I’ve been seeing this survey go around some of the blogs I read. I haven’t been tagged, nor do I intend to tag anybody (BOO… Lame, I know.) I did think it would be a good chance for you guys to get to know a little more about The Alt Mommy though. So, here it is…
1. Where were you born? Arkansas. But I don’t relate to the South at all. Even though I’ve lived here my entire life.
2. Were you named after someone? My middle name is the same as my aunt’s first name. My alias Lola was picked by a toddler. We were playing like we were at a salon and had to have fancy names. She said we were both Lola.
3. How many children do you have? One biological daughter. One step-daughter. My step-daughter also has an older sister who stays with us about half the time that she does.
4. How many pets do you have? One dog named Abbey.
5. Your worst injury? A week after I turned 18 I split my chin open. I drank a pint of tequila on an empty stomach and blacked out walking to bed. My face broke my fall. I landed on a hardwood floor. I then crawled to bed, spit out some blood, and announced that I must have busted my lip. My husband (boyfriend, at the time) said that I lifted my head up and my chin just opened up. “It was like you had two mouths.” <— That’s his description.
6. Do you have a special talent? Not really.
7. Favorite thing to bake? I can’t bake from scratch to save my life. I’m all about trying to live a natural lifestyle, but I have not made the switch to all-natural baked goods. I do make a pretty damn mean funfetti cake though. Anytime I bake (or pretty much anytime I cook, for that matter) I use coconut oil in place of butter, shortening, or vegetable oil. It makes the food so moist and ooey-gooey!
8. Favorite Fast Food? I would say BBQ from the local BBQ food truck, but I was just informed yesterday that he was closed. I don’t really like fast food at all. Breadsticks from the local pizzeria are about as close to fast food as I get.
9. Would you bungee jump? No. I can’t imagine getting any sort of thrill from dangling by a stretchy cord and jumping off of a platform. Not my thing, at all!
10. What is the first thing you notice about people? Distinguishing characteristics. You know, the things that make people unique.
11. When was the last time you cried? Today. It would have been my mom’s birthday, but she died when I was a teenager.
12. Any current worries? Financial insecurity. My family is in the gap that makes slightly too much money for any government assistance, but way too damn poor to live comfortably. Those people that the media totally ignores, the families in which both parents work full-time while one also attends college, but still are unable to be secure. Yep, that’s us. It sucks.
13. Name 3 drinks you drink regularly. Water. Wine. A soda in the morning (when I can) even though I know I shouldn’t.
14. What’s your favorite book? The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
15. Would you like to be a pirate? Perhaps I already am one…
16. Favorite Smells? Lavender and Patchouli
17. Why do you blog? To say the things I can’t say every day in real life.
18. What song do you want played at your funeral? Whatever will make my family happy.
19. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? I have a hard time finishing things. I call it popcorn brain. New ideas pop into my head all the time, but I get bored with them just as quickly. I believe ADHD is the medical term for this, but popcorn brain sounds much less clinical.
20. Favorite hobby? Ehh, see the above answer.
21. Name Something you’ve done, you never thought you would do? Maintained a 3.93 GPA in college. I graduate this summer.
22. What do you look for in a friend? An open-mind.
23. Favorite fun things to do? Going out with my family, but my favorite kid-free activity is going to concerts. Nothing beats a good live show.
24. Pet peeves? Bad grammar, loud televisions, and more than anything else, tardiness.
25. What’s the last thing that made you laugh? When I was telling my MIL about some of the funny things my daughter has said lately.
Filed under: Uncategorized
It’s been well over a month since I’ve blogged, and I offer you guys my sincerest apologies. The classes I’m currently taking have been very research-intensive which has left me with little-to-no free time.
I’ve actually been doing quite a few DIY projects lately. I made hand sanitizer yesterday. I’ve also been washing our clothes in the bathtub (out of necessity. My washing machine died last week) and will probably be trying a new laundry detergent recipe this evening.
I’ve been wanting to do a big post on the MANY benefits of coconut oil, but there are so many websites that already contain this information so I’m probably going to just give you guys a brief overview of what all my family uses it for and include links to already existing wonderful resources about the power of the almighty coconut!
Remember how I said I was starting my real food challenge on Wednesday because I knew I would have to start it on an off day. Well, my boss is out of work for the third week in a row so I ended up having to work today. That changed my plans for me. My original plan was:
Breakfast — Banana Pancakes (I was going to make them from scratch. I’ve never even made not-from-scratch pancakes, but these looked so yummy!) That didn’t happen. I had an apple and two teaspoons of peanut butter instead.
Lunch — Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with apples. I stuck with that one.
Snack — Popcorn. I stuck with this one as well.
Dinner — Slow cooker chicken and mashed potatoes. I didn’t feel like getting up at 4:30am to start the chicken before work and wasn’t really hungry when I got in from work. I ended up eating the rest of the popcorn I made earlier.
