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Thank You Writers Strike Part III

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

We are down to basic channels, thanks to the writers strike! I am finding my life to be much fuller since we cut down our television watching. Direct TV had raised our rates again (just another $5 after the numerous $5-8 rate increases) and I just thought to myself, “Now what sensible person would continue taking it from the man?”

Ryan isn’t really as on board with this decision, but I suggested all of the great things we could do with our thirty dollar a month savings. We could maybe get a couple of new Wii games, we could have a great date night (and TALK!), we could read the same book and talk about it, we could play board games, we can enjoy taking walks… the possiblities are endless!

I went on the website, I picked the option to change my plan, and then I thought of all the shows we couldn’t see and that I would miss.

We will see how it goes, but I am committed to trying!

Sound Off: Do you have cable or satellite television? What type of plan are you on?

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Posted in Announcements | 16 Comments »

Spring Cleaning: Week One, Day Three

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

Day three!! We are halfway through our week of cleaning our first room. Only three more days to go and we can experience a neat-as-a-pin kitchen. I can’t wait to have my friends over in my newly organized space!

Today we are tackling the pantry and/or cupboards. Remember that the tasks are intended to be an hour so do what you have time for, but don’t be surprised if you get carried away and can’t stop. I think it is the getting going part that is so hard for me.

I am off to tackle my pantry right now!

Today’s Printable:


Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Three

In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

Sound Off: Do you have a system for organizing your pantry or a way that has made finding what you need a little easier?

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Posted in Cleaning | 3 Comments »

Progress Report: Day Two in the Kitchen

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

I will admit it, I am a love to clean my floors and see them all new and shiny. Cleaning the floors is not a problem… moving all of the stuff that is resting on the floors is something I don’t do.

Here are my rugs sitting on the nice cold front step. They got a good shimmy shake and laid out in the sunshine while I busted tail and cleaned my floors.

Once items were moved (surprise, surprise) lots of dust bunnies and yuck emerged. I pressed on, like the soldier I am, and showed them who was boss.

How nice to have gleaming floors to greet me in the morning! Each step brings me closer to the home I am dreaming of. I hope you are having the same experience!

PS- Did I mention how nice this is to do this with friends? I noticed even message board GROUPS were doing it together. That is so wonderful and it is motivating me to keep trudging on. A big hug and thanks to all my friends for linking in to my spring cleaning challenge.

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Posted in Cleaning | 3 Comments »

WSBT-TV: The Amazing Dishwasher

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

Today on our Moms First segment on WSBT, we are talking about how to save money using your dishwasher. I offer a few ideas for ways to save money including what cycles to chose, how to make your own dish detergent, what to buy instead of Jet Dry and explain the cost-effectiveness of putting your dishes in the dishwasher.

This is great timing since we are spring cleaning our kitchens this week! I will have to add an extra credit assignment to our printables to clean our dishwashers! You can also read my article, “The Amazing Dishwasher” for more ideas on how to save money!

I have gotten some emails from local folks who missed the recipe this morning for making your dish detergent so I wanted to supply that too!

Homemade Dishwashing Detergent

1 cup Borax
1 cup Baking Soda
1/4 cup Salt

Mix these ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Add one tablespoon to your detergent dispenser. If you have an older dishwasher, you may need to experiment with this to see what works best. You can also add this mixture and then a small sprinkle of the regular stuff you buy to extend further.

This formula works well for scouring sinks and tubs too!

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Posted in Life | 9 Comments »

Why Buy Milk? Let Me!

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008


Why buy milk when I could just give it to you for free? Hurry over to The MotherLoot for contest details on a giveaway for three containers of Horizon Organics Plus with DHA!

And while you are perusing our site, be sure to enter our Geek Squad Giveaway and check our latest review entries for fun children’s soaps and a great phone for work-at-home moms!

Sound Off: Let’s have a frank discussion about organic milk (without being mean or bullying anyone!) Do you buy organic milk or organic food products? Do you have a selective list of organic products you buy or do you go all the way with organic eating? How has this impacted your health or your grocery bill?

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Posted in Giveaways | 14 Comments »

Spring Cleaning: Week One, Day Two

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

I was so thankful for your comments and encouragement on these printables. It had been pretty quiet yesterday and I started questioning if anyone really wanted to do this or would use these at all. Thanks for letting me know that they truly are helpful and that you do appreciate some of these tasks being presented in a smaller format.

I know that an entire day of cleaning just sounded daunting to me. In a way, I feel defeated before I begin. I am trying to chug along with you and my home needs just as much attention (sometimes a whole lot more) than everyone else!

I also recall that when I was a new homemaker, I had no idea how to do ANYTHING in my house. Even something that sounds simple to most (like cleaning out the fridge) was something I was researching how to do. My suggestions are only based on being a new mommy and a new homemaker and not having a clue what the heck I was doing with my very own house. I still sometimes feel like I am just “playing house.” I think that is why this was important for me to share- so someone else isn’t struggling with being a new homemaker!

