The Road to Sustainability

I've been slacking a little with this blog lately. But I've been busy, working my butt off trying to find myself a job, and not just any job but the job. The job where I get to use my writing and editing skills daily. The job where there's room for me to learn and grow and advance my career. The job with a positive working environment. I'm still looking. But I might be getting close! I've had two phone interviews for one position and I will be interviewing in-person for that position next week. I am excited about the possibility and opportunity this position could bring and hope to have good news on that front soon!

Copper and I have also been walking our butts off! Although not so much today and yesterday. I'm not sure if it's allergies or if I'm getting a cold, but I've felt a little sniffly and throat-scratchy, so I'm trying to drink more water and hot tea  and dial it back a little on the long walks. So far this month, we've walked roughly 92 miles (give or take a few)! Even with scaling back our walks a little, we will still hit 100 miles walked before the end of the month. I've noticed some tightness in my hips lately (from all the walking I presume), so I've been trying to open them and stretch them more in my yoga practice.

Copper went to the vet last week and weighs a whopping 68 pounds, and it's all muscle! Unfortunately, we found out she had two infections in both of her ears. Thankfully, just since Friday, with the medicine and cleaning solution her vet gave us, her ears seem to be clearing up, although one ear was definitely worse than the other.

My poor baby!

We've been out and about, trying new things lately. I went to the Dallas Art Museum last week with a friend from my yoga studio:

Number 3, 1949: Tiger by Jackson Pollock

I also tried sushi for the first time!!!

It was pretty good.

We've finally started cooking at home again for the majority of our meals. (We cave and eat out a couple times a week right now, but we need to reign that in if we're going to be healthier and pay off some debt!!) I'm trying to get us to eat healthier overall and rather than cutting out gluten and dairy, I'm buying whole grains and organic (or less-processed) dairy products to see how it goes. It's a little more expensive, but so far, I've been feeling okay!

Whole grain penne pasta with chicken sausage, whole roasted cauliflower, caesar salad and garlic bread. Chris is even eating more than one helping of salad!!

Penne pasta reimagined for a leftover lunch!

This was last night's dinner and it was delicious! Slow cooker creole chicken with andouille chicken sausage over brown rice. 

In addition to trying to eat healthier, one of my goals for this year (not listed here!), is to try to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. More simply, I want to start reducing some of our waste (and lower our budget!). In the past, I've made small changes, such as switching from Dixie cups in the bathroom to small Tupperware cups (I have about 4 that I rotate). I want to start making more changes like that in other areas. Currently, I use makeup remover wipes to take off my makeup at the end of the day (although, since I'm not currently working, I've been going natural--saving money on the wipes and the makeup!), but I'd like to switch to something less disposable. I've seen DIY makeup remover with Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo (I think it's shampoo? I don't really remember), but I'm not crazy about buying that and using it on my face (and thus having another bottle to throw out).

I also brought up the topic with Chris of switching to using cloth napkins rather than paper towels. We're only a family of 2, so we don't go through a ton of paper towels, so this isn't so much a money-saving thing as it is more of an environmental thing. I want to reduce the amount of waste we're putting out into the world. Chris was pretty adamant that we keep the paper towels (mainly because it's not a huge extra cost for us), but I might get some just for me to use. 

I'm also looking into alternatives to the Swiffer (dry) cloths. I still have some, so I will use those up first, but I did try a microfiber cloth yesterday, and it seemed to trap as much hair and dust and dirt as the Swiffer cloths do (if not more!). I'm not sure what, if anything, I can use on the Swiffer Wet Jet, but I haven't even mopped our apartment yet (don't judge me!), so I'm not too concerned about that at the moment.

Are you trying to reduce your carbon footprint (or save money!)? If so, what steps have you taken to do so? Any tips for makeup remover, cloth napkins, or Swiffer cloths? Let me know!

Things I'm Missing

I miss writing. Now that I've quit school and have slightly more time on my hands, well I'm still not writing much of anything other than these blog posts. I miss my poetry.

