musings on moving from montana

My last post about Montana was sort of left "to be continued," so I thought I best continue a bit on our very quick jaunt out to Montana to move Matt's mom back to Wisconsin.  For lack of time to write a completely detailed post about everything that happened while we were there, I am going to make a list of some of the more noteworthy things that happened, or things we noticed and/or discovered along the way:

*Spending hours upon hours in a car calls for a lot of food.  We had every junk food imaginable: chips, cookies, candy, and cupcakes (I guess all of our non-healthy food started with 'c').  We had a few healthy things, too (apples, carrots, and sandwiches).
*iPods, a sermon series, Christmas music, movies and chatting will help pass the time driving.
*Seeing the mountains always makes me so in awe of our Lord and His creation.
*It takes a lot longer on the return trip when you're hauling a massive trailer and driving through a blizzard.
*November in South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota and Wisconsin is cold.
*Gas mileage is cut in having when you're hauling a trailer.  That's important to remember when it's 9* and the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere in North Dakota.  You may be very, very close to running out of gas before you find a gas station and may call 911 because you were really that close to running out.  God provided us with gas when we literally had none.
*It's always good to have friends in Fargo who are willing to house three very tired people at 3:00am so that you can catch just a few hours of sleep before continuing the last five or so hours of the trip.  Thanks, Ryan and Emily!
*God answers prayers.  We know we had so many people praying for us on this trip and we could see how He watched over us the entire time.  We were able to leave early and got ahead of a big snowstorm that we didn't even know was coming (although we did go through part of it).  We were safe through the storm.  We made it back in good timing.  We fit almost everything into our trailer.  And, we did have some fun times together despite a lot of things that were potentially stressful!

a Black Friday find

My mom and I have gone shopping on Black Friday for several years now.  We don't ever get up extreme early for the really big deals, but just shop during the day and see what we can find (or look through whatever is left).  This is all very unlike my brother, sister-in-law and sister who were up at 2:00am standing in line at Target in 8* weather.  From what I hear, my brother sprinted through the store when the doors opened and walked away with a new tv.  If we ever need a new tv, I'll know who to send on a mission on another Black Friday!  So anyway, my mom and I enjoy browsing through a variety of stores and seeing the great deals we can snatch up.  I think after today, I am almost complete with my Christmas shopping!  We also were able to get a lot of fun clothes for the girls.  These pajamas were some of my favorites from the day.

Perhaps another possibility for a Christmas picture?

an attempt at taking just the right Christmas picture

It was all too reminiscent of when I tried just a regular photo shoot this summer.  I shall try again soon.

2500 miles

...is how far Matt and I traveled in the past four days.  I will attempt to write more of a detailed post about our quick turnaround trip to Missoula, Montana sometime soon.  We drove there to move Matt's mom from Missoula to Wisconsin and conquered a blizzard, a vehicle almost running out of gas, climbing three flights of stairs with many, many boxes, lack of sleep, icy roads, and cold temperatures.  But, we are glad to have her back and enjoyed seeing the mountains for a few days!

More to come...

put your money where your mouth is

I guess Abbie has already embraced that.  Literally.

the best $26 I've spent in a long time

A few weeks ago, I was out looking around at Walmart for a winter coat for Miriam.  She had outgrown her coat from last winter, but I still had a few sets of hats and mittens that she could still wear this winter.  Many of the hats and mittens had purple in them, so I was looking for something mainly purple.  And then I found it --an adorable purple down coat with polka dots.  And it was only $13!  Couldn't beat that.  

Fast forward a week or so and I realized that Abbie would be needing a winter coat this year, too.  We will soon be switching her into her convertible car seat and won't be taking it into the store with us anymore (where we used to be able to throw a ton of blankets on her and just leave her in the car seat).  So with that, a coat was needed.  The winter coat I had for Miriam when she was littler was an 18month or 2T size and I knew Abbie would be drowning in it (one of the downfalls of having completely opposite seasons that the girls were born in).   So I ran to Walmart again.  After looking around for a few minutes, I happened to find a rack of the exact coat I bought for Miriam.  And sure enough, they had one in a 12month size (and only one left!).  I was so delighted to find the same coat and for so cheap.

Fast forward again to today.  Our gorgeous November weather disappeared and we had a gloomy, rainy/part-snowy day and needed to run errands.  So, I pulled out the coats and think this was the best $26 I've spent in a long time, if I do say so myself.

