Well, I'm engaged to a wonderful guy who I've been with for 7 years. His name is John, and he's the love of my life! He's super thoughtful and caring, and he puts up with me (which is saying a lot!) I also have two cats-the first is Brumski, a big, fluffy, hypoallergenic, 4 year-old Siberian silver tabby. He's my baby, and he's totally spoiled! I completely acknowledge that he's a brat (the cat, not the man), but hey, I love him anyway! We also recently adopted a 2 1/2 yr old retired female Siberian breeder. We thought she was a red tabby when we picked her up from the cattery but she's actually a blonde-with a beautiful blonde belly, tail, and angel wings around her face. We've renamed her Blondie from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." She's a lover and a sweetheart, and has made herself at home. She's half the size of Brumski but she definitely runs the show.
I live in a small town and there's not much to do here but shop. Luckily I have several great discount stores around me where I often spend only 10-20% of retail. To me bargain shopping is a game and finding a great deal is the prize. On the internet I've found other people like me who don't like to pay full price. I often frequent bargain sites like dealtaker.com, fatwallet.com, and dealnews.com to scour their latest sales. I love ebay! I admit I'm a shopaholic but I really don't want to join a 12 step program b/c think of all the cool stuff I'd miss out on. Plus I'm so darn good at it! My grandmother used to take me to garage sales and flea markets, so it must be a family trait. I say why waste good shopping genes?
I'm not really materialistic, but I think it's silly to pay full price for a lower end product if I can find a higher end product for the same price. I have a wardrobe full of name brand clothes, but I probably spent less than you would at Wal-mart. To me it just makes sense to buy higher quality clothing if it's at a price I can afford. However, my closet also has many inexpensive or vintage pieces of clothing in it. I'm not a label snob. I like an array of styles and often, I don't like to spend a lot on the "trends" of the moment, preferring to invest in classic pieces that will last for years.
I love Christmas and birthdays! I buy gifts all year round. When I go shopping I'll often find something that makes me think of someone I care about. I know Christmas means more than just presents, but I enjoy surprising the people I love. I think we all still remember being kids counting down the days until Santa came down our chimney. Santa still visits our house. Just listening to Christmas music puts a smile on my face.
I recently started playing around on kaboodle b/c it's a great way to organize my bookmarks. I spend a lot of time on the internet, not only shopping, but researching nutrition and looking up health products. It's nice to be able to store articles and websites for future reference, and easily sort through them, and access them.
I love drinking loose tea and have become a raw food enthusiast, although I haven't reached my goal of going completely raw. I have a centrifugal juicer, a dehydrator, a blender, and access to a food processor which has helped me make some major dietary changes. I eventually hope to invest in a mastigating juicer (for leafy green veggies and wheatgrass), an automatic wheatgrass growing system, and a needak folding rebounder. Currently my workout regime consist of Yoga Booty Ballet (yeah, it sounds silly, but it really works!) and a lot of cardio on our Schwinn elliptical trainer.
One of the biggest changes I have made is my use of healthy oils. I used to eat only very low-fat foods but I've since realized that it's unhealthy. I've found a lot of evidence that supports the liberal use of healthy oils. Believe it or not, saturated fats like virgin coconut oil, virgin palm oil, and butter aren't bad for you but actually protect your heart and help you absorb key nutrients. There's also cold-pressed unsaturated fats like flax, hemp, olive, and avocado oils that are good additions to your diet.
Commercial vegetable oils like canola, soybean, crisco, corn, sunflower, and margarine (hydrogenated and unhydrogenated) are some of the worst things you can put in your body. Although food manufacturers now have to list trans fats, they fail to mention that many popular commercial oils such as canola oil and vegetable oils form trans fats when cooking at temperatures over 320 degrees. In fact the majority of bad cholesterol is made up of polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils.
I've also started adding probiotics and raw bee products such as honey and pollen to my diet and I've noticed an energy boost and a glow to my skin. I recently found an inexpensive source for bee products, eBeeHoney.com, and hope to add bee propolis and royal jelly to my supplements. Cutting out sugar hasn't been as hard I thought it would be. I've switched to healthy, natural alternatives, forgoing artificial sweeteners. In fact, one of my favorite desserts is a handful of raw chocolate nibs and agave nectar! Not only is it delicious but I'm enjoying the extra health benefits of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and fiber.
As an added bonus, Kaboodle also offers me a way to share my great deal finds and nutrition articles with my friends and family. Internet browsing and shopping are usually a solo activity but through kaboodle I can now stay connected with friends.
So please check back often since I add new deals almost daily. I'm always finding cool stuff and great sales! I will also be posting informative articles about health, nutrition, and fitness frequently.
Thanks for visiting my Kaboodle page!

