Reasons I'm not writing:

• I don't have the energy. 
• I don't really have a lot of spare time. The spare time (and energy) I do have goes into looking for jobs. 
• I haven't felt motivated or inspired in quite a while. I feel like I just don't have much to write about or say lately. Aside from my exhaustion and pending possible unemployment, my life has been pretty great lately and I've been happy. Considering 99% of what I write is heavy, depressing stuff, well "happy" doesn't exactly help me get any writing done. 
• I also feel like I tend to focus on the same things, and I'd like to branch out to other topics (even if they're still depressing), but I'm not quite sure how to do that. Maybe I need some writing prompts or something (although most of the ones I've seen I completely hate and think they're dumb, so if any of you know of some good ones, send them my way!).

Reasons I should be writing:

• Even though my poetry is generally depressing, writing makes me really, really happy. 
• It makes me feel accomplished (even if none of my poetry is ever published again). 
• Poetry is something I can create. I'm not a good cook, or a crafty person, or an artist, or anything like that. Poetry is my art. That's something I can create. And I can destroy (unlike meals which I mostly just destroy :p). I can mold it into whatever I want it to be. I can share it with the world or keep it to myself. 

I really need to get myself a new journal. One small enough to fit in my purse so I can take it with me everywhere I go. So I can write down lines that pop in my head. Or really great quotes I find randomly throughout the day. Yes, I have an iPhone that I could easily do all of these things on. But it's not the same as putting pen to paper. I love journals--although I rarely fill any up--and I think it's time for a new one. 

Something else I really miss is playing my violin. It has been a very, very long time since I've played. The reasons I haven't are pretty much the same reasons I haven't been writing: I just don't have the time or energy. 

I also miss running. I really can't remember the last time I went for a run. My body actually aches from the lack of physical activity. I'd give anything to trade the soreness and pain I get from spending 4 hours in my car every day for the muscle soreness I get from a good (or even a not-so-good) run. 

I did just find out that I've got eight sick days (yes, EIGHT) to use before my last day. I have no idea how I'm going to fit in that many days off, but I'm totally gonna try because I could definitely use them! And I'm hoping those days off will allow more time for all these things I've been missing so much lately. 

Thankful Thursday

To make up for all my negativity in yesterday's post, today I'm going to share some things in my life that I'm thankful for (in no particular order):

1. My current job. I've learned a lot here and gained really valuable experience that I think will prepare me for whatever the next chapter of my work-life holds.

2. Chris. He's always there for me and he listens to me whine and cry and puts up with random mood swings. He's really fantastic, and I don't tell him that nearly enough. Like yesterday, I came home to an incredibly clean house, which he did on his day off--I mean, clean, put stuff away, did laundry, did the dishes, etc. It was amazing.

3. My parents. They've always been supportive and understanding and I'm so grateful for that. And for their food. They feed us about once a week and it's always delicious. And I love getting to spend that time with them. :)

4. My pets. Even though they're generally obnoxious and getting into all kinds of shenanigans, I know they love me and I love cuddling with them. Copper is sweet and loving and excited all the time--she's even nice to Cocoa some times! And Cocoa is a really good snuggler, especially when I don't feel good.

5. New glasses and contacts...which I don't have yet. I'll be picking those up tomorrow, but I'm so very happy that I'll have contacts again! And I'm pretty excited for my new glasses as well. They should be tons lighter and more comfortable than my current pair.

6. Books. Even though I haven't done a lot of reading lately. Total slacker. But I love books. I will always love books.

7. Caffeine. Still can't have any, but I will be so grateful when I can.

8. The fact that it's National Pickle Day. I love pickles. So I'm gonna eat some and celebrate!

9. All of you. I really do appreciate that you all take time out of your days to come read my blog. Especially since this blog was supposed to be about running and I haven't done any of that lately.

What are you thankful for this week?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The Switch from Google Reader

For those of you who don't know, Google Reader will be gone July 1, 2013. So if you use Google Reader to stay updated with my blog, or any other blogs, you're going to have to find something new. I did a little research and found Bloglovin. It seems to be the best choice out of the available readers.

I just signed up and it was really simple (and they have nice step-by-step instructions for people coming from Google). My blog is also listed on there, so once you're signed up (or if you're already a Bloglovin user), you can follow my blog:


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

If you want more info on the death of Google Reader or Bloglovin, well, you can pretty much find that info anywhere. But I found Hubby Jack's post on Google Reader and making the switch to Bloglovin to be the most helpful. Plus, he's hilarious.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin