Going Green

Andrew and I joke that we have more recycling every week than we do trash, but it is true.  The recycling is picked up every other week, and it is pretty much always full to the brim when they come for it.  We stopped putting the trash out every week and switched to the same schedule as recycling and there is two and possibly a third bag in there, but it certainly isn't full

If you are wondering what on earth we have that we are recycling that much, let me tell you: yogurt containers (which we both have every morning), milk jugs, the cardboard wrapping that comes around toothpaste and medicine, papers which we seem to accumulate a ton of, shredded paper, the plastic boxes fruit comes in, laundry containers, coffee containers, coffee creamer containers, lunch meat containers, soap containers, shampoo containers... you get the idea.  We recycle a lot, and I love it.

We first started recycling when we live in the dorms because we would have yogurt containers and cereal boxes to recycle and the occasional newspaper and graded assignment.  Andrew works right across from the recycling plant, so he would take the recycle box with him and dump it.  That continues when we moved into the apartment.  We bought an extra thirteen gallon trash bin and threw the recycling in there.  It was great when we went to the new system so you don't have to sort the recycling.  I feel like that did a lot to get more people on board with recycling because it is easier now. 

I remember clear back to 5th grade when I think recylcing must have just been starting out as a program in town because they were going to schools teaching kids about recycling.  That has stuck with me, and I have always tried to recycle as much as possible. 

There are other ways we try to be green as well.  When we moved into the house, you may remember Andrew started a compost pile.  That is going stong, so food scraps go to the compost and not to the landfill.  We take reusable bags to the grocery sore (thank you free bags from college).  Since we do most of our shopping at Target, it also helps that they give you .05 cents off your bill with every bag you use.  Now, I would like to note that this generally means rather than spacing things out amongst all the bags, they like to make them unbelievably heavy, which was really great when we had 3 flights of stairs to climb with them back at the apartment. 

When we lived further away from work, I rode the bus in to work almost every single day.  I loved the bus, especially in the winter time.  I used to calculate the number of miles I saved on my car by riding the bus in a year.  I think last year, the full year I rode, I saved about 5,000 miles on my car and averaging gas at that time to be about $3.25/gallon I think I also saved around $500-700 on gas.  That doesn't seem like a lot, but it adds up.  That was $500 I got to spend on clothes and purses and shoes!

What ways do you go green?

Summer Treats

Since it is hotter than an otter outside, it reminds me of all my favorite summer treats.  First and foremost is ice cream in the many wonderful varieties it comes in.  I love it all: ice cream sandwiches, shakes, malts, sundaes, the little cone things with the chocolate at the bottom, ice cream bars, ice cream in a dish… you get the idea.  My wonderful husband makes the most AMAZING oreo shakes.  Yum!  Great people… now I want one and we don’t have the ingredients at home (vanilla ice cream and double stuff oreos). 

In addition to ice cream in the summer I do love me some corndogs.  I think I mentioned last week that I already had my corndogs mapped out for the rest of the summer.  I did have one at the Art Festival this past weekend and I have to say that I was rather disappointed.  If you are going to sell me a corndog for $4.00, do not let me see the state fair corndog box it came out of.  I was not a happy camper, corndogs must be hand dipped, that is a law. 

I also love a good cold beverage in the summer time, usually of the alcoholic variety.  Does anyone have any good recipes to share, because I could sure use some?  Yes, I know what you are all thinking.  Go to pinterest lady, you will find a ton on there.  Pinterest is a dangerous place for me.  I see lots of things to do and make and buy and the buying this is what gets me in trouble.  I think at some point when Borders was closing (this was a very sad day in our house), we picked up a book on making different drinks, perhaps I should consult that.

Also, nothing is better than a good salad in the summer time.  I’m not talking about the green rabbit food kind of salad, I’m talking the mixing of ingredients in a bowl kind of salad.  I have several I like.  Fruit cocktail salad is good, Frog Eye Salad is my favorite at the moment, my mom’s potato salad, deviled eggs ( I realize this isn’t a salad but it must be listed next to potato salad), strawberry pretzel salad, snicker fluff, and if you give me five more minutes I could think of about twenty more.

Frog Eye Salad

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Fruits and vegetables are also some of my summer favorites and something I hope to have more of next year when we can get the garden in the ground.  We are currently in one of the most important times of the year, Missouri Peach time.  I would tell you all to run to the farmers market this weekend and get some, but then there wouldn’t be any left for me, so please don’t do that.  Peaches, cantaloupe, watermelon, and strawberries are my favorites.  In the veggie category, I love homegrown tomatoes on a BLT.  I also love fresh green beans and corn on the cob, which I hope to have some of here in a couple of weeks (hint hint ears of corn, get on it). 

