Chemical Free Laundry Detergent
I hate laundry with a passion! I hate sorting clothes, changing loads, and don’t even get me started on folding and putting them away! Why?? Why can’t I have a machine that does it all for me? Oh yeah, because it is 2018 and those don’t exist yet. So every weekend, I sort clothes, change loads from washer to dryer, fold them, and put them away. It is a need; a necessity. So the question then becomes: how can I make it more fun? I pondered over that question for a while; like I’m still pondering. However, there are not many options to make laundry fun. Instead, I thought how can laundry save us money? Since it is a necessity, how can we spend less on something that we use weekly? A friend of mine suggested that I try making my own laundry detergent, which sounded intriguing. Where could I find a recipe though? Of course, PINTEREST!! So I began my dive into the black hole of Pinterest and it didn’t take long to discover that there were so many ways you could make your own laundry detergent. I quickly became overwhelmed but knew I couldn’t give up my search. I would find a recipe that I could make!
Summer Love
11 years! How in the world can we be coming up on our 11 year anniversary? That means we have been together for over a decade… WOW! We’ve shared so many adventures together, from Marine Corps stateside to deployments, from one little girl to 2. We have seen and done so much in those 11 years that thinking back to that summer that we met just blows my mind. God knew where we would be now, but I can honestly say I didn’t have a clue! Who knew that one humid day in early June of 2005, I would meet the guy I was destined to marry. Well, God did.
Back in the summer of 2005, I had just graduate from high school. I was working part time at a local preschool, teaching Pre-K and part time at the local ball park for concession stand and gate. Oh and, for some weird reason, I thought it would be a good idea to join a co-ed softball team. Actually I was bribed into playing by one of my best friends. She said it would be good exercise for us and fun too! It was anything but fun. We were the youngest players on the team and they took the games way too seriously. We had just finished our regular season of softball, plus playoffs. We didn’t want to take anything seriously. Needless to say, we made it through about 1/2 the season then quit. It wasn’t for us.
Transformation
Today is a beautiful, but hot, day! I’m writing, while Callee is playing, Jeffrey is relaxing, and Lexi is napping. It reminds me how lucky I am to be here and really makes me reflect on how I got here. I know God had this planned this entire time yet it wasn’t any easy road. My faith was tested repeatedly and I often lost sight of Him and His glory. Here is my story…
My story starts off like most stories I’ve heard. I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church. I attended Sunday school and “Big Church” as we called it. My great uncle and great aunt had a lot to do with that. They would pick me and all the neighboring kids up and haul us to church. Granted, the church was within walking distance from my parents’ house. It was a small church that only held maybe 50 people. I was little and just enjoyed the stories and activities. I honestly don’t remember much about that church. I mainly remember the phone calls from my great aunt that said she was on her way to pick us up for Sunday school. We would be rushing to be ready for when she arrived, which was only 5 minutes after she called. My brothers and I could never be on time. lol
My First Book Review
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Ok, so technically I’m reviewing a series of books but I digress. I was drawn to this series due to its connection to Disney. I am a Disney fanatic, as I’m sure you have figured out by now. If you haven’t figured that out, just take a look at some of my previous posts and, I promise, it will become clear.
This series is entitled Villains. It is written by Serena Valentino and published by Disney Press. This series of books focuses on the villains in several iconic Disney stories, while intertwining them with each other. Each book focuses on how the villain became the villain; their backstory. In addition to well known characters, there are three other characters, known as the Odd Sisters, that make their way mischievously through each story. Their little sister, Circe, also makes several appearances in all the books. I really enjoyed the way Serena used known facts, deleted scenes, and the original stories to develop the details of the villains’ pasts. There were several surprises that took some thinking to make sense. Of course, the additional characters were engaging and really added a new depth to each story. I would definitely recommend this series, especially if you love Disney. Even if you don’t, it is a great take on how villains can be created by the simplest of choices.
Below, I will review each book individually. Caution: spoilers may occur.
Homemade Coffee Creamer
I’m a coffee-loving woman. I drink it year round. It doesn’t matter if it’s hot or cold outside, I always have a cup of steaming coffee in my hand. My family knows I have to have coffee in the morning or else. My students learn very quickly that Mrs. White needs her coffee and beware if you approach her before she’s had any.
This is what happens when your students know you very well. HA!
