Homemade Laundry Detergent

Yep. I made homemade laundry detergent.  I had been wanting to make some for a while, but I was too nervous about how it would turn out.  I got kind of sick of trying to always find a coupon or deal for store bought laundry detergent, so I decided when my massive supply of Tide ran out, I would try my hand at making some detergent.

I had bookmarked The Simple Dollar's post about this years ago, because it's always been something that has intrigued me. Not only is it less waste for the environment, it's a TON cheaper!  I pretty much just followed Trent's step-by-step instructions, except I couldn't find any Washing Soda (well, they didn't have it at Target), so I made my own following this tutorial.

All in all it came out really well!  I was a little nervous at first, because it never seemed very "soapy" when I would put it in the washing machine, but everything has come out clean and smelling fresh. I do think I will use two bars of soap instead of one next time. The only down side to homemade detergent (if you want to call it a downside) is that we seem to go through it very quickly.  We use about 1 cup per load (which is recommended) but when comparing it to regular detergent, we empty the bottle a lot faster!

Updates: List Style! Casinos, Marietta, EI, & Bails

Because by now you absolutely know how much I love making lists...

• Last weekend I got a surprise phone call from my friend Paige who was in town for the day to visit her husband who was here doing business.  Wes was in meetings all day, so Paige and I met up for lunch and caught up.  After lunch, we had some time to kill, so what better way to enjoy a hot summer afternoon than inside a Casino?!  I can't even remember the last time I was in a casino (Las Vegas? AC?) but I knew I wanted to head right toward the nickel slots!!  Paige tried her hand at some Blackjack, and actually won $40 (at one point).  I don't think my math skills are sharp enough to play casino blackjack!! 

• We've been meaning to have our friend Jess over all summer, so she was finally able to come over and chill with us last Saturday night.  We grilled out and enjoyed the cooler weather on the back deck.  Bailey loved having the extra attention! And we got to hear updates on Marietta, since Jess' sister is now fostering her (and hopefully adopting her)!!
• I am almost finished applying for my Early Inter.vention licensure for the state of Illinois.  I had to take an 9 hour online course which I completed a few weeks ago. This past Friday I drove an hour away to sit in an all-day course which basically reiterated everything that was in the online course.  And oh, I should mention that it took me an hour and 45 minutes to get home.  Ugh! All I have to do now is get fingerprinted (to make sure I'm not a criminal) and send in the application. It's going to feel so good to get this checked off of my To Do List!!
• And because "the people" have been requesting pics of Bailey, I'll leave you with this. You have to give the people what they want, right?!

P.S. In TWELVE days I can start burning my Pumpkin Spice Candles!!!  Hooray for FALL!!!!

Garden Update!!

Holy cow, we are losing our balcony to green-ness!  Here are some updated pics (taken this morning) of our "garden."  Also, the day after our last garden update, Tomato Plant #1 began to produce tomatoes!  Unfortunately, only 2 of them are ripe enough to be picked (so I'm hoping since I wrote that in today's post all of the green tomatoes will magically ripen overnight so I can pick a bunch tomorrow!)

See! Taking over the balcony!

Tomato Plant #1

RED tomatoes!!

Good ol' Basil.  He's almost a year and a half old!

Pepper plants

Red peppers! Not sure if they are Cayenne or Serrano. Tom thought it would be more fun NOT to label the seedlings!

Mystery plant!!!  He's almost 3' tall and we still don't know what he is!

The top of Mystery Plant?  Any guesses?

Oregano Plant

Another shot of Oregano with Cilantro and Tomato Plant #2 in the background

Tomato Plant #2