The Story of a Wall

Just thought I'd let everyone see what we've been up to these last few weeks....

Once upon a time there was a beautiful old brick wall hiding under some yucky, pinky-beige sheetrock. One day the lady of the house and her beautiful daughter, Issy, got bored and decided to see what it looked like underneath. With much swinging of hammers and breaking of nails...

the wall was uncovered.

And lo and behold...

Oops! There was an old doorway in the middle of this lovely brick wall. Now what were the ladies going to do?

Why, make the man of the house build in some shelves, of course!

And when you give a lady a shelf....

You must also help her rip out the carpet to reveal the gorgeous hardwood floors underneath (okay, maybe not so gorgeous as they are stained up, but the floor refinishing is another story!). And once that is finished....

You must also add a cool, relaxing green paint, accented with a rich, chocolate brown. Throw in a few old and new accessories...

And to think.... It all started with a wall!

New Pack Member

Exciting news! We adopted a puppy today from the shelter! We've named him Jupiter, and he is some sort of shepherd mix. He's going to be a very BIG dog! Jupiter is so excited about having a home, that he asked me to help him start his own blog where he will chronicle his adventures as an adopted pup (with my help, of course)....
www.adoptingjupiter.blogspot.com

More Do-It-Yourself

So here's some more DIY, only no fires this time ;-)

Homemade Laundry Detergent
I actually borrowed this recipe from a couple of different websites. It is quick and easy to make, and WAY cheaper than commercial detergent. I spent about $10 on the main ingredients (more for the optional essential oils) and still have plenty left to make more batches, and I typically spend more than that for one container of commercial detergent. I double this recipe it to fill a 5 gallon bucket.

1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap (you can get this in the laundry aisle at Publix)
1/2 cup washing soda (again, Publix laundry aisle, but you can also get it from places that sell pool supplies as it is also known as soda ash) - not to be confused with baking soda!
1/2 cup borax (got mine from the laundry aisle at Wal-Mart, I think Publix also had it, though)

Grate the soap and put in a large saucepan. Add 6 cups water and heat on the stove until the soap melts (this really only takes a few minutes, the water never even got to simmering). Add the washing soda and borax and stir until dissolved (again, only takes a couple of minutes and the mixture still had not even started simmering). At this point your kitchen will smell all good and soapy! Once the washing soda and borax are dissolved, remove the mixture from the heat. Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket, add the soap mixture, and stir. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir again. To me, this soap smelled really good by itself, but you can add essential oils in whatever fragrance you like (1/2-1 ounce). Though I liked the smell, I did add 1/4 ounce of lavendar oil and 1/4 ounce tea tree oil.

You will use only 1/2 cup of detergent per load of laundry, so a 5 gallon bucket like I used will last a really long time!


Dishwasher Detergent
Again, I borrowed this from another website. It is a cheap, homemade dishwasher detergent that also works really well.

1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax

Combine in a container with a lid (I used a large, recycled butter container). That's it. Can't get simpler than that! You will use 2 tablespoons per load of dishes. I have noticed with this detergent that my dishes are very occasionally cloudy or spotty, and I just give them a quick rinse in the sink as I'm putting them away. If you have a newer washer with a separate rinse compartment, you can put vinegar in to keep the cloudiness/spottiness from being an issue (and vinegar is a lot cheaper than Jet Dry!).


All-Purpose Household Cleaner
Here's a quick, simple recipe for all-purpose cleaner (for countertops, etc.):

1 part vinegar
1 part water

Put it in a spray bottle (I use a recycled Lysol all-purpose cleaner bottle) and shake it up. That's it. When you use it, there will be a mild vinegar-y smell that disappears as it dries. From what I understand, vinegar kills bacteria so it is just as effective as the commercial cleaners, but much safer for your family and the environment.

Tip: You can also use a mixture of vinegar and water in your carpet cleaning machine and in your mop bucket. The vinegar odor really does go away as it dries, and I have found that the vinegar is much better at neutralizing bad odors than the commercial carpet cleaning chemicals. I have three dogs, two cats, and two kids, so there are accidents. When I use commercial carpet cleaner, I can still smell traces of urine/vomit/etc. after using it, even after using it a couple of times. I was AMAZED the first time I tried the vinegar in the carpet machine! I cleaned the carpets, waited for it to dry, and then got down all fours and sniffed all around. Not a trace of doggie or kitty odor ANYWHERE! My husband works with a woman who used to clean houses that were getting ready to be sold, and she said she used vinegar for almost all of her cleaning because it works so well at getting rid of tough odors. And you really don't smell the vinegar at all after it dries.


