Jessica Gray's Philosophies, Rants, Information, and Etcetera

I had been expecting Toys R Us to come out with a holiday edition Journey Girl for 2014, but I had forgotten to keep an eye out for it.  For one thing, I had expected it to come out near Christmas.  However, the fact is, I am so behind on my reviews...that I just can't stand to look at dolls at the moment.  Fortunately, my mom--who is actually responsible for making me behind with all her purchases to be reviewed--saw that they had come out while browsing on ebay.  Whether you are a collector, a parent, or a seller...you do not want to miss the opportunity to get these dolls. When Jordana had came out, I thought it was just a way of introducing a new Journey Girl.  I fully expected her to be re-released this year with the other dolls--though of course, not in the fancy outfit.  I was rather disappointed to see that this was not the case.  However, I realized that the holiday editions are meant to be limited edition collectibles.  These d...

I grew up in a time where people were preached gender equality, and men were wearing t-shirts that said, "This dad changes diapers!"  Yet, I was a very traditional girl, even though I didn't like dolls and never had a desire to be a princess.  I liked dolls later as an adult when I had ideas on what to do with them, and as for being a princess...it didn't appeal to me because princesses had troubled lives where they were always being kidnapped by dragons and hounded by evil witches. However, I embraced the traditional feminine role very young.  I learned about childbirth from one of my mom's nursing books and practiced the Lamaze technique when I was eight years old so I would be prepared.  I planned on how to decorate my house and how I would raise my children. These dreams never came true despite my preparations.  It wasn't a lack of interest.  My mother married a terminally ill man that took a very long time to die from his illness, and I sacrificed ...

Some time ago, I did a review on our new Glacier Bay Dual Flush toilet.  (See here:   http://jessicalgray.blogspot.com/2014/07/potty-talk-toilet-evolution.html  ) Yesterday, I uploaded a video--which rehashed some of the things I talked about in the blog post and added some new information. However, there was one thing I forgot to mention in both the blog post and the video.  A few days after installing the toilet, this happened: A crack developed in the caulking, and the toilet would wobble every time we sat on it.  It turns out that these toilets are seated differently.  They have more connections that people are supposed to screw into the ground.  However, most people are only using the two holes at the base...and as a result, many people are having the problem we did. The reason why people aren't securing all the connections is because most people have concrete floors.  They would have to drill new holes, and if you don't have t...