Shannan with an "a"

Good grief am I tired!

2011-02-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

This has been one of those weeks. Which in Shannan-land is really EVERY week. I am exhausted. School full time is really taking it's toll on my mental energy. I am taking 12 credits at a community college and this week we had/have midterms. I fear that I did terrible in my American government and politics midterm on Tuesday only because while answering the questions on the material I know, my mind went blank. I felt like I was being put on the spot and HAD to answer them right there in front of everybody even though it was a written exam. I hope I at least passed, but I won't find out until Tuesday. Tomorrow I have a geography midterm which I have yet to study for and an advertising exam which I have studied for, but need to refresh a little. Next Wednesday is my guitar midterm where I will have to play "And I love her" all the way through and I am sooo slow at guitar.

All this with working part time, taking care of my two children and trying to make jewelry and list it for my Etsy shop is making me so tired. My house is a mess. It looks like a frat house after a party replacing the beer cans with toddler toys.
The only thing keeping me sane is knowing I am doing this so that I don't have to live in such a small cramped environment, and I can actually have the career of my dreams, which at this point keeps changing (God, I would love to be a political speech writer, which is what I wanted to do back in 2000 when I was working for the Green Party and pregnant with my first son. I am too tired for that now. Now I am just going to settle for trying to get into journalism which is going to be a tough nut to crack, but I think I can do it. I just need to get this technical writing thing down).

I see some women doing the exact same thing as me yet they seem to have it all together. Is it just a ruse, or am I just not getting this balancing act?

I need a nap!

I am just a peddler of goods.

2011-01-29T15:56:00.000-08:00

Clover 14 designs
Things are going really slow in Etsy-land. I think it may be because I cannot list all the things I have made because my camera sucks, and I can never get good pictures... However,
I am really excited because starting in May, I will be selling some of these things in Lincoln City Oregon at a shop! I will post a link to that soon too!

PS, I made the rings for my Bridesmaids in a copper setting with mint green rose, and they were absolutely adorable! So I decided to keep making them in different colors.

Photos from my wedding.

2010-11-13T21:37:00.000-08:00

Our Ceremony at Cathedral Park Portland, Or September 3, 2010

The groomsmen

Love this one

He stole my flowers!

We did it!!!

Flower arrangements made by me, cootie catchers as programs made by me as well!

Reception at the Jupiter Hotel Dream Tent Portland, Or Decorated by me and fam!

Signature drinks.

Cake made by Lambs market and added touches by me!

Made my bouquet. First time ever doing it I was so proud!

We are outta here!

Selling some new stuff on Etsy

2010-11-13T21:24:00.000-08:00

I have listed a few of my items and will try and list more when I have time in my busy schedule. It is hard to list things when the photos have to be just perfect and I have no one to model a lot of the stuff I have made just yet. I really like the things I have made and I hope to be able to sell them to people for holiday gifts and maybe just to treat themselves.

Life is getting harder now that I am married and trying to buy a house someday. I really want to not have to work so much so I can spend some quality time with my almost two year old. He is growing up so fast and I don't want to miss it! There is a chance i will have to put him into daycare soon so I can work full time during the day. I did find a great one but It's just a shame.

My greatest hope is that I can push myself to continue to create things and hope that some people enjoy them and I can sell them and buy more supplies to make more, and this can be a business for me. I tried doing it before about a year and a half ago and it just wasn't lucrative enough for me to keep doing it.

I think being so DIY with my wedding is what made me decide to try again. I made a lot of stuff for my wedding including jewelry for my bridesmaids and hair clips for them and myself. I will post pics of my wedding in my next blog post tonight.

hypnotized, hiking and losing another pound!

2010-07-15T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, I lost another pound, but not sure from what. I am down a total of 23.2 pounds! I went hiking about 1.5 miles yesterday up and down Beacon Rock which is the 2nd largest free standing rock in the world. I have done the DVD and CD that hypnotizes you to lose weight three times, and the weird thing is I have barely eaten anything and felt REALLY full. Maybe it is all in my head, well of course it is, it's hypnotism, but I think it may be working. I notice I only eat half of things, even half of a granola bar! It's a little odd. I have been craving vegetables a lot too!
I guess I will see how it works out. I like noticing the weight loss on the scale, but it sure has been slow. Working out feels great though, and i think I will stick with that. I can feel my clothes fitting better, and my stomach that looked like there was a full term baby in there (a year after my baby was born!) now only looks like I am in my early second trimester! I am posting the view from where we went hiking yesterday. It was breathtaking!

