Weekend Update and a Laundry Day Recipe

Over the weekend, I joined Twitter, started an account on Pinterest, and started uploading to Instagram.  Oh, I started a Facebook page, too!  But I haven't really done anything with that yet.  ;)  This 21st Century social networking business is hard stuff.  You can connect with me through the icons on the left.

Speaking of social networking, I give you my weekend in Instagrammed pictures.  :)

1)  I had to take Hobie to the vet on Friday.  We've been having some behavioral and tummy issues with the kitties.  :(

2-4)  So they got lots of lovings this weekend.

5)  This is how my husband naps when he has gotten up at 11 to take a nap at 1.  *smh*

6)  We captured a sweat bee (by we, Zach), and we let the kitties watch it in the jar.  They were the ones who actually found it in the fireplace.

7)  Late in the afternoon, we headed out to take care of some business.

8)  We fought the tax-free-weekend crowds at Target and rewarded ourselves with some Starbucks.  I got an iced chai tea latte of course.  :)

9-10)  Then it was time for some Bliss!  Thanks, Living Social.

11)  I found some sandals on sale at Kohl's and fell in love.

12)  I've been drinking lots of hot tea this weekend because my allergies (thank you, vet/Hobie) have been acting up and giving me swollen lymph nodes.  (At least, I think it's my allergies...)

13)  Saturday night, I made a turkey pot pie.  YUMMY!

14)  And Sunday morning, we had biscuits and gravy.

And I can't forget my clothes.  It was a royal blue and orange weekend!

I decided to do something a bit different for Menu Monday.  Over a year and a half ago, I started making my own laundry detergent to save money.  It has worked well for us; two gallons last about four months, based on my calculations.  Keep in mind, there's only two of us.

We ran out this week, so I had to make some more.  First, however, I had to buy some more washing soda.  Then, once I got home with that, I realized I was out of bar soap.  Thankfully, Walgreens had Coast soap on sale (8 bars for $3.99) AND I had a coupon, so I got the soap for $3.49!  The coupon was from a few weeks ago, but Zest is also on sale, and there was a Zest coupon in the paper THIS week.  So this might be the perfect opportunity for you to try making your own soap!

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT

1 bar soap
1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda
2 gallons water
2 empty gallon jugs

-Shred bar of soap into a large stockpot.

-Add 1 gallon of water and boil until the soap is dissolved

-Add Borax and washing soda.

-Bring to a boil until it coagulates.  It will start to get foamy.

-But make sure you watch it very closely--or it will boil over!  Every. single. time. I turn my back for a second because it's not doing anything, and then it boils over onto my stove!

-Turn off the heat.  Add 1 gallon cold water; stir well.

-After it cools a bit, use a funnel and ladle to place detergent into jugs.

Sometimes it will get too thick; try using less soap next time.  Since this was my first time using Coast, I think I used too much, and I also overcooked it.  It was pretty solid by the time I began to funnel it!  *lol*  So I just heated it up for a bit until it started to melt again.  I really liked how easy it was to grate Coast; some of the other soaps have been near impossible!  You can choose what soap you want; I tend to add some of the Downy Unstopables to boost the fragrance anyway, and I have come to like much less fragrance than I used to.  (I also got my Downy beads as free samples; it said to add the whole pack, but I find ten or so increase the smell quite nicely.  :)

If we hadn't spilled our washing soda accidentally some months back, it would have lasted even longer.  I feel like the box of Borax and washing soda should last over 6 recipes' worth.  I believe Borax is a bit more, but the washing soda is only about $4.

I hope you will give it a try!  It only takes about thirty to forty minutes or so to cook from start to finish, but the funneling does add considerable time, especially if it is thick.  I think it is much more affordable than buying detergent.

What have you tried to make homemade?  Has it turned out?

