A clean home is a happy home!

 Hello readers! Today I want to share with you something that is dear, but not so near my heart. : ) 

I love the feeling of a clean home. I love walking in the door and being at ease knowing the house is clean...it makes me tense to walk into a dirty house. Maybe because I grew up with an obsessively clean father who banned all sponges, threw away every scrap of important homework, legal documents, bills clutter in the whole house, and scrubbed the house including the toilets and windowsills before we could even THINK of leaving on vacation. 

**Flashback to sitting in the car waiting for dad to finished washing the base boards so we could leave for Disneyland**

That being said it is hard for me to motivate myself to clean. When the task seems overwhelming I would rather run away from the mess than tackle it. It makes a very stressed out person out of me. As I mentioned in previous post it is hard for me to clean and organize with out clear guidelines and tools. I am going to share my "Cleaning Agenda" with you in hope that it will inspire you to get into the habit of having a clean home whether or not company is coming over...come on folks I know we all do it! : )

First of all credit where credit is due I got my cleaning agenda from the wonderful Mrs. Flylady, and adapted it for my needs. Like I have no children so doing laundry once a week suits me just fine!

Monday

1. Change linens (I try to do this every OTHER monday)
2. Do laundry
3. Vacuum every room
4. Sweep + mop bathroom(s) and kitchen
5. Clean all windows, mirrors, and doors

Tuesday

1. Water plants
2. Clean stove top and oven
3. Dust

Wednesday

1. Empty all trashcans (like I said, adapted to my life...my trash gets picked up on Wednesdays)
2. Clean out fridge/cupboards
3. Write thank you cards, letters, emails, etc.
4. Work on weekly menus and shopping lists

Thursday

1. Errand day! 
2. Check to bank (every other week)
3. Target run, Trader Joes and Safeway shopping
4. Deep clean house. 15-20 minute clean in each room if needed. Or sometimes I focus on deep cleaning one room each week and do the daily 5 minute clean of each room.

Friday

1. Check car fluids( once a month)
2. Clean out car 

 Tired yet?!

Daily

1. Make bed as soon as you get up
2. 5 minute "mini clean" of each room.
3. Stay on top of dishes by washing as you go and filling the dishwasher slowly over the whole day or few days to a) have a place to put those dirty dishes you don't want to wash and b) save water by not running it everytime you have a meal.
4. Don't go to bed until all sinks are empty and shiny!

This list of course is not exhaustive, there are different needs for different families. But I hope this is a good generic guide for you to go off of to jump start cleaning habits! I slip up, and actually need to be better about following my own advice!  A clean home is a happy home, and a happy home means a happy momma and wife! : )

What are your cleaning routines or strategies?

T.G.I.F...AMEN?!

You KNOW it's Friday when girlfriend needs a Dr. Pepper to get through the day. I never drink regular soda.

Also who is this guy?! Haha, oh yeah only my future husband! Haha, what a goofball. He gets all giddy and happy when we are around our "niece" Lily. He is going to make a great dad one day!

There we go, adorable and not so scary!

This weekend look for:

• Frame picture holder DIY
• Wedding Weekend Feature
• Revealing of our new weekly cooking theme for March
• A home-cleaning post which I hope will help and inspire you! 

Check out these lovelies I just ordered...

Happy, sunny, yellow striped paper straws for our hot August wedding...yes please!

Can't you just imagine these sunny little fellas in a nice tall mason jar filled with lemonade. Can't wait.

DON'T do it all.

I LOVE buying day planners. I love picking them out at Target, or scoring one on clearance sale (at Starbucks no less!!) in like the middle of January. It's the best.

The planner I got his year has a very prideful and bold statement on the front.

DO IT ALL.

Do it all? If I did it all my head would explode!

I recently fixed my day planner to accuratley reflect what I am striving for.

I can't do it all, and honestly I don't want to. I want to remember the vacations I took more than the small box on a calendar that I put a "vacation" sticker in. I want to remember how much fun wedding planning was, sitting on Greg's bed listening to Pandora radio and trying to find "the perfect dinner music"...not the scratched out appointments and meetings with "wedding planning" sandwiched in between written in pencil.

I want to leave my schedule open for the spontaneous date nights, and friends in crisis who need me.

I want to leave some calendar boxes empty for relaxation and spending time in the Word.

I DO NOT want to be a slave to my calendar, day planner, or schedule

I DO NOT want to be too busy to experience life, and be involved in the lives of my friends.

This is me releasing us BOTH from feeling burdened by the false responsibility to "DO IT ALL"

It's ok to say no. It's ok to say not today.