Homemade Hair Detangler
Here's another homemade alternative to a commercial product. Like most kids, my kids get really bad tangles in their hair, and any of you who have seen Emmy's hair can imagine the rats' nests that she has every morning. I was buying leave-in conditioner spray for their hair at about $2 per bottle, and we were going through a bottle a week. This is a much cheaper way to do it...

I saved the spray bottle from the commercial detangler and bought some Suave strawberry scented conditioner (about $2 for a large bottle). I put a little bit of the conditioner in the bottle (probably about 2 tablespoons, but I just eyeball it), and fill the rest up with water. I shake it up and spray it on their hair and it works just as well as the premade, commercial detangler and does not leave their hair greasy or heavy. At the rate of only 2 tablespoons a week, that  $2 large bottle of conditioner will last months, versus the $2/week I was spending before.

Side Stitch

I have decided that I would like to run a marathon - a pretty tall order for someone who can barely plod through 1/8 of a mile at the present. You read that right, 1/8 of a mile. As in, halfway around the stinking track. I run half the track, then walk the other half, alternating for 2-3 miles. Gotta' start somewhere, right?

A couple of years ago I had started running and actually worked up to running about a mile and a half before I had to slow to a walk, so I know I can eventually get back to at least doing that much. Though it's a far cry from 1.5 to the 26.2 I will need to be able to run for a marathon. I'll definitely be starting with a 5K or two, then work up to a half-marathon, and hopefully, one day, a full marathon.  

I've decided that I will run Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays each week, for 20-30 minutes at a time. Each week I will increase the distance I run at a stretch without walking, so that eventually I will be running the entire time. Then I will just work on increasing the distance. On Tuesdays I will still go to my boot camp class that I've been going to since January, and on Thursdays I plan on walking only. I will squeeze workouts into the weekends when I can, but I'm not going to stress too much about that.

So I started this little program about a week ago, and I've already learned a few little tricks. Ibuprofen before I work out is a very GOOD thing. I find that if I take it about 30 minutes to an hour before I work out (any work out, not just running), I can go harder and longer than if I don't. I'm finding that hydration is also super-important. I tend to not drink very much of anything, sometimes going all day without a drop of liquid passing my lips (except for my 2 cups of morning joe!). When I try to run after not drinking anything all day, I feel all weak and dizzy. I'm definitely making an effort to drink a lot more water every day. The only thing that I haven't quite figured out how to overcome at this point is the dreaded side stitch. Any ideas from the more experienced runners out there?

Lent

So tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent. Over the years I have occasionally given up something or decided on some way to deepen my spiritual practice, but never with much consistency and without much thought, either. This year is going to be a little different, though. I have actually put a lot of thought into ways that I think I can grow in my faith and in my life, and ultimately be a better person.

In thinking about my fast from sin, I have decided that I will give up negativity. I know, pretty broad, right? I've put a lot of thought into what this should look like. What I've come up with is that though I know I can't prevent every negative thought bubble from popping in my head, I can control what I do with that negativity. I will either change it into a positive, or banish it altogether. What I will not do is let it spill out of my mouth or spew onto my Facebook status. I will strive to not be so hard on myself or on other people. I will not be worrying about anything to the point of obsession and sleepless nights.

I'm a book-ish sort of person, and so, of course, I've been doing some research on how to become more positive. I've found interesting articles on using imagery to imagine the positive funneling into the top of your head and filling your body as the negative is pushed out of your fingertips and toes. And there's always the tried-and-true method of making a point to notice the good. With that in mind I will be working in my art journal every day during Lent, and will focus only on things I am grateful for. I expect this will be easy at first as I cover the biggies, like my children, my husband, pets, house, etc. Then I'll have to get creative.

So that's my big Lenten practice this year, and then I plan on doing some other small things. I want to treat my body better with food that is good for me and more exercise, but I'm intentionally leaving these ideas only half-formed. I want to put most of my energy into being positive. I also plan on spending the first couple of days of Lent off from work doing some self-reflection and house-cleaning (and visiting the Old Book Sale downtown!).

