Home Product Review

Just my opinions on some products we've bought and used recently, just in case someone stumbles across this and was thinking about trying one of them!

My favorite laundry detergent ever!  It not only leaves your clothes smelling delish, but your house smells amazingly while doing laundry.

 NOT a fan.  Iron out in powder form works great for removing rust like stains while cleaning but smells icky. Especially if you have well water at the East coast, orange like stains can be common and a pain to remove.  So I thought these would help stay on top of the problem for the toilets.  It smells like Iron Out every time you flush and if you've ever smelled it, you know this is not a good thing, AND it did nothing to help.  I'll stick with the good ole fashioned blue toilet tabs, they work better and make your water a pretty shade.

 Bissell Steam & Sweep, an excellent buy!  It sweep vacuums and steam cleans your floors all at the same time, all you have to do is add water and plug in, plus it comes with two reusable, washable microfiber pads so you don't have to buy new pads for each use.  Our hard floors are so clean!  Steam, in my opinion, is working better than water and soap in a bucket.

Not a fan of this one either, I like Affresh better for my HE cleaner, does a better job and has a better smell.

And, lastly, my favorite new home product/appliance!  My new Bissell Rewind Premier Pet Vacuum.  We did not want to invest the money into a Dyson, even though I've heard they are great, so we went with a middle of the road vac.  I'm so pleased with it, I never realized how much Kojak fuzz my old vac left behind, or how much fur was ground down in the carpet, hidden to the human eye.  After one go-round with the new one, the tank was full of..you guessed it, tons and tons of fur.  Enough to make two pomeranians!  Plus it has pet friendly attachments for furniture and hard to reach spots.  And it doesn't hurt that it's pink.

I'm dreaming of...

So pretty.  However, I don't have much faith that we will see any of it this year.  I'm sad, I've really been wanting snow this week.  Even though it's nice living at the beach, I'm more of a mountains person.  I bet they have snow up there right now.  Sigh.

Happy New Year!

So, I took a blogging break in December, and just enjoyed my favorite time of the year (even if half of it felt like spring time at the coast!). Christmas was wonderful, as always.  We were so happy to be able to go home for two weeks this year, and spend some much needed time with our family.  We miss them so much, and weekend trips just aren't enough time with them.  I also got to see some wonderful friends that I don't get to see enough either, including my long, long time friend, Mandi.  We are both military, and are hardly ever back home at the same time, but we finally timed it right, and had a wonderful time catching up, I can't believe we've been friends for 23 years!  Where does the time go?  Christmas Eve was mostly spent with Jason's dad, which was nice since we don't get to see him much, and then an early dinner with that side of the family, after which we made a bee-line to the cabin to eat (again!) with my side of the family and play "Dirty Santa" and open our traditional Christmas Eve PJ's.  My mom declared Christmas Day to be PJ's only day, which was so nice to just be comfortable and lounge all day, gifts were opened after stockings and our yummy Parker House coffee cake breakfast, and Christmas lunch was started and cooked as we felt like it, no set time for lunch, just a slow paced, relaxing day.  We also got to stay through New Year's Day this year, which we haven't done in years.  And we all made it to midnight after playing board games and watching Christmas movies to watch the ball drop together.  We all miss our loved ones that are no longer with us on earth, especially at Christmas time when you really feel the loss of their presence, but can you imagine the Christmas they had?!  Even though they aren't here any more physically, their love and our memories remain.  Grandaddy, Aunt Mel, Uncle Skip, Grandma Jordan, and sweet baby Landon, how we miss you here, but we can't wait to spend Christmas in Heaven with you.

2011 was a tough year, as have been the past several years.  But our family always pulls together and makes it through.  Life is not easy, it isn't promised to be, but how blessed we are to have a God that promises to always be there for us.  As 2012 is in full swing now (I'm still in denial that it's been almost 12 years since I graduated AND that I am almost 27 again for the 4th time which is a milestone and kinda tough for me to think about), I am praying that it will be a good year, a year of blessings, recovery, health and a year for big decisions.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but it is possible to be nervous and excited at the same time.  I have faith that God holds our lives in His hands and wants good things for us, and even though the past few years have been trying, I hold the hope that this year will be a wonderful one.

