Christmas Gifts for the Dogs

11/28/2015

Every year I do a little something to include my dogs in the holiday; Holidays are about family, and our dogs are a cherished part of our family! This year our family will grow by one, we are expecting our daughter to be here anytime now. With a new addition to the family that will take a lot of attention I went ALL out on the dogs!

I was originally planning on just getting the dogs a couple more expensive chews that they don't get often like pig ears, duck feet, cow ears, paragon dental chews, etc, two or three new toys, and some dentastix... then I found this website. This website has things MUCH cheaper than you can find either in store or at amazon, their clearance under $4 section is HUGE!

CART ITEMS	QTY	Price	Retail
Furry Ball Squeaky Dog Toy	1	0.98	4
American Farms Individual Smoked Pig Ear Dog Trea	2	1.27	1.89
Cadet 10 Pack 10" Rawhide Twist Sticks	10	1.69	8.78
Dura Fused Fox Leather Dog Toy	2	3.07	5.38
Dura Fused Raccoon Leather Dog Toy	2	3.07	6.39
Cow Hooves All Natural	2	0.63	0.99
Grriggles Bolt Buddies Small Green Dog Toy	1	2.17	9.65
Multipet Mossy Oak Holiday Duck 6 Inch Dog Dog Toy	1	2.5	6
Multipet Weavie Wonders Assorted Dog Toy	1	3.97	11.33
Old Mother Hubbard Mini P-Nuttier Dog Biscuit Treats 5oz	1	2.16	4.79
Outward Hound Bottle Buddies Cow Water Bottle Toy	1	4	4.94
Outward Hound Mini Invincible Hedgehog Dog Toy	1	2.51	3.99
Chicken Feet	2	0.51	0.73
Duck Feet All Natural	4	0.51	0.73
Cow Ear	20	0.97	0.99
Lamb Ear	10	0.63	0.71
Smokehouse 6 Pack Beef Recipe Rolls	2	2.06	5.93
Canvas Pawprint Fetch Toy	2	1	3.83
Zippy Paws Deluxe Water Bottle Crusherz Dolphin Toy	1	3.71	5.99
Zippy Paws Jigglerz Jr Bunny - Shake Squeak N Crackle Toy	1	3.71	6.72
Zukes Mini Naturals Pork Dog Treats	1	2.61	4.79
Zukes Mini Naturals Wild Rabbit Dog Treats	2	2.61	2.74
Zukes Skinny Bakes Yogurt Honey 2	1	3.15	4.99
Zukes Skinny Bakes Yogurt Vanilla	1	3.15	6.28

My total:

$107.70 USD

Retail:

$246.85 USD

Savings:

$139.15 USD

 Originally I had planned on just getting enough to fill the dogs stockings, one for Nina and one for Shadow, but the website I ordered off of offers free shipping for orders over $99 and once I hit $68 I wanted the free shipping!

The cost for what I originally planned to buy off Amazon was around $69. I spent $39 more than originally planned and got: 11 extra toys, 4 extra bags of treats, 12 extra packs of chews, 20 extra treats (ears, hooves, feet).

I'll admit, I went a little overboard... but with the new baby on the way I wanted plenty of distractions for the pooches and I don't think I'll be buying anymore toys until next Christmas!


According to Huffingtonpost over half of all pet owners buy Christmas gifts for their pets, spending on average $46. The article isn't very clear on whether that $46 is per pet or all inclusive.

TheDailyMail's said that 95% of those surveyed by Rover admitted to buying their pets gifts, spending on average $36 per pet.

... yes, I went over at $54 per dog but with the baby coming they should have extra distractions gifts this year!


NOTE: This is NOT a recommendation for that website, I am not affiliated with them in any way and I JUST placed my order with them for the first time. I will update this post with a review once I get my items but I have not used them before so please don't take this post as me recommending them just yet!

