The loss of our Beloved Bentley

10/27/08

Saturday was a very sad day at the Blandford House.  My mom was in town and we were headed to breakfast and a day of shopping.  We took the dogs out before we left and we could tell that Bentley was in pain.  He had been pretty whinny but that's normal and we thought nothing of it.  He could not get back into our building and when Currey went to pick him up Bentley cried in pain.

We rushed to the vet and by the time we were there his back legs were paralyzed.  We were told that he could still feel deep pain which meant there was some feeling so we rushed to the hospital with the plan of him having emergency back surgery.  Unfortunately by the time we got there he was no longer experiencing the deep pain.  Apparently one of his disks had carbonated and slipped into his spine causing the paralysis.  Our only options were an incredibly expensive surgery with small probability that he would be able to walk or putting him down.  We could not justify a surgery that would would lessen his quality of life just for our selfish desire to keep him with us.  We made the very difficult decision to put him down.

It's been a rough few days around here.  It still makes me cry as I write this 2 days later.  Even though he was a dog he was our first pet as a married couple.  He brought us so much joy and was a precious part of our family.  He presence is already greatly missed but we will treasure our sweet memories with him.

Napping with Daddy



Sunning with Sister





Our Sweet Baby

3:37 PM | | 1 Comments  

Our Precious Puppies

10/8/08

Last winter we got Bentley a fleece lined rain coat.  It's the only way we can get him to go out in the rain and due to the incredibly cold winters we felt it was a great investment.  Once we got Gracie we realized she would need one too!  Wet Nose just got their fall merchandise so we got Gracie a pink one.  They look so cute that I thought we needed pictures.  They were really uncooperative so here's the best I got.

10:28 PM | | 0 Comments  

Laundry Detergent

10/8/08

I had been wanting to make my own detergent for some time and I found this recipe on another blog.  It can actually be seen here.

So here's how it goes:

1 cup washing soda (I use Arm & Hammer) 

1/2 cup borax (I use 20 Mule Team) 

1 bar soap (I used Dove because I like the smell and knew we wouldn't have a weird reaction to it) 

Approximately 3 gallons water

You’ll also need a storage container.  We just used a large tupperware with a lid.  I set aside some kitchen utensils for this project including a wooden spoon, a grater and a measuring cup.

Begin by putting about four cups of water in a pot and bring it to a boil.  Reduce it down to a simmer.   


While it’s heating up, take a bar of soap and grate it into some sort of container.


After taking this picture we realized that grating it over the boiling water made it melt and then we couldn't grate it. When the water is boiling, start putting in the soap. Just do a little at a time, waiting until each batch is dissolved.  

Stir the soapy water with a spoon until all of the soap is dissolved. In the end, you’ll have some very bubbly water.

Next, get out your large container and add three gallons of warm tap water to it. To this bucket add a cup of the washing soda and the soap solution you made and stir. once that is dissolved add the Borax.

After stirring, you’ll have a container full of :


The color of the detergent will vary depending on the shade of soap that you use. The soap needs to sit for 24 hours before use, preferably covered.  The soap can turn out many different ways.  It might be firm, like Jello; it might be very watery; it might even be like liquid laundry detergent. Just stir it up a bit and it’s ready to be used.  Ours came out very watery but it works great!  I decided to wait until I used it to post about it but we can't tell a difference at all.  I'll keep posting about our adventures of going green.  

I promise that there are farmer's market recipes to come!

9:51 PM | | 0 Comments  

Getting Greener

10/6/08

It's been while since I posted. There are lots of posts I've been considering but I just haven't taken the time to do it. Life is crazy busy and will be for the next few weeks. I've had several posts in mind but I think this will be about our steps to go green.

For us, we have decided that supporting local businesses and farms is part of going green. We are also trying to make more things at home instead of buying process foods at the store. Honestly, I am loving every minute of it! We are shopping every week at the farmer's market for all of our produce. There is also a woman who has an olive stand and sells pita bread which I purchase to make homemade pita chips. They are AMAZING! Simply cut the bread into rectangular strips, brush each side with olive oil and then sprinkle with the seasoning you desire. My favorite thus far is fresh cracked black pepper and kosher salt. A small amount of pepper with garlic salt is also good. Be generous with the seasoning!

