My Blogging Lessons of 2012

Today, this fateful last day of 2012, I would like to reflect on the lessons I've learned this year as a new blogger.

My first post, about mine and Logan's moon sand adventure, was published on November 11th. This means, could it be? I've only been blogging for 7 weeks! In the past 7 weeks (still can't believe it's only been 7 weeks!) I've learned a lot about the blog-o-sphere. 

Making Moon Sand

I think the most important thing for a blogger to learn is also the most obvious and probably doesn't need to be mentioned. I'm going to go ahead and throw it out there anyway: publish useful and original content. It's probably best that you learn this lesson before you even click that "Get Started" button and register for your first free blog account.

Find a photo editor and edit those photos. The most useful tip I've learned thus far is to edit my pictures with pixlr. I don't understand how pixlr escaped me, how did I not know about this amazing and FREE photo editor? I have to give credit where credit is due. I discovered pixlr while reading "10 Tips for New Bloggers... From a New Blogger" which I found on Lauren's blog "The Thinking Closet". Lauren saved me a nice chunk of cash. Before I found pixlr I was actually considering purchasing a photo editor just for the few features I need to touch up photos for blog entries. I've since then learned to use pixlr's advanced and efficient options. I've been able to create our custom headers, our social media buttons, and our background on top of editing photos for articles. Did I mention it's free?

"DIY Household Cleaners"
One of those articles I just couldn't
wait to publish... that no one read

 Design your site to be simple to navigate, easy to look at, and reflect your content BEFORE you publish your first post. This is the lesson I learned too late. My head was full of article ideas for money saving tips and so many other useful tid-bits and I was so anxious to get the knowledge out there that I put web design on the back burner. That was such a big mistake! The dynamic template I was using through Blogger was hard to understand and navigate, it gave my content a poor presentation, and it was overwhelmingly generic. No one bothered to tinker with it long enough to read any of my articles. Finally I caught the hint, and spent some time educating myself on the options I have through Blogger to customize our look (It helped that Jamie told me "I hate the way this looks" and I agreed.). I found a layout that was simple and began to customize widgets and write/edit code to come up with a look that suites "Living With Joe; the dialogue of two moms". Don't make this mistake, design your website first! Get inspiration from other blogs. I really enjoy the look of "Sweet T Makes Three" and "One Good Thing by Jillee" and even googled how to make some of their design concepts a reality for our Blogger sponsored site. Even though our look has come a long way I don't think we're done yet. If you want any help with your own blog please don't hesitate to ask! I love to help. No doubt, coming soon will be a post containing all the websites I visited for tips and tricks on customizing our blog.

"Unorthodox Diapering"
Another of my early posts
with low traffic

Connect with your readers. On December 11th I took a leap of faith and made a twitter account, a facebook page, and a pinterest account for "Living With Joe; the dialogue of two moms". And then made the addition of coordinating "Follow us on..." buttons to our side menu. Why was this a leap of faith? Because if no one follows us there's blatant evidence right there on our pages. The sad messages "0 people like this on facebook", "2 followers on Pinterest", ect. There's also the ridicule from the unsupporters in my day to day life, "You made a facebook page for your blog?". But the truth is, I didn't start publishing these articles for my own good, they're not for me to read. They're for you, so I need to have a way to get them to you. Not to mention a way for you to share the articles with other people who might be helped by the information. I also created the email address info@dialogueof2moms.com, giving our readers a way to communicate with us without having to leave a comment for the world to read.

Give your blog some predictability. Being the mom to an 18 month old little boy, the wife of a hard working man, the keeper of a home, the head of a customer service department (actually, the only person in the customer service department...), and an independent sales consultant leaves little, I mean no time for a structured blog posting schedule. Which also means no predictability for our readers. I've been trying to change that with our "Food Friday" posts. Maybe our other posts about beauty, life lessons, and DIY projects are at random intervals, but you can count on at least one new recipe every Friday. 

I hope that sharing my lessons learned helps you get a head of the learning curve! If you have a tip of your own don't be bashful, share it with us :) And as always, thanks for reading!

Custom Christmas Coffee Cups

"Grandpa Cy- a man that worked so hard at being Dad,
he got promoted to Grandpa." 

