Back in Town!

     I'm excited to resume my posting after a long and unexpected break over the summer. I went back home for an internship with VCE (Virginia Cooperative Extension.) I planned on hopping back and forth between my mamaw's and parent's houses, but due to some health issues, I wound up staying mainly with my mamaw. For those of you who don't speak Appalachian, "Mamaw" is another word for Grandmother. She is doing much better now, but I'm really glad that I was able to stay with her while she was sick so I could help out. She's one of my biggest heroes. 
     While at her house, I didn't really have internet access, so my blogging had to cease and desist for the summer. However, now that I'm reunited with WiFi, I can blog to my heart's content!
     I've started my Senior year, and I must say, I feel like this will be a good one. So far I'm liking my classes. I've already had the opportunity watch a baby calf be born and to watch a steer slaughter, and I must say, both were interesting experiences. The slaughter was very efficient and quiet... not quite what I was expecting. I knew everything would be sanitary and humane, but it was very not- gory after the bleeding was finished... and even that was very contained. The birth was also somewhat unexpected... again, very quiet. 
     I'm looking forward to what the rest of the semester brings! 

Another Type of Calf... Just Another Day in my Life

     One of the more interesting tidbits about me is that my family owns and operates a beef cattle farm. I have a cow named Marlena, who just had her third calf today. Like the other two babies, this one is a heifer (technical term for female who hasn't had a baby yet.) She is too cute! Her facial markings make her look like she's wearing a bank robber's mask.  Hopefully I'll get better pictures soon! I have a bunch of the other babies, so I'll have to share them as well. 

Storage Solutions + Deal Alert; Canisters

     I've been looking for a better way to store hair accessories for a while now. Up until today, I've just had them in a little metal pail. Although it worked, it wasn't far from overflowing, and it was hard to pick out exactly what I needed. For example, to find bobby pins, I had to pour almost everything out because they settled on the bottom of the pail. Thankfully, I found a perfect solution while out to town.
     Today, in Kroger, my hubby and I happened down the home and kitchen aisle and I spotted canisters on sale. Here lately, I've developed an affliction for glass canisters that fasten with a metal latch- they're just so handy. So, naturally when I saw they were on sale for buy two get one free, I jumped. Not only did I only pay $5.98 for three canisters, but they are just the trick for storing all of my hair things. Score!

Kiss My Fat (Calves)!

 

Storm clouds in the distance... oh my. 

     As a result of being both a chubby girl and a large boned/ framed girl with muscular lower legs, I have "big" calves. This used to bother me to no end (you've read about my past shorts-phobia, right?), but now I don't really care. My calves are strong and sturdy, and have carried me many places. The curve of my calf is naturally beautiful- that curve is one of the most subtle but oh-so-sexy places on a woman... think slits in a long dress, how high heels look, or a pinup girl with toes pointed in the air, and you'll get the idea. That curve is most attractive when it is plump and shapely, not thin and shapeless. My right calf is also home to a tattoo I got with my best friend while in Pigeon Forge, and I think its placement is a great highlight to that curve I was talking about.

Friends who get tattooed together, are awesome. 

Proof that calves are sexxxy! 

Degreasing an Oil Slick

     Like many other ladies out there, I suffer from oily skin. However, mine is not of the oil-prone T-zone variety... it looks more like some one is trying to fry chicken on my face. At the end of a day, I can swipe a finger over my forehead and have it look like I dipped it in canola oil (only a slight dramatization.) As a result, I find myself constantly blot, blot, blotting. The best blotting papers I have ever used were from Sephora, the Sephora brand, made with activated charcoal, and were ah-mazing at a great price. They were also discontinued.
     Another brand I've used is the Clean & Clear, which is more plastic film than paper. They work OK, but I'm not a fan of how they feel like vinyl, how flimsy the paper packaging is, and how few are in a pack.
     Right now I'm using Hard Candy blotting papers from Walmart, and I'm fairly content with them. They're cheap ($5 for 150), the packaging has held up well, and they do the job. I also like how they are sectioned into plastic envelopes inside the holder- it keeps them so tidy. I do wish they were bigger, though. At lunch it takes me three sheets to get to a point that is matte enough for me. 
     Below are some product pictures, and a before/ after shot of my mug on my lunch break. I have been carrying mine around, so excuse that it's not in fresh-off-the-shelf condition.

Before...

...And after. 

Holla Holla, I'm Savin' Dollas... and it's Cute!

     I have a confession to make- I spend way too much time on Pinterest drooling over all of the cool crafts and DIY ideas. Granted, I'm pretty sure most women also have a Pinterest addiction, which makes me feel just a tad less guilty. A while back I discovered a home made recipe for chalkboard paint and kept seeing THE COOLEST projects using it (like these.) 

