Every marriage has fights and every marriage has fights in it that get started for near to no reasons.  Newlyweds  in particular are prone to fighting over the smallest things.

Part of the problem, I believe is that newlyweds are often in shock once they begin to live together as a married couple.  Even if they were living together before they exchanged vows there’s some level of shock.

Let me share this newlywed fight with you as an example.

My oldest daughter was married in  April of this year.   Her and her fiance had been living with his single mother for almost a year before the wedding.   A couple of months after the wedding they finally scored a home of their own.  Nothing fancy, but perfect for the 2 of them.

One day, about 3 weeks after they moved in I received a phone call from my daughter.  I answered the phone, “Hello.”

All I heard on the other end was “Oh. My God!  I get it!  I so frickin’ get it!”

I recognize my daughter’s voice and I’m trying to figure out what exactly she was getting.   Did we tell her a joke 5 years ago that she’s just now getting?  Who knows, it’s hard to say with her.  She’s a tad bit on the ditzy, dingy side.

She carries on, “Now I know why you get so mad at Dad.”

I calmly reply, “You do?”

She then informs me that for the first time in her 21 years she was attempting to be domestic.  She had been cleaning and cooking (quick, run, hide!) for hours on end.   Just the day before she made 2 batches of cookies.  One batch for her husband and one batch for her.  They don’t like the same kind of cookies.

First he gets irritated with her because she puts her cookies in the fridge.  He told her they’d get too hard.  She told him not to worry about it because those were her cookies and his were in a baggie on the counter.  Argument diffused.

The next day my daughter did her chores and ran some errands.  When she got home she decided to have a cookie.  Upon looking in the refridgerator she finds her cookies are gone.

Instantly she calls her new husband at work and asks, “Have you seen my cookies?”

To which he replies, “Yea I ate them. ”

To which she replies, “I hope you enjoyed my cookies.”

She was so angry on the phone, giving me vivid details about this incident.  She couldn’t understand why he would eat her cookies instead of his.  All I could do was laugh as she continued on telling me how he could assemble a barbecue grill but couldn’t stain her bureau for her and on and on.  Even though they had been living together (with his mother) my daughter was learning new things about her new husband and she wasn’t sure she liked all of them.

Finally I interrupted her and asked, “I bet he asks you where his socks are in the morning too, doesn’t he?”

She was stunned and said, “how did you know that?”

I laughed, “I’m married too.”

She told me later that she dumped his cookies in the trash and picked a fight with him over it later that night.  Then ended up kissing and making up.

So what’s your funny newlwed fight story?  Do you remember young love?  Tell us about it.

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Funny Story about my rice – when I was a kid I hated the stuff.  There wasn’t enough money in the world for me to eat rice.  To my youthful mind it looked like maggots and there was no way in hell I was putting that in my mouth.

I was in my early twenties when I first sampled this fine cuisine and lo and behold I loved it.  Ok well I loved it because it had bacon in it and if there’s one thing I DO love it’s bacon.

Eventually after much experimentation I came up with a rice concotion that I enjoy and my family enjoys.  In fact my family loves this recipe so much that I can’t keep it as leftovers in my fridge.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate is a chemical compound used in the manufacturing of detergents.  It is made from a combination of sulfuric acids, monododecyl ester and sodium.  It is what creates the lathering, foaming effect in detergents, shampoos, toothpastes, garage floor cleaner, engine degreaser, bubble bath, acne cleanser, facial cream, hemmorhoid cream, contact cleaner, insect repellant and on and on.

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate aka SLS is known as a skin irritant in the cosmetics industry.  It is common practice for beauty manufacturers to test SLS reactions on animals and humans.

To read more about the risks of using products containing SLS see the Skin Deep website.

Go Here to see a list of products containing SLS.

Visit the Natural Health Information Centre for a list of products that do not have SLS.

Popularity: 3% [?]

After having surgery for severe allergies, my husband’s doctor encouraged us to switch to a greener, organic, all natural lifestyle. It ain’t easy being green. That’s what Kermit the Frog used to say all the time and I used to agree with him but now after making the switch I’ve learned it ain’t so hard after all. Here’s a few things I did to make the switch more convenient.