I think it may work...

2010-07-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

So I have worked out on my Wave three times since I got it and the scale has shown a 1 pound decrease! Coincidence? Maybe, but I don't mind. Working out on that thing is HARD!! It feels good though, and my legs seem to already be tighter. What I really want is for my stomach to shrink though! Well, I have 7 more workouts and they promised me that I would see results. I think it might be true. I will keep you posted.
I got my Think and Lose DVD/CD yesterday too, and I used it last night. It is made really low budget and it seems weird. If it doesn't work I can send it back in thirty days for a refund but we will see. I am open to it. I will give it a couple of weeks.

Adding exercise is hard

2010-07-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

So, I got this contraption called The Wave form an info-mercial I saw one night and it arrived yesterday. I used it once and it seems like it might just have what it takes to get me into shape and help with my stomach which is my biggest problem area. It claims that I will see visible results in 10 workouts so I guess I have nine left to see if it works. It is easy enough, although with my hurt knee I cannot do some of the floor exercises. It is a curved step like thing that you use as a step on one side and then flip it over and use it for it's rocking motion on the other. It came with five workout DVD's and a resistance band which is actually a cheap piece of pink rubber but I think it will do the trick. When I worked out yesterday i just did the instructional DVD and the 10 minute ab DVD and i was sweating even though I had to sit out of some of the floor exercises. It was easy enough for a giant person like me and I exceed the weight limit by over 25 pounds and seemed to have no problem whatsoever.
I will say that my ankles and calves could feel a lot of the workout so I hope I don't injure myself because of that. It looks like you can do modified versions of everything so it would be good for a beginner like me and someone advanced.
I sound like I am trying to sell the thing lol, I am not. Just trying to show an accurate description of this device. I think I can find a picture online and post it on here. I don't even know if it will work, it just seems like it could. I paid $49.99 and I have one more payment next month of 29.99. That included shipping and all the DVD's. I'm sure I could have bought it on Amazon for cheaper but It was one of those late night I was feeling fat and saw an info-mercial that convinced me two easy payments of $29.99 plus shipping was a good idea.
Two days ago I ordered a CD that is supposed to hypnotise you to not eat a lot. I forgot what it is called but they got me with the 30 day free trial! I will have to post how that works too.

Weight Watchers has been good to me. I am still down, and I am down 20 pounds since February. I only started doing Weight Watchers in May I think. I haven't gone to a meeting in a little over a month and I think I should start going. They are really motivating. It also makes you remember to not binge when you know you have to weigh in and if you gained they will know you cheated. I like being held accountable and I like feeling proud when I lost the weight and they give you a little reward. It is what works for me.

I guess it is time for me to work out. I will never know if I will get results in ten workouts if I just let it sit in the corner and collect dust! After today only 8 more workouts to go! That's not too bad.

Oops

2010-05-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

Well, after our weigh in yesterday, I realized it is time to put my game face on and really buckle down. I only lost .8 pounds making my grand total 10 pounds lost in three weeks. Adam gained a pound! I think it was from not tracking as diligently as we did the prior weeks. I am now on a mission to lose ten more pounds in two weeks before our trip to Reno. I am going to Reno with my mom and a family friend and I want to be down a total of 20 before we go. I think I can do it. We shall see.

