Five Minute Friday - Laundry

I occasionally join in on Five Minute Friday over at Lisa-Jo Baker. It's fun writing on the given topic for 5 minutes. It gives me something to change up the routine a bit.  If you would like to join in hop on over and check out the rules.



Today's topic Laundry-

What do you think of when you hear/read the word laundry?  My mind immediately goes to piles of clothes needing to be washed, dried, maybe rewashed because I forgot to put them in the dryer, folded, put away.  I also think of the word cycle, it is a never ending cycle.  Forgiving? I think so. If I don't get a load finished I'll just start all over, it's really not that big of a deal.  It's a little thing and not worth stressing over. I actually don't mind laundry for that very reason, it is one chore that I really don't have to stress over.  I throw a load in and I'm off to work on something else. Come back throw the load in the dryer another in the washer and off again. Back again and the laundry from the dryer goes into the basket, what's in the washer goes in the dryer and another load is started in the washer. You see the clothes may not always get folded and put away, but we always have clean clothes.  Sometimes good enough just has to be good enough.  Striving for perfection is not always what is best for my family.  I would rather have kids that remember me for playing games, reading stories and cooking yummy meals and treats together, than for perfectly cleaned, ironed, folded and hung clothes. Really now that I've stopped and thought about it.  I think it's a waste of my time to do all that the clothes just end right back up in the laundry room anyway. Maybe I should convert my laundry room to a family closet. Hmmm. Now don't get me wrong, I haven't judged you if you manage to get your laundry perfectly done.  I'm just saying to each his own and there are things that just aren't worth judging others over, stressing about or even judging yourself as unfit,  not good enough, because you haven't reached someone else's idea of what a wife, mother, homemaker should be doing.

Vaccines - Did You Know?

I am continually reading and coming across new information.  There is so much more to our world and how it works than we know.  There are so many touchy subjects, our food and medical health being towards the top of that list.  This week I learned some new things about abortion and the innocent lives lost to it. Check out this link for U.S. Aborted Fetal Products. Food and spices? I'm really struggling with this one.  I guess it really shouldn't come as a surprise if we are using aborted babies in the development of vaccines why not food too!? I am not one to tell others what they should do.  I believe that God has given us a guideline through his Word and that we as individuals should base our decisions of what to do  on the principles found in God's Word and the knowledge we have of the situation in question. I am giving links so that you can inform yourselves and make your own decisions. This article, Vaccines, Abortion & Fetal Tissue, does a good job of explaining how aborted babies were/are used in the vaccine production process.  This next link shows which vaccines contain human protein & DNA. I would like to encourage you to research for yourself.  There is so much information out there, if you only look for it. Since I am a type 1 diabetic, I'll throw this next link out just for good measure. 

I hope that this was helpful.

Fireplace Makeover 2!

Back in 2011 I did a mini fireplace makeover. You can check it out here. It helped, but I still did not love this fireplace.  I hated the orange/rust color in the stones.  I'm still not quite sure why anyone would put orange/rust stones in the same house with pink tile. Yes, we still have the same pink tile from when the house was built.  I had toyed with the idea of painting or whitewashing the stone for a long time.  Several seem to be of the opinion that it will lower the house value for resale.  Well, I've lived here nearly 10 years and I don't care anymore. I want it to look pretty to me, not some potential, possibly, one day buyer. I figured it couldn't possibly look any worse than it already did. So I did it. I whitewashed the stone.

First I cleaned the stone.  I just used my normal cleaner and made sure to get as much dust and sand off as possible. 
Next I mixed my paint and water.  I just used some flat paint I had on hand.  I used a 1:3 ratio. 1 part paint to 3 parts water. 
Now for the work.  I brushed the paint on and waited just a bit before wiping it back off.  I did this until I got the coverage I was looking for.  Be careful of drips!

It's looking much better, but I still have plans to tweak it just a bit.  I plan on painting the insert again, but this time with white.  Hubby says he would like the stones to have a hint more ivory to them, so eventually I will do an ivorywash. ;) I'm also thinking of using a satin finish instead of the flat finish.  But, in the meantime I am liking this so much more than that ugly orange/rust color.  Did I mention I hated the orange/rust?

Now for the pics!