Cleaning your Shower

As I was cleaning my tub and shower today, I was thinking that I should share my trick with you all. 

Have you ever noticed that all bathroom cleaner doesnt actually work as well as they advertise?  Maybe it does if you clean your bathroom everyday, but I certainly dont have time for that...it gets done once a week on my cleaning day.  Soap scum and hard water stains are hard enough to get off even in that short amount of time.

My aunt shared her secret with my mom, she passed it to me and I am passing it to you....clarifying shampoo.  Yep that's right!  Squirt some Suave Clarifying Shampoo in the bottom of your tub or on your rag and let the shampoo do its work.  I lather the tub and shower up with this and hardly takes any effort to get your shower and tub looking sparkly clean.  Who would have thunk!? 

I tried other shampoos but the only one that works really well is specifically the clarifying. 

You're welcome! =)

Hanging Stubborn Clothes

I always get irritated when my clothes won't stay on the hanger in my closet. Here is a cool idea from realsimple.com

Traveling w Shoes

This is a neat idea from Real Simple. 

Travelocity

www.travelocity.com

We didn't leave St Louis in the morning like we were supposed to.  Charlie had some stuff he needed to take care of so we ended up leaving at 5pm.  We had a 10 hour drive ahead of us and both of us decided that we didn't want to get home at 3am.  So as we were driving trying to decide when we wanted to stop we decided on the next city ahead.  I remembered awhile back that I used Travelocity to book a hotel while on the road when I had no idea where I was going to stop for the night.  It was a beautiful place that we got for super cheap in Seattle.
So I decided that this is what we needed to do this time.  Charlie got on his phone and went to travelocity.com to see what he could do.  He found something called "Top Secret Hotel".  They tell you how many stars, a general location, and the price but that's it.  We decided to go for it.  We got a $120 room w/o tax for a total of $70.  It was a great room at the Holiday Inn and we were very pleased with how much we saved!
I would highly recommend this if you're flying by the seat of your pants on a trip. =)

St Louis Hotel

I went to St Louis this past weekend and part of this week.  I didn't have free internet otherwise I would have posted this a lot sooner.  And for a hotel not to have free wifi is very stupid on their part.  This day and age its what people look for.  I watched a ton of HGTV while I was waiting on Charlie to get done with work.  I did a lot of walking around too.  Downtown St Louis was nice, being by myself I didn't feel unsafe.  It does however have an odor that I was really getting sick of by the time I left.  Its like a garbage order.  You know when your garbage can starts to get a smell if you haven't taken the trash out in awhile?  Not a major rotten smell, but just when its about to get the rotten smell.  Anyway that's the only way I can describe it.  It was everywhere though; downtown and even midtown.  Mississippi maybe?  No idea but you cant get away from it. 
We stayed at the Crown Plaza downtown on 4th St and I am going to advise you to stay somewhere else.  The lobby is pretty but the rooms are much to be desired.  They haven't been updated in about 20 years.  If hotels didn't put so much money in their lobbies, maybe they would have enough money to fix up the rooms.  Its definitely the way a lot of hotels roll though.  Make the lobby beautiful, you think it's great so you get a room only to find out that the rooms suck! 
Housekeepers are another story.  I know its hard work, my mom does it for private homes.  But you cant tell me that they cant see the soda spilled all over the outside of the door that I just stuck my hand in; or the spatter of god knows what on the wall.  Our light switch in the bathroom was so dirty it would need replaced.  How much does it cost to change that out?  $2 tops.  It's the little things that make a huge difference.
Crown Plaza we will never stay there again but your rooftop pool had great views.

Microwave Brownies in a Cup

http://www.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes/Dessert+6/Microwave-brownie-recipe+4887.htm#

The kids asked me to make brownies and I really didn't feel like it nor want the 

leftover sweets in the house. I remembered seeing a recipe on Pinterest for single 

microwave brownies. 

We made them tonight and they're not bad. I wouldn't serve them to guests but do the 

trick when craving a little chocolate. 

The only thing I changed was that I added a dash of salt. 

Boring and Bored

Moving is so hard.  Even though I was so excited to move to a new place and a whole different part of the country, it has still been the hardest thing I have ever done.  My two beautiful children moved with me, and later their dad (my ex husband) came too so that he didn't have to live without them. 
It has almost been a year, and I am still wondering if I have made a mistake.  I love Charlie dearly but he is never home.  He is gone 85% of the time and I really wonder why he moved us all the way across the country, when he was never going to be here. 
Because I have no family or help, I chose to work as little as possible so that I could get the kids adjusted to their new life.  Since their dad is here, I have them every other week; which makes for the week with no kids...very boring!
It's a gorgeous day out and I just found myself wondering how I got here.  The girl that had so many friends and family surrounding her that she had to break plans with some to fit others in.  Or was so worn out at the end of the day because I had so much to do.  In the year that I have been here I have made one true friend, the rest just acquaintances.  Not anyone that I can call up at any given moment and say "Hey, What are you doing? Want to go do something?"  At home I had a list of friends, and I was never bored.
My house is clean, the yard is done, bills are paid, and the kids are at their dads.  How did my life become so boring, and why did I do all of this for a man?   