     My piggy bank (which is coincidentally a hippo) is quite small and doesn't really hold all that much change, so I've been yearning for a new bank. Thanks to my pickle-eating-champ of a husband, we go through jars at a fairly consistent rate, so I had been toying around with the idea of decorating a pickle jar as a bank. After some musing, the idea of painting a pickle jar with chalkboard struck me, and bam! Awesomeness was created. 

    This is my finished product. To create my paint I added 1 tablespoon of unsanded grout to 1/2 cup of acrylic paint and mixed thoroughly. I waited a day before using chalk on my freshly painted jar, but before writing anything, I made sure to scribble all over it with chalk and wipe it off. This helps prevents shadows after erasing. For my coin slot, I hammered a nail through the metal lid several times in a row, tucking the metal edges under with a flathead screwdriver. 

     Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my new coin bank! I like being able to write a specific goal on it, or being able to decorate it when I feel the urge. My only problem is that it takes a bit more work that I'd like to wipe of the chalk, but I'm going to blame that on the texture of my brushstrokes, and even more so on the uneven surface of the jar. 

     After my success with painting this bank, I'm eager to branch out and do a few more chalkboard paint projects. I recently acquired a small chest/ cabinet that I'm plotting over, so hopefully I'll be able to share how that turns out soon! 

Kiss my Fat!

     Here lately I've being doing quite a bit of reading on body love and fat- acceptance. I've been what most people consider overweight the majority of my life. Not really morbidly obese, but chubby. Soft. Curvy. Pear-shaped. I am am a fat- bottomed girl. And up until fairly recently, I've always had a problem with this. 
     The moment that I can most poignantly remember being ashamed of my body was in middle school. According to the dress code, shorts had to be as long as your fingertips. It was summer and quite warm, so like most of my classmates, I was wearing shorts. I was fairly shy and modest, so my shorts were naturally an adequate length. I was siting on a bench near the front doors waiting on my bus to come, and I was approached by the secretary from the office. She informed me that my shorts were much too short and I shouldn't wear them to school again. I was lucky my mother hadn't been called over me showing so much leg.
     My shorts were too short, but many of the other girls slipped by with wearing shorts that were obviously against the dress code. No amount of tugging or shoulder- shrugging could suggest otherwise. Their shorts were OK, but I shouldn't show my legs. I felt so embarrassed... my face turned violently hot and tears pricked my eyes. My shorts were too short... my legs should not be exposed. 
     I would like to say that this upset me for a bit and then I got over it- I would be lying. After that, I didn't wear shorts above my knees in public again until after I graduated high school. I did swim on the rec-league swim team until the summer after my sophomore year, but eventually I quit, one of the main reasons being that I was tired of being so fat and exposed, scurrying around with a towel wrapped around me, trying to fool anyone into thinking I had a smaller mass. 
     Now, I have two pairs of Levi denim shorts, both just above my fingertips. Whenever I go out in them, I seem to garner disapproving looks. For example, today I went to the mall with my hubby to search for appropriate work clothes. I didn't bother to wear makeup, and although my hair was obviously clean and brushed, I hadn't bothered to style it. In addition to my shorts, I wore one of my favorite tees- it's black, and has art from a Harley Quin comic book cover with her, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. 
     While redeeming my coupon for free panties at Victoria's Secret, the salesgirl was friendly, but her eyes revealed perplexion. I suppose I'm not the typical VS shopper. I also noticed looks accompanied by hushed voices directed towards me from a few of the thinner, "trendier" girls. When in Walmart a few days ago I noticed the same thing from two other girls, one of which who seemed to be around my size... fat- stabbing, is what I like to call this behavior. 
     Fat-stabbing:verb- when girls who are perceived to be heavy verbally cut- down other heavy girls. "Ohh snap, that size 16 girl is showing her thighs. How nasty. " I guess this stems from personal insecurity, and wanting to reassure oneself that you're OK for covering up those thighs. "I'm covering my fat. I'm made up, and my hair is done. I'm compensating for my fatness." I used to have this mindset. And eventually, I decided that anyone who didn't like the way I looked could just get over it. I'm not lazy. I eat healthy things. I'm clean. And anyone assuming that I'm a slob just because I don't get dolled up to shop for polo shirts and khakis probably has some issues of their own. 

If you want people to look at you,

just recreate this look. Also. I didn't 

realize I was this tan. Cool.

     Because of my own experiences with how "fat people," especially women, are perceived, I've decided that I want to start posting "kiss my fat" posts. Each one is going to explore one of my features I've felt shame towards and why, in actuality, it's not all that bad. I may try to make them a monthly feature, so they get spaced out nicely. Because all of my insecurities don't stem from fat, some of them might be non-fat-related, but I'm sure they'll still be relatable. I'm hoping that by writing about myself, other people might come to love and accept who they are, as well. After all, no one is perfect, and if you're holding yourself up to some unattainable example, you'll never be happy.