Take some time today to focus on what is happening around you and not what is happening next Tuesday. : )

DIY Clothespin Organizer

I absolutely love to organize things. Saying that, I am not the kind of person who can organize without specific tools to help me accomplish my organizational goals. For example I could not just on my own decide to organize my MESS of shoes in my closet, but if I had a shoe organizer those puppies would be straight and tidy.

So I was needing to organize my life, as it were, and I couldn't find an organizational tool that was going to help me reach my organizational goal. So I made one myself! It is a small step, but it helps a lot! Enjoy.

 Why yes, yes that is a Disneyland ticket that is blocking my view of my "cleaning assignments", how convenient.

Supplies

• Mini clothespins
• Fun colored paper
• Scissors
• Letter stickers or label maker
• Hot glue gun

First pick a spot in your house that is seen a lot by you but not so much by guests. Or at least a spot where a to do list doesn't look out of place to guests, like a chalkboard or whiteboard or family calendar spot. 

Mine just so happens to be hot glued to the back of my bedroom door, it is the perfect spot for me.

*** I rotate out my cleaning schedule based on the day of the week it is, I got my daily (and weekly and monthly) cleaning routine from Mrs. FlyLady***

I am not going to lie, I hot glue gunned my right to the back of my door, but you might not feel comfortable doing that. If that is the case maybe hang a small slat of wood on the wall with thumbtacks and string and hot glue the min clothes pins to that. You can also hot glue gun your clothespins to the bottom of a white or chalkboard or directly on them. Anyway first step...hot glue gun down the mini clothes pins

Next, make labels to hang above the clothespins. I used letter stickers stuck to fun colored strips of paper. If you have a label maker I am jealous of you you can make labels to stick above the clothes pins. I asked for a label maker for Valentine's Day (practical gift for a chocolate hating girl!) but instead I got an early V-Day gift of an engagement ring...good call honey.

Now, just pin the papers or notes, or memos in the appropriate pins to keep all the important stuff together and in one spot! I only keep current and upcoming bills and to-dos on there, anything that needs to get archived goes in my small safe (for really safe keeping for things like loan paperwork or car payment info) or in my "important papers folder"

I hope this helped you get organized in a cute and fun DIY kind of way!

Love, Sav

..This week's goals..

 

yellow + grey bird print

*This week I promise to be more inspired and inspiring...I have been a dud lately and I apologize.

*This week, on Tuesday I am sharing the last What the Crock?! feature and it is going to be pulled pork. Yum! (I will start a new recipe/food series in March)

*This week I am going to share a DIY picture frame photo...simple and beautiful.

*This week I am going to inventory my home and register for some new stuff!

*This week I am going to spend more time in God's word and be diligent about preparing my bible study lesson for Thurday night SIS (sisters in scripture)

*This week I will think more about Greg than our wedding. 

*This week I will relax more and stress less (we'll see about the validity of this one by the end of the week!)

*This week I will plan more blog posts that are helpful and inspiring.

What are your goals for the week? Let accomplish stuff together! : )

Love, Sav

Take Heart feature

Hey readers! Today or tomorrow you can see my Vintage book page collage over at Take Heart Blog. And do not stop there...this whole month of LOVE Danielle has been featuring other bloggers and their love stories. It makes me tear up.

Love, Sav

{Wedding Sneak Peak}

I cannot wait to get my plan on this weekend! I have been a slave to my day planner this week (amen sisters?!) but TGIF praise the Lord it's time for the weekend!

.::Wedding planning sneak peak::.

Happy Weekend! What are your plans?

Love, Sav

What the crock?! Apple Crisp

So here we are on this wonderful Tuesday Thursday?! What the heck?! Where did the week go! Anyway sorry for the delay in blogging, my mind has been about a million different places lately! I wish I could say I was busy wedding planning, but that hasn't exactly been the case. Between work and church and traffic court this morning (blah) I have been one busy lady! But tomorrow I am doing a sneak peak of the wedding stuff I HAVE done, so don't miss it. But anyway here is the slow cooker Apple Crisp recipe:

Ingredients
6 medium apples
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Slice apples and place at the bottom of a grease crock pot insert

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and cube butter

Sprinkle apples with dry ingredients, and drop vanilla extract and cubed butter on top.

Place on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 8. Sooo yummy! : )

Love, Sav

Playing catch up

Well hello! I feel like it has been so long! I have been super busy lately and have had zero time to blog! I have been feeling overwhelmed and uninspired lately, unable to hardly catch my breath between leaving in the morning for work and coming home to crash at night. BUT...fret not I will be back in full force tonight sharing What the crock Tuesday, on Wednesday. : ) Who's excited it's time for our something sweet, apple crisp! And since I will soon be embarking on planning a wedding, I haven't really found much time to yet, you can say hello to Wedding Weekends. I promise I won't bore you with details or dedicate every post to 'our big day' but will try to share fun DIYs, inspiration, and money saving tips!

