About time

I thought it was about time I made my secret...not so secret. No, not prego. I started my photography blog over three months ago, but I've been super slow starting it up. And its still in the works. But I thought I should finally announce it for my friends whose pics are up.

Photographic Euphoria

Enjoy!

If you need to relax

Just take a quick listen to this. I love listening to classical music while I write the dreaded necessary papers for almost every class now that semester is coming to a close.

Fill in the Blank Friday

I do have to admit, I love these. By the way, for all you followers of Say What? I just got too caught up in school work and other pressing issues this week to get around to researching for my planned post. So sorry for it being MIA this week. I promise it'll be back on schedule next week right on time for thanksgiving.

(Me holding Adi like a baby. Because I treat her like one. And she loves it)

One of the blogs I love to follow {the little things we do} does this every friday, and sometimes when I fill in the blank my answers surprise me.

1. A nervous habit I have is...clenching my jaw. I do it a lot. When I'm stressed, nervous, mad, concentrating, writing papers. Hence my having TMJ. Which drives the hubs crazy when we eat together. Especially cereal.

2. something that makes me sad is... when I have to leave the apartment and Jer isn't home so I have to put Adi in her pen. Her sad puppy eyes make me feel so sad. All I want to do everyday is stay at home and play with her.

3. Today I am thankful for...my religion. I wish I was better about praying, reading the scriptures, and going to the temple.

4. my favorite room in my house is...my bedroom. Not in that way though. It's my favorite because it's where I cuddle on the bed with Adi until Jer gets home, its where I watch netflix movies on our TV, and its where I relax.

5. I can't stand...left lane huggers. Seriously, it's like a disease in Utah or something. Especially in Utah County. People are just so oblivious when they drive and so inconsiderate of others. I swear, if it weren't illegal there would be a lot more people with tires getting shot out so they'll get out of the lane.

6. If I had an extra $100 dollars to spend today I would...go to the new H&M that opened up. I unfortunately had to buy Adi dog food and groceries with this last paycheck and since eating is more important that clothes, the food won out. But I'll be really happy when I finally get to go and bring some beautiful things home.

7. the last person I hung out with was...jenna shaw. yesterday. we watched the first wives club which was awesome. and she helped me fold laundry. It was pretty chill.

Happy Friday!

-M

We're not apartment people

Oh the joy's of living in an apartment complex. This is the first of our marriage, and in the previous two houses we have lived in we never ONCE received a noise complaint. We also didn't receive any complaints at our last apartment about Adi 1) not being on a leash and 2) not having her poop cleaned up the instant it hit the ground.

Maybe it's just that we're not suited to live in apartment complex's because we're just not that uptight about all the little things? In addition we're not the type to go complain to the office or the apartment managers when something happens we don't like. If you were really to make me mad I'd calm down, and then let you know kindly so you could (hopefully) change your specific behavior that is bothering me.

Well for some reason, our neighbors are too afraid to tell us when we do something that annoys them...? So instead of saying something to us, so that we can fix the SPECIFIC issue, they go complain to the office who then sends us nasty letters without really knowing any of the details.

Today we got our second. The first was about Adi's poop being left for more than a day, and this one is about "constant drumming and obnoxiously loud music". Yeah, cause we totally have awesome, light shaking dance parties with 'obnoxiously loud music' and such up in here. Or we supposedly invite drummers over for the day to bang on our walls to annoy our neighbors...?

We do leave our music on quiet enough you could talk over it (and its Motab music so no drumming that I'm aware of) so that Adi doesn't have anxiety attacks when we're gone and destroy everything. Additionally the longest we're gone for is only four or five hours maximum so its not 'constant'.

Isn't there just something about living in a close community such as apartments that makes you feel like your neighbors are trying to find anything they can to get you in trouble? Or kill your dog for that matter?

Either way, we are officially in the hunt for another house basement to occupy until we can get into a house of our own. Until then, we will keep down the noise of our dishwasher, and breathing so not to bother our neighbors.

