2nd Freezer

I would really like a 2nd freezer. There are so many times that I could make an extra portion of our meal and freeze or or I could buy meat on sale and freeze it. Brett and I have talked about this a few times and he is ok with getting one, but we want to save up the money for it.

Do you have a 2nd freezer?
Where do you have yours located?
Do you have an upright or a chest freezer?
Was it worth the money?

Thanks for the input!

Always have a back up plan

First - I found out yesterday that my mom really does read my blog. Hi Mom!!

Second - Mom taught me to have a back up plan. Thanks Mom.

Now that is out of the way - I might have bitten off more than I can chew. I will be cooking dinner for my in-laws on Friday night. Also all day Friday I will be cooking BBQ pork and BBQ beef to serve on Saturday for about 20 people. And on Tuesday we are having our small group over for dessert.

But never fear - I have a plan and a back up plan. I am very confident that I can pull off dinner for the in-laws. If it all goes up in smoke (ha ha ha, get it?) then we will just take them out to eat.

I am not so sure about the BBQ. I have never cooked my own BBQ before and I choose my first time to be when I have to serve 20 people!! (I never back down from a challenge!) But the back up plan is to go buy meat from a BBQ restaurant if it doesn't work out.

I was getting a little panicked about the small group coming over. My first plan was to make about three or four different batches of cookies. But that is very time consuming. So my back up plan for that is dump cake. What is dump cake you ask?? The easiest dessert I know how to make.

So in conclusion - I have bitten off more than I can chew, but I have a back up plan! I'll let you know how it all turns out.

In a groove

Lately I have been in a groove. Things have been clicking and moving along smoothly. By just doing a few small things, I have been able to lower my stress. I have been setting out my clothes the night before, picking up all the dirty clothes/shoes/misc. items each night before bed, and keeping the dishwasher loaded and unloaded. (If my mom read this she would say, "But that is what I taught you to do!")

Just these small changes have taken some of the last minute craziness out of my life. Let me know what you do to help life run smoothly.

One Sentence Prayers

Lord, let your love pour over me like rain.

Working from Home

I have been working at home one day a week this year. It has been a really good experience so far. Here are some things that I have observed.

* It is really quiet in my house! Not having the office noise and co-workers to talk to makes the day very quiet. I usually turn on music to not go crazy from the silence.
* I would not be able to work 8 am to 5 pm at home with kids. There is no way a baby, toddler or pre-schooler would sit still for 9 hours. So working from home with kids would look and work very differently.
*** NO I AM NOT PREGNANT****
* Skype, cell phone, and e-mail make communicate very easy.
* I am able to throw a load of laundry in while working. I use my lunch break to clean house or cook dinner. It has made managing work and home easier.
* Working at home takes a lot of self motivation.

You know it's bad . . .

You know it is bad when you have a nightmare. It's really bad when that nightmare has your biggest fear - snakes. But it is really bad when your nightmare is so realistic that you wake your husband up!

So last night I dreamed that some how a snake had gotten into our house. A big, mean, going to eat you snake. In my dream I ran to the bedroom to tell Brett about the snake and have him save me. I woke up myself up and realized that I was shaking Brett and that I was telling him there was a snake in the house.

Sadly he went back to sleep right away, I did not.

making my own laundry detergent

I have made my own laundry detergent. It was easy and fun. I was paying around 25 cents per load and the cost of my home made detergent is about 4 cents per load. On a large bottle (96 loads) I am saving $20.16!

Here is what you do. This is a full recipe, but I only add half the water to make a concentrate.

1) Grate a bar of soap in to a sauce pan. You can choose any bar of soap. I used Ivory because that is what we had in the house. But your bar of soap is what will give you a smell.


2) Stir the grated soap into the water (about 2 cups) until it is dissolved.

3) Mix in 1 cup of washing soda into the pan. I could not find Washing Soda at Wal-Mart. I did find it at Kroger. Washing Soda is made by Arm & Hammer. It is not baking soda - WASHING SODA. This box will made many batches of laundry detergent.

4) Mix in 1/2 cup of Borax. I did find Borax at Wal-Mart. This box will last you a long time too.

