Showing posts with label Rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rants. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Eco-friendly Contractors: What Can Happen

Review of NewSouth Windows
Friends, have you thought about buying energy efficient windows, doors or any other remodeling project to make your home more eco-friendly? They often are fabulous ways to save money and they can lessen your carbon footprint!

After I bought my new home, I hired NewSouth Window of Orlando to install 14 energy efficient windows and to convert my sliding glass door to energy star patio doors. I ended up having to hire a second company, Collis Roofing, to finish the project, but once it was done our energy bills dropped significantly. We keep the house at a chilly 74F all year long (in Florida) and our utility bills never exceed $200 for electric, water, and sewer combined! Sweet Jesus, it's lovely!

However, it's important to find the RIGHT contractor because finding the WRONG one can end in a lot of headaches. Trust me. I know.

My (Not So Pleasant) Story
I didn't originally want to write this story because it's so personal, but I feel like it needs to be told. In my wildest dreams I never thought anything like this would happen, but it did. The truth is that it can happen to anybody! You need to protect yourself! So, please read this and make sure you are never in the same situation I'm in!
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Thursday, November 14, 2013

Budget Gifts for the Manly Outdoorsman In Your Life

I'm awesome at giving gifts if you like anything glittery, but tools? I just recently learned what a socket wrench was. Sort of. In theory.

Anyways, I told The Man I was going to write a blog about what to get a manly man and I needed advice! He said that every manly man wants the following:
  • Tools
  • Car Stuff
  • Awesome Stuff
  • Weapons/Survival/Camping/Hunting/Zombie Apocalypse supplies
  • A Little Something-Something ::wink wink:: ::nudge nudge:: 
Hey! And one of those options is completely free. ;)

The rest... well, not so much.

I'm going to focus on budget friendly options that are geared towards the outdoorsman/survivalist/military enthusiast. Why? Because cars and tools are boring.

And this is a PG blog so I'll let you figure out the ::wink wink:: ::nudge nudge:: on your own, but I thought we could take a look at some....

"Awesome Stuff"

magnetic wristband
  • Magnetic Wristband This is awesome and it kind of goes with cars and tools. It's a magnetic strap that he wears on his wrist and it will hold onto anything metal (nails, screws, nuts, bolts...)
    • Brainteaser
      Mind games baby! This one is HARD! 
    • I know that The Man has lost a bolts down the hood of the car and has had to fish them out-- this will prevent it! 
  • Hanayama Brainteaser Puzzles Mind games are always so cool! Guys love figuring stuff out! 
  • THE WALKING DEAD Seasons 1-3 DVD Sets -- I think this is awesome and it teaches your man survival skills in case of a zombie apocalypse which is very important. I mean, he is going to be the one protecting you and your family. It's best to teach him. 
    • Seriously, it's one of the best TV series on right now. We love it and I even HATE horror movies.
Survival Knives
Okay, I know I'm pretty much a hippie, but today I'm going to write you about weapons. I know. It's crazy.

Mind blown. Poof!

But, really, it's all love's fault. You do crazy things for love.

So I know you're thinking, "What gives this almost hippie the right to tell me what weapons to buy my super awesome manly man?"

I'm so glad you asked!! :)
  1. Well, I was in this little thing called the United States Military. Maybe you heard of it? ;)
  2. I grew up with a Marine for a Father. Enough said.
  3. The Man (who was specially trained in knives while he was is the Army Special Forces) has educated me on the fine art of knife selection.
So, that's my credentials. Hopefully, you approve. If not, then let me convince you...

Or just look at the pictures.

Whatever. ;)
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Monday, November 11, 2013

Happy Veterans Day and Military Girl Power!

Yours Truly in 2005, Camp Pendleton, CA.
I just wanted to say THANK YOU to the many, many men and women who have served, are serving or will serve in the United States Military. You Rock!

And since I write this blog I get to babble about whatever I want which is pretty awesome.

Respect my auth-ori-tah!!

Words cannot even express how incredibly proud/happy/thrilled I am that my niece joined the military! I am so blessed that I get to watch her push herself, learn and grow as a member of the US armed forces.

She and I are the first women in our family to serve and it is an honor to be sharing that experience with her now. I'm not joking when I say almost every man in our family has joined one branch or the other and it's kind of fun to be the first women to say, "Hey! Look we can do it, too, and we can do it better!"
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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Eating Gluten Free or Paleo on Vacation

Nashville TN
How hard is it to eat right on a vacation? Practically impossible!! I know that by the end of my last vacation (a cruise) I came back weighing 5 lbs more than when I left! Eck!

Not only does my family have to worry about eating healthily, but also about food allergies, particularly gluten.

We've been Paleo for months now and love it! But when we did the Paleo elimination challenge we realized that we were definitely had a big problem with gluten. Luckily, we have found that it's not too hard to avoid gluten... as long as I cook! I wanted to make sure that we didn't take steps backwards in our health by eating out on this vacation!

Unfortunately, there aren't many paleo or organic restaurants so I researched gluten free eating establishments on our route from FL to TN. I wanted to make sure that we had places all up and down the road so we always had a place to go! I think that knowing that you can find a place that avoids your allergen or accommodate your diet is so important!!

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Sunday, August 4, 2013

Our Naked Truth: Naked Juice has Formaldehyde By-Products.

If you've ever had a naked juice, then you unknowingly have introduced synthetic formaldehyde by-products and other chemicals into your body.


You are probably thinking to yourself "But aren't naked juices labeled non-GMO and all natural"? Why, yes, they are. But the truth is that they are not natural and, in fact, some of the ingredients have been associated with the development of cancer.

Now I know that you're probably wondering how this happened. I mean it seems pretty shady with the chemicals, the improper labeling and all that advertising that makes you believe they are so healthy. But the answer is actually quite simple...