Here's another of our homemade Christmas presents from 2012. Custom Christmas Coffee Cups. (You should pin this for next year. Just saying, he he) This one had a decently large amount of instant sentimental value to everyone that received one. We even saw a few happy tears from a recipient, which was one of  best feelings that I experienced this Christmas.

Joe and I decorated one side of each cup and Logan decorated the other side. Logan's side is covered in scribbles, none the less, I know his craftsmanship is what gives this gift it's value.

Making these mugs is so simple, but it was not quite what we expected.

To decorate a coffee mug, or any piece of ceramic glassware, just use Sharpie markers and then bake  it for 30 minutes at 350. It sounds really easy, right? Like the only challenge is deciding what to put on your dish of choice, right? We did learn a few lessons along the way...

Noni \nah-nee\ (n):
A woman with a garden of love
growing in her heart

1. Yellow turns our brown and looks disgusting.

2. Red, orange, and green will wear off the most quickly.

3. Pretty much, that means only use black or blue.

5. They are NOT dish washer proof, not even abrasive-side-of-the-sponge proof.

5. Basically, they're only good for sitting on a shelf and looking pretty.

It seems to me that the ink probably would have stuck around just as long if we hadn't bothered to bake the mugs. I'm not certain, but the projects many failures may have been because our ancient oven varies  in temperature rather than maintaining the 350 that I requested from it.

I explained to everyone, after they opened their cups, that they had to choose whether the functionality of the cup or the decorative scribblings of an 18 month old were more important to them (because, if you didn't catch on, the words are going to wash off after a few uses). Everyone still enjoyed the thoughtfulness and the sentimental value of their new decorative mugs. Not to mention we had a lot of fun making them, especially Logan :)

Adult Hot Chocolate

Now that Christmas is behind us I can finally share all my DIY Christmas present projects from this year! Go ahead, pin this for next year :)

For our co-workers Joe and I put together these Adult Hot Chocolate kits. The Christmas season is very busy and stressful for us at work, so we came bearing the gift of holiday stress relief. In each mason jar is a serving of Swiss Miss powdered hot chocolate mix, a handful of marshmallows, and small bottle of a complimenting liquor.


I got the miniature bottles of liquor at the local liquor store, Noonan's. We bought an assortment of mint chocolate, mocha, and caramel liquors. The quilted mason jars were at Kroger's and, conveniently, they came with those cute labels that I filled in with 'Merry Christmas!' I attached the little bottles of liquor with a simple piece of red yarn. The final touch, my homemade label:

Cute, right?

Stay tuned to hear about our salt dough ornaments, and hand decorated Christmas coffee mugs!

I also made custom decorated candles using the same method I used to make the memorial candles I already posted about. You can read about them here. I ended up making 9 more sets of memorial candles for other family, and 6 more candles as Christmas presents. 

Zesty Italian Chicken

Hello Friday, how I love thee! Here's a Food Friday recipe for you to enjoy. What's Food Friday? Find out here.

I sincerely hope you're enjoying your holiday. Out Christmas and New Year festivities are keeping us very busy! After cooking Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner this year I'm ready to go back to some simple, yet delicious, recipes.

Zesty Italian Chicken is one of our family favorites. It packs a lot of flavor, is easy to prepare, and easier to clean up.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless chicken breasts; trimmed and halved
1 bottle fat free Italian dressing
1 bag of frozen 3 peppers & onion
1 cup of frozen sliced carrots

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350
Pour all ingredients in oven safe casserole dish

Give it a good stir

Bake on 350 for 45 mins or until chicken juices run clear

Serve over rice or noodles.

Using fat free dressing is important for the cooking process, not only because I'm health conscious. If you don't use fat free the oil in the dressing separates and it's a big mess. You can substitute chicken breasts with chicken tenderloins to further cut down prep time. You can also omit any of the vegetables that I listed if you're not a fan.

ENJOY! 

Let me know if you try the recipe, how you liked it, or if you made any alterations :)

Thanks for reading!

