The winner is...

Michelle from Big Blueberry Eyes!

Random.org picked a great winner, as she is a military spouse just like me!

Congratulations, Michelle. I hope you get a chance to enjoy the relaxation with a baby coming soon!

Email me at afteracupofcoffee (at) gmail (dot) com

My inner snob

One thing I haven't written about very much here is my "crunchy" side- the side of me that loves all things natural and organic and wants to do my part to be responsible with our resources.

Ever since Jen posted about The Story of Stuff, I have been thinking about the changes I have made and the changes I want to make in my stuff.

Then, I was challenged today by Megan's post Another Way, in which she resolves to buy used clothing for her children instead of new.

I won't even tell you the amount of money I just spent on clothes for Chloe minutes before reading her post! I have always appreciated when people hand clothes down to me for the kids. But I have never once gone to a store to buy clothes that weren't new. And here is where the snob in me comes out- if there were a really cute consignment boutique or something around here, I could totally see myself shopping there. But not a Goodwill or thrift store. I don't even want to go in one!

Another place my inner snob shows herself?

My haircare products.

I have been wanting to make the switch to shampoo bars in order to save on the packaging. But I have been too scared of having bad hair. I have already made the switch to a natural deodorant from Lush that has no packaging, but ignore all the shampoo bars when I shop there. If I don't see them, they don't exist and I don't have to make the change right?

But just check out the amount of plastic bottles I have out (not counting any hiding in cabinets!)

My shower:


Kids' Bath:


My bath (even though I love Lush bath bombs and bubble bars, I still keep these around):


That's a lot of packaging, ya'll.

So, I sucked it up and went shopping. I know that there are people who use vinegar and baking soda and things like that to wash their hair, but I hate the smell of vinegar. Unless it is a good balsamic and I'm dipping some hot, crusty bread in it. I however, am neither crusty nor hot (although I am working on losing weight and being hot)! And that snob in me protests that if I don't use expensive packaged hair products that you can only buy from a salon, then my hair will most assuredly be crusty. So I bribed myself with some new bath bombs and got two shampoo bars while I was at Lush. I ordered a Godiva bar and an Ultimate Shine bar (If you order two shampoo bars, they give you a free tin to store them in).

Coming soon: The Big Shampoo Bar Test. We'll see how those solid shampoos compare to my favorite Redken All Soft.

If you have time, head over to Jen's place to read about her story of stuff and watch the video.

WW- Tastes like rain

The power of the will

I made some chocolate chip cookies for the family last night. The kind that you actually mix together in a bowl, not the kind you take out of the package.

And I was really, really tempted to grab a spoon and sit down in front of a movie and eat the cookie dough right out of the bowl.

But I fought the temptation, and I was victorious.

I ate it with my fingers, standing up in the kitchen instead.

The Bloggy Giveaways Carnival!

*************Comments are now closed. The winner will be announced just as soon as Random.org picks you.**************

I know I'm putting this post up early, but any minute now I'm going to sneeze so hard that my eyeballs pop out, and then I'll really need a nap. So welcome to my giveaway!

Today I am giving away this Starbucks mug, filled with a LUSH bath bomb and a $25 Starbucks gift certificate! All of my favorite things. To enter to win, leave a comment and tell me:

If you had to choose between a nice, relaxing bath with no interruptions, or a nice hot cup of coffee (or tea) with no interruptions, which would you choose?

This contest will close and the winner will be announced on Feb 1st, and is open to residents of the US or Canada only.

And don't forget to come back on Monday, February 11 for The Big Bloggy Move. There will be more prizes!!!


Check out the other giveaways!

The Big Bloggy Move!

Don't forget to be here on Monday, February 11th! You can showcase your new or redesigned blog, or visit new blogs for the chance to win prizes.

Sign the Mr. Linky on Monday if one of these is true:
a) You started your blog no earlier than December 2007
b) You moved to a new blogging platform or started self-hosting no earlier than December 2007
c) You completely redesigned your blog no earlier than December 2007

You are welcome to offer prizes to your visitors, but that is up to you. Megan and I will be!

Get your move on!

Copy this code to get the button and spread the word:
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Isaac (part 19)

The benefit of being a man is that you get to have a really bad memory. Isaac barely remembers conversations we had yesterday, while I remember every embarassing incident in my whole life in such minute detail that I get embarrassed all over again when I remember it.

Although, since having kids I can no longer remember what I went to the grocery store to buy, or why I opened the refrigerator door.

But it's a good bet that chocolate answers both those questions.

If I ask Isaac today why he broke up with me 10 years ago, he really doesn't remember. It had something to do with me graduating.

And really, that's about as much as I understood when he broke up with me.

It was sudden, and oh-so-unexpected. It was March or April of my senior year. I had agreed to be part of an intern program with my college pastor after graduating, and was starting a new Christian fellowship at a university in Orange County. I also decided to get my Master's Degree while I was there, since we really needed a student to participate in starting the group. Isaac had one more year of school, then had to go to Rhode Island for training, and after that we didn't know where he'd be.

And somehow in his mind this translated to us taking separate paths in life.

It was absolutely shocking to me. We had known since before we started dating that we wouldn't be getting married any time soon, and that he would be going into the Navy right after graduation. I was only moving 50 miles away from him. Granted, in Southern California traffic that is more like 200 miles, but still, I couldn't wrap my brain around the concept that the person I thought I was going to marry had changed his mind.

And until that day I never understood that a broken heart isn't a figurative description, that your chest can actually hurt, you can feel like you can't breathe, that you are drowning in a sea of pain and don't know how to get out. For months I would beg God to just let me get over Isaac, because no other guy I met or knew or who asked me out after that compared to him.

About four or five months after we had broken up, Isaac asked me to go to dinner with him so we could talk. We still attended the same church, so we'd seen each other fairly regularly.

He wanted to get back together.

And I told him no.