Spring is Peeking Out

Well we got what we asked for. . .a winter with lots of snow.  And while it was fun, we are pretty much done with it now.  And spring is done with it too.  She has waited patiently but now she is pushing her way out.

This is our maple tree out front.  See those buds at the end of the branches and those stringy looking things hanging off?  Yep, she is starting to bud out.  I am so excited.  I love spring.  Spring is really the start of the new year for me.  Forget about January.  March is the start of 'what are we going to do this year'.  Seeds get planted and wait for the ground to be just right so they can be transplanted.  Garden plans are started, summer vacation looks close and kids are lining up what they want to do this summer, festivals are starting, the world just starts to wake up and is happy to be alive again.

It is also the start of increased spiritual activity.  March has four of our household auxiliary pioneering this month.  We also have our Circuit Overseer visit this month.  This will be the second visit with our new CO and his wife.  We love them!  We get to attend the entire pioneer meeting this Saturday.  We are all excited for that.  And it will be good motivation for the kids to auxiliary with me this summer.

Mom and Dad are returning to us in a matter of days now.  We are all looking forward to having them back.  We are trying to hurry and finish some last minute things around the house.  Almost everything on our list has been checked off as completed.  ALMOST, things never go exactly as you plan them.  But we are nice and saved some things for Mom and Dad to help with.

We miss you all bunches!  You should come visit this summer or this fall or NOW!

Another Year

This post is long overdue!  If you remember on our one year anniversary of being in Michigan I posted the 52 things we miss about Arizona.  My plan was to then post a year later the 52 things we love about Michigan.  Yep, missed that date.  But I have been trying to get to it.  I promise.

So it has been just over two years now since we moved to Michigan.  Two years, and five months to be exact.  Things haven't changed much since that last post.  It is still hard, busy, crazy, stressful, fun, and wonderful.  We are still learning so much about living here, it seems like it is going to be an ongoing theme to our life.

Tree in spring bloom from last year.

So in honor of another year in the greath north, I bring you another list.  Another year means another 52 things.  This list will be things we love about Michigan combined with phrases we never thought we would hear ourselves say.  Enjoy!

1. Green  2. Spring  3. Summer  4. Fall  5. Winter  6. Trees  7. Lakes  8. Rivers  9. Ponds  10. "We need to plan the garden."  11. Birds  12. Family  13. Congregation  14. "Better bundle up for service today, it is 0º out this morning!"  15. Flowers  16. Wild vegetables  17. Grass  18. "No school today, it's a SNOW DAY!!!!"  19. Friends  20. Farms  21. Backyard wildlife  22. Small Towns  23. "We need to plan a trip. . .to ARIZONA!"  21. Fall colors  22. Homecooked Goodness  23. Not ever reading 110º on the thermometer  24. "It's raining" (again, or still, or period!!!)  25. Snow  26. "I live in Michigan"  27. Wildflowers  28. Weather  29. Bald Eagles  30. Forests  31. "We need to shovel the driveway today"  32. Homecooked Goodness  33. Garden  34. Wild Berries  35. Strawberry picking  36. Snowmobiling  37. Pick-Your-Own Farms  38. "We need to weed in the garden."  39. Aunts and Uncles  40. Space  41. Deer  42. "The kids are down swimming in the lake."  43. "Sorry I missed your call, I was out stacking wood."  44. Four - yep, four DIFFERENT seasons  45. Grandma  46. Dinners consisting of only what we picked from the garden that day  47. Sledding parties  48. Lakes as big as oceans  49. Fireplaces that get used  50. GREEN - have I mentioned this!?!?!  51. Festivals  52. The Scenery!!!!

Potato fields just a few minutes from our house.

Needless to say, we love, love, love it here.  This third year is already almost half over.  Each year brings its own challenges and we are working through them.  Each passing year also makes the missing of or friends and family back in Arizona so much worse.  We miss you all so much.  I can't believe it has been almost a year since we have seen you last.

It truely is beautiful here, you really must see it for yourself.  Our door is always open and we would love to see you.