See y'all soon!

The propsal story, and why I love Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day is only an over-rated commercial holiday if you make it that way. We choose not to, and choose to take advantage of extra-special guestures of love all day, presents, and eating out. : )

The proposal story

Yesterday Greg took me to Francis Ford Coppola Winery for wine tasting (we never ended up even doing any wine tasting!) and appetizers after church. We got a drink and had a little snack and then walked around the GORGEOUS winery, until we got this ampitheatre that was re created from the birthday party scene in Godfather 2 with the strings of lights coming down over the whole thing. We were sitting enjoying the view, and I was wearing a ring my Great-Grandma gave to me on my left ring finger. He took the ring and said "Do you like this ring?" and I said "of course, my Nana gave it to me!" Then he said "Is it what you want your engagement ring to look like?" and I said "No, it doesnt look like an engagement ring!" And he said "Oh well how about this one?" And pulled the ring out of his pocket, got down on one knee and asked "Will you be my wife?" Needless to say I FREAKED! Cool, calm, and collected was not on my radar. After screaming I said yes. Greg had called our closest friends prior and asked them to meet us there at 3:00, right after he asked me, and we celebrated with some dessert and some Sofia Coppola wedding wine. The end. Now he is my forever Valentine.



My all time favorite picture of us. Haha

Apparently we like to rock the grey, navy blue, and white color palate at all times.

Happy Love Day! Like I said it's only over-rated and commercial if you make it. Do something unique with the one you love today!

And the winner is....

Alright folks I stuck all your little numbers into a random number generator and the winner is...

LIZ C. 

Congrats Liz! These little treasures are my (belated..haha) wedding gift to you! : ) 

Enjoy!

Love, Sav

Say hello to the future Mrs. Horton...

More info to follow tomorrow but....

Question officially popped.

.::Weekend plans::.

This weekend is going to be amazing, I can feel like! I'v got a coffee/magazine browsing/sleepover date with...



This Girl!!



And then heading off to coffee in the morning with Natalie (see above) and Ali Lou on Saturday before Nat gets her hair did by Ali for Vegas + her 21st (finally!). But the fun doesn't stop there...

After Nat gets her hair did we are meeting up with her sister Kassie



Driving to Berkely, stopping along the way for some pretty important pit stops...

Anthropologie

IKEA

H&M

Buffalo Exchange

I'm lookin' for a red cotton dress for Valentine's Day and I won't come home without one!

Watch out Berkely here we come!

And finally we make it to Sunday...where my wonderful man is taking me to Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Wine, appetizers, romantic walk in wine country. Yes please!

What's in the forecast for your weekend?

{Give-a-way Reminder}



Valentine's Day is quickly approaching! In the midst of planning that adventurous date, dinner plans, or singles ladies movie night leave a comment HERE to enter the give-a-way. Who doesn't love free stuff! : )

Love, Sav

The many uses for lemons



Hello readers! Today is all about the LEMONS! Besides being just about the cheeriest citrus on the planet it has a lot of cleaning, anti-bacterial, and bleaching properties. It is safe for your children and pets, you know exactly what you are cleaning your house with, and come on who doesn’t love the smell of a lemon!



**Disclaimer – do not be deceived! Just because it is a natural product does not mean it is not a powerful one! It has the ability to bleach and corrode if left for too long with out being wiped up. Also these have worked for me, but might not work exactly the same for you.**

Counter Cleaner

Wipe off counter with a damp rag.

Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the cut half.

In a circular motion scrub those countertops clean

If you have a garbage disposal save the lemon, if not toss it.

Run a damp rag over countertops again and dry or let air dry.

Garbage Disposal Freshener

After scrubbing those countertops remove the pulp from the lemon and toss it

Cut peel into strips and toss into the garbage disposal

Run disposal with some water

Furniture Polish

1 cup Oilve Oil

½ Cup lemon Juice

Mix together is a small bowl and funnel into an empty, old water bottle or container with a screw on lid.

Use a dime sized amount on an old t-shirt or rag to rub on hardwood furniture

Bleach (this is a “good weather” thing!)

For stains on white linens, soak in water (cold for most stains, hot for grease stains)

Pour lemon juice on stain

Let dry in the sun

There you have it! Another natural cleaning product, thank you nature. : )

In other news...I'M the crazy friend who pretends to be AN AUNTIE! Well close enough friend anyway to be able to pull the auntie card. Lily. She is 6 lbs of perfection wrapped in a tiny pink blanket. Swoon. I'm in love.

DIY Laundry Detergent

My bestie Ali from Ballpoint + Pen is going to share her amazing (and simple!) DIY laundry detergent with us today!