Natural Ways to Induce Labor

11/20/2015

I am 38 weeks pregnant tomorrow and I'm ready for her to be here.

I've had a fairly easy pregnancy until recently, now my stomach is just too big and its really painful for the stretching as she is getting bigger and bigger in there. Her health is obviously paramount, but at this point everything points towards her being healthy if she is born... therefore I'm ready to evict her!

There are many natural ways that are suggested to be effective at inducing labor, many are probably wives tales but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try a couple.






Natural Ways to Induce Labor

• Walking
• Dancing
• Bouncing on a Yoga Ball
• Sex (Orgasms AND male semen)
• Eating a LOT of Pineapple
• Raspberry Leaf Tea
• Cohosh (wouldn't recommend this one)
• Nipple Stimulation
• Massage
• Acupuncture/Acupressure
• Spicy Foods
• Evening Primrose Oil
• Castor Oil   (wouldn't recommend this one)

I personally have tried a couple of the above methods and am so far pregnant and as far as I can tell not in labor, although I do think she has dropped down some more. I've tried walking, bouncing, sex, nipple stimulation, and acupressure.

Some women swear by these methods so I'm not sure if it is just that I am not doing them long enough, if they only work for some women, etc. I'm going to continue trying these methods and hopefully we will be greeting a healthy beautiful baby girl soon!

Have any of you tried any of these methods? If you have do you think they worked/helped?

November Ipsy Bag

11/20/2015

Sometime in September I signed up for Ipsy, a beauty subscription service. Ipsy is $10 a month and sends out a package once a month with some beauty samples including makeup, nail polish, skin care, makeup tools, and I believe sometimes even perfume.

This is my first Ipsy bag. When you sign up for Ipsy it is a rather aggravating process, you get put on a waitlist and repeatedly emailed about sharing about Ipsy on your social media accounts in order to skip the wait. I opted not to share their posts to skip the wait since I didn't want to endorse a product/service that I haven't even tried.

Here is what I got in my November Ipsy bag:

Every month Ipsy sends a bag with 5 deluxe size samples or full sized products. This month the Ipsy bag is space themed, and in my opinion ugly!

This month included in the bag was:

• Tucker Ashley Moisturizer
• Sinful Colors Nail Polish (full sized)
• Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara
• Trestique Lip Crayon
• Beaute Basics Eye Crayon

Out of those 5 products I'm only familiar with 2 of the brands: Sinful and Smashbox.

Smashbox is a better beauty brand, but the product included in the bag isn't one of their best items.

Sinful Nail Polish was the only full sized product in the bag. I do like the colors that Sinful puts out, but I'm not a huge nail polish fan and this isn't the best nail polish anyway. I have seen these nail polishes on sale for either $1 or $1.99.

Tucker Ashley Moisturizer is a product that I actually like. The moisturizer doesn't make your face oily at all, but provides some nourishment/moisture to your skin. There is no scent in the product.

The Trestique Lip Crayon is my favorite product in the bag, because it is something new; I've never tried a lip crayon before but think it might be one of my favorite beauty products once I find the right color/brand. I do like this but it isn't a color I'd buy on my own, and I also feel like there are probably better brands/formulas.

The Beaute Basics Eye Crayon came in a lovely gold color, when I first got it I didn't think it would compliment my lighter skin tone but upon trying it on I have to say that I think this color actually would look good on women of ANY skin tone! I was happy with the color but I'm not a fan of eye crayons personally and would never buy them on my own, as they aren't the best to apply.

I have to admit, getting the Ipsy bag in the mail with no idea what is inside is exciting... but I'm not sure if it is worth it or not. Over the course of a year the Ipsy subscription is $120; I know many women who drop $120 in a single shopping trip on makeup, I'm not one of them though. Ipsy is supposed to pick your products around a quiz you take about your beauty style and based on reviews you leave. I made sure to review every product on the website so that hopefully next month and going forward I won't get anymore nail polishes (rarely use them) or eye crayons! I am planning on trying Ipsy out for a few months and we will see how it goes!

