Crafty or crazy?

Recently, I have been thinking about doing something. I mean REALLY thinking about it for a long time. I guess you could say I finally decided to stop weighing everyone else's pros and cons and try it for myself. "What could this be" you ask?

Homemade laundry soap (aka "washing powders" if you're in the South) 

Did you cringe like I did the first time I heard of someone making it? Sounds a little crazy right? Granted, if it works and I really like it, this could save a LOT of money in the next several months. Couldn't hurt to try.

Oh, and I took pictures of the process because in all the blogs I've read about homemade laundry soap, not one of them had pictures and I am a VERY picture-oriented person. I might have tried this sooner if I just would have had some pictures to look at! 

First, the ingredients. Total cost for these three items was approximately $9.00 (I should get two batches out of the bar of soap, and probably 5-8 batches out of the Borax and Washing Soda.) Recipe calls for 2 cups of grated Fels-Naptha soap, 1 cup Borax, 1 cup Washing Soda, and you use 2 Tbsp per full load of laundry.

I cut the Fels-Naptha soap into chunks so it would be easier to grate

And used my handy dandy cheese grater because I always seem to lose a nail or a chunk of skin when I try grate something by hand. No bueno.

It kind of looks like cheese. And it took a pretty long time to grate so I took breaks every once in a while.

This picture has nothing to do with the soap, and everything to do with our dinner. We bought a "double pack" of baby back ribs to grill for dinner and this is a picture of Matt discovering what the second set of ribs looks like. He is feeling a little jipped. I thought it was hilarious!

Okay, back to the soap. I took another break from grating to measure out 1 cup of washing soda. (this is NOT the same as baking soda).

Then I measured 1 cup of Borax.

And finally finished grating 2 cups of cheese er, soap.

Then mix everything together. I used a fork to help break down some of the bigger pieces of soap from the grater. I suppose a finer grater would be better, but it all melts the same, and as long as you get it mixed together really good, I really don't see what the difference would be.

Just happened to have an empty canister so I'm keeping the soap in there.

I just put the first load of laundry using this soap into the dryer. They definitely didn't smell perfume-y when I pulled them out of the wash, but smelled clean. I'll be interested to see what we think once they're out of the dryer!

All in all, this was really easy and fun. As long as it cleans my clothes as well as the major laundry brands, I think I'll keep it up for a while! Let me know if you try it and what you think!

Oh, then I made 2-ingredient lemon bars, and they nearly exploded in the oven. I have the worst luck with Pinterest recipes....

~SMurph~

Something heavenly

It's time for healing, time to move on,
it's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong;
it's time to find my way to where I belong

There's a wave that's crashing over me, and all I can do is surrender
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there's peace
And it's hard to surrender to what I can't see, but I'm giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone, time to begin again, re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will or just climbing aimlessly over these hills?
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything - I surrender

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out that I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but I believe ...
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly

Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life
Something heavenly, something heavenly

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
~Sanctus Real

~SMurph~

Burdens

"Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2 ESV

I have an app on my phone called Daily Bible. It puts a new Bible verse on my home screen every day. I've found its a really good way for me to keep meditating on Scripture daily. I can't help but see it every time I pick up my phone.

Galatians 6:2 was my daily verse earlier this week, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I've had a couple really big burdens on my heart for the last couple weeks, and at times it has been really difficult to stay focused on the faithfulness of God, and of the things I know to be truth.

However, the verse didn't make me think even more about my burdens. It made me realize how wrapped up I get in my burdens, and how often I overlook the burdens others are carrying. My heart hurts for my burdens....but if I'm honest with myself, I have to stop and ask myself how bad my heart truly hurts for yours. Can anyone relate?

I read the verse, and immediately countless people were brought to mind who are dealing with some really heavy, scary, or painful burdens. It's so easy to get bogged down when life throws you curve balls. But how much easier is it when you know you're not alone? I want to be the kind of person you know will always be there for you when you're having a tough time. 

 I will bear your burden.

