This is a sponsored post for Black Note.

My boyfriend Ryan was 21 when we started dating. He was a cigarette smoker at that time. A couple years later our state banned smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants. I don’t remember if it was in that legislation or not, but around that time most (all?) public places started requiring that smokers stay a certain number of feet away from the buildings. Shortly thereafter, a lot of smokers … Read the rest

I’ve had my tongue pierced twice. The first time I was 15, and then I let it close after about a year. Then I had it re-done later. I recently was at the dentist and was asked about the scar/hole from the piercing which reminded me that I’ve never shared my experience. My post about industrial piercing pain and experience did well so I thought a tongue piercing version of that post idea may be of interest as well.

Prior … Read the rest

I have pretty bad dental anxiety. I remember being in elementary school and getting an upset stomach before my dentist appointments. Fear of the dentist is a common fear. When I recently started seeing a new dentist, the forms I had to fill out int he first visit asked if you have anxiety! Over the years I’ve had several methods for trying to cope with dental anxiety because I don’t want to let my fear of the dentist to keep … Read the rest

As I type this, we are two days shy of the four year anniversary for when I bought home Frank and Beans. It was so hot and humid. Their previous owner gave them to us wearing collars, so we had to stop to buy harnesses (I knew collars were unsafe for pugs). Ryan ran into the store for less than 5 minutes while I stayed in the car (With A/c on) with the pugs, but they were panting so heavily … Read the rest

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Last summer we went to the Grand Canyon the last week of June. It was something like 118 degrees! With us being native to Michigan, we had never experienced weather over about 105 or so before, and we were surprised that 118 didn’t feel even worse. The whole “Dry air” thing definitely makes a difference but make no mistake – 100+ degrees is hot no matter how humid it is!

Anyway, we … Read the rest

It’s been almost two years since my boyfriend and I both decided to work on losing weight. Ryan had been unhappy with his size for a long time.I was 138 pounds and 5’1. I had stayed in about the 125-128 from age 12 to 23 or so. Even back then I wanted to be slightly smaller but after gaining 10 pounds I was truly unhappy with my appearance. I’m very short so 10 pounds is rather visible. For the first … Read the rest

I live a few hours from Ann Arbor, but the low-cost clinic in my area has a pretty bad reputation. I had heard better things about the University of Michigan dental clinic so I decided to try making the drive. Overall I’ve been pretty happy with my choice.

If I were to sum up the experience in a sentence it would be – the care is great, but it is a slow process.

When you start attending you will be … Read the rest

In Michigan a few times a year I start seeing my friends sharing Facebook posts by various local shelters, talking about empty the shelter days. They are days where all the pets that are in a shelter can be adopted free of charge. The charge is covered by some group or company, and the goal is to have the shelter completely empty by the end of the event.

I’ve watched a few of these events where they were successful and … Read the rest