Project Snail Mail

My mother has sent birthday, get well, anniversary, Christmas, and just because cards to friends and family since I can remember.  I also love sending cards and letters and such.  I love the feeling you get when you open your mailbox and there is a special shaped envelope with your name on it.  This special shaped envelope is different than bills or junk mail (expect AT&T.  They have disguised their junk mail in Hallmark cards now).  You know that envelope is stuffed with a little note from somebody who cares and is thinking about you.

The "art" or "tradition" of SNAIL MAIL is dying and it makes me sad.  It is quite easy and free to write an email or to send an e-card... which is still nice and thoughtful (its better than nothing) but it still doesn't mean as much as a HAND WRITTEN card or note.  There is much more thought and personality put into a snail mail note.  I enjoy writing notes to the people I care about.  There are a couple of ways that I keep the tradition of snail mail alive.  I try my hardest to send my sisters and sister-in-laws a hand written note, card, or postcard every month.

This is my September Snail Mail (I blurred out all the names and addresses... I figure my friends and family would appreciate that)

NOW- I am not perfect at this... I took a break for about 6 months or so... which I TOTALLY regret!  Anyway- another way I keep the art alive is by the fun group I am a part of on Facebook.  It is simply called Project Snail Mail.  We are a small little community of people who have a passion and a belief in sending feel good mail through the tried and true US Postal Service.  Join us!  Make our group larger!  We love new people who are all part of the same cause!  


You may be wonder what the heck to write to somebody... well- here are some helps for you:


1.  Birthday Card
2.  Anniversary Card
3.  Postcard from your recent trip
4.  Sympathy Card (not to make light of sad things... but I sent my dad a sympathy card once because he sold one of his classic muscle cars... it was like losing a child)
5.  Good Luck Cards
6.  Just Because Cards
7.  Thank You cards (thank you for a meal, a great something they said in church, a service in the community)
8.  Valentines Day
9. Christmas
10.  Fan Letter


The list can go on and on and on!


Something else that I do to make my mail extra special is use fun postage.  I hate boring postage.  The postage stamp is the 2nd thing I look for on a piece of hand written mail (after I see who it is from).  I always get fun stamps.  I think the people at the post office get annoyed with me when I ask them for stamps and then I ask them to see ALL the stamps that they have.  I never get the boring Liberty Bell or American Flag stamps.... I always get fun to look at stamps.  So get fun stamps!  Oh- one time I got Star Wars stamps (like 4 years ago or so).  Well I had to send a bill payment off and I wasn't happy about sending this particular bill... so I put the Darth Vadar stamp on it... in my own little way telling them that they were evil!


Well- to sweeten this deal and to thank you for reading this post... I am going to do my FIRST BLOG CONTEST EVER!!!!  That's right!  I am going to give something away to somebody who is reading this blog!  One of my favorite companies EVER for awesome postcards and stationary is Cavallini and Co. Well, the winner of this contest will get a tin of Cavallini and Co. postcards and a book of Forever stamps (with a fun theme of course).  Here are the rules:


1.  You must leave me a comment on this blog telling me what you do to help the tradition
     of hand written cards going
2.  You must become a member of the group Project Snail Mail (click HERE for the link)
3.  If you send a piece of snail mail in the month of September, you will get an additional 
     entry in the contest.  Just tell me in your comment who you sent the mail to and why
     (if you send 10 cards you don't get 10 extra entries... just one.. okie dokie??)


Contest ends on September 30, 2011 at 8pm Pacific Standard Time


Send some snail mail today... and I hope you receive some in return!

The Las Vegas StrEATS Festival

Harrison and I went and explored the StrEATS festival last Friday night.  The festival is in it's infancy and I felt like it would be a good thing to go and support.  The festival had a bunch of the food trucks together from around the valley in one place.  There was tons of food, some clothing vendors, and some art displays.  It was quite small but it was fun.  I hope it just gets bigger and bigger from here on out.

The small parking lot where it was held was PACKED!  There was a DJ playing some hip hop music.  We had to talk loud to each other because of all the trucks and generators that were on.  It was pretty loud.

I told Harrison to make a normal face for this picture.  He said, "This is a normal face."

We walked around to all of the trucks to see the cuisine options.  We decided that we were going to eat at a BBQ truck and indulge in pulled pork sandwiches.  I put WAY too much barbecue sauce on my sandwich and it was EVERYWHERE... including my hair... dang it!

It was super fun.  I hope that it gets bigger and better from here.  I think I want to go every month. 



For those of you who live in the Vegas area, check out their website and "like" them on Facebook.  It really was a great time.  I feel that it is important that we Vegas folks support the downtown area as much as possible.

