2018 WEEK 19: ACCOUNTABILITY UPDATE

What I did the week of May 6 – 12 to make my life awesome.

Free-Photos / Pixabay

  1. Made 5 blog posts.
  2. Published 1 YouTube video (Episode 046 of The Ashlee Craft Show)
  3. Recorded a new song for my upcoming album!
  4. Posted 4 Instagram photos.
  5. Looked into getting better bin cages for my three crested geckos! Researched this idea & learned how to make them.
  6. Edited more of my upcoming Epic Florida Road Trip book!
  7. Improved more of my Shopify store as part of my remodeling of it. Finished adding all current products to the new, more specific categories!
  8. Drew 8 illustrations for my upcoming book.
  9. Listened to The Beach Boys album “Endless Summer” on vinyl for the first time.

ILLUSTRATED REPITCON SHOPPING LIST FLOWCHART + WHAT I MIGHT BE GETTING

Repticon Shopping List June 2018

GUYS! I am going to Tampa’s 🦎REPTICON🦎 this weekend & I’m super excited! Like SUPER EXCITED! I’ve been dreaming about this for months & I’m almost counting off the hours until I get to go (& annoying my family by constantly talking about it 🤣).

I don’t know what I’m getting yet, but I do know I am getting something (maybe more than one something) (hopefully more than one). My first time at Repticon, I was so overwhelmed by all the awesome things to see that I didn’t look at every species every vendor was selling. I also didn’t know much about the reptile hobby, the species offered, or any species I might be interested in owning sometime, so I didn’t know what I was looking for anyways. So this time I plan on looking at EVERYTHING & making notes on who’s selling what & what the prices are & getting business cards for NEXT TIME.

A lot of my flowchart above is based on the fact that I don’t really know what to expect as far as prices, especially prices for particular morphs. So what I get will depend on what prices I can find on the things I like, how I feel about the seller of that particular thing at that price range, the specific animals they have for sale, what OTHER SPECIES are for sale at Repticon, & whether anything looks at me with its cute little eyes 😍. (Seriously though, I’d never buy something I didn’t know how to care for & hadn’t researched no matter how cute its little eyes were).

Most likely, I will come home with some type of gecko (I’m particularly interested in African Fat-Tailed Geckos & Gargoyle Geckos, but if I found a pretty crested I might get it) & either a second gecko (for a different cage because I’m not into cohabbing them), some sort of frog (like a cool Pacman Frog), Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, millipedes, gerbils, or even a tortoise! Of course there is a chance I could get something else on this list.

My plan is this: walk around once & look at EVERYTHING but quickly, & skip over things I’m definitely not getting but look at every species & price on things I’m considering, narrow down what I’m buying, buy those things, walk around again & get more details on things & look more at things I might get someday but not NOW, & finally buy the dubia roaches & any bedding or supplies I need.

Because I don’t know what I’m getting, I have been stockpiling general supplies. I bought some more thermostats, I have a heat lamp fixture currently without a bulb (the fixture can also be used with a CHE because it’s ceramic so I’m all set), I have several heating pads, various containers for plastic bin cages, bowls, tanks, etc. I totally plan on going to buy some stuff when I get back home from the show because I know I will most likely need something (if nothing else, I need more plants/hides because I have no extras).

The thing is, usually in the months leading up to Repticon, I have an idea of what I’m going to get. I research the heck out of a species, am totally into getting it, etc. But then a few weeks before I freak out, decide NOT to get the species I was going to get, & then begin extensively researching another species. Last time (aka my first Repticon) I was totally going to get a redfoot tortoise. But then I freaked out about how much care a hatchling requires & a month before the show, I got into & researched crested geckos.

This time, I was totally going to get a Kenyan Sand Boa. Then I realized my mom REALLY doesn’t like snakes. Then I was going to get a Peters Banded Skink, but I balked at that because that are almost always wild-caught & I don’t feel confident in caring for something trickier at this point. So then I began researching all types of things, especially the things with the colored dots on the flowchart above.

One thing I do know: I am DEFINITELY getting some dubia roaches. I am going to breed them as feeders for my critters so I can save money & control the nutrition my pets are getting. Also, crickets are kind of annoying (because they die all the time). I already built the dubia roach cage & I will keep it in a closet.

One OTHER thing I know: I am not bringing home any snakes, spiders, scorpions, mice, rats, or sugar gliders. I promised my mom that. She doesn’t like everything on that list except sugar gliders, & I’m not into getting any gliders at the moment).

Other than that, I can’t make any promises 😏.

Keep an eye on my social media profiles (Instagram, this blog, & YouTube mostly) so you can find out what cool critters I bring home! Also I’ll be taking tons of cool photos, cool videos, & make some more awesome Repticon posts so keep watching this blog for those! 🦎🐸🐢🤩💕🐢🐸🦎

2018 WEEK 18: ACCOUNTABILITY UPDATE

What I did the week of April 29 – May 5 to make my life awesome.

cocoparisienne / Pixabay

  1. Decided to live my life by this idea: “If I were living an exceptional life, would I do this?”
  2. Finished writing & PUBLISHED a new book – 50 Adorable Moose Facts!
  3. Cleaned a lot in my house to get ready for moving & to become more of a minimalist.
  4. Colored 3 pages worth of the illustrations for my upcoming Apple iMessage sticker app! Edited the images & began working on app.
  5. Published 2 YouTube videos (Episode 045 of The Ashlee Craft Show & a video of my dog eating a taco) using my new microphone, so the sound quality is much better!
  6. Watched Jim Rohn’s The Art of Exceptional Living
  7. Looked up some prices for travel plans I have for this year.
  8. Made a big list of goals for this year, a really nice updated one!
  9. Researched best disinfectants for reptile cages other than bleach.
  10. Did research on some more pet reptiles I’m interested in getting.
  11. Made 2 Instagram posts.
  12. Made 1 illustration for my upcoming book.
  13. Did a lot of editing on my Epic Florida Road Trip Book.
  14. Saw Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio, Blackfoot, Jimmie Vaughn, & Lynyrd Skynyrd in concert at the MidFlorida Credit Unit Ampitheatre.
  15. Worked on updating my Shopify store with new product categories!