We are also making our own bread. I know this may launch us into the "weird" category but we spend a lot on bread each month so we started making our own. I like knowing what's going into the bread and we have enjoying trying several recipes. It's also about 1/4 of the cost per loaf so we are saving lots of money.

We had been talking to friends about this whole green thing and they mentioned that they made their own bread. We have 2 friends who have found great deals at garage sales or thrift stores so we began looking as well. We didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on something we wouldn't use. So one day in downtown Glen Ellyn we were in a consignment store. It was Labor Day so they were having a half price sale. We found one machine and were so excited but it didn't have an instruction manual which we knew we would need. Another shopper overheard us talking and began helping us look. We stumbled upon another machine with instructions. It was priced at $6 so we got it for $3 due to the sale. We figured that $3 was worth a try so we brought it home. We were pleasantly surprised that it actually works!



And here are the yummy results! I have enjoyed lots of baking and this Sunday alone I made pita chips, 3 dozen zucchini muffins and broccoli cheddar soup. I love being in my kitchen and making food that I feel is better for my family. Hopefully I'll post again this week about my homemade laundry detergent and some of the recipes I've been using with my fresh veggies. Yes I'm serious. We've made detergent! I'll post soon!

9:06 AM | | 1 Comments  

Wonderful Weekend

9/24/08

We had such a fun weekend just hanging out.  October is going to be a really crazy month for us so it was nice to spend some time relaxing.  Friday I only had to work a half day which was so nice.  I ran errands and did some shopping.  I also cleaned the house which is not the most glamorous activity but really needed to be done.

Saturday we got up and headed to the farmer's market.  I am loving all the fresh produce!  I will do a post soon with some of the recipes we have tried.  Devin and Andrea came over for breakfast and we had blueberry coffeecake with blueberries fresh from Michigan and Applewood Smoked Bacon that we got at the market as well.  Great food and great company.  A quick trip to  Wet Nose then Currey had to head back to work.  I went to the first birthday party of some friends from church and then went to babysit.  

Sunday we went to church and then to the grocery store.  We had a batch of homemade laundry detergent which I will also post about soon.  It was SO fun!  We are co-leading a small group at church which started this Sunday so we made lasagna for that.  It's a great group and we are really looking forward to our time together.  It was such a great weekend!  I was just not ready to head back to work!
 

9:12 AM | | 0 Comments  

The end of an era

9/17/08

Many people spend Labor day weekend having one last cookout, enjoying time with friends or traveling to see family.  This year we spent Labor day having the biggest clean out in Blandford family history.  

It all began with my white shelf.  Currey has hated this thing since he put it together.  I bought it my second year at ACU and Currey and Wes Jones put it together.  It was $20 at Wal-mart and not incredibly sturdy but it was great storage in our kitchen that year.  The following year I moved to a house and used it for books and all my frames and decor.  Somewhere in the move the knobs that hold the shelves in place went missing so we used wooden rods to stabilize the shelves.  


It then made the trek to Illinois where it had the same role at my new apartment.  By the time Currey and I got married and the shelf came to Moody it had seen MUCH better days.  The back was no longer attached but I could not part with this "piece" that I had for so long.  When we moved to Bridgeport Currey begged me to get rid of the nasty thing as I had more than gotten my money's worth.  But I saw it as extra storage and insisted it made another move.  When we left Bridgeport we got rid of our dresser (something that cost far more than my shelf!) and decided to get fabric boxes and use my shelf as a type of dresser.  This comforted my inner pack rat as keeping it for this long had finally served so purpose besides hold picture frames.   We made it over a year and I will admit that it was one of the worst ideas I ever had.  The boxes didn't fit well and it was a total hassle.  I took the Friday of the long weekend off and that morning I uttered words Currey thought he would never hear.  "We HAVE to get rid of that shelf!"  And those few words created the biggest mess of our married life.  