I don't typically do New Year's resolutions, but just things I want to improve on or change.  As the new year kinda signifies a new start, it always feels like a good jump start for things like that.  I want to read my Bible more and have a stronger prayer life, I want to do devotions with J, I want to make eating healthy and exercising a way of life and not just something I feel I need to do to lose weight or satisfy a doctor, I want to find an exercise I actually enjoy (fat chance, lol), I want to learn how to cook new dishes and rekindle my love for cooking, I want to paint our mudroom and kitchen, just to name a few.  I have other things I am hopeful for in the coming year, but they are things that aren't totally in my control, and for those things we are trusting and praying!

To wrap up, I thought I'd share some holiday photos!

  

                                                                                   

7 Already?!

I can't believe he's 7 today!  Where does the time go?!  I still remember when he came into this world, all blue and banged up, but that little guy was such a fighter!  And look how big, strong, and handsome he is now!!!  7 years ago, I became "Aunt Eesie", this little fella gave me the job of being an aunt for the first time, and it's a job that I have loved every step of the way!  He has brought so much joy to our family, so many laughs, so many hugs and kisses, and so many happy times.  We love you Austin and hope that today brings everything you wish for!

I found a cute definition of what an aunt is and can only hope that Austin sees me this way:

Aunt:  a cherished friend and personal cheerleader who will always see you through rose-colored glasses.

Happy Birthday, buddy!

Catching Up & A Few Funnies

I have renamed Kojak due to the fact that he eats any and everything.  Lola's food, the kitties' food, cat litter, the burnt drippings from the grill that we cleaned out last week, he even licks the carpet in random areas of the house to see if he can pick up some crumbs that we may have missed somehow.  So his new name, and what we are all calling him these days is Piggy Fatterson.  It's perfect.

I quite enjoyed my dad's reaction to my nose piercing this past weekend, as it made me laugh quite a bit.  I have a diamond stud in it, and he tried to pick it off, saying I had a booger on the outside of my nose...I asked if boogers were shiny and looked like diamonds, and he said "Well, you've always been a princess, so it makes sense that you would have diamond boogers!"...he's quite the comedian...

We went to the fair while we were home visiting.  First time I've been in about 7 years.  I probably won't be going back for another 7, at least.  I think I'm getting old because it wasn't nearly as fun as it used to be.  The crowds smother me, the food hurts my stomach and the rides make me dizzy (well, most of them).  It was fun to spend the time with my family, and to watch Jason and Matt try their luck at the mechanical bull (video to follow), and to see the excitement on Austin's face, but I think I'm good for a while.

Everybody is coming down to our house this weekend:)  Ash, Matt, and Austin will be here tomorrow night, and we will be going to Mike's Farm here in town Thursday, for country cuisine and a pumpkin patch hayride, I think I'm almost as excited as Austin!  Thursday night, Momma, Daddy, Alaina, and Grandma will arrive:)  The guys have big plans for fishing and shrimping (shrimp that will come in handy for the weekend!).  And us gals will probably just enjoy being together and taking advantage of the cool temps settling in this week!  We will be celebrating Grandma's birthday with Gumbo (with the aforementioned shrimp) and Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake on Saturday (YUM!).  Before they head out on Sunday, we will be watching the Panthers/Redskins game at 1:00 and hoping for a much needed win!  I'm ready to get them here!  Pictures are sure to follow!

We FINALLY got the pumpkins painted.  It was a bigger job than I expected!  But I am so thrilled with the outcome.  I piled them up in my fireplace and am quite in love with the outcome:)

Jason's didn't fit with my pretty pumpkins.  So his found a home next to the witch's broom.  He insisted on doing a scary one, so I insisted it wasn't going in the fireplace with mine:)

As of today, I have 14 days until I start decorating for Christmas:)  I always like to do it at the first of November, because one month is NEVER long enough for me to enjoy it!  I have also started Christmas shopping and plan to be done before December this year.  That's the plan anyways...