~SMurph~

The day I almost got kicked out of college.

I consider myself to be a good girl to the core. A rule follower. But I almost got kicked out of college my Sophomore year. *GASP*

I don’t tell this story very often, because unless you understand the college I went to, you won’t understand the story. But since it was specifically requested, and because it really is funny now (it wasn’t at the time, believe me!) I will write it for your reading pleasure.

Let me begin by saying that I do not and WILL NOT badmouth the college I went to. No, I don’t agree with the way everything is done there, but like everything else in life, you have to take the bad with the good, and make the most out of every opportunity you’re given. Also, there is no doubt in my mind that God called me to go there, and although I sometimes wonder why I couldn’t have gone to a “normal” school, I really can’t complain because I met my husband there, and that alone is a lot to be thankful for!

Speaking of meeting my husband, he actually has a lot to do with me almost getting kicked out.

Go figure.   :)

Matt and I started dating near the beginning of my Sophomore year at PCC. That fall, a group of our friends got a bunch of people together to go out to dinner for someone’s birthday. If you’re not familiar with PCC rules, in order to leave campus in a “mixed” group (ie guys and girls together), we had to get a chaperone. Being off campus in a mixed group sans chaperone got you an immediate dismissal. Traditionally, the chaperone will arrange to meet you/pick you up on campus, drive to wherever you want to go, spend that meal with you, then take you back and drop you off. Easy enough, right?

I don't really remember all the fine details about this event. All I knew was that the chaperones had told us they weren’t coming to campus to get us, they would just meet us at the restaurant on the beach. None of the girls had cars, so we got into odd numbered “mixed” groups (odd numbers so it would be clear we were being “good” on our way to meet the chaperones) and drove to the restaurant. The chaps arrived right about the time we did, so we went in and enjoyed a lovely dinner away from the chaos of the campus dining hall. When we got ready to leave, the  chaps walked us out into the parking lot and said, “Okay, tell us who rode in which cars.” So we did, and they said “Great! You guys go straight back to campus and have a good night!” and then they left.

The next day, I was going about my normal busy schedule, and stopped to check my mailbox after lunch. My heart nearly came out of my body when I saw a small green slip of paper with MY name and ID number on it. These green slips of paper, “call slips” as they are called, are almost always a VERY BAD THING. But since I couldn’t think of anything I had done wrong, I tried to not worry about it, and just showed up in the Student Life office at my appointed time. I brought some notes to study, because I had a quiz in my next class. Long story short, I found out that the chaps had gone to Student Life to inform them that we drove to the restaurant in odd-numbered mixed groups without a chaperone. I was so confused. “But we did exactly  what the chaperone TOLD us to do! And they knew we all drove together like that, and didn’t say a word about it!” I thought to myself. The lady in Student Life told me that I would be shadowed by a floor leader until Student Life could meet to discuss whether we would be allowed to stay or not. “Shadowing” is also a VERY BAD THING, and I am one of the only people I know of who has been shadowed and lived to tell about it. While you are being shadowed, you are not allowed to speak with anyone on campus other than the floor leader who is shadowing you, and you are only allowed to call home to speak with your parents. Aside from the time we spent in a shelter for Hurricane Ivan, that night while I was being shadowed was the longest of my college years! I was passed around from floor leader to floor leader. I cried and cried, wondering how I (a girl who NEVER got in trouble) was probably going to be sent home the next day. What would my parents say??

Long story short, when I went back to Student Life the next morning, I was told that since I was completely honest with them about everything, and since the chaperones should have done things differently, that I  would be allowed to stay at school, given 50 demerits (less than half of what this type of “offense” normally would be worth), and socialed for two weeks. (Socialed=can’t speak to anyone of the opposite sex except a teacher).

I think the moral of this story is that even good girls can get in trouble, so you might as well be a bad girl.  Nevermind, there really isn't a moral to this story. It's just one of those stories that makes me laugh when I think about when Matt and I started dating.

The end.

~SMurph~