Chalkboard Paint Labels

This is a repost of sorts. I originally had this on a different blog, but decided to copy it here. It's saturday night and I'm watching the Walking Dead by myself. I have nothing better to do.

For some time I've been collecting and cleaning up used wine bottles and glass jars. I recycled a bunch of them when we moved here so I'm starting over again. I use the wine bottles for smaller grains like quinoa, soft white wheat berries, bulgur, flax seeds, etc. and pasta sauce jars are perfect for dried beans.

I debated on printing out cute labels for the jars, but I don't like being committed to only using them for one item. What if I want to put something different in there next time? I had this idea to use the chalkboard paint to create labels on my food storage. I still have the quart of paint and supplies from my deck table adventure. I searched the internet for any tips on painting glass and found another woman who'd had the same idea for her kitchen.

I started with the masking tape to mark of the area, but the tape is a real pain to work with. And like she discovered you really need to take it off after the first coat. By doing 3 coats in varying directions you can get the same uneven edge effect without the hassle of tape. I also decided to paint a large swatch onto my laundry soap bucket because the permanent marker was, well, not so permanent as it turns out.

A positive week

Well, I had Monday off (6 free days off work in a row!). I spent the day tediously gathering information for pre-approval on a mortgage loan. We had a meeting with a loan guy on Wednesday and while he was getting us approved he was also giving out really helpful advise on paying down debt faster. The concept is pretty simple and after researching it and crunching numbers we realized I could pay off my school debt in 5 years instead of 11 and he could have his paid off in 12.5 years instead of 30! Currently we both pay our school debts separately, but out of curiosity we decided to see how it would differ if we started paying off our debts together using the same concept. Turns out we can pay off 120K in combined school debt in 8 years! I don't want to bore folks who aren't interested in the details of how it works so all that is at the bottom of this post. [...]

Two crazy weeks

Disclaimer: It's been a month of long hours outside, so I apologize for the rather dry dialog.... my brain is running on fumes. Also, I really wish I had taken more pictures in Anchorage, but I was having such a great time with all my friends, that it never crossed my mind!

While I was out working on the bridge (see previous post) I got a call about going to Alaska with Gabe! Really, that was all I needed to hear before I as nonchalantly as humanly possible said "Sure" while inside I was jumping up and down with excitement. This would be my first time back in state since 2010 when Matt and I went to Megan and Aaron's wedding. 

The job was up at Eielson AFB in the Interior about 30 min SE of Fairbanks. The project itself was simple enough- getting vertical and horizontal data on over 200 water quality monitoring wells. We worked with Chris from EA Engineering who was a huge help and the unofficial third person on the crew. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but the military frowns on that. We watched F16s all week. No matter how many times you see them screaming overhead it never gets old! [...]