Getting rid of the shelf required that we get dressers.  But the dressers wouldn't fit where the shelf had been.  So since we were rearranging anyway why not move the bed, which required us to move the desk, which required us to move the bookshelves.   And the bookshelves were so full of books that we decided we needed to go through the books to see if there were any we could get rid of.  And now since we have dressers we can take some clothes out of the closet.  Shouldn't we go through our closets?  It's been awhile.  I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the idea.  And this was the end result!


It was a HUGE project that ate up most of our weekend but it feels so good to be cleaned out and much more organized.  I'd say that my $20 investment paid off over 6 years!


7:16 AM | | 1 Comments  

Trip to Austin a.k.a a REALLY long post!

9/14/08

My best friend from ACU got married in Austin last weekend.  It was an event that we would not have missed for the world!  Currey and I decided that since we were leaving town anyway that we should take a few days to enjoy the city, especially since we are thinking about moving down there.  So here are the details of our trip with a few pictures.

We got in late friday night and headed straight to bed as we were meeting my college roommate for breakfast the following morning.  She has recently moved to Austin and I had not seen her in almost 3 years.   We had a great breakfast at Guero's and then walked down congress to the capital.










We really enjoyed our time with her but had to head to Johnson City for the wedding.  We were running late as we got a little lost but this afforded me the chance to see Celeste before she walked down the aisle.  There are hardly words to describe my relationship with Celeste.  We met at the end of freshman year when I was her leader on a freshman retreat.  We ended up pledging the same club at ACU.  We wound up walking together during a fundraiser with club and our friendship blossomed from there.  She and Adolfo starting dating shortly after Currey and I did.  Since our boyfriends were both far away we shared many evenings together.  We loved date nights at Chicken Express, doing our Target browsing and calling our boyfriends from Starbucks routine or doing our grocery shopping together.   Since he was closer, Adolfo was able to visit more often than Currey.  They were always so sweet to include me in their weekends together.  I had several wonderful dinners cooked by Adolfo and they taught me how to play dominos.  My experience at ACU was enriched by my friendship with Celeste.   Aldolfo is equally precious and the perfect man for Celeste.  We were SO glad to celebrate their love and marriage with them.  The reception was fun and so them!  We enjoyed celebrating!


The reception site



The Mariachi




The only non blurry picture I got of them and yes I realize you can't see Adolfo



Celeste and I



Currey looking very GQ with his pocket square



After the reception Jeffrey came in from Waco to hang out with us.  We had not seen him since Christmas so it was a treat to see him.  I love that he and Currey are close and get along so well.  Jeffrey is still hillarious and we laughed the whole time he was with us!


Look at what Baylor has turned him into!


The boy's being resourceful as we did not have a bottle opener



The next day we got up got up and headed to Kerbey Lane for breakfast which was outstanding!



We spent the rest of the day shopping and hanging out around austin.  We then headed to dinner at Shady Grove.  Sarah Ruth joined us again and it was a great evening.  




We dropped Jeffrey back at his car and headed to church at Austin Stone.  It was such a refreshing experience.  The church is huge and meets in a high school.  As the preacher was speaking we were so encouraged by his heart for hurting people and the churches willingness to do something about it.  It was an outstanding message and we were filed with hope as we continue to contemplate a move to the Austin area.  From church we headed to the Johnson's in Wimberley. They are friends of my parents from church who graciously allowed us to stay at their house a couple of days.  They have a precious guest house that we got to use.






The next day we headed into Austin for a wonderful lunch at Rudy's.  Oh how we wish there was decent bar-b-que in Illinois.  


We then headed into Wimberley and did some shopping.  It was so much fun!  We then went back to the Johnson's.  One of the most fun things of the trip was that Janice taught me how to sew!  Currey just got me a sewing machine (that's another post!) which is very exciting, but I didn't know how to use it.  I want to start quilting and Janice is an amazing quilter who gave me lots of great tips and several supplies.  We worked on this:

And yes...I made that!  I am so excited that I was able to start a project and I'm already working on my next.  We enjoyed great conversation and wonderful food while with the Johnson's.  It was a much needed vacation and we loved every minute of it.  If you made it all the way through I'm impressed!  Sorry it was SO long!


8:18 AM | | 1 Comments  

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