I've found the secret formula

Every time I hear the words "secret formula" I think of this creepy scene from the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:


Creepy Slugworth

Anyway- so I made my homemade detergents and cleaners a little while back and finally had a  chance to use the dish washing detergent.  I forgot to add Epsom Salt to the recipe and I found out why it is so important to have that ingredient added!  Our dishes have been coming out SO DIRTY the last few loads.  Like gross dirty... like dirtier than when we put them in the dishwasher in the first place dirty!  EEWW!  There was soap scum and hard water deposits all over the dishes both glass and plastic.  I was at my whits end!  Well the Epsom salt helps to soften the water so that the detergent can work its magic.  BUT- that is NOT the secret formula entirely!  


We took apart the innards of the dishwasher last night to try and figure out what the crap was wrong with it.  NOTHING!  All the filters were clear and on a scale of 1-10... the limescale and soap scum build up was only at about a 4 or so.  Anyway... I poured about 2 cups of regular vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher and....


VOILA!


That is the trick!  The "secret formula"... VINEGAR!  The hard water is ridiculous here in Vegas.  The water is really bad... but the vinegar totally helps!  So- we will be using a lot of vinegar from now on in our house!  Harrison thinks we need to buy stock in vinegar.  Is that even possible?  Probably.


So for all you peeps out there not getting squeaky clean dishes from your dishwasher... pour some vinegar in the bottom the next time you take your dirty dishes for a spin!


OK- that is all for now.  I felt like I needed to shout this wonderful bit of information from the rooftops (well in blog-land that is)!  Most of you will read this and go, "DUH! We already knew that vinegar was the miracle product." but thank you for humoring me through the end of this post anyway :)


Have a wonderful day!  PS- I heard this quote and I liked it:

Never look down on somebody unless you are helping them up.  

That made me smile.  I like it a lot.

And now we shall rest from our labors for a season

This weekend was Labor Day weekend.  We were able to take a trip to Junk Town (Grand Junction, CO) for the weekend to spend time with our family.  It really was a great weekend.  We are so thankful to Harrison's mother and grandmother for setting up our arrangements to come and visit.  We love the fact that Alliegant Air has a direct flight to and from Grand Junction.  GJ is such a small place and it was an answer to prayers I think when they set up the flights between our home in Vegas and our family in GJ. 

I took along some airplane reading material. I love Martha Stewart but I love her Halloween special issue even more. I am frustrated that this is NOT part of my annual subscription... but whatever!

We spent a couple of days on "The Mountain" with Harrison's parents and grandmother.  It is fun to spend time together up there.  It is quite beautiful and it is a great break from the Vegas heat and hustle and bustle of the city.  Just trees, cool breezes, conversation around the fire, hikes, naps, and reading with a blanket. 

I was so excited to wear long sleeves and shiver when I went to sleep.  I am SO ready for fall to come.  I am officially tired of the hot summer (but mark my words... come January... I will want them back).

We had a lot of good visiting time.  There were lots of memories and feelings shared about the mountain and the gospel.  I am thankful for those.  We ate good camp food... pancakes and eggs for breakfast, taco salad, and hot dogs (with Catalina dressing instead of ketchup... most people liked that variation.  I was too chicken to try it... I am lame). 

We brought dogs with us.  They were fun.  They love it up there.  Tucker and Abby and Little Bits loved taking swims through the yucky lake.  I call it yucky because it is.  It is quite mossy and I would never swim in it myself... especially when we had to check for leeches on the dogs after they got out... eeww.

You can see that the dogs are quite dirty from their swim in this picture.  What you can't smell is the horrid smell that they smell like.  They smell like rotting something.  EEWW!

All three dogs were given baths.  Tucker is all clean now in this picture.  They had to wait inside while they dried off since it was getting quite chilly outside at this point.  I was happy to love on the dogs when they were clean.  The cleanliness was short lived.  They got back into the lake the next morning.  They were of course stinky and brown again.

We spent Saturday evening with my family.  I am sad I didn't take more pictures... but it was fun anyway.  We ate a wonderful BBQ dinner and watched my dad and brother shoot off some big fireworks that my dad got while he was on a business trip in Wyoming.  It was fun.  I love being with my family (especially my sisters)

We get really silly together and have a grand ol' time.  I am thankful for them... even if we end up punching each other by the end of the night (in a sister-ly way though- I promise).

I love visiting GJ because it is a nice break... but like all vacations- it was too short and I was sad to have to come home.  I heard from somebody once that it is the BEST time to come home when you don't want to.  I believe that.  When you wear out your welcome and you are tired of being on vacation... it seems that the burned-out feeling is what sticks... whereas when you leave for home while you are still quite enjoying yourself... there are always better experiences and feelings.

