laundry detergent

...continuing on with publishing my unpublished...
this post was back when the boy first left for a-school
i was doing everything i could to keep busy by diy projects
then school hit and i didn't get to post.


here it goes:


another excuse to leave the studies for a bit, 

yet still feel productive.

diy laundry detergent 

i've been wanting to do this project for a while now

and have taken bits and pieces from all my internet recipes.

mule team borax

arm and hammer super washing soda

zote soap from home depot

{oops kind of put the lemon so you can't see the logo...sorry!}

and a lemon :)

mix together:

1 1/2 cup of borax

1 1/2 cup of arm and hammer

grate an entire bar of the zote soap

zest a lemon

then add just 1 tablespoon to each load

all the ingredients cost less than $10

and they make multiple batches

you don't get the same smell as regular laundry detergent

so just add a fabric softener when switch to the dryer :)

what's fun about finishing up this post now is that
i've been using it for about three months and i LOVE it
the only purchase i've had to additional buy is more zote soap
for the second batch i made just the other day....uuhhhhhmazing :)

o' christmas tree

so i was going through my blog and realized a had several drafts,
posts i began but because of school craziness wasn't able to wrap up and publish
this week...since school'ness has been winding down...
my goal is to finish up and post these left out posts :)


this one was from last week...


it was a perfect christmas tree pickin' kind of night

i got off work early, put on my fluffy scarf and my pink ear warmers

{pretty much anything to make it feel more wintery'ish}

we made it to the lot and found our perfect little douglas fir
then crammed it into the back of my sedan
mmm...still smells like christmas in a car.

then we hit up o' so faithful walmart

i really wanted to string popcorn and cranberries this year

since all our popcorn at home was the ultra 'movie like' buttered packages

we were on the search for white popcorn and finally settled on 

weight watchers popcorn because it seemed to be the least yellow on the picture :)

we got home, set up the string and started popping the popcorn

rule of thumb is your suppose to use stale popcorn for stringing

but i was a little impatient and in the christmas mood so began to string away

{quite manageable...not too many broke}

the boy wasn't too keen on threading as i was...go figure

but he added to the christmas spirit by busting out the guitar and play some taylor swift.

RECAP 2009

our first year of marriage we had zero to nothing in our bank account

but the boy found taylor swift's christmas for like five dollars on itunes

so he decided to splurge and he bought it 

then surprised me when i got out of class that night

so it's kind of been our tradition now to listen to those six songs 

over and over again and sing along.

so the boy is playing away and i'm singing in my best t-swift voice

stringing my weight watcher popcorn and discounted cranberries

it was a sweet, corny, festive time.

at the end the boy insisted on using his new knot tying skills he acquired at a-school

to end my popcorn strands...mission accomplished.

our boot camp graduation ornament souvenir :)

i bought one when i went to visit him in virginia for a-school

...but i've kind of miss placed it...

...PS...
stringing popcorn takes FOREVER.

my world in Your hands

there has been so much uncertainty in our lives lately

trying to make decisions based on 
what we want, our future and what is expected of us

feelings of unfairness, frustration and no control

for a girl who loves planning, her to do lists and being prepared

uncertainty and the unknown is really difficult.

but while praying this song came on

You hold my every moment

You calm my raging seas

You walk with me through fire

and heal all my disease

i trust in You

i trust in You

i believe You're my Healer

i believe You are all i need

i believe You're my Portion

i believe You're more than enough for me

Jesus You're all i need

Nothing is impossible for You

Nothing is impossible for You

Nothing is impossible for You

You hold my world in Your hands

healer by hillsong

You hold my world in Your hands

i'm not sure if it can get any more powerful than that.

then God tugged on my heart and i was reminded of the verse

"...when i was woven together in the depths of the earth,

Your eyes saw my unformed body.

all my days were ordained for me were written in Your book

before one of them came to be."

psalm 139:15

this lead me to another favorite passage

"look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in the barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

are you not much more valuable than they?

can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

...but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, 

and all these things will be given to you as well.

therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 

for tomorrow will worry about itself."

matthew 6:26, 33-34

God knows what will take place every day of my life

i may not know, there will be uncertainty

but God knows, and there is such a comfort in that.

it's not my job to be worrying about these things

but to live righteously through him

when that happens, God's plan will unfold.