Skin Care Routines

Dedicated to Jillian

I've been recently asked about tips for dry skin, which is especially common during these winter months. I have a handful of tips, and the response is a little long for a facebook comment so I'm making a post just for my new friend Jillian :)

Ladies, it's recommended that we have a daily skin care routine. Everybody's skin is different so everyone's skin care needs will be different. Typically everyone's routine should contain steps to cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize, and protect their skin and should be preferably performed in the morning and again at night.

Step 1: Cleanse

It's hard to shop around for skin care products, their so many different kinds and their usually so expensive.

I use a homemade cleanser daily and you can find the recipe here. For dry skin, I would recommend that you use 2 parts coconut oil with 1 part castor oil, rather than equal parts like the recipe suggests. For example use 2/3 cups coconut oil with 1/3 cup castor oil and you've just made about a 6 month supply. This recipe is great for removing make up and free radicals, works to keep your skin moisturized, and even made my eyelashes longer (check out my follow up report after I'd used it for a few weeks here)

Some other options for finding a good cleanser, without buying the whole pharmacy, would be to contact some direct sales consultants (for example: Avon, Mary Kay, or Amway). They'll let you try products before you make a purchase and even help you find which of their products will work best for your skin. Be careful, though, some of these consultants can be pushy sales representatives.

Step 2: Exfoliate

Face scrubs and microdermabrasion are good examples of facial exfoliation.

My home made recipe can be found here under 'Daily Face Scrub'. If you don't have all the products needed for this particular recipe you can literally use baking soda and water (there's a recipe on the Arm & Hammer box!).

When you exfoliate you knock of all the dry skin cells and reveal the healthy skin underneath. Which sounds awesome when your fighting winter dryness, right? Just be careful, over exfoliation can have a reverse effect. I would recommend exfoliating 3-4 times a week, rather than daily, and then you can increase to daily if it seems necessary.

Step 3: Moisturize

This one is probably most important when your fighting off dry patches. If you're using a brand from the pharmacy for your cleanser that brand probably has a recommended moisturizer it should be paired with.

To do things the more economical way you can also use whipped coconut oil, just use a mixer to whip a cup of coconut oil. If you don't like the way that makes your skin feel you can also try Aloe Vera gel, or unscented baby lotion. You might have to try a few different things to find the moisturizer that works best for your skin.

Step 4: Protect

It's recommended to use a SPF that's sensitive enough for your face every day. It's less expensive to just avoid the sun or wear a hat :)

You can protect your skin during the day with a foundation, SPF lotion, or even a translucent face powder. I've just begun making my own translucent face powder, see my recipe here. You ca use it alone or wear it over your make up.

Easiest Meatloaf Ever

Our 1st Food Friday recipe. Hope you enjoy it :) What is Food Friday? Find out here.

Ingredients:

1lb ground sirloin
1 can Campbell's Tomato Soup
1 1/2 cups instant oatmeal
1 cup diced onion, green pepper, celery mixed
1/4 cup ketchup *optional*
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs salt
1 tsp black pepper




General instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degres
Set your 1/4 cup ketchup to the side (or optionally set aside 1/4 cup of the tomato soup).
Mix all the other ingredients together and place in your pan of choice
'Ice' the loaf with your 1/4 cup ketchup (or tomato soup)
Back at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until meat is browned all the way through.

What makes this so easy? I use frozen and pre-diced vegetables, and pre-minced garlic from a jar. I get all my frozen vegetables at Kroger, they have a very wide selection in the Kroger brand- even a diced onion, green pepper, and celery mix that's perfect for meat loaf. They taste nearly as good as fresh, last longer, no dicing, chopping, or slicing necessary, and they are very affordable. Sure, you could argue that fresh vegetables and garlic would provide a better flavor. You can feel free to modify this recipe and make "Slightly Less Easy Meatloaf" using fresh, never frozen, produce if you choose. Secondly, I use a casserole dish instead of a loaf pan. I can mix my ingredients in the pan instead of dirtying a large bowl (Look, I'm efficient. Not lazy.) and the cook time is shortened. So, I guess technically this is meat casserole, not meat loaf...

I served this to my husband most recently this past  Monday. On Tuesday we had Olive Garden. Mid-way through his spaghetti and meat sauce Joe looks at me and says "I liked last night's dinner better", then I proceeded to warn him, "I'm going to blog that you said that..." :)

What is Food Friday?