It's a snake....in the house!!

Once the rain stopped it was a beautiful day!  Since the grass was getting out of control again, I decided to mow the lawn.
The kids packed up some toys to play downstairs on the back deck so I could keep an eye on them, and we headed downstairs.  But wait!  What is that at the bottom of the stairs?  Since I always over exagerate, I thought it was nothing.  But it certainly looked like a snake.  But could it be?  I mean this was in the house, in our finished basement.  As my ears started to ring and my hands started to get clammy (always happens when I am scared) I crept down the stairs getting closer.  Yes, yes it was...it was a snake!!  It was a baby, but still a snake non the less.  How in the world did it get in?  Is there more?  Where is its mother?!!! 

The kids and I turned and ran up the stairs as fast as we could!  Where is Charlie?  Oh that's right..on the road in San Diego.  What do I do?!  There wasn't anything that I could do, I am so afraid of snakes there is no way that I would ever be able to capture it.  The kids and I went to the basement garage by going outside and avoiding the snake all together.  The kids and I were trying to set up their toys and figure out how Olivia was going to play restaurant with her brother.  The lawn needed to get mowed, but I still was trying to think of what I was going to do about the snake in the house.  I did not want to leave it in there, it could crawl up the stairs and get in the main part of the house. 

I went in the garage to get the lawn mower, and inside was another baby snake!!  That was it!  I was freaking out now!  I called the first person I thought of.  "Jamie, HELP ME!!"

Her husband Andrew and her came over as soon as they could.  He looked everywhere but could not find the snake in the garage.  Where did it go?!!  I was so disappointed that he did not find the snake.  He went inside to get the other one, and to look around.  The snake in the house was dead.  He brought it out, and said it was a copperhead!  My first reaction was too shout, "Are you kidding me!"  Because it was a baby it was hard to distinguish.  Im still unsure, but have decided that they were black snakes.  All I can say is that I hope to God it was! 

After looking through the house, we could not find anymore snakes.  I was not completely convinced that the house was not snake free.  Charlie received many, many, many text messages that were neither nice, or positive.  "I hate this house!"  "I just want to move!"  "How can you move us here and never be home!"  Yada yada.  I was so upset! 

Since I still wasn't convinced the house was snake free, I was afraid all night.  Looking in all the corners, putting towels underneath doorways, etc.  I made the kids sleep with me that night;  never a good idea for getting any sleep.  I slept not a wink that night.  I had to go to work the next day.  I researched all day, when I had the chance, on how to get rid of snakes, how to deter them, anything I could think of.  As the time neared for me to go home, I just wanted to stay at work.  I was safe there.  But that was not realistic.  As I pulled in the driveway, Charlie's Dad was in the driveway.  I got out of my car and walked over to his truck, where he was sitting.  I asked what he was up to, and he said he was snake hunting.  Charlie had called him and asked if he could go in and look around the house.  He said that he didn't find anything.  Thank God!  I wasn't here to see how well he looked around, but I did feel a bit better.

Today I spent the entire day cleaning.  Every nook and every cranny has been vacuumed, dusted, mopped, and looked in.  So far so good!  I don't know if I will ever be convinced that there isnt anymore in here.  But for now, I just have to have faith that God will keep us safe....copperhead, black snake or not.    

Landscaping

Nothing is better than seeing your landscapers show up and transform your yard into something beautiful, and only in a couple of hours, compared to the years it would have taken yourself.

When we moved into our house a little under a year ago our yard was a jungle.  The retired couple that lived here before us spent more time in the yard and less time in the house.  I think their time in the house was spent making messes and tracking the dirt from the garden into the house and never cleaning.  But as their time was spent planting every flower imaginable and building random flower gardens all over the yard, my time is better spent cleaning the inside of the house, keeping up with laundry, and enjoying my family.  I did however tackle the flower beds in front and along the side of the house, but the overwhelming feeling I got every time I looked out the kitchen window to the other disastrous flower beds that lie in the outer areas of the yard, was too much for me. 

So Charlie decided to hire his friend that owns a landscaping business.  Just this afternoon they accomplished more in a couple of hours than I ever thought possible.  They cut down the huge tree limb that fell a year ago that Charlie hasn't ever gotten around to cutting up, pruned all the bushes, trimmed the trees including my peach and pear trees, cleaned up the random piles the previous owner decided to throw along the fence line, and took away my jungle of flower beds so we can plant grass.  What a relief!  I am a little sickened though about all the beautiful flowers that are now in the burn pile...I tried to give them away!  But I cant think about that.  I just need to keep my mind set on the work that is being eliminated.  Yay!!

California, good ol' California. Was so excited to go camping near the beach today/tonight. We got all of our supplies and  headed to the coast only to find out all the campgrounds are closed. Some of them due to a nearby fire but others were closed due to budget cuts.  So bummed!