I gave in and joined Weight Watchers

2010-05-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

Adam, my fiance, too. We have gone to three meetings and tonight will be our fourth. After the first week I lost 5.2 pounds and Adam lost 9.8! Last week at our weigh in I was down another 4 pounds for a total of 9.2 and Adam was down 4.2 for a total of 14!
I am really glad we joined as it is way easier to count points than calories. It is what we needed and it suits our lifestyle very well. Who knows if we will stick with it, but for three weeks we have and that is quite an accomplishment for us.
They give us a sticker for every 5 pounds we lose and it doesn't seem like much, but it is a little motivation to try to do well. It is also nice to have a meeting we can sit at and share ideas and struggles we have in an environment where everyone knows what you are going through.
My goal is to lose another 40 pounds in the 3+ months or so until our wedding. I hope I can do it. I have a few other things I would like to do to get to this goal and I will probably blog about them. I plan on going to a few colon hydrotherapy sessions and possibly attempting to do The Master Cleanse again a week or two before the wedding.
This working two jobs has been really hard too. I have been having to deal with immature teenagers at one of my jobs who have nothing better to do than to play pranks on me, and act like spoiled brats and the other job I can't seem to fit any time into with taking care of the kids (one who I decided to home school and is driving me bonkers with his extreme restlessness and ADHD!) and working the first job. Hopefully we will have enough to pay for the wedding I have so meticulously planned.
Oh, and what is up with everyone getting married? I got engaged in September of last year, and since then I know of at least 6 other people who have gotten engaged after me and it seems like most of them are getting married before me! I know it is petty, but dang, it is frustrating. Also, a good friend of ours just got engaged and he is getting married only three months to the day after us. I think they have only been together a year too, which to me is not long enough especially if you have never lived together. That's Christians for ya. They believe in the sanctity of marriage, but they don't believe in finding out if they are truly compatible in today's modern age by at least co-habitating. How do they know they can make it work forever? I take marriage VERY seriously, and I would not be able to get married without first making sure we would be able to make it the rest of our lives. Well, I will update on the pounds lost hopefully soon.

Just an update

2010-04-25T02:11:00.000-07:00

Well, since I last posted I have done some exciting things. I had a small part in an independent short and I have started booking shows again I don't know how long this will last since I have been out of the local music scene for years and my contacts are running dry.
The movie was fun, and there is a little trailer I can probably post on here with me in it. I met a lot of great people who I hope to someday work with again in the future.
Wedding planning is going great. I have designed a cake with a baker and we only have a little more than 4 months till the big day.
I have lost no more weight however. I am a bum and not sure what I should do to get myself motivated. Isn't a wedding enough motivation? I don't know what to do. I am losing patience with myself.
I saw Conan O'Brien last week which was one of the best live performances I have ever been to.
We are looking to buy a house, and I have found some really good ones around, we just need to come up with a down payment. Working on that. The boys are good. I decided to start homeschooling my oldest. this is challenging but at the same time just what we needed. My 15 month old is getting big and super smart.
It is late. I am tired. Maybe one day I can write my heart out on here and maybe one day I can be consistent with my entries.
Someday.

Link to trailer of movie I have a small part in.

Holy Crap!

2010-01-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

So, I didn't really make it with the whole raw food thing as a lifestyle choice. However, I have decided to do it a few days out of the month to cleanse my body and help with my nutrition and digestion. I am not ruling it out as something I will do again and I think that it is very good for a fast. I commend people who go all out and can only eat raw food. I think a first step for us is to fully go vegan.

So its a new year. I am engaged as of September 27th, 2009. We went to Vegas and Adam proposed! Was very fun and exciting. He gave me this beautiful art deco ring that was his grandmothers and is from the 40's. So now I am planning my wedding for sure! I have lots done already just need to fine tune the details. I have the bridesmaids and maid of honor all in and their dresses picked out. My color scheme is purple and orange with a dash of green. Orange Gerbera Daisies as the main flowers.
We are going to honeymoon on a Mexican Riviera cruise. It stops in Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. I am really excited. We want to go parasailing and swim with dolphins. Two things on my bucket list!
I have begun working out so that I can fit into my wedding dress and look super hot for our photos.
Since the 2nd of January I have lost 10 pounds so this is an improvement.
My goal is 75 more pounds before our wedding date which is September 3, 2010.
It's so funny now that I am engaged it seems like everyone around me is getting married as well. I now know of 6 others who are planning their weddings as we speak. It seems like things always go that way. When I was pregnant with Chase 9 years ago, I knew 4 or 5 others who got pregnant right after me, and when I got pregnant with Jude I knew of 13 who were also pregnant!