{I probably should have taken Miriam's snack away before taking pictures.  But it was enough to just get them sitting in the same place and partially looking at the camera.} 

in a rut

I feel like I've been in a blogging rut lately.  I'm not sure what to post about... not like there hasn't been anything going on, however.  There's always something going on.  I could certainly write about how after coming back from a weekend (plus a few days) at my parents', I spent the next day and a half attempting to catch up on laundry.  Or I could write about how I've somehow managed to make a meal for the last four nights (and include recipes).  Or talk about how I made another batch of my laundry soap last night (but I guess I did talk about that already).  Or just mention how I feel like I haven't had a chance to sit and blog because we've been too busy enjoying this absolutely gorgeous November weather these last few days.  Or even about how I've been listening to Christmas music nonstop for a few weeks now.  But I guess none of those is striking a chord with me.  I even sat at the computer for about a half an hour last night after Abbie was in bed and Miriam was at her grandparents' house... but just couldn't really think of anything.  I then browsed through my iPhoto library hoping that there would be at least some sort of recent photo to share and tell a story about.  But this was all I found:

We had staff pictures at church recently and those were the last pictures imported into our photo library.  I felt like I got my senior pictures all over again --but in a much more condensed fashion.  And with my 3-year-old daughter sitting on a chair watching it all.

I digress.  But I guess I didn't really have anything to digress from anyway.  So, there you have it.  This is why I'm a rut.  Hopefully something much more compelling will be on my mind again soon.

what I've learned in four years of marriage

Matt and I shared our four-year-anniversary yesterday together.  We enjoyed spending the evening out while my parents watched the girls.  We went out to eat at The Hubbell House in Mantorville, Minnesota and then toured the Mayowood Mansion in Rochester.  We had a wonderful evening talking, reminiscing, dreaming, and just enjoying each other's company.

So, in thinking of what to post about our anniversary... I thought I'd write down a few things I have learned in our four years of marriage.  And even though I think I've learned a lot, I know I still have much more to learn.

~ Married life is better than I thought it could be.
~ Married life can be more challenging than I thought it would be.
~ You learn all of your faults very quickly.
~ It is both a blessing and a joy to serve and be served.
~ You never really stop dating.  {I love that.}
~ Even though you think you know everything about each other before you get married, you don't.
~ It is possible to fall in love with your spouse all over again.
~ Having a constant companion is wonderful.
~ Prayer for and with each other is essential.
~ God is truly the only One that can hold a marriage together.

Happy Anniversary, my wonderful husband!  I am so thankful to share my life with you.

another great money saver

As I sit on my couch tonight watching and listening to the election returns, I thought I would share another way our family saves money.  I haven't posted much about being frugal, but I have mentioned how we love cloth diapering and hand-me-downs.  This next way was introduced to me by my sister-in-law this last spring.  In a casual conversation, she mentioned that she made her laundry soap.  To which I replied, "you make your laundry soap?"  I had never heard of such a thing and was quite intrigued.  Then I learned that it saves a ton of money.  We're talking 2-3 cents a load!  As a rough estimate, we have spent about $10 on everything we needed to make laundry soap in the past seven months.  And I have enough of many of the ingredients to use for another several months.  The next time I make a batch, all I need to purchase is a $1 bar of soap.  And also?  We do a lot of laundry.  So, interested at all?  First, here is the recipe:

Just click on the image to read it more clearly.  I have only made the Liquid Laundry Detergent so far, but my mother-in-law has tried to the Powdered Laundry Detergent.  However, after trying both, she prefers the liquid.

When I have made it, I always double the recipe.  If you do that, you need to make sure you have a 5 gallon bucket to put it in.  Otherwise, the only other tip I have is to use a fine cheese grater to grate the Fels Naptha soap.  This is somewhat time consuming, but the the detergent turns out much better with a fine grater.

The ingredients needed for the detergent (Fels Naptha soap, Mule Team Borax and Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda) can sometimes be tricky to find.  I was able to get them all at a local grocery store, but I am pretty sure you can purchase them online if you can't find any of the ingredients at a store.  Lastly, you can also add essential oils if you want it to have a scent.  I haven't tried this yet, but was thinking I'd like to sometime.  But I also don't mind the scent of the Fels Naptha (which is pretty much all you smell in the final detergent).  

Let me know if you try this and what you think!