It's CoCo, Yo!

I think I've found my new best friend...So Delicious Coconut Milk!!!  I was a tish bit apprehensive after the almond milk debacle yesterday, but I am so thrilled to report that my taste buds are quite happy with their new friend :)

I was able to enjoy a most delicious blueberry smoothie with exactly 2 ingredients...frozen blueberries & coconut milk...how much more nutritious can you get???  I'm so thankful that I can now get my dairy fix & have a happy digestive system :)

Up Up & Away

The countdown has begun on my next 6 months of (planned) travel!  T-minus 4 days till  head off to a top secret vacay with my gorgeous neice.  While I have planned out our "mission", I've left plenty of free time so we can do whatever we want on the fly :)

I know that she's ubber excited - especially since she has no idea where we're going - but I think I'm even more excited since I do know where we're going!!!  My wish is that this trip will be something she'll remember with great joy for years to come.  I never had the opportunity to take any trips with my aunts, uncles or grand-parents; and the fact that I now have the oppportunity to give my neice what I never had gives me untapped joy :)

After this top-secret trip, I'm also planning the following trips:
Las Vegas - work trip - end of July
Biltmore - birthday day trip - October
Bahama cruise - cruise with my sweet sister - November
Hawaii - trip with friends - January or February

I'm so excited about my future travels that I'm about to bust!!!  It's amazing what a plan that's full of passion can do for your attitude...it gives you the feeling of possibility & somethinng to look forward to.  Whatever it is, find it...and you'll gain a whole new perspective!

Hi-Ho the Dairy-No

Following the month of May & my 30-day Nutrition Challenge I began to add gluten, dairy & sugar back into my diet...and while I would like to say that this action went off without a hitch, I'd be fibbing in the worst way.  While I know I'm not allergic to gluten, I definitely think that my body is happier when I only have it in small amounts.  As for sugar, we can all use less sugar, right ?!?!?!?

This leads us to my love-hate relationship with dairy...I have been attempting to see if I could use the dairy aid pills (or Lactaid tablets, if you prefer) & still have cheese.  On Friday evening, my longing (haha) for cheese & better yet PIZZA got the best of me...and I succumbed to the pressure of Papa Johns.  I popped one of my little dairy aids & proceeded to grub down on some ubber yummy pizza goodness! 

Unfortunately, on Saturday, I paid for my previous evening of weakness with an unhappy digestive system.  The one positive thing I took from this experience is that I am not lactose intolerant (since the medicine obviously did not work).  After doing plenty of research, I wonder if the reactions I'm experiencing are due to the whey & not the lactose.  The biggest issue with whey is that it's added to tons of processed foods & sometimes it's not even listed as "whey" on the label.  This should be fun!

Yesterday, I tried (and quickly discovered) that there is absolutely nothing about almond milk that I like!  The texture is somewhat weird & the taste is just...well, ewww.  So, today I made a run to Whole Foods & picked up a couple new foods to test out:  coconut milk & sheep's milk cheese.  From all the research I've done, the whey in sheep's milk can react differently in your system than cow's milk.  And for the coconut milk, let's just hope it doesn't have a weird taste or texture :)

So that's my Dairy-No story & I'm sticking to it!

Winning Score

After years of not building any credit, I had to face the cold, hard truth of my credit score last year when I began looking to buy a house.  In the last 12 months, I have worked extremely hard to increase my Equifax score by 50 points...which, in my humble opinion, is not too shabby :)  While I did have 2 credit cards, one was a clothing store card & the other one was a secured card...and even though I had brought my score up significantly, I had not been able to be approved for a non-secured card yet.

However, something has happened in the last 30 days that literally has me jumping for joy...

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to take advantage of membership in one of our local credit unions.  While signing up, my sweet 'credit union guide', Jill, asked me if I'd like to apply for a credit card...now, of course, this is a no-brainer, but given my past history (or lack thereof) I told her that I was not entirely sure that I would be approved.  She checked out my credit & seemed to think that it would not be a problem, but that she'd have to wait on the underwriters to make the decision...fair enough.

Since it was Memorial Day weekend, I went to my Mom's & had a most fabulous weekend, all the while thinking about my application & praying to be approved - as this card could only help my score increase.  After brushing my teeth, bright & early on Tuesday morning, I noticed a voicemail on my phone.  As I played back the message, it was from Jill; she was calling to thank me for becoming a credit union member and to tell me that...drumroll please....that I was APPROVED FOR THE CREDIT CARD!!!

Now, this may not seem like much of an accomplishment to some people, but after an entire year of working my rear end off to build up my credit, this is a most definite triumphant victory!  However, that's not even the best part...exactly 30 days ago, I signed up for a service known as Credit Keeper - which was free for the 1st month & then $10/mo after that.  Basically, the service monitors your credit report for any & all activity and/or changes as well as gives you a copy of your updated report & scores each month.  Today was my first update after my initial reports had been pulled so I woke up very eager to see what positiveness had occurred in the world of my credit!

Not only was I amazingly pleased, but almost dumbfounded to see that my Equifax score had risen a whopping 45 POINTS in 30 DAYS!!!  I was almost speechless...which then turned into squealing!  The only thing I can say is THANK YOU GOD!  While my thoughts of homeownership have since gone by the wayside, you never know what could be waiting for you around the bend of life - and the fact that all the hard work is paying off makes me unbelievably happy & excited.

Your credit score almost seems like a closet or junk drawer...some people have it organized, know exactly what's in it & find it very useful & function; some people have it mildly organized, are not sure of exactly what's in it & can sometimes find it useful; and there's the majority who are so embarrassed by the lack of organization that they never even want to look at it, much less attempt to organize because they have no idea what could be lurking in the dark depths of it.

Although I am certainly not where I want to be yet, I am highly encouraged & thrilled with the progress & know that it can only get better from here!  Not only that, but I'm reminded that God cares about whatever you care about.  Building my credit to prepare for my future was a big deal to me; I worked hard to build it up & I feel that He has honored me by helping me along the way :)  Yay God!

Till next time,
Adieu!