I forgot a few

I figured a few people would read my last post and that would be all. I was surprised by how many people actually did! After reading over it I thought of a few more green ways.

In the dishwasher, if you have hard water and can't stand the hard water marks, use citric acid. I buy it in bulk from Amazon.com. I put about a tablespoon in the second/open spot in my dishwasher and it works great! Also, great kitchen storage is canning jars. I make sure to buy freezer safe. I make big batches of beans in my dutch oven and freeze them in can-size servings. I try to avoid canned goods due to the BPA in the lining. I also freeze leftovers in them when I know they won't get eaten in a few days.

For laundry I dump about 1/2 cup of vinegar in to wash my towels. I put it in the center of my top loader, where the fabric softener would go. It gets rid of the stink. If you don't have that you can use a Downy ball.

For hand soap I use some Seventh Generation, but have also found that I love to use the foaming soap pumps with about 1/3 cup (or less) of soap and the rest water. Which soap do I use here? My favorite-Dr. Bronner! In our bathroom I have 2 options, one Dr. Bronner bar soap for me (because they're usually cheaper) and Seventh Generation liquid for hubby and guests. I've tried making the gallon of soap from one bar and it turned into a big glob of slimy goo that didn't get our hands clean. Another Pinterest fail :)

In the baby care section I forgot about milk storage. I plan to dodge plastic by using canning jars (freezer safe kind) to store my milk. Ball makes a plastic reusable storage lid for the jars. I know it's plastic, but if stored upright, it shouldn't come in contact with the milk. I hate to think of the precious liquid gold soaking up the chemicals from the plastic milk storage bags.

I'm sure I'll think of others, but that's all for now.

Kristy

Green Life at the Lewis House

So I've had a few friends asking questions lately about how we clean and eat at our house. I decided to take the opportunity to type it all out. I was your guinea pig.:) I have been working toward living a very low chemical lifestyle and I've tried many different products. I'll let you know what works for us and hopefully you'll give it a try.

I'll start with cleaning, since that seems to be catching on quicker than other areas. 

My favorite cleaning  tool=ecloth. Find it on their website, on amazon or azurestandard.com.  You use only hot water with it to clean and disenfect your house. For the extra tough jobs (bath tubs, kitchen sinks, etc.) I use Norwex Cleaning Paste from Norwex.com, It's pricey, but it lasts forever. Once you get it and see how it works, you'll understand. Norwex also sells the cloths, but they're 3 times as expensive as the ecloth. Ecloth also makes a cloth for windows and you spray the window with water and wipe clean. Shiniest windows ever! I also love their mop. Hot water on the floor is wayyy better than any chemical under my babies' feet and hands.

Bathroom
When cleaning the bathroom I like to use something with my ecloth besides just water. My most common spray is vinegar, water and tea tree oil. Half vinegar, half water and 20 drops of tto. I also use borax (found in the laundry aisle in walmart) in the toilet to give me some scrubbing power. Also, we use a fabric shower curtain liner. The vinyl kind puts off chemicals as it heats up in the shower. I find these cheapest at TJ Maxx.

Kitchen
For the kitchen I like Seventh Generation dish soap and dishwasher pods. They also make a rinse aid. Soaking fruits and veggies in half vinegar and water helps get rid of the pesticides. I have tried two different homemade dishwasher soaps and they were TERRIBLE!  Pinterest doesn't always work :)

Carpet/Dusting
For shampooing the carpet I like Dr. Bronner Sal-Suds. It only takes two drops in the tank of the shampooer. It comes in a huge bottle and lasts forever. If your carpet needs freshened in between shampoos, just sprinkle baking soda and leave it set for awhile before vacuuming it up.
For dusting I use a dry ecloth. They make one specifically for dusting that I'm excited to try, but the basic cloth works ok.

Laundry
I have a few different soaps that I use. I made my own with borax, baking soda, fels naptha soap (laundry aisle at walmart), and oxi clean. I felt like it turned my white scrubs yellow, so I use that on my baby clothes and my dark clothes. For my whites I like Greenshield Organics, or Nellys. For stains I like the Babyganics spray or Honest Company spray.

