Update on the "no-shampoo" method

Okay I really hate that it's called the "no-poo" method because I get really weird looks when trying to describe it to people, so on here it's going to be "no-shampoo" method. I have been doing this for 3 weeks now and have actually been really impressed. Some changes that I have noticed in my hair are, it feels lighter/more body, more of my natural curl has come back which is awesome, it is easier to style, and it just feels healthier all around.

Now when I was researching this, others talked about the "transition period" in where there hair was just super oily and awful because their hair was still trying to produce oil from when they were using shampoo. As of right now, I haven't really had a bad "transition period" with my hair. But maybe it's because I've done a couple of things to help with that.

Before I started this thing I really would only wash my hair every 4-5 days which I think helped. If you want to ease your way into this, start by cutting out the times you wash your hair. I also used a bristle brush to help distribute the oil from the top of my head down the hair shaft because that's where the oil tends to stay is near the scalp of your head. Always make sure to clean your brush every so often. Also if you don't have dry shampoo, go get some! That stuff works wonders. 

If you have naturally oily hair to begin with, increase the amount of baking soda by 1/4. Also make sure when you are placing the apple cider vinegar solution, to avoid placing it on the roots. Now if your hair is more on the dry side, you might want to run a tiny, (and I mean teensy-tiny) amount of coconut oil through your hair after it is washed and dry. You can also do a deep condition mask with a NON oil conditioner. I've heard some people using aloe-vera gel for that one. Well this post is getting too long. There's my update, if you have any questions feel free to comment or shoot me an e-mail. 

"No Poo" Method

Okay folks. I've been wanting to do the "no poo" method for EVER but have always been too afraid to do it. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, the "no poo" method is where you get rid of shampoo and conditioner completely and use baking soda and vinegar instead. Sounds crazy right?! Well I am giving it a 30 day trial to see if I love it or ditch it. 

Some of the ingredients that are in shampoo completely strip your hair of it's natural oils, leaving it squeaky clean. Sounds good right? Wrong. This causes your hair to overproduce oil for your hair. That is why most of us can only go a day or two with out shampooing our hair. 

Here are some reasons I've found why "no poo" is great for your hair. 

• less oily hair
• more body
• less frizz and fly aways (great for those of you with curly hair)
• added shine
• more money in your pocked, because seriously how cheap is baking soda and vinegar?
• no chemicals in your hair or scalp
• new hair growth

So there ya go. I will keep your updated on how it goes and if it's something you should try, because it's fun trying new things!

Hey don't eat that!

In a way, not much has happened with our little family. But then again, a lot of things have happened. First Jake was able to get an internship with the church working with Family Search which was really exciting for us! I am so grateful for the career choice that Jake has chosen. It is a huge relief to know that no matter where we go, Jake will never have a hard time getting a job. That is huge for me as I look forward to being a stay at home mom!

Speaking of being a mom, every time I try to push the rewind or pause button it never seems to work. Little miss e has mastered the art of crawling and now likes to pull up on anything and stand up! She makes sure someone is looking and gives us a big gummy grin like "look at me ma!" I swear that little girl is going to be walking before I can teach her how to crawl up the stairs. She loves any stuff/real animal you put in front of her. Jake and I are planning on taking her to the zoo soon since the weather is fabulous right now! She has slowly started to venture off her little blanket and explore the grass more. She wasn't sure about it for a long time. Now she loves to "pet" the grass and pick up the little acorns that have fallen from the trees and try to eat them.

I love this little girly!

A couple of photos...

of our camping trip. And most importantly, miss e's first camping trip!

Changing

Change. I sometimes have a love/hate relationship with this word. I love when I try something new to eat and have found a new favorite. Although I hate when I try something new and it's no good. I love when you move to a new place and you get all excited to decorate it and make it your own. I hate when you move and find that nothing fits the way you want it to. I love when I try new shampoo and conditioner. This is one I love no matter what!

See what I mean?

Right now Jake and I are going through a bit of a change. It's exciting. It's a little nerve racking. It's a little crazy. Mostly I think it's a little crazy. However, I feel this change is going to be a good change. For both of us.

