Bah Humbug!

I can't believe Christmas is almost here already.  One week.  ONE week.  We have done ZERO shopping.  I've been feeling very stressed out about trying to find the perfect gift for everyone.  That's NOT what Christmas is about.  So instead of busting our budget and stressing out about getting everyone the perfect gift (which is never good enough and will end up in the back of the closet anyway) I'm thinking we'll get a Mercy Corps Kit for each family, and then a few things (Legos, movies, Wii games) for our kids.  That's it. Call me the Grinch if you want, but I'm tired of the pressure to buy buy buy at Christmastime.  They're adults (and their kids will have plenty of junk from everyone else) if they don't like it, we can spend next Christmas in the Bahamas without them and be perfectly happy and stress free!  :)

In other news...My skin has cleared up quite a bit.  I'm not sure if it's just timing (aka hormones) or if it's the no dairy.  Time will tell, I suppose.  Still have the ugly dark circles under my eyes.  I still look like I haven't slept in years. *sigh* Not giving up yet though!

Going dairy free!

I've struggled with my skin for years now.  I get breakouts regularly, some times are worse than others but I almost always have at least one blemish.  I've tried everything (besides Acutane, I refuse to go there).  I've probably wasted thousands of dollars on "miracle" products over the years.  Not to mention all the hours I've spent researching products and different ideas on how to control it.  I'M FED UP!  I'm 28 years old, my face should not look like this!  I look young anyway and with my face in constant turmoil, it really doesn't help the cause.  Plus, I'm just tired of having to pile on makeup to leave the house...and I'm tired of feeling like a troll if I don't.  I'm tired of freaking out every time SO tries to kiss my face ("OMG!  What if he kisses a zit!!!").  I'm just tired of constantly worrying about my face.  Sooo...I decided that I'm going to cut dairy out of my diet and see if that's the key to total facial bliss.  I've read quite a bit on the topic, and there are many people who believe there's a link between dairy consumption and acne.  During this reasearch I also came to the conclusion that I may have a dairy allergy (I was severely allergic as a child, and thought I had outgrown it).  I always seem to be tired, and have dark circles under my eyes.  Those (in addition to acne) can be symptoms of a dairy allergy.  So that's that.  No more dairy for me. 

Fun With Plastic

I was looking at the newspaper the other day and I saw these awesome architectural Legos.  I was thinking about getting the kids some architectural blocks for Christmas, but the ones I was looking at were wooden.  I think these are better (even though I generally dislike plastic) because they won't be knocked down and destroyed so easily.  Which is important if you have a houseful of children!  After visiting the Guggenheim website, I went to the Lego website to see if they have any other buildings.  They do!  They have John Hancock Center, Empire State Building, Space Needle, Guggenheim Museum, and Fallingwater.  Very cool!  In the end I decided regular Legos would be best for our little ones.  They're still pretty young, and those architectural Legos seem a little complicated.  And now, after browsing the Lego website...I'm completely hooked on the little plastic blocks.

Oops.

So I'm not really in the habit of blogging regularly yet.  I'm getting there.

Thanksgiving went well.  SO's family is great!  Lots of good Southern food.  Lots of laughs.  :)  No mashed potatoes though!  I really didn't even miss them, in fact, I didn't even notice they were missing until about 1/2 way through the meal.   

We took the two little kids back home Sunday, then I decided to go to AL with SO.  He's working overnights again this week. It was nice to get to spend a little extra time with him.  We're back home now, and he's off again. :(  Miss him already! 

In other news...Heritage Makers is running a new sale this week.  Buy one gallery wrapped canvas (any size) and get the second 1/2 off!!  This is really an amazing deal!  Contact me to take advantage!  :)