Look who's 50!

 My amazing mother turned 50 this year!  How is that even possible!?!?  We threw a HUGE surprise luau for her complete with friends from past and present, near and far.  It was so much fun (we even got her to participate in a hula hoop contest!).  She was COMPLETELY surprised which is hard to pull off.  Here are a few of the details.  

Laundry Love. Yeah, right.

Laundry is my pet peeve.  I can spend all day doing laundry; washing, drying, folding, putting it all away.  And then, at the end of the day, I change into my P.J.'s to crawl into bed and *bam!* there's more laundry.  It never ends.

I'm picky about my laundry detergent, too.  It has to work AND it has too smell good.  I have been hesitant to make the switch to chemical free in the laundry room because of those reasons.  I've made my own detergent powders in the past and always been disappointed.  Other recipes with rave reviews still contain store bought softener which, I feel, defeats the purpose.

I decided to try again a couple months ago with a recipe I found on pinterest for a liquid laundry detergent.  Hubby was skeptical telling me we would be separating our clothes so he could use tide.  I started using the new home-made detergent without even telling him just to see what he thought.  One day, while he was switching the load from the washer to the dryer, he yelled accross the upstairs balcony, "This laundry smells so good!"  Only then did I reveal that I had made the stuff.  We have been pleasantly surprised with the recipe as I made my second batch of it last week.  Our laundry smells fresh and we have not been disappointed by its cleaning power.  It was also a good introduction for me to the world of Dr. Bonner's Liquid Castile Soap.

Check out the recipe at the Live Simply blog.

The dryer sheets were an easier thing to cut.  I had been phasing them out for the last several months before buying some wool dryer balls.  Wool dryer balls are an all natural way to fluff your laundry while decreasing static and drying time.  I heard good things about Woolzies brand so I bough a package of 6 XL balls.  I toss all 6 into the dryer.  It couldn't be easier.  I intended to try adding 10-15 drops of essential oil on one of the balls and tossing it in later in the cycle for an added fresh scent, but haven't felt the need to try it yet.  As an added bonus, the fur-babies are anxious to help with the laundry now.  ;)

College Kids

Want to know what makes me feel old?  The fact that my baby sister and Ronnie's little brother BOTH STARTED COLLEGE THIS WEEK.  How is that even possible?

We are so proud of them both and can't wait to see what God has in store for them in the years ahead.

My Norwex discovery and anti-cleaning-chemical mission

All my free Norwex stuff!

I've been working on going cleaning chemical free for some time now.  I was doing really well, too.  I took a little tumble off the band wagon when we moved in March, but I am making up for that now!

A friend invited me to her Norwex party a month or so ago.  I had never heard of Norwex, so I went to the party with zero expectations.  At the party, I was pleasantly surprised at the demonstrations and sales pitch.  So much so that I hosted a party of my own a few weeks later!  For those that don't know, Norwex is a brand that specializes in high quality microfiber cleaning cloths for cleaning with just water.  Their cloths contain fibers that are smaller and more dense than anything else on the market.  Many of their cloths also contain silver which has anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties (Side note: When Ronnie was in the hospital at BAMC with over 50% burns, they used silverlon- silver cloth- bandages on him.).  I feel like this would be a good time for me to throw in the "trust me, I'm a scientist" spiel.

My mom introduced me to cleaning with microfiber over a year ago.  She started buying e-cloths, a main Norwex competitor, and swore by their results.  I should mention that my mom is also a lab rat like myself and is the parent from whom I received my dominant neat-freak gene.  She loves her microfiber and was super excited to learn more about Norwex.

Now- I am going to go on a slight tangent here for a minute.  I was asked recently what my thoughts are on e-cloths verses Norwex cloths.  Norwex is certainly the higher end brand and it shows in the price and the quality.  Cloths like the polishing (window) cloth and dusting mitt have superior cleaning power- one swipe over a surface does the trick.  E-cloths are much less expensive and do not contain silver but they have several innovative products that add to your cleaning arsenal (I love their stovetop/range cleaning cloth set).  They are still made of high quality microfiber that leads to disinfected surfaces with just water.  If you are looking for a place to start or are overwhelmed by the vast catalog or higher prices of Norwex, take e-cloths for a spin.  When you are ready to commit and want some really nice and durable products, talk to your Norwex sales rep.

Ultimately, both brands promote an easy and effective way to clean your home without chemicals and I applaud that.  I myself (and my mother as well) use mostly Norwex and also several e-cloth products that I love.

I would love to say that microfiber cleaning cloths are the way of the future and will take over the industry one home at a time, and that would be my goal and I would believe it.  But I work in a hospital lab that believes in the one and only, all powerful bleach and that is a culture I do not foresee changing for quite some time.  So as for me and my house, we are kicking bleach aside.  We believe we are exposed to enough in the workplace and do not need it in our home, too.  We are so excited to be chemical free AND germ free with the help of Norwex and e-cloths.  I hope you will consider it, too.

Even Ronnie got in on the Norwex action!  He was actually really impressed.  

