Thursday, May 31, 2012

Military Appreciate Day at the Rodeo!

Even though I've lived in Texas for nearly a year now, I still had yet to go see the Rodeo.  It's not really a first thought of something to do for my husband nor I. However, in honor of memorial day they had a night where the military gets in free! I couldn't pass up a FREE date night! So, after much convincing to get Kendall to go, we decided to enjoy this "Texas experience."

We were surprised at how fun the evening actually was. It was incredibly hot initially and we had to sit on bleachers (not the best place for a pregnant woman to sit!) but overall I feel that I did really well :).

Enjoy a few pictures from that very fun evening! They started off with a show by the US Army Cavalry which was followed by the actual Rodeo. 



































I tried to take a picture together and instead he made this face... So I decided it was only fitting to share it with the world! :) Hope we can have more new experiences in the near future!

With love,
Erica
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

My Growing Belly

I have just reached 22 weeks of pregnancy, which is absolutely amazing! I So far the only real cravings I've had are foods from back home, which of course I can't eat here :( However, I do really enjoy anything sweet and I will never pass up Macaroni and cheese! According to an app on my phone, our little girl, Marie Isabella Gilliam, is currently about 11 inches long and nearly a pound. It's amazing how much she is already growing!

She also started kicking within the last few weeks. She isn't a huge kicker, typically one time and then she'll wait a while. But every once in a while she will have little kicking fits! Kendall has only gotten the chance to feel once or twice though :( She usually stops when he comes around.

A few weeks ago I did have an ultrasound and found out I do have placenta previa, which means my placenta is covering my cervix.  Although 99% of women's placenta does move away from the cervix, I do have another ultrasound next week to make sure that it has moved like it is supposed to.  So please pray that this is the case! If it has not moved by the time I go into labor I will have to have a C-section as well as there is higher risk of bleeding out.  So we want everything to go safely and smoothly!

Here are some pictures of my belly's progression as far as growing is concerned!
above: 12 weeks 
 above: 13 weeks 
above: 14 weeks 

 above: 15 weeks 
  above: 16 weeks 
  above: 17 weeks
  above: 18 weeks 
  above: 19 weeks
  above: 20 weeks 
 above: 21 weeks 

I have yet to take my 22 week photo, but you can see that my tummy has really grown over the last few months! I am planning on doing several crafts and projects before little Marie is born! So keep an eye out for those! I will also be updating with a photo each week as she continues to grow inside of me :) 

I can't wait til I finally get to meet our little girl! 
Love, 
Erica 

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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Our trip to Oklahoma

I used to be so good at taking pictures everywhere I could! Anytime we went somewhere my camera was by my side.  However, after always being behind the lens I have really wanted to just enjoy things through my own eyes.  Although, I always wish I had more pictures from the trips we take or the things we do!  So I am re-learning how to keep my camera with me...  Sometimes this is an easy process and other times it feels like a bit of a chore. But I'm working on it, which is the point.

Over memorial day weekend we made a trip up to Oklahoma City to visit some family. My Aunt Jackie lives there and my grandparents as well as my cousin were making the trip down from Indiana. So we thought it would be a perfect time to make a trip up to visit as well! It was, however, a very short trip as Kendall had to work on Sunday. So we drove up Friday morning (6 hours!) and then drove back Saturday afternoon. While we were there we got to spend some much needed time with family. It's so hard to get a chance to be with our family while living so far away.  Although I don't have a ton of images from our time there, I do have a few and I wanted to share those with you!






Above: I wish I could say that I took this image, however my amazing husband Kendall did! When I was getting the image above it he grabbed the camera from my and just held it in front of him and got the above image! I didn't crop it at all. It's the exact image he got.  I was really impressed with his ability without even trying to get a good shot!

Altogether the trip was very fun! I do wish I had a few more pictures to show for it, but I thought that these few would definitely give a bit of the beauty we saw while on that trip!

With love,
Erica

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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Homemade Laundry Detergent

 Want more tips and tricks for living an environmentally sustainable life?
Stop by my new blog Our Living World.
http://www.ourlivingworld.com


I've always had an interest in living as green and simply as can, while also staying budget friendly and realistic.  Several years ago my mom began making her own liquid laundry detergent and that has always been really interesting to me.  When I moved down here they made some for me and it lasted me from August to nearly February! That was amazing because we had spent no more than $7 on all the ingredients.