Heaven forbid we sneeze until then.

Truly a Woman

Remember how I posted about this gorgeous swimsuit a while ago? Well like a typical woman, I changed my mind about four or five times until I decided on this sweet little number to take to Hawaii. After all, if I want to get tan I really do need a two piece.

+

Normally I wouldn't ever wear this anywhere I know anyone. But then again, I won't know anyone in Hawaii except my hubs and parents. And I've been working on my abs. Hopefully they'll be in shape by Dec. 16th!

p.s. I saw this idea of color blocking swim pieces on pinterest that's why they don't match. I myself think its pretty cute and colorful!

Hunger for the Games

Totally and completely addicted to these trailers. I could hit repeat continuously and still be enthralled. March 23rd can't come soon enough!

PP: puppy problems

We've spent this evening weekend trying to contact various family veterinarians and furiously scanning the web for an possible ideas or solutions to an unending problem that has occurred to sweet Adi post spay operation.

There's no way to describe it, other than she frustratingly, unnoticeably (until moved), and unawaredly....leaks. It seems to come in spouts. No pun intended. She'll be fine for weeks and then one day BAM! wherever she sits or lays expect a puddle (or on our furniture a wet spot) to be left behind. And then she'll be fine again for weeks.

Other than being unaware of it and being very afraid that we'll get mad at her once she sees the wet spot, she gives us no warning or indication of what could be causing it. Its really like she just goes incontinent for a day. A lot of the info on the web states that she could have a) kidney stones b) a UTI-Urinary Tract Infection c) allergies or d) damaged nerves to her bladder after her spay surgery...?

And the suggested remedies are anything from cranberry pills (to clear up any possible UTI or kidney stones), doggy diapers (to merely control the tide), to hormone treatments? Possible diet changes include anything from cutting out all grains (i.e. allergy to gluten?) to going strictly vegetarian (I can barely afford to feed myself regular food let alone expensive vegetarian food for my dog).

Ah! Where is the voice of reason?! I don't know what needs to be done except that we don't like dealing with the clean up afterwards, Adi feels guilty and miserable that she is having accidents, and I'm concerned there's some underlying serious issue going on that we're not aware of.

Does anyone have any suggestions to get my puppy back to her healthy-loving-spunky self?!

Any first hand experience with this?

Seriously anyone???

I like to think I drink

Sometimes, on a random whim I drag the Hubs to random stores where I can buy random ingredients to make random drinks to satiate my random cravings. No, I am not pregnant. Just wistful of my childhood memories.I made these for two awesome sets of people, our wonderful fun playmates from Draper the Shaw's, and my old roomies at our roomie party. Both occasions were lovely.

Italian Sodas: the best party drink you could ever please family, friends, or guests with.

Start with a clean empty class and then...
fill 1/3 with crushed ice

 
pour in flavor syrup of your choice until it almost reaches the top of the ice

fill 1/3 with 7up
fill remaining 1/3 with half and half

Stir lightly, finish with a dollop of whip cream (optional) and a cherry on top (optional).

Divine.

Hope everyone has an amazingly happy weekend!


-J&M

Say What? Bathroom Hygiene

So this post may seem rather sexist, but I am going to direct the majority of this post towards men because according to a study noted by the NYTimes only 75% of men really wash their hands compared to 90% of women (source).

"It's not about education," said Dr. Osterholm. "It's about hygiene education. We have a problem at hospitals with doctors and nurses who don't wash their hands after seeing a patient. You can't get more educated than that."(source)

Men's issue with hand washing after number one

The idea to do this weeks Say What? comes from an issue very close to my home...quite literally. My husband actually. After noticing that he only washes his hands post bathroom sitting visit, I was really grossed out to say the least about his bathroom habits. After asking about it, he insisted that he didn't, "pee on myself so why should I have to wash my hands?" my initial retort was, "because that's disgusting!" But after some research I've concluded on a much more educated reason of why he should ALWAYS wash his hands.

