One Small Step

The other day, I read a post on Young House Love about greener ways to clean.  I was intrigued, and by no means, am I "green" person, but I got excited when I read about how cheap it can be.  Basically the jift of the post was, you can clean your whole house with homemade formulas, such as vinegar and water, and save money by not buying those expensive household cleaning products.  And did you ever realize how harmful cleaning products can be?! I sure didn't.  Anyways, I haven't quite tested the waters yet (I plan too once I use up my cleaners!!), but I HAVE purchased an all natural soap that was highly recommended and has awesome reviews, called Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap (fyi, it can be bought at Target).  This soap has so many different purposes, I can't wait to see all of my 18 different cleaners that have only 1 specific purpose to be cut down to just 1! So far, Ross & I have been using it in our handsoap dispensers.  You just fill the soap dispenser a bit with the soap, then the rest with water to dilute it, (since this stuff is as pure as it comes), and voila! ...you have handsoap.  It smells awesome and even works in the foam soap dispenser's that me & Ross love, and I'm thinking it won't dry out my hand's this winter since it's all natural!  And let me tell you, come winter, my hand's are in terrible, dry, cracked condition, yuck.  So any soap to rid me of that is a winner in my book! And I can only imagine how long this stuff will last since you have to dilute it almost any time you use it.  A small bottle will go a long way :)  So far, we haven't tested it anywhere else.  You can also use it as a bodywash, pet shampoo, household cleaner, etc.  I plan to use it in these sorts of ways, but first I have to use up the other products I already have.

Anyways, I know it doesn't take a lot for me to get excited about something, but I really love this stuff! And any way to be greener (and save money!) is a plus to me ....we're slowly coming around :)

Time to Bake

It's October, and Halloween is quickly approaching. Every year, by this time, I find myself dreaming of christmas cookies, but I also don't have the patience to wait 3 more months, so I jump ahead and make my favorite cookie of all...sugar cookies! What else is more delicious than a hardy helping of icing atop a theme-shaped cookie.....and with a face to make it all the better?! Yup....I go all out....pumpkin shaped cookies with a face (candy corn for the eyes, i admit, i stole the idea from Eat'n Park) and some icing for a spooky mouth (and I added some Ghost shaped cookies this year, but half of their arms broke off, and they were too hard to icing, so no more Ghosts!).

Sugar cookies have always been my favorite, so it's no wonder I put so much time and effort into making these cookies.  Although, come December, I will be too lazy to make them again so soon, so they will again forgo my xmas cookie tray!  I took a few pictures of my hard work, before I put them away in containers and the icing gets crushed and smeared (*tear*), b/c its the best way I know how to store them.  I also finished them just in time for Ross to have one before his drive back up to IUP for the week.  And don't worry, I put 2 in a baggy for him so he wouldn't miss out on any cookies in the 2 days he is gone.  HA! And lastly, Dakota was trying to get a lick every time I turned my back! If her nose was any longer, surely she could've reached one!  Anyways, I hope they make your mouth water....b/c if ANY of you lived closer, I would be able to share and spare a few.  BUT until then, enjoy the pics.  And don't worry, they taste just as good as they look :P

Farewell Camping Season

It is officially the end of mine & Ross' camping season.  But we went off with a *bang!* this weekend with a few of my close friends, and lucked out with beautiful autumn weather (at least for Saturday & Sunday....Friday was a bit rained out!).  I am already counting down the days until next season, as I have quickly realized how much I missed camping (since I went as a kid with my family) and how much I still love it.  A few highlights of this weekend were the amazing steak and potatoes we made for dinner on Saturday (we are quite the chefs when we have a fire to cook over, as this is our only version of owning a grill!); the late night snacks of pizza moutain pies, and ham & chs melts; Ang's delicious taco dip (ok, i admit it, we're food-aholics when we go camping); our annoying camping neighbors that felt it necessary to yell "BEER" and "PARTY" at all annoying hours of the night/early morning! And then mimicking Ang when she would yell it back. HA!; and lastly, our cozy and quaint 3-person (but really only big enough for 2-people-and-a-dog) tent that i've grown quite fond of this season after seeing that it can definitely hold its own!

 Once we got home, Ross & I washed & detailed every inch of my car after the abuse & neglect it has taken since we use my car for camping.  Now it is sparkling, and i can't even remember the last time it was so clean :) All of the camping stuff has been cleaned off and put away until next season.  So for now, Farewell camping, Hello! fall sports...specifically the Penguins!  There's is always something to look forward to in every *season :)

(*except Spring, haha)

Hello New Blog :)

Well, I got my new blog up & running.  In with the new, out with the old (Xanga, that is).  It was time for a fresh start, a new blog, and a new outlook on life (right?!).  Anyways, I always love to read blogs from some of my other family members to see what's new and interesting in their lives, and to not feel so out-of-touch with people.  As for me, life is smooth sailing, as always. Ross will be finishing up his Master's @ IUP in December (yay!) and will hopefully then be working full-time.  Extra moo-lah anyone?! Nope, not us, we'll actually be working towards saving for a house one day down the road, since we are both tired of the '1-bdrm apt.' living situation.  A place to call our own is on the top of my wish list right now :)  So other than that, life hasn't changed much for us. 

Dakota is keeping us happy and keeping our lives interesting, but we love her (don't let Ross fool you when he says otherwise!). I even bought her an adorable hoodie for camping. HA! I'm NOT one of those 'i-dress-my-dog-in-ppl-clothes-b/c-i-think-its-a-human' people, but its been getting chilly out and she's been cold at night while camping, so i had to do something about it.  Anyways, the hoodie was the only appropriate choice b/c what else do you wear when you go camping?! It even has her name stenciled on the back thanks to me having too much time on my hands :) O so appropriate for D and her stylish ways.

Anyways, don't worry, this blog is NOT all about D, she just happens to be the most amusing things in our lives thus far :)