EVERYTHING IS MADE IN CHINA!!!! (aka a new years resolution update)

I thought I would update you on my resolutions. I've done pretty good eating my fruits and veggies. I'm holding on to try an ween off gluten til I feel like I have the fruits and veggies thing down (and til I eat the massive amount of couscous I have in my house!) 

The main struggle has been not buying things from China, because usually that is the only option. I have two examples. One of the tumblers I take to work broke, so I wanted to replace it. I looked at Target, Ross, JoAnns and the gift shop at work- all the tumblers sold at each of these stores were from China! I finally found one at World Market that was made in Taiwan, but it didn't have a lid. A little research led me to Bed Bath and Beyond where they sell Tervis (made in America) tumblers. A bit more expensive, but I like knowing the product was made here.

The second item I struggled to find was a day planner. I know I could use my phone but every year for many years I have had a planner, and I love looking through the designs and picking out my favorite. So I went to Barnes and Noble today-there were plenty of cute designs to chose from-at least 50 different styles to chose from, but from those 50+ options, 3 (only THREE!!) were not made in China! Luckily I liked one quite a bit, but still. I had never paid attention to where my products were made before. It is so hard to find items not made in China, let alone made in the USA.

I think everyone should try not to buy products made in China, maybe even just for a month just to see how dependent our economy is on foreign labor. It's unreal! 

I did read this article today though that makes me have hope that I won't be totally ostracized while shopping forever =)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/01/22/265080779/as-overseas-costs-rise-more-u-s-companies-are-reshoring

New year resolutions

I have 4 resolutions this year. One will be fun, therefore easier to keep. We'll see how I do!

1. Learn to sew

I'd like to earn some extra money and it would be nice if it was for something i enjoyed doing. I've wanted to learn to sew for a while and hopefully I can get good enough to make some money on the side by it :)

2. Try to buy more products made in the US and stop buying things that were made in China

This one might be hard! I don't really pay much attention to labels...

3. Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day

I did this one year and felt a lot healthier once I got started. I know it's supposed to be 5 different types of fruits and vegetables a day but I think that might be too difficult so I am shooting for 5 servings from 3 different sources.

4. Only eat one serving of gluten a day

This one will be the hardest because I love bread so much! I actually for a period thought I had a gluten sensitivity and didn't eat it for a few weeks. I was hungry all the time but I felt mentally sharper so I'm going to try to limit the amount of gluten I take in.

Wish me luck!

Kitty love!

I have gotten a kitten! I've had him for a day but am already so attached to him! The vet said he is 4 to 5 weeks old and just weighs a little over a pound, which means he is extra adorable! My favorite feature is his tiny soft little ears!

Anyway, I have decided to make a list of his likes and dislikes, enjoy =)

Likes:
Drinking milk
Sleeping
Cuddling
Towels
Attacking his litter box
Hiding behind the toilet
Cleaning himself
Hissing, purring, growling,  meowing and making tons of cute little noises

Dislikes:
My feet
His carrier
His jingly-ball toy
The toilet when it flushes
His shadow

Well, as may have already noticed, I'm already a big fan! He's just so stinking cute! Hope everyone's having as good of a weekend as I am!

Birthday wish list

This is mostly for my parents, but if anyone else wants to use this to get ideas for a birthday present to get me, feel free!

1. Target Gift Card
2. Amazon Gift Card
3. Old Navy Gift Card
4. Limited Gift Card
5. Singing in the Rain DVD
6. Happy Endings DVDs
7. New makeup brushes
8. Ice cream maker- I used to have one like this that I liked!

9. I have some posters from Spain I'd like to get framed, so I guess money for that or a Joanne Fabric/Hobby Lobby/Michaels gift card (and your Sunday coupon!) to help pay for it
10. This bracelet they sell at our gift shop, probably in green.

11. I also would eventually like to get new racquets, I liked the one Dan got free to write about for his blog when I used it. I think it was a Head racket.

losing touch

I had a friend from college pass through town this week, and even thought it was great to see her, it actually made me sad. We had been such good friends 5 years ago, and now we barely know what's been going on in each others lives since then. And honestly, if Facebook didn't exist, neither of us would have any idea what's been going on in the others lives.

And I feel like this with so many people who at one time I would have said they were some of my closest friends. How does this happen?

Think I'll take the time to say hello to an old friend and hello to several friends who I don't want to fade to acquaintances.