Late again! Final May Ratings

     Thank goodness there are no late-fees when it comes to blogging. I'm such a bad procrastinator. So I'm sorry this is late, but here are my final May ratings.

I already gave you a rating for some of these things, so I'll skip those.

Journal.
Nope...This one didn't go over so well. I wrote in my journal about 3 times all month. I did write a seven page letter in the middle of the night last night, though. And it was with my journal, because it was the closest paper around. :) But that doesn't really count. Over all: 2/10

Spend time in the sun.
I don't know how to explain this one. Just as I finished that sentence, my mom asked me to sit on the deck with her. So that has to count for something, eh? ;) Over all: 5/10

Figure this blogging thing out.
I was supposed to send out some emails and stuff to ask for help. Did I do that? Nope. I think I've got a game plan working for this month, though. I just need to see it on paper. Over all: 1/10

So there you have it. I didn't do so well this month. ;)

     I'm not going to do resolutions for June. I've got too much going on, and I'm not sure I'll even be able to do another post this month. Maybe Avery will take over... ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful month!

-Rye

More about May

     This month went by WAY faster than I expected.
     I should have posted this some time last week, but I was incredibly busy, and couldn't find the time. I'm sure you understand. And so...The moment you've probably been dreading all been waiting for...May Check-up! At the beginning of the month, I posted my May resolutions, and told you that I'd be back in a few weeks with a progress report. So here I am. Better late than never, right?

Let's begin:
Garage-sale-ready my room.
Well, since this one is complete, I feel like I can give you the rating now, rather than have you wait another week. I'll give myself a 10/10. I got it all done, with several hours to spare. :)

Journal.
Heh...I've been falling behind on this one. However, I still have a week left to boost my rating. ;)

Spend time in the sun.
I've been doing pretty well with this one. I accidentally spent a little TOO much time in the sun while I was at the River Roots Festival. I should have heeded the warning, "Better watch out! Those UVB rays'll getcha!" Yeah...They got me...I'm peeling, now. I also got some tanning lotion. That was a mistake. I'm very streaky now. Whoops. Live and learn.

Finish School.
Just finished today, ThankYouVeryMuch.

Figure out this blogging thing.
Woah...I actually forgot about this one. I seriously haven't thought about this resolution one single time since I last posted. Well...Better late than never? o:-)

And that's the end of that. So now I know what I need to work on...Haha.

     Here are some of the highlights from this month, though.
I stayed with Avery's family for five whole days. That was an adventure. Here we are, on our way to the mall.

     We also had a ton of fun at the aforementioned River Roots Festival. We got to see The Vespers LIVE! That was super exciting. And we accidentally met Phoebe Cryar-Deffenbaugh (one of the members of The Vespers) on the shore. We were just wandering around, killing time, when here she comes, down the hill. It took us about 15 minutes to work up the courage to go and introduce ourselves. But we did. After their performance, it started pouring down rain, and we parked a ridiculous distance away, which meant that we got soaked to the bone. So here we are, soaked, hungry, and lost. Not really lost. Just a bit turned around. 

This is probably one of the most ridiculous photos I've ever seen in my life. It's quite the change from the last picture. I'm sorry. You're probably scarred for life, now.

     So there you have it. That is my May Check-Up and then some. You're welcome. 

     Before I forget, here's something completely unrelated. There was a huge tornado that went through Moore, Oklahoma earlier this week. Several lives were lost, and an enormous amount of damage was done. To help the victims of this tragedy, my brother compiled an album that went live on NoiseTrade today. All proceeds go to help rebuild Moore. Here's the link where you can get more information and download the album. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you, Moore.

     I hope to see you all back again next week for my final ratings, and some June resolutions. And you should all spam Avery's facebook and twitter and tell her to start blogging. :)

-Moriah

All About May

     Avery has been out of town a lot lately, and hasn't had the chance to blog at all. She should be starting pretty soon, but in the mean time, you'll have to settle for another post from me. ;)


     I'm very excited to start doing Monthly Resolutions. I first heard of it over at She Learns As She Goes, a blog by Kelli Taylor, from Blimey Cow. If you guys haven't heard of Blimey Cow, you haven't lived. Seriously. It's a youtube channel that two homeschooled brothers started in 2007. They make some of the best youtube videos I've ever seen. Even their really old ones are great! Go check them out. They're just getting ready to start their podcast. A lot of exciting things are happening to them! So, Kelli is part of Blimey Cow. She has a blog. She does Monthly Resolutions. And all that to say, I'm going to do some May Resolutions. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. It's already May 3rd. I don't really care. It's never too late to start.
     Here's what my Monthly Resolutions are going to look like: Each month, starting today, I'll post a few things that I would like to accomplish that month. Half way through the month, I'll do a check up. I'll see how I'm doing, and get back on track with whatever has fallen by the wayside. At the end of the month, I'll give you a full report on how I did that month. I'll rate myself from 1-10, 1 being Oops...I didn't even start that... and 10 being I finished, and I finished well! Got it? Good. Let's get started.

Garage-sale-ready my room

This is probably the biggest one this month. Here's the thing...We're having a garage sale...Tomorrow. I haven't even started cleaning my room out. I have a ton of clothes and books and trinkets that I know need to go into the sale. So I need to do that...Today. Every time think of starting, I always say to myself, "I've got time." That made me sound like Mr. Incredible. But really, that's what happens. And to top it all off, I have to do this before I go to work tonight. By the time I post this, I'll probably have a total of six hours to clean out my room. I can do it, though. Maybe.

Journal

This one is pretty self explanatory. I used to journal all the time. Now I don't. I need to get back into it. It really kept me on track with my relationship with Christ, and helped me organize my thoughts by writing them down.

Spend time in the sun

I was on the porch with my mom yesterday, and I noticed how blindingly pale I am. It's that time of year again. The time of year when you get to blind everyone with your winter skin. May is such a great month for this, though. It isn't scalding hot out. It's not too humid, yet. So it will actually be enjoyable to be outside.

Finish School

I have ONE subject left to finish. One. I want to finish by May 21st. I think I can, I think I can.

Figure out this blogging thing

Blogging is new to both of us. We still aren't sure of the best way to set up our blog. We have a lot of questions. I'm going to be contacting a lot of people this month to see if they can give us some ideas and help us kick things into gear.

     This is going to be a great month. I'm looking forward to so many things. Avery and I are going to a concert in a few weeks, I'll be staying with her family for several days this month (YAY!), and I get to see our yearbook soon! (I can't wait to be able to hold our hard work in my hands. I'm so ready to see it. I just got a message telling me that it shipped! Woohoo!) So stay tuned to hear about our big adventures this month.

     Here I go...off to clean out my room. If no one hears from me in 4 hours, send in reinforcements.

-Moriah

Detoxing is no Joke

     I've been procrastinating on writing this post all day. I know it must be done, so here it goes...

     I. Failed.

     Yep. I said it. I failed my detox. Don't get me wrong. I really did give it a try! Let me walk you through what happened this weekend.

     Day one. Friday. I woke up totally ready to get started. The night before, I had made the mistake of going to bed really hungry. So in turn, I woke up famished. But I was okay with that. I drank my green tea and chatted with my mom while she ate her own breakfast. I got out all my fruits and veggies for the breakfast smoothie, and went about making it. It was really pretty. Both before and after I blended it. 

     It didn't taste that bad either, which is always a plus. I drank it, was pretty happy for about a half an hour. Then...I got super hungry. Which wasn't good because, obviously, it wasn't a meal time. So I ignored my hunger and moved on with my day until lunch. This time, the smoothie had an even more vibrant color and smelled amazing.

     Not bad, eh? I liked it a lot. I just couldn't finish it. I put the left overs in the fridge, and was content for...you guessed it! 30 minutes. I was hungry, but definitely NOT in the mood for more smoothies. I wanted to chew something. I don't want my food coming through a straw. That's a little weird to me. So, once again, I ignored my hunger and moved on with my day. I started getting ready for work, since I would be working during dinner time, I made my dinner smoothie  and tried to be positive. (Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of my dinner smoothie. It was a darker green than the lunch one, with specs of blue from the blueberries. It was really huge, too.)

