Hey readers!
As mentioned in previous posts, I am currently taking classes to teach gifted students. For one class, I was assigned the task of creating a presentation to share with my fellow teachers informing them on the essential needs of our gifted population. Now I'm thinking I'll just share it with the world! Let me know what you think. :)
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
No Shampoo Week One Wrap-up
As you may recall, week one ended on Saturday...but so did the due date for an assignment in the Monday night tortu--class I'm taking. But I'm sure you'll forgive me and read my update anyway, right?
The good news is that washing with baking soda and conditioning with apple cider vinegar doesn't leave my hair smelly. Actually, my hair has never had such an absence of scent. It's just clean and scentless. The first couple washes I definitely overdid the vinegar because my hair felt a bit oily, but by the third wash I'd figured out to only dip the ends of my hair into the vinegar mixture.
The best way I can describe my hair so far is thick. It's like every strand has been thickened. The pro of this thickness is my hair looks healthier. The con is that my hair is WILD while it dries. Once it's dry I've been smoothing the oh-so-tiniest dab of coconut oil on the ends to calm it down. All the blogs I've read about this process say there is a 3-4 wash honeymoon phase and then a terrible transitioning period. I'd say I'm there. Last Tuesday I was ready to call everyone in my phone book and sing the praises of leaving shampoo. My hair was softer, shinier, and I was in love. Now, my hair is a little..weird. Like in The Vow when the girl says her hair is weird. That's my hair. It gets strange waves after I straighten it, it won't lay smooth when I twist my bangs back, and it sticks out in a million directions in a ponytail. But I'm not giving up!
Hopefully I'm in the worst of the no shampoo process. If not, don't judge my bad hair month.
Until next time,
Stephanie
The good news is that washing with baking soda and conditioning with apple cider vinegar doesn't leave my hair smelly. Actually, my hair has never had such an absence of scent. It's just clean and scentless. The first couple washes I definitely overdid the vinegar because my hair felt a bit oily, but by the third wash I'd figured out to only dip the ends of my hair into the vinegar mixture.
The best way I can describe my hair so far is thick. It's like every strand has been thickened. The pro of this thickness is my hair looks healthier. The con is that my hair is WILD while it dries. Once it's dry I've been smoothing the oh-so-tiniest dab of coconut oil on the ends to calm it down. All the blogs I've read about this process say there is a 3-4 wash honeymoon phase and then a terrible transitioning period. I'd say I'm there. Last Tuesday I was ready to call everyone in my phone book and sing the praises of leaving shampoo. My hair was softer, shinier, and I was in love. Now, my hair is a little..weird. Like in The Vow when the girl says her hair is weird. That's my hair. It gets strange waves after I straighten it, it won't lay smooth when I twist my bangs back, and it sticks out in a million directions in a ponytail. But I'm not giving up!
Hopefully I'm in the worst of the no shampoo process. If not, don't judge my bad hair month.
Until next time,
Stephanie
Saturday, February 1, 2014
No Shampoo February
I know the name doesn't really "go", but September and November are both too far away to wait for one. Either way, I'm trying this "no shampoo" thing. It all started when a friend on facebook posted this. In this trend, people are swapping out shampoo for a baking soda paste and replacing conditioner with an apple cider vinegar rinse.
Basically, the idea is to get your hair to stop overproducing oil which is what its taught to do when we strip it with regular shampoo. The blog claims that when you stop stripping your hair and then pumping it full of conditioner, your hair will reach a natural balance itself which removes the need to keep up the constant shampoo and conditioner cycle. My first reaction was, "Gross! How can anyone who has an active lifestyle get away with this?" so I did more research. It turns out that several ladies who work out on the regular are also living the no shampoo dream. For instance, this girl did Insanity while only rinsing with baking soda and apple cider vinegar and she swears it did the trick. I'm becoming convinced. After all, baking soda is used to deodorize carpets and refrigerators.
