life in boxes

I am so thankful & astonished to say that we were able to find a home within ONE day of arriving to our new place of residence!  We had just about set up camp in our temporary lodging, when our phone rang with the much desired message that there was a home available for us to move into RIGHT AWAY!  We jumped right on that offer & signed on the dotted line an hour later.  As you can see we are still in boxes and are waiting for the movers to bring our things from storage {hopefully, as soon as tomorrow!}

For now, we like to camp out on the stairs {the closest thing we can find to a chair} with our laptops, a pillow to lean against & a snack in hand... we are working with what we got for now ;)

But life without a chair isn't that bad, just in knowing that we have a roof over our head that we can call {HOME}.  What a settling feeling.  


We're still adjusting to the weather here; I'm not sure how our Texas blood is going to handle the cold!  At least spring is on it's way; we have heard that we should have one more big snow before the winter season is over.   Time to break out the parka!  

affordable & natural cleaning

credit

I am not much of a deep cleaner by my own free will {more of the surface type}, but a move always gets my booty into gear in this area.  With having to prep for move out inspections & having to get everything just-so in a new home, there is just no way to avoid the cleaning.  This time around I have tried to embrace it heartily by finding excitement in making my own cleaning supplies from normal household products.  There are few things in life that get me more excited than saving money & being resourceful!

Here's a few of the cleaning recipes that I have been using.




{All Purpose Cleaner}*

1 cup hot water
1 cup white vinegar (try to get at least 7% acidity)
2 TBSP castile soap (I use dr. bronners)**

Combine in spray bottle

* Advice:  add a few drops of essential oil to the mix because "vinegar-y" is not exactly the clean home smell you are probably going for.

**Castile soap gives you extra cleaning power, it can be somewhat pricey (in terms of a cleaning supply) but considering that you only use a 1-2 TBSP per spray bottle the dollars go a loooong way!

{Windows}

Full strength club soda

Pour into spray bottle, spray & wipe with a cloth or with newspaper.

{Wood}


1 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil

Mix together & pour onto dry cloth, rub into wood (a second cloth may be needed to wipe up excess oil).

{Abrasive}

1 part baking soda to 1 part salt (coarse)

Good for using on "problem" areas like rust or stuck on messes that won't clean up with the all purpose cleaner. Rub onto problem area & spray with full strength vinegar.  Allow to sit for a minute, then wipe up.


I am still working on making a good laundry detergent (not sure what will work with a HE washer)..suggestions?

a few items of note...

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway I am a part of over at Sandy A La Mode's blog.

So get yourself on over there for a chance to win $30 credit to my shop ;).

ANNND

On a very exciting note, we are finally to our destination in Missouri!  {YAY}

We took our sweet time to get here, made a few stops along the way {Mockingbird Station, Eskimo Joe's, Bricktown & Downtown KC, to name a few} to make it feel a little more like a vacation, than a move ;).

As soon as we get a little more settled I will post some pictures from the road trip.  

getting things done!

house packed...check

moving van loaded...check

cleaning...check

sleeping on the floor in our empty home...check, check

:: now, onto the fun stuff ::

-Ben's graduation is today & this mil. wife couldn't be more proud of her hubby!

-Slumber party tonight with some sweet friends on our last night in TX

-Road trip to Missouri with some slight detours planned for our sight seeing pleasure

-House Hunting in our new state

                     {AND}

-nesting, my personal favorite

It's hard to believe we are closing another chapter in our marriage & turning the page to a new one.  Looking forward to sharing it with you guys as we walk through it!  

ohhh & p.s.  check out the really sweet giveaways going on this week/weekend over at Sandy A La Mode

you'll find freebees from shops such as:  Oh, Sweet Joy :: The Rusted Chain :: Lindsay Harmony :: and yours truly, Ashley Carter Designs

a little bit of this, a little bit of that...

This is my friend Zula---she is a missionary right now to the U.S. from Mongolia!  How neat is that?  

I met her through the organization she is interning with, House of Faith, which aims to share Jesus underprivileged children & their families in the local area. They are pretty wonderful.

Anyhow, the other day, Zula came over for a sewing lesson!  It was so fun teaching her the basics of sewing {and she was such a quick learner}.  The above picture shows the little wristlet we made together!  Yep, she conquered the machine & the art of sewing on a zipper all in one day {pretty amazing!}

So proud of my student :)

Also, In other fun and exciting news:  Ashley Carter Designs is now going to be sold in a BRAND NEW store called:

It's adorable!  Check it out here.  

If you are in the Pleasanton, CA area you have to go see it---the owner, Alicia is so neat & has a wonderful eye for treasures new & old.  

shadows...

