speaking of Earth Day

first and foremost, if you haven’t already hit up starbucks for some free drip in your travel mug, GO!!!  do it now!  and if you have, well…kudos and GO!!  do it again! you can never have too much free coffee!

as i mentioned before, chris and i are the recycling/conserving type.  be it water or electricity, we like to save.  so when we were at the home & garden show in january, we were both intrigued by a composting system called bokashi.  last week, when we joined the masses for austin’s shredding day, we headed over the farmer’s market at republic park to finally pick up our bokashi bin.

we’re one week in and i LOVE it!!

basically, you put any food scraps in a bin and cover them with bokashi bran which uses fermentation to break break down the food.  the dude told us it wouldn’t stink and he’s right.  the scent reminds me of homebrew, or pizza dough (depending on your hobbies) but it’s not bad, just slightly yeasty.  as the process is going on, the bin system also produces compost tea you can use to water your plants and/or clean your drains.

after the bin is full, we will transfer it to another bucket for two weeks.  then, we can bury it in the yard for a month (at which time the ground will be ready for your plants) or add it to a more traditional composter.

i really love that it gives us a way to use all the food scraps, even meats and oils!  that has always felt like such a waste.   plus, i hated bagging things each time i cooked to help keep our trash can from stinking too quickly.  though we don’t use too many anyhow, we also put paper towels in here and our trash can is filling much more slowly.

which brings me to a side perk. other than doing something positive for the earth, austin will rebate you up to $75 for composting if you watch a video about it online and downgrade your trash bin to 30 gallons.  we’re half-way there.  look at how cute it is!!

if you’re interested to learn more, here’s a link to the company we got ours from.

Posted in austin, firsts | 12 Comments

temptation lurks on the kitchen bar

for the past 10 months or so, i’ve been on a pretty consistent reading kick.  i zoomed through the girl with/who… series by stieg larsson before the wedding, took about a month off and then devoured harry potter during these last few months.  try as i may to be responsible with my time, during books 6 and 7, i know that my bathroom breaks and walks with maggie were getting a little longer than necessary. =P

my completion of the deathly hallows on sunday night came as a bit of relief.  not only was i getting tired of thinking of nothing else but harry’s fate, my case study is due on thursday and i don’t need the distraction.

little did i know what was coming in the mail…

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Posted in being an ant, food, on her nightstand, travels, wine | 4 Comments

stress test

i was feeling a little overwhelmed with my case study the other day.  i mentioned this to my prof in an email and she wrote back telling me that if i were to look at life’s stressors, i’ve hit on a few biggies recently with finishing up school, getting married, moving…  i never thought of it that way and her pointing it out made me feel a little better.  it’s ok and normal to feel overwhelmed sometimes.

so, i took a little break from my writing to take a stress test!! i love online quizzes and taking this little survey definitely took me back to dorm days when we’d take any quiz we could find.  and while i’m not claiming that such quizzes have any validity, they certainly are fun. =)

here’s the scale they gave when i finished.

0-149 Low susceptibility to stress-related illness
150-299 Medium susceptibility to stress-related illness
300 and over High susceptibility to stress-related illness

i came in with Continue reading

Posted in health, life, school | 9 Comments

vday 2011

12 roses
8 courses of yumminess
7 different vinos
3 hours of eating
1 husband to enjoy it with

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Posted in boys, firsts, life | 2 Comments

warming up

i figure since i went public with cries of “cold”, it’s only fair that i share part II of my winter weather woes.

while our prof lost points for making us drive all the way to class when houston, dallas, and san antonio got canceled…she did let us out early to make sure we made it home before the inclement weather began. it would figure that the night i get home early, chris’ night is consumed with a work project.  however, he didn’t hole himself away until he made sure i’d be more than comfortable for the evening.

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Posted in boys, firsts, for the sake of blogging | 2 Comments