My First 10 on 10!

So, a few of y'all might have found your way over to my lovely blogger-friend and sister in Christ, Katy. I've mentioned her and linked up with her a few times before. And she is way more blog savvy than I am, just sayin' - so love you, Katy! Anywho, she's does all these fun bloggery things and then I jump on her bandwagons...mmhmm, I am that person. Maybe someday I'll have enough time to be as awesome of a blogger as Katy is :)

So, Katy is a big participant in this neat little thing called "10 on 10" where you take a picture every hour for 10hrs on the 10th of each month. FUN? I. THINK. YES!! So, here goes my first 10 on 10! (I'll be honest, I missed a few hours here and there, so there's a touch of a gap in some of my pictures...TIGS, need I say more?)

So, here's my first 10 on 10 - December!

9 AM

This is what I wake up to every morning - MOM! FEEEEED MEEEEE!

10 AM

Coffee + Gihrardelli Peppermint Bark in 

Christmas mug = most legit homemade peppermint mocha EVER!

11 AM

Decided to wear earrings for the first time in about 2 months.

12 AM

Walkin' into Hodson...sorry for the mitten in the picture...they're kind of fluffy.

1 PM

Worked on my cerambycid illustration for a bit

2 PM

Took a break from the bug and worked on some manuscript stuff for the Wharton.

3 PM

ENTO vs EEB dodge ball - pretty epic.

6 PM

Went home to take Jakers out before heading back out

7 PM

Decided to lite the tree for Jakers before I left.

1 AM

Called it a night after hangin' with the bugdorks in celebration of 

being done with Insect Ecology!!!!

***Sorry for the major lags: dodge ball lasted forever and then my phone memory filled up after I left the house for the evening...


I'm going to try and remember to do it again next month - anyone care to join in??

Shalom!
~MW

Oh, haylo!

Happy Friday, all! I trust you are having/have had a blessed day in our Savior. I know I certainly have...it's the little things, fo sho.

Anywho, how are you? What's new and exciting in your life? What can I be going to the Lord in prayer about for you? How are you??

I have a confession to make...wait for it...wait for it... Ok, here it is:

I am incredibly out of shape...INCREDIBLY.

That said, I have something to, errr...brag {?} about... I STARTED WORKING OUT THIS WEEK!! Whoop! So, I knew I was terribly out of shape before I started working out, but when you do a very rigorous modest workout circa 9am and are already feeling that tell-tale achy soreness by oh...4pm that afternoon, that's when you know - you're pathetically out of shape - there's just no other way to describe it. But, even though I am still in ridiculous pain today...I still did my workout! I'm not gonna lie...I almost decided against the multi-stop push-ups today, though...We hatesss them precioussss! But, I am proud to say that I pushed through them! {Haha...pun!} I'm contemplating adding in running next week...we'll see how that goes :D

Yesterday, after our weekly breakfast date with Chamilton, Catia and I hit-up Town Talk to peruse their latest loot! Them was dangerous waters, they were...! But, we were very proud of our discounted purchases...and our exercised restraint when it came to saying "no" to some of our desired booty. I came away with some delicious bries and some hummus and some **fresh** rosemary {Oh, it's heavenly}, and teas. All for just over $6!! I was impressed.

A little mini-rant corresponding to the rant in my previous post: If you can't make/grow it yourself, buy fair trade! All but one of the teas Catia and I came away with were fair trade products - the other was an ethical trade product. So, there is a difference between fair trade and ethical trade. Ethical trade doesn't, apparently have any real regulated standards - they are generally left up to the producer, from what I understand. Whereas fair trade has heavy standards instituted across the board for any company that wants to carry the fair trade label. Ethical trade is still better than nothing, in my opinion, but I guess that's left up to the individual consumer. Anyways, the fair trade teas we ran away with are Saphara teas - soooo good. And, the ethical trade tea we got is actually Celestial Seasonings. Now, CS put a little blurb under their ethical trade "stamp" that says this:

We've been working to establish Sustainable harvests and fair wages for more than 30 years. By buying this product, you're supporting ethical trading practices that benefit the people and areas that produce our ingredients. THANK YOU!