Tiffany is coming up to spend Thanksgiving with us this year!  It will be nice to have a visit longer than 2 days, and she will finally get to see where we are from and see the whole family.  She will be staying up at the cabin in the foothills with us at Dad and Mom's.  And she will be going with us Black Friday shopping at midnight ( a new tradition as of last year due to the tremendous fun we had tackling and blocking the wild women at Wally World, all while making alliances with the others so we had eyes and ears in all parts of the store!).  And of course our annual tree trip to the mountains.  I can't wait!

Jason's college classes start back up on the 6th.  He should be done by summer time and have his bachelor's degree! Please be praying for guidance for the two of us, and that if it's God's will, that He will provide a job in the civilian world for us at the end of this enlistment (November 2013) that will be what we need, and that if it's not, that He gives me peace about having to stay in the military, because these days, I am so very weary of this lifestyle and it's demands on Jason and his time, and I'm really tired of missing out on so many things with our family.

We are praying that Jason's leave gets approved for December!  Our plan is to take several weeks over Christmas.  It has been so long since we have had leave and last year everybody had to come to our house because he had to work.  Hence the "weary of this lifestyle".

Anyways, I realized that I am really behind on my updates, so I will post some pictures from the wedding job I had last month, and our mini vacay in Myrtle Beach as well, soon!  Oh, and I have some from the fair too.  I just hate uploading pictures on blogger, they always give me issues..

Tiff's Tat

My sweet, sweet friend, Tiffany, is fond of ink, and her latest tattoo touched me in such a way.  Her mother has beaten breast cancer twice (I believe, it's either 2 or 3 times), so the ribbon in pink is for her.  The gray ribbon is the ribbon for Diabetes.  The gray ribbon is the "H", and the pink ribbon is the "E", with ribbons in between spelling HOPE.  She said it's for two people that she cares deeply about who fight diseases.  How she thought of this, I don't know, but it's so special to me that she cares enough to put something permanently on her as a reminder.  She told me that it spells "hope" because that with God there's always hope, and we have hope that there will one day be a cure for both.  She's dear to my heart :)

Got My Hair Did and Some Rambling

I hadn't had anything done to my hair in about a year, and it was getting to be about time!  I got a shape up "trim" and some new, brighter highlights.  I'm happy with the slightly different look!

As you can see in the picture, I am wearing my new Panthers jersey.  A total steal from the end of last season.  It was in the kids department at Belk's, on clearance and then an additional 30% off.  It came home with me for 8 buck and some change.  And it's an official jersey, these aren't cheap.  I was totally psyched to find it, and to top it off, it's a Steve Smith one, he's my fave:)  And I'm happy to report, they finally pulled out a win today, beating the Jaguars 16-10, not pretty, but a win nonetheless!

The new tool I'm in love with is my deep waver.  It's what I used on my hair in the picture.  It works like a crimper, but makes big waves instead of little crimps.  Easy, and makes lots of body.

The Dixie Classic Fair is coming in town, well not here, but back home.  So this year we are all going!  It's been forever since we went to the fair together.  I'm totally excited:)

Next week is supposed to stay in the 70's here.  For the first part of October at the coast, that's promising!  We are usually still swimming in October, but we are draining our pool this week because it's already too cool to swim (and a little green, lol).