Start with Laundry Detergent

Changing from Tide to Ecos brand laundry soap was the first step I made towards going green. It required some research on my part but not near as much as I thought it would. I was in the grocery store one day when they were handing out free samples of different laundry detergent brands. I collected as many as they would give me of each brand. Two of those brands were Ecos and Greenworks. Both detergents performed about the same but Ecos won out because it was a few dollars cheaper. The liquid Ecos laundry detergent washes 100 loads for $11.99.

Discover What Products You Use That Are Already Green

I hadn’t thought much about it before but at the beginning of going green I realized that there were a few things I was already doing green. I use vinegar and water to clean the glass in my house and all of our recyclable plastics were going into separate bins for recycling later. I’m sure there are things you do that are organic or all natural already if you take a moment to think about it.

Learn to Preserve Energy in Small Ways

During the summer months we used to crank the AC on high even at night. Now I am the proud owner of several box style floor fans. As soon as it cools down at night I fling open all the windows and sliding glass doors, place the fans directly in the windows and sliding doors and leave for the night. In the morning my house is downright cold so about 7 a.m. I reverse the process. I remove all the fans and set them on the floor, turned on low, and shut all the windows, doors and blinds. It may be dark and cool but I rarely use the AC now. It’s the small things that help.

Unplug Everything

This is a small change in lifestyle that can save you bundles of money. Instead of just turning off the television set, dvd player, VCR and computer, unplug them. When they are merely turned off they continue to pull energy but unplugged they do nothing. One easy way of doing this is to plug your electronics into an power strip so all you have to unplug is the strip itself. Takes 2 seconds out of your life and will save you money.

Rethink Your Water Habits

Stop buying bottled water. Instead purchase a good water faucet filtration system like the one from Brita. It will cost you about 20 bucks. Use reusable water canteens for portable carrying and keep a pitcher of water in the fridge.  If you buy one $4.00 case of bottled water once a week you will spend $208 a year.  With a water filtration system you will spend $80 to get started ($20 for filter + $60 for 1 year supply of replacement filters) plus another $10 per reusable canteen.    Which means your start up costs won’t save you a whole lot of money but after the first year you will end up ony spending the $60 a year for replacement filters.  That’s a $148 savings yearly.

Of course there are many other things I’ve done to change to a greener lifestyle but it would take too long to post them all. What steps have you taken to live a greener, all natural, greener lifestyle?

Popularity: 4% [?]

Tween birthday party invitations can not just be printed on paper.  OMG!  Like No Way!  You know how teen girls are.  Here’s a  DIY invitation craft that is cheap and quick and your tween girl will love them.

Key Chain Pom Pom Invitations

Cost for 20 total – $7.77

cost per keychain pom pom invitation -¢.40.

Supplies Needed:

1 package clipable keychains – $2.99 (at Michael’s)

1 skien of yarn – $2.99

3 sheets cardstock paper – $1.27

Curling ribbon -¢.50

scissors – beg, borrow or suppliment creative alternative

Instructions for Pom Poms:

Hold your hand up so that your thumb and pinky finger are folded into your palm, as in holding up 3 fingers.  Now wrap yarn around and around your fingers at the widest point until you have a good sized wad.

Pinch the center of the wad and slide the wad off of your hand.  Be sure to keep the yarn’s shape.  Cut off a length of yarn and tie it around the center of the wad.  Pull tight so that it pinches the center closed.  Think of how hairbows are small in the center.  You can leave the tails of the yarn hanging for now so you have something to hold it by.

Slip your scissors through one end of the yarn and cut through all the layers.  This will immediatly cause one side of the pom to burst up nice and fluffy.

Now cut the other side and you should have something that resembles a pom pom.   Start pulling the yarn and manipulating it until it becomes round in shape.

Use your scissors and trim the yarn.  The shorter you cut it the fluffier your pom pom will be.  Trim it so that it gets rounder.

Invitation Instructions:

Cut the cardstock paper in to three equal sized strips.  Lay the strips on top of each other and cut them into 3 equal squares.

Use crayons, markers, colored pencils, stickers, buttons and other decorative items to decorate.  Write your birthday party invitation information on the card.

Punch a hole in the top left corner of the card.  Tie a piece of curling ribbon to the card and then tie the card to the keychain.  Use your scissors to curl up the ribbon.

Popularity: 20% [?]