Sounds pretty legit...and, after skimming their website, it seems the be a pretty well grounded statement. Anyone know any specifics about Celestial Seasonings? Other than the fact that they have a number of just plain awesome teas, haha.

Health Au Naturel! As many of you know I've been testing out numerous natural hygiene product recipes. I felt it was probably time to give you all a little update on how that has been going.

• Hair care: I started this out following SimpleMom's hair care regimen, but I just couldn't do it. The transition period was just too much for me. By day 9 or so my hair was in an absolutely horrid state - I couldn't comb through it and it felt like straw...but weird insanely greasy straw. It was just gross. So, I caved and washed my hair. I'm at a loss in the realm of all natural, at home hair care. In all honesty, I'm afraid to try another regimen...though I've contemplated giving SimpleMom's another whirl the beginning of May...we shall see
• Face care: Here I also used SimpleMom's regimen for the Oil Cleansing Method. Now, this I like. It's WAY cheaper than throwing countless dollars away each month to harsh chemicals in pretty bottles on supermarket shelves. While I still experience breakouts {like this week...ugh!}, and so must admit that I keep a supply of acne spot treatment {I haven't tried putting tea-tree oil in my cleanser yet, though...} on-hand, I am overall quite pleased with this one. My face feels awesome after I cleanse it each night and I only need a little splash of water in the mornings to "wash the night away." As far as using coconut oil as a moisturizer, I think I'm going to try getting my hands on some raw shea butter or coco butter instead...while I like the idea of natural antibiotics/antiseptic qualities (which shea and coco butter are supposed to have too) in the coconut oil it seems to be a little drying...how an oil can be drying, I don't know, but that's my take on it.
• Deodorant: This one just breaks my heart, y'all. SimpleMom's homemade deodorant recipe, which I have seen all over other blogs on the interwebs, is awesome. I mean, I absolutely loooved it. Yeah...loved it.
  Everything was going wonderfully - I didn't smell...at...all...and I felt like I hardly sweat at all...even though I really was. But, then...I started to break out in this horrible, horrible rash. I mean, it was bad - I'm still getting over it. I finally, after trying to just use Tom's natural deodorant while I figured out what to do about my little problem, decided I need to give my underarms a bit of a breather from any kind of anything under there, cause I was still either experiencing crazy burning or breaking out in one way or another. So, I've been deodorant-less for about 3 days now. Gross, I know, but honestly, I haven't been too wet, and unless I really get my nose up under there I don't smell. Ha, the J-Man discovered I haven't used deodorant for a few days and got uber grossed out - it was priceless. But, since it has been lovely weather and I really haven't been sweating all that much I know that once summer really hits I'll probably need a little something extra under there to help out.
  Here are my thoughts: either my skin doesn't like the baking soda (which I'm not entirely convinced is the main culprit, since I even tried decreasing the baking soda significantly) or my skin doesn't like the corn starch. I've heard that some corn starch has talc in it and that the presence of talc may have been the issue, but I made sure I was using a brand without talc in it...and like I said, even after significantly, significantly decreasing the baking soda (I mean, it was almost non-existent in a few batches), I was still breaking out. Oi, it was so painful.
  So, what is my next order of action with this issue? I'm dropping the corn starch all together and switching to arrowroot powder instead. I realize that if I really wanted to figure this out scientifically I would try just using corn starch, then just using baking soda, then just using coconut oil {oh yeah, I'm 99.99% certain that the coconut oil isn't the problem as I haven't broken out anywhere else on my body that I have used it, and I'm not allergic to coconut...}, etc., etc. until I find out which ingredient starts the reaction over again, but I'm not that patient right now, haha. So, to the arrowroot powder it is!! I'll let you know how it goes. Other than saying upfront that arrowroot powder is pricey! I paid almost $6 for about a quarter pound of the stuff...and then freaking Tobi ate like half of it...ooooo, I almost kabobbed that doggie when I saw my precious powder strewn around the living room carpet and his white little face to add to it all! Oh, that was a fun morning, haha.