Who knows? Perhaps by the end of this season of Lent, I will have grown in my faith and become a better person!

Do-It-Yourself, Dryers, and Doo-hickies

We had a death in the house yesterday. Our clothes dryer of 6 years passed away in a fiery blaze of glory. Literally.

It's had some issues for about the last 6-8 months. The heating element, which turns out is just a really long, thin spring, had burned up in one place. Well, being the cheapskates that we are, with a real do-it-yourself kind of spirit (which is a requirement if you are a cheapskate), we were just kind of loosely placing it back together. Every other week or so, it would work its way back apart, and we would once again take the dryer apart and place it back together. Finally, too much of it had burnt up to do this anymore, and we bought a new element about 2 weeks ago. Who knew a simple spring would cost $48? However, during the process of replacing the element, a little ceramic doo-hickie (very technical term, I know) got cracked. The ceramic doo-hickie held the element off of the other metal parts inside the dryer, keeping it from being a fire hazard. Well, right after making the repair and turning it on, the element did touch the metal and it kicked the breaker, so the power was shut off to the dryer. We rigged it up again, and then it worked fine.

That brings us to yesterday. The dryer wasn't really drying yet again, so we took it apart, yet again. We found that the element had burned up yet again, because apparently the ceramic doo-hickie had broken completely off, allowing the element to touch the metal. We tried, yet again, to rig the thing back together without the ceramic doo-hickie. As we were working on it, I made the comment that it was a wonder that the dryer was not a fire hazard with all the rigging up we had done to it. My husband responded that at least we know if it is a fire hazard our breaker system does its job by kicking off the power, as had happened a couple of weeks ago. We took comfort in this as we finished the repair and plugged it back in. We turned it on to test out our rig-job, and within seconds sparks flew everywhere and smoke started pouring out. The breaker did not kick it off this time, and the dryer kept running as smoke started pouring out of it. Turns out there was a small fire in the bottom of it. We got the fire put out, fanned the smoke away from the smoke detectors that were sounding off like crazy, and opened the doors and windows. There was no way to put off getting another dryer now!

Luckily, some friends of ours from church happened to know someone that just happened to mention to them earlier this week that they had an extra dryer they were looking to get rid of. They saw my post on Facebook (thank God for social networking!) about the death of my dryer and put me in touch. Sweet serendipity! Best of all, the couple looking to get rid of their extra dryer gave it to us for FREE!! Music to my ears! So now we have a new older dryer to replace our old newer dryer. Here's a little prayer that this dryer will have a long, happy life in my home!

Total Money Makeover: Baby Step 1

Baby step 1 of our Total Money Makeover is officially complete! Yay!! We have now accumulated $1,000 in an emergency savings account, and accomplished it within the month timeframe that Dave Ramsey recommends (so we are on schedule!!). I put the money at a different bank than where my checking account is so that it takes a lot more effort to transfer funds, as well as two days for processing before I can get the funds. This will force me to evaluate whether something is TRULY and emergency and can't be covered by my checking account. I figure any emergency that arises, whether it's car repairs, unexpected medical expense, household issues, can wait two days before it is paid. So now we will start moving on toward paying off the debt, beginning with the line of credit since it is the smallest amount that we owe. That balance is currently at $1383, so I don't think it should take us too long to pay it off. Here we gooooooooo!

Tribute to My Favorite Oldest Daughter

Issy's birthday was Friday, and though I started a blog entry for that day, I never got to finish it for all the celebrating. So, she is now 12 years old - almost a teenager! I can't believe it! She is one of the coolest 12 year olds I know, though I may be a wee bit biased. I am so proud of how creative and talented she is, with all of her art and music. And I've always admired how laid back she is. She just doesn't let hardly anything get under her skin! She most definitely does not take after me in that regard, as I tend to get steamed up over everything. She is so smart and works hard for her accomplishments.

Happy birthday to my favorite oldest daughter!!