Bloggers also claim that once your hair reaches its natural balance and is left alone to do its thing, it starts to grow like mad! I'm trying it! I'm not someone who is terrified about the health ramifications of shampoo or the environmental impact my six bottles of shampoo a year will cause, but I am someone with annoyingly weird hair that refuses to grow. I started straightening my naturally curly/wavy hair when I was thirteen. At that age, I didn't really think about the damage I was doing, so I didn't use a serum and didn't always wait for my hair to be perfectly dry before using the iron. To make things worse, I started dying my hair light blonde (instead of my natural dirty blonde) when I was around eighteen. All that plus a few rotten haircuts have left me where I am: split ends, "ombre" hair (because I've been trying to grow out my natural color for a year), and the same length because its too unhealthy to grow long.
My hope is that once I get my hair back to a healthy balance, I can keep trimming the ends and actually see growth. I really want long hair for my wedding!
I'll update you once a week to let you know how it's going.
-Stephaie
Basically, the idea is to get your hair to stop overproducing oil which is what its taught to do when we strip it with regular shampoo. The blog claims that when you stop stripping your hair and then pumping it full of conditioner, your hair will reach a natural balance itself which removes the need to keep up the constant shampoo and conditioner cycle. My first reaction was, "Gross! How can anyone who has an active lifestyle get away with this?" so I did more research. It turns out that several ladies who work out on the regular are also living the no shampoo dream. For instance, this girl did Insanity while only rinsing with baking soda and apple cider vinegar and she swears it did the trick. I'm becoming convinced. After all, baking soda is used to deodorize carpets and refrigerators.
Bloggers also claim that once your hair reaches its natural balance and is left alone to do its thing, it starts to grow like mad! I'm trying it! I'm not someone who is terrified about the health ramifications of shampoo or the environmental impact my six bottles of shampoo a year will cause, but I am someone with annoyingly weird hair that refuses to grow. I started straightening my naturally curly/wavy hair when I was thirteen. At that age, I didn't really think about the damage I was doing, so I didn't use a serum and didn't always wait for my hair to be perfectly dry before using the iron. To make things worse, I started dying my hair light blonde (instead of my natural dirty blonde) when I was around eighteen. All that plus a few rotten haircuts have left me where I am: split ends, "ombre" hair (because I've been trying to grow out my natural color for a year), and the same length because its too unhealthy to grow long.
My hope is that once I get my hair back to a healthy balance, I can keep trimming the ends and actually see growth. I really want long hair for my wedding!
I'll update you once a week to let you know how it's going.
-Stephaie
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Work-With-What-You've-Got Granola
I've felt like making granola ever since my future sister-in-law, Lucy, showed me pictures of the granola she made. It looked so golden, crunchy, and wholesome that I've been craving it without even knowing what it tastes like! So I did what any good baker would do: I found a recipe and then completely changed it so that I could use the ingredients I already had at home. Here is my own version of a few different recipes with what I have.
Healthy Homemade Granola
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Baking time: around 15 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups of old fashioned oats
1/3 cup raw seeds (I used sunflower)
2 tsp of cinnamon
3 tbsp of maple syrup
2 tbsp coconut oil
½ tsp vanilla extract a nice pinch of sea salt
Preheat the oven to 300. Combine all the ingredients in a medium/large bowl (I used my hands). Make sure you don’t have any clumps of coconut oil in there if you’re working in a cool room. Spread the mixture thinly and evenly on a baking sheet. Then, bake the mix for 12 minutes, remove and stir, and then give it another 3-5 minutes. The mixture won’t be perfectly crunchy at first, but if it’s a nice golden color then it’s done. Cool the granola on a wire rack and give it a stir every 5 minutes until it’s completely cool. Then, store the granola in a cool place in an airtight container for up to two weeks!
For my second batch, because I was having so much fun, I eliminated the vanilla and cinnamon, and added chopped dried cranberries instead. So yummy!
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Until next time!
