u/22-MontaLou

What is everybody's favorite Period Tracking app? I've been using Flo for a while, but every single time I open the app it incessantly tries to get me to pay for a subscription and I'm so annoyed by it.

Suggestions for free apps that don't show a pop up to pay for a subscription every 10 seconds?

I recently upgraded from a 2015 to a 2023 Rogue.

I refuse to give up my iPod 😂 Yes, I still listen to my iPod daily for my music (it's an iPod classic circa 2010). Of course I had no problem in my 2015 connecting it with the USB, but my 2023 doesn't seem to connect with it 😭

I plug the USB from my iPod into USB 2. The cord clearly works because the iPod charges when plugged in to USB 2, but the car does not recognize that anything is plugged in for an audio source.

Am I just SOL with this? Or is there something I'm missing to get this to work? I miss my music!

Hi All!

One of my bucket list dreams is to visit all the National Parks in Alaska!

I've already been to Glacier Bay, Denali, and Kenai Fjords.

My backcountry itch is really getting to me lately, haha, and I keep finding myself coming back to looking at some pack rafting trips in Gates of the Arctic NP.

*I have never pack rafted before, so this would be a new experience for me, but I've done plenty of extensive hiking/backpacking and would be looking for trip that has plenty of hiking.

Looking for any and all suggestions, tips, ideas, etc.!

Anyone done this recently? Anyone planning a trip like this?

I'd be hoping to go either in 2028 or 2029.

ETA- I'd be looking to go on a group trip with an outfitter.

*Edited some of my wording after re-reading/adding clarification.

My SO and I have been together 18+ months.

We got together in January 2025. Looking back, he was probably hypomanic during the first few months of our relationship (undiagnosed). The beginning of our relationship was amazing. He was so fun, the sex was amazing and regular, and everything he did felt so intentional. During this initial hypomanic phase, he was not having problematic/harmful behaviors.

He had his first full blown manic episode in July 2025, leading to hospitalization & formal diagnosis. It was a horrible episode of mania. Thankfully, he made the decision on his own to seek in-patient treatment and medication at that time, and accepted the diagnosis. He had another manic episode in November 2025 leading to another brief hospitalization. He had a med adjustment after this and has been stable since that time.

He's doing well- consistent with medication and therapy, working 2 jobs, maintaining finances, etc. He is not depressed and has not had any swings.

But I'm realizing that there is a lot that I miss from when he is hypomanic. It just sucks. It seems like some of his light has dimmed, but he is safe, healthy, and stable. It makes me feel selfish to want anything else. But he just isn't as charismatic anymore, not as intentional or engaged. His sleep medication knocks him out pretty quick, so sporadic sex at night rarely happens and with his medication he sleeps a LOT later than I do, so morning sex also never happens. If we don't find time to plan it during the day, it's not happening. I'm just bummed that here he is at his most stable and facing the diagnosis head on, and I feel a little disappointed. I'm unbelievably proud of the hard work he has put into addressing his Dx and maintaining stability- and I tell him this regularly. I want him to be safe and stable. At the same time, he doesn't always seem like the same person I fell in love with.

Y'all, I cannot stand low light/dark workspaces.

Am I the only one????

Florescent lights/overhead lights just don't bother me, and I prefer to be able to work in a bright room where I can actually see what I am doing. When I walk into my coworkers offices and they have every light turned off but a single, dim, tiny lamp in a windowless office and I swear I cannot see anything. Even when I go into my own therapists office, if it is dark outside, I immediately ask them to turn on some damn lights so I can see who I am talking to! 😆 Is it just me? Clearly I am in the minority, at least in this field.

But I swear, walking into dark rooms in the work place upsets me 100000x more than working under overhead lighting.

*To be clear, I'm talking about for myself- not for client wishes/to make clients feel welcome.

ETA- I'm really glad to see I'm not the only one, because I sure felt like I was! Haha!!

I've always been a jealous person. I am aware of this and try to catch myself and work through it in my head and not let it affect my behaviors.

I always struggled with it when I was actively in the faith. It's pretty well always based around someone's personal success- finding love/relationship, getting marrier, buying a house, financial success, etc.

For ex- My brother has never had a lonely day in his life. He was in one longterm relationship throughout high school, and then by the time he was 20 he found his life partner and they've now been together 18 years, married, bought a house, traveled the world, have a kid, and just live the most beautiful happy life.

However, my brother was never a Christian. He never followed purity culture, he used and sold drugs, he's been arrested multiple times as a teen, he broke all of the rules.

I, on the other hand, followed ALL the rules. I was the most perfect little Christian girl. I was PROMISED that if I followed all the rules, it would be worth it and the Lord would bless me. But all I got was loneliness and depression. I'm 35 years old and have my first real relationship... and honestly it's quite a challenging one. I work my ass off, but feel like I'll never be able to afford a house. I feel like I'm totally stuck and will never achieve the dreams of the life I had.

And now I've completely left the religion and still get so angry and jealous about this.

