Out With the Old

Pin It Now! Recently, after almost 15 years of marriage, my hubby and I were able to purchase our first "big" couch. It's been a long time coming for sure.

We "borrowed" couches when we first got married and lived in a tiny apartment. After that we were able to purchase a love seat and chair/ottoman combo from Pier One. So we still didn't have a "big" couch - the kind that can comfortably seat more than 2 people. :)  But we survived.

We, my hubby especially, were determined not to start off our marriage in consumer debt.  That means not buying anything unless we could pay for it in cash. Very commendable, very responsible, and the best thing to do in my opinion, but not always the easiest. At least not easy for a new, type A highly motivated wife who wanted to decorate her new home with things. New things.  I wanted a "perfect" Pottery Barn catalog kind of home on a Dollar Store budget.

Anyway, God has done a lot of work on me over the years, and I have learned a little to be very grateful for what we have, to work with what we have, and to not focus on what we don't have. Bitterness and discontent aren't pretty at all.

It's icing on the cake now to get something new. :)

When my hubby and I moved to AZ over five years ago, we didn't bring any couches. Our Pier One love seat was completely ruined by an episode of volcanic blueberry vomit. Plus, I don't think there was room in the U-haul we rented anyway. We had to leave behind quite a few things.

My mom and her husband gave us their old couch set after we were able to move in to our new AZ home. I really was grateful (sitting on tile would have been pretty painful for this bony tush) but a bit disappointed we couldn't buy our own. It wasn't long before vomit struck again, but I didn't think anything of it since we now had removable covers on the cushions. Um, the zipper broke when I tried to remove and wash it.

Just my luck. 

So, we've spent the last few years daily straightening our couch cushion to hide the massive tearing.

At day's end, here is what it would look like - all rumply.

This is the damage we were hiding. The tear just kept getting bigger and bigger over time. We tried to use safety pins for a while, but then even those wouldn't hold everything together anymore. :(

Yuck, and I had and still have zero cushion covering skills. Not that I could have afforded fabric to do that anyway.

Making the best of what we had - couldn't really tell there was anything wrong with the cushion . . . until you sat on it for a while. :)

About a month ago, we were able to finally purchase a NEW couch and loveseat for our living room ~ yea!  We kept my mom's love seat and moved it into the "computer room."

Now, it's actually more like a cozy den. We moved the picture, little table, and lantern from the living room, too. Funny how much the kids love having the couch in there. They are always finding reasons to go and sit on it. My daughter can comfortably watch her movies now! (We have a small TV in there that only plays DVDs)

Before, the room only had the computer, desk, TV bureau, bookshelves, and Mark's guitar. He's glad to be able to sit comfortably and practice music for church!

So nice to have a "complete" den, now. :)

New couch, loveseat, and "sitting area" reveal coming soon . . .

Easy, Delicious, Southwestern Black Bean Soup

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I made this for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and hit was a huge hit! Five out of five people in my family loved it. I found the original recipe here.

Southwestern Black Bean Soup

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 1 TBSP chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 15 ounce cans black beans
• 3 cups of water
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 TBSP lime juice
• Sour cream
• Cilantro

*Heat oil. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add chili powder and cumin and cook 1 minute more. Add all the rest except lime, sour cream, and cilantro. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. Transfer 1/2 soup to blender and blend. Stir back into pan. Garnish with sour cream and cilantro.

**I doubled the recipe for my family. (The above recipe is not doubled) The cilantro really adds nice flavor. :) I just love it when new recipes are received with much enthusiasm. We will be having this again soon!

Linked to Tasty Tuesday

Delicious Moon Phases

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My daughter and I have been learning all about astronomy this year, and thanks to pinterest, I saw the Oreo Moon Phase project just in time!

Seeing the above project spurred me on to look up "Oreo Moon Phases" on the web, and there were so many cute ideas. I decided to have my daughter draw the earth in the center of a paper plate and put the cookie moons around it. I saw one project in which a cupcake with blue frosting was used as the earth~yummy. :)

First, she made a Moon-Go-Round from What on Earth?