Stephanie
Healthy Homemade Granola
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Baking time: around 15 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups of old fashioned oats
1/3 cup raw seeds (I used sunflower)
2 tsp of cinnamon
3 tbsp of maple syrup
2 tbsp coconut oil
½ tsp vanilla extract a nice pinch of sea salt
Preheat the oven to 300. Combine all the ingredients in a medium/large bowl (I used my hands). Make sure you don’t have any clumps of coconut oil in there if you’re working in a cool room. Spread the mixture thinly and evenly on a baking sheet. Then, bake the mix for 12 minutes, remove and stir, and then give it another 3-5 minutes. The mixture won’t be perfectly crunchy at first, but if it’s a nice golden color then it’s done. Cool the granola on a wire rack and give it a stir every 5 minutes until it’s completely cool. Then, store the granola in a cool place in an airtight container for up to two weeks!
For my second batch, because I was having so much fun, I eliminated the vanilla and cinnamon, and added chopped dried cranberries instead. So yummy!
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Until next time!
Stephanie
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Engagement Session
Before I talk about wedding planning, here's a little teaser preview of our engagement photos. Click to view the full size. I know I said this before, but next time I'll write about my wedding plans. Enjoy!
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From English to Pscyhology
First off, I'd like to say "Hello" and "thanks!" to anyone who followed my Pinterest account to this page. It's so exciting to get notifications on my phone that people are repinning my blog images and then visiting my blog. Wonderful!
This week has been really hectic for me. In fact, all three weeks since going back to work from Winter Break have felt that way. All of my classes have been starting new units. My 7th grade language arts students are analyzing theme in poetry; my 6th grade gifted elective students are being introduced to mystery writing, and my 7th-8th grade combined gifted elective students are starting Psychology. That's right: Psychology.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "Didn't you go to school to teach English? Isn't that what you're certified in?" Well, yes, 100%. However, any public school teacher can tell you that it's totally normal to be asked to take on a class out of your comfort zone. It's also a bit of job security if no one else can teach that subject. So I've been spending my Monday evenings taking a four-hours-a-week-for-the-foreseeable-future class to gain my certification in Gifted Education. While planning a wedding. While trying to learn about Psychology so I can teach it. This may sound like complaining, so let me clarify that I'm having a blast teaching these kids! I'm also loving the chance to learn about things outside of my field. Here are some projects we've done so far. I didn't come up with these ideas myself, so I'll add the link to take you to the true mastermind.
This first picture is of a white board display my students put together. I divided the class into groups of 5 and gave each a two page summary of a certain function or part of the brain. They had to read, decide what was the most important information, and then make a poster to teach the class. We did this after going over the main parts of the brain together.
This next picture is one of the most fun things I've done in Psychology so far: Brain Hats! I found this idea online and was hesitant to try it. With middle school students, it's basically a hit ("We love this! This is awesome") or a complete miss ("This is soooo dumb and there's NO WAY I'm making that!"). This was a hit. Several of the students decided to wear them the rest of the day, or at least until they were told that even brain hats are out of dress code. http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/homeschool-freedownloads/lifesciences-games/documents/BrainHatColor.pdf
My next post will be about the totally stress-free wedding planning I'm enjoying...so check back soon!
Until next time!
Stephanie
This week has been really hectic for me. In fact, all three weeks since going back to work from Winter Break have felt that way. All of my classes have been starting new units. My 7th grade language arts students are analyzing theme in poetry; my 6th grade gifted elective students are being introduced to mystery writing, and my 7th-8th grade combined gifted elective students are starting Psychology. That's right: Psychology.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "Didn't you go to school to teach English? Isn't that what you're certified in?" Well, yes, 100%. However, any public school teacher can tell you that it's totally normal to be asked to take on a class out of your comfort zone. It's also a bit of job security if no one else can teach that subject. So I've been spending my Monday evenings taking a four-hours-a-week-for-the-foreseeable-future class to gain my certification in Gifted Education. While planning a wedding. While trying to learn about Psychology so I can teach it. This may sound like complaining, so let me clarify that I'm having a blast teaching these kids! I'm also loving the chance to learn about things outside of my field. Here are some projects we've done so far. I didn't come up with these ideas myself, so I'll add the link to take you to the true mastermind.
