Homemade Laundry Detergent?

Lately we had a laundry issue. No, not the usual issue of having too much laundry laying on the basement floor BEGGING to be washed. And no, not the issue of my husband seeing the aforementioned piles of laundry, and then only washing one shirt and one pair of pants for work the next day. That really annoys me, however, that is not the issue at hand. The issue is that because we use free & clear laundry detergent, I don't feel like it smells good once cleaned. For example, Pat and I have been running a combined 6 days a week. That means 6 pairs of shorts, 6 tops and 3 sports bras (obviously only I wear those) that are being laundered each week. Anyone that works out knows that running makes you sweat (especially in 100 degree weather like we were having) and sweat makes things stink. Because the free & clear detergent is unscented, I don't feel like the stink truly gets out of the clothes.  Pat likes to use fabric softener, but I don't really and I know it's full of crazy chemicals that are really hard on the dry and the clothes. We have been using it lately though because it is scented helps with the smell issue.

We haven't always used free & clear detergents. Back when i was pregnant we used something else, Tide, maybe, but I had sensitive skin and it used to make my skin itch. When you're pregnant and having so many changes you can't control, having itchy skin from your detergent isn't cool. We switched then and haven't looked back. We never used dreft when Baileigh was a baby because the free & clear worked well on her sensitive baby skin. Detergent isn't cheap, and between laundry, towels and your daughter wetting the bed twice in 3 nights (fantastic...) we do a lot of laundry. I'm looking for a new detergent option that will provide the following:

1) Clean our clothes (obviously!)
2) Make them smell good
3) Not make my skin itchy
4) Easy on the wallet (chaaaa-ching! I'd like to have more money, you know, for craft supplies!)

My friend Michelle made her own detergent a few months ago and even blogged about it at her blog Makin' and Bakin' Memories She mentioned that it cost about $20 for all the ingredients and she estimates it will last for 9 months or so since you only use 1-2 tablespoons a load! She washes a lot of laundry too with a two- year-old and an 8 month old!

This weekend I don't have any plans so I think I am going to go out and get the ingredients! Pat is a bit skeptical, but he doesn't like his workout clothes smelling either, so hopefully he just lets me "do my thing"

Hopefully I love it! Then maybe I'll move onto creating my own cleaning supplies...something I have been planning to do since Earth day- 2010! (Kristin, do you remember me printing out the Homemade Cleaning Supplies handout and distributing it around NICC on earth day?)

Anyways, I'll eventually post back and let you know if it was successful! Don't expect a nice tutorial like Michelle did though. Why must I reinvent the wheel? :)

Ready to Run-- Training for my first half-marathon

A few months ago I started running again. I decided on a whim that I wanted to run the Grandview Gallop, which at the time was about a month away. When I decided this, I had not ran more than a mile in the last year. Some say that "muscles have memory" and because I was a runner in high school, I was able to get back into it fairly quick. 


To be honest, it's funny that I ever started to run. In junior high, I hated running. I was a bit chatty in gym class and my gym teacher would make me run laps if I wouldn't quit talking. We also had to run a timed mile in gym class once a year. I hated it and would whine and complain the entire 15 minutes. (Yes, back then running a mile took me 15 minutes, and no, I didn't walk it...) It wasn't until a high school crush (awww....) got me to join cross country. Okay, to be honest, he didn't ask me to run, I pretty much did it so I could stalk him spend time with him. Turns out, after I quit complaining, I wasn't too bad of a runner. I managed to run varsity cross country sophomore and junior year, and most of senior year. I did develop "senioritis" that year and didn't really care much for running.  I was "recruited" to run at Loras College after I attended XC camp there for two years. Take "recruited" with a grain of salt. They pretty much recruit anyone with an interest in the sport, especially if they have contact info from XC camp. I almost ran college XC but last minute, about a month before I was to move into the dorms at Loras, I decided against it. I didn't really love to run, and I knew it would take a lot of time away from partying meeting new people and partying my studies. I would go through running spurts during my 4 years of college, but nothing regular. Incase you are't aware, Dubuque is HILLY and running up hills isn't my cup of tea.


