Ready, Set,

GO, Go, go. That's what I have felt like lately and I don't think things are going to slow down anytime soon. I've been swamped at work with demanding teachers and a new record (note) keeping program the school has moved to. Not to mention the ever changing bell schedule within our district. This is the third start time of the year for elementary schools which in turn makes it the second schedule I have had to make in order to see all my kids. On top of all this I throw in a trip to NYC!! I have spent the last few days tying up loose ends at work, trying to pack, and getting my hair (I went shorter and darker. I'll try to put up a pic soon), and nails done. Today was spent cleaning house and doing laundry. There is nothing I hate worse than coming home from vacation to a dirty house and a pile of laundry. We also watched the Hogs beat Georgia today by the skin of their teeth. I had to leave the room due to nerves and my husband yelling too loudly at the tv. Good thing the dogs were already at the grandparents house or they would have been hiding out under the bed, at least the brown one anyway. Whaa, whaa just found out that game day will NOT be in Fayettville next Saturday. Oh well, we will be home watching the Hogs take on #1 Alabama. Can't wait!!!! We also ran some errands. Mama got a new pair of walkin' shoes. I knew I needed a comfortable pair but I just really don't like tennis shoes with jeans on me. They always look so clunky. But I knew flats, although comfortable for everyday wear, would make my feet hurt after 4 days of walking around the city. I found a pair like these except mine are all gray with gray laces. They aren't too clunky.

Then we went to my friend Jenny's house. Her birthday (29 v.2) is yesterday and they had a nice get together. Now I am home finishing up laundry and last minute packing. Heading to bed soon. Our flight leaves at 6:15 tomorrow morning. Blah. I HATE early morning anything, but at least we will get there mid afternoon and have the rest of the day. I probably won't be blogging while there but will try to do some twittering and post some pictures that way. I'll also do lots of posts once we get back. Now, to bed.

From Bangladesh to NYC

Just wanted to do a quick post on my Compassion kid, Rani. I finally got my first letter from her and I was so excited! Someone transcribed for her since she is still a little young to write, and someone then translated it to English. It came on a form letter. Reminded me of those pages you filled out on your first day of school. Who is your best friend? What do you want to be when you grow up? She also drew a picture. Here is a picture of her and her letter on my fridge.



On a different note...I'm going to New York. Yep. I decided I only live once and booked a plane ticket. Then woke up in the middle of the night stressed and regretting it. Coby told me to hush and he didn't want to hear anything about regrets so now I am just being excited and grateful about the experience. I am such a planner that going on a trip with this late of a notice causes heart palpitations. But I'll get over it and learn to just go with the flow. I have no plans and no idea what I am going to do when I get there. So, if you have been to New York please give me any tips or suggestions you have for what to do and see or where to eat. I really am excited about this trip and really can't believe how lucky I am to have this opportunity. Now off to watch the rest of the Bachelor Pad! Trashy yes, but a good way to de-stress!

Green Is As Cheap Does

I have read a few things here and there about homemade laundry detergent, shampoo, and conditioner. I finally decided to try it out. Here is the laundry detergent recipe I found

Powdered Laundry Detergent – Recipe #4
2 cups Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated – you could also try the other bar soaps listed at the top)
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
■Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.
■Use 2 tablespoons per full load.
I used Ivory bar soap instead of Fels Naptha. One bar equals 2 cups grated. I used the cheese grater for this first batch and it worked well. I was afraid it would be a hard clean up but it wasn't. I did a small batch at first just in case I didn't like it or Coby was allergic to it. He had sensitive skin. I learned never to buy anything new like this in big batch after I bought the Sam's size of new deodorant for him (6 sticks) during our first month or so of marriage. He used it once and completely broke out up and down his arm and side! For the second batch I used the food processor to chop up the soap. This was faster but not as good as the grater. It caused the detergent to be more clumpy.
This detergent has worked great so far. It has not caused my machined to overflow with soap (a legit fear of mine) or left any residue on the clothes, and they smell good and clean. Not to mention how much cheaper it is. This whole batch (about 32 cups = 512 tablespoons = 256 loads) was about $20 (A&H Super Washing Soda = $6, Borax = $8, Ivory Soap $6) and I still have 2 bars of soap and 1/4 box of borax left over. All this equals out to about $.08 per load! Compared to my regular Tide Laundry Detergent, $11 for 80 loads. Which equals to about $.14 per load. (Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a mathematician.) This might not sound like a lot but it's so easy to make, works well, does so many more loads, and knowing what exactly is in the detergent makes it all worth it. I just bought a cheap tupperware tub with and a cheap measuring tablespoon for storage and measuring. (Not sure how this does in a HE washer, mines an oldy.)



