Making Laundry Soap

One of the things I haven't gotten around to yet is making my own laundry or hand soap.  This week at Rural King they have all the ingredients on sale for making your own laundry soap.  So I bought them all.  $14 later, I will have enough soap to fill a 5 gallon bucket and last forever.  Wahoo!! :)  I plan on making this sometime this week so it can sit for a few days while we're on vacation (yes, you read that right!  VACATION!!), even though it only requires 24 hours to sit. 

I originally found out about the sale on The Frugal Family which is a blog that's written by Misty, a mom that lives in Central Illinois and keeps up on couponing and sales.  Much easier for me to follow her blog, than scour the ads each week and compare :)  Thanks, Misty!!!

I'll post the "recipe" for the laundry soap once I have it made, since I may tweak the one she has posted.

Has anyone else ever made homemade laundry or hand soap?  Do you any tips or pointers I need to know about??  Let me know, please!!!

Photo Blog is Up and Running!!

So as I mentioned my last post, I've been working around the clock on editing photos this past week for a couple photo shoots I did last weekend.  One was a Senior Photo Session, the other was for a good friend and her "family" who just moved into a new house and wanted to send out some of those "We Moved" announcements with their house and new address.  So needless to say it's been a bit crazy this past week.  It's just been editing, editing, editing!   

Since I finally got all their photos edited and to the appropriate people, I thought I'd get the McEinhart Photo Blog up and going.  Check it out and subscribe to the RSS or follow me on there, in order to stay up to date on everything! 

Needless to say.......

HERE I AM WORLD!!!  

I'm doing something for ME and something that I enjoy wholeheartedly...

P-H-O-T-O-G-R-A-P-H-Y!!

Crazy, Busy Days

Hello, my friends!!

I feel like I've been a bit MIA lately.  I've been quickly going to all my daily reads, and throwing up a post here and there, but really don't feel that I've devoted much time to the blogworld lately. 

I've had 4 photo shoots within a 10 day time period.  So between all the photo snapping and photo editing it's been a bit hectic and exhausting in my world.  BUT.. the good news is that I'm about done with the photo editing at this point.  And should have my new photo blog up shortly, so I can share all those details with you soon, as well.

I know, you can't WAIT, can you? :)  Get EXCITED!!

Laundry Room Sign

Awhile ago I came across an ironing board holder on a blog that I follow and finally got around to making one for myself.  It seems that I don't really have a place to put our ironing board so it ends up just being moved around wherever it's convenient in the basement, which is where our laundry room is located.

Here I am in the beginning of the process.  I had just sanded the board down and sprayed on the first coat of primer.

Next, I sprayed on some flat white paint.  Once the paint dried, I pasted on some letters.  Then came the glossy spray paint to set the letters and give the board a glossy finish, since all I had on hand was a flat white.  After it was painted, I attached 2 coat hooks with screws.  As you can tell I used hooks that were smaller so the ironing board could sit on top of the hooks rather than in them on the bottom row.  This way I'll be able to hang some extra hangers or a clothespin bag below.

 

The finished product was hung in the laundry room across from our washer and dryer.  And yes, we have an UGLY, unfinished laundry room.  Don't judge, we don't own it!! ;)

Garden Update: Half Dead

I'm sure if you're reading this post, you've kept up with the garden updates from the creation of the garden box here, as well as all the updates here, here, and here.

It has been over 4 months since we built the garden and unfortunately we've lost the zucchini and yellow squash.  We had a pretty bad case of squash bugs and didn't realize it.  The zucchini never actually produced anything.  The yellow squash kept producing little guys about 3 inches big, but then they'd dry up mysteriously.

Once we finally decided to call it quits on them, we pulled them both out.  Now over the past couple of weeks we've noticed our cucumbers dying mysteriously.  We've been watering them just as much as the tomatoes and other plants, but for some reason they were drying up.  Then one day we saw the squash bugs.  That was when we finally called my dad, aka Mr. Garden Extraordinaire, and explained the bug situation and he told us to get Sevin, which is a garden bug spray that wont harm (most) veggies, but kills the bugs.

It seems we finally got rid of all the bugs, but now our cucumber plant is dead... BOO!!  We did get one cuke off it and Josh said it was really sweet and delicious.  So hopefully now that we know what to look for, next year will be more successful.

And you can now see the new marigold plant we planted in place of the zucchini and yellow squash.  

Good news is that the tomatoes and jalapenos (not pictured) are doing just fine.  Still not sure how the popcorn is going to turn out.  Fingers are crossed for that one!!

Photo Session: Denise's "Senior" Pictures

Since I am just starting to get my photography business off the ground, my best friend Denise agreed to do some "Senior" pictures for me, which ironically fall around her 10 year high school reunion.