"Your boxes-shorts region- from belly button to mid thigh-is crawling with germs known as coliform bacteria" (source), and it can transfer from your private parts skin to your hands in the short time it takes to go number one. Consequently if you don't wash your hands afterwards, that coliform bacteria- which can give you serious and possibly fatal infections if it enters into the blood stream- will be spread to everything you touch after going pee. So its not a matter of if you pee or don't pee on yourself, its an issue of transferring germs to others in spite of not peeing on yourself.(source)

Now I can see many of you men saying, "Me? Have germs on my privates? nah." Well, in truth even showering and washing that area won't get those germs out because its more porous. Since your hands are not as porous it is much easier to wash the germs off them with simple soap and water. In fact, probably the most cleanly man around still has plenty of germs in his unders' because they're extremely difficult to get off! (source) So just get over it, you have the germs on you. Right now. Yes, you! So even though you think peeing on yourself is the only reason you should wash your hands, think again. And women remember, if you continue to allow your man to think its alright to not wash their hands after going number one, you are directly saying it is OK for them to spread all kinds of nasties around your house and onto your children as well. Think about it.

Hand Washing in General

Now, in the stats listed above only 90% of women and 75% of men wash their hands, which leaves 25% of men and 10% of women who don't. So aside from the well known e.coli which you can pick up from fecal matter that makes you sick (source), there are also these diseases you can contract...

          Hand-Foot-Mouth disease from coxsackie virus from fecal matter causes blisters in your mouth and on the bottoms of your feet,

          Hepatitis A from food that was contaminated with fecal matter (yum!) attacks your liver and causes nausea and vomitting,

          Shigellosis also from contaminated food but this causes awesome uncontrollable diarrhea (looking for a way to shed some extra pounds?)

          and Giardiasis that causes gas, cramping, and more diarrhea, which you can get from hand to hand contact and untreated water also contaminated with fecal matter.

(source)

Don't those all sound lovely? Makes you really want to go out and shake peoples hands knowing that most likely one or two of them didn't wash their hands after their last bathroom trip. Or go out to eat aware that your waiter possibly didn't wash their hands either?

Another rather troubling issue that I didn't even think of, is people not washing their hands after changing diapers. I've actually watched many new mothers not wash their hands after changing diapers at church. So not only do they get their own babies germs on the baby themselves, but also spread it to whoever and whatever they come in contact with at the church. 

Cleaning and Education

So how do you help keep your own home clean from bad germs and bacteria getting spread from those guests or family members (gasp) that don't wash their hands post bathroom visit? Key places to clean and disinfect are the toilet handle-which personally I rarely remember to clean when cleaning the toilet-and the sink handles as well as the bathroom door knob on both sides.(source)

To help bring those numbers up from only 75% of males and 90% of females we need to educate our children and those around us who are unaware of the diseases and issues that come from not hand washing when you go to the bathroom. Potty training is hard, but implementing hand washing each time you help your little one to the bathroom is not. If you get them in the habit early, just like buckling seat belts each time, they will retain that habit later. And women, even if it feels like a loosing battle with your man, show them the evidence that it really is important to wash after each bathroom trip.

Sorry for all the potty talk, better to be aware than to be ignorant though!

-M

Admit it {you eat your kids halloween candy}

Love this. I totally know that Jer and I will do this to our poor kids. For reals.



Hey, I remember my parents did this to me, so its only fair I'll get to do it too right?

Forgetting what life is about

Sometimes, when I get so caught up in the lists, to-do's, tasks, jobs, cleaning, homework, dates, reminders, alarms, I forget what life is really about.

Often its those small moments that steal my heart, that make me feel stronger and braver than I ever could be, that gives me that out of body experience that mentally makes me say, "I will never forget this." It can be anything from teaching someone something that is precious to me, seeing something so sacred to me, or holding hands with the hubs and not knowing where his fingers end and mine begin.

It's days like today that I am reminded in every small thing each reinforcing that I am loved. It's days like today that I am awake and amazed by all of the tender mercies and kindness's I am given by a Heavenly Father who loves me unconditionally and those people around me.

