Who run the world (or this blog...)

Hi all!

We think it’s pretty obvious that we are alllll about girls supporting girls/women supporting women on Girl, Same. And we’ve heard some pretty great Girl, Same stories and moments that you have so graciously opened up to sharing with us. So, in honor of Women’s History Month, we are opening Girl, Same to our friends.

Each week, a special lady from our lives will be stepping in and sharing their thoughts on a guest post. We have some great stories lined up and are so excited for you to read along with us.

So, be sure to check in tomorrow for our first post from one of the baddest boss babes we know.

As always, if you have a Girl, Same moment…we want to hear it!

Guest blogging is open to anyone at anytime! We are hear to support you through whatever you’re going through and allowing you to use this platform to share your thoughts, vent, scream, cry, laugh or do whatever the hell you want. Send us a DM, email or text and the world (the blog) is your oyster!

Love you always!

Hope & Paige

Looking Back to Leap Forward

Starting a new position, settling into a new house and making it a home and planning a wedding…2020 was already set up to be a big year. But even if I had nothing else going on or planned, 2020 was going to be a big year of celebration because my infamous Leap Year birthday was finally here before slipping away for another 4 years.

So, just to get some things straight…

• I celebrate both February 28 and March 1. Technically, I wasn’t alive February 28 in 1992, but I was alive on March 1. But I feel like a February baby, so I still celebrate February 28.

• Leap Year happens once every 4 years (in years divisible by 4).

• I just turned 7…meaning I also turned 28.

With a birthday every four years, there is more time for reflection. And holy cow, has there been a lot to reflect on. So for my turn on Girl, Same, I’ve decided to share what I’ve learned since the last Leap Year and how I’m going to keep moving forward.

Began and ended a new relationship…but found my way back to Jonny and learned what makes a relationship work.

Jonny and I celebrated my 2016 Leap Year birthday with an epic 90s’ themed birthday party with a huge group of our friends and then spent some time scurrying around Pittsburgh taking advantage of all the free goodies I could take advantage of for being a Leap Year baby. We were so in love. He was my best friend and I just wanted to spend all my time with him and I couldn’t wait for our future life together. But a few months later, I got trapped in the “the grass is greener on the other side” way of thinking and I broke up with Jonny. I know, a terrible move. and I know, I can’t believe I’m sharing this, either. But I have to share it because it’s led me to where I am now, and back to Jonny. I did begin a new relationship, but it was was not healthy in any way whatsoever, and I was absolutely gutted when it ended. I think it was the most painful breakup I’d ever experienced, even though I had loved Jonny so much more and so differently, but I had such a distorted sense of self-value and worth in this new relationship that this breakup seemed to shatter me so much harder. And while it was not easy at all and didn’t just come to be quickly, there were some really important lessons I learned from this:

• I can’t wrap my sense of being, my sense of value, my sense of worth wholly in another person. I can’t let other people determine how valuable I am.

• Honesty. Honesty. Honesty. Just be honest. And if you’re going to do something you’d have to lie about, then you probably shouldn’t do it.

• I’m not perfect, and while Jonny does a really, really great job of making me feel like I am, I need to apologize when I fall short, when I hurt him or when I’m not pulling my weight. I need to take responsibility for me and my actions, and not expect him to do everything for me.

• There can be a lot of beauty birthed and built from pain. It took a lot of really sad days, terrible dates with other people, and regret for the way things used to be, but my path of pain led me back to Jonny because I realized he is respectful, he is kind, he is accepting, he is humble, he is good. And I love everything about that.

Learned the friendship DOES end…contrary to what the Spice Girls say…

I lost some really great friends over the past 4 years due to me being a selfish, bratty asshole. I’ve tried really hard to forgive myself and make amends, but I have to accept that not everyone is going to love me and friendship ends. That’s life. I can’t treat someone poorly and expect them to swipe it under the rug because of “friendship”. You can’t just be an asshole because friends always love each other, you have to be held accountable. So I’ve been working on putting others needs before mine, acknowledging and apologizing when I make a mistake, and letting others shine, too.

Moved out on my own…and never missed a rent payment.

I know this sounds kind of dumb, but this was a big deal for me. I never really had a ton of responsibility and had mostly everything taken care of for me, so moving out on my own completely was huge. I had to learn to budget, I had to learn to be responsible, I had to learn that my parents weren’t going to swoop in and save me. For one of the first and only times in my life so far, I had to completely count on myself to make things work and to succeed. And I did. Sure, it was stressful and disappointing to realize I couldn’t just spend money on everything and anything, but it helped me grow up…which at 25, was what I needed.

Began a temporary job that has become my second home.