What I Wrote Wednesday

I decided that since I failed last year, I would try to send more cards and letters this year.  Last week, I mailed my dear friend Monica a card.  She just recently had baby Autumn (in November), and I've only gotten to hang with them once since then.  :(  I miss her so much and can't wait to see Autumn (and Rob!) again!  She's already growing so fast, and it's a joy to watch Monica become a mama.  :)  Here's a little trip down memory lane...

 back in 2006--our first picture together

Monica and I actually met on Facebook before we met in real life:  Originally, Facebook was just for those enrolled in universities, and Monica was in a few of my classes sophomore year.  I had to miss a few days in October, and I sent a message to a few folks that had added my two literature classes about the assignments I missed.  And we never looked back!

 This is with our dear friend Katie on Monica's birthday in 2007.  We were at the Electric Cowboy, and if you know us, you know that really isn't our kind of place.  *haha*  Senior year, we were a trio; if you saw one, you always saw the other two.  We had so many fun times together (as you can see by this picture)!

For example, here we are at Monica and Katie's graduation in December 2007.  Katie is actually now expecting a baby, and we find out this month if baby J is a boy or girl!

And this was on my graduation day in May 2008.  :)

Zach and I had a joint bachelor/bachelorette party the night before our wedding in 2009.  We went to The Flying Saucer, where we met, with all of our friends.

This was after Zach and I graduated with our Master's degrees in 2010.  We were at The Flying Saucer again with our friend Whitney (who was partially responsible for Zach and my match!).

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 premiere in July 2011

We are nerds.  (Hey, we were English majors!)

At Monica's shower this past fall 

meeting Autumn Gabrielle Elizabeth

We all matched!

I just love my dear friend and am so glad my card helped her have a great day.  I already know who I am writing next!

Photo a Day in September #19

19.  Slimy

Today is our third wedding anniversary, not to mention the fourth anniversary of when we met.  :)  We played it a bit more low-key this year:  Zach made me dinner (salad, pasta, and white chocolate-raspberry-lemon bar cake [okay, he bought dessert! ;]), and we caught up on Parenthood (I thought something happened to Haddie after catching a posting by the show's Facebook page!), exchanged gifts (I got him a personalized luggage tag, and he got me a glass candy dish--it looks like a Ziploc bag!--with Sweettarts for my office), and watched The Iron Lady.

I almost forgot to get a "slimy" picture and intended to snap a photo of the watermelon we had to throw out today.  :(  But it was already covered by new trash...a.k.a. the leftovers of our dinner!  I promise the salad was much better than it looks here in the rubbish bin.  :)  I'll have to post some pictures of our anniversary celebration tomorrow once I can get Zach's iPhone to be friendly with my email.

Photo a Day in September #18

18.  My Passion

Ummm...I guess my current passion would be food.  I'm always thinking about what I am going to be putting in my tummy and posting pictures of my meals on Facebook and pinning every recipe on Pinterest.  I've made it my goal to attempt a new Pinterest recipe a week.  This weekend, I'm making caramel apple cider cookies!  I think they will be perfect for the fall.  :)

I cheated and took this picture last night. Ah, but these frozen Rally's/Checker's fries are sooo tasty, AND I got to use a 75 cents off coupon!  They were cheaper than the Walmart fries.  :)

Photo a Day in July #27

27.  On the Road

I was on the road quite a bit today.  I drove thirty miles to Farmington to have lunch with my friend Ashlee--we went to grad school together at UCA--at Briar Rose:

Is it not ADORABLE?  I have been dying to go to this cottage bakery since one of my friends on Facebook liked their page last year!  The food was so yummy, too:

tomato soup and a turkey and bacon ciabatta sandwich

strawberry cake and chocolate silk cake

We got two slices--one of each flavor--and split them to share.  :)

I also drank a gallon of sweet, iced Earl Grey tea.  ;)

We had lunch at 12:30, but we didn't leave until 4:45 or so!  We talked about everything (teaching, jobs, literature, dating, makeup, clothes, food, TV, movie, music, our cats).  We really need to hang out more often than once a year!