Squash Blossom from our garden last year.

A's New Room Sneak Peak No. 1

A. is finally into her long awaited room.  We converted the sunroom into a very cute little room for her.  She wanted a shabby chic room and since the room was basically being built from scratch we were able to add shabby chic elements into the room itself not just the decor.

For the ceiling we did a tongue and groove pine and did one very thin coat of white paint on the rough sawn side and painted very sparsely so the wood grain would show and in spots the wood itself peaks out.  For the light we used the existing fixture but in place of the old glass we used my favorite vintage mason jar.  To complete the vintage look we used an old fashioned light bulb.

It is easily one of my most favorite things about her room.  I am more than a little jealous since it is my favorite mason jar and she gets to look at it everytime she steps into her room.

I also worked on a secret project for her room.  I did a pretty good job at actually keeping it a secret until 2 or 3 days before I was finished.  Unfortunately when we were out shopping I let it slip that I was working on something for her.  Oh boy did I get it.  The entire rest of the day she bugged me about what it was and then started worrying that she wouldn't like it.  I knew she would love it so I didn't have any stress over it.  Plus if she didn't like it, I did, so I would just snag it for my room or the office area.

She spent the weekend with her besty so it gave me time to finish it up and place it in her room.  I knew I didn't have to worry, when she got home Sunday she was instantly in love with it.

So here are the specifics.  We were cleaning out in the basement and I found this stack of old windows and screens.  I asked Cameron if they were earmarked for something and he said no.  So after squealing with delight, I snagged this window and got to work.  First task was to scrub all the dirt and grime off, then I sanded away.  After I got it distressed to the point I was satisfied, I applied a coat of stain and sealer.

The top and third panel were taped off and a few coats of chalkboard paint were applied.  Make sure you get the chalkboard paint that specifies it can be used on glass.  Otherwise you end up with a big mess and no chalkboard.  Yes, lesson learned.  The second and third panel I stapled fabric to the window frame on the backside so it could be used as a wipe board.

Once everything was dry and in place I add these beautiful porcelain rose drawer pulls that I purchased from TJMaxx ages ago.

To hold the chalk and dry erase markers I took an old can and cleaned up any sharp edges and drilled a hold on each side of the can near the top to hold the ribbon to hang it.  Then I took a scrap of fabric and mod-podged it to the can and added a piece of lace and ribbon.  Once that dried a took a long piece of ribbon and threaded and knotted it to the can and hung it from one of those beautiful roses.

And so she would know what it was, before she got I home I modified a song I used to sing to her when she was little and wrote a verse on each pane.

I love how it turned out.  And almost every day when I head into her room it has something new written on it.  Notes to different family members, a list of crafts she has going on, homework she needs to finish, or just doodles.  Love it!

Have any old windows laying around?  Put them to work!!

A Road Trip, A Snowy Winter, and A Baby

Ok, stop freaking out!  I know you all read that title and the only words you saw was "a baby".  No, I am NOT having another baby.  A sweet friend of ours had her long anticipated little one arrive this month and we are all very excited for her.  More on that later.

So first I will apologize for taking so long to update this here little blog.  I have received many complaints that it has been so long since an update.  So, I am so very sorry.  I will update you all on what has happened these past few months and give you all glimpses of our lovely little faces.

The last post was the big winter storm we received the day we were leaving for vacation.  We headed off that afternoon through all that snow and headed to Missouri to see some of Cameron's family.  I have been begging him to see them for a very long time so we were all excited 1. to be going on vacation and 2. to be seeing family whom we hadn't seen in so very long.

So we started out with our typical Richie trip glitches.  Our power plug up front decided to stop working.  Not that big of a deal except it meant no GPS.  So we had to stop and buy a road atlas.  I was secretly glad.  I love using a map and finding the way on my own.  As I cracked that atlas open I was instantly transported back in time to our family road trips.  I could hear my Dad's voice teaching me how to read the map, how to add up how many miles to our next stop, how to tell where the next rest stop was, what the different color roads meant.  Very nostalgic that little map!  I loved being my Dad's co-pilot.  Loved it until I would doze off and he would whack my arm out from under my head.  Ahhh the memories!

