Actually, my life goal is to glitterfy the world

Hello, gD!

It's been an awfully long time since I've blogged. A few things have happened.

I went to England to see awesome things (including my Almost). And it was AH-MAZE-ING. I brought home so many cool things (fudge and a sparkly leather jacket are among my favorites). And getting to meet Almost and do all the things we had only been able to talk about doing was even better than I thought it would be. There was an awful lot of fuzzy-headedness and in the best way.

I've moved to the middle of nowhere for a bit. I needed to check and see if I missed the cold. I didn't. But I'm doing what I can to use this time to work on things I want to focus on so that I'm more prepared to set my life up how I want to because... I'm moving back to paradise!

I've realized how much I changed since I left home. I'm used to seeing pretty much eye-to-eye with my mom and I'm realizing that my views and approach to life have changed an awful lot since I moved out.

What I'm up to now:

I just decided to start a bullet journal. I'm such a list slut that I think it's the perfect way to combine a planner and all the random things I want to track into one notebook. I know I could just keep digital lists, but I'm so terrible at consistently filing things away in the same spot. Plus, it was a chance to decorate with washi tape and glittery nail polish! No sane person would make any other decision.

I'm not much of a New Year's resolutions person. But I decided putting a few goals in the front would help me keep a focus on the things I want to do.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: efficiency and organization, education

-Cut back on waste produced
-College and stuff (which means actually making some decisions on what I'd like to focus on and what I want to do with my life later)

RELATIONSHIPS: healthy, honest

-Don't overextend
-Be more willing to have confrontations when necessary, but also more able to say "I'm sorry."

HEALTH: love my body

-Work out! Find exercise I enjoy and establish a loose routine.
-Have outside adventures
-Transition to more natural products
-Eat better

GIVING: volunteer, donate

-Find somewhere local that I would enjoy volunteering at on a regular basis
-Cultivate a list of favorite charities
-Write more reviews and consciously support products I enjoy (especially from small companies and books from little known authors)

ENVIRONMENT: keep tidy, decorate

-Divide and track chores to keep on top of them

I've made some progress on a few of them already.

The eating better actually started because I found a website Heal with food that listed some good foods to eat to minimize menstrual cramp pain. I hate taking medicine and love eating so the idea of using food to manage pain appealed to me a lot. The problem is that I hate most veggies and I never learned how to cook much beyond grilled cheese and scrambled eggs. But having everything laid out, I realized I could still manage to get lots of good nutrients from the few veggies I can tolerate and some other foods I never think about. I now have a little chart in my journal to help me remember to eat good things that lists nutrients, what it helps with, and what foods (that I'll eat) it's found in. And I've started slowly looking for recipes and I've even tried a new vegetable (chayote SQUASH of all things)! I now have a small, but decent, list of grown-up meals I can make.

*prepare to possibly be bored*

I stumbled across a few zero waste writings and videos and while i'm not sure if I could ever live completely zero waste (actually not sure it's possible to live zero waste in this age unless you're going the hermit route), it's a great ideal to aspire to. And there are so many easy little alternatives to the things we throw away everyday. I'm trying to slowly transition to less throwaway products and more reusable items. And most of them seem to be better for me as well. I thought using a menstrual cup and washable cloth pads would be uncomfortable and gross. But it's crazy easy and super comfortable. And, oh man, the Thinx underwears. Fucking genius. I'm also in the middle of trying to go without shampoo. And using cornstarch as a dry shampoo. The bentonite clay should be here soon and i'm super excited to try see how well it cleans my hair. I've subbed coconut oil lip balm and hand lotion, old flannel shirt pieces for cotton wipes, olive oil to moisturize my pubic hair (I keep it long and like it soft and fluffy), a water/sugar/salt mix for hairspray, and I'm going to try a lemon sugar water to lighten my leg hairs because I hate shaving (and removal creams).

I'm doing what i can to grow herbs in my room right now and the green onions are doing ok (you just stick them in water!), but I definitely need to work on keeping mint and cilantro alive. I found something I really want to try after I move. It's a garden. Sitting on top of a fish tank. A beautiful little self-sufficient garden to give me fresh herbs and small veggies for cooking. And I haven't decided where yet, but glitter will mpst definitely be included in this project.

I feel like I've made good headway, but I still have plenty left to go. And I think I'd really like to blog more often. Because I love your faces and I've missed them.