22

Yesterday was the big 22! Can't believe it came and left so quickly. Do I feel any older? Not really. I have a feeling birthdays are going to be like that from now on. You are getting older but you don't feel it.
The weekend before I was pretty much on my deathbed. It was awful. It's like my immune system went on vacation for a month because this is twice this month I have been sick. I was hoping with Monday being a holiday, I would be well rested and better for my birthday. I should've known, it never really works like that when I get sick. So I worked till four, behind my mask all day, coughing, sniffing, sneezing, obviously when patients were not around. Those that I work with also threw me a party with balloons and a cake so that made it a little better to be at work. Jake came around four and whisked me away to Buca di Beppo, this cute authentic Italian place. I can never say no to some pasta. They have all sorts of fun rooms and Jake reserved the kitchen room where you actually dine in the kitchen so you see everything made right there. Loved it! All the chefs wished me a happy birthday. It was a good birthday minus being sick.

P.S. Jake starts his new intern today. You should've seen him all nicely dressed up in his new shirt and pants! I can't wait to ask him about it when he gets home.

Don't worry about my orange nails in these pictures. Totally painted them at night in the dark and I thought I grabbed my Salmon colored fingernail polish. Guess not.

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes! You guys are the best. 

Gypsies

I read a statement on a friends blog a while ago that totally applies to me right now. She talked about how most newly weds can be compared to gypsies, and every once in a while you gather what little you have and and attempt to make it work in a new home. For us that is right now. You know, I thought I got rid of a lot of items when I got married and moved into this apartment, but now that we are moving out I find myself thinking, "How did we fit all of THIS into this little apartment!" It's crazy the things you acquire over a couple of months. Thankfully our new place is fairly big and has TONS of storage space.

You have no idea how happy this makes me.

And we can actually put our dining table in the kitchen where it belongs instead of the living room. Also super happy about that!

Also I found this amazing, actually two amazing skirts that I am going to try to make over Thanksgiving. Maybe I should say start making them, with a big emphasis on the "start". I have a strong feeling it's going to take me a lot longer than that. I think I will start with this one!

Isn't it fabulous?!

Finger prick

Jake found out today that he can't be a doctor. Or deal with blood. His work has this program that if you and your spouse are within the health guidelines of the company, (glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI, health stuff like that) that they would cut our insurance bill by $125 So we fasted for the morning and headed up to get our blood drawn. Jake already gets a little lightheaded when he doesn't have food in him but when he saw the lady prick my finger, he got a little woozy.

A finger prick.

Seriously made me laugh. He likes to hunt so that fact that this made him a little woozy made me laugh! Love that boy.

Jake and I had a little too much fun with our new Mac and this picture is by far my favorite one of him.

Not so much vacation

So I have had this WHOLE week off of work. I had all sorts of plans that I wanted to do.
This is what I have been doing this week.

- Finally changing my drivers license. (signature still looks like a 4th grader)
- Finally getting a new social with my "not so very new any more" name.
- Finally going swimming which included getting a nasty sun burn.
- Getting the car re registered and getting it inspected.
- And finally getting thank you cards out! I know, I know...how long have I been married now?

Did I do any of the fun things I planned?
Not really. But I sure got a lot of things done that probably should've been done a while ago.

August has been an expensive month.

Camping adventures

I finally have some time (and internet) to post some pictures of our latest camping trip. First off can I just say that I love the Uintas. So beautiful. You'd be surprised to know that I love camping, despite the fact that I absolutely loath bugs. Can't stand them.

We took off around Pioneer weekend not really realizing it was Pioneer weekend. Of course we didn't reserve a camp site. I know bad idea. Everything was full. We searched at least five campsite where we finally found a spot that was reserved but not until the next day. So we pleaded with the camp host. Told him we would only be there over night and would be gone the next day before one (which was checkout time). After all that pleading and sad puppy dog look, he told us we needed to contact the real camp host.
Wait so you're a fake one?

We go down to where the real camp host is supposed to be and of course he's not there. So we sit there for a little bit, then get really mad and why you can never find these guys! So we leave and head back up the the fake camp host. Where the real camp host was. Geesh! So we tell him our story and he lets us camp there. Fabulous!

We get things set up quickly since it's now 7:30 and we are both starving!

