Day 8

Yesterday my girlfriend and I made pads, like menstrual pads. Yup. I know what you're thinking... "but Afton, aren't you pregnant." LOL jk... but we really did make pads. My girlfriend gets rashes from store bought pads and she hates tampons. A few years back one of my cousins (she's kind of a hippie environmentalist and I so admire her for that) told me that she used homemade pads and I passed the idea onto my girlfriend because they are basically cotton. Sounds comfy, right?

Or gross, which is what I know you all are really thinking. My girlfriend tried them all night last night and all day today and she really likes them. According to her they are absorbent and cute and comfortable... they get the job done. They don't stay in place that well and we didn't make enough of them. They wash well and they absorb the blood in a way that keeps them from leaking or running. And they are not gross, well, no more gross than changing a normal pad or tampon.

I also want you all to know I made it outside today! 

The snow we got last night had melted off throughout the day and the sun was almost down. There was a sound I didn't recognize. I couldn't tell if it was birds or bullfrogs but it seemed too cold still to be bullfrogs and too chirpy. I'm assuming that it was birds, pretty all the same.

I took an environmental studies class in high school that I LOVED. We went camping and whale watching and had desert survival training, and studied native + non-native species of plants... The class was AWESOME. But when I moved out here to the forest, all the knowledge I attained in that class and throughout my life about the wilderness around me is completely useless. LOL

Fortunately I have spouses that are from this area who can educate me on things like what to do when you are lost in the forest and what kinds of animals live around here.