     I work in a health food store/cafe, and I was serving dinner on Friday night. The food there is always amazing, and always smells so good. I wasn't going to complain, though, as I quietly slurped on my dinner smoothie while I sat with two of my friends (who thought I was crazy). Even after I ate that smoothie, I was still SO HUNGRY. I think at this point, a lot of my hunger had something to do with my cravings that weren't being satisfied. I mostly wanted carbs. Crackers. Toast. Just...Carbs. I finished my shift, and drove home. As I walked through the door, I swayed and almost passed out. I was THAT hungry.

     That was my wake-up call, I think. It was then that I realized that I. Was. Done. I felt as if I was risking my health more than helping it.

    A lot of things happened that night after I got home, that I'm not exactly sure where to start. It's kind of a blur. I remember my family asking me how my day was, me saying that I was starving. I remember that my eyes started burning, and I got up to get a tissue, and I couldn't quite reach the tissue box that was right in front of me. I thought this was hilarious and I fell on the floor laughing. I think my family thought I had gone crazy. I don't know what caused this, exactly, but I suspect it was from the detox. I'm not usually like that. I don't just lose control and just start laughing. And the hysteria was gone just as quickly as it had come. (It came back a little while later, while I was trying to tell a story, and it took me a long time to get through the telling.) I told everyone how hungry I was, and they talked me into eating some Nut Thin crackers. I didn't want to eat any, because then I'd be admitting defeat. But I knew I needed to. So I did. And it was worth it.

     Day two. Saturday. I had to go to work early in the morning, and I worked late the night before, so I didn't get a ton of sleep. I was way to tired to wake up early enough to make a smoothie. I mean...It's an involved process. So instead, I had leftover pancakes. Yikes. Epic fail. On the up side, there was no sugar in them. They were made with honey. So at least that was good... For the rest of the day, I just ate like normal. I had quiona chili for lunch (I skipped the bread, thank you very much), and vegetable lasagna for dinner. I noticed no change in my skin that day, so I was getting a little bit worried. I knew that it would have been my own fault if my eczema didn't clear up. I wasn't afraid to take the blame. But I was a little discouraged.

     Day three. Sunday. I woke up for church, and again had leftover pancakes. There were a lot leftover. But that was totally okay, because they were delicious. We had a pitch-in lunch at church, and because of my food allergies, there wasn't a whole lot I could eat. Even my mom put corn in her dish. :) I had my Aunt's salad, and some lemon-blueberry cake that I had made. Needless to say, I went home very hungry. (Rabbit hole: Wow. I was hungry a lot this weekend...It feels weird to talk about it like this...I feel a little selfish. That's all.) When I got home, I made some tuna with soy-free Vegenaise and ate it with Nut Thins. And then I had to go to work... Again. I spent a lot of time there this weekend. But this time, I wasn't working. I was just going in for mandatory employee training. I'm sure you wanted to know that. You're welcome. ;) For dinner I had a veggie burger (made out of mushrooms) with avocado and tomatoes. And that, ladies and gents, was the end of my "detox" weekend.

     However, what I didn't tell you was that I woke up on Sunday with no itchiness in my hands, fingers, or wrists. The redness was starting to fade, and there were no nasty bumps. Now, on Monday, April 22, 2013, all I have left of my eczema is some cracked skin that is healing a little more with each application of aloe and lotion. I no longer feel like I'm going to scratch my hands off my arms. (Too much? Sorry.)

     I learned a lot from this experience. I learned that detoxing is no joke. I learned that detoxing is not for the faint of heart. I learned that one day of detoxing helped in extreme ways, and I can only imagine what it would have done with three days. I also learned that I really like food. So even though I failed in my three day detox, I still got the results I wanted from just one day. I'd say that's pretty good.

