Tuesday, April 20, 2010

A Housewife's Best Friends

I never thought I would ENJOY cleaning my shower.  But something happens when you suddenly pay a monthly rent to use your shower.   So on Saturday I spent an hour scrubbing my shower which then turned into a full fledged cleaning adventure. 

I started the laundry and threw in load 6.  The washing beeped and I began switching the load over to the dryer.   But then I saw what looked like dog poo pellets and thought to myself 'how in the world did the dog poop in my washer?!'

Oh no, it wasn't poop (thankfully, I guess).  It was gum, black gum.  Black gum?  Who buys black gum.  Apparently the Easter Bunny buys black gum for my husband.  Somehow the pack went through the dryer.  (Side note:  This is one major difference between men and women.  Women do not put things in their pockets, men do.)  This black gum and balled itself up in a little pieces all through the dryer.  Thankfully only a few articles of clothing had been stained.  My hubby and I picked out ALL the gum we could find and put everything into the wash.  Crisis AVERTED!

WRONG!  Somehow a LARGE portion of the gum remained in the laundry and went through the dryer.  There was little black gum pieces and stains all over the clothes and not to mention stuck ALL over the inside of my dryer.  BLACK GUM FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!

I almost lost it.  But then some housewife button was pushed and I went into full gear.   I got out rags, a bucket of water and my favorite, Goo Gone spray.   I "Goo goned"  my entire dryer for about an hour until it was spotless.    The clothing was thankfully saved due to my other favorite, Zout, a stain removal spray. 

So in light of those sticky situations you always find yourself in (hopefully in your case it won't be black gum), I have included some of my favorite products and tricks I have learned from my mother and my grandmother, The Spot Queens!

Goo Gone -- this thing is great for anything sticky stuck in fabric or on just about anything.  Like when you remove a sticker or label and the gunk is still there... use goo gone!  ( I sound like a commercial hah)

Zout -- this is my BEST friend when it comes to laundry.  I swear it can get out just about anything.  I use it all the time and it has saved some of my favorite clothes!

Hairspray -- Surprisingly, hairspray gets out ink!  I had this phase where I kept getting ink on all my clothes and I used hairspray to lift the stain, then "zouted" it and it came out of the wash spotless!

Ice -- I love this one.  Ice gets out BLOOD!  Grab an ice cube lay your garment flat over a counter or sink (don't overlap the clothes, the blood will bleed through to the other side).  Rub the ice cube over and over into the blood stain.... then Zout it and throw it in the wash!

Bar Keeper's Friend -- This is my friend.  I burn things on the stove and on my pans ALL the time.  A friend of mine recently got water stains off her shower with Bar Keeper's Friend!  It's easy and odor free!  Wet the surface, sprinkle the Bar Keeper's Friend, let sit, and rub off.  Works beautifully!

Woolite Pet Stain & Odor Remover -- This is for if you have a pet that pees.  Check and check for me!  It makes cleaning those messes a lot easier.  You get a paper towel, blot up the pee, spray the stuff, walk away for a minute or two, and blot again!  Not only does it remove the stain and the odor, but it helps prevent your dog from peeing there again!  Hallelujah!

Well, that is all I have learned so far.  But I have to say, not too bad for only 5 1/2 months of marriage.  I hope you all find this helpful!  I sure did!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Ice Cream Cones

I like ice cream on a cake cone, not a waffle cone.  This is not a crime.
My Dilemma: they are extremely fragile &  I prefer to pull them out of the box intact.
So.......


Dear Manufacturer,

Please package your ice cream cake cones with bubble wrap to prevent breaking.  Thank You.


Dear Bagger Boy,

Please don't place the cans of soup on top of my box of ice cream cones.  They are just as fragile as the eggs. Thank You.

Sincerely, Me :)


That's all.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Sooner or Later...

Can I just say, I love designing things. 

It had been far too long since I had done some designing so I decided to make a new blog layout and header. (p.s. yes, that picture is a wedding picture, YAY!  More to come soon!)

One day I am going to design something like invitations and cards or blogs or who knows, something! :)

Project #1:  Currently I am on a hunt for a chair that I can refurnish.  Unfortunately I have this VERY specific image in my head of what I am looking for & this making things more difficult.   It's all about the "bones" of the chair.  Something like this....

My plan is to paint the wood, of whatever chair I get, black & possibly with a distressed look.  Then recover the fabric (with the wonderful help of my momma) a beautiful black and white damask, like the one on my blog background.  I have recently become obsessed with damask!