It was nice to sleep in my own bed on Sunday night.  There is nothing as awesome as the feeling of your own bed at night.  It is one of the BEST things about coming home.

Yesterday (actual Labor Day) we did a bit of shopping.  I have been told by quite a few people (who shall remain nameless) that my style is beginning to be frumpy and quite grandma-like.  So- we went and did a little updating.  I was SO happy to find that everywhere was having a great sale!  We didn't buy anything full price!  YAY!  We shopped at places like:


Now I have never shopped and A&F.  But- their denim was 50% off and we couldn't pass up $40 jeans!

I have never purchased anything from H&M either.  I have been inside before, but there is always something just a little "off" with their clothes for me.  Well, Harrison talked me into getting a fall blazer with padded elbows (quite the 80's throw-back).  I was scared but Harrison made me brave.

We didn't find a dang thing at Old Navy.  It doesn't surprise me though.  They did have a pair of cropped pants that I am still thinking about though.  I might go back and get them.

 There aren't many things I can afford in Saks... but I can afford Clinique mascara.  So that is what I got there.  Probably the lowest amount spent EVER at Saks... $14.50.

After our shopping, we went to lunch at Blondies.  They have really good Cobb Salad.  But our service wasn't the best this time.  BOO

 

I am thankful that Harrison and I were able to spend the weekend together.  We both have busy schedules (especially his grad school schedule) and there aren't many weekends when we have the ENTIRE weekend together.  This was a real treat.  It was also awesome that we were able to spend a lot of our time with family.  I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend.  What did you do?  Tell me about it in a comment!  



Going Green

A couple of weeks ago I went to Target to buy laundry soap.  It seems that about every 6 weeks I run out of laundry detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets, bleach, Woolite, blah blah blah.  Well- those things are stinkin' expensive!  It seriously costs me like $60-$70 a trip when I need to buy it all.  Well- I decided that enough is enough.  I decided to go green.  I decided not to throw my money away at the companies that charge me $18 for a product that costs about $1 to make and contains potentially harmful chemicals.  Now- with that said... I am not the type of person that is always watching my carbon footprint and recycling like I should and such... but I am the kind of person who is willing to find little ways to make a difference in the environment and improve my way of life.  In this case, it will also ease the stress on my pocketbook as well.

So anyway- I decided that I would make my own cleaning products.  I have been reading quite a few blog posts about the subject and I found a few recipes that I thought would be the best suited for me and my life.  I have made and tested the following products: Powdered Laundry Detergent, Surface Cleaner, Mildew Cleaner, and Dishwasher Detergent.  

I have had quite a few inquiries about the recipes and the outcome of my cleaners, so I thought I would blog about them and give you my opinion... and share the recipes as well. So I have discovered that there are a few things that you should have in your cleaning arsenal at all times.  Always have these things on hand.  They are for the most part quite affordable and they will last forever.  One of the great things about them as well... they are non-toxic.  So, if your kids, pets, or brothers decide to lick, step in, or touch the things you clean... they are going to be alright.  There are no fumes either.  SO GREAT.  OK- here is the list of must haves:

-Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer makes one that you can get at Wal Mart)

-Baking Soda (not the same as washing soda)

-Vinegar (just regular white vinegar... and buy the BIG one like in the pic above)

-Borax (you can find this at Target or Wal Mart or the grocery store)

-Essential Oils (tea tree, grapefruit, and lavender are some great ones. These are used to make some of your cleaners smell good.  That is all they are used for)

-Lemon Juice (used as an antibacterial agent and also a scent provider)

-Hydrogen Peroxide

-Liquid Castile Soap (I found Dr Bronner's at Trader Joes for about $10)

OK- First up:

Surface Cleaner

-16oz Spray Bottle

-2 tsp Borax

-1/4 tsp Castile Soap

-Hot water (it needs to be hot so the Borax dissolves)

Mix all ingredients together in spray bottle.  The castile soap I got is scented with peppermint already so I didn't need to use any essential oils or anything to scent this particular cleaner.

I used this on my kitchen today.  It was wonderful.  It cleaned my counters, sink, and stove top great and my kitchen smelled so good.  This can be used on ALL surfaces.  It is quite gentle but effective.  I did have to mix it around a few times during use to make sure the Borax was getting mixed in.

All Purpose Liquid Cleaner (like to clean your floors)

-1 gallon HOT water

-1 tbsp baking soda

-2 tbsp castile soap

I have not used this yet, but I am sure it works great.  Just put it where you need it and clean clean clean.