Overcame my first hurdle

2009-09-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

Last night and most of yesterday actually, I was having the most severe food cravings imaginable. i felt like a junkie coming down off of heroin. My body was almost shaking, I had a severe headache, I couldn't sleep. Thoughts of Taco Bell ran through my mind over and over again. I almost said "screw this" If eating healthy was going to feel like that, i was going to take my chances and eat what I was craving. I decided to go against all I was thinking and feeling and try to sleep it off. When I did eventually fall asleep ( I tossed and turned in bed for about 4 hours) I awoke to a much more severe headache than I had the night before. My cravings, however, were gone. I took some Advil because the pain was unbearable and then I just rested most of the day with my 7 month old, my headache eventually went away and I now have no food cravings. At all. I don't even really feel like eating. Today I have had a glass of apple juice, half of a Go Raw banana flax bar, half of an orange and a banana. I am not feeling hungry at all.
We'll see what happens at work tonight. Hopefully the cravings won't come back.
I am proud of myself. The old me would have stopped and got fast food at 1 am because I just couldn't handle it anymore.
I don't know if raw will be my lifestyle, but at least I know that when I need to do it, I can. I will still keep going, but I think I am going to read more, educate myself in health tons more and then work with a nutritional diet that will fit me and keep me on a healthy path.
I'm thinking a fast of raw one week a month might be a good start. Any suggestions?

Trials and Tribulations

2009-09-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

OK, so I love food. I really love cooking, and eating gourmet food. So going raw is very hard. It is for my health though. I am not going to do it exclusively forever. Right now I am only going to do it until we go to Vegas (September 23-30) since I will not be able to abstain from sinning in Sin City. It is just a way to help me to not eat so much junk and give me a goal to work towards. After we get back from Vegas I will probably do the Master Cleanse for 10 days, Raw for another week, then Vegan for another week and have one cheat day the month of October (my birthday is the 14th, so probably that day) where I can have anything my heart desires.
It was really hard last night as I was cutting pizzas at work to not make myself a yummy gourmet vegetarian pizza and gorge on it. I didn't though. I am proud of myself. I will have to deal with these obstacles all the time, but I am at a time in my life where my health is more important to me than binging on yummy food. Hopefully this will make the yummy food that much more special. I know I can have yummy raw food too, but it will never be the same. I am addicted to sugar, and starch and it may be a while until I do not crave these things.
On a bright note: I have lost 4 pounds since starting. I know it is all retained water that I am losing, but this is still good right? It's four pounds of toxins that have left my body. I feel slightly less sluggish, but it is too early to really know for sure as I took a two hour nap today.
I have to go to the grocery store again, because you really do eat a lot when you first start. Your body I guess is just not used to the good stuff. I probably only get about 2000 calories a day and before was getting over 4000, but I eat and eat and eat. I think it's also because nothing is satisfying. Nothing really makes me go "That's it, I am full." I hope this will pass in time. I have nothing but time and research to do to make this a rewarding journey.

Some easy recipes

2009-09-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

Learning how to make different items for my raw diet, I have come across some simple and easy recipes I thought I would share on here.

Tryin new things.

2009-09-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

So, I have joined a few meetup groups of Raw foodies in my area, and next sunday I will be attending a raw potluck. I have to figure out what I will bring, but this will be interesting because I love to make food and I get to experiment all week long for something amazing! Today i had these Caraway Crisps. They are vegan, raw, sprouted crackers made by Livin' Spoonful in Portland, Oregon. They were pretty tasty but, I would say I may need to acquire more of a taste for them. The package came with 4 and I could only eat two since they were so rich in flavor. I will definitely buy more. I think they might be good with some of my mom's homemade straight-from-her-garden pesto. I made the mistake of buying non-raw Kombucha along with my old standby of the raw stuff, so i don't know if I will just drink it since it is still very good for me, or pass it along to Adam, who is going raw along with me, but I know he isn't going to be exclusively raw.
Oh, if you want to check out the crackers I had today the website for the company is http://www.livinspoonful.com

Going Raw

2009-09-03T01:46:00.000-07:00

So, as another way to improve myself I have decided to go on a raw food diet to the best of my abilities. It will be a learning process as I go, but i have already done a bit of research and shopping. I hope it all works out and I have the motivation to stick with it since it seems like it will make me feel completely amazing!
I got Adam in on it too. He is doing it for his health, but he said he is also doing it to support me.
From what I have gathered I will feel more energetic, will have more mental clarity, my skin will glow, I will heal my insides and most of my symptoms of illness should go away. I will also lose weight like crazy.
I bought more fruits than vegetables and some raw food products like crackers and nutrition bars, but hopefully I can eliminate those types of things and just stick to the fruits and veggies.
I am just hoping that it helps out my sluggishness and my hypothyroidism.
The picture above is like two days of fruits and some of my veggies. The rest were in the fridge.

This was my first blog type thing.