Fast forward to now. After 2 1/2 months of consistant running (averaging 25-35 miles/month) i decided to be crazy and train for a half marathon. In May, a  few of our friends mentioned on facebook they were training for the Quad Cities Marathon and I never really thought much of it. At that point, I had run only run a few times and only a couple miles each time. I finally made it up to 4 miles a couple weeks before the Grandview Gallop. I ended up doing really well in that race, finishing the 4-miles in 33:43, and placing 11th in my age group! That gave me the confidence to keep running and see how I would do! After I was able to run about 6 1/2 miles, I decided that I was going to train for the half-marathon, which is 13.1 miles. I'm on week 2 of my official training schedule and it is going really well! My husband, who has NEVER been a runner (he was a swimmer in high school) started training for the 5k race at the QC Marathon. I am super proud of him for going out and training for the race. because of his new training, he has also started eating healthier. It feels good getting back into running and into shape!


If you follow my on facebook, you will probably see my runs several times a week. I enjoy the app and keeps the motivation going so I keep running!


Is there anything new you are trying to achieve?

I'm not a good blogger

Oh hello again. Forgive me father readers, for I have sinned been a slacker, it has been 4 months since my last confession blog post. (Can you tell I went to Catholic school for 13 years... 17 years if you count college?)


I've been busy. Very busy, indeed. I think part of the reason I hasn't blogged is because I don't have much to say. I think part of me got so wrapped up trying to create pretty blog posts, full of cute, edited pictures; recipe tutorials and crafts I have made, that I quit blogging when I wasn't being successful at that. I'm not sure how some of the amazing bloggers that I follow do it. Some are stay-at-home moms, but that is not easy task either. I'm a pretty busy lady. I work full time as a graphic designer where I spend my days designing, managing freelance designers and attempting to hit all my deadlines so textbooks are published on time. Evenings are spent cooking dinner, trying to get a run in (i'm training for a half marathon in September), working on freelance design projects (designing two wedding invites now... programs, tables numbers, ect. to come soon), attempting to keep a tidy home and most of all, trying to be a good wife and mom. Boy, i'm exhausted just reading that! In addition to all that, I'm obsessed with crafting and making out house a home. 


Summer has been busy too. We are attending 5 wedding this summer. I'm in two of them. Plus, baby showers, bridal showers, bachelorettes and bbqs! I love summer because I love all of these kind of things, but having something every weekend makes it hard to get things done for the week. Last summer, we went to Florida for a week vacation. That was amazing. This summer, no such vacation. However, we are going up to Minneapolis in a few weeks with some friends and I am VERY much looking forward to that.


I'm not making excuses for why I haven't blogged, but saying more that things more important to be came up. To be honest, I have a tendency to jump into thing really fast. For example, my etsy shop, hello little whimsy. I go through spurts of exploring etsy for hours on end. I would see all these adorable hair accessories and think, "hey, I can do that!" and so I did. I spent several evenings hot gluing felt, making bows and creating hair accessories. I photographed everything, edited them in photoshop and then set up a shop. All this from conception, to reality, in about a week. Another thing I do is get bored with things...fast. This is what happened to my shop. I sold a few items, and then, I wasn't really in the mood to keep up with it. I started a facebook page, but I never posted on it. After 3 months the items I had posted on my page expired, and I never posted them again. I make rash decisions. I guess I kind of get wrapped up in what others are doing, and want to do that too, like the etsy shop.


Oh well! Most of the time my sporadic obsessions aren't a big deal, so I'm okay with that.


Well  to wrap it up. I may try to post more often, but don't expect much out of the posts in regards to design. I'm not a professional blogger and I'm, okay with that. I just want to have this blog to write about things going on in my life. Even if I only post once in 4 months!


cheers!