Recently while looking through blogs I found another blogger who makes her own laundry detergent, using the exact same recipe as my mom, however her is powder instead of liquid.  This sounded much more realistic to me because the liquid takes over a day to make and the powder was much quicker.  So I wanted to share this recipe with you today! I found the alternative version of this recipe over at Elisa Loves, which is definitely one of my new favorite blogs, so check her out!

Homemade Laundry detergent
This recipe is very simple and only requires 3 ingredients!  Borax, Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, and a Fels Naptha bar. Even better, the box of Borax and Washing Soda will last for several recipes and you will only need to buy Fels Naptha (97 cents at Walmart, last time I was there).  Not too bad at all!


Required Materials: 
1/2 cup Borax
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda 
1 Fels Naptha Bar 

Container to hold detergent (This can be glass like what I got or simply a tupperware container, anything you want!)
Strong knife to cut the Soap bar 
Food processor (If you don't have a food processor you can always try to use a cheese grater as well, although I don't know how fine the soap will get. Let me know if you try it, please!)
Small bowl to hold soap throughout the process 

Let's get started! 
Step 1: Take the Fels Naptha Bar and cut it in at least 8 pieces. 
Step 2: Place each piece in the food processor. I have a 2-3 cup processor, which is the small one, I found it was easiest to do one piece at a time. Allow it process a few minutes until the soap has become more of a powder. (It may not be the finest powder, just do the best you can! We will put it back in later) 
Step 3: Dump out the powdered soap into a small bowl and continue which each piece of soap remaining. 
Step 4: Once finished with each piece dump the powdered contents in the bowl back into the processor and allow it a few more minutes in the processor. 
Step 5: Pour contents from the processor into your detergent container.
Step 6: Add 1 cup of Washing Soda and 1/2 cup of Borax (per bar of Fels Naptha). 
Step 7: Mix and enjoy! Each load use between 1-2 Tablespoons of soap depending on the size of the load. 




Left: one "serving" of soap.  I bought a 1/2 gallon glass container from walmart ($4) which should hold between 3-4 servings of soap. 

Notes: If you do multiple "servings" of this soap, I recommend giving your food processor a break between bars, especially if you have a small processor like I do. I felt mine was getting a little hot after I finished processing the bar. 

This recipe is a little messy, so make sure you have plenty of counter or table space to utilize. 


















Let me know what you think of this recipe! So far I like it alot and find it's a lot easier to handle a small container of powdered detergent than a 5 gallon bucket of liquid detergent! 

Have you ever tried homemade detergent? If so, what is your opinion? 

Talk to you soon! 
Erica 
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Friday, May 18, 2012

I'm back home!

Hey everyone, I know it's been a long time since I've blogged regularly and I am very sorry for that! When I had started my new job, although I had plenty of time to blog, I didn't have the drive or determination to keep it up.  However, after much thought and prayer I have made the decision to step down from my full-time job and return home.

There were several things that went into my decision to stay home again.  Part of it were struggles as work. At times things reminded me a bit of high school and the drama that entails.  However, that was not my only reason for quitting.  I also was tired of not being caught up on my laundry, my dishes, heck, my whole house! I was always spending Saturday picking things up, but never actually cleaning and I hated that!

So what will I be doing? 
I have lots of plans in place to help keep me busy as well as make the most of this time home. Some of the everyday things are:
-keep the house picked up/clean
-work on my art (sometimes that will mean going different places to do so)
-take better care of myself with walking and yoga
-getting the nursery ready
-blogging :)

I also have little projects that I am very excited about getting finished as well! Those include, but aren't limited to:
-completely cleaning out my pantry
-reorganizing shelves and closets
-finding creative ways to reuse everyday items

What will my blog posts look like?
I am sure that my posts will slowly change their focus a bit as I get closer to becoming a mom, as well as after I am a mom. However, I will still post recipes, tips and tricks, crafts, etc... If there is ANYTHING you are interested in seeing, please let me know! That way I make sure that I will continue to bring things that are relevant and interesting to my readers!

I am very excited about all these changes and can't wait until I get more settled into a regular schedule!

Erica
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