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!

Victoria's Birthday

Victoria is now officially two! Yay! Two years have gone fast. On Thursday December 4, 2008 John and I took Victoria to Jungle Jim's Playland where she was able to ride on their rides as many times as she chose. Her favorite was the one in the background of the first picture. It spun you around in an airplane and would go higher if you held down the lever. Victoria sometimes did not realize how to get higher, but she loved going on that one and went at least 5 times.
Then, Saturday December 6, 2008 we threw her a Bug Party. She had some friends over and we did some games. From left to right: Mila, Jace, and Maverick.

First they played "Put the Dot on the Ladybug" which is exactly like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" except for it's a dot and a ladybug. Then, they all went on a Bug Hunt and collected bugs that I had hidden. Whichever bugs they found they were able to keep.



Next they ate bug cake which I made to look like bugs. And of course, the presents. Victoria enjoyed all her gifts (and is still enjoying them) and had a great time playing with her friends. Happy 2nd Birthday Victoria!
Also, here's a picture of Mikayla at Jungle Jim's Playland because I know a lot of you would like to see how's she's coming along.

November 2008 Challenge

Last month's challenge was kind of a combined challenge broken into three parts: things to be done before Mikayla arrived, things to be done after Mikayla arrived, and things to do in general. We were successful in completing the following: installing most of our doors with latch plates, planning Victoria's upcoming birthday party, following through on Thanksgiving plans, clearing our yard of trees that we had cut down, and taking care of a lot of our Christmas gifts. Also, my challenge was surviving the month with a newborn...which I successfully accomplished. We did sell our Crown Victoria too. Yay!
Victoria really loves her new sister and is nice most of the time. She has however figured out how to climb into her old crib and now tries to wake Mikayla up when she's sleeping. So I've always got to watch what she's doing. The other day we caught her in the crib with Mikayla's binky in her mouth and a blanket on her. We fear she is regressing in her development. We've been setting up for Christmas as well. Victoria has a "Little People Nativity Set" curtousy of her Grandma Pereira. Sunday while she was napping I set it up. John reminded me that she would just take it all down after her nap. I said I knew that and that is why I took a picture of it. So it was looking nice for probably an hour. Merry Christmas!

The birth of Mikayla Isabella Riley

That's right, she's here! Mikayla Isabella Riley was born Thursday November 6, 2008 at 4:52AM. She weighed 6 lbs 1 0z and was 20 inches in length. Wednesday at about 3 PM I began having contractions, but I thought nothing of them because they were irregular. So of course they were Braxton Hicks right? Well, they continued to be irregular for 5 hours and I thought that was a bit long to be having them. Around 5 PM John and I went to DI because I figured they would go away and they didn't. I finally went to the hospital at about 9:30PM to be checked. The nurse checked me and said she thought I was dilated a 5 or a 6! What?!!! Well, she wasn't sure so she had another nurse check me and she confirmed that I was dilated 5. Wow! So I guess even if your contractions are not regular you could be in labor. Mostly Mikayla's been sleeping all day and night except for when she wakes up to eat and things are already tough. We'll get on track though. Thanks to everyone who has been helping us out or giving us calls for congratulations. Here's pictures of the lovely Mikayla. Victoria loves her new sister/shopping buddy.

October 2008 Challenge and Halloween

So John comes home one day with an idea. We have "monthly challenges" for ourselves. Each month we choose a challenge. Something that is a goal, ambition, or whatever it may be that we try to complete by month's end. This was our first month and our challenge was to de-clutter our house by selling or getting rid of the things we did not need or want. In doing this we made $195, which we then used to buy Victoria's winter clothes and had a little left over for whatever. This was of course a bit lower than we expected to get because we were trying to sell our car, but we'll keep trying to sell that even though the month's over. There are also a few of our "junk" items we are trying to sell so hopefully we'll be rid of those soon. It was a good time to do that because we'll be having a new baby soon also. So, yay for challenges!
Now, as for Halloween, Victoria was a ladybug this year. I was a 9 month pregnant lady (which actually is quite scary) and John was a chemist at a Nuclear Power Plant. Here are some pictures. I would had one taken of me, but our batteries died and well I didn't feel like changing them. Sorry for the blurriness.