Then, the fun project she'd been waiting for . . . Oreo Moon Phases. After drawing her earth, she "glued" the 8 Oreo moons to the plate with frosting. I helped "make" the different phases by scraping off the white filling with a knife. She glued one of her moons backwards, but I think she got the point. I am sure this will be a project she will never forget!

She also used her sun (also a project from What on Earth?) for the photo. :)

I'd say these were the best tasting moons ever.

This tasty astronomy project worked for us!!  Linked to Works for Me Wednesday.

My Own Microwave Test

Pin It Now! I received an email from a friend asking about my thoughts on microwave use and attached in the email was a science fair project involving plants and microwaves done by a child in secondary school. I found a link of the project here.

In the science fair project, a girl watered one plant with cooled water that had been boiled on a stove and the other plant with cooled water that had been boiled in the microwave. She showed that the plant that had been watered with microwaved water died within 9 days. Click the above link to view her project in full and to also read a FORENSIC RESEARCH DOCUMENT
Prepared By: William P. Kopp. I have never heard of this guy, but he writes about the health hazards of microwave use.

What does this have to do with me? Well, it peaked my interest since I am one of those people who think microwave use probably isn't all that good for you. I have always limited its use; I even went years of my marriage without even owning one. The only reason I have one now is because it came with the house. Of course, I have to admit that I do use it occasionally--it is pretty convenient every now and then!

I figured, since I am a stay-at-home-homeschool mom, that this would be a simple project for me to do.

What I did: I bought some cheap viola flower plants from Wal-Mart. I planted them into containers when I got home. I thought I had 2 plastic, black ones on hand, but I didn't so, yes, they are in different containers. (Probably not the best way to start off a scientific experiment. But I am not a real scientist and I figured it wouldn't affect this particular outcome.)

I started the project on a Thursday and watered the plants every other day or as they needed water. For a few days I kept them on my kitchen sink's windowsill. I eventually moved them outside since it is pretty warm already in AZ.

The start of my experiment: fresh violas. :) The one in the black container was watered with cooled, boiled water from the stove. The one in the pretty container my daughter made was watered with cooled, boiled water from the microwave.

A few days later: didn't see a change in the plants yet. (I was kinda hoping I would--for some reason I wanted the microwaved water to kill the plant!)

Exactly 2 weeks later: both plants seem to be thriving. Hmmm.

I didn't bother taking too many pics as the plants weren't changing. Trust me, my kids were checking daily, and now my boys don't want to take my microwave warnings too seriously!! 

I honestly wanted to use this little test to have some tangible "proof" to show my kids how horrible it is to use the microwave. Oh well. So much for that!

My thoughts on the experiment: Well, I don't think it is proof that microwaves aren't bad for us. I guess all it proves is that my particular viola plant didn't die from receiving water that had been boiled in the microwave.

My thoughts on the original science fair project: (link above) Since I wasn't there to see it play out, I can't really say. Supposedly, the experiment was repeated several times with the same results. All I know is that my plant didn't die after 2 weeks of receiving microwaved water.

Anyone else ever done this experiment?

Marking Cartons in Fridge

Pin It Now! My daughter gets her own breakfast now. Most of the time she's downstairs ready to eat before I can even get down to the kitchen. I love that she's becoming more independent at 6 1/2 years old, but a particular problem arose due to this new get-your-own-breakfast independence: THE OPENING OF MORE THAN ONE OF THE SAME TYPE OF MILK OR JUICE CARTON!  Grrrrrrrr.

My simple, why-didn't-I-think-of-this-before solution: marking the caps with big, red O's!

O is for open. :)  No O is for not open. :)  My kids, especially my daughter, know to only use the cartons marked with the O.

Works wonders!!

Linked to Works for me Wednesday.