Homemade Laundry Detergent and Other Handy Recipies

I am tired of buying more plastic bottle of detergent, so I invested a few bucks and made our own. Poured it into the now empty Tide bottle and the rest stays in a 2 gallon bucket. It smells great, works great, and saves money. 

You can pretty much clean anything in your house with just a few ingredients: baking soda, washing soda, vinegar, borax, and basic soap.
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hooray spring!!

the weather has picked up this week reaching nearly 80 degrees at one point- although it was cloudy and didnt really feel like it. it was sunny enough to sit out in shorts though! i took a break from the dark room with no windows (aka the office) to go outside and sit in the sun and listen to the birds chirping. and the frequent jets- hey i work near a major airport.

Engaged!

behold!

525,600 minutes

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure -
Measure A Year?
In Daylights - In Sunsets
In Midnights - In Cups Of Coffee
In Inches - In Miles
In Laughter - In Strife
In - Five Hundred
Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure
A Year In The Life?

You know what today is? A year ago today we started our move. We were staying at Morgan and Anna's

the last week. We went to Snow City Cafe and Side Street for coffee (George gave us free cups!) for our
monthly anniversary date (the 8th) and as a good-bye to the city. Then we packed the car. That part was
frustrating as we realized how much we had to stuff in there- including the cats.  It had snowed nearly 2
feet a few days prior too. Then we headed north- to 'Palin country'- and drove all the way to Tok where
we were greeted with below zero temps- fun! I remember after we were north of Mat-Su the roads were
clear but still very icy. Matt was driving and at one point almost lost control of the car. From then on it
was 30 mph for us. I'm not sure why but for some time now I've been very skiddish and anxious about
speed in the car. This certainly didn't help and I probably drive him nuts telling him to slow down all the
time even when he isn't speeding. But we made it all in one piece- every leg of the trip!

We're making salmon tonight to celebrate the day. Real Alaskan salmon that I caught on my trip to see
Erica and Dan in Cordova last August. Delish!

Thanks to the Lord for this very large and yummy catch!

in between seasons

kittens rejoice!
one of the warm days sandwiched in between winter days a few weekends ago.
it's a good thing i was busy tending to plants and compost to sit considering i didnt have a chair!

living in the south again brings back the reality of unpredictable weather. warm one day and cold the next. i noticed the trees had buds starting a few weeks ago... in february! it isn't even spring breakup season in alaska and i am blessed with tree buds!

snowpocolypse

on january 27th we were blessed with snow. LOTS of snow. we live in DC where if people even hear of a report of snowflakes they take the day off because they don't have the proper driving skills or equipment to clear the roads. you may remember last year this area had "snowmagedden" and whole central eastern seaboard didn't move for a week. this wasn't quite that bad, but pretty close. i love snow... and so does my suby. 

absentee

well, i've been away for nearly a month and a half. let me fill you in on what's been keeping me so busy. the short version is there was wine to be drunk, traveling to be done, cleaning to be accomplished, wedding planning to persevere, tv to watch, and gardening to prepare. the long version is...