos from the first 7 days (well, 6 - I'll upload the 7th one at the end of the day today).

A New Experiment in ... OMG That burns!!!

Okay, so it's a new year!
I decided that it's a good time for a little experimentation and trying new things!

So, the past 2-3 days, I've been experimenting with dadadadummmm... "Washing my Hair without Shampoo!" Okay, okay, before everyone scooches away from me in disgust, let me explain!

Since I've decided to change my eating habits to something a little more healthy and natural (blog post coming soon), I figured, why not try a few other more natural things? (No, I haven't gone full on hippy, "lets burn our bras, never shave, and go live off the land in the rainforest!" I just figured that if removing some of the processed, chemically manufactured foods from my diet can be beneficial, then what about using fewer chemicals in other parts of my life?) If it doesn't impress upon your inner "natural (wo)man" (<- The good one; not the one that makes you wanna have sex outta wed-lock or any of those other "baser-instincts.") then, perhaps it will impress upon your frugality. Just hear me out.

Image via Flickr

Apparently, you can replace your shampoo (which, even at $1 a bottle at the dollar store, is more expensive than the alternative I'm about to suggest) with...Baking Soda. Additionally, you can replace your conditioner with Vinegar (most sites I've read recommend White or Apple Cider).

Here's the reasoning (and I'm just paraphrasing - you can actually read a little more about it here and here and of course, you can always do a bit of Googling on your own to learn more):

Shampoo strips your hair of it's natural oils > So to make up for it, your body produces even more > So you have to wash your hair with stronger stuff or wash it more often (or both) > So your body produces even more oils > etc.

Image via Flickr

If you break that cycle by using something natural that doesn't strip your hair's natural oils (like baking soda and vinegar), first your body will go through a transition period (I've read that depending on your hair, what you were using, and how much oil your body produces, and whether or not you wuss out part way through and try shampooing again ;p this can last anywhere from 1-6 weeks) during which, your scalp has to learn just how much natural oil to produce (so your hair might be a little more greasy sleek than you're used to). However, after that transition period, there are a number of benefits to not using shampoo...

Your hair is supposed to become:
Healthier, easier to manage, shiny, easier to brush through (yay fewer rats!), easier to style, won't have to be washed quite as often, will have more vibrant natural color, and will have more body/volume

I'm totally up for benefits like those!

How to do it:
It takes a little while to figure out the exact ratios that are best for you (this is one of those, everyone is different kind of things) but basically, you create a mix of water and baking soda (most things I've read recommend a ratio of 1 part baking soda to 3 parts water - but, again, you're meant to troubleshoot until you find a ratio that works for you) and a similar mix of vinegar and water (or you can go it straight, depending on how much acidity your hair needs to up the acidity of your hair to kill bacteria and what not...it's chemistry stuff - I'm just gonna mess with the measurements until it works. Some people don't like the harsh vinegar smell...[which fades as your hair dries] so they'll add some essential oils like tea tree or lavender to mask the smell).
Side note: If you dye your hair with chemicals, the vinegar will strip the color!

Okay...
So, I'm currently trying it - I'm on Day 3.
My hair isn't quite as oily as I thought it might be, but it's enough to bother me a bit. (Yes, it's driving me insane to have it that way...but I'm hoping my transition period is only gonna last 2 weeks...if it lasts longer...I may wuss out and go back to shampoo :p  -- Or, I'll try an alternative such as Marseille Soap which, because it lasts longer than shampoo, is still cost effective and is also more natural). Additionally, I suddenly have lots of little flakes ( though I can't tell if it's dandruff (in which case, I'll add a little tea tree oil to the vinegar), if it's because I didn't rinse out all the baking soda, or if it's because I showered with hot water <- cooler water is better for your hair/skin, because it doesn't dry out our skin like hot water).

Though I am going to note something very important that I've learned so far (and this is where the "OMG That Burns!!!" part of the blog title comes in) - wait until AFTER rinsing your hair with the vinegar to shave your legs. If you thought using Nair burned...try shaving and then having a few drops of apple cider vinegar hit your legs (remember that chemical burn scene in the movie 'Fight Club'? Yeah...it's basically that!)

Something else I'm considering trying: Oil Facial Cleanses Goodness knows I'm willing to try anything to even out my crazy crazy skin!