Today, especially I am so grateful for my husband and everything he does for me. I am so lucky to have found him, and even more lucky for him to have loved me like he did and does.

"I have died everyday waiting for you. I have loved you for a thousand years, and I'll love you for a thousand more."

Fairy-tales do come true, I'm living one.

p.s. who is going to see the movie this was made for (Breaking Dawn)?

p.p.s. thank you to Jane from Harley&Jane today. It was a beautiful message to encompass what I have been feeling of late.

Say What? VitaminWater

Any requests, suggestions, or ideas for future Say What? posts please email them to me at melissajoymills@gmail.com

So for all you athletes or those who are doing anything you can to be healthy including changing your diet, make sure to read the fine print on all food and drink items you buy and don't just go with a companies word that it's 'healthy'.

“The way that vitaminwater is marketed and positioned it’s made to look more healthful than other sugary beverages, but it’s not – it’s still just a soft drink,” said Margo G. Wootan, Director of Nutrition Policy

source

I along with the many of people who wanted to read those spunky quotes, and look all schnazy and healthy with my bottle of VitaminWater drank it a great deal my freshman year of college. I thought it was good for me based off the sole fact that it contained a great deal of my needed daily vitamins. And of course that it contained the word Vitamin. I mean come on, anything that has 'healthy', 'vitamin', or 'diet' in it is good for you right? This was before my nutritional class, and also prior to some research into the issue.

To start with, just check out the label on any bottle of VitaminWater. On average they each contain about 33 grams of sugar and 125 calories per bottle. That may not seem a lot to you so let me put it in plain words. That's more than a 12 oz. serving of Coke (source). Now do I have your attention? In addition, the second ingrediant is Crystalline Fructose. Ever heard of it? Neither had I. After some quick research I found that it is, “produced by allowing the fructose to crystallize from a fructose-enriched corn syrup" , which essentially is High Fructose Corn Syrup. (source)

So you're not really drinking something thats good for you. In fact, the majority of it is SUGAR. And not just any kind of sugar, but the kind of sugar that is known for causing serious damage to your liver, and it can make your aging process speed up. HFCS=early wrinkles. In addition to this kind of sugar being essentially HFCS, is specifically has trace amounts of arcenic, heavy metals, and lead.

Well what about all those awesome vitamins on the label? They're still good for you aren't they? Well there are two different types of vitamins and minerals. Water soluble, and fat soluble.

Those that are fat soluble vitamins to be absorbed and used by your body have to be ingested with a meal, or else they are just passed through your system (source). Additionally the water soluble vitamins that are included in VitaminWater are most of the time not needed in the typical american's diet as they frequently already have their daily required amount from other natural sources. Vitamins such as riboflavin, thiamin, and niacin are needed in such small amounts, that they frequently have already been acquired in a day and are also just passing through unneeded.

Granted, if you are a completely fast food eating, nutritionally starving person, some of the vitamins in VitaminWater would be benenficial. But for the majority of people, they don't need to drink VitaminWater to gain those essential vitamins.

So do the benefits outweigh the risks?

Ingesting arcenic, making my kidneys work hard to filter out those unneeded vitamins plus all that extra HFCS that I really REALLY don't need on my butt and thighs makes my answer a resounding no.

And besides, VitaminWater doesn't even taste that good.

p.s. the saddest thing of all of this is the VitaminWater can keep going on marketing that its good for you even though it really isn't. Read this article on their awful marketing ploys and see if you even want to support this company.

p.p.s. what kind of surprising things have you learned about some of the products you use that you wouldn't have ever guessed were an issue?

Fleck's of Gold

Are your precious 'flecks of gold' falling only upon yourself? Or are you spreading them for good?

Facta non Verba.

Translation

This is why I love my church. Find out more here.

Feeling a little brown?

Turn that frown upside down!

This will surely give you a reason to smile, I just love me some Caro!