A coworker who is significantly younger than me just told me that her and her boyfriend are buying a very nice home. There is no doubt they will be engaged soon. And this just set me off this morning. She was also raised super evangelical, but even though she is now living outside of this and not practicing purity culture, etc., her parents are still supporting her and I feel like she has it all.

My dad won't even acknowledge my relationship because he knows we share a bed.

I don't know... I'm just word vomiting. I HATE that I am so jealous. I absolutely hate it about myself. And I also just feel so, so angry that I feel like I worked so damn hard for 25+ years to do everything right, follow all the rules, do what I was supposed to do, make all the adults happy... and I often feel like I have nothing. Like I followed all the rules and I'm still sitting at the starting line, but those who "cheated" have already completed their victory lap and are now at the bar having their celebratory beer. I know this makes me sound entitled and petty, and again, I hate myself for it.

I am a CPS supervisor.

I've been working in child welfare for almost 15 years, and for the last 6 years I've been a supervisor. I work for a small county and directly supervise 6 workers. There is only one other supervisor in child welfare in my agency, who also supervises a team of 6 workers.

I find myself progressively more unhappy and isolated. I'm burnt out on the child welfare field as a whole, but I did not realize when stepping into supervision how different it would be as far as connecting with my team.

When I was a line social worker, I had the support of my supervisor and also my whole team of social workers to connect with, vent to, and lean on. But the role change of supervisor is so different. I listen to and support my workers all day, but I don't have a team to lean on. I make tough calls all day long as a supervisor, some of which line workers don't agree with or get frustrated by... but it just constantly feels like I'm in a lose-lose situation. The work my team does is HARD. I have a team of AMAZING social workers who work their butts off to support our local families and ensure children are safe. Although I know they mostly feel supported by me, the job still gets to them and when venting, sometimes I take the brunt of it. In trying to balance everyone's work loads, respect time off requests, but also ensure no one person is getting more work than the other- some workers are not always happy at the decisions I make or the way I delegate, but it's my job. I'm trying so hard to look out for the best of everyone on my team. I just feel so isolated when I don't have a team of others to lean on and also vent because I'm in a completely different role. When I was a line worker, I'd go out to lunch with the group all the time... but as a supervisor, I take my lunches alone because I don't want to spend my lunch staffing cases or providing supervision.

I feel like I've worked hard to work my way up.. and now I just want to work my way out.

Looking to visit for a long weekend in early February.

It will be my partner's first time in NYC, and I haven't visited in almost 25 years.

What are some fun free (or super cheap) things for us to explore?

I have absolutely never spotted between cycles before this year. I am 35 years old and started birth control (mini pill) for the first time a little over a year ago.

I had spotting for the first time in February of this year and spotted for 3 days. I'm currently ovulating and just started spotting again (July). Spotting has never occurred outside of these two times.

Is this normal? Bleeding once during a month is enough!

My SO has been stable for 8 months. His medication seems to be going well. He has stable employment, has been remaining sober, and not missed any commitments.

He reports not being depressed and he does not seem to be depressed. His mood is stable- he is appropriately upset about upsetting things, but is able to redirect/refocus and move on.

He truly is doing really well.

But, he seems excessively tired. Again, this doesn't seem to be impacting his life negatively... and part of it is that he is very focused on making sure that he gets enough sleep to remain stable... But is this normal?

He will often sleep 12 hours at night. It's not uncommon for him to also nap in the afternoon/evening if he has worked that day. He works about 30-35 hours a week. On a regular day, he'll go to bed between 9-10pm, wake up around 10am, work from about 10:30am-3pm, come home and relax (often falling asleep) and then is ready for bed by 10pm again. It just seems like a lot of sleep. I just want to be more active with him. It's hard for me because I work 40+ hours a week, and when I come home I remain active until I go to bed.

He does take Seroquel for his sleep and to make sure he gets solid sleep. He's not groggy while at work. He's able to get up on time for any morning appointments. He performs excellent at work. Maybe I just need to adjust my understanding and expectations if it is not negatively impacting him?

Considering a family trip to the Dolomites in the summer of 2027. Anyone have experience staying at Hotel Albion that they could share?

I know it's been 5 other businesses since it was Subway, but they all came and went so quickly I don't remember what it was last. Thrift store? Tienda? Smoke shop?

What is going in the building where the beautiful mural was just painted (shout out to ReKind Art!!) next door to the old TAPP room/Rudy's or whatever it's called now across from campus?

I've just recently started using tampons for the first time. On my heaviest flow days, I'm changing my tampon every ~3 hours.

What do people usually do for overnight on their heaviest flow days? So far, I've continued to just use an overnight pad instead of tampon so I'm not worried about leaking with my tampon after 4 or 5 hours.

Hello All!

I'm a 35 year old woman who was raised in the height of purity culture and other high anxiety situations, and additionally have spent my entire adult life working in high stress/crisis work.

Growing up, no one talked to me in depth about my body or guided me through puberty, and I was scared to explore my own body because of PC. I attempted to use a tampon a few times as a teen and even in my early 20s, but always felt like I was physically hitting a wall when trying to insert one and it was painful when I tried to push through that "wall". I never had a pap smear and never had anyone I could safely talk to about these things.