Hello there! My dear friend Savannah asked me to share my DIY laundry detergent. I strongly believe in natural cleaning products and am a little frightened of the chemicals in some store bought cleaners! So in the interest of saving money and healthy living I decided to make a few of our cleaning products out of natural and inexpensive products. The first thing I tried was laundry detergent which turned out AWESOME! It was pretty simple too.

 It is one of those things where when you tell people, "Oh yeah I made laundry detergent today.." They are like "What! How did you do that!" It sounds way more impressive than it is.
All you need is Borax, Washing Soda (but I used baking soda because I couldnt find washing soda ANYWHERE!) and a bar of a hard soap. I have used a organic lemon verbena soap from Whole Foods, as well as Kirk's Castile Soap and both worked well, just not very fragrant. You can always add a little bit of essential oil though if you want that. Borax and baking soda are dirt cheap so you can make a lot of detergent for not a lot of money.

I found the Borax at Target and you can get a huge bag of baking soda which I plan to do next time we go :)You can buy your soap anywhere I just happened to get mine at Whole Foods.



First you want to grate your soap..I just used my cheese grater and used very short strokes so it would be in very small pieces. I actually decided to designate a grater just for this purpose.  Afterward I just washed it in super hot water. It worked really well. I also put down a paper towel to grate the soap into so I can use it as a funnel.



Then just mix together 1 cup of the soap flakes, 1/2 cup for borax, and 1/2 cup of baking soda (or washing soda if you find it). Mix it well. I just used a spoon and it worked fine.
You only need 2 tbsp per small load of laundry! I am a chronic detergent over user, so I use a little more for a large load but you still don't need a lot. I have used up to a 1/2 cup though, so you can judge based on your clothing and washer.

So there you go! Homemade laundry detergent! Have fun with it!

.::love ali::.



What the crock?! Spicy Curry Chicken

So my goal with What the Crock?! is to give you a wide range of things to whip up in your slow cooker. We started with a classic, added a little sweet last week and now we are on to a more exotic flair on ordinary chicken. By the end of February we will go through beef, chicken, pork, a sweet little extra, and a dessert.

 This is not your momma's crock pot creation, let me tell you what.  8 hours of simmering, slow cookin' spicy curry chicken. This is my own recipe I adapted from a generic curry chicken recipe to fit our taste more. I am a spicy girl, but the red pepper flakes and chili powder can be omitted if need be!

Ingredients
1lb cubed chicken breast
3 gold yukon potatoes
2 1/2 cups water
1 can chicken broth concentrate
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs curry powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 Tbs flour

Cube chicken and cook on the stove until all sides are white, though not cooked all the way through. The recipe doesn't call for browning on the stove, but I like to always cook my meat at least a little before I slow cook it. You just never know!



Cube potatoes and throw them in the slow cooker with the chicken. Add all spices + the garlic, toss to spread spices. Add both the chicken broth and water.
Cook on low for 7 1/2 hours.

At 7 1/2 hours add peas. Take some of the broth and mix it with the flour before adding it back into the pot. Cook an additional 1/2 hour. Enjoy!

DIY all purpose cleaner

Hey guys, this week is all about DIY house hold cleaners! Today I am going to start with an all purpose cleaner that can be used on counters, in sinks, showers, bath tubs, etc. It's exteremely simple and safe for both your children and pets! I will also be having the lovely Ali from Ballpoint + Pen give a tutorial on Wednesday on how to make your own laundry detergent. Don't miss that, it is a money saver for sure.

Ingredients

1 cup White Vinegar

1/2 cup Baking Soda

Drops fragrant dish soap or essential oil (I prefer lemon!)

Water

1 gallon milk jug

Spray bottle

In a large bowl (it must be large because remember 5th grade...vinegar + baking soda = volcano) mix vinegar and baking soda. Wait until the fizz stops and funnel it into an empty and clean gallon milk or water jug. Add a healthy squirt of fragrant dish soap or drops of essential oil in any scent you prefer. Fill the rest of the jug up with water, cap it and shake, shake, shake. Mark clearly, as it will look just like a jug of water. Fill a clean spray bottle as needed and spray, scrub and repeat. : )

**{ Don't forget about the Valentine's Day Give-A-Way, click on the link to enter!}**

In other news, say hello to my weekend. Thank you Bethany for being born and having awesome parties were we roller skate, eat cupcakes and dress awkwardly.

Love, Sav

Happy B-day to my roomie/bestie!

Happy Birthday to this girl!

Check back tomorrow for pictures from her 80's Roller Skating party...hello spandex and neon!

In other news...look what came in the mail! Just in time for Valentine's Day...now if I can only find a red cotton dress. : )

And...don't forget about the Valentine's Day Made By Michelle Brusegaard give-a-way! Open until the 14th, just leave a comment about your V-Day plans!

Love, Sav