Snack — Granola bar. I intend to eat this if I get hungry later.
Honestly, I’ve been full all day minus the stretch from breakfast to lunch. Even after just one day I’m seeing how hard it is to eat healthy with my work schedule. I normally work 2-10 and don’t get to leave for lunch. I plan on making the slow cooker chicken tomorrow to use in my dinners for the next two days.
I’ll keep you guys updated as I continue with this challenge.
This recipe originally comes from Wake Up World. The recipe is as follows:
“
3 tablespoons Borax (such as Twenty Mule Team)
3 tablespoons Washing Soda (such as Arm & Hammer)
2 tablespoons Liquid Dish Soap (such as Dawn)
8 cups water – preferably filtered
Directions:
Find yourself a 1/2 gallon container such as a clean juice bottle that has been repurposed. Get out a funnel and add the borax and washing soda followed by 2 cups of boiling water. Give it all a good shake until the powdered ingredients are dissolved.
Add the liquid dish soap and swish it around until the brew is well mixed.”
I first made this laundry detergent for a demonstrative speech I did for class. I followed the directions exactly and used an old oxyclean container to store it in. I LOVE it. My husband is an industrial electrician so his clothes can be pretty dirty when he works. This recipe works great. If the load is particularly nasty I’ll add a little extra borax and/or washing soda, but for the most part this recipe works GREAT.
Now I know liquid dish soap isn’t all natural. I’m not claiming this as one of my hippie brews. This is more about saving money than anything for me. I do feel comfortable saying it is better than the commercial stuff though because there isn’t any packaging waste.
I have a mild obsession with lavender. I have for years. I just find the scent to be so calming and clean. You could use any essential oil or combination of oils that you like though.
2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup olive or mineral oil
1/8 cup liquid (melted) coconut oil
1/4 tsp lavender essential oil (or oil of your choice)
Let me know how you like this recipe if any of you try it out! I’d love to hear about what different oil combinations you all use.
This could make a great gift idea. Just add a little food coloring (if you want to make it colorful) or put it in a decorated glass jar.
***UPDATE***
I just came across this article: http://theholisticmama.com/why-you-should-never-use-baby-oil/ which explains the dangers of using mineral oil/baby oil. This is the first time I’ve read such information. It seems legit, but I’m also going to do some more research for my own person reasons. I would recommend just using olive instead of mineral oil. It may also be possible to just use coconut oil, but I’m not sure about that. I’ve also heard of using canola oil in a sugar scrub, but canola oil contains GMOs so I would rather not use that. I think I’ll just be sticking to light olive oil. 
I vaguely remember writing down these instructions. I do recall thinking that I’d have to wait until I used all of the commercially produced hand sanitizer I have at home so I could use the bottle. I don’t use hand sanitizer that often because I’m really concerned about antibiotic resistance, especially since my child contracted MRSA earlier this year. I still haven’t finished off that bottle of hand sanitizer sitting on my window-sill, but I think I’m just going to discard the contents and save the container. I really want to try this recipe out.
2/3 Cup of rubbing alcohol
1/3 Cup of Aloe Vera gel
~10 drops of essential oil for fragrance
Mix together and pour into repurposed container.
Sounds simple enough. I may make this in the morning before I have to work. No promises though because I also have to make some fabric softener. The itchy stiff shirt I’m currently wearing is serving as a reminder that the lack of fabric softener in my house is officially a MAJOR problem. Either way, I’ll make some before the weekend is over. I’ll post a review when it’s done.
I think it’s the full moon. I could be the impending New Year. It could be the meds I took for my toothache. Whatever it is, it’s kicking me in the ass and telling me that it is time to organize.
I have a plethora of valuable information crammed into notebooks, bookmarks, documents, and random scraps of paper. This information is, of course, helping nobody because I can’t ever recall where it is located. I seem to lack the natural inclination towards technology that my peers all have. I’m old school. If something isn’t on pen-and-paper, it may as well not exist in my world. (Ironically, I’ve documented the last ten years of my life [off-and-on], on the Internet. But that’s a story for another day…)
I have come up with a plan of sorts though. I’m going to write down all of the recipes, lists, and instructions to put in a binder with nice tabbed dividers. But I don’t see myself carrying a binder with me at all times. (Although I am considering making a copy of everything to keep one in my car). I’ve also decided to type up all of my random notes to this blog and tag them to match the dividers in my binder (Errr, the binder I’m purchasing in the morning…)
This is a good thing for anybody who reads this. I’ll have lots of handy dandy information to post.
I don’t want to say this before I make even one post!! A lot of these are notes I scribbled down without necessarily documenting the source. If anybody sees something that doesn’t have a source noted and knows where the information came from, feel free to comment. I would prefer to give credit where it is due. Of course, if the information does contain the source, I’ll post that as well.
Enjoy!
