Homemade Holly

Recently I have been a big money saving kick!  I've been scouring the interwebs look for ways to save us money through couponing and have discovered some really awesome things!  So as the title implies, I've learned to make a few things that I use nearly every day for only cents.  So listen up cause I'm about to share these awesome tips with you. 

"Fake Febreeze" 

As many of you know, well probably all of you, we are the parents to an adorable, loving, slobery, hairy, STINKY hound.  I love my Roscoe and I even kinda love his houndy "corn chip" smell, but not when my house smells like it! So we go through a lot of Febreeze.  I was thrilled when I stumbled upon this "recipe" to make your own Febreeze.  Its so easy, you will wonder why you ever paid full price!  This is all you need:

2 TBS of Baking Soda
2 TBS of your favorite fabric softener
          ***I use Gain because I like the way it smells best, but you could even the cheap stuff
Mix in a bottle with hot water and shake

TAAADAAA Febreeze!  I think this even smells better than the real stuff.  I also shake my bottle before ever use to make sure it has stayed mixed.  It will leave a film on your tables if they are accidentally sprayed, but it wipes up really easy.  So you're welcome, enjoy your Febreeze. 

"Clorox Wipes" 

I love these things, but they are so expensive I kinda gave them up.  That is until now!  I just found this recipe the other day and tried it out and IT WORKS.  Here's whatcha gotta do:

1 roll of paper towels
       ***Use Viva, Bounty or the like.  The cheap stuff doesn't hold up well
Cut roll of paper towels in half and leave the cardboard tube in the middle, this comes out later
       ***This was the hardest part.  I'm still working on a good method so if you come up with one please share!
Place half of the paper towel roll in a Tupperware type container. 
Mix two cups of hot water with your desired cleaning concentrate.  I'm a Lysol type of girl, personally. 
Poor liquid over paper towel rolls, swish around.  Place lid on container and flip upside down.  Leave the container like this for a few minutes to let the liquid soak into the towels.  When you come back to the container you can pull out the cardboard roll.  This is brilliant! 

If all cleaning products are this easy to make, why aren't I making more?? Do you have any clean tips or DIY cleaners?  Please share! I'm all ears!! And as a bonus, I discovered an awesome way to store cleaning products that makes them easy, accessible, and organized!  I was so tired of having everything on a shelf and having to move them all around and the bottles falling over....it was a mess.  All I needed was an over the door shoe organizer.  Check mine out:

I love it! Geoff likes it.  We all like it! Until next time!!

Word Up

Word up, home skillets.  Lets see, time to keep all of you up to date with whats been going on in our lives.  Lets start out with 2 weekends ago.  I was super excited to get to finally go home for a visit!  We both took a day on Friday and left Thursday evening for home.  We enjoyed spending Friday visiting everyone, getting some Chick-Fil-A and emptying out our storage unit.  We loved having dinner and belated birthday cake for Hannah with both of our parents Friday evening and were looking forward to a trip to SDC on Saturday.  Well when I woke up sick around 2am on Saturday we knew our plans completely changed.  I spent all of Saturday feeling pretty awful and in bed.  Luckily I woke up on Sunday feeling much better, just in time to load up the Hound and myself to head back to Nebraska.   Geoff stayed behind to head to Dallas for a Dyson training.  It was a real bummer leaving, since I had the long trip ahead of me, by myself.  This was the first time Geoff and I had been apart since we got married! Luckily it was only for two nights and I survived.  I was super happy to pick him up from the airport on Tuesday.  Unfortunately I didn't get my "home" fix in and I'm ready to go back more than ever!  I know that Lincoln is where God wants us to be, and we truly love the life He has provided for us here, but I just wish it wasn't so darn far away.  I miss family dinners, seeing people we know when we go to the store, having girls nights, good Mexican food and Chick-Fil-A, being close to steel a weekend away in Branson, and even the Tornado damage.  Don't get me wrong, Lincoln is great and we are really settling in.  In fact, just this past Sunday when we saw several acquaintances to say I hi to during "shake hands" time, did I feel like we belonged a little bit.  And we love exploring this little part of Nebraska, we always find something to do on weekends and evenings! Its just rough!! 

My job is going really well and I'm finally starting to figure everything out!  (Well at least the best I can!)  Although, if I could change one thing about my job it would be Lunch Duty.  I LOATHE lunch duty.  I feel like I need to wear rubber boots and a poncho!  The kids are so very demanding as well!  Heaven forbid that we run out of ranch momentarily, or that the kitchen staff is running slow.  It just kind of goes to show what type of world we are living in; a world of right nows and no manners!  There are some days that I think I should get tipped for all of the running around pouring ranch and getting forgotten spoons and forks.  I do find ways to make it enjoyable, and when I'm constantly trying to keep up poring ranch or ketchup or even the condiment trifecta of ranch, ketchup, AND BBQ sauce, the time in the lunch room goes by quickly.  It just reminds me of a poem...

Lunch Duty! Oh, Lunch Duty!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you away in the sink,
if only a bomb
would explode you to bits.
Lunch Duty! Oh, Lunch Duty !
You're giving me fits.

I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the Lunch Duty,
my Principal assigns.

Lunch Duty! Oh, Lunch Duty!
you're last on my list,
I simply can't see
why you even exist,
if you just disappeared
it would tickle me pink.
Lunch Duty! Oh, Lunch Duty!
I hate you! You stink!

Jack Prelutsky (Minor Changes by Holly Karhoff)