Lots

I'm lazy so I'm covering a lot of topics in one post.

DIY Projects:

1. Dry Erase Board. While perusing my new love Pinterest, I came across this wicked cute idea. I had most of the supplies on hand so all I needed to get was some fabric and some dry erase markers. I ended up spending less than $5 to accomplish this thanks to the awesome fabric find that my mom found at Joann's during our way too long fabric hunt. I'm pleased with the final product despite the lovely burn I have on my right arm from the iron. Apparently my iron heats up FAST! I was in the laundry room doing laundry and wasn't paying attention since I had just turned on my iron, yeah it was HOT.

2. Mirror. I mentioned in a prior post that I bought a new mirror at Ikea that I had been lusting after. I hated the black color so my original idea was white. T painted it and I ended up hating it. So we painted it a pretty bold, but gorgeous color. I am waiting to post it until I have it up on the wall because without it being in place you won't appreciate it's full awesome factor.

Mirror Before

First After

 3. Capiz Chandelier. Still chugging along with it. It's taking a hella long time and is so frustrating and the worst part is I'm not falling in love with it. The more I work on it, the more aggravated I get with it causing me to despise it. After I finish it (this month!) we will hang it in the laundry room until I make my decision if I like it. If I don't, it will stay in the laundry room and I'll do something else for the dining room. I want to love it, so we'll see.

4. Curtains. I have recruited my mom to help me with new curtains for our sliding glass door. When we painted, actually when my dad and T painted and I watched, our much hated vertical blinds bit it so we had to do a quick solution. The curtains I had hanging above my windows became our sliding glass door curtains. They aren't long enough, they don't match and I hate them. Thanks to Pinterest (T is really beginning to hate that website) I found the PERFECT curtains. You'll have to wait and see!

Going Green Update

So I slept on the linens and are happy to report NO reaction. In fact, they were SO soft. Much like my clothes, they didn't have much of a smell, so that wasn't a problem either. T has officially given me the okay to wash his uniforms in it as well! That'll be this weekend, so wish me luck.

Baby Front

We're as close today as we were on March 20th to being parents. I had to call this afternoon to verify my blood draw for Friday, which I'm not at all looking forward to. The phlebotomist sucks, there are usually tons of pregnant women there and for some reason I always feel like I have to rehash my entire history with the staff. Why they can't just read my chart is beyond me. Hopefully we'll have a game plan soon that won't involve anymore testing because that would just royally piss me off. We are now over 6 months post m/c and still don't have the green light. I'm over it really! I'm trying to stay positive and distracted and it works, sometimes, but the closer I get to my original due date, the harder it is to stay distracted. I really hate that I thought I would be pregnant again by November 1st. Who knows if we'll even have a plan by then.

Going Green: The Dirt on Laundry

Unfortunately, I did not acccomplish my goal of a big green cleaning session on Saturday night. Due to my own poor time management (aka, stayed up too late Friday night playing The Sims 3) I was dead tired by Saturday evening so it didn't go down. I did however, do my laundry! I went into the laundry with high hopes that it would be a success and it was!

First up was our bed linens. I had to wash the sheets, the quilt and our uber soft white blanket. For these I did do 2 scoops because normally I have to use the large portion of detergent and I wasn't sure what I was going to have to do with the DIY stuff. Everything came out smelling fresh, not scented, but fresh. It all passed the soft test, nothing felt scratchy and our white blanket ended up coming out REALLY bright. That was a big and pleasant surprise. Since we've had it for like 3 years now, it has become a really dull cream color. When I pulled it out of the dryer, it was fluffy, soft and really bright. I'll have to report back with how they do on the sleep test since I obviously haven't slept on them yet.

I didn't do T's uniforms in it only because I wasn't sure how it would turn out and there was NO way I was going to risk $500 in uniforms being jacked up so they got the old stuff. Everything else got the new detergent, 1 scoop each load, and so far everything seems fine. My clothes feel soft, the whites are SUPER bright. Most of my colors seem okay, but since they are all pretty faded they didn't come out nearly as bright as my whites. I'm actually wearing some of the stuff washed in the new detergent and I don't notice much of a difference which I consider to be a success. I have super sensitive skin and I'm not having an itchy feelings or such.

