B(LIST)fulness is Expanding!

I decided to start a blog that is specifically about one topic-Getting rid of things I don't need. I decided to name it minima(LIST). Check it out. I will be writing more on this blog soon! Don't give up on me yet!

Saving Money

How are you saving money during this time of "economic hardship?" Here's what my husband and I are doing.

1. Share a car. This can be fun. It can also be time consuming! I don't particularly enjoy sitting in a highschool parking lot waiting for my principal husband to finish his duties...but one car insurance bill is sure great! It also saves money on parking...I can't really pay to park a car that my husband has to drop me off in!

2. Use the dishwasher. My husband asked me the other day why I was using the dishwasher so much. I explained that it actually uses less water, soap and energy than I would if I doused everything in a sink full of soapy water. Plus it cleans WAY better. Don't believe me? Check out this article

3. Buy Scott toilet paper. The thousand sheet roll will never end...even though you'll want it to since it's not the softest toilet paper product out there. It's a lot better then newspaper or the corncobs people used in the days before toilet paper though.

4. Wear your underwear 5 days in a row. Just kidding!! I have heard this suggested though.

5. Take all of your showers at the gym...they can foot the waterbill...right? Okay, so I don't actually do this. I have heard of a guy who did this for a part of his summer.

6. Do you have any more ideas for me?

Ben & Jerry's Made Out of Breastmilk

I'm sure you've all heard that PETA wants Ben and Jerry's to make icecream out of breastmilk. I thought I would help them come up with some names for their new product. Unfortunately, I'm not clever with puns...but my husband sure is.

1. Double Delight
2. Banana Mammary
3. Oreola
4. Best Pump
5. Pheeding Time

You have your choice of single, double or nipple dip! Cup sizes run from AAA to DDD.

School Blues Blog

I've decided that I have the case of the school blues and my "having fun skills" is very effected by it.
Here is a list of symptoms that I have.
1.School is always on my mind.

2.I have dreams about it.

3.I have nightmares about it.

4.I daydream what life will be like when it is over.

5.I wonder why people tell me to enjoy life in school since it's so much better than
working a job.

6.I wonder if I can cram any more details into my brain.

Here is list of things that I think may be causing my school blues

1. I trip on my ugly nursing shoes. Since I already feel a little intimidated by all of the doctors and nurses at the hospital, my tripping action really makes me feel sheepish. Plus, wearing ugly shoes is awful. Tripping on ugly shoes is almost unbearable:)

2. I only have two scrub pant option. One of the pairs I own, are the cool flare kind. Unfortunately these have become progressively shorter every time I have washed them. Not so cool anymore. My other pair are very high waisted with a very roomy inseem. I look like I'm wearing a parachute on top with tight bunched ankle material at the bottom. Not pretty.

3. I see many procedures/diseases during the day. This is great, except most people get grossed out when I talk about it.

4. Homework seems to intefere with my blogging time. Seriously, who wouldn't get school blues from that?

whew...I'm tired.

I will be taking a short break from writing lists this week. Nursing school is crazy insane and I have to memorize two books. J/k...but pretty much.

More About Minimalism

I've always considered myself to be one of few possessions. I just figured out the reason I had few possessions is because I was storing it all at my parents house! Sheesh....Now I have to figure out how to go from a junkist to a sane minimalist. I do not want to be the person that debates whether toilet paper and spoons are something I REALLY need to survive. Therefore, I decided I would make gradual changes in my life and figure out what I really need.

1. I try to use only 3 squares of toilet paper instead of 7. I only do this because my husband commented on how much toilet paper I use. I guess I'm used to using the one-ply scratchy toilet paper that I grew up with.

2. I stomped on a roach not only once, but twice yesterday. (Of course I screamed the entire time I was stomping) I decided that the world needed to minimalize the number of scary creatures crawling around in it!

3. I've worked on cutting down on the number of diet cokes I consume. I don't really NEED Diet Coke. I just really like it. As most of you know...this has been a 5 year struggle for me!

4. We have about 60 blankets at our house. That would work well if we lived in MN...but we live in muggy VA. So I just threw one away yesterday. It had definitely seen better days.

5. My husband has has Mexican, Chines and everyday dishes. He also has two sets of picnic dishes (along with two picnic baskets) We now have the dishes we chose for our wedding! We have a lot of dishes. I'm trying to decide what to do with them all. I'm thinking we will have a garage sale in the spring.

6. I've also decided to minimalize my time on the internet.....I'll start right after I finish this blog!

Wow...That's Uncomfortable.

Have you ever been in a large group where someone all of a sudden offers information that causes you all to turn red? I've had a lot of those experiences in the past 6 months. Here goes...thankfully this list won't be that long...I don't know how many more of these situations I can live through.

1. Our nursing class was asked to think about the most painful experience we'd ever been through. Our instructor than asked if anyone would be willing to share their experience. Most people said stuff like "My C-Section...falling off my bike..ect." Then it happened. One of our "interesting" class mates raised his hand and told us all about the time he had a portion of his male organ removed! Wow, I'm turning red as I type this. I guess some people are just really open...or maybe they just don't have a filter. I'm not sure.

2. Our nursing instructor was TRYING to teach us to be open to different cultures. She then proceeded to tell us that when you have a black patient they will always want to eat "fried chicken." She than asked an Asian person what they ate every day. The student said "what do you mean?" The nursing instructor said "You eat rice, right?" Another person in the class made the situation worse by raising his hand and saying "I thought oriental people ate rice and seafood too." I just wonder when these people are going to learn that you only refer to rugs as oriental and that those cultures eat a variety of foods!

3. One of the pregnant nursing students raised her hand during our contraception lecture. She then stated that she was on a certain type of birth control and "now she was pregnant." First of all..I did not want to know what type of birth control my classmates were one But to make things worse, another student raised their hand and stated that "people above certain weights could not use that type of birth control." It was very apparent that this student was definitely not under the weight requirement! Whewww...calling someone fat in front of the whole class is not nice!