Linking this to:

{v-day love}

Happy Valentines Day my friends!  As you celebrate (or don't celebrate) the holiday, I hope you dwell on what love truly is:

This valentine's day, Ben & I are in the middle of a move & he is furiously working to finish up his training, sooooo we may not be celebrating v-day in the traditional style.  However, we have plans this weekend to make up for the lost time today!  hoooorayy!

So today, in the absence of my man, I traded a little v-day love with fellow blogger/etsy shop owner, Stacie.

I participated in a Valentine's Day Card exchange that was put on by a fellow blogger, Caroline, at Good Times Never Seem Sew Good.  

I sent a sweet little valentine off to this lady.

and in return, received a little v-day love from Stacie.  You can check out her cute little shop here. She has some really fun re-purposed jewelry.  

  

Check out the card she made me:

Thanks Caroline & Stacie!

Linking this post to:

::excited to share:::

Just wanted to formally introduce you all to some new little lovelies in the shop!

Meet:  The Wind Swept Wristlet

 {a little sampling} for your viewing pleasure!

another giveaway & {a coupon code}

geeze louise i have done a lot of giveaways lately!  and lucky for you, the fun isn't over yet!  this week i am giving away the headband pictured above to one lovely winner over at Mandy's blog.

enter to win HERE.

also, a reminder: now through valentines day you can get 15% off at either of my shops 

Ashley Carter Designs

or 

My Sunshine Fabric

WITH THE COUPON CODE: BEMINE   

go ahead, knock yourself out ;)

birthday boy

this week is ben's birthday week...and it also happens to be the most difficult week of work he has had to date.  gotta love the timing, right?   not so much.  but despite the work week's efforts to cramp our celebratory style, i think we ended up successfully cramming a wonderful birthday celebration into a couple of hours last night.  (i.e. from the time ben walked in the door from work, to the time we called it quits & went to sleep).

i prepared a nice little dinner for two:  beef stir-fry with quinoa & a side spinach salad with a WONDERFUL asian dressing.

ben reading his birthday card from moi :)

it was such a simple night-- simple meal, chocolate cake, presents & cards, a couple of phone calls to family, all the while with music playing in the background--but for some reason it was so sweet!  i really think God allowed us those two hours to just step outside of all the things that get us all worked up throughout the day, to just enjoy each other & the quiet.  ben just kept saying what an amazing birthday he was having---and literally, it wasn't even two hours long!

thank you Lord for sweet time, celebrating the life of my wonderful husband. :)

some v-day love....{and a coupon code}

strawberry cobbler by sandyalamode

true love always necklace by the rusted chain

vintage floral valentines hearts by handofbelapeck

muah xoxoxoxo valentines by michellebrusegaard

pearls and lace by sunshineandcarousels

p.s.  get 15% off at both of my shops AC Designs & MLS Fabric, now through v-day with the coupon code: BEMINE

rodeo weekend

we seem to be making a habit of picking up & leaving our little west tx town on the weekends, i guess we are just getting in our good-byes before the big move.  

this weekend my parents invited us to rodeo!  knowing it would probably be our last opportunity for the next several years, we jumped on the idea of spending a weekend at the San Antonio rodeo.

mom was really excited about this one :)

milking cows

longhorns

and a good carni picture in front of the funnel cakes

We had a great time complete with homemade corn tortillas, breakfast tacos, cowboy boots, lady antebellum, and people watching.

snowed in & sewing fun

Like most of you, I have been kind of "snowed-in" the past few days.  I think it has really been a blessing in disguise for me!  I have been able to slow my pace down a little & get working on things around the house.  Yesterday I did a little winter cleaning & went through things that we don't need anymore to either give away or throw away.  It always feels soooo good to simplify our lives a bit--and with as much as we move, we have a lot of motivation to pack lightly.

credit

Today, I am actually going to brave the weather for a bit and send off some orders from my shop.
Then, I am off to pick up my friend Zula for a little sewing lesson!  I love teaching friends to sew and share in a craft that I find so much pleasure in!  I'll let you know how it goes!

As far as the shops go, you have probably seen some of the fun giveaways I have had going on.  I am really excited as Ben & I feel the Lord has really been blessing the business lately & helping me to get a little more exposure in the handmade world!  I am always amazed when I get a sale or when a customer sends kind words my way describing a purchase they received!

Today, you can find me doing a little guest blogging for Jana (my first time, in fact!) over at Giggles, Glitz & Glam.    I basically got to talk about the ministry I support, Heartline in Haiti!  Such a cool ministry, filled with lots of really amazing people, like this lady.

woke up to this :)