Oh, boy! These mamas love food! We're about to start a tradition that I know you're going to love. Every Friday we're going to share one of our recipes, we've decided to dub this tradition 'Food Friday'.

What kind of recipes can you expect from Carly?

I like fast and easy meals that dirty the fewest dishes. You can expect me to mostly share recipes that provide square meals in a few simple steps with easy clean up. All of which my Joe honors with his seal of approval. I use my crock pot more often than my oven and have plenty of tricks up my sleeve for putting together entire meals in a flash on a budget. Stay tuned to learn how to make 10 servings of Baked Potato Soup for less than $5. Joe has been demanding a batch weekly this winter.

What you won't get from me are any recipes for baked deserts. Baking is too much of an exact science for me to enjoy it... or be good at it, HA! I'm more of a make it up as you go, add a pinch here and dash there kind of Chef. I use the term Chef lightly :) Baked goods is a talent that Jamie does have, maybe if we're lucky she'll share some of her cake recipes with us!



What kind of recipes can you expect from Jamie?

I'm more of a large meal-style cook. I like to use real butter, homemade vanilla extract, and real potatoes. I like to make large quantities and freeze for later. I dirty a lot of dishes and make hearty meals. I may not be a pro at cheap & fast meals, but you wont be disappointed. I truly enjoy cooking and prefer to make masterpieces when I can.

Cake I made for an exterminator

Pudding filling

I love to bake. Cakes are my specialty. I can't share my exact cake and icing recipe(family secret), but I can share tips, tricks, and decorating ideas. I've made cakes for weddings, baby showers, birthdays, and anniversaries. I've made everything from a cockroach cake to a hamburger cake. My cakes don't just look good. They are delicious. The cake itself is fluffy and soft. The icing is creamy and sweet, but not overpowering. It has it's own flavor.

Cake for my boyfriend's 25th surprise party. He LOVES man vs food

Memorial Candles

This year our Christmas celebration is going to be a little smaller than it has been the past few years. There are two people we love and miss that won't be able to make it because they had very important appointments with Jesus that they had to keep. On February 29th Frank, my husbands grandfather, received an offer he couldn't refuse. The opportunity to go to heaven and never feel pain or suffering again. I know its selfish of us, but we simply weren't ready to see him go. We were all still trying our best to cope with life without Grandpa when we received more life changing news. On May 4th Tina, Frank's daughter and my husbands mother, followed her dad to an eternal peaceful slumber. It's never easy to loose a loved one, but I feel like the younger they are when they leave us the harder it is to understand why they had to go. Why did they have to go? I think we all ask this question when someone we love is gone, but I don't think that question truly has an earthly answer. I think the answer is beyond human understanding, it's more than we can wrap our very small human perspectives around.

The back to back losses have left our family with a roller coaster of conflicting emotions. Actually that's an understatement, but if I get into the entire spectrum of emotions that all of my surviving loved ones have felt I'll never be done typing. For me, right now, the hardest part is watching everyone I love suffer through their grieving. I do my best to encourage everyone to remember the good times, the funny things said, the delicious meals shared, and all the moments of great pride. I know my words fall short of causing any real healing because I've hardly convinced myself to maintain that perspective. I continue to try.

For Christmas I wanted to have a real memorial for Frank and Tina. Something we could see and touch to remind us all of the good times we shared with them and to reassure ourselves that we haven't, and wont, forget to celebrate their lives.

I don't know what reminded me of it, but many months ago I saw a pin for making your own customized candles. I was trying to find a way to honor Frank and Tina while giving my family a memorial to remember them by and I decided to make memorial candles. 

Most everyone I know has someone they love who now lives in heaven. Just in case you've been searching for an idea, like this, to honor a loved one with I'm going to share how easy and affordable it is to make your own.

I spent a great deal of time finding perfect and comforting quotes. It was a more difficult task because I had to find two. Whenever I found one I liked it seemed that the previous quotes we're less adequate. I didn't want to feel like I'd given Frank a less memorable quote than Tina, nor Tina less than Frank. Finally I found two that seemed to be of equally great quality.