All Purpose Abrasive Cleaner

-Castile soap

-2 tbsp baking soda

Mix together to make a foamy paste.  

I used this to clean my stove top.  It worked quite well.  It took a little more elbow grease to get the stuck on gunk to come loose but it wasn't that bad.  Again, the peppermint smell was great.

Dishwasher Detergent

-1 cup Borax

-1 cup Washing Soda

-3 packets Lemonade flavored unsweetened Kool-Aid

Mix together in big container.  Use 1 tbsp per load of dishes. 

I used this today.  I thought the dishes would have a lemon scent to them but they didn't.  They did come completely clean but there was soap scum on lots of my glasses.  I don't know if this is the detergent's fault though.  My dishwasher is kind of a piecer.

Mildew Killer

-Spray Bottle

-1 part Hydrogen Peroxide

-2 parts water

5 drops essential oil

Mix together in bottle.  Spray on area.  Let sit one hour. Rinse after one hour.

I haven't used this one yet.  I didn't have an hour to wait for the cleaner to sit.  I am planning on using it after the Labor Day holiday though.  I used grapefruit oil in mine.  It smells divine!

Powdered Laundry Detergent

-1 cup grated Fels Naptha (this is a bar soap you can get at Wal Mart in the laundry section)

-1/2 cup Washing Soda

-1/2 cup Borax

Mix together in big container.  Use 1-2 tbsp per load depending on size.

I have my test load of laundry in the dryer right now so I don't have a definite answer on how this works yet.  I used it on some towels that had been left in the washer for almost 2 days... so they were smelly and mildew-y.  They came out of the washer quite clean smelling though.

So- there you have it.  I am also going to make my own air/fabric freshener (like Fabreze) but I haven't made it yet so I am not going to write it here.

Let me know if you have any questions.  I am planning on making toilet bowl cleaner in the near future.  I will also let you know how that one works out for me.  

Well- I hope this has been informative!  Let me know if you have any questions!

The Summit of Mount Laundry

I have a love/hate relationship with laundry.  I love washing laundry.  I love buying the clean smelling detergent and fabric softener.  I love putting the dirty laundry in the washing machine and adding the concoction of powders and liquids that make it come out clean. I love getting the clothes out of the dryer and pressing them against my face and breathing in deeply the smells of lavender, vanilla, and cleanliness.  This is where my love ends.
The hate begins at this point.  I hate folding laundry.  I hate ironing laundry.  I hate hanging clean laundry up.  I hate putting laundry away in its correct spot.  So this is why every so often we have to summit MOUNT LAUNDRY

This is the laundry that has been piled up, washed, re piled, worn, washed, and RE PILED about 5 times in the last 6-8 weeks.  Pathetic.  When the laundry is done in the dryer, I just throw it on the guest bed.  Throw it there and we just grab what we need to wear out of the pile as we need it. 
Well- I was tired of seeing this mountainous pile of clothing and linens... so- last night we folded and hung all of our clothes.  It took us 2 episodes of Mad Men to get it done.... so about an hour and a half.  So sad.  Most of the clothes were wrinkled and they didn't smell like fabric softener anymore... they were just clothes.  Sad.

Now our closets and dressers are filled to the brim with clean (and wrinkled) clothes.  I always tell myself that I will never let Mount Laundry become more than just a speed bump... but who am I kidding??  We will probably have an enormous Mount Laundry again before we know it. 

There.  Now you know something kind of "wrong" about me.  It is kind of funny.  We here in Blog-land always put our best faces on.  We post about the GREAT things that happen to us and post these cute and "perfect" pictures of our lives.  We all do it.  I mean, who wants to read about somebodies REAL LIFE??  HA.  But- I thought I would give you a look into what it is really like around here... behind the hobbies, the projects, and the fun vacations.

What kinds of things are "real" in your life??  Mount laundry? Mount dishes (which I will post about someday... I think my sink is starting to smell rotten again because the dishes are piled), Dog window art (you know... when your windows are smudged because of the dog, kids, and what-n-not).  What makes you REAL??  Leave me a comment and tell me!!!

And a very Thankful Thursday to you too!

Yeah- there are a few things I am thankful for this week:

Date Nights
We went and watched the planes take off and land the other night at the airport.  It is a fun thing.  There is a radio station you can tune your radio to and hear the air traffic controllers talk to the planes.  Harrison also found an app on his phone that allowed us to look up the flight numbers to see where the planes were coming from and going to.  It was fun!  Especially when we heard the pilot in his British accent talking to the control tower as he was leaving with this big 747 full of people on their way to London.