Our trip was a wonderful, relaxing vacation.  I love seeing family that from the very beginning are instant friends and even though you haven't seen them in so long it is like you just saw them yesterday.  All the kids who had never met were instant friends and I barely saw my children the whole week.  Seriously, I saw them in passing as they went from one house to the other.  So much so that I barely got any photos the whole week.

We went geocaching one day.  We learned a couple of very important lessons.  1. it really is not fun to geocache in the cold.  Really, trying to find the micro caches when your hands are freezing takes all the fun out of it; and 2. it is much more fun in one vehicle or on foot than trying to coordinate two vehicles.  But we really did have so much fun.  We love that Missouri bunch and can't wait to get back there again.  This summer you Funderburgs, be prepared we are coming back!

On to our snowy winter.  We are so glad the white stuff was back this year.  Snow on the ground is much more fun than ice on the ground.  Yes, there is a difference.  That snow we got right before our vacation was the start of the snow this winter.  It has been on the ground since that day.  We have had a few warm days where some of it melted off but for the most part we have had snow covered ground all winter.  The kids have had soooooo many snow days this year.  Which means they have to make some days up, but they were pretty happy with all those free vacation days.  And what is there better to do on a snow day but have a snowball fight.

We love the snow.  Love the sound of it crunching under our feet.  Love the snowball fights, the snow forts, the snowmen.  Watching it fall outside as we are cozy around the fire inside.  Yep, we are pretty much in love with all the seasons up here in the great north.

On to that gorgeous little baby.  Our good friends welcomed their beautiful little girl this month.  Rachel and I were privileged to throw them their shower.  They were so excited to be having a girl so we overdosed them with pink.  It was beautiful.  And the new little baby girl is even more beautiful.

I apologize again for the long wait, thank you for being patient with me and I promise to TRY and post more often.  Love you all!

The Big Storm

Because I know you are all dying to know, yep, that big storm barreling across the U.S. finally reached us today.

This is our beautiful Maple Tree.  Look how low her branches are hanging.  And this is actually a little higher than they were early this morning.  We did lose a few branches off the pine trees, but thankfully, they didn't hit anything.

This is looking west down our road, after the snowplow went through of course.  So beautiful.  Everything is white, even the sky.

The kids were very excited, their morning started off with a 2-hour delay which turned into a snow day which by lunch time turned into two snow days.  So we did what any good parents would do. . . we put them to work.  We shoveled the driveway.  Yes, we have a snowblower and a snowplow.  But we really want our children to have those pitiful "we worked so hard when we were kids" stories to tell their children.

We worked with them of course so we could share our hard work stories too.  Oh wait, we grew up in Arizona. Ummmm, remember all that dirt we had to sweep all the time.

We are supposed to get some more this afternoon and tonight but we are in the rain/snow area so we shall see what we wake up to tomorrow.  We are hoping it is not too bad because we are heading out on our roadtrip tomorrow.  But we are determined to be like mailmen - rain, snow, sleet, or shine we are GOING to Missouri.

Voila! La salle de bain est fini!

Finally!  After countless months, and lots of procrastination, the upstairs bath is finished!  I gave you a sneak peak months and months ago thinking that we were just about done.  And really, we were, but other things got in the way and it was usable, so finishing it kind of got delayed.

That before picture really gives the "before" way too much justice.  The bathroom was really, really bad.  I am so happy with how it turned out.  Now if we could just get the rest of the house finished.  :)

My french quote.  "Sing away your sorrows and cast away your cares."  Vinyl so graciously provided by my cousin over at Decal City.  Check them out!

I couldn't find the exact mirror I wanted.  They were either too big or too small, the frame was too big or too small or not enough detail or way too much detail.  So we bought just a standard mirror and then hubby framed it in for me.