I hope to use the chair for future photo-shoots and, as an added bonus, to actually have something decorative in my house!  If anyone sees a cheap chair like this, I would love the heads up!

Project #2:  Decorate the apartment.  I have all these picture frames and signs that I really need to put up.  I also need to figure out something to do with these BEAUTIFUL green couches I have (my eyes are rolling).  If you have come over and see them, you will understand me when I say they NEED to be covered :)  David doesn't really care but he is male, so it's not all that surprising.

One day I will post pictures of our apartment.  I am not brave enough to show the world (or okay my small group of readers) what it looks like.  Plus it needs a really good spring cleaning first!

Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather, I know I am!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

A Dinner Fiasco

Last night the plan was to cook Hamburger Stroganoff over rice.   I put the rice in the rice cooker and knew that it would take 30 minutes to cook (I knew this because I read the manual & became very informed about my rice cooker).  In the meantime I did the dishes and planned on starting the sauce with 15 minutes left to go on the rice. 

I finished the dishes and plopped the hamburger meat I had thawed earlier onto the pan and my nose curled a bit.  It didn't smell quite right.  I may not be a chef but I knew that meat should not be ingested (I also "googled" it...it was a no go).  Wonderful!  I had 5 cups of cooked white rice sitting in the rice cooker with NOTHING to be put over it.  Needless to say, I was frustrated.   I flopped myself on the couch and announced that I had NO idea what to make for dinner!

My husband, being the wonderful man he is and knowing that my perfectionism was about to bring on a breakdown, got up from the computer and exclaimed that he would make a MISSIONARY SPECIAL! I raised my eyebrows and he put it in layman's terms, "We're going to WING IT!"

Ok, so if you know me, I never wing it!  I can't. I just can't and I refuse to do it.  I have to have control and I need to make everything perfect.  This quality is annoying, I am working on it.

David pulled out some chicken we had, cut it up and grilled it.  In a pan he put the chicken with garlic, taco seasoning, olive oil, and pepper.  After mixing that all together he threw in the rice to let it "brown".  I was skeptical.  I didn't know much about cooking but I did know that taco seasoning and garlic don't go together.  I also knew that, most of the time, rice needs a sauce or you will be left with a very dry meal. 

I kept looking at the pan with my eyes wide and arms folded.  He served the "mixture" in a bowl and we both took a bite.  

It was horrible.  BUT we both laughed and suddenly my husband had made my evening go from frustration and hopelessness to hilarity and spontaneity.  Needless to say, we went out to dinner :)

I love my husband.  Thank you David for putting up with my perfectionism and lack of desire to cook big, fabulous meals.   Thank you for making me laugh and for reminding me of what is really important in life.  I love you.

P.S.  We have been married for 5 months today. Yay for us! :D

Thursday, April 1, 2010

It's Official!

WE'RE MOVING TO TEXAS!!!!

...no this not an April Fools joke :).  As of this afternoon, we made our final decision, Dallas, TX here we come!

I applied to 7 graduate schools at the end of last year and prayed I would get in to at least one!  Surprisingly we ended up having a few options.

ASU, UofA, and BU (Boston University) were a no-go.  UofU & NAU were options but they fell last on my list so we ended up crossing them off.

Gallaudet University in Washington, DC was a big contender so we decided to visit the area.  During spring break we headed out there and I was able to meet the president elect of ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) and visit the National Rehabilitation Hospital to see follow Speech Language Pathologists around all day.  It was an amazing experience and it only made me more excited to get going on my graduate degree.  Thank heavens because I am soooo sick of school!  However, we ended up deciding that DC was not the right place for us.  The Gallaudet campus would have been a really difficult transition so we crossed it off the list.

My second pick was University of Texas-Dallas. Thankfully, I was accepted and offered a scholarship.  They made it ever so difficult to turn down the admission.  David's cousin Anna is currently getting her PhD there and after talking to her about the campus and it's program, she pretty much sealed the deal. 

We thought it over for a few days and finally decided to stop moseying around and just commit to it.  Ok, that was really my problem not David's.  So I got online, logged into my UTD account, and clicked the accept button! AHHH!  I did it.  I am going to graduate school....weird, I still feel 13.

We are really excited about the move and we can't wait to see what the next two years has in store for us!  ADIOS ARIZONA!