Eventually I would like to try switching T's uniforms to the new stuff, but I'm going to give the DIY goods a few more shots before I make the change. The only thing that is a bit of a change is the lack of smell. Normally my clothes smell like whatever detergent or dryer sheets I'm using. After being out of the dryer for a couple hours, my clothes don't smell like anything. That's a bummer just cause I got so used to that Mountain Fresh type smell, but I'm sure I'll be happier with this.

On the other DIY front, I have A LOT going on and A LOT planned. To try to keep my expenses at bay, I'm going to do a list of what tasks I want to accomplish each month and my budget for them. If I am planning something big, obviously the other small ones will have to wait, but I'll report on that later. For now, it's off to bed to test out the linens.

Going Green: Laundry Detergent

For anyone who is interested, here is where I got the recipe. I'm not going to pretend like I'm the creative cleaning goddess who came up with it, hell, I'm lucky I even figured out how to work the washer.

By the time I got home last night, I was tired and really didn't want to tackle making my cleaning products, but I forced myself to at least make the laundry detergent. Since we are out I figured I better have it on stand by. Shockingly, it wasn't a total disaster. I will say next time I'm going to try a different soap instead of the fels-naptha. Only because by the time I was done grating it, I could barely stand the smell of it. That oh so pretty scent became stomach churning after breathing it in for a few minutes.

If you have ever wanted to make your own laundry detergent, but thought it would be too hard to, or too time consuming, I assure you it isn't. It's so easy I could do it. It's pretty much like a 5 step process:

1. Grate a bar of soap
2. Pour said soap into a jar
3. Add 1 cup Borax
4. Add 1 cup washing soada
5. Mix

  

  

As far as scent goes, it really doesn't have much of one which is nice and from what I've read your clothes don't really end up having one. I haven't washed any clothes yet, so I'll have to report back on how they feel/smell once they are washed.  Laundry detergent aside, I do think I might have a problem kicking my clorox wipe habit. Last night while I was brushing my teeth I grabbed one and was wiping down the counters and all I could think was "it's going to be such a pain in the ass to have to spray and then wipe." Hoping that changes with my super cleaning session this weekend!

Going Green: Price Check!

Let me preface this by saying had I done my research (which we all know I suck at) I probably could have saved a lot more money, but couponing and shopping smart is a whole other transformation that needs to occur.

So on my way home from work last night I stopped at the store to get my groceries and my aresnal of green cleaning products. It was actually kind of fun looking for them. It was like a grown up version  of a treasure hunt because quite honestly, finding some of these items was a bit tricky as the stores have them hidden in the little crevices. Smart ones they are.

Due to my lovely OCD, I ended up purchasing things you probably don't have to, but there was NO way I was mixing uses. Like measuring cups, spoons, cheese grater, etc. Despite having all those items in my home, I opted to buy new ones specific to cleaning products. I also had to buy another mop since my Clorox Ready Mop ate it. Speaking of the Clorox Ready Mop, can I just express how much of a rip off  that thing is?! the pads don't pick up nearly what they should. The cleaning solution barely spreads on the floor and smells a wee bit funky. The mop itself is SO flimsy and barely "mopping" my kitchen floor I ended up snapping the handle. I tried taping it back together, but that went over like a lead balloon. So yeah, totally done with that!

I opted for the "Wonder Mop" since you can take the mop head off and wash it in the washing machine. Score! Not to mention with it not being the traditional square sponge, I can go back to wiping the baseboards down again with it. Yay! My back is already rejoincing over this decision. It's also VERY sturdy (I can neither confirm nor deny my testing it out in the grocery store.) I need something that I can put my elbow grease into and it's not going to snap and cause a plethora of vulgar words to spew from my mouth.

Anygerms, back to what I was saying. I ended up spending a total of $51.31 on my cleaning products. Again, this includes a couple itms you may not need to purchase. Taking out my mop and my not really needed, but bought due to my OCD items, I spent $26.51 on the actual cleaning supplies. Not bad! Unfortunately, there are some items you are going to pay a little more than necessary. Like extra light olive oil, $6.99 for a small cheap brand bottle! Oy vey. I also bought a big bottle of vinegar since it's being used in multiple capacities. Taking into account the recipes that I will be using, these supplies will last roughtly 2-6 months. Obviously the vinegar and baking soda will go faster, but the borax and olive oil should last closer to 6 months.