Last but not least, who could forget a good grilled STEAK!  My mouth waters talking about it.  Grilled anything really.  Grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, bratwurst… I like my cow meat, sorry vegetarians! 

There you have it, the summer foods I love.  I have some fall foods I really enjoy too, but that is a post for this fall, and winter has other yummy things, and coffee is an all year round thing! 

Decoration Time

So, last night I was hard at work on getting some things hung up on the walls.  I was pretty much sick of looking at blank walls and pictures sitting around on the floor and worrying about them getting broken.  I got some of our wedding pictures put up, which I know Andrew loves.  I also got our two favorite pictures put up finally.  These two we picked up when we first moved into our apartment and we haven’t been sure on where we were going to put them now, but I like where we have them. 

 

 

 

I also got some things hung up in the bedroom which makes me happy that I don’t have to look at a blank wall as I fall asleep listening to Andrew’s computer game and Buddy’s snoring.  Yes, our dog snores like and old man.  My parents can support this statement; they heard it when he was staying with them while we were on vacation. 

 

Notice I am avoiding telling you about the yard?  That’s because nothing has been done.  Two weekends ago Andrew was sick, then it rained, then it was too hot and that is the end of the story.  Now, we are back to needing to mow the lawn, weed the flower beds and kill the weed patch going on in the back.  I’m pretty sure Buddy is allergic to half that stuff because when he comes in from prancing around in it he is sneezing up a storm.  I’m sure that also doesn’t help either of our allergies.  We probably need to get some heavy duty weed killer and just spray the heck out of it, but I also don’t want to harm buddy, so we have to be careful.  Some of that stuff is bad news for our little dude, and right now it is just too hot to do anything outside.

 

I will leave you all with a pictures of my flowers that are going crazy out on our deck!    

 

 

What The Cool Kids Do...

This weekend was highlighted by a relaxing afternoon getting a pedicure followed by a trip to the Arts Festival, where I saw a ton of things I wanted and nothing I could afford.  That realization was followed by a sad face.  Saturday, although it was raining, we harnessed up Buddy and ventured out to the farmers market.  As soon as we hit the market, his nose was on the go.  Everyone loved him and thought he was the cutest thing they have ever seen, we think so too!  Sunday, I had major ambitions until I walked outside and realized it was oppressively hot.  We did get the fridge moved out of the kitchen and put in the garage, so we are now down to one fridge in the kitchen!  This is progress in my mind. 

Yesterday, we had another major discussion about what to do with the steep/deadly stairs.  Andrew has slipped down them a couple of times, I not so much, knock on wood (no pun intended).  We aren't sure what to do with these bad boys or even what our options are, but if we have any hope of turning the upstairs into a master suite at some point, we have to figure something out.  I think our next step will be contacting a professional to come in and tell us what our options are and how much it is going to cost.  We don't have the slightest idea at this point what kind of a price tag we are looking at.  Add the stair project to the fact that we both agreed the ceiling in the kitchen needs to be replaced as well as doing something about the cabinets and I think we are looking at something that is going to cost us more than a pretty penny.  Andrew also reminded me this weekend that we need to decide what we are going to do about the bathroom window that we are in the process of taking the paint off of.  I don't think picking at the remaining paint while brushing my teeth is really going to accomplish the project in a timely manner.

This weekend must have been the weekend for house discussion because we also discussed where we are going with the yard and came to the conclusion that we really need to bite the bullet and finish up the paving project.  This means sorting through more rock and moving it (if you could see me at this moment you would see me rolling my eyes).  I spent about 3 hours doing that project one day and thought I was going insane. 

And this all leads me into my discussion of what the cool kids do on Monday nights.  Yesterday, while at Lowe's, we bought some cleaner for the siding (we of course used one of the fantastic coupons they sent us thanking us for moving to the neighborhood).  Parts of the siding are just plain gross and I had enough of it.  Being the oh so patient person I am, no laughing please, I decided tonight was as good a night as any to clean the siding.  So, out I went.  Thirty minutes later, I realized it wasn't going to be as easy as the bottle told me it would.  I busted out my scrub sponge and had at it.  I'm not sure how I feel about the results, I think Andrew is going to have to take a look at it tomorrow during daylight and tell me what he thinks.  

After a rousing evening of cleaning part of the siding, the best way possible to cap it off would of course be with some boxed mac and cheese!  This is what Andrew has to look forward to for dinner tonight, he's excited he just doesn't know it yet.  While surfing some other blogs I came across tonight I remembered that we had purchased a doorbell yesterday while in home improvement paradise.  I slapped that bad boy up quick, after stabbing myself with a screwdriver (don't ask).  Now, we have a functional doorbell, which we haven't had since we moved in.  Seems the previous owners thought it would be a good idea to cut the wire to the doorbell, which didn't really help with the overall functionality of the doorbell.  What we did discover last night while removing the old box off the wall was a lovely green floral wallpaper that I'm sure covers the walls in our living room. 

