Spring Forward

The sun is shinning, it's a beautiful day, and it's time for spring cleaning!!!! I LOVE to clean!!! Crazy I know, but it's my favorite de-stressor!
Now, with that being said, I am learning that not everything can be perfectly organized all the time....especially with my husband and our tiny house! But, it keeps my hands and mind busy and gives me a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day to know that in this small way I am managing our home.

Changes

Today lots of changes happened in the Myers home. It's going to take some time to recover/cope and adjust to the new normal. But overall all, we are fine and it's going to be a good thing!

Surgery

This mornings laparoscopy and such went very well. They were able to remove some of the stuff causing me issues and said that I should begin to heal and resume normal activities in about a week.
Thank you to everyone to sent up prayers, they were felt and appreciated more than I can express.
Also, please excuse any typos as I just got home and am still coming out of anesthesia and have other good stuff in my system :)

Homemade

So in my quest to continue my journey into homemade things I recently made three new items. The first being soap.

I used pure glycerin, added vitamin E, Shea butter, aloe vera, and orange oil and voilà!! The soap is amazing, it lathers and cleans well, is hypoallergenic, smells great, doesn't dry out my skin or leave an oily feeling, and costs a fraction of what even cheap soap costs!

Next I made soy wax candle. This was so easy, and relatively cheap! I simply melted the soy wax, added the essential oil for scent, then poured it into a glass jar. I found some great wood wicks at Hobby Lobby, so not only is the smell great but it sounds great too! The soy wax burns longer AND cleaner (no black soot on the jar) than paraffin wax and the essential oils do not trigger headaches like some other scents found in store brands.

Last I made an epsom salt body scrub. This one the easiest to make as there was no messy clean up involved but with so many different recipes out there (epsom salt vs sea salt vs sugar, vs brown sugar and then jojoba oil vs olive oil vs grape seed oil and so on), it was confusing and hard to pick. Anyway, I chose to use epsom salt, olive oil, and lemongrass scent. This particular recipe will need some minor adjustments before the next batch, but over all it works nicely. The salt is too course for use on the face but works wonders on hands, elbows, knees, feet, and other rough areas.
Making things, though simple as they are, has been a lot of fun!

Laundry Detergent

So in an effort to reduce the number of unpronounceable chemicals that I use in my home I have been making my own laundry detergent and fabric softener for about 2 months :)

I found some recipes online and they have been great!!! Warren even bought me some essential oils to scent my homemade creations with. My first batch was orange and the new one I just made two days ago is lemongrass (his request)! Over all I now spend about $0.03 a load as opposed to $0.15 per load to buy the unscented, hypoallergenic stuff.

I hope that over this next year I will continue to find ways to make my own products, live a little healthier, and save a little money, and for all my Captain Planet friends, it's greener too :)

New Year's

My birthday was Dec. 30 and so my wonderful husband had some great things planned for us to celebrate it and new years.

We started the celebration on the 31st when we took his Escape to a local dealer and traded it in for a brand new 2012 Ford Fusion!!! The Escape had a TON of miles on it but mostly, it was starting to have several problems that were going to cost more than would be worth to fix. So, we opted for a family- and gas-friendly car. I miss having the storage and space with the SUV, but I do love my car...it's so much fun!

Later that evening we took Bella over to the family that her brothers are with so that she could spend new year's with them. So, for the second time that week I was able to have an evening with my husband with no kids :)  Warren took me to dinner at The Melting Pot, our favorite place to celebrate special occasions. We made it home just in time to bring in the new year! It was very different from last year when we had company, Steven (Warren's friend), and we went out to a local spot downtown to listen to a band.

We spend the first day of 2012 in church, as is our usual routine on Sundays, where we picked Bella back up. It was a great beginning to a new year!

Christmas 2011

For Christmas this year I was able to spend a whole week with my parents. We arrived at their house on the 22nd and didn't come home until the 29th. It was great to get away and spend the time with family.

As always, we had dinner with Dad's family on Christmas Eve (Saturday) and this year I fixed broccoli casserole and the cake.  

When we got home everyone, more specifically Bella, was so excited about gifts that we decided to go ahead and open our presents.

One of the gifts that Bella asked for was a Pink bag from Victoria Secret. I really struggled with getting her this gift due to my personal disgust with the store in general, but decided that it was not the worst thing in the world. So anyway, we decided to have some fun with the gift. I took the bag from the store, which is pink and says Victoria secret, that her bag came in and wrapped it up. I taped a note to the box telling her what the gift was and that she should be careful in what she asked for that she may just get it ;) then I wrapped the box with packing tape.

It was so much fun to watch her try to open the gift and then squeal with excitement when she read the note. It was even better when she actually saw the bag.  I know, it was mean - but it was so much fun! We did allow her to open her real bag right after and she was really excited then.

Warren and I tried to give her a good Christmas. We were able to budget and get her most of the items off her wish list. At first I didn't really want to go overboard because Warren and I feel that gifts are completely overrated and would rather not exchange gifts at all in exchange for quality time with family, but my memories of when I was a teen and then thinking of her past won over. We do, however, plan to do things differently with our own family.

So anyway, Bella had a ton of gifts to open and we all, my parents included, enjoyed watching her enjoy the gifts.

For Christmas I received a book and new journal from Warren. Mom and Dad got me a new scarf and a metal detector for both Warren and I.

On Christmas we had a leisurely morning as Mom and I were cooking for dinner with her family. We went over to my Nanny's for lunch and enjoyed spending time with more family.

By late afternoon all the family and holiday festivities were starting to take a toll on Bella. The holidays are hard for her just as they are for any foster child who is spending them away from their families. So, my Dad, Warren, Bella, and I went home where the four of us played games and spent time together. Mom came home later as she wanted to spend more time with her family and a brother who does not live close.

I would have to say that the best part of my Christmas came on the following Monday. My parents agreed to keep Bella overnight for us and Warren and I took a quick trip to Gatlinburg. I know that we have only had her for 3.5 months, but it was so weird to go somewhere without her. However, we had a GREAT time with just the two of us again. We did random crazy touristy stuff while we were there and enjoyed a quiet dinner. The trip was the best gift I received this Christmas.

Phew, that was a lot! I really need to get better at blogging as things happen so I don't have to fit so much into one post. New Year's blog will be shorter :)