Saturday, January 26, 2013

HomeMade Laundry Detergent - Take One


So, I'm totally addicted to Pinterest.  And I've seen tons of homemade laundry detergent recipes.  One such recipe caught my eye.  It's super thick (like mayo) and it's called Laundry Sauce.  I spent last Saturday working on this yummy smelling stuff.  Here's what I ended up with.


In the process of making laundry sauce, it's supposed to separate pretty significantly.  Mine didn't so much do that, which makes me wonder if I messed up somewhere.  So, I did a comparison test between my Tide and my Laundry Sauce.  

Here's the before:



Here's the after:


I'm totally bummed with the results.  It's super obvious (especially in person) which sock is whiter.  I'm going to try the recipe again and see if I can get it to separate like the recipe says it should.  Otherwise.....back to the drawing board for laundry detergent recipes!

Roasted Red Pepper Ravioli

I cook dinner now.  Before Michael, I pretty much just ate a bowl of cereal of a can of corn (I really like corn) for dinner.  Now that I have someone else to think about when it comes to dinner, I decided I needed to get serious about cooking.  I have fallen in love with the cooking blog Baking With Blondie. We especially love her Ravioli with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.


The problem with this dish is that the sauce really is time consuming.  BUT the last time I made this, I ended up with lots of extra sauce.  So I thought, What the heck?!  I need to try to freeze this stuff!!  Well, this week I pulled my frozen roasted red pepper sauce out of the freezer, and....

SUCCESS!!!  It tasted just as good as it did when it was fresh!  So, the lesson of this story?  Take a Sunday afternoon to at least double the recipe, and put that yummy goodness in the freezer for a quick and oh-so-delicious meal!!  I'll be spending a Sunday in the very near future doing just that!!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Single is Easier

***DISCLAIMER:  I absolutely love being married.  I am so beyond blessed to be able to "do life" with my husband.***

When I got married a few months ago, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into.  I didn't really understand what marriage was and what it required of me and what it didn't require of me.  I didn't truly have a full picture view of what a Biblical marriage really meant for me.  

Let me try to explain where I'm coming from by rewinding back to our engagement.

I knew I loved Michael.  But I didn't know if I really loved him enough.  Part of that is that I totally over-analyze ev.ry.thing. in my life.  The other part of that is I didn't feel that movie romantic-falling-all-over-myself-can't-see-straight kind of love.  And that scared the snot out of me.  That's what I thought I was supposed to feel when I got married.  That passionate, lustful, romantic love.  You know.  The kind we see in every chick flick movie that we all adore.  

I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my parents (after Michael and I were engaged) and finally "coming clean" with how terrified I was that I didn't feel the right thing.  I was scared that my love wasn't the right kind of love.  Or strong enough.  Or movie-worthy enough.  Shortly after that conversation (in which my parents assured me that the movie love wasn't really love), I confronted Michael with my fears.  I told him that I didn't feel that movie love for him, and that I was scared.  You know what he said to me?

"I don't feel that for you either."

WHAT?  HUH?  You mean to tell me that it's okay to love me and want to marry me and spend the rest of your life with me even though we don't have that crazy chick-flick romance?????  I was SO. BEYOND. RELIEVED.  After talking with Michael, I realized that what I felt really was love.  It wasn't the passionate, lustful, can't-function-in-my-daily-life kind of love.......because it was true love instead of love from a fictional movie.  (I can totally hear my sister quoting from The Princess Bride right now.....Wuv.  Twoo Wuv.)  

Soo.....that being said, I thought that after realizing what I felt really was right, and after some AH-mazing pre-marital counseling from our pastor, I really thought I had this marriage thing in the bag.

Uh.  Wrong-o.

I really had no idea what marriage was or what I was getting myself into.  Every day I'm learning what marriage really is.  Man, it's serious self-sacrificing, which is hard when you've been single and independent for 30 years.  And I never really understood how much marriage really is making a choice to love.  Even when I'm ugly in the physical sense (early mornings are not my best) and in my attitude....Michael chooses to love me.  I'm really only beginning to understand how to do that.  

And the most wonderful thing I'm learning about marriage is that I get to be a part of something incredibly holy.  An institution that God designed to portray how He loves us.  

It's so wonderful.  But soooo hard.  I've said several times in the last few months that being single really is easier.  But I love that the Lord is allowing me the opportunity to share my life with an amazing man.  And He is using that relationship to make me more and more like Jesus.  There's nothing I could want more than that.

If you are a single gal and really wanting to understand and be prepared for Biblical marriage, I would totally recommend reading Timothy Keller's "The Meaning of Marriage."  Michael and I are reading it right now, and I wish so badly that I had read this before we even met so that I would have had a better idea of what to expect a marriage to be.  I'm playing catchup in my understanding, but you don't have to!!  

Monday, January 7, 2013

My latest project

My latest project.  Michael thinks I should start selling these!  Not sure there's a huge market for jute-covered letters, but I'm your girl if you want one!



Our front door....I didn't want to wait until morning to take a a picture.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Wood Pallet

I adore Pinterest.  But I must admit, there are some things that confuse me.  Specifically....

I love all of the wood pallet ideas.  You can make just about anything out of a wood pallet!!
https://brightnest.com

https://brightnest.com
Super cute!!  Explain this to me, though.....where the heck are these pallets just magically appearing from?!  I don't know about you, but I don't have a whole lot of wood pallets just laying around my garage or backyard.  Is it just me?

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The Year of the Schulze Girls

My mom predicted in January that 2012 would be the year of the Schulze girls.  
And she was right!
My sister got her long-awaited dream job of a high school history teacher.  And I got married!  
2012 was an A-mazing year!  Here's the year in pictures.

January
Our first New Year's Eve....and Michael meets the Gardners

February
I turned the BIG 3-0.....in Mexico!

March
Wedding ring shopping!

April
We got engaged!!!



May
Wedding Planning


 June
Celebrating two-year-old birthdays!

July
China!


 August
Baseball games
A new school and new classroom

September
Football!
Bachelorette Party


We got MARRIED!!!



Honeymoon in Mexico!



October
Weston Apple Fest


Our new nephew Barrett!

Trick-or-Treating with our niece Kyndall


November
Beautiful Baptistm

December
Michael finally turned the BIG 3-0!
Our first Christmas card
Christmas morning
Special Surprise Weekend

Michael and I are so incredibly blessed and grateful for such an amazing year!!
We are excited to see what 2013 has in store for us (we're making our predictions)!!