More to come later this week.  Hopefully with no more injuries. 

Working For the Weekend

Does anyone else out there feel like all you do is work for the weekend?  Monday morning hits and I am already thinking about the next weekend, I just have 5 days standing in my way.  I find this especially true during two times of the year.  Summer and football season yes, football is a season.  Don't argue with me about that. 

I love summer weekends: grilling, going to the farmers market, sitting out on the deck, playing in the yard, and taking walks with Buddy and Andrew.  This weekend I am pumped to go to the Arts Festival downtown.  I love being downtown and I love any excuse to be outside in the summer.  If you haven't been downtown lately, you should really go.  I love the area around the library and the sculpture park.  Now, I hate being hot, so you would think I would just want to stay in the air conditioning.  Tell me there is a corndog and a cold drink and I'm there.  Corndogs and summer go hand in hand.  I already have my corndogs of the summer mapped out.  This weekend at the Arts Festival, the 4th of July weekend, Summerfest the second week in July and the State Fair.  Of course, there are about a million other things I also eat at the State Fair, but that is a post for August.

I am totally pumped about heading downtown Friday night and listening to some great music with a good friend.  Of course, aside from the whole going to work thing, I'm looking forward to Friday in general.  My friend and I are skipping out of work early and going to get pedicures.  I have only had a couple in my life.  Actually 4 that I can think of but they are amazing!  I think everyone deserves a little pampering from time to time.   

Saturday, Andrew and I are going to hit up the Farmers Market because this weekend is the weekend that my beloved Missouri peaches are going to be there.  My mouth waters just thinking about it.  Last weekend I went because Andrew was sick and bought some tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans.  I have now had my first BLT of the summer.  Yummy!  I also sat down the other night with a cucumber and ranch dressing and ate the whole thing. I was going to make the green beans last night when I made some chicken ranch lasagna, but I ran out of energy. 

Chicken Ranch Lasagna

Customer Service: The Good And The Not So Good

Working in a customer oriented job I think makes me hypersensitive to other customer service I encounter.  In the last couple of days, I have been amazed at the amazing customer service and care I have encountered.  On Tuesday, we got a call from the vet hospital we took Buddy to just to check on him and make sure he was doing ok and we didn’t have any questions.  I was amazed that they did this.  This morning while driving to work, I got a call from our regular vet (the actual vet not a receptionist mind you) that she had received the report from the orthopedic specialist and just wanted to call and make sure Buddy was ok and that we didn’t need a refill on his meds or anything.  Once again, I was amazed.  Now, I would like to take this moment to say how much I LOVE Creature Comforts in Ankeny.  They are absolutely AMAZING.  Dr. Shivers is awesome!  As long as we have pets, we will be taking them there.  My parents started taking their two doggies there off the recommendation of our family friend and when we got Buddy, of course we went there. 

 

Another example of amazing customer service in the last 24 hours.  Last night, I bit the bullet after crunching numbers and crunching them again and reading about a million reviews and agonizing for hours, and bought a new fridge.  I also might have had something to do with the time I spent practically standing on my head looking for something in the fridge, or the fact that it took me four attempts last night at one point to get the fridge door closed.  I bought the fridge online last, hours before Lowes sale on it ended and their free delivery deal ended.  I decided on the purchase long after their stores were closed or I might have gone to the store.  Then again, I might not have.  I have to admit, I love online shopping!  Once I made the purchase, it was noted someone from the store would call me to set up the delivery.

 

I thought it would be at least a couple of weeks before we would have our new fridge.  All the other stores I looked at (American, Home Depot, Menards, Nebraska Furniture Mart) didn’t have the fridge in stock.  Guess what, this morning as I was walking in to work, Lowes called and said our fridge would be delivered today between 12 and 2:00…. What!!!!!!!!!!  That is crazy fast.  Not that I’m complaining.  Now, these are also the days that I enjoy having Andrew home during the day.  Yeah, it sucks that he works nights sometimes, but he is home during the day for things like this, so I don’t have to leave work and go sit at home for two hours.  Don’t think I haven’t also thought about the fact that we could save major buckaroos at some point in the future on daycare costs if he and I are still working split shifts.  I can see why this might appeal to people.  Would I love to have him home at night so it isn’t just me myself and I chatting it up with Buddy, sure.  But, I think him working night shift is also good for us in a lot of ways.  I love going home and having some time to unwind after my day.  Granted, four hours is a little more time than I would like, but it does give me time to myself to work on my “projects”.