Well, I suppose that's all for now, folks. It's time to call it a night - I'm judging an elementary school science fair tomorrow, so I need to get some shut-eye so I can be on top of my game with the kiddies at 8am tomorrow...barf.

Oh...I GOT MY OFFICIAL OFFICIAL ADMITTANCE LETTER FROM U OF M TODAY!!!! It's all official...I got my salary/employment papers yesterday, my departmental acceptance letter the day before that, and my totally 100% official university acceptance today...WOW.

G'night & Shalom!
~MW

P.S. - Happy Fightin' Texas Aggie Ring Day to all you Aggies! So proud of your incredible accomplishment!
P.P.S. - Do you like the new sidebar?? I decided to break it up and organize it all...it was fun, I won't lie =D
P.P.P.S. - Josh threw up his first Man Talk post tonight! Check it, men and boys on your journey to becoming men!

FRI-DAY!

Oh wow...I am so happy it's the weekend - I am totally and completely exhausted. That's all there is to it. However, I am totally and completely bummed out about not getting to go to school Monday morning and see those bright and beautifully shining faces...Ugh, I need to hurry up and finish grad school so I can work with kids FOREVER!! :)

Today was surprisingly exhausting for an exam day...probably had something to do with my being overly nice and grading the kids exams before the end of the day so they could know about where they stand for the quarter on their way out to spring break. I am very happy to say that most all of them passed their exams with flying colors!! I am so very proud of them. Bah, I don't want to leave them! I know I sound like a broken record this week, but I'm totally and completely beyond happy working with those darling, darling children.

I really hope I can sub for them again at some point. And, I really hope I can get some slots in GPISD before the school year is up - I'd love to try my hand at that district...and a public school.

Well, as today was my last day I was very blessed to get lots of love from the kiddos - I even got some hugs!!! Lots of notes on the white board, and lots of visits throughout the day. My room was completely full at lunch, as all the kids wanted to come eat lunch with Miss Cummins...wow. What a blessing! As much as I have griped at them this week, they still love me! So great. I had some kiddos in there yesterday, too, but even more today. And lots of visits after lunch and after school, too. I just love those kids!!

I was also blessed to visit with one of my old teachers today, as well. Such a sweet, dear man. He had his little boy with him, too - the last time I saw that child he was barely walking, and there he was talking and toddling along to his class across the way! I could hardly believe my eyes. And this teacher of mine is such a sweet, sweet man. Ah, he just melts my heart. It was wonderful to catch up with him. After school, while I was grading the last of my 7th period exams one of my little brothers' old teachers stopped by and we visited for a bit, too.

Today was just great, all-around. Blessings from and fun with the kiddos, and catching up with people who have touched my life - pure blessings from above.

And with that, I'm off for the night. Yes, it is not even 9pm on a Friday night and I am ready for bed. Perfection =)

Goodnight, all!
Shalom!
~MW

HELLOOOO, Friday!

Ah, Friday is here, yet again! Glorious, isn't it?

I am ridiculously excited about this weekend...and upcoming week!

Come this evening I will be on the road to the San Marcos area with CarrieHammie and Catia to see SKate! We will be making an appearance at the recently transplanted Sherwood Forest...oh, yes, you read that correctly. Sherwood Forest has been transplanted to just outside Austin, TX, and we are going to play in it!! Should be loads of fun and I absolutely cannot wait to see SKate and her new digs!

From there I get to go back to CS!! WHOOP!! I am seriously beside myself with excitement to see everyone again and get some more work done in the lab. We are getting closer and closer to being finished with manuscript number one!!!! I hope we can at least get it accepted by a journal by the time I head off to grad school.

