Summer Beaches

Last year my best friend and I went on a road trip to see the Olympic National Forest and some of the Pacific coast. It was a wonderful time and we both at one point spent an entire morning and afternoon on the beach reading our separate books.

My friend and I didn't pack very well for actually being on the beach and had to stop at a store to pick up some beach towels to sit on on the beach. I plan to put the beach towel to good use in the future for more beach time reading sessions.

As an extremely pasty white person, the sun is not always my best friend. I am more likely to turn red as a tomato from sunburn and still be pasty white when it fades than to every tan but I try to get some sunshine and then spend a good amount of time in the shade. For the beach though there was no shade so I had to apply sunscreen regularly.

I generally love living in Washington state. I can have the best of every world. I have beaches, forest, mountains, and an overall mild climate. I am biased but it is the most beautiful state in my opinion.

What are your favorite outdoor places to read?

Mountain & Trees

One of the most amazing things about living in Washington state is the amazing nature we have here. We have mountains, ocean, and forests. Not just ordinary forests though, no, we also have rainforests.

My friend and I on our summer road trip stopped at the Olympic national park to visit one of the rainforests. It was so amazing to see. There are so many species of plants and trees that I had not seen before. While many of the trees were evergreen trees they often had visible roots because there was so much moisture in the air.

I have always loved trees even as a child. I wanted to grow up and be a scientist who studied trees. It was the only thing I thought about doing science for. I enjoy the forests and the shade. I love living in Washington where the trees are green all year round. I have gone to visit places where the trees are bare and brown during the winter and it is so depressing. Having green all year round all around us is so wonderful. I appreciate it more and more.

I also love the mountains. Nothing quite compares to them. They are majestic and rise above. I often think about versus and stories in the Bible that involved mountains. Where I live, there are also volcanoes so you know that this beautiful thing can also erupt and destroy everything. This used to terrify me more as a child but not as much anymore. I wonder if this is me getting too comfortable and easy with life or if my childhood anxieties have shifted to other things. More present worries about paying bills, stable income, and health insurance cause a more present and immediate anxiety than the distant possibility of a volcanic eruption.

Reusable Menstrual Products

All my cups. Eva size 1 & 2, Lunette size 1 and 2, and Skoon size2

I am a menstrual cup convert. It started because I was really done with disposable pads. I have not tried reusable pads and I have heard those feel better than disposables but I don't know. I was interested in a cup because it is something that you can fold up and insert into the vagina and it creates a suction. This means that you can wear it while doing sports like running and swimming and not have to worry about leakage. I was interested in something that would be comfortable to wear and make being on my period a little easier. As well as being cheaper than buying pads all the time and is better for the environment. I also wanted something that was safer to use than a tampon. Hence why I turned to the menstrual cup: better for the environment, better for wallet(when not buying a bunch of them), better for your body, safer for your body(can be fore for up to 12 hours), and just more comfortable.

There is a learning curve. Like how to insert and take out, how to clean. I cut the stems off of all my cups because they sit really low for me and I just don't need the stem.The first cup I bought was to small for my flow, and would move around and would end up sticking out. It was just uncomfortable but I liked the basic idea and I knew the problem was the cup itself. so I tried the Eva. It was great but on my heavy days I was changing it a lot and that doesn't work for when you have a set class schedule very well.   Next I turned to the Lunette size two. That cup changed my life, I mean cups have changed my life in general but this cup was AMAZING. It just worked with my body so well. I loved it so much I bought the size 1, which also works great.

I wanted to try the bell shape and I also wanted to see if I could find an even better overnight cup so I tried the Skoon cup size two. I had heard it was great for people whose cups sit lower and good for heavy flow. Honestly, the bell shape doesn't work so great for me. The V shape is just better on my body I am not sure why. The Other two Eva cups I got for free passed out at my school as part of a sustainability project. Eva had changed the feeling of the cups material and I wanted to give it another go. after two cycles with those I have to say they are pretty great. I will do a post comparing specifically the Eva and Lunette cups later.

small cups and large cups

A list seems the best way to share the things that cups have made better about my period life. So here goes:

• I sleep better with cups on my period. I am always more tired on my period and add to that when I wore pads I would always sleep really light because I was adjusting to make sure I didn't leak. Now I don't worry about that and I sleep so much better because of it. 
• I get a little excited when my period comes to use my cups. Basically they give me something to look forward to on my period.
• Knowing my body. I have learned so much about the female body in general from researching menstrual cups and by using a cup have also learned a lot about my own body. 
• Becoming more confident. Something about using a cup has made me more confident about myself. It has been a really empowering experience overall. 
• Cramps. So the first 3ish periods on the cup were a little hellish. The cramps were just awful, but now that my body has gotten used to the cups the cramps have actually subsided to being less sever than when I used disposable pads. 

I love menstrual cups so much I knew I needed to write a post or two about them. I am always down to talk about cups. 

Have a great day!

Gardening

The blooms on the lavender

This year now that I am out of school I am starting to delve into some things that I was always interested in doing but felt to overwhelmed with school to really get down to. I decided that I need to get started now and just do it. I have an air plant and spider plant that have done really well in my house and I love them so much. Plants make me happy. They are alive and have color and make the room more vibrant.

I originally only wanted to get myself a rosemary plant as I had read that it was a plant that is hard to kill, it is and herb so yummy, and rosemary is wonderful for your hair. I got the rosemary plant but I also bought my mom an English Lavender plant as a late mother's day present.

I re-potted them both and so far a month later they have not died yet so I am going to call it a success so far. The lavender has started to bloom as well and the rosemary seems to be growing taller. I am hoping that the lavender plant grows in size though I am nervous about what to do if it outgrows the pot. We rent our house so my mom didn't want to plant the lavender plant in the ground.

Rosemary and Lavender side by side

I hope in the future to start an indoor herb garden. I LOVE fresh basil. It is great with fresh fruit and in all kinds of cooked foods. Not to mention fresh basil is amazing on pizza. My favorite pizza is the margarita which is just tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, salt and olive oil. It is yummy and a very traditional pizza.

I think the indoor herb garden might be a project for next year as I am currently working on cleaning up the flower beds in the front yard. So much grass has taken over the beds and I have to clean it out and other weeds. I am also putting in some edging stuff in hopes that that will help to clean it up. My mom and I want to pick up some perennial flowers to plant as well. We shall see.

I am wondering if I need to bring these plants inside when fall/winter comes around. If you know if I should let me know. Or if you have any tips for pot gardening I would like to hear then.

Have a great day!

"Endless Forms Most Beautiful"

My current favorite song is Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Nightiwish. I love it because there is an awe of nature on planet Earth that I relate to. I think about this song when ever I go hiking. The line "every endless form most beautiful" has become a theme song to me. It means for me to never take what I see for granted. How amazed I am with what I see in nature. Here are some of my favorite pictures that I have taken of nature along with some of my favorite lines from the song. 

Photo taken by me

We are a special speck of dust

A fleeting moment on an ark

A celebration, a resthaven

Of life

photo taken by me

Lay on a field of green
With Mother Eve
With Father Pine reaching high
Look at yourself in the eyes of aye-aye
Unfolding rendezvous

photo taken by me 

Deep into the past
Follow the aeon path
Greet a blade of grass
Every endless form most beautiful

photo taken by me

Alive, aware, in awe
Before the grandeur of it all
Our floating pale blue ark
Of endless forms most beautiful