 

Another happy fact about our new fridge… it comes with an ice maker!!!! I know the one we have now was able to have one because when I was painting the kitchen and had to move the fridge, I saw the spot for it to be run through the fridge.  However, it was never installed.  Now, I’m going to put on my spoiled rotten pants for a minute here and say I forgot just how much I HATE ice cube trays.  Our apartment had an ice maker, and I love it even though it made some funky honking noise from time to time.  My parents house has an ice maker and the house before that had an in door water dispenser.  So, I can honestly say, I can’t remember the last time I had to use an ice cube tray.  I was slightly bummed, however because I didn’t remember seeing the water line run through the floor to the basement, so I didn’t think we were going to be able to have the icemaker installed.  However, as I sit at work typing this, Andrew just called to let me know when he moved our fridge out of the way, he found that there was a water line run through the floor to the basement and went down to the basement and verified that it is hooked up down there too!  This is the best news I have heard in hours.  So in a matter of two hours we should be the proud owners of a shiny new fridge with an icemaker.  Queue happy dance here.  Now all we have to do is get the other fridge moved out to the garage for overflow.  Wish us luck on that project.

 

Update: I just got a phone call from Andrew asking if I had measured any of the doorways prior to purchasing this fridge?  Um, no, but I measured the spot it is going in 4 times, does that count?  I guess it doesn’t because I continue to discover the joys of a one hundred year old home… the doorways are non standard.  Sweet!  The good news, thanks to my quick thinking, is that they will be able to take the handles off and get the fridge through all the doorways in the house.  Lovely!  Andrew said if I buy one more thing without measuring how to get it in the house he is revoking my appliance purchasing privileges.  So lesson learned, measure EVERYTHING.

 

Now that I am done with my tangent about our new fridge, I would like to mention the one not so happy customer service encounter I have had in the last month involving our former car insurance company.  We had to switch companies for our car insurance to take advantage of a multi policy discount with our homeowners insurance and because the company we had was going to raise our rates something crazy for moving.  I guess we live in a higher risk area now.  Amazing customer service in this scenario is our insurance guy.  He ran all the quotes he could to get us the best deal.  Not so good customer service was when I called in to the insurance company because I got a letter in the mail saying I owed them money and there was a late fee on it.  For starters, I didn’t get a first notice, so I’m not sure how I can have a late fee on something I didn’t know I had to pay and second, their billing notices suck. 

 

The only indication I ever had that I owed them money was on a notice that at the top said renewal information and on one line on the last page in small print and in parenthesis it said ($20.00 due from prior policy).  As I explained finally to the supervisor I got on the phone, if something says renewal notice and I’m not renewing, why would I read all the way to the last page and squint my eyes to see if I owed anything?  If you want me to pay you money for something I still owe you, you should probably sent me a separate letter (to the correct address since they had it on file but didn’t bother to use it) and put in bold letters FINAL BILLING STATEMENT.  Now, that would get my attention.  As I explained to her, I work in a job that is very driven by written communication, so I like to think I do a pretty good job of reading everything, including the fine print.  I finally got the supervisor to take the late fee off and I paid the other charge to be done with it.   However, when I knew more about how their online notification system worked than the supervisor, I had an issue with that.

 

I will now step off my soapbox and will close with a picture of the new beautiful refrigerator!  If you look close, some of you will see your Christmas cards from last year!

 

 

More Things To Paint

As if the projects in our house could come to an end, I decided to paint the stairs tonight.   I’m not a fan of the steep stairs in our house, but I thought at least if I could give them a fresh coat of paint they might be prettier to look at. 

I found this idea a while ago, but didn’t feel it would work for the kitchen. 

I opted to do something a little different rather than painting the steps all one color; I painted them grey and white.  I used the grey from our kitchen to paint the treads and some white paint we had in the basement to paint the risers. They look so much better now!  We will have to see what Andrew thinks when he gets home.  I am always doing something when he is at work. 

Before...

 After...

When Andrew comes home from work I find it rather fun to see if he can figure out what I did to the house that night.  Last night, while Andrew was at work, I replaced the towel ring in the bathroom and hung a towel bar in the bathroom behind the door.  For now, we have to use a stand toilet paper holder in the bathroom because there really isn’t a good place to put a toilet paper holder on a wall or cabinet.  I hate it when you just have those things that you have to find some kind of workaround for.  Does anyone else find that annoying?  Also annoying, are the dishes I have to go do.  They seem to multiply.  I swear they sprout legs, climb out of the cabinets, and run around the kitchen screaming.  Ok, maybe that isn’t what happens, but it keeps life interesting.     

Stay tuned to see what other projects I come up with!