5) Let the water cool down some before you pour into your container if it is a softer plastic. I used an old Tide bottle that I had rinsed out (the 96 load size). This container was about 1.5 gallons. Use a funnel to pour into your container. Put the lid on a give it a few good shakes. Fill the bottle up with tap water. Put the lid back on again and shake some more.

6) Let it sit over night. It will be "chunky". This is your concentrate. I have a smaller Tide bottle (16 loads). I will mix equal parts water and concentrate into this bottle. Always shake before pouring into the washing machine because it will settle.

This detergent will not bubble up like normal commercial detergent. It has done a great job of cleaning our clothes! The full recipe so you don't have to do any more mixing is to add 3 gallons of tap water. But I don't have a five gallon bucket to mix it in and I don't have a place to store 5 gallons.

I would love to know if you give this a try!

LOL Cats

One Sentence Prayers

I am going to try something new for awhile - one sentence prayer posts. I hope that these prayers will touch your heart and bring you closer to the Heavenly Father.

"Draw me nearer to you, Lord Jesus."

Cousins of Love

This weekend is the 2nd annual Cousins of Love and Melody Sisters weekend. My two aunts, and seven cousins, one second cousin and I will be having the ultimate girl weekend! Movie, food, pedicures, making crafts, and giggling!


Kitty update: the three cats are doing great. They are eating a lot! Tiger and Patches have jumped on to the roof of the workshop and explored around. Tiger has also learned to jump over the fence. But so far he has always come back.

LOL Cats

THREE CATS!

This is Tiger.
Boots on the left, Patches on the right.

Boots and Patches - they are never far apart. Boots is a mamma's boy.

Tiger!

We have three cats on our deck right now. Friday night we went to find some geocaches and instead found some cats. When we got out of the car to find the first cache we heard a little meow. Brett and I went to investigate and saw a little kitty head pop up out of the grass, then a second head popped up, then a third little head. Some one had abandoned a momma and her two babies at a dead end street in Maumelle. They are so skinny and had no place to stay dry.

Brett was a saint and we got Tiger and Patches (the mom) into my car. We tried and tried to catch Buttercup but she was just too scared. We had to let the two cats out of the car and leave them. I called Maumelle Animal Services, and Emergency Vet Clinic, and C.A.R.E. but no one answered.

Our hope was that C.A.R.E. would call back and come rescue them on Saturday, but they never called and we never got to talk to a real person. So Saturday afternoon Brett and I went back out there to see if they were still alive. We found them in the same place we had left them. We made a quick run to Wal-Mart, got some food and went back.

In a short time they were eating from the pile of food in front of me and we were able to get them in the car. Once they got home we let them get used to a new place. And eventually we were able to get them to come on the deck with us. Of course the food and water helped!

So now we have three cats on our back deck. Patches, the mom, is a calico cat with orange and black spots. Tiger, is a boy and is a very pretty orange striped cat with gold eyes. Buttercup is not a girl as we first thought, so she is now called Boots. Boots, looks just like his brother but a soft butter cream yellow.

We don't plan to keep Patches and Boots long-term. We hope to find a home for them or be able to get them to C.A.R.E. We do plan to keep Tiger. He is very friendly and very curious!

Paint Paint Paint

Tonight we will finish the kitchen!!!! I am so happy because the major painting projects will be finished. Brett did an awesome job this weekend. He got on the extension ladder to peal the last bit of wallpaper off and paint that corner. I really feel like the house is "put together" and I can finally relax. Also the guest bedroom and office are about 80% unpacked. :)

Two Years - Two Months

Today is 9-8-09. Two years ago it was 9-8-07 and Martin and Ashlan said "I do". Happy two year anniversary! I love you both.

Two months ago it was 7-8-09 and Carew was born. Happy two month to the best nephew ever. I love you.

I need a new nose

I am sick. Well I am on the up side of being sick. It seems that there are forces keeping me from unpacking - sickness - helping friends move - more sickness - helping other friends move - movies - TV.

It is Labor Day weekend and we are going to try to paint the kitchen. Brett tried to install our new kitchen faucet, but rusty bolts are slowing him down. Any suggestions??

Still working to get Internet on my lap top. It hasn't be high on the list.