But, from CS I'm off to RR to see Elaine&Josh!!!!!!! It has seriously been TOO long. Ok, so maybe it's only been about 2 months since I've seen them, but still...that is too long. That's just all there is to it.

All of the above will make for a lovely start to my March :) I absolutely, absolutely love all of the amazing people I will get to see almost too much for my own good...but I don't care. They have all been there for me time and time again, through thick and thin...and I would seriously be so far gone without them.

I know I say this a lot, but I truly have been so blessed and smiled upon by God to have all of those amazing people in my life. I can't imagine continuing through life without them by my side...whether we are near or far apart. They are simply the best of the best. And yes, I hereby grant you permission to be jealous of my friends ;)

As much as I might complain about being back in Arlington and having nothing to do right now, it has really been a blessing, because it has allowed me to focus on staying in or getting back in touch with the people who are most dear to me. Friends from high school, friends from college (still weird to say "from college"), family, etc. Huge, huge blessing. I know I won't be able to talk to as many people on a regular basis once grad school starts, so this time now has been perfect.

So, I wanted to touch on a few other things in this post, but my morning is quickly coming to a close and I really need to get a move on with laundry and packing and errands before I hit the road tonight. So, for now, my loves, I must close.

Wishing you the best of weekends!
Shalom!
~MW

Friday! Friday! Tonight I'll party with my friends!

...Ok...so by friends I mean the wee ones, but it's all good - we're friends too :)

So, since Christmas the wee ones and I have been trying to complete all 5 seasons of LOST to prepare for the start of season 6 - all of our questions will finally be answered! {We hope...}

On that note I need to thank whoever sets the dates for when my favorite TV shows start back up, because starting LOST, the final season, on my bday is the BEST birthday present EvEr!!! So, thanks guys/gals! You're the best.

Anyways, when the boyos get home from school today we will begin the final push. We missed a week of watching while I was down in CS, so we are slightly behind...just slightly. But, we are almost half-way through season 3 and should get beyond that point tonight. We plan to watch LOST all weekend long, in and around our other activities. Like my shopping extravaganza with 'Chuck' and hopefully 'Rose', as well. BUT! We will finish the previous seasons by Feb 2 - we have no other option but to succeed in this...or else...well, we will just be failures...and a poor excuse for LOST fans. This would bring the utmost shame to our heads and family name...the utmost.

Ok, enough dramatics for today! On to other things.

Isn't it amazing how no matter what you are doing in any given season of your life Fridays are still that light at the end of the tunnel? I was thinking about this last night (of course, while watching LOST with the wee ones), and had to chuckle to myself: I don't do any kind of strenuous activity right now, I don't have a job that I hate (or even one that I enjoy - Fridays are still like gold then), I'm not in classes, I'm just tottering along doing whatever, whenever and yet, I still look forward to Friday with as much hope and excitement as if I were working or in school...maybe it's because I know I will get to spend more than a few rushed hours in the evenings with my little brothers... I don't really know, I just like Fridays, and think I always will, until they finally make the work week 4 days long, that is ;)

Yesterday I worked on ISD apps for subbing for 5 HOURS. 5 hours!! No joke!! {Maybe that's why I'm so excited about today...?} I don't want to look at another online application interface for like...oh, I don't know...ever! Ugh, but, they are complete, so that's a plus. I'm holding off on my AISD app, because they charge you for finger printing and some of the other districts don't. So, if I can get away with not paying for my finger printing, I will! And then I'll apply for AISD. Frugality prevails! Haha.