2009-08-28T03:55:00.002-07:00

An article I wrote back in '04 for Mosaic Minds

Keepin Up with the Joneses

2009-08-28T03:26:00.000-07:00

I get really depressed when I go on my Facebook or my Myspace (which I hardly go on anymore) and I see old friends or people I used to know and their lives are ten times better than mine. Or so it seems.
I was on the same path as most of these people in school, but theirs led to exciting lives and careers, and mine led to where I am today which really is nowhere.
I look at people I used to know, and people I now know and I have all this jealousy inside of me and it makes me want more than them so I can show off my new house/car/boat and post pictures of them on the Internet so others will be envious of me.
I hate feeling this way. I don't want my life to comprise of me wanting and trying to get what others have because I feel that their lives are better.
I want to live my life the way I always meant to. When I was a child I wanted to travel the world. Meet new exciting different people. Have lots of friends. None of this has happened.
Sure, I have traveled the US extensively, but that is pretty much it.
I wanted to live in Europe for a few years. Go to India and explore. Japan. Australia.
None of this has happened and I don't know why. I don't know what has stopped me. I guess I blame having the kid since I would have never been able to bring him. Money. Couldn't afford it.
I am beginning to realize that the only thing that truly stops you from doing anything is yourself. There are always ways to make things work. You just have to be creative and willing to make a few sacrifices if you want something bad enough.
I don't want what others have. I need to keep reminding myself when I think about how much better other peoples lives are than mine.
I really don't. It is programmed in my head that I do, but deep down I know I don't. It is hard to keep telling yourself that.
I am focused on my future, and what I want for MYSELF and MY family. That is all I need to worry about, and I am going to take it one step and day at a time.

Procrastination should have been my middle name!

2009-08-22T16:08:00.001-07:00

Procrastinator. Funny word with an ugly meaning that I jokingly refer to myself as on a daily basis, but I seriously need to do something about.
I am a procrastinator. In the worst way. My whole life is one giant procrastination and it is time for that to stop. I am done. I am done watching everyone I know live their lives and get things done while I sit around and start things then put them off for a later date and have nothing to show for my 29 years of life except two beautiful kids that, if I had planned would probably still not yet be born due to my procrastination.
How is it that I am 29 years old and back to working a restaurant job that I hate making $9.10 an hour? Procrastination.
How is it that I never made that short film I had scripted and basically had support from many people to help me make? Procrastination.
How is it that I have never travelled farther that North America when one of my main goals in life was to travel the world? Procrastination!
I blamed having my son for not finishing college but really it was my own putting it off. I could have easily found the time in my sad existence to take a class here and there for the past 9 years and received a degree.
I could easily be at the weight I want to be at , but I keep putting off going to the gym and eating healthy for tomorrow.
Why is it so easy to do this? Is it habit? Is it that I truly don't want to be happy?
There are about 100 books I want to read, probably more, but I just don't have the time. Yet I have the time to watch a 4 hour mini-series about pointless nonsense starring Sarah Chalke in one afternoon!
Seriously, I have to stop. I have to get motivated. The time is now. No more procrastination.
Starting now I will try to get stuff done. I will finally clean and organize my house to my liking. I will take my kids to the park on sunny afternoons. I will go to the gym that i pay $37 a month for and never ever use.
Every day I will write in my blog. I will post what I actually did for the day. Oh I hope I do this.
I can't sit back and wonder "what if" anymore. I need to just do. I hope I am finally motivated. I think it will be vary hard, but I am ready. I can do it. I need to just suck it up and take it one day at a time. Even if I don't want to . I have to . I have to finally live my life.

So excited for Vegas!

2009-08-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

So, in a little over a month me and Adam are going on a little trip to Vegas, then over to LA! My mom is taking my 8 year old to Disneyland for a week, and we got Adams mom to watch Jude. I got a postcard in the mail from Treasure Island for free hotel and $50 in freeplay (gambling) and $25 to use towards a restaurant or store!

We are fully taking advantage and since we will be down only a four hour drive from where my son will be, we are going over there to be with him on his 9th birthday!
It is really exciting because Adam has never been to Vegas. I have been twice so I get to somewhat show him around. Last time I went, I went to see Ka, the Cirque Du Soleil that was playing at our hotel, the MGM Grand. This time, we are going to see Love at the Mirage. It is a Beatles inspired Cirque and i can't wait.