There is a lot of ideas out there surrounding the shampoo/conditioner subject. I first heard about it from Kat. And from there she links to others reviews and reasonings for making the switch. I could not agree with her review more. Since I have been using this regimen, about a month, my hair has been so much more manageable. And not kidding, I have received so many more compliments on how shiny it it. It doesn't get as greasy so easily. It frizzes WAY less, but it does seem to look a little more split endded. This could be attributed to my much needed hair cut. This route, again, is cheaper. My hair is that type that always did better with the skipped shampoo day. But the day that was being skipped was ugly! Now every day is like the day after nasty hair!
I use the recipe of 1 tablespoon of baking soda to 1 cup of water for shampoo (a little more for a sweaty/greasy day), and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of water for conditioner (it will smell strong in the shower but I promise the smell rinses out). So far the best way I have found for application is spray bottles. Let me know if you have any other ideas.

Craft Monkey, That Funky Monkey!

My dear friend Carrie is going to have baby Sawyer due on 10-10-10. How fun is that? She and I became good friends in college. She pledged a year or two after me but we became fast friends. You know those people who you have fun with no matter what you are doing, and those people who you can just look at and they know exactly what you are thinking. She is that person to me. She lived with me for a few months while she was finishing up speech pathology school. Soon after she got married then I got married and now she lived in LA. Her baby shower was here a few weekends ago but it was also the same day as my mothers birthday and I was unable to attend. I wanted to make her something special, but it's hard to think of cute boy things to make. Then I saw a picture of a sock monkey and thought I could make one of those. So I did. I just got a pair of socks from Wal-mart but you can order the original socks for the original sock monkey online. I also found lots of variations and lots of tutorials, patterns, and youtube videos. I use a combination of all of these and here is what I came up with. This was a hand stiching and sewing machine project.
Step by step in pictures.
Stuffed body. Attaching arms, tail, and ears.

Full body.

Mouth.

Mouth and felt eyes attached.

I made lots of mistakes and thought that some clothes might spruce him up. So I made a hat, shirt, and t-shirt out of some scrap material. My sewing motto has always been "the more mistakes the more love"!

Then I thought I would make Sawyer a quick matching onesie and blanket.
Here are the appliques I made to use.

Onesie.

Blanket.

Onesie and blanket.

The whole loot.

This project was really pretty simple and could be done easily with all hand stitching. You should give it a try!
Hope he loves it!