Health and Beauty
If you want to know how healthy your current products are, check out ewg.org. You're able to put in your product and they'll give you a break down of everything that's in it. Scary! Baby Magic is one of the worst.

I don't use shampoo and conditioner on my hair any more. I use Dr. Bronner castille soap. They come in several scents and my favorites are citrus or almond. You put a squirt (probably a little less than 1 tbsp) in a cup and add 1 cup of water. Pour that on your hair and scrub and rinse. I use Dr. Bronner conditioning rinse as a conditioner. 1 cap with 1 cup of water. Pour that on your hair, scrub it in and leave it in for a few minutes (the longer, the better). You'll probably notice that your hair seems kind of dry at first. It's actually not, it just doesn't have all the weird silicon or whatever slimy chemicals they add to regular products.

I use the Dr. Bronner castille soap on a loofah for body wash and face wash.

I'm still trying to figure out the perfect lotion and hair product. As of now I'm using Great Value brand of Aveeno lotion (which is better than some, but still not great) and a gel or hair cream that's not natural at all. I've ordered a hair cream from Dr. Bronners to try.

For face moisturizer I use coconut oil at night and Alba brand moisturizer during the day. I still use Mary Kay make-up and hope to gradually make the change to better products soon.

I use natural toothpaste with NO SLS or flouride. SLS gave me terrible canker sores and it's in nearly every single toothpaste at Walmart. Flouride has been proven to cause issues such as decreased brain function. Google it! We get enough in our water so I'm not concerned about cavities. One of my favorite toothpastes is the "Now" brand in cinnamon flavor. When I do get canker sores, I swish with warm coconut oil for 10-20 minutes and that seems to heal them quickly. Spit it in the trash, not the drain! It will clog them up. It's actually recommended to swish with coconut oil every day. I'm not quite that good.

I've recently been experimenting with my homemade deodorant. I found one that works great on the wellnessmama.com website, but after using it for a week it started burning. I took a few days off and used it again with the same results. I made one without baking soda (which is causing the burn) and it did NOT work. I'm going to try using less baking soda in my next batch.

Baby Care
I have used several different brands and have been the happiest with the Babyganics brand. I've found it at Target and Babies R Us. They make soap, lotion, sunscreen, bug spray, butt cream, etc. and I've been happy with it all. It's one of the lower priced products I've found. I also like coconut oil on a sore bottom. No stinging, just soothing. I have yet to switch to natural diapers. Hubby wasn't on board for cloth and the natural disposables are crazy expensive. I also made most of my own baby food using a magic bullet to puree. I stored it in the smallest glass canning jars with the reusable plastic lids. They freeze well were easy to clean. I used some glass bottles and plan to use all glass with the next babe.

Eating
We use very little plastic in the kitchen. I bought a ton of the little 2 cup pyrex dishes for leftovers. I use only glass in the microwave to avoid the crazy chemicals from plastic leaching into our food. Also, no saran wrap in the microwave. And by the way, "BPA free" isn't any better. I do use plastic sippy cups, but plan to switch to stainless steel as soon as the little guy can figure out how to work the seals. I've started buying more and more organic foods. Between pesticides and GMO's I don't want to risk it. I buy whole wheat and regular pasta and mix the two. We just can't quite get used to the whole wheat by itself.
We don't buy low fat or fat free anything, besides milk for hubby and I. There are strange chemicals and additives in those items and fat from real sources is healthier than fat from a donut. The little one gets whole milk and probably will until he's an adult. Hubby and I drink 2%.
No artificial sweeteners are allowed in our house! They're terrible for you. I know first-hand after having head-to-toe joint pain for months and realizing it was caused by my light yogurt and Crystal Light that I was eating daily.
I also don't recommend any meal replacement plans or diets.Eat real food and you will feel better and lose weight the way our bodies were intended to.
I recommend Rainbow Lite multivitamins, or a similar organic product.
We order bulk meat from a company called Zaycon Foods. This meat is natural and free of hormones and antibiotics. The prices are much cheaper than the store! You have to buy 40 lbs, but I've never had trouble finding someone to go in half.