Dogs vs Airplanes

Here is my very vocal opinion about allowing dogs on airplanes. Shouldn't be allowed! I am sitting at the Atlanta airport after just getting off of a 5:45am flight from home. The time here is 7:15am and I find myself very annoyed this early in the morning.
I should be excited! I am heading to Los Angeles to see my Charlie in action at the Stadium Super Truck event at the L.A Coliseum tonight. Not to mention to see my BFF Teresa and friend Andreas. But instead I am sitting here wondering why they allow dogs to be in the cabin during flights. I've been up since 3am and all I want to do is sleep. Instead I have to listen to this screeching tiny dog during the entire flight.
Some of you might argue that screaming children are just as bad. Yes I do agree that it is not pleasant either. But most of the time they can be bribed with a toy, piece of candy, a bottle, or a mothers threat. :) I would never do that by the way. Lol
I feel that if a big dog has to go underneath, so should a lap dog.

Controversial Carrots

The other day a friend posted on Facebook one of those informational pages about baby carrots.  It stated how they were soaked in chlorine to keep them fresh..yada yada.  Well I decided to share it, and boy did it start a debate.  I finally had to delete it from my page because I was sick of people arguing on it. 

Their arguments were that soaking carrots in chlorine wasnt bad because we drink chlorinated water so what's the difference.  Or there were people grossing out about the fact that they did this.  And others pointed out their opinions on organic fruits.  One even said that we were supposed to wash our fruits and vegetables from the grocery store in bleach water.  Now I dont know about you, but I would never do this!  I think we get enough chemicals in our body by the stuff we eat then adding even more to it.

Espresso Machine

Goodbye Keurig Machine, Hello Espresso Machine!!  I am so happy to announce that we have a new best friend in our kitchen! 
I know I posted earlier about the Keurig, and I still do believe that getting a reusable coffee filter is definitely the way to go with that machine, but I never fell in love with the Keurig.  I just felt that it wasn't practical for 2 people drinking multiple cups of coffee a day.  Too expensive and messy at the same time.  Not to mention that Charlie's machine had been well used before I ever came along (college).  It was so noisy!  I dreaded every morning that the kids and I got to sleep in and Charlie would have to be somewhere early.  He would go downstairs, turn that awful machine on and it would rumble so loud while warming up, and the whole time I would be thinking, please don't wake the kids. 
So after lots of research and debating we decided on the Capresso 4 cup Espresso Cappuccino Machine on Amazon.  It was a great price and had good reviews. 

Here is the link below to check it out!

http://www.amazon.com/Capresso-303-01-Espresso-Cappuccino-Machine/dp/B001QTVXCI/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1366386494&sr=8-10&keywords=espresso+machine

Ginger Chicken

This recipe is from one of my Taste of Home cookbooks.  I made it the other night and it is delish!

Ginger Chicken:

1 egg white beaten
1 T soy sauce
1 t cornstarch
1/8 t white pepper
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

Sauce:
1/2 t cornstarch
2 T rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce
1 t sugar

Stir Fry:
2 T oil, divided
1 Med Green Pepper, julienned
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 C bamboo shoots, finely chopped
2 to 3 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root ( I didn't have any so I used 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
1/4 C slivered almonds, toasted
Hot cooked rice, optional

In a large resealable bag, combine egg white, soy sauce, cornstarch and pepper.  Add chicken, seal bag and turn to coat.  Refrigerate 30 minutes.  For sauce combine cornstarch, vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar, whisk until smooth; set aside
Drain the chicken and discard marinade.  In large skillet or wok, stir fry chicken in 1 tablespoon oil until no longer pink.  Remove and keep warm.
Stir fry green pepper and green onion in remaining oil for 2 minutes.  Add bamboo and ginger; stir fry 3-4 minutes longer or until vegetables are crisp-tender. 
Stir sauce mixture and add to the pan. Bring to boil, cook and stir 2 minutes longer; add chicken and heat through.  Sprinkle with almonds. Serve with rice if desired.

The only thing I changed with this recipe is that I didn't toast the almonds, I just stir fried them with the rest of the vegetables. 

You can get this recipe at tasteofhome.com/recipes/ginger-chicken

Fish Tacos

I had lunch today with my new friend Stephanie.  We both work at the YMCA and had to take down a window display that we had up for the month of February.  Since we were downtown we decided to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, 620. (620state.com)  There asian dishes are amazing!  Anyway while we were looking over the menu, they had fish tacos for the daily special.  It sounded good but I really wanted their Pad Thai.  So I decided to make fish tacos for supper. 

Here is how I made them:

Fish Tacos:

4 Tilapia fillets that I seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, and ground cumin.  I added seasonings together and rubbed on both sides of fillets.  I then grilled them until they were flaky.

Next I made a coleslaw to put on the tacos.  I took about 2 cups coleslaw mix, 1/2 Cup mayonnaise, 1/2 Tablespoon sugar, 1 tsp lemon juice, 3 chopped green onions, sprinkle of dried celery, 1/2 tsp dill, 1 tsp ground cumin, dash of paprika, salt and pepper.  I really just made this up and went by taste so feel free to add something different. 

I like my fish tacos with flour tortillas so I heated them up, added my fish, coleslaw, diced tomatoes, avocado, a little salsa and some cheddar cheese.  Yummy!

Kids even liked them! =)