Spring and Summer plans

I am coming up on the one year mark in my lovely home. Right around a year ago, I had some pretty crappy things happen while I was living in Maryland, and an old friend from high school who was relocating asked if I'd like to rent her house and move back "home" to Pennsylvania. At first, the idea of moving back "home" seemed burdensome, but I've realized in these last eleven months that it was the best thing I ever could have done for myself and my peace of mind. People often point out how lucky I am - an amazing deal on rent, a beautiful home, a nice little relaxing piece of land nestled out in the country. I realize every single day how lucky I am to have come back to this place, and to have been given an opportunity to live here.

With the warmer months coming up, I've been brainstorming a list of things to work on around the house and the yard. I want this place to feel like home for as long as possible - how fitting that my blog has been called "feels like home" for years, and now I'm at a point that it really does feel like I'm home.

So far, plans for the Spring/Summer include:

• Clean out the fire pit. We used it last year and there's some things in it that didn't burn down. I need to grab a good shovel and just clean it out.
• Get all of the leaves out of the yard. I made a huge dent in it before it started snowing in the fall, but there's still a lot left.
• Plant grass seed to fill in a few bare spots and to make the yard more full.
• Power wash the deck.
• Organize the shed.
• Organize the basement.
• Plant some sort of easy-to-grow flowers along the sides of the walkway. There are already flower beds there - they just need some love, and some kind of flowers that even I can't kill.
• Talk friends into giving me flower bulbs from their homes so that I can plant around a tree in the front yard that already has a cute little rock wall around it.
• Turn part of the yard into a lovely place for wildlife to visit. Add bird feeders for different types of birds. Plant flowers that birds and butterflies will come check out. Put up a squirrel feeder or two. Find a pretty bird bath.
• Plant some sort of flowering bushes or shrubs right in front of the deck.

I have absolutely no gardening experience. I don't think I've ever grown anything in my life, actually. Please send help, as I attempt to become a master gardener over the course of one summer.

Right around six months ago, I FINALLY made the decision to start a program to try to lose weight and to get into better shape. I ordered a product called Thrive that I had seen a few friends have success with, and decided to give it a shot. Six months, and sixty plus pounds later, I'd call it a success! I still have a long way to go, but I am so far from that place where I started.

I used to get winded walking a mile. Now, I can easily walk out a six or seven mile walk, and be ready for more. So far, my best/longest walk was ten miles.

The winter has slowed me down. I've joined a gym, but it's just not the same as getting out there, in nature, and walking. I love the feel of the sun on my face. I love the smell of the grass and the leaves. I love the challenges I can set for myself - "try to jog. Just as far as that tree over there. Oh, you made it... keep going... that next tree... make it to the stream now..." I love the sense of community that walking gave me in the fall. My days off consisted of inviting friends out for a walk, and pushing each other to do it.

I long now for the weather to change, so that I can get back into my comfortable zone. I need to get back into setting little goals and crushing them. I'll get there... I know I will... And the beauty of northeastern Pennsylvania is going to help!

Trying to make a comeback

After an incredibly long hiatus, I thought I would give blogging a shot again. I find that the more I have going on in my life, the less I find time to talk about it. On the contrary, when I am leading a boring life, I find tons of time to sit and write about nothing at all in particular.

Right now, my life is great.

So right now, I am going to try to change my writing habits and actually find time to sit down and write, for my sake.

I'm a bit shaky. Bear with me. I will get there. If you're still out there, say hi! I've missed interacting with people out there in the blogging world!

Product Review: Breeze Litter System

As everyone knows, I am a slightly (okay, maybe not so slightly) crazy cat lady. I am of the philosophy that once you have ONE cat, you might as well have a second... and really, what's the difference if you add a few more, right? One thing I hate about having cats, though, is that dreaded litter box. In my time of being a cat owner, I feel like I had tried every kind of litter out there. I tried clay, I tried clumping, I tried the kind that looks like sawdust.

No matter what kind of litter I tried, I felt like my house was always a mess with trails of litter everywhere - even when I would use mats that claimed to trap the litter. My house always had that slight cat urine smell that I would become immune to until I went away for a day or two and came back to it.

Then there was the day that I discovered the Breeze Litter System by Tidy Cats. I swear, my world was changed the day that my first one arrived from Amazon.

They recommend that you slowly transition your cats into using it, but my little geniuses figured it out right away. I removed the old box with the clumping litter, set up the Breeze system, and I've never even considered going back!

What is it? Basically, it's a system that separates the urine right out of the box. It makes its way through the pellets, through the grated bottom of the box, and onto a pad underneath. The solid waste sits on top of the litter (or slightly buried as most of my guys do still like to bury it), and you use the provided scoop to remove that. So easy! The pads only need to be changed once a week for a one-cat household, and the litter should be scooped daily/as needed, but only needs to be changed about once a month for a one-cat household.

Does it really work? I have zero complaints, and neither do my cats! I no longer smell cat urine in the house AT ALL. There's no more cleaning clumpy wet litter out of corners of litter boxes.

The cons? I do find that you can smell the solid waste a bit more than you might if the litter allowed for better covering. Also, if you aren't good about changing the pad weekly (but you have to gauge how much your cat needs it, as well), the drawer that holds the pad came become a mess of sloppy cat pee. I've had this happen ONE TIME, and had to carefully carry the tray to the toilet to dump the excess.

The pros? Goodbye ammonia cat pee smell! Also, the weight of the litter is insanely low - each bag only weighs 3.5 pounds! This is awesome for anyone, but the easiness of carrying a bag or two of this litter into the house every month instead of a few twenty pound tubs seems especially ideal for older people, people who live in apartments, or frankly anyone who is tired of toting around huge tubs of litter! Even in my multi-cat household, Breeze has ended up being more economical for me than it would be to buy store-brand clumping litter (my old go-to).

Tips: There are knock-off brand litter pads available on Amazon, and they're actually what I'm currently using. However, they are NOT as good as the Tidy Cats brand. They still end up being more cost effective, but be prepared to change them out at least twice as often as you would if using the name brand. That said, I plan on using the knock-off brand for everyday use, and switching back to the Tidy Cats (I'm keeping a backup pack in the house) when I go out of town for the weekend and have a cat sitter. My cat sitter not having to deal with cat pee while he takes care of my fluffy kids? Win-win! Right now, you can snag an awesome deal on the litter pellets by buying this six-pack of 3.5 pound bags. Much less expensive than buying individually in the store!