Now, where does all of this come from?

I have recently started using a co-op company called Azure Standard. It's mostly organic and they carry food, health and beauty items, ecloth cleaning supplies, Dr. Bronner soap, produce, etc. Their prices are lower than any other place because you pick them up from the truck yourself. You can find a "drop point" close to your home. I'm picking mine up in Topeka next week.

I also find a lot of good products on Amazon.

Target carries Dr. Bronner soap, but it's way more expensive there. Dillons is cheaper, but not quite as cheap as Azure.

Seventh Generation is at Target, Dillons or Azure.

Pinterest has many good ideas, but know that Dawn dish soap is not a low chemical product and this is added to many so-called "green cleaners" on there.

http://ecloth.com/
www.amazon.com
azurestandard.com
wellnessmama.com-Deodorant Recipe and much more!
drbronner.com
zayconfoods.com


Well, my eyes are blurry after this rant. Hopefully this is helpful to those out there looking to live a healthier life.

Be well!
Kristy

Healthy: pregnant or not

I've had an interest in health for a long time. As a child (older child that is...as a young child I was going to be a singer or dance when I grew up;) I wanted to be a nurse. My grandma, who I've always looked up to, is a retired RN and amazing person and I wanted to be as much like her as I could. Well, a little over a year into the nursing program I realized that WAS NOT the place for me. I had a wonderful advisor who suggested a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion. I dove in and really did love it. I'm not currently using my degree at work, but once you know this stuff, it's hard to forget it. So, I live a fairly healthy life and have had compliments on my lifestyle and that makes me proud. Now don't get me wrong, I am farrrr from perfect, but do little things every day.

The biggest culprits for weight gain for me were pop (soda, coke, whatev.) and alcohol. I learned this in college when I went 1 month without any and lost several lbs and my pants fit again. Do I still drink pop and beer? Yes. Do I have only 1 or 2 per week? Yes. This way, nothing is OFF LIMITS and I don't "need" or crave them.

Another move I had to make (literally) was to exercise. I think some people think I exercise everyday or do something crazy hard. I don't. I work out 2-3 times per week (usually 2) for 30-40 minutes and include both cardio and weights. My go-to videos are these: Cathe Basic Step and Prevention and you'll see they aren't advanced at all. I know that they work because other than walking, these are the only exercises I've done since having James and I currently weigh less than I did before I got pregnant. See! You don't have to do Insanity, or  P90X to lose weight. Now, if you're looking for washboard abs then you may need to.

Eat fruits, vegetables and chocolate everyday! Yes, I said chocolate. To be healthy (and sane) nothing needs to be off limits. I eat some sweets everyday. The key is small portions. Do not go to Dairy Queen everyday. Eat food from all food groups to get all the nutrients that your body was built to run on. Carbs are good for energy, protein is good for muscles and filling up your belly, dairy is good for your bones and fruits and veggies have SOOOO many benefits. Speaking of muscles, we need to build muscles because even at rest (while eating popcorn, watching a lifetime movie) muscles burn way more calories than fat. Life some weights (even if it's your own body weight-push ups, lunges, squats, crunches, planks, etc).

I still have (and have always had) a squishy belly. If I were better at eating, I'm sure this would go away, but knowing that I eat what I enjoy and still manage to stay in a healthy state, I'm ok with the squish.

Pregnancy does NOT mean "eating for 2" or "eat whatever you want". It also doesn't mean that you can stop exercising. I did step aerobics up until 3 weeks before I had James and was back doing them 2 weeks afterwards. I took it really easy, but I felt great and bounced back in no time.

Hopefully this helps someone realize that being "healthy" doesn't have to be hard or perfect.

Live well!
Kristy

Fevers. Boo!