     I'm thankful for the results I got, but unless I'm in dire need, I don't think I'll ever do this again. ;)

     Thank you all for your love and support through this weekend. It really meant a lot to me. Even though I didn't do very well, I was glad to know that people cared. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go eat some leftover raspberries that were never tossed into the blender. ;)

-Moriah

Ps. How did Daniel do it? (Daniel 1:8-16)

It's Official...I've Gone Insane

     I grew up with a lot of food allergies. I was born with allergies to dairy, corn, peanuts, beef, and eggs. I've grown out of the beef, eggs, and most recent, dairy (that one was just about two months ago). And if you didn't know...Corn is in EVERYTHING! Like...everything. There are even hidden names for it, like malt and maltodextrin. 
     When I was 11 years old, I went to an allergist who told me that I had outgrown ALL of my allergies. I knew this was NOT true, because anytime I accidentally ate or touched dairy, I would get hives. We proved that to her by putting peanut butter and chocolate milk on my arm. For the test, it was supposed to be on my arm for 15 minutes. They had to stop the test at five minutes because my reaction was so bad. Hives were covering my whole arm, all the way up to my shoulder and neck. That was an adventure.
     Those were the only two allergies I was okay to "keep". My allergies to beef, eggs, and corn were the ones I readily gave up. After all, who wants to sit around eating a plain chicken burger with no bun while everyone else is having beef on a corn-and-egg-filled bun, with corn-and-egg-filled condiments? Thankfully, I had actually grown out of the beef and egg allergies. The corn...Not so much. Regardless, I ate corn for three years. I was desperate to appear "normal". However, during this time, my eczema grew out of control and spread like wildfire. EVERYWHERE. The most noticeable was my hands. I had terrible dry, red, itchy patches all over my hands. It was so embarrassing. Eventually, I became so miserable that I was ready to give up corn. (Rabbit trail: Before I cut corn, I fount out that Sodium Laurel Sulfates caused around 40% of my eczema. I now use sulfate-free soaps and shampoo. I have to carry my own soap in my purse wherever I go, or I'll get a flair up. End of rabbit trail.) Sometimes, though, (because corn is in EVERYTHING) it accidentally sneaks into my diet, undetected. It's always a horrible experience, and takes weeks to get out of my system.
     Phew! Anyway...All this to say: I've accidentally had some corn in the past few days. Big oops. I can't seem to trace it back, but whatever it was...I'm mad at it. My hands have been torture for the past week. They itch soooo badly. They have ugly red patches. (Mostly only I can see them right now, because it isn't that bad yet. I'm kind of self conscious about it, though...) I've tried to nip it in the bud with some cortisone cream, but it just isn't cutting it. It takes the edge off the itch, but it isn't helping to take it away. So I've decided to take drastic measures. I'm starting a detox juice cleanse tomorrow morning. And so this brings us to the title of today's post...I'm insane. Not really, though. I just feel like it. I've seen a lot of people posting about their juice cleanses, and Avery and her mom just went through one. The owner of the local health food store (where I just happen to work) just did one. I guess it's my turn. I've decided to follow this detox plan (I found it on Pinterest. Shocking, right?) from Doctor Oz. I don't usually follow/agree with everything he puts out there, but this seemed like my kind of plan. It only takes three days, and all of the smoothies look pretty good. My mom and I went raw a few summers ago (we have since stopped), and I got a little burnt out on smoothies. But hopefully these will refresh my smoothie palate. Frankly, I'm desperate. I'm totally okay with doing this. I went shopping today to get all of the ingredients I needed, and as I was shopping, I was getting excited about it. So. Tomorrow marks the start of my very first detox cleanse. I'm sure I'll be documenting and posting pictures along the way, so stay tuned. Let's get started...

-Moriah

And so it begins...

     I've been thinking about starting a blog for about a year. The idea has slowly been snowballing, and is now a reality. I'm SO glad Avery has decided to come along on this journey with me. And we welcome you to our adventure, as well! We can't wait to see what God has in store for us and this blog, but whatever it is, it's got to be good. So hop on the Necessity's Memoirs train and enjoy the ride!

     This blog will be a tag-team mash-up of our lives, crafts, food, Jesus, and maybe in a few months, we'll even dig into some book reviews. I'm so looking forward to everything that is in store. Whether we're great friends and have known each other for years, or even if we've never met, I hope this blog will be a blessing to everyone who reads.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

Ecclesiastes 4:8-10