The walls in this house are all plaster.  The plaster in the bathroom was looking a little shabby.  But we really didn't want to tear it all out and drywall it.  I also love, love, love wainscoting, so we decided to beadboard the bottom of the walls and leave the top as is since that part of the wall was in pretty good condition.  The ceiling was not, however, and we were trying to decide what exactly we were going to do with it.  My brother suggested we put the beadboard on the ceiling also.  Brilliant!  I love the way it looks.

The linen closet.  I love this thing!  I wanted it to look like a piece of furniture more so than a closet.  I think the hubby did a great job.  I love the handles and the screen.  Love it!

It is so hard to get a picture of the entire shower.  The diagonal pattern on the ceiling of the shower is repeated on the floor.  The glass mosaic tiles on the back of the shelves is repeated in subway tile size bits and scattered randomly throughout the rest of the shower.  And that little hook next to the shelf nook, yep, I made the hubby put that in.  It is for the bath scrubby.  I hate when they hang on the handle and with that shower head, there is no way it was going up there.  So I had him put in a hook specifically for that little scrubby!

Details, details, details.  So many little things I love in this bathroom.  All these little details have been collected over a very long period of time.  Some of the things I bought many years ago in the hopes of using them in our house in Tucson.  Sadly, that never happened, but they have all found a lovely little home here.  Some of the things I found digging around in antique shops, thrift stores, or yardsales.

This not so pretty metallic gold shelf I got at Goodwill for $2!  I wasn't too sure about it but decided for $2 if I didn't like it, no big deal.  I am so, so glad I got it.  Amazing what a coat or two of black spray paint will do.  This is now one of my most favorite things in the bathroom.

Sitting on the shelf is a vintage Avon bath set I won in an auction also for $2.  The apothecary jars are awesome.  I bought one at an antique shop for $2 (I guess it is a theme for this shelf area) and one I bought at a yard sale for - get this - $0.10!!!  I love yard sales!  The Paris lady is from a Ross store in Chicago.  I still have plans for her hooked skirt, someday that may get done.

Gotta have a magazine rack.  This works perfectly and was a great find at a Goodwill for $2.99.

This antique Bayer aspirin jar was picked up at a local thrift shop for $1.  The flowers are scraps from the curtains and twigs from the yard.  So cute.

Another favorite area of mine.  Ok, I need to quit saying that because pretty much the whole bathroom is my favorite.  These handles are from this very, very awesome antique shop in Grand Rapids.  Phil's Stuff is one of my favorite places to riffle through.  Seriously, it is two floors of awesomeness.  If you go, go with someone who likes to do the same, because you can spend hours in that store.  In the basement of this store is a room dedicated to house items.  Old handles, claw feet, hinges, grates, you name it, it is there.  I searched through all the bins of old cabinet handles and couldn't find two matching like I wanted.  As I was very sadly about to leave the store "Phil" plopped down a bin of new handles that needed to be put down in the basement.  These two beauties were right one top.  Quick coat of black paint and they are a perfect fit for the bathroom.  The screens are from Home Depot and those got a quick coat of black paint before they were installed.

The towel/robe hooks are from Home Goods from many years ago.  The candle holders are another find from Goodwill at $1.99 each.  Already black so no painting required.

And finally, the curtains.  Since I live so far from my great seamstress sister, I had to tackle these by myself.  I love they way they came out.  The shower curtain fabric is from Joann's and is awesome.  It is french script with the english translation following.  I coveted this fabric for a long time.  Three times it was in my basket to get for the bathroom and three times I put it back.  I couldn't decide, was it too much, not enough, do I just want the window curtains and the shower curtain to match?  But every time I would put it back and then come home and wish I had bought it.  So finally, back to Joann's I went and - yep, out of stock and they were not reordering!  Thankfully the wonderful lady at the cutting counter found some for me at another store and had it shipped up.  Whew - I guess you know I then bought whatever they had left.

So there she is in all her beauty.  You really should just come see her in person though, she is beautiful!

Laundry Experiment

Laundry.  Blech!  Probably one of my least favorite household chores.  For one reason only.  It is never done!  I love fresh clothes from the dryer.  Love to see them neatly folded and in there place (a rarity in this house), love the smell of clean linens as you slip into bed.  But no matter how much you get accomplished in a day, you know there will be dirty clothes as everyone changes into PJ's, there will be dirty towels in the morning from all the showers, and those fresh, clean linens will now be considered, umm, not in the morning.