My FAVORITE from the day



**Under Construction**

Hey ya'll!  The blog is going under some major renovation.  Please disregard all the mess right now.  It'll be up and going here shortly.  Sorry for the inconvenience!

Cara

Excuses for Bad Food

Recently, when talking to one of my best friends about diet and food, she was expressing her reasoning as to why she doesn't eat healthy.  And I, like most, can agree with her.  Many people don't eat healthy because it seems to be such a "hassle"... well.. it's really not!  It just take a little bit of planning.  Now, I know I'm not an expert by any means, but slowly and surely the hubbs and I have learned to not only pick out healthier options, but also to force ourselves into taking my lunch and picking out healthier options at restaurants.  

Source: singlelifecook.com

Here are the excuses my friend had for not eating healthy, and as I said, I'm sure many people would agree:   

1 - Hate grocery shopping

2 - Spending money
3 - Never know what is needed

4 - Never enough time to thoroughly shop
5- End up buying quick/boxed foods that are horrible

6 - Anything fresh tends to go bad because it's not cooked in time

 As I said before, I've been working on eating healthier and trying to find better options for cooking and eating out.  Below are a few of the things that I've done to make that transition.

Source: Taste of Home

1-  We buy TONS of fresh fruits and veggies and each eat it along with our breakfast and lunch.  Some days fruit is over half of my food intake.

2-We try to buy in bulk to save money and freeze the additional food.  For example, we get a 5 lb package of Turkey from Sam's Club for like $10 and it lasts us approximately 4 weeks (we make a TON of Turkey Tacos!  Yummmm!! :)).  We also buy Coffee, Chicken and Fruits to freeze.  This will give us fresher coffee for longer, the ability to make homemade chicken, and fresh fruits without preservatives at a cheaper price for winter eating and making delicious smoothies.

3- We used to grocery shop on our paydays, which is every 2 weeks.  However, we learned that after the first week we were eating crap, rather than fresh stuff because we'd eaten it all the first week.  Now we shop weekly and just make a BIG trip every month for all the pantry items, since most of the stuff we get is fresh anyways.  This seems to work the best when we set aside a budget for groceries, too.  That way we wont end up buying crap, especially when it isn't in our budget.   

4- Just like my friend, I used to hate grocery shopping.  I think when I started to set time aside for it, and really think about what I was buying, I really started to enjoy it more.  When I would go just because my cabinets were bare and I had NOTHING to eat, I'd just go to grab a ton of expensive pre-made or boxed dinners.  (And...I'm not sure anyone truly LOVES grocery shopping, but it has to be done so your family can eat.)  We tend to shop on Sunday afternoons once we get the newspaper and check out the sales for the week.  Yes, it tends to be busier on Sundays, but it works for us.  Just pick a day that works for you and go weekly. 

5- Lastly, the hubbs and I tend to have a somewhat rotating schedule of meals.  Like I said earlier, we eat turkey tacos at least once a week, and I eat popcorn and an apple as a meal once in awhile as well.  So these are cheaper options and still healthy.  We do change it up once in awhile, but we have our set groceries that we buy each week/month since we consistently eat the same things.  Now, this may sound a bit boring, but we don't eat the same foods from week to week, we have probably 15+ meals that we change around with different sides and veggies.  Its simple and healthy...and we like it.  :)

6- Now if you wanted to take this one step further, you could create a calendar and a meal plan for each day.  That way you know what to purchase each week and nothing, especially fresh foods, will go to waste.  This will help you to always have food on hand, and to eat out less since you can prepare some ahead of time for lunches etc. 

7-Another thing I do is subscribe to food blogs and newsletters.  This constantly gives me new and fun ideas to try.  One of the favorite magazines/websites that I use is Taste of Home .  Their magazine comes out quarterly and gives ideas for holidays, in addition to everyday eating.  A recent blog I started following is called Dashing Dish.  She talks about all of the alternatives to creating healthy, low cal meals to some favorite dishes, desserts and drinks.  I'm totally in love with her site right now!  Yumm!!  No Bake Cookies are by far my FAVORITE thing ever thanks to Josh's Aunt Kim!  And Katie at Dashing Dish has a healthier recipe option listed.  Too bad I didn't find the recipe last night when we made No Bakes.  Bummer!  Guess we'll have to make them tonight! :)

What other things do you do to keep good food in your house, rather than bad food?  I'm always open to additional suggestions as well!

What I'm Reading Now...

In the past few months I've been reading tons of books.  Partially I like to keep my mind occupied, and partially becuase I don't have much else to do.  Ever since our Wedding last year, I've been trying to find new hobbies to keep me busy.  It's hard to know what to do with yourself after planning such a big event... especially one that consumed ALL of your time.

