Some tips for buying products

Ok to be honest I'm a little bored...and tired...but I don't really want to take a nap so instead I thought I'd leave some hopefully helpful tips for things that I recommend buying and some I do not. We'll start with the things not to buy since it's fresh in my mind.

5 hour energy
Never ever buy this. It does not work! I like energy drinks ok and have drank them in the past (mostly because they taste good and give me a good boost) and yes they do kind of poop you out by the end of the day so it would be great if a product didn't make you "crash" after drinking it. So John decides he will try it. It costs us I think 3 or 4 dollars for a shot sized drink. John drinks it one morning and I think that perhaps we'll get a lot done. Do you know what he did for 5 hours? He sat in front of a laptop and browsed the internet. I'm not even kidding you. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, "It's a piece of crap. It doesn't work."

Swiffer Mop
I had the opportunity to try this a few months ago because an old tenant left their's behind. I place the wet napkin thing where it's supposed to go and it doesn't hold very good, but I try mopping the floor anyway. I get a little done and what do you know it's covered in filth and I already have to change out the napkin for a new one. I finally finish cleaning the floor after replacing the napkin about ten times, which aren't cheap. Not only that but it doesn't pick up very well. I end up pushing things around the floor rather than picking it up. Not to mention it's hard to manuever.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
This is the most flemsy sponge ever. Sure it eventually gets some stuff off, but it's only because I'm scrubbing so hard I feel as if my fingers are actually the thing cleaning it. Plus, it breaks itself apart so easily you'd have to buy a new sponge each time you clean something.

Now for some things I do recommend buying:

Samsung Appliances/TVs
Did you know Samsung makes appliances? I thought they only did TV's. Well they do both and I must say they do a great job. Our nice TV is Samsung and we love it. I think I like my Samsung microwave even more though. My favorite is the 1 minute button. All you have to do is put your food in the microwave, press the 1 minute button, and leave the room. It's awesome. There's also the popcorn button which NEVER burns my popcorn...EVER! I used to hate guessing how long to place my popcorn in for, but Samsung has solved my problem. Also, the potato button cooks potatoes perfectly. So buy Samsung stuff.

Easy Off Oven Cleaner
Do you remember looking at commercials of cleaners and saying "yeah right! Nothing cleans that well." And you're right, most products advertised do not do that well, but Easy Off really does clean well. In fact, when I used it on an oven that an old tenant left sooooo dirty I thought it would never look good, it cleaned it so well it looked like new. So I took it home and used it on another dirty oven and it looked virtually new as well. Trust me, just follow the directions and use it.

Oxi Clean
As much as I hate Billy Mays always yelling at me through the television set to buy his product I've been informed by John that Oxi Clean works really well on carpet stains. I haven't seen it for myself, but John says we're to use it where Victoria spilled hot sauce on our carpet. So, we'll see.

Well that's all I can think of for now. If there's more I discover I'll pass it on.

Three cheers for us!

We have officially finished the duplex remodel...except for a few minor things, but it was enough to sell a contract. Here are some after pictures. The new kitchen has new tile floors, updated cabinets, brand new dishwasher, brand new plumbing, new paint, and a one-year old fridge.

The new living room has brand new carpet, new heating element, and new paint. It used to have this hideous green carpet and was all white (pretty boring). The bedroom also had new carpet, but we didn't have time to paint it.The bathroom received brand new tile floor, new vanity, and a brand new window (the old tenants broke it and decided not to tell us). All in all, it was a long and tiring process and took way longer than expected, but we're happy to be done with it. Our kids were with us while we were remodeling and poor Victoria was bored out of her mind. We tried to keep her entertained while we worked, but it was hard to do. I can't believe she puts up with us...although I guess she doesn't have much of a choice.

December 2008 Challenge

December's challenge ended up being a disappointment. For the longest time we've been trying to get our laundry room finished. Before it had this hideous red carpet, was painted all white, and things were EVERYWHERE! All of the stuff when we first moved in wasn't even ours. So December was it. We were going to finish the laundry room and get organized because to be honest the laundry room is sort of our storage space. The laundry room has been painted and most of the flooring is done. Unfortunately, we had to order more tiles before we could finish, which took two weeks to get in (I ordered in the middle of the month). And so of course, the floor did not get finished in December, which means that everything isn't organized and put away either. Not only that, but the tenants on the right side of our Provo duplex decided to bail on us about the 4th of the month. We thought, "Well, it's ok. We'll just find new tenants." It turns out it's hard to find tenants when the place is over a hundred years old and doesn't look so up to date. So about mid-month we decide it's just time to remodel that side. We hope to sell the duplex this year and so it was now or never for a remodel. So the challenge officially got switched in the middle of the month to the remodel. Well, with it being such a big undertaking and with the holidays we were unable to finish before January. To this day we're still working on it, but we hope to be done with everything today and we have some interest so we're hoping to sell a contract as well. Wish us luck!