We roasted good ol' hot dogs and starbursts. We decided to be daring and try the new sour ones. Boy and they sour. We also brought chips and salsa, accompanied by guacamole. Mmmm chips and dip around a camp fire. Sooo yummy. We played a couple of games of Canasta where Jake beat me. Bad.

The next day Jake and I packed up and headed to Lily Lake where we would try our luck in fishing. Or should I say try my luck in fishing. Jake didn't need any. Jake caught a couple before I finally had the guts to try. My casting stunk. Tried again and it was a little bit better. Finally I gave up and had Jake cast for me. We sat there watching the pole. It started to tug when Jake yelled "Heather grab it and start reeling in!" I wasn't paying attention so I grabbed it and did exactly what he told me to do. Tada! My first fish. I had Jake grab my camera and quickly take a picture. After that I quickly handed the fish with the fishing pole over to Jake and told him to take care of it. We didn't really have a place to cook it so we let it go. I haven't quite acquired the taste for fish yet but I do want to try it. Someday.

After that we headed to Provo Waterfalls to check it out. I had seen a sign for it on the way up and wanted to check it out on the way back home. It was beautiful! So glad we stopped there. Did some hiking around there and then headed back home.



We love camping!

Weekend arival

Jake and I are starting our weekend early and going camping.

We both have our fishing license in hand.

Yes you read correct. We BOTH have our fishing license in hand.

Wish me luck!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Breakfast

I am now a firm believer in that a healthy breakfast does your body good. I know most of you have already figured this out a long time ago, but I am a little slow with the whole breakfast thing. Haven't been the biggest fan for a while and would just go without most of the time. Boy was I so wrong!

Here's to a healthy breakfast! I now like you.

Camping

Jake and I went camping with his family up in the Uintas last weekend. So pretty! I have actually never been there before but it has a different feel and look to it than AF canyon where I used to go a lot. We camped right next to Lilly lake where they like to go fishing. If I remember right, Jake took me fishing for my first time on our second date before he left on his mission. I am not a fisher.
Yuck.
Jake fished while I grabbed a chair and read my book. However I didn't read much because I was distracted by Jake fishing. It actually looked fun! We are going again in a week or two and I will purchase me a fishing license! Note about the mosquitoes.
They are everywhere!
I was covered head to toe in clothing. As I sat there reading I could hear the mosquitoes buzz right by my ear. The only place they could probably get to. I think I was reapplying bug spray every fifteen minutes.
Crazy!

Thank heavens there was a big storm that came through and drove them away for a while.
Jake slept through that big storm.

I however did not.

Zombie

Sooo....we haven't decided if it's worth it to buy internet at our apartment. Hence why it has been a while since I have typed here. I am honestly dying with out it. We are both trying to be good and start budgeting so we shall see if the internet makes the list! I have so much to up date on but I fear it probably wont make it to this post because I have pictures I need to put up along with it. Yeah for pictures!!

Jake and I have been super busy with work lately. Especially me. I feel like I have been a zombie this whole week. Work has been super crazy and I rarely get off on time which doesn't really bother me but I come home exhausted. Still need to make dinner. Clean the apartment....which it never seems to stay clean! It's not that we are a messy couple but gifts keep trickling in. Don't get me wrong I am totally not complaining at all. But we get everything put away and new things come. Most we have to take back because we already have it. So we have a huge pile sitting in our living room of things we need to take back. It's been there for a week and keeps growing. Also I have boxes and boxes of old stuff that my mother is making me go through. It's a good thing though and it needs to happen. I have learned I have way too much stuff.

A miracle happened a few days ago. It may not seem like a miracle to you but for me it was. Jake is now hooked on a book. Gasp! I think my man has only read Harry Potter and the Book of Mormon all the way through. I love love LOVE reading so this was really hard for me to understand. I could go through a library and point out a plethora of books that I have read. Not so much for Jake. He doesn't really like reading. While we were engaged I made him promise me that he would read a series of my choosing. So Hunger Games it is! So far he is hooked. I absolutely love it and am soaking it all in.

Trim

Jake had me give him a hair cut yesterday. This is how it went.