Revelations 21:4

After I had the text, font styles, and lay out just right I printed all the text that I wanted to put on my candles onto tissue paper. To get the tissue paper to run through the printer I had to tape it to a piece of copy paper.  If your not sure which side of the paper your printer will print on you may want to do a test print. Put an 'X' on one side of a piece of paper and  print, remember where the 'X' was when you loaded the paper and notice where it is when the printer spits out the finished product. Doing this should help you to figure out whether to have the tissue paper facing up or down when you load it into the printer.

After I had my text on tissue paper I cut it out and figured out how I wanted it placed on the candle. I placed the tissue paper on the candle and wrapped it in wax paper. I had to make sure the tissue paper was completely covered by wax paper and then, set on high heat, I turned the hair dryer on. I went over the entirety of the tissue paper with the hair dryer. The tissue paper disappeared into the candle as the wax melted slightly. As soon as the tissue paper had disappeared into the wax I knew it was done. It took less than a minute, but it did burn my fingers. When I do it again I'll wear gloves (I'm sure I'll be making more sets for other family members to keep in their homes).

I'm satisfied with the finished product. It's no where near as comforting as one more hug from either Frank or Tina, but it is a beautiful memorial to remember them by until it's our time to join them.

Thank you for reading, and for all the thoughts and prayers I know you're sending for mine and Jamie's families during the holidays. I know Jamie is planning to sharing how she and her family honor Jeremy's life during the Christmas season. We both pray with our whole hearts that what we share helps someone during their time of healing.

 We hope your holidays are cheery and full of joyful memories like ours are.

How to HAC

Back in our day Jamie and I had a short career in the direct sales of cosmetics. We went to weekly meetings learning about the products, how to use them, and how to sell them. One of my favorite lessons from that experience is how to HAC. Highlight and contour. The basic idea is to use varying shades of cosmetics  to 'sculpt' your face into a more flattering shape. This isn't something I do every day because, let's face it, I'm beautiful. Since you're beautiful too you probably don't need to HAC daily either. But, it is a nice tid-bit to know when you're going to have your picture taken or if you're going somewhere fancy.

Start step 1 after you've completed a good healthy skin care routine. Cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize, and protect.

Step 1: Conceal

I use a green concealer for red blemishes. Dab it on and rub it in.

Optional Step 2: Foundation

If you're skin tone is uneven and needs a little extra help to conceal discoloration and/or blemishes you may choose to use a foundation. Make sure you're foundation matches your skin tone and is applied evenly. I'm not going to provide tips on that process right now, I'm going to focus on HACing here.

Step 3: Highlight

See my tutorial for making your own highlight and contour creams with products you probably already have in your bathroom.

Here's a HAC map of my face as an example

Add a highlighter to your T zone, the top of your cheek bones, and on your brow bone then blend it in. Your highlighter should be a shade lighter than your foundation or your natural skin tone.

Step 4: Contour

Add contour under the apples of your cheeks, in your temple area, under your jaw line, and (optionally) on the sides of your nose. Your contour cream/powder should be a shade darker than your foundation or your natural skin tone. 

I would advise you to use contour lightly. If you have dry patches I would skip adding contour completely, the pigment can collect in dry patches and make them stand out, giving you a blotchy look. You also have to watch out for areas where you have more fine hair than in other areas (sideburns, upper lip) these areas will also collect more pigment and I know you don't want a mustache in your holiday pictures!

Step 5: Translucent Finishing Powder

See my tutorial for making your own translucent finishing powder. You can make it for pennies out of products you probably already have in your cabinets.

A translucent powder will help blend your look, dull your shine, decrease visible pours and fine lines, and just plain make you 'HAC job' look finished.

I highlight and contour in a subtle way, I want to accent my best features while still looking natural rather than looking 'all made up'. It's okay if you have a different preference, Carlibybel has a nice vlog on this same topic. She's beautiful too and uses alot more product than I do. You might find her methods useful, check her out here.

Feel free to share your own tips or opinions by leaving a comment :)

Outdated law promotes domestic violence

Please go to http://www.brown.senate.gov/contact

And choose message topic "request for help"

In the comments box, share your opinion and then paste this.

"I am a 25 year old single mother.