To the devastated and heartbroken in Haiti,

I have been scouring the internet for reports about you all day. The magnitude of the devastation to your country, your country that has endured hard hits by other forces of nature and crushing poverty, is unimaginable. I am near tears as I view the images of your people who are lost in the streets, searching for loved ones and often finding the worst. I cannot fathom the soul-wrenching fear and grief you are experiencing now.

I am praying for you. My church and my friends are praying for you. You will rebuild with the strong hands of your people, and the helping hands of the world. With God and time, your broken hearts and souls will mend.

God's peace to all in Haiti, and all who know someone in Haiti at this harrowing and difficult time,

Anneliese

New Adventure

So I started this new little adventure right before the new year and thought I'd share it with all of you in blogtopia. I bought myself a decent sketchbook with good, thick paper, and am now messing it up. Seriously, some call it creative journaling, art journaling, mixed media, but I really like the term "soul journaling". I'm just getting started and not real impressed by what I've done, but it is a lot of fun. Here's a couple of pages I've been working on....

New Year: Launching 2010 Part IV

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! Peace and love in 2010!

My third big resolution is one that, if I can accomplish it, will bring me a LOT of peace. I want to improve my financial situation!! I stress out about money constantly, but especially when something happens (which a lot did happen in 2009). First, we needed a new roof (due to not one, not two, but THREE leaks in different areas of the house). Of course, we didn't have the money to cover that, and ended up putting it on the credit card. Then came my emergency appendectomy. Even with my insurance, it would have been cheaper to have a funeral. That's really sad. So we spent about four months of the year throwing all of our "extra" money towards that, instead of building up savings and paying off debt. And that took us until November, when we had to put braces on Issy for a down payment of $675 (which we were able to pay in cash, no borrowing), but then turned right around and had over $1000 in unexpected car repairs in December. And while we were also able to cover that without the credit card as well, it made December EXTREMELY tight. Let me just say that I am really glad I tend to buy extras of various food items when they are on sale, because there was really no money for groceries for about two weeks there.

I stayed really stressed out about money most of the year, and I'm thinking God is trying to pound a big old fat message into my head. And, God, just wanted to let you know that I hear you, so no more lessons are needed at this time, thank you very much. I've decided to try out the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. Basically, you save up $1000 as quick as you can (within a month, usually), and then with "gazelle intensity" you throw everything you got into paying off the smallest of your debts, while paying the minimums on your others. Once that is paid off you snowball that money into the next smallest debt, etc. If there is a setback and you have to dip into your $1000 emergency fund, then you stop snowballing the debt temporarily and pay back the emergency fund as quickly as possible. Once all the debts are paid (excluding the mortgage), then you build your emergency fund up until you have 3-6 months of living expenses saved (I'll be shooting for the 6 months!). This is as far as I've gotten in the book, and I won't read on until we've gotten these three steps accomplished. My estimated length of time to have everything but the house paid is 42 months, but that is not taking into account any "found" money (like Shane's quarterly bonuses or my occasional catering gig). Dave says in the book that people who follow the plan usually pay it all off in less than their original projected time due to "found" money and just plain old determination. And I also didn't take into account that beginning in August, we will no longer have to pay daycare (yay!!). We will be paying for afterschool care, but that is about 1/4 of the cost of daycare. So that will free up a bunch to throw towards the debt as well.

Another thing he recommends is monthly budgeting. I know, you're thinking "DUH"! I know how to budget, and I always project out our budget a year in advance. But I think it will be useful to sit down at the beginning of each month, re-examine that month's budget and make any adjustments for "extra" income or expenses, and figure out exactly how much will go toward the debt for that month. I think it will keep us focused.

So, this really, really pains me to do, but here is my business for everyone to see (so everyone else can keep me accountable as well):

Line of Credit  $1421
Harley Davidson  $4093
Orthodontist  $4270
VISA  $8951
Student Loans  $17,470 (ouch!)
car  $20,151 (double ouch!)

current emergency savings  $328

At this point, if my fairy godmother would like to enter the picture and pay all or some of this, please do..... Well, no one showed, so I guess it's up to me! I'll be posting monthly updates on this New Year's goal so that anyone reading this can feel free to b*!&h-slap me if they feel I'm doing something stupid. Also, we'll be looking for free or extremely low-cost activities to do with the kids, and looking for ways to save on groceries and household necessities, so if anyone has any ideas please email me or post in comments!!

Wish me luck!!