Trying to prove my savings, I also wrote down how much the original cleaning items I would buy were. I was appaled at what I actually spent on cleaning products & laundy detergent. I actually spent up to $60 a month on cleaning stuff! Just to have a clean home & clean clothes! I might as well of hired a cleaning lady! Switching to laundry detergent alone is massive savings! A box of our old detergent was about $16 on sale. The three products to make my detergent were only $11.56 and I bought enough of it that it should last a couple months. Our original detergent would last us a month (if we were lucky.) So I'm sold on this. Haven't even started and I'm sold.

Tonight's game plan is mixing up a couple of my cleaners and my laundry detergent. I'm actually excited to try them out! This weekend I'm going to try to get some essential oils to make things a little less vinegar smelling and have a full on cleaning session this Saturday night. It's sad how excited I am about this! I do know that for a while, while we are transitioning, I will continue to use some of the old products I had. I already spent the money, so I'm not going to waste them. I'll still use the Clorox wipes to wipe down the bathroom counter every night. I'll still use my toilet bowl cleaner and the like. Once they are gone, they are gone though. I'm determined to make this change!

Going Green: I’m Gonna Make A Change…

There is a huge “Green” movement going on right now. Suddenly everyone is all concerned about Mother Earth and how our waste and treatment of this planet is destroying it. Duh. I think humanity is about a day late and a dollar short, but I respect what people are trying to do. Companies have jumped in on that too! You have organic fruits & veggies in the produce section of your store. You have cleaning products that are “greener” and pretty much just about anything else you could imagine.

Personally, I’m not much of a follower as far as trends and fads go and tend to be on the front of them (like my cutting my denim skirt shorter and all the girls at school telling me the fraying was hideous and one year later buying skirts with said fraying.) So my jumping in on this “Green” thing really has nothing to do with our lovely planet (sorry Mother Earth!) It is 100% due to my OCD.

I have OCD (diagnosed too!) and my big thing is germs. I loathe them with a passion. I am constantly using hand sanitizer or wiping things down. I refuse to share my chapstick and when my own husband asks for a drink of my water I cringe. I have been this way for as long as I can remember. It’s actually been a long standing joke in my family. The thing is, OCD really isn’t funny and neither are the consequences of having it. Often times, my hands are cracking and bleeding due to excessive washing. I have gotten out of bed in the middle of the night because I felt dirty and needed to clean up leaving me exhausted and sleep deprived. If I just washed my hands, I won’t pet our animals for fear of germs. The older I get, the worse my OCD gets.

My irrational fear of germs has lead me to wiping things down constantly. In doing this, I am exposing not only myself, but my entire household to the harsh chemicals inside cleaning products on a regular basis! I’m not sure if you have ever read the back of your Windex bottle or your toilet bowl cleaner, but there is some scary stuff in there. I had no idea! I never thought the very products I am using to protect me from getting sick are the same products that are making me feel as bad as I do. The sore throats, the runny nose, the headaches, the burning sensation on my skin, the list goes on. I didn’t once think it could be the cleaning products, until I did my research.

I’ll be honest; I’m not much a researcher and I pretty much always bought cleaning products based on their commercials. If I liked the commercial, chances are I would like the product. So I really had no idea what I was bringing into my home. When I started finding other people out there who were having the same issues as me, it scared the crap out of me. If it was making ME feel this bad, what could it do to my animals? Or worse, our future children! I decided we had to make a change. My OCD is never going to go away, so I needed to find a safer way to work around it, insert greener cleaners.

I’m not just talking Eco-Friendly Mr. Clean; I’m talking vinegar and water. There are so many natural products that do the exact same thing as the name brand cleaners, just without the dye or the harsh chemicals. As a society we have been brainwashed into thinking we had to get these lemon and pine scented products or our home was dirty. I have found that simply isn’t true. There are TONS of recipes out there to make the same cleaning products you use, with materials you more than likely already having in your home! So I’m hooked.