Our little guy has had a fever for almost 2 days and just can't seem to beat it. We've kept it down with tylenol, but he just isn't himself. If it hangs on tomorrow, we'll take a visit to the pediatrician. Our pediatrician has a walk-in clinic on Sundays, which is soooo nice. I've taken advantage of it twice and haven't had to wait long either time.

One thing I didn't mention in my "what I've learned" post was how awesome a Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper is for newborns, especially those with reflux. Last night, it showed off it's awesomeness once again. James was not sleeping well yesterday with his fever and runny nose. We put him in it to help with the drainage and actually got some sleep last night. Poor little dude :( Another great invention is the nosefrida snot sucker. Find it here Nosefrida This thing seems super gross (it's really not), but shoving that bulb syringe in his tender little nose all the time was really making it sore. We also shoot saline up there and that's been really helpful.

He still thinks it's funny when we scare him and has played a few rounds of peek-a-boo with his burp rag, but other than that, he just wants to snuggle.  I'm ready for our happy guy to be back to normal. He's just so pitiful.

Get well, wild man!

What I've learned in 6 months

Our little guy is 6 months old already! Wow! They weren't lyin' when they tell you that it will fly.

 It's so crazy that we went from this...

To this...

so quickly.

And for that, I'm very thankful.

Now, onto what I've learned: 
1.  Having a baby in NICU for almost 2 weeks makes it very hard to teach your baby (and yourself) how to breastfeed. I also learned that exclusively pumping is A LOT of work! I was able to do it for 5 weeks and decided to switch to formula to save my sanity.

2.  If you have a baby that's colicky, the only cure is time.  This time is usually around 3 months,but when your baby is a preemie they're colicky until their adjusted age is 3 months. We luckily had a colicky baby that slept fairly well so that was helpful.

3.  Swaddling. Do it! No, really. Yes your baby will fight it and holler at first, but this will be your saving grace. Watch "The Happiest Baby on the Block"to learn more soothing techniques. James slept twice as long when he was swaddled. Also, buy a Swaddleme brand swaddler (or 3 if you have a spitty baby) with velcrohttp://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infant-Swaddleme-Cotton-Small/dp/B002WTANPY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354300226&sr=8-2&keywords=swaddleme+small . These make it so easy! Also, if you have a summer baby, the Aden and Anais muslin blankets are wonderful! They're huge, get softer with every wash and are breathable. Those from Amazon are a little better quality than the kind you find at Target. They are pricey, but they'll be a great "blankie" as baby gets older too. aden+and+anais+swaddle+blankets

4. Towels and washcloths. Skip the thin newborn towels and go straight to your bath towels/beach towels. They cover more ground and are much more absorbant. I also use the regular size washcloths since they do a nice job of covering a belly to keep baby warm. Also, skip the cutesy robes. Newborns usually HATE baths and you just need to hustle to dry them off and get them dressed again quickly.

5. Burp rags. Go for the Gerber Premium Prefold Cloth Diapers. They're thick and soak up wayyyy more than anything labled "burp rag".

6. Bibs. If you have a spitter, buy the waterproof kind and buy them big. Changing clothes every time they spit up is a huge hassle. Our favorite bibs

7.  Borrow, buy used, etc. What we didn't find on clearance, or get from a baby shower, we've bought mostly used items or borrowed them. I found a travel swing (which I recommend for the bathroom) on clearance and borrowed a large swing. They only enjoy these for a limited time (if at all) and those things are pricey! We bought a used exersaucer because the cheapest were around $50 and were so boring. For half that price, we have a saucer that James LOVES! Clothes can be found for next to nothing at garage sales. I've also found some toys at online garage sales on facebook. Just give them a good scrub with vinegar and water and sit them in the sun for a few hours and they're good as new.  I haven't had much luck with consignment sales as those prices aren't that much cheaper (if any) than the sales at Target.

8. Routines work. We have started a bedtime routine of a bath, a little playtime and then a bottle and snuggles/songs (wheels on the bus is his favorite :) and he goes to sleep fairly easily. This needs to be as close to the same time each night as possible. Also, if you have a car sleeper, try to avoid long car rides too close to bed time.

