Redecorating!

So, since I'm going to be living at home for a couple of years to attend a different school, I figure it's time to spruce up my bedroom and bathroom. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of either, since I'm at college right now...but suffice it to say, they're awful. My bedroom's main redeeming quality is the floor. It's nice and wood and shiny and relatively new. The rest of my bedroom has GOT to go. While it has a nice homey feel to it, in the end I'm not a fan of the old peachy-pinkish floral wallpaper or the big broken sliding doors that lead into my next issue...
...The bathroom.
I am fortunate enough to have my own bathroom, but nothing about it is really nice. The medicine cabinet doors are falling off, the floor is kinda gross, the tub is useless...*sigh.* There's essentially zero storage space in my bathroom. Now that I think on it, that's also a problem in my bedroom.

So, it's time to dive into the DIY websites and see what I can do for not a whole lot of money...because, well, "not a whole lot" is exactly how much money I have. I have the money for paint and stuff, which I'll be buying, and the money to buy supplies to make stuff with. Other than that, I am...how do they say that?...on my own.

The mountain.

I got back to Green Mountain yesterday. Five weeks from yesterday, I'll be coming home for a couple years to go to community college and get my degree in criminal justice, which is my true love. Psychology never was. I'm just glad I realized this now as opposed to wayyyy later. I know my grandparents will be pretty unhappy with my decision. In fact, my mother informed my grandmother of this last night, and my grandmother replied, "I don't know why she can't just go to a REAL college." Siiigh. I suppose my grandparents will never really understand this kind of thing. College was way different back in their day, and they never seemed to like the fact that I lead my own life as opposed to what they'd like me to do.

Four weeks from tomorrow, classes end and finals start. Is it weird if I'm excited for that? Finals and stuff?

!

Just noticed my peas growing a little bit :) It's startinggg!

Easter in all its glory.

Every Easter, my family eats at my maternal grandparents' house, usually joined by members of the extended family. This year, we were joined only by my mother's brother Bruce and his wife Denise. No big deal - if it were proper to pick favourite relatives, they'd be way up there. Easter festivities did not last long, though, because my uncle Bruce accidentally stabbed himself carving the ham and had to go to the emergency room. Three stitches and a shiny GOOD JOB! sticker later (he's going on 60, haha)...he's okay. Which is good. But Easter was a total fail. We had to leave my grandparents' early, my plans for later in the day fell through, and I had to go to Wal Mart...yeah. Fail.

On the upside, I ate my last ground beef and ham today. I just need to get off turkey and chicken and then I'll be all set. I'll need to find new sources of iron and protein, and will probably write up a food list for that reason. I'll probably even keep a food log to make sure I'm getting nutrients -- I am vitamin deficient and should probably be doing this anyway.

I forgot to post about this when it happened, but a couple days ago I got these totally cute/creepy owl statues. My neighbour gave them to me when she learned of my love for owls. They're definitely getting centre stage when I redo my room.


D'awww.

Today I...

...made my final steak...


...planted some seeds...


...and irritated Keegan...


Great success!

Kicking habits.

I am preparing to kick a soda habit.

Ages ago, I used to drink loads of soda. I switched to diet to save sugar and calories and such. But now, I kind of want to switch to no soda at all.
I have seven cans of green apple Jones Soda left, and a few cans of diet Sierra Mist in my dorm fridge. After that, I'm going to try my hardest not to drink it at all. I won't beat myself up over a can here and there, but daily is a no-no.

I am also preparing to kick a meat habit.

I love meat. Love ittttt. I'll be the first to admit it, and it's probably not good. Beef is my favourite. Steak is the most wonderful thing ever. But after watching Food Inc and reading about some stuff...yeah...not so much. So, tonight, I'm going to make a killer shepherd's pie. And after I finish it, no more ground beef. And after the next steak I have, no more steak. I don't really do pig meat anyway -- ham, pork, bacon...never really appealed to me. I like piggies too much. Chicken will be kind of a hard one, because I really like chicken salad and grilled chicken. Turkey will be hard too, because turkey burgers are made by the gods, I swear. But if I can kick the beef habit first, everything else won't seem so difficult.
I don't entirely expect to stick to it, but damnit, I'm gonna try.

Seeds!

I bought some seeds today! I'm pretty excited to start growing them. I got peas, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, and tomatoes. The tomatoes are the coolest thing - they're all different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, and pink.

I've never grown a garden before. I used to help my grandmother with hers, but that's definitely not the same. I have a talent for killing plants whenever I come near them. I bought bamboo plants once, forgot to water them, and they were dead within a week. Just a couple weeks ago, my roommate and I got some free plants from the college. We forgot to water those too, and they're dead now. I hope I can keep this garden growing.

I like the idea of knowing where my food comes from. I figure planting a small garden is a good start to gaining that knowledge. The truth is I don't have the money to go shop at the Co-op and buy organic and local. It just isn't likely to happen.

If this is successful, I'd like to expand next year and maybe plant some cucumbers and kale and stuff. But for now, I'll just stick to what I've got and hope it works out. If not, no big deal -- I paid just a little bit over $2 for all the seeds.