I actually didn't get a picture "on the road" until I got home and realized I needed to go back to the pharmacy since we are getting up early in the morning to take a train ride and I am out of my medication. I had planned to stop on my way home, but I didn't use the restroom before I left Briar Rose, so I was nearly dying when I got home.  I called Zach as I was pulling into our neighborhood to see if the door was unlocked because I knew I had to haul butt inside.  ;)  I mean, my abdomen was hurting because I had to tinkle so badly.  And, of course, he tells me he is standing outside, which means he is probably talking to someone (turns out, our landlady).  I apologize and rush past them; thankfully, they were still outside after I was relieved so I could apologize again.  *lol*  I told Becky (that's our landlady) that her granddaughters would probably LOVE Briar Rose if she ever had the chance to take them.

So I came in and relaxed a bit before I realized I needed to go tonight to get my prescription.  At the stoplight as I was heading back home, I remembered I needed a photo, so I took some of the road running perpendicular to the one I was on, but they didn't turn out well, so I took two of my dash, but I didn't like them.  Finally, I thought a picture of the XM radio would be perfect since that's the big thing I love about our Velosteraptor (Hyundai), so I scanned the channels to see if a good song was on, and "Ho Hey" was coming on just as I turned to The Spectrum!

I just love this Lumineers' song!  You may have heard it on a Bing commercial (I think?).  It is so catchy and sweet:

(Ho!) I've been trying to do it right
(Hey!) I've been living a lonely life
(Ho!) I've been sleeping here instead
(Hey!)I've been sleeping in my bed,
(Ho!) I've been sleeping in my bed (Hey!)

(Ho!)

(Ho!) So show me family
(Hey!) All the blood that I would bleed
(Ho!) I don't know where I belong
(Hey!) I don't know where I went wrong
(Ho!) But I can write a song (Hey!)

1,2,3 I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweet (Ho!)

(hey!)
(ho!)
(hey!)

(ho!) I don't think you're right for him
(hey!) Look at what it might have been if you
(ho!) Took a bus to Chinatown
(hey!) I've been standing on Canal
(ho!) And Bowery (hey!)
(ho!) And she'd be standing next to me (hey!)

1,2,3 I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart

And love, we need it now
Let's hope for some
Cause oh, we're bleeding out

I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweet (Ho!)

(Hey!)
(Ho!)
(Hey!)

Life Without Facebook (Day One)

Well, y'all, I decided to go without Facebook for Lent. (I must be cra-a-azy. I am ALWAYS on Facebook, which is why I decided it must go. My rationalizations to keep it just showed how much I needed to leave it for a few days...or forty.)

I've almost made one day.

It's been fairly easy. :) I was very productive at work (except for a few minutes I spent on Rate My Professor looking up my friends-who-are-instructors' ratings--I have some HOT instructor friends *lol*--I ended up staying fifteen minutes after work on there!). When I got home, I was able to go walking for twenty minutes, and I dusted the upstairs AND downstairs, and I finally put all of the clean laundry away and made up the bed and started a new load of laundry. I was reading a blog in between of all of this, but it's much better than being on Facebook on Astrid (that's my MacBook's name) AND my iPhone AT THE SAME TIME. (Sooo embarrassing, guys...)

But, in other moments, it was HARD.

For example, a friend of Zach's from his undergrad days, Amy, came to eat dinner and watch Downton Abbey with us on Monday. Somehow, we decided to do quesadillas, and she said she would bring the fixings as long as we picked up some salsa and cheese. (I tried two new flavors of each--lime and garlic salsa and queso panela, and both impressed us! WIIIIIIING!) Amy even brought dessert--coconut ice cream bars! Anyway, she was so sweet to leave the leftover marinated beef, so today I made myself a half-quesadilla for lunch. IT WAS SOOO GOOD! And I immediately wanted to pop on her Facebook timeline and say thank you for leaving the leftovers (since I don't have her number--Zach does). But I couldn't. :( I hope I remember the next time we see her...

Then I was watching The Office for the millionth time, specifically the episode in which Dwight almost burns down the office to prove that the office is not prepared, and it causes Stanley to have a heart attack, and so the company brings in a CPR trainer. She explains to Michael that he should be pumping the chest to the tune of The Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive," but he starts singing Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." So the trainer corrects him, and Andy starts singing, and Kelly starts dancing. AND I SWEAR Y'ALL--I dance just like Kelly does! Which means I really don't...I do this sort of awkward moving of my shoulders and arms while rotating from side-to-side at the waist, and it's totally off-beat. I wanted to share that with the Facebook world because I have many a friend who LOVES The Office and many a friend who can appreciate my lack of coordination (because theyand many of friend who does both.