I have decided to make it a ritual to see a Cirque Du Soleil each time I visit Las Vegas until i have seen them all!
I want to take Adam to the old timey Vegas as well, and visit some spots on the outskirts of town since we will be driving.
After Vegas we are going to drive through the desert to Anaheim and see Chase and then go to LA. I wanna go to the Santa Monica Pier and get Adam on the ferris wheel!

We will take the Pacific Coastal Highway all the way back up maybe stopping in Santa Barbara or San Francisco.
I love road trips. I really can't wait. Adam and I have never really had more than a night alone together and this will make for a very romantic time!

Wedding plans.

2009-07-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

So I have decided I want to get married at The Jupiter Hotel in Portland. It looks like a pretty neat venue and I really like the whole atmosphere.

I have found the style/type of dress I want and this is it...

I have been looking, even though Adam hasn't officially proposed, but I know he will.

Makin stuff...

2009-07-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have made a whole ton of jewely and I am in the process of taking some fabulous pics of them to post on Etsy, when I do that, i will post them on here too. I think my style is getting more defined as i get better at making stuff. The style is retro-mod meets 30's vintage and a touch of whimsy meshed in with some 70's glam and a punk rock twist. Is that even a style? That is pretty much my style in general! Well, when I can afford it and when I am not trying to lose the baby weight! Oh, to be able to fit into all my old clothes again! Some people that I am friends with haven't even seen me in my real clothes at all. Just my post-baby-I-am-too-fat-to-fit-into-anything-else clothes. Which is sad because I have great style. Well, at least I think so. I bet a few people bef to differ, ahem, my boyfriend. LOL. He makes fun of me, but I am a fashionista! OK, well I will post the pics when I get some batteries for my camera.

Please forgive me...

2009-07-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

As I learn how to format my blog to my liking I will probably change and change again what it looks like. I am still really new to all of this and I get really confused when it comes to formatting. I am trying, and I love learning new things, so hopefully my blog will look a little more like "me" as time goes on. If anyone has any hints or tips or links to any websites, that would be greatly appreciated. I want to make it so the blog takes up the whole screen instead of just the middle.

You data

2009-07-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

Here is the referral link for youdata. You click on a few websites per day and they send money to your paypal.

The first few days I got a few bucks and then it sort of tapered off to only a few cents a week, but it only takes about 30 seconds to log on and do it, and if you like making a little bit of money online it's good.

http://www.youdata.com/join/shannan1979

Things I have loved for years.

2009-07-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

I figured I would post some things I have liked for years and then post a blog of things I have recently fallen in love with. Just to maybe show a little more about who I am and my personality.

Things I have loved for years.

1.) New York City. I fell in love with it when I was 8 and went for the first time. Next, when I was 11 was when i met my best friend and she moved there a few years later so it made it that much easier to visit the city! Finally, when I was 19, I moved there and absolutely loved it!

2.) Antiques. I have owned quite a few in my time. I think my love came when I was given many porcelain figurines. I have acquired over the years from family a vintage pink can opener from my great-grandmother, a lamp that was on my grandfathers parents farm in the twenties, a corner shelf that was my mothers grandmothers, temperature gauge that was my grandfathers, console record player/radio that was my grandfathers, and many many vintage items my mom and I have picked up at garage sales and estate sales over the past 10 years. Including my blue Western Flyer bicycle from the 50's that my step- dad got for $10 My house is filled with awesome items!

3.) Cooking. I can make a mean lasagna that is to die for! Also, I make some really good Indian food. I have loved to cook since I was a child, but my mom would never let me because she thought I would make a mess. It wasn't until I was out on my own that I got to explore my culinary curiosities.

4.) Languages. I am really good at being able to tell an accent from almost any part of the world. I don't know why this is, but I hear an accent once and my brain registers it so if i hear it again, I can spot it really well. I can say a few phrases in about 10 different languages. I took french in high school, so that is the one I speak the best. I taught myself a little Hawaiian in 8th grade, recently I have taken to learning more Japanese.

5.) Jeremy Piven. I have loved Jeremy Piven since I was really young. I think it had to do with the fact that he and John Cusack were buddies, and JC was my favorite actor since I was 9 and saw him in "Say Anything". I got really into Mr. Piven in about 2000 after I saw him in this cheesy romantic comedy called "Just Write" he played a screenwriter. I also loved to watch him in reruns of "Ellen" I was pumped that he got onto Entourage and it is one of my favorite TV shows. He seems like the fame has turned him into a dick though. Unless he already always was one. I don't know.