some things

I have lots to catch you up on between some craft projects. around the house things, and some family things.
Some of you may or may not know that Coby and I have been trying to get pregnant and things aren't quite working out as planned. Obviously;) I haven't really talked about this here just because I try to not let it consume my life and I like to be able to come on here and post about other things. Please don't be offended if you are someone I have not talked to about this. It's just not always something that is convenient to talk about and like I said there are some areas of my life that I like to have where I don't have to think about all this mess. I am open to questions though so please don't feel like you have to walk on egg shells or anything.
We've had a few different procedure done and most recently I had an exploratory laproscopic surgery. The doctor wasn't sure if he would find anything but also said it couldn't hurt. I was hoping he would go in and find a definite problem as to why we can't get pregnant. Well he went in an found "the beginning stages of endometriosis". I didn't talk to him directly and got most of this information from Coby who he did talk to. We have a follow up in two weeks and hopefully will have more information then and figure out our next steps. I am feeling a lot better than I expected. A little sore from the air they have to pump into your stomach to distend your belly so they can see better. I feels like a stitch in you side like you have after you workout to hard. (I haven't had one of those in a long time;). Some of the air has also moved into my shoulders causing them to be achy. But over all it's really not to bad. Nothing a little prescription pain meds won't take care of.
Prior to this Coby, who has been complaining about back pain for a few months, finally went for a MRI and found out that he has two budging discs in his lumbar. Right now he is trying to avoid surgery and is about to start physical therapy and some shots for pain management. As you can imagine having a back injury and working in a kitchen all day is not a good combination. AND in the mist of all this he was at a friends out and backed into a motorcycle that had JUST been turned off and subsequently burn a hunk out of his calf. This has been very painful and bothersome as well. When is rains it pours, right?
But a rainbow follows rain...
Coby entered a contest a few weeks back for a free pass to the international culinary conference in NYC. HE WON! The pass is about $400. We talked about how this was great but now may not be the best time (physical health and financial health wise). He would still have to pay for travel and room and board. Well, he talked to his boss who agreed to pay for the travel and room. How could he pass this up?! Then came the question. Should I go with him? Again, money and time off from work came into question. Not to mention the fact that he would be in the conference for the majority of the four days he would be there. I can get a plan ticket for $300 and I found a interesting course for some continuing education hours. This course is only one day but I could right it off a business travel. My decision is still up in the air. How can I pass up a trip to NYC for next to nothing. But, do I feel comfortable exploring the city by myself for most of the time? I kind of feel like, may be this is why we have not had kids yet. Maybe God is saying go, travel, live and I will take care of the rest. If I do go Coby and I will have been to Jamaica, New Orleans, San Francisco, NYC, and Nashville within our first 2.5 years of marriage. How fortunate are we? Feed back from anyone would be helpful. Especially if you have been there. So that is what has been going on around here. Sorry for the lengthy post. Have a happy Friday! Leaving you with a sweet picture of our fur babies.

Fall Fancy

Saturday was the first "game day" of the season! I love football. We plan on going to a few of our nephews games as well as going to some North Little Rock games where Coby played in high school and where his younger cousin is a cheerleader. I love football weather, football food, and hot chocolate!
Saturday I made a big dinner of beef brisket, creamed spinach, and potato skins. Here are some picture and recipe links. It ALL turned out really good, and easy!
Crockpot BBQ Beer Beef Brisket This will make really good sandwiches for the rest of the week.

Creamed Spinach

Pioneer Woman Potato Skins

Coby also made this very yummy chocolate pie. Homemade crust and all!

I had to take a picture of my chalkboard in my kitchen. I try to change in up for the season and I thought my razorback turned out pretty well. I've had a few people ask about the chalkboard. I painted a square with a chalkboard paint directly on the wall then framed it out with trim. If I ever did this again I would find a frame I liked and was sized correctly, paint the frame if needed, and then use the chalkboard paint on the glass. Much easier!

Yesterday Coby and I got up, hung around the house and then ran some errands. Then we made a last minute trip to Hot Springs to see his parents. They were having a fish fry at their lake condo. The food was great and the weather was perfect. The dogs were well behaved and swam a ton!
Today has no plans. I hope to get some much needed crafting projects finished.
Happy Labor Day!

Long Time No Post

Things feel like they have really picked up here lately. Between school and church and Coby's work I feel like the weeks and weekends are just flying by. I've met all of my students for this year. They all seem to be really great which will make for a smooth year. Last Friday I had a Girl's Craft night with the girls from Sunday School. We had a potluck salad. I prepared the lettuce and everyone else brought salad toppings. It worked out really well and no one really had to cook anything. We all ate then made coasters. It was a really simple project that we got done in about an hour. Here is the table setting.

I made mine as a birthday gift for my mother. Christmas coasters.


I used my new Silhouette machine to cut the "H's" (that is what my maiden name starts with). I can't wait to try it out on more projects! It cuts vinyl and paper. You can use it for all sorts of things and the computer program it comes with for designing fonts and designs is super simple.

This weekend I also wrote another letter to my sponser child from Compassion. I have not yet receive a letter from her but have received multiple correspondance from Compassion and from the director of her center in Bangledesh. I thought it would be fun for me to color part of a coloring page and for her to finish the rest. Hope she enjoys.

And, remember this post? Where I attested to my love of okra. Coby's dad went out to the farm last weekend and picked me this. Yes, a whole bushel of okra. (This is about half of it.) I cut up about 2/3s of it and gave the rest away. I think I am set for the rest of summer and winter. And, let me tell you, do I ever wish that there was some contraption, like those apple slicers, to cut up okra.

SEC football starts this weekend!! Woo Pig!!!