National Donut Day

Oh, yes.  It sure is.  I went to Long's Bakery at 6am to get myself some of that warm doughy goodness that you just can't beat.  Here is a little trivia about this sweet holiday.

Baby Fluff Turns 2!

Can't believe this little fuzzy butt is 2 already!  He is such a sweetie.  He is playful and fun and cuddly and stubborn.  Love him so much!

It's finally done!  We have moved out of our old house, into our new house, and sold our old house!  There were times when I doubted we would get to this place.  I doubted I would get all the boxes unpacked.  I doubted that our old house would ever be out of our possession.

But we have arrived and I feel so at home.  We have already entertained our first few rounds of house guests.  Pics to come soon!

PANAMA!

There is so much to say about our trip to Panama.  It was an incredible adventure.  We were so blessed to not only stay with my amazing grandparents, but also meet up with my Cousins Stephen and Gerta and Gerta’s husband Chris.  Gerta is from Chiriqui, so she took us to many cool sites, hooked us up with some great excursions, and helped us find Wifi every now and then, too. 

Check out my Shutterfly book of our trip!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Red Light, Green Light

You remember that childhood game, don’t you?  The one where you run as fast as you can towards the finish line until the one in charge yells, “STOP!” and you come to a screeching halt.  You wait on anxious tippy toes until you hear “GO!” so you can once again race forward.   

That is about how life has been for us lately.  We are running several different races right now. 

Race #1:  Ronnie and I had been casually looking at houses in search of something that would fit our growing needs.  We were in no rush as our current home offers the right amount of space for now.  Several weeks ago, we found a home that seemed to fill most of our must have list while staying within our budget AND was located in our current neighborhood.  After touring the house, we knew we needed to make an offer.  We listed our house that evening and two days later made an offer on the new house.  Our offer was accepted and our house sold on the same day!  We were ecstatic!  We were racing forward at lightning speed! 

But then we halted.  Our buyers for our home backed out as we waited for the new house to be inspected.  It was a standstill; the nail biting kind.  But another race was starting so we didn’t have time to think about that.

Race #2:  It had been a dream since we had met; to travel to Panama together so Ronnie could meet my extended family and visit my Grandparents’ house in Chiriqui.  We finally took the plunge, talked my cousin into joining us, and bought tickets back in December (well before the house race took off).  But the trip was coming up and we had to start packing. 

Race #3:  In the midst of the packing and house “stuff,” Ronnie started his job at the Indy VA.  That was a full on marathon to get to that point (see previous post). 

Race #1:  Before we could leave for Panama, we had to make a few purchases for the house.  We ordered new carpet for the upstairs and set up a time for it to be installed after the closing date but before our move date.  We needed to order our bed and make sure it could be delivered on the right date as well; before move, but after carpet.  Then there was the mountain of paper work for the loan that had to be sent in before we went off the grid. 

Race #2: We had adventure after adventure in Panama.  It was a trip of a lifetime.  But more on that later.  We enjoyed every moment, but deep inside we were still playing the waiting game; waiting for our house to sell, waiting for the loan to come through, and waiting for the big move.  Finally Sunday arrived and, after a week of pretending the rest of the world did not exist, we were ripped from our tropical paradise back to Indy and work life. 

Race #1:  No sooner did we fall into a groggy, jetlagged sleep, did our wonderful Realtor call to let us know we had a showing.  We had twenty minutes to re-contain our traveling items, scoop up the pups, and get out the door.  But it was worth it.  Later that evening, we got an offer on our house.  We were in full motion again, signing papers, setting appointments, and making phone calls. 

It is well into our work week now and we are balancing the demands of work, family, friends, packing, signing, planning, and calling.  We are in a full sprint.  For now.  We know once everything is wrapped up it will be a short wait until we close next week.  At least, we hope. 

UPDATE 3-27:

We hit another Red Light this week when our loan processor informed us that our loan would NOT be ready for closing on Friday.  In fact , he said it wouldn't be ready for THREE WEEKS.  We were angry.  Very angry.  But we decided to RUN this red light.  Ronnie spent hours and hours on the phone with different departments, banks, and realtors.  Soon, he had our wait time down to just 4 days.  So.... HOPEFULLY we will be closing on April 31st.  We will see.  *fingers crossed*

Ronnie's new job

Ronnie applied for an HR work study position at the Indy VA back in November or December.  The department was excited to hire him on, but the paperwork for his Voc Rehab education program required a mountain of documentation.  After over two months of frustrating hoops, it was nearly set up.  Just when things looked like they would finalize, Voc Rehab decided not to cover Ronnie’s next online school program.  This meant he would have to switch to the GI Bill.  The only catch: GI does not do work study.  Let the paperwork begin. 

Fast forward to the week before our trip.  Ronnie finally began working at the VA as an unpaid (volunteer) employee in HR.  The experience was worth the sacrifice, but the timing could not have been worse.  Between trying to sell our house and packing for vacation, there was not much free time to play with.  Regardless, he is loving his job and the potential it holds.  The people in his office love him and greatly appreciate his willingness to work as a volunteer.  They even said they hope to get him on as a PAID employee by the end of the month!