9. Diapers and wipes. I know every baby is different, but Pampers and Luvs have been the best for us so far. The Wal-Mart brand (Parents Choice) works well, but he always smells like pee with these. He leaks like crazy from Huggies and the Huggies brand wipes are not nearly as soft as the Pampers. As far as diaper cream goes, try coconut oil. When his bottom was red and irritated, the ointment must have burned because he screamed. We took a quick bath and globbed on the coconut oil and he was a happy camper. Coconut Oil

10. Formula.  According to our pediatrician, they're all the same. Brand, type, etc. doesn't matter. "Just pick one" is what he told us. Store brand, name brand, whatever.

11. Natural. We're not perfectly "green" but I sure do try to keep the chemicals to a minimum at our house. It's easy to find healthy soaps, lotions, etc. by using this site Skin deep. Basically everything you think of babies smelling like, has chemicals and hormone disrupters (baby magic, johnson & johnson, etc.).  We use some glass bottles. It's just hard to travel with the glass ones and have relied on the plastic for that. I also highly encourage homemade baby veggies/food. The veggies are super easy and really cheap. You cook them, stick them in the blender, magic bullet, whatev, and add water until they're to the right consistency. Freeze in single portions (preferrably in glass). I would have given cloth diapers a try, but Phil was not willing to have poop in the washing machine. I know crunchy mommas, he just doesn't get it :)

I'm sure I'll have more as time goes on, but hopefully this is helpful to a momma out there.
Kristy

And baby makes 3!

We are expecting!

Because I said I was starting this blog to keep up when we had little ones, this means I need to kick it in gear.
                                                                              20 weeks

We are due June 29, 2012 with a boy, and couldn't be more excited!

Catch-Up Cont'd

Let's try this again...

After several years of work, here is some of our progress. Having a handy husband is pretty...well, handy! :o)

                                           New paint/Old Porch/No Flowers

                                          Master Bedroom

                                           Living Room

                                          Yay for flowers!

                                           Living room before pictures and curtains

                                              Living room floors

                                          Woodstove and the Christmas tree, before flooring or trim

                                                    The start of our shower

I need to get better pics of the spare bedroom and dining room and I'll post those too.

On an even more exciting note, I'm an AUNT!!! Aint she sweet?  **Update*** What is this crap? Why can I only upload pictures once during my post?? That will have to be saved for next time. She's pretty stinkin' cute.

1/2 Year Catch-Up

Wowzers! Where did those 6 months go? Quite a bit was going on so I had plenty to write about... I'll start with updates to the house. We now have a real-life living room! We are no longer confined to our dining room. Only having a couch for seating was rough. Because I haven't posted any pics of the remodel I'll do that here and end with the latest.

                                          What is now the mudroom, bathroom and laundry room

                                           Our master bedroom demo

                                          Living Room Demo

Just a little taste of what we started with...

After many hours of work we now have this:  **Update** Apparently when you're a lowly peasant you can only add 3 pictures to a blog post...I'll have to write another post.

A lot of progress

We have made a lot of progress on our house lately! We gutted the living room and installed a wood stove with a tile hearth. We are now in the process of installing hard wood floor in one half of the living room. The other half (where the furniture and tv will go) will be carpet. I set up the Christmas tree even though we're right in the middle of construction. I just couldn't stand it. Of course I did it while Phil was at work so he couldn't stop me...sneaky huh? So, now we just need finish the flooring, install carpet and built-in shelves and we'll be set!

It's surprising that we've gotten this much done during the busiest time of year. We know good and well that we won't get anything done on the house next weekend because of all the Christmas celebrations. I also have a birthday creeping up on me...28 years young on Dec 29th!

Our four-legged kid is loooooving the wood stove. He hangs out by it all the time. I on the other hand, try to stay away. It's averaging about 80-85 degrees in our house so I have been opening the windows. I'm sure the neighbors think we've lost our mind when they see them open. We also don't have blinds up in there yet so they see me in my shorts and t-shirts too.

I'll post pics of the updates next time.

See ya!