Homemade Beeswax Candle

11/13/2015

Conventional store bought candles contain all kinds of toxins. I could write about it and explain how bad they are/what is in them, but that has already been done. If you want to read all about what is in your store bought candles then you can read about that here and here. The bottom line of store bought candles is they are NOT good for you or your family, even soy/beeswax store bought ones often contain paraffin or "fragrance".

I bought my first essential oils about a year ago, smelled them and barely used them. I was going to make my own laundry soap and cleaners, but wasn't happy with the results for either so went back to store bought green/healthier brands. Months ago we began using the essential oils in our humidifier, but only the lavender, eucalyptus, or peppermint as those are great for respiration/immune system. Within the last month I made a oil rub for my husband when he was getting sick, something that helped him! I'm a big fan of essential oils, as they are a natural fragrance with health benefits!

When I found out how bad the conventional candles are I decided I didn't want to buy any anymore. I started looking on Etsy for beeswax candles but found them to both be expensive, and have questionable ingredients at times. Instead of spending $11 plus per candle I decided to try my hand at making my own.

Here is a picture of the candle as it was cooling. I reused an empty candle jar I had. The candle smells AMAZING. I used 30 drops of essential oils (a mix), and it is 1/2 beeswax 1/2 coconut oil. The only problem with the candle is the wick, I opted for a hemp wick and the wick is too small so I need a bigger wick or to put a couple of wicks in. 

$40 Grocery Trip

11/08/2015

I want to start this post by pointing out that the title on this one says trip, not haul. I was proud of myself when I did the large $50 grocery hauls, but those are TOTALLY dependent on me finding managers specials, good sales, and being flexible with my purchases.

The last two weeks I didn't even post my hauls because I went over budget. This week I will go over once I finish my shopping, I'm going again on Wednesday for double ad day at Knights (a great place to buy meat).

This week my most expensive purchase was organic salad, We paid $5.99 for a big tub. Normally we pay $1.99 for the big tub on the sell by date (usually is good for days to a week after this date), but today there were none on managers special. I could have also saved money by buying the salad loose rather than packaged, that would have saved 50%.

This trip was one of my worst IMO. I got 22 items for $40, but most of those items are snacks or only one part of a meal...

I decided to do a blog about this trip because I'm really trying to come up with the appropriate budget for our needs. I'm just not sure my last goal of $50 a week or $200 a month is sustainable, because that figure depends on finding good deals, and sometimes we can't! I also need to come up with a budget for non food items that some people include in their grocery budget but up til this point we have kept separate.

A good reason NOT to rake your leaves!

11/02/2015

One of my friends, the director of the animal rescue I volunteer for shared a post on facebook today I wanted to share with ya'll. It is a great reason NOT to rake!

Don't rake your leaves, scientists say

USA TODAY NETWORKDan Cassuto, KING9:32 a.m. EST November 19, 2014

(Photo: KING)

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SEATTLE, Wash. -- Here's an excuse to use the next time someone asks you to rake the leaves: Science.

The National Wildlife Federation is encouraging people to leave the leaves.

On its website, the NWF says dry, dead leaves are important habitats for all kinds of critters, reports KING.

Butterflies, salamanders, chipmunks, box turtles, toads, shrews, earthworms, and other creatures live, lay eggs in or eat from leaves, according to NWF's plea with the public to let the leaves stay where gravity left them.

"I care about the lifer cycle of all the insects that live in my yard," said Sarah Moore of the Pacific Science Center's indoor butterfly garden. "I want to be a habitat."

Butterflies begin in leaves as larvae.Moore says she never rakes her leaves at home.

Another scientist at the University of Washington Arboretum says he rarely rakes.

"It changes the habitat," said Randall Hitchin, who showed us all the insects that live in a pile of leaves. "It makes it unfriendly for them."