My life from A to Z

A

Acknowledgments

Amy Krouse Rosenthal: Without her creation of the journal Encyclopedia of Me: My life from A to Z, this would not be a project, nor would I be blogging on it.

My husband, Robert. My parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, friends, and godchildren.  

Also, to my fur babies.  Although they will never read- I think they perhaps know me better than the humans.

I must also acknowledge the changes in my life.  Without change I most likely wouldn't be thinking about my life.  I'd most likely be living in pure oblivion of my life as it is now.  Which, by the way is not bad.  It is quite good... however I'm still adjusting.

...because who can really say there are not days we just want to close our eyes so we don't have to acknowledge the day?

Blogging, Start to New Year, and well.... life as it is

Since August 30, 2014... ok, well to be honest since January 2014 life has been one continuous effort to keep positive about change.  Yes, change.  It's both good and bad.

So I quit blogging sometime at the end of October beginning of November.  Since January I had been participating in a photo blog circle.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and then life happened.  I quit blogging.  The decision itself was not necessarily a conscious decision but rather a culmination of small things and poor executive functioning one day.  I just quit.  Partially, I did get a little irritated that the circle seemed broken at times, however, most of it was attempting to adapt to changes.  Changes that I agreed to within my own life.  Mainly getting married, moving, and starting a new job.   Well it all adds up and creativity can be stifled during adjustment periods.

As the New Year started I contemplated what I would blog about.  I really enjoyed blogging photography.  I intend to keep doing so through out this year, however on my own schedule.  I also intend to blog more about life in general and experiences.  In my quest to find material to photograph and write about I came up with two ideas.  Since I cannot decide solely on one I intend to do a little of both.  One, I asked my FB friends what they would like to see photographed.  I will take this list into consideration.  Two, while at Barnes and Nobel I came across a book created by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, really a blank journal of sorts titled. Encyclopedia of Me: My Life from A to Z.  I really liked the thought of this so this is the second blog topic for the year.  Some may consider it self centered, while I am looking at it from a view point of a way to historicize my life.  Perhaps others will learn from it, perhaps I will get comments that will add to it, regardless it is an undertaking I am excited to do.

Life as it is... it seems to be one big constant check and balance system.  For now, I've got chili in the crock pot, a puzzle in building, and a two different areas to blog about.

Happy 2015!

The Laundry Soap

Laundry Soap

My mom has done it.

My sister Lori has done it.

My sister Greta has done it.

I've read multiple links from Pintrest on it.

Then I decided I would try it.

Let's take a step back first.  I'm a highly sensitive person in many ways.  Smells, sounds, sights, often offend my sensory system.  Feelings of disgust rise from bad odors (body odor, garlic, bad breath, candy aisles), feelings of unwanted anger rise from repetitive sounds I can't control or move away from (pen clicking in meetings, chewing of finger nails), and dizziness often follows when I look at outrageous black and white patterns often found on others' shirts.  So, point being, the smell of opening the washer after washing clothes is often offensive to me.  I've tried putting the wash machine (which is a nearly brand new high efficiency washer) on the "tub cleaning" cycle, I've tried washing a non-load with only hot water and vinegar, but alas the smell that emits when you first open the washer is just awful. (I do realize that perhaps no one else even is aware of the smell- although I bet you'll remember to smell the next time you open the washing machine after a load just to see what you think ;) )

Well, one unintended positive of said laundry soap I'll talk about in a minute is washing machine smells that no longer offends my senses!!  YAY!  

Now, let's talk laundry soap.  A large bottle from Target, WalMart, or where ever you choose to purchase you soap from is on average $10 per 100 fluid ounces, and about $15 or more for 150 fluid ounces.  I have found that often it feels like there is a buildup of something on my clothes, maybe it is the water where we live, I don't know.  Regardless, after hearing my mom and sisters talk about making their own laundry soap at a huge cost savings, and after reading multiple posts from pinterst, I decided to give it a try. 

Here is what you need:

1) Container to hold the laundry soap. 

2) One container of Borax

3) One container of Washing Soda

4) One bottle of Dawn dish soap

5) Water

The steps:

1) Put one gallon of water into the container that will hold the laundry soap.

2) Add 1/4 cup of Borax

3) Add 1/4 cup Washing Soda

4) Add 1/4 cup Dawn dish soap

5) Mix

When I mixed mine I ended up with a lot of bubbles, they settled on their own throughout the day and really soap is supposed to bubble.  It has a little bluish tint to it- don't be alarmed by this it is supposed to be this way.  I've been using 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of detergent per load depending on the size.  Here is what I notice:
1) The clothes feel clean
2) There is no smell (other than smelling fresh) left on the clothes as they come out of the drier.
3) The smell that I always notice from opening the washing machine is NO LONGER there - I wonder if it is from chemicals from store bought detergents?? Hmm. What's your thought?

The final product

4) Huge price savings!!  I haven't calculated it out yet but for just under the cost of one bottle of detergent the ingredients will results in approximately 8 to 10 bottles of homemade detergent.  This is an estimated cost savings of $90!




While making your own homemade laundry soap isn't for everyone, it certainly has proved to have more pros than cons for me.  No more smelly washing machine and brighter cleaner feeling clothes for me!