I am a victim of Domestic Violence. My son was in my arms when the domestic violence occurred. Charges were pressed with suspended sentences. See case 09CRB04840-A in City of Hamilton Municipal.

Since then, a restraining order has been put in place. See case DV09091299 in Butler county.

It was violated several times. Charges were pressed with suspended sentences. See Hamilton Police department case report 08732, Ross Township incident report 10-0145, Ross Township incident report 11 057 03, Ross Township incident report 11 060 04, Case 11CRB04178-A in City of Hamilton Municipal. Also, not reported to police, phone calls were received 4/27/2010 10:12am, 12/11/2010 5:32pm, 12/25/2010 11:57am, and 3/17/2011 1:40pm. Facebook messages 1/5/10, 4/29/11, as well as numerous vulgar status updates about his "babby's mom".

In Butler County probate court, case # PI 10-01-0001, You will find a hearing in which the Defendant illegally removed $4850 from my CSEA account. You will also find a judgement for $1000 in legal fees. The $4850 was returned. The $1000, however, was never paid.

The last child support payment I received was March 8, 2010. Which as you read above, was quite a fight to receive.

In addition, there is City Of Hamilton Municipal court cases 12CRB 00158-A (Disorderly conduct, Lowered from Domestic Violence) and 12CRB04178-A (receiving stolen property). Hamilton county case C/11/CRB/28135 (criminal trespassing and theft)

I am trying to have parental rights terminated. I would prefer to have rights terminated voluntarily, as he has agreed to once before. However, I have been informed by my lawyer that I must be married and there must be an adoptive party. If only you can imagine my disappointment. I have raised my son for 4 years with no help from his biological father. I have received child support in the form of one payment, and there are currently over $2500 in arrearages. It is considered old fashioned to frown upon unwed parents. I understand that many people will say "you chose to have a child with him". I did not choose for him to BECOME a drug addict and threaten my, and my son's, safety. He was a different person when I chose to be with him.

Domestic violence is a hard circumstance to escape. Victims usually attempt to leave 4 times before they are even successful. And in my circumstance, the court is FORCING me and my son to spend the next 14 years connected to our abuser. They are telling me that because I am not married, I do not have the same rights to escape my abuser. How can this be?

I understand the courts want to protect his rights as well, but what about my son's rights. He has not seen my son in over 3 years. Here are links to the U.S. Department of Health and Human services and UNICEF in regards to children and domestic violence.
http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/domesticviolence.cfm
http://www.unicef.org/protection/files/BehindClosedDoors.pdf

If it is about the best interest of the child... Why isn't any of this a factor... Why is my marital status the determining factor?

Jamie Stevison
jamie.tene@gmail.com"

DIY Highlight and Contour Creams

You guys have these right? Beat up eye shadows that spent too much time getting knocked around in your purse or cosmetic bag. I'm going to show you an easy-peasy way to turn them into highlight and contour creams.

DIY Translucent Finishing Powder

I use this now on a regular basis and have been making it for pennies with ingredients that were already in my home. It's so easy!

Old jars into organizing solutions

Jamie's already talked to you guys about saving those candle jars, let me add save all your jars. Waste not, want not, right? If you don't need them I'll take them!

Step 1: Collect an assortment of jars

The stay-home vs work struggle

As a full time nurse and full time mom… I'm struggling with doing both.

•Day care is expensive, at almost $700 a month for full time.
•I don't feel like my almost 4-year-old is getting the education I'd like. A lot of his crafts come home looking like an adult assembles them.
•Although he's getting to interact with other children, he's also bringing home their bad words, back talking, and poor behavior.
•My daycare was the only option, local daycares are open 6-6. I work 7-730. It has to be somewhere convenient for Joe or my parents to pick up.
•I don't think they take my concerns seriously. (Ie clothes being on right when I drop him off and backwards when I pick him up, kids biting-he was bit 8 times last summer, lack of behavior reports-I wanna be an active parent and aware of his behavior)
•Every class does not have a teacher with a degree.
•Finding a babysitter has proven to be a challenge. All my friends and family work.
•My schedule varies (three 12-hour shifts)… day care is a set schedule. Which means I'm paying for days I don't need. What a waste!!! Right now, I'm paying for 3 days/wk. Some weeks, I don't need to take him at all because of my work schedule.