Brok
He is my brother.  The 6th out of 10 kids.  He is 14 years my younger.  I love him!  He is smart and funny and a pretty dang good looking kid.  He won his football game last weekend 31-6.  Good job Brok!  I am so proud of you!

New hair-do's
Well sort of.  This was an attempt to use Velcro curlers again.  My hair never turns out very great when I use them.  I found a really cool tutorial on using them on Pinterest.com (of course) and thought I would try it again.  It started out great and it was great UNTIL the very end.  My hair has not been cut or trimmed since December (eeww... I know) and so my lucious waves were flat as a pancake in about 5 minutes after taking them out of the rollers.  Crap!  I will attempt it again when I get my hair cut.  But I am thankful anyway for the tutorial and the hour and a half I spent on it and my fun make-up (which I don't have a picture of).

Cupcakes
I love them.  I really do.  I am all about the cupcake craze right now.  I really am.  I love the fact that it is a little personal and portable cake.  I love the fun things you can do with cupcakes.  We celebrated a co-worker's birthday at work the other day and there were CUPCAKES brought in.  They looked so dang cute!  I was excited to take a picture of them all!  I really like the colors in this picture.

Hobbies
Harrison and I have our fair share of hobbies.  We have a ton of fun with them.  One of the hobbies that Harrison has always loved is photography.  He really has a great talent for this hobby.  He set up his dark room stuff in the guest bathroom last week to print some photos from some negitives.  It was fun to see him create stuff.

Find something to be thankful for this week.  I heard a quote this week that I really liked:
Everyday might not be good, but there is something good every day!  I believe that!

Thankful Thursday... a day early again

Why can't I get my butt into gear and blog more?  I dunno.  Well- here is a round of Thankful Thursday for all:

Good Deals:
So it is no mystery that I am a bargain shopper.  I shop the sale isles, I shop the clearance racks... and recently I have decided to be brave enough to search for some awesome deals at second-hand stores.  You see- I have this really weird phobia of clothes that have been worn by an unknown person.  But- I have tried to break out of that mindset and fond some dang cute clothes for a dang good price.  Like... my Talbots pencil skirt for $4.  Yeah- awesome!

My Hot Husband:
I love him for so many reasons.  We have had a few "discussions" the last couple of days (why does it seem that "discussions" happen all the time for a time and then there are no "discussions" for a long time in a marriage.  Weird).  Well- as emotionally charged as some of those "discussions" have been, we always seem to work it out.  ALWAYS.  I am so thankful for that.  I am thankful for his patience and his willingness to work it all out.  Plus: he is pretty dang handsome if you ask me:

Cliche and Positive Quotes:
Yeah- I am a sucker for cliche quotes.  Here are some of my favorite... presented in an eye pleasing way:

Well- be thankful for something today... and everyday! 

Thin-spiration. Just a little rant

Well- for the most part... I try really hard to be positive on this here blog.  I mean- who wants to read a blog of crap and hate and rants and depression and whining and stuff??  Not me really.  But... I can't be silent about this anymore!  I have been totally into Pinterest.com lately and it really is an amazing site for inspiration and creativity (let me know if you want an invite to join).  Well- there is a ton of crap circulating on this site called "THIN-spiration".  These are posts and pictures of being skinny and doing whatever it takes to get that way.  I am totally tired of it!  I know eating disorders and things of this nature are nothing new... but I have just had enough.  Starving yourself or punishing yourself for eating and not being "skinny" is just sick and wrong.  Well- here is some of the crap that I see on that site (which ironically make me want to puke.  But not in an unhealthy eating disorder kind of way).

It just makes me sad and a bit angry to see all of this circulating around.  Now- do NOT misunderstand me.  I do NOT believe that OVER eating and living an unhealthy and unbalanced lifestyle are acceptable.  I do, however, believe that there is moderation in all things.  I do believe in well balanced diet and exercise and keeping yourself healthy and in shape.  I have come up with some of my own "Healthy Living" inspiration to counteract the effects of these borderline (if not COMPLETE) eating disorder like thoughts...

I feel really strongly about this.  All people (and especially women and girls I feel) should learn healthy and positive habits.  Eat healthy and act healthy.  Get enough sleep and exercise and indulge a bit too!  It is JUST FINE to eat a damn cookie and to have a piece of cake.  Just don't eat the entire dozen or the entire pan at one time.  I mean, come on people.  

Sorry about the rant but I just can't keep quiet any longer.  Hate me if you want for talking about this... but you know what... my blog- my rules :)  So to all of you reading this today- eat a cookie.  And remember to walk around the house while you are talking on the phone (it will burn some calories).