So I shared that bit of realization with Zach when he got home...and now all of you guys. ;)

Menu M...Wednesday: YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME

Sometimes new recipes are HORRIBLE. Case in point, this past Sunday we made Hawaiian tuna salad. I had had it on the menu for weeks, but tuna just didn't sound good to either Zach or me or both of us, so I kept pushing it to the next week...and then the next. It was based on a recipe for Hawaiian chicken salad. Tuna and chicken do not have the same flavor obviously, but they do have a similar texture, so I thought I would give it a try. After all, I really enjoy mixing in chopped up apples and craisins into tuna, so I thought maybe, just maybe, it would be good.

It wasn't.

Well. Zach liked it. Not a lot, but enough. But not enough to eat leftovers the next day. I could hardly finish mine. The recipe called for celery, grapes, mandarin oranges, pineapple, mayonnaise, and almonds. I enjoyed the celery and pineapple in it, but the rest...ick. Of course, I don't like mandarin oranges too much, and, instead of using tinned ones, I used fresh Cuties, so that may have been another part of the reason--not having enough fruit juice to dilute the mayonnaise flavor. That being said, I think I also used too much mayonnaise. I don't like mayo unless it is mixed well with other ingredients, and this was far too mayonnaisey. I also ate mine on a croissant, and I've been a bit burned out on those. My other choices were tortillas, which I'm also burned out on, and bread, which seemed too boring. I wrote on facebook that I get tired of eating a sandwich halfway through it, and I'm finding that to be more and more true lately. I think I just got burned out on them because I subsisted off of toast and plain spaghetti when I was having tummy troubles.

(However, this week I did thoroughly enjoy some Italian sesame seed bread from Walmart. I toasted it in the oven with lots of butter and Italian herbs and garlic powder--soooo good!)

Tonight I made steamed lemon broccoli for the first time, and it was GREAT. I began by steaming broccoli in a pot and sauteeing onion, garlic, and celery in a pan. Then I added the broccoli with salt, pepper, and some lemon juice. I used a tad too much juice, but overall the dish had a nice flavor.

It's interesting that both of these recipes used only a handful of ingredients and mixed together foods I would have not thought to use together previously. I will try the Hawaiian recipe with chicken someday, but not for awhile...

You win some.

You lose some.

things I'm loving this week

learning all about the English and their interesting habits and social rules...and realizing my personality is more English than not :)

using the Wilton kit I got for Christmas to make Valentine's Day cupcake decorations on our first snow day of February (and this week)

Bob's Red Mill Muesli and all other breakfast foods any time of the day

our fireplace and the sexy man who gets it hot *hahahahaha*

how this book haunts me

thinking about memories of BHS and UCA and of everything I would tell my 16-year-old, 18-year-old, 21-year-old self, especially that it will all be okay and work out...which in turn comforts me now when thinking about the future

the guiltiest of guilty pleasures

(It's only fitting this would be the largest picture. It's SOOO over-the-top.)

all of the memories of (especially of all the Easters I spent with her) my sweet Granny Byrd

hunting for the new perfect pair of rain boots since my old pair inexplicably split

(I am very picky. I don't like when the patterns stretch at the bottom on the bridge of the shoe. I'm thinking I'm old enough to go for solid pair in black or red.)

****************a snow week****************

(Oh, and we are supposed to get another 5 to 9 inches on Wednesday!!)

measuring the snowfalls according to where it falls on these chicks

finding my niece on facebook (and using my fine detective skills to do so *lol*)

this fuzzy face and his yawns and his naps and his daddy-o

a simple table wine that tastes mighty fine in my roast beef

making a new flavor of homemade ice cream every week in my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that matches my kitchen

This weeks was strawberry.

Cheez-It's, including the flavor I tried for the first time today

(It will probably be gone in three days. ;)