How marriage changed Ashley and Jesse

Marriage is a beautiful thing. I was recently honored with the opportunity to be a part of the ceremony that united two of my closest friends. Ashley and Jesse. I can't tell you enough how awesome Ashley and Jesse are. It's their sense of humor that tops my list as the most awesomest thing about them, but that's shortly followed by a long list of other traits.

Here are Ashley and Jesse before they were engaged to be married:

They look like an awesome couple right?

Surprise benefits of coconut oil cleanser

I've been using my homemade coconut oil cleanser once to twice a day for about 6 weeks now (click here for the recipe) . I quickly got past the initial flushing of the pores (which led to a few pimples), and have been enjoying smoother-clearer skin. In the past few weeks I've noticed a change that I wasn't quit expecting.... Longer fuller eye lashes. This is not at all a bad surprise!

The reality of losing a sibling; from the big sister. Pt 2

The reality of losing a sibling; from the big sister.

Part Two

Read Part One here

The days after Jeremy died were a blur. I'm going to share what I remember.

April 27, 2012

Upon entering the house, after telling my mom the news, we escorted her to the kitchen table. She missed the chair while trying to sit and the entire table almost toppled over. (Prior to her arrival, we had already discussed the possibility of having to call an ambulance.) My mother had a history of hyperventilating and anxiety. For a brief moment, I thought I'd watch her be carted away.  I don't remember what time the police came to notify us, but he died at 8:32am. The screaming phone call was sometime around 10am. My mom didn't get home until around 11am. The Chaplin arrived before the officer. Everything was backwards. I had taken my mom's cell, the house phone, and my phone. In between checking on my mother and calling family, I was holding my own grief in.

Family Message Center

These are some little projects I did several months ago, but I wanted to share the results and my goals for the future.

Previously we've used www.cozi.com to organize our shopping lists, calender, to do lists, and to even plan meals. Cozi is amazing, and has an app for our phones, my kindle fire, and our computer. Plus it's free!! Cozi was everything I dreamed of. When Joe and I both had the apps on our phones our calenders would sync, we could both edit the shopping list, and see the list when either of us stopped at the store. It seemed that with Cozi in our lives, the possibilities were endless. Cozi only failed us because Joe never used it.

4 ingredients = SUPER shiny hair!

This is Kelly's head. Isn't it beautiful? Kelly volunteered to be a victim in another homemade beauty remedy experiment. I'm going to show you how to use these 4 ingredients to get super shiny, super soft hair!

Save that candle jar!

How much money do you spend on beautiful candles in glass jars, just to throw those jars away? And how much money do you spend on containers to store various items in? Well here are some SUPER easy steps to save your jars!

Step one: Enjoy your candle!

Crayon Box

I'm about to share something so ridiculously simple that it seems silly to post it. But, hey, anything I can do to help you get organized on the cheap.

An old Huggies wipes container makes a great crayon box :)

And that's all I have to say about that!

How to hollow a light bulb

Here we are, with light bulbs going in the trash left and right... and Christmas coming quickly. I hate hate hate throwing things away! Here are some instructions to re-use that bad boy!

Step one: 

Begin by peeling up a corner of this do-hickey. I used a nail tip. You can use a razor blade, screwdriver, or anything else of that nature.

Unorthodox Diapering Step 3

The Truth About Cloth Diapers

Step 3: Have a system in place for storing and washing dirty duds

See Step 1: convincing my husband that cloth diapers aren't lunacy
See Step 2: Pick your diaper

My most serious concern about using cloth diapers was putting baby poop in my washing machine. I did a great deal of investigation on how to make sure everything was sanitary. My investigation didn't turn up many results that referred specifically to disinfecting the diapers and the washing machine. I was genuinely surprised, I know I am NOT the only one that thinks poop is disgusting and cringes at the thought of washing their clothes in it. I figured out how to keep the germs at bay on my own using vinegar and tea tree oil. Both can be used as a disinfectant and are natural so they won't irritate a baby's bottom. You can see how I wash and disinfect the washing machine in my post Wash the Washer.