Wish I was greener

2009-07-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

So, I am not perfect. However, I am really bad at being a green mamma. I have so many cloth diapers that I bought when I was pregnant and honestly, I only use them 50% of the time. I think realistically, I would use them more if the Bf's mom didn't continuously buy us sposies (disposables). I think she buys them for us to make it easier on my BF, but really, it just makes me lazy too. I love our cloth diapers. Frankly, I think they are more of an addiction than anything. We have never even bought sposies, but every few months, we get a box of 300 of them! Oh well, I think some of the time is better than not at all.

Also, I throw away cardboard. A lot. Like cereal boxes and boxes for everything else as well. Technically my apartments do have cardboard recycling, but I have to travel all the way to the basement to get down there, and with an 8 year old and a 5 and a half month old it gets to be a pain in the ass to go. My goal for the week is to recycle all of my cardboard.

I have been using only cloth diaper wipes for my son all week though. Mainly because we haven't been able to get to the store but still, I am proud of myself. I actually like cloth wipes better, and my friend makes this awesome wipe solution! You can check her cloth wipes and wipe solution out at www.lucky0girl0racer.etsy.com

So, I will post some absolutely adorable pics of my son in cloth dipes. Comment and tell me what you think!

Making stuff and other babblings

2009-06-29T16:34:00.001-07:00

So, along with my soap nuts (which i just sold another bottle today!) I am now making some jewelry. I have a few bracelets and earrings for now, but I hope to get some necklaces and other stuff too. It is actually fun and relaxing, so hopefully I can make a lot and sell it on Etsy and some craft bazaars and stuff.

Last month I had a table at this First Friday thing right across from my house, but I only sold two bottles of my laundry soap. It is a lot of work to try to make money so you don't have to work. LOL will it ever get any easier? I don't think so.

I am also working at a restaurant about 15-20 hours a week. Its the kind of work where I don't receive any tips though, so it is really not fun. I have been there on and off for about 5 years, but I am now on the bottom of the totem pole. It is no fun having a twenty-one year old making me clean bathrooms before I can get off. I am usually stuck on dishes which is fine, but I have so much more customer service experience than most of the entire crew put together. I just wanted a job fast and i knew I could get one there, but I am treated like garbage.

I did get to work the cash register the other day and i got a customer tell me"You are the best experience I have had at this place in the 7 years I have been coming here." That made me feel good, but doesn't say much for the restaurant.

Also, I have heard about a store that might be selling that is only about a half mile from my house. It is a small shop that specializes in cloth diapers and handmade childrens items made my WAHM's. I have tried to get all the info I can to take my business plan to the bank and get a loan to purchase the shop. It is my dream to run a store like that, but the business plan is a lot harder to write up than i thought. Also, I can't get all the information I need for the financials.

I am thinking I could just wait until i can save the money and use what I save along with my tax refund in February. I hope that works out, but we shall see.

Sleeping

2009-06-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

So, my son is now 5 and a half months and still not sleeping through the night. I think he might be teething now, but I don't know what his problem is. Last night we put up the playpen/bassinet thing next to our bed and he woke up three or four times wailing at the top of his lungs. He sleeps best when he is perpendicular to me on a pillow with two pillows on either side of him. This makes it so Adam, my significant other, has to sleep on the couch. We do not like this sleeping arrangement, but if we want any sleep it's all that works.

Hopefully I can have the patience and time to keep puting Jude in his basinet and making him stay in there until he can just be put in there and go to sleep and stay asleep. I have read all the ways to do this and I know in theory it sounds good, but practice is another story.

2009-05-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

So tonight I am going to take Jude to is first Starlight Parade. Chase has been about three times, and I have never taken my boyfriend. This time we are going to try to go early so we can get a good spot and maybe actually sit. I usually go about 10 minutes before the parade is about to start and have to stand behind a crowd of people.

It is at 8:30 PM tonight May 30th, 2009 in downtown Portland, or you can view it on KGW newschannel 8.

Sell out?

2009-05-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

So, I am just figuring out this blogging thing, and I decided to put advertisements from Google on my blog. Is this selling out? It feels a little strange to have them, considering some of the stuff is for things I wouldn't buy and I like to think I have some integrity and would only promote stuff I like.