I went over things with T last night and he looked at me like I had 6 heads. I’ll admit, the whole going “green” thing does seem a bit out of no where, but aren’t most great ideas? I’m going to start simple. I am going to make my own general cleaner (for counters & floors), a glass cleaner (we have tons of mirrors) and our own laundry detergent. As luck would have it, we’re out so figured now is a great time to make that switch as well. Eventually I would like to make my own dishwasher detergent, but I still have 3 boxes of it and since it doesn’t come into contact with my skin, I figured it would be safe to use for a while longer. There are a couple other things I would like to change too (like our air fresheners!), but I’m baby stepping this. I need to be realistic.

Another huge perk to doing this, we’re going to save a butt ton of money. Since I am an anti-germ freak, we buy cleaning products on the regular. At any given time I have at LEAST 2 bottles of window cleaner, 3 bottles of toilet bowl cleaner, 1 bottle of soft scrub, 1 can oven cleaner, 3 packs of Clorox (or cheaper brand) wipes, 2 cans of endust, 1 container of pine sol and a few others that aren’t coming to mind this second. Crazy huh? At $2-5 per bottle/can for these items, I would say we easily spend upwards of $50 a month just in cleaning products. So it’ll be nice to have some extra $$ back in our pocket. Initially it’ll be a bit pricy to buy the new containers and rags, mop, bucket (yep, going back to the OG mop) and everything else, but in the long run it’ll be a huge money saver for us.

I’ll keep you updated to how the adjustment is going and what financial/physical effect it is having. I’m hoping that in a month we’ll really start seeing all the positive results from this switch and be able to make more.

DIY Capiz Chandelier: Mmm, These Words Taste Good

I'm not going to lie, this project SUCKS! When I originally found this I thought for sure I could pull it off. It looked uber easy, so I foolishly thought "how hard could it be?" Okay, it's not hard, but omg it is so time consuming!!! When I'm done with it, it had better rock my world!

Anyshells, after a few weekends off due to AC issues and personal reasons, I finally got back to work on it on Sunday at about 7 am. I actually kicked out quite a few of the longer strands, which just so happen to be the ones who make me want to run head first into a wall! Currently, my chandi has 4 "rows" of shells at 5, 7, 9, & 11 long. The 11 long ones make me hostile to work on just because they become difficult to manage. Another pain to deal with is trying to attach them only because my frame isn't hanging on anything to keep the strands straight, I'm trying to work with it resting on the counter which is practically impossible. I'm thinking I need to Polish rig this bad boy this weekend so it's not so hard to attach them.

To keep you up to date here are a couple pictures of the current status of my chandi and the workstation in which I am trying to work with. No criticisms please, I'm working on multiple projects at once so work space is a bit tight!

  

Speaking of other projects...I went to Ikea on Saturday with my parents and bought a couple items for the casa which I'm stoked about! One of them was a mirror that I have been lusting after since I saw it. Not exactly a fan of the color, but I'm working on that! I'm not going wild and crazy, just making it a little more....us. Stay tuned!

We Wait....Longer...

Got my test results from my doc's office today, my progesterone is low. While I wasn't shocked, actually hearing it still stung. I was secretly hoping they would call me and tell me I'm a hypochondriac and I was fine, but they didn't. So now we wait...longer. They are doing a repeat again this cycle to see where the numbers come back and we'll go from there. T and I will be avoiding during this time which doesn't exactly thrill me, but it is what it is. I'm going to try to find something to focus on during this time to keep me distracted which will be next to impossible since my sis is having my nephew in just over 2 weeks. I'm so thrilled for her, but I'll be honest and say I'm so green eyed with jealousy right now it's not even funny. I try to keep that irrational side calm, but it's hard, like today's breakdown. Yeah, totally did the crying "why me" with T tonight. Like a good hubby he stood and smiled and let me vent. Of course he has to remind me that it's not as bad in reality like it is in my head which usually just pisses me off more, but that's only because he's right. In the grand scheme of things waiting 30 or so more days isn't that bad and provided it leads to the ultimate goal of having a successful pregnancy and child.

So my goal is to set some goals for this time frame to keep me from passing over to the completely irrational side permanently. I'm going to try to be realistic (haha) and focus on getting healthier and doing some more stuff around this house. Or I could just focus on not driving my husband absolutely BSC over the next 30 days, but that's like next to impossible so not sure it's the best goal for me to set. We'll see. Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up and not be so damn pessimistic and depressing.