A few months before my 24th birthday, I quit my job to deal with severe anxiety issues, including an unhealthy relationship with food an fitness. I was fortunate enough to have the support I needed to take time off of work to get my health back in order and find a job that I really fit in at and that I enjoyed. I was pretty young, but had already experienced the dread and anxiety that comes with the realization that you’re stuck in a situation you hate. I took a temp job at HDC on a whim (after crying for 5 hours after being told I didn’t get a position I wanted with Hershey) and it turns out it was the most amazing decision I have every made. I’ve learned so much about myself while working at HDC and my life is so much more rewarding with the work and people HDC has brought me. There are so many things I’m thankful for:

• I was terrified my anxiety from my last workplace was going to creep into my new job, but I literally forgot all about it my first day of work. I fit in so much better and was doing work I was passionate about. There wasn’t any room to stew or dread.

• I realized I have strong communication skills and that I can use them to tell stories of hope, strength and success. I feel confident in my position because I know I can do the work…which is a great feeling.

• The confidence I’ve built at work has helped me manage my anxiety and I know I am so much stronger than my negative thoughts.

I’m so thankful for what the past 4 years have taught me and I’m so excited for what the next 4 have in store….see ya in 2024!

Ew, Gross, Yuckies, Vom

The Basic Housewife Diaries

I recently got the stomach bug and was in so much pain that I literally thought I saw the light and asked the Lord to take me now. Dramatic but I thought several times that I was dying. It was borderline worst than labor.

So when I starting my episodes of vomiting, I instantly got terrified that Jeremiah or Arlo were going to be the next victim.

Luckily couple weeks before that, I ordered off Amazon the hydrogen peroxide Clorox spray that healthcare facilities use. I got this because I was told that it kills the norovirus aka the stomach bug.

So right away I started to spray everything that I touched and disinfected several times determined that no one else will get the stomach bug. I’m not sure if I scared off those horrendous germs with my anger towards them or if I did the right amount of cleaning or Jeremiah and Arlo just have really good immune systems right now but luckily and thankfully no one else got it.

So the day after I thought I was going to die, I noticed that on the top of Arlo’s crib was very dusty. My mom was in the room and saw the dust and said to me, “Paige I taught you how to clean”. Truth is, she did, and dusting was something that I have just forgotten about.

Now please don’t think my house is a dirty pigsty, I vacuum, swift and clean counters pretty regularly and the bathrooms probably should be cleaned a little more but I quickly realized that I don’t think I’m doing enough cleaning. Ugggggggggghhhhhhhhha. I wish I could afford a maid. I wish I had the cleaning gene and was a clean freak. But I’m not and it sucks.

As a housewife, cleaning just comes with the name. I started to search the web looking for tips and tricks to quick cleaning and soon realized that a.) everyone has their own way of cleaning, b.) you can use about any ingredient lying around to clean anything, c.) when in doubt use baking soda and vinegar and d.) wow this is overwhelming. I seriously almost bought a book about cleaning because I felt like I didn’t know the proper way after looking online!

I’m still digging through information on the best way to clean, which cleaning products to use, and how to convince Jeremiah that I need a $30 mop versus using a swifter but I did come across some things that stuck with me right away.

First is to really clean something, it’s best to use an all-purpose cleaner and then a disinfectant. You need to make sure the surface is completely clean or the disinfectant cleaner won’t be able to disinfect under the maple syrup spot you thought you scraped up. Once everything is clean of debris, spray the disinfectant and let that sit for a while. Actually read the label on the bottle, as it will say how long it needs to sit for it to truly disinfect. Like a couple of minutes or 10 minutes letting the spray truly kill the 99.9% of the bacteria it “claims to kill.” For some reason, this process never crossed my mind because I just spray and wipe as I go.

Secondly, clean top to bottom, left to right. A lot of cleaning professionals use this method. Clean top to bottom with the thought that when you clean the top shelf that dust and grime will fall onto the things below. So when you get to the bottom you know that everything was really wiped down. I think the method of going left to right just ensures you clean the whole room rather than cleaning random things in no order. Sounds logical and efficient.

Thirdly, why am I seeing all these ads for the non-toxic cleaners? It’s the latest thing now. I have seen the ads for a while now on my social media but just now really noticed how much they are pushing these products.

I’ve looked at a couple of sites, read the reviews and read about the products and actually think it might be a good idea for everyday cleaning. They don’t seem ridiculously expensive and there is a starter kit so I think I might go for it. I did note that most of them have subscriptions but what doesn’t now a day.

I’m going to try out Truman cleaning products and do a review blog later on; along with if I learned any more cleaning hacks.

Has anyone tried any of these non-toxic cleaners, like Mrs. Meyers, Grove, Truman etc.…? Let me know if you have please!!!

I’ll still keep my hydrogen peroxide spray, disinfectant spray and other “harsh” chemicals but keeps those for when something truly needs a good deep cleaning. I’m going to try to create a cleaning routine and hope that it just becomes second nature at one point. Why is adulting so annoying at times and why isn’t Arlo old enough to clean the toilets????

So Housewives, let me know what are your best cleaning tips and tricks are because ya girl loves a good a hack that saves time.

XOXO,

Your Basic Housewife

P.S. A week later Jeremiah got the stomach bug and I got mastitis so now I’m more determined to come up with a better cleaning ritual