I also ran by James Avery yesterday to see if there was anything I could/wanted to exchange a charm for...I got a lovely ichthys charm for graduation, but it's a little bulky for my tastes and so wanted one that was little more dainty or something, but didn't really find anything that really jumped out at me. I contemplated getting a 2nd A&M charm, one that I could wear on a necklace chain (I already have one sautered on my charm bracelet)...I dunno if that's over-kill though. I was thinking it would be nice to have just the charm that I could wear whenever since I don't wear my charm bracelet all them time...but I can't decide. There was a lovely ichthys there that was kind of "swirly", meaning it had curly-ques and everything in it's design, but I just couldn't decide. Thoughts?? Suggestions??

Ok, ladies, here's a confession/question for you all: WHAT DEODORANT DO YOU USE?! For the last few months I have been sweating profusely (sorry boys...gross, I know, but whatever, such is life)...and I cannot seem to find one that keeps me at least somewhat dry...I just want a little dryness. Is that so much to ask?? Ugh, I don't even have to be doing anything and it feels like Niagara Falls under there - so not cool. My mom swears by Mitchum Clear Gel, and I've been using that to no avail...I've tried the "prescription strength" stuff, and haven't really had any luck there either. I'm a freak, I know. But, I know there have to be other people out there with the same question, so I'm going to buck-up and ask it for all of us. I am woman! {That last bit was for you Rach}

Anyways, today I plan on finishing Out of the Silent Planet. I finally finished The Road and I have to say I think I enjoyed it. I wasn't too fond of the ending, I felt it was a little lacking, but I think that was the point...did leave Cormick with room to make it into a series of some sort if he wants to, though; since he does seem to write in series/trilogies, etc. Anywho, I'm pretty behind on Harry Potter, and I still can't find the box that Redeeming Love ended up in...hmph, I am frustrated. I think once I finish Out of the Silent Planet I will hit up The Life of Pi. It's sitting in my parents' garage, so I may as well take advantage of a free book with no deadlines for return, right?? Right.

Well, all, I'm off to read my day away and maybe run some errands with my faja. Happy Friday!!

Shalom,
~MW

PUSH....and I'm applying for TFA!!

Tomorrow is Friday! Tomorrow is Friday!!! This is exciting, because then I can play and maybe get a few more things done around the apartment/my room. I have a few canvases I've been meaning to paint and we need a clean/dirty dishwasher sign...so I have lots to work on. Plus I REALLY want to get some reading annnnd....I need to work on poli sci, awesome. But it will be the weekend none-the-less!

Work went pretty well today, had a little hear-to-heart with the boss about Teach For America, grad school opps, and possibly going to Dominica with Brendan to teach the kiddos about bugs for 6mo *yikes!!*, and he helped me kind of reason out why it would still be best to do TFA now - or at least try for it. I'm young, TFA will help take care of loans and I will be getting paid (minor, but important details), if I get stationed in CHI then I will be able to go to Champaigne-Urbana all the time (it's only about 2.5-3hrs away from Chi) and get to know the people at the labs there, plus Therese and Brendan will be getting established and maybe get me a better in with those peeps. The U of I people I'm interested in working with always have $$ floating around because they write killer grants, so there should, theoretically, always be a spot open for me somewhere there. I haven't heard back from Heimpel about Minneapolis. There are plenty of other places just as amazing as Dominica that I could do science/ento outreach with kids, plus I could maybe just go for a few months, instead of the whole 6... And I need to be able to go do and see things right now, in his opinion, and TFA would give more of an opportunity to do that than would grad school. Granted, putting everything towards TFA means I probably won't be able to swing going to the Entomophagous conference in France in 2011, but I guess I'll survive...

That said, TFA apps are due TOMORROW!!! I pretty much have it all done, I just need to clean up my resume a little and polish off my letter of intent, then I'm set! Crazy.

Well, other than that I had a little girls night with Lindsey and LeeAnne. LeeAnne made us some delish pasta and we watched PUSH - it was actually really good, except the ending sucked!!! They totally leave you with a million questions, but rumor has it that they are making a second one, so we shall see.

Well kids, I'm off to work on the resume for a little bit before calling it a night.

Cheers!
~MW