What I'm loving Wednesday

Amber, I'm taking your idea on "What I'm loving Wednesday" and going to "run with it."  Speaking of, I just saw a post on Facebook called "How to Write Good"--and it tells me to avoid cliches.  Ahh, I am one big cliche!  Anyway, I am going to start:

1) Des Moines has a co-op!

It opened this month.  It is nice to have fresh, organic, local foods all in one spot.  So far it's very small.  Plus, I like the idea of a co-op.  You have a say in what goes in the store and it's its own community.  I'm thinking of joining ours.  I've never been a part of a co-op, in fact (shudder), I shop at Wal-Mart all the time.  I should be putting money into the community.  With a co-op, you get that opportunity.  I'm glad it's finally been started in Des Moines, Iowa City has a HUGE one!

2) Lutheran Hospital

Their emergency room is great.  It's the only emergency room in town where you have to walk through a metal detector first.  I don't even think you have to do that at the county hospital.  Anyway, our clients get right in to a room, are seen at a timely fashion, and most everyone working here is nice.  I had to go today (luckily the client turned out to be fine) and I am always impressed by how easy everyone is to work with over there.  I also like their surgery center.  Lutheran, I love YOU!

3) Modern Family: Cam

Cam, the one on the right, is so freaking funny, omg!  I'm watching the episode where he's on a juice fast.  Haaaa!  Juice fasts have been a phase at work, and I love my juicer too.

What do you love?

"Stay in the house" day

Hope you all are having a fabulous day!  Fall is one of my favorite seasons.  I love the cool, crisp air, apples, and cuddling up inside with a book, boyfriend and a cat!   I've been craving apple cider like noone's business.  I'm watching my cats buddied up at the picture window right now.  They love to "people watch!"  Just like their momma.  I'll post a pic of the two of them soon.  You've heard about Phil (the giant, orange "lovebug").  There's also Ricky, his "little brother."  Ricky is a smaller, younger grey tabby.  Shy and sensitive; he's going to be the one that comes up to you if you are sitting quietly, and just snuggle on your lap. 

I am such an animal lover.  I have some more spare time lately and have been thinking about volunteering at the Animal Rescue League. 

I haven't been the most productive on the weekends and think it would be fun!  What do you think?  It's better than "Stay in the house" day.  LOL, let me explain.

I have a goal to pay off all my student loan debt.  So far, I've paid off a little over half, the original amount being around $32,000.  I also have paid off my car (2008 Honda Civic, bought new, two and a half years early).  I'm proud of that!  Before I started, I was so overwhelmed I never thought I could ever do it.  Dave Ramsey has been a big part of this, and I can't wait to go to Financial Peace Plaza on debt free Friday and scream "I'm debt free."  Yay!  Someday that is not yet.

I've come up with some creative ways to pay off some of this debt, one of these being "Stay in the house" day.  Basically it's what it sounds like, if you don't leave the house, you don't spend any money.  You do what you'd do normally; talk on the phone, watch tv, cook, have a friend over, play the Wii, anything (but you don't leave the house).  Yes, you could go out and run on a "free" trail, but I know I'd want to stop at the Kum n' Go and get a water.  That costs money, and "Stay in the house" day doesn't let you spend any money.  LOL, unless you were to shop online.  It's not for everyone (and you don't want to stay in the house every day for obvious emotional reasons), but I don't always have the discipline to go out and not spend money, so I have to create my own ways.  I've been able to do it lately because my boyfriend Zac has season Iowa tickets and is gone all day on Saturdays.  Admittedly, I'm sort of embarrassed when he asks me what I did all day, and "I didn't leave the house" for "Stay in the house" day.  

What do you do to help save money? 

Philly Pie

Warning:  Blogger may sound like "crazy cat lady."  In any case, I'm guilty!  This adorable, tiger striped cat is Phil!  Otherwise known as Philly Bop, Philly Pie McHandsome Pants, Phil Collins (who I *love* by the way).   He was adopted from the Animal Rescue League January of 2010.  I had always wanted an orange cat (like Garfield), and when I saw him laid out in his little glass cage, I decided I wanted to meet him.  I also liked his name:  Rob.  HA!  I would have kept that name if it wasn't my best friend's husband's name.  This is who I kept thinking of:

We took him into the pet room.  What amazed me is that this "stray" cat (found on the coldest day of the year waltzing down one of the seediest streets in town) was so friendly.  He let us pick him up without a fight and purred his "little heart out."  I've had several cats and have never met one like this. 

Here's Debbie the E-Harmony Dater, with Phil's doppleganger on her left!  Have you ever seen this video?  Just call her Angie...jussssst kidding!  Anyway, he's remained a joy since we've brought him home.  He walks all over counters, sleeps in the sink, comes when you call him.  The vet even said he had "quite the personality." 

Tell me about your pet!

Subluxations of Life

So, what is your biggest "splurge" so to speak (I put it in quotation marks because usually a splurge is something you enjoy).  The one thing that you just cringe when you think about how you bought it.  Ha!  Everyone has got that one thing, the "gym membership" that is needed (when you work out approximately once a year <-------right here!), the "juicer" (oh wait, I have one of those too), but mine, wow!

Every year my work sponsors a health fair.  One can go and get blood work done, check your weight, height, grab some snacks (since you are supposed to be fasting) etc.  This year we had visitors, one of those being a chiropractic clinic.  I avoided them since I have no aches and pains to speak of.  However, a charismatic man comes up to me and asks if I would like to do a thermal scan.  I'm thinking to myself, I can go back to work or do this for a little bit, so I went for the thermal scan.  Can you come in next week for an adjustment?  "No", I'm thinking.  "Yes", I answer. 

The scan looked like the above.  There were black lines in the cervical (neck) area to indicate that I had a "severe subluxation."  A subluxation, essentially, is a misalignment of the spine.  They are corrected through chiropractic adjustments, exercises etc.  I was terrified.  I thought I felt fine.  This scan and this stranger says I'm not.  To make a long story short, after one visit, I am convinced that much more is wrong with me.  I need a 60 visit treatment plan and said plan will only cost $1400.  "I'LL TAKE IT!"  I paid for it the same day I had my first adjustment.  Granted, it feels good to have my neck adjusted, but $1400?!!  The 60 visits were to be used in 4 months for my "treatment plan."  I bought them two years ago.  As often as I am not going, I am still using these visits. 

The treatment plans include "Dinner with the Doctor" and lots of seminars.  Examples of these seminars include conversations about the dangers of vaccinations, natural eating (organic food, grass fed meats etc.).  It's different than what I thought a chiropractor was because I thought it was just adjustments for pain.  Maybe I could get my money's worth out of this, although I'm not entirely convinced yet.  I believe in vaccinations.

 Just for fun:
What can you buy for $1400:
A USED CAR (a rusted out piece, but you could probably get a few thousand miles out of it)
Sponsor a child for 46 months.

I could get my hair cut, colored, and highlighted 10 times at my salon (she's good!)
Pay off $1400 worth of student loans
A week in Vegas (probably cheaper than that, actually)
A whole lot...


What is your biggest splurge?

Latino Heritage Festival

This is my first blog post, so cheers to me ;)!  I've read a lot of talented blogs and through a friend was inspired to start my own.  I am a little nervous...but here goes.  So a friend of mine and I decided to venture down to the Latino Heritage Festival in downtown Des Moines today.  We had another friend there, a fitness instructor, who was demonstrating Zumba, and we went to see her.  We braved the cold, wind, and rain to make it down!

Didn't scare us.  Nope.  We brought our umbrellas and our "toughness." 

We made a beeline towards the food carts.  First stop--pupusas!  El Salvador's national food with its very own national DAY (that would be November 13th).  A thick corn masa soft shell stuffed with cheese and your choice (whether that be pork, beans, spinach etc.--there are plenty of other choices that weren't offered at this particular cart).  The pupusa was then fried and served with curtido (a tangy coleslaw flavored with chiles and vinegar).  The combination was delicious!  We washed that down with horchata (cinnamon rice milk).  I was also enticed by the baklava (NOT Latino) and had to have some of that also.  I appreciated the corndogs, turkey legs, BAKLAVA--and was only a little confused that they were all there.  I suppose for that picky kid ;).

Here's a picture of the pupusa:

Different booths were set up with information about a particular Latino country, information about businesses etc.  We waltzed our way through there and collected pens, magnets, and the like.  I can always appreciate a good pen... 

As a nurse, I was excited to run into the Walgreens' Wellness Tour with free health screenings.  The health screenings were in a converted Winnebago (shelter + heat + health = win).  There were free screenings for glucose (diabetes is very prevalent in the Latino community, as it is with many) and cholesterol, BMI and body fat percentage, AND the most exciting part (and I'm not kidding) was they could check your bone density through your foot.  I send so many people to have DEXA scans, where you have to lie still on a table for a few minutes.  This test literally took a minute.  Granted this wasn't as accurate, but I just thought that was really cool!  Checked out healthy.  I was a little scared with the bone density/Diet Coke leaching out my bones, but was fine.

Friend didn't get to demonstrate Zumba for very long due to the rain, but it was nice to catch up.  Would love to go next year!  I enjoy learning about different cultures.  What types of events are going on where you are from?