Today is day two and we are going to work on deep cleaning the floors. I have put together a printable of some ideas for cleaning your floors, although this was tough since each person has a different type of flooring in their kitchen. You will also find a little bit of encouragement and a recipe for a meal- enjoy!!

Today’s Printable:

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Sound Off: Do you have a method to your mopping? Any product/mopping solution you rave about? Tell us the type of your floors and how you get them clean!

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Posted in Cleaning | 9 Comments »

Progress Report: Day One in the Kitchen

Monday, March 10th, 2008

My fridge is clean- whoohoo! Isn’t it all about the little things in life? You know it is bad when you are sniffing the interior of the fridge because it smells so darn fresh. You also know it is bad if you think this is as big of a deal as I did!

My refrigerator was G-R-O-S-S! I would elaborate, but I am embarrassed to say that I found something from September lurking towards the back. Yeah, you could say that this needs to happen a tad more often in my house. Lucky for me, I have some amazing readers who won’t shame me for it!

Please feel free to share a link to your own progress or just discuss how disgusting the task was…or be smug cause you are one of those people. You know who you are… fridge cleaners!

Day one is behind me and I look forward to sharing my progress on day two. Gooooo team!

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Posted in Life | 7 Comments »

Redbox Code 03.10.08

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Today’s free code for a Redbox movie is PL96QA. This code is good for one free movie and you can use it until midnight tonight. Enjoy a free family movie together!

Side Notes:

– If you want to rent more than one movie for free, bring more than one credit/debit card. You can use the same promotional code, you just will need different cards to charge it to. The charge will be zero as long as you return your movie on time for the next day.

– When entering in your free movie code, you need to enter it FIRST before picking the movie. On the very first screen, click the, “Rent with Promo.” Enter in the above code and then make your selection- the amount should then total zero.

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Posted in Freebies | 1 Comment »

Spring Cleaning: Week One, Day One

Monday, March 10th, 2008

As promised, I am putting together printables for tackling your spring cleaning this year. I just want to stress that we would like for you to share these with others, but ask that you direct them to our site to print them. They have been formatted into PDF files to try and retain as much ownership on them as I can.

I have been working my tail off on these all weekend and I am hoping that you will find them useful. Today we have an introductory letter explaining how the plan will work, what tools you will need to accomplish your tasks, and then your assignment for you to complete. For fun, I have included a recipe/meal idea that you can use. The point is to have a meal in mind so your cleaning doesn’t have you running out to McDonald’s every night, not necessarily that you have to make whatever is on my agenda.

I am working through these tasks with you and will do my best to post my pictures of my progress. I anticipate my blogging to be a little sluggish as I am trying to put these printables together, spring clean along with you, and keep up with all of the other stuff on my plate. I will do my best though!

Please send some feedback my way- I am anxious to hear it!

Today’s Printables:

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

PS- I am trying to upload my photos for today, but am getting errors and timeouts from Google. Is anyone else having trouble with Blogger?

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Posted in Cleaning | 21 Comments »

Spring Cleaning Agenda

Friday, March 7th, 2008

It is that time of year again and I am so excited to share with you my spring cleaning goals and accomplishments for this year. To be honest, I really dread doing the spring cleaning routine, but I do love the sense of accomplishment I get and being able to restore my home to some semblance of order for the year.

I work hard as a mom and I work hard on our site so doing an entire marathon of cleaning won’t be on my agenda. I keep a fairly tidy home, but I do have problem spots that desire attention. Maybe you work? Maybe you homeschool? Maybe you have a new baby? Marathon cleaning might not be for you!

I am hoping my proposed agenda might be a little more appealing. Each week we will tackle one room in our home and our tasks will be divided into one hour tasks for each day of the week, concentrating on our focused room. I am hoping to put together some printable checklists for the rooms, to help accomplish our goals for the year and to act as motivation for our spring cleaning routine.

The first room that I will be addressing in my home is my kitchen. Tidy enough to eat in? Yes! Scared when company opens a drawer or cupboard? Absolutely!

My goals for the kitchen might be different from yours though so take this weekend to think of seven one hour tasks you could do to get your kitchen/dining room in order.

Goals for My Kitchen (7 Tasks)

1. Clean out the refrigerator (interior)
2. Deep clean the floors (I steam my floors bi-weekly) and washing/shaking out rugs
3. Organize Pantry
4. Clean the refrigerator (exterior) & organize the cupboards under the sink
5. Weeding Out Day (removing unnecessary or unused items in my kitchen)
6. Continue Organizing Pantry (can do inventory at this point for grocery shopping needs)
7. Clean out the freezer

** Monica at the Homespun Heart is offering a giveaway to help motivate you to do your cleaning! Be sure to visit her site for the scoop on the contest and how to participate!!**

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Posted in Cleaning | 8 Comments »

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