New ceiling and a BBQ

The living room is completely gutted a new ceiling is up.  Our old ceiling had some old water damage and so it was sagging. Because we started with 10 ft ceilings, it was no big deal to drop down 6 inches and build a brand new ceiling. We didn't tear out the old because sitting on top of that ceiling is about 100 years of insulation, dirt, gunk, etc. No thanks! We hope to order a woodstove this week so we can have it in before the cold weather. The only way I agreed to having a woodstove plopped in the first room you see as you walk in the house, was to help pick it out and to have a nice hearth and back drop. Sold! Phil was really excited to go by a new toy...a chainsaw! The ultimate tough-guy toy.  The story that goes along with that purchase is a little entertaining, so I'll share.  We went to the store that has been around since dirt. It's around 100 degrees outside and as we pull up and shut off our air conditioned car I see a sign that is never a good one...the door to the store was propped open. Yep, you guessed it, no AC! So here I stand with a bunch of sweaty men, looking at chainsaws. Phil was like a kid in a candy store. Later he told me he didn't even notice there was no AC. Pitiful.

So, next step is to patch up the floor a litte and lay OSB. Then we'll be ready for sheetrock and flooring!!!

We had our first BBQ with some friends. We've had a few people over here and there, but never a planned, group BBQ.  I of course, bought wayyyy too much meat and buns, but nobody went home hungry. It was fun and hopefully once the living room is done we can have friends over for game night! This may sound cheesey, but there may be beer/wine/rum involved, making it all the more entertaining :o)  Catch Phrase is sure to get a giggle, or all out hysterics. 

On to save the world...or to do laundry.
Kristy

What I like right now

Sometimes silly things stick in my mind and right now it's 90 calorie Snickers ice cream bars, new babies and my Leaves scented candle from Bath & Body Works.  I really like them all and yes I do realize it's not even close to fall.  I busted out some of the fall decorations, hoping that I could encourage it to come a little sooner. It actually feels like fall outside tonight. It's such a nice change from the 105+ temps we've been having the last month. My flowers say "thanks", our dog Jack says "thanks" and I do too! Thanks to the 70 degree weather.  70 degrees is what I consider PERFECT weather!  The kind of weather that you can still wear shorts, but you better grab a sweatshirt for the evening.  LOVE it!

As for the ice cream bars I was thrilled to find one of my all-time faves in a 90 calorie portion...I was quickly taken back to reality when I opened the box and saw they're no bigger than my thumb.  They're still amazing and I am able to stop after just 1(insert pat on back here). 

As for new babies, our good friends are expecting a new baby anytime! An even better reason to be eager is that they didn't find out the gender. Aren't they crazy!  I don't think I can do that.

House update:  We hope to start demotion of the living room this weekend!

Still learning

So I'm still trying to figure out this whole blogging thing.  I plan to do a better job at keeping it up once there are little ones around, so I want to be a pro by then because I know I won't have time to figure it out once that happens.  For example, I want to add a picture right here ->

There isn't a point to this picture but it does a great job showing our awesomeness.

Success!  My first blog picture!  I've used up all the extra brain power for the night, so I'm out!

Blogaholic. Just not my own blog...

Here lately I've been addicted to reading a few other blogs.  During this obesession I remembered, "hey, I have one of those too".  At this point I haven't shared my blog with anyone, but still want to keep up on it for my own journaling purposes(aka sucky memory).  Someday, when my life is a little more exciting (insert kids here), I'll open this blog up and tell the world about it! 

We are all married off!  Everything went great!  We had our small ceremony on my parents back deck.  Parents, grandparents, siblings and the judge.  Phil and I were in our jeans and didn't have to worry about Phil passing out from being in front of too many people. The next day was our reception.  The food was amazing BBQ, the cake was perfect and tasted perfect, my photographer was FREE and awesome (good friend of mine), the music was good and the beer was good!  What a nice, relaxing way to marry your best friend. 

Our house remodel is moving right along.  We have finished the master bedroom and it's my favorite room in the house so far!  The ceiling shelf, recessed ceiling, whatever you want to call it-adds such a nice touch.  I also loooove the gray walls.  Yep, I said gray.  We bought a closet organizer system and realized once it was all put together and screwed to the walls, that we hardly have any room for hangy-up clothes.  Dern!  We have been working outside when we can-the temps have been over 100 degrees for WEEKS now.  We gathered up limestone rock from a friends' pasture and built flower beds.  Our house is almost 100 years old and we're trying not to make it too modern looking.  We also got the kitchen tile done and it looks amazing!  We (okay, it was mostly Phil) made a tile "rug" pattern in the middle.  Our next project will be the living room.  This is our biggest room so it will take some time.  We're also putting a wood stove in this room so that's a project in itself.  We're trying to decide on a stove and what material the back-drop will be (I vote for stone). 

More exciting news:  I got a new car!!!  Yes, the 13 year old Honda finally gets a breather.  Yolanda the Honda was good to me.  She just needed a nap.  Her windows didn't always roll back up, her seats were starting to rip, her A/C didn't work at stop lights, and her exhaust was exhausted.  We bought a 2007 Honda Accord.  It's bright white and I just can't stop looking at it.  The A/C on this girl will blow you out of your seat!

Annnnd I'm done!

I know...

I suck at keeping this thing updated.  I really like to look back at the journals I kept in grade school and high school and am trying to make a point to start doing that again.  You'd think it would be easy as often as I'm on the computer. 

Update on the house remodel:  The master bedroom is soooo close to being ready for sheetrock!  We have a few things that shouldn't take too long.  We are moving the door over about 6 or 8 inches so we don't have wasted space behind it.  This might be a challenge.  Although I did help Phil hang the 2 other doors in this room and it only took us a few hours.  We didn't even growl at each other! Yeah, we don't yell, we growl...or snarl as he calls what I do.  I'm hoping to start hanging sheetrock next month and be in it by March!  Phil doesn't like to put an estimated completion date on anything so I'm keeping that guess in my own little head. 

We're taking a little trip this weekend with some friends to Middleofnowhere, KS and I'm pumped!  Sometimes you just want to be where there are no crowds, cell phone towers, buildings, etc.  Wide Open Spaces (insert Dixie Chicks here).  Next big trip will be our Honeymoon!!!  We're taking a cruise to the Bahamas!  I have never even seen the ocean, so I'm freakin excited about this.  Speaking of the wedding, we have booked the 4 most important parts:  Building, DJ, Caterer, and Beer.  Now I just need to call the flower lady and cake people.  Come on May 15!

Better get back to work.

What's sparkly and is worn on your left hand??

Yep, you guessed it. We're engaged! I picked it out and knew that Phil bought it and was expecting it around the 1st week of September. So, when the 2nd, 3rd and 4th week of Sept. went by I started to wonder if the ring people had forgotten about us. Then finally, on the 14th of October I got my ring! We were getting ready to go eat at our friend's house and Phil casually (with a big grin) asked me if I'd like to take my ring. Yes!!! Of course I do! We didn't tell our friends, we made them spot it. Next it was the text to several friends and a trip to my parents. Now by trip I mean 2 blocks away :o) We have picked May 15 for the big day. We decided not to have a ceremony for more reasons than one. I am so glad, as this means a lot less stress! I found a casual wedding dress at www.target.com for $39.99 and I love it! So far in the planning we have found so many bargains and will be able to pull this thing off for less than $3,000. I have had a lot of fun planning and picking out decorations. I should have it all planned soon and will be able to sit back and wait.

Shelley Jenson took our engagement pictures last Saturday at Ward Meade Park in Topeka. They should be online soon and I can hardly wait! I think Phil actually smiled and he even told me that they were pretty painless. This is coming from a guy who HATES to have his picture taken. Our photographer was really easy-going and I think this helped.

That's all for now.

October has great things in store

We have a couple weekends to work and prepare for Oct. 17th and 18th. On the 17th our friend Mike is willing (and a little excited I think) to bring his trailer and his new demolition tool and help us tear out the old bathroom and bedroom to make it one big bedroom (our master BR). This will be followed by a trip to the dump with thousands of pounds of junk and then building a new closet in that room. Hopefully our sheetrockin buddy will be available soon after and we can get this room in working order. We are so lucky to have such great friends! This has saved us so much money. We've been able to trade electric work for our (more Phil than me) tile talent. Our plumber was a friend of my brothers and worked very cheap and then a few handy-men willing to dive into the destruction part. Both of our family's have rolled up their sleeves and helped as well.

On the 18th we're taking our annual pumpkin patch trip with the Tarbutton side (mom's side). We have found a great patch close to home that has a horse and trailer to haul us to the pumpkins. Grandma LOVES the horses and even gets to sit up front and lead them! After this we'll do a weiny roast. We can say we only do this because Grandma Donna makes us, but we all know we enjoy it. I love family traditions! I really hope our family traditions continue because my dear grandma has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. She has her good days, but on many days she gets confused and just isn't quite herself. She is also very hard of hearing, so this makes it more difficult for her to keep up at family events. She is an amazing woman! It is because of her that we do the bunny hop in the front drive every year at Easter and the 12 Days of Christmas-with actions, every year. She's a retired RN and they say nurses are the worst patients...THIS IS SO TRUE!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Dig in!

We are really close to digging into the next room! We will be tearing out lathe and plaster as well as the old bathroom. This stuff is such a mess! For those of you that have never worked with it, the process goes something like this: 1-Get your face mask and steel toe boots on 2-Grab a hammer and pry bar 3-Beat the crud out of the wall and watch out! 4-Get your pry bar behind the slats of wood that are under the plaster and start prying. Note: These slats of wood are only about an inch wide and they cover the entire wall. This is a messy, tediuous, time-consuming task.

Phil has made a To-Do list that needs to be done before, but we're close. Once his sweet dump-bed trailer is complete and road-ready (I'll post pictures when it is and you'll be jealous;o), the trim around the shop is painted, and the room is cleaned out, we'll be ready to (sheet) rock and roll...I know, I'm rediculous :o)

Phil built a temporary wall in what will be the living room. We're moving everything that's in the back bedroom to this room. I started moving my clothes in there last night...that's a week-long job for sure...This is a good time to make a trip to Goodwill.

Observance of the day

So I just saw a guy go into the bathroom with his newspaper AND coffee...What do you guys do in there? The paper, I could see, but the coffee! Speaking of bathrooms, have you ever noticed the brand of most bathroom stall doors? It's Hiney Hiders tee, hee, hee :o)

So I have some exciting news...

And I can't tell anyone yet. Stay tuned for that life-changing event! In the meantime, I'll update you all on the house remodeling journey. We bought our house in October of 2007. Since then we have gutted and redone the spare bedroom and dining room. We tore out the old house (yes they built a new addition around the old house...not sure of the thinking there). In that space we, and I mean WE, have built 3 rooms in that space. I have leared to run a saw, air nailer and many other power tools. Just call me Ms. Vila! In those rooms we have a laundry room (unfinished, but usable), a bathroom (all finished) and a mudroom (not done yet). Our next project was to paint the outside. After many arm wrestling sessions at Home Depot we finally decided on colors! We chose light sage green, sauteed mushroom shutters and doors, and smoke white trim. Phil says it looks like a big easter egg, but it's growing on him. I on the other hand LOVE IT! We still have 1 more coat to put on the shop and once that's done, back inside we go! We need to agree on tile and then we'll redo the kitchen floor. I'm really excited for this considering the flooring in there now is ugly lanoleum that's peeling up. After that we'll start gutting the master bedroom. When I say gutting, I'm talkin tearin out lathe and plaster down to the bones. We will also have to move some walls because the old bathroom will now be part of the bedroom. We will also have to move the walk-in closet (which Phil tried to make smaller-I threatened him after this comment). With a little help from friends we have done all of this remodeling by ourselves, with no loans (except a little one for foundation work). I'm so proud of us!