Jason got a new tattoo.  He finally got his USMC "moto" tattoo. Oh, how I've always loved his broad shoulders, so what a good place to put it!  We did some looking around online for some different ideas, and finally found this EGA which we both totally loved.  We'd never seen one like this, and the guy who did it said he hadn't either, he even added him to the brag book of tattoos for the place he got it done at.  And for those who were wondering what Semper Fidelis means...it's the motto for the USMC which means "Forever Faithful".  I like the dual meaning:)

On our trip to Walmart this weekend, I was greeted at the door by all the wonderful pumpkins and I was mesmerized!  I quickly made my way over because I haven't seen pumpkins out yet, and we then loaded up the cart with all different sizes!  We got them home, J unloaded them, and I washed them up.  We have plans of painting them tomorrow, and saving the biggest one to carve closer to Halloween.  We will get another one with the family when they come down at the end of October and we all go to the local pumpkin farm and hayride, and we will carve that one too.  We like to have two so we can both pick out designs we want to carve.  I think we are going to invest the few dollars to get the pumpkin drill at Walmart this year, it seems like it will be much easier.

I will post some pictures once we get them all painted and decorated, I will take some of our outside decorations too!

We got our first set of Egyptian cotton sheets a few weeks ago.  We didn't pay too much for them, as they are really reasonably priced at the Wally World.  They are 400 thread count and outta this world!  All of ours were pretty threadbare so we were at the point of having to get some.  I try to make them last as long as possible, but sometimes you have to give in.  Those will be our backup sheets until they fall apart.  Egyptian cotton..it's the way to go!  They feel a little sturdier and are so soft!

I found the perfect costume/outfit for Kojak for Halloween.  ...Or for everyday.  It's a black t-shirt (for dogs), and on the back, it has vampire fangs, and it says "I BITE".  Fitting.

Well, it's time for some Scooby Doo.  Yep, I still love it, especially this time of year.  It's fun spooky.  That's why I love ABC Family's 13 Nights of Halloween, and usually Disney has some good Halloween specials too.  Not scary or gross, but spooky and fun.  That's the way I like Halloween:)

I Gave In

After almost 7 years of marriage, I think my honey has asked me to get a fish tank oh...about 572 times.  I always said, no, we have a dog and that's plenty of pet for me (sometimes too much pet!), but for some reason, this week I gave in, as long as it was small and easily maintainable.  We have 4 glow fish, 2 pink, 1 yellow, 1 orange.  We named them:)  We have Pudge and Pinky, the two pink ones...Pudge has a big belly, I hope that doesn't mean he's a she and pregnant!  The orange one is Punkin, and the yellow one is Flo because he/she is the one with the biggest fins and they float and swish around more than the others.  We also have a handful of ghost shrimp to keep it clean.  I know nothing about fish tanks, so this is Jason's thing.  I just picked out the fish and decorated it, lol.  It's his thing to keep it clean and going.  I think it's purdy, and I love the noise from the filter and the bubbles:)

Sitting Room and Living Room Ready Too!

Our sitting room:

Our seasonal "Christmas" tree.  A little crow found his place at the base with some more pumpkins!

The TV cabinet

Fireplace

Up close of the mantle, love my little primitive witch's hat, and hand stitched picture (done by my Momma!).

Kitchen and Dining Room Ready for Fall!

 My new pumpkin basket flower arrangement, all supplies found at Michael's :)

Also, picked up a few autumn signs at Michael's.

Dining Room:

Lots of mood lights, love 'em!

New table runner and a basket full of pumpkins, gourds, and leaves.

More to follow!

Autumn Scents

I must say, it's smelling awfully fallish around our house:)

And The Bathroom is DONE!

Painted cabinets, new mirrors and lights, and an paintable wallpaper accent wall:

Baseboards, new towels, and matching barn star:

And Crown Molding:

Coming Soon...

Yes, I am getting ready to decorate for fall.  I do not care that it is August 19th.  I am evoking a cooler spirit in my house in hopes that the outdoor temps will soon follow.  I'm excited:)  Pictures to come!

Blessed

So many times, I hear people complain about how much they hate Jacksonville, and while I can relate when it comes to talking about the main drag in town where every other building is a "buy-here, pay-here" car lot, a tattoo parlor, a strip club, or a pool hall, the rest of this area of NC is absolutely beautiful!  Not many people can drive 10-20 mins. and be at the beach, eating at a restaurant overlooking the ocean.  So I choose to see the blessings in living in a not-so-desirable military town.

Our view at dinner a few weeks ago: