LeaDan to Wed, June 1, 2013!

Today begins the 365 day countdown to my wedding. No, I am not marrying myself. D and I have agreed that this is MY wedding, as he has been there done that. He has confirmed that he will show up and I can worry about the details.

Although, he did say he wanted to wear an orange tux a la Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber.

Funny enough, I have agreed to it. As long as it is not such a Creamsicle orange and matched the darker orange of the wedding colors. As much I love the idea of a traditional wedding, I also want to add splashes of uniqueness and just have some FUN!

So ...... here we go!

Once an Un-domestic Goddess, Always an Un-domestic Goddess

In reference to my last post, no I have not lost my un-domestic-ness. I had a complete un-domestic Goddess moment today.

I was making my famous fried chicken for dinner, which was going to be accompanied by green beans, carrots and rice. I bought myself a really great steamer/rice cooker when AJ was starting on solids, and with it I was able to make her homemade baby food, as well as easily cook rice. I have used it many times for rice and it actually comes out nicely.

Until tonight.

I began by measuring out 2.5 cups of long grain white rice and then added 5 cups of water. I usually don't add that much water as I prefer a sticker rice, but alas, I was zombied out and not paying attention. I ended up with mushy wet rice. Not cool in my books.

(I also opened the lid a number of times to check it and have since read that doing such a thing can most definitely aid in making your rice mushy.)

So, what was my first thought? I'll just add more rice to soak up some of the water! I only had a bag of brown rice left, so I not so gracefully poured some of that in. What was I thinking??? Would this actually work? Probably not.

I started up the old Google machine and did a little research. It was nice to see others with the same issue as me, although not one solution mentioned adding more rice. Yikes. I took a little scoop from the cooker and yeah ... Ramsey would have my ass for this.

I put the rice in file 13 and decided to start over with just the brown rice. I was feeling lucky that D was running late and I had time to give this another shot.

How did it turn out you ask? Not sure. I will let you know tomorrow, as we were done eating by the time it was cooked.

Un-Domestic, Yet a Bit Domestic. Possible?

I am concerned that I am beginning to lose my un-domestic-ness. For most, this would be a good thing, but I like that aspect about me. I feel it makes me unique and just .... me.

And it forces me to realize that I am a grown-up.

I have been spending a better part of the last 34 years trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow-up, and here I am! All grown up with a family, a house and a career path that changes often, but yet is following a trail.

I started to question my un-domestic Goddess status last week when D made the comment that I am getting good at cooking. I made a kick ass pizza and the next day made an awesome beef and noodle thingy.

Then it really hit me today when I was gardening, for the first time in my life, and .... wait for it .....

I really enjoyed myself!

Can you believe it? Me, Leah, likes to garden!

I still wear latex gloves plus yellow rubber gloves and cry when I clean the toilet, I still make the oven smoke when I cook, and I still let my bookshelf get dusty, but maybe I am more of a domestic Goddess than I give myself credit for. Maybe my talents are shifting a bit.

I am still a Goddess either way.

Backyard flower box

Front yard flower bed 

What Has Two White Legs and Blinds People?

Me. I have the whitest legs in the world. I can't deny it, as I can't hide it and believe me I have tried.

I was lucky enough (not really) to inherit lily white english skin from my Dad's side of the family. Because of this, I can have some trouble with good old Mr. Sun. In the big picture of things, it is not so bad, as I tend to shy away from tanning and basking in the Sun's rays and I like to think my skin is happier due to that. But when you temporarily blind people with the whiteness of your legs, you often wish they would just tan already!

I could sit out in the direct sun with tanning oil on my legs and they would only get a heat rash and burn. Actually, I can't recall my legs ever changing color when the rest of me had burnt to a crisp on occasion.

Oh wait, I do remember one time that I managed to achieve tanned legs. Mom and I got spray tans before a trip to Vegas about eight ish years ago. Wow .... were we ever tanned!

After leaving the tanning salon in Beaumont we stopped by Auntie Tracey's house to show off our bronzed skinned. The kids were scared of us. Seriously, ask them. We looked like Natives form the Australian Outback, and both of us having bright green eyes did not help. I think we even scared ourselves!

We showered to get the excess colour off and felt pretty good about the tans we achieved. We were ready for vacation! Off we went to Las Vegas with beautiful sprayed on tans.

We weren't the only ones who ended up brown though.  Our clothes joined us. The tan was rubbing off onto our clothes and adding little accents of brown. Not only that, but you have no idea how freaky it is to shower and see coloured water running down the drain. And that was days after being sprayed. Worst idea we had in a long time.

I have tried different tanning creams, but for some reason they just don't work well or I end up with the dreaded streaks. I gave up and waved the white flag to not having tanned legs.

Yes, pun intended.

A couple weeks ago, D came across a website that sends you free samples of products. FREE! Being the thrifty guy that he is, he signed up and a week later an awesome package full of FREE samples appeared in our mailbox. We got a toothbrush, toothpaste, a granola bar, little tabs of dishwasher soap, a razor, sample sized shampoo and conditioner and Jergen's Natural Glow lotion.

Now that I had to try.

I am on my second day of using it and I actually see a difference! It is not meant to darken your skin right away, but has a more gradual effect, which works for me. I just wish it smelled better.

But it appears that this girl shall have tanned legs for the first time in years! I can already tell that this will be the best summer ever!