I left the church and, for the most part, the religion, around 2016 (Trump, among several other things, pushed me right out the door).

About a year and a half ago, I started dating a man who was never raised in the church or in purity culture. I knew that if I continued the relationship, I wanted to be able to successfully have sex. I shared with him my struggles- how I was raised, that I had never been sexually intimate, and that I had never successfully been able to insert anything into my vagina. He was nothing short of kind, gentle, supportive, and loving.

In trying to figure out what to do and how to address the situation, I thankfully stumbled upon a new practice in my small rural town that addressed pelvic health specifically. They noted that one of the things they addressed was painful sex. I have been attending pelvic floor physical therapy for almost a year and to say it has been life-changing is an understatement. I am so incredibly grateful for the PT's that have worked with me and I am so proud of myself for how far I have come. They helped me learn and understand my body better, as well as how much stress/tension/anxiety I hold in my vagina. They helped me understand that the fear that had been instilled in me growing up, in addition to my daily stress and anxiety, had essentially left me clenching my vaginal muscles 24/7 - shortening my muscles and leaving my body unsure how to loosen and relax. We worked on different types of breath work, external and internal stretches, and relaxation techniques. I practiced with dilator sets and was amazed to really make the connection between my stress/anxiety level and my pelvic floor - I could use one size dilator one day and be fine, but if two days later I was having an extremely stressful day and tried to use that same dilator, I would not be able to fit it in my vagina because I could not fully relax myself.

When I started PT about a year ago, a single finger sitting at the entrance of my vagina immediately led to panic for me and a sensation of pain. Roughly a month ago my partner and I had successful and pain-free penis-in-vagina sex for the first time, and today I used a tampon successfully and pain-free for the first time!

I just want to share because not only am I incredibly proud of myself and my progress, but I also want to give hope/encouragement to those who are in my position. I certainly wish that I knew about pelvic floor therapy many years before, but I had never heard of it, and no one had ever shared their experiences with me.

And finally, FUCK PURITY CULTURE.

Hello All!

I'm a 35 year old woman who was raised in the height of purity culture and other high anxiety situations, and additionally have spent my entire adult life working in high stress/crisis work.

Growing up, no one talked to me in depth about my body or guided me through puberty, and I was scared to explore my own body because of PC. I attempted to use a tampon a few times as a teen and even in my early 20s, but always felt like I was physically hitting a wall when trying to insert one and it was painful when I tried to push through that "wall". I never had a pap smear and never had anyone I could safely talk to about these things.

I left the church and, for the most part, the religion, around 2016 (Trump, among several other things, pushed me right out the door).

About a year and a half ago, I started dating a man who was never raised in the church or in purity culture. I knew that if I continued the relationship, I wanted to be able to successfully have sex. I shared with him my struggles, how I was raised, that I had never been sexually intimate, and that I had never successfully been able to insert anything into my vagina. He was nothing short of kind, gentle, supportive, and loving.

In trying to figure out what to do and how to address the situation, I thankfully stumbled upon a new practice in my small rural town that addressed pelvic health specifically. They noted that one of the things they addressed was painful sex. I have been attending pelvic floor physical therapy for almost a year and to say it has been life-changing is an understatement. I am so incredibly grateful for the PT's that have worked with me and I am so proud of myself for how far I have come. They helped me learn and understand my body better, as well as how much stress/tension/anxiety I hold in my vagina. They helped me understand that the fear that had been instilled in me growing up, in addition to my daily stress and anxiety, had essentially left me clenching my vaginal muscles 24/7 - shortening my muscles and leaving my body unsure how to loosen and relax. We worked on different types of breath work, external and internal stretches, and relaxation techniques. I practiced with dilator sets and was amazed to really make the connection between my stress/anxiety level and my pelvic floor - I could use one size dilator one day and be fine, but if two days later I was having an extremely stressful day and tried to use that same dilator, I would not be able to fit it in my vagina because I could not fully relax myself.

When I started PT about a year ago, a single finger sitting at the entrance of my vagina immediately led to panic for me and a sensation of pain. Roughly a month ago my partner and I had successful and pain-free penis-in-vagina sex for the first time, and today I used a tampon successfully and pain-free for the first time!

I just want to share because not only am I incredibly proud of myself and my progress, but I also want to give hope/encouragement to those who are in my position. I certainly wish that I knew about pelvic floor therapy many years before, but I had never heard of it, and no one had ever shared their experiences with me.

And finally, FUCK PURITY CULTURE.

Planning a visit in early February 2027 - looking for decent hotel recommendations that are still in a good/central location, but under $200 per night.

Any side jobs or gigs available through the summer? I have a regular M-F 8-5, but looking for the occasional evening or weekend job to help with some summer savings.

Hello all,

I'm looking for some suggestions on healthier options for water flavor packets. I drink plenty of plain water, but sometimes I just need something more! I don't like too much flavor, so would love suggestions where I can choose how much flavor to add.