However, I cannot stand straight, black coffee. That is too strong for me. Plus, as my hubby would say, I’m more complicated than that. I have to have sugar and cream, but I’m also need flavoring. Vanilla is my favorite, though I have come across some seasonal flavors that have peaked my interest. So, I would head the local grocery story in search of a vanilla coffee creamer for my coffee.
Disney World, Here We Come – Part 2
Here is the second half of our first trip to Disney World!
Wednesday, February 4
Park Hopper Day! We started out at Animal Kingdom, then ended the day at Epcot. We didn’t have any FPs at Animal Kingdom but we did get to ride the Kilimanjaro Safari. We saw giraffes, rhinos, elephants, and so many other animals. The next part was pretty amazing! We happened to stumble upon the line for Festival of the Lion King and it was short! We even got seats on the front row! Then Callee was chosen to participate in the actual performance! She thought that was the coolest thing that had every happen to her! Right before we left Animal Kingdom, Jeff, Corey, Zoe, and Stella were able to ride Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. Another thrill ride for those 4 thrill seekers!
Disney World, Here We Come – Part 1
When we discovered I was pregnant, we decided that Callee needed a “last time as an only child” trip. Jeff and I decided on Disney World because none of us had ever been. Then my mom, my brother, Corey, and his girlfriend, Zoe, decided to join us. So, I found out I was pregnant in September of 2014. The trip planning started in September of 2014. We made our reservations at the Art of Animation resort. We chose The Lion King suite because it was the only room big enough to hold all 6 of us. After we started planning, my granny, my aunt Tammy, and my cousin, Stella, resolved to come with us too. However, there was not a room big enough for all 9 of us and no more rooms at Art of Animation, so they stayed at Disney’s Pop Century resort. Their resort wasn’t that far from ours, so it was convenient. Our plan was to arrive on Sunday, February 1, 2015 and come home Saturday, February 7, 2015. Even though I would be 6 months when we went, I was still excited to go. We planned from September 2014 until the day before we left. It was fun and exhausting at the same time, but nothing would ever compare to our first trip to Disney World.
God’s Little Miracle
So I decided, I like Timehop. It’s an amazing reminder of the past and how much I have grown and changed. But Timehop doesn’t always show what happened in previous years. Because you actually have to post about events on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or any other social media side for Timehop to actually pick it up. And some events don’t make it to the social media sites because they’re too difficult to post about.
I’m gonna share about one of those times in this post because it didn’t make my Timehop and it won’t ever make my Timehop because I never did post about it. And it’s always going to be around this time of year because that’s when Alexa, our youngest daughter, was born. She’s our little miracle baby. Now it’s not a miracle in the sense that I had a horrible pregnancy and she barely made it to 38 weeks or that she had some disease that they had to cure. It’s in a sense of God really showing me what He could do and how strong my faith needed to be by how she came into this world.
Halfway Across the World
It has been 7 years since a tragedy hit half way across the world. 7 years since I thought I was going to be a single parent. It was the scariest thing I had ever been through and thinking about it now makes me shake. Even though I know the outcome and God’s amazing timing, tears still creep into my eyes when I think about that day. Writing this is tough but it reminds me how amazing God is.
Jeff was on deployment in Japan. He had been there for about 7 months but was beginning his journey home. I spoke with him the night before and he said they were to fly to Tokyo and catch a flight to California the next morning. I went to bed as I normally do but my morning was anything but normal. My phone began going off around 5:30 am, if I remember correctly. Text messages asking if Jeff was ok and if I had talk to him recently. I was so confused until I got a phone call from a family member. I honestly don’t remember who it was because their question was what stuck out to me.
“Is Jeff alive?”
Hello world!
This is it. I finally jumped into the world of blogging. Yea, I know… I’m a little behind the times but I didn’t think I really had anything interesting to write about. I am still questioning that but I thought, “Why not try it out? See how it goes.” So here it goes…
I’ll start off with a little bit about myself. My name is Cassie and I’m 31 years old. I have been married to my husband, Jeffrey, for 11 years. We have 2 beautiful girls, Callee who is 8 and Alexa who is 2. As if our world isn’t crazy enough, we also have 2 Boxer/Weimaraner mix dogs. They are about 2 years old and massive! They make for some funny stories though.
I work full-time as a middle school teacher, although I would love to stay home with my girls. My husband is a marketing associate for Sysco Foods and enjoys cooking and talking about food. He also runs a catering business on the side, so let me know if you have any catering needs. 🙂
