Clean & Green: All-Purpose Carpet Cleaner

All-Purpose Carpet Cleaner

Vaccuum first.

1 cup white vinegar
3 cups boiling water

Blot mixture onto nap of rug with a wet rag. Dry & air thoroughly. Vaccuum again.

Clean & Green: Carpet Deodorizer

Carpet Deodorizer

baking soda
10 drops of essential oil (optional)

Mix together then sprinkle generously on carpet. Wait 15 minutes. Vaccuum.

Quote of the Day

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.

~Elbert Hubbard

Collecting Keys

When you come home, what's the first thing you do? If you're like me and the big guy the first thing you do is put down your keys. Well, ok, for us maybe the first thing we do is pet Loki, but the keys are right after that.

This is the wall that separates the kitchen from the pantry/laundry room area. It's what leads you into the garage. For us, it's one of the first things we see when we get home. Because of that, I wanted it to look a little more fun.

(I took these before pictures after everything was already up. You can see the nails where everything winds up, but this gives you an idea of how the wall evolved and the thought process involved in getting it there.)

It started off pretty bland.

I found the key rack at Anthropologie. I love that store. I love the quirky home accents they have. We've got a few all over the house. I liked the vintage look of this key rack.


I figured the key rack would be a nice tie in to two paintings I've had for a long time, maybe since college? I guessed that they'd be too feminine for the big guy. While I still think they would be for the main part of the house, he liked them just fine for this little corner. So up on the wall they went.

They were too snug in their original placement, so I spread them out. We had plenty of wall space to fill up here, so I wasn't concerned about taking too much space. But what to do with the rest of the space? It needed something to fill up the beige.

So we decided to try these vintage keys from Pottery Barn. At only $19 for the set I was pretty excited. We broke them up and tried a few next to the front door, but it really didn't work with the room or the space. So we brought the entire set back by the garage door.

I'm much happier with the whole arrangement here. Not bad for some pieces that got pulled from other parts of the house. I even like that our keys blend in.

Clean & Green: Carpet Stain Remover

Carpet Stain Remover

1 part borax
10 parts warm water

Combine in spray bottle. Spray on stain. Wait 5 minutes. Blot with a clean rag.

or

vinegar
baking soda

Mix vinegar and baking soda into a paste. Gently work into stain with a toothbrush. Let dry, then vaccuum completely.

Loki's Backyard

Loki can finally enjoy his backyard the way all dogs want.

We have a fence! And a patio. Granted the patio is more for us so we can entertain, but that's beside the point. Now he can go outside and run around and sniff in all the corners that he's never gotten to check out, even though we moved in 8 months ago. And that's pretty much all he did this past weekend. That's pretty much all we did this past weekend too!

Here's a look at the progression of our patio and fence. Everything you see only took John 3 days to finish. He's awesome. We're so happy with how everything turned out.

This is a picture of the first day's progress.
Day 2- patio is done! We went with stamped concrete, and it's beautiful. You can see one of the sides of the fence going up here. Since we have no one behind us, just a farmer's field, we decided to only do the privacy fence on the sides and the parts connecting to the house and work with the farmer's fence across the back. This way we get to look at the trees and bushes back there. Plus, it's a really pretty view of the cornfield.

What? We live in Indiana, cornfields happen. ;-)

Day 3- The fence is done! It was so fast, and we went into the yard right away with Loki to check it all out.

We need to figure out some flower beds and plants to put around the patio area. It's going to be great!

Loki ran around for a few hours. He wore himself out!

One of the corners he found to explore. We've (I say we, I really mean the big guy) cleared out the scraggly stuff and a few of the low branches so that if he's out this way, it's safer for him and we can see him a little better. You can see a little of the farmer's fence that goes across the very back of the yard.

Loki didn't want to come inside. He just wanted to stay. We had to bribe him with snacks to come inside.

If you like what you see and you're interested in working with our contractor- here's his contact information. It was great working with him.

John Moody

J&J Unique Construction

317.557.9266 or 317.506.0340

Sunburst Mirrors

I'm a huge fan of sunburst mirrors. I know they seem to be everywhere right now, and now that includes our master bathroom.

We found three mirrors at HomeGoods over the weekend, and decided that the wall above our bathtub would be the perfect place for them. It's a little dark in that part of the bathroom, like dark enough that we're planning to knock down the top half of the wall... eventually. We've got some other plans for this bathroom, but until we're ready to tackle the big stuff, we want to add a little personality with some artwork, paint on the walls, and a few other things.

So we're starting on the small stuff first.

And we're starting with these mirrors.

There were two different designs, which I liked, especially since I knew that the three together would fill up all of that empty wall space. Here's what the wall looked like before. Ok, not totally before. We've got one of the dry wall mollies in. But this gives you an idea of the massive amount of cream colored blah that is our master bath right now. And it shows how slightly random it all is. Just look at those candles. Actually don't look at those candles. They'll be moving somewhere else soon. They're a little bit too random for my taste. And the progress begins! The first mirror is already bouncing a little more light around. And it looks cool. The second mirror goes up just as easily. I'm loving that the pattern I saw in my head works just as well on the wall. Have I mentioned how great my husband is? The big guy never complains when I ask for his help. He might look at me a little sideways when I go ga-ga over a set of mirrors in a store, but he tolerates my quirks about our home very well. I think he might even enjoy them a little.

Don't tell anyone though. I wouldn't want his secret getting out. ;-)And here it is! The final product of a short Saturday afternoon project. I love everything about it. Except those darn candles.

Loki wasn't nearly as impressed with the new mirrors as I was.

Tommy Needs a Good Home

A friend of mine at work is fostering the cute little guy in the picture. They're hoping to find him a good home very soon. If you're interested here's a link where you can apply to adopt Tommy.

Here's a little bit more about Tommy's personality:

Hi, My name is Tommy. The vet thinks I was born about a year ago and weigh about 14 pounds . I am a very loving male Bichon who loves to play. I do well on a leash and enjoy walks a couple of times of day. I am house trained as long as I am out a few times a day. I love chewing on my toys and love to play fetch in the backyard I am very sociable and love new people. I play well with small dogs and younger children and love to give kisses and snuggle. I love having my belly and ears rubbed. I would do well in a home as the only dog or with other dogs.

He'd be a great addition to any home!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday. :-)

This is a picture of his present. (And Loki's nose. He sent kisses.)

It's a way more fun way of telling him that I'm going to Penn State than just by giving him a phone call. My mom has been helping me keep the secret for weeks. I know it's been tough for her, but he really was surprised tonight.

I got in! I start my MBA program this September. It's online, but it's the same courses as the on campus program, and the classes are designed and taught by the full time faculty. So, slightly non-traditional, but with great credibility. At the end of the program I'll have a Penn State MBA, no differentiation for the online version.

I'm already getting nervous and excited, and I'm anxious to get started. Of course, I say that now. I'm sure that after I've been going for a few months, I'll be ready for a break!

Looks like Dad won't be the only Nittany Lion in the family for long!

He sounded pretty excited over the phone tonight. I think he likes his birthday present. :-)