It happened because Pepsi knowingly mislabeled about the natural products in Naked. Not only did they use synthetic vitamins (probably because the pasteurization and the irradiation kills most of the natural vitamins), but some of the other ingredients are by-products of formaldehyde and a proprietary synthetic digestion-resistant fiber produced by Archer Daniels Midland and developed by a Japanese chemical company. These ingredients aren't currently regulated by the FDA because they are on the FDA's GRAS (generally recognized as safe) list. So, that's safe, right? {rolls eyes}

The FDA recently has been removing items on the GRAS list and other countries have been banning items which are on our GRAS list. It is my opinion that the USA doesn't have proper labeling laws for natural or GMO free products. In the US, companies can pretty much put anything they want on the box without having to go through testing like they do for USDA organic labels or the non-GMO project labels (which is optional and cost the seller money). When they put claims on the box, then we have to believe that they are telling the truth. In terms of food labeling and restrictions, we are far behind our friends in Australia, Japan, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Hungry, Bulgaria, Greece, France, Italy, Russia, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland.

I think it's time we caught up.

And, this may be a little off topic considering that we are talking about Naked and Pepsi, but I want to give a little shot out to the French President for being so awesome and standing up for his people and what's right when it comes to GMO crops. Way to go, Mr. French President!
Optional testing for companies
to verify non-GMO products.
Trust THIS label! 

And because we don't have people in our government like the French President, Francois Hollande, to stand up for us, Pepsi was able to put potential carcinogens into Naked Juice and labeled it so the health minded people in the world would buy it.

In fact, they included 11 unnatural chemicals into their Naked Juice, including GMO soy when they have clearly labeled as "non-GMO" and as "all natural". In fact,  The Naked Lawsuit was brought by a consumer (not the government) because she recognize the problem. I love you, Gina Parks. You are my hero!

I don't know about you, but that makes me mad! How can a company put GMO ingredients and synthetic ingredients which are formulated from a known carcinogen into a beverage and just label it how they want. This is more of a reason that we need mandated government labeling of GMO and natural products! If we can't trust companies to be honest to us, then they have to be accountable to someone!

Because of this "incident" Pepsi has paid a measly $9 million dollars and has agreed to pull the labeling "all natural" and off the bottles, but not "non-GMO" even though there are GMO products!!!! They said that they will have the non-GMO Project label in the coming years. That's an improvement, but they should have been doing it all along.

Just take a look at Pepsi's Naked Facebook website-- This is their official statement:

"Naked juice and smoothies will continue to be labeled "non-GMO," and until there is more detailed regulatory guidance around the word “natural” —we’ve chosen not to use “All Natural” on our packaging. To ensure that our consumers most concerned about that issue can feel even more confident about Naked products, we plan to enlist an independent, third-party to confirm our non-GMO status across the entire Naked brand portfolio. From our ingredients to our practices, we always strive to do the right things."

They make it seem like it's their choice rather than due to a lawsuit. They can still use non-GMO because there is less restrictions for that label than all natural. It's ridiculous! Pepsi is still being dishonest and yet claiming to do the right thing. I can't wait to see about this non-GMO testing!!

And Pepsi is paying out to the consumers. If you have proof of Naked purchases then you can received up to $75 and if you do NOT have proof of purchase you can still receive $45 from Pepsi for their mislabeling. Does that seem like something they'd do out of the kindness of their heart?

If you want claim your $45 or $75 from Pepsi then go to www.NakedJuiceClass.com and fill out the form! You have until Dec 2013 to file.

And if you need another reason to despise Pepsi... they are testing and possibly using aborted baby cells as flavor enhancers.  I don't care how you feel about abortion, but that's just nasty.

I don't trust Pepsi. If they can lie to us by putting ingredients that they  know may be damaging our health without any feelings of responsibility to the people, what else are they capable of? I'm not interested in supporting a company who only cares about their own profits at the risk to our health. If they can lie about this, then what else are they lying about?

I think we need to make a statement to Pepsi and any company who is doing the same kind of practice that when they lie to us then we stop using their products. Then they will know that they will lose that thing that is most precious to them (money) when they hurt their consumers. Let's definitely ban Naked Juice, but think about this...

Naked is only a small, small part of Pepsi. If we want to make them an example, then the entire company needs to take a hit to get the message. Let's give the power back to the people! It will be plain to the government that they need to step in and make sure foods are properly labeled. So, friends, will you join me?
Let's Boycott All Of Pepsi's Brands:


  • 7-Up
  • Aunt Jemima
  • Aquafina
  • Brisk
  • Cap'n Crunch
  • Cracker Jack
  • Dole
  • Elma Chips 
  • Frito-Lay Chips (sunchips, doritos, tostitos, lay's, cheetos, funyons.. etc) 
  • Gatorade
  • Hickory Sticks
  • IZZE
  • Life
  • Lipton
  • Mother's
  • Mountain Dew
  • Muller Yogurt
  • Naked
  • Near East 
  • Pepsi
  • Propel
  • Quakers
  • Rice-A-Roni
  • RockStar Engery Drink
  • Sabra
  • Seattle's Best Coffee
  • Sierra-Mist
  • SmartFood
  • Sobe
  • StarBucks Ice Coffee, Frappacinno, and Double Shot
  • Tazo
  • Tropicana
  • Walkers Chips (UK)
This also includes their Restaurant chains: Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell. 

Pepsi also conveniently made a shopping list naming many of their products that you can find here: Pepsi Products If you want you can print it out and take it to the store with you so you can avoid all things Pepsi!

Now that's MY Naked Truth! As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world".  I may be the only one, but I hope that you join me wherever you are. Together, we can change the world.

God, I sound like a John Lennon song.
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