This first picture is of a white board display my students put together. I divided the class into groups of 5 and gave each a two page summary of a certain function or part of the brain. They had to read, decide what was the most important information, and then make a poster to teach the class. We did this after going over the main parts of the brain together.
This next picture is one of the most fun things I've done in Psychology so far: Brain Hats! I found this idea online and was hesitant to try it. With middle school students, it's basically a hit ("We love this! This is awesome") or a complete miss ("This is soooo dumb and there's NO WAY I'm making that!"). This was a hit. Several of the students decided to wear them the rest of the day, or at least until they were told that even brain hats are out of dress code. http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/homeschool-freedownloads/lifesciences-games/documents/BrainHatColor.pdf
My next post will be about the totally stress-free wedding planning I'm enjoying...so check back soon!
Until next time!
Stephanie
Sunday, December 8, 2013
I'm Getting Married!!!
I've always known I wanted to get married and be someone's wife. When I met Dan, I knew pretty fast that I wanted to be HIS wife. Here's my precious love story about how the man of my dreams proposed.
Dan and I have been together for almost nine months. From the start, something was different about my relationship with him. I had dated before, sure, but I had never felt like THIS. I had never told someone I loved them, but within the first month of our relationship, I found myself returning the words, "I love you!" and meaning them with all my heart.
Knowing that I loved Dan and he loved me, I didn't really doubt we were going to get married. The timing, on the other hand, was a big question for me. I had no idea when, where, or how Dan would propose. He knew a few things about my dreams though. He knew I wanted to be surprised and that I wanted pictures. He came through!
Last Thursday night, on December 5, 2013, Dan and I decided to take a walk. The walk was actually my idea, not his, so I suspected nothing. We decided to walk along the pedestrian bridge next to the causeway. It was a gorgeous night and we stopped often to look at the city lights and talk. When we reached the top of the bridge, Dan stopped and started looking across the water. I stood in front of him and wrapped his arms around my shoulders and we looked for manatees in the water. At the perfect moment, I got distracted by something in the water and turned to say something to Dan and bumped my head on his chin, messing up the twist in my hair. I stepped away to put the bobby pins back in place, completely distracted, and when I turned around Dan was no longer standing. He was on one knee holding a little box with a gorgeous ring!
I screamed and gasped and covered my mouth and all at once noticed someone was snapping pictures while Dan was saying sweet amazing words I can't even remember! But when he said, "I want to spend my life with you. Will you marry me?" I said, "Yes, of course!!!" and kissed him like crazy.
And that, my friends, is my wonderful engagement story!
Dan and I have been together for almost nine months. From the start, something was different about my relationship with him. I had dated before, sure, but I had never felt like THIS. I had never told someone I loved them, but within the first month of our relationship, I found myself returning the words, "I love you!" and meaning them with all my heart.
Knowing that I loved Dan and he loved me, I didn't really doubt we were going to get married. The timing, on the other hand, was a big question for me. I had no idea when, where, or how Dan would propose. He knew a few things about my dreams though. He knew I wanted to be surprised and that I wanted pictures. He came through!
Last Thursday night, on December 5, 2013, Dan and I decided to take a walk. The walk was actually my idea, not his, so I suspected nothing. We decided to walk along the pedestrian bridge next to the causeway. It was a gorgeous night and we stopped often to look at the city lights and talk. When we reached the top of the bridge, Dan stopped and started looking across the water. I stood in front of him and wrapped his arms around my shoulders and we looked for manatees in the water. At the perfect moment, I got distracted by something in the water and turned to say something to Dan and bumped my head on his chin, messing up the twist in my hair. I stepped away to put the bobby pins back in place, completely distracted, and when I turned around Dan was no longer standing. He was on one knee holding a little box with a gorgeous ring!
I screamed and gasped and covered my mouth and all at once noticed someone was snapping pictures while Dan was saying sweet amazing words I can't even remember! But when he said, "I want to spend my life with you. Will you marry me?" I said, "Yes, of course!!!" and kissed him like crazy.
And that, my friends, is my wonderful engagement story!
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