Jake: Hey can you give me a hair cut today?
Me: Uh I think that's a bad idea. I have never used one of those things!
Jake: You can't mess up! You'll be fine.
Me: What if I nick your head and you start bleeding?
Jake: Then you can rush me to the hospital!
Me: That's not funny. Can I at least watch the DVD that came with it so I get an idea?
Jake: No. I will just tell you how I like it. I like to use a 3 and 4 on the bottom and sides, and a 7 on top.
Me: I have no idea what that means.

So I start cutting his hair very cautiously. Starting on the top, then working on the sides and bottom. Jake occasionally grabs the razor and shows me how to do it.

Jake: You need to push harder.
Me: I have a freakin razor on your head and you want me to push harder?!

Finally I am done.

Didn't look too bad after all. Now I wont be as scared next time.

Officially

I am now officially Mrs Wright. I know weird right? It's going to take some getting used to. To sum things up, the wedding went about as perfect as one could be. The reception was fabulous. Lots and lots of pictures were taken. Thanks again to all who came! It was so fun to see your smiling faces. Jake and I had a blast in California and are now home trying to get our lives in order. We arrived home to a living room FULL of wedding presents. It was like Christmas!

Times 5.

Seriously it was so much fun opening the gifts and throwing the wrapping paper everywhere and I've never been so excited to receive a vacuum cleaner! Now it's time get our place looking like a home. The kitchen is finally taken care of. Things are put away. Took forever! I'm just dying to put up decorations. I got these fabulous pillows for our couch. Seriously LOVE them.On a last note....I really wish it would stop raining. However....the greenery is very nice looking.

Aunt Heather

Pictures still aren't done. I'm just a little impatient! I got a glimpse of six that he finished and I absolutely loved them! Super cute. I seriously can't wait to see the rest. Jake has moved down here and started his job which so far he is starting to like so I guess that's a good thing! Not I guess....that is a good thing! We have recently been spray painting some furniture black. My pointer finger has never been so sore in it's life! Totally pathetic I know. But seriously. It hurts.
My bridal pictures are this Saturday and I still need to figure out how I am going to wear my veil. And iron it with out melting it because it's a netting veil.

Through out the week certain things will happen that keep reminding me that this is all real and happening in less than a month. Last weekend I was with Jake's family celebrating a birthday. One of his little nephews yelled, "Aunt Heather, Aunt Heather!" and ran towards me to give me a big hug. I'm his favorite and you could say the feeling is mutual. He's hilarious. But it was super weird to hear "Aunt" in front of my name. Super weird.

But so exciting!

Done.

Jake and I finished our last engagement shoot yesterday and we had so. much. fun!

Loved the people I worked with. We got some pretty awesome shots.

And the weather? Can you say B-ea-utiful?! Seriously both Monday and Tuesday were THE perfect days to take pictures. We will receive them next Friday so I gotta be patient. Which I am so not good at. It's something I'm working on no worries.

Getting my nails done with my G-ma for the first time. Doing a pre test before bridal pictures. No fake nails for me though.

Can't handle them.

A good laugh

"I stand in the kitchen and I'm all, "I haven't had enough protein today!" And then I eat 19 spoonfuls of peanut butter. Totally justified."

Saw this on a fellow bloggers page and laughed.

Out loud.

It's pretty much my life right now.

Food is the last thing on my mind right now. I can't even remember the last time I had a vegetable. No bueno. I don't need to loose anymore weight. I get to pick up my wedding dress this Friday which I am sooo excited for! It looks amazing and I just ordered my veil so it should be coming soon. Engagement pictures are this next Monday and Tuesday which I am so looking forward to. Outfits are being chosen as we speak! Jake and I have been doing our registry which I thought would be kinda fun but it's not. Semi. Speaking of registry, I have a funny story. So Jake and I started to do ours online. My mom and I had some time later that week and thought we would just pop down to Bed Bath and Beyond and kinda finish it up in person. So we started scanning things and we run into another couple there scanning as well. The guy looks at me and says "where is your fiance?!" Haha he was not happy that he had to be dragged here when all in all his opinion didn't matter (that's how he felt). We ran into them again as we were leaving and she was looking at some outdoor chairs, while he was passed out on one sleeping.

I had a good laugh.

Oh bother

Jake and I are going through the health insurance process. Lots of paper work to fill out. Every detail of ANY medical whatnot you have been through.

It's a blast.