Anyways... the book I've picked up recently is called Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) by Cathie Black.  I'm only about halfway through, but I've really enjoyed it so far.  She is the President of Hearst Magazines, and she gives advice and input on the things she's learned along the way to the top.  It's really interesting the things that she points out.  Some of it seems like such basic information, but so much of it is not practiced on a daily basis. 

Source: Amazon.com

I definitely recommend picking up a copy.

I'm always open for recommendations on a good read if anyone has any.  Personally, I prefer non-fiction, self help, biography type of books... but I'm open to other suggestions as well.  Have you read anything fabulous lately???

Google Calendar is A-MAZING!

As I've mentioned before, I use a calendar to write down all of my bill due dates and dog meds that need given each month.  I've slowly been transitioning over to paperless.  Now that I've been using Google Calendar, I'm learning tons of different things I can do with it.

Did you know that you can share calendars between yourself and other people AND sync those shared calendars with your phone?  NO?  Oh, you can!!  My husband and I each have our own personal "event" calendar for appointments, meetings, hanging out with friends etc.  I even set myself reminders on the calendar for "to do" stuff.  Since it pops up, its much more noticable and easier to remember than the Notepad on my iPhone. 

Until recently, I've been using my PAPER calendar for bills.  I put them on the calendar on the due date, in addition to putting (most of) them on my google "bills" calendar.  I'm moving even more in the paperless direction (not 100% because I have a couple of things that require check payments because I refurse to pay a fee to pay online).  I love finding new and more efficient ways of organizing, cutting costs, clutter and going green.  I'm not going to have a crutch anymore, which is what my paper calendar has been... and clutter in my office, too! ;)

My goal is to put the following in my Google "Bills" Calendar for each bill due:

Date Due on Calendar

Date Paid (in notes)

How much paid (in notes)

How paid - check and check #, or online (in notes)

I already have all of this info listed either on my paper calendar or previously on my old paper bills.  The electronic bills that I've saved have a date due and a date paid on it, so really the benefit is cutting the paper out of my life, plus being able to pay my bills wherever because I have my calendar on my phone and online (synced, of course, too).

Additonal Goals:

Get rid of the existing paper clutter in the apartment - this will be an ongoing task as I go through old documents and shred the ones we no longer need.  It's merge and purge time! :)  Maybe I'll get a super organized office out of the whole deal!!! Wahoo!!

Below is a screenshot of what all monthly calendars look like together.  Looks HECTIC right?  Nahh... it's not too bad!  See, they're all color coded.  My personal calendar is pink; Josh's is light green; Unpaid bills are red, while paid bills are green; Paydays and dog meds are purple, which are located on the Bill calendar;  the yellow was miscellaneous (aka our AC broke and I want to be able to track what we said/did/told our landlord and vice versa.  This was the best way to do it so hubbs and I could each see without having to put it all on paper).

 

I will say the one downfall is that if I INVITE Josh to something, like say a Wedding, it will put it on here twice since I'm also viewing his calendar.  Minor detail.  Not a big deal, just take up space and seems a bit annoying.  But oh well... I can get over it because of how AMAAAZING Google Calendar is :)

If you just want to view a specific calendar, you can view just one.  For example if I just wanted to view my bills and paydays, I could unclick all the other calendars and it would appear like this:



See how much easier that is to see JUST bills???  **LOVE***

So who else uses Google Calendar?  And how much do you LOVE it?!  Anyone need help?  I'm a pro at this point! lol!

Carefree Living

"TODAY IS A NEW DAY!  LIVE IN THE PRESENT, HOPE FOR THE FUTURE, FORGET THE PAST AND LIVE WITH NO REGRETS."

 

This is a quote I came up with myself one day after a streak of really bad days.  I've decided that there is no reason to continue to be down in the dumps about everything.  Yes, life sucks sometimes, but why dwell on it?  Everyone has bad days.  Everyone goes through bad hair days.  Everyone has a lack of money at some point in their life.  Everyone hates their job at some point.  I came to this realization and it was like a huge epiphany. 

 

And off went a LIGHT BULB....

 

I want to continue to live my life the way I USED to when I was younger.  I used to not care what other people thought about me.  I have always been a carefree person that's always done what I wanted, when I wanted and not cared about what others thought.  I've even told any guys that I started dating that's how I was and wouldn't answer to anyone.... and if they had a problem with it, we shouldn't be dating.  And most people haven't had a problem with such an independent person.  My husband has never minded... I think :).  Right, honey?  RIGHT? ;) 

 

So here I am.... not caring what others think about me anymore, doing what I want, and just living in the moment.  I've realized if I want to get where I want in my life, I can't do it by sitting by and letting others get the job, or walk on me.  I've got to stand up and BE in the MOMENT and not look back.  No regrets.  Everything happens for a reason, and the reason I'm here is so we could get married (and a lack of jobs back in Tennessee).  It's time to toughen up and move on to bigger and better things.