So laundry in this house full of people is an ongoing event.  If you don't hear the washer and dryer going on a daily basis, something is amiss.

So in the interest of saving a little moola, and since in the last couple of years my skin has decided to become a little more sensitive, I have been looking online at homemade laundry soaps recipes.  Interesting.  And since my nose also doesn't like the smell of most laundry soaps and fabric softeners, I like the fact that I can create a scent of my choosing.

So this week, after pinning this article and then reading her homemade laundry soap recipe, I decided to not only clean out my washing machine but also to try some of these recipes I keep reading.

ecoKaren has some great ideas on her blog.  I liked her laundry soap recipe and was tempted to try it.  I still might down the road, but the problem here at our house is our water pressure.  At least that is what I am assuming it is.  I love using baking soda and vinegar in my wash.  So for a little while, I was putting it in the soap dispenser drawer on my washing machine.  Not a great idea.  All the powder gunked up behind the drawer itself and caused a blockage.  I don't know if this is because of our low water pressure or the machine itself, but I decided to hold off on the powder direction.

Further searching found this recipe on an equally great blog.  First go-rounds on recipes I usually try to do exactly as told so I can see how I can tweak it to my liking.  I followed recipe as is on the blog and added about 1/6 ounce of sweet orange essential oil.

There were a few options for the bar of soap.  The Fels-Naptha brand happened to be the only option available here in the boonies.  The local health food store however, had lots of options in essential oils.  I love the clean smell of citrus so for first go round I bought sweet orange.

I added the essential oils while the soap was melting.  The heat would let the essential oils melt and spread more evenly through the mixture.

While the laundry soap was brewing, I started on the dryer satchels.  For actually fabric softening, I add white vinegar to the washing machine in place of fabric softener.  Works great.  I wanted something for the dryer to add scent.  I decided to stick with the orange theme and grabbed some dried orange peel at the healthfood store.

To make the dryer satchels is really pretty simple.  Most blogs, website, etc. all had the same recommendations.  Add something unscented for weight, dry beans, flaxseed, etc.  Then add your scent items.  I read mixed reviews on adding essential oils to the mixture.  Some said to be careful because the oils could heat up and transfer to your clothing.  Others simple made felted balls and doused them with essential oils and said they have never had a problem with the oil transfer.  I am experimenting to see which theory I go with.

Here is what I put in my dryer satchel.  A handful of dry navy beans for weight, one tablespoon dry orange peel, 10 cloves, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and a few drops of sweet orange essential oil.

Finished products!  The kitchen smelled heavenly as these were being made.

Lessons Learned:

I think I may tweak the soap recipe just a tad.  Less water and a little more cleaning agents.

These dryer balls are awesome and I will be making a basketfull of these so you can choose your scent for your own load.

Dried ingredients are expensive.  This spring, summer I will be collecting and drying local wildflowers for my own use.  And drying citrus peel is very easy so I will be doing this on my own as well.

What's It Cost:

Box of Borax    $3.38
Box of Washing Soda   $3.24
Fels-Naptha    $0.97
Essential Oils   $4.19
Dried Orange Peel  $2.34 (for a small bag with about 1/2 cup)

Not too shabby.  The Fels-Naptha bar will make three batches if you use exactly as in the recipe.  The washing soda and Borax will make a LOT of batches considering you only use 1/2 cup for each batch.  The recipe as is makes about 2 gallons of laundry soap.

Results:

The first load of wash has been washed.  Clothes came out smelling clean and faintly of orange.  Perfect.  No overpowering scent but definitely clean.  They are now in the dryer.  I will update you on results, but so far, everything is great!

Dryer is done, clothes all warm and smelling great.  There is not an overwhelming smell of orange.  But as the basket sits in front of me I can definitely smell the orange spicyness of it.  I think I will either make larger satchels or put two satchels into the dryer.