Vinegar: Not Just For Cooking

Vinegar, most commonly used for food preparation, is making its debut as a household cleaner. Vinegar is becoming like Duct Tape in my house. The more I learn about it the more I think it can do anything! It can be an ingredient in a delicious recipe, disinfect a counter top, make your laundry softer, unclog a sink drain, and even make your hair shinier.

The National Geographic has an article that goes over a few ways they suggest for you to use vinegar as a natural disinfectant, click here to find out more.

I'm going to share with you some of the vinegar 'recipes' I use on a regular basis in my house.

DIY Household Cleaners

It turns out vinegar isn't the only thing I use to clean the house. I know you probably can't tell if you've read "Vinegar: Not Just For Cooking" but I also have a few homemade remedies for a clean house that don't contain vinegar. I make our laundry detergent, a Febreze like fabric freshener, a stain remover, and have a few DIY homemade cleaner experiments waiting to happen.

The reality of losing a sibling; from the big sister. Pt 1

The reality of losing a sibling; from the big sister.

Part One - His wonderful life and tragic end

Read part two here

This series is deeply personal. I want to express the dirty truths; the guilt, grief, anger, and even jealousy. The things no one tells you, no one talks about, and the feelings you may even be ashamed of. It is part of a series... I'm not sure how many parts. In this part, an introduction and the tragic day of his death.

 This...

is Jeremy

He was born June 1, 1980. He is the youngest of 3. He loved dinosaurs as a kid.  He loved to prank people and joke around (as shown by his silly jacket above). He loved camping, boating, fishing, and hunting. He was handsome, funny, and ornery. We grew up with a close family, we fought ALL THE TIME. He was spoiled and a brat (I say this out of love). Growing up, there was a lot of jealousy. He was the baby, spoiled. He got everything he wanted. He wanted new clothes, he was handed my parents credit card.

Mother's day 2009

Did i say we fought all the time? Not just arguing. Fist fights. It wasn't until he was a teenager that we started getting along, but even through all the fights, we defended each other. When it came down to it, we were typical siblings. Jeremy didn't drink(with the exception of obsessive consumption of Mountain Dew), smoke, or do drugs. He wanted to wait until he was 21 to drink, I couldn't even tell you why. He was the designated driver for all of his friends. He would drop anything he was doing to help them. He loved my son. He gave him Mountain Dew in a sippy cup (highly illegal! My son, now almost 4, still isn't allowed to have pop), babysat, and spun him in a office chair for hours. You know, looking back, maybe he wasn't the best choice for a babysitter.

Gossip like its your job… at your job

      If there is anything people unanimously claim to hate(while also being guilty of the act)… it's gossip. I work with mostly women. At any given moment there are 10 staff members on my floor. The maximum amount that could be male… 2. Are the men excluded from this gossip? No! They are equally as guilty. And quite often, it seems, they are the center. The sad part is, that gossip can ruin even the most perfect job. It can make people miserable, adult bullying at its finest. With websites like TMZ and EOnline, The media makes us believe that its okay. It surly is not. We can go on and on about all of the reasons that gossip is wrong, but we all know that it is so lets skip that part. I've included tips from 2 different websites.

Here are some great tips from tinybuddha.com written by Shanti Sosienski -With comments from myself in green.

Unorthodox Diapering Step 2

The Truth about Cloth Diapers

Step 2: Pick your diaper

Oh, no, it can't be as easy as choosing either cloth or disposables. After you've made the decision to go cloth you still have some more deciding to do!

I'm going to give you the break down on different cloth diaper features and the pros and cons I've experienced.

Wash the Washer

With the amount of baby poo that has gone into my washing machine I know it needs a thorough cleaning from time to time. Check out this grimy baby!

How do I get my washing machine fresh and clean while keeping it chemically safe for cloth diapers?

I can't use bleach as this blogger suggests: onegoodthingbyjillee.com

Bleach can really do some damage to a baby so I avoid it when possible (which has always been possible, so far). Obviously in Jillee's method I wouldn't be putting the diapers in the bleach, it's just my personal preference to not put bleach in the washer for fear it lingers. I'm also aware that bleach and vinegar together can release dangerous fumes. She doesn't use them together but uses them in back to back cycles which I would prefer not to do.