 

World, I hope you're ready for me, because I'm ready for the world!!!!  Now, WHO IS WITH ME?!

 

Again, "...Live in the present, hope for the future, forget the past and live with no regrets" 

Summer is Finally Here!!

Summer has officially started today!!

There are so many wonderful things about summer, but I thought I'd give a quick run down of my top things about summer:

1. Water, water, water.  It can be the beach, the pool, sprinklers, or playing the rain.  

2.  Grilling out - hot dogs, burgers, chicken.  I want to try some veggies on the grill this year, maybe even a grilled pizza since it's all the rage.

 

3.  Playing outside with the pupp.

4.  The local farmer's market

5.  ... and fresh fruits from the farmer's market, especially the juicy white peaches!!  I'm not sure what we'll do if our lady from last year isn't there this year!  Oh my!!

6.  SUNSHINE, need I say more?

7.  Sandals and cute summer clothes

8.  Driving with the windows down (while singing and dancing to good summer music)... aka country cruisin' for those of you who are from the midwest.  ;)

9.  Garage sales, or anything outdoors for that fact.

10.  Campfires, beer and s'mores.  This doesn't happen often, but is a blast when we do!

What are some of your favorite things about summer?

10 Week Garden Update

It's officially been over 10 weeks since we planted the garden and it's been a bit rough...

It looked like we were over-watering it since it was looking a bit yellowish and droopy, so we let up on watering it so much, then it started to look droopy and dry, even though it's been raining a bunch.

Needless to say, I think we've finally figured it out.  Whoohoo!!

So check out the progress now!!!

 Check out the yellow squash!!!  There are actually 2 of them, but this one is bigger.... by about a half inch.  lol!

ANDDDD... We have "a" strawberry now!! WHOOHOO!!! That's gonna end up making some great jam! haha!

Jake the Salty Dog

Not sure if many of you have heard of The Salty Dog Cafe in South Carolina, but my mom recently stopped by on her girls vacation and told me all about it.  Basically its an "area" of South Carolina where you can go to different restaurants, shops, cafe's etc.  It sounds like a pretty cool place.  If you want to check it out, click on this link to take you to their website.

The "mascot" for the Salty Dog is Jake, a black dog in a yellow hat with a red bandana.  And guess what I have!  A black dog.  Named Jake! :)))  My mom brought back a bandana for him along with his own squeeker "Jake" chew toy.  Of course I had to take photos and submit them on their website.  So of course I thought I'd share with you all as well.

And yes, I KNOW, these all probably look the same to ya'll, but they really crack  me up.  Especially because through the photos you can tell he's getting really bored and just wants to chew his new toy!

One of my FAVORITES :)

This one too!! :)

This is when I finally decided to give him the toy for pictures.  It wasn't meant for chewing.  Squeeky Jake was ONLY for decoration, but my Jake didn't quite get that.

This is the photo that was actually submitted on their website, since you can see his "Jake" name tag

Is it COMPLETELY obvious that I'm holding treats by the camera?  Ok, don't answer that, I know it is.  Gotta figure out a better way for next time.

So now I want to know YOUR favorite picture.  Vote vote vote and let me know, since I can't decide. :)  Has anyone else ever submitted a pet or family photo on the Salty Dog website?

Garden Update

Our garden has more than doubled in the past 4 weeks!!  It's HUUUUGE!!!  But don't take my word for it, check it out:

4 weeks ago, just starter plants.

 Today's picture.  Look at how it's all growing so much!!  The zucchini and yellow squash leaves are MASSIVE!!

 These are the flowers on the yellow squash!  Food coming soon!!! Whoohooo!!

 As I said before, I planted popcorn.  Even if I only get 2 ears out of it, I don't care.  It's still nice to think I can make my own popcorn.

 This is the strawberry planter.  See all those little flowers and all the new leaves?!  Yes, in full bloom!!

Now, the herbs aren't doing quite as well as the rest.  The cilantro had a few bad looking stems, so I pulled those off.  The basil seems to be a bit droopy?  I think we may have over-watered it.  Still trying to figure that out.  The mint was doing really well, but lately hasn't been looking so hot.  Partially I think it has to do with the recent temps, since it hasn't been very sunny or warm lately.  Hopefully next week will help them perk up a bit.  I've gotta figure out how to tell when the herbs are able to be plucked for cooking/eating.  Anyone else out there know?