Short and sweet

2009-05-12T01:32:00.000-07:00

My almost 4 month old son Jude was being a little pill today. For some reason he wanted to be held almost all day, and he cried a lot. I am wondering if he is going through a growth spurt? He is already very big for his age. It nearly drove me insane since my boyfriend started working his 2nd job today. I had no help all day and all night, and normally it wouldn't bother me so much, it's just he was so NEEDY. I can't remember my 8 year old being like this, but I may have blocked it out. I hope all nights Adam works aren't like this.

In happier news, I sold 2 bottles of Soap Nuts today. I decided to advertise on Google. I hope it works and I am not just wasting money. I probably am. I have no idea how to start a business. The only thing I can think of is get the word out to as many people as possible and hope for the best.

Eventually, my goal would be to open up a whole web site devoted to organic amd natural baby/childrens items and cloth diapers. I would love to do that. I just have no clue where to begin. i think selling the soap nuts is a good start, and we will see after that!

Internet is so overwhelming

2009-05-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have been using the internet since I was bout 16 years old. So if you want to do the math you can, it was since 1996. I say I am fairly internet saavy. It took me a while to get Myspace and then even longer to get Facebook. I have only been on twitter for about a month or so, and of course I just started to blog today.

The reason for all of this is that all of this stuff plus looking at the stuff I wanna look at is so time consuming. It is all the rage though, and maybe i just want to see what all the hype is about.

I am really loving twitter even though I still am not quite grasping it all the way.

I remeber the day when I would sign onto mIRC and chat away with people and that was cutting edge and the new thing. It seems like I can't keep up and I am of the Mtv generation. When will all of this level off and let me be able to know how to do everything? Will it ever?

Come follow me on Twitter I am @Pezshannan

Will anybody even read this mess of a blog?

Selling Soap Nuts liquid

2009-05-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

So, this week I decided to put up the Soap Nuts liquid laundry soap I had made on Etsy. I have had a ton of views, some people have favorited me, and I got a soap of the day recommendation from @soaplog on Twitter. No sales just yet. It's not that I figured i would make millions from selling the stuff, it's just i thought people would be as excited as I was when I first found the things!

I started cloth diapering my four month old son and I started using Babyganics liquid laundry soap. This worked fine and all, but I figured it was going to cost a lot of money as the stuff was pretty expensive. I have used all kinds of laundry soaps and so I was on some diaper website buying diapers (I am addicted, and I can talk cloth dipes all day) and I came across soap nuts which I thought sounded interesting. All natural, organic, can be used over and over and then just thrown into a compost pile? They were definitely for me. I bought a 100 gram bag, and I used them over and over and they got the dirty dipes very clean! No smells either. Well, a few times I lost the bag, or forgot I had put the bag filled with soap nuts in the wash, and ended up drying them. For fear of causing a fire I bought some liquid, which for me the convenience was worth the price. However, i realized I was going to be spending a lot of money again and be stuck in the same situation. So how to get the cleaning power with all the things natural I loved about the soap nuts and still not have to pay? I made the liquid myself. I combined a few recipes I found online and troubleshooted my way through it until i found a good combination that worked. I love the stuff. I use it for the baby's clothes too because almost everything else caused his eczema to flare up and give him a rash all over his torso and neck.

I made so much I figured well, I could sell it and maybe do it for a little cheaper than the other kinds that are on the market to give other moms like me a break.

I hope it works out because I had so much fun making it, and I would love to share this with everyone.

The good thing about these is that you also save money on fabric softener because you don't need any. It makes the stuff you wash so super soft. However if you wash a bunch of baby blankets all together like I do there is still a tad bit of static, but not much.

I am blogging this because I just want to get the idea out there. I want to be a greener mom, and I want the world to embrace being greener too. I love the fact that it is happening now. After all these years.

I remember reading the book 50 simple things you can do to save the earth as a kid and thinking, will this ever catch on to the mainsptream public? The fact that it is in many different types of products is so warming to the heart, but there are still companies trying to exploit that many people are trying to go green, but are just not as educated as others. Anyway, if there is anybody reading this, and you want a sample of my soap nuts I will send you some for free. If only to get the word out. email me, or go to my etsy page. Maybe